ill Page 670 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Media Approval Ratings: Bill Walton
It is easy to forget sometimes that Bill Walton used to stutter. Remembering that little factoid makes his signature BOLD PROCLAMATIONS a little easier to handle; he wouldn't be Bill Walton if he didn't sound uncertain....

Celtics Fans Are No Longer Hitler Sympathizers
The first line of Jemele HIll's ESPN.com article showed promise: "I thought it wouldn't bother me. I thought I would be OK. Turns out, I was as wrong as Skip Bayless." But somewhere down the line, she lost her way. A reader tipped us off that in Hill's anti-Celtics screed, she used a line that liken...

A Pox, Ye Shall Receive Twenty Lashes
So you know what's a good baseball score? 6-4. Everyone scores a little, the game's close, and even with a runner on in the 9th, there's always a chance this beaut could be tied up. Know what's a bad score? 20-2. Those are the scores that make the casual fan cringe. Boy am I glad that's not my team....

Canada Would Like You To Keep Your NFL To Yourself, Thank You
This handsome, strapping young gentleperson is Canadian Senator James Campbell. He's for the legalization of marijuana — obviously; come on, look at him! — and is known as a bit of a nationalist. How much so? He says the NFL should be banned from Canada because it threatens the CFL....

Mike Tyson's Rub Out
Mike Tyson is one of those rare breeds who, whatever kind of trouble they get into or bizarre allegation they have thrown at them, it's never surprising. (Ed. Note: Doesn't Simmons have a theory about this?) The latest one proves it; any other famous person on the planet accused of financing a hit...

Bill Conlin's Sensitivity Once Again Called Into Question
Bill Conlin, Philadelphia Daily News columnist, surf enthusiast, and, well, Deadspin contributor, has been suspended from his television stint on Philly Comcast's Daily News Live show (pretty much Philly's version of ESPN) pending further review, after he made some comments on air that some viewers ...

Rick Reilly Continues To Not Think Too Highly Of That Billy Simmons Kid
The roiling tensions between Bill Simmons and newly-acquired superstar Rick Reilly had seemed to be more media created than anything else, but more and more it appears the two just absolutely despise each other....

The Sudden Plummet Of Dontrelle Willis
Seriously, what in the world has happened to Dontrelle Willis? The guy used to be the next great face of baseball, a smiling, lovable African American in a sport that desperately needs more, with a whirly-gig windup and a youthful vigor for the game we hadn't seen since Griffey. And now ... he's pit...

Pat Tillman's Mom Is Not Happy With The NFL
Like some of you I suspect, I hadn't read Dave Zirin's great Mary Tillman interview over at his blog, Edge of Sports, when it came out last week. But now he's adapted it as an opinion piece for the Los Angeles Times, and I highly recommend taking the time to give them both a look. In it, Mary Tillma...

Bill Simmons Still Comfortable With Rick Reilly Hanging Around
All the sports news came from Boston last night, so hey: Why not keep piling on and play with some sports media news from Boston too? How could one ever get tired of Boston, right? Right? Who's with us?...

The Law Finally Catches Up With The Cruzin Cooler
You may think that this is a free nation; where a man can enjoy a full day of holiday drinking and then drive home peacefully on his motorized cooler without being harrassed by the authorities. But you'd be wrong. A Whitehall, N.Y. man found that out on Memorial Day when he was pulled over while dri...

Welcome To Internet Land, Mr. Reilly
Well, everybody's favorite paid-more-than-a-middle-infielder columnist made his debut today, and it's a nice little column ... about Rick Reilly. As far as Look, ESPN Readers, I'm Here! columns go, it's a step above Jemele Hill's — whom we still like — and a few steps behind Simmons' epic "Is Roger ...

Chase Utley Is The Most Interesting Man In The World
Chase Utley is lighter than air, can charm the birds out of the trees and never forgets your birthday. His blood smells like cologne. He also makes diving, backhanded catches, has hit 21 home runs, will run into the catcher full tilt and is not opposed to bunting his way on base. On Monday, his hero...

Never Underestimate The Sex Appeal Of A Phillies' Fan Sidewalk-Napping In Her Own Chunk
This brilliantly disturbing photo (no, she's not dead, just sleepy) was captured last week by the ribald red-hatted rebel rousers who call themselves The Fightins.. No, it's not uncommon to find Phillies fans grossly intoxicated and laid out on the ground, but it is a wonder how this poor girl act...

Jimmy Rollins Is Recognizable
The Gray Lady has an amusing piece today limning a day in the life of the slavering subhuman horde that is the habitual autograph hound. The column tags them as "Sharpie-wielding stalkers," which might be a terrible slight to stalkers everywhere. I mean, at least most stalkers know who they're purs...

Bill Simmons Puts On His Defeatist Hat
Oftentimes, Boston sports fans cringe when people uphold former Boston Sports Guy and current L.A. resident Bill Simmons' ramblings as a representative of their thoughts as a whole. And that's even when he thinks Boston teams are doing well. Some of them are taking added umbrage with Simmons' most ...

Darrent Williams' Family Gets A Miracle
The Darrent Williams murder appeared to be one that would go unsolved, wrapped up in the politics of gang warfare with witnesses keeping the most crucial of evidence to themselves for fear of retaliation. Although police had plenty of suspects, including the pissed off gang members who were at the c...

Prepare For Rick Reilly's Debut On ESPN
Rick Reilly might not like bloggers, but if you have a problem with that, you better get over it. Because his contract with ESPN begins next week....

The (Bleep) Pot Is Boiling Over In Kansas City. (Bleep)
Speaking just for myself, I think it's refreshing that we have a profanity-laced, post-game tirade by someone named Guillen whose first name is not Ozzie. Meet José Guillen, the Royals outfielder who lit into teammates on Wednesday following their 9-8, 10-inning loss to the Twins, which ran Kansas C...
