owns Page 254 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Stacey Dales Out At ESPN, Turns in Long Pantsuits and Microphone
According to an emailer, college basketball and football sideline reporter Stacey Dales could not reach a contract agreement with ESPN for 2009, so she'll no longer be chasing down coaches and players for the WWL. ESPN has confirmed that rumor....
Ax Drops At Sports Illustrated; Layoff Rumors Include Hoffer, Wolff ... And Dr. Z?
The massive layoffs that had been hanging over five magazine groups at Time Inc. have come to fruition, and as promised in the infamous Nov. 10 layoff memo, one of the hardest-hit was Sports Illustrated. Rumored to be among those leaving — and not of their own accord — are senior writer Richard Hoff...
The Curious Case of Fred Hickman
Most of you probably don't remember Fred Hickman's somewhat brief tenure as an ESPN anchor and talking head and most of you also were probably unaware that the man is no longer working for them. Hickman was signed on from the YES network in 2004 to a significant contract to come over to the WWL, due...
When Blogs Go Too Far?: Yahoo! NBA Writer Calls Blogger After Perceived Threat
There's an odd but serious spat brewing between MVN blogger and Yahoo! Sports basketball writer Adrian Wojnarowski over an extremely disturbing post that has now extended beyond the web pages. Amir Panchmatia, of the "Cavalier Attitude" fan blog, posted an item in late October titled "Going American...
Browns' GM Phil Savage Responds To Email Hecklers Swiftly, But Not Very Politely (UPDATE)
As a person who gets tons of nasty email, I know it's tough to always show restraint and resist the urge to stick up for yourself. This practice is frowned upon, and not healthy, because, well, those emails could potentially come back to bite you in the ass. Plus, as a "professional" you're supposed...
Oh...And About Simmons' Podcast: "He Told Me He Quit It"
So, here's a little snippet of of information from an individual close to the ESPN/Simmons slap-fight. Remember last week, when we reported that ESPN insisted that there was nothing to the sudden disappearance of "The B.S. Report" and that, according to them, there's no smoke, fire, or truth to that...
Monday Night Football Fever Is Not All You'll Catch
Got an image you'd like to see in here first thing in the morning? Send it to [email protected]. Subject: Morning crap With staph infections running rampant in the NFL these days, it's nice of random fans to warn us of potential hazards. That's a rather nasty case of it under that Browns supporter's...
Monday Night Live Blog: Browns-Bills
Never before have so many Midwestern teams that aren't actually located in the Midwest been in one stadium at once! The disappointing Cleveland Browns and differently-but-equally disappointing Buffalo Bills will battle to the frigid death to see who's less disappointing team of all. It's going to be...
The Ongoing Odd Behavior of One Bill Simmons Continues to Captivate, Cause Concern
Many of you emailed to inform me that I was inexplicably name-dropped in the Sports Fella's most recent mailbag column, which was quite hilarious, if not a little jarring. Was this another not-so-subtle way of Mr. Simmons extending a bony middle finger to his employer? Not really. It was his own way...
Ad Agency Behind Controversial ESPN Spot Speaks: "It Wasn't Meant to Offend Anyone"
Many of you saw Awful Announcing's fascinating post about the leaked casting call item for an upcoming ESPN commercial. The concept seemed innocent enough: "The spots take place in the ESPN College Basketball Call Center (CBBCC). All of these guys are there representing their schools, calling people...
Contentious Media Dork Calls Bill Simmons a "Jock Washer"
Throughout Bill Simmons ongoing mysterious Andy Dufresne saga with the WWL over his podcast, his NFL Picks column, and his treatment at Page 2, his thinly-veiled digs have, for the most part, only been scrutinized by the sports media watchers fascinated by the Sports Fella's every move.(Myself inclu...
According to Jemele Hill, Warren Sapp Deserves a Pounding for Keyshawn "Bitch" Comment
Here's an amusing little snag from Awful Announcing, featuring current "Inside the NFL" analyst Warren Sapp and budding home decorator/"NFL Live" analyst, Keyshawn Johnson. Sapp was responding to viewer questions during his "Ask Warren Anything" segment. One viewer was curious about Sapp's thoughts...
And Just When You Thought You've Seen Everything on Facebook....
This is Fox Sports/KC Star columnist Jason Whitlock's latest status update. Good God. Somebody send the man a laxative. Given all the problems Facebook has caused people in the last week, this one will hopefully not get anyone fired. Except, perhaps, Mr. Whitlock's proctologist. Odds on being de-fr...
Quinn's Debut Inspires A Nation, Browns Lose As Usual
With all the excitement over the big stimulus package that was the debut of Brady Quinn and the return of Kellen Winslow — turns out they're real, and they're fantastic — we all ignored the real issues: Jay Cutler and Brandon McDonald. The shy, self-effacing Broncos quarterback threw for 447 yards a...
Drunken Redneck Browns Fan Ushers In Brady Quinn Era
These videos were taken last season, when this anonymous Browns fan — we'll call him Doyle, because he reminds me of the Dwight Yoakum stepfather character in Sling Blade — was quite comfortable with the way things were playing out in his world. But as Busted Coverage points out, now "there's a b...
Cleveland Browns Fans Can Finally Say That This Man Is Their Quarterback
This is a historic moment that should preempt any sports blog's standard nighttime activities. The Browns have made a bold step, which either means they are packing it up early this year or they are still hopeful that a new face behind center can inject some life into their staph-infected offense. B...
ESPN About Simmons: Nothing to See Here, Please Disperse
Over the weekend, the latest Bill Simmons vs. ESPN passive-aggressive flame war ignited after the Sports Guy evidently had his weekly NFL Picks column spiked by The Dot Com for an unknown reason. Simmons responded through his Sports Guy Unplugged site, with requisite Shawshank photo screengrab. Bost...
ESPN Jerks Bill Simmons Around, Yet Again
If you're a regular reader of ESPN.com, you probably noticed that Bill Simmons's NFL picks column didn't hit the web this past Friday. Well, according to the Sports Fella, ESPN elected not to publish it. The tension between Simmons and his employer, ESPN, has been well documented and the latest bit...
It's Not A World Series Celebration Without A Beatdown
Yes, yes! That's the spirit! After the jump, more photos from last night's Philly Seriesgasm. Philly loves lamp!...
A Detroit Columnist Caught Making Stuff Up? Surely Not
Detroit News columnist Rob Parker really doesn't appear on my radar screen much, except for this infamous column, and of course his work on the dearly departed Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith. So that's two strikes against him right there. But now comes the news that he apparently fabricated sou...