LATEST STORIES FROM THE BIG LEAD
Who is Behind the Incredible Failure That is the @InsidetheBCS Twitter Account?
8 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
The BCS had the bright idea to start a twitter account - @InsidetheBCS - perhaps in an effort to blunt the tsunami of criticism that is being rightfully heaped on the farce that is the end of the college football season. Who’s behind the account? A reader with a keen eye noticed...
Notre Dame and Charlie Weis, Anyone?
8 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
Notre Dame and Charlie Weis: Since we were talking about recruiting and the Irish this week, here’s a stat for you - the 28-player recruiting class that Charlie Weis hauled in back in 2006 plays its last home game Saturday. Ten of those players have transferred. Only nine of...
NFL Pigskin Pigsplosion Preview Week 11
8 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
I think its great that LeBron James is going to play for the Browns. An big athletic tight end that hasn’t played organized football for the better part of a decade is just what the city of Cleveland needs to turn around its football team.
Ironically - or coincidentally, I...
Caster Semenya Verdict is in: She Keeps the Medal, the Gender Tests Remain a Secret
8 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
Caster Semenya: The teenage sprinter will keep her gold medal. And her gender test results, which were supposedly leaked two months ago, will remain private. Poor kid. This is the kind of story that should have hit the newswire on Friday at 4:59 pm, or the Wednesday before Thanksgiving...
Rumor: ESPN Fires Executive David Berson
8 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
ESPN is being dodgy about this, which means the WWL is either crafting an emergency press release, or hoping they can hold the press at bay for a few more hours. An ESPN source tells us that this morning in Bristol, an emergency meeting was called, and top brass was notified that David...
Devin Thomas Had a Brazilian-Themed Birthday, and Clinton Portis Showed Up in a Purple Scarf
8 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
The party itself isn’t worth a post, so how about we turn this into an item about the Buffalo Bills? Reality seems to be setting in regarding who the Bills can secure as head coach. Yesterday, we said this; today, the local media is saying this:
“The Bills’ organization...
“If ESPN covered the Last Supper, you’ve got to figure they would’ve put Judas on the Budweiser Hot Seat.”
8 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
Couch Slouch: Things to keep in mind while watching sports on TV this weekend. “Who says Hollywood is a tough town? With no prior experience, Michael Strahan got a broadcasting job and an acting job.” [Wash Post]
Two Internet Writers May Have Cost Chris Carpenter the NL Cy Young
8 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
The BBWAA has acknowledged the internet folk of late, but their glasnost hit a snag in this year’s NL Cy Young voting. Both ESPN.com’s Keith Law and Baseball Prospectus’ Will Carroll bucked conventional wisdom slightly, leaving St. Louis starter Chris Carpenter off their...
KKK Planning “Rally” at Ole Miss-LSU Football Game
8 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
LSU-Ole Miss: The KKK is angry that Ole Miss is no longer playing “From Dixie with Love,” so those hooded clowns are going to plan a “rally” in Oxford Saturday when the Rebels play the LSU Tigers. The KKK plans on marching in full robes, which, believe it or...
Bill Simmons is Serving an ESPN-Imposed 2-Week Suspension From Twitter
8 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
Bill Simmons had a book signing in Beaverton, Oregon last night, and a reader who attended wrote in that he “overheard” ESPN’s Sports Guy telling a fan that he was “suspended from tweeting for two weeks” and that all he was allowed to tweet about was his...
Bowl Game You Don’t Want Your Team Playing In
8 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
BCS Announcers: Bad news if your team makes the Sugar Bowl -Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick will be the announcers. We still cringe at the thought of Brennaman slurping Tim Tebow in January. The good news is that Musburger and Herbstreit will call the National title game and the Rose...
Ballin’: Kobe Passes Jabbar, Jerry West Up Next
8 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
Chicago 93, LA Lakers 108: Pau Gasol made a triumphant return for the champs, scoring 24 points and taking 13 rebounds in victory. Kobe scored 21, and in the process passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the 2nd leading scorer in franchise history. Kobe should overtake Jerry West for first...
50 Cent’s Posse vs. Marv Albert
8 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
50 Cent vs. Marv Albert: Marv went on Jimmy Kimmel this week. So did 50 Cent. Too bad 50 Cent’s posse didn’t recognize Marvelous. “As Albert arrived, with an entourage of one, TNT public relations specialist Jeff Pomeroy, there was a sudden scuffle when a multitude...
