LYNCH-ED

The end of the 2007 College Football regular season was a glorious moment for Indiana University.  Inspired my the memory of their late Head Football Coach Terry Hoeppner, the Hoosiers had come together and won 7 games clinching a bowl berth for a team that had not been bowling for more than decade.  Interim coach Bill Lynch had led the inspirational season by leading this group of grieving young men to an accomplishment that was their late coach's first goal, playing 13 games.  While IU would go on to lose in the Insight Bowl to Oklahoma State, Hoeppner's memory had been honored and a community that was so hurt by the loss of a life far too soon, banded together to celebrate the life of Coach Hep and the success of the football Hoosiers, and all was well.

Behind the scenes, the athletic department at Indiana University was embracing the success of the football program under Lynch.  Originally a full search committee was planned to find a head coach for the Hoosiers in 2009, but given Lynch's success, they were forced to reconsider and against the wishes of some boosters and fans, Lynch was given a contract extension and named head coach full-time.

Lynch took the reins running and established one of the most promising recruiting classes in Indiana football history.  These young men bought into Lynch, bought into IU and were ready to build on the unexpected success of IU in 2007.  They bought into Indiana's success on the field and their new facilities in the North End Zone as part of IU's dedication to improving all of their on-campus facilities.

You may ask at this point where is the problem?  Why is this article called Lynch-ed?  The answer lies in what has taken place on the field in 2008.  Indiana currently sits at 3-8 in 2008.  The promise from the 7-5 season in '07 is lost and the apathy surrounding IU football for more than a decade is setting back in. For better or worse all the fans that joined the "Believe Train" in 2007 in the student section are now the ones bringing "Fire Bill Lynch" signs to the game before being removed by the pretentious and disappointing Indiana Game-Day staffers.

The fact of the matter is that Bill Lynch is not a Big Ten level coach.  While his work last season should be respected and commended, his success was due to his ability to channel the emotions of young men who had lost a true father-figure in their lives, not as an X's and O's football coach.  With that emotion buried and him left to stand alone on his ability, Lynch has headed IU to it's most disappointing season based on expectations in 40 years.  Even with Antwaan Randle-El, expectations were tempered because the surrounding talent was not up to par in the Big Ten.  This IU team was labeled the most talented team in more than 15 years and that may very well be true, but this team lacks the discipline, focus, and preparation to be competitive in the conference.  That is a reflection on Lynch and his staff and in the most promising gridiron year in recent memory, the responsibility for this failure lies with the coaches.

Indiana football has always taken a backseat to basketball in Bloomington, Indiana and 2008 was the perfect time for the football Hoosiers to establish themselves as an institution on campus given the state that former basketball coach Kelvin Sampson left the Hoosiers in.  New coach Tom Crean worked all summer to convince the IU community that this would be a down year for our team and the stage was set for the promising gridiron Hoosiers to take to focus of the university and run with it in 2008.

That plan never came to fruition as Lynch has spear-headed the team to another terrible season.  Now instead of talking about football, IU fans are focused on the 2009 basketball recruiting class which was nationally ranked in the top 7 by both major recruiting services Scout.com and Rivals.com.  Football again has slipped into oblivion because an unprepared and under-qualified coach was given the reins to a program that needed a true leader and fresh mind.

Now that a year has passed and emotion of Coach Hoeppner's passing has been taken out of the equation, it is very clear that Indiana made a terrible choice in not committing to a national search for their next football coach.  Now they have an opportunity to correct an obvious mistake.  Top recruit Jeremy Gainer told Rivals.com today that he took a visit to Penn State this weekend as a guest of a program to watch them take on guess who?  The Indiana Hoosiers. He all but said he had reopened his recruitment and many Hoosier commitments are sure to follow given the fall from grace IU has experienced in 2008.

In order to regain the momentum that IU so emotionally and so unexpectedly built up in 2007, a coaching change needs to be made, and made now!  For if they do not make the change, they will fall back into the same trap they have laid in since firing Bill Mallory in 1996, irrelevancy. Lynch was a loyal choice in 2007, but would be a disastrous choice to lead the Hoosiers into 2009.  It is time for a fresh face and a renewed dedication to the football program.  Without that, the focus will stay on basketball recruiting and the resurrection of hoops, instead of the wonderful promise that IU Football had shown just 12 months ago.

