sports Page 826 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Larry Nance Jr.'s Jumpman Slam Was The Spitting Image Of Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan's the name most people associate with the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, but few remember it was Larry Nance who won the 1984 inaugural edition of the competition. Nance's son (who had plenty of opportunities as a youth to watch Jordan style over his dad's Cavaliers) now plays for Wyoming a...

Science! Proves That People Really Don't Like Going To Work The Morning After The Super Bowl
It's the rare SportsNation poll with a nearly perfect geographical split, somewhere around the Central and Mountain time zones. A question we had never pondered before—Which day would you prefer to watch the Super Bowl?—tears a nation asunder....

Bernard Pollard Hopes The Giants "Put A Thrashing" On The Patriots
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: the Patriot-killer wants New York to finish the job....

"I Want Barry Melrose To Shoot On Me," And Other Highlights From Linda Cohn's Stint As A Goaltender
Hey, look! It's hockey on SportsCenter!...

This Is What Happens When You Accuse Steven Tyler Of Butchering The National Anthem
Our post Sunday asking whether Steven Tyler's pre-AFC championship performance of the national anthem was the worst ever drew a flood of reader feedback, both in the form of poll responses and in writing. Here's an update on the poll results, as well as a sampling of your reaction to Tyler's perf...

Blues Forward Chris Stewart Provided A Great Example Of What Constitutes "Instigating" Last Night
With debate raging about the visor corollary to the NHL's instigation penalty rule, it's beyond time to take a look at a textbook example of instigating....

"Cundiff" Is Already Being Used As A Verb
Kansas Jayhawks fans adapted their free throw distraction techniques to fit current events, as Billy Cundiff's name appeared behind the basket during last night's tilt against Texas A&M....

John Calipari Told His Team They "Need To Get Beat"
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: Coach Cal isn't sure his Cats are tough enough yet....

Bristolmetrics: From Jan. 7-18, <em>SportsCenter</em> Devoted 13.5 Minutes to Hockey Total, And Other Fun Facts
This is a regular feature breaking down, minute-by-minute, the content that appears on ESPN's SportsCenter throughout the week. Graphic by Jim Cooke....

Terrell Suggs Called Skip Bayless A "Douchebag"
In what might be the first honest and accurate analysis ever presented on ESPN First Take, Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs called out Skip Bayless this morning, telling him to "be an analyst, not a douchebag." Suggs plans to next order Bayless to squeeze blood from a rock....

Tennis Players Bill Simmons Would Do: Another Classic From The Secret Sports Guy Vault
It's a curious quirk of the internet that almost nothing survives of Bill Simmons's pre-ESPN work. After seeing last week's newly unearthed column from Simmons's AOL Digital City days, a reader sent along another Boston Sports Guy entry rescued from the dustbin of history. If you've got any old Simm...

Eli Manning's Facial Expressions Are America's Greatest Natural Resource
While Eli Manning eventually got the best of the 49ers in last night's NFC Championship game, it wasn't a jaunty romp for the Giants quarterback. This fourth quarter sack by San Francisco's Aldon Smith sent Manning through all five stages of the Kübler-Ross model in the span of a second. [Fox]...

Terry Bradshaw: (Old) Ladies' Man
That's Terry Bradshaw being accosted by Ann Mara, widow to the late Giants owner Wellington, after New York's NFC Championship victory. It's believed to be the first time ever captured on video that Bradshaw actually tries to shy away from a woman. [Fox]...

Steven Tyler's "Star-Spangled Banner" Was Terrible. But Was It The Worst Ever?
Aging rockers often struggle to hit high notes, but Steven Tyler's juxtaposition of screaming and a languid pace made his rendition of the National Anthem before the AFC Championship in New England especially difficult to listen to. (His liberal lack of adherence to the actual lyrics didn't help.)...

Yes, This Is CBS Host James Brown Interviewing A Fake Baby
It took CBS all of 15 hours to do something more embarrassing than prematurely reporting Joe Paterno's death. Here's a clip from the network's The NFL Today, something we're pretty sure is an advertisement for E*Trade—though we thought FCC rules mandated such things needed to be disclosed to the ...

Lionel Messi's Hat Trick-Finishing Goal Brought Announcer Ray Hudson To Orgasm
Barcelona spanked Málaga 4-1 today in La Liga, and the world's best soccer player Lionel Messi took over as Spain's leading scorer on the season with this hat trick-finishing goal. It sent commentator Ray Hudson into an even more over-the-top frenzy than usual, from his cats-mating shriek to his e...

<em>Corky Romano</em> And The Other Things Your Fox Affiliate Is Showing Instead Of Soccer
Fox is understandably proud of their experiment this morning to show English Premier League soccer live on U.S. broadcast TV for the first time. Yet it seems Fox affiliates aren't so excited, as 23 of Fox's 185 stations decided to air something else. Here's the list of cities where you can't see Ar...

Do Not Refuse The Post-Match Handshake Or Australians Will Boo The Shit Out Of You
Czech Tomas Berdych faced deafening boos and squeals (which are apparently some kind of Australian version of hissing) after refusing to shake the hand of Spain's Nicolas Almagro following Berdych's four-set win today in Melbourne....

Ricardo Clark's 97th-Minute Goal Gave The U.S. Their First Win Over A South American Team In Five Years
A 13-match winless streak against South American squads came to an end tonight when Ricardo Clark finally found net in the final moments of stoppage time of the United States' friendly against Venezuela....

Duke's 45-Game Home Winning Streak Is Over Thanks To This Florida State Buzzer-Beater
It's about the craziest (sorry, Cameronians) 15 seconds of basketball you'll get in the ACC, as Florida State's Michael Snaer connected with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to down Duke 76-73 just five seconds after the Blue Devils tied it up on an Austin Rivers layup. Credit Luke Loucks for the m...