Roller Derby was a staple of the early television era and was similar in its promotional format to its better known "sports entertainment" cousin, professional wrestling. It was frequently seen in the same bad timeslots on the same low powered UHF TV stations, and it was run by the same loose confederation of Runyanesque promoters and businessmen that characterized the regional territory era of pro wrestling.

New York Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez tracked down NFL legend Joe Namath before the game looking for a pep talk and some pointers. He didn't exactly get what he'd bargained for from Broadway Joe, but what the NFL Hall of Famer told him may have had a more beneficial effect.

The Edmonton Eskimos survived a wild back and forth CFL shootout against the Calgary Stampeders before prevailing 38-35 to take over sole possession of first place in the CFL West. Ricky Ray hit Fred Stamps with a 23 yard touchdown pass with just nine seconds to play to earn the victory, erasing the lead that Calgary had earned with their own TD pass less than a half minute earlier.

Brett Favre may get all of the headlines for the Minnesota Vikings, but NFL insiders are well aware that running back Adrian Peterson is the key to the teams offensive success. Peterson's threat alone is enough to open up options for the passing game.

Kyle Boller filled in for an injured Mark Bulger, and the St. Louis Rams improved to 2-1 on the NFL preseason with a 24-21 victory over the host Cincinnati Bengals. The Rams led 24-14 heading into the fourth quarter, but a Bengals TD early in the frame made for some drama down the stretch.

The Federal ban on sports betting has been blasted by anyone who knows anything about the subject for a number of different reasons. Though the US professional leagues suggest that sports betting threatens the integrity of their games, the opposite is the case.

The Atlanta Falcons are off to a fast start this season, and on Sunday used a potent offensive attack to top the Carolina Panthers 28-20 at the Georgia Dome. QB Matt Ryan threw a career high three touchdown passes, including one to his new favorite receiver Tony Gonzalez.

LaDanian Tomlinson is still not fully recovered from a sprained right ankle, and as a result hell miss his second consecutive NFL regular season game this Sunday as the Chargers host the Miami Dolphins.

It's obvious that the San Francisco 49ers are heading in the right direction under Mike Singletary, but you couldn't tell by watching their game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.

Its been a rough stretch of CFL football for the Toronto Argonauts, and they may have hit rock bottom on Friday night. The Argos entered the fourth quarter with a 25-14 lead but ended up on the wrong end of a 36-28 final score that ran their streak of futility at the Rogers Centre to nine games.

After losing the services of starting goalie Roberto Luongo for the indefinite future with a broken rib, the Canucks may have breathed a sigh of relief too soon after backup goalie Andrew Raycroft's performance in his first game in relief.

The BC Lions may have turned the corner after a disappointing 1-4 start to the CFL season. This past weekend, a clearly motivated Lions team defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders 35-20 to improve to 2-4 in CFL play.

After extensive negotiations, the Portland Trailblazers have signed All Star shooting guard Brandon Roy to a five year contract extension. Roy will be in the final year of his rookie contract in the 2009-2010 NBA season, and securing the services of a player that did no less than turn around the franchise was the teams top summer priority.

Kentucky Derby pace setter Sidney's Candy has already demonstrated that he can run on dirt and synthetic tracks, but he may be his best on grass. On Saturday at Del Mar set a turf course record as he dominated the rest of the field in the 1 1/16 mile Grade 2 La Jolla Handicap.

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva had lost a lot of his luster coming into Saturday nights UFC 101 matchup with former light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin. He was undefeated in his previous nine UFC contests, but his last three victories had been far from impressive.

The New York Giants weren't the only losers in their NFL preseason game against the Chicago Bears. The Denver Broncos and their fans had to watch as their former franchise QB Jay Cutler carved up the Giants defense and think of what might have been as the Bears won 17-3.

Tony Romo passed for a NFL career best 353 yards and threw three touchdown passes as the Dallas Cowboys got their 2009 season off to a good start with a 34-21 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Cleveland Cavaliers finished the NBA's regular season with the league's best record, and LeBron James won the Most Valuable Player award in the process. Despite this success, the Cavs will be watching the rest of the NBA playoffs on TV.

Florida State won their first ACC college football game of the year on Thursday, though it certainly wasn't easy. The Seminoles were down 24-6 midway through the third quarter before mounting a furious comeback to defeat North Carolina 30-27.

UFC 92 was a high impact affair, with Rashad Evans defeating Forrest Griffin by TKO to win the light heavyweight title and Frank Mir knocking out Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to claim the UFC interim heavyweight title.