as Page 1829 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Josh Hamilton Says Dallas Isn't A Baseball Town, "True Baseball Fans" Won't Boo Him When He Returns
Josh Hamilton's in Anaheim now, after five up-and-down seasons in Texas. It was mostly down at the end, as the Rangers choked away the division and bowed out in a one-game playoff, with Hamilton hearing boos down the stretch for his declining numbers. (He blamed it in part on quitting tobacco.)...

When Is It OK For A Coach To Shove A Player?
Early in the second half, with Cal down 12 to USC at home, head coach Mike Montgomery called a timeout. When junior Allen Crabbe, the Golden Bears' leading scorer, reached the bench he was met with a sharp shove in the chest. Crabbe and Montgomery exchanged angry words, and Crabbe had to be separ...

Time To Retire The Verducci Effect: What <em>Really</em> Predicts Pitcher Injuries?
Originally published in Baseball Prospectus....

Marshall Henderson Gave The Best Postgame Press Conference Ever
After Ole Miss picked off Georgia in overtime Saturday night, reporters covering the game wanted to talk to Marshall Henderson, and not just because he's the most reliably entertaining player in college basketball. In the game, the Rebels had trailed by eight with 3:37 remaining, but Henderson score...

Tim Lincecum Had A Very Zen Offseason
Now that spring training has officially kicked off, it's time for baseball writers to spend the next two months filling column space while absolutely nothing of consequence happens. Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal got started today, asking various members of the San Francisco Giants to share their favori...

ESPN Reports On ESPN Negotiation; ESPN Spokesman Declines Comment
Here is an ESPN.com story written by ESPN college football reporter Brett McMurphy about the battle between ESPN and NBC Sports for Big East broadcast rights:...

A Text Message From A South African Rugby Player May Be At The Center Of The Pistorius Shooting
Over the weekend, we learned of a South African rugby player, Francois Hougaard, who may or may not have once dated the woman Oscar Pistorius shot and killed, Reeva Steenkamp. According to one report, Pistorius and Steenkamp were fighting over a text message from Hougaard early Thursday morning, sho...

If You Really Want To Secure A Rebound, Make It A Flying-Kick Rebound
Want to ensure you never get outrebounded? Just follow Illinois State Redbirds forward Jackie Carmichael's lead. There was almost no chance Carmichael would not come down with it, but almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades....

Danica Patrick Becomes First Woman In History To Win The Pole Position At The Daytona 500
One year ago, Danica Patrick won the pole at Daytona for the lesser circuit Nationwide Series. Today she won the pole at NASCAR's most prestigious race—scheduled next Sunday, February 24 at 1:00 p.m.—with a lap of 196.434 mph....

Maryland Scores Stunning Upset: Makes Mike Krzyzewski Sound Reasonable
Maryland upset Duke yesterday 83-81 and the students rushed the court after Quinn Cook's desperation half-court shot clanged off the rim. It was a good game made great by the history between the two schools thanks to conference affiliation. Both Maryland and Duke were charter members of the ACC when...

Reports: A Bloodied Cricket Bat Was Found At Oscar Pistorius's Home And Reeva Steenkamp's Skull Was "Crushed"
South Africa's City Press is reporting that a bloodied cricket bat was found in Pistorius's home and that it may have been used against his girlfriend of four months, Reeva Steenkamp. Police are investigating several different scenarios involving the bat, including whether it was used against Steen...

Sparkler-Brandishing Man Leads "Fuck Duke" Chant
There is something about this video that is just...pleasing. I can't tell if it's the unedited, found-footage peek-into-life-as-it-occurs vibe, the contrast of light triumphant over dark or something else....

Your All-Star Saturday Night Open Thread
All-Star Saturday is fun, but it unfolds super...slowly. For the hours between the skills contest and the three-point contest, the decades between the three-point contest and the dunk contest, and the eons between individual dunks in the dunk contest, an open thread....

How Clark Olson Beats Everyone Else In Fantasy Everything
The guy who just beat everyone else in America at all the fantasy sports, again, is a computer science professor who is not so much into trades but who is really, really into spreadsheets. Clark Olson, the 2012 winner of ESPN's omnibus Uber Challenge fantasy game, again, tallied the high score acros...

High School Students Vote To Change Redskins Mascot Despite Protests From Parents And Alumni
In the Washington Redskins' fight agains the perception that their mascot, a racist caricature and slur, is a racist caricature and slur, they have enlisted the aid of various high schools around the nation who use the same mascot, mostly to act as a shield. This has been the defense for about a wee...

Carl Pavano's Freak Spleen Injury Nearly Killed Him
Live by the freak injury, nearly die by the freak injury: On January 12, Carl Pavano slipped on some ice outside his Vermont home, fell onto the handle of his snow shovel, and after taking a moment to recover, went about his business until he couldn't anymore:...

Mike Piazza's Book Tour Produced An Excellent Illustration Of The Absurdity Of Steroid Handwringing
Mike Piazza wrote a memoir, and if early releases are any indication, it's mostly about how weird a human being he is. Perhaps because of his eccentric streak, many apparently hoped that the book would be a tell-all about the steroid era, like Jose Canseco's Juiced from someone who isn't (as much of...

Usain Bolt Continues To Move His Feet Incredibly Quickly, Even When He's Playing Basketball
The hijinks were fairly low-wattage on the first night of the NBA's All-Star Weekend— the Rising Stars game saw Kenneth Faried score 40 points on 18 of 22 shooting and Kyrie Irving do this to Brandon Knight, while United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan scored 11 points in the celebrity g...

It's College Baseball's Opening Day, And The Umpires Are Already Falling Over Their Own Feet
Believe it or not, there are a few of us who really do get excited for college baseball's opening day. (This may be a Florida thing. Being able to see live baseball in mid-February in gorgeous weather is tough to turn down.) While the players may be fully-trained and ready for the field, the umpir...

You Know Spring Training Is Here When You Read Sentences Like "Denard Span Said He Started Screaming And Making Noises To Discourage The Bird"
There is no baseball, no real, meaningful baseball for another 44 days. But the dead zone of the sports calendar has quickened considerably by the advent of spring training. Camps in Arizona and Florida stir to life, as co-workers who haven't seen each other since September get back together for som...