Moynahan, Brady welcome baby boy (AP/SI.com)

Actress Bridget Moynahan and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady welcomed their first child in Los Angeles, California on Wednesday.

Brady wasn’t on the field or sidelines for the first 15 minutes of practice for the Patriots Wednesday.

The quarterback had said he wanted a few days off to attend the birth of his first child. It was unknown if he arrived before the baby was born.

Eli, Giants downplay feud with Barber (Westchester Journal News/USA Today)

It appears that the feud between Eli Manning and Today Show contributor and NBC football analyst Tiki Barber has hit a cold pocket as Manning put the kibosh on things flaring up any more.  We think since he really didn’t apologize for his statements.

“I’m fine talking with Tiki,” Manning said Wednesday as he tried to lay the feud with his former teammate to rest. “If I see him, I’ll talk to him.

“I’ll be friendly to him. I’m not trying to start something. That’s just the deal. It happened.

“Hopefully, when we see each other — and we will — it won’t be awkward, because I don’t want it to be.”

With this taking place in New York — media capital of the world — and Barber never missing an opportunity to talk on any medium (television and satellite radio), we’re skeptical on where this might head in the near future.

Bettis book: He ‘faked’ injury to avoid getting cut (ESPN News Services)

Former Pittsburgh Steelers star Jerome Bettis, in a new book to be published in early September and co-written by ESPN’s national writer Gene Wojciechowski, says he faked a training camp injury in 2000 to avoid getting cut by the team.

“Man, did I do a nice job of acting,” Bettis wrote in the book. “The thing is, I wasn’t faking that I had an injury. I was just faking that the injury happened on that short-yardage play. I had to fool the coaches and the team’s medical department into thinking the injury had occurred on that play. Otherwise, the Steelers would have had their reason to cut me and my salary.”

He rushed for 1,341 yards in the 2000 season. Five years later, he was on Pittsburgh’s Super Bowl winning team and then retired.

Bettis also wrote that Steelers coach Bill Cowher was never totally sold on quarterback Kordell Stewart, despite the fact Stewart was the team’s most valuable player in 2001.

Harrah’s to build Vegas arena to drwa NBA, NHL (AP/ESPN)

Harrah’s Entertainment, in cooperation with AEG, are planning to build a 20,000-seat arena that will be capable of housing an NBA or NHL team.

The arena, behind the Bally’s and Paris hotel-casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, is projected to open in 2010. It’s a step toward attracting a pro sports franchise to a city that has tried to convince reluctant league officials to look past its legalized sports betting.

“This arena is being developed with the capability of hosting an NHL or NBA franchise from day one,” said Timothy Leiweke, the president and chief executive of AEG, which owns the Galaxy and the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

“We continue to have productive conversations with potential owners and are optimistic that either basketball or hockey, or both, will be played in Las Vegas when the venue opens,” he said in a statement.

Tim Donaghy would like a seat should an NBA team land there.

News and notes while the NAACP thinks Michael Vick shouldn’t get banned from the NFL…

Study: T-Rex could outrun Beckham (AP/CNN) From the “Useless Information Department”: what if a T-Rex raced LA Galaxy’s David Beckham?

Brazil, Argentina move on with eye on Cup qualifying (SI.com) Si.com’s Tim Vickery writes that Brazil and Argentina have issues to fix before World Cup qualifying resumes.

Jon Stewart takes on media for Vick coverage (The FanHouse) The Daily Show host Jon Stewart shows a bit of naivete in this satirical response to the media coverage of the Michael Vick saga.

Worst. Draft. EVER. (Winning the Turnover Battle) The folks at Winning the Turnover Battle blogged the ESPN Celebrity Football Drafting Bonanza! Tuesday (Tip o’the cap to Awful Announcing).

The Chiefs are slowly starting to excite us (The Big Lead) Not only do the Chiefs get Larry Johnson back from his holdout, but quarterback Brody Coyle has a hot wife and center Casey Weigmann has a hot fiancee in Danni Boatwright, former Survivor contestant.

59-year old makes Div. III college football team (AP/ESPNU)

Mark Flynt, a 59-year old who drank beer and swapped old football stories with his friends a scant few months ago, has made the Sul Ross State University squad in Alpine, Texas — 37 years after he left the institution.

