The BBC version is semi-tongue in cheek.

US crowd beats passenger to death

An angry Texas crowd has beaten and killed a 40-year-old car passenger after a driver injured a young girl near the site of a busy local festival.

Police said the driver of the car had stopped to check on the health of the girl, said to be aged three or four.

But when the passenger got out to see how she was, he was set upon by a group of up to 20 people before being left lying in a car park, police said.

The girl was hit at low speed and was not seriously injured.

The incident happened near Austin, Texas, as crowd of between 2,000-3,000 people gathered for the annual Juneteenth festival, which commemorates the freeing of American slaves.

‘Group mentality’

According to reports, the driver of the car hit the girl at a low speed while moving through a car park, and then stopped so his passenger could check on her condition.

But the angry crowd quickly turned on David Rivas Morales, 40, beating him before leaving him lying on the ground.

He was taken to hospital but pronounced dead soon afterwards. A preliminary autopsy listed “blunt force trauma” as the cause of death, the Associated Press reported.

The driver was able to leave the scene in his car.

“Mr Morales could have been assaulted by two to 20 folks,” said Harold Piatt, from the Austin police department.

“It’s that same crowd mindset of being one face in 1,000. Things get out of hand pretty quickly and people don’t have the good sense to stop.”

An old clip of an angry former Dodger Manager Tommy Lasorda talking to his players about Steve Garvey.

I’m not a huge ice hockey fan, but I’ve rooted for the Ducks casually ever since my good friend Dean Chadwin wrote a book about the creation of the then Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. I may be the only person in America other than Dean’s mom with a complete set (he also wrote a children’s book about the franchise — which was originally named after the kid’s hockey movie.)

Despite my casual interest — we just looked at the playoffs, mostly — I have to admit that NHL hockey has the greatest traditions. The Stanley Cup is the oldest trophy and it has the coolest history. The handshake line between teams after a playoff series is great. And the carrying of the cup around the ice by the players, beginning with the captain who then passes it along is very moving.

As a man with one brother, who is the father of two boys, this picture of Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer and his brother Rob with the cup moved me.

Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach Larry Zierlein apologized for accidentally e-mailing an explicit sex video to numerous NFL employees, including league commissioner Roger Goodell.

NFL.com

Jay Bilas said it on ESPN last night and Roscoe Nance wrote it again in today’s USA Today:

Oden is considered the best center prospect since Patrick Ewing, while Durant is regarded as the top perimeter prospect since Kevin Garnett. Durant, the consensus collegiate player of the year, averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds and shot 47.3% for the Longhorns last season.

Nance is describing Greg Oden, the expected number one pick in the next NBA Draft. The seven-footer out of Ohio State should end up with the Portland Trail Blazers, who beat the odds and one the league’s draft lottery Tuesday night.

Oden was great during his only college season and in a league where talented centers are a rare commodity deserves to go first. (Kevin Pritchard, the Blazers general manager says he will interview Oden and Texas forward Kevin Durant before making a final decision.)

But calling him the best center prospect since Patrick Ewing is flat-out wrong.

First of all, I very much doubt that Oden is a better prospect than David Robinson, who was drafted first in ‘87 by the San Antonio Spurs. Robinson, out of the Naval Academy, didn’t join the Spurs until two years later due to his military commitment. Robinson had an exception senior season at Navy, carrying the Midshipmen to the Elite Eight. As a prospect, Robinson had much more of a ready-to-go offensive game than Oden does at this point in his development. Oden, in fact, is going to be a work in progress on offense for at least a couple of years. It’s enough of an issue that Durant is expected to have more of an immediate impact as a rookie than Oden.

But, forget about Robinson.

The suggestion that Oden is a better prospect than LSU’s Shaquille O’Neal (drafted number-one overall by the Orlando Magic in 1992) is ludicrous. Shaq was bigger, stronger, quicker and more developed as a player than Oden is at the moment. Shaq played three seasons of college ball, averaging 27.6 and 24.1 points per game in his sophomore and junior seasons.

Robinson and Shaq have six NBA titles between them and a multitude of MVP awards and other individual honors. It’s almost defeating to Oden to compare him as a prospect to them and worse to expect similar results. But it’s not Oden’s fault. The blame falls on the media, more interested in hype than accuracy.

Great game last night.

Go Ducks.

Quack.

I live in a mixed race household. That is, I’m from Boston, and the feller is from the South Bronx. But we get along just fine, even though friends from back home wince and then ask me if he realizes the great gesture of me getting him the YES Network for baseball season. Actually, I could care less, being a boxing gal myself. You’d never see this sort of thug headed behavior ringside! From the Boston Herald, who is obviously enjoying writing the name “Baggott” … nice one, Dad!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - Updated: 09:55 AM EST

A carpenter “trying to impress” his 7-year-old son by treating him to a Red Sox game he would never forget was instead busted in front of the boy by police and Fenway Park security when he stormed the field Sunday in the top of the ninth.

The Sox were trailing the Baltimore Orioles 5-0. But had Michael Baggott, 37, of East Haven, Conn., just sat tight, he’d have gotten his wish: the Sox staged a memorable comeback right after his stunt, rallying in the bottom of the ninth to clip the Birds, 6-5. Baggott, who was off base in the eyes of the law, was whisked off the field, but “the people who stayed saw a pretty incredible finish,” Sox spokesman John Blake told the Herald last night.

Baggott pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of trespassing and disturbing a public assembly in the Roxbury Division of Boston Municipal Court and was released on personal recognizance. Boston police Detective William Dunn, who arrested the bald, blue-eyed Baggott while on a paid detail at Fenway, said the determined dad “jumped onto and ran across the field while the game was in progress.”

The alleged incident happened at 5 p.m. Police said Baggott appeared to be bound for the Sox’ bullpen in the outfield. In court papers, Dunn said Baggott - who was at least fully dressed in a blue T-shirt, black shorts and white sneakers - claimed “he was trying to impress his 7-year-old son, who was with him at the game.” Baggott’s father was also said to be along for the outing.

Survey says:

Black fans in the survey are more than twice as likely to want Bonds to break Aaron’s record (74 percent to 28 percent), and 37 percent of black fans think Bonds used steroids, compared to 76 percent of white fans.

Blacks are nearly twice as likely to think Bonds has been treated unfairly (46 percent to 25 percent). Why? The survey found that 41 percent of black fans think this is due to the steroids issue, 25 percent think it’s because of his race, and 21 percent blame Bonds’ personality.