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So I'm reading along, enjoying this pleasant little story by the AP about UConn hockey players appearing in PSAs in which they not only pledge their support to "any teammate, gay or straight, that can help us win games" but do so with a welcome matter-of-factness—as if they were telling you something obvious and unimpeachable, like "change your smoke-alarm batteries"—and then I get to this part: More »
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Canadian national broadcaster CBC announced today the network's Stanley Cup Finals coverage will include an alternate audio channel featuring Lena Sutherland and Jules Mancuso of While The Men Watch, a site dedicated to "sports commentary that women actually want to hear." More »
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A few days back, Kevin Garnett said — or at least implied — that 76ers fans are fair-weather. It stung a bit, considering the Sixers have been terrible for the better part of a decade, and basketball is a distant fourth in Philly hearts. (That's not a knock; some sport has to be fourth.) Mostly it was KG being a dick, because KG's good at being a dick. But it led to some soul-searching. And also this, from the Inky's John Mitchell: More »
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Most of our favorite newspaper errors are due to dummy text, the practice of typing in a bunch of gibberish to see how it'll look in the space allotted. They're funny, but they also require a complex series of missteps. That's why this unfortunate mistake, from Saturday's Register Citizen in Northwest Connecticut, is wonderful: it's a pure typo. Someone missed an "f." Just that simple. A copy editor missed it too, perhaps because the first instinct is to scan the dense copy, not the prominent subhead. And apparently everyone else missed the "shits," for four days. [Twitter] More »
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We've already tipped our caps to the social-media prowess of the Los Angeles Kings and their outstanding Twitter feed, @LAKings. And here they go again, staying ahead of the narrative as only they can. More »
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As NBC Sports Network's Stanley Cup Playoff coverage winds down, the network is transitioning to its key summer coverage to fill the gap until the London Olympics arrive: Major League Soccer. We've long admired NBC's top hockey announcer Doc Emrick for his no-bullshit approach to the game, and it appears that applies to reading on-air promos as well. While Doc tries to dig himself out of the hole as soon as he realizes he's dug it, his point remains: soccer players dive! Ha-ha! (We hope Doc has a chance to watch some MLS this season; you'll see much less diving there than pretty much any other top division in the world.) [NBC Sports] More »
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All this time, it was believed that Andy Gibb died in 1988 of an inflamed heart condition caused by an infection. But Lucy Yang of New York's ABC 7 is here to tell us otherwise. More »
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There are two major sports teams in California named the Kings. One of them is up north in Sacramento, and they play professional basketball (poorly, as of late). The other is in Los Angeles, and has a very good shot at winning the Stanley Cup. Despite the two franchises' differences in performance and, you know, sport, Los Angeles television stations have struggled in their coverage of the NHL Kings' Stanley Cup Playoffs games. First it was KNBC, a few days later L.A.'s Fox affiliate dropped the "ball," and now this morning KCBS joined in the fun—inexplicably showing a clip of Sacramento mascot Slamson before discussing yesterday's 2-0 Coyotes win over the Kings. L.A. Kings mascot Bailey didn't take it very well: More »
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SPEED call-in show WindTunnel with Dave Despain is known for giving strongly-opinionated NASCAR fans a voice, and like many programs it's now featuring tweets from viewers. One such viewer, "Douche McGee," has an issue with the off-the-track drama that's emerged as one of stock car racing's hallmarks—and had such a valuable comment the show simply had to highlight it. More »
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Bob Brookover, a writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer had a tough time this week trying to watch Ryan Howard take batting practice and field ground balls. He was kicked out of the stadium twice while trying to catch a glimpse of Howard. The mantra: "What are you doing here? Spring training is over." More »
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You do have to feel for FOX 11's newslady. Hockey highlights are tough if you've never watched a hockey game. Kopitar and Doughty aren't easy names to pronounce. But in the wake of another LA station's Kings ignorance, it's entirely possible that a team is going to win a Stanley Cup without anyone in town realizing what's going on. More »
