McNair led the Titans to their one-and-only Super Bowl appearance after the 1999 season, nearly guiding them to victory over the St. Louis Rams.  He last played in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens in 2007.

Update: Police initially reported the incident as an apparent murder-suicide, but now that has been changed to double homicide.  The other victim was an unnamed female.

Update: Police say Steve McNair was shot to death by his wife who then took her own life, confirming the original murder-suicide report.

Update: The TV station responsible for the report that McNair had been shot by his wife has gone back on that detail.  It is again, for now, a double homicide with an unidentified killer.

“I am very excited to finally be going to L.A.,” Artest said in a statement. “For years now, the Lakers have expressed interest in having me play for them, but we could never get the stars to align. I’m finally a Laker and I can’t wait to get on the court with Kobe, Pau and the rest of the team, and play for Phil. I’m very, very excited to be a Laker. I look forward to helping the Lakers defend their championship, and it will be great to finally not get booed in the Staples Center.”

That’s a good line about not getting booed in the Staples Center, except, if I were Ron, I wouldn’t count my chickens before they hatch.  Things occasionally go south on him for no very good reason, and if that happens in L.A., there will be booing.

It’s nice for Ron though that he is finally getting his wish.  Now he can live in L.A. with all the other big music impresarios.  Let’s hope the glitz and glamour don’t go to his head.  And if they do go to his head, let’s hope he doesn’t freestyle rap about it.

Thursday afternoon’s game between the Astros and Padres was delayed for 52 minutes after a swarm of bees decided to take over left field.  Looking at the video, the bees seemed to enter the ballpark through a magic jacket thrown over the back of a folding chair near the bullpen.  A person in a white bee-suit - every major league park keeps one of those handy - had to come with a big can of Raid and spray the bees, which, instead of dying, only seemed to get irritated.

I don’t know if PETA has issued a statement yet, but when they do, everyone will make fun of it.  Actually, the mysterious collapse of bee colonies is a very serious matter, especially to people who make a living keeping bees.  It seems the bees are dealing with the problem themselves by migrating closer to bullpens.  They must be attracted by bored antics, foul language and tobacco spit.

If this was part of some WNBA push to be taken seriously alongside male hoops…nice try, but I don’t think it’s going to work.  I mean, sure, getting hit with a DUI citation will be good for Taurasi’s street cred, but I’m sorry, the story is just not juicy enough to get any run.

If the WNBA wants real publicity, they need to encourage their players to do more than just get pulled over and cited:  there needs to be some resisting arrest, or getting caught with a bunch of drugs, or running red lights because you’re in such a hurry to receive oral sex.  The WNBA will never be taken seriously as long as its players insist on being cooperative with authorities.  At least flee the scene.

Perhaps the league could hold some kind of symposium?  Charles Barkley could be a guest speaker.  They could bring in people from other leagues too, like Donte’ Stallworth and…I was gonna say Jim Leyritz, but releasing him in a room full of women would probably not be a great idea.

Never Try To Rob An Old Boxer (Sports Rubbish)

2009 Fantasy Football Keeper Rankings: Quarterbacks (Sharapova’s Thigh)

5 Athletes That Shouldn’t Act Ever Again (No Guts, No Glory)

DJ Mayonnaise Hands Punks Steve Nash, Bosh, Mutu, & Thierry Henry, Video (NESW Sports)

Sit Down Juan Pierre, Manny’s Back (Fantasy Pros 911)

Ken Griffey Jr: A Bronx Tale (Josh Q. Public)

Airplane Diverted After Man Strips Naked Mid-Flight (Travelin’ Light)

Christmas in July: What Sibling Sports Rivals Want Santa to Do (Paneech.com)

Top Five “Hot Dog” Athletes (Steady Burn)

Snoop’s Lakers Low Rider (Lake Show Life)

What if Cole Hamels Joined Wifey on Survivor (Fansided)

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Leyritz went ballistic and dragged Karrie Leyritz out of bed and socked her twice because she’d written a check without his permission, police said.

She fled to a neighbor’s house and called the cops, who found her bleeding from a cut above one eye - and streaks of blood on the walls of the couple’s home in Davie, Fla.

Leyritz, 45, is expected to be arraigned later in the day.

It wasn’t immediately clear where Leyritz was when cops arrived, but when he was arrested later he claimed his ex was drunk and hurt herself to frame him.

It’s sad to say this about anyone, but, clearly Jim Leyritz needs to be locked up.  He is a menace to everyone in the world, including himself, and requires some quiet time alone to ponder where he is in his life.  Making license plates can be very relaxing.

The All-Williams final, which is a good thing for American TV ratings but not necessarily for making the other girls feel like they’re getting a fair shot, almost didn’t happen.  Venus held up her side of the deal without any trouble, annihilating that big chicken Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-1, but Serena had all kinds of problems with Elena Dementieva, having to save match point in the third set before rallying to win.

On the surface, it would seem that Venus is the heavy favorite, having pretty much destroyed everyone she’s played, including Ana Ivanovic who left the court weeping (that had mostly to do with her injured thigh but I’m guessing Venus kicking her ass didn’t help).  But, you just never know what can happen when siblings get together.  Venus could win, or Serena could win, or the whole thing could degenerate into a Wes Anderson movie.

My money’s on Venus winning.  But if Jason Schwartzman should be spotted in the stands, well, then look out.

An unnamed source has placed the value of Gordon’s contract at more than $50 million, and Villanueva’s at around $35 million.  Gordon is the real steal:  he averaged 20 points last year for the playoff Bulls, and was an absolute mad bomber (and occasional jock-grabber) in the playoffs.

Hopefully, whoever becomes the new Pistons coach will have better luck integrating Gordon into the offense than the recently-fired Michael Curry had with Allen Iverson.  Villanueva, meanwhile, figures to step in for Rasheed Wallace who will be barking at the refs somewhere other than Detroit next season.

Former boxing champion Alexis Arguello, who had been serving as the mayor of Managua for the past year, was found dead in his home of a gunshot wound on Wednesday according to a spokesperson for the president of Nicaragua.

Arguello compiled an 82-8 record during his boxing career, with 65 knockouts, and held championships in three different weight divisions.  His most famous fights included a pair of duels with arch nemesis Aaron Pryor, and one with Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini which Arguello won via referee stoppage after knocking Mancini on his can in the 14th.

Arguello was 57.

According to MediaTakeOut, Kelly is currently under investigation by the Olympia Fields Police Department on suspicions of statutory rape.  The site says cops recently searched Kelly’s home, looking for evidence of his activities with an unnamed girl who is currently of-age in Illinois, but wasn’t a few months ago when Kelly was allegedly doing stuff with her he wasn’t supposed to (let’s hope taping wasn’t involved).

The police reportedly have signed affidavits from witnesses placing the girl at Kelly’s residence on consecutive nights prior to her 17th birthday.  Officials from Olympia Fields Police Department confirmed to MediaTakeOut that they are continuing their investigation.  Kelly is presently in South Africa on tour, and if he’s smart, he’ll remain outside the country a la Roman Polanski.

You have to seriously question the intelligence and sanity of a guy who would follow up narrowly escaping prison for messing with young girls by messing with another young girl.  What the hell’s wrong with the 20-year-olds R.?