league Page 338 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Waitress Says Minor Leaguer Groped Her, Actually Said "Do You Know Who I Am? I Play For The ValleyCats"
Right, maybe we have glorified athletes too much in this country when a Short-Season A ballplayer feels empowered enough to pull the old "Do you know who am?" That's what one member of the Tri-City ValleyCats (a Houston Astros affiliate) allegedly told a waitress after grabbing her chest and behind ...

Are Things Going Any Better For John Henry Over At Liverpool?
It's been almost exactly one year since Henry's Fenway Sports Group purchased Liverpool, so to mark the occasion, Henry agreed to a rare lengthy interview with the Guardian. Both parts are well worth your time, but let's draw out the interesting stuff....

The Tobacco Farmer With The "Ol' Soupbone" And The Baseball Achievement That Will Last Forever
SI's Chris Ballard and Kotaku's Owen Good have teamed up to tell the story of minor-league pitcher Jack Swift, whose last-chance season and remarkable feats from 60 years ago are only now becoming known. You should go read it. [Sports Illustrated]...

Starting In The Basement: A Day At Open Tryouts For The NBA's D-League
One of the first things that Jay Larranaga, head coach of the Erie Bayhawks, tells the 35 players who have paid $150 apiece to possibly have a shot at maybe earning a spot on his NBA Development League team, is that they are not really talented. Well, he doesn't say it exactly like that. But everyon...

Carlos Tevez Refused To Play In Manchester City's Champions League Match Today
Said Manchester City Coach Roberto Mancini after former team captain Carlos Tevez opted against heading into today's UEFA Champions League match against Bayern Munich, "For me, he's finished. I cannot go on with him. If I decide these things then he's finished. I have helped him and now he's refus...

Somebody Stole A Minor-League Baseball Mascot's Head And That Makes People Sad
"'Stomper' the bear disappeared from All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon [Ohio] sometime last month. With eight games left to go in the season, fans immediately took notice. 'He's a little overweight and that keeps him warm in the winters. He's fun-loving and loves to dance,' said Crushers V.P. Dan He...

Jozy Altidore Scored A Nice Goal In His UEFA Europa League Match Today
UEFA's version of the NIT hoops tournament commenced today with 24 Europa League matches. Proud American striker Jozy Altidore provided the first of four goals that AZ Alkmaar would put up on Malmö FF....

Alexandre Pato And Leo Messi Create Some Great Goals As AC Milan And Barcelona Kick Off The Champions League Season
Cracker of a match yesterday between AC Milan and Barcelona. Alexandre Pato turned on some otherworldly speed to score for MIlan just 24 seconds after kickoff (above). Then it was Leo Messi's turn (below, with other highlights). How Messi gets in that centering pass to Pedro for the Barcelona equa...

Eric Bledsoe Can Fly
Here's a final look at last night's Goodman-Melo game—we posted highlights earlier today—from photographer Colin A.J. Murphy for Voice Media. You can see the full photo here....

Watch Highlights From A Summer-League Game In Which LeBron And Durant Do A Lot Of Dunking
The Goodman and Melo league teams played in front of about 5,000 people at Morgan State University in Baltimore last night. Carmelo Anthony had recruited LeBron James and Chris Paul to join the Baltimore side, which means that this game was much more Kevin Durant vs. King James than it was D.C. vs...

Brave TV Reporter Gets A Mouthful Of Sewage-Seasoned Sea Foam To Seize The Big Story
Your morning roundup for Aug. 28, the day we give a shout out to aquatic fleas. Got any stories or photos for us? Tip your editors. (Want more Tucker Barnes? Here.)...

Mexico Rides Strong Pitching To The Top Of Our Unnecessarily Abstruse Little League World Series Power Rankings
Welcome to the second installment of DRURY, our exclusive Little League World Series power ranking and prediction engine. Yesterday's edition was postponed due to the earthquake and lack of interest. The ranking is a composite of the teams' box score statistics and schedule strength—see the original...

Samir Nasri Will Not Score Until April
City closed the deal with their 40 million dollar man today, and to celebrate, they had EA Sports put together an image of Nasri scoring his first goal, using the upcoming FIFA 12. Nasri appears to have slipped past Vidic and a very out-of-position Rooney, and City fans probably cannot wait for this...

Samuel Eto'o Will Leave Inter Milan For Obscure Russian Club (And Billions Of Rubles)
Samuel Eto'o, the 30-year-old Cameroonian soccer player, is leaving the glitz and prestige of Serie A's Inter Milan to play "for an obscure club in the violence-wracked Caucasus region of Dagestan, Russia." From Milan, one of the world's fashion capitals, to Dagestan: the land of the mountains. This...

Brought To You By The Network That Televises The Little League World Series
It's Aug. 24, the day we were too busy to run for mayor of Wasilla. Click the photo to enlarge. If that doesn't work, click here. Got any stories or photos for us? Tip your editors. ...

The Newark Bears Will Celebrate Jim Leyritz Night With A $2,000 M.A.D.D. Donation And A Beer Pong Tournament
Even without mixed drinks, it sends mixed signals. A year ago, Leyritz was found innocent of felony manslaughter, but guilty of DUI in a 2007 crash....

Sabermetrix Are For Kids: Introducing Our Little League World Series Power Ranking And Prediction Engine
We're a few days into the Little League World Series, which means it's time to unveil our system for evaluating the teams: DRURY, or Determination of Robustness of Undoubtedly Rambunctious Youths. It takes box score statistics from every game, converts them into a composite runs scored and allowed p...

Ball Bounces Off Centerfielder's Glove, Then His Head, Then He Catches It And Starts A Triple Play
Omaha Storm Chasers vs. Nashville Sounds, yesterday. Triple-A-y baseball even by Triple-A baseball standards. We'll set the scene for you: men on first and second, no one out, Clint Robinson up for Omaha. Logan Schafer is in center field....

Pennsylvania Catcher's Unzipped Fly Reminds Us That, Yes, These Are 12-Year-Olds Playing Baseball On ESPN
Your morning roundup for August 21, the day you poor suckers got all the RC Cola you wanted. Photo via tipster Connor....

For Trivia-Contest Purposes, It's Best To Remember Seattle Isn't In California
During last night's Syracuse Chiefs 5-2 victory over the Gwinnett Braves, two fans vied to win a foam finger in a "Smarter Than An Intern" trivia contest. The secret question (paraphrased): Name the 13 professional sports franchises in California. With the eighth pick, one competitor chose the Sea...