Bears Defense Shuts Up Naysayers

The Chicago Bears entered the 2008 NFL season by traveling to Indianapolis for the regular season home-opener at the new Lucas Oil Stadium.  They arrived amid a cloud of doubt over their once vaunted defense that led them to Super Bowl XLI just 18 months ago.  The stem of this doubt was the Bears performance at the end of last season, allowing 7 scoring drives in their last 9 faced, coupled with an awful performance in all 4 pre-season games.

What the Bears knew, and most people in Chicago did not, was that they were running a vanilla defense all pre-season, eliminating the chance to show their blitz packages before the regular season began.  While all the critics were writing about the Bears journey to mediocrity, the Bears were perfectly game-planning for the rematch of the 2007 Title Game.

The end result was a thorough beat-down and a dominating defensive performance by Chicago. Bolstered by the return of Mike Brown and Dusty Dvoracek from season-ending injuries early last season, the Bears held Joseph Addai to 44 rushing yards.  Their combination of looks on the defensive line and blitz schemes disrupted All-Pro Peyton Manning's timing from the get go.  In the interest of fairness, Manning had not played in this pre-season due to summer knee surgery.  

While many choose to look at this victory as a result of the Colts rust, I believe the opposite to be true.  Chicago returns a defense that when healthy is Top 3 in the league.  Having Brian Urlacher captain the front 7 and with Brown returning the lead the secondary, this defense has the ability to lead Chicago back to the post-season.

Offensively, the Bears showed vast improvement from the pre-season.  They shedded locker-room cancer and stand-up runner Cedric Benson and replaced him with the prolific rookie from Tulane, Matt Forte.  Forte dismantled the Colts defense including an ankle-breaking juke on Anthony Bethea and out-running 2007 Defensive Player of the Year Bob Sanders on a dazzling 50 yard touchdown run.  Quarterback Kyle Orton did just what the Bears asked, no turnovers, and even dazzled on a couple long passes to tight ends Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark.

One final factor in the Bears hopes for shocking people and returning to the post-season will be their schedule.  The Bears play a lot of bad teams on the road and have a favorable home schedule.  If the defense stays healthy and the offense efficient, it could be another special season in the Windy City.

Chris DeLuca...The Biggest Scum-Bag in Chicago Sports Journalism

For those of people that are not from Chicago and want to know why Chris DeLuca is the biggest scum-bag in this great country, the story begins earlier this week, when Around The Horn participant and Chicago Sun Times sports columnist Jay Mariotti resigned from the paper.

Now I have never been a fan of Jay Mariotti, or of the way he approached journalism.  He continually portrayed a theme of "shock journalism" to get people to keep reading his columns whether they loved him or hated him.  Nonetheless, Mariotti was someone that had become a big name in Chicago sports.  His resignation citing the Sun Times issues and that newspapers were dying is questionable but that is not the point here.

This morning his former colleague Chris DeLuca wrote an article about the Chicago White Sox and how no one there was sad to see Mariotti leave town...or at least that's what the title stated the article would be about.  While DeLuca focused on the White Sox for the first half of the article, his theme was clear for the beginning.  He hated Mariotti, wanted him gone, and wanted to air all the dirty laundry at the Sun Times.  He even went as far as to quote the Sun Times Sports Editor as saying "We wish Jay well and will miss him -- not personally, of course -- but in the sense of noticing he is no longer here, at least for a few days,''

Chris DeLuca mind you is a second-rate beat writer for the Chicago White Sox and the only point of him writing this article was to kiss the White Sox higher-ups and Sun Times exec's asses so his pathetic self won't get laid off next time budget cuts come around.  Maybe now DeLuca can get a real interview in the Sox clubhouse, because he backed up his boys against the mean man Mariotti. 

Disagreeing with the way someone operates in the workplace in fine and DeLuca clearly did that, but throwing a former colleague under the bus for personal game is just pathetic. I guess the joke is on me though, for thinking Chris DeLuca had a bone of human decency in his body...my bad.

