cc Page 363 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Today's Blackburn-Wigan Match Was Interrupted By A Chicken
Blackburn Rovers are facing relegation from the Premiership, and need a win against WIgan Athletic today to even have a chance at staying in England's top soccer division. Perhaps as a statement against absentee owners, a chicken bearing the Blackburn flag was unleashed onto the pitch early in to...
Better Know An Umpire: Eric Cooper
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.)...
This Week In Guys Losing Their Lunch On The Soccer Pitch
It has been an unfortunate week for gentlemen suffering gastrointestinal distress on the soccer pitch, as at least two professional stars displayed their athletic acumen—and their lunch—before what we assume was a grossed-out television audience....
Fredy Montero's Long-Range Strike Is A Worthy Response To Yesterday's Cissé Golazo
We brought you a highlight yesterday of what's probably the best goal scored in European soccer this season, and it was almost as if a reply that Major League Soccer brought its own "you can only do that in a video game" highlight stateside last evening. Fitting, then, that it was Fredy Montero of...
Jozy Altidore Knocked Unconscious, Suffers Back Injury In Scary Sideline Crash
While Clint Dempsey has rightfully earned most of the acclaim among Americans playing pro soccer in Europe this season, striker Jozy Altidore's quietly been having a tremendous year for Dutch Eredivisie team AZ Alkmaar with 18 goals on the campaign, helping to lead his squad to possible Europa Lea...
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...
Papiss Cissé Enters His Bid For Premiership Goal Of The Season
Newcastle won its first match at Stamford Bridge since 1986 with a shocker of a 2-0 victory over Chelsea, keyed by Papiss Cissé's two goals—the second of which is a strong challenger to Peter Crouch for EPL goal of the season....
An Italian Soccer Manager Punched His Own Player In The Face During The Match
Fiorentina manager Delio Rossi attacked player Adem Ljajic during today's match against Novara, taking offense to Ljajic's sarcastic applause after Rossi substituted for him early in the match. Ljajic—who just last week was considered a lock for a transfer to Arsenal—was apparently in poor form as...
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...
Tampa Bay Bucs Sign Paralyzed Former Rutgers Player In Goodwill Gesture
Eric LeGrand was a special teams player for Rutgers in October 2010, when he was paralyzed from the neck down after making a tackle against Army. His coach at the time was Greg Schiano, who often did his best afterward to make LeGrand feel like he was still a part of the team. And now that Schiano h...
Today's Lesson In Sportsmanship Comes From The Islamic Republic of Iran
On a day when we learn of the lengthy suspensions handed down to New Orleans Saints players amidst the bounty scandal, here's a palate cleanser of sportsmanship (or, as they like to call it in the soccer world, Fair Play) that took place yesterday in Dubai....
Roberto Mancini Told Sir Alex Ferguson To Shaddap You Face
It figured that tempers would flare a few times during yesterday's pivotal Manchester derby, but perhaps the greatest drama took place outside the touch lines when City manager Roberto Mancini and United chief Alex Ferguson got into a chippy war of words that took several attempts to separate by as...
"I'd Rather Drink Methamphetamine," And Other Complaints About Soccer Being On ESPN
City's thrilling 1-0 win over Man United in today's Manchester Derby drew acclaim as a groundbreaking moment in broadcasting; the first-ever Premier League weekday game to air on ESPN (as opposed to ESPN2) earned on-air hype and plenty of attention on the Worldwide Leader's website. ...
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...
They Tear Down Goalposts In Soccer, Too
Zenit St. Petersburg supporters went nuts after their team beat rivals Dynamo Moscow 2-1 Saturday to clinch a repeat Russian Premiership title, a victory gained despite being down a man for most of the second half. The thrill of victory led to the agony of jail for a handful of fans whose revelry g...
Today In Free Kicks: Kyle Walker, Young-Pyo Lee Produced Two Of The Most Gorgeous Goals You'll Ever See
The past 20 hours have been outstanding for fans of set pieces, as two beautiful free kick goals found the net and proved decisive in their respective games. Spurs back Kyle Walker secured victory for his squad in their match this morning against Blackburn with the above strike, a curving weasel o...
Here's Gus Johnson Calling The San Jose Earthquakes' Exciting Last-Second Win
We heard last week from our friends at Awful Announcing that excitable announcer Gus Johnson had picked up the strange gig of calling MLS games on radio for the San Jose Earthquakes. We tuned in tonight, and were not disappointed. While our emeritus editor Will Leitch has concluded that Johnson's...
Tim McCarver Blames Global Warming For The Increase In Major League Home Runs
We'd normally save this sort of thing for McCarve'd Up (which will be back next week after being pre-empted for NFL draft coverage) but Tim McCarver said one of the stupidest things ever spoken on a television broadcast today, blaming global warming for "making the air thin" and thus leading to a...
Jeremy Guthrie on 15-Day Disabled List Because He Is A Bicycle-Riding Hippie
Jeremy Guthrie, who may have more in common with Arlo than previously thought, will "miss a couple starts" according to Rockies' manager Jim Tracy with some right AC joint pain....
ITV Cuts Into Champions League Extra Time To Bring You A Very Surprised Newsreader
Three minutes into extra time of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich's Champions League second leg, ITV—broadcasting the match in Britain—cut to the News At Ten studio. The anchor was as confused as the viewers. There was still plenty of soccer to be played, and it was 15 minutes shy of 10:00 anyway....