da Page 1244 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

It's Opening Day, Everybody!
Well, if you ignore last night's game — and we are — then it's now officially Opening Day. And there are all kinds of games today! Thirteen, to be exact, including four that start in about 15 minutes. We can't wait to fire up our Extra Innings and watch a full day of ... oh ... crap. Well, anyway, i...

An Opening Night Loss? No Problem!
On Faith And Fear In Flushing yesterday, Jason Fry wrote that the Opening Night game between the Cardinals and Mets at Busch Stadium last night was lose-lose for the Mets and win-win for the Cardinals. A Mets loss would remind of misery, and a win would just remind of what could have been; meanwhile...

Buckeyes Tend To Look Old
The man on the left, Ohio State head coach That Matta, is two years younger than the man on the right, Florida coach Billy Donovan. There must be something in the water in Columbus that ages people prematurely. At this time next year, Mike Conley Jr. is going to look like Laurence Fishburne....

One Of These Men Does Not Play Basketball
The guy in the middle sent this picture into us ... some of the Florida Gators were nice enough to pose for a shot with him at a TGI Friday's last June. It's weird that Taurean Green, Al Horford, and Corey Brewer all smile politely for the camera, while Joakim Noah stands there with no expression on...

The Final Four Open Thread
I'm afraid I won't be with you for tonight's basketball festivities — I decided to try actually watching a game without a keyboard in front of me. I don't know what that's going to be like, but I've heard it's wild....

David Justice Almost Killed Halle Berry
It's hard to imagine that the woman in that picture almost ended her life over a career .279 hitter. She says that's what happened, though. Halle Berry told Parade Magazine (the one that comes with your Sunday paper) that she tried to kill herself after her break-up with David Justice....

Cultural Oddsmaker: What'll Be The Next Disgusting Act During A Sporting Event?
AJ Daulerio's Cultural Oddsmaker runs every Friday. Email him to let him know what you think....

Your NL East "Preview"
We should probably warn you: The Phillies are one of those teams we pick to win the National League East a lot. If you haven't noticed, they haven't won the NL East in a long, long time. But we're gonna try again anyway....

Your AL West "Preview"
All right, last one of the day until tomorrow ... we think this is actually the easiest division to pick, which is why, obviously, we're going to have it entirely wrong....

NBA Roundup: Limping to Sixty
Notes on Wednesday's games in the National Basketball Association ......

There's More Than One Way To Skin A Softball Player
This, friends, is the College of Southern Idaho softball team and their VERY clever slogan this year. CSI — wee! — is a tiny junior college with an incredibly innovative way of promoting its players. They ask them if they're "shaven or unshaven."...

Tony Mandarich Demands That You Say Cheese
Wondering what Tony Mandarich has been been up to lately? We know you have. Well, thanks to the investigative work of Steroid Nation, we know: He's running his own photography business....

Nothing Better Than A Sports Dad
Sports dads creep us out, generally speaking, and yeah: Dads of world-class female athletes actually do creep us out more, whether that's fair or not. We have no children, but if we did, we think we would discourage them to play sports, or at least discouraging them to do so around us. We think, lik...

More Fun With Joakim Noah
Because Saturday's Final Four matchup between Florida and UCLA is a rematch of last year's national championship game, some bad blood is still stewing, or boiling, or whatever bad blood does, and UCLA fans are wanting revenge. And how does today fan fire himself for revenge? Funny PhotoShops!...

As Billy Donovan Turns ...
It has been a while since a sport's biggest stage has been overwhelmed with something as tedious as a potential coaching change. The most famous example, of course, was when Bill Parcells had his one foot out the door while supposedly preparing his New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. We never fe...

Your Long National Nightmare Is Over
Over the weekend, Pro Football Talk reported that everybody's favorite mathematician Joe Theismann was likely out as Monday Night Football "analyst," with his likely replacement being the infinitely superior Ron Jaworski. Today, The New York Times gets in on the act, confirming it with ESPN sources....

Hirshey: England, Or Israel?
David Hirshey writes regularly for Deadspin about soccer....

From A Rote Tourney Comes A Thrilling Final Four
Of all the little traditions of college basketball, our favorite might be the cutting down of the nets. It's something unique to the game of basketball; in other sports, it's the fans who cause the on-field destruction after a victory. (And we're damn good at it too.) We do always worry a little abo...

We've Got Our Four
I asked for a game that would be close at the end, and technically, I didn't really get it. Overtime, as it turned out, was a time for beating some Tarheel ass. Georgetown trailed the entire game, managed to tie it up on a late Jonathan Wallace three, and then Carolina just decided they didn't feel...

Wouldn't Be A Final Flour Without Florida
The wheels were very very slow to come off for Oregon. They fought and they battled, and they were in the game with under a minute left ... but it always sort of felt like a slow death march for the Ducks, as you knew that foul trouble and Florida's advantage in the paint would kill them at some poi...