As the Red Sox head to the playoffs yet again, the Boston Globe has turned out the definitive article on Dustin Pedroia, a well-written but otherwise fluffy piece that elaborates on the long odds Pedroia overcame and applauds his confidence and trash-talking skills.  The key excerpt, however, recounts Pedroia’s ping-pong match against Brady Quinn:

Pedroia’s ping-pong victims include Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn, whom Pedroia baited into a match last year at the Athletes’ Performance Institute in Arizona. Never mind that Quinn, a rugged 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, towered over him.

Yes, because intimidating size is a huge factor in the bruising sport of table tennis.  He’s so brave!

“You want a piece of me, meat?” Pedroia said.

[Andre] Ethier, who witnessed the scene, said, “Dustin was talking smack to him the whole time, talking about how he would sack Brady and put him on his back. Dustin absolutely destroyed him, and Brady couldn’t stand losing to someone who is 5-foot-something. It was pretty incredible.”

Also incredible?  The sexual tension in that room.  I wasn’t there and I could feel it.  Brady Quinn didn’t like losing to the little man.  Pedroia talked down to Quinn.  Balls flew at people’s faces.  Hey fellas, get a room why doncha?

[Fan IQ]

This may come as a surprise, but Terrell Owens — who shies from the spotlight and usually leads by quiet example — thinks he needed more looks and touches in the Dallas’s loss to the Redskins yesterday.

As Shutdown Corner notes, of the 58 offensive plays the Cowboys ran, Owens was targeted on 17 pass plays and ran the ball twice.  In other words, T.O. was the focus of every third play.  And anyone who watched the game could see that (a) the Cowboys shouldn’t have abandoned the run in the second half, and (b) T.O. can’t catch for shit in traffic.  Seriously, for one of the greatest wide receivers of all time, he’s not actually very good at, you know, catching.

Which leads me to my ultra-gay innuendo conclusion: Because T.O. is so selfish, he’s bad at catching no matter how many looks and touches he gets. I think he owes his team a reacharound.

The Aiken (S.C.) Sheriff’s Office has closed the case on Stephanie Kirkland (pictured), who authorities thought molested some 13-year-old girl in a cheerleading studio [among other places..bow chicka wow-wow]. Five days ago, a continuance was granted during a prelim hearing to give the prosecution more time, which they probably squandered by harassing minorities and hiding behind billboards to catch speeders. And now they’re throwing out the case (Emphasis added):

[Kirkland] was charged with three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and four counts of lewd act upon a minor. Prosecutors said Friday there was not enough evidence. Assistant Solicitor Steve Kodman would say only that there were multiple inconsistencies in the victim’s statements.

“There are times where law enforcement has enough probable cause to make an arrest, but we have to be able prove it beyond a reasonable doubt to take it to court,” Kodman said.

The solicitor’s office does not anticipate any charges will be filed against the 13-year-old who alleged the charges.

And then there’s this gem:

The sheriff’s office said they have nothing that leads them to suspect the alleged victim lied.

The comments at the end of the article are an interesting read, if you consider reading “she was innocent” 50 times to be interesting. And if you think the justice in Aiken is excellent, you should try the ribs. Delicious.

[Aiken Standard] via [Busted Coverage]

Nereida Gallardo was all over this site when she was dating Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo.  Dating an athlete while hanging out at the beach and posing topless can make you a star at With Leather that way.  After being dumped in July, Nereida has finally opened up and talked to the press about it:

“He is very good in bed. That’s why I was with him,” she said. “We had sex the first night we met.”

Speaking about their romance for the first time, she said: “I was upset by the way he finished the relationship [breaking up with her via text message], which to me seems 100 per cent cowardly. He is very immature.” [...]

She also suspected him of cheating on her during their time together… “I found text messages in Spanish one day on his mobile phone that made me suspicious.”

Make no bones about it, this chick is sharp.  She slept with him the first night they met and she was only with him for the sex, then they broke up because he was sleeping with women in Los Angeles.  And after that strong relationship ended, she suspects he may have cheated on her.  It probably happened while she was distracted by something shiny.

[Kickette]

By virtue of being a top-five team that didn’t shit the bed this past weekend, the Oklahoma Sooners have taken over as college football’s top-ranked team this week.  Nick Saban’s previously eighth-ranked Alabama, which defeated preseason #1 Georgia in Athens, moved up to #2.

It was a wild weekend in which the shocking USC and Florida upsets were just the tip of the iceberg — nine ranked teams lost, and six of those were to unranked teams.  Golly, numbers like that might mean that the ranking system might somehow be flawed.

You can get the full breakdown of Saturday’s action in The Alphabetical, The Sporting Blog’s excellent weekly feature.  All I really care about is that Wake Forest lost at home to freaking Navy, yet they’re still ranked at #25.  Hello?  Can my 5-0 Northwestern Wildcats get a little love?  Rowr-rowr!

Nah, just kidding.  I don’t really give a crap about them.

(photo from Sooner Fever)

The Cardinals defense and Anquan Boldin’s short-term memory weren’t the only things torched in the Meadowlands yesterday.  Someone apparently parked their car over hot coals, and I didn’t realize this, but burning charcoal seems to have some sort of effect on gasoline.

Pretty disappointing that this is an accident.  You don’t see people blaming hot coals in Detroit.  “Is there a problem, officer?”  “How’d this car catch fire?”  “Ummm… Parked over hot coals?”  “Then how’d it get upside-down?”

[Busted Coverage]