bo Page 733 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Smokin' Joe Frazier Is Dead
The legendary fighter died today of liver cancer at age 67....

How A Comedian Helped Birth The "F-You" Patriots
Back in September 2007, the Patriots were caught taping the Jets' defensive signals on the sideline. This was week one, after the Patriots beat the Jets, 38-14. The next 15 games—all of which the Patriots won—were blowouts a lot like that, but with a venomous edge. In his new book, War Room, which h...

Did This Plaxico Burress Pregame Tribute Spur The Giants To Victory?
"Police say a 50-year-old man accidentally shot himself in the leg in a parking lot at Gillette Stadium before the New England Patriots game against the Giants." He's reportedly OK, so now we can look forward to the play-by-play. [AP]...

Joe Frazier Is Not Dead Yet, Despite One Australian Paper Desperate For A Scoop
As tends to happen when famous people are very ill (and even when they're not), Twitter killed Joe Frazier last night. It just takes one person jumping the gun, or one person misinterpreting another's tribute. A retweet here, a failure to wait for a legitimate source there, and the deed is done. The...

Smokin' Joe Frazier Is Critically Ill
Deadspin's own Brian Hickey checks in with a report from Frazier's business manager and friend, Les Wolff, who says the fighter's bout against liver cancer may be nearing an end....

Deadspin I-Team: Is The "Boom Goes The Dynamite" Guy Joining The Army?
His name is Brian Collins. He is the unfortunate soul above that we have come to know and love. First, he was a student sportscaster at Ball State University. Then, he worked at a television station in Waco, Texas, and eventually Alexandria, Minnesota. We thought the last chapter in his story was ...

Like Many Things In Alabama, Tide Fans Get "X > Tebow" Meme Backward
We've been monitoring Occupy Tebow all week, but the basic and most important element is that the statement features "Greater Than." Leave it up to Bama fans get it wrong....

Aussie With World's Largest Collection Of Antoine Walker Memorabilia May Also Have World's Only Collection Of Antoine Walker Memorabilia
Matt Clarke from Australia calls himself the "biggest Walker fan in the world." (He's referring to former NBA/current Idaho Stampede player Antoine Walker, in case you don't share his passion.) We will not attempt to disprove that claim. If anyone else on this galaxy happens to own Walker's Timberwo...

Everyone Who Leaves The Red Sox Talks Shit On The Way Out
The 2011 Red Sox are an earth continually salted, a shitpot continually stirred. And every refugee—especially if disgruntled—has a story to tell. Today's storyteller is former strength and conditioning coach Dave Page, who was fired this week....

ESPN Has Found Its Answer To Problems Like Bruce Feldman And His Book
From the network that never lets its business interests interfere with its coverage: "Of note is that ESPN, as a matter of policy, will no longer grant permission to write as-told-to books with sports personalities." It's a conflict of interest, you see. Except when it isn't. [Front Row]...

A Sampling Of Comments ESPN.com Has Not Deleted On Stories That Have Nothing To Do With OccupyTebow
We're all still warm from the glow of the uprising that sent ESPN.com's commenter police into retreat—a remarkable, joyful march that continues unimpeded even as this is being typed. At the same time, we couldn't help but think of those comments ESPN's moderators have allowed to remain attached to ...

The Death Of A Former Football Player At An Underground Fight In A Church Has, Somehow, Resulted In A Lawsuit
The church along the Broken Arrow Expressway in Tulsa is of the Christian-capitalist mega-variety. You know the deal: rock shows, slick website, a gift shop, deadly unsanctioned boxing fights. One such fight on Sept. 21, 2011, allegedly resulted in the death of George Clinkscale, who played lineback...

This Is Why You Don't Ask A Professional Athlete To Be A School "Reading Champion"
I absolutely cannot think of a better inspiration for getting schoolchildren to read than by choosing a man who got very rich without ever having read a book in his life....

Floyd Mayweather Isn't Ducking Manny Pacquaio; He's Being Persecuted, Or Something
Floyd Mayweather Jr. didn't take too kindly to Sirius radio host Rude Jude's accusation that he's afraid to fight Manny Pacquiao. So Mayweather decided to call Jude's show yesterday, at the urging of 50 Cent, and you can listen to the audio above. Mayweather never directly addresses the issue at h...

The Stupid Moral Panic Over Mocking Tim Tebow; Or, What Would Jesus Do About Tebowing?
Oh, please. You know why Tebow memes exist? You know why they've, let us say, gone forth and multiplied? Because of columns like this, that's why. Here's the headline:...

Dear Bill Simmons, The Helmet Catch Was Not Luck
Drew Magary's Thursday Afternoon NFL Dick Joke Jamboroo runs every Thursday during the NFL season. Buy Drew's new book, The Postmortal, through here. Find more of his stuff at his Twitter feed....

Book Readings That Don't Suck
If you're in New York, tonight is the latest installment of Gelf's Varsity Letters reading series, which this time features Stefan Fatsis, John Krewson, and Jeff Pearlman. It's at 7:30 at Le Poisson Rouge in NoHo. Doors open at 7....

OccupyTebow Enters Day Four; ESPN.com Admits Defeat
The sit-in at ESPN.com continues unmolested, as the overworked mods have apparently ceded the comment section to mob rule. Meanwhile, people who should know better still don't realize this has long stopped being an attack on Tebow himself, or even draconian comment moderation on a site that's more t...

This Is What Happens When ESPN.com Attempts To Fight Back
At some point this evening, the ESPN comment moderators lost their minds and decided to attempt to deal with the Greater Than Tebow meme that's been raging on a Bill Williamson post for the past three days. But instead of simply disabling comments, the site has burdened some poor intern with the t...

This Is What ESPN.com Under Attack Looks Like
The #occupytebow comment feed over on ESPN's now-regrettable post, "Time for Elway to think post-Tebow," is still going after three days. If anything, it's only gotten more spirited. You can watch in real time on the post, but we also went ahead and captured a bit of the glory for those of you who...