2012 Page 21 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Now Kobe Bryant Has Trouble With His Camera, Has To Be Told To Remove The Lens Cap
Like we said yesterday when we noticed a professional photographer covering the Olympics had the same sort of trouble, this kind of oopsie can happen to anyone. Including Kobe Bryant, who was caught by Bravo's cameras asking some guy for help at the Roger Federer match, only to be told right away ...

Ethiopian Steeplechaser Slams Into Race's Final Hurdle, Leaves Track In A Wheelchair
Here's pretty much the definition of "agony of defeat": Ethiopian steeplechase competitor Birhan Getahun, already far at the back of his qualifying heat at the end of the race, fails to navigate the final hurdle and slams down to the track. (Steeplechase hurdles, unlike those used in the hurdle ev...

Everything You Never Needed To Know About Trampoline
Trampolining is not just for cute foxes in viral videos—it's a crazypants real sport that made its Olympic debut in 2000. As Canadian Karen Cockburn, the bronze medalist at those games, said after winning her medal, "A lot of people don't really know what trampoline is, they think it's a toy you jum...

Olympics Field Guide: Zac Purchase & Mark Hunter: Rowing's Odd Couple
Names: Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter...

In Danger Of Falling Behind, British Cyclist Intentionally Crashes To Get A Restart
The British men won gold in the team sprint, in a world record time. But it almost didn't happen. The Brits could have been eliminated in the first round, if not for a move just as underhanded as anything pulled by those badminton women kicked out of the Olympics....

German Rower Quits Games Over Nazi Boyfriend Allegations
German rower Nadja Drygalla has left the Olympic Village following a media firestorm in her home country about her boyfriend's ties to an extremist right-wing political party. (Drygalla is the third rower from the left seen above.)...

NBC Poll Finds People Love NBC's Tape-Delayed Olympics
We've all come to terms with NBC's tape-delayed Olympic broadcasts, right? After a solid week of bitching, we've accepted that NBC's not a charity, that they're in this to make money, and prime time is the only time to make money. (And the ratings are bonkers. Despite projections of a $200 million l...

This Is The Coolest Volleyball Play We've Ever Seen
We heard about this when it happened two days ago, but it took awhile to track down the video. When we finally saw it, it was a shock. Who knew you were allowed to kick the ball in volleyball?...

The Hussars Are Coming
Here's a Polish volleyball fan in a rather interesting outfit. I didn't actually know what this was, so I consulted Twitter who informed me of the legendary Polish Winged Hussars. I'm impressed with the build quality but mostly with the fact I'm quite sure there's a cache of beer stored in the cent...

Your Daily Olympic Schedule: August 3 - Day 8
In effort to save you the time that it takes to both find and decipher the NBC Olympics schedule while trying to figure out which events are even worth watching, we've created our own (better) daily schedule of Olympic events. All events are listed in Eastern Daylight Time (no math) at the time tha...

NBC Aired A Promo Featuring A Monkey Doing Gymnastics At The Most Inopportune Time
After Bob Costas wound down tonight's Olympics coverage by editorializing about Gabby Douglas's all-around gold medal ending stereotypes and tearing down racial barriers, NBC followed it up immediately with this promo for Animal Practice featuring a monkey doing gymnastics. That's... unfortunate....

Gabby Douglas's Beam Performance Gives Us The Defining Photo Of The London Olympics
I'm just not certain how sports photography gets any better than this. Greg Bull of the Associated Press deserves every Sports Photo of the Year Award coming his way in a few months' time. Gabby Douglas gave a historic performance today in the women's gymnastics all-around, and this is a photo worth...

Women's Gymnastics: Gabby Douglas Leaves The Rest Of The World Behind
Where the Olympic men's gymnastics all-around final had been a gradual, predictable victory for favorite Kohei Uchimura, the women's final came down to the last routine and the last score. When the tabulation was done, Gabby Douglas of the United States took the title, becoming the first woman of co...

This Was The Only Positive For Nigeria In The Basketball Game They Just Lost To The U.S. By 83 Points
The final was 156-73, and as we watched the end of it here in the Deadspin office, we kept marveling at how Andre Iguodala, James Harden, Deron Williams, and Kevin Love kept chucking three-pointers in the final minutes. It was as if the U.S. would lose if it didn't win by 70....

Fake, Jingoistic, And Stupid: Gymnastics Coverage Is The Worst Part Of NBC's Olympics
If you have a full-time job, no privacy at work, and/or a boss who cares about productivity, you probably didn't spend two hours in the middle of the day, like I did, watching the women's all-around Olympic gymnastics final. This means that you get to see it tonight on NBC, with routines sprinkled b...

What Is North Korea Saying About The Olympics Today?
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, everybody's second-favorite Korea, hasn't won any new medals since we last checked in. But that hasn't stopped the state-run news agency from reporting breathlessly on their Olympic success....

Michael Phelps Three-Peats In The 200 Individual Medley
Michael Phelps became the first male swimmer to win the same event in three successive Olympics when he held off American teammate Ryan Lochte to win the 200 Individual Medley with a time of 1:54.27, just off Lochte's world record of 1:54 flat. It was a result that, if his reaction immediately afte...

Call Him "Baby Shoes," ’Cuz Ryan Lochte Just Got Bronzed
First he gets outraced by a 16-year-old Chinese girl who's not even in the pool with him. Now here's Ryan Lochte, in the middle lane above, getting beaten to the wall in the 200-meter breastbackstroke by teammate Tyler Clary (in an Olympic record 1:53.41) and Japan's Ryosuke Irie, both of whom passe...

Why Your Team Sucks 2012: Indianapolis Colts
Some people are fans of the Indianapolis Colts. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Indianapolis Colts. This 2012 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read the other Why Your Team Sucks 2012 previews here....