ill Page 701 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Reggie Miller, Pacers Propagandist
Like us, the kids at YAYSports! watched that Pacers-Cavaliers last night and were pretty astounded at just how awful Reggie Miller was as a broadcaster. YAYSports! takes this to its logical conclusion and imagines how Miller — an unabashed homer for the Pacers — might cover events on other channe...

Athlete Run-Ins: Cleaning Up Bonds' Mess
For today's final athlete run-in story, we meet former All-Star — and "RBI Baseball" all-world star — Will Clark, who has always been one of our favorites since going crazy for the Cardinals a few years ago and then flat retiring. This one's from Peter in Denver ......

I - L - L !!!!!!!
We know some of those early-season tournaments have been going on all week, but as far as we're concerned, the college basketball season actually starts tonight: Our beloved, "Paint The Hall Orange" Illinois Fighting Illini tip off against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits — because nothing says...

Blogdome: Sympathy For Miamity
• Man, it's only been a day, and that whole Miami rap song thing seems like ages ago. [The Mighty MJD] • The continued woe of being a Toronto Raptors fan. [J.E. Skeets] • Hey, look, it's a lady golfers' fight! [Off Wing Opinion] • Doesn't it seem like there's a lot of athlete fights going on right n...

Athlete Run-Ins: When Shaq Wants Your Girl
Continuing our string of great athlete run-ins — and by the way, just because the book contest is over doesn't mean we still don't want your stories; send yours to [email protected] — is this tale from "Dan from New York." It's too long to fit in one little post — it's too long for a newspaper to ...

Blogdom's Best: Buffalo Bills
It might not — yet — have the online fanaticism and cachet of baseball, but the NFL and its fans are starting to catch up in the world of team-devoted blogs. To this end, Deadspin salutes these modem-addled souls and proudly presents Blogdom's Best, given to the most outstanding blog for each NFL ...

Buster Olney Responds: "I Like My Job, Thank You"
One of the things we love about Mr. Irrelevant and his gang at AOL Sports Bloggers Live is that they're fun enough to pounce on the real sports stories yet clean and well-shaven (and AOL-affiliated) enough to bring in big-name guests that we don't have (or, more accurately, have little desire to ...

Mark Cuban's Crush On Ayn Rand
In a new story as part of "college week" on Slate.com, various "famous people" talk about the books they read in college that made a huge difference in their lives. 40 Year Old Virgin writer and director Judd Apatow says A Death In The Family. Chris Matthews says A Thousand Days. Bill Simmons even...

Peter King, Hello!
We have always liked Sports Illustrated's Peter King, up until a couple of years ago, at least. He was plugged in, incredible for information, and had that everyman quality we Web people enjoy. But — and maybe because he's gotten all thin now, or maybe it's the breakneck schedule he keeps — he is ...

Leaks: Pujols Wins MVP, Finally
Well, today's the day they announced the National League MVP, and you can probably guess which way we're rooting. (We'll give you a hint; it's not the Cub. Or the guy from that Southern team that has no fans.) The vote is expected to be close, but, according to unfortunately named Cardinals blogge...

"We Know This Is Off The Subject A Bit, But How Much Do You Think We Could Bench?"
We don't know if Bills fan Nate Neubauer of Lancaster, N.Y., has seen the brilliant Best In Show, but we certainly hope so....

Last Call For Athlete Run-In Stories
We'll be picking our winners in our athlete run-in stories contest, where the best athlete run-in stories win a free copy of The Education Of A Coach, the new David Halberstam about Patriots coach Bill Belichick....

Oskee-Wow-Wow
We are honored — since we've mentioned it only sparingly, though expect that to change as college hoops gets going — that so many of you have noted that we are proud graduates of the University of Illinois and have asked our opinion of the NCAA ruling that the Chief Illiniwek nickname and "symbol"...

Saying A Sad Goodbye To Mock Press Conferences
Well, tonight's the final night for those brilliant and universally lauded Steve Phillips mock press conferences on ESPN, and we think it's important that the lunacy of the feature not be forgotten by time. Phillips — whom we don't mean to destroy here; he comes across sympathetic and intelligent...

Mark Cuban Could Kick Any Writer's Ass
Well, Deadspin readers have spoken, and after about 20 hours of voting, it wasn't particularly close: You say Mark Cuban would kick Bill Simmons' ass....

Your Token "Sweep The Leg, Johnny" Reference
One of our favorite Doug Flutie stories was when then-Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson, trying to motivate his team for an upcoming game against the Bills, destroyed a box of Flutie Flakes in front of his team. When Flutie heard about the incident, his face fell. "That cereal is to benefit autism rese...

Vote: Simmons Vs. Cuban. Who Wins?
If you haven't seen it yet, we highly recommend you check out Our Boy Bill Simmons' newest "Curious Guy" entry, which is a discussion with none other than ... Mark Cuban! Yes! We're living in a happy place right now, friends....

More Mock Press Conference Shenanigans
An alert reader clues us into some ESPN tech snafus last Sunday, the first day of the mock Steve Phillips press conference things....

Leftovers: No Mas
• Injury forces WBC champ Klitschko to retire, HBO to air 4 extra hours of "Six Feet Under." [Flying Ass Monkey] Bill Simmons profiled in the Baltimore Sun. Good: All kinds of hints that he'll leave ESPN someday. Bad: The author keeps calling him a "blogger." Ugly: Compared to both Hunter S. Thompso...

Tell Us Your Best Athlete Run-Ins, And Win A Book!
Hey, look, it's the first-ever Deadspin contest. The fine folks at Hyperion Books just shipped a big stack of copies of David Halberstam's new book The Education Of A Coach to Deadspin World Headquarters, and we're here to give them away. We've read the book and think it's really good, actually, eve...