ing Page 1630 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The Illini's Ridiculous, Plodding "Run"
Realize that we have seen our Illini do this before. In 1999, an 11th-seeded Illini team rode the hot hand of Cory Bradford to an amazing tourney championship game run, before collapsing, exhausted, to Michigan State (who eventually made the Final Four). That run was thrilling, breathtaking; it was...
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
1. Thank God We Don't Need a Shirt Solidarity Day. It is no secret that last fall Notre Dame football was pretty dismal. After an 0-3 start, I received the following email from Student Government:...
It's TV or Nerd SimCity, Your Choice
One wonders if Dungeons & Dragons creator Gary Gygax was a big sports guy — we're gonna assume "no" until his estate can prove otherwise — but even he would admit there's a hell of a lot of actual worthwhile games today. The Rockets try to continue their winning streak against the Lakers. The SEC ch...
And Now ... A Coach Reaction Montage
As Virginia Tech fell to North Carolina on the final shot, Dick Vitale declared "there should be an investigation" if Tech doesn't receive an at-large berth to the tournament, which does hold a modicum of truth. There are 65 invites, and with 12 ACC teams, that leaves 53 slots for the entire country...
To Watch Tonight
What to watch as I, for one, welcome our super sheep overlords ... • College basketball: Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinals, Charlotte, Duke vs. Georgia Tech (7 p.m., ET), Clemson vs. Boston College (9 p.m., ET) [ESPN2]; Big East Conference semifinals, New York, Georgetown vs. West Virginia (7 ...
Manning Vs. Brady, Round II
OK, I might see Tom Brady wearing Ermenegildo Zegna clothing, but Eli Manning, I don't think so. Isn't he more of a Miller's Outpost kind of guy? Anyway, they were both on hand for the big Zegna store opening in Manhattan on Thursday, or so we are led to believe. Mr. Manning here actually looks very...
Media Approval Ratings: Jim Nantz
We are coming up on the busiest month of Jim Nantz's life. He'll be broadcasting the Final Four, and then he'll head off to the event that he seems born to cover, the Masters. We sometimes think Jim Nantz is the living embodiment of the Masters. This is both a good thing and a bad thing....
About Last Night
What you missed while Kevin Johnson hoses out your room ... • College basketball: If you laid all of Stanford's big men end-to-end, well, that would look pretty comical, wouldn't it? Stanford 75, Arizona 64. • NBA: Why? Because I'm the Wiz, and nobody beats me! I'm the Wiz ... • NHL: Sens beat Habs ...
Steve Spurrier Enjoys Oats, Hay, Mounting Mares
For years, SEC opponents have been referring to South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier as a horse's ass. Now, once and for all, he is a horse. And he might just make the Kentucky Derby....
Live Blogs You'll Gleefully Skip: Illinois-Penn State
We know, we know: Nobody cares about a stupid liveblog of a pointless Big Ten tournament first round game. We're fully aware. As we mentioned yesterday, it's just, like, practice or something....
Media Approval Ratings: Al Michaels
Of all the brilliance of the great Berman videos, our third biggest thrill (behind the initial outrage and the deux deux deux) involves his rants about Al Michaels. As we said before, in this tiny little universe, Berman seems to see Michaels as Mozart, and himself as Salieri. Which is just sad....
Saying Goodbye To These Awful (And Unlucky) Illini
As part of our preparations for the lunacy that lands on our sports radars this Sunday, we've been digging around the irreplaceable Basketball Prospectus, trying to find those odd little tidbits on Oral Roberts and Siena. And we discovered something kind of amazing and oddly satisfying....
The Dangerous Life Of A Red Sox Beat Reporter
The Boston sports media, as able documented here regularly, is a sniping, insular, sometimes vindictive lot, not just to the players they cover, but often to themselves. It appears now, however, that the universe is striking back....
Media Approval Ratings: Joe Buck
After reading KSK's anonymous and almost certainly not true (but still quite entertaining) tale of Joe Buck rollicking out in Vegas, we figured this was as good a time as any to check in with the ominpresent Fox broadcaster....
Mitch Williams Supports Youth Athletics, Is Not At All Insane
Former Phillies reliever Mitch Williams has never been one to see an injustice go unchallenged, even if that does mean being unceremoniously tossed from his 10-year-old daughter's youth league basketball game for screaming the F-word several times at a female referee....
Media Approval Ratings: Bill Raftery
We think it's kind of amazing that ESPN has Bill Raftery working with Jay Bilas this week at the Big East tournament. That's not because we don't like either of them; far from it. It's just that Bilas, as a game broadcaster, seems to be doing a Bill Raftery impersonation. Which is fine, of course....
Media Approval Ratings: Tim Kurkjian
For the longest time, we thought the way Tim Kurkjian would pronounce his last name while signing off on ESPN telecasts was some sort of sonic illusion. "Tim KIRK ... (endless pause) ... JUN!, ESPN." We couldn't imagine he answered the phone like that at home....
Go From A 16 Seed To A No Seed
MVN Outsider points to a snippy (tee hee) promotion that ensures that if, you know, you're a fella who wants an excuse to watch the entire NCAA Tournament and also is interested in rendering himself sterile, you needn't wait until after the tourney....