Dancing With The Stars: Season 7 Contestant Couple Pictures.
Retired NFL star Warren Sapp and Kym Johnson
Comedian Jeffrey Ross and Edyta Sliwinska
Celebrity Chef Rocco DiSpirito and Karina Smirnoff
Former N’Sync boy bander Lance Bass and Lacey Swimmer
Beach volleyball champion Misty May-Treanor and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Actor Ted McGinley and Inna Brayer
Reality star Kim Kardashian and Mark Ballas
Emmy-winning soap opera [...]
Signal To Noise, who deserves the game ball for yesterday’s incarnation of the Hugh Johnson Project, was the first to show us the latest gimmick for ESPN analyst Lou Holtz to dispense his folksy flavor of football knowledge to TV audiences each Saturday. We covered this in Spud’s Blogdome, but it really deserves its own post, and here it is: Doctor Lou is in.
That’s it for me and Spud. Enjoy your Labor Day. We’ll do it again soon.
Pop music icon Cyndi Lauper has become the latest in a series of celebrities throwing support behind Senator Barack Obama’s campaign for the White House.
In a Friday afternoon entry, entitled “Hope,” posted on her Official Myspace Blog, Cyndi says: I believe we are at a crossroads and the next ten years will determine the [...]
I’d say this trade has worked out well for the Brewers, wouldn’t you? CC Sabathia was ridiculously dominant again today as Milwaukee beat the Pirates 7-0, strengthening their hold on the NL wild card. Sabathia only allowed one piddly little hit, and according to ESPN, even that has yet to be finally determined. The Brewers plan to appeal the scorer’s ruling that awarded Andy LaRoche a single on a slow comebacker that Sabathia dropped. While an overturning of the call appears unlikely, it wouldn’t be the first time it has happened to Milwaukee, even this season:
The Brewers said in an e-mail to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney they would appeal the official scorer’s ruling of LaRoche’s hit.
“We are putting together a DVD with all the replays we have and sending it to MLB tomorrow,” said Mike Vassallo, the Brewers’ media relations director. “We had to send a call in earlier this season and got it reversed. So hopefully we can go 2-for-2.”
Note to self: give Mike Vassallo a call next time you try to return a large ticket retail item without a receipt.
Sabathia is now 9-0 with a 1.43 ERA since being traded to Milwaukee from the Indians back in July. And he could make life extremely uncomfortable for a team in a best-of-five or best-of-seven series come October. (How’s that for analysis?)
Elsewhere in baseball, the Mets, Phillies, White Sox and Roy Halladay-led Blue Jays all won. Consequently, the Marlins, Cubs, Red Sox and Yankees all lost.
Sabathia one-hits pirates; Brewers to appeal scorer’s ruling on single [ESPN]
Diddy has something to say about Senator John McCain’s transparent and strategic selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as the nation’s potential next Vice-President.
Check out Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin as 24-year-old Sarah Heath, a sportscaster for KTUU-TV in Anchorage, Alaska, circa 1988.
Does anyone else find Madam Governor’s voice really annoying? What do think of Senator McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as a running mate?
I don’t want to freak anyone out, but here goes…AUSTRALIANS ARE TAKING OVER OUR PUNTING UNITS! Three, count ‘em, three Aussies will be starting at the punter position for NFL teams this season: Mat McBriar of the Cowboys, Ben Graham of the Jets and Saverio Rocca of the Eagles. Why the sudden influx? Have NFL barbies been particularly shrimpless lately? Nope, turns out it’s their mastery of the drop punt method, which the’ve adopted from their Aussie-Rules football days and which allows for greater accuracy. I’ll let the eggheads at the Wall Street Journal explain:
The technique, which sends the ball spinning end over end instead of in a traditional spiral, typically allows punters to pinpoint their kicks to within five yards. It can also result in fewer odd bounces, including that ultimate punter faux pas — a ball that bounces into the end zone for a touchback.
I thought the ultimate punter faux pas was wearing those long socks with sandals?
Let’s get to the real issue here: kickers have long been the target of mockery from fans, sportswriters and teammates alike. But these three guys have Aussie-Rules backgrounds which, as I understand it, makes them extremely tough. So the next time you decide to taunt a kicker, be careful. Here’s a good rule of thumb: before you say anything, tell him Paul Hogan died. If he wells up with tears, keep your mouth shut.
How to Kick Australian [Wall Street Journal via Ben Maller]
The love affair between Miami RB Ricky Williams and Dolphins management is in full bloom, as the NFL’s house practitioner of holistic medicine received an extension through the 2009 season, and reportedly a pay raise to boot. Terms of the raise were not disclosed, but my guess is that it involves large quantities of foliage in medium-sized sandwich bags.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen on Saturday that there was no signing bonus, but Williams’ salary in 2009 could increase significantly over this year’s base of $730,000.
The Miami tailback can increase his 2008 compensation with easily achievable incentives, the source said. Williams, 31, was scheduled to be a free agent in ‘09.
Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland said Sunday that the team wanted to keep the 31-year-old running back so “he didn’t become a free agent” after this season.
Williams hasn’t played a complete NFL season since 2003, but has somehow won over Bill Parcells, the new czar of Dolphins football operations, so much that incumbent starter Ronnie Brown has been rumored to be shipped out of town. One could argue that Parcells has needed to mellow out for quite some time. Who in the league, then, would be better suited for the job?
Miami signs Williams to 1-year contract extension [ESPN]
Are the Vancouver Canucks guilty of false advertising? Wait, the NHL’s advertising now? [Stanley Cup Of Chowder]
• “A Rum and Coke We Can Believe In”: Weirdness abounds at the Democratic National Convention. [The Big Lead]
• Baby steps, Royals fans: “We’ve done a better job on pop-ups. Now, we’ve got to do a better job of throwing the ball across the infield.” [Joe Posnanski]
• Not enough fat guys: Explaining the Maple Leafs’ suckiness through the medium of NES Ice Hockey. [Melt Your Face Off]
• An attractive MMA Fighter. How about that: From the pics, it appears she specializes in bridge-fighting. [D Wizzle's World]
• The doctor is in…sane: Lou Holtz has your prescription ready. [Signal To Noise]
