ap Page 1553 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Pick Pocket
Earlier this year Kottke linked a New Yorker profile on the pick pocket Apollo Robbins as well as this New York Times video:...
ESPN Fired The Guy Who Made That Genius Olbermann/Tupac Video
Remember the Keith Olbermann-as-Tupac video? It was a bit of a thing a couple of weeks ago. We posted it; so did the The Big Lead and Complex and Awful Announcing. Apparently the guy behind it—Will Schleichert—worked for ESPN. He was a PA. Emphasis on the was. He was fired last week. ...
How A Reporter Eavesdropped On Barry Bonds's Grand Jury Testimony
Ten years ago today, Barry Bonds testified before a grand jury investigating BALCO that he did not know the substances he was taking were illegal steroids. It was that claim which would lead to Bonds being indicted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, and convicted of the latter. The te...
Home Stretch: How Does Your NFL Team Stack Up On Offense And Defense?
With four weeks to go in the NFL season—and just one playoff spot clinched—it's time to take a fresh look at which teams have established themselves as the best (and worst) offensive and defensive units in the league....
No Team Can Mount A Comeback Quite Like The Warriors Can
The Golden State Warriors found themselves down 27 points to the Toronto Raptors with 9:20 left in the third quarter last night. They ended up winning the game by nine points, because when the Warriors decide to go nuclear, there is no stopping them....
Referee Accidentally Aids Israeli Basketball Team's Game-Winning Three
Down by one, Hapoel Jerusalem's Yotam Halperin hit a three-pointer with a lucky bounce to take a two-point lead over Maccabi Tel Aviv. But it took a well-placed referee for Halperin to get his game-winner....
Charts: Just How Wimpy Are NFL Coaches On Fourth Down Calls?
Over at The New York Times, Brian Burke of Advanced NFL Stats and Kevin Quealy of NYT Graphics have joined forces to create the excellent NYT 4th Down Bot. ...
How A Secret Informant Program Got Air Force's Star RB Expelled
Asher Clark remains the second leading rusher in the history of the Air Force Academy. He was kicked out of school in 2012, less than a week before he was to graduate, on charges of smoking synthetic marijuana. How the academy nailed Clark, and several other athletes on charges ranging from drug use...
The NBA's Atlantic Division Is (So Far) The Worst Division Of All Time
The Raptors, 76ers, and Knicks lost on Sunday, which means that, through 86 games, the Atlantic Division had a winning percentage of .314. You can't blame Philadelphia, whose 6-12 record has put them on track to crush its preseason over/under of 16.5 wins. Boston and Toronto were expected to be medi...
If You Want Athletes' Autographs, Invite Them To Your Wedding
Here's an RSVP posted on Reddit this morning, in which Peyton Manning regretfully declined to attend a fan's wedding. Such a polite young man!...
Longform Salutes Peter Kaplan
The writer and editor Peter Kaplan died a few days ago....
Paul George Was Out Of His Mind Last Night
Just in case you were not yet aware, Paul George is the truth. The Pacers' budding superstar proved as much last night, when he went for 43 points in a 106-102 loss to the Blazers, a game that ended with George hitting five three-pointers in the last three minutes of regulation as he mounted a furi...
Delta Bumps Entire Flight For Florida Basketball Team
About 50 passengers were told that their fully booked flight had been canceled because of a mechanical problem. That's when they noticed the Gators basketball team boarding....
Where Does Verne Lundquist Rank The Iron Bowl All-Time?
Uncle Verne was cagey about this one. He's seen a lot of sports history—more than 50 years of it—and he was understandably wary about trying to contextualize an amazing Alabama-Auburn game just two days later. But Newsday's Neil Best tried to pin him down: what's the greatest sporting event he's eve...
Appalachian State's New Logo Might Have Been Drawn By A Child
At gunpoint, I'd say the guy on the left was a sea captain, or maybe the Gorton's Fisherman. With Appalachian State moving up to the FBS next season, they needed something a little more evocative of "mountaineer." So they're switching to the guy on the right, presumably after an intense design compe...
50 Years Of NCAA Football Realignment, Visualized
This Saturday's SEC championship game comes freighted with the awkwardness of college football realignment. Missouri, representing the "SEC East," will take on Auburn, representing the "SEC West," even though the latter lies a couple hundred miles closer to the Atlantic Ocean. Wacky!...
Olympic Diver Tom Daley Announces He's Dating A Man
Nineteen-year-old British diver Tom Daley, who won a Bronze at the London Games and became both heartthrob and gay icon, announced in a Youtube video this morning that he's in a relationship with another man. ...
Fight In Arrowhead Stadium Parking Lot Leaves One Man Dead
Two suspects are in custody after a man was killed in a fight in the Arrowhead Stadium parking lot during today's Broncos-Chiefs game....
Did Rob Ford Steal Someone's Seat At The Bills Game?
Mayor Rob Ford is attending today's Falcons-Bills game in Toronto, but he's apparently not in his assigned seat. Musician Matt Mays went to his seat to find that Ford's butt occupied it—look at him enjoying a chicken wing!—and faced a conundrum. Do you kick out the mayor for taking your spot?...
You Can't Give Yourself A Nickname, Ron Rivera
"Analytical Ron" might be one of the worst nicknames ever. Ron Rivera is bad at nicknames. Stick to sports, guy. "Riverboat Ron" has the cool alliteration, and someone already made a sign for it....