w Page 5100 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

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...

Great Weekend For Houston's Foot Fetishists
Nothing more classy than Texans, we tell you. As a show of solidarity with the Astros as they prepare for Game 1 of the World Series tomorrow evening, Houston mayor Bill White is encouraging all local residents to go sockless for Games 1 and 2, calling it a "No Socks Weekend."...

Ozzie Guillen Takes Center Stage
What'd we tell you? White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has taken a hold of the spotlight and strangled it until it looked like the Smurfs at the end of that UNICEF commercial....

Blogdom's Best: Seattle Seahawks
It might not — yet — have the online fanaticism and cachet as 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 ...

Larry Bowa, Voice Of Calm And Decency
The rumors are coming fast and with much fury, and the notion of it makes us so happy we almost want to dance: The Yankees have offered combustible engine Larry Bowa a job as their third-base coach. It is not known whether Bowa could be considered a potential replacement for Joe Torre were he to f...

To Watch Tonight ...
What to watch as your Billy Bass wall-mounted talking fish takes over the house like the computer from "2001: A Space Odyssey" ... • College Football: Virginia Tech at Maryland. Marcus Vick and the unbeaten Hokies vs. The Terrapins — the one we've all been waiting for. [ESPN] • PGA Tour: Funai Class...

The REAL Reason The White Sox Have Suffered
Everyone's talking about curses of the Black Sox and how much White Sox fans have suffered, but MSNBC's Bob Cook points out that the true source of the team's problems is not the past, but the owner Jerry Reinsdorf:...

Liftoff In Houston
We congratulate the Houston Astros on their first-ever trip to the World Series; we're happy for Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell and all the fans who have suffered through some truly heartbreaking moments. You're going to the Series, and if you ask anyone other than a Cardinals fan, they'll tell you...

To Watch Tonight ...
What to watch while trying to figure out the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic ... • NLCS, Game 6: Astros at Cardinals. "Mulder! I need your help!" So many times Gillian Anderson said that on "The X-Files," now everyone in St. Louis knows what it really means. Houston, meanwhile, is chil...

Blogdom's Best: Chicago White Sox
More than any other sport, baseball lends itself to individual blog obsession. Every Major League Baseball team has several blogs obsessed with chronicling the ins-and-outs of everything. Deadspin salutes these modem-addled souls and proudly presents Blogdom's Best, given to the most outstanding b...

The White Sox Like To Suck Face
The Chicago Tribune has discovered the source of the White Sox's success this postseason: Manager Ozzie Guillen makes out with his players. No, really. After the ALCS victory over the Angels, Guillen kissed his sons in the dugout, then kissed Jose Contreras, then Freddy Garcia, then (gasp) owner J...

Coles Gets His Oprah Moment
As promised, Jets wide receiver Laveranues Coles appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to talk about his being molested by his stepfather as a child. As you might expect, Coles cried, Oprah cried, everyone cried. (Dick Vermeil came by, he cried, Jimmy Swaggert came by, he cried, Sean Penn came by, ...

To Watch Tonight ...
What to watch as light through yonder window breaks ... • NHL: Boston at Montreal. Real hockey, shown in real bars, watched intermittently by real men. [OLN] • Soccer: UEFA Champions League, Lille at Manchester United. If you don't watch this, you're a wanker. [ESPN2] • NBA: Exhibition, San Antonio ...

Joe Torre, Masochist
One of our favorite games as a kid — and still, actually — was "Rock And A Hard Place." You remember the game: It involved making someone choose between two equally undesirable options. Would you rather kiss a donkey on the butt or look at a naked picture of your mom? You know, that sort of thing....