logrolling-in-our-time Page 5 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Jocks, Geeks, And The Search For Common Ground At This Year's MIT Sports Analytics Conference
Chuck Salter reports from Dorkapalooza, where Kirk Goldsberry was the star attraction and team executives did what they could to talk a lot and say little. [Fast Company]...
How I Finally Made Peace With Bob Costas, TV Journalism's Most Authentic Shill
I met Bob Costas in 1993, when I interviewed him for a TV sports documentary. I was enormously impressed. He could have filled all six hours and probably should have. It was fun. The insecurity that drove him—he kept asking if he looked all right, if he sounded too sentimental—was endearing....
How The Media Keep Getting Joe Frazier Wrong
Lawdy, lawdy Bob Lipsyte is great: "This glorification of Smokin' Joe actually began several years ago with documentaries and books that used him as a vehicle—not always unjustified—for attacking Ali. Once again, Joe was the opponent, not the headliner. Those who reviled Ali as the symbolic hero of ...
Fantasy Sports Are Going To Take Over The World, According To Fancy Infographic
Fantasy sports now account for "$800 million, or about 18%, of the $4.5 billion sports industry," and the "estimated 32 million of North Americans ages 12 and older" who participate are essentially subsidizing sportswriting! So, uh, please—keep doing what you're doing. [Co.Design]...
The Tobacco Farmer With The "Ol' Soupbone" And The Baseball Achievement That Will Last Forever
SI's Chris Ballard and Kotaku's Owen Good have teamed up to tell the story of minor-league pitcher Jack Swift, whose last-chance season and remarkable feats from 60 years ago are only now becoming known. You should go read it. [Sports Illustrated]...
John Starks Was A Gifted Grocery Store Employee, And Other Stories From Slate's <em>Hang Up And Listen</em> Podcast
Our friends at Slate do a fine weekly sports podcast called Hang Up and Listen, which is a thing that callers to WFAN often tell Mike Francesa they will do. But Josh Levin is more insightful than Mike Francesa!...
A Definitive Taxonomy Of Pro Wrestling Gimmicks
This intensely detailed poster is something of a throwback to a more theatrical time, when wrestling champions went by monikers more descriptive than Randy and Alberto. You can almost see the WWE's early 90s dartboard naming process at work. "An evil...dentist. A fighting...garbage man." [Pop Chart ...
Science! Shows That Red Sox Fans Are The Most Obsessed
According to metrics like attendance, revenue and money spent, Boston fans take the title as the most devoted in baseball. Maybe that's true, but Shaughnessy needs to be pelted with feces anyway. [Bundle]...
Le Mans Driver Makes Convincing Case That What He Does Is Athletic
Co.Design takes a look at the Audi commercial featuring Scottish driver Allan McNish, who explains the toll the 24 hour Le Mans race — which is the "equivalent of an entire Formula One season — takes on his body. Woozy motion graphics ahead. [Co.Design]...
They're Still Playing That Crazy-Ass, Everything-At-Once Sport Called Kronum
Hickey went and checked out a new rec league for the fledgling sport-clusterfuck Kronum just outside of Philadelphia over the weekend. "Here's what I ask people," founder Bill Gibson tells the Metro. "Do you listen to your grandparents' music? Well, why are you playing your grandparents' sports?" [M...
If March Madness Were Only About Spending Money, Syracuse Would Be National Champion
Mike Dang at Bundle calculated March Madness's most tournament-obsessed colleges, using basketball program expense and revenue, game attendance, and school spending. Syracuse wins, but not in everything: George Mason students spend 257% more at bars during the tournament. [Bundle]...
Harvard Students' Sports Analysis Club Will Inherit The Sports, Winklevosses Probably Pissed
Deadspin contributor Ben Cohen writes about Deadspin contributors the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective in a story that is not to be missed by Deadspin readers. Among other things: these dorks are getting lots of jobs. Bully for you, dorks. [ThePostGame]...
How NASCAR Conquered America Through The Air
Greg Lindsay is the co-author of the forthcoming Aerotropolis: The Way We'll Live Next, which argues that air travel has a lot more to do with your daily life than you might think. In this outtake from the book, he describes how NASCAR teams took to the skies as the sport expanded nationally over th...
Isles Goon Runs Business More Successful Than His Own Team
Zenon Konopka, who leads the NHL in penalty minutes this year, is a grapeseed oil magnate. He makes and sells wine, too. Then, presumably, Sandis Ozolinsh drinks it. [AmEx Open Forum]...
Are You In Packer Or Steeler Country?
Well, a good rule of thumb is looking to see whether your hometown has a higher incidence of chronic respiratory problems or diabetes. If those data are inconclusive, consider this helpful interactive infographic. [Fast Co. Design]...
Walkoff Walk Walks Off
After three years and just as many laughs, Walkoff Walk rides into the sunset. We'll always have the shrimp....
Smart People Talk About <em>Sports Illustrated</em>'s 1968 Series About Black Athletes
On Monday, we excerpted from Jack Olsen's 1968 Sports Illustrated series, "The Black Athlete—A Shameful Story." Slate's Hang Up and Listen podcast discusses those stories with one of Olsen's subjects, Donald Smith (now Zaid Abdul-Aziz). Go listen....
Quickish.com Has Arrived
Our good friend Dan Shanoff has launched Quickish.com, a collection of real-time sports news recommendations. It's like a very well-tended Twitter feed, minus the Peter Gammons cryptograms....
The Big Ten's New Logo Really Isn't That Bad
Co.Design talks to Michael Bierut, the guy responsible for the Big Ten's redesign, who finds himself assailed by the sort of conference alums who'd hate any logo that wasn't Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes humping each other in a cornfield. [Co.Design]...
Go Listen To Leitch And The FreeDarko Guys Stammer At Each Other Tomorrow
New Yorkers: Leitch is moderating a discussion with the FreeDarko authors from 7-8 p.m. tomorrow at the Strand. Drinks to follow. [NYMag.com, art by Jacob Weinstein via the FreeDarko store]...