br Page 1010 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For
Ladies and gentlemen, this man — this guy — has been rewarded for the job he has done over the last three years. Larry Brown has been fired, and Isiah Thomas — Isiah Thomas! — will take over as coach and general manager....

The Closer: Brave New World
Notes from a day in baseball:...

Checking In At The World Cup...
Brazil 2-0 Australia. It might just be me, but does Brazil seem a little but underwhelming thus far? They seemed lethargic in their 1-0 win over Croatia, and all anyone could talk about afterwards was Ronaldo's apparent tubbiness, and Australia really gave them all they wanted today. They do not l...

And There Shall Be A Game Seven
The Edmonton Oilers housed the Carolina Hurricane Whalers last night, cruising to an easy 4-0 victory. And thus, there will be a Game 7, and it will be good....

Hirshey: Brazil Stays Mostly Sheathed
David Hirshey will write regularly during the World Cup....

Live Blog: Brazil Vs. Croatia
As has been pointed out, Brazil is like the Yankees it's OK to like. Few people think the Brazilians are arrogant or full of themselves, and rarely do people root against them. We think it's because every single Brazilian person we've ever met is extremely attractive. That's more than we can say f...

Favre, Jeter, Kobe, Barry... All Your Favorites
Harris Interactive conducts a poll every year to determine America's favorite athletes. Michael Jordan has occupied the top spot every year since 1993, but this year, Tiger Woods shoved him out of there like Bryon Russel, and Tiger took MJ's top spot. I guess the people of America really loved tha...

Hey, Hey, Hey, It's The World Cup!
Just to get us all into a World Cup kind of mood, we present this "separated-at-birth" photo combo, which a reader sent in and is sure to give us terrifying dreams at least through the group stage. Although we're not sure which is which, we know that one of the shots is of Brazil's Ronaldo, and Nosf...

One Flew Over The Broadcast Booth
Monday's nagging question is, where's Mr. Belvedere when you really need him? Absent a fussy English butler to turn away crazies at the door, Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker has been left to his own devices to fend off dedicated fans apparent mental cases like Ann Ladd. The Smoking Gun reports that...

From Stoned To Brewer
On Sunday, Philadelphia's Ryan Howard hit yet another home run, his 12th of the month. The guy's hot, and, judging from his physique, pretty obviously not on steroids. But that's not the most interesting part of his homer; what we're fascinated by is whom he hit it off....

...And The Sex Boat Sails Out Of Our Lives
It looks like we may be officially closing the cabin door on the Minnesota sex boat incident. Both Bryant McKinnie and Fred Smoot pleaded guilty yesterday to disorderly conduct and being a public nuisance on a watercraft. They'll both get fines and community service. And here's a nice quote from t...

Bronson Arroyo, Rockin' Pitchman
Initially, though we were happy about the Bronson Arroyo to Cincinnati trade, we worried that the harsh transition to "rollicking Boston nightlife" to "downtown closes at midnight" would cause some trouble for the rocking righthander. Clearly, though, it's all worked out well, so much so that now he...

Jake Plummer, Terror On The Road
It's easy to forget now, but for a while there last year, Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer was having a pretty cool year. The Broncos had the best record in football, some were touting him as an MVP candidate and some even thought he could lead the team to the Super Bowl. And then the blowout and ...

LeBron Finally Runs Out Of Magic Dust
As much as we loved the idea of LeBron James swooping from the heavens and lifting his team, all by his lonesome, into the conference finals and beyond, yesterday's easy win by the Pistons was pretty much inevitable. When you team is essentially just one player, and that one player scores only six p...

No, I'm Sorry, You Can't Get A Witness
A competitive first half gave way to a Detroit smothering in the second half, and the Detroit Pistons have advanced in the Eastern Conference playoffs. LeBron James had 27 total, but was held to just 6 points in the second half. Of course, those 6 points did account for over 25% of the Cavs total ...

And The Ones Get Sevens...
Screw "About Last Night!" After a night of basketball like that, it can be demoted to the two-spot......

LeBron Goes For It All Tonight
No. 1 email we've received over the last 48 hours: "Hey, asshead, still think LeBron's playoff debut is unremarkable?" (Answer: OK, maybe he's doing all right.)...

Kobe Bryant's Dazzling Ensemble
Via YAYSports!, here's video of Kobe Bryant's appearance on TNT last night. We're not sure what much more we can add to Free Darko's live-blogging of the experience, except to marvel in that soon-to-be-infamous blue sweater vest thing. As one reader emailed us last night, "Jesus, he looks like Rapey...

We Are All Stunned
Well. It's little wonder the The NBA Is Back! platitudes are being brought back out there. This is downright fun....

LeBron's Chance To Take Over
Well, for those of you who are just now waking up from that Clippers-Suns epic last night, there's no time to rest, people. Two more games tonight, with the Mavericks trying to finish off the defending champions and, most compellingly, LeBron James and the Cavaliers continuing their unlikely quest...