ja Page 706 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Today in Oddjack
As the NBA season begins, we check in with Oddjack to see how that degenerate gambling community is hanging in ... • Everyone's loving the Spurs to repeat, but hey, how'd the Nets sneak up there? Are they in Brooklyn yet? • You know you're bored when you're actually betting on how many points Darko ...

Tracking Jay Mariotti's Herks And Jerks
One of our favorite things about the city of Chicago is that it still has two big, brassy, loud newspapers who love to snipe at each other. (And they're even just down the street from one another.) In one of those columns that make our lives worthwhile and meaningful, Chicago Tribune metro columni...

Today in Oddjack
What you're missing over at Oddjack, the site for both the discerning speculator and the degenerate gambler ... • A scientific study of the Ravens-Steelers matchup, with footnotes. • Which fast food joint will be the first to land LeBron James? We'd go with Taco Bell. • NFL fans surround Oddjack hea...

Today in Oddjack
Football Up Your Ass! is taking a week off at Oddjack, but there's still plenty of stuff to get ready for weekend time ... • Everything you could possibly ever think to wonder about the Breeder's Cup tomorrow. • You should be very happy if you're a fan of the Georgia Bulldogs. • Vote for the most te...

Bob Broeg, R.I.P.
If you'll indulge us a little here, we have to comment on the passing of longtime St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Bob Broeg. He covered St. Louis sports — and, of course, the Cardinals — for 60 years, starting out as the beat reporter for the St. Louis Browns. He wrote more than 20 books about St. ...

What Marcellus Wiley Has In Different Area Codes
We could play with the NFL Wives Yahoo Group all day, honestly. It's basically just women emailing the group about certain players they find attractive, to find out whether they're available, whether they sleep around, so on. (Clinton Portis is a fave of the site.)...

Vote: First Gay Athlete To Come Out?
All right, we promised you a poll, and here's your poll, our first ever on Deadspin. The question: Who's the most likely athlete to come out of the closet first, based off Oddjack's Cultural Oddsmaker, which laid down the odds on five most likely suspects to be the first "out" athlete....

Today in Oddjack
Here's the seedy underbelly of sports, uncovered by the big dogs at Oddjack ... • As long as his linemen aren't carrying him down the field, Byron Leftwich could be fantasy football gold. • The handicappers dig deep into the psyche of horses and find out that they all have long faces. Awww. • It's n...

Stat Nerds Now Overtaking The Government
We know we re going all financial on you today over here, but here s something interesting: The new chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, appointed by President Bush, is a, of all things, sabermatrician. Yep: He s a Bill James cultist....

The Cavs' Super Secret Club (No Girls Allowed!)
Free Darko has a find that's making us giggle like an idiot: Apparently, Cleveland Cavaliers stars LeBron James, Larry Hughes and Damon Jones (known around here as "two-and-a-half men") have come up with a "secret handshake that involves two low-fives, then a wave, then posing with their arms cros...

Blogdom's Best: Jacksonville Jaguars
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 ...

Today in Oddjack
What you're missing over at Oddjack, the site for both the discerning speculator and the degenerate gambler ... • Can Roy Oswalt save the Astros? A roundtable discussion. • Dress like an NBA star, end up with your house being destroyed by a hurricane. We're pretty sure that's the gist of what this g...

Recruiting Wars Are Always Ugly
We'll confess, the whole notion of recruiting in college athletics leaves us queasy, and we're even more weirded out by fans who are unnaturally obsessed with it. There are countless "recruiting expert" sites that, when you really break it down, essentially make a living by looking at 16-year-old ...

Oddjack: Guaranteed Winners Or Your "Money" Back
If it's Friday, that means it's Football Up Your Ass! at Oddjack. Here's a look at Oddjack's best picks. GUARANTEED WINNERS* for the upcoming football weekend. • Vegas has gone insane, and so can you — the pick is the Dolphins minus-1 over the Chiefs. • It's Virginia vs. North Carolina , pick, and y...

Next Thing You Know, They'll Ban Chaps
We have another victim of the NBA's dress code, a guy whose personal style has been as unique as it has been personalized. The guy is sighing and obliging to David Stern's wishes, losing a little part of himself in the process, taking away his personal code and culture in the name of pleasing corp...

We Have To Ask ...
Suggested questions for today's ESPN SportsNation chatters ... • 11 a.m. Columnist Scoop Jackson: You ran for President twice, and now most recently have written a book about shoes. How the mighty have fallen. Wait, was that you? • 2 p.m. Boxing with Dan Rafael: We've got the script for Rocky VI, an...

Today In Oddjack
Hey, look at all the stuff Oddjack has. Cool. • More details on the depths of Michael Jordan's gambling addiction. • One week until the Breeder's Cup, when the earth shakes on its axis. • How long will the Colts' and Texans' zeros remains zeros?...

Today In Oddjack
What you're missing over at Oddjack, the site for bot the discerning speculator and the degenerate gambler ... • The smart money seems to be flowing toward Roy Oswalt and the Astros tonight. That's making Albert Pujols very mad — and you don't want to make him mad. • It's Troy vs. Florida Internatio...

Zoot Suitin' Boogie
All right, we've avoided this long enough: We now have to acknowledge this whole NBA dress code thing. What sparked us into action? Why, Mark Cuban, of course, who addresses the "controversy on his blog. His take: It's a matter of owners not knowing how to relate to their players, which is a shock...

Plummer Asks The World, "Who Wants Some?"
Ah, Jake Plummer. Whether it's the mustache, the tendency to occassionally throw the ball with his left hand or his odd or his admirable but oddly hesistant anti-war views, you can always count on Jake Plummer to entertain. This week: A feud with a local columnist over his cheerleader girlfriend....