Back Porch Featured Stories

HOMOSASSA, Fla. -- Fishermen come once for the novelty, a floating bait store in the bay, a lonely-looking, old pontoon boat with a hard-to-miss, five-foot-long, bright-white shrimp sculpture on the top.

They come back to see Bonnie.

Even when the fish aren't biting, fishermen still come to buy bait, stopping their boats like men dropping by the small-town barbershop when they don't need a haircut, coming just to hear the local chatter.

She makes everyone feel better.

Bonnie Van Allen, who turns 70 next month, has spent most of her daylight hours here the past 15 years, pulling her traps, catching her shrimp or anchored and rocking gently in her usual spot near channel marker 26, pointing the way to deeper waters into the Gulf of Mexico.

On Monday, with a 4-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs, the Pittsburgh Pirates cemented themselves as the greatest losers in the history of North American sports with their record 17th consecutive losing season. If you're wondering how a team can go nearly two decades without a winning record, John Perrotto of Pirates Report has a nice rundown of who is responsible for such futility. Congratulations, gentlemen, for being absolutely terrible.

Needless to say, when a team aimlessly stumbles through 17 straight years of losing, other teams across the league are going to benefit from the incompetence. Last weekend, for example, the Pirates were swept in Milwaukee, where they have now lost 21 consecutive games dating back to the 2007 season. One-sided domination of this nature is a cause for celebration in my mind, so let's take a quick look back at some of our favorite losing streaks.

So it turns out Sammy Sosa was a steroid freak.

Who'da thunk it?

When it comes to surprises, last week's revelation was like finding out Iran's elections were juiced for the incumbent. If you want shocking news, however, you've come to the right place.

We are ready to reveal all the players who failed baseball's 2003 drug test. The results were supposed to be kept confidential, but Alex Rodriguez's name was leaked to Sports Illustrated and Sosa was outed last week in the New York Times.

There are 102 names to go. This drip-drip-drip could go on for years, but we're not going to let it.

The truth can't be avoided any longer. It would be like denying Tim Floyd is a crook, Adam Lambert is gay or Brett Favre is going to be a Viking.

It was the Week of Pittsburgh and will inevitably be the Year of the Steel City .

First the Steelers, now the Penguins and Ben "Hogan" Roethlisberger. Soon the Lakers, eventually the Pirates.

All have or will win world championships, making Pittsburgh the only city in history to hold titles in the five major sports all in the same year.

Can you name a better sports town?

We would like to congratulate LeBron James on winning Sports Personality of the Week. We'd like to, but LeBron doesn't believe in congratulations.

His stalk-off after Orlando eliminated Cleveland was the week's hottest story. Critics pounced, accusing James of being a poor sport, bad role model and all-around jerk.

It turned out LeBron had a good reason for acting like Sean Penn. I'd tell you but I'd rather you have to plow through a few more paragraphs to find out. That way you'll also read about arguably the most amazing performance ever recorded by a college athlete.

It was a bad week if you believe that UFOs exist, the mob killed JFK and the NBA banished Michael Jordan to Area 51 to cure his gambling addiction.

LeBron James did not make the NBA Finals. If that doesn't shoot down the whole notion of conspiracy theories, nothing will.

On behalf of David Feherty, I'd like to apologize for the following column. It again takes shots at House Mis-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, not to mention her fellow victims of CIA subterfuge, Roger Clemens, Tim Floyd and Mine That Bird.

Who knew the CIA was plotting to overthrow the Preakness? You will after reading the latest installment of Week in Review.

What a crazy week. I'd say it was a news week on steroids, but that would just prompt the week to blame everything on its doctor who prescribed the drugs.

From Manny Ramirez's departure to A-Rod's return, the news spun like a roulette wheel. That made it just like most weeks in this 24-7 news era, which is why we here at FanHouse decided a Week in Review column was needed.

The clock is ticking.

There's only a few more hours to vote for the best-run franchise in the history of American sports. As of this writing, over 7,500 people have weighed in, and the polls close Wednesday at midnight on the East coast.

Right now, the Steelers are still comfortably leading, but if you've voted for another team and are hoping to see them climb the list, don't give up on the audacity of hope -- not only has the Pittsburgh Steelers' lead diminished drastically, the New Jersey Devils are making a late run up the charts. So cast a ballot after the jump, it's the American thing to do.

Yesterday, 10 of our writers made a case for the team they feel is the best-run franchise in the history of American sports, and solicited your vote to crown a winner.

A little more than 24 hours later, almost 3,500 of you have weighed in. The Pittsburgh Steelers have a comfortable lead, which can probably be partially attributed to the fact that we've heard nothing but Steeltown love from the media over the last month or so. Brainwash.

But voting lasts all the way through Wednesday, February 11, so there's still time to make your voice heard and get another team on top of the pack.

In case you missed yesterday's breakdown of the finalists, check here for the compelling testimonies from our writers and the merits of each team.

We'll be announcing the winner on Friday in an illustrious ceremony that will include ... um ... a headline, a photo or two, and some words. Be there!