open Page 72 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Your Heat/Mavericks Game Two Open Thread
The Miami Heat try to retain home-court advantage with a win over the Dallas Mavericks tonight. Nowitzki'll wear a middle-finger splint, so unless he has experience excelling with his middle finger all doctored up, they probably will. Or won't. Most Americans don't seem to care....
Your National Spelling Bee Open Thread
Yeah, this is going to get MURDERED by the Finals tonight. But the Spelling Bee really is the tits. ESPN's coverage is a million times better this year, with Sage Steele instead of Erin Andrews (at least in the early rounds), and now they don't spoil the words for you before the kid starts to spel...
Roger Federer Causes Fan Hysteria, Loss In Gravity
The poor girl just wanted a selfie with the maestro, and all she got was a pitying hug. But — and I say this as a former boy band fanatic — I would not completely rule out the possibility that there was some kind of ulterior motive going on here. After all, a pitying hug from Roger Federer is stil...
Your NBA Finals Game One Open Thread
I suppose this is Where Amazing Happens, isn't it? NBA Finals, Mavericks vs. Heat, at American Airlines Arena in Miami (which is totally different from American Airlines Center, in Dallas), 9 p.m., ABC....
Viktor Troicki Can Blame His French Open Exit On A 12-Year-Old Boy
Viktor Troicki, the 15 seed in the French Open, nearly upset No. 4 Andy Murray today in Paris, in a five set match that took two days to complete. Murray won 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5, but in a game in which any single point can swing the momentum of a match, Troicki will likely remember his interru...
Rafael Nadal's Post-Match Comments Display The Self-Esteem Of A Teenage Girl
Rafael Nadal may not be quite on Novak Djokovic's unbeatable level, but, uh, he's still number one in the world. You'd think that would manifest itself in his words with reporters after a straight-sets victory over Ivan Ljubicic today....
Novak Djokovic Is So Good That He Already Won Tomorrow's Match
Take note, aspiring tennisfolk, because this is the kind of thing that happens for you if you're on a 41-match win streak in 2011....
Your Royal Race Wedding/Coca-Cola 600 Open Thread
Linda Ward and Greg Waters met a year ago when fate pitched their tents in close proximity to one another at Charlotte Motor Speedway's Peninsula Campground. Yesterday, the gushing jail nurse and truck driver became one at their "Royal Race Wedding."...
Your Indianapolis 500 Open Thread
Grand Marshal Anderson Cooper and the Indianapolis 500 Festival Princesses drew much attention on the red carpet outside the Snake Pit Ball. Jim Nabors, REO Speedwagon and the Chinese brought happiness to those attending the IPL 500 Festival Parade. Plus, there's a fancy car race today....
Your Barcelona/Manchester United Open Thread
Best I can tell from the handy 'Countdown to UEFA Champions League Wembley London Final 2011,' the FC Barcelona v. Manchester United game should kick-off at precisely 2:45 p.m. eastern. It's a match between the two best club teams on earth, worthy of not only U.S. network coverage but a day when th...
At Least One Bounce Went Right For Kim Clijsters In Her Second-Round Exit
Kim Clijsters, seeded No. 2 in the French Open, lost to Arantxa Rus (real name) in the second round yesterday. She fell 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 to the 114th-ranked player in the world. But it wasn't all bad! Clijsters also had one of the most fantastical bounces we've ever seen in tennis. This is the kind o...
47 Of Maria Sharapova's Grunts In Her Second-Round French Open Win
Maria Sharapova faced Caroline Garcia, a 17-year-old French up-and-comer, in the second round of the French Open today. Garcia took the first set and led 4-1 until midway through the second, when Sharapova took 11 straight games to win, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0. Sharapova's known for her grunting, of course;...
Your Sharks/Canucks Game Five Open Thread
The Vancouver media loves the Sedins again. We'll see how venomous the rancor can get should San Jose win tonight, to make the series 3-2 and send it back Sharkward....
Your Bulls/Heat Game Four Open Thread
Tom Thibodeau is coaching about as well in this series as Craig Sager is dressing. So much Bogans. So much Korver. So little stopping of LeBron, Wade, and even Bosh. Accordingly, the Bulls lost two consecutive games for the first time since February....
Admiring Novak Djokovic's Last 40 Match Points
Novak Djokovic has won 38 straight tennis matches in the 2011 season, and he hasn't lost in 40 outings, dating back to November's Davis Cup. His dominance has been nearly absolute; in seven months, he's dropped just eight sets, and that includes seven wins against either Rafael Nadal or Roger Fede...
There Was A Poignant, Action Figure-Only Funeral For The Macho Man In A Backyard This Weekend
Your morning roundup for May 23, the day Beyoncé ran the world. Staged Macho Man funeral via HuggingHaroldReynolds.com....
Your Canucks/Sharks Game Four Open Thread
If San Jose fans actually believe that men in tights can be as effectively distracting to a penalty-boxed opponent as bared boobs, they don't deserve to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals....
Watch ESPN's Doris Burke Flub Her Lines About Oklahoma City Arena
Your morning roundup for May 22, the day some people in North Carolina started taking Pirates of the Caribbean too literally, but not in a cool swashbuckling way or anything....
Your Preakness Stakes Open Thread
All the horse races and Kegasai in the world won't bring Barbaro back, but the Preakness looks like it's fun, huh? Well technically, it looked a lot funner before the B.Y.O.B. policy broke the infield's decadent soul....
Your Bruins/Lightning Game Four Open Thread
Bruins just took a 1-0 lead on Patrice Bergeron's goal, halfway through the first period. Victor Hedman's fault. Seems like he's been doing that a lot this series....