m Page 6866 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

We Are More Depressing Than Baseball Prospectus
Casual / non-mathematical fans like to talk about how the guys at Baseball Prospectus are grumpy Guses, always spoiling their fandom with their "facts," "figures" and "logical, reasoned analysis." But the folks at Get Untracked have compared BP's season previews to Deadspin's baseball season preview...

Checking In On The Pants Party
On this tournament off-day, we thought we'd check in and see how our D—-spin Pants Party pool on ESPN was going....

'Oh, Messieur!'
Click to view Slalom Skier Nutshot - Click Here for more great videos and pictures!...

Blogdome: Bush Honoring Florida Again
• The Gators visit the White House. [Loser With Socks] • And, suddenly, Tim Floyd is a good coach again. [extrapolater] • What are Hawks fans supposed to be thinking now? [Sports Gone South] • The good folks at Ducksnorts have a book. [Ducksnorts] • A look at the letters in Josh Heytvelt's defense. ...

Baseball Season Preview: Houston Astros
You might remember, from back at the beginning of the NFL season, when we previewed each team by having a writer we liked write about their favorite team....

Simon Avoids The Hoosegow, And Other NHL True Crime Stories
Look, if your average office cubicle dweller went looking for trouble with a hockey stick down at Dunder-Mifflin, things would probably have turned out differently. Dwight taking a hack at Kevin's neck with a large, ax-shaped weapon most likely equals jail time. Chris Simon doing basically the same ...

The NFL Chases Down Itself
So here's a fun game. Last month, a Brooklyn law professor posted the NFL's "express written consent" copyright notice thing to YouTube. The NFL, being the NFL, asked YouTube to take it down, which is kind of funny, actually....

We Have To Ask ...
Suggested questions for today's ESPN SportsNation chatters ... • Noon. Baseball with Rob Neyer: David Wells' new nemesis: The big Kool-Aid pitcher? • 2 p.m. Pride's Bernie Mac: Well, that's it, America; I'm in a swimming movie. Pray for me. • 4 p.m. NCAA MBB w/Doug Gottlieb: Well, that Mr. Gottlieb ...

If You Can't Handle Eight Soccer Players, You Probably Shouldn't Run On The Pitch
If Hirshey had been on duty this week, he might have gotten into this, but for now, we'll just go with That's On Point's report on a fan rushing on the field to punch a Chelsea player during a Chelsea-Totteham soccer match this week. The fan makes it out for the fight, but, as you can tell from the ...

Xavier Fans Haven't Forgiven Greg Oden
If you were wondering whether or not Xavier fans had gotten over that whole Greg Oden pounding a guy to the floor business, the guy who runs the blog Free Xavier makes it clear that, uh, they're not....

Yo, Pass The Salt, Coach
Far be it from us to understate the importance of the NIT — no place is more dangerous than Crisler Arena in mid-March! — but during the Kansas State-DePaul game the other night, an injured Wildcat sat on the bench eating popcorn. Hey, nice seats if you can get 'em; pass my change back from the vend...

NBA Roundup: They'll Always Be The NOOCH To Us
Notes on Monday's games in the National Basketball Association ......

About Last Night ...
What you missed while finally giving into your cousins and getting a MySpace page... • College basketball: Orange you glad I didn't say banana? Syracuse marches on in NIT. • NHL: Jaromir Jagr, conquerer of Penguins. • NBA: Big win gives Atlanta Hawks pause to reflect. Let's listen in, shall we?...

Finally, A Use For A Vanderbilt Center
We're gonna end this lull day with an easy, not-all-that funny video involving Vanderbilt center Ted Skuchas in some mock instructional video they shot on campus or something. (We're gonna keep this page easy to load, because we hear there's a Up All Night! fantasy draft going on tonight.) We would ...

To Watch Tonight
What to watch while lamenting the passing of Crazy Ray ... • College basketball: MasterCard National Invitation Tournament, second-round games, Mississippi at Clemson; DePaul at Kansas State. Shouldn't there be another tournament for teams that didn't make the NIT? [ESPN] • College women's basketbal...

Calipari Is Already Out There Recruiting
You know, it's one thing when puppies lick out of water bowls on a football field. That's cute, because they're puppies, and they won't grow up to resent their parents....

Leftovers: Is There Insulin In MGD?
• David Wells has diabetes. [Rumors And Rants] • The biggest Dolphins fan died over the weekend. [SI.com] • The Rangers like to have fun with Gerard Laird. [Babes Love Baseball] • No, you see, this means there IS parity in college basketball. [Chicago Sports Review] • We won't be the same without To...

Nothing But Fleabags For You, No. 15 Seed!
There's a clear caste system in college basketball, and it appears it is set up entirely by where you are seeded. Just take a look at Southern Illinois; as a No. 11 seed a few years ago, they were shacked up in a moldy, rundown hotel. Now, as a No. 4 seed?...

And Then The Woodpeckers Arrived, And Suddenly It Was All Over
It's the story you've heard so many times before: Your local university wants to expand its athletic facilities, but construction is thwarted because there are naked people living in the trees. Cal's plan to cut down a grove of oak trees on campus to build a $125 million athletic training center has...

Bill Raftery And Verne Lundquist, Au Natural
Like most of you, we enjoyed the dulcet tones of Bill Raftery during the tournament this past weekend, and we can't wait for more of the "with the KISS!" this coming Sweet 16 slate. But those of you who braved the NCAA Tournament On Demand saw even more of Raftery, catching him and partner Verne Lun...