DEVELOPING: SI Has New Allegations On Lance

Could this be the beginning of the end for Lance Armstrong...???

Sports Illustrated is releasing another article with more details on the alleged use of PED's by the US cycling legend...

Among the uncovered stuff...

Armstrong allegedly gained access to a drug during a clinical trial that wasn't as dangerous as EPO...

Floyd Landis relayed a story about dodging a customs check at a private air field since the team used chartered jets instead of flying commercial...

Another former teammate said Armstrong was the "driving force" behind his team using EPO as far back as 1995...

Here's Armstrong winning Stage 18 after the death of Casartelli...
((HT: Tour de France/TV2/youtube))


Armstrong's team, apparently, continued a relationship with Italian physician Michele Ferrari as late as 2009 after Lance said that he ceased that back in 2004.

And the SI article alleges a possible unwillingness by the USOC and USADA to chase after athletes who were using PED's...

SI's Maggie Gray catches up with Selena Roberts on the story...

Wednesday Morning Stuff

We are going to try and do this as much as we can considering our schedule. Here are a few of the interesting stories from last night and early this morning.

Miller Gets Standing "O" in Pittsburgh...Crosby reaction...not as exciting...

Last night the Pittsburgh Penguins honored both their's and the Buffalo Sabres Olympic Hockey players before the start of their game. The reactions...well they were interesting. Buffalo Goalie Ryan Miller, the Olympic MVP...got a huge standing ovation that lasted for a while. The other players for other countries all got a nice ovation from the Penguin crowd.

When Penguin captain Sidney Crosby popped up. Well...the reaction was a bit mixed.

**Added note. Apparently Crosby's gloves and stick from the Gold Medal game have gone missing (shock). According to reports, he had flung them in the air after his game winning goal and they got lost in all the ensuing chaos. The Hockey Hall of Fame asked for the equipment and...well unless it can be found, they may be waiting a while.

Here is last nights video from the NHL Network and NHL.com:

Air Tran Flight Attendants don't like Swimsuits...

An interesting story from Atlanta late yesterday. Apparently a group of AirTran flight attendants are upset that the airline used a picture of a swimsuit model (Brooklyn Decker) in a plane sponsorship deal with Sports Illustrated to promote their swimsuit issue.

They called the image "Offensive" and "Contrary to the family image that this company tries to promote".

((The photo in question//Courtesy: AJC.com/Airtran))

Okay, while they are certainly within their rights to complain in this entirely too PC world, the sponsorship deal is about to run out. Why wait to complain now? The picture isn't exactly an offensive one. Just sayin'....

Other Tidbits for Today-

**Today is the trade deadline for the NHL. There has already been tons of activity before today, don't expect anything of major significance, there are too many teams still in contention for a playoff berth.

***Spring Training Baseball is in full bloom. There were 2 games yesterday, a fuller slate of games start today.

****The NFL Pro Bowl will go back to Hawaii next season and will be again played one week before the Super Bowl...anyone care?

That's all for now, keep checking in as we will update stories over the course of the day. Enjoy!

The Sports Illustrated Curse Lives...sort of

Just saw this video and thought it was mildly amusing, but more importantly, it was an opportunity to post this photo again to accompany it.

Here is the setup. During the Jimmy Kimmel show the other night, SI cover girl Brooklyn Decker was set to appear on the show and sit down with Kimmel for an interview. Here is a kind of weak intro to Decker's attempt to get to the studio, which the video is the punchline. The premise is the "Sports Illustrated Cover Curse", using Lindsey Vonn, who was on the regular issue of the magazine and proceeded to get hurt.

((Brooklyn Decker on the cover//Thanks SI.Com))

Check out the video. Thanks Jimmy Kimmel show for putting your skits on You Tube:

Just Because its Snowing...The SI Swimsuit issue is here...

Okay, this one may set off some debate amongst the OSG, but since I am in the Northern Outpost, it has snowed 6+inches today and it is really cold, I am going to break with our no cheesecake rule.

By now most of the world knows that Mrs. Andy Roddick (Brooklyn Decker) made the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. And since we cover Sports and this is from a Sports magazine...I say...let's run with it.

If you flip through the pages of this fine example of photojournalism, you will also stumble across some interesting participants. U.S Winter Olympians Lindsay Vonn and Hannah Teter are among several athletes featured within the pages.

Now, this issue perennially brings out the prudes and the horndogs all across the country. We aren't siding with either one of them, though I will add, that I have been a loyal subscriber to this magazine since 1981 (yeah, I'm old). I suspect that TLB (The Lovely Bride) may not be thrilled that I posted this, but she isn't really thrilled that the magazine will be showing up in our mailbox today or tomorrow either.

((SI cover and Lindsay Vonn Photos//Courtesy: SI.com))

As far as we are concerned, we do find it interesting that the Olympic athletes are involved. Normally they stay away from things like this. Though we suspect that we know the answer to this...what do the readers think? We are just curious....

Just When you think You've Seen it all!

Too Funny to be True (But it is!)

Okay, as much as I like to make fun of the 4-Letter word (ESPN), I'm not really sure that there is anything that I can say that will top this:

Yes, your eyes aren't decieving you...IT'S ESPN...THE MIC!

Check it out at Toys 'r Us right here

Here is a line from the product description:

"The ESPN Sportscaster Microphone lets you make the calls, and announce the game! Three modes for sounds of the game: Football, Baseball & Basketball! Announcer tips, tricks, and built-in calls from SportsCenter anchor Steve Levy! "

Okay, you really can't make up stuff like this. Steve Levy is a perfectly serviceable ESPN announcer, but I'm guessing there isn't a rush of people that want to grow up to be just like him or for that matter know who he is. (Maybe I'm wrong) Though I suppose he is a better choice than say Cindy Brunson.

I'm not really sure exactly what a kid would do with an item like this other than annoy the hell out of anyone within earshot. But then again, kids like to do that. And so do bloggers, so buy one for all of your blogging friends (just kidding).

To quote from our friends at Sports Illustrated: "This Weeks sign that the Apocolypse is Upon us". I can't say it any better!

((thanks again Awful Announcing for uncovering this deep, dark secret))