NBA refs to use replay to review fights, flagrants (AP/ESPN)

NBA referees will be able to use instant replay to review altercations and some flagrant fouls starting this season.

The NBA Board of Governors voted last week to approve the changes recommended by the league’s Competition Committee.

Officials will be allowed to use replay on the more severe type of flagrant foul, known as the penalty 2. Because a flagrant-2 results in an ejection, the committee ruled that reviewing such infractions was appropriate.

Will the NBA also use replay to review the pattern of foul calling by their refs, too?

News and notes while getting distracted by Apple’s product announcement...

Guillen may get contact extension (ChicagoSports) Finding ways to lose in dramatic fashion and being dramatically profane afterwards will net Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen an extension.

Gibbs racing formally announces move to Toyota (ESPN.com) JGR switches from Chevrolet to Toyota.

Giants, Jets break ground on $1.3 billion facility (AP/ESPN) The new stadium that will be the first to be jointly owned by two NFL teams is scheduled to open in 2009.

Interview: Darren Rovell (Biz of Baseball) Friend-of-the-blog Darren Rovell of CNBC sits down with the fine folks at BoB in a multi-part interview on sports marketing.

Scott Van Pelt hates anonymous internet garbage (Awful Announcing) The Worldwide Teaser’s Scott Van Pelt isn’t a fan of Internet message boards but finds the time to post on them.

Yahoo Fantasy gets its ESPN on (Deadspin) Oh boy.  What a monumental screw up.  It’s probably worse than ESPN’s fantasy baseball gaffe back in April. Karma and all that.

Turgeon retires after 19 seasons (AP/USA Today)

Pierre Turgeon, who tallied 515 goals and 1,327 points in a career that spanned 19 seasons, announced his retirement from the National Hockey League.  The Colorado Avalanche center is retiring after groin and calf injuries limited him to 17 games last season.

“It’s with confidence that I’m going to begin this new chapter in my life,” he said at a news conference. “Hockey is a team sport, and I admit my teammates will be greatly missed.”

When he had his pit-stop in St. Louis from 1996-2000, Turgeon was one of our favorites and we’ll never forget the playoff game when Turgeon got hit in the mouth with the puck, bled profusely and had to be helped off the ice.  We remember telling anyone within earshot that if Turgeon returned, the Blues would win the game.

He did and they did.

Thanks for the memories, Pierre.

Under the Knife: Having fun (Baseball Prospectus)

Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus is the go-to-guy for all things injury-related in both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.  If you want to know what is up with Roger Clemens’ elbow or Frank Gore’s broken hand for your fantasy sports teams, chances are Will has all the answers.

In today’s Under the Knife segment (subscription required), Carroll writes about his visit to Tropicana Field to take in a Baltimore Orioles-Tampa Bay Devil Rays contest on Tuesday.  It wasn’t an ordinary, run-of-the-mill trip to the Trop for Carroll — he went with friends…hot looking friends.

Now, it’s better if you get the chance to go to a Rays game with Jenn Sterger and her friends, Brittany Link and Ashley Pena, because I can’t remember laughing so hard at a game. From Ashley’s yells at Chad Bradford that he was a “knuckledragger” to Brittany’s more colorful suggestion of what she was going to put in Aubrey Huff’s mouth after a long home run, it was never boring. The Trop wasn’t exactly full, the game wasn’t exactly crisp, and even Scott Kazmir had an off night, but none of that will be what I remember. Nope, it will be sitting at the ballpark making friends, taunting the umps, seeing Don Zimmer in new ways, laughing at the mascots, and drinking beer through a straw. Okay, that last one was only Ashley, but we’ll forgive her that.

What a night!  Going to a game with three babes and getting to see Don Zimmer enjoy his retirement working for the Devil Rays.  At least he didn’t drink beer through a straw.

Released Patriot charged with assaulting father (ESPN news services)

A day after being cut by the New England Patriots, punter Danny Baugher took out his frustrations on an unlikely culprit: his dad.

Baugher has been charged with roughing up his 54-year old father in a fast-food parking lot at 4 a.m. on Aug. 30.

Police said Danny Baugher, 23, was drunk at the time and told them that he “was released by the New England Patriots [Aug. 29] and he was not handling it very well,” according to a police report obtained by the Boston Herald.

Baugher pleaded not guilty to assault and battery last Thursday in Hingham (Mass.) District Court. He was released on his own recognizance with the condition he refrain from domestic abuse, according to the Herald.

He was a former Cincinnati Bengal? Go figure.

