el Page 1810 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Here's Pope John Paul II Taking Some Swings At An Indoor Batting Cage
Pitchers and catchers! Popes, ranked! But how's this for synergy? The late Pope John Paul II, on a visit to California in 1987, stepping inside a batting cage to take a few hacks while a dude and a couple of pontificate minimi stand around talking softball. The Vatican's sports broadcasting divisi...

Watch This Gigantic High School Running Back Score Fat Guy Touchdowns
One of the sadder developments in the NFL has been the extinction of the fat running back. Gone are the days when Jerome Bettis, T.J. Duckett, Ron Dayne, Najeh Davenport, and LenDale White made a living by hefting their considerable weight up and down the field....

After Suffering His Gruesome Injury, Shaun Livingston's Leg Was In Danger Of Being Amputated
Grantland's Jonathan Abrams has a written a great profile of Shaun Livingston, the former NBA phenom whose horrendous knee injury still haunts the league. It's about Livingston's slow slog back to the NBA, and it includes vivid anecdotes that remind us of Livingston's once-tremendous talent, as wel...

Popes, Ranked
1. John XXIII 2. Gregory I 3. Leo I 4. Peter 5. Gregory VII 6. Pius IX 7. John Paul II 8. Innocent I 9. Clement II 10. Innocent III 11. John Paul I 12. Clement XIII 13. Linus 14. Felix IV 15. Leo XII 16. Pelagius I 17. Boniface IV 18. Pius VI 19. Evaristus 20. Conon 21. Clement XIV 22. Pius VII 23. ...

Jay Williams's Allegations Of Pot-Smoking On The 2002-03 Bulls Have Really Upset Donyell Marshall
It's altogether unlike a Duke man to casually rat out his peers in the name of good living. But Jay Williams did it anyway, in Saturday's New York Times. Recall the motivation for yesterday's ranked, underexplained list of Bulls most likely to toke up before games:...

Joe Buck Calls A Hockey Game (Sort Of)
St. Louis's favorite son, Joe Buck, was on hand for Blues-Kings last night and the St. Louis booth of Darren Pang and John Kelly invited Joe inside for some lively banter and a surprise play-by-play turn. Buck admittedly has no idea who any of the Kings are—to be fair to Joe, neither does Los Angel...

"I'm Down For Drinks, Laughs, Sex": The Sexual Harassment Claims That Brought Down Toledo's Running Coach
It was a matter of rules and consequences, he said. On Jan. 24, Kevin Hadsell, the director of the University of Toledo's men's and women's cross country and women's track program, announced his resignation, a move that was as mysterious as it was abrupt. Hadsell had been at Toledo since 1998, and i...

Blake Griffin Switches Hands Mid-Dunk
This is reminiscent of (but not nearly as pretty as) Michael Jordan switching hands in Game 2 of the 1991 Finals against the Lakers. It's not as fluid and obvious as Jordan, but that same hesitation is there and, anyway, Griffin's game has never been about pretty. It's about power and this is what...

This Full-Court, Bouncing Shot From A High School Basketball Game Is Bananas
Lewis Palmer high school junior Anna Olson heaved this shot almost the entire length of the court in the final moments of the third quarter (though enough time remained to take the ball up court) against Cheyenne Mountain high school in Colorado. Or, she at least tried to heave it the entire lengt...

Exile In Dogville: Westminster Gets Comfy In Its New Home
Welcome to Dogs in Donut Coats Deadspin's seventh annual coverage of the Westminster Dog Show, featuring a dog in a donut coat. If you're only here for the dogs in donut coats, you can leave now, because there are no more. Otherwise: welcome. Donut-coatless dogs are within. ...

Mike Bibby Got Kicked Out Of His Son's Basketball Game
Mike Bibby no longer has a home in the NBA, which means that he has plenty of time to attend his son’s high school basketball games. Last Friday, Bibby was kicked out of one of his son’s games for arguing with the referees, and was escorted out of the gym by a police officer. Thanks to Arizona’s AB...

Washington Redskins "Proudly" Defend Their Name In The Dumbest Way Possible
Here in the 21st century, there is a growing sentiment that the Washington Redskins should finally adopt a less offensive team name. DC mayor Vincent Gray wants the name changed. Longtime DC newsman and real-life Sugar Bear Jim Vance wants the name changed. And Mike Florio wants RGIII to want the na...

2002-03 Chicago Bulls, Ranked According To Likelihood The Player Was Getting Baked Before Games
"There were guys smoking weed before games," Jay Williams recalled of his rookie year with the Bulls, his only season in the league. "Guys asking in the middle of the game, 'Do you smell popcorn?'" Which guys, exactly, Williams does not specify. So here's a list of the 2002-03 Bulls, ranked from lea...


If You Use "Gay" As An Insult, Kobe Bryant Might Call You Out On Twitter
Kobe Bryant hasn't had a Twitter account for very long, but he's quickly becoming one of the most interesting follows in the NBA. Yesterday, that trend continued when Bryant called out one Twitter user for using "gay" as a pejorative. Here's the tweet that set everything off:...

Michael Vick Is Staying With The Eagles, Let's Get Excited
Word just came down that Michael Vick, who was previously pegged as a prime candidate to be released by the Philadelphia Eagles due to the $15 million left on his contract, will in fact be staying in Philly for at least one more season. Vick and the Eagles restructured his deal, and he now has a on...

The Best Detail In The <i>NYT</i>'s Jay Williams Profile Is, Of Course, About Michael Jordan
The New York Times published a profile of former Duke star Jay (Jason) Williams over the weekend, and it's worth a read. It details the motorcycle accident that derailed Williams's career after a 95-13 three-year run in Durham and just a single season in the NBA, and the rather incredible rehabilita...

Lil Wayne Says He Was Kicked Out Of The Lakers-Heat Game, Possibly For Threatening Another Fan
Maybe Lil Wayne should just stop going to live sporting events. First, there was that whole kerfuffle about him not being able to attend a Thunder game, which brought accusations of racism. Then he had a strange meltdown at the DirectTV Celebrity Beach Bowl, and now it appears that he was kicked ou...

Parachutist Lands On Field During Rugby Sevens Game
Organizers of the Las Vegas Rugby Sevens had arranged for a parachutist to delight fans by dropping into Sam Boyd Stadium with the game ball for the Cup final between New Zealand and South Africa. One problem: The third-place game between Fiji and Samoa had gone to overtime, thus delaying the star...

Here's The Balls-Out Levon Helm Grammy Awards Memorial Tribute Performance Of "The Weight"
First things first: as rock critic Steven Hyden said immediately after this performance, it only proved further that nobody could sing a song quite like Levon Helm could sing a song. Regardless, pulling together some superstars for a rockin' performance of "The Weight," that song cool guys sing at...