7:53 PM This is pretty damn cool: Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times has picked Hoop Dreams as the greatest American documentary of all-time. Ebert also called it the best film of the '90s.
7:50 PM With Newcastle United fans incensed about the perilous direction of the venerable English Premier League team, eminent Northerner Sting has stepped into the breach and formed a group aiming to buy out Owner Mike Ashley.
7:16 PM Former Nationals GM Jim Bowden Tweets this afternoon that the Washington's MLB club has hired Jim Riggleman as its new manager. Our sincerest condolences go out to Riggleman's friends and family.
7:01 PM 26-year-old Steven Smith, an assistant varsity football coach in Paso Robles, CA, has been charged with two counts of attempted murder after shooting a pregnant woman several times, including in the head. He remains in a local jail in lieu of $1 million bail.
St. Louis Blues fans finally have a reason to celebrate. Their team is back the NHL playoffs for the first time since 2004, thanks to a cadre of up-and-coming players including Patrik Berglund, Cam Janssen, and rookie sensation T.J. Oshie. Attendance at the Scottrade Center is on the rise, and people in St. Louis are once again excited about their city’s hockey fortunes.
One fan in particular was so excited about these new-look Blues that he decided to start a blog, VOTE 4 OSHIE, campaigning for T.J. Oshie as a write-in candidate for mayor of St. Louis. The campaign failed, of course, but that didn’t stop one anonymous Blues fan from writing in Oshie for mayor of O’Fallon, Missouri, and sharing a picture of his ballot with the blog. Oops - turns out taking pictures of completed ballots is illegal in Missouri, and now election officials are furious.
If you listen to a certain half of the country, Sarah Palin is a menace and must be stopped. Well, she’s already claimed her first victim: St. Louis Blues goalie Manny Legace.
(Down goes Legace!)
The Vice Presidential Nominee was in St. Louis last night to drop the puck for the Blues-Kings game. Yes, another puck drop. We get it, she’s a hockey mom. If this were the WWE, they’d have dropped that gimmick by now and made her a zombie or something.
Validating those of you out there who think the Ryder Cup is more dangerous than the NHL, it was reported on Tuesday night that St. Louis Blues defenseman Erik Johnson suffered what appears to be a season ending knee injury while golfing last week. The 20-year-old Johnson, one of the bright young defensive stars in the NHL, tore his ACL and MCL when his leg got caught between the gas pedal and brake pedal on his golf cart. If I was Johnson, I probably would’ve tried to pull a modified Monta Ellis and lie about it, and at least say I was wrestling a wild boar or something.
And while we’re on the topic, the Yankees are going to have plenty of time for golf next week as they were finally put out of their misery last night when the Red Sox beat the Indians 5-4. The defending champs held the standard champagne-spewing party afterward, but likely did so as the wild card team. But hey, any celebration featuring Jonathan Papelbon acting like a tool is worthy in my book:
The Yanks are missing the postseason for the first time since 1993. Hank Steinbrenner blames “socialist” revenue sharing. And the “divisional setup” for allowing inferior teams to attain playoff spots. Never mind that the last Yankee championship team won only 87 regular-season games.
What’s the big secret to the 49ers’ 2-1 start? It might be this thing:
The creatively-named “Glove” is a newfangled contraption that is reportedly “billed as better than steroids without any ill effects.” It pulls blood into your palm and cools it down or something, I think. Whatever, this article from the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE should tell you all you need to know.
Q: Do you, Mr. Arenas, take this woman as your wife? A: Hibachi! (thank you WASHINGTON POST)
Star USC cornerback Shareece Wright is out for up to six weeks, leaving the Trojans with just 37 future first-round draft picks when they invade Corvallis, Oregon on Thursday.
We interrupt your regularly-scheduled Speed Read to give you this week’s installment of Ridiculous CFL Touchdown Celebrations (thanks to LARRY BROWN SPORTS for the tip):
Celebrity weddings are awesome, I think. We get to sit around and ponder what stupid things they will do and then discuss what kind of freak show children they are going to be cranking out and do over/under bets on divorce dates. But B-list weddings are even more fun.
And when you combine a 30+ year old NHL player and a Playboy Playmate — who is more famous for being the sister of another playmate, well you certainly get B-List. The ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS (via RANDBALL) dresses up the story of Dan Hinote and Amy McCarthy getting married this past weekend. Well, that and Jim Carrey dressing up as Fidel Castro.
THANK GOD THEY WEREN’T DELIVERING LITTLE CAESARS: The ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH reports on the wonderful week the Detroit Red Wings have been enjoying: “First the Red Wings lost to the St. Louis Blues 4-3 at Scott Trade Center. Then as their team plane taxied to take off from St Louis Downtown Airport about 12:30 a.m. today, the pilot cut a turn a little short and put one of the main gears in the mud.”
Because it was so late and the flight was out of the small downtown airport in St. Louis, there was no maintenance crew on hand to tow the plane out. So the Wings were forced to spend another night (drinking at Shannons) in St. Louis.The plane took off, team in tow, this morning.
