ap Page 1568 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Moment The Pirates Reached The Playoffs
This photo, by the AP's Charles Rex Arbogast, shows Russell Martin just after applying the tag to Nate Schierholtz for the final out of Pittsburgh's 2-1 victory of Chicago. With Mike DiMuro's punchout*, the Pirates are in the postseason for the first time since 1992....

Vikings Owners Must Pay $85 Million For "Organized Crime-Type" Fraud
The owners of the Minnesota Vikings were ordered to pay nearly $85 million in damages to former business partners they defrauded with "evil motive", and will face a criminal investigation into their actions, which a judge declared violated racketeering laws. There's a chance this ruling could hold u...

Hear A Bengals Announcer Lose His Mind Over The Go-Ahead Fumble Return
Late in the Bengals win over Green Bay, Johnathan Franklin took a fourth-and-one carry only to fumble, see the ball scooped up by Terence Newman, and returned 58 yards for what would be the winning score. Exciting? You bet. Almost too much to handle for Cincinnati's radio color guy....

The Broncos' Running Backs Played Rock-Paper-Scissors For A Touchdown
Denver's tailback Cerberus seemingly exists only to screw fantasy teams. It can seem like carries are decided by a game of chance. But that'd be ludicrous, right?...

The Astros Drew A 0.00 Nielsen Rating
Last week we cringed to the news that the Astros drew an average local viewership of 1,000 people for a game—less than for an out-of-market WNBA game on at the same time. How bad could it get for yesterday's 9-2 loss at Cleveland, which went up against the Texans' game? Pretty damn bad....

Gallery: All The Tacky Crap MLB Teams Gave Mariano Rivera This Season
It's looking pretty likely that Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer and one-pitch pitcher in MLB history, will play his last game this Sunday. He holds the saves record at 652, but this only scratches the surface of his statistical dominance. His 2.21 ERA translates to a park- and era-adjusted ERA+ ...

TMZ: Ravens In Stripper-Instigated Party Bus Brawl
It was reportedly Jacoby Jones that got hurt ("Questionable–Bashed over head by stripper"), but this is just more evidence that Bryant McKinnie's social life needs its own Hard Knocks camera crew....

G.O.A.T
It ain't cheap but Taschen Books' tribute to Muhammad Ali, Greatest of All Time, sure is fucking fabulous. ...

Appreciating Larry Merchant's Newspaper Career
Earlier this year Stan Hochman paid tribute to Larry Merchant, who was a great sports editor at the Philly Daily News and a terrific columnist before he turned to TV:...

Sabres-Leafs Game Featured Line Brawl And Goalie Fight
Preseason hockey might not count for anything, but the Sabres and Leafs didn't care, getting into a line brawl in the third period of tonight's game....

Royals Win In 10 On Justin Maxwell's Walk-Off, Pimp-Hit Grand Slam
It wasn't a good day for the person doing the closed captioning on the Royals' TV broadcast. ...

Vontaze Burfict Draws A Penalty With A Ball Tap
Packers-Bengals has turned into a shootout complete with pushing, shoving, and a ball tap the officials never saw....

The Panthers' Defense Is Battering Eli Manning Around
Halfway through the third quarter, the Giants have generated 20 yards of offense. Part of that is thanks to the Panthers' front seven, which has harassed and pressured Manning....

Which TV Market's Getting Screwed Today? Your Week 3 NFL Viewing Maps
A guide to the best and worst of the NFL slate (and to which fans are stuck with the most of worst). Maps via 506sports.com. ...

How Active Players Are Protesting The NCAA Today
A small group of players scattered across college football are protesting the NCAA by wearing the letters "APU" on their uniforms today. The letters stand for All Players United, a slogan created by the player advocacy group National Collegiate Players Association....

Law Student Writes Brief After Richardson Trade Ruins His Fantasy Team
The biggest loser (at least short-term) in the Trent Richardson-to-Indianapolis deal? Browns fans. Second biggest? Anyone with Ahmad Bradshaw on their fantasy team. ...

Arian Foster Says He Took Money At Tennessee
Texans running back Arian Foster admits (maybe "admits" isn't the right word, because public opinion is swinging away from shaming the athletes, toward shaming the system that facilitates and encourages it) that he took money while he was a student at UT. ...

The NFL's Concussion Settlement Is A Disaster
As currently constituted, the NFL's $765 million settlement with former players over the league's handling of brain trauma would not include those who died before 2006, according to Outside The Lines. As the plaintiffs include those who played as early as the 1940s, that means a large number of form...

Here's Willie Mays, MVP, Eating Breakfast In His Little Apartment
In 1954, Willie Mays was 23 years old. That year he hit 41 home runs, had a .345 average, and was the National League MVP. And here he is, at his rented apartment in a Harlem walk-up with his landlady, one Mrs. Goosby, looking protectively over his shoulder as he eats....
