Calhoun literally flips out

Toughness is one of Jim Calhoun's most obvious traits. The Connecticut basketball coach often butts heads with the media and other assorted critics, never shying away from confrontation.

More important, he has survived two types of cancer.

Calhoun again proved he's no wimp while taking a 50-mile bike ride in a Cancer Challenge event he hosted last weekend.

Twelve miles into the ride, Calhoun hit a pothole and flipped over the handlebars, cracking his helmet, cutting his knees and breaking five ribs.

He could have -- and maybe should have -- called it quits. But Calhoun, 67, got back on the bike and finished the remaining 38 miles. Soon after, his knees buckled and he fainted.

"He's so stubborn, so stubborn," former Huskies star Ray Allen, who rushed to Calhoun's aid, told the Hartford Courant. "He doesn't want people to help him out. He's always been the type who feels he's invincible."

It's obvious he's no Lance Armstrong, but applaud the effort.

Next year, instead of jumping on a bike for charity, Calhoun might want to consider hosting a golf tournament.

• THE BUCK STOPS -- In an effort to make an impressive debut with his HBO show, Joe Buck lured Brett Favre into the studio Monday to talk about the quarterback's potential return to the NFL.

But another guest, Artie Lange, "The Howard Stern Show" comic, crashed the show with a series of crude jokes that angered Buck.

Richard Deitsch of SI.com recounted the scene:

"When Buck joked that his favorite Web site was TMZ.com, Lange asked Buck, 'What's your second favorite?' and then created his own URL involving a sex act that we can't print here. The onslaught never stopped.

"After the live show ended, Buck and the panel continued with a 10-minute segment for the studio audience. It was raunchy and tense. When Buck said the last segment was coming to an end, Lange cracked, 'Dude, this is your last segment ... ever.' "

HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg said Lange "bordered on bad taste."

Look for Andrew "Dice" Clay on Buck's next show.

• TOO COOL FOR HIGH SCHOOL -- Bryce Harper, a 16-year-old who just completed his sophomore year at Las Vegas High School, has registered at the College of Southern Nevada, where he will attend school and play baseball next season.

The story is attracting national attention. A Yahoo! Sports poll asked, "Should Harper be leaving high school early?" There were 292,337 votes as of Tuesday night, and 55 percent responded "Yes."

• IN THE 40TH ROUND ... -- of last week's major league draft, the Los Angeles Angels selected Asaad Ali, an 18-year-old catcher from Niles, Mich., and the adopted son of boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

There were 1,521 players picked in the 50-round draft, and if you didn't follow it all on MLB.com, you missed some interesting selections.

Shane McCatty was arguably the most questionable pick, going 1,012th to the Washington Nationals. He had an 11.89 ERA as a senior at Oakland University, but he's the son of Nationals pitching coach Steve McCatty.

COMPILED BY MATT YOUMANS LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL