FanHouse

Kimbo Slice, Gina Carano Likely to Return to EliteXC on CBS October 4

Dave Meltzer reports today (via Bloody Elbow) that EliteXC and CBS have tentatively agreed on Saturday, October 4 for the date of the third prime time network television mixed martial arts show, with Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano both slated to face as-yet unnamed opponents.

Although EliteXC's show tomorrow night on CBS is expected to suffer a decline in the ratings from May's premier, Kimbo and Carano are EliteXC's two biggest draws, and with both of them on the card together, the card should do a solid rating for CBS.

A big question about this show will be how CBS uses college football as a lead-in for EliteXC. With the Florida-Arkansas game scheduled for that afternoon, EliteXC would love nothing more than to have CBS spend much of the day reminding viewers to stay tuned for MMA, and pairing MMA with college football would be great for MMA's efforts to enter the mainstream. But CBS considers EliteXC part of its entertainment division, not its sports division, and that means there might not be a lot of corporate synergy.

Kellen Clemens Throws Training Camp Interception, Jets Fan Yells 'Get Favre!'

New York Jets training camp has just begun, and the big story is the training camp battle at quarterback between Kellen Clemens and Chad Pennington.

But could a third name be thrown into the mix?

The New York Daily News reports that when Clemens threw an interception during practice, one fan yelled, "Get Favre!"

Speculation that the Jets could acquire Brett Favre has been swirling since Favre started making noise about a comeback, and there are millions of Jets fans who would love to see it. Personally, I think it's a good idea.

But it sure won't make life easy on Clemens or Pennington if that's what all the fans are talking about. Green Bay isn't the only place that Favre is becoming a distraction.

World Chess Boxing Championship Highlights

For those who have never seen chess boxing, here's a highlight reel from the world championships, which took place in Berlin last week:

Nikolay Sazhin beat Frank Stoldt in the final as 1,000 fans looked on.

For the uninitiated, chess boxing is exactly what it sounds like -- half chess, half boxing, alternating playing chess for a few minutes with boxing for a few minutes, with matches ending by a checkmate or a knockout. The sport's governing body is the World Chess Boxing Organization.

Tens Of Thousands of Chinese Wait Days for Olympic Tickets


Tickets are a hot commodity for the Summer Olympics in China next month. On Friday morning the final round of tickets went on sale on location at many of the venues in Beijing and other cities hosting events. With a final chance to be a part of the games in their home nation, tens of thousands of Chinese waited days for the chance to purchase tickets. Organizers were not prepared for the crowds.

The AFP reported that more than 50,000 people were in line in Beijing on Friday and at times the crowds became impatient.

"The police didn't have a clue how many people would come here and there was no organisation at all, it was chaos," said Wang Zhongliang, a delivery worker for UPS.

Police chief Xiong acknowledged it was "chaotic and difficult" to maintain order.

It's Officially Time to Start the 'NBA Overseas Defection Watch' List

"Oh, wow, Josh Childress jumped to Greece. That's wild. What a kooky thing to see. Man, what if this were to become a trend in a couple of years? How weird would that be? I mean, clearly it won't happen for a whi ... "

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

For those of you playing our home game, that brings the list of players to have signed or be considering a jump overseas to: Josh Childress, Primoz Brezec, Carlos Delfino, Jorge Garbajosa, Carl Landry, Delonte West, and Sasha Vujacic. That's in the last week. Now clearly, it's not like there's going to be a mass exodus, this is still the NBA. Plus, as Al Horford asked Team USA about today, none of the megastars are going anywhere. But whereas after the Childress signing we asked, "could this be a trend over the next few years?", we now have to ask, "Is this a trend that's taking place now?" I

It's clear that free agents, especially restricted free agents, are evaluating their options, and coming to the conclusion that Europe offers them a lot more opportunities than the NBA under the current CBA. The question now becomes how does the NBA respond? Increased agreements with international leagues for great fluidity back and forth? Higher reliance on the pitifully resourced D-League? Or the customary Stern brand of ignoring the problem until it's on fire in your yard? Is this a problem? This is a situation that's evolving faster than we can understand it, at least from where we're at right now.

Warriors On A Roll, Resign Ellis for 6 Years, $67 Million

Apparently Chris Mullin enjoyed his time in Vegas, got some time in by the pool, then came home and decided to clean the slate on his offseason To-Do list all in a matter of days. Here's a little sneak peak at that list.

1. Match Kelenna Azubuike.
2. Re-sign Monta Ellis to a 6 year, $67 Million contract.
3. Pick up dry cleaning.
4. Send basket of rotten fruit to Elgin Baylor.

