ap Page 1668 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Yerrrr Out-Out-Out-Out!: An Animated Gallery Of Every MLB Umpire's Strike-Three Call (Part 1)
At last, after 72 entries, we've completed our Better Know An Umpire series. We hope you've enjoyed learning more about the human elements in blue, the men who wander anonymously through the sport, even as they make the game all about them. Next time some stooge in a chest protector screws your team...

Caption Contest: What Are These Mets Fans Up To?
It's Friday, and we feel like giving away stuff. Take your best shot at captioning this screencap, and we'll award the best one an actual prize of some crap from our desk. We'll announce the winner Monday. Have at it!...

Rockets Help Finalize Jeremy Lin's $29 Million Deal With The Knicks
Jeremy Lin signed a four-year, $28.8-million offer sheet with the Houston Rockets tonight that serves little purpose beyond determining how much the Knicks will be paying him through the 2014-2015 season. Even with today's revelation that New York had its sights set on signing Jason Kidd, there is l...

Usain Bolt Is Lookin' Kinda Human
Usain Bolt's been the fastest non-jetpacked man in the world for four years now, and at 25, is still in a sprinter's prime. But a funny thing has happened over the last calendar year. At the 2011 World Championships in South Korea, Bolt was disqualified in the 100m final for a false start, and the g...

Going It Alone In The Tour De France Sucks, Even When You Have A Page 3 Girl In Your Corner
You can't win the tour alone. The flat stages featured in the first week tend to be fast, and feature a peloton riding as a single group through often narrow town streets. This is one reason crashes are most frequent during the first week. These stages favor the sprint specialists, and if the team h...

Zach Parise And Ryan Suter Slip Through A Massive NHL Loophole, Before It Closes In A Few Months
The Minnesota Wild signed both Zach Parise and Ryan Suter yesterday, and more power to them. Hockey's always better when a Minnesota team is good. The formerly thrifty Wild already have the second-highest payroll in the league, but their salary cap hits won't be nearly as brutal as they ought to be....

Players Sue NFL Over Bounty Punishments
Grab your popcorn. Two days after upholding his own disciplinary rulings against four Saints players for their roles in the bounty scandal, the NFLPA has filed a lawsuit challenging both the decision, and Goodell's authority to make it. The union is suing on behalf of Anthony Hargrove, Will Smith, a...

A Hypnotic Look At Every Goal In The NHL Playoffs
Part art, part statistic in motion, this living infographic from Bård Edlund is a soothing chronological tally of every single goal in this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs. Especially keep an eye on the puck diarrhea of that first round Flyers-Penguins series. It's a nice alternative to the real thing...

One Female Tigers Fan Was Really Letting It All Hang Out Last Night
The weather in Detroit's been in the mid-90s this week, high enough to encourage wearing as little clothing to the ballpark as possible—even amidst a rainstorm that delayed the game two and a half hours. The wait was worth it for Tigers fans, who stuck around to admire yet another command Justin Ve...

Steve Nash Is Headed To The Los Angeles Lakers
Looks like point guard Steve Nash isn't going to the Raptors or the Knicks. He's going to the Los Angeles Lakers, who've agreed to a sign-and-trade with the Phoenix Suns, in exchange for multiple future picks. John Gambadoro of 620 KTAR in Phoenix was the first to report the news, followed by ESPN's...

Prophet Or Troll? Ron Jaworski Names Joe Flacco The 9th-Best NFL QB
Remember how Ron Jaworski had Matthew Stafford 14th on his list of current NFL quarterbacks? The trolling had only begun. Jaws lists Joe Flacco ninth, and cites that noted cannon of a right arm....

Better Know An Umpire: Hunter Wendelstedt
Welcome to Better Know An Umpire, an effort to educate ourselves on the human elements who have ultimate decision-making power over some 2,500 Major League Baseball games a year. (All cumulative statistics are through the 2011 season, unless otherwise stated.)...

How To Eat 1 Gallon, 9 Ounces Of Ice Cream In 12 Minutes Without Getting A Headache: The Secrets Of Ed "Cookie" Jarvis
Tell Me When It's Over is an interview series in which we ask former athletes about the moment they knew their playing days were over. Today: Ed "Cookie" Jarvis, a 46-year-old real estate agent, married father of two, cancer survivor, and retired competitive eater....

Ron Washington Doesn't Like This One Bit
The offensive juggernaut that is the Texas Rangers found themselves on the other side of the coin last night, falling behind to the White Sox 18-0 before scratching two of their own runs across the plate. Another sub-par performance by Roy Oswalt is only part of the story, as a generally-robust Ran...

Deron Williams Will Re-Sign With The Brooklyn Nets For $100 Million
Happy Fourth of July, Nets fans! Looks like that Joe Johnson trade earlier today actually was the start of something good. Word just came down via Deron Williams' Twitter account that he's decided to re-up with the team. Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reports it's for five years and $100 million. Even i...

At The Tour De France, A Star Rises (Then Does A Stupid Celebration)
Stage 3 of the 2012 edition of the Tour de France was taken by 22-year-old rising star Peter Sagan—the youngest winner of a Tour de France stage since Lance Armstrong did it at the age of 21 in 1993. Sagan has now won two stages, and you can expect him to win a couple more this tour (if not this wee...

Better Know An Umpire: John Hirschbeck
Welcome to Better Know An Umpire, an effort to educate ourselves on the human elements who have ultimate decision-making power over some 2,500 Major League Baseball games a year. (All cumulative statistics are through the 2011 season, unless otherwise stated.)...

Raptors Sign Landry Fields Solely To Cockblock The Knicks On Steve Nash
Marc Stein reports that the Raptors have agreed to terms with Knicks RFA guard Landry Fields, at three years for around $20 million. That's exactly the sort of backloaded, poison pill deal we wrote about yesterday—the Knicks have the right to match the offer, but probably not the financial wherewith...

Better Know An Umpire: CB Bucknor
Welcome to Better Know An Umpire, an effort to educate ourselves on the human elements who have ultimate decision-making power over some 2,500 Major League Baseball games a year. (All cumulative statistics are through the 2011 season, unless otherwise stated.)...

"I'm Gay," Says Megan Rapinoe. "That's Nice," Says Everyone.
Entertainment Weekly just had a big story on the new art of coming out—quietly, almost as an afterthought. And it takes nearly 300 words into Out's story on U.S. midfielder Megan Rapinoe to touch on her oreintation. And even then it's subtle, almost as if an athlete's sexuality isn't their defining ...