eifling Page 9 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Singer Of National Anthem Forgets Words, Powers Ahead Anyhow
Listening to this instantly immortal rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," I'm reminded of Kevin Kline's character in "A Fish Called Wanda," who after receiving any sort of instruction always had to ask, "What was the part in the middle?"...
Sadistic Media Targeted "Carolina Way," Whinges Ex-UNC Chancellor
Pro tip for anyone trying to make sense of a scandal. If the person at the center of it starts claiming that "the media" are persecuting them, it's usually (though not always) a solid bet that they are patently full of shit. It's the equivalent of shooting the messenger and then claiming self-defens...
The Outrage Over Students "Cheating" Is Mostly Harmful Nonsense
The Wall Street Journal asked a question with an obvious answer this week under the headline "How Could a Sweet Third-Grader Just Cheat on That School Exam?" A quick answer is, because human beings are a naturally social species that has survived and flourished for thousands of years by collaboratin...
The Charlotte NBA Team Might Rather Be The Hornets Again
During its short 25 years in the NBA, the Hornets moniker has proven to be the league's Johnny Cash — it's been everywhere, man. Born in Charlotte, transplanted to New Orleans in 2001, bivouacked in Oklahoma City for two post-Katrina seasons, back to New Orleans for the past six seasons, then banish...
The Grizzlies Are About To Grizz Past The OKC Kevin Durants
Oklahoma City is looking suspiciously like a team that is going to lose a second-round series. Kevin Durant posted 25 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals, while Serge Ibaka chipped in 13 points, 10 boards and 4 blocks. And still Memphis ground out an 87-81 win for a 2-1 series lead on an aft...
Jack Butler, The Former Steelers Defensive Great, Has Died At 85
Jack Butler, who was a star defensive back for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the '50s and who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last summer, has died. He was 85....
Washington Post Finds Retired NFL Players Broken And Uninsured
You might've wondered at some point in the past umpteen seasons of watching NFL football, Hey, who pays for the chronic and perhaps debilitating injuries these players are doubtlessly incurring? The Washington Post has your answer: Probably not the teams, possibly the taxpayer and, quite likely, no ...
The Meaning Of Convicted Rapist Mike Tyson's New Cartoon
Twenty years ago The Ring magazine asked the question, after Mike Tyson's rape conviction, "What If Mike Tyson Had Never Gone To Jail?" The cover story posed a counterfactual in which Tyson did not receive a guilty verdict on his 1991 indictment for rape, confinement and criminal deviant conduct....
Boston Bruins Honor Marathon Bombing Victim Before Game 2
Last you saw Jeff Bauman, he was mangled, with a complexion reminiscent of Beetlejuice. Pushing Bauman's stretcher was a man in a cowboy hat who had shredded a sweater to make tourniquets for what remained of Bauman's legs....
Sure, Why Not, Give Blind Boy Some Credit For Ryan Howard's Homer
We can’t say with certainty that Ryan Howard a home run Friday for a little boy who is blind. What we can say for sure is a little boy named A.J., who is 7 years old and who is blind, asked Ryan Howard before the game to hit a home run and that Ryan Howard clobbered the first strike Ricky Nolasco pr...
LeBron's Fourth MVP Is Pushing Him Into Ludicrous Territory
Reports are swarming that LeBron James will be named the NBA’s MVP for the fourth time in the past five seasons. Somehow this makes Derrick Rose’s 2011 MVP — the only blemish in that stretch for LeBron — seem all the more impressive, if all the more anomalous. Only four other players (Kareem Abdul-J...
For a competing theory as to why Comcast SportsNews Chicago fired Susannah Collins, we turn to Paul M. Banks: "I don't think Comcast is as much to blame here. I think it's the Blackhawks." [ChicagoNow] And a letter obtained by the Chicago Tribune from the Blackhawks chairman appears to bolster that ...
Your Last-Minute Crowdsourced Kentucky Derby Betting Guide
In the only Kentucky Derby I covered, as a 19-year-old intern for the Lexington Herald-Leader, I got lucky on a $3 exacta bet that paid 33-1. The feeling of sprinting up the stairs to the press box to trade a $1 bill for five twenties (yes, that would be from the dedicated betting booth in the Churc...
Tom Coburn Wants To Revoke Sports Leagues' Tax-Exempt Charity Status
Last week Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma introduced an amendment to a bill called the Marketplace Fairness Act (the so-called "Internet tax") that would revoke the tax-exempt status of sports leagues. This is the news, and Think Progress has covered it nicely here. Also news, to most peop...
The Bulls Win 3OT Classic Against Nets And What The Hell Is This Photo
As we noted a couple of times (Nate Robinson scuffling! Nate Robinson banking in a 20-foot runner!) this afternoon the Bulls' 142-134 triple overtime win over the Nets was straight-up bananagrams and what on earth is happening in this AP photo....
GQ's Look At The MBA For NFL Players Is A Portrait Of Hubris And Fear
Belly-up pro athletes are among the world's saddest washouts, in part because you can't blame them for their own gruesome collapses. It’s a surreal deal: You’re invincible as a kid, invincible as a young man, a millionaire before you know how to file your own taxes and then an undereducated, slow-mo...