port Page 959 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

30 Previews In 30 Days: The Portland Trail Blazers
NBA training camps have begun; the season is rapidly approaching. Can you dig it? I knew that you could. And so we continue our previews: 30 of them in 30 days. Up next is a team that may be - just maybe - the next big thing. They are: The Portland Trail Blazers. When last we saw them: Finished 41-4...

Speed Read: Phillies Not Fanatical About Hitting
Deciding to listen to Tim McCarver blather his way through World Series commentary on TV or turning the sound down and listening to the dulcet, confused tones of Joe Morgan on the radio is like choosing between swallowing broken glass or sliding down a razor blade hill - both choices hurt. But I wen...

Get Out Of Splitsville and Come On Home
This series was not going to be a sweep. People put so much pressure on themselves and on the Phillies that most news outlets were calling game one of a seven-game series a must win. Well, they did, and other than Cole Hamels, Ryan Madson, Brad Lidge and one swing of the bat by Chase Utley, nobody p...

Random Ramblings After a World Series Game One Victory
I spent a good portion of the game last night on my couch with my hands on my head, pulling my hair out. And the Phils were winning....

Speed Read: Phils Win Game 1, Free Tacos For All
With a runner on and one out in the first inning of Game 1 of the World Series at Tropicana Field last night, Chase Utley attempted to push a bunt through the vacant left side of the infield but it went foul. Five pitches later, he crushed one into the right-field seats for a 2-0 lead that the Phill...

The Angryville Chronicles: Stories About Philadelphia's Ferociously Loyal, Amusingly Vile Fanbase
A couple of weeks ago, I asked for stories about people's worst Philadelphia fan experiences in the hopes that I'd be able to use them right before the start of the World Series. That worked out. As you may know, the Philadelphia Phillies are National League Champions (Woo-hoo!). I received many, ma...

We Meet Again, Penguins...
The scheduling gods have once again blessed us by inserting a Flyers game in between the majestic events of the Phillies postseason. Your girlfriends and wives may or may not agree, but if you're a Flyers fan, odds are you'll be hard pressed to take a night off from sports....

Morning Extras: Phils Have Already Made History
Think about it. This Phillies team has already made history....

Speed Read: Rays Blast Sox, On Cusp Of WS Bid
The last pitcher to win a postseason game after a 15-day layoff was Red Ruffing of the 1939 New York Yankees. And Ruffing can rest easy (well, that’s not too difficult since he’s dead) because Tim Wakefield’s attempt to match that feat last night didn’t go particularly well. The Rays became the firs...

Evan Longoria's Not Making a Lot of Amigos at ESPNDeportes
Nice catch by Shysterball, about a minor controversy from Evan Longoria's Eva Longoria-filled interview with Big League Stew's Dave Brown earlier this month. It stemmed from this question, where Brown pithily asked who on the team should not sport a Rayhawk: ...

Greg Oden Couldn't Be More Thrilled With Your Request For A Photo
Thanks to Phil Golding for this picture, who got it from a friend who enjoyed a recent flight with Trail Blazers rookie Greg Oden. I think it's hilarious that the preseason hadn't even started yet, and already Oden is fed up with the fans. His attitude had improved greatly by Tuesday, however, as th...

You Try To Say "176 Punt Return Yards" 12 Times Per Day And See What Comes Out of Your Mouth
Robert Flores, ESPN's live afternoon SportsCenter man, fell victim to the WWL's deadly live television format and stumbled over his words while relaying the Saints/Vikings rundown. (wasn't that bad. Well, he didn't fart. ) Instead of "176 punt return yards" it came out "176 punt retard", which is...

John Clayton's A Little Gassy In The Morning
And now for a little stomach-churning media goodness. One of the inevitable downsides of ESPN's new "Live" SportsCenter are some of the slip-ups that occur during live broadcasts which unfortunately make it to air. Case in point — this morning, at approximately 10:28, it appears NFL beat reporter J...

A Few Moments With Gary Smith
Sports Illustrated's Gary Smith has won the National Magazine Award four times, which is almost as impressive as the fact that almost no one knows his name. Unlike his longtime friend and associate Rick Reilly, Smith keeps a low profile, writing his four in-depth, massive character studies a year, l...

Clinton Portis and Brian Mitchell Radio Interview Goes Entertainingly Off The Rails
Yesterday, Clinton Portis went on John Thompson's radio show on WTEM 980 in Washington, D.C. and within minutes he and Thompson's co-host, former Redskin/Eagle Brian Mitchell , were at each others throats. B. Mitch has been critical of Portis in the past, which prompted the feud, and the DC Sports ...

Greg Oden: Baller, Obama Supporter, Crooner
Oden On The Mic [Rise With Us] Greg Oden: quality baller, terrible singer [Hard For The Yard]...

Michael Strahan's Life Became A Whole Lot Easier In More Ways Than One
Perhaps this is what he meant when he said he was enjoying retirement and declined to rejoin the Giants. You'll recall that Strahan and his wife entered into a rather stormy split. Included, among other things, were allegations that Strahan was gay. In the end, Strahan's wife, Jean Strahan, receive...

A Treed Blogger is a Dangerous Blogger (At Least Until the Batteries Run Out)
After we've finished a long day of blogging, we like to pour ourselves a tall Arnold Palmer (with enough whiskey to drown a horse) into a Thermos, pack the latest Uncle John's Bathroom Reader into a knapsack, and scurry up a tree for a relaxing afternoon. There, we find a perfect disconnect from the...

The Thing I Do Can Be Related to Current Events So Look At Me!
Below, you will see what it takes for a man to excrete success. Frosted Flakes Gold is not involved, despite what our television just told us. Click to view ...

Synchronized Swimmer Sinks Slowly; Silly Swimmer!
We've been shopping our script about a narcoleptic synchronized swimmer for years to no avail; it's an uplifting story, but you know how much it costs to make a water-based film. However, we've dusted off the script and sent it to our agent again after hearing that one of the Japanese synchronized s...