Rest in Peace LeRoi Moore

While we do not cover music, the No Holds Barred Sports family would like to send our condolences to the family of Dave Matthews Band Saxophone player LeRoi Moore following his untimely death today at the age of 46.  Having met LeRoi personally, I am deeply saddened by today's events and wish his family and the whole Dave Matthews Band family nothing but the best.

Associated Press excerpt:

"Dave Matthews Band saxophone player LeRoi Moore, one of the group's founding members and a key part of its eclectic jazz-infused sound, died Tuesday from sudden complications stemming from injuries he sustained in an all-terrain vehicle accident in June. He was 46.

Moore died at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, according to a statement released on the band's Web site. The statement did not specify what led to his death.

Moore was initially hospitalized in late June after the accident on his farm outside Charlottesville, Va. He was later discharged and had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin a physical rehabilitation program when complications forced him back to the hospital on July 17, the band said."

Road to Redemption?

Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Carlos Boozer, Carmelo Anthony, Stephon Marbury, Richard Jefferson, Lamar Odom, Emeka Okafor. This was the roster of the 2004 Athens Olympics, do u see something wrong with this picture? Yeah the time this was a team of mostly second tier NBA all-stars cobbled together after a string of high-profile defections, the squad was stung by criticism as it struggled through its worst Olympics since basketball was introduced into the Games in Berlin in 1936.

If you remember that far back Tim Duncan was in foul trouble nearly every game of the international showcase and they barely put their rising stars in LeBron James and Dewyane Wade on the court. Team USA lost three times in those Olympics, and in each case it was mainly because of 3-point shooting. The U.S. couldn't make any. They couldn't stop their foes from making them. And as a result Team USA went home without a gold medal for the first time since 1988.

But yeah I'm getting off track; if I told you that your favorite team had Marbury, Jefferson, Okafor, Iverson and Odom on the roster do you think your team would be a title contender? Yea, prolly not, so what the f*ck made us think we could take a team like that to the international court and win. Plain and simple 2004 was a mistake, so why we call them the redeem team when that was a team we all want to forget.

Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Jason Kidd, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Carlos Boozer, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd, Deron Williams. Some still doubt this team, many thought they would lose to either Greece or Spain. Why all saw what happened. Redeem Team? when Kobe is on the roster? Let's just leave this team Untitled for now.


As seen on PHAZE 3

Chinese Gymnasts Steal Gold...Literally

For anyone that watched the Women's Gymnastics Final tonight, you know what I'm thinking and you probably agree. The Chinese are cheating. Olympic rules state that an athlete must turn 16 the year they compete in an Olympic Games. Anyone with a brain that saw the Olympics tonight can see that the Chinese are forging passports to skirt the rules and allow underage girls to compete in the 2008 Olympic games on their home turf.

Tell me this, when was the last time that you saw a 16 year old girl that clearly just lost a baby tooth and has no sign of her permanent tooth even pretending to appear. The answer is never and it's a damn shame. The Chinese are trying to plese their home contingent and produce medals against the United States Head-To-Head but cheating to do it is just flat out disgraceful.

It is becoming abundantly clear through both the fake fireworks of the Opening Ceremony to the underage gymnast competitors that China is doing all they can to produce Olympic glory, even if it is strictly manufactured. The travesty really is that the United States had a terrible day in gymnastics today but they should not have lost they way they did. Chian could have beaten this U.S. team with legitimate gymnasts but instead they unnecessarily cheated their way to a Gold Medal over the Americans.

On a separate note, I'm sure there are plenty of people ready to jump down the throat of poor Alicia Sacramone. Just know that you shouldn't. She is a true American and a competitor to the end. She had a rough day but it was not her fault the U.S. came up short. She did not have her "A" game today but the U.S. team didn't' as well. While people may be quick to point the finger, without Sacramone the U.S. would not have even been in medal contention. I have never met Alicia Sacramone but I do know she is a great American Olympian and does not deserve to be blamed for the shortcomings of the U.S. team.

Check Out Our Sister Site

www.festivalcrashers.com is your source for summer music news. Zack Teibloom and Andy Shore bring you updates from all the summer music festivals you want to know about. We will continue to bring you the latest in sports but there is no better summer music source than our friends at www.festivalcrashers.com

Ignorance and Idiocy, How about a Big F-You to the Spanish Basketball Team

From the people that brought you this wonderful quote in 2004"If you are not fucking black, jump up and down" to the tune of 55,000 fans in Madrid, we shockingly have another racist incident coming from the Spanish National Basketball Team. Take a look at the Spanish team photo they took earlier this week, notice anything, alarmingly racist?

