open Page 72 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

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....

Jason Whitlock Is Trying To Get America Working Again, And You Are Ungrateful
Way back in August, during his Last Stand In Kansas City, Jason Whitlock told radio host Nick Wright that "Democracy's almost already dead."...

Your NBA Draft Lottery/Thunder-Mavs Game One Open Thread
Someone's dreams will be crushed tonight. Either they will be David Kahn's, when he and the Wolves lose the lottery, or they will be Kyrie Irving's, when he realizes there's a 60.5 percent chance that Minnesota (the Land of 10,000 Point Guards), Cleveland, or Toronto winds up with the first pick. Or...

Your Lightning-Bruins Game Two Open Thread
In Game One Saturday night, Tampa Bay blitzed the Bruins, scoring three goals in a span of 90 seconds in the first period, winning 5-2....

Roger Federer Lost, But He Still Managed To Do Something Only Roger Federer Can Do
Roger Federer dropped his third round Italian Open match, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), to Richard Gasquet yesterday. "I definitely feel I should never have lost this match," Federer said afterwards. "I just couldn't come up with the shots." This one, of all shots, he came up with....

Here's Your Manny Pacquiao/Shane Mosley Fight Night Open Thread
Manny Pacquiao will fight Shane Mosley in Las Vegas, with the WBO welterweight title on the line, tonight. But is it truly a fight when everybody already knows who is going to win, and when the person who everybody knows is going to lose doesn't betray even a hint of anger toward his foe?...

Your Kentucky Derby Open Thread
Post-time for the 137th Kentucky Derby isn't until 6:24 p.m. eastern but, hell, NBC starts its coverage at 4 p.m. so it's a stone-cold mortal lock that Costas'll do something toity enough to warrant open-thread discussion....

Your NBA Playoffs Open Thread
So, the youngest MVP in NBA history, the bong-loving son of a tennis player and a bunch of other guys will try to defend their No. 1 seed by fending off the mighty Atlanta Hawks. Later, Richie Rich's underlings will try to drop a deuce on the Lakers....