ball Page 1858 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

"Hey, Like, Old Guy ... It's Your Turn"
This is an actual photo, taken last weekend, from the Iowa-Iowa State pregame last Saturday....

You Stay Classy, Pete Rose
We had a lot of fun with the Pete Rose "I'm sorry" autographed baseball story from Tuesday, thanks, as usual, to our commenters. You folks took our eight-yard slant pass over the middle and turned it into an 80-yard TD run, if you'll excuse a football analogy in the midst of a baseball post. For t...

Hey, Look, The Yankees Are In The Playoffs Again
You know, it really is kind of weird when a team has a big champagne celebration after they've lost a game. We know they've earned it, and we know they've got it coming. But it still seems strange to lose a game, go back to the locker room, turn on the television, see a final score in a game played ...

Darryl Strawberry Can Teach Your Kids A Few Tricks
We know that Darryl Strawberry has made considerable strides toward cleaning up his life in recent years, and for that we applaud him: Not everyone can be Dwight Gooden, after all. But we still find it somewhat, eh, curious by this auction currently up for bid at MLB.com....

A-Rod Is Moody, Aloof And Weird. REALLY.
So everyone's all abuzz this morning about Tom Verducci's Sports Illustrated cover story this week, a look the complex organism that is the brain of Alex Rodriguez. We think Verducci is one of the best guys SI has, and the story's well-written enough, we guess, but we don't quite understand what the...

She Handled It Considerably Better Than McCarver
Julie Donaldson, locker room/sideline reporter for SNY, the Mets station — she is one of the women the station allows to have a brain and a skull — takes part in turning an otherwise perfectly normal division championship celebration into something vaguely different....

The Closer: Welcome To The Grease Fire That Is The AL Central
Notes from a day in baseball:...

In Prison, It Could Be A REAL "Game Of Shadows"
So we don't know if you knew about this or not, but this Thursday, Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada, the authors of Game Of Shadows, the exhausting piece of investigative reporting that stunned the world by revealing that Barry Bonds (no!) used steroids, will face a judge at Phillip Burton Feder...

Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
By now you've probably heard about the "apology balls" story, in which Pete Rose is supposed to have signed 300 baseballs with the words "I'm sorry I bet on baseball — Pete Rose", and is set to sell them at $1,000 a pop. That's what the New York Daily News said on Monday, anyway, in a rather glaring...

Son, This In No Way Reflects On My Own Past Athletic Frustrations
In the grand tradition of the egg fertilizers of Mary Pierce and Todd Marinovich, we present Frank Colavecchia, the father of Rocco Colavecchia, a quarterback for Shenango High School in New Castle, Penn. Last week, Frank posed as a scout from Ohio University — to get into character, we suspect he...

Hey, Can I Get A Do-Over?
Attention Jeff George: If your son's Pee Wee football league needs referees this weekend, we know some guys who are available. After a wildly entertaining, somewhat comical ending that kind of reminded us of the final scenes in Caddyshack, the Pac-10 wound up suspending the officiating crew that muc...

Mets Fans Are Having A Nice Morning
As established late last night, the Mets clinched the National League East last night behind the gorgeous athletic stylings of Jose Valentin....

The Closer: Now Who's In First, Huh Padre?
Notes from a day in baseball:...

Great. MORE New York Teams In The Postseason
Congratulations to the New York Mets, who shook off the vexing enigma that is the Pittsburgh Pirates and beat the Florida Marlins 4-0 tonight to clinch the National League East title. They're the first team to punch the proverbial ticket to the playoffs, and now we can all breathe a sigh of relief t...

For Walsh's Opponents, The End Is Near
If Anna Kournikova would like to get back into competitive sports, may we suggest the Association of Volleyball Professionals Tour? That's beach volleyball, in case you didn't know; two-person teams square off on a 15-event circuit with stops from New York to California. But that's not important r...

In Case It Slipped Your Mind, Ohio State Still Hates Michigan
For the record, we're pretty sure that the Pat Forde-recommended Dead Schembechlers hate the University of Michigan more than any punk band ever hated anything, and that's saying something. So if you also hate the Wolverines, you won't want to miss the Hate Michigan Rally on Nov. 17 in Columbus, hea...

It's 3 1/2 In The Pokey For Clarett
Word just came in about an hour ago: Former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett has pled guilty to two felonies and will spend at least the next 3 1/2 years in prison. Jury selection was about to begin in the case, but lawyers accepted the plea of 7 1/2 years, with the first parole opportunity p...

That's Not A Fun Way To Lose
Saturday was an outstanding day for college football — particularly if you went to Syracuse, grumble grumble — but it was not so pleasant for Oklahoma fans, who, as this video rather clearly shows, were screwed out of a big road victory against Oregon. It's funny, because one wouldn't think it would...

Louis Gossett Jr. Is Little Help, Frankly
So, remember, back in May, when Siena basketball player Kojo Mensah was so desperate to be allowed to transfer from the school that he called on Louis Gossett Jr. for help? Gossett memorably said he could be of assistance because he "can call directly to Bryant Gumbel, Bob Costas and Ahmad Rashad."...