Month: September 2008

Michael Phelps hosts Saturday Night Live tonight. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Athletes rarely do well with SNL because, well, they’re not actors. Have you seen the Phelps Rosetta Stone commercial? Be very VERY afraid. Athletes have been the stars of a few select GREAT skits, though. The Stuart Smalley-Michael Jordan bit is fantastic. But […]

After he won the Haskell on August 4th — barely –the horse disappeared from public view. He hadn't shown the fire of his earlier races. The IEAH Stables were clearly worried. His loud-talking trainer Rick Dutrow was talking less. They wanted him, and his problem feet, to get a good rest while they figured out […]

It's not performance-enhancing to mix Red Bull and vodka before doing the high jump. Ivan Ukhov of Russia has become a YouTube sensation for a video of him attempting a high jump at a meet while drunk. Russian officials are so embarrassed that they might suspend him for a year. His manager says he was […]

Norwegian Andreas Thorkildsen won the gold medal in the javelin at the Beijing Olympics. An Outsports reader was in the stands and sent us this: “My boyfriend knows I have an Andreas Thorkildsen crush, so he snapped some pics for me. And here is the thing: Andreas has a lucky shirt. So after each throw, […]

Gay tournaments should be able to limit straight players, but grey areas are presenting a problem By Cyd Zeigler jr. There's a bit of a hubbub brewing over the disqualification of a team in the Gay Softball World Series because the team had too many straight players on it. From Edge Magazine: "D2, a team […]

Not: Every week, I pick games against the spread on the Michael Irvin Show, and I’m putting them on our blog. Well, my picks last week were a predictable 1-4 against the spread; but that’s what week 1 is made for. And Michael Irvin made me pay for it, especially for going against his beloved […]

Every year since 2002, the national gay flag football championship has been held. This year, Gay Bowl 8 will take place Oct. 9-12 in Salt Lake City. I’ve heard a few players say they’re psyched to go to the tournament because there’s a notion that Mormon guys in Utah are hot. The local organizers offer […]

Interesting tidbit from Paul Zimmerman of Sports Illustrated: How did losing Tom Brady affect the Vegas odds on winning the Super Bowl? "There never has been an injury that's had such a dramatic effect on the odds," said Bodog's Sportsbook manager, Richard Gardner. Bodog, one of the major price setters, dropped the price on the […]

I certainly understand the quiet, internal relief a fan might feel when a player they just can’t beat gets knocked out for the season, but this is pretty sad. A Pittsburgh fan Web site is selling a t-shirt celebrating Tom Brady’s torn ACL. Seriously, that is just totally classless. I’d say it if it was […]

After a week of action featuring more than 700 games, the gay softball World Series wrapped this August 30 in Seattle. Jointly sanctioned by the Amateur Sports Association of North America (ASANA) and the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Association (NAGAAA), the series featured some 3,000 players, coaches and fans on 175 teams from 41 […]

Thanks to reader Adriana for this tip for WNBA fans in New York: Just saw this from the NY Liberty via a MySpace bulletin and thought I'd pass along to share the wealth. When you buy tix here, all you have to do is type in the code "LIBERTY" It will basically get you half […]

Randy Boyd has been a contributor at Outsports seemingly since the day we started. He’s a former cheerleader at UCLA and is an author and outspoken advocate for gay and HIV rights. He’s also a huge sports fan, and he offers his thoughts on a blog called Randy Boyd’s Blocks. A recent post by him […]

Two weeks of outstanding tennis have finally come to a close at the U.S. Open, with Serena Williams and Roger Federer taking the titles in one of the more eventful and entertaining New York fortnights in recent memory. So often Slams are reduced to the eventual champions, but the 2008 U.S. Open showcased the entire […]

So, maybe, the Texans weren’t that stupid when they bypassed Vince Young in the 2006 draft. Vince Young got booed pretty heavily during the Titans opening week upset of Jacksonville, but that’s to be expected when you throw two interceptions. The story starts to get weird right around here. When the Titans got the ball […]

So much for 32-0. I’ve gotten at least 15 emails and text messages of condolences from friends figuring I must be crying in my apartment at the thought of a Patriots season without Tom Brady. I’d certainly love him to be there, with a legit shot of winning a fourth Lombardi Trophy and a chance […]

It’s often said that it’s easier to be the hunter rather than the hunted. The East Carolina football team will find out soon enough whether that statement is true or not. It’s often said that it’s easier to be the hunter rather than the hunted. The East Carolina football team will find out soon enough […]

New TV series featuring a gay basketball team breaks out of reality show mold By Cyd Zeigler jr. When I first heard about Logo’s new series titled 'Shirts & Skins,' I was worried that it would be thrust into the MTV reality show cookie-cutter, and that Logo would trivialize sports into focusing on shirtless jocks, […]

Number thirty in a series. Broadcast: Minnesota Twins on FSN North, Twins at LA Angels, 8/21/08; Announcers: Dick Bremer (play-by-play), Bert Blyleven (analyst), Telly Hughes (reporter) If you're a fan of Bert Blyleven using the telestrator to circle fans with "Circle me Bert" signs, you'll be happy to know that he managed it on four […]

In their season opener and first game since 1992 without Brett Favre as quarterback, the Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings, 24-19. Favre’s replacement, Aaron Rodgers, was terrific, going 18 for 22 with one touchdown pass and one touchdown run. People who wrote off the Packers when Favre retired seemed to forget that this […]

Here we go with my first edition of college football's Dirty Dozen, a weekly ranking of the nation's Top 12 teams. This past weekend, the number of surprises were few, but one non-BCS team landed the biggest punch of all. The pride of Conference USA, East Carolina, stunned West Virginia, knocking WVU completely from my […]