e Page 8353 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The ABA Will Play You Anywhere, Anytime
We love the ABA. In case you weren't sure they were still around, the ABA is a fledgling pro hoops league, with 50 scattered teams with names like the Bellingham Slam, the Northeast Pennsylvania Breakers and, our favorite, the Reigning Knights of Georgia. The league is scrappy, goofy and even uses...

Blogdom's Best: Cincinnati Reds
More than any other sport, baseball lends itself to individual blog obsession. Every Major League Baseball team has several blogs obsessed with chronicling the ins-and-outs of everything. Deadspin salutes these modem-addled souls and proudly presents Blogdom's Best, given to the most outstanding b...

A-Rod Takes His Swings
So far, we've revealed that Cubs 2B Todd Walker is a strip club hound and that Braves closer Kyle Farnsworth likes him some booze. For the final of the three On the DL items revealed this week, we unveil the biggest name yet. First, the item:...

Combing Through Simmons Reviews
We are about a week and a half away from the release of Bill Simmons' Now I Can Die In Peace — that's an appended title; Bill can't even resist a lengthy footnote in his book's name — and most of the big periodical reviews aren't out yet. (Our Nexis isn't working right, so we can't check the publish...

The English Patient
Far be it from us to get all Alistair Cooke on you — we make mistakes too, after all — but it's time something was said. The English language is not a toy, and spell-check was invented for a reason. Yes, we're referring to you, MLB Blogs. And specifically to you, Matthew's Nation. A recent post: ...

Blogdome: This Is What It Sounds Like When Fish Cry
• Marlins bloggers officially throwing in the towel. [Fish Stripes] • Success turning Southern Cal football fans into as big a weirdos as Southern college football fans. [Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer] • What is happening with the English Premier League? [Off Wing Opinion] • Looks like every baseball ...

The NFL's Phantom $5 Million
From a reader, about our inabilities to give money to the NFL Katrina Relief telethon:...

Showing Love For Texas Tech (And Yourself)
Great, great link from The Mighty MJD this morning: At Texas Tech, whenever the Red Raiders do something great during a football game, a certain student fan is supposed to ring a bell on the sideline like a madman. We're not sure why ringing a bell gets fans excited, but we don't understand lots o...

We Have To Ask ...
Suggested questions for today's ESPN SportsNation chatters ... • Noon. NFL with Scouts, Inc.: Um, we heard that Tom Luginbill is your senior director of scouting. Can he get me a Los Angeles Xtreme jersey? We imagine he has plenty in his closet. • 1 p.m. Football with Mel Kiper: This is a two-part q...

Ryan Church, Theologian
Because we love baseball so much, we sometimes forget that the average athlete often lacks some basic education on fundamental issues. Take Ryan Church, Washington Nationals outfielder. As reported by The Washington Post — that is to say, he told this to a reporter — Church went to his team's chap...

Barry Bonds Ain't Got Nothin' To Lose
Barry Bonds is amazing. Just a couple of days ago, he said he planned on losing a little bit of weight in the offseason, which is kind of like Courtney Love saying, "hey, my behavior is going to be a little erratic in the next few months, but it has NOTHING to do with cocaine. So you know." And no...

About Last Night ...
What you missed while building a giant peanut out of thousands of regular peanuts ... • Monarchs win WNBA title! Whoa, calm down people of Sacramento! (Sound of crickets). • MLB: Ladies and gentlemen, your division-leading San Diego Padres. • MLB: Yankees beat Orioles, remain a half-game back in que...

Made A Mistake? Hey ... We'll Help With Katrina!
NASCAR just announced that the helmet racer Robby Gordon threw at Michael Waltrip's car last weekend — apparently Waltrip crashed his car or something — will be auctioned off to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. Of all the self-involved attempts by athlete to pump up the Q rating by pretending...

To Watch Tonight ...
What to watch as all your friends are our rocking, and, sadly, you realize that you are not... • MLB: Orioles at Yankees. "Aaron Small, Big Stein is counting on you. Costanza! Where's my calzone?" [YES Network] • MLB: Red Sox at Devil Rays. Boston a half-game ahead of Yankees — time for Schilling to...

Sporting News And Holiday Inn Combine To Keep "Finger On The Pulse"
When you're talking "Generation X" and you're talking "techno-savvy" and you're talking "buzz, baby" ... you're talking Holiday Inn and you're talking The Sporting News. (Ed. Note: The "Sporting" "News" was a magazine that your parents once read, back when people had to pedal their cars. Check tha...

Leftovers: Gumball Rally
• NASCAR hands out road rage fines, with option to go to traffic school. [Diecast Dude] • Patriots' Belichick goes completely nuts and demands video cameras everywhere. [AP] • Turns out soccer is boring — who knew? (Sorry.) Chelsea dragging down Premier League ticket sales. [Scotsman] • He waited an...

The Perils Of Athletic Transgendering
Ever wonder what the rules are for transgender athletes? Well, we didn't either, but hey, it's a slow news day: Slate has a helpful primer on transgender golfers. (Hey, shush you: Phil Mickelson doesn't count.) Apparently, you have to wait two years after your reassignment to compete professionall...

Donovan McNabb, White Quarterback
We're not Professional Sports Columnists, but we'd have to say, just to keep our noses clean, the last thing we'd mention when discussing Eagles QB Donovan McNabb would be race. We'd mention his hairline, his goatee, even his ridiculous commercials, but race? That's OK, thanks, we'll be over here ...

Why Your Hometown Columnist Sucks: Mitch Albom
To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld, your local sports columnist is like Larry of the Three Stooges: You don't really need him, but it wouldn't be the same without him. We always vow to use our powers for good, so we part the newsprint curtain each Tuesday and examines a different lousy local columnist. ...

The Greatest Team Name Of All Time
Sad day in the world of badminton: The New Zealand national badminton team has changed its name. What was it, you ask? Why, the New Zealand Black Cocks, of course....