erikmal Page 12 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Gregor Blanco's Diving Catches Are Becoming Even More Impressive
This is getting to be old hat for San Francisco Giants fans. First, Blanco became a folk hero in SF for saving Matt Cain's perfecto with an incredible late-game diving catch. Blanco put forth a more impressive version of that feat Wednesday night, with less inherent drama but way more bodily extens...

Minor League Umpire Ejects Ballpark Music Guy For Playing "Three Blind Mice"
If there's one thing umpires love more than ejecting players, it's ejecting non-players. That goes for managers but also fans, mascots, and other ballpark patrons. Tommy Lasorda once complained to umpire Bob Davidson that Youppi!, the Montreal Expos mascot, was jumping up and down on his dugout. (Da...

Joe West Gets Clobbered Upside The Head, Starts Bleeding, Does Not Break Into Song
It was a tough night behind the dish for Joe West, who got knocked hard in the ol' noodle by the follow-through of Carlos Lee's swing. The game was delayed for a few minutes while West was attended to by the Braves' medical staff. Sadly, as far as we know, he did not pass the time by humming a few...

"It Took His Nose Right Over His Right Eye": A Team Equipment Manager Tells All
There aren't many jobs in professional sports less glamorous (yet more important) than that of the equipment managers, but Brad "Dogg" Thompson has been a fixture with the Grand Rapids Griffins hockey team for some 15 years now. And seeing how he works for the primary affiliate of the Detroit Red Wi...

Animal Care Worker Accidentally Killed Louisiana Tech's Bulldog Mascot, Then Tried To Cover It Up
Accidents happen, that's part of life, nothing you can do about it. Sometimes, you even forget to bring inside the beloved bulldog mascot of a major university and the bulldog in question dies of heatstroke. Should you ever find yourself in such a predicament, do not try to cover up the crime....

Here's A First-Hand Account Of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s Olympic Triumph That You'll Never Forget
The third set today between France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Canada's Milos Raonic featured 257 points, 91 winners, and 45 unforced errors. Tsonga won the third set, 25-23 — the longest in Olympic history. The National Post's Bruce Arthur was there, watching the entire match and becoming more incredu...

Bud Selig Pinky-Swears He'll Retire When His Contract Ends In 2014
No one seriously believes that Bud Selig is anywhere close to retiring, because it would be such an unfathomable thought to have a MLB commissioner actually capable of adapting with the times or that anyone would give up such unabated autonomy as the MLB owners have bestowed on him. Nonetheless, The...

1984 Olympics PSA Used Celebrities To Encourage Folks Not To Drive
Apparently, in the run-up to the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, there was much ado being made about how the legendary SoCal traffic would multiply exponentially in the face of such a massive, international gathering. So Caltrans, which keeps all manner of transportation running smoothly in t...
![Missing: One Giant Furry Green Mascot, Believed To Be Walking Around Boston [UPDATE: Found!]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/17u52sy9081gdjpg.jpg)
Missing: One Giant Furry Green Mascot, Believed To Be Walking Around Boston [UPDATE: Found!]
Wally the Green Monster, the semi-beloved mascot of the Boston Red Sox, has gone AWOL. The theft was reported to BPD at 2:22 pm, and the suspect is believed to STILL BE WEARING THE COSTUME SOMEWHERE AROUND BOSTON RIGHT NOW....
![We Now Know What The London Olympics Opening Ceremony Will Look Like [UPDATE]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/17u4t1spv9yv5jpg.jpg)
We Now Know What The London Olympics Opening Ceremony Will Look Like [UPDATE]
The Shire is looking lush these days. Thanks, Runner's World!...

Chris Broussard Tries To Explain His Shoddy, Inattentive Reporting
Chronically distracted ESPN reporter Chris Broussard didn't have the best day earlier this month when he bungled reporting on not one but two developments on the NBA free agent front. First, he became the basketball media community's resident Mr. Magoo, turning a blind eye to Deron Williams agreeing...

Jumping 10-Foot-Long Mako Shark Makes Fishermen Completely Lose Their Shit
Contrary to its name, participants in the Flying Mako fishing tournament don't usually expect to see crazed, flying mako sharks when they try to nab top honors in this strictly catch-and-release contest. However, Alex Beck, Mark Martin, and Keith Langford (the cameraman) captured footage of a 10-f...

Terrell Owens Has Apparently Given Up On Football To Become A Softball Ringer
Tipster Daniel F. sends along this video from a Santa Monica rec league softball game tonight that featured constantly unemployed wide receiver Terrell Owens. Here's the scouting report from Daniel, who sent along* the above video:...

Pirates Prospect Starling Marte Made History With His First MLB Swing
On the first swing of his major league career, Pittsburgh's Starling Marte homered tonight to deep left-center field in Houston. He became the first Pirate in 51 years to homer in his first at-bat, as well as the 28th player in MLB history to homer on his first pitch. That ranks just behind perfect ...

Cop Who Called Carl Crawford A "Monday," Which Is A Racial Slur, Has Been Fired
In what is surely one of the most head-scratchiest instances of racism directed toward an athlete, the Massachusetts cop who heckled Carl Crawford during a minor-league rehab assignment in New Hampshire has been fired by his town's mayor, after being suspended for the past week. The Boston Globe has...

How Those Cheerleader-Eating Mascots Are Helping Kids With Their Autism
Those weird, inflatable mascots that seem to have an insatiable appetite for cheerleaders? Well, their creator is using them to not only entertain us sports-goers but also to assist kids with autism, using the suits to help them work on their social interactions. In a story in this month's Wired, ...

Skip Schumaker Got Fisted By A Teammate After The Cardinals' Walk-Off Win
The Cardinals were, understandably, very excited about with their 3-2 walk-off win over the Dodgers tonight. Unfortunately, Skip Schumaker, who had no part to play in the outcome other than striking out in the bottom of the 12th, was on the receiving end of a pumped-up Kyle Lohse, who pitched seve...

Kirk Gibson Is <em>Really</em> Excited To Be Getting His Own Bobblehead
When is a fist pump more than just a fist pump? When it looks like this....

Has Mitch Moreland Doomed His Newborn Son By Naming Him Crue?
Drew just went over this not even a couple of weeks ago, the seemingly growing epidemic of worsening baby names across the country. And now, much to our (read: his) chagrin, the newborn son of Mitch Moreland has become the latest poster child for this wave of unholy child-naming....

The Greatest Olympic Cauldron Lighting Ever Happened 20 Years Ago Today
Look, there's a lot about the 1992 Opening Ceremonies in Barcelona that is just a little too '90s for most folks. The short shorts. The glow sticks. The high socks. However, every single time I watch the ending, I get chills, my brain unable to wrap itself around the fact that HE SHOT A FUCKING AR...