Flynt enrolled in graduate school so he can take advantage of his final semester of Division III eligibility.

Flynt is giving new meaning to being a college senior. After all, he’s a grandfather. He’s eight years older than his coach and has two kids older than any of his teammates. His youngest child just started at the University of Tennessee.

Flynt’s position is still being determined, but he used to play linebacker. Wherever he lines up, just getting into a game likely will make him the oldest player in college football history. Neither the NCAA or NAIA keeps such a statistic, but research hasn’t turned up anyone older than mid-40s.

Cheers to a man just trying to correct an old regret.

Report: Sprewell’s 70-foot yacht repossessed (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

A 70-foot yacht owned by former NBAer Latrell Sprewell was repossessed on Tuesday, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting.

Sprewell, who three years ago rejected a $21 million contract offer, calling it insulting and saying he had a family to feed, loses his Italian-crafted yacht after the company he owns defaulted on the payments.

The firm, LSF Marine Holdings, hasn’t made monthly payments of $10,322 on time and hasn’t maintained the necessary insurance on the vessel, North Fork Bank alleges.

It wants the yacht, “Milwaukee’s Best,” sold to pay off the $1.3 million it says is remaining on the loan. Sprewell has guaranteed the loan personally, a contract filed with the court shows. He could not be reached for comment on the repossession.

My fellow bloggers will have a field day with this little story.

Bill Murray: Drunken driving in a golf cart? (AP/CNN)

Actor/comedian/legend Bill Murray was pulled over in Stockholm, Sweden over the weekend while driving through the streets of downtown…in a golf cart.

“He refused to blow in the (breath test) instrument, citing American legislation,” Detective-Inspector Christer Holmlund of the Stockholm police told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “So we applied the old method — a blood test. It will take 14 days before the results are in.”

He was let go by police after Murray agreed that he was driving under the influence and would have a police officer plead guilty for him should the case goes to court.

CFL won’t welcome Michael Vick (The FanHouse)

Now for some completely different in the ongoing Michael Vick saga: the Canadian Football League said Tuesday that the soon-to-member of a a prison cell block isn’t welcome in their league.

The CFL is generally accepting of players who have either held out (Joe Theismann) or failed in their initial stint (Doug Flutie) in the NFL, only to see them thrive in the CFL. The Toronto Star’s Rick Matsumoto notes that the league is still cleaning up some public relations garbage over the last time they accepted a suspended NFL player:

Criticism over last year’s signing by the Argonauts of running back Ricky Williams, who was under suspension by the NFL for drug use, led the league’s board of governors to pass a bylaw that prohibits an NFL player who is currently under contract or is serving a suspension from signing a CFL contract.

We certainly hope that recent NFL-to-CFL defector Charlie Rogers can succeed in “The Great Wide North.”

All-time Gold Glove team named (AP/ESPN/Rawlings)

Hitting the way back machine, we wrote up a small blog post announcing a Rawlings Sporting Goods’ contest that would culminate with the winners of their “All Time Gold Glove Team” being selected by combination of experts and fans.

Rawlings established the Rawlings Gold Glove Award® in 1957 to recognize excellence and performance in the field.

The Rawlings Gold Glove Award has since been the measuring stick, the benchmark, the high bar of great defense.

Since 1957, more than 250 major leaguers have won Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, and more the 150 have won multiple awards.

We also listed whom we thought was deserving of the award, so after the jump, we’ll list our picks with in one column and the actual selections in the other.

More after the jump »

Report: Trembley will manage O’s in 2008 (Baltimore Sun)

The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zbrebiec reports that the Baltimore Orioles will name interim manager Dave Trembley as the team’s permanent skipper for next season, thus giving the 55-year old a contract extension.

Trembley served as a manager in the Orioles’ minor league system for four years before being hired before this season as bullpen coach and field coordinator. Before his promotion, he had spent 22 years in professional baseball, including 20 as a minor league manager. He compiled a 1369-1413 record in the minors, winning two league titles and Manager of the Year awards in three different leagues.

He also received praise from players like Kevin Millar and Aubrey Huff and the organization for his attention to detail and preparation.

Nurse shot in head in Las Vegas sues ‘Pacman’ Jones, strip club (AP/Y! Sports)

A New York nurse who was shot in the head after a scuffle at a Las Vegas strip club involving Pacman Jones has sued the suspended Tennessee Titans’ cornerback and the company she says hired him to throw thousands of dollars at strippers.

