el Page 2180 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Happy Birthday, Tiger Woods!
Wherever you are. (He turns 34 today.) By the way, Elin's 30th is on Friday so I'm sure it will be a busy week down at the Windermere Zales. [Other Tiger tidbits @ LA Times/Sporting Blog]...

Mike Leach Situation Helpfully Summarized By Diss Track
Oh, good. Someone did that. "Singers" "KaiN" & "RyZe" (there aren't enough ironic quotes to adequately express my feelings here) have recorded their Team Leach version of "Cleaning Out My Closet," which makes it pretty clear that Craig James and his son are whiny sissy boys. A lot of it even rhymes!...

The Year In ... Telestrator Dong
Just like last year, we're counting showcasing the people, ideas and memes that made Deadspin 2009 shine. Today: Telestrator dong...

Tom Cable Did "Exceptional" Job Coaching Terrible Quarterbacks
The Raiders were this close to having an outstanding season. When I say "this close" imagine me holding a picture of JaMarcus Russell, because it was pretty much all his fault that they didn't. It sure wasn't Tom Cable's doing!...

Help Us Find The Least Necessary Holiday Sports Column
The week between Christmas and New Year's Day is tough for sports writers. (Just look at this site you're reading.) It's the time of the year when a desperate columnist will reach for just about anything to meet a deadline....

At A Junction: Mike Leach And The Fading Autonomy Of The Coach
So it appears that even the sharpest, most forward-thinking free radical in college football isn't any more evolved than Bear Bryant in the Texas hills. Mike Leach, for all his smarts, is on the wrong side of a movement now....

This Is Howie Ice Our Balls
During Fox's canned-laugh reach-a-around football pre-game show, a photo of a young Howie Long spread-legged with an ice pack appeared and gave Frank Caliendo some fresh material to butcher. More importantly, it got the boys at OutSports' attention....

Mike Leach Walks The Plank (MORE UPDATES)
Texas Tech has suspended its coach after receiving a "complaint from a player and his parents regarding [Leach's] treatment of the athlete after an injury." He won't coach in the Alamo Bowl. UPDATE: It's Craig James's kid. See below....

Leading The League In Cliché: A Treasury Of Peter King's Inane, Made-Up Statistical Categories
Drew recently brought your attention to Peter King's funny little tic of expressing abundance by saying something like, "[Person or Team X] leads the league in [Intangible Category Y]." Today? X=Steve Smith, Y=guts....

Erik Kuselias Would Like To Tweet You
Speaking of tweeting, the ESPN horndog of some note has joined Twitter, where, as you can see, he is being warmly welcomed. [@ESPNErik, @Will_ga]...

Pam Ward Is Frustrated With This Damn Injured Marshall Player
"Get him off the field, please..." she mutters. Then "Come on!" Pam Ward, ladies and gentleman. Don't let the sweet smile fool ya. She's all business. [YouTube]...

The Year In...Athlete Power Couples
Just like last year, we're showcasing the people, ideas and memes that made Deadspin 2009 shine. Today: Athlete Power Couples....

One Person You Meet On His High Horse
Mitch Albom weighs in on TMZ Sports and the good ol' days of sports journalism: "Maybe the old method wasn't telling the whole story. But at least we weren't manufacturing it." Isn't it pretty to think so? [Freep]...

The '72 Dolphins Win The Weekend
In sports, everyone is a winner—some people just win better than others. Like the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who stuck enough pins in enough voodoo dolls and got the 2009 Colts to commit consumer fraud on the football public....

What Do You Want to Bet He Climbed Down the Ladder First?
Just going to let the text speak for itself on this one. "Perched on the rafters of the Georgia Dome, ready to drop parachuting stuffed cows, Maggie Smyth's heart was racing." How to meet a wife, after the jump....

Pat Riley Preferred to Parcel Out Looks of Disdain
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra dubbed himself "Santa Spo" and "presented players with a vocabulary calendar and the book The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work and Team with Positive Energy." Merry ... Christmas? [Miami Herald]...

I Was There: Even The Losers Get Lucky Sometimes
There are plenty of decade retrospectives happening everywhere right now, but we'd also like you to participate. Tell us about the best game you've seen in person this decade with the tag #iwasthere. Mine: Patriots at Giants, Week 17!...

Last Night's Loser: Santa Stan Van Gundy
You know the NBA is pleased with its Christmas tradition when it earnestly compares Shaq and Kobe to Jimmy Stewart and Peter Billingsley. Casting Stan Van Gundy in the role of Scrooge was probably not part of the plan....

Snapped Femur? I Barely Even Know Her!
In memory of what once was Derrick Roland's intact leg, the Daily News presents us with a slideshow of Sports' Most Gruesome Injuries. (The final slide is captioned: "A shot of Evander, minus ear.") Fun for the whole family! [NYDN]...