ja Page 550 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

How A Career Ends: Danny Manning, No. 1 NBA Draft Pick In 1988, Savored His Garbage Time In 2003
Tell Me When It's Over is an interview series in which we ask former athletes about the moment they knew their playing days were over. Today, with the NBA draft beginning in a matter of hours: Danny Manning, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1988 draft. ...

FBI: Ex-Stripper Mistress Of Warriors Coach Mark Jackson Extorted Him With His Own Dong Shots
The Smoking Gun has the full details, but here's the gist:...

How To Build A 21st-Century Bullpen With Failed Hitting Prospects And A Radar Gun
Earlier this month, Sean Doolittle made his major-league debut for the Oakland Athletics. It wasn't an obviously momentous event: The left-hander took the mound with two outs in the top of the fifth, with the A's trailing Texas 5-0. He struck out Nelson Cruz to end the inning, then pitched a perfect...

How "Seven Nation Army" Conquered The Sports World
The Euro 2012 semifinals kick off today, and 69 goals in, you might have noticed one fan chant being sung after every single one. How did an eminently chantable White Stripes ditty become soccer's universal goal celebration? This piece, originally published Jan. 13, 2012, has your answers....

ESPN Has Found Its New Craig James
We already knew that laughable Senate "candidate" Craig James would not be returning to ESPN—even though he's not going away, apparently—but we didn't know who'd be replacing him as part of the network's Thursday night college football telecast, aside from filling other WWL-related analysis duties. ...

Abe Sauer Is A Dishonest Cretin: A Note From The Editors Of Deadspin
Yesterday, in a post we published about an unfolding scandal in the Indoor Football League, we inadvertently left out a link, which made it appear that a quote from the Argus-Leader of Sioux Falls had instead come from KELO....

Omar Vizquel Busts A Move
The Blue Jays sat through a 2-hour rain delay in Boston, and Omar Vizquel is 45 years old. So...chalk these dance floor moves up to boredom, or just a little physical activity to keep those old joints from locking up?...

If You Are A Projected Lottery Pick, You Should Never Ever Go Back To School
Oh, Jared Sullinger. I wish I had a time machine so I could go back to 2011 and give you this message and tell you all the mean things the draftniks are saying about you. Despite being a projected top 10 pick last year, maybe top five, you were stung by a brutal loss to Kentucky in the Sweet 16, and...

Jamal Crawford Literally Walks Out Of The Gym After Hitting Summer League Game-Winning Three
We have the Olympics this year, and a CBA, so summer league highlights will not be your only source of basketball highlights through Christmas. Still, we can enjoy this one, in which Jamal Crawford holds the ball for a last-second shot, then calmly leaves the court. (Note: in the Jamal Crawford Su...

OK, Let's Talk About Kinja
Consider this your Kinja open thread. I'll be floating around down there all day, and so will the rest of the staff (and maybe Denton, too, once he's done running over your dog). Questions? Concerns? Thoughts?...

The Blue Jackets Turned Down The Islanders' Entire Draft For Their No. 2 Pick
The Blue Jackets, despite the worst record in the NHL, missed out on the first overall pick (It was very sad) and can't miss winger Nail Yakupov. But there was a silver lining at No. 2: can't miss defenseman Ryan Murray. People love Ryan Murray, and think he might be NHL-ready now. If you're going t...

Former ESPNer Dana Jacobson: "I Was Molested As A Child"
Now that Jerry Sandusky has been convicted, count former ESPN personality Dana Jacobson among those empowered to speak out about a personal experience with child sex abuse. Jacobson, who hasn't returned to TV since leaving ESPN at the end of April, relates a story on her personal blog this morning a...

Welcome To The New Commenting System
Everyone, this is Kinja. Kinja, everyone. A few things you should know....

Jamie Moyer Is Becoming Baseball's Very Own Willy Loman
Moyer, if you'll recall, started the season with the Colorado Rockies and was soon designated for assignment after going 2-5. He then signed a minor league deal with the Baltimore Orioles. A clause in that contract required the Orioles to either promote Moyer to the big league club or release him a...

Fellow Inmates Reportedly Sang "Hey, Teacher, Leave Those Kids Alone" To Jerry Sandusky
Following guilty verdicts on 45 of 48 counts, Jerry Sandusky was shipped off to Centre County Correctional Facility, the same facility he was initially held in December. According to a fellow inmate at the time, known only as Josh, Sandusky was on the receiving end of some a cappella ridiculing....

Fewer Threes, More Post: How LeBron James Completely Overhauled His Playoff Game
Unlike last year, LeBron James dominated the 2012 playoffs like the best basketball player in the world. We asked Kirk Goldsberry, of the indispensable CourtVision, what was different about James's postseason play this time around. ...

Why Was David Stern Sitting Next To One Of Rupert Murdoch's Sons Last Night?
James, as you may already know, is Rupert Murdoch's youngest son. He also is entangled in that whole phone-hacking mess in London....

LeBron James: World Champion Cocksucker
I know that last night was supposed to be LeBron James's face turn and that, while he warmly celebrates his first title with teammates and family, I'm supposed to see LeBron in a whole new light. Maybe he's not such a bad guy. Maybe this playoff run has brought out a depth of character heretofore un...

LeBron James Wins First Of Not Two, Not Three, Not Four, Not Five, Not Six, Not Seven NBA Titles
The final score of 121-106 will be forever misleading to history, but there was a point in Game 5 of these NBA Finals where it didn't seem so impossible that the Thunder might mount some significant comeback, forcing the series back to Oklahoma City for what was certain to be a dramatic and tense ...

Craig James Not Planning To Go Away
This is not the end, my only friend. Craig James lost in the Texas Senate primary, lost badly and embarrassingly, and we went and allowed ourselves to hope that maybe we wouldn't have to hear about him for a while. Ha! Craig James doesn't slink off that easily....