No, your eyes are not playing games with you, the entire Spanish National Team is giving themselves slanted eyes in an obvious "tribute" to China, the host nation of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. By my count that is 15 Spaniards reestablishing their countries reputation for being the most racist nation in the world.

Here is the really mind boggling thing here, The Spanish are insisting that they had no idea what they were doing was wrong. 15 people, standing taking a photo together and not one of them stopped to think, 'Hey, this is a realy stupid idea' or 'This is the most racist thing I have ever seen, we can't take this picture.'

No, instead we are graced with the following response from Toronto Raptor and Spain guard José Calderon on his official website: "I would like to share a story with you about something that happened with the Spanish National Team that someone interpreted incorrectly. It happened in the photo session where the Spanish National Team was introduced; one of our sponsors asked us to pose with a “wink” to our participation in Beijing, we made an oriental expression with our eyes. We thought it was something appropriate and that it would always be interpreted as somewhat loving. Never the less some of the European media did not see it this way."

Now I'm not one to rush to judgment but Calderon bust think the rest of the world is as a dumb as a rock if he thinks anyone is going to believe that idiotic explanation. Slanting your eyes is "winking" now José??? No one in their right mind could possibly believe that. No one that has a functional brain could even remotely consider this was "somewhat loving", José. Instead of admitting they had horrible judgment and displayed shocking racism, they try to come up with a cop out excuse and settle on a "wink" that was "somewhat loving."

I would however like to thank douche-bags of the Spanish National Basketball team for being the ignorant pricks the truly are because it has allowed me to come back firing in my return to the blog. I am looking for new writers as our old guys have had to focus on work/school but I'll be back daily now, probably more as the olympics continue from Beijing!

The No-No That Wasn't

What a bizarre scene last night in Los Angeles as the Angels and Dodgers locked up in Dodger Stadium.  There was a no-hitter pitched by 2 Angels pitchers, or at least the Dodgers did not record a hit during the game.  Here's the kicker...They won 1-0.  After a walk, steal, error, and a sacrifice fly, The Dodgers took the lead in the 5th inning.  The Angels recorded 5 hits but could not push across a run.

Because The Dodgers were at home, the Angels pitchers combined to throw 8 innings of no-hit baseball.  Jered Weaver threw 6 innings of dominating baseball and reliever Jose Arredondo came in and struck out 3 in 2 innings of work.  So basically the Angels threw a combined no-hitter and lost...except it wasn't a no hitter!

According to the rules of Major League Baseball, you must pitch 9 innings to record a no-hitter, combined, or individually.  Therefore, although the Angels young hurlers completely dominated the Dodgers, because of the error and the run allowed, they will not be credited with a no-hitter.  

I think this rule is a bad one.  If a pitcher or group of pitchers denies a team of a hit over the regulation period of play as defined by the rules of the game, the resulting statistics should have full relevance.  It was unfortunate that the error allowed a no-hit effort in a loss but that is not the pitchers fault.  The Angels players deserved the honor of throwing a combined no-no last night, but instead all they get is just another tally in the "L" column.

2008 No Holds Barred Sports NBA Mock Draft

Good Morning NBA fans, it's draft day! After spending way too much time gathering info last night and into this morning we are ready to put out the 1st annual NBA mock. Enjoy!



1. Chicago Bulls: Derrick Rose, PG, Memphis. The Bulls take Hometown Hero Rose with the 1st overall pick as they realize he is their best option in the draft. This is a point guard league in the days of Nash, Paul, and Williams. Love this pick for Chicago.




2. Miami Heat: O.J. Mayo, PG, USC (if they keep the pick). Michael Beasley, PF, KSU (if traded). Pat Riley simply can't stand the thoughts of paying so much money to Beasley and having him head straight to South Beach. Mayo really impressed Miami leading up to the draft so I think Mayo is their guy whether they pick here or trade down to #3.



