aw Page 428 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Day I Thought I'd Die On A Scissor Lift: What It's Like To Do The Job That Killed Declan Sullivan
Notre Dame would like you to believe that the death of Declan Sullivan Wednesday was a tragic accident but an isolated one, a sad case of bad weather conspiring with terrible misfortune. And that would be wrong....

How A Notre Dame Student Died, And Why He Shouldn't Have
At precisely 4:50 pm, a 50-foot scissor lift tower collapsed in winds exceeding 50 mph, killing the 20-year-old student filming football practice for the team. It shouldn't have come to that....

The 49ers Vs. Universal Health Care
Alex Smith flew to London to get his shoulder checked out in advance of Sunday's game at Wembley Stadium. Expect him to still be in the waiting room come the weekend. [AP]...

Referees Get Punished For Promoting Breast-Cancer Awareness With Pink Whistles
Here's to you, Washington Officials Association, for standing up to 140 high-school-football referees who dared use pink whistles for breast-cancer awareness the other night without first getting your permission....

Minnesota Wild Fan Warns Rick Rypien That He, Too, Is Going To Lawyer Up
James Engquist, the 28-year-old who was "grabbed" by Canucks forward Rick Rypien last night, told the Star Tribune that he is "seeking legal representation" because he was "assaulted, that's just the bottom line." What a day for lawyering up!...

The Funniest Part About Rick Rypien Going After A Fan
No one disputes that Rypien was wrong in grabbing at a taunting fan. No one except the homer Vancouver announcers, that is. Rogers Sportsnet gives us the hilarious play-by-play....

Fans Taunt Canadian Football Team, Team Responds With Fists
A brawl broke out during an Ontario junior league football game between the Hamilton Hurricanes and the St. Leonard Cougars this weekend. Hamilton, Ont., police are not yet investigating as no charges have been filed. [The Spec; video via]...

Bill Self Dresses Up As One-Hit Wonder Vanilla Ice For Kansas's Late Night In The Phog
Kansas coach Bill Self told 16,500 fans that the 2008 title "was great," but it's time to "cut down some more nets." Then, the one-time champion came out dressed as Vanilla Ice, who some might call a one-hit wonder....

How One Small DVR Improvement Screwed Up The Football-Watching Experience
No sport lends itself more readily to the splendors of digital video recording than football. And nobody suffered more than football fans when Comcast introduced a schoolmarmish new DVR feature: auto-correction for fast-forwarding....

Chicago Reporter Fired, Possibly For Dating A Player
Jen Patterson was let go by Comcast SportsNet Chicago, a week after her relationship with Blackhawk Nick Boynton became public. That's a quick fall for one of CSN's "rising stars."...

Chinese National Basketball Team Karate-Kicks Brazil Off Court In International Friendly
The Chinese men's national basketball team apologized today for its most recent on-court brawl, in a designated "friendly" match against Brazil on Tuesday. Players and coaches blame it on bad calls — all within the first sixty-six seconds of play....

Did An L.A. Police Watchdog Bend Ethical Rules For Jay Mariotti?
The head of the Los Angeles police union has voiced concerns about attorney and LAPD civilian oversight board member Debra Wong Yang's brief representation of Jay Mariotti who, in a no-contest plea deal, saw six misdemeanor counts dropped....

Cigar Guy Isn't As Fun, Photoshoppable When He's Not Wearing The Fake 'Stache
Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and internets to bring you everything you need to know to start your day....

Your "Carl Crawford Salute Says It's Already Over" Tampa Bay/Texas Open Thread
Down 6-0 to the Rangers in the 8th, Carl Crawford swung at the first pitch and grounded out to second. The fans chanted his name anyway since it was probably his last game as a Ray at Tropicana Field....

Sources: Two More Women Who Worked With Jets Received Lewd Texts From Favre (UPDATE)
This is about to get worse. It appears Jenn Sterger wasn't the only woman who received unwanted and inappropriate text messages from Brett Favre while he played for the Jets. Favre also pursued two team massage therapists, according to one of the women. [UPDATE: The women have sued.]...

Rays Fans Just Blue Themselves
Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and internets to bring you everything you need to know to start your day....

Brett Favre's Cellphone Seduction Of Jenn Sterger (Update)
In the video here (parts of which are NSFW due to penis photos at the 2:08 mark), you'll see and hear all the strange messages Jenn Sterger received from someone she was led to believe was Brett Favre. [Final update here.]...

Jerry Jones's Bizarre Sexual Assault Lawsuit
Remember Jerry Jones's drunk video, in which he slammed Parcells and Tebow? A woman claims that later that night Jones assaulted her, had her drugged with GHB, and almost gave her a prostitute's STD. Strange stuff in here....

Dads In Ugly Polo Shirts Punch Each Other At Pee Wee Football Game
A lot of men in matching bright polo shirts started a sideline brawl during their sons' Pee Wee football game in Pearland, Texas. One 12-year-old was thrown "12 to 15 feet" by an opposing coach. Video after the jump....

Ken Burns High-Fives People When You Cry, And Other Things I Learned While Working On <em>Baseball</em>
In 1993, Alex Belth left college and began working on Ken Burns's Baseball documentary, whose coda, The Tenth Inning, is airing now on PBS. Here, Belth recalls his time with Burns, his encounter with Carly Simon, and Roger Angell's clicking lozenge....