FanHouse Breaking News

Shane McConkey, a decorated big mountain skier and BASE jumper, was killed Thursday in a ski-BASE accident in the Italian Dolomites. According to the ESPN Action Sports report, McConkey launched off a cliff with the expectation of deploying his parachute canopy and gliding to the ground. But he had problems in the air and died on impact when he hit the ground below the cliff.

Tragedy struck at the Tacoma Dome on Friday night during a monster truck show when debris shot into the crowd, killing a six-year-old boy and sending another adult male to the hospital.

Earlier on Saturday, the Tacoma News-Tribune printed a statement from Jessie Hizey, whose six-year old son Sebastian died at a local hospital soon after being transported there from the arena:

A Frisbee-sized piece of metal slammed into the side of Sebastian's head and "took a chunk of his skull ... around 3 inches long and 3 inches wide," the father said. The accident occurred at about 9:30 p.m. Father and son were enjoying the noise, action and drama of the Monster Truck Jam when Sebastian was "struck by a large metal ring from one of the trucks," the statement said. Natural High was the truck that was performing at the time of the accident, but it's uncertain from where the piece came. An adult man also was hospitalized, but his identity and condition have not been disclosed.

Jessie Hizey described the shrapnel as about three-quarters of an inch thick, weighing between seven and 12 pounds.

The family is "grief stricken and angry" that no one from the show has contacted them or expressed condolences, the father said.

The Web site for the truck in question, Natural High, has been pulled down, though you can find the Google cache by clicking here. Not surprisingly, somebody was in the crowd shooting digital video at the time. Click here to see the raw video that KING-TV in Seattle posted of the truck doing what appears to be some tricks, but be sure to follow the video to the end, where you'll see an individual retrieving debris from the event floor. For the full report from KING-TV, one which includes a harrowing report from an eyewitness, click here.

The SmokingGun.com is notorious for -- among many things -- finding bizarre legal documents and mugshots of famous people. They are darn good at what they do and everyone loves them for it. But they scored one of their biggest coups yesterday when they stumbled upon pictures of a skier hanging from a chairlift by his pants in Vail, Colo.

Yes, it is the gentleman you see above in the left corner, and no, he is not comfortable. As I wrote elsewhere yesterday, I'm terrified of heights. So I can't imagine having to hang from a ski lift without knowing whether I would plummet to certain limb breakage or not. Add being, ahem, 100 percent fully exposed to the harsh chills of winter and the certain embarrassment of other skiers' eyes, and I'm fairly certain that I'd rather not even be brought down.

Pictures of said skier being rescued after the jump (They are SFW, but, yes, there is some male buttocks.)

In a world dominated by always on broadband Internet connections, it's hard for any athlete to sneak up on sports fans anymore. But over the past few weeks, with the sports world focusing relentlessly on the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, a 19-year old Argentine may very well have put himself in the best position to win the Men's Singles Title at this year's U.S. Open.

The young man I'm talking about is 19th-ranked Juan-Martin Del Potro, and the reason to get excited about his prospects is that he hasn't lost a tennis match since he exited the second round of Wimbledon back on June 25. Toss in the fact that he's got the sort of looks that could win him a second career as a male model, and you can see why plenty of folks think he's ready to break out in a big way.

After an early exit from Wimbledon, Del Potro won a pair of clay court tournaments in Europe -- his first wins on the ATP Tour -- before decamping to the USA for the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles where he beat Andy Roddick in the final in two sets. Here all week in Washington at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, it's been nothing but more of the same, as Del Potro ripped through his side of the bracket as the tournament's second seed, running his consecutive win streak to 18 matches. Meanwhile on the other side of the ladder, #1 seed Roddick was upended in the quarterfinals on Friday night by the unheralded Serbian Viktor Troicki, Del Potro's opposition in today's final.

Just days after the Brewers made a splash by trading for CC Sabathia, the Cubs countered by acquiring an ace of their own, picking up Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin from the A's in exchange for Sean Gallagher, Eric Patterson, Matt Murton, minor leaguer Josh Donaldson and ... wait, that's it? Whoa. Advantage: Cubs.

