i Page 8132 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Semifinal Preview, Deadspin Reader Style
Hey, many many thanks to all those who sent in their thoughts on the World Cup semifinals, to which Spain is not invited. Here are some of the finer selections....

Departure Of Arena Football Set To Cripple NBC
It's a day we've all been dreading. The Arena Football League's deal with NBC has expired, and NBC has opted not to renew it. I know, I'm as upset about it as you are. We shared so much this season through the ups and downs of the Arena League. It brought us all closer together....

Sucking Some Of The Suspense Out Of The All-Star Selections
Some fantastic work is being done by the fellas at High and Tight. They've been keeping an eye on shop.mlb.com, because they have a tendency to foreshadow things a little bit with their jersey sales. And on the page where you can buy an unsightly home-run derby jersey, they have listed as availabl...

For Your Sunday Afternoon Viewing Pleasure...
12:30, Speed. Auto Racing. Formula One Racing United States Grand Prix. I don't know what it is that makes all these Prixs so damn Grand. 1:00, TBS. MLB. Orioles @ Braves. Someday, I'm going to buy a TV network and show my favorite team's games all the time. 1:00, ESPM. Golf. Trump Million Dollar ...

About Last Night...
• MLB: White Sox 8, Cubs 6. A.J. Pierzynski hit a 3-run home run to win it for the White Sox, but then the Cubs fans pelted the field with garbage, so that'll teach him to never do it again....

Dirk To Cuban: Pipe Down, Sparky
Dirk Nowitzki is taking his leadership role on the Dallas Mavericks seriously. He's not calling out another player, he's not even calling out a coach. He's got issues with team owner Mark Cuban. From an article in the Dallas Morning News, here's Dirk on Cuban's courtside behavior:...

To Watch Tonight...
• MLB. Baltimore Orioles @ Atlanta Braves. Leo Mazzone must be all torn up inside. 7:00, TBS. • NASCAR. Nextel Cup, Pepsi 400. Restrictor plates, baby. They should have Frank the Tank come take those off. 7:30, Fox. • Basketball (well, kinda). City Slam, New York Regional. You know, just in case you...

Cycling To Kill Time Between Doping Scandals
The Tour de France is underway, despite the fact that four of last year's top five finishers have been banned from the competition for being dirty, dirty, dopers. Meanwhile, the other one of the five is currently cruising through Iowa. I'm not sure if it's possible to dope on corn....

LeftoverDome...
Since I merge the Blogdome and Leftovers into one happy little post on the weekends, I thought it should have it's own name. See what I did there? I merged the name, too....

France Continues Ownership Of Brazil
Brazil has capped a tournament full of uninspiring play with more of the same, but this time, they weren't able to get away with it. A peaking-at-the-right-time French squad got a goal from Thierry Henry, slotting home a free kick from the man of the match, Zinedine Zidane. Zidane was brilliant al...

Charlie Villanueva Finds A New Home
In need of a point guard, and realizing that free agents flock to Toronto like women flock to bloggers, the Raptors acquired a point guard in a trade last night. T.J. Ford heads north of the border, and Charlie Villanueva goes back the other way to play alongside Andrew Bogut in Milwaukee....

Nadal Shows Agassi The Wimbledon Exits
In 1987, Andre Agassi lost his first match at Wimbledon in straight sets, and that is exactly how he lost his last one. Rafael Nadal took him out this morning, unmercifully hammering the old man, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 6-4....

Yeah, Thierry Henry Is France's Problem
If you're planning on watching the Brazil/France match later on today, you may notice that France doesn't suit up a lot of white guys. Of the 23-man roster, 16 of them are something other than white....

God Refuses To Save The Queen
...but Portuguese goalie Ricardo saved just about everything. God left the queen hanging out to dry on penalty kicks, after 120 minutes of scoreless play. Penalties were 3-1 in favor of Portugal, and they'll be advancing to face the winner of Brazil/France in the semifinals....

For Your Saturday Afternoon Viewing Pleasure...
1:00, Lifetime. Movie. A League Of Their Own. Just in case you can't wait for Rosie O'Donnell to take her place on The View. 1:00, Speed. Auto Racing. Formula One Racing United States Grand Prix Qualifying. If you don't watch the qualifying, tomorrow's big race won't mean anything to you. 1:00, Fox ...

About Last Night...
• MLB: Red Sox 2, Marlins 5. What's it take to cool off the red hot Red Sox? The Marlins, that's what! Well, Dontrelle Willis, anyway....

Week In Deadspin: Pulling For Peter
• Get well soon, Mr. Gammons. • There will never be another tirade like Joe Mikulik's, ever. • Louis Gossett Jr., college basketball superhero. • Michael Strahan is not gay, but he's still a big dope. • David Hirshey is everywhere. • We'd love to see more sportswriters get in fights. • Let's try t...

To Watch Tonight
What to watch after you discover that the latest Bin Laden tape has no DVD Easter Eggs ... • Boxing: Light welterweights, Juan Urango vs. Naoufel Ben Rabah, at Hollywood, Fla. Or, why not rent the movie Hard Times instead?[ESPN2] • MLB: Baltimore at Atlanta. The Braves' comeback starts ... now! OK ....

Some Things You See That You Can't Unsee
We've already mentioned the peculiarity of Bob Uecker having an obsessed stalker, and yesterday the woman, Ann Ladd, was ordered to stay 1,000 feet away from the Brewers broadcaster at all times. (Which means she can actually sit in the front row. Ahem.) Ladd will also not be allowed to attend any B...

Leftovers: Mariotti Continues To Not Do Himself Favors
• Jay Mariotti tells his tale of woe and bats up his arse sideways. [Chicago Reader] • Big Tour de France dopey scandal grips ... well, some French people, we guess. [Cycling News] • Lamar Odom's son dies in his crib. [Los Angeles Times] • We couldn't possibly be happier that The Mighty MJD has deci...