go Page 260 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The USMNT Lost The Gold Cup Final, And That's Probably OK

It’s never fun to lose to Mexico if you’re an American soccer fan. It’s doubly painful when it’s in the Gold Cup final, on American soil, as was the case Sunday night, when a 74th-minute golazo by Jonathan Dos Santos gave Mexico their eighth Gold Cup win—and fourth over the United States in a final—...

Distance Runner Celebrates Victory One Lap Too Early, Finishes In Tenth

Ethiopian distance runner Hagos Gebrhiwet experienced the thrill of victory last weekend at the Diamond League meet in Lausanne, an experience he immediately chased with the agony of defeat. Gebrhiwet was leading the 5000-meter field into what he believed to be the finish when he celebrated what he ...

Today's NFL Would Have Been Perfect For Doug Flutie

It’s been 14 years since he last played professional football, but Doug Flutie is suddenly relevant again. In the run-up to the draft, there was a big feature in the Washington Post, along with a 15-minute chat on The Rich Eisen Show. When I first reached out to ask about an interview, Flutie’s agen...

Absolutely No One Could Stop These Enraged Cubs Fans From Fighting

Every good fan fight has a defining quality, and this one is no different. What we have here is not an alarming display of savagery, or swift and frightening violence, or even anything that rises to slapstick humor. What we have here is simply two women with an indefatigable commitment to causing ru...

Angry, Pinwheeling Joe Maddon Gets Tossed From Cubs-Pirates Game

A steady stream of high and inside pitches from Pirates starter Jordan Lyles set off Cubs manager Joe Maddon yesterday, causing him to hop out of his dugout, to angrily shout at the Pirates’ dugout, and to even uncork a nifty little spin move in his efforts to break free of the umpire’s grip. Maddon...

It's Time To Get Upset About Sneakers Again

Earlier this week, Nike pulled the release of what the Wall Street Journal described as “a U.S.A.-themed sneaker” that had been slated to be released on July 4. The sneakers, which featured the circa-1770 “Betsy Ross flag” on the heel of the shoe, were shipped to retailers and then recalled. “Nike h...

Jim Gosger, one of the ‘69 Mets who the team erroneously pronounced dead in a 50th-anniversary ceremony last weekend, spoke with Dennis Young of the New York Daily News, and it was quite a trip. “I had 128 people come on my Facebook to compliment me, to say ‘I’m glad you’re still here.’” Gosger reve...

Miscommunication Leads To Kevin Pillar Taking The Slowest Possible Hit-By-Pitch

Kevin Pillar wanted to call time during Wednesday’s game in San Diego, but home plate umpire Jeff Nelson didn’t grant it to him. That ended up benefitting the Giants outfielder, because Padres pitcher Luis Perdomo threw a hilariously soft pitch which ended up “plunking” the batter....

It Appears That No One Wants DeMarcus Cousins

The pool of NBA free agents available as of July 3 is shockingly small. The vast majority of marquee names settled within a few hours of the official kickoff of free agency Sunday afternoon; a huge number of rotation guys and role players have already grabbed up much of what remained of the open sal...

Holy Moly, Marwin González Can Sure Throw A Baseball

In the bottom of the fifth inning of Tuesday night’s game between the Twins and the Athletics, golden-armed A’s outfielder Ramon Laureano scalded a one-out liner up the line in left. Mark Canha, who’d walked one batter earlier, hoofed it around the bases in an attempt to score from first on the doub...

Slumping White Sox Fella Daniel Palka Would Henceforth Prefer To Be Known As "Julian"

White Sox outfielder Daniel Palka finished his rookie season last year with a healthy 27 home runs and 67 runs batted in, in 417 at-bats. It was a promising year, even if Palka also struck out a whopping 153 times. His sophomore year has not been so promising—Palka opened the season 1-for-35 from th...

Christen Press Scores, Alex Morgan Trolls, And USWNT Leads England 2-1 At The Half

Anyone concerned by Megan Rapinoe’s absence from the starting lineup of today’s USWNT Women’s World Cup semifinal against England was given swift reassurance that everything would be okay when Christen Press, Rapinoe’s replacement, scored this arrowing header just 10 minutes in:...

Bobby Portis Is A Lesson In The Cost Of Doing Business With Bad NBA Teams

A crappy side effect of the NBA’s salary cap is it’s usually better business for your favorite team to have a cheap good player than an expensive one, so you are conditioned to think of cheap contracts for good players as “good” and pricier contracts for comparable players as “bad.” Sticking with th...

The Warriors Will Retire The Jersey Of A Guy Who Dumped Them For Kyrie Irving

Having lost Kevin Durant in free agency to Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets, the Golden State Warriors announced Monday that Durant’s number-35 jersey will be effectively retired, for as long as Joe Lacob is in control of the team:...

The Heat Are Scrambling To Actually Complete The Jimmy Butler Trade [Update]

For an organization whose supposed signifier around the league is “competently professional,” the Miami Heat sure seem to have botched their big trade for Jimmy Butler. After The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that a sign-and-trade deal featuring Butler heading to the 305 and Josh Richardson goi...

British Broadcasters Are Getting The Hang Of Things

Cubs' Pedro Strop On Yasiel Puig: "It's Not A Secret He's Stupid. He's Stupid As Fuck."

In the bottom of eighth with a 3-0 count against Yasiel Puig, Cubs pitcher Pedro Strop plunked the Reds outfielder with a 94 mph pitch. Puig was none too happy about the HBP, and began to slowly make his way towards the pitcher, which led to both benches clearing before any real punches were thrown....

White Sox Include Emmett Till On List Of Celebrities From Chicago

During a break in action at the White Sox-Twins game on Saturday, a graphic appeared on the park’s big screen with the intention of informing the crowd of some famous individuals that were born in Chicago. It included people like Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak, legendary actor/director/drunkard Ors...

Ancient War Goblin Henry Kissinger Defends Olympics In <i>Los Angeles Times</i>

Every global-scale sporting event exists in a strange standoff with itself. On one side is the inevitable bloat and graft and soul-deep cynicism that animates every such event—the neighborhoods flattened or surveilled or otherwise punished for sitting where a stadium is supposed to be, the bribery a...

What A Foul Ball Can Do

Laura Cusick and her husband Richard loved baseball. They loved it so much for so long that it became a part of their marriage. When they had kids, they taught them to love the game, too: to root for the home team (the Braves), and learn the players names, and to stretch in the seventh inning. They ...