Harden is obviously a huge injury risk, but no one can dispute that he's one of the most dominant pitchers in the game when healthy. In 13 starts he's been one of the best in the AL this year, posting a 2.34 ERA (1.14 WHIP) while averaging better than 10.7 strikeouts per nine.

And while Gaudin is clearly an afterthought, he's not all that bad himself, capable of eating innings from the bullpen or starting rotation.

What did it cost Chicago? Some intriguing prospects, sure, but absolutely nothing in terms of players capable of helping the Cubs win today.

UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson lost his title to Forrest Griffin by unanimous decision in one of the all-time great fights in UFC history tonight at UFC 86 in Las Vegas.

It was a classic slugfest in which both fighters gave out and received punishment. Rampage got off to a tremendous start in the first round with a brutal uppercut, while Griffin dominated the second. On my scorecard Rampage got the better of the last three rounds and won the fight, but all three judges disagreed with me.

The key to the fight was the way Griffin hurt Rampage's knee with a big leg kick in the second round. That hindered Rampage the rest of the night.

Amir Sadollah defeated C.B. Dollaway with a first-round arm bar tonight in Las Vegas, earning a UFC contract by winning the final fight of this season of The Ultimate Fighter.

The fight was a rematch of a fight that aired during the Ultimate Fighter season; Sadollah won that fight and eliminated Dollaway, only to have Dollaway invited back as a replacement for finalist Jesse Taylor, who was kicked out of UFC.

Although this fight was shorter than their first fight, the result was similar: Dollaway appeared to be in an advantageous position on top on the ground, only to have Sadollah put him in an arm bar. Sadollah is a likable, articulate guy and a skilled fighter who's got a great future ahead of him in UFC.

Said Sadollah after Joe Rogan called him The Ultimate Fighter, "I just heard it and I like it."

UPDATED: UFC appears ready not just to take on the upstart Affliction mixed martial arts organization, but to try for a first-round knockout.

MMARated.com and F4Wonline.com are reporting that UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva -- widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world -- will fight on Spike on July 19, the same night that Affliction has a pay-per-view show.

The reports say it will be Silva's first fight at light heavyweight, and that his opponent will be James Irvin. According to MMA Rated, Silva is not planning to relinquish his middleweight belt. He'll fight Irvin at 205 pounds and then cut back down to 185 for a middleweight bout down the road. Hermes Franca vs. Frankie Edgar is reportedly part of the undercard.

The event will apparently be part of the Spike UFC Fight Night series.

Affliction's July 19 show is in serious trouble. Although Affliction has put together a good card, headlined by Fedor Emelianenko, it's going to lose a fortune if there's a UFC show headlined by Silva simultaneously. Very, very few people will pay to see Affliction if Silva is fighting for free. Affliction may want to consider canceling.

Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes lost a fight that may have signaled the beginning of the end of a great career today, as Thiago Alves dominated and won with a brutal second-round technical knockout at UFC 85 in London.

The 24-year-old Alves showed up overweight, weighing in at 174 pounds for the 170-pound fight, and he apologized for that in the Octagon afterward. The 34-year-old Hughes, a workout freak, showed up appearing in good shape as usual. Whether the weight advantage helped Alves or not we don't know, but Alves dominated the fight.

Georges St.-Pierre is the undisputed best welterweight in the world, and when he's at his best he looks unbeatable. But if Alves can prove he can make 170, he may get a crack at GSP -- Alves looked great tonight, with the biggest win of his career.

In the event's other fights, Fabricio Werdum defeated Brandon Vera by first-round TKO, Mike Swick defeated Marcus Davis by unanimous decision, Thales Leites defeated Nate Marquardt by split decision and Michael Bisping defeated Jason Day by first-round TKO.

Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson stopped James Thompson in the third round to conclude the first mixed martial arts show on prime time network television in American history.

Slice, who until tonight was best known for fighting on YouTube, showed more skill as an MMA fighter -- not just a brawler -- than anyone expected, and the mere fact that it went past the first round was an upset.

But the fight was not without controversy: In the third round, referee Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight while Slice was battering Thompson's bloodied left ear; CBS announcer Gus Johnson thought the stoppage was premature and I think Johnson was probably right.