Archive for November, 2009
After personally paying for crews to clean-up litter along the Major Deegan Expressway, which runs right by Yankee Stadium, superstar Bette Midler would like the Yankees, in honor of their World Series victory, to start paying for the cleanup themselves in a corporate-sponsored Adopt-a-Highway PR move.
“Come on guys!” Midler urged. “It’s a good thing, it’s not expensive, and it’s great branding for the Yankee organization.
“I have been trying to get to someone in the Yankee organization for years to do this,” Midler told the Daily News. “It’s time to pass the torch.”
When you consider Bette Midler’s appearance on the show, the episode where Kramer adopts a highway and the obvious Yankees references, this is a veritable Seinfeld reference crossover bonanza post!
Tiger Woods arrived in Australia on Monday via private jet and was given a reception worthy of a rock star, possibly Jesus, as thousands gathered to greet the golfer.
A helicopter buzzed ahead and waves of people stood and gawked while Woods played nine holes in preparation for the Australian Masters. I mean, look at the photo above…it’s a virtual Where’s Waldo?, for crying out loud.
This is Tiger’s first trip to Australia in 11 years – the last time was for the President’s Cup in Melbourne in 1998 – and even he was taken aback by the frenzy.
“No, (the reception) is not normal. Thank God it’s not normal,” the 14-time major champion told reporters. “You don’t normally see this many people at a practice round, certainly, maybe at a major championship.”
I’m sure it was flattering, but I bet the $3 million put up by the state government of Victoria just for Tiger to show up certainly helps bring a smile to his face.
Tiger, as expected, said all the right things, referred to the weather as “hot as hell” and went on his merry way to prep for the tournament.
Must be nice.
The weather in Australia this time of year, I mean. Being Tiger Woods? I guess that would be okay, too.
Woods bemused by warm Australian reception [Reuters]
• NFL. Pittsburgh Steelers 28, Denver Broncos 10. Tyrone Carter had two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown in the second quarter with Pittsburgh trailing 3-0 and Denver’s offense was anemic the entire game – Denver’s only touchdown was scored by the defense – as the Steelers won in a rout. [Yahoo!/AP]
• NHL. Chicago Blackhawks 4, Los Angeles Kings 1. In his first action since October 21st, Jonathan Toews paired with Troy Brouwer to score power play goals 3:31 apart in the third period as the Blackhawks seventh home victory in ten games this season. [NHL.com Scoreboard]
• NBA. Phoenix Suns 119, Philadelphia 76ers 115. Steve Nash led the way with 21 points and 20 assists and Jason Richardson added 29 as the Suns broke 100 points for the eight consecutive game on Monday night – the last time a team did that was in the 1990-91 season. [NBA.com Scoreboard]
• Does not compute. Geysi Villa Nova Arruda, 20, a student at the Universidade Bandeirante (Uniban) in Brazil, was expelled for “flagrant disrespect of ethical principles, academic dignity and morality,” according to the school. A massive uproar occurred after Arruda wore a mid-length red dress to class, which sparked violent protests at the university. Armed guards had to escort Arruda off the campus while students called her a “whore.” Wait, once again, we’re talking about Brazil, right? Was it “Opposite Day” or something? [Yahoo!/Reuters]
• Monday Night Football. Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos. I bet Jon Gruden thinks this is going to be a game of smashmouth football. Just a hunch. [ESPN, 8:30 ET]
• NHL Hockey. Los Angeles Kings at Chicago Blackhawks. Jonathan Toews makes his triumphant return to the lineup. Should be a doozy. [Versus, 8:00 ET]
• Basic Cable Movie of the Night. 13 Going On 30. Coincidentally, this is also the title of Gary Glitter’s book explaining why he ended up in prison. [FX, 8:00 ET]
• Excellent. Four back-to-back episodes of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. If you haven’t watched this show yet, you fail at life. [Travel Channel, 8:00 ET]
It’s 4:19, You Gotta Minute?
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• Say goodbye to Jenn Sterger’s funbags. It’s been a nice run. I guess. [Busted Coverage]
• Who is the worst football coach? Man, there are so many options. [With Leather]
• Buccaneers player Sabby Piscitelli had his home burglarized while the Bucs were beating the Packers yesterday. [Bootlegger Sports]
• Business_Socks does his usual fantastic job of recapping Sunday’s NFL action. [Style Points]
• LeNoc brings us another edition of MYFO Mormonisms. Do read. [Melt Your Face Off]
• Aussie football fans riot while armed with axes and spears. Say what? [Last Angry Fan]
• I’m not sure exactly what’s going on here but this Semi-Fictional Jay Cutler bit is hilarious. [Kissing Suzy Kolber]
Alexander Ovechkin Is No Yakov Smirnoff
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Alexander Ovechkin strikes me as someone who would have an incredible sense of humor, but one of his jokes fell flat over the weekend when he reportedly jokingly told a reporter that he may be out more than a month and the reporter ran a story on his comments.
