8 Page 72 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

FIFA Investigator Blasts Report Based On His Own Investigation
As expected, the report based on FIFA's probe has largely cleared Russia, Qatar, and all active FIFA officials of claims of corruption in the World Cup bidding process. But here's one no one saw coming: the man who actually conducted the investigation says the report is "incomplete and erroneous,"...

Spoiler Alert: After FIFA Probe, Qatar Gets To Keep Its World Cup
The summary of a year-long investigation into the bidding process for the next two World Cups will not be released until tomorrow, but the gist has already leaked via the English press. Basically: everyone involved was corrupt, but the 2018 and 2022 tournaments will not be taken away from Russia or ...

FIFA's Corruption Report Is Being Kept Secret For Very Dumb Reasons
Former U.S. attorney Michael J. Garcia finished his investigation into allegations of bribery in the bidding process for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups earlier this year, and he has made it known that he would like the report to be made public. The report is currently being kept secret by Hans-Jo...

Zach Mettenberger Looks Ready, Titans Fans
Your new starting quarterback looks like a winner, or a man about to make a scene at Mapco because they stopped beer sales. It's one of those....

FIFA's Independent Investigator Wants His Corruption Report Released
FIFA hired an outside investigator to conduct a probe into allegations of bribery in the bidding process for the Russia and Qatar World Cups. That investigator, a former U.S. federal prosecutor, has finally submitted his findings to FIFA with the expectation that they would eventually be released to...

Apparently 1860 Munich Really Will Wear This Oktoberfest Kit In-Game
When I first saw this alleged 1860 Munich uniform, inspired by Oktoberfest and mimicking the Bavarian national costume, I thought it must be a joke. Gingham, collared shirts? Lederhosen? But it's real. And I think I kinda love it now....

How To Handle A Repo: Chapter 1 Of Elmore Leonard's <em>Unknown Man No. 89</em>
Elmore Leonard had been writing for 22 years when his agent, the legendary H.N. Swanson, told him to read George V. Higgins's seminal crime novel about the Boston underworld, The Friends of Eddie Coyle. This was in 1972; Leonard was 46. He'd worked in advertising and written westerns—stories and ...

FIFA Stands With Russia
In response to calls from critics to strip Russia of the 2018 World Cup for its ongoing disastrous human rights record, FIFA has come out firmly on Russia's side....

FIFA's Report On World Cup Bidding Corruption Won't Be Made Public
We all had a grand old time in Brazil, didn't we? But now FIFA has to stop ignoring the fact that many (most?) observers believe the bidding process for the forthcoming Russia and Qatar World Cups was fixed, or at least flawed. In response to the clamoring for an update, FIFA has released a statemen...

Here's The Official Movie Of Diego Maradona's 1986 World Cup
Diego Maradona shimmies and jukes. He drags the ball with him. The camera pans from his feet to his face, tracking him as he goes. Is he heading toward the goal or dribbling harmlessly across the field? I can't tell, and neither can the English defenders he slides by so easily. The goalkeeper is not...

10 Young Players Who Could Be On The USMNT At The 2018 World Cup
In the last calendar year alone, Jürgen Klinsmann called in over 60 different players for roster spots, as he tinkered with his final 23 for the USMNT. Granted, we knew players like Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, and Michael Bradley had unquestioned spots, but then again, so did Landon Donovan. Plenty o...


Why Germany Won't Hand The U.S. A Draw
After the madness of Sunday's U.S.-Portugal game, Jürgen Klinsmann was repeatedly asked whether his squad and Germany—both needing only a draw to advance—would settle matters with a handshake deal and noncompetitive match on Thursday. Klinsmann's response was pitch perfect: "The U.S. is known to giv...

John Carlos: "Individuals Have To Stand Up"
Iconic. There is no other way to describe the picture—that picture—from the 1968 Olympics. Two of the best athletes in the world, confirmed just moments before, stand on the medals podium raising their gloved fists in protest....

Don Draper's '80s Reboot: The Cutthroat Seductions Of <em>Halt And Catch Fire</em>
"It's just a computer!" Mad Men's Peggy Olsen shouted recently, on both the most prestigious show on television and a shrewd ad for the new show vying to replace it....

Algerian 800m Runner Loses Race After Celebrating Too Early
At less than two minutes, the 800 meters is not an especially long race. That didn't keep Algerian star Taoufik Makhloufi from cruising the last few strides at yesterday's Diamond League competition in Shanghai, waving his arms and wagging his tongue in victory. That premature celebration cost him t...


Plimpton's Moscow Games
The latest installment of Michael MacCambridge's "Director's Cut" series over at Grantland gives George Plimpton writing about the 1980 Olympics:...

Who Was America Rooting For Last Night?
As it's done for the every round of the playoffs, Facebook put together a map showing where each Super Bowl team had more Facebook fans (above). The Broncos—an older, more centralized team with two NFL championships—had more national support, while Seahawks fandom was mostly contained to the Pacific...

1980 ESPN Report About Pool Shark Is Ron Burgundyishly Hilarious
On a slow Christmas news day, WAVY-TV (Hampton Roads, Va.) unearthed this gem from 1980: longtime sports director Bruce Rader's feature on a pool shark who happened to be female. It aired on ESPN, which was just a year old at the time and which in those days would apparently ask local stations for s...