John Walters

As innocuously as possible — the post was date-lined 2:20 p.m. on Thursday afternoon — Will Leitch announced his departure from the site he created, Deadspin. Leitch's exodus raises many questions, such as: Did Carl Monday blackmail him with incriminating video footage? Is my autographed copy of God Save the Fan worth more or less than it was yesterday? And, is a guest-shot on Friday Night Lights in the offing?

Whether or not Buzz Bissinger's withering words on "Costas Now" ("I really think you're full of ____") had anything to do with Leitch's decision to accept a contributing editor's gig at New York magazine is not yet known. Leitch had been contributing to the site he founded in September of '05 far less since his appearance on that panel at the end of April.

Leitch will be missed. Deadspin, when it was clicking (think "Hugh Johnson Project" and the "ShoTY" tournament), was the funniest sports link out there. And Leitch fashioned a niche that has been oft-imitated (see below) but not yet improved upon. His exit is surely the wackiest news of the week.

Former Bears hurler busted
Pitcher and star maps vendor Amanda Whurlitzer (a.k.a. Tatum O'Neal) was busted in lower Manhattan last Sunday night for allegedly buying cocaine and crack. Whurlitzer, who spent the night in the Seventh Precinct house — apparently Chico's Bail Bonds does not operate on weekends — will miss her next scheduled snort.

Why The Strangers was not set in Green Bay
A home intruder had to be hospitalized after the owner of the house, Packer running back Noah Herron, thwarted the break-in by hitting him with a bed post.

A welcome distraction during timeouts when you find yourself illegally videotaping defensive signals at a Jets game
The New York Jets named the 22 young women who will comprise the "Flight Crew" on the sidelines of games this season. For assistant coaches who desire them, the ladies will be coming around with headsets before kickoff for a fee of $5. Exact change is appreciated.

Box seat…for eternity, if not for life
Elaine Fulps, 60, won a $10,000 funeral as part of a promotion at the Grand Prairie (Tex.) AirHogs minor-league baseball game Tuesday night. The AirHogs guaranteed that Fulps, who has undergone 20 surgeries for various medical problems, will expire before the prize does.

This week's pithiest comment from the Deadspin peanut gallery
The item concerned New England Sports Network (NESN) anchor Hazel Mae, whose contract will not be renewed after this season. An excerpt from the Boston Herald noted that Miss Mae had dated both ex-Celtic Ricky Davis and ESPN's Steve Levy, prompting a commenter to remark, "They had an agreement that Steve would date her first, then dump her on purpose so that Ricky could get an easy rebound."

A comeback after a comebacker
A year ago Craig Italiano, a pitcher with the Class A Kane County (Ill.) Cougars who throws 98 mph heat, was hit by a line drive flush on the right corner of his forehead. The line drive would have been fatal if it had landed an inch over, but as it was Italiano was withheld from any physical activity for three months.

So far this season Italiano, a Texas native (of course), is 6-0 with a 0.72 ERA. In his first game of the season in April, he struck out nine — including six straight — and retired all 16 batters he faced in a combined no-hitter.

Nice comeback.

Hold off on that Tour de Mexico idea
A drunk driver, apparently asleep at the wheel, plowed headfirst into the lead peloton of cyclists in the early stages of a 21-mile bike race in Matamoros, Mexico, on Sunday morning. One cyclist was killed and 14 more were injured.

As bizarre as the story itself is the location of the police car at the moment of the accident. What was the response time on this? (Watch here)

New York stories
Monday: A despondent woman takes a 10-story leap from the Brooklyn Bridge into the East River and survives without a scratch.

Thursday: Two men successfully scale the 52-story New York Times building less than three hours apart from one another. 

Déjà vu Headline of the Week Déjà vu Headline of the Week
From mlb.com: "Prior to have season-ending surgery".

"Thanks, we must be going now…"
The Notre Dame Alumni Association named athletic director Kevin White and his wife "honorary alumni" a week ago Wednesday, the same day that he first engaged in serious discussions with Duke about taking the same job in Durham.

And now it's time for this week's completely-unrelated-to-sports bizarre story, which, as usual, comes from Florida
The Palm Beach Post has created a "booking blotter" on its website (palmbeachpost.com) that allows readers to gaze at a photo gallery of recently arrested — but not convicted — perps. We were shocked to discover that in Palm Beach County, not even Jonny B. Goode is above alleged criminal pursuits.

Time to, in honor of the 2008 NBA Finals combatants, revive the game so popular last summer that it did not just sweep the nation, it Swiffer-ed it
Welcome back to "Six Degrees of Kevin Stacom." This week we honor the former Celtic back-up guard by connecting him, in five easy steps, to the most ubiquitous Laker sideline presence of the past three decades:

1) In 1975 Kevin Stacom was a Celtic teammate of swingman Glenn McDonald.

2) In 1977 Glenn McDonald played for the Milwaukee Bucks, where he was a teammate of high-scoring forward Alex English.

3) In 1987 Alex English was one of the titular characters in the film "Amazing Grace and Chuck," which also starred Oscar-winning actor Gregory Peck.

4) Gregory Peck starred in the 1962 film "Cape Fear", where his character was stalked obsessively by an ex-con played by Robert Mitchum.

5) Robert Mitchum appeared in the 1976 film "The Last Tycoon", which also featured Jack Nicholson.

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