He came onto the scene quickly and began dominating the National League, blessed with a 103 mph fastball and boyish looks.No, this is not quite the Tim Lincecum story — after all, the Giants’ right-hander can "only" hit 99 on the radar gun. It’s the movie "Rookie of the Year" in which Chicago’s 12-year-old Henry Rowengartner is suddenly blessed with a superb fastball, is signed by the Cubs and leads the team to the playoffs. But Lincecum said he has been thinking about the film recently while considering his own amazingly quick ascent to major-league prominence. Read More

The Raiders signed running back Michael Bush, a fourth-round pick out of Louisville who was a Heisman Trophy contender until breaking a leg in the season opener. The Raiders cut safeties Jarrod Cooper, who was suspended four games last week, and Darnell Bing. The Niners signed running back Thomas Clayton, a sixth-round pick out of Kansas State.Schilling pops off again Read More

As the son of a college basketball official, I often sat in the stands during a game my dad reffed and heard fans call him every name in the book.Cheater. Homer. Fixer.He was called all of them and some of the time I was sitting right next to the person calling him all those things.I never confronted a fan or even told him that he was denigrating a father of the kid sitting next to him. I simply sat in silence when anyone yelled that my dad was unfair or incompetent or worse. Read More

Craig Biggio, who began his career with the Houston Astros as a standout catcher beforemoving to second base, the outfield and back to second, will retire after 20 years. Biggio last month became the 27th player in history to get 3,000 hits. "For me to be able to walk away now, on top, on my own accord, I’m very happy with that," Biggio said.Falcons want to suspend Vick Read More