Ovechkin, who was quoted by Yahoo! on Saturday night as saying he could miss four or five weeks, insisted his left shoulder was not affected by the still unspecified injury, animatedly flexing the joint and telling reporters with a smile, “The shoulder’s fine, see?”
Huh. I don’t get it. Maybe it was funnier in his native Russian. Just like Dostoevsky. That dude was friggin’ hilarious, right? I heard the Mad Russian was a huge influence on Lenny Bruce.
Ovechkin: I was only joking about missing a month [SI.com]
I have sad news to relay regarding Sasha Cohen. No, she’s still amazingly flexible and incredibly attractive, but an injury will prevent her from competing in something called Skate America this coming weekend.
“I have been battling this injury for a while,” Cohen said. “After meeting with my orthopedic surgeon, it was determined that in order for me to fully recover, I should not compete this week.”
“I’m very disappointed I won’t be able to compete in Lake Placid,” Cohen said. “I’ve been going to physical therapy and training with every intention of being healthy and ready for this competition.”
Cohen still plans to compete at the 2010 Figure Skating Championships in January, but let’s hope she takes it easy and is 100% before taking the ice. Those thighs are a national treasure.
Cohen withdraws from Skate America [TSN]
Maple Valley, Washington resident Pete Ryan just celebrated his 80th birthday on Sunday and he spent the day doing what he does three to four times a week: playing a game of pickup basketball.
Ryan picked up the game in 2001 after his wife of 43 years died to help pass the time, and has been playing ever since. But how does he keep going?
“I get a cortisone shot now and then,” he said. He puts on a Velcro brace around his right knee for some extra support.
A little discomfort?
“Oh, I manage. You just keep running,” he said.
If you’re one of those middle-aged guys who gave up basketball, Ryan wants to give you hope.
“Start out slow and get in shape. Start running, and never stop running,” he said.
Yeah, I was all motivated to start playing basketball until I heard about all the running you have to do. Screw that.
Honestly, I can’t even imagine what I’ll be doing at 80 if I make it that long. Sometimes, the act of setting up the Xbox to play a game of NBA 2K10 is too much effort for me right now.
For 80-year-old Maple Valley man, hoops aren’t just a dream [The Seattle Times]
• Marbury is now tweeting about how the NBA is fixed. Him and Tim Donaghy should get together and write a book or something. [Sharapova's Thigh]
• Chris Hanson’s Axe has the lowdown on what you might hear from the MNF booth tonight in reference to Tom Cable. [Style Points]
• Jim Rome had himself a bad week. Well, a worse week than usual. [Guyism]
• Yet another classic Peter King smackdown by Drew. [Kissing Suzy Kolber]
• Headline writers in Canada must love Bon Jovi. [Melt Your Face Off]
• Sammy Sosa should be ashamed of himself. [Bugs & Cranks]
First reported by Mike Florio over at Pro Football Talk, Larry Johnson has been officially released by the Kansas City Chiefs, ending his tumultuous time with the organization. An excerpt from the release by the team, courtesy of PFT:
“The Kansas City Chiefs released RB Larry Johnson on Monday. In 75 games (55 starts) with Kansas City, Johnson rushed 1,375 times for 5,996 yards (4.4 avg.) with 55 touchdowns. He also registered 151 receptions for 1,369 yards (9.1 avg.) with six TDs. He concluded his Chiefs career with 30 100-yard rushing games and also added two 100-yard receiving games.
“Johnson established an NFL single-season record with 416 rushing attempts in 2006 when he set a franchise single-season mark with 1,789 rushing yards. He originally entered the league as the Chiefs first-round selection (27th overall) in the 2003 NFL Draft out of Penn State.”
The Chiefs sure do speak of him glowingly given that they just dumped his ass. Perhaps they were afraid of initiating a hostile Twitter counterattack.
Best of luck to Larry Johnson and his future NFL playing career. You just know some team will be stupid or arrogant enough to sign him. I’d go with the Raiders with the stupidity angle and the Patriots for the arrogance. But what do I know? I nominated Larry Johnson for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. I knew it was a long shot, but since I don’t even have a ballot in the damn thing anyway and my nomination was returned to me because I didn’t put a stamp on the envelope, I guess the entire effort was essentially worthless. Kind of like what Larry Johnson’s NFL career should deservedly be right about now.
Chiefs officially cut L.J. [Pro Football Talk]
Just when everybody thought the newspaper industry was preparing to get read its Last Rites, it pulls a stunt like this…and totally redeems itself as a credible source for up-to-the-minute breaking news items.
If some blogger would have ran with this story, I would never have believed it, but when THE Boston Herald pays one of its journalists to dig deep and find the real story within the story, you know it must be true.
