As made famous by Rip Hamilton, Kobe’s nasal fracture from the All Star Game has put him in a mask. Two more looks after the jump.

The evening web roundup for Wednesday, February 29th, 2012. Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. See anything that should be on SportsGrid? Send it to tips@sportsgrid.com. Here’s our starting five.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will reportedly release wide receiver Hines Ward, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Ward has been a Steeler for his entire career (he was drafted out of Georgia in 1998), and he’s the team’s career leader in receptions, receiving yardage and touchdown receptions.

Oh, Carli Shultis. I know what it’s like: you stay up all night drinking working on your studies, during a period in your life when it’s totally acceptable to wear pajamas in public and eat cereal directly from the box, and suddenly it seems like a great idea to steal an order of hash browns from the Bulldog Café, by hiding them in your pants.

A win over Italy would be big for U.S. soccer… and as of right now, they’re pretty close to getting it. They’re up 1-0 on Italy, and if that score doesn’t sound like that big of a deal, consider this: that goal, scored by Clint Dempsey represents the Americans’ first non-PK score against Italy in two decades… and Dempsey’s just the fourth American ever to score against Italy. Watch him do it after the jump.

Well, maybe it’s just that he can’t catch a break for too long. That $82.5 million the Yankees paid him? The 2009 World Series title? Those were pretty good breaks. And he was getting some good pub with the Pirates. But then… he got hit in the face with a baseball.

“No… no… no… no, no, NO, NO, GUHHHHH!”

[The Big Lead]

According to ClevverTV.com (I don’t know what that is, either), Tim Tebow and Taylor Swift were spotted out to dinner together in Los Angeles earlier this week. The story has been picked up by numerous outlets — namely, the Greatest Tabloid of Them All, the New York Post – and your mom’s church’s knitting club has been put on high alert. More, after the jump.

Ah, the time-honored tradition of anchors saying things they shouldn’t say on live television because they do not realize they are on live television. While it’s generally tough not to feel bad for the anchors in question, it’s also tough not to laugh. After the jump, see what we mean.

Grantland’s Jonathan Abrams has meticulously put together an oral history of the “Malice at the Palace,” interviewing the principle and peripheral participants in that evening’s Fight to End All Fights. The whole thing is worth a read, but for your enjoyment, we’ve compiled the five most amazing quotes.