ew Page 2962 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

ESPNU Is Launching A Hip New Late-Night Program That Will Almost Certainly Be Awful
Once upon a time, ESPN2—then edgily dubbed "the Deuce"—launched with Keith Olbermann and Suzy Kolber as the anchors of SportsNight, its flagship program for young folk. (If the names Keith Olbermann and Suzy Kolber sound too old and safe for you, reader, think of them as 1993's analogues to today's ...

Jerry Sandusky Scandal Reminds Columnist Of That Time He And The Rest Of His Nebraska Town "Sorta Did A JoePa," Too
This handsome stalk of corn is a guy named Les Mann, longtime columnist for the Daily News in Norfolk, a town of 24,000 in northeast Nebraska. He's been following this Penn State scandal pretty closely, and now he has something to get off his chest. His story begins with a phone call from some "twer...

Ever Wondered Where Rebounds Are Rebounded?
Kirk Goldsberry is back with another graphical look at the unappreciated stats of basketball, and this is really, really fantastic. He's put together an interactive chart: hover your mouse from any spot on the court, and it'll show you where shots from that spot end up getting grabbed for rebounds....

A Novel Tour De France Doping Defense: "I Was Poisoned"
Luxembourg's Frank Schleck, sitting in 12th place, was pulled by his team from the Tour de France after he tested positive for a banned diuretic. Schleck, who finished third last year and has been followed by doping allegations throughout his career, already has his defense planned:...

In Desperate Bid To Be Down With The Youngs, <em>Sports Illustrated</em> Uses Instagram Photos In This Week's Issue
Oh boy. We've seen this before. Magazines are a bit of a crossroads, so in order to either (a) appeal to a younger audience or (b) to try to "engage social media," or whatever jargon-laden or ham-fisted way they want to describe it, they do little experiments....

You Can Waste A Morning Looking At These New Sports Infographics
Co. Design has a story about New York designer Deroy Peraza's latest project, in which he has created visual representations of the result of every NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA postseason in history. Each season is represented by a simple, radial infographic that have the power to evoke vivid memories of...

Disenfranchise Mode: The Exhausting, Infuriating, Totally Addictive Baseball Simulation Game That Imitates Life Too Well
The summer after my freshman year of college, I told somebody's mother that I wouldn't be attending her son's funeral. I remember the moment, if not the conversation, with great clarity. I was working in my dad's shop, filling orders for spare bike rack parts, when my phone rang. My hands were stick...

Some Odd Pro-Joe "Vandalism" At The Paterno Statue
On Thursday, the release day of the Freeh Report, some Penn Staters gathered and left tokens at the Joe Paterno statue. One of them was the most levelheaded commentary we've yet seen—a note reading "Remember: He was a Man. Not a God!!" (You can see the original at Onward State.)...

This Paralympics Ad Will Get You Legitimately Hyped
The Paralympics are the Olympics's oft-neglected sibling. Whether it's because we're all Olympic'd out, or because we're horrible people, it's hard to work up much excitement, especially since they start an entire month later. Maybe this will help....

Reds Analyst Chris Welsh Ransacked Don Cherry's Wardrobe
If there's anything a sports commentator can do to prove he (or she) is grounded and sane, it's to wear a ridiculous outfit. After all, it works for Craig Sager and Don Cherry. So here's Fox Sports Ohio Reds analyst Chris Welsh sprucing up his usual outfit with a colorful number we're not quite sur...

Pete Rose Gets His Own Reality Show, Promises It Won't Be "Classless"
For anyone who doesn't actually remember seeing Pete Rose play or what his star was like before he completely threw it away by gambling on baseball, all they're going to remember of him was that he was some guy who autographed baseballs with weird inscriptions, got caught using a corked bat 25 years...

Porn Star (And Official Gronk Friend) Bibi Jones Emotionally Announces Her Retirement
Two days ago, we learned that the Patriots were requesting that all things Gronktastic kindly come down a notch or 10. Now, we get word that 20-year-old porn star Bibi Jones, made famous by her now-infamous midseason pose with the Gronk himself last October, is bidding a tearful and emotional good...

Jeremy Lin Is Now A Houston Rocket
Twelve days ago, I wrote the following:...

Report: Penn State President Passed On Sweeping Reforms In 2004
The entire Penn State/Jerry Sandusky scandal is sickening in every way, but any time phrases like "could have prevented" get thrown around makes the whole thing especially horrifying, and ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr. has uncovered one of those very stories, dropping a bombshell tonight that in 2004, the...

Jon Heyman Doesn't Want To Pay For Your Damn Baseball Knowledge
Seemingly wealthy CBS Sports baseball writer Jon Heyman really should know better to bring up money in a Twitter fight. After all, he's a fancy man who prefers the finer amenities in life—or so we've been able to surmise—and when he wants you to reveal certain tidbits of info that he'd otherwise hav...

A Red Sox Prospect Is Putting Together The Most Amazing Season Ever
This afternoon, the Gulf Coast League Red Sox took on the GCL Rays. The Sox' starting center fielder, Shaq Green-Thompson, had a rough day, going 0-for-5 with five strikeouts. Yesterday, Green-Thompson pinch hit, and struck out in his only appearance. Back on July 13, Green Thompson went 0-for-2 wit...

Why Aaron Cook And His Two Strikeouts Are A Nightmare For Sabermetrics
Aaron Cook, who's now pitching in Boston after years with the Rockies, is doing something amazing this year. Cook has pitched 29.2 innings and struck out two batters. Two. (Both came in one start against the Mariners, naturally, and one was—again, naturally—Chone Figgins.)...

Former High School Coach Charged With Falsely Accusing Other Coaches Of Molestation
From October 2011 until May of this year, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia received a series anonymous emails from someone who said the longtime football coach at a suburban Catholic high school—a man in his 70s—had solicited sex from a player. Other messages accused the school's lacrosse coach of se...

Ann Romney's Horse Hangs Out With Assholes
So, part of my job as a Deadspin intern has involved writing some those fun Olympic field guides that you may have seen on the site recently. Today I started writing one about Ann Romney's dressage horse, Rafalca, who will be competing in the London Olympics. I wanted to get a nice photo of Rafalca...

Bernie Williams Was Selling Some Cupcakes In Our Neighborhood, So We Stopped By And Said Hello
We got word earlier today that five-time All-Star Bernie Williams was making a charity appearance at Georgetown Cupcakes on Mercer Street here in SoHo and immediately hopped into action. I set out with my fellow intern Isaac to see if we could meet Bernie and purchase some delicious confections. Th...