Here it is, kids: there are several NFL players out there that are using this newfangled thing called Twitter. Say whaaat?
As the league, its teams and hundreds of players adjust to the newest trend in technology and fan connection, they’re all learning at the same time that Twitter and other social networking sites are the league’s newest Venus fly trap: come on in and get comfortable – but know that there are consequences.
Nah, I’m (kind of) messing around. It’s a fairly lengthy and pretty interesting read by Kent Babb about the pitfalls (and possible benefits) of social networking as it pertains to the professional athlete. I just find it amusing picturing some old guy opening up his paper this morning and reading this story and thinking to himself, “Twitter? What the heck is that?”
Ha. Old people are funny because they don’t keep up with current technology.
NFL players open views to their world 140 characters at a time [Boston Herald]
If all Lawrence Taylor had to do to get arrested was to leave the scene of an accident, authorities could have handcuffed him months ago after his appearance on Dancing With The Stars. Zing!
No but seriously, folks (do you like that? I’m trying out a new “hack comic” delivery – is it working? No?), LT was arrested in Miami-Dade County yesterday evening after authorities were notified of a white car missing a front tire that was involved in an accident on the Palmetto Expressway leaving the scene.
Just off the next exit on the Palmetto, Hialeah police spotted the white car off the road. Taylor was standing outside, talking on his cellphone.
“He said he had been involved in a crash,” [Highway Patrol Lt. James] Durden said, adding Taylor said he thought he hit a guard rail and not another car.
“No injuries, significant damage to both vehicles,” Durden said.
Thankfully, there were no injuries, but I want to know just how far Taylor drove his car while it was missing one of its front wheels. Years ago, I was driving early in the morning and up the road a ways there was a car shooting off sparks. When I finally got up next to the vehicle at a stoplight, the left front tire was missing. I looked over at the guy in the car and he gave me a “What in the hell do you think you’re looking at?” glare, which I guess was fair since I was driving a motorcyle with one wheel at the time. Never did find that other tire.
Ex-NFL great Lawrence Taylor arrested in Miami-Dade [The Miami Herald]
• NFL. Dallas Cowboys 20, Philadelphia Eagles 16. Tony Romo’s 49-yard touchdown to Miles Austin in the fourth quarter proved to be the deciding score as Dallas avenged the 44-6 pasting by Philadelphia in season finale last year. Dallas improved to 6-2 and are now in first place in the NFC East. [Yahoo!]
• NHL. Atlanta Thrashers 3, St. Louis Blues 2 (SO). Rich Beverley and Slava Kozlov both scored in the shootout as Atlanta moved to above .500 at 7-6-1. [NHL.com Scoreboard]
• NBA. Los Angeles Lakers 104, New Orleans Hornets 88. Kobe Bryant had 28 points as the Lakers won their fifth in a row. [NBA.com Scoreboard]
• Drunk driving broad calls 911 on herself. Granted, she’s from Wisconsin (wah wahhhh). Mary Strey, of Graston, Wisconsin, called 911 to report herself too drunk to drive on October 24th, resulting in her being charged with a DUI. She told dispatchers “I don’t want to hurt anybody. I’m drunk.” Her BAC was twice the legal limit. [MSNBC/AP]
• NBA Doubleheader. Cleveland Cavaliers at New York Knicks at 8:00 ET followed up by San Antonio Spurs at Portland Trail Blazers. [ESPN]
• College Football. Boise State at Louisiana Tech. I thought everybody hated Boise State – why are they on ESPN? [ESPN2, 8:00 ET]
• Basic Cable Movie of the Night. Grandma’s Boy. Haven’t seen it. Heard it’s hilarious. Maybe I’ll watch. Nah, I’m watching Golden Gophers hockey, ya dummies! That’s what we do in Minne-soh-tah. [FX, 9:00 ET]
• Ooh la la. Ancients Behaving Badly: Caligula. “Roman Emperor Caligula gains a fearsome reputation for being a sadist, murderer and raving lunatic.” Best. Emperor. Ever. And hey, it has to be better than that piece of crap show Men Behaving Badly. [History, 9:00 ET]
It’s 4:19, You Gotta Minute? (November 6th)
Posted by:• Drew drops some serious haterade on the Yankees parade. [Deadspin]
• More nightmare fuel Andy Reid O-Face photoshops. [Kissing Suzy Kolber]
• More LSUfreek animated .gif magic. This time, Nick Saban taking on a tiger. [The Sporting Blog]
• The unaired video of Bruno interviewing Pete Rose that has been all over the internets. [First Cuts]
• Red Wings fan killed after being dragged by a car for a 1/4 mile. [Guyism]
• Albert Haynesworth defended Dan Snyder. Makes sense to stand up for the guy who signs your paycheck. [D.C. Sports Bog]
• Matt Cassell has a good suggestion to help combat concussions in the NFL. [Second-String Fullback]