The Roundup: The Most Overpaid Actors in Hollywood
8 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
Katy Perry … guess what happens when you report that your weed was stolen? … the middle class squeeze continues … Dawson Leery’s marriage ends after six years … Oprah’s show will leave ABC in 2011 … if you were married in Texas over the last...
RIP Stefanie Spielman
9 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
RIP Stefanie Spielman: The wife of former Ohio State football star Chris Spielman lost her 11-year battle with cancer today. She was 42. [TV, Previously]
Thursday Night’s All Right for Running the Ball
9 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
In a matchup that can only be described as even more scintillating than last week’s epic 49ers-Bears tilt, tonight’s installment of NFL Network’s much-plugged Thursday Night Football again features two teams with playoff aspirations. I remember when I was young and...
Here’s Your Chance to Deliver, Bud
9 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
Bud Selig: The clumsy MLB commish plans on “tightening” up baseball’s postseason schedule. Great! Then, he followed it up with, “it’s difficult.” This left Rob Neyer “guardedly optimistic” which might as well be code for, “not happening...
NFL Football Wives: Plenty of Jennifer Walcott and Not Enough October Gonzalez
9 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
E! aired its second installment of athlete wives last night (sorry for the low picture quality; we don’t have E! in high-def). It featured plenty of playmate Jennifer Walcott, the fiancee of former safety Adam Archuleta. The first 15 minutes of the show were dedicated to Walcott...
Rachel Hunter’s Still Attracted to Athletes
9 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
Rachel Hunter: After getting dumped by hockey player Jarret Stoll seven weeks before their wedding, the model who was famous in the 80s has taken up with a former race car driver. “The beauty from New Zealand partied with multi-millionaire former Formula 1 driver Eddie Irvine...
This Guy Seems Upset Josh Pastner Went to Memphis
9 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
Josh Pastner: He’s been the toast of the college hoops coaching world this week - labeled a prodigy and a magnetic recruiter for a) Nearly upsetting No. 1 Kansas on Tuesday, and b) Hauling in a wicked good (the best?) recruiting class for next year. Everyone loves him …...
College Football: The First of Two Mostly-Family Weekends
9 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
This weekend isn’t great. Couple of things to figure out in the Pac-10, a few to determine in the ACC, some clouds in the BCS picture that likely won’t be resolved until around 11 pm on December 5, and the beginnings of two rivalry weekends back-to-back. It’s always...
Mark Mangino: Not Fired (Yet) But Now He’s Fat and an “Abusive Bully”
9 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
Mark Mangino: “Mark Mangino is an abusive bully. He’s been one from the moment he stepped on campus at Kansas. He used bully tactics to build a winning football team in 2007 and intimidate anyone on campus who dared to stand in his way. Abusive bullies are dangerous, and leaders...
Five Years Ago Today: A Beer-Throwing Lout Ignited the Pacers-Pistons Brawl in Auburn Hills
9 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
Javi | MySpace Video
We’ll start with an unpopular opinion: Ron Artest isn’t to blame for the Malice at the Palace.
* As Bill Waton on the replay, it wasn’t that hard of a foul on Ben Wallace. Clearly, Wallace overreacted.
* Was Artest foolish to lie down...
The JaMarcus Russell Experiment Has Finally Ended
9 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
Bruce Gradkowski, New Oakland Raiders QB: He’s from outside Pittsburgh, the same area that produced Hall of Famers Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Joe Namath, and Johnny Unitas. Supposedly, Gradkowski posted better high school stats than all of them. Gradkowski has not thrown a TD pass...
France Beating Ireland: It was the Ref’s Fault, Not Thierry Henry
9 days ago by
The Big Lead
| Comments
Thierry Henry controlled the ball with his hand. He flicked it to William Gallas who headed it into the net. The goal, scored in extra time, sent France to the World Cup. On the surface it’s an unrequited romantic narrative. The heroic Irish were felled by dastardly Frenchman...
SITE INFORMATION
The Big Lead
An independent sports blog providing breaking sports news and analysis on a daily basis, as well as critiques of the sports media landscape.
Related Yards
Today's Best Stuff
For Bloggers
Company Info
Help
What is Yardbarker?
Join the Yardbarker Network (YBN) for more promotion, traffic, and money.
