• Major League Baseball without steroids is like porn without the silicone.

Just don’t blog about the subject with Raul Ibanez.

• Rodney Harrison doesn’t like how the NFL has become “soft and pansy“.

• A Fox News morning show lambasts MTV for Bruno’s ass-ault on Eminem - then does a segment with a Fox reporter doing basically the same thing to a lingerie football player.

• Tim Floyd takes off from the Trojans. What, and leave the Song Girls?

• Soon-to-be newlyweds Kendra Wilkinson & Eagles WR Hank Baskett are expecting a baby. On the other side of the spectrum, Barry Bonds’ wife demands a divorce.

Read more…

• Not only are Kendra Wilkinson & Hank Baskett getting hitched, but they’ll soon hear the pitter-patter of little feet around the Playboy Grotto.

• The Orlando Magic finally make the NBA Finals interesting.

• An RV crash kills the girlfriend, brother & dog of pro golfer Ken Green.

• Ex-Bear Roland Harper gets snared in a Chicago school landscaping scandal.

• West Virginia coach Bob Huggins battles his bathroom door - and loses.

Read more…

Taylor Mays is a bad, bad man. He’s listed at 6′3″, 230 pounds, is lightning fast, and can hit hard enough to make this happen. He also just so happens to play for Pete Carroll and USC, so he is a lucky, lucky man.

(Oh? You don’t go to USC? Your school only has “regular” cheerleaders? What a pity.)

So not only does he go to school on a gorgeous campus, he’s cheered to victory by the famous Song Girls and has a coach cool enough to let him make a video of his time with the ladies. That’s after the break.

Read more…

Apparently Natalie Nelson, the ever-confused USC Song Girl, now has this photo circulating:

It’s on a site called JERSEY CHASER, and I cannot vouch for the pic’s veracity.

Sooooooo, want to see the unedited pic? Read more…

A few weeks ago we introduced you to Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singh, who won a television reality contest in India that brought them America to try and become the first professional baseball players from their country. And while the whole thing seemed silly at the time, it now appears that the guys are going to actually get a legitimate shot.

(The guy on the left didn’t even know it was Halloween)

At least 20 Major League teams are expected to send representatives to a workout on Thursday featuring the two aspiring pitchers. One scout gives them an 85% chance of making it in baseball, which is a victory for all of us – because the longer they’re here, the longer we get to read the comedy gold that is their blog. (Bad Boys isn’t their favorite movie anymore!)

Read more…

We all know by now that appearing on the cover of SI is not something people welcome. Unless your name is Marisa Miller and you’re wearing nothing but body paint and a wry smile.

The SPORTS ILLUSTRATED jinx has been well-chronicled over the years, and includes this *memorable* cover of former USC QB Todd Marinovich (who went onto a great NFL career and his been an upstanding pillar in the Orange County jail community ever since).

Speaking of an insidious connection between USC and SI, last year USC Song Girl Allison Daniels was the subject of a riveting profile on SI.com. Ms. Daniels was due to return to the team this football season, and even posed in the squad’s official team photo. Strangely though, she was soon photoshopped out of the pic:

So what happened? Did the SI curse strike again? Was Daniels spotted at a McDonald’s drive-thru by Marv Marinovich and then summarily dismissed? Thankfully, Scott Wolf of the L.A. DAILY NEWS Daily News has the sketchy details of Ms. Daniels *voluntary* departure.

And of course, we have bikini photos of her else I wouldn’t have posted this item in the first place. Read more…

• BUSTED COVERAGE introduces us to Lindsey (on the left), their early favorite for this season’s USC Song Girl of the Year.



• BUGS AND CRANKS pays a buck for a CD that includes Omar Vizquel’s priceless rendition of the Goo Goo Dolls single, “Broadway”. I don’t know what’s more surprising in that sentence - Vizquel singing the Goo Goo Dolls, or that someone still pays for CDs.

• The Phillies fought back from a 5-2 deficit in the ninth to beat the Mets 8-6 in the first of a three-game showdown for first place in the NL East. But some writer at NEW YORK MAGAZINE named Will Leitch says this is no rivalry series.

• NEWS.COM.AU tells us a dozen are injured at a bull fight in Colombia. However, the bull had nothing to do with it. The video evidence to prove it is after the jump. Read more…

SbB’s Adventures in Air Travel: Kickin’ it in Kansas City, chillin’ in Charlotte.

• Ana Ivanovic gets the stamp of approval from the Serbian postal service.

• USC’s Song Girls make $1 million in just one day by basking in bikinis.

• Matt Leinart’s car spotted in L.A. - or could it be Nick Lachey’s wheels?

• Pope Benedict can come in to Yankee Stadium, but he’s have to leave the Popemobile with the valet.

• Carmelo Anthony gets into a nugget of trouble with a DUI charge.

Read more…

Those of you longtime L.A. *sports* observers know that traditionally the USC Song Girls are much hotter than the UCLA cheerleaders. But if the photos (from WIZARD OF ODDS) from a recent USC charity fundraiser are any indication, we’d say the lovely ladies from Westwood have caught up rather rapidly.

The Song Girls stripped down to their bikinis for the annual “Swim With Mike” event, which apparently raised $1M in a single afternoon. Sounds like George Lucas might want to take a closer look next time he checks out of his locker at the USC swim stadium. Read more…

• TROJAN WIRE gets a leg up on the world’s luckiest trainer:

• GHOSTS OF WAYNE FONTES wants to know what’s in it for them, as they sign up for incentive-based sports contracts.

• JEN’S FREE THROWS is all wet, as Greg Oden hits the pool for his rehab.

• SONS OF SAM MALONE checks the calendar, as FOX SPORTS forgets that 2004 ever happened:

• SPORTS MEDIA WATCH knows it will be a scary Halloween, as ESPN’s NBA analysts for that night are scheduled to be Stuart Scott, Stephen A. Smith and Bill Walton.

• YOU BEEN BLINDED showcases Serena “Sugar Fly” Williams.

• STORMING THE FLOOR takes a big look at the little guys, as they preview the mid-majors:

• EPIC CARNIVAL misses their assignment, as Chiefs TE Tony Gonzalez will block for you when he wants to.

• If Joe Torre needs employment, the minor league Brockton Rox are happy to oblige.

• CAJUN BOY IN THE CITY doesn’t recall comparing LSU coach Les Miles to Ronald Reagan:

• ICE NETWORK isn’t lying through their teeth when they say they have an interview with Nancy Kerrigan.

• Eva’s marriage to the Spurs’ MVP may be for keeps, as EXPO SAY learns that the “Desperate Housewives” star will now go by Eva Longoria Parker.