nf Page 1218 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Spike Is Here, Kids, And He's READY TO BALL
We've talked to you before about Spike, The Super Ball, the official mascot of Super Bowl XLII at the Pink Taco in Glendale next February. Well, now, Spike is making public appearances. We are all of sudden SO EXCITED about Super Bowl XLII, thanks to Spike's signature brand of crowd-pleasing banter...

Gene Upshaw Is Smarter Than You Think
Say what you will about NFL players union chief Gene Upshaw — that he's an out-of-control, useless stooge who collapses under even the slightest bit of pressure from the NFL, which just waits for him to say something idiotic again — but you can't say he doesn't know how to take care of himself....

Greg Oden Can Only Improve On His Foul Trouble From Here
I knew there was an underlying reason notable tall dude Greg Oden went to the NBA after one year in college. It couldn't have been just the money, or the chance to be picked No. 1 overall. No, It had to be for the NBA rule that you foul out after six, not five like in college. Or maybe it was the al...

Jason Witten's Forging Momma
So, just to bring you back up to speed, in the world of outstanding sports moms, we have:...

Shane Matthews Is Causing You Phone Spam
It's becoming difficult to tell all these new upstart football leagues apart. There's Mark Cuban's, there's the other AFL, there's that weird one with Maurice Clarett that never got off the ground ... there's just a ton of them....

Tank Johnson Is Not Drunk, But Drunk Enough
So, with word coming out that beleaguered Chicago Bear Tank Johnson actually being under the legal limit in his DUI arrest a couple of weeks ago — the one that ultimately forced his release from the Bears — the guy should be out of the woods and all set and good again, right?...

The NFL Wants You To Watch Less Than A Minute Of Their Players
In a move designed to protect the Internet operations of its 32 teams, the pro football league has told news organizations that it will no longer permit them to carry unlimited online video clips of players, coaches or other officials, including video that the news organizations gather themselves on...


Please Do Not Protest Bonds In Sign Form
Now that San Francisco Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams aren't going to jail for their stories about Barry Bonds, they're getting awfully cocky: They're now exposing the Orwellian practice of shutting down anti-Bonds signs at baseball stadiums....

Don't Let LaRussa Drink And Select
This is Brian Fuentes, who, until two days ago, was the closer for the Colorado Rockies. He had kind of a rough weekend; he blew saves on both Friday and Saturday, and then gave up two runs in the eighth inning Sunday after manager Clint Hurdle said he was taking the closer's job away from him. It's...

Barry Hits #750, Loses Game, Wins A Friend
• Miguel Montero > Barry Bonds. Barry hit #750 last night, a 3-2 breaking ball over the rightfield wall that delighted people all over ... well, Pac Bell Park. He's now just 5 short of Hank Aaron, but he does trail Diamondback Miguel Montero in the statistical category of "people who won baseball ga...

Happy Birthday To The Madmen At KSK
This graphic, whipped up by the great twoeightnine at With Leather, signifies a historic anniversary today: The folks at Kissing Suzy Kolber are celebrating their one-year birthday today. It's rather amazing to think it has just been a year since they spawned; they legitimately made last year's most...

Just Another Anonymous Night At The Ballpark
In the last eight years, we've seen way too many baseball games. We've seen a World Series winner (woo!), we've seen a freaking typhoon and we've seen Joe McEwing hit home runs for two different teams. (He's still in the Red Sox minor league system, by the way.)...

David Beckham Is Trying Rather Hard To Make It Clear He's Tough
In a promotional photo shoot with Reggie Bush and the New Orleans Saints, David Beckham definitively illustrates, once and for all, the differences between football players and soccer players....

About Those My Wish Segments ...
As you've surely noticed, "SportsCenter" is running its yearly "My Wish" campaign with the "Make-A-Wish foundation" all this week. We covered our thoughts on this little segment last year, when we said, "First off, it should be obvious that we have no problem with sick and/or needy children getting ...

Cop Attacked, Bitten By Dolphin
I had never heard of Dolphins defensive tackle Fred Evans, but when a man tastes the Taser gun twice, and still manages to bite a cop ... well, that grabs your attention. From The Ledger, in Lakeland, Florida:...

Calvin Johnson Must Be Really, Really Good
...because he has Jon Kitna believing that the Detroit Lions are going to dominate the NFL this year. The same Lions that went 3-13 last year, because of a rookie wide receiver, are going to win 10+ games this year. Mmhmm....

Pacman Jones Murders Pacman Jones' Dreadlocks
It always seems like the hair is the first casualty in the cleansing of one's image. Pacman Jones, seen there to your right, has not only washed the stripper glitter off of his face, but he's shorn his traditional dreadlocks. His agent says he was going for a more clean-cut, less dangerous image ......

In England, Nobody Scalps Tickets
So let's say you're a season ticket holder for the Miami Dolphins. One of your eight games this year is the October 28 game against the New York Giants in London. You think it's unlikely you'll be able to make the trip to London, but that's OK: With StubHub, you can sell that puppy and probably pay ...

Another Reason To Have Him On Your Fantasy Team
The man here is Patriots running back Lawrence Maroney, and Kissing Suzy Kolber has discovered that his Facebook page is not to be underestimated....