sports Page 752 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

How Bad Were Replacement Refs Last Night? Let's Examine The Video Evidence.
After the preseason teaser that is the Hall Of Fame Game, we got our first glimpse of the NFL's replacement referees during last night's slate of pro football action. The verdict? Just ask Bill Belichick, who despite an NFL ban on teams commenting on officiating suggested we seek the opinion of Mik...

Cubs Trainer Mark O'Neal Suffers Mid-Game Middle Finger Sprain
The Cubs ended an eight-game losing streak last night by dispatching the Reds, but it seems not everybody in the organization was happy. Here's trainer Mark O'Neal telling slugger Alfonso Soriano exactly what he thinks about Soriano's fouling a pitch off right in O'Neal's direction. (Soriano later ...

Falcons-Ravens Replacement Ref (Who May Be Lingerie League Castoff) Keeps Insisting He's In Arizona
It's been quite a week for replacement referee Craig Ochoa. First, he headed up a crew that opened the NFL preseason at the Hall of Fame game, then dealt with a report that he was hired by the NFL after being fired by the Lingerie Football League....

Chris Johnson Would Like To Make The Hall Of Fame, And Also Maybe Win A Super Bowl If It Helps Him Make The Hall Of Fame
Every morning, the fine folks at Sports Radio Interviews sift through the a.m. drive-time chatter to bring you the best interviews with coaches, players, and personalities across the sports landscape. Today: Phelps says he started relaxing after losing his first race....

Usain Bolt Runs 19.32 In 200m Final, Repeats As Gold Medalist, Still Eased Up At The End
Usain Bolt made history today as the first man to ever repeat as Olympic champion at 200 meters, running a 19.32 despite clearly easing up on the final strides....

Sporting KC Wins U.S. Open Cup In Shootout Described As "More Dramatic Than Tyler Perry Or Shakespeare"
That GolTV still exists is a miracle in itself; the soccer cable net recently lost its cash cow Spanish Liga contract to Al-Jazeera's new beIN Sports channel. It also lost popular analyst Ray Hudson, he of the orgasmic goal calls, which means GolTV's George D. Metellus served in the color commenta...

Frank Viola Is Bored
If it's somehow escaped you, former World Series MVP Frank VIola's daughter is an Olympic diver. Brittany Viola bombed out of yesterday's platform semifinal, which means we'll be spared any future shots of Sweet Music taking in the action at Aquatics Centre—though it seems in this moment the Cy You...

Muhammad Ali Called Michael Phelps The Greatest
Every morning, the fine folks at Sports Radio Interviews sift through the a.m. drive-time chatter to bring you the best interviews with coaches, players, and personalities across the sports landscape. Today: Phelps says he started relaxing after losing his first race....

Bristolmetrics: What Does <i>SportsCenter</i> Do When They Don't Have Olympic TV Rights? Tebow, Tebow, Tebow!
This is a regular feature breaking down, minute-by-minute, the content that appears on ESPN's 11 p.m. edition of SportsCenter throughout the week....

Red Sox Broadcasters Don Orsillo And Jerry Remy Cannot Figure Out How A Lightsaber Works
NESN's Red Sox broadcast team of Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy show up often in these parts, usually due to their inability to hold themselves together due to some wacky fans in the stands. Today's meltdown was self-imposed, as a toy lightsaber that found its way to the broadcast booth (owing to yet...

Nic Batum Delivered A Mighty Nutshot To Juan Carlos Navarro In The Closing Moments Of Today's France-Spain Game
Spain knocked France out of the Olympic men's basketball tournament, though the French team delivered a final blow—in the form of a Nic Batum punch to Juan Carlos Navarro's nether-regions....

Google's Pop-A-Shot Doodle Is Today's Best Timewaster
Over at Google, today's interactive "Doodle" is a pop-a-shot basketball game. It's highly addictive. Our high score is 39, though we forgot to take a screenshot and nobody believes us. Try it out, and share your high score below, and the first person to say they broke 40, let's all call them a liar....

BMX Is Underway At The London Olympics, Which Means We've Had Our First Bloody Gnarly Crash
The tough times for America's Olympic BMX team started before the Games were even underway: star Arielle Martin had to drop out after a devastating crash on the team's last day of training before leaving for London. Martin's replacement, Brooke Crain, didn't fare much better during today's seeding...

France Stunned Spain With A Handball Quarterfinal Buzzer-Beater
Handball's been a bit of a breakout sport for American audiences, though today's quarterfinal between reigning gold medalist France and Spain wasn't aired live in the U.S.. That's a shame, because it was a battle befitting the two pan-sport rivals, one finally seized by the Gauls when William Acc...

Matt Moore's <em>Bachelorette</em> Fandom And Chad Johnson's Sex Life: Highlights From Last Night's <em>Hard Knocks</em> Premiere
The seventh season of HBO's Hard Knocks premiered last night after an offseason of searching by producers for a team willing to be featured on the Emmy award-winning program. With the Miami Dolphins onboard—and newly un-renamed Chad Johnson signed to the team—the premiere was highly anticipated b...

Chris Hoy's Parents Can't Believe Their Eyes
Sir Chris Hoy claimed his sixth Olympic gold yesterday in men's keirin, adding to the home nation's medal count and inspiring fanciful ledes, like the following from The Independent:...

It Seems Everybody Loves Aly Raisman's Parents Except The Guy Who Had To Sit Behind Them
Who loves Aly Raisman's parents? Lots of you, it seems. Who doesn't? Sweater Guy who had to sit behind her dad during today's floor exercise final. Down in front! [NBC]...

Eric Chavez Hit His Own Pitcher In The Head With A Throw
]Eric Chavez is a baseball veteran, but it seems he never learned the Little League rule about not throwing a ball to somebody who isn't looking at you. Here he is returning the sphere to his pitcher, Cody Eppley, after its trip around the horn only to have it bonk Eppley right in the noggin....

Justin Gatlin Still Feels Usain Bolt Is Beatable
Every morning, the fine folks at Sports Radio Interviews sift through the a.m. drive-time chatter to bring you the best interviews with coaches, players, and personalities across the sports landscape. Today: You just have to catch Bolt on a bad day....

Russian High Jumper Loses Uniform Mid-Competition, Is Forced To Jump In A T-Shirt, Wins Gold Medal
Russian high jumper Ivan Ukhov won gold with a leap of 2.38 meters today at Olympic Stadium, but not before a self-imposed wardrobe malfunction forced him to compete temporarily in a T-shirt....