espn Page 179 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Dick Vitale, Not Surprisingly, Can't Figure Out His Phone
It is perhaps not surprising that MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER Dick Vitale would have trouble using basic cellular technology, but it is surprising that Vitale might actually say something off-camera that could be construed as "controversial." Or, for that matter, that he would say anything; we always assum...

Chris Berman Will Touch Your Heart And Soul
Far be it from us to make fun of a guy for getting the backrub treatment from his hometown newspaper — it's the one place you're guaranteed good press — but we couldn't help but smile when came across Chris Berman, motivational speaker....

Tim Hardway Does Not Have A Hate Boner
Fascinating interview yesterday with the beautifully thighed Tim Hardaway and his "old pal" Scoop Jackson. Say what you will about Jackson, but this is one of those times when his friendliness with athletes works to his advantage; it's a wide-ranging, full-access interview that doesn't tip-toe aroun...

ESPN: We Pan The Crowd, You Decide
Look, according to union rules, technicians in the ESPN video truck get one 15-minute coffee break every two hours. So if you're the director, sometimes you need to delegate. "Go ahead and choose which section of the crowd to pan, Buzz. I'm finishing my danish." Or, you know, perhaps every fifth per...

Brent Musburger Will Kick Your Ass
A reader diddling around on the Toys R' Us Web site — don't ask — came across this lovely knick-knack: It's the official Brent Musburger action figure. Released in connection with Rocky II, this Brent is pumped up and ready to kick ass and drink some goddamn beer....

If The NBA All-Stars All Have Pink Eye This Week, You'll Know Why
In a roundup of odd and confusing photos from the NBA All-Star Game last weekend, Leave The Man Alone found this unfortunately closeup photo of Stuart Scott....

Remembering Hunter, Two Years Later
In a tribute post, Athletics Nation reminds us that it has been two years since Hunter S. Thompson killed himself. It seems strange now, with the littered landscape over there, that Hunter spent a considerable amount of time writing for Page 2; it's almost like a weird dream that didn't actually hap...

Goodbye, Playmaker
As The Mighty MJD mentioned yesterday, it's official: Michael Irvin is out at ESPN. We're not sure what more we can say about this; we're so sad to see him go, even if the beleaguered closed captioning typists over there don't feel the same way....

Requiem For The Playmaker
As you've probably heard by now — in fact, it's the reason you've been holding a candlelight vigil — Michael Irvin has been let go from ESPN. Perhaps surprisingly, It's not for any scandalous reasons... his contract was up, and ESPN opted not to renew it. The Playmaker's stay at ESPN, just like that...

ESPN Doesn't Want You To Know About The Five Young Women They Just Told You About
The Smoking Gun continues its public document assault on the sporting world today, releasing an ESPN motion calling for "a protective order" in its ongoing legal battle with Reynolds. What's that mean? It means that it doesn't want its next filing to the court to go public. They're bathing it in the...

Could We Be In Danger Of Losing Michael Irvin?
The New York Post, which is never ever wrong, tosses out some potentially fun Michael Irvin/ESPN gossip this morning....

Jay Mariotti Is Devoted To The Art Of Prose
So the other night, in a dark cold lonely room, Jay Mariotti sat alone, doing a little math. He realized that he was required to deliver a certain number of columns by the end of April and, lo, he had already put together the requisite amount. Therefore, even though the next three months include the...

Mike Golic Suffering From Peter Pan Salmonella
So here's something bizarre and sad. You know that salmonella outbreak that has been tied to Peter Pan peanut butter? (And, to a lesser extend, Wal-Mart's "Great Value" house brand?) It hasn't caused any deaths yet, but almost 300 people in 39 states have fallen ill from it....

No More "Conversation" On Page 2
As many of you noticed yesterday, our friends at ESPN.com have discontinued ESPN Conversation on its Page 2 columns. They're calling it the end of the "Beta" testing, though we're not sure how much sense that makes: Why would you test something on the most easily-commented upon stories just to push ...

Tim Hardaway, The ESPN Angle
With all the fun we're having Tim Hardaway today, a reader writes in and blames ESPN for the whole thing:...

When Death Will Be Merciful
If your excitement still hasn't died down from the 30,000th "SportsCenter" special earlier this week, you're in luck: Only four more years until SportsCenter 35,000!...

Stephen A. And The Gang Welcome True Hoop
We'd like to congratulate the great Henry Abbott and True Hoop for their absorption into the ESPN empire. True Hoop is one of our absolute favorite sites, and we have much faith that nothing over there will change, save for occasional references to CHEESY DOODLES....

Chris Berman Isn't Here To Talk About The Past
Clay Travis, one of the bright spots over at CBS Sportsline, once opined about the daily hell that "You're With Me, Leather" could potentially put Chris Berman through, but as far as we knew, no one had ever actually asked him about it in a public forum. That is, until this weekend, at the Pebble Be...

This Comment Has Not Been Rated
Perhaps in response to our curiosity as to why the word "gay" was being blocked from "ESPN Conversation" yesterday, the fine gents at Gelf Magazine called ESPN to find out what the deal was. It's clear they haven't quite worked all the kinks out of Conversation yet....

Jay Mariotti Can't Figure Out Why Everyone's So NEGATIVE
We enjoyed the countless emails we received yesterday informing us that "Around The Horn" host Tony Reali — an affable fellow whom we imagine being ultra intense about rec league softball, for some reason — yelled out "don't take my Deadspin away from me" at the end of the program yesterday. (Shocki...