We’ve set up a pool at Yahoo! Sports and would love you to join. Follow this link and click “join private group.”

League ID: 51892
Password: superbowl

Join up to see how you stack up against the experts. Here’s how the prizes break down:

1st place at end of season – $100 gift card to Best Buy
Weekly winner – LBS T-shirt courtesy of ooshirts.com
Top 10 people who beat Doc and Del in the end of year standings – copy of NBA 2K12 (watch the trailer here), LBS shirt, or other prize TBD by LBS staff (likely a gift card).

It is with much sadness that I inform you my scheduled challenge match with tennis player Bethanie Mattek-Sands has been postponed. In case you’re not up-to-speed with the story, Mattek-Sands was upset with my criticism of her during Wimbledon. The 30th ranked woman in the world flagged me down on twitter and challenged me to a tennis match, saying “put up or shut up.” You can read about the entire story here.

We had planned to play next week at the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad, California, but that has been postponed. Bethanie’s shoulder, which has been bothering her the past few months, began acting up again during practice this week. She decided not to play in the Carlsbad tournament but she plans to play in Toronto and Cincinnati before heading to the U.S. Open.

The news of her injury comes as a great disappointment. I’ve spent the past month training for the match, practicing my game and working on my cardio. I was in tip-top shape and my skills were sharp, so the time off is going to be a killer.

So what happens now?

I’ll be waiting to hear from Bethanie about a better time to play the match. She is working on plans to run a tennis camp in Arizona in December. She may also run a camp in California in November. If she’s able to organize one in California, that would be an excellent opportunity to make it happen.

So yes, I’m every bit as disappointed by this as you are. We’ll keep you updated over the next few months to let you know when it will happen, and rest assured I’ll be ready to kick some butt.

Brown Bag it, Baby

Oh yeah, also take a listen to my interview with Marcas and Cacique from New Era Radio. My segment starts at the midway point and we talk mostly baseball.

Yup, you read the headline correctly — your boys LB and Del will be bringing the Brown Bag to the new Yardbarker Olympics blog. Yeah, yeah we know the Summer Games in London are a year away, but that’s no reason we shouldn’t get you warmed up for things. And don’t worry, we won’t be slamming stories down your throat about who will win the spot for seventh alternate on Albania’s kayaking team or who’s favored to win the badminton competition. The stories will fit in with what we already do at LBS, which is to say mindless idiocy we hope will entertain you.

So, with that being said, we’ll probably be writing 1-2 Olympics-related stories per week for the blog and we’ll likely re-post them here. You can also check out the Yardbarker Olympics blog here.

Brown Bag it, Baby.

In case you’re unfamiliar with what’s going on, back on April 14th three men decided to grow out their playoff beards in support of their hockey team. Our buddy Arsen dropped out early on and his Red Wings lost in the next round. But Chad Margulius from IntheOT.com and I continued to grow out our beards and the superstition has paid off. Both of our teams have reached the Finals.

I don’t know about Chad because his beard looks smooth, but I feel like a total schub with mine. I don’t even recognize myself in the mirror anymore. I feel like the ghost of a total stranger. Hopefully I’ll be able to shave in two weeks as a proud champion.

Chad has predicted the Canucks will win in six games. I’ll go with the Bruins in seven. Chad thinks the goaltender matchup is even, but he thinks Vancouver has the better scoring first line and that the Canucks are faster. He thinks Boston’s forwards 3-6 are better but that Boston is much weaker at less than even strength. For the rest of his analysis of the series, check out his site IntheOT.com.

I think the Bruins need to get inside Luongo’s head early in the series to rattle him. He almost fell apart a month ago against Chicago, and if the Bruins can do the same thing they’ll have a major advantage. I’m not as worried about the speed advantage for the Canucks because Tampa Bay was also faster than Boston. As long as the refs don’t call many penalties, leaving the teams at full strength, Boston should be fine.

In case you want to go back and look at the progress of our beards over time, here’s the background:

April 14th: Clean Shaven
April 28th: After first-round wins
May 14th: After second-round wins

And if you’d like to pick up a free razor courtesy of LBS, click below to try the Fusion Pro Glide Challenge:

On April 14th, three cleanly shaved men vowed to toss aside their razors and grow a playoff beard in support of their hockey teams. Our buddy Arsen dropped out after two weeks and as Karma would have it, his Red Wings lost in the next round. As of two weeks ago, both myself (a Boston Bruins fan), and Chad Margulius of IntheOT.com (a Vancouver Canucks fan) had mostly stubble. Now, as you can tell in the pictures above, we both have full on beards going.

Chad has been cleanly manicuring his beard as you can tell, but it’s getting pretty long for him. Regardless, it’s worked; his Vancouver Canucks have represented the top spot in the Western Conference well as they have beaten the Blackhawks and now the Predators. The Canucks will begin their Conference Finals series with the San Jose Sharks on Sunday in Vancouver. Be sure to stop by Chad’s site IntheOT.com for fun sports commentary (and don’t tell him I predicted a Bruins-Sharks Finals either).

