w Page 4875 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Get Your Short, Balding Guys!
A friend of ours — one of those overeducated, statistically minded fellows who believes an MBA, a cellphone and lots of Diet Coke can solve all the world's problems — says that if he were owner of a sports team, he'd pay three times what everyone else pays for high-quality general managers, becaus...

Swoopes Pulls Back Mask On Lesbianism In WNBA
Well, we've all been curious who the first high-profile athlete to announce that they're gay would be, and now that Houston Comets MVP Sheryl Swoopes has done it, well, we guess we're still kind of waiting. No offense to Swoopes, of course, who is one of the best players in WNBA history and actual...

Astros Are Texas Toast
News And Notes From A Crazy, Crazy Game • You know what would have been kind of funny? If Astros manager Phil Garner, just a split second after throwing that chair, realized that Craig Biggio's wife had been standing right behind him. "God-DAMN it ... oh. Uh, sorry, Patty." • Does that home run p...

To Watch Tonight
What to watch as a giant flatbed truck hauls your house to a better neighborhood ... • World Series, Game 3: Chicago White Sox at Houston Astros. Minute Maid Park doffs its lid, hoping fresh air will turn the tide. [Fox] • NHL: Florida at Pittsburgh. It's getting a little chippy in here. [OLN] • Fig...

Previewing The Inevitable Umpiring Fiascos
As mentioned regularly here, we're not that much into gambling, mainly because we find watching sports stressful enough without our parents' rent check riding on it, but thankfully our pals at Oddjack has a stronger taste for vice than we do. And he has unearthed a useful tidbit today, one we've a...

Why Your Hometown Columnist Sucks: Bud Poliquin
There must be a school out there, some sort of Hogwarts-inspired academy where columnists go to learn the art of lousy column writing. It can't just be a coincidence that our worst sports columnists, people such as Woody Paige, Jay Mariotti and this week's featured guest, Bud Poliquin, are all see...

Giants Owner Wellington Mara Dies
Longtime Giants owner — and just about the only sports owner we can ever remember professing affection for, if just because he was old and spindly — Wellington Mara has died at the age of 89. Mara was one of the most influential owners in sports history, pioneering the notion of sharing television...

Sky Closing In On Astros
For the first time this postseason, the roof at Enron Field/Dick Cheney Field/Minute Maid Park will be open this evening, and that has just about everyone but the White Sox unhappy. In the other postseason games, the roof was closed, and it made for a deafening atmosphere that greatly benefited th...

There Will Be No Sheep Tackling Here, No Sir!
To close out this sleepy Monday, we bring you sport from the other side of the pond; more specifically, the banning of such. The BBC reports that in New Zealand — wait ... that's not really "the other side of the pond," is it?; sorry, we went to grade school in the United States and thusly know no...

To Watch Tonight ...
What to watch as the CSI folks go through another 12 gross of plastic Ziplock baggies ... • MNF: New York Jets at Atlanta Falcons. Both starting quarterbacks are hurt and/or gimpy, which always makes for terrific ratings. [ABC] • NHL: Detroit at Columbus. The Blue Jackets make their first appearance...

Blogdom's Best: New York Jets
It might not — yet — have the online fanaticism and cachet of baseball, but the NFL and its fans are starting to catch up in the world of team-devoted blogs. To this end, Deadspin salutes these modem-addled souls and proudly presents Blogdom's Best, given to the most outstanding blog for each NFL ...

That Taste? It's Veggie Deep Dish
In the best response we've seen yet to FOX broadcaster Tim McCarver's ultimate foot-in-mouth moment last evening, the mad, depraved geniuses at Yard Work put on their miner's helmets to figure out what, exactly, that taste was in Brad Lidge's mouth that McCarver declared "not there."...

Could ND's Savior Be Gone After One Year?
The Mighty MJD brings up something we hadn't thought about: Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, the "savior" of college football's most "sainted" program, has a very cheap buyout clause in his contract that would allow him to go to an NFL team for just $1.5 million. That team would have to offer him a ...

Recruiting Wars Are Always Ugly
We'll confess, the whole notion of recruiting in college athletics leaves us queasy, and we're even more weirded out by fans who are unnaturally obsessed with it. There are countless "recruiting expert" sites that, when you really break it down, essentially make a living by looking at 16-year-old ...

A-Rod Battles Brutal "Asshole" Allegations
OK, everyone and their mother has been sending this to us this morning, so we might as well do something on it. Apparently, Yankees third baseman/lipstick model Alex Rodriguez made the mistake last week of dining at the same restaurant as a blogger (or a friend of a blogger, anyway)....

NFL Roundup: Portis' Head
• Contrary to popular belief, Redskins running back Clinton Portis was not doing an impersonation of Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams chasing a fly ball while doing that cartwheel in the end zone yesterday. Good guess, though. • We're not saying that Cincinnati was getting a little too excit...

World Series Roundup: McCarver's Buckner Moment
We don't mean to shrink last night's Amazing Scott Podsednik Moment into a moment of media criticism, but you're all going to be talking about it this morning, so we might as well lead off with it. Right before — like, a split-second before — Podsednik homered off Astros closer Brad Lidge, Fox bro...

Week In Deadspin: Our Day With Stephen A.
• We went to visit the set of "Quite Frankly With Stephen A. Smith" and came back with a newfound respect for the guy. Naw, just kidding. He does dress nice though. • Joe Buck and Todd Zeile, sitting in a tree ... • Holy crap, did you see what Pujols just did? Wow, that's unbelievable! The Cards a...

To Watch Tonight
What to watch as some of the greatest literature of all time sits languishing on the shelf ... • Boxing: Junior lightweights, Agnaldo Nunes vs. Isidro Granados. We hope this doesn't end like our last fight — with a broken pinkie and endless apologizing to waitresses at Hooters. [Showtime] • College ...

World Series Pants Party: White Sox vs. Astros
Well, someone's going to end a whole lot of frustration in the next week and a half, so even if the folks at FOX probably aren't that happy, the rest of us should have a grand time in the White Sox-Astros World Series. This is one of those great World Series where you can kind of sense that fans o...