The nurse’s suit, filed in Clark County District Court in Nevada, states:

“Jones and his entourage” were responsible for firing a semiautomatic weapon after a fight inside the Minxx strip club spilled outside. The gunshots struck her and two of the club’s security guards, one of whom was paralyzed.

She claims she required three weeks in intensive care to recover from her injuries and lost wages as a result of missing work as a registered nurse. She said she was in Las Vegas for the NBA All-Star weekend, visiting friends.

It’s no surprise that Jones’ lawyer, Manny Arora, played down the suit, claiming he’s “skeptical.”

ESPN set to air 25-hour college football pre-game show (USA Today)

USA Today’s sports television writer Michael Hiestand reports that “The Worldwide Teaser” is all set to kick the hype machine for yet another time: a pre-game show that will run 25-hours and will lead up to the Memphis Tigers-Mississipi Tigers contest on Thursday, August 30.

The 25-hour event is titled Twenty-Five Hours of College Football Presented by TIVO, which begins at 7 PM EDT Aug. 29.  The unlucky bastard who drew the short straw and will host the festivities? Rece Davis.

Writes Hiestand:

Rece Davis, saying he’ll play “the Jerry Lewis role” in hosting the marathon: “I might have to wear a tux. … And at the end, maybe we’ll dim the lights and I’ll loosen my tie and have more product in my hair than usual.”

Somewhere, the recently departed Dave Revsine is laughing his butt off at the Big Ten Network studios.

The morning after David Ortiz hit a triple and Armando Benitez flicks off Hanley Ramirez…

Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen went back-to-back in a pitcher’s duel in Detroit; Armando Benitez melts down and gets upset with his shortstop as the Cardinals put up four unearned runs late; Jair Jurrjens, in only his second career start, outduels a 14-game winner and Garret Anderson just goes off.

Rangers 2, O’s 6 — Erik Bedard struck out 11 over seven innings to win his ninth straight decision, and the Baltimore Orioles got home runs from Miguel Tejada and Aubrey Huff in a 6-2 victory over the Texas Rangers.

Indians 1, Tigers 2 — Jair Jurrjens out-pitched Cleveland rookie Fausto Carmona, allowing only one hit in 6 2/3 innings of work to help the Tigers eke out a 2-1 victory over the Indians. Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen went back-to-back in a pitcher’s duel in Detroit.

Red Sox 8, D’Rays 6 — Jason Varitek hit an RBI single before consecutive doubles by Coco Crisp and Julio Lugo gave Boston a 7-2 lead and the Red Sox held on to an 8-6 triumph over Tampa Bay. The loss puts the D’Rays 31 games under .500.

M’s 7, Twins 2 — Minnesota’s Scott Baker yielded 14 hits and three earned runs in 6 2/3 innings of work as the Seattle Mariners strolled to a 7-2 win over Minnesota. Clutch stat: the Mariners collected three RBI with two outs in the contest.

Yanks 9, Angels 18 — LA’s Garret Anderson set an Angels record by driving in 10 runs (a grand slam shot in the third and a three-run jack in the sixth) to help lead Los Angeles to an 18-9 pounding of the visiting Yankees. Alex Rodriguez crushed his 41st dinger in the losing cause.

More after the jump »

News and notes while Tiki and Eli have a war of words…

Report: Peca to Columbus (Columbus Dispatch) The Columbus Dispatch reports that defensive-minded forward Michael Peca spurred the New York Rangers and inked a one-year pact with the BlueJackets.

Ex-NBAer dies in SUV-train wreck (Y! Sports) Former Minnesota Timberwolves forward Eddie Griffin died last week when his sport utility vehicle collided with a freight train in a fiery crash.

LeBron, Kobe: caretakers of U.S. hoop dream (USA Today) David Dupree of USA Today profiles the two main faces of USA Basketball.

Posada enjoys late-career revival (SI.com) Tom Verducci of SI.com notes the career renaissance of New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada.

Webb downplays scoreless streak (USA Today) As he approaches the 59 scoreless innings streak, Arizona’s Brandon Webb downplays the streak, writes Greg Boeck.

Hamels out, Utley coming back (Y! Sports) The Fightins lose a staff leader and gain an all-world second baseman back from injury.