• Erin Andrews wants to put that whole terrible peephole incident behind her - that’s why she’s going on Oprah.

• What better way to get pumped up for the college football season than with our first look at the USC Song Girls.

• Tony Romo’s back with another blonde bombshell, as the Cowboys QB is supposedly smitten with Dallas sports TV reporter Candice Crawford.

• Why should you watch coverage of Kansas vs. Northern Colorado on Saturday? Because Samantha Steele will be working the sidelines.

• Want to tell the Chicago Bears coaching staff that you’d love to make the final roster but don’t know how? Say it with flowers.

Read more…

• Has the Curse of Alyssa Milano finally been lifted from MLB pitchers?

• What better way to kick off the college football season than by trading really bad rival-bashing songs back and forth?

• Green Bay Packers LB Nick Barnett shares his shopping habits - such as getting his wife a Thumper.

• Tony Kornheiser talks about all the quivering he did during his “Monday Night Football” days.

• Chelsea FC will have to wait awhile before signing any new players.

Read more…

If you don’t already listen to Bill Simmons‘ podcast, we recommend doing so (if you’ve got the 50 minutes a day to spare, anyway). As chic as it is to hate Simmons, he’s one of the best sports podcasters in the business, and engages his (high-profile) guests as well as anybody. Credit where it’s due and all.

His latest guest yesterday was ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser, and as two neurotic writers are so often wont to do, they spoke frequently about their own fears. For Kornheiser, it’s flying. And while TK wouldn’t explicitly cite it as a reason for his departure from the show, it does sound like his departure was awfully good for his mental well-being.

Read more…

Dan Steinberg at DC SPORTS BOG has the latest on Tony Kornheiser’s seemingly cratered D.C. media career, transcribing comments from Commander Combover during a D.C. radio appearance this week.

(Took this on Venice Beach this week … vaguely applicable? OK, maybe not.)

Apparently Kornheiser, who was recently let go by the WaPo and nudged out of the Monday Night Football broadcast booth by Mike Tirico ESPN management, is finding it tough to supplement his PTI appearances with a free-money local-yokel radio show:

“A lot of business people want me to do syndicated national radio,” he said. “I don’t care about syndicated national radio. If they want to syndicate a local show that I do, I’m happy to do it, but I want to local radio.”

(Steinberg): How many business people are interested?

“Not enough yet,” he said. “But maybe in an hour. Maybe in an hour.”

So wait, Kornheiser has plenty of people beating down his door to do a national radio show, but no one in his hometown is interested in hiring him?

Does that smell funny to you?

Actually, uh, no.

Read more…

• He hasn’t even thrown a pass yet, but Jets QB Mark Sanchez is already cementing his status as a Big Apple sex symbol with a GQ photo spread:

And Hilary Rhoda, the bikini-clad babe sharing the snapshot spotlight, is also apparently Mark’s new main squeeze.

• Tony Kornheiser gives up his “Monday Night Football” gig, so ESPN tabs Jon Gruden as his replacement. It should be fun, considering what the ex-Bucs coach has said in the past about the Worldwide Leader.

• Will recent sex scandals cause Australian rugby to ban its cheerleaders?

• The Pepsi Center double-books a Nuggets-Lakers playoff game & WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” on the same night. Of course, Vince McMahon is going to have lots of fun with this Denver Debacle.

• Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger is hoping her boyfriend, Formula One star Lewis Hamilton, will soon race with her to the wedding altar.

Read more…

• Tony Kornheiser has called it quits with his “Monday Night Football” gig. In his place will be ex-Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden.

• And we’re sure Chucky will get along great with his new employer, since he’s had so many nice things to say about the Worldwide Leader before.

• Hedo Turkoglu’s heroics help the Orlando Magic curse the Celtics to no title repeat this year.

• Padraig Harrington is now taking golf tips from “Happy Gilmore“.

• In response to the Matthew Johns group sex scandal, some are calling for the banishment of cheerleaders from Australian pro rugby matches.

Read more…

Tony Kornheiser’s three years in the booth at Monday Night Football have been pretty uneventful.  Some people liked him and his humor in the booth, while others would rather have had a real football mind instead of the guy who was supposed to appeal to the common man.  Personally I didn’t really care because when I’m watching football I’m not paying attention to the announcers as mush as I am my fantasy team.

Still, while I was never a huge fan of Kornheiser in the booth, I did think he was a lot better after Ron Jaworski replaced Joe Theismann.  Of course none of that matters anymore because once Tony saw that this season’s MNF schedule included a few trips to the west coast and that he’d have to get in a plane more than usual, he decided he’d had enough.  Now he’ll be replaced by former Raiders and Buccaneers coach, and horror movie star, Jon Gruden.

Read more…

You might just know Skip Bayless as the blowhard on ESPN who says outrageous statements just to get attention. (Versus, basically, every other personality on ESPN who does exactly the same thing.) Among his greatest hits are his on-going hatred of LeBron James and his belief that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were boycotting a golf event because it was sponsored by Mercedes.

(ESPNer Bayless reiterated stand on Aikman’s sexual preference)

So you might be surprised - shocked, even - to learn that Bayless used to be more than a talking head seeking out controversy: he used to be a writer seeking out controversy. THE STARTING FIVE has Part One of an exhaustive interview with Bayless about his columns and books, focusing on his expose “Hell-Bent: The Crazy Truth About the’Win or Else’ Dallas Cowboys,” which created a scandal for allegedly “outing” Cowboys QB Troy Aikman. And Bayless isn’t backing down. Sort of.

Read more…

You know it’s a slow news day when the Internet rumor mill deigns to discuss Arena Football. And normally the AFL would be thrilled that people are even talking about them, but probably not this time; the scuttlebutt has the league alternately contracting, suspending operations, or shutting down altogether.

(The AFL is indeed, if rumor is to be believed, livin’ on a prayer.)

The sum total of the sources right now appears to be two players on the Columbus Destroyers, and a reader of the COLUMBUS DISPATCH with a “friend with close ties to one of the west coast teams.” So let’s not get our britches tied in a knot just yet. Still, there are plenty of reasons to think the AFL might be in some serious trouble.

Read more…

Ron Jaworski, former Philadelphia Eagles QB, has been plenty busy since retiring from the NFL in 1989.

He’s best known for his role as ESPN’s resident football Rain Man, breaking down game film like he’s Raymond Babbitt talking about Wapner. But Jaws also landed the MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL analyst gig last year, and owns part of the Arena Football League’s Philadelphia Soul along with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. In addition to all that, he manages two golf courses, and is in the process of adding a third, Running Deer Golf Club.

Which seems harmless enough - except that Running Deer is bringing Mr. Jaworski to court.

Read more…