Timetable for sale of club delayed (AP/USA Today)

The proposed sale by the Tribune Co. of the Chicago Cubs and its home, Wrigley Field, might be delayed as the sale process has limped along slower than expected.

Back in April, Tribune Co. put both entities on the auction block, hoping that the package would be sold after the completion of the 2007 season.  The bankers, however, had other ideas due to their delay in sending out detailed financial information to the prospective bidders (expected in mid-September) and thus, stalling the process.

A source familiar with the sale process said there’s no chance of the sale being completed this year, with a more realistic target now baseball’s opening day in spring 2008. The source, who declined to be identified out of concern of disrupting the process, said “five or six legitimate groups” have emerged as would-be buyers, but declined to give details.

Tribune, in the process of going private in an $8.2 billion buyout being led by real-estate magnate Sam Zell, isn’t talking about dates, names or numbers. A spokesman for the media conglomerate, Gary Weitman, said the company doesn’t want the process to be a distraction to the season.

The leader appears to be John Canning, chairman of private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC and a longtime friend and business partner of baseball commissioner Bud Selig.

NFL announcing teams into three-point stance (USA Today)

Michael Hiestand of USA Today provides network breakdowns on the tweaks and changes for the upcoming NFL season which starts tomorow.

One of the biggest changes from last season: Joe Buck, “Mr. Everything” for FOX Sports, has a reduced role on game days this season after being relegated to announcing duties only.  He is replaced in the studio by Curt Menefee who filled in admirably for Buck last season when Buck’s schedule didn’t allow him to be two places at once.

Other changes on FOX’s NFL coverage:
More after the jump »

Chipper sounds off on umps after loss (AP/ESPN)

With the Atlanta Braves losing for the tenth time in 14 contests, one wouldn’t blame a Braves player for sounding off on the teams woes during the stretch of ineptitude.

After the club’s loss to the Fightin’ Phillies 5-2 on Tuesday, Chipper Jones voiced his displeasure over the umpiring stylings of one Rick Reed.

“It’s a joke,” Chipper Jones said. “I’m tired of it. And baseball can fine me whatever they want. I do not care. Somebody’s got to say something. I’ve got more walks than strikeouts in my career — I know what a strike looks like. You’re going to see frustration from now on as long as the officiating is abysmal. Major League Baseball ought to be ashamed. It’s abysmal. It’s awful. Not all of them but some of them. It’s awful.”

Expect MLB to fine Jones “whatever they want” for his outburst because he “knows what a strike looks like.”

The morning after squirrels took over baseball parks in St. Louis and the Bronx…

The Angels of Los Angeles padded their lead in the AL West to 7 1/2 games over Seattle; With their win, the Fightin’ Phls moved 3½ games ahead of the Braves in the wild-card race and remained five games behind the New York Mets in the NL East; the Yanks boosted its AL wild-card lead to two games over the Mariners and 3 1/2 in front of Detroit and the Cardinals moved back over .500 with their win over Pittsburgh and closed to one game behind the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.

White Sox 3, Tigers 1 — Josh Fields and Alex Cintron homered, Jon Garland scattered seven hits over seven innings and the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 3-1.

M’s 4, Yanks 12 — Chien-Ming Wang commanded Seattle in 7 1/3 innings to get his 17th win, and Jorge Posada homered twice as the Yankees rolled over the Mariners 12-4 in the Bronx.

Indians 7, Twins 5 (11 innings) — Travis Hafner hit two home runs and the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 11th inning, leading the Cleveland Indians past the Minnesota Twins 7-5.

A’s 3, Angels 4 — LAA’s Garret Anderson and Howie Kendrick hit two-run homers and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Oakland Athletics 4-3
More after the jump »

News and notes while Shaq files for divorce…

Henin knocks off Serena; Ferrer downs Nadal (AP/USA Today) Justine Henin took out Serena Williams, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1. Rafael Nadal loses to 15th seed David Ferrer, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Brown: Shake the rattle (Yahoo! Sports) Yahoo! Sports’ Tim Brown profiles the slumping Arizona Diamondbacks.

Tavares deserves early entry to NHL (SI.com) Allan Muir of SI.com writes that the NHL should allow entry for hockey prodigy John Tavares.

Zambrano now loves Cubs fans (Hardball) Monday, he lets off steam and rips on Cubs fans; Tuesday, he makes nice. (Tip o’the cap to The FanHouse)

Interview: Dave “Retrosheet” Smith (The Hardball Times)  THT sits down with the man who created the great baseball resource, Retrosheet.org.