Sports Media Watch:The Debriefing: Who's Erstwhile? But my tournament will not celebrate athletes who are winners on the field and making headlines off of it -- or whatever the hell "now" means -- I'm going to celebrate the losers, letdowns, and washouts. The athletes who, when their parents see them on television, deny that they're related.
Spike to Pay $100 Million to Keep UFC: Although there had been previous reports that either ESPN or HBO would make a big bid for UFC, Spike and UFC have had such a symbiotic relationship -- especially in the way the reality show The Ultimate Fighter made both the channel and the sport more popular -- that it makes sense for them to stay together.
Barack Obama Cites Genarlow Wilson Case in Response to Scooter Libby Commutation: Specifically, video has recently surfaced of Barack Obama moments after he learned that President Bush had commuted the sentence of Scooter Libby, the convicted felon who worked in the Bush administration.
Kobe Bryant to be Traded to Memphis, Says Guy Who Might be Fired if He's Right: During the online webcast of the Summer League Suns/Blazers game, one of the broadcasters (I don't know who it was, sorry) made a little bit of a mistake. His mouth believed he was off the air, but his microphone disagreed ... and unbeknownst to the broadcaster himself, he told the whole world this:
Fun With Video:
Old School: Jefferson Starship Says Hook 'Em: If you're thinking "boy, I bet this backfired spectacularly," you're way right. After a surprising 10-2 1990 season, the recruits lured in by the promise of "still having each other" if the "world runs out of lovers" went 5-6 and forced the resignation of Texas coach David McWilliams.
Javelin Mishap Becomes Internet Phenomenon: In the last 24 hours it's been viewed more than 2 million times on YouTube, and hundreds of thousands of times on other video sites. Will any track and field event get that many television viewers all year?
Kermit Cintron Knockout Punch: When I watched the fight live and wrote about it immediately afterward, I thought it was the right hand that did the damage, but the slow-motion replay makes it clear that the left is what knocked Matthysse senseless and the right just pushed him down.
MLB:Kenny Lofton: Sheffield Is Right About Torre: We all know what Gary Sheffield said, and for the most part, everyone -- especially Buster Olney, who's covered the Yankees as closely as anyone during Joe Torre's tenure -- has stepped up to defend Torre as, you know, not racist. Not Kenny Lofton.
Rich Hill Is Training to Be a Cage Fighter: That's Rich Hill, taking a break from chatting online with babes all day to introduce the Cubs' lineup before their game on Saturday against the Astros.
Wil Ledezma Sidelined By Dirty Laundry: In what General Manager John Schuerholz described as a "washing incident," Ledezma apparently left his passport in his pants pocket and tossed it in the washing machine, detaching and damaging his visa. He is stuck in Venezuela while awaiting replacements.
