barryap Page 90 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Holy Shit, That Joe Thornton Pass
The Sharks lead the postseason in plays that make their opponents’ fans exasperatedly say, “oh come the fuck on.” It’s a remarkably aesthetically pleasing brand of hockey they play, all speed and puck cycling and a preternatural awareness of their linemates’ positions only made possible by playing t...

The Lightning Projected <i>Mario Kart</i> On The Ice Between Periods
I’m on record as a big fan of those on-court and on-ice projection systems proliferating throughout our nation’s arenas, but Tampa might have achieved apotheosis. ...

Pittsburgh's HBK Line Is The NHL's Hottest
The verb that came to mind watching last night’s 4-2 Pittsburgh win was “overwhelms.” You can hold off the Penguins for a while, you can even shut down a scorer or an entire line for games at a time, but they’ve got so much talent, they’re so deep with scorers up and down their bench and offer barel...

Birds, Ranked
Drew ranked the lamest birds over at GQ.com today, and we’re all fairly pissed at him for turning our work chatroom into a warzone filled with bird takes for a piece he didn’t even publish on this site. (Shout out to Burneko for his all-time terrible opinion, “seagulls are good.”)...

The Time RGIII Called A Meeting And Told His Coaches How To Coach
Over at The Undefeated, Jason Reid takes a long look at a complex question—why did Robert Griffin III fail in Washington?—and, somewhat disappointingly, operates under the theory that there can be a simple answer. Despite that, it’s a very worthwhile read as both a broad chronicle of a bizarre four ...


Don't Leave Brent Burns Open
Back east we’ve got two fast, hard-hitting, well-rounded teams, that frankly play fairly similar games. Out west is a more intriguing clash of styles: The Blues are more defensive minded, more deliberate, more physical, while the Sharks thrive on offense, speed, puck movement, and the most exciting ...

Mayor Of Probably Calgary Mad Over Raptors Poll Snub
The Raptors and their fans have played the “nobody believes in us” card faster and harder than just about anyone, quite possibly because nobody believes in them. But things have reached a fever pitch in Wherever The Raptors Are From, thanks to the limitations of an online poll....

Refs Missed Russell Westbrook's Travel At The End Of Game 1
Did Russell Westbrook travel in the waning seconds of last night’s Thunder Game 1 win? Yeah, totally. Does that ever get called, let alone late in a playoff game? Ehhh....

Sidney Crosby Scores Right In Jeremy Roenick's Dumb Face
The corollary to not overreacting when Sidney Crosby goes eight games without scoring a goal is also not overreacting when he finally finds the net. But hot damn, did the Penguins need that goal. If only to shut Jeremy Roenick up....

Report: Heat Fear Chris Bosh May Not Be Able To Play Again
Two straight years, Chris Bosh’s season has ended in February, as he’s battled multiple occurrences of blood clots. At best, the symptoms and treatments make him unable to play basketball; at worst, his condition is life-affecting and even, potentially, fatal. Bosh wants to find a way to play, but h...

Game 1 Belonged To Brian Elliott
In the 2016 Western Conference Finals: The Great Unchokening, I (and Vegas) give the slight nod to the Blues. They’ve beaten better teams to get here, and they’re constructed more defensively-minded, the sort of team that succeeds in tight playoff games. That’s the blueliners, for sure, but more tha...

Blue Jays Call Rangers "Gutless" And "Cowardly" After Excellent Brawl
I believe with my whole heart that the seventh inning of last year’s ALDS Game 5—the non-interference throw back to the pitcher, the baby-soaking beer rain, Elvis Andrus’s meltdown, and ohmygod that bat flip—is the most entertaining inning of baseball ever played. That seven months later it is still...

Santiago Casilla Was <i>Pissed </i>About Being Taken Out
Up 4-2, Giants closer Santiago Casilla loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth. And to everybody’s surprise—especially Casilla’s—manager Bruce Bochy came out to give him the hook....

Pekka Rinne Smashed The Shit Out Of His Stick, And Yeah I Get It
The Sharks’ dream Game 7 was, necessarily, a nightmare for Nashville. Or: You don’t lose an elimination game 5-0, getting outshot 17-3 in the first and only managing 20 shots on goal of your own all night, without just about everything going wrong....

Report: Russian Olympic Doping Program Was Comically Impressive
For all the very real problems with sports’ war on drugs and the self-serving PED scolds, I can only read this latest report about Russia’s state-run doping efforts at the Sochi Olympic Games with something resembling awe. According to a whistleblower, officials, including those from Russia’s intell...

Ricardo Lockette Will Retire After Serious Neck Injury
This is one of the reasons athletes should never be begrudged for trying to get as much money as they can while they still can: their lifetime earning power can vaporize in a moment, at any moment. Seahawks wide receiver and special teamer Ricardo Lockette will announce his retirement this afternoon...

There’s A Lot To Love About This Guy’s Intense Masturbation Diary
So I was reading this Guardian piece on beatin’ it. (Or, depending on the genitals you possess, um...“opening your ham wallet?” Jesus, that’s a terrible euphemism.) It features statistics on the types of people who beat and don’t beat it, how and when they beat it (if they indeed beat it), how often...


There's No Secret To Why The Capitals Lost
“We didn’t really play good enough for long enough,” Braden Holtby said. The Washington Capitals were very good, over a very long season, but even good teams falter when they run into better ones. ...