3. Minnesota Timberwolves: Mayo, PG, USC (If Miami picks here) Beasley, PF, KSU (If Minny picks here). The T-Wolves would be the winners of the draft if they can snipe up Beasley with this pick. More than likely though they give the Heat a little extra value and move up to #2 to take Beasley.

4. Seattle/Oklahoma City Sonics: Brook Lopez, C, Stanford. Adding a huge athletic big man with the skill-set of Lopez to the core of Green and Durant will get this team without a definite home-city a spectacular young nucleus. The Sonics love Eric Gordon from Indiana but Lopez is a better fit at this time.

5. Memphis: Eric Gordon Jr, PG/SG, Indiana. Gordon really impressed Memphis at his work out but the Knicks and new coach Mike D'Antoni would love to land Gordon so look for a possible trade up here. While he struggled in the 2nd half of last season at IU, many pro teams attribute that to injury and coaching stability. Should be a great value at #5.

6. New York Knicks: Russell Westbrook, PG/SG, UCLA. Westbrook has soared up draft boards recently and is now a lock for a Top 10 pick. The Knicks would prefer Gordon here but with him off the board they choose Westbrook over the younger Jerryd Bayless. We'll see how the MSG crowd reacts to Donnie Walsh and D'Antoni's first selection.


7. Los Angeles Clippers: Jerryd Bayless, PG, Arizona. In terms of value for the 7th pick, I love Bayless for the Clippers at 7. This is a west coast kid that can come in and contribute immediately for the meager Clippers offense. He is a big game performer and should start from Day 1 out in LA-LA

8. Milwaukee Bucks: Joe Alexander, SF, West Virginia. Alexander is another guy that used the Big East and NCAA Tournaments to skyrocket his draft stock. ESPN's Andy Katz even called Alexander the safest lottery pick in the draft. Add in the fact that Alexander is fluent in Mandarin which should help him relate immediately with Yi Jianlian and this is a perfect choice for Milwaukee.

9. Charlotte Bobcats: Kevin Love, PF, UCLA. Michael Jordan and Larry Brown worked out Kevin Love and fell in jsut that with the Bruin big man. He is the best outlet passer in the game from Day 1 and will provide depth at the 4 for the Bobcats who should have the cap space to retain restricted free-agent C Emeka Okafor.

10. New Jersey Nets: Danillo Gallinari, SF, Italy. Gallinari may very well be the best player in the draft as most of the international scouts suggest so he is low risk high reward for New Jersey at #10. They are looking to move Richard Jefferson so taking a SF seems like a lock at this position.

11. Indiana Pacers: Kosta Koufos, C, Ohio State. Larry Bird loves Big Ten Players. In fact, since he acquired the 17th pick last night in the Jermaine O'Neal trade, he may try to package the 2 picks to move up and take hometown hero Eric Gordon, but it would be wise for Larry Legend to keep both picks because the Pacers need a lot of help. Koufos supplies instant size since they shipped All-Star Jermaine O'Neal to Toronto.

12. Sacramento Kings: D.J. Augustin, PG, Texas. The Kings really need a point guard, Augustin is the best available PG at this spot. Case Closed.

13. Portland Trail Blazers: Anthony Randolph, SF/PF, LSU. Randolph is a freakish athlete that is a bit raw but GM's are gushing over his potential. He would add another piece to play in rotation with LaMarcus Aldridge and keep in mind Portland picks again at #27 after buying the pick from the Hornets.

14. Golden State Warriors: Brandon Rush, SG, Kansas. Rush would have been a Top 10 pick last year before he tore his ACL and at 14 he will be a great addition for the Warriors who almost have to deal disgruntled PG Baron Davis either tonight or in July.

15. Phoenix Suns (From Atlanta): Donte Green, SF, Syracuse. He loves to shoot, He is a freakish athlete, and Nash will get him good looks. I liek the fit although it may be a little early for one of my favorite guys in this draft.

16. Philadelphia 76ers: Marreese Speights, PF, Florida. Speights is another big-time athlete and projects as a good big man in the NBA. His style fits in well with all-franchise player Andre Igoudala and is good value for Philly here. They could also look at Roy Hibbert or DeAndre Jordan here.

