Remember Tim Donaghy? NBA commissioner David Stern sure does. See, he’s the referee who was convicted of accepting large sums of cash from gamblers in return for providing inside information on games he was working. He served 15 months in prison for the conviction, was released, then was sent back for violating his parole. Now, to top it off, he’s written a book detailing his transgressions, and the transgressions of the referees he worked with during his NBA tenure. That’s right, he wasn’t alone.
In his book he explains in detail how referees would conspire to keep games close to keep ratings up, make bets amongst themselves about calling fouls, and even swing the tide of playoff games to force longer series (and therefore keep the sponsors happy). Basically the worst possible things you could allege referees in any sport are doing. The sorts of things that call the league’s competitive credibility into question. The sorts of things that make you wonder what the difference is between pro basketball and pro wrestling. The sorts of things that could bring a league to its knees. And make me very, very happy.
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So you went 0-16 last season. What do you need to do to improve? Get a new coach? Nah. New players? Nah.
Love him or hate him, you have to give the guy props. John Madden is a Hall of Fame NFL coach. He’s an award-winning broadcaster. And he’s built the biggest video game franchise on the planed. Today, after 30 years on the job,
Fresh off his masterful portrayal of Rorschach in Watchmen,
There’s a new twist in the late night shakeup. You may know that Conan is taking over Leno’s 11:30 timeslot, and that NBC is giving Leno a 10pm nightly show. The twist is that some of the network’s affiliates aren’t happy about it.
Behold 
It’s an iconic image in the baseball card world, and one of the most well-known cards outside it. It’s quite possibly the only area where Bill Ripken’s fame actually outshines his brother Cal’s. And until recently the story behind it was something of a mystery. Well, almost 20 years after he made “Fuck Face” a household term among teenage boys, 





Is Mark Cuban, the multi-bazillionaire owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, HDnET, and Landmark Theaters going to buy my beloved Chicago Cubs? Apparently he submitted paperwork to MLB to throw his name (and considerable bankroll) into the ring. How would I feel about the always outspoken Cuban owning the Cubs? After all, he’s rankled other NBA owners and commissioner David Stern. So how would I feel?
Mississippi Braves manager Phillip Wellman had the greatest tantrum in the history of baseball today. He was able to get in several tried and true tantrum tricks (like kicking dirt on home plate, getting in the umpire’s face, and taking bases) AND work in a couple of new moves (I won’t spoil it too much for you, but let’s just say if this whole baseball thing doesn’t work out he can be an extra in war movies…)
Ricky Williams, formerly of the University of Texas, the New Orleans Saints, the Miami Dolphins, and the Toronto Argonauts, 

Apparently he was stopped because he almost hit a police car leaving a club. I’ll tell you, that cop’s got balls. This is certainly not the first time Tyson has been in trouble though. He served three years in prison in the early 90s for raping Desiree Washington. In 1999 he was imprisoned for 9 monthsfor assaulting two people after a car accident. And, of course, he bit off Evander Holyfield’s ear.


