atlantic Page 10 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The New Best Place For A Home Run Derby: An Aircraft Carrier
This morning I lamented that our country is falling woefully behind in the "playing sports where sports aren't meant to be played" arms race. Several readers were quick to point out that I was wrong, and America continues to rock faces. Yesterday, the Class A South Atlantic League held the first r...
Minor League Home Run Derby To Be Held On Flight Deck Of Old Aircraft Carrier
The Naval aircraft carrier USS Yorktown participated in Pacific Theater battle campaigns during both World War II and the Vietnam War. Next month, the old battleship will serve as a launching pad of a different kind....
Down And Out In Baseball's Indie Leagues; Or, What Made Tommy John Want To Rake The Infield?
A dispatch from our correspondent with the Bridgeport Bluefish, an unaffiliated team in the Atlantic League....
Better Dirty Than Humbled: The Lights Go Down On The Bernard Hopkins Show
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.—For years, Bernard Hopkins has entered the ring for each of his fights wearing a black balaclava, only his eyes visible, arms crossed overhead in an "X" to signify his nickname, "The Executioner." Outside the ring, he's a chatty bald man with a flattened nose and kindly eyes, now...
Florida State, Vanderbilt, And Michigan State Are Going Dancing, But They Would Have Been Anyway
This brings to a close our series highlighting teams celebrating their conference championships, and like most televised entertainment, it comes to a somewhat anticlimactic end. Sure, FSU won the ACC for the first time ever, and Vanderbilt won the SEC tournament for the first time since 1951 (thou...
St. Bonaventure Is Going Dancing
The past ten years have been mostly forgettable for St. Bonaventure, the tenure's nadir being a 2-26 season in 2005 that came in the wake of scandal and suicide. Last season's 16-15 record was the first time the Bonnies finished above .500 since 2002, and their last NCAA appearance was in 2000....
Loyola (Maryland) Is Going Dancing
Congratulations to the Loyola (Md.) Greyhounds, who in beating Fairfield 48-44 won the MAAC tournament and punched their ticket to the dance. [ESPN2]...
Belmont Is Going Dancing
Congratulations to the Belmont Bruins, who in beating Florida Gulf Coast 83-69 won the Atlantic Sun tournament and punched their ticket to the dance. [ESPN2]...
Because Any Time You Beat The 63rd Best Team In College Basketball, You Have To Rush The Court
George Mason had a miracle tourney run six seasons ago, didn't receive a single vote in this week's AP Top 25, and are ranked 63rd in KenPom's ratings. Florida Atlantic students apparently didn't get the memo, and stormed the court after their overtime win over the Patriots this weekend. Because y...
Don Johnson, The Champagne King And The Beast Of Blackjack, Has Once Again Punished An Atlantic City Casino
After a few months of suspiciously restrained behavior, blackjack savant Don Johnson has returned. He was spotted in October in Atlantic City stuffing fistfuls of casino chips into his gullet. Just grinding them up between his world-class molars. No, I made that up. He was actually cashing in fistfu...
The Idea Of Paying College Athletes Is Having Its Moment
The aftershocks from "The Shame of College Sports," Taylor Branch's devastating cover story in The Atlantic, continue to ripple. Two other pieces are out today advancing the notion that college athletes deserve financial compensation. ...
Great Moments In NCAA Hypocrisy: How Penn State Defended Its Integrity, Seven Years After It Sold Out (Updated)
There is too much amazing material in Taylor Branch's Atlantic piece about the NCAA for us to handle it all at once, so we're just going to keep pulling shiny gems from the treasure trove whenever a new one catches our eye. So: The piece begins with a scene in 2001 where legendary shoe-company fixer...
I-Team: Which College Basketball Team Guaranteed A Walk-Out If They Made The NCAA Final?
We gave you a cheat sheet to The Atlantic's long NCAA takedown this morning, but we left one surprising bit out, to which reader Aaron has directed us....
The Tropicana Casino In Atlantic City Is Being Devoured By Sharks
The Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City was bankrupt in 2009 when billionaire corporate raider Carl Icahn sidled up with $200 million to buy the joint. After New Jersey approved Icahn's bid in 2010, the Tropicana embraced a new strategy: high stakes table games. (You can now bet $50,000 on ...
Meet The Blackjack Superhero Who Took Atlantic City For $15 Million
Two weeks ago, we learned about the gambling ace who saddled the Tropicana Casino and Resort with a record $5.8 million loss at the blackjack tables in April. There was much speculation about his identity. Now, there is an answer. The Press of Atlantic City scored an interview with the gambler, an O...
Mysterious Blackjack Savant Single-Handedly Busts Tropicana Casino
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement yesterday reported April revenue for casinos in Atlantic City. The numbers, down across the board, are disheartening for the second-biggest gambling market in the country. Heartening for the rest of the world, however, is that the Tropicana Casino and Re...
Your Pre-Selection Final Four College Basketball Open Thread
In the waning hours before brackets start getting filled out, the lone question amid four conference championship games is whether Penn State, Dayton or Richmond would get into the NCAA Tournament with a loss. Penn State and Richmond both look good, but today's likely a play-in for Dayton, which fi...
The Most Entertaining Meltdown By A College Football Color Guy In History
Spencer Hall asks us to keep Florida Atlantic color commentator Dave Lamont's spazgasm in perspective: "After all, it's not every day you challenge an entire pressbox to a fight in the middle of a game." Noted.[SBNATION]...
LeBron's Departure Helps Tea Party, Political Writers In Desperate Need Of LeBron Angle
It's early, but this story on The Atlantic's web site might just be the most inane, half-assed piece of LeBron punditry you'll read today. Here, I'll summarize: LeBron made Ohio angry. Angry people join the Tea Party. The end....
They Don't Call Floyd Mayweather "Money" For Nothing
"Just gambling a bit," Mayweather Tweeted not 10 minutes ago. I'm not saying anyone should rob Floyd Mayweather. I'm just saying, now's probably a pretty good time to do it....