Top Stories
Posted: Jul 05, 2009 4:21PM By FanHouse Newswire (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Titans, NFL Police Blotter

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Former NFL quarterback
Steve McNair's shooting death was a homicide, police said Sunday, but authorities stopped short of saying it was a murder-suicide committed by the 20-year-old girlfriend found dead by his side.
McNair, 36, was shot four times, twice in the head, by a semiautomatic pistol, Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said. The woman, Sahel Kazemi, was killed by a single gunshot wound and the pistol was found under her body, Aaron said.
Aaron said the two had been in a "dating relationship for past several months."
Posted: Jul 05, 2009 3:45PM By Matt Snyder (RSS feed)
Filed Under: AL Central, AL East, AL West, MLB All-Star Game

With the introduction of the 2009 All-Star teams, the next step for fans is to complain about their favorite players not making the squad. Thus, we'll get a head start and go through each position in the American League.
The rosters, which will be complete once the fan vote for the final player in each league concludes, were announced during a selection show on TBS Sunday. Remember, this season baseball added yet another pitcher to the roster, in hopes that the game doesn't end in a tie like the 2002 debacle. The concern once again came to the forefront last season as the game went deep into extra innings and the pitching depth began to run out.
Posted: Jul 05, 2009 2:53PM By Tom Ziller (RSS feed)
Filed Under: WNBA

News that reigning WNBA All-Star
Candace Parker, without question the best women's basketball player in the world,
got pregnant last winter surely sent a chill through the bones of WNBA boosters, Los Angeles Sparks management, and Parker's business partners. But Candace promised she'd be back quickly, better than ever.
Parker, who is married to fringe NBA forward
Shelden Williams, gave birth to daughter Lailaa on May 13. Tonight, less than two months later, she will
return to the Sparks line-up.
Posted: Jul 05, 2009 2:32PM By Michael David Smith (RSS feed)
Filed Under: UFC

As they prepared to fight in the main event of
UFC 100,
Frank Mir and
Brock Lesnar took a little time this week to heap praise on the first Ultimate Fighting Champion,
Royce Gracie.
Mir said seeing Gracie win UFC 1 opened his eyes to a whole new style of fighting and made him want to become the Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt that he is today. And Lesnar fondly recalled seeing Gracie's battle with Kimo
Leopoldo at UFC 3, which was Gracie's eighth UFC fight and the first time Gracie was ever seriously challenged in the Octagon. Posted: Jul 05, 2009 1:30PM By Tom Ziller (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Raptors, Trail Blazers, NBA Transactions

It seems
Hedo Turkoglu really has made up his mind this time. After a stormy Friday that had
Hedo in Portland for five years NO WAIT
make that Toronto, the dust has settled and Turkoglu will apparently be a Raptor. For real. (We think.)
Turkoglu's agent Lon Babby admitted Saturday that Hedo
made a verbal committment to the Blazers Friday before changing course. That might seem like bad pool, but that's one of the dangers of negotiating deals during the free agency moratorium the first week of July. Last-minute reversals have happened before, and they'll happen again. (It's also worth noting no one confirmed a Portland deal on the record during Friday's crazy hours. Everything was anonymously sourced.)
Posted: Jul 05, 2009 1:05PM By Andrew Johnson (RSS feed)
Filed Under: MLB All-Star Game

