layoffs Page 131 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

If You Pick Up A Flag, You Need A Better Explanation Than That
Let's get this caveat out of the way, and (in spirit) amend it to all future discussions of the picked-up pass-interference flag that appeared so crucial in the Lions' loss to the Cowboys: the no-call didn't cost Detroit the game. Failing to hold a lead cost Detroit the game, as did turning the ball...

NFL Ref Pete Morelli Explains Reversed Cowboys' Pass Interference Call
Per Josh Katzenstein of the Detroit News, here's referee Pete Morelli's explanation of why Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens wasn't called for defensive pass interference on Brandon Pettigrew today. According to Morelli, the back judge thought it was DPI, but the head linesman determined that Hitc...

Officials Reverse Cowboys' Pass Interference Penalty
This was the call (or non-call) that changed the game. On third-and-one, Matthew Stafford threw to tight end Brandon Pettigrew, who was covered by linebacker Anthony Hitchens. Hitchens had his back to Stafford and made no intention to look for the ball. An official threw a flag and announced a def...

Marvin Lewis Keeps His Streak Of Playoff Losses Alive
The Bengals got unceremoniously flushed out of the playoffs earlier today, losing 26-10 to the Colts. If this sounds familiar, that's because it's happened for the fourth straight season. Cincinnati is performing an admirable exercise in underachievement....

Ed Hochuli Makes Mysterious Reference To "Jungle Boy"
Early in the second half of tonight's NFL playoff game between Arizona and Carolina, referee Ed Hochuli announced something bizarre to the Bank of America Stadium crowd: "I got the word from Jungle Boy that was a good call."...

Fan In Charlotte Is Pointing A Light At Graham Gano During FG Attempts
What is this gentleman doing? We've caught him shining this light on three separate Graham Gano field goal attempts. Laser pointer? Tactical flashlight? ...

Crazy-Ass Numbers Games: Your Guide to Ignoring the NFL Playoffs Today
Get a load of this shit, from the Carolina Panthers' own goddamn website, about Bank of America Stadium, where the Panthers will today host a sham of a playoff game they have absolutely no business participating in:...

Ndamukong Suh Wins Appeal, Will Play Against Cowboys
Did not see this one coming!...

Here's A Mutant Hybrid Of Everyone's NFL Playoff Projections
With the NFL playoffs just a few weeks away, there are a lot of playoff probabilities going around. Functionally, these all do more or less the same thing. So instead of churning out our own—which, face it, we are probably not going to do better than what's already out in the world—we're mashing eve...

Madison Bumgarner Is Tired Now
The greatest moments in baseball tend to possess an element of surprise, deciding a game or flipping a narrative on a single play and in a matter of seconds. The adrenaline spike from a home run or a stellar defensive play is memorable for being unexpected, but the drawback is that you can't, in the...

A <em>Clash Of Clans</em> Addiction Nearly Sank The Royals' Season
A baseball season is long enough that any successful team will invariably slump, break out of it, and with hindsight be able to point to the year's largely symbolic turning point. For the Royals' narrative, that turning point was the clubhouse valiantly overcoming its crippling addiction to mobile g...

Royals Fans Celebrate Pennant With Long, Sloppy Victory Kiss
The YouTube description accompanying this video claims that these two lovebirds are total strangers, which seems a little hard to believe, but I guess anything is possible when two people are a few beers deep and the Royals make the World Series for the first time since 1985....

Bruce Bochy Was The Anti-Matheny, And It Made All The Difference
If you're looking for an argument that having a smart manager in the dugout is integral to a baseball team's success, last night's Cardinals-Giants game is it. Not only did it feature Mike Matheny badly managing his club right into a walk-off homer, it had the manager on the other side of the field,...

What The Royals' Pennant Win Sounded Like From The Parking Lot
It's the next-best thing to being inside the stadium! (No it's not. A bar would have been better. Or your couch in front of a TV. But I'm glad this video exists!)...

The Giants Can't Stop Winning Weird
After a 6-4 win keyed by another one of those Giants rallies that just sort of happen, San Francisco finds itself a game away from the World Series, and completely unable to explain it....

Jarrod Dyson Claims An Oriole Deliberately Kneed Him In The Head
Jarrod Dyson said he believes Orioles 3B Ryan Flaherty deliberately "put a knee down" on him on a pickoff attempt last night, as retaliation for his earlier comments that this ALCS would be a short one....

Royals Fans Didn't Let Mike Moustakas Hit The Ground
Adam Jones spoke for everyone with his echoed disbelief of his view after fouling off a pitch and patiently waiting for it to land harmlessly in the seats. "I didn't even see him catch it," Jones said of Mike Moustakas's plunge into the dugout suite. "I just saw him falling over. And—'He caught ...

Giants Ride Their First Big Inning of the NLCS To Extra-Innings Win
The Giants offense has struggled lately. In winning Game 1 of the NLCS, they scored three runs on a single, error, and sacrifice fly. In losing Game 2, they scored four runs on a ground out, single, single, and walk. Across the two games they left 19 men on base to the Cardinals 11, unable to turn...

Cubs Fans, Look Away Now
Yeah, that's real. It's a Cubs cap with a 2003 World Series patch, and it was placed in players' lockers late in Game 6 of the NLCS, anticipating a almost-certain Chicago victory....

MLB's Player-Tracking Technology Exists For Players Like Lorenzo Cain
We love us some Lorenzo Cain. The Royals' speedy outfielder made his presence felt yet again yesterday, robbing J.J. Hardy of certain extra bases in yesterday's 6-4 win. And thanks to some fancy technology from MLBAM, we can quantify just how good he is at what he does....