8:00 PM Late games recap: Saints stay perfect by beating Panthers 30-20; Vince Young stays perfect as starter as Titans top 49ers 34-27; Chargers hand Giants their 4th loss in a row in a 21-20 comeback win; and the Lions turn a 17-0 1st quarter lead into a 32-20 loss to the Seahawks.
7:42 PM And it wouldn't be an NFL weekend without Chad Ochocinco trying to liven things up on the field: this time the Bengals receiver tries to bribe an official with a whole dollar! Will this stunt cost Chad more than a dollar in fines from Roger Goodell?
7:20 PM How did Joey Porter back up all the jawing he did this week about the Patriots? By finishing Sunday's game with no tackles, no sacks, no passes defensed, no forced fumbles or recoveries, and no comments to reporters afterwards.
It’s that time of year when the teenage girl in the short shorts and platinum blonde smile holds out a handful and asks, “Would you like one?”
That’s right; it’s baseball’s annual answer to the PENTHOUSE Forum: the mostly fictional facade of MLB All-Star Game voting, where your vote counts increasingly less each year in a game that supposedly counts more than ever.
That peppy young lass from the organization with the stack of ballots would like you to fill out a couple hundred or so at the ballpark and then she’ll give you a big reward. (In Arizona, the Diamondbacks whip out a team shop gift certificate. Your local franchise’s well-intentioned bribes may vary.) You don’t want to disappoint her, do you?
Remember a couple of weeks ago when the Celtics were going to challenge the ‘96 Bulls for the best record ever? Yeah, you can pretty much put that possibility to rest. The C’s continued their strange descent on Tuesday night, dropping a game to the lowly Bobcats, 114-106 in overtime. Boston has lost five out of seven games following a 27-2 start, and now faces the real possibility of not winding up with the best record in the East at the end of the season. Orlando is 27-8 after beating Washington last night, and the idle Cavs sit at 27-6.
There was a huge bowl game last night too. I mean, all the best games happen after January 1st, right? Oh, it was just the GMAC Bowl. And what better company to be bringing us a bowl game this year? It actually wasn’t a terrible matchup, as both Tulsa and Ball State took undefeated records deep into the season before faltering late. In wet, sloppy conditions in Mobile, the Golden Hurricane rocked the Cardinals 45-13. BSU was once ranked 12th, but will probably not end the season in the rankings. It’s a shame former Cards coach Brady Hoke, who left for San Diego State, couldn’t have stuck around for this one since he needs some experience in losing games by that margin for his new job.
His name is Corky Simpson, and he might be the only member of the Baseball Writers Association who didn’t vote for Rickey Henderson to be in the Hall of Fame. Henderson, who is among the all-time leaders in a number of categories and considered by many to be one of the 10 greatest players ever, is up for election for the first time this year. HOME RUN DERBY has tracked down the ballots of 31 writers so far, and all but Simpson’s contain Henderson’s name. And it’s not like Simpson was being stingy with his votes. He voted for eight players, including Tommy John, Tim Raines (the poor man’s Henderson), and — get this – Matt Williams! HOME RUN DERBY further analyzes Simpson’s insanity.
• The whole dating hockey players thing has worked out well for Elisha Cuthbert and Hilary Duff, so Carrie Underwood has apparently jumped on that train as well. REALITY TV MAGAZINE reports that Underwood is dating Ottawa’s Mike Fisher, as she was seen watching the game from a suite with Fisher’s parents this past weekend.
• Somebody dressed as a security guard took a hockey stick from a teenage fan that was given to the kid by Detroit’s Henrik Zetterberg during the New Year’s Day game at Wrigley Field. The “guard” said that the stick would be available to be picked up at the customer relations booth. There was no stick at customer relations. The kid is crushed, and nobody knows who the guy is that took the stick nor where the stick went. The CHICAGO TRIBUNE’s Jon Yates has the odd story.
• Your strange video of the day comes courtesy of the NHL, where Ottawa’s Jarko Ruutu thought it was a good idea to bite Buffalo’s Andrew Peters on the hand.
The best part? Peters is the one who got a penalty.
• A San Francisco couple with too much time on their hands are in the process of suing the 49ers for patting them down before entering Candlestick Park, saying that it’s an invasion of privacy. The SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE has the arguments from both sides.
• In a stroke of genius roster management that would make Isiah Thomas proud, Tottenham Hotspur sold striker Jermain Defoe to Portsmouth last January for £9.0 million, and now have decided they want him back. The price? £15 million. Well played, Spurs.
• Finally, I have to include this story about the Indians signing Carl Pavano. Is it huge news? No. It’s just an excuse to run a link to an article penned by the incomparably-named Chris Assenheimer of the MEDINA COUNTY GAZETTE.
For professional sports players, having a personal blog is a dicey gamble. While they provide the much-needed service of allowing sports fans a glimpse - and sometimes more - into their personal lives, it also comes with the built-in stipulation that you’re willingly giving fans of opposing teams’ more material to heckle you with. Case in point: It has now been confirmed that Kyle Kendrick loves the Backstreet Boys. Run with it, Rays fans!
Writing on his “personal diary” for the series over at PHILLYBURBS.COM - not being on the World Series roster gives him a decent amount of free time - Kendrick spends an inordinate amount of time (i.e. any at all) getting excited over the fact that the Boys from Backstreet were in attendance to sing the national anthem.
Whether out of jealousy, animosity or some soul-crushing combination of the two, Tony Romo castoff Carrie Underwood is insecurely pointing and laughing at current Romo girlfriend Jessica Simpson like Sarah Palin at a community organizer.
ROMO’S ROLLING IN THE BIG BUCKS W/NEW DALLAS DEAL: Tony Romo has struck it rich in Texas, as the Cowboys QB has agreed to a new contract extension:
ESPN reports that the Dallas slinger and Hollywood swinger will sign a new six-year contract worth $67.5 million, with 30 million of those greenbacks guaranteed. Romo has been playing in the last year of a contract, which could have sent him to the free agent market at the end of the season.The official announcement is scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday morning. Better get those TiVo’s fired up!
With the new deal, the Romo-mantic now has plenty of dough to buy some friendship bracelets forJessica, Carrie, Sophia, and Britney. And he can even toss in a few bucks for Ms. Spears’ next round of rehab.
Romo has been “friends” with Sims for a long time - a lot longer than people know - and he came to L.A. to see her over the weekend. Sims also happens to be pals with Spears, so we’re sure Romo was very, very happy to be seen with her.Spears and Sims initially met up with Romo (he’s huge in L.A., don’t you remember his days with the AFL Avengers?) at L.A. restaurant Ketchup, which is partially-owned by Jim Rome.
Excerpt: “Alli was meeting up with Tony and his friends at Ketchup and Britney wanted to come along. Tony and Alli have been good friends. They’ve known each other for a little over a year.”
We’re sure Carrie Underwood would be interested to find that out.
The trio eventually ended up at Matt Leinart and John David Booty’s favorite H’wood hot spot, Les Deux, “where they hung out for a friendly low-key night upstairs.” Spears was “sitting with her friends and Tony. Everyone was just hanging out. Brit was upbeat, really seemed fine.“
Underwood (at least to me) in the photos looks like she’s hanging on for dear life with Romo (why I have no idea). And I know, the pics have the worst watermarking (by the WMS website) I’ve seen this side of a gay gossip blog.