17. Indiana Pacers (From Toronto): Mario Chalmers, PG/SG, Kansas. This is a great pick for Indiana as he provides instant depth for new aquisition T.J. Ford but he can also slide over and play the 2. Chalmers obviously has shown big game ability and is a good fit for the Pacers. This pick also enables the Pacers to take out the trash and move Jamaal Tinsley.

18. Washington Wizards: Darrell Arthur, PF, Kansas. Back-to-back Jayhawks are taken as Arthur will make his new home in Washington. Is a health risk but had a great visit with the Wizards so they should pull the trigger here.

19. Cleveland Cavaliers: DeAndre Jordan, PF/C, Texas A&M. Steps into the rotation with Big Z immediately and allows a 2nd rotation at the 4 of Ben Wallace and Anderson Varajeo. Athletic Big man but needs to tone his skill set a lot to be in impact contributor.

20. Charlotte Bobcats: Robin Lopez, C, Stanford. The younger brother of Brook joins MJ and Larry Brown in Charlotte as well as Power Forward Kevin Love taken earlier. This move pretty much revamps the Bobcats front line with two talented bigs at 6'9 and 7'0 respectively.

21. New Jersey Nets (From Dallas): Roy Hibbert, C, Georgetown. Could be a huge steal at #21 if he can perform up to the level of his workouts. Hibbert brings length and height down low to the squad and should compliment earlier pick Gallinari very well in the Devin Harris run offense.

22. Orlando Magic: Courtney Lee, SG, Western Kentucky. Courtney Lee was a dynamic scorer for one of NCAA's cinderella teams and improved his stock from high 2nd round to low 1st round with those performances as well as indivdual work-outs. This pick will preface a trade of J.J. Redick this off-season.

23. Utah Jazz: Jason Thompson, PF, Rider. A true draft enigma, this guy has a good skill-set but played against inferior competition in college and was only average in work-out. He has good size and a good touch though so this is a value pick. They need to go PF here as Carlos Boozer is expected to opt-out of his contract at the end of this coming season.

24. Seattle/Oklahoma City Sonics (From Phoenix): JaVale McGee, PF, Texas A & M. Power Forward with a ton of upside jsut needs to work on strength downlow and keeping the ball high coming off the rim. With NBA teaching of post position and moves, will be a good fit for the Sonics.

25. Houston Rockets: Chris Douglas-Roberts, SG, Memphis. His unorthodox style and off the court questions have sent him to the latter end of this first round but he is a skilled guard and should excel in an NBA system.

26. San Antonio Spurs: Alexis Ajinca, C, France. The Spurs continue their mastery of drafting international stars. Look for this guy to make an impact in San Antonio in 2-3 years.

27. Portland Trail Blazers (From New Orleans): Ryan Anderson, PF, Cal. Anderson is similair to their 1st pick of Randolph but lacks the athleticism to also play the 3. Could be a surprise player with good value this late for the rebuliding Portland squad looking to make the playoffs next season.

28. Memphis Grizzlies: J.J. Hickson, PF, N.C. State. Hickson seems to be the consensus pick here and rumors are the Grizz have given him a guarantee to be taken at this position.

29. Detroit Pistons: Bil Walker, PF, Kansas State or D.J. White, PF, Indiana. Both palyers camps seem to suggest they have a guarantee at this position from Detroit so someone is bending the truth. What we do know, Detroit is looking to draft a power forward because moving Rasheed Wallace is a priority this off-season for them.

30. Boston Celtics: Nicolas Batum, SF, France. The Celtics can do pretty much whatever they want with this pick as they continue to celebrate their 17th title. We think they will take a flyer on the young Batum as depth at SG behind Ray Allen and the Posey/House combo.

Enjoy the draft this evening!

Sweep of the Southsiders

If baseball was decided by bitter trash-talk the Chicago White Sox would probably be World Series bound.  Sadly for Ozzie's goon squad, the game is decided on the field and Lou Piniella's Cubs swept the Sox right back to the south side with a decisive sweep of a 3 game set at Wrigley Field this weekend.

Ozzie opened the weekend series complaining about Wrigley Field.  His tirade ranged from a tiny clubhouse to pig-sized rats in the batting cages but what it did not do is fuel his over-achieving White Sox to a single win over the enemy Cubs.

