gettypic Page 51 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Do The Olympics Really Screw The Best NHL Teams?
Since the Nagano Olympics in 1998, NHL players have played Olympic hockey, and NHL coaches have bitched about NHL players playing Olympic hockey. It punishes and best teams, with the best players, they say. But is there any evidence to actually back this up? Well, it's complicated. ...
When Do Umpires Mess Up Balls And Strikes Calls?
Baseball umpires are not immune to psychological biases, and it's an old adage of baseball commentating that strike zones get smaller when there are two strikes, and larger when there are three balls. In their Sloan finalist paper "What Does it Take to Call a Strike? Three Biases in Umpire Decision ...
When Should Managers Pull Their Starting Pitchers?
"A Data-driven Method for In-game Decision Making in MLB" is easily the worst title of the eight Sloan paper finalists, which is a shame, given that it's actually an interesting application of machine learning that's directly related to one of the most important aspects of baseball game management. ...
MLB Bans Home-Plate Collisions, But Not Really
Here is the newly approved (and "experimental" ) Rule 7.13. You need only pay attention to the parts I've bolded....
The Angels Are Going To Screw Up Mike Trout's Contract
Yahoo's Jeff Passan reports that the Angels and Mike Trout are in talks on a contract extension that would lock up the 22-year-old superstar for six years and around $150 million. This is an eminently reasonable number; it just makes no sense for the Angels....
Mike Trout Has Finally Broken Baseball's Math
For the past few years, Mike Trout has been the biggest steal in sports. He's had two otherworldly seasons, and he's only 22. So on the surface, news that the Angels are trying to lock him up to a six-year deal worth about $150 million makes sense. But it's actually remarkable for how much sense it ...
So, Which Countries Had The Worst Olympics?
After the usual agonizing about who's winning the Olympics—Do you use medal count or gold count? What about something weighted? WHAT ABOUT GDP?—Russia made things relatively easy at the end of the day, seemingly establishing itself as the consensus winner....
Has Jim Harbaugh Worn Out His Welcome In San Francisco?
As more non-denials come out, it appears the Browns did make some attempt to trade for 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh. There's enough smoke to assume that something was at least smoldering. But much more interesting than the "what" is the "why," and the growing sense that all is not well in Ninerland....
Jason Collins Played Basketball And It Was No Big Deal
The most striking thing about Jason Collins's entrance, making him the first openly gay athlete to play in one of the four major sports, was the subdued applause. Not the cheering part; it's 2014 and fans have been ready for this for a long time. But the number of fans who sat on their hands during ...
San Francisco 49ers CEO Sons Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio
Earlier today, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio ran a sort of weird story about the Cleveland Browns having nearly traded for San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh....
The Trouble With Ronda Rousey
One year ago, Ronda Rousey made her heavily-hyped UFC debut, which was basically promoted as The Ronda Rousey Show, Featuring Ronda Rousey—The Girl Who's Just Like A Bro, Bro—And Some Other Lady, Who Will Be Fighting Ronda Rousey. With the UFC returning to this well ahead of Rousey's bantamweight ti...
No, Fast Tempo Isn't Endangering College Football Players
The concerns over head trauma have been splashed across the front pages of newspapers and magazines for the past five years, and have led to a host of rule changes in college football. But one proposal for a new change—called the Tempo Rule—has caught the public's attention for, well, not making ver...
Mike Williams's Neighbors Hate Him And His Extravagant Parties
Tampa Bay Bucs receiver Mike Williams isn't very popular in his community. He and a few friends are renting a house in Tampa, and neighbors seem to despise them....
Canada's Ladies Win Gold In Curling; Here's Where They Come From
With a 6-3 result over Sweden bringing home gold for captain Jennifer Jones's squad, Canada is exultant over their curling success. In the piece below, Adam Doster explores the culture they came from—it involves beer and pork hearts—by way of finding out just why curling is so much damn fun....
Austrian Hockey Team Apologizes For Partying Too Hard
You're Austria. You're not a hockey power. You're not going to medal. So why not take advantage of even the smallest measure of Olympic success to drink until sunrise?...
Once Again, It's Yuna Kim Vs. The World
After weeks of hype surrounding 15-year-old Yulia Lipnitskaya's gold medal Sochi prospects, the Russian rising star crumbled under the pressure Wednesday, eating the ice on an uncharacteristic fall during her short program–and opening the door wide for a slew of competitors to challenge reigning Oly...
Ted Ligety Is Skidding His Way To A Skiing Revolution
Ted Ligety is all about technique. He's precise. Controlled. Clean. He's also a complete risk-taker. Each of those so-called precise, controlled, clean turns? They're perpetually a razor's-edge (or a millisecond) from disaster. ...
What Everyone Missed In The Report On The Dolphins Bullying Scandal
Originally published at Bloomberg View....
MLB Drops Its Sham Lawsuit Against Biogenesis's Tony Bosch
After getting what it wanted—the Biogenesis founder's testimony and evidence against Alex Rodriguez—MLB has dropped its lawsuit against Tony Bosch. Everyone try to act surprised....