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.
• DEADSPIN hears Mike Greenberg lamenting the low-watt brain power of radio co-host Mike Golic: “It is impossible to have a conversation on a high, intellectual level with a man whose idea of fine literature begins with Doctor and ends with Seuss.”
Another day, another mini-scandal involving the Beijing Olympics organizers. According to WIRED, they are ripping off the arrangements for the national anthems. Peter Breiner, who did more than 200 arrangements for the 2004 Olympics in Athens, claims that the versions used in the Beijing Games are almost identical to his, a fact supported by a side-by-side comparison by THE WASHINGTON POST. Even this guy would have caught on that something was wrong with the anthems:
This is one of the few glitches in these Olympics, unless you count the fake fireworks, lip-syncing replacements for ugly girls and underage gymnasts. I guess we’re supposed to be surprised by this, but seeing as though China is the home of piracy, and not just in the digital realm, we’re not.
With the Olympics set to begin in Beijing tomorrow night, I’ve been spending a lot of time lately trying to get myself into a patriotic mood (and injecting steroids through tattoos of course). One of my methods is by singing the National Anthem to myself in the bathroom mirror. Using my comb as a microphone, I’ve been belting out some rather tear-inducing renditions - and have had the cops called on my home twice.
I am not deterred, however, for it doesn’t matter how horrible I am at singing, my love for this country won’t be denied by anybody. I should point out, though, that even if my version of the Anthem isn’t too good, it’s still better than the one Carl Lewis performed 15 years ago at a New Jersey Nets/Chicago Bulls game back on January 21st, 1993. That was horrible. Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself.
Scary, right? Well things could be getting even scarier as Lewis tells CNBC’s Darren Rovell that he’d be willing to do it again.
Turns out Carl Lewis wasn’t the only celebrity to recently suffer a sorrowful ceremonial first pitch.
BIG LEAGUE STEW tosses us news that Mariah Carey was asked to do the honors for the Yomiuri Giants of Japan. The songstress showed good from - however, we’re not talking about her hurling prowess.
(Video of Mariah’s pitching performance after the jump.) Read more…
Toronto Raptors coach Sam Mitchell says he wouldn’t be afraid to sing the Canadian national anthem - if the money was right.
The TORONTO SUN reports that Mitchell would be willing to belt out “O Canada” before a Raptors game, but he would want a performance fee of $25,000. However, he’s not being as greedy as he sounds: Read more…
Two men attending a Connecticut high school basketball game were forced from the premises when they sat during the national anthem.
The men, Jeffrey Green and Aaron Johnson were in attendance with their wives when they were confronted by New Britain High School athletic director Lenny Corto and asked to leave. Read more…
