dc Page 232 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Mariners Tried To Screw Randy Wolf, So He Walked Away
Veteran starter Randy Wolf asked for and received his release from the Mariners yesterday, the same day he was informed he would make the team's rotation. At issue was a little-known but increasingly used quirk of the CBA, a waiver that makes a guaranteed contract anything but. Seattle tried to spri...

Mitch McConnell's UK Campaign Ad Goes From Bad To Worse To Deleted
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell is up for reelection this fall, and yesterday he released a campaign ad to much fanfare. It featured some of the things that make Kentucky great, including what were supposed to be highlights of the state's two basketball teams celebrating championships. It did...

Report: Senior FIFA Members Tried To Halt Corruption Probe
Every time FIFA does something right—like forming an independent investigation into allegations of corruption surrounding the votes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups—it manages to shoot itself in the foot. Reports out of Switzerland claim that "senior FIFA power-brokers" attempted to derail the inves...

The Organizers Of The Qatar World Cup Are Very Mad At Us
Below is an email that just popped into our inbox, from Paul Hughes, head of international media relations for Qatar's Supreme Committee of Delivery & Legacy (!). That makes him the main flack for the outfit that's overseeing the 2022 World Cup, which one international group expects to kill more peo...

Report: Qatar's World Cup Expected To Take More Lives Than 9/11
"Qatar is a country without a conscience," begins the International Trade Union Confederation's recent report on the working and living conditions of the 1.4 million migrant workers living in Qatar, many of whom are there to build stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup. After reading thr...

More Cowbell!
We just couldn't get enough of Stanford's enthusiastic cowbell player, so we took things to their logical and cliched conclusion with the help of Blue Öyster Cult....

Stanford Withstands Comeback, Beats Kansas In Another Wild Upset
Stanford beat the No. 2 seed Kansas Jayhawks in St. Louis 60-57. Kansas was down seven with 32 seconds to go but Conner Frankamp made things verrry interesting with two consecutive three-pointers down the stretch. With 15 seconds left he drilled a deep three to cut the lead to 59-57, but that was a...

Report: FIFA VP Paid Millions By Qatari Firm After World Cup Vote
It's a good sign a sport's governance is seriously screwed up when a report emerges that a FIFA executive received millions of dollars from a Qatari soccer official after Qatar was awarded the World Cup, and everyone's first reaction isn't anger, but more along the lines of "no shit."...

Watch This Amazing Projection System Transform The Cavaliers' Court
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been disappointing and boring this year, so it's safe to say that this video is the team's greatest contribution to the NBA season....

The Old School Charm Of Harold Conrad
Last weekend over at the Stacks' Daily Beast home, I reprinted one of my favorite stories. Mark Jacobson's beautiful profile of Harold Conrad. Don't sleep:...

Seton Hall Buzzer Beater Knocks Villanova Out Of Big East Tournament
In a crazy finish, Villanova, the 1 seed in the Big East Tournament and no. 3 in the nation, was knocked off by Seton Hall on a last second shot by Sterling Gibbs. This is why we love March. ...

How Will The 2014 World Cup Ball Swerve? An Aerodynamic Test
There are now only a few months to go until the biggest sporting event of 2014—the FIFA World Cup in Brazil—and questions are being asked. Will the stadiums be ready? Are the airports ready for the crowds? But one matter rises above all others, and may have an impact on the destiny of the cup itself...

Ukraine Team Stages Symbolic Protest At Sochi Paralympics
Amid rumors and questions over whether Ukraine would boycott the Sochi Paralympics after Russia's occupation of Crimea, the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee decided to participate, but not without acknowledging the situation....

The Cleats Everyone Will Wear At The World Cup Seem To Fucking Suck
So our staff illustrator was perusing the sneaker blogs today when he happened upon this neon-yellow/afterbirth abomination: the Nike Magista. These bad boys were first unveiled to the world today in Barcelona, and they're fucking fugly. That's fine; shoes don't have souls and they don't have mirror...

Diego Costa Snubs Brazil For Spain And Could Swing The World Cup
Diego Costa is, at this moment, the best Brazilian striker in the world. The 21 goals he's scored for this year's title-challenging Atlético Madrid team are the fourth highest tally in the top five European leagues. Normally, you'd think Costa's impressive resumé would see him as one of the faces of...

Every World Cup Ball In 6 Seconds
Reddit user davemcgee2 has created this GIF, featuring the the 20 balls used for every World Cup from 1930 through this summer's tournament. Since some of them, especially the older ones (leather was used through the 1982 World Cup), are damn near art, you can find the individual photos here....

The Pope Resigned Early Because Of The World Cup
Pope Emeritus Benedict resigned, somewhat shockingly, in February 2013. He did so earlier than he initially intended because he wanted his successor to be able to attend a major Roman Catholic festival in Brazil that was moved up one year to make room for the World Cup in Brazil this summer. So, bas...

Hundreds Of Migrant Workers Have Died Since Qatar Won The World Cup
Figures obtained by the Guardian and confirmed by the Indian embassy state that there have been 717 deaths among Indians working in Qatar since the Gulf nation was awarded the 2022 World Cup in December 2010. That's just the tip....

Could A Simple New Rule Stop Refs From Ruining Big Soccer Games?
We're only a quarter of the way through this round of the Champions League, but by far the two best ties—Barcelona vs. Manchester City and Bayern Munich vs. Arsenal—are all but technically over. And while neither result is necessarily surprising, it's unfortunate that both matches turned on the cont...

John Calipari Just Cannot Even Deal With You Right Now
You just said what to John Calipari? Unbelievable, man....