the Page 847 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The NCAA Is Making An Example Of UConn Basketball
The NCAA needs to throw out a few numbers every once in a while to make it look like it's serious about the "student" half of the free labor it loves to describe as "student-athletes." For a while, the NCAA would publish graduation rates in accordance with financial aid-related legislation. Then the...

Plaxico Burress Wants To Play For The Panthers. The Panthers Do Not Want Plaxico Burress To Play For The Panthers.
Who wants a possibly washed-up wide receiver on the wrong side of 35 and still carrying plenty of baggage? Burress didn't actually have a bad season with the Jets, his first post-prison. It was just underwhelming, with major drops in catches, yards and scores—and football players are not one of thos...

Won't Somebody Remind A.J. Pierzynski There Are Only Two Outs?
Top of the eighth, none on, one out, and Matt Thornton catches David DeJesus looking for strike three. The White Sox are well on their way to avoiding a sweep. OK. Looks like Starlin Castro is up next, and—hang on. A.J.? Yo, A.J.? What the—where's he going? Hey! Wait. Did everyone forget? Don't they...

There Was An Inferior Substitute To Front-Row Amy At Yesterday's Brewers Game
A few weeks ago, the ever-present Brewers fan Front-Row Amy missed a game. Mavens worried for her health, as a framed photograph of the Milwaukee superfan was in her usual seat. Not to worry, though, as she was back for the next game and looking her usual best....

Artist LeRoy Neiman, The Ring Announcer From The <em>Rocky</em> Movies, Has Died
To some people, LeRoy Neiman will be better known as the popular artist who helped capture and immortalize moments from five different Olympiads and painted portraits of dozens of notable athletes over the years. Here's a sampling of his work. Chances are you've seen one or 10 of these somewhere....

Steve Carell, The Star Next Door
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is probably the most Steve Carell movie that Steve Carell has ever made. With someone else at the helm, this comedy-drama's quirky/emo storyline—two mismatched East Coast neighbors take a road trip together as the planet is weeks away from destruction—might ...

Jemile Weeks Saw A Ghost Last Night
Attendance was up for last night's Dodgers-A's game in Oakland, even if most in attendance were Giants fans always up for another opportunity to heckle their rivals from Los Angeles. With Aaron Harang walking eight in just 3 2/3 innings, something was working, and the Athletics walked away with a 3...

Drew Brees Says The NFL's Bounty Evidence Is Like Bush's WMDs. He's Not Wrong.
Leave it to Drew Brees, nominally uninvolved in the Saints bounty scandal, yet a possible target for retribution, and simultaneously embroiled in his own cash controversy. Brees sent out a tweet last night that captured all the mistrust and hyperbole and amateur lawyering coming from all sides over ...

Pixar Isn't Even Trying. <em>Brave</em>, Reviewed.
1. The brand Pixar has become so powerful and so reliable in the last decade that we forget that's all it is: A brand. We assume every new Pixar film will be well thought out and impeccably constructed, like the Pixar crew is one hivemind that taps into the American subconscious and springs a nevere...

The New Best Place For An Outdoor Hockey Game: A Roman Amphitheater
Yes, yes, the next Winter Classic will be at the Big House, and it'll look great with 120,000 freezing and screaming fans. Do you realize we're falling desperately behind the Europeans in the all-important "playing sports where sports aren't meant to be played" race? Why, just last month, a Russian ...

A Mural Featuring Mike McQueary Tastefully Adorns Happy Valley Titty Bar
Reader Jayme recently returned from a trip to the End Zone Club, a titty joint located in scenic Port Matilda, Pa., just 13 miles away from the Penn State campus. He files this report:...

Kent State Head Coach Scott Stricklin Is Really, Really Excited That <em>SportsCenter</em> Is Coming Up Next
The Kent State Golden Flashes continued their improbable postseason run, knocking off the NCAA Tournament's No. 1 overall seed Florida and remaining alive in the College World Series with a 5-4 win in Omaha yesterday....

The Beep-Beep Awards, And Nine Other Bizarre Slides From Gregg Williams's Slideshows
When the NFLPA released 200 pages of "evidence" from the NFL's case against the Saints, we were disappointed that most of it had nothing to do with bounties, but secretly delighted at the glimpse into Gregg Williams's motivational techniques. Before every game, Williams would create and share Powerp...

Here's The NFL's Bounty Evidence, Including Gregg Williams's Actual <i>Dog The Bounty Hunter</i> Reference
On Friday afternoon, the NFL released 200 pages of evidence backing its case for a Saints bounty program. It was blasted by the accused players as flimsy and lacking a smoking gun, and possibly because of that, they didn't share the evidence with the media. But they did share it with the NFLPA, who ...

Why I Lie: An Athlete's PR Guy Comes Clean
One of the toughest jobs of a publicist is learning how to lie. It's the one thing about my career that keeps me awake at night. I'm not looking for sympathy—I chose this profession. But as some of you know, it can be a dangerous circle, telling lies to keep other lies intact. ...

The U.S. Open Trophy Ceremony Videobomber Is A Deforestation Activist Named "Jungle Bird"
The roosterlike fellow who invaded last night's U.S. Open trophy ceremony and earned a scolding from champion Webb Simpson has been identified as a kooky deforestation activist named "Jungle Bird."...

Ohio Man Wants Buckeye Removed As State Tree Because It's A "Bisexual" Plant
Earlier this month, in the letters to the editor section of the Findlay (Ohio) Courier, this gem ran:...

Golf Has A New "Cigar Guy"
Remember Cigar Guy? There's a new member of the stogie-sporting clan, and this one's garbed in what appears to be a tribute to the late Payne Stewart. We only saw this one glimpse of him, and frankly his expression leaves a bit to be desired; even worse, he was at best the second-weirdest person at...

Webb Simpson Wins U.S. Open, Has Trophy Ceremony Invaded By Squawking British Man
Webb Simpson seized his first major title on a U.S. Open Sunday rife with errors in play by all competitors. At times, it looked more like the Albert Achievement Awards than a professional golf tournament, but by far the weirdest moment came after play ended when a man garbed in Union Jack colors...

Anthony Hargrove's Agent Blasts The NFL For "Semantics-Gate"
Tomorrow, Roger Goodell is set to hear the appeal on all four current and former Saints players who have been suspended for their respective roles in the alleged New Orleans bounty program. On Friday, the NFL released less than 200 pages worth of documentation it intended to rely upon to uphold the...