erikmal Page 21 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Dodgers Have The "Worst Fans In Baseball," Says Giants Beat Writer
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 betwe...

The First Jose Canseco Joke Known To Mankind
It's easy to forget that Jose Canseco used to be a baseball player of some distinction and not just a social media punchline. Which got us thinking, how long has this been going on? When did the tide start to turn against the Worcester Tornadoes' newest outfielder?...

55-Year-Old Grandmother Tries Out For The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
Back in February, Sharon Simmons, a 55-year-old grandmother of two from Carrollton, Texas, announced she would be trying out to become a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. She's spent the last months training, working on routines with a professional dance coach. On Saturday, she joined hundreds of other wo...

Better Know An Umpire: Jim Reynolds
Welcome to Better Know An Umpire, an effort to educate ourselves on the human elements who have ultimate decision-making power over some 2,500 Major League Baseball games a year. (All cumulative statistics are through the 2011 season, unless otherwise stated.)...
![Cole Hamels Broke Only One Of Baseball's Unwritten Rules [UPDATE: And Now He's Suspended]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/17luvdcne9zirjpg.jpg)
Cole Hamels Broke Only One Of Baseball's Unwritten Rules [UPDATE: And Now He's Suspended]
Much has been made of young Bryce Harper's first few days in the majors. He has a cannon for an arm. He gets on base. He makes good with the locals. He steals home. And now he's caused the Phillies' Cole Hamels to pull off what Nationals GM Mike Rizzo considers the most "classless, gutless chickens...

Here's Warren Buffett Swinging A Ridiculous, Supersize Ping-Pong Paddle
I don't want to know why Warren Buffett, who is worth $44 billion, is using this ginormous ping pong paddle during yesterday's annual stockholder's meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, because I'm sure whatever explanation is behind this gem of a photo won't nearly come close to meeting my expectations. S...

Kerry Wood's 20-Strikeout Game Was More Impressive Than Either By Roger Clemens
The latest work from our old friend and baseball infographic expert Craig Robinson delves into the exclusive 20-strikeout, complete-game club, of which there are just three instances comprised of two members. (Sorry, Randy Johnson.) Looking at Robinson's visual interpretation of all three games, as ...

Olympic Officials Ban Outside Bottled Water, Will Confiscate Any "Excessive Food"
Of course, London Olympic officials want patrons to enjoy their time this summer at the Games, but they also want them to pay for every single amenity imaginable. To that end, organizers have banned fans from bringing in any bottled water and will also confiscate large amounts of food....

Police Identify Kentucky Derby Murder Victim, Believe He Was Killed After "Altercation"
Louisville police briefed the media this morning on the shocking news that a horse groom was murdered at Churchill Downs following the Kentucky Derby. Lt. Barry Wilkerson of the Louisville Metro Police Department just wrapped up a 20-minute press conference and gave a clearer picture of what went do...

Amar'e Stoudemire Shows Why You Should Never, Ever Punch A Fire Extinguisher Case
We all knew Amar'e Stoudemire's hand must've been messed up when we saw him walking out of Miami, arm in sling and slated for surgery the next day. Today, he tweeted out some visual evidence of what it looks like one punches a metal fire extinguisher case and the case wins....

Someone Just Paid $418K For The Bill Buckner World Series Ball
The Buckner ball has a weird and winding history since it changed the baseball world on October 25, 1986. Until today, it had been in the possession of songwriter Seth Swirsky for the past 12 years, but its initial history is a little more interesting:...

Better Know An Umpire: Eric Cooper
Welcome to Better Know An Umpire, an effort to educate ourselves on the human elements who have ultimate decision-making power over some 2,500 Major League Baseball games a year. (All cumulative statistics are through the 2011 season, unless otherwise stated.)...

Junior Seau's Family Will Donate His Brain For Scientific Study
From the moment it was known that Junior Seau had been found dead two days ago with a gunshot wound to the chest, there's been speculation that not only was it a suicide but that Seau killed himself in such a way that it would allows researchers to study his brain for the effects of chronic traumati...

Texas Continued: How Mike Leach May Have Inspired The New <em>Friday Night Lights</em> Movie
If you watched all five seasons of Friday Night Lights, you know that it ended pretty much perfectly, insofar as any program that almost got canceled numerous times and was bounced from network TV to an obscure satellite-only channel can coherently wrap things up narrative-wise. And yet, from the se...

Every U.S. Sports Championship, In Convenient Infographic Form
Our friends at Slate have created a slick infographic that lets you use a sliding bar to see the year-by-year chronology of every championship won in the four major professional sports. Click any given city and a stat box appears listing each championship, when it was won, and the percentage of the ...

How Bill Simmons Gambled Away His NBA MVP Vote
If you've never seen the film Eight Men Out, by all means rectify that and watch it as soon as possible. It's based on Eliot Asinof's celebrated book about the 1919 Black Sox scandal and directed by John Sayles, who, in a bad-ass bit of self-casting, plays the legendary sportswriter Ring Lardner tha...

These Craigslist Posts That "Predict" Junior Seau's Death Are (Probably) A Sick Hoax
The NFL was rocked yesterday by the death of 12-time Pro Bowl linebacker Junior Seau, whom police believe shot himself in the chest with a handgun. But while the great majority of fans and San Diegans have used the occasion to mourn his passing and remember the better days of a Charger legend, a cou...

Mariano Rivera Diagnosed With Torn ACL, Out For The Season
Speaking with the media after tonight's loss in Kansas City, Yankees manager Joe Girardi announced that closer Mariano Rivera has been diagnosed with a torn ACL and will miss the reminder of the season. ...

Gregor Blanco Fall Down, Go Boom, Still Makes It To Third Base
Gregor Blanco has just 27 stolen bases in some 271 career games, so we wouldn't say that he's necessarily known for his speed on the basepaths....

This Incredible Paralympics Commercial Was Shot In One Take With No Special Effects
Yes, it's a commercial. Yes, it concerns the Paralympics. Yes, it's from Canada. Let no preconceived notions you might have about any of these areas preclude you from watching and being generally astounded by this one-minute ad featuring short-distance runner Alister McQueen. They've also posted a...