mbl Page 97 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Did We Check The Birdbath? No? Then We Must Go Back There
Last night on NFL Live, ESPN seemed to really drive home the point that federal authorities scoured Michael Vick's property a second time, looking for evidence pertaining to that dogfighting investigation. In fact they brought in five — FIVE — humanoids with microphones to discuss it: on-the-scene ...

I Say, Jolly Good Performance By Venus Williams
Contrary to popular belief, Venus Williams is still playing tennis. (Kind of like when I saw Paul Shuey pitching for the Orioles last night. In fact, it's EXACTLY the same thing.) She made the Wimbledon final against Marion Bartoli, a tennis player you may remember hearing about first in this senten...

Hey, Wimbledon's Going On, We Guess
Every year, when Wimbledon comes around, we wonder who, exactly, is sitting around in America and watching these matches all day. They go on all day in the middle of the most gorgeous time of the year; because it's in England, we always assume everyone has to use their rackets on their opposite hand...

Wimbledon, The Miming, Fake, Virtual Way
Perhaps you've been checking out what's going on at Wimbledon today. Perhaps. But if that's not quite rankling your fancy — a term we just invented — you can take solace in the virtual world. Over the weekend, the first ever Wii Wimbledon tournament was held at Barcade, a video game type bar in Wil...

Dave Trembley Already Making Friends
We don't want to say that Baltimore interim manager Dave Trembley should perhaps rent, not buy, but ... well, it's probably a bad sign when you've had to make one real decision as manager, and your decision already has everyone wanting to fire you....

When Every Match Is A Friendly
We don't claim to know a lot about soccer,* but we believe that the Romanians are really on to something here. Hoping to stamp out hooliganism at his matches, Steaua Bucharest owner Gigi Becali will from now on play only religious music at the team's home stadium. But that's not all....

A Brief History Of Sportswriter Gambling
The ombudsman over at The Washington Post is appalled to learn that Post writers have been gambling on The Masters, saying, "maybe the Masters bets next year should be in Oreos, not cash," which, if you've looked at the people covering The Masters lately, is probably what they're spending their mone...

RIP, Eddie Robinson
Legendary college football coach Eddie Robinson died last night at the age of 88. Robinson was the all-time winningest Division I coach, but he's more famous and beloved for what he did for his players through the years at the traditionally black Louisiana college. (When he was hired in 1941, the sc...

That's Not Quite What Pete Said, Actually
With all the hullabaloo around Pete Rose's "admission" yesterday that he "bet on the Reds every night" — a story so overblown that even Katie Couric was talking about it, chatting with beer pong specialist Armen Keteyian — Keith Olbermann, who did the Rose interview along with Dan Patrick on ESPN Ra...

Charles Barkley Will Split Those Nines And You Cannot Stop Him
We imagine that a night of gambling with Charles Barkley must be a lot like the scene in Casino where Nicky Santoro is losing at blackjack; very little tipping, and at some point Don Rickles ends up being savagely pummeled. Sunday was an exception though, as Barkley announced that he won $700,000 in...

Fortunately, No Sports Fans Actually Gamble On The Games
Good news, everybody! You may soon be free to fritter away your child's college education on something even more completely useless than online gambling. You know ... like college!...

Hugh Johnson Project - Update 1
• You know what I hate? "Oooo-EEE! Spendin' limit? Who cares? Not us, cuz them ain't our currrr-edit cards." That's what I hate....

Hit One in the Handicap Section
So, the odds on the Home Run Derby have been released by venerable betting gurus Covers. Favorites for the derby include Fightin's swatting sensation Ryan Howard (+540), Big Papi (+530), Lance Berkman(+530). Underdog collars go to Jermaine Dye(+1130) and Troy Glaus (+1116)....

Federer Dominates Again
Just as expected, Roger Federer won his fourth straight Wimbledon championship defeating Rafael Nadal 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3. Nadal showed some sparks throughout the match, but it was pretty much Federer all the way who never let Nadal take over at any point. Federer's work on grass is pretty sensati...

Wimbledon: Crap, There Was Tennis On
So, apparently the first portion of the Wimbledon finals were held this morning as the ladies finals are all over. Yep, completely missed that....

"He's The Hoff"
We did everything in our power to avoid this story, but sometimes these things take on their own inertia. Can't be stopped, can't be helped: You know how it goes....

Of Streaking And Shrieking
At first we thought all the shrieking coming from Maria Sharapova on Tuesday was because of this guy. Apparently not. Sharapova, it seems, has a habit of screaming on every shot, something of which we were blissfully unaware until today, due to the fact that we watch her matches with the sound off. ...

And They Call It The Streak
There are few things of which we are certain, but one is this: When we get out of bed at an ungody hour to view Maria Sharapova playing Elena Dementieva in the Wimbledon quarterfinals (Sharapova won, 6-1, 6-4), what we don't want to see is this (pictured). We want this. And perhaps this. Under no ...

Nadal Shows Agassi The Wimbledon Exits
In 1987, Andre Agassi lost his first match at Wimbledon in straight sets, and that is exactly how he lost his last one. Rafael Nadal took him out this morning, unmercifully hammering the old man, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 6-4....

So Long, Wimbledon. See You Next Year!
Well, we missed possibly the greatest match ever in women's professional tennis. Damn it. Earlier today, Russia's Maria Sharapova met Ashley Harkleroad of the U.S. in Day Four Qualifying at Wimbledon, with the fourth-ranked Sharapova coming away with a 6-2, 6-2 victory (like the score mattered). M...