sports Page 831 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Even The Trains In New Orleans Dislike Tom Rinaldi
Blanche: What you are talking about is brutal sappiness—Sappiness!—the name of that tear-jerking streetcar that bangs through the third hour of College GameDay, up one old narrow street and down another, accompanied always by soft piano music. [ESPN]...

LaVar Arrington Is More Upset Penn State Didn't Consult Him Before Hiring A New Coach Than He Was About Penn State Covering Up Child-Rape Allegations
After unleashing a series of venomous tweets last evening in which he declared himself to be "done" with the "corrupt, disgusting" entity that is Penn State University, former Nittany Lion linebacker LaVar Arrington attempted to backtrack today during his radio program on DC's 106.7 "The Fan."...

Now Jim Rome Is Leaving ESPN
The network had offered him a multi-year deal to stay, but Rome turned it down. Rome Is Burning had been on ESPN since 2004, and Rome is said to be getting an "expanded role" at CBS Sports Network. Maybe ESPN can replace him with a show that includes Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless. Oh, wait. [Th...

Western Kentucky Fires Head Basketball Coach Hours After He Loses Power Play Game To ULL
Western Kentucky canned men's basketball coach Ken McDonald this morning after the Hilltoppers' 72-70 OT loss last night to Louisiana-Lafayette, who scored the winning basket with six players on the floor. [Bowling Green Daily News]...

Top Football Recruit Makes College Decision On Live Television, Much To His Mother's Visible Displeasure
Landon Collins is the top football recruit from the state of Louisiana, and the defensive back was heavily recruited by top college programs. Having narrowed his commitment decision to LSU and Alabama, he chose the Crimson Tide live during ESPN's broadcast of the Under Armour high school all-star ...

The Ragin' Cajuns Beat Western Kentucky In Overtime By Playing 6-On-5
We're not surprised the Sun Belt officials escaped the court quickly after this blunder, where they allowed Louisiana-Lafayette to enjoy the rare basketball power play, in which they clearly put six men on the floor for their final possession of overtime—allowing them to score the winning basket ...

Roy Hibbert Is Tired Of People Asking If He's Hasheem Thabeet
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: Hibbert also talks his Parks and Recreation cameo....

Least Essential NBA Player Misses Least Essential NBA Game Because He Lost His Passport
Samardo Samuels didn't travel with the Cavs to Toronto yesterday because he misplaced his passport and couldn't get a new one in time. We're told they played the game anyway, but couldn't find any proof....

The Salsa Music That Played After Victor Cruz's Touchdown Sunday Was Entirely Planned By NBC
The NFL looks down upon premeditated celebrations, but it seems that restriction doesn't apply to the No Fun League's broadcast partners. Despite NBC's Bob Costas gasbagging about celebrations earlier this season, the Peacock Network elected to enhance Victor Cruz's celebration with a bit of Latin...

The Orange Bowl Brought Us The Schrödinger's Cat Of Touchdowns
One thing is sure: a touchdown was scored on this play. Regardless of the officials' final verdict (they ruled in favor of West Virginia) there's still plenty of doubt as to exactly which team scored it. [ESPN]...

Jerry Jones Repeatedly Insists That Tony Romo Was The Fourth-Best Quarterback In The NFL This Year
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: sometimes numbers don't tell the whole story....

Tim Howard Just Scored A Goal
In the game featuring Landon Donovan's Everton debut it was another American, goalkeeper Tim Howard, who stole the show, scoring a goal to put his side up 1-0 on Bolton Wanderers....

Things You Don't Expect To See On <em>SportsCenter</em>: Chef Emeril Lagasse Shilling For BP
On the same day payments to victims of the BP Gulf oil spill were cut off, celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse appeared on SportsCenter to promote the Gulf Coast Seafood Tourism Bash (brought to you by BP)....

Demba Ba Drew First Blood For Newcastle Against Man U With This Fantastic Volley
In a week that's belonged to the giant-killers, Newcastle's aiming to be the next David and has a 1-0 edge on Manchester United thanks to this perfectly-placed volley by Demba Ba. [Fox Soccer]...

Jets Backup QB Greg McElroy Slams "Selfish" Teammates In Radio Interview
Former Alabama and current Jets rookie backup quarterback Greg McElroy went after his "extremely selfish" teammates in an interview this morning on 97.3 The Zone in Birmingham, claiming multiple teammates "didn't care if we won or lost."...

Holly Rowe Will Beat Up Anyone Who Tries To Steal Her Interview
Holly Rowe wasn't going to let anyone get between her and the post-Sugar Bowl interview with the winning coach, Michigan's Brady Hoke. That includes the Detroit News' Angelique Chengelis somebody who is not Angelique Chengelis, who came out on the wrong end of Rowe's elbow. [ESPN]...

Cheer Up, Eagles Fans: According To Comcast, You Made The Playoffs
Be sure to tune in Sunday, where last season's matchup of 10-6 Philadelphia and Green Bay will apparently be happening again. (Depending on where you live, Baltimore may be facing Kansas City, too!)...

Here's Mike Ditka Calling Dan Orlovsky A Polack, Then Apologizing
Mike Ditka comes from a Ukrainian family and grew up amongst people of various Slavic extraction in western Pennsylvania. He inevitably had friends who were Slovakian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Slovenian, or Czech. He also probably knew some Polish people, whom he and everyone else he grew up around cal...

At The Winter Classic, A New Year Belongs To Gary Bettman
PHILADELPHIA—These are supposed to be the treasured memories of the NHL's Winter Classic: Star-crossed Brayden Schenn's first career goal. Mike Rupp's mocking Jagr salute after his first score. Henrik Lundqvist stoning a penalty shot for the game. But they're transient memories, already fading....
![Mavericks Play-By-Play Voice Mark Followill Will Not Tolerate Your Online Criticism [UPDATE]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/18j4opz3qbkx6jpg.jpg)
Mavericks Play-By-Play Voice Mark Followill Will Not Tolerate Your Online Criticism [UPDATE]
NBA X's & O's maven Sebastian Pruiti (formerly of NBA Playbook, now at Grantland) watches a lot of basketball on television—as much, I'd wager, as anyone in the country. An experienced observer of local NBA broadcasts, then, he's within his rights to offer the tame criticism of the Mavericks broadc...