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You can see how this might happen, given everything. Robert Griffin III was on The Tonight Show late last night, and he beatboxed for Jay Leno, because there's nothing RGIII can't do, you see. Washington D.C.'s all-news station had the footage, and they wanted to post it on their website this morning, the earlier the better. More »
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So this is one of those Twitter things, without much backstory. (We saw it here first.) But the team in question is the Rayne (Louisiana) High Lady Wolves, the coach is Deserea Dunn, and the paper is, we think, the Rayne Independent. The Lady Wolves crashed out of the district playoffs last month, so coach has had three weeks to get those stats in. More »
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Last night the internets buzzed about the veracity of a photo showing the lower third graphic from a TV newscast identifying Lakers ne'er-do-well Metta World Peace as "Lakers Idiot." Our pals over at Busted Coverage asked this morning if it was real, and as the video above will show you, it is indeed legit. More »
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Earlier today, New York sports-talk blowhard Mike Francesa blew extra hard on a topic he should probably avoid in the future: Twitter. More »
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I don't know if the Kings are the best team in hockey, but I know they're the hottest, and I know they have a better chance of winning a championship than the Lakers or Clippers do, and I know that's not the Kings' logo, NBC Los Angeles. More »
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Ever email your constructive criticism to a sportswriter, only to receive a crappy, needlessly hostile response? Forward the emails to us at tips@deadspin.com, subject: Crap Emails. More »
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Over the weekend, the anonymous gadfly behind @TVSportsratings—one of the more interesting sports-biz Twitter feeds around, unless you count @darrenrovell, which you shouldn't—nuked his own account after sending the following direct message to John Ourand of SportsBusiness Journal: More »
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CBC host Ron MacLean opened tonight's coverage of the Stanley Cup playoff Game Six bout between the Capitals and Rangers with an extended and tortuous metaphor claiming the players were "like firefighters, like police officers," and throwing in 9/11 references. More »
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Former NBA star Steve Kerr penned a lengthy, multi-sectioned argument in Grantland this week in which he not only defends the NBA's current ban on players under age 19 but pushes for the minimum age to be raised to 20. Forcing young people to spend more time as scholar-athletes, according to Kerr, would provide the league with better talent and allow players to develop more fully. More »
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That's the latest from ESPN senior Jonas Brothers correspondent and ace talent scout Lynn Hoppes, whom we've met around these parts before. [ESPN] More »
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The Dodgers and Giants rivalry has been ugly for 50 years, and nothing will probably change that. Certainly, after the Bryan Stow attack of last March, diplomatic relations between the two definitively plowed past some point-of-no-return (though peace was likely always a lost cause). Animosity between the sides, so visible in the stands and on the field, doesn't seem to cross over into the press box, at least not publicly, but then the San Francisco Chronicle's Henry Schulman took to Twitter last night, as he could no longer hold in his insatiable outrage. More »
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Reporter Jim Wilson was in the middle of speaking on Australia's Sky News when the broadcast unexpectedly cut back to the studio, where host James Bracey appeared to be mocking Wilson with what looked like a blowjob pantomime. It's caused a bit of a fuss Down Under, as explained by The Australian newspaper: More »
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Ever email your constructive criticism to a sportswriter, only to receive a crappy, needlessly hostile response? Forward the emails to us at tips@deadspin.com, subject: Crap Emails. More »
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Here's OG troll Phil Mushnick in today's New York Post, shaking his cane at the scary negroes: More »
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When Matt Read wasn't named a Calder Trophy finalist, it was understandable, but Philly fans were irked. When Claude Giroux, coach-described "best player in the world," wasn't named a Hart Trophy finalist, Philly fans were furious. On Monday, the humiliating snubs were completed, when Peter Laviolette was not among the three finalists for the Jack Adams Award, presented annually to the best coach. The apoplexy came in the form of a conspiracy theory, from a local columnist who really should know better but proved beyond a doubt that he does not. More »
