hrkeyser Page 2 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Check Out Branch Rickey's Early Scouting Reports For Hall Of Famers
Branch Rickey, who is best known for signing Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945, spent decades of his post-playing career evaluating baseball talent. He instituted the first minor league farm system (an innovation born of out of a desire to lock up top talent for cheap) and encouraged t...

<i>The Sandlot </i>Is Full Of Little Shitheads And<em></em> Terrible Baseball Advice
Over the weekend, The Sandlot turned 25 years old. Major League Baseball is celebrating the anniversary of its release throughout the season with theme nights at nearly all of the stadiums. (The Brewers went above and beyond with their homage.) Despite growing up a devoted baseball fan—with aspirati...

Twins Mad That The Other Team Was Trying Too
Twins pitcher José Berrios was dealing yesterday. When he faced Baltimore catcher Chance Sisco in the ninth inning of Sunday’s game, Berrios had a 7-0 lead and had given up just one hit in the game....

The Sports Highlight Of The Day Is This Tenacious Duckling's Eventual Triumph
When he almost makes it at the 33-second mark only to fall back again? That’s pure pathos. But please do not patronize this duckling with your pity unless you, too, are capable of a vertical leap more than twice your height. ...

<i>The Mighty Ducks </i>Is A Mediocre Movie With An Utterly Unsympathetic Protagonist
I’m not nostalgic for your favorite sports film, because I probably never saw it the first time around (unless it’s A League Of Their Own, which even I know is a goddamn masterpiece). There’s no grand explanation for this gap in my cinematic literacy; I was too young for some of the classic sports ...

Russell Martin Makes A Cool Catch, Trips, Falls, Gets Hit In The Face
Spring training is for trying your absolute hardest—up to but not inclusive of any effort that might land you on the DL for Opening Day. Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin very nearly tried too hard today. ...

Jose Altuve's Day At The White House Looked Pretty Awkward
The Houston Astros visited the White House today to be honored for their 2017 World Series win, which puts reasonable-minded players in a bit of a pickle. The traditional post-championship White House visit is a potentially once-in-a-lifetime honor. Having to tolerate Donald Trump in the flesh and b...

We Bribed Adam Rippon With Donuts For Olympics Gossip
Adam Rippon might be the only Olympian who’s been busier since he got back from South Korea than he was during the competition. The 28-year-old returned home with a bronze medal from the figure skating team event—and a packed schedule of media appearances and marquee events. We talked to Rippon the ...

Nice And Good Isn't Enough To Be A Story At The Olympics
Parents are an Olympic reporter’s gold mine, or anyway something like a lifeline. They are not what anyone would term an unbiased source, of course, but they can tell you what’s human about the superhuman athlete they’ve raised and shed light on their athlete’s otherwise invisible life away from co...

Team USA's Women's Hockey Gold Was The Most Electrifying Moment Of The Olympics
GANGNEUNG, South Korea — Two years ago, Michael Schofield earned a Super Bowl ring as an offensive tackle for the Denver Broncos. Yesterday, he watched his fiancé, Kendall Coyne, take home gold with the US women’s hockey team. “It’s the best sporting event I’ve ever gone to in my whole life,” he sai...

American Women Just Won Their First-Ever Cross Country Medal
Jessie Diggins started the final lap in third place in the women’s cross country team sprint event—and finished it .19 seconds ahead of the second-place Swedish skier. The gold medal she and teammate Kikkan Randall won was America’s first ever podium finish in women’s cross country skiing....

Ways The IOC Has Dodged Doping Questions, Ranked
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea—The big story coming into Pyeongchang was the IOC’s sanctions against Russia for the widespread doping that had ex post facto compromised the Sochi and Rio games. Now, with the 2018 Olympics just past their midpoint, a Russian curler has been officially charged with doping a...

Failing In The Short Program Gave Nathan Chen The Best Long Program Of His Career
GANGNEUNG, South Korea—Recent Grand Prix champion and Olympic favorite Nathan Chen shocked the skating world earlier this week with a pair of disappointing short programs. A wipeout in his Olympic debut during the team event brought the U.S. down to bronze and a disastrous first half of the men’s in...

James Wisniewski Thinks Team USA Has NHL-Caliber Talent
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea—Without any NHL players participating in the Olympics this year for the first time since 1994, the level of play in Pyeongchang is simply not what it’s been at previous Winter Games. Obviously, no team is as handicapped by this decision as the U.S. The roster that includes j...

The Guy Who Finished Last In The Olympic Cross-Country Event Got A Hero's Welcome
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea—One hundred and nineteen skiers took off at 30-second intervals in the 15km cross-country ski race at the 2018 Olympics today. Three didn’t finish or were disqualified. Of the 116 athletes who successfully skied the course, 115 of them were faster than German Madrazo, the 43...

Just Give Olympians Their Medals Right After The Event
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea—Just before 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, 22-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin won her first gold medal of the 2018 Olympics. She watched from the bottom of the course while her final competitor skied through the giant slalom, and as soon as it became clear that her position atop the leade...

Weird Statues Of The Olympics, Ranked
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea—I was supposed to cover Mikaela Shiffrin’s probably podium-worthy slalom run this morning. In the perpetual riddle of trying to predict where the bigger story will be on any given day at the Olympics, I went to the ski slopes to see Shiffrin instead of watching Shaun White’s...

Shaun White Brushes Off Sexual Harassment Lawsuit At Press Conference
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea—As is customary for American athletes who have medaled, Shaun White conducted a press conference—alongside a handler from USA Ski and Snowboarding—after earning his third lifetime Olympic gold in the halfpipe. During this press conference, White was asked about a sexual hara...

Getting Injured In An Olympics Practice Run Is True Sports Heartbreak
There is a new contender for the most brutal heartbreak possible in sports. It’s not a Game 7 loss or even an 0-16 season. It’s not finishing fourth in a medal event or suspiciously wiping out in consecutive short track races. It’s this: You train your whole life in a largely obscure sport that’s on...

Here Is Your Daily Dose Of Adam Rippon Being Delightful
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea—“Nobody loves me as much as I love me; so I guess I’ll just be my own Valentine tomorrow,” American figure skater Adam Rippon said at a press conference the day after he helped the U.S. team win a bronze medal with his clean free skate. Either he really really loves himself ...