The votes are in and counted and St. Louis is ready to host the 80th Midsummer Classic on Tuesday July 14, so who will be representing the American and National League in the Gateway City?
There will be 33 players on each league's roster, with the eight position-player starters selected by a fan vote, eight pitchers (five starters and three relievers) and one reserve at each position selected by a vote among the players, coaches and managers and the remainder of the roster filled by the managers of each team --
Joe Maddon in the AL and
Charlie Manuel in the NL. As has been the case the last few years, fans will also select the final player for each league in a vote to be conducted in the next week.
After the jump see the full rosters for the 2009 All-Star Game.
Posted: Jul 05, 2009 10:00AM By Ed Price (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Astros, Braves, Cardinals, Mariners, Orioles, Padres, Phillies, Red Sox, White Sox, Yankees, MLB Injuries, MLB Inside Scoop, Baseball Brunch
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
A week ago Sunday night,
Mariano Rivera earned his 500th save. Which should make us realize a few things about closers:
• The truly great ones are the those who can sustain it for a long time. Getting 40 saves a year for 12 years would still leave one short of 500.
• Even getting to the second tier isn't easy. Only 18 players have had as many as six 30-save seasons: Rivera,
Trevor Hoffman,
Lee Smith,
Billy Wagner,
Troy Percival,
John Wetteland,
Dennis Eckersley,
John Franco,
Jason Isringhausen,
Robb Nen,
Jeff Reardon,
Todd Jones,
Jose Mesa,
Roberto Hernandez,
Randy Myers,
Rick Aguilera,
Tom Henke and
Todd Worrell.
In other words, the shelf life for a typical closer is a short one. They can burst onto the scene – and flame out quickly (right, Mr. Gagne?)
• But it also means that teams can find short-term solutions for the ninth inning any number of ways.
Posted: Jul 05, 2009 6:00AM By Jeff Fletcher (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Braves, Cubs, Giants, Mets, Phillies, Yankees, Starting Five
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.You Oughta Know ...That reigning NL Cy Young winner
Tim Lincecum is actually
better this year, which makes it seem like a long time ago that we wondered
how he'd top his 2008 season. Lincecum has erased all memory of that slow start by stringing together 23 consecutive scoreless innings, including seven against the Astros on Saturday.
Lincecum is now 9-2 with a 2.23 ERA, lower than last year's 2.64 ERA. He's looking like a strong candidate to start the All-Star Game in St. Louis, which would be a nice way of making up for last year. Lincecum was picked to go to the game in New York, but he was too sick to attend.
"It would mean a lot -- the hard work paid off," said Lincecum. "If I do happen to start, it will make up for the fact I didn't even make it to the field last year."
As a team, the Giants have now pitched two shutouts in a row for the second time in a week. Previously, they hadn't done it since 2002.
Posted: Jul 05, 2009 1:45AM By Holly Cain (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Daytona Int'l Speedway, Sprint Cup, Stewart-Haas Racing

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The celebratory Fourth of July pyrotechnics going off along the backstretch following Saturday night's NASCAR race at Daytona International Speedway were nothing compared to the last-lap fireworks show minutes earlier on the frontstretch.
Two-time NASCAR champ
Tony Stewart muscled his way by
Kyle Busch about 100 yards before the finish line -- holding his line as Busch tried to block him. Ultimately, Stewart was able to get his nose in position for the pass. When Busch tried to stop Stewart's final push, the two cars collided and Busch's car spun out, hitting the wall and paving the way for Stewart to capture the victory.
Posted: Jul 04, 2009 11:26PM By Tim Povtak (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Celtics, Knicks, Magic, NBA Transactions
Doc Rivers may get a second chance to coach
Grant Hill. The last time it didn't turn out so well.
Rivers, now coach of the
Boston Celtics, and Hill, an unrestricted free agent who played last season for the
Phoenix Suns, will meet Sunday in Orlando to discuss the possibility of working together again. Both make their offseason homes here.
"I don't have to go very far to meet with him this time,'' Hill said Saturday night before watching his wife Tamia perform at a Summer Soul Series concert in Orlando.
Posted: Jul 04, 2009 11:20PM By FanHouse Newswire (RSS feed)

SEATTLE (AP) -- Playing without its top stars, there was some concern that the United States would struggle to generate offense during the heading CONCACAF Gold Cup. That doesn't look like a problem anymore. The Americans, fresh off a stunning ...
Posted: Jul 04, 2009 8:15PM By Clay Travis (RSS feed)

Two months ago, Steve McNair walked into a bar named Loser's near downtown Nashville. It was after midnight. McNair wore blue jeans, boots and a black T-shirt hanging tightly on his broad chest. The patrons inside Loser's, a country-themed bar with ...
Posted: Jul 04, 2009 6:37PM By FanHouse Newswire (RSS feed)

BETHESDA, Md. (AP) -- Anthony Kim finally gets a crack at Tiger Woods, and when he says he has been practicing for a moment like this all his life, Kim isn't kidding. As a 10-year-old growing up in Los Angeles, in those final hours of twilight as he ...
Posted: Jul 04, 2009 6:27PM By Holly Cain (RSS feed)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Embattled driver Jeremy Mayfield released a statement two hours before the start of Saturday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Daytona International Speedway, thanking fans who have stood behind him and promising to do everything ...
Posted: Jul 04, 2009 3:48PM By FanHouse Newswire (RSS feed)

MONACO (AP) -- Seven-time champion Lance Armstrong went out early and put up a solid time in the opening stage of the Tour de France on Saturday, then was upstaged by Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland. Cancellara finished the 9.6-mile time trial in 19 ...