What's missing from instant replay? Tony Verna has the answer. "It's something that hasn't been done before. And the USA says whoever comes up with something can keep it."
An Open Letter From Roger Ebert To Jay Mariotti Mariotti is an easy target at the best of times, but his abrupt departure from the Chicago Sun-Times, right after they paid his way to China for the Olympics, left his most distinguished now-former colleague more than a little out of joint. And no one writes a screw-you letter like Roger Ebert.
A Radical 'Radial' Solution: "Even under the most severe conditions, the worst that will happen with one of the Radial Bats is one of the wedges will crack. No danger will be presented to any of the players, umpires, coaches or spectators in the stadium."
Kevin Duckworth, ex-Trailblazer, Dead at 44. I'll be the last to say I liked him as a player, but it's still sad to see anyone stricken down at such a young age...
August 27
LPGA Tour will suspend memberships if players don't learn English The LPGA will require its member golfers to learn and speak English and will suspend their membership if they don't comply.
August 26
New Stadiums: Prices, and Outrage, Escalate But even as fans of the Mets, the Yankees, the Giants and the Jets look forward to state-of-the-art stadium architecture, better sightlines, wider concourses and more bathrooms, some of them are also facing startling increases in ticket costs during a serious economic downturn.......The Giants Mara offered a blunt lesson in market-driven economics on WFAN radio this month. We have 130,000 people on our waiting list,-- he said. We could charge anything and still fill the stadium.--
9 year old with a 40 mph fastball, gets the boot. I'm not sure what to make of this. On one hand I can see the punishment for being very good. On the other hand they allowed him to either play a different position or go up to the next level. I really dont know what to think about this but I have a 9 year old who I think could hit him :)
August 25
New York Giants' Osi Umenyiora out for season; Will Strahan return? On Saturday, while almost everyone in Giants blue was spewing optimism about Osi Umenyiora's left knee injury, Justin Tuck did everything short of sticking his fingers in his ears and screaming.
August 23
Video: Olympic Taekwondo Competitor Kicks Referee in Head Angel Matos, a Cuban taekwondo competitor, kicked the referee in the face after being disqualified at the Olympics. The competitor and his coach are likely to be banned for life. See the video
Olympic Photos Birds Nest panorama
Water Cube panorama
Opening Ceremony in 1 Minute
Interactive Medal Count Map
August 22
When is enough "enough"? Hoping to put a definitive end to a simmering controversy, China was asked to provide additional documents that prove that five of the six team members were old enough to compete at these games. Although they had already provided these documents several times before, due to a website claim that the Chinese gymnasts were underage, the inquiry persists. Sour grapes for the Americans? Many international commentators think so. read more
Island Breeze: The dominance of Caribbean (Jamaican) Sprinters Coming from a Caribbean person, I wish there were more stories like this that highlight that, apart from the American and Jamaican sprinters,almost everyone else in the final fields for the men and women 100m and 200m finals were also Caribbean runners (Netherlands Antilles, Cayman Islands, St. Kitts, Bahamas, Trindad & Tobago, etc) read more
Revenge of the Baseball Gods "'Outside the Lines' revisits the battle between Danny Almonte and Matt Cerda in the 2001 Little League World Series.
Two airplanes destroyed the Twin Towers, and two boys went back to the rest of their lives.
Nineteen days before, these boys had played a crisp Little League World Series ballgame, a ballgame that would make one of them an icon and one of them weep." read more
August 21
"Papa, I gotta go potty. Hold my fishing rod." Man lands record catfish with daughter's Barbie fishing rod.
US softball team denied gold; Ueno dominant Losing for the first time since 2000, the U.S. softball team was denied a chance for a fourth straight gold medal Thursday, beaten 3-1 by Japan. Yukiko Ueno, Japan's remarkably resilient right-hander, shut down the Americans and handed them their first loss since Sept. 21, 2000 at the Sydney Games. read more
NFLPA Director Gene Upshaw Dies Gene Upshaw, the Hall of Fame offensive lineman for the Oakland Raiders who has led the NFL Players Association as executive director for 24 years, has died of pancreatic cancer at age 63.
August 20
Bengals Resign Troubled Receiver Chris Henry With their two Pro Bowl receivers hurt, the Cincinnati Bengals brought back troubled receiver Chris Henry on Tuesday, a move that their coach had emphatically ruled out only a month earlier as inappropriate. The signing helps the team but raises questions about its commitment to holding players accountable for their actions.
To lift a nation In every little corner of the Olympics, you'll find something that means everything to somebody. It's what keeps the flame burning, that every country here has something to wait for, something to hang on. Sit with an Indian watching his country's best woman play badminton, Go to Heineken House, the Olympic version of the Spirit of Edmonton suite at Grey Cup, and you'll see the Dutch celebrate a cycling medal the way a Brazilian celebrates soccer.
Yesterday it was Latvia's turn.
August 19
Baseball Hall of Famer YAZ hospitalized BOSTON - Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, the last player to hit for the Triple Crown, was hospitalized for tests Tuesday after experiencing chest pains.
The popular Yaz was an 18-time All-Star and spent his entire career in Boston, taking over left field for Ted Williams in 1961 and playing through 1983.
Rays Walk Hamilton Intentionally with Bases Loaded The Tampa Bay Rays made history Sunday night, walking Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers on purpose with the bases loaded so they could face Marlon Byrd, who struck out to cement a 7-4 Rays win. The intentional walk was the first time in 107 years that an American League player was walked intentionally with the bases full and only the fifth overall since 1900. "You don't pitch to Superman when you have Wonder Woman on deck," said Rays closer Troy Percival.
Equestrians' silver touch In his eight previous Olympic appearances, Perth Ont., equestrian Ian Millar had his wife Lynn by his side to help ride the highs and deal with the lows of his sport.
Millar finally got an Olympic medal in his ninth try, a bittersweet highlight of his decorated career because it came without his wife by his side. She died of cancer earlier this year.
August 18
Olympic Traitor? Chris Kaman of the Clippers, a US citizen, obtained German citizenship and plays basketball for the German Olympic team in these Olympics. He is three generations removed from his great-grandparents who came here from the motherland. There's some dispute about whether a US citizen playing for another national team is kosher. Opinions?
Bolt wins Olympic 100m and breaks the world record Michael Johnson can't believe what he's watching. The best bit? He didn't even bother to tie both of his shoelaces.
August 17
Let's hope the Pope says condoms are OK after all Italian team Premiata Montegranaro announced Sunday that 38-year-old Shawn Kemp has agreed to play for the team starting in November.