bo Page 695 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Your Saturday Open Thread Smorgasbord
Here is the open thread smorgasbord. The only NHL game of the day begins now as the Rangers and Capitals face off in Game 4. Baseball picks up at 1:00 p.m., followed shortly by the NBA playoffs starting with the Pacers and Magic at 2:00 p.m. From there we have more basketball, baseball and the Kent...
Cyndi Lauper Is Still Alive, Cursing Like A Sailor At Kentucky Derby Event
The Kentucky Derby is this afternoon and nothing says "prestigious first leg of the Triple Crown" like involving Cyndi Lauper in some low-rent celebratory parade....
Someone Just Paid $418K For The Bill Buckner World Series Ball
The Buckner ball has a weird and winding history since it changed the baseball world on October 25, 1986. Until today, it had been in the possession of songwriter Seth Swirsky for the past 12 years, but its initial history is a little more interesting:...
The Perfect Comic-Book Movie. <em>The Avengers</em>, Reviewed.
1. The Avengers is a superhero movie so fun, full of so much pure fanboy-wank joy wrapped up in an accessible, relentlessly entertaining package, that I'm not sure anybody needs to make any more comic-book movies; this one might wrap it up. (One suspects they'll still find a way.) Made by and for—bu...
How The Red Sox Goose The Numbers To Maintain Their Sellout Streak
The Boston Red Sox have Major League Baseball's longest streak of consecutive sold out games, at least according to the Boston Red Sox. The Sox claim their mark stands at 723 games, extending back to May 2003, and the notion of it probably strikes most people as somewhat reasonable: The team has enj...
What Movies From the '90s Will Critics Include In <em>Sight & Sound</em>'s Top 10 (AKA The Only Poll That Matters)?
These days, there are so many film polls and online Top 10 lists that the idea of ranking movies can seem rather old hat. But amid all that list-bait, there is one movie poll taken more seriously than all others: Sight & Sound's once-a-decade poll of the greatest films of all time. The British film ...
Grandpa Was A Baller: The Weird, Wonderful Tales Of An Early NBA Player, Who Happens To Be My Grandfather
Republished from The Classical....
Brian McCann Hit A Grand Slam Off Roy Halladay, Got Bopped In The Face By A Teammate As Reward
Last night's 15-13 extra innings Braves win over the Phillies game was weird. For one, it's the second-most runs ever allowed in a game started by Roy Halladay. (The record is 17, per commenter below.) Halladay also gave up a grand slam to Atlanta's Brian McCann, the first such homer since Evan Lon...
If You're In New York Tonight, Come Listen To Sportswriters Talk Dogs, Kids, And Fandom
This month's edition of Gelf's terrific Varsity Letters reading series brings together Josh Dean (he wrote this and appears in the above video), Mark Hyman (a chronicler of youth sports), Matt Wasowski (read about him here), and, if you so choose, you, dear reader! 7:30 p.m. tonight at Le Poisson ...
Red Sox Sign Mark Prior, Ready To Party Like It's 2003
It's hard to believe that despite all the comeback attempts from former Cubs pitcher Mark Prior, he hasn't actually pitched in the Major Leagues since the summer of 2006. Since then, he's tried to latch on with the Padres, Yankees, and Rangers, never once making it to The Show. Now the Red Sox are t...
The Worst Summer Movies: The Ones Your Mom Will Like
Somewhere in the world, maybe in a dusty old rotting liberal-arts faculty lounge, maybe in the office where they make that McSweeney's-Grantland Quarterly thing, someone is really excited about The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It's a "light" comedy opening Friday that stars Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Ma...
Iowa Girl Takes Life-Sized Cardboard Cutout Of Tim Tebow To Prom
Rachel Bird of Kingsley, Iowa, didn't have a date for her prom on Saturday. She really wanted to go with Tim Tebow. She tried asking him to go via Twitter. She tried contacting his agent. She also tried the Jets. Nothing....
Fabrice Muamba Returned To Reebok Stadium For Today's Bolton-Tottenham Match
Six weeks after suffering the cardiac arrest that stopped his heart for 78 minutes, Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba returned to greet fans and players for today's Bolton-Tottenham Hotspur match at Reebok Stadium. It's fitting for him to come back today, as it was at the Spurs' White Hart Lane Mua...
The NFL Suspended Some Of The Saints Defense For 2012, But, On The Bright Side, They Weren't Good Anyway
The word came down not so long ago from Roger Goodell's mountaintop: Saints middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma will sit out the whole season, and end Will Smith misses four games. Ex-Saint tackle Anthony Hargrove, now with the Packers, gets eight games, and Scott Fujita, now on the Browns, gets three....
Most NFL Players Aren't Happy With The Latest Saints Suspensions, Surprising Nobody
Roger Goodell handed down the suspension of four Saints today for their involvement in the bounty program that initially led to multiple suspensions among the coaching staff and front office. Most notably, linebacker Jonathan Vilma is out for the year, and defensive end Anthony Hargrove is gone for ...
Flyers Columnist Claims Continent-Wide Conspiracy Against The Flyers, Screws Up Fact That Undermines Entire Argument
When Matt Read wasn't named a Calder Trophy finalist, it was understandable, but Philly fans were irked. ...
Eyewitness: Being At The Yankees-Red Sox Lady-Fan Fight Was "Kind Of Like Watching A Train Wreck"
Welcome to Tuesday Night Fights, a weekly celebration and analysis of street-fight videos found on YouTube. Tonight's fisticuffs: "Fight!!! Mayhem in Section 328: Why not to wear Red Sox Gear in Yankee Stadium: Round 1 and 2." Tonight's commentator: "David Smith," a seat-shifting fan with a cam an...
Joss Whedon: Revenge Of The Nerd
Five years ago, Joss Whedon's career wasn't going so well. The man behind the TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel had recently written and directed Serenity, a big-screen version of his short-lived series Firefly. It was his feature directing debut, and it was a commercial disappointment. No...
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...
Sunday Open Thread Smorgasbord
As usual, we've got baseball getting started now and carrying on throughout the afternoon and evening. The NBA and NHL playoffs will follow soon thereafter. Talk, talk, talk below....