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It's hard, in 2012, to imagine anyone being upset about Redskins games not airing on local television. Presumably it would be a treat for the long-suffering fans in DC. More »
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The march toward musical empire began on Oct. 22, 2003, in a bar in Milan, Italy, 4,300 miles away from Detroit. Fans of Club Brugge K.V., in town for their team's group-stage UEFA Champions League clash against European giant A.C. Milan, gathered to knock back some pre-match beers. Over a stereo blared seven notes: Da...da-DA-da da DAAH DAAH, the signature riff of a minor American hit song. More »
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At nearly every turn in Howie Spira's tangled and antagonistic history, there was a phone call. And on the phone calls, he had his tape recorder. Howie's cassettes captured his rift with Dave Winfield, his conniving with George Steinbrenner, and his turn against Steinbrenner. They captured threats from the mob. Here's a sampling of his audio archive. More »
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Howard Spira appeared in the Gawker offices one summer day as if summoned from the beyond, which in some sense he had been. He just stood there, anxiously clutching a black plastic bag, his enormous green eyes sweeping the room. His skin had the hue of a life spent mostly indoors and in poor health. His shoulders were bony and hunched. He looked like a broken-down old buzzard. More »
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Click in the lower right corner of the image to see it all. More »
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Harvey Araton of the New York Times, reporting from Baltimore, sets the new/old standard for witless hackery today: More »
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What is ESPN prattling on about right now? We condense your morning SportsCenter to its essence. More »
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Joe Posnanski presents a backhanded defense of the old-fashioned statistic of baseball pitchers' wins today. True, the "winning pitcher" depends on his teammates playing defense and scoring runs for him; yes, great pitchers in bad circumstances can produce feeble win totals, and bad pitchers for great teams can pile up near-meaningless wins. But wins, he writes, are still interesting historical reference points, and by paying attention to them, we can gain insight into the workings of the game: More »
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No. More »
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Today's New York Times reports from Wimbledon on the sneaky advantage that left-handed tennis players enjoy on grass: More »
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As part of an 1898 campaign to curb the use of foul language in baseball, this memo was purportedly sent to every team. It stands as a fascinating record of Gay Nineties profanity, which doesn't actually sound outdated at all. More »
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Why do they do it? It's hard to stand on the outside and watch people try to burn their city down. It's even harder to understand the mentality of someone who morphs from sports fan to looter, pillager, criminal. What is in the mind of the rioter? More »
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Rick Chandler believes he's discovered the first ballplayer—perhaps the first person—to ever give the finger to the camera during a group photo. Meet Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn, the first guy to ever be That Guy. [OutOfBounds] More »
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America is tired. We are, we're told, by the television, on the "wrong track." We are worried about debt. About our children. We worry, I think, most of all, about the NFL Network broadcasting important late-season games. More »
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This announcement actually appeared on the front page of the New York Times 80 years ago, before Game 1 of the 1929 World Series. Seriously, people, we cannot do our jobs if you're constantly bugging us about sports! [NytPicker] More »
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MLB Productions has unearthed the only known footage of Babe Ruth actually playing defense in the outfield. He sitting on a barstool and talking to a hooker, but he's still in right field! [NYTimes] More »
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You may have already seen the HBO documentary "Assault In The Ring," but if you haven't yet, put it on your to-do list. Just in case you've forgotten that boxing is filled, top to bottom, with unbelievable scumbags. More »
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Today, June 4, is the 35th anniversary of the drunkest night in sports history—Ten-Cent Beer Night at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. What better way to celebrate than getting absolutely blitzed on some cheap Stroh's? More »
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Are you now or have you ever been affiliated with the North American Soccer League? If so, you can stop boring your friends with tales of late-'70s "cleat parties" and actually do something useful. Like contacting NASL superfan Dave Wasser, who is amassing the world's largest collection of game tapes in a quixotic attempt to create a definitive video library of matches that no one really wanted to watch in the first place. More »
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Better bust out the good potato chips for this one, folks. Instant history kind of demands an "All-Dressed" rippled. The Patriots close out their 2007 regular season against the New York Giants tonight as they attempt to become the fourth team in the NFL's 88-year history to finish a regular season undefeated and untied. People are a little bit excited. More »
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We have always heard the stories about former Pittsburgh Pirates Dock Ellis and his no-hitter in 1970. If you haven't, the legend has always been that Ellis threw a no-hitter that day while under the influence of LSD. We were never quite sure whether or not to believe it; we saw someone on LSD once, and they didn't look like they could remember their name, let alone make it to the stadium on time and actually pitch. (The dragons kept blocking their path to the door.) More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=109800&view=rss&microfeed=true Marvin Miller is essentially the guy who invented free agency. He demanded player's rights, he fought for pensions, he made the players' union among the most powerful unions on the planet. Gee, thanks, dick. All-baseball.com's Peter Handrinos argues that Miller should be in the Hall of Fame. Handrinos makes a compelling case, but this is kind of like inducting Aaron Boone into the Yankees Sports Hall of Fame because he set forth a chain of events that were important, but ultimately destructive. Plus, do we want anyone that's even friends with Don Fehr in the Hall of Fame? (Don't answer that.) More »
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