off Page 268 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Kobe Bryant Guarantees The Lakers Will Make The Playoffs
What do Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, and Metta World Peace have in common with Chris Mihm, Chucky Atkins, Lamar Odom, and Caron Butler? If the season ended today, those would be the only two supporting casts in Kobe Bryant's career with which he didn't make the postseason. One of these rost...

Carl Pavano's Freak Spleen Injury Nearly Killed Him
Live by the freak injury, nearly die by the freak injury: On January 12, Carl Pavano slipped on some ice outside his Vermont home, fell onto the handle of his snow shovel, and after taking a moment to recover, went about his business until he couldn't anymore:...

Pro Football Hall Of Fame Calls Up Sapp, Parcells, Ogden, Allen and Carter
The NFL's next Hall of Fame class, just announced, has a few dudes the TV made famous. There's Bill Parcells, who made a coaching career of winning two Super Bowls with the Giants and then convincing other teams believe he might ever do it again; Cris* Carter, who just proved that even Jerry Rice Li...

Is The NFL Rigging The System To Put An Unqualified Referee In The Super Bowl?
Jerome Boger will referee the Super Bowl. Jerome Boger probably doesn't deserve to referee the Super Bowl. Football Zebras, a site devoted solely to NFL officiating, reported on Jan. 20 that Boger's unspectacular in-season grades for his refereeing had been mysteriously changed after the fact to mak...

Chris Bosh Says He's A Lock For The Hall Of Fame, And He's Not Too Far Off
A couple of days ago, Chris Bosh told Fox Sports that he feels good about his chances of making the Hall of Fame:...

Terrifyingly Mean Ravens Safety Bernard Pollard Refuses To Wear Pants
That's according to the New York Times, which today published a brief profile of Bernard Pollard that may have been the result of an unpleasant encounter between Bernard Pollard and the author of the profile. Though the piece is at pains to point out that Pollard is "confident" and, according to a f...

Michael Phelps Wouldn't Have Competed In The 2012 Olympics If Not For Ray Lewis
OK, before we go any further, we have to address Michael Phelps's new look. Apparently, Phelps has been hanging out in a lot of coffee shops and going to a lot of Japandroids concerts since the summer Olympics. Or perhaps he's just a really big fan of that crazy guy who used to edit Gawker....

A Scuffle Between Falcons And 49ers Fans Outside The Georgia Dome Led To A Stabbing
A fight that broke out after the NFC Championship game in Atlanta led to a stabbing, reports say. WSBTV in Atlanta is gathering details:...

No, San Francisco Police Are Not Investigating Michael Crabtree To Sabotage The 49ers
It would be ludicrous to suggest that the San Francisco police department is scheming to hurt the post-season chances of the its hometown football team, right? Right. And yet, the 49ers are still giving the side-eye to the SFPD for undertaking (and informing the media of) the Michael Crabtree sexual...

Cardinals Great Stan Musial Dead At 92
Baseball Hall of Famer and unquestionable great Stan "The Man" Musial passed away tonight at 92. Musial started his major league career in 1941 and would play his last game in September of 1963; in the intervening seasons he made 24 All-Star teams, missing out only once, when he was serving in the U...

RIP Earl Weaver, The Irascible, Cigarette-Smoking Orioles Manager Who Was Moneyball Before "Moneyball" Existed
Earl Weaver, who managed the Orioles for 15 seasons from 1968-1982 (and another two from 1985-1986) passed away on Friday night at the age 82. In 11 of his 17 seasons, the Orioles won 90 or more games, and in his first three at the helm he guided Baltimore to three World Series, one of which, the 1...

San Francisco Police Investigating 49ers Wide Receiver Michael Crabtree For Alleged Sexual Assault
KTVU news and the San Francisco Chronicle have reported that the San Francisco police department is investigating 49ers wideout Michael Crabtree for an alleged sexual assault that took place after the 49ers' victory over the Packers on Saturday. Crabtree was the 49ers' leading receiver this year, wi...

NBC's NHL Promo Tries To Rewrite Last Season's Playoff Results
The Flyers beat the Penguins in the first round of the playoffs last year, yet it wasn't as simple as that. The teams combined for 56 goals, hundreds of penalty minutes, and multiple suspensions. It was simultaneously the ugliest and most entertaining playoff series in recent member. But the Flyer...

Jim Harbaugh Put All Of His Players' High School Photos Above Their Lockers
It must be hard for NFL coaches to come up with fresh motivational techniques. You can't just slap a "Play Like A Champion" banner above the door or put some mean things that an opponent said about your quarterback on the bulletin board anymore. Those tactics are played out, and San Francisco 49ers...

Matt Bryant Went To His "Happy Place" Before His Game-Winning Kick
Every morning, the fine folks at Sports Radio Interviews sift through the a.m. drive-time chatter to bring you the best interviews with coaches, players, and personalities across the sports landscape. Today: The Falcons kicker is a Happy Gilmore fan....

National Radio Announcers Just Couldn't Believe The Ravens Let The Clock Expire At The End Of The First OT Period
With all of the changes made to the NFL's overtime rules in recent years, anyone can be forgiven for not understanding some of the basics. But one detail that didn't change is what happens in a playoff game at the conclusion of the first overtime period: the teams move to the other side of the fie...

TV Ratings For Ravens-Broncos Were Bananas
The NFL is invincible. After a season of unnecessary distractions and safety crises and owner collusion and labor stoppages, in the course of two days the sport managed to put on two games that were so good they make you want to run through a fucking brick wall. Saturday's slugfest in Denver and yes...

Brendon Ayanbadejo Is Already Chirping About The Patriots' "Gimmick" Offense
Ravens LB Brendon Ayanbadejo made headlines last summer when he very publicly announced his support of Maryland's gay-marriage referendum. Now he's opening himself up to an even more hateful bunch of opponents—Pats fans. (See?) Ayanbadejo didn't even wait for New England to finish its asskicking of ...

The Mayor Of Denver Has To Do The Ray Lewis Dance Now
Mayors of rival cities make cities make light-hearted bets on the outcome of sporting events all the time. Just yesterday the Packers-49ers game had chocolates, cheese curds, sparkling wine, "a free admission day to the Children's Museum" and bread, beer, more chocolates and a "a free admission day ...

Reminder: Peyton Manning Still Better Than Tim Tebow
Broncos fans should be used to this by now: a big time, Super Bowl-winning quarterback lost to an obviously lesser quarterback in an overtime classic in Denver. The comparisons have been as inescapable as they are stupid:...