FanHouse

As we enter the final weeks of Yankee Stadium's existence, it's hard not to think of the history that was made there and the great players who used to call it home. Whether it's the Mickey Mantles, and Whitey Fords of old or the Reggie Jacksons and Thurman Munsons of more recent times, the place has seen more than it's fair share of Hall of Fame players.

Many Yankees fans and baseball fans in general will leave the place with fond memories of baseball's great cathedral. Well, not all of them. One fan in particular probably isn't going to have very nice things to say about the place after being kicked out earlier this week. His crime? He had to use the washroom.

A Queens man is considering legal action against the New York Yankees after he was ejected from Tuesday night's contest against the Boston Red Sox for trying to use the restroom during the playing of "God Bless America."

During the patriotic 7th inning stretch at Yankee Stadium, nature called on Bradford Campeau-Laurion. When he tried to leave his seat during the traditional singing of God Bless America, however, he says he was stopped by a NYPD officer who said he'd have to wait until the song was done.

Once a year, like Christmas, we as golf fans get to see Tiger Woods completely open and talkative to all media outlets. About his video game. That EA Sports one that is named after Tiger. He will talk to anyone about this video game.

Last night Woods continued his Tour De Wii on Conan O'Brien (second part after the jump), where the two chatted about the U.S. Open victory, his knee, baby Sam and, of course, the game. As awkward as these two seemed to be together, a few of the questions thrown at our Golfing Pope brought out some solid emotion.



Asked about his knee currently, Tiger said, "It's Better, better than it was then, that's for sure." When questioned what they actually did in the surgery, Woods told us, "They took my hamstring tendon out of my right leg and put it into my left as my new ACL and repaired some cartilage damage."

Andy Roddick's U.S. Open win over Fabrice Santoro last night came to a strange ending, when on the next-to-last point, Roddick's serve almost hit Santoro. Santoro said it was intentional, and a dirty play. You be the judge:

Santoro was so upset that he refused to play the final point, and he had harsh words for Roddick after the match.

FanHouse's Tom Ziller argues his ranking of the top 50 players in the NBA.

Even on a team lacking tangible bright spots, Danny Granger has gotten a bit lost in translation from the outside perspective. You rarely hear his name mentioned with the Iguodalas and Smiths and Dengs ... but he's certainly in the same class. He's due a contract extension this summer, but there have been only minor rumblings, and it could very well be that the Pacers will let him get to restricted free agency next summer.

That's a mad gambit, because Granger's a tremendous player who is only getting better.

UFC President Dana White and former UFC fighter Tito Ortiz hate each other, but that doesn't mean they won't work together. The longer Ortiz goes without signing on with another mixed martial arts organization, the more I think that if he does fight again (instead of being a full-time dad), he's going to fight in UFC.

The latest example is White's interview with Sergio Non of USA Today in which he refuses to rule out the possibility that he and Ortiz could work together again:

Given what you guys said about each in the months leading up to his last fight, how realistic is to expect Tito to ever fight in UFC again?

Listen, me and Tito didn't say anything worse than what we said before he came back and became a coach on The Ultimate Fighter. Tito and I do not like each other. We do not. It's 100% real, we don't like each other at all, but it doesn't mean we haven't done business together before.

So you have no problem putting aside personal feelings for business?

Sometimes. We did for a lot of years.

The bottom line, I believe, is that both White and Ortiz want to make money, and they can both make more money together than they can apart. I'm not sure that Ortiz even wants to put his body through the rigors of continuing to fight in MMA, but if he does, it may still be in UFC.

There's a somewhat different take on this, also worth reading, at Bloody Elbow.

Bob Hayes was one of the greatest athletes in history, an Olympic gold medalist, the fastest man in the world in the 1960s and a good wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys.

But now that he's a seniors committee nominee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it must be said: He doesn't merit induction in Canton.

Hayes took the NFL by storm as a rookie in 1965, catching 46 passes for 1,003 yards and leading the league in touchdown catches with 12. In 1966 he was even better, with 64 catches for 1,232 yards and a league-leading 13 touchdowns.

But then something happened: Opposing coaches realized that they'd never be able to match up a defensive back one-on-one with Hayes, so they started to employ zone defenses. And that pretty much worked. Hayes' receiving yards steadily decreased, and after being a Pro Bowler in each of his first three NFL seasons, he never was again.

When Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin appeared on Jay Leno, it was the other guest, Norm Macdonald, who stole the show:

Leno said to Liukin, "I want to ask you about the uneven bars, because a lot of us thought you got robbed."

Liukin launched into a long explanation of the tiebreaking procedures that led her getting a silver medal even though she had the same score as the Chinese gold medalist. Liukin's explanation was long and confusing, and finally Macdonald interrupted to say, "No offense, but that sounds like a bunch of commie gobbledygook."

Amen, Norm.

Asked about the age of the Chinese gymnasts, Liukin noted that she likely would have made the 2004 Olympic team were it not for the minimum age rule, and said, "I just know that I play by the rules. In our country we do."

Brian Kenny of ESPN is the smartest boxing commentator on television, and he had an interesting comment about the size difference between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquaio, who will announce today that they will fight on December 6:

"Both guys are legitimately great, but it's like a handicap match," Kenny said. "Why Oscar, who's like 5-10 and a half, against a guy who's 5-5-ish. What type of shot will people give Pacquiao?"

I agree with what ESPN's Dan Rafael said in response: "Yes, Oscar is the bigger fighter. ... But Manny Pacquaio is a southpaw, he's got great speed. ... This is no easy fight for Oscar."

I was surprised that De La Hoya is such a heavy favorite, and I think people might be overestimating the importance of De La Hoya's size advantage. De La Hoya is bigger, but Pacquiao is younger and quicker, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he pulls the upset.

Whaaaaaaa? Marion Barber might not be the only option in Dallas??? Go on ...

Winning your fantasy draft is easy. And free. Well actually, the free part is easier than the easy part, if that makes sense. (Why? Because you only need to hit up FleaFlicker and rock out all the free fantasy football you can find.)

But easy isn't hard, and before I actually start confusing myself, let's cut to the chase: there are tons of "sleeper" backs in fantasy football drafts this year. And, handily, they can be broken up into convenient little tiers.

Power Naps
Chester Taylor, MIN -- I know, right? He's not even really a sleeper, just because he'll see tons of carries. But the fact, whether or not you choose to recognize it with your number one overall pick, is that Adrian Peterson hasn't finished a full season of football since he started getting money to play football. Or, if you prefer, since high school. If he goes down again, Taylor will be an absolute monster.

Ronnie Brown, MIA -- Brown just returned to practicing sans cast but all you hear out of Miami is "Ricky this, Ricky that", because everyone thinks Ricky Williams will start and carry the rock for the Fins. I'm not buying it, personally. Brown was a top five running back on easily the worst team in the entire league -- one that should have been passing from the 10 minute mark of the first quarter based on deficits -- until he got injured. Sure, he might not dive right in and be a dominant back, but when he's your RB3 or RB4, the upside is too good to pass up.

After giving up a single run in the first inning last night, Roy Oswalt shut down the Reds over the next six, picking up the win. I know, I know, it was really quite shocking. In his 27th career appearance against the Reds, he improved to an amazing 22-1. That's not a typo: twenty-two and one!

Here's John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer (before the win was officially wrapped up) trying to wrap his head around Oswalt's pure and utter domination:

Studying the numbers from Oswalt v. Reds, it's hard to understand how he's 21-1. He was great against the Reds in his first three starts -- 23 innings, one run. Since then, he's been good. He has a 3.08 ERA. That's only slightly better than his career ERA of 3.19. But he's 102-62 against the rest of baseball. That's a .621 percentage. Again, good. But not an other-worldly .955.

How good is .955? The next best by someone with 20 decisions or more against the Reds is .696 (16-7 by Bob Welch).

Looking at Oswalt's 27 games as a whole, he's posted a 2.50 ERA against the Reds. In his 23 games against the Pirates, on the other hand, he's posted a similar 2.57 ERA but has a relatively pedestrian 11-6 record to show for it. Obviously there's some luck at play, but it makes you wonder if he has something against the fair city of Cincinnati. Did he eat a bad batch of Skyline Chili? Did Pete Rose welch on a bet? Did Carson Palmer fail him in his fantasy football playoffs? What's the deal?