bu Page 622 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Good Monday Morning, America!
The above picture, which should seriously be the first thing you see when you turn on your computer Monday morning after a long holiday weekend, is from the trailer for the new Adam Sandler comedy Benchwarmers....

Athlete Run-Ins: Getting Ballsy With MJ
As we go through our athlete run-in stories, we notice a somewhat disturbing trend: The number of fans who bother athletes, taunt them into doing something stupid, and then tell the stories like they're cool. We like to make fun of athletes too — Lord knows it's not difficult — but, on the whole a...

Blogdom's Best: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It might not — yet — have the online fanaticism and cachet of baseball, but the NFL and its fans are starting to catch up in the world of team-devoted blogs. To this end, Deadspin salutes these modem-addled souls and proudly presents Blogdom's Best, given to the most outstanding blog for each NFL ...

NFL Roundup: Lovie's Kind Of Town
• So here's something crazy: With a break or two, the Chicago Bears could have playoff home-field advantage in the NFC. Still, whether they win the Super Bowl or not, "Ditka" is always going to sound cooler than "Lovie." • We're really starting to maybe think that Chesnning might really lead the C...

Blogdom's Best: Buffalo Bills
It might not — yet — have the online fanaticism and cachet of baseball, but the NFL and its fans are starting to catch up in the world of team-devoted blogs. To this end, Deadspin salutes these modem-addled souls and proudly presents Blogdom's Best, given to the most outstanding blog for each NFL ...

Buster Olney Responds: "I Like My Job, Thank You"
One of the things we love about Mr. Irrelevant and his gang at AOL Sports Bloggers Live is that they're fun enough to pounce on the real sports stories yet clean and well-shaven (and AOL-affiliated) enough to bring in big-name guests that we don't have (or, more accurately, have little desire to ...

New Steroid Agreement Reached
Well, we didn't have the scoop this time, but our main man Jon Heyman did: Major League Baseball and the players union have reached an agreement on a new steroid penalty policy. The details: 50 games for a first offense, 100 games for a second offense and a lifetime ban for the third offense. Thos...

"We Know This Is Off The Subject A Bit, But How Much Do You Think We Could Bench?"
We don't know if Bills fan Nate Neubauer of Lancaster, N.Y., has seen the brilliant Best In Show, but we certainly hope so....

We Have To Ask ...
Suggested questions for today's ESPN SportsNation chatters ... • 11 a.m. NBA with Marc Stein: We've noticed that, since Halloween, they've stopped using your column as ESPN Insider exclusive content. In fact, after the first graph, the copy reads: "Want to read the rest of this article? Go ahead, it...

Blogdom's Best: Pittsburgh Steelers
It might not — yet — have the online fanaticism and cachet of baseball, but the NFL and its fans are starting to catch up in the world of team-devoted blogs. To this end, Deadspin salutes these modem-addled souls and proudly presents Blogdom's Best, given to the most outstanding blog for each NFL ...

For The Cardinals Fan Who Has Everything
From online sports memorabilia site Lelands.com comes the perfect gift for anyone who just can't say goodbye to Busch Stadium....

Welcome Back To L.A.
Uh, if you're a Vikings, Chargers or Saints fan today, we'd suggest not getting too attached to your team. Yesterday, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced that the league and the city of Los Angeles had reached an agreement to bring a team back to So-Cal. The Coliseum will be the host for thi...

Lenny Dykstra, Cosmopolitan
We know we make fun of ESPN a lot here, and much of it is justified, of course, but we are nothing if not fair. The big investigative steroid story gracing the cover of ESPN: The Magazine this week is, for lack of a better word, outstanding. Legitimately all-encompassing, it's sober, smart and ful...

More Mock Press Conference Shenanigans
An alert reader clues us into some ESPN tech snafus last Sunday, the first day of the mock Steve Phillips press conference things....

OK, Seriously, Knock It Off You Guys
All right, we know we've mentioned this already, but we're still kind of obsessed with this daily SportsCenter feature of Steve Phillips "playing" the role of every team's GM. At first, we thought this was just going to be a Boston thing, playing with the Theo Epstein press conference last week. ...

Sean Salisbury Loves To Teach The Ladies Tricks
In his ESPN chat today, "analyst" Sean Salisbury "announced" the launch of his official Web site. We've been scanning it, and we're sad to say there isn't a single "Battlebots" reference. However: Salisbury does post a bizarre press release thing about some "seminar" on teaching women about footb...

Sure, Yeah, Critics, ESPN's Totally Listening
Maybe it's that ridiculous Steve Phillips mock press conference thing that "SportsCenter" is doing right now, but for whatever reason, there's all kinds of anti-ESPN invective out there today....

Last Day Of Busch
In about an hour and a half, at 4 p.m. ET, the first wrecking ball will hit Busch Stadium, smashing into Busch's southwest corner. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Its first victim will be a section of the ring of arches, the signature crown that made Busch instantly recognizable."...

The Sad Faces Of Buster Olney And Jeremy Schaap
For anyone who wondered just what sacrifices that legitimate journalists like Jeremy Schaap and Buster Olney have to suckle from ESPN's cash teat, look no further than this morning's "SportsCenter." In it, baseball analyst Steve Phillips answers mock questions in a mock press conference, pretendi...

NFL Roundup: Kicking T.O.
• We love pictures like this. Everyone, honestly, should have a kicker of their own to hug and cuddle. • We're not going to get too into this — because, of course, we're going to do our own whole post on the matter later today — but ESPN's coverage of Terrell Owens is bordering on stalking. ESPN's...