As for me, this beard is just getting out of hand. I’ve never had a beard before in my life and when I started, I figured I might have to keep it for like six weeks but I didn’t realize it would be this hard. The beard is getting all bushy and nasty, and I have hair growing on my neck, cheeks, and all around my chin. It’s coming in brown and gold and red — just colors I never knew my body could produce. I desperately want to shave, and I’m embarrassed to go out in public … but the Bruins keep on winning, so it’s paying off. And if there’s one thing Bull Durham taught us, it’s you don’t screw with a winning streak, so I won’t.

Anyway, here’s to a Bruins and Canucks Finals, and in honor of the playoff beards, we invite you to grab a free razor courtesy of Gillette and take the Fusion Pro Glide Challenge. We have 350 free razors to give away, so pick yours up!

Now, here are two uncensored versions of the rumored Osama bin Laden picture:

The image comes from Bubba Prog who after more analysis, called it a fake. However, Maliha Aqueel says a nearly identical picture was shown on Express News, and the Pasadena Star News says the same picture was released by the AP. Here it is:

It’s hard to know what image is real or fake at this point, but you have to figure it would look quite similar to the pictures above.

Also see video of the fan reaction at the Phillies-Mets game

See the reaction of college students across campuses throughout America

On May 1st, 2011, America learned that Osama Bin Laden was dead. Bin Laden was killed in a Special Ops operation ordered by the President last week. The operation went forward on Sunday and we learned Osama was killed in a compound in Pakistan. He reportedly was shot in the head during a firefight and his remains were taken into custody.

Meanwhile, President Obama stalled longer than LeBron James’ decision to announce the news in the White House. We’re hearing he’s had the news for a few weeks but waited until after Royal Wedding to announce it because he was pissed about his snub. OK, that’s not really true but it was a great tweet from Lob Shots.

What really happened is that Obama decided to announce the news on Sunday night during the East Coast feed of Celebrity Apprentice to piss off Donald Trump. OK, that’s not really true either, but Trump won’t believe the news until he sees the death certificate. Anyway, it’s great news and something we had to share here. And if you don’t understand the Anderson Silva reference, go here. Thanks Rey.

Also see video of the fan reaction at the Phillies-Mets game after learning about Bin Laden’s death.

I was somewhat hesitant to post an update on the status of the playoff beard because the Bruins were in the middle of a tough series, but now that they gritted out their series with an overtime win over the Canadiens in Game 7, it’s time for an update.

Both myself and Chad Margulius of IntheOT.com have been growing our beards in support of our teams and had to face nerve-racking situations this week. For me, Boston had fallen behind 0-2 against the Canadiens, won three straight to take a 3-2 lead, and then lost Game 6. Thankfully they won Game 7 4-3 in overtime to advance.

For Chad, his Vancouver Canucks were looking at the ultimate collapse. The Canucks went up 3-0 on the defending champion Blackhawks, blew the 3-0 lead, and had to grit it out against Chicago in Game 7. Even with goaltending issues between Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider, the Canucks won Game 7 to advance in the playoffs.

Next up for the Bruins is Philadelphia while the Canucks take on the Predators.

Now let me be the first to tell you that growing a playoff beard isn’t as simple as it looks. The third member to accept the playoff beard challenge, Arsen, couldn’t handle the beard and dropped out even though his Red Wings moved on. These things can get itchy and annoying, but you still have to sack up. In the immortal words of David Putty, “Gotta support the team!”

Here’s the background on the LBS Playoff Beard Challenge and a picture of how we looked when the playoffs began. Let me tell you, it’s only been two weeks and I don’t even recognize myself in the mirror. Scary.

It’s not too late if you decide you want to man up and participate in the fun times. Get used to updates, because we’ll be posting them throughout the playoffs. All participants will have a donation made to the charity of their choice, with the person whose team lasts the longest getting the largest donation. You are now entering the no razor zone.

It’s that wonderful time of year again. The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin on Wednesday which means most players involved won’t shave until their team gets knocked out of the postseason. Some squads are going with playoff mullets, but most are expected to rock the traditional playoff beard in a hope that it will bring them luck.

In the past, we’ve written about the recommended playoff beard guidelines and that should help you get caught up with the tradition. Two times during my life, once during college and another in the early years of the site, I decided to grow a playoff beard with my team. While the grizzled whiskers can get annoying, joining your squad in a show of solidarity can’t be beat.

So here’s the deal: LBS is challenging you to grow a playoff beard in support of your team. Starting now, you don’t shave until your team gets knocked out of the postseason. If you choose to participate, send us beard progress reports and pictures and let us know who your team is, and we’ll feature you on the site. Then, after your team either wins the Stanley Cup or gets eliminated, LBS will make a donation to the charity of your choice on your behalf.

If you already have a team, this will be a great chance to join forces with them and unite. If you don’t, it’s a fun opportunity to choose a team so you’ll have a vested interest in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. My team is the Boston Bruins and I’ve picked them to reach the Cup, so I’ll be rolling in stubble for several weeks.

Come on, tell me you don’t want to wind up looking like this in a few weeks!