fr Page 261 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Best And Worst Of Summer Movies: A Grierson & Leitch Report
Summer movie season is over. It's finally had its fill of us, leaving our mangled body twitching on the side of the road as it drives off with a rubbery squeal. Here at Grierson & Leitch, we're very much looking forward to fall and its crop of award-hungry prestige movies—we're speaking, of course, ...

Note In A Fan's Notes
Found this copy of Frederick Exley's A Fan's Notes in a bookstore on the Upper West Side last week. Dig the inscription:...

FC Bayern's Franck Ribéry Wins UEFA Best Player in Europe Award
Frenchman Franck Ribéry was just awarded the trophy for the UEFA Best Player in Europe. The award, which was first handed out in 2011, recognizes the best player from a European soccer club the previous season. Ribéry plays for FC Bayern, who won the UEFA Champions League over German rivals Borussia...

Bottom Line: How Sports Leagues Crack The Whip On ESPN
"We're not in the business of antagonizing our partner," the ESPN executive told the New York Times, defending the network's sudden withdrawal of support for a program that made the NFL look bad. This wasn't last week. This was nine years ago. ...

Watch Hunter Pence Hit The Longest Home Run Of 2013 (So Far)
Hunter Pence demolished a ball in the first inning of tonight's Giants-Rockies game. Even though the feat happened at Coors Field, where balls regularly get knocked out of the park, it's still damn impressive....

Why Your Team Sucks 2013: San Francisco 49ers
Some people are fans of the San Francisco 49ers. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the San Francisco 49ers. This 2013 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read all the 2013 NFL previews so far right here....

Blowout Loss Sends Serena Williams's Opponent Into Arms Of Ball Boy
Francesca Schiavone might have said she didn't need a hug, but as her first-round U.S. Open match against Serena Williams got completely out of hand Monday night, Francesca Schiavone totally needed a hug....

The Last Days of Stealhead Joe
From Outside, here's a good story by Ian Frazier—"The Last Days of Stealhead Joe":...

It Isn't Easy Being Frank Sinatra Jr.
Over on The Stacks, we've reprinted Tom Junod's 1994 story about Frank Sinatra Jr., which will hit you right square in the feels....

Frank Sinatra Jr. Is Worth Six Buddy Grecos
Originally published in the January 1994 issue of GQ. Reprinted here with the author's permission. His postscript follows....

Idiots On The Field Invade <em>SNF</em>, And Jerome Simpson Leveled One Of Them
It's preseason for security staff too, as we learned tonight at Candlestick Park as back-to-back Idiots invaded the field during the Vikings-49ers matchup, with one of them getting taken down by Jerome Simpson....

Police Investigating Robbery Claim Over Home Run Ball At Giants Game
On Wednesday, in the seventh inning of the Red Sox' blowout win over the Giants, Stephen Drew hit a three-run homer. NESN's cameras showed a man who triumphantly came up with the baseball. But San Francisco police are currently looking for that dastardly individual. They say he's a villain who robbe...

NFLPA: Players Will Have To Think Twice About Trusting ESPN
The players' union finds itself in an awkward situation in the wake of a report that the NFL pressured ESPN to back out of an upcoming documentary on player safety. Because, after all, the NFLPA is ESPN's broadcast partner too—the players get 55 percent of TV money. Now a union spokesperson says the...

Family Of Player Killed In Practice Sues NCAA, Coaches, Helmet Maker
A lawsuit filed by the family of a D3 football player killed during practice alleges that his coach ordered players to "lead with your head" in helmet-to-helmet drills, and sent him back onto the field despite needing medical attention four times over the three days leading up to his death....

Battle Of The Sexes
Next month, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of "The Battle of the Sexes," American Masters will premier their show on Billie Jean King. It's the first time in the program's history that a sports figure has been profiled. And this Sunday over at ESPN, Outside the Lines will feature a segment on Kin...
![Report: NFL Pressured ESPN Into Backing Out Of Concussion Film [Updates]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/18xwcs6tyh0kmjpg.jpg)
Report: NFL Pressured ESPN Into Backing Out Of Concussion Film [Updates]
When word broke that ESPN was unexpectedly and belatedly ending its involvement with PBS's Frontline on a pair of documentaries investigating head injuries in football, ESPN swore up and down it had nothing to do with keeping the NFL happy. According to a report in today's New York Times, that was a...

ESPN Producer: We Made "Conscious Decision" To "Get In Bed" With PBS
So why the hell did ESPN pull out of its collaborative relationship with PBS and Frontline? PBS's statement says that ESPN news executives were supposed to have "editorial input" into the League of Denial documentary. ESPN's statement says the network backed out because it had no "editorial control"...
![ESPN Pulls Out Of <em>Frontline</em> Concussion Investigation [UPDATE]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/18xu3t2m015jijpg.jpg)
ESPN Pulls Out Of <em>Frontline</em> Concussion Investigation [UPDATE]
For a while now, ESPN's big alibi, the thing Bristol would trot out any time someone questioned the company's journalistic bona fides, was its joint investigation into NFL head injuries with PBS's Frontline. Now that's done with. PBS announced the news. It reports:...

Jayson Werth Reacts To Super-Slow Pitch As If He Saw A Ghost
By the time Jayson Werth came to the plate in the fifth, he had already homered, and the Nationals had already chased Cubs starter Jake Arrieta. And that's when Carlos Villanueva snapped off a breaking pitch that was clocked at just 57 ... miles ... per ... hour. It's safe to say Werth never saw it ...

Ty Lawson And Girlfriend Arrested For Breaking Each Other's Phones
Allegedly. They were also allegedly "yelling at each other," according to what the sheriff of Arapahoe County, Colo., told the Denver Post....