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Posted by Shane Bacon (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Wimbledon

They have faced off two times in the finals of Wimbledon, with
Andy Roddick winning just one set against the most dominant tennis player ever. On Sunday,
Roger Federer goes for a record 15th Grand Slam victory, but will have to take out a feisty American that apparently bought a backhand on eBay.
Starting at
9 AM ET, Roddick will try to join
Serena Williams for an all American sweep of the singles while Federer will be trying to put himself in a league all by his lonesome.
Swing by for the live chat, and don't forget to wear white. It's the Wimbledon finals, and we will be around to chat about it all morning.
Posted: Jul 05, 2009 11:20AM By FanHouse Newswire (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Titans, NFL Police Blotter

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Police worked Sunday to unravel the relationship between slain former NFL quarterback
Steve McNair and his friend, a 20-year-old woman who was found shot to death alongside him in his downtown condominium.
McNair, who led the famous
Tennessee Titans' drive that came a yard short of forcing overtime in the 2000 Super Bowl, was found dead on a sofa in the living room Saturday with multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head. His friend, Sahel Kazemi, was very close to him on the floor, killed by a single gunshot. A pistol was discovered near her, but police said it took a while to find the firearm.
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 4:05AM By Chris Burke (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Titans, NFL Police Blotter

Sahel Kazemi has been identified as the woman found dead on Saturday alongside former NFL quarterback
Steve McNair. The 20-year-old Kazemi was called a "friend" of McNair's by Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron.
She had suffered a single gunshot wound to the head. Her body was discovered on the floor of a downtown Nashville condominium, just feet from McNair, who was found seated on a couch within the same residence.
Details surrounding the deaths remain murky, but police did release several new pieces of information as the day went on.
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)
Filed Under: U.S. Men's National Team

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 runner-up finish at the FIFA Confederations Cup, thoroughly dominated Grenada, 4-0 on Saturday night, as they began their quest for a third straight Gold Cup title.
Posted: Jul 04, 2009 8:15PM By Clay Travis (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Titans, NFL Quarterbacks

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 wood panels on the walls, wooden floors, and a wooden porch, were swaying to
"Country Roads
" in front of a live band. McNair walked to the bar and ordered a shot -- straight vodka. He took the shot glass, tiny in his large right hand, the one that had thrown touchdown passes for 13 NFL seasons, and tossed it down. Then he turned to look out over the scene. For just a moment he winced, then he opened his mouth wide, an orange peel held between his teeth.
McNair's mouth hung open in a bright orange smile. My friend elbowed me, "Can you believe that guy came within a yard of winning the Super Bowl?" he asked.
Posted: Jul 04, 2009 6:37PM By FanHouse Newswire (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Golf, PGA

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 waited for his father to pick up from the golf course, Kim imagined he was in the final pairing with Woods and had a 10-foot putt for the victory, with the world's No. 1 player watching.
"Man, they were going in a lot," Kim said, laughing.
He can only hope fantasy meets reality Sunday in the AT&T National.
Posted: Jul 04, 2009 6:27PM By Holly Cain (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Daytona Int'l Speedway, Sprint Cup

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 possible to make next week's race in Chicago.
"Last Wednesday's ruling by Judge Mullen was a giant step towards clearing my name and getting the 41 Car back on the track,'' Mayfield said. "For those who know me well, there is nothing in the world that I would rather do than race for you all on the Fourth of July.
"Following Judge Mullen's ruling, we had less than 24 hours to prepare the car, assemble a team, get sponsorship and travel to Daytona. Ultimately, we were unable to get this done in time ... We've decided that our time is best spent back here in North Carolina working around the clock to try and secure the funding needed to get the 41 Car to Chicago and beyond.''
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 ...
Posted: Jul 04, 2009 2:30PM By Matt Snyder (RSS feed)

It's not often you hear of a contract extension to a manager who is 11 games under .500 and 16 1/2 games out of first place on July 3. The San Diego Padres, however, aren't in position to complain about the job done by Bud Black up to this point. ...
Posted: Jul 04, 2009 2:22PM By Greg Couch (RSS feed)

Quite frankly, to use her own words, Serena Williams really is the best. She said so a few months ago, when the computer dropped her from the No. 1 ranking, and then embarrassed herself a few times, even losing to a journeyman hours after her ...
Posted: Jul 04, 2009 1:01PM By Michael David Smith (RSS feed)

Wolfing down an incredible 68 hot dogs, Joey Chestnut defeated Japan's Takeru Kobayashi at the 2009 edition of the Fourth of July Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. It was the third consecutive victory for Chestnut, and Kobayashi, the six-time ...
Posted: Jul 04, 2009 1:00PM By FanHouse Newswire (RSS feed)

LONDON (AP) -- Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone faced criticism from politicians and Jewish groups Saturday after being quoted as saying that Adolf Hitler "got things done." In an interview with London's The Times newspaper, Ecclestone expressed a ...