language Page 5 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The International Gymnastics Federation will break you… eventually
The ability of the sports world to churn on through societal decay is dismaying or courageous depending on how you frame it. Oscillating between the stoicism of the Ukrainian national team playing through an invasion, and Black athletes being asked to perform in front of white people a day after a r...

For Black America, moments of silence are no longer enough
As of March, it has been 25 years since I had my introduction to society. My ninth birthday was in my sights, as was the end of the school year. Springtime in Chicagoland may not always bring sunshine and flowers, but it does come with promise. The occasional 60-70 degree day gives just enough hope ...

Fictional Hooper Bracket: National Championship
Look at the people getting this one right. For all the moronic governors, members of Congress, and former presidents that who been elected but have nothing better to do than make their constituents’ lives worse — but still win by tapping into those tried-and-true methods of racism, misogyny, homopho...

Fictional Hooper Bracket: The Final Four
We got an all-blueblood Final Four. I know we enjoyed Saint Peter’s, but as happy as I am for Shaheen Holloway’s new contract — of course this is yet another example of a college coach capitalizing off of his hard-playing talent for a much better job, but the Peacocks pull their home bleachers out o...

‘King Richard’ is not a movie to be overlooked during the Oscars
Sports movies often get overlooked during Oscar season. The last time a sports film won Best Picture was 2005 when Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby took home the night’s most coveted award. Since then, it’s been crickets. Some sports movies and short films have been given some recognition with l...

Fictional Hooper Bracket: Hickory Region - Round 2
An overweight out-of-work actor who didn’t make a bucket on screen, a cartoon grade school kid, and Urkel all prevailed in the Hickory Region, meaning the 11, 13, and 14 seeds came up Milhouse in an upset-riddled round. Now, Urkel and Recess’ Vince LaSalle face off to go to the Sweet 16....

How to fill out a March Madness bracket and other lies
Welcome to “How to fill out a March Madness bracket and other lies” where I’m going to give you five truths and five lies, and you have to figure out which ones are going to give you the edge in your office pool. If I’m giving away free advice, it’s going to come with a catch. (I am getting paid to ...

Whew… we need to talk about the Russian gymnasts
This morning, I woke up to the sight of a river of people, from the elderly down to the babies carried in their parents’ arms, trying to escape Ukraine. I watched my TV in horror as they slipped and slid uphill, some of them falling, wondering if they were going to get back up again. Behind them, a ...

P.K. Subban is officially a <i>Jackass</i>
New Jersey Devils defenseman P.K. Subban has always been a pretty divisive player. Some fans think the former Norris Trophy winner is one of the dirtiest players in the NHL. Yet several retired players and referees have come to Subban’s defense claiming that the slew foot technique he’s become known...

All this fun and you get paid, too!
I’ll level with you. I didn’t really think that much of John Madden as an analyst, at least for most of my experience listening to him. That doesn’t mean I didn’t think his personality or presence didn’t warrant his standing at the top of the broadcasting game. They very much did. And perhaps I’m ju...

Here’s a workaround for enjoying Alabama’s talent without enduring ‘Roll Tide!’ chants
As a life ethos, I don’t watch Alabama unless it’s the title game. Not the SEC title game, THE title game. I take that back, I watch the title game and as much of the Tennessee-Alabama game as my girlfriend can stand. They’re too good even for their loaded conference, so save for a title game or ups...

I’m crying right along with Dick Vitale
Dick Vitale returned to the broadcast desk last night for a Gonzaga-UCLA game, and if you caught the video live or on Twitter you’d have to be pretty stone cold to not have a salty discharge emerge from your tear ducts for the man who is currently battling cancer. If you didn’t know, Vitale had a me...

It’s time for the annual Scott Boras 'yuk-fest'
I suppose one of the less heralded benefits of being ungodly rich is that no one is going to tell you you’re not funny and you’re killing Fozzy Bear. Isn’t that how we ended up with John Mulaney?...

Why am I happy for Dusty Baker? Am I? Should I be?
I have some sympathy for anyone who has to sell this World Series. While it would be honest, if it is one’s job to write about MLB’s climax, you can’t really attract eyes and hearts by constantly beating the drum of “Boy, everyone sure hates these assholes!” You do have to find some angle that can g...

Another black eye for hockey
It’s not so surprising that hockey could step on a few rakes before its season even starts. It’s just surprising how not surprising it is. It would have been bad enough for the sport to deal with Robin Lehner’s accusations of NFL-like painkiller distribution among its teams, trainers, and players. Y...

Fat Bear Week is the event you didn't know you needed
Perhaps you have your own signs that summer is coming to an end. Here locally, it’s the ending of outdoor street fests or concerts. MLB playoffs might be another for you. Every place and individual probably has its own marker. But another one for all of us is the annual “Fat Bear Week” competition p...

Sage Steele and Clay Travis team up for double the idiocy
What kind of idiot, in the year 2021, sees a Clay Travis tweet, and thinks to themselves that rather than Fox’s resident sportbro spouting off false equivalencies or flat-out misleading people, he’s really making a great point?...

Thom Brennaman still doesn't get it: Born on third base and wondering why he’s back at first now
Thom Brennaman has been a lousy broadcaster for years. Lucky to get a job as a play-by-play man because his dad Marty was one of the best of all time, Thom got his voice and his start from his father, but proved to be as mediocre as so many silver spooners before him....