layoffs Page 168 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
"Let's Clean This Thing Up. Let's Not Hurt The Game": Red Auerbach's Anti-Flopping Video
It was the mid '70s, and Red Auerbach wanted to teach the basketball world to stop flopping. To get his message across, he called in a dream team of Elvin Hayes, Clem Haskins, Wes Unseld, Paul Silas, Mike Riordan, and referee Mendy Rudolph, who was named head of officials and inducted into the Hal...
Rajon Rondo Was Surly And Surgical Last Night
Last night the Celtics tied the Heat at 2-2 in the Eastern Conference finals, which is good news if you want to watch a competitive series. It's even better news if you want to watch Rajon Rondo play incredible basketball....
Maine TV Anchor Reports Last Night's Heat-Celtics Game Four Ended In A Tie
Portland, Maine, isn't exactly a small television market. With a Nielsen DMA rank of 78, it's solidly mid-sized, amongst the Toledos and Omahas of the TV landscape. Regardless, stations sometimes find themselves shorthanded on the weekends—which appears to have happened at Portland's ABC affiliate...
How The Kings Toughened Up And Conquered The NHL
There are two central oddities in the New Jersey Devils-Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup final, which the Kings lead 2-0 after two overtime wins. One is that the Kings were an eight seed with a meager plus-15 goal differential during the regular season, an eight seed that went 5-2-3 in its last 10 game...
Somebody Finally Told Chris Bosh The Truth About Santa Claus
Chris Bosh will reportedly return for the Eastern Conference Finals' Game Five, which really is a shame, because we've grown accustomed to his face—that twisting, tortured face that's provided us so much enjoyment as it beams or frowns or, uh, whatever it's doing above from Miami's bench....
ESPN's Brad Daugherty Promos NBA Playoff Game As "Paul Pierce & The Celtics Vs. LeBron James & The Officials"
ESPN analyst Brad Daugherty is one of the network's best NASCAR minds, but it was in basketball that he originally made his fortune. Thus, the NASCAR Countdown studio crew handing the reins for the promo reader of tomorrow night's Eastern Conference Finals game over to Daugherty was probably obvio...
Some Celtics Fans Will Be Wearing Tim Donaghy Masks Tonight
Celtics fans, including the world's most famous Celtics fan, truly believe that the NBA is rigged and/or biased for Miami and against Boston. To do their best to give David Stern an aneurism, there's a campaign to print out and wear masks of everyone's favorite crooked ref Tim Donaghy. This is the b...
Now A New York TV Station Thinks The Islanders Are Playing The Kings In The Stanley Cup Finals
Media ignorance to the NHL playoffs continues, as tonight's 6 p.m. WABC newscast featured a graphic not only suggesting the New York Islanders were in the Stanley Cup Finals but text to that effect as well. As inexcusable as the various mistakes made in identifying the Kings by Los Angeles media af...
Rajon Rondo Is Beautiful And Hopelessly Alone And Playing Fuck-You Basketball
Last night against the Heat, Rajon Rondo put up 44 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists, and three steals while committing just three turnovers. He played every single minute of a game that went into overtime and was undoubtedly the best player on the floor on a night that included five future Hall of...
Don Cherry Picks The Kings To Win The Cup Because They Have Fewer European Players
Last year, an academic study tapped Don Cherry as the new face of Canadian Nationalism. The world recoiled in horror, not least of all Canadians themselves. (I know. I asked them all.) But Grapes's geographical jingoism is something you kind of have to tune out, because at least it doesn't affect hi...
23 Percent Of All <em>SportsCenter</em> Programming Last Week Was Devoted To The Miami Heat
This is a regular feature breaking down, minute-by-minute, the content that appears on ESPN's 11 p.m. edition of SportsCenter throughout the week. Graphic by Jim Cooke....
Rex Ryan: New Jersey Devils Fan
New York Jets coach Rex Ryan and family took in last night's opening game of the Stanley Cup Finals, garbed in Devils jerseys and ready for action. Alas, the Kings took Game One 2-1 in overtime, but we're not entirely sure how much Ryan's behind the Devils anyway—he grew up a Maple Leafs fan in Tor...
The Unappreciated Playground Genius Of The San Antonio Spurs
Last night in San Antonio, the Oklahoma City Thunder were the sum of their parts. It was a pretty good sum, even. The Thunder were solid on the glass against the Spurs; they lit it up from three-point range; they earned plenty of points at the free-throw line. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and...
Here's The Only Way The Spurs Can Be Beat
The list of memorable halftime acts can be easily recited by any basketball fan: Quick Change, unicycle bowl lady, Frisbee Dog, and my personal favorite: Zooperstars! Last night's Western Conference Finals matchup in San Antonio appeared to feature the guy who plays outside the arena for cash as yo...
Chris Bosh Spent Last Night In His Own Little Place Of Bliss
Injured Heat forward Chris Bosh spent last night's Eastern Conference Finals Game One on the bench, though he certainly didn't seem to be missing much about playing the game. Indeed, most opportunities viewers were given to look in on Bosh showed a man at ease with the lofty predictions for his tea...
Tonight LeBron Needs To Eat Some Old Irish Hearts
Bumblederping around the Web today it's surprising to see how many people expect the Celtics to curl up and die quiet in their series against the Heat, which begins tonight. David Steele over at the Sporting News is among the rare authors who believe three future Hall of Famers plus a tripler of dou...
The Flaming Lips, Oklahoma City's Only Other Reason For Being, Rewrite 1999 Track to Celebrate Thunder
While the Thunder ponder what might have been in San Antonio last night if they hadn't committed four offensive fouls in the fourth quarter, or if they'd defended Manu Ginobili with something sturdier than hard glares, they can regroup to the flattering sounds of OKC's favorite local psychedelic roc...
Miami TV Anchor: "The Heat Will Play Either The Celtics Or The 69ers"
Here's a clip from today's Local 10 News Saturday Morning on Miami ABC affiliate WPLG previewing the Eastern Conference finals before tonight's Game Seven between Boston and Philadelphia....
This Is The Face Of Pacers Fan Denial
Oh, sure, this is supposedly an image of Ryan Briscoe, the Aussie driver who will sit the pole for Sunday's Indy 500, but then a bespectacled Roger Sterling in a "Gold Swagger" t-shirt (which the real Roger Sterling would totally wear) decided he needed to be in on the fun. He also appears to have ...
Today In Getting To Know The Kings: Reebok Offers An "Alex Kopitar" Shirt
This hockey thing's new; we get it. But despite the team's best efforts, we're still not all on the same page. Take this Reebok "Stanley Cup Finals Alex Kopitar" t-shirt, now available in the NHL.com shop. (He's also "Alex" at other outlets offering the same shirt, so this is a Reebok problem, not a...