ow Page 799 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

<em>Us Weekly</em>: Te'o Hoaxer Ronaiah Tuiasosopo Auditioned For <em>The Voice</em> And Had A "Sob Story" About A Car Accident
And finally we've learned a little bit more about Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the man we believe to have posed as Manti Te'o's girlfriend, Lennay Kekua. What we do know about Tuiasosopo so far? He sings. He's religious. He, like Lennay, supposedly got into a car accident. And we know that he knows Te'o....

What Manti Te'o Told <em>Sports Illustrated</em> About Lennay Kekua
SI's Pete Thamel has been making the rounds today, explaining how he came to write the cover story that had the single biggest role in mythologizing the fake narrative of Manti Te'o's girlfriend. Now we've got more details. At SI.com, Thamel has addressed the steps he took to confirm Lennay Kekua's ...

How <em>Sports Illustrated</em>'s Manti Te'o Story Got Published
While reporting his cover feature for Sports Illustrated on Manti Te'o, Pete Thamel found what he called some "small red flags" in the story of Lennay Kekua, the dead girlfriend who never existed. So what did he do?...

Here's Everything The Media Screwed Up In Reporting The Story Of Manti Te'o's Fake Dead Girlfriend
In our investigation of Manti Te'o and his nonexistent dead girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, published yesterday, we mentioned the media's role this fall in amplifying the hoax. Here are all the ways they got the story wrong:...

ESPN Reporter On Te'o Story: "Short Of Asking To See A Death Certificate, I'm Not Sure What Most People Would Do Differently"
The other angle to the Manti Te'o drama? The media. More than a dozen news outlets reported about the girlfriend who didn't exist. So, why didn't the likes of CBS News or ESPN or Sports Illustrated find out sooner?...

Reports: USC Players Had A Locker-Room Brawl Over Matt Barkley's Honor
USC came into the Sun Bowl with a disappointing record—and without senior QB Matt Barkley. Barkley had missed the regular-season finale with a separated and sprained right shoulder, and was ruled out by the team's medical staff. The Trojans lost 21-7, and after the game, according to multiple report...

The Stars Hired Their Own Beat Reporter. Will The NHL Be Able To Keep Its Hands Off This Time?
The Dallas Stars announced earlier this week that they're hiring Mark Stepneski to cover the team. He'll run a blog, StarsInsideEdge.com, and his work will appear on the club's official site. He's been writing about the Stars since 1996 on his personal blog, and covering them for ESPN Dallas for two...

During Bar Fight, Wyoming Basketball Player Allegedly Kicked Unconscious Man In Face "Like It Was A Football"
On Dec. 31, when news emerged that Wyoming senior guard Luke Martinez—the second-leading scorer on a team that was still undefeated at the time—had broken his hand, the injury was reported as having happened during an "off-campus incident." Yesterday, the Cowboys announced that coach Larry Shyatt wa...

Rob Gronkowski's Twice-Broken Arm Might Always Be At Risk
Rob Gronkowski broke his left forearm back in November, and had surgery to fix it. He returned for Week 17, played sparingly, then broke his left forearm in the Patriots' first playoff game. It's easy enough to jump to the conclusion that he came back too soon, that he wasn't completely healed up ye...

The Lakers Want To Increase Kobe Bryant's Defensive Role, Will Probably End Up Killing Him
The good news for the Lakers is that they ended their six-game losing streak on Sunday by defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-93 in Dwight Howard's first game back from injury. The bad news is that the Lakers still have an uphill climb to the playoffs, and now Mike D'Antoni is looking to increase...

Hockey's Back, But The Media Still Doesn't Know Who The Kings Are
It became a running joke last season, as the Kings cruised to a Stanley Cup, that the Los Angeles media couldn't quite grasp the concept of a hockey team. The Kings were misidentified in onscreen graphics, the players' names slaughtered by sportscasters, even their mascot mixed up with his NBA count...

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...

Taj Gibson Posterizes Anthony Tolliver; Stacey King Enjoys It Immensely
The dunk itself is pretty good, but Stacey King's reaction is even better. This is sort of a thing, I've learned, that King does so maybe you Chicagoans are yawning, but the rest of us can still enjoy his enthusiasm....

The Lance Armstrong Redemption Tour Is Hitting Some Hurdles
According to The Wall Street Journal, Justice Department officials have recommended joining Floyd Landis's federal whistleblower suit against Armstrong in which he alleges Armstrong, among others, defrauded the federal government in accepting money while engaging in "sophisticated doping ring."...
![Brent Musburger Closed Out Tonight's Broadcast By Saying Holly Rowe "Was Really Smokin' Tonight" [UPDATE]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/Image_Not_Found_1x_qjofp8.png)
Brent Musburger Closed Out Tonight's Broadcast By Saying Holly Rowe "Was Really Smokin' Tonight" [UPDATE]
At this point, you just have to hand it to veteran ESPN broadcaster Brent Musburger. Not only did he let the Katherine Webb controversy just roll off his shoulder, he had enough of the mojo left in him to continue the mackin' brigade. Here's his closing comments from tonight's Baylor-Kansas game, ...

Doug Gottlieb Compares Tony Gonzalez Winning His First Playoff Game To A.C. Green Having Sex
That is an actual thing that happened today. No sensational headlines or tricks. Today, Doug Gottlieb had a train of thought the nuts and bolts of which went something like: "Hey, Tony Gonzalez finally won a playoff game. Wonder if it felt better to him than A.C. Green rubbing genitals with his wife...

Texas Reinstates Two Football Players Linked To Alleged Sexual Assault; Police Say They're Still Investigating
It's been nearly three weeks since two University of Texas football players —linebacker Jordan Hicks and quarterback Case McCoy—were sent home from the Alamo Bowl for violating unspecified team rules. Hicks and McCoy were never arrested, and San Antonio police never identified them as suspects, but ...

Dirk Nowitzki Tries To Crash A Video Review, Gets Stonewalled By Awesome Security Guard
I was not previously aware of the fact that there are NBA security guards whose job it is to prevent players from getting too close to the referees during video reviews. But as the video above shows, such security guards do indeed exist, and one of them got into a hilarious tête-à-tête with Dirk N...

Derek Anderson Wants To Kiss And Make Up With Cleveland
Let's go back to the halcyon days of 2007, when an unheralded sixth-round pick named Derek Anderson outplayed Charlie Frye and Brady Quinn to become the Browns starter. Anderson would make the Pro Bowl and win 10 games as he led Cleveland to its best season since Bill Belichick was head coach. Ander...

Iowa Basketball Player Throws Shoe, Nearly Decapitates Own Coach
Iowa's offense is dangerous. The Hawkeyes' Aaron White wasn't trying to plunk head coach Fran McCaffery after Northwestern's Alex Marcotullio lost his shoe during the second half yesterday. White was actually trying to get the shoe off the floor as quickly as possible so Iowa could continue to run i...