eli Page 130 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Fuck You, Bill Belichick
I was close, Bill Belichick. I was thissss close to spending an entire NFL season free of Tebowmania, or Tebow Time, or whatever fucking brand stamp ESPN decides to put on all its coverage of the Jesusback. I was really looking forward to it, too. I was gonna watch every game safe in the knowledg...

What If You Could Run Without Feeling Time Or Distance?
This week was a hybrid, both musically and running...ly. I ran outside and inside on the treadmill. I've also mashed up a couple playlists here because I've been making smaller playlists throughout the week instead of one long one like I had been while training for the half-marathon. This is because...

Bud Selig Kept Saying "The 2000 First-Year Player Draft" Last Night
Via Larry Brown Sports, here are three of the four times Bud Selig introduced a draft pick last night by referring to the year as 2000. He even did it when the Astros took Stanford pitcher Mark Appel with the No. 1 overall selection. Was it wishful thinking?...

How Big Brown's People Nearly Pulled Off Horse Racing's Biggest Scam
As 95-degree temperatures baked a crowd of nearly 100,000 at the 2008 Belmont Stakes—the hottest June 7 on record—the only person who seemed unfazed was Richard Dutrow Jr., the trainer of Big Brown, an undefeated colt just 12 furlongs from the first Triple Crown in three decades. With history agains...

A Little Greedy, And Exactly Right: Red Smith On Secretariat
Red Smith is the most respected sports columnist we've ever had. In his prime, Jimmy Cannon, Smith's friendly rival, was certainly as well-known. Cannon, the Voice of New York, was an emotional, colloquial writer whose reputation, unfortunately, has faded. But Smith endures. What is it about his wri...

10 Or So Thoughts On Biogenesis, A Scandal For All The Wrong Reasons
A few observations, in no special order, on the latest iteration of the scandal, now ongoing for at least 124 years, involving major league ballplayers using steroids:...

The Black Berets: Red Smith On The Olympic Black Power Salute
Red Smith is the most respected sports columnist we've ever had. In his prime, Jimmy Cannon, Smith's friendly rival, was certainly as well-known. Cannon, the Voice of New York, was an emotional, colloquial writer whose reputation, unfortunately, has faded. But Smith endures. What is it about his wri...

ESPN: MLB Plans To Suspend Everyone Connected To Biogenesis
In late January, the Miami New Times broke the story of South Florida's Biogenesis anti-aging clinic, the shop that allegedly provided human growth hormone and other drugs to major leaguers. The press uncovered records linking lots of big names—Ryan Braun, Alex Rodriguez, Nelson Cruz—to Biogenesis's...

Shane Battier Was Reduced To Toweling Off LeBron James Last Night
During the regular season, Shane Battier was a key cog in the Miami Heat's small-ball offense. His willingness to guard bigger power forwards and his ability to cause matchup problems on the offensive end with his three-point shooting were big factors in the Heat's success. But his inability to gua...

Night For Joe Louis: Red Smith On Rocky Marciano's Knockout
Red Smith is the most respected sports columnist we've ever had. In his prime, Jimmy Cannon, Smith's friendly rival, was certainly as well-known. Cannon, the Voice of New York, was an emotional, colloquial writer whose reputation, unfortunately, has faded. But Smith endures. What is it about his wri...

A Treadmill Is The Vestibule Of Hell: Recovering Fatass Soundtrack
This week was the kind of week that tests even the most capital-R of Runners' dedication to not being a total waste-of-life fatass: it rained a lot and when it wasn't raining it was hotter than Mrs. Reilly tongue-bathing some shrimp vindaloo. Here's a Spotify playlist that assisted in braving the el...

Back On The Pony: Recovering Fatass Soundtrack
I'm saying I got back on the pony because calling what I did "getting back on the horse" is an insult to horses. Anyway, there is a mini-playlist that we will get to for your enjoyment and then next week, I am back on the horse, for real. We don't need this turning into Relapsing Fatass Soundtrack. ...

No Steroids, No Birthday Cake: Parsing MLB's Employee Handbook
Congratulations! It's your first day working for Major League Baseball. You probably grew up a huge baseball fan, and while this isn't as good as actually playing, you're about to embark on a fun and rewarding career with MLB. But first, there's something you need to read and sign....

Santa Clara And Houston Will Host The 2016 And 2017 Super Bowls
At the NFL spring meetings in Boston this afternoon, owners voted to award Super Bowls L and LI—in 2016 and 2017—to the Bay Area and Houston. That leaves Miami as the only finalist to go home empty-handed. Should've paid for those stadium renovations, South Florida!...

The Charlotte NBA Team Might Rather Be The Hornets Again
During its short 25 years in the NBA, the Hornets moniker has proven to be the league's Johnny Cash — it's been everywhere, man. Born in Charlotte, transplanted to New Orleans in 2001, bivouacked in Oklahoma City for two post-Katrina seasons, back to New Orleans for the past six seasons, then banish...

Sometimes You Have To Shit In A Dunkin' Donuts
It is done. I ran a half-marathon, front-to-back, without having to stop to walk. I did have to stop to shit, though. Here's a Spotify playlist that helped me through it. ...

Who Made The Not-Quite-Baseball-Hall-Of-Fame In 2013?
So we know who made up the class of 2013 at the Baseball Hall of Fame: no one. Well, OK, the veterans committee voted in Hank O'Day, Col. Jacob Ruppert, and Deacon White. But they all died in the 1930s; we wouldn't expect much in the way of induction speeches....

Let it Bleed
Head on over to the Columbia Journalism Review for this appreciation of Red Smith by his son, Terence Smith:...

Body and Soul
Speaking of Palookaville, here's one of the most famous scenes in movie history. Just so happens that it involves boxing. By the way, Rod Steiger, who was an incorrigible ham, is incredible in this scene. Understated. His performance in the whole movie is beautiful. ...