Your morning roundup for Oct. 2, the day we mull parole eligibility for cannibal ladies. Got any stories or photos for us? Tip your editors.
What we're watching: The best part about Tony LaRussa baseball? A lot of stoppages and commercial breaks which will enable folks to check out the Ravens/Jets game while Cliff Lee attempts to outdo Roy Halladay in Game Two of the Phillies/Cardinals NLDS. Viewer tip: Check the DVR for overlap that could render this strategy moot, i.e. the Dexter season premiere could interfere lest ye reschedule. (Photo H/T to Brant W.N. and David K.)
Elsewhere
Master defeats paduwan: "Alabama scored 35 unanswered points, and got a career-high 29 carries and 181 yards, including two touchdowns, from junior Trent Richardson — his fourth straight 100-yard plus rushing performance. It was the Crimson Tide's first win at The Swamp since a 40-39 overtime victory in 1999." [Al.com, Tuscaloosa bureau]
Wisconsin Badgers, lookin' tough: "The seventh-ranked Badgers made an emphatic statement, thrusting themselves into the national title picture with a dominating 48-17 victory over the eighth-ranked Cornhuskers in front of a frenzied crowd of 81,384 at Camp Randall Stadium." [Wisconsin State Journal]
Yankees win day two of Game One: "Nova delivered an ace-like performance in relief of CC Sabathia, tossing 6-1/3 stellar innings in his first career postseason outing to lead the Yankees to a 9-3 win over the Tigers at the Stadium as the two teams finally completed Game 1 of the ALDS." [New York Daily News]
Rays return to Florida with home-field advantage: "Just like that, an overwhelming advantage in the series was wiped away by one 8-6 loss. The Rays no longer have momentum. They no longer have a 1-0 series lead with an ace still up their sleeve. They no longer have Texas sweating from more than just the heat. On the other hand, a new toy dog was found for the top of the dugout." [St. Petersburg Times]
Halladay gives up three in the first, then nothing: "On a full count, Howard homered deep to right to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead. After a Shane Victorino single, Raul Ibanez followed with another homer to right and the Phillies had a 6-3 lead. That was the end of Lohse's outing — 5.1 innings, 7 hits, 6 runs (5 earned), 77 pitches — and brought Octavio Dotel in from the bullpen. Dotel struck out the next two, but the damage had been done." [St. Louis Post-Dispatch] (Photo H/T The 700 Level)
"They're good": "'If you want them to be aggressive and push the envelope, you can't have a negative comment to them for doing what you ask them to do,' the Diamondbacks' manager said. 'That's part of it. You're going to run into outs.' Talk about foreshadowing." [Arizona Republic]
Your Teach Me How To Gundy Remix Interlude:
RIP: "Peter Gent, 69, a onetime wide receiver with the Dallas Cowboys, whose 1973 novel, "North Dallas Forty," exposed the drug use, hypocrisy and pervasive pain in the life of a pro football team, died Sept. 30 at his home in Bangor, Mich. His son told the Associated Press that Mr. Gent died of a pulmonary ailment." [Washington Post]
50 Cent is helping Africa through a NASCAR sponsorship: "The big thing with the drink is that it's not just about making a profit. It's also about feeding the less fortunate…. I think his goal is to feed a billion different people. Every time someone buys an energy [shot] he's going to feed an individual in Africa. That's a neat deal right there." [As the World Turns (Left)]
When pissing turns deadly: "A German football fan died on Friday evening after urinating on a train track and being hit by a high-speed train. ... When they got to the station he had run to the end of the platform and jumped down into the train tracks to urinate. He was hit by the ICE as it drove through the station and was left seriously injured at the side of the tracks." [The Local]
Check out this ski-jump video full-screen style: That's "two times X-Games gold medalist freestyle skier Bobby Brown in backcountry Alaska landing one of the only triple-cork tricks ever landed." It was filmed with the Phantom Flex camera at 1000 FPS. "A cork is essentially doing an invert while rotating, this video is significant because he goes inverted three times while spinning 1440 degrees, this is very rare as most top tricks are double corks." [YouTube]
Today's Soccer Viewing Recommendations: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Arsenal (FSC, 11 a.m.). Sporting Gijon vs. Barcelona, in which Lionel Messi can set the club goals-scored record (2 p.m., GolTV). Juventus vs. AC Milan (FSC, 2:30 p.m.).
Merch: Managing editor Tom Scocca and contributing editor Drew Magary have both written books. You can buy Scocca's Beijing Welcomes You: Unveiling the Capital City of the Future here, and Magary's The Postmortal here. Now do it.