Well, you can scratch out #2, as today the Warriors agreed to just such a contract with Ellis. Which is good, because as Tim Kawakami put it tonight, if they hadn't, they wouldn't be "a real franchise, anymore." After Baron Davis skipped town (sorry Warriors fans, I'm not trying to keep bringing it up, but it kind of caused a ripple effect), the Warriors needed to batten down the hatches and take care of their roster. And while the biggest acquisition they got was Corey Maggette, they did lock up a young scorer with incredible speed and considerable upside for six years, along with Ronny Turiaf and securing Azabuike.

The question now becomes if they overspent on Ellis, which is something only Ellis can decide. Have I mentioned this kid needs a nickname?

NBA: Jordan Farmar Biggest Assist

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded NBA Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back here regularly for more videos.

In this exclusive video we hang out with Los Angeles Lakers' star Jordan Farmar who tells us about the special relationship he has with children hospitalized at Mattel Children's Hospital in UCLA. We also catch up with his mother Mindy Kolani, who tells us why Jordan's acts of kindness is a dream come true for her. Around 2:40 into the video find out why Jordan may be nominated one day for a Nobel Peace Prize.


AOL Video link. Youtube link.

Anna Pouts in Justin's Presence

Over the past few weeks, I've been spending more than a few evenings in downtown Washington to take in a couple of matches of Washington's entry into World Team Tennis, the Washington Kastles. As I wrote a few weeks back, it's a fun experience, and now that the regular season has come to an end, I have to say I'm going to miss it.

That's why I made sure to budget some time last night to take in the last match of the regular season against the St. Louis Aces. Taking time to see the Aces meant having a chance to watch Anna Kournikova, something I didn't want to miss. Better yet, this would be the one opportunity to see Kournikova on the same court as Justin Gimelstob, the member of the Kastles who ran off the rails a couple of weeks back while attacking Kournikova while trying to drum up some publicity for the league.

So what happened? While everyone was watching, not much. But once the match was delayed by a violent Washington thunderstorm and the festivities were moved elsewhere after most of the crowd opted to go home, then the real fireworks began.

Earlier in the day at a lightly attended press conference, Kournikova twice refused to answer any questions about Gimelstob. Later, the media people who work for the Kastles assured us that Gimelstob and Kournikova wouldn't be facing off in the mixed doubles portion of the evening.

David Duval Will Play Reno, Thinks Michelle Wie Would Be Better Off on Futures Tour


Greg Norman was the most improbable story during last week's British Open; the former two-time winner, now 53, led the whole thing heading into the final round, before the weather, age and Padraig Harrington's lights-out back nine all conspired against him.

Perhaps second only to Norman's unlikely showing was that of David Duval, the 2001 Open Champion and one of golf's best young players at the turn of the century who fell off the grid in recent years. He emerged at Royal Birkdale, and sandwiched rounds of 73, 69 and 71 around an ugly Saturday 83 that basically eliminated him from contention.

But Duval, who has played in 13 PGA events this season (making just two cuts), will tee it up at the Reno-Tahoe Open next week. Shockingly, he thinks Michelle Wie, playing the event on a sponsor's exemption, would be better off honing her game against women, but understands the economics of it all.
"You're in or you're not in. It's pretty simple," Duval said. "Whether I agree if she should be playing - I think she would be better off on the Futures Tour competing against women - is neither here nor there. (Tournament director) Michael Stearns thinks she can bring people in, and that's his job. If some guy needs a spot in the field, chances are he's not going to sell any tickets. She might add 2,000."

Three Bidders Left in Cubs Sale, One of Whom You May Know

This morning, I ever-so-briefly covered the news that John Canning's ownership group, long considered the frontrunner for Cubs ownership, had its low offer laughed out of the room. Initially, it seemed Canning would be able to submit a second, higher bid, but according to the Associated Press' source that's not the case. Canning is out of the picture, and only three remain. This should be fun:
Included in the second round are Internet billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban; the Ricketts family, which founded the online brokerage that is now TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.; and a group led by Sports Acquisition Holding Corp. that includes former baseball home run king Henry Aaron and former Republican Congressman Jack Kemp. The last group is believed to be teaming with another bidder who submitted an offer in the initial round.
One name sort of sticks out, doesn't it? All eyes are on Cuban now, as the Tribune Company has officially proven they care far less about Major League Baseball's ownership politics -- the idea that Cuban is too brash for baseball doesn't seem to bother Sam Zell -- than the amount of zeros on the napkin.

How many zeros? All three remaining bidders bid at least $1 billion. (For the Chicago Cubs. That actually happened.)