Golf:
John Daly Yelled Background Vocals on Kid Rock's New Album: He played his best golf in a long, long time at the Buick Open, and now he's making a name for himself in the world of music.Fighting:
Feds Charge Chris Benoit's Doctor: Although Astin insists his prescriptions were for legitimate medical reasons (he says Benoit had low testosterone levels), he has been a target of investigators since they found the steroids in Benoit's home, and Astin's office has been raided twice.
WWE Erases Chris Benoit: Darren Rovell notes something interesting on his sports business blog: The WWE is treating Chris Benoit the way Stalin treated inconvenient truths: It has eliminated him from history. The URLs of nearly every page related to Benoit on the WWE web site have now redirected to the main page, WWE.com.
UFC 73: Preview and Predictions: I'm not sure that there's ever been a better lineup than the one we have coming up at UFC 73. Two of UFC's five champions are defending their titles, and those two title fights might not even be the most anticipated fights of the night. Here are the details.
MLB:
Barry Bonds Voted in by Fans? Yeah Right: Down 119,000 votes as of last week, and in what, six days he catapulted ahead of Alfonso Soriano by 123,000? Are you kidding me? You expect me to believe that happened? I don't care what kind of push the Giants made for Barry to get into the game. I don't believe it could have accounted for such a difference in such a short amount of time.MLB All-Stars: All-Stars By Association: Ivan Rodriguez, David Ortiz and Placido Polanco. First of all, all three of these guys are legitimate All-Stars, I just don't see them as worthy of starting the game.
MLB All-Stars: The Shoe-Ins: Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Vladimir Guerrero, Magglio Ordonez, Ichiro Suzuki. What more needs to be said? All five players rank in the league's top 10 for batting average; A-Rod leads the majors in home runs; and A-Rod, Vlad and Magglio rank first, second and third in the majors in RBI.
Left Out of the All-Star Party: AL East: Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox: He's roughly about the size of one of David Ortiz's legs, and looks like he should be manning a neighborhood lemonade stand. But Li'l Dustin has been one of the few offensive bright spots for the Sox in 2007.
Left Out of the All-Star Party: AL West: Orlando Cabrera: Los Angeles Angels. Hey, if you don't like shorstops who play stellar defense and are hitting .337 with 48 RBI all while on pace to finish the season with over 200 hits, then I guess Orlando Cabrera doesn't deserve to be an All-Star.
Left Out of the All-Star Party: NL West: Eric Byrnes, Diamondbacks: Just compare Byrnsie and Aaron Rowand, who was named to the team, across the board. Their stats are eerily similar, as as their personalities. But one thing stands out -- Byrnes is superior (by small margins) to Rowand in almost every statistical category.
Left Out of the All-Star Party: AL Central: Curtis Granderson: Detroit Tigers. There are already five Detroit Tigers on the roster, but there could be eight, and Granderson was definetely deserving of an All-Star nod.
Left Out of the All-Star Party: NL Central: Aaron Harang: Cincinatti Reds. This guy gets no respect. He lead the NL in wins and strikeouts last year and didn't even get a Cy Young vote. This year he's third in strikeouts, his WHIP is 1.18 (better than last year's 1.27), his ERA is virtually the same as last year, and if you like record, he's 8-2.
MLB All-Stars: The Robert Fick Rulers: Dmitri Young: For the second time in his career, Young has been named a token All-Star -- he made his first trip as the Tigers lone representative in 2003
NBA:Derek Fisher Leaves Jazz to Care For Daughter: Fish said he's not ready to retire, but he is hanging up his Jazz jersey. He'll leave $21 million on the table. No update on Tatum's condition has been released, which Fish only relating that "basketball is not a priority right now." Fish's legacy on the court is one of professionalism.
The Debriefing: Best Draft Comparison for Yi Jianlian: Steve Francis? How could you behave like Eli Manning and Steve Francis and expect people to like you? I'm an affable guy, and I generally like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but come on. That's asking too much. No one likes Eli Manning and Steve Francis. I once saw an episode of the Teletubbies where Tinky Winky peed on an Eli Manning jersey. Children everywhere cheered.
Do Not Bash Larry Harris, Says Larry Harris:
Apparently, Milwaukee general manager Larry Harris expected the NBA fanbase to bow before his strong-willed onions after picking Yi Jianlian #6 overall in Thursday's draft. Instead, many are questioning the obviously risky and possibly franchise-debilitating decision. And Harris is getting defensive.
NCAA Football:
Wannstedt on the Wannstache: SB: When did you decide you were going to adopt the mustache as your signature look? DW: Well, I always thought the Charles Bronson look was the way to go, and I didn't realize it would take off.Darren McFadden Dabbles in Drag: The suit-and-tie crowd at the Heisman Trust may not know what to do with this news, but McFadden was dapper and conservative for last year's ceremony
NFL:
John Elway Wants Arena Football to Become the Official Minor League of the NFL: In order to do so, Elway might attempt to force out the Arena league's commissioner, David Baker, who has always taken pride in making Arena football its own entity, not just the NFL's little brother.
Mike Brown, NFL's Worst Owner? Not as Long as William Clay Ford Is Around: I wouldn't call Brown the worst owner as long as William Clay Ford allows Matt Millen to run the Lions into the ground. Brown's Bengals wandered through the darkness for most of the 1990s, but he eventually righted the ship by putting Marvin Lewis in charge. Ford doesn't seem to care that Millen is ruining his franchise, and that makes Ford the NFL's worst owner.
Frank Gifford: '[Eli Manning] Will Be Better Than His Father': "Get him a couple more receivers and get him a little more time to throw the ball and he'll be better than his Father," Gifford said on MSG's "State of the Giants."
