2 Page 339 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

FIFA Takes 2021 Confederations Cup Away From Qatar
In a tough-yet-fair decision by an organization known for them, FIFA has decided to strip Qatar of hosting privileges for the 2021 Confederations Cup. In explaining the group's reasoning, FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke revealed something no one had previously considered: Qatari summers are way...

How To Pick The Perfect Engagement Ring Without Selling Your Kidneys
Shopping for an engagement ring has got to be one of the most angst-ridden things a grown-ass man can go through. Between worrying about the correct sizing, decoding the "one-sixth of your annual salary" thing, and, you know, trying to find a style that your soul mate will want to wear for the res...

Even The Big European Powers Can't Stop The Winter World Cup In Qatar
As the tides of progress surge on, even Europe realizes its powerlessness in the face of Qatar's insistence on making the 2022 World Cup the first to be held in the winter, thus wrecking the domestic leagues' seasons. Our last hope for sanity to prevail—a defiant UEFA protecting its own highly-profi...

For Your Consideration
Send stories, photos, and anything else you might have to [email protected]....

J.K. Simmons Uses Oscar Win To Promote Calling Your Parents
As expected, J.K. Simmons took home the Supporting Actor Academy Award for his performance in Whiplash. Simmons's acceptance speech was simple and yet memorable, simply because he told a worldwide audience to call—"Don't text, don't email, call"—a parent, if they have any living ones remaining. ...

Oscar 2015 Predictions: The Categories You Actually Care About
The Oscars are Sunday! Wednesday, to help you out with your pool, Tim Grierson made predictions in all the technical categories; yesterday, Drew Magary yelled a lot. Today, we both unveil our picks for the eight major categories: you know, the ones you actually care about. Let's get to it....

Wait, Jesus Christ, There's A Different Ball Scandal? What The Fuck?
Have you been following the latest developments in the investigation into the use of shady balls during the AFC Championship? Probably not, because you're normal and football's over and it's all so confusing. But listen a second: this new stuff is weird....

The Hater’s Guide To The 2015 Oscars
Every year, the Oscars come along, and it becomes more evident that the Oscars are the worst live event on television. Other award shows are smart enough to jettison technical categories, get the nominees shitfaced, and encourage poor wardrobe choices. Meanwhile, these things are still as self-im...

Oscar Predictions 2015: The Categories No One Understands
Sunday's Academy Awards will have plenty of suspense: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor are all toss-ups at this point. Will and I will tackle those and the other major categories Friday, but today, I'm going to look at the lower-profile awards: the tech prizes, short films, etc. The...

The Qatar World Cup Will Be Held In The Winter
Bad news: the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is still happening, in Qatar. Worse news: the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will take place in November and December. ...

West Virginia Knocks Off Kansas With Last Second Spin Move And Layup
Twenty third-ranked West Virginia knocked off eighth-ranked Kansas in Morgantown tonight, in a crazed ending that saw Juwan Staten pull off a nice spin move to get free for a layup, before Kansas missed their last second attempt. Just look at those West Virginians storm the court!...

The NBA Players Union Made Two Big Decisions Yesterday
The NBA’s All-Star Weekend is mostly just a 72 hour party with some “basketball” thrown in there to give everybody a break from partying, but some important business is conducted too. Perhaps the most important is the National Basketball Player’s Association (NBPA) meeting, which happens every All-S...

How "The King Of Good Times" And Dan Snyder Brought India Cheerleading
The Cricket World Cup begins this weekend in Australia, and the rest of the globe will be paying attention as India defends its title in what should be the biggest sporting event of 2015. Domestically? We can expect, well, crickets. ...

Yes, The Grammys Are Dumb, But It's Not Beck's Fault
So everyone's gonna argue about Beck for a few days, which is a mixed blessing for everyone, Beck included. And, look. He should not have won the Grammy for Album of the Year. I can think of at least nine reasons why. This is all mildly embarrassing, and yet inevitable, as we're talking about th...

The Sochi Olympics Were Even More Of A Boondoggle Than You thought
The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, were a scam from the very start. Sochi is a resort city with mild weather that had nothing close to the infrastructure necessary to host the Olympics, yet the initial budget was only $12 billion dollars. In comparison, the budget for the 2010 Winter Olympic...

Weed Review: Will Beast Mode 2.0 Make You Feel Like Marshawn Lynch?
Did you know that a Seattle marijuana-delivery service is now offering a Marshawn Lynch-inspired strain called Beast Mode 2.0? It's true. So we got a local enthusiast to review it for us. Here are his (scattered) thoughts. ...

Whiteside On First Triple-Double: "Trying To Get My NBA2k Rating Up"
Hassan Whiteside went for 14 points, 13 boards, and 12 blocks today in a 24-minute frenetic performance that led the Heat to a 96-84 win over the Bulls today. What sparked his career day? "I'm just trying to win every game... I'm just trying to get my NBA2K rating up."...

Why You Should Still Care About Lil Wayne
Sorry 4 the Wait 2, Lil Wayne's mixtape-length apology for the fact that his new album, Tha Carter V, hasn't been released yet, isn't exactly a home run. It's remix-heavy and frankly, a little boring. But that doesn't mean you should stop caring about him....

Three More Sponsors Decide To Stop Supporting Slavery, Drop FIFA
Good news everybody! Three of FIFA's biggest sponsors—Johnson & Johnson, Castrol, and Continental Tires—confirmed to The Telegraph that they have cut their ties with FIFA, joining Sony and Emirates in declining to continue supporting slavery. As second-tier World Cup sponsors in 2014, the three co...

Boston Bars City Employees From Criticizing The Olympics
Nobody who lives in Boston actually wants the city to win its bid for the 2024 Olympic games. And yet, in a joinder agreement between the city and the United States Olympic Committee, mayor Marty Walsh has signed a contract that forbids city employees from speaking negatively about the big, the IOC,...