Young Pitcher Jon Danks complained "that place is a shit-hole" before he took the mound fo Friday's Cubs 4-3 victory.  He pitched well enough but Ozzie inexplicably lifted him in the 6th Inning leading to back-to-back Cubs Home Runs and a tie ball game with Aramis Ramirez sending Wrigleyville into a frenzy with a walk-off shot in the 9th.

Often vilified (with good reason) Sox C A.J. Pierzynski labeled Cubs fans as idiots for the second time in this career before Sunday's game, drawing comparisons to the famous Lee Elia rant as Cubs manager.  The Cubs responded with a thrashing of the Sox that night, in the process ending his hit-streak at 15 games.  I don't know why this is news because this moron shoots his mouth off all the time and is known as one of the dirtiest players in the game.

So as it turns out that it was the Sox that did all the talking but the Cubs who contributed all the winning to the weekend series.  Now the Sox are headed back to the ghetto with their mouths closed and tail tucked between their legs.  The air in Wrigleyville smells better already.

"Kobe, Tell Me How My Ass Tastes" -Shaq

Apparently Shaq and Kobe may not be grabbing drinks together anytime soon. Last night Shaq took the Mic at The Underground in NYC and had some less than courteous things to say about the 07-08 Regular Season MVP. Take a look.

Apparently The Diesel thinks Shaq and D-Wade are superior to KB24 and Gasol, We at NHBS most certainly agree. Our only question for Shaq is, How does Kobe know how your ass tastes?

Rocc-O So Close

For 90 beautiful holes Rocco Mediate and Tiger Woods had settled absolutely nothing.  Down 3 shots after 10 holes of a thrilling playoff at Torrey Pines, Mediate put on a performance for the ages and took the lead through 89 holes.

While Tiger Woods finally found his driver on the dazzling 18th hole, Rocco's big stick betrayed him sending him straight into the deep grass on 18. Mediate eventually recovered to get on the green in 3 with Tiger sitting at the front of the green laying 2.  When Tiger missed the 60 foot eagle putt Mediate had one 25 foot put to remember for the rest of his life but it never broke until it was past the hole.

With Woods all but tapping in for birdie the stage was set for Mediate to become another victor of the best golfer of our era.   Unfazed by the stakes Mediate drained the 8 footer forcing only the 3rd sudden-death playoff following a full 18 of all time in the US Open.

Betrayed again by the driver Rocco could only watch as Tiger parred the 7th hole leaving 20 feet between Mediate and a sparkling runner-up finish.  With everything on the line Mediate hit a putt with perfect pace but the break just didn't go his way as it stopped just past the hole.  

The embrace from Woods and Mediate told the story of a spectacular Monday afternoon of beautiful golf.  Ups and Downs were abound as Mediate led through 4, Woods took over 7-10 with Mediate thundering back for a lead until the final hole.  Drama was everywhere as the 158th ranked player in the world gave the all-everything Woods a battle to the end.

It must be a bittersweet evening for Rocco as he can only think of what could have been.  But make no mistake about it, Mediate should hold his head up high and celebrate a dazzling 5+ rounds of golf.  Where everyone that has faced Tiger as folded Mediate did not.  Putts that people have missed staring down Tiger, Mediate sank.  When he had to go all in, the former World Series of Poker Top 100 finisher Mediate gave everything he had and in fact pushed the 14-time major champion Woods to the brink.

While Rocco Mediate did not walk away with the trophy, he walked away with a sterling accomplishment and the most memorable major tournament of this decade.  Hats off to you Rocco Mediate, you nearly did the impossible.

Heart of a Champion

No Holds Barred Sports salutes Rocco Mediate on a fantastic fun-filled effort today at Torrey Pines as he came up just short in the 18 turned 19 Hole playoff against Tiger Woods.  The 18 holes were not enough as Tiger came to win his 14th Major on the first sudden-death playoff hole after 18 rounds decided nothing between Woods and Mediate.  More on the US Open coming soon.

Tim Russert Passes Away at Age 58

The new No Holds Barred Network would like to pass on our condolences to the family and colleagues of Tim Russert who passed away today in Washington DC while on the set of Meet The Press. More on this story on the new noholdsbarredpolitics.com later this evening.