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If you've hung out around this site in the past, you know that we consider ESPN fartsniffer Gregg Easterbrook to be a haughty dipshit. When Easterbrook isn't spending inches of column space attacking the plot holes in an episode of Human Target (He does just that this week, which is timely!), he's indulging in his favorite activity: Namely, sussing out the "glory boys" in life from their scrappy, gritty, third-string counterparts. More »
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Chicago Sun-Times columnist and intern hater Joe Cowley has been put on final notice, according to one Chicago media critic with sources at the paper. More »
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Boy, how did the Sun-Times get scooped on this one? Their columnist Joe Cowley spends years trolling everyone, degrading women, and just acting like an all-around dick, and he finally gets in trouble, and I have to read about it in the Tribune? I guess the Sun-Times isn't your one-stop shop for all things Chicago sports. More »
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It's fitting that it was on Twitter where Joe Cowley finally pushed the wrong buttons and clued everyone in to just what an ass he is. Because it was Twitter that provoked tough guy Joe into throwing his weight around, and getting me fired from the first journalism job I ever had. More »
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So, Joe Cowley. Hilarious satirist, or serial sexist? We'll try to address that soon, but first, let's discuss why you are watching the final tournament fight scene from The Karate Kid scored to Joe Esposito's "You're The Best Around." It seems Cowley had a signature sign off for those he was through antagonizing: "Now cue my damn music..[link to a video from the fucking Karate Kid.]" More »
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Ever since Jay Marrioti fell off the face of the planet, the Chicago Sun-Times has been a little light in the abusive-toward-females department. This morning, Joe Cowley (pictured, far right) bravely stepped in to assume the role, in an albeit verbal, yet no less demeaning manner when he took on one of his own, female reporter Sloane Martin. More »
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While debate continues to rage in regard to whether Tyson Chandler's screen on LeBron James today really accounted for a flagrant foul, there's no doubt that LeBron augmented the impact with his own brand of thespianism. The incident set Jeff Van Gundy off on another rant about flopping, and is a suggestion the trend that plagued this year's regular season will continue on to ruin the playoffs. [ABC] More »
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Here is World Series MVP David Freese being subjected to quite possibly the most uncomfortably awkward fluff piece ever. Six Flags has a Mr. Freeze roller coaster and Show Me St. Louis' Julie Tristan decided it would be the perfect excuse to continually hit on the young Cardinal. She even brought in an assistant. Just...watch and feel embarrassed for every single person involved in this mess. More »
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We'd normally save this sort of thing for McCarve'd Up (which will be back next week after being pre-empted for NFL draft coverage) but Tim McCarver said one of the stupidest things ever spoken on a television broadcast today, blaming global warming for "making the air thin" and thus leading to a rise in home runs. More »
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The Jacksonville Jaguars stupidly picked punter Bryan Anger in the third round last night, a pick that shocked experts and Jags fans alike. More »
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ESPN editor and senior Jonas Brothers correspondent Lynn Hoppes took out his big boy crayons and wrote up this great report from the ESPN The Magazine Pre-Draft Party. My favorite line? It's a tossup between ... More »
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Three minutes into extra time of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich's Champions League second leg, ITV—broadcasting the match in Britain—cut to the News At Ten studio. The anchor was as confused as the viewers. There was still plenty of soccer to be played, and it was 15 minutes shy of 10:00 anyway. More »
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As first noted over at Awful Announcing, things got a bit awkward yesterday at the tail end of the 3 p.m. SportsCenter on ESPNNEWS when Steve Weissman joked that there was flirting between fellow anchor Sage Steele and Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker, who was doing the Bristol media tour Tuesday. More »
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I don't know Bill Polian. Seems nice enough. Had success everywhere he's been. He's probably a bright guy. But in his new life as ESPN talking head, he's taking just about the dumbest possible position on the latest Saints scandal, and sticking to it with all his might. More »
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