12 Page 50 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Banana On The Pitch! A Roundup Of Horrible Euro 2012 Fans, With Croatia In The Early Lead
Ah yes, the traditional banana hurled at a black player. Euro 2012 is officially on!...

Today's Ukraine-France Match Is Delayed Because God Is Angry
Hellfire is raining in Donetsk, where the Euro 2012 Ukraine-France match is delayed due to heavy rain and lightning, some of which appears here to have attempted to find its way inside the stadium. (That ain't sunlight.) Clearly Thor is angry Norway failed to qualify....

Thousands Of Irish Soccer Fans Sing Their Team Off After A Crushing Defeat
Ireland got thrashed by Spain today, 4-0, in the second match of the group stage, but the loyal Irish faithful that flew into Gdansk for the match nonetheless sang their team off the pitch with a rousing rendition of "The Fields of Athenry" in the waning moments. It's basically like a couple thous...

Olympics Field Guide: Chris Hoy, The Incredible Hulk Of Track Cycling
Name: Chris Hoy...

Swedish Team In Trouble After Bare-Assed Game Of "Butts Up"
In my schoolyard it was called "butts up." In yours, it might have been "asses up," "wallball," "red ass," "suicide," but the game is the same, and taps in to the primal center of young boys' brains. It's essentially handball, but the first one to run up a certain number of "outs" must lean against ...

From Ukraine With Love: 24 Racism-Free Hours At Euro 2012
KIEV & KHARKIV, Ukraine—The fast train from Kiev to Kharkiv takes four hours. I know this, although I am not on it. I want to be on it, but tickets are gone, sold weeks ago to assorted Germans and other more prepared fans traveling from the Ukrainian capital to the industrial city that lies 300 mile...

Two Croatian Government Workers Are In Trouble For Flashing Everyone At Euro 2012
Croatia took a vital three points from Ireland over the weekend, sending fans into spasms of joy and occasional nudity. Now two women face losing their jobs after photos of them baring their chests at Sunday's match—including one of an Irish fan licking one woman's breasts—have been seen by pretty m...

Olympics Field Guide: Phillips Idowu, The Dennis Rodman Of The Triple Jump
Name: Phillips Idowu...

Russian And Polish Fans May Kill Each Other Before Their Match Starts
Here are some of the videos that have surfaced from this morning's clashes between Russian and Polish soccer fans, before their teams' match later today at Euro 2012. According to one (biased) account, a Russian fan march was set upon by Polish supporters, and broken up by police firing tear gas a...

Ukraine's 2-1 Comeback Win Left This Swede Feeling Black In The Face
So, yeah, the racism promised to emerge at Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine actually did, though in classic 1960's spy drama fashion everyone's blaming the Russians. Sweden had no one to blame but themselves, meanwhile, after a stunning performance by Andriy Shevchenko led Ukraine past the Swedes fo...

Olympics Field Guide: Nick D'Arcy And Kenrick Monk, Idiot Gun-Toting Aussie Swimmers
Names: Nick D'Arcy and Kenrick Monk...

Polish Riot Police Vs. Croatian Hooligans—Who Ya Got?
We knew Polish police came prepared for Euro 2012, pants-pissing sound cannons and all. And we expected Eastern European fans to make trouble, because that's what they do. (UEFA has already opened an investigation into racist abuse from Russian fans.) But it turns out our first battle in the stree...

It Took Negative One Day For Euro 2012 Fans To Start Their Racist Chants
The tourney doesn't start until tomorrow; today was merely a practice for the Netherlands. A practice open to the public. The Dutch team began the practice session by jogging around a track in Krakow, and when they reached one end of the circuit, "several hundred" or around "500" fans began hooting ...

108-Foot Roy Hodgson Erected On English Coast
"Roy the Redeemer" was unveiled this week, a massive statue of England manager aping the famous Christ sculpture in Brazil. He stands above the cliffs of Dover, and is supposedly visible from France. (The two nations face each other on Monday.)...

Piss Cannons And Scrotum-Seeking Dogs: Poland Is READY For Euro 2012
We already dealt with the possibility of trouble inside the stadiums at the European Championship, starting tomorrow. But what about non-matchdays? It's one solid month of foreigners, drunk and nationalistic, roaming an unfamiliar country. Some countries (England) have a reputation for traveling in ...

Just Try To Ignore Those Racist Chants At Euro 2012
The theme of the European Championship, which begins tomorrow, is racism. (To be fair to Poland and the Ukraine, the themes of international soccer over the last five years have been racism and goal-line technology. UEFA has made roughly the same progress on the two.) The BBC kicked it off with thei...

"Athletic" Shawn Johnson Retires: How Gymnastics Talks About Bodies In Code
On Sunday, former world and Olympic champion gymnast Shawn Johnson, 20, retired from gymnastics. Citing a bum knee, she withdrew from this coming weekend's national championships, the first competitive step towards the 2012 Olympic team....

Early Results Are In: Gawker Media Census Proves You’re Probably Drunk Right Now
Last week we asked you to take the 2012 Gawker Media Census, and in return offered one lucky survey-taker the opportunity to win a new iPad. Well, early responses are in, and we learned some interesting info about you guys—like the fact that 77% of you are more likely to buy alcohol than any other p...

Men's Field Hockey Has The Olympics' Best Blood Feud
Men's field hockey, as Stefan Fatsis explains on this week's excerpt from Slate's Hang Up and Listen podcast, will be one hell of a trip in the 2012 Olympics, even though the USA isn't playing....

The New Orleans Hornets Will Pick First In The 2012 NBA Draft
The New Orleans Hornets, currently owned by the NBA and soon to be owned by Saints owner Tom Benson, will select first in the 2012 NBA Draft (most likely choosing Kentucky forward Anthony Davis). The Charlotte Bobcats, which had the worst winning percenatge in NBA history this past season, will pick...