Limbaugh's Loss Is His Gain

Rush Limbaugh won.

And with every word I type, or she types, or you read...his margin of victory increases.

The only person surer than I was that the right-wing, radio talk-show host had no shot at becoming an owner of the St. Louis Rams football team was Limbaugh himself.

And if I knew it, and Rush knew it, rest assured the NFL knew it too.

Commissioner Roger Goodell didn't just tip his hand, he clenched it in a fist when he addressed the Limbaugh issue earlier this week at the NFL owners meetings in Boston.

"I have said many times before that we are all held to a higher standard here," the commissioner said. "I think divisive comments are not what the NFL is all about. I would not want to see those kind of comments from people who are in a responsible position within the NFL. No. Absolutely not."

(Continue to The Grill Room)

Chalk Up Another Win for Dumb Jocks

It ended with a statement from the leader of the ownership group, Dave Checketts, Wednesday afternoon. It was pushed along by the NFL commissioner, the head of the players’ association, no less than two team owners, the head of the NAACP and (as always) the Rev. Al Sharpton.

But the very first pushback against Rush Limbaugh’s bid to own part of the St. Louis Rams came from a couple of dumb ballplayers.

Well, it’s obvious now, not so dumb.

(Continue to The Steele Drum)

I Guess I Love L.A.

First of all, I want to take this opportunity to officially throw the 200 Miles From The Citi endorsement behind the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Not only are they my only hope for a non-wasted baseball year (read: no repeat matchup in the World Series), I really like them. Especially this year - they're my feel-good story. So go Angels!

That said, time for my predictions...it's kind of an L.A. story:

ALCS - Angels vs. Yankees

I don't have much solid evidence to back up my rooting for the Angels here...other than the fact that I'm still not 100% buying the Yankees this year.

If the Minnesota Twins could run the bases without looking like the New York Mets, they could have pushed the Yankees to four games...possibly even a fifth...but they just couldn't figure out New York this whole season.

The Angels, on the other hand, match up well against the Yankees.

(Continue to 200 Miles From the Citi)

U.S. Rallies for a Draw

Despite having to finish up its World Cup Qualifying against Costa Rica at RFK Stadium on Wednesday night, to the United States men's national team, the sport itself took a back seat to very serious matters.

Early Wednesday morning, teammate and striker Charlie Davies was seriously injured in a car accident that occured outside Washington DC. The accident claimed the life of 22-year old Ashley J. Roberta. Davies was seriously injured in the crash and in expected to be at Washington Hospital Center Medstar for at least a week. The injuries Davies sustained in the crash could keep him out of next year's World Cup in South Africa.

For the US, taking the field against Costa Rica in the wake of the tragic news must have been very tough, yet they were there at RFK Stadium, trying to solidify first place in the CONCACAF Hexagonal standings, which it did, as the US rallied from a two-goal deficit to preserve a 2-2 tie against Costa Rica.

(Continue to Soccer 24-7)

USF, Cincy Battle in Prime Time

The Big East LOVES to have center stage.

The conference that has too many basketball teams and too few football teams puts its two big guns on display Thursday night before a national television audience on ESPN.

The Cincinnati Bearcats, unbeaten at 5-0 and ranked 8th in the AP, 9th in the USA Today polls, comes to Raymond James Stadium to tangle with South Florida, also unbeaten at 5-0 and newly-entered into the polls at 21st.

Something's gotta give.

(Continue to Running with the Bulls)

Cardinals Have Questions

To begin the week, Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt answered questions by questioning himself.

He criticized himself for the Cardinals' inability to establish a running game in their 28-21 win over the Houston Texans in October 11 at University of Phoenix Stadium.

The Cardinals rushed for 44 yards on 16 attempts. Arizona saw an eight-man front from Houston for most of the game. The Cardinals,2-2, will probably see it again when they face the Seattle Seahawks Oct. 18 on the road. Whisenhunt said the front discouraged the Cardinals from sticking with designed running plays. Instead, Arizona had to check off into pass plays, which after time, made its offensive attack predictable.

"There were at least a half dozen plays that would have been huge plays had we connected on (passes), but that's probably the biggest regret I have, not calling more run plays that were just runs without checks," Whisenhunt told The Arizona Republic.

(Continue to Arizona Sportspage)

Bucs' Best Chance for a Win

There's no other way to put it.

Fact is, these Tampa Bay Buccaneers of Raheem Morris are playing like dogs. And perhaps that's an insult to dogs.

After getting wiped out at Philadelphia, the lads from Tampa Bay are home again and they're home with just an ounce of hope.

Hope is arriving Sunday in the form of the 1-3 Carolina Panthers. This MAY be the Bucs best shot at winning, not this week, this year.

(Continue to Buccaneer Bow Shots)

Laraque in Hot Water over Ad

Georges Laraque usually gets into trouble on the ice as an enforcer with the Montreal Canadiens. The 6-f0ot-3, 253-pound right wing began his 12th NHL season this year with 52 goals and 1,098 penalty minutes in 667 career games.

Now, the 33-year-old is in hot water with the league and women's groups for appearing in a commercial for an alcohol drink that shows him playing street hockey with several scantily-clad women.

The commercial has no dialogue and can be viewed at 33mag.com.

According to Article 25.1 of the league's collective bargaining agreement: "No player shall be involved in any endorsement or sponsorship of alcoholic beverages (excluding malt-based beverages such as beer) and/or tobacco products."

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Safin Refuses to Shake Hands

When you see Marat Safin walking with the shadows of his past glory beside him and with the end of his career approaching, playing against Mr Unstability Thomas Berdych, you could expect everything but a straight match.

The encounter filled up with the expectations. In the first set Safin dominated the match with 6 aces while Berdych was out-played and seemingly close to retirement. After that the Czech received treatment and finished to win the match.

Safin refused to shake his adversary's hand. Later, in the press room, he confirmed once again his genuinity and spontaneity of tongue and mind.

"Don't pretend that you are injured and then you start running around and start to hit winners and then all of a sudden you pull the hands up in the air after winning the match? ... So then of course the guy will say 'No, I've been injured but then I felt a little bit better'.

"Of course he will find 10,000 excuses. Still, it's not enough. You're playing or you're not playing”.

(Continue to ATP Tennis 360)

UFC 108 Card Taking Shape

As per usual, the UFC will be holding another year end card in Las Vegas featuring some of the promotion's most talented fighters.

Only this time there are a few differences. Most notably, the fact that the year end card -- UFC 108 -- will actually be held in the new year, January 2nd to be exact.

The usually star-studded event is trending that way again with three of its first four rumored bouts. The main attraction looks to be a middleweight title defense as Anderson Silva (25-4), the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, defends his title against recent middleweight acquisition Vitor Belfort (18-8).

(Continue to Fighter's Corner)