mac Page 81 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Goon Show
It'll come as no surprise that my favorite series at Grantland is the "Director's Cut" feature curated by Michael MacCambridge. He does a beautiful job and I'm always eager to see what gift he gives us next. Here's an especially good one—"The Making of a Goon," by Johnette Howard, which originally ...

How Will A Meniscus Tear Affect Russell Westbrook?
We learned today that Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook will undergo surgery for a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee. This is great news for Western Conference hopefuls and bad news for anyone who loves basketball: We still don't know how long he'll be out, and the NBA playoffs without Westbro...

Good News, Thunder Fans Have A New Fight Song To Sing While Shirtless
Nice song, Mathias in Southern California. Nice pecs, too. Keep doing you. ...

Czech Republic Denies That It's Chechnya
A very important statement from the Czech Republic's ambassador to the U.S.:...


Russell Westbrook's Awesome Block Leads To Kevin Durant's Scary Dunk
Here, in just over 30 seconds, is a perfect encapsulation of what makes the Oklahoma City Thunder such a frighteningly good team. Not only do they have a point guard who can recover from a defensive lapse with a brutal chase-down block, they also have a small forward who can corral the loose ball, ...

Totally Reasonable Michigan State Student Celebrates Michigan Loss By Detonating Homemade Bomb
The Michigan State Spartans were bounced from this year's NCAA tournament by Duke in the Sweet Sixteen. Even worse for Spartans fans was the fact that in-state rival Michigan made it all the way to the finals, so it totally makes sense that one Michigan State student decided to celebrate Michigan's ...

Arsalan Kazemi, Oregon's Iranian-Born Glue Guy, Was Subjected To A Whole Lot Of Racism In His Time As A Student-Athlete
Arsalan Kazemi was Oregon's hustling forward and best rebounder this season, averaging nearly a double-double and shooting almost 60%. He was also, according to USA Today, "the first Iranian to recieve a scholarship to play Division I basketball," and boy, did he hear about it. ...

The Nuggets Don't Have A Star Player, But They Don't Need One
With last night's road victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder—a win that came on the second leg of back-to-back games—the Denver Nuggets quietly extended their win streak to 13. The Miami Heat, of course, have reached 23 straight wins with supernatural ease, and are understandably the bigger NBA...

Vince Carter Gets His Ankles Destroyed By Kevin Durant
Hey Vince Carter, you are old! Your ankles would really appreciate it if you would stay away from 6-foot-10 mutants like Kevin Durant from now on. ...

The Play-By-Play Of Elvis Dumervil's Contract Mishap Sounds Pretty Agonizing
Yesterday, it appeared that Elvis Dumervil's failed contract negotiation with the Broncos was thwarted by a fax machine, a piece of technology rendered obsolete some 11 or 12 years ago by the advent of .pdf documents and email. It seemed like Dumervil was just another victim of the NFL's hard-assed ...

Spring Breakers Arrested On Camera For Being Spring Breakers: "Roll Tide!"
This just might might be the most unintentionally hilarious important newscast of the year. It was the top story this morning on WJHG, the NBC affiliate in Panama City, Fla., and it's easy to see why: The arrest of "dozens" of people for the dastardly crimes of being young underage drinking and havi...

Russell Westbrook Throws Up A Half-Court Shot That Is Total Nonsense
He was clearly trying to draw a foul here, and although he may have actually succeeded—Gary Neal's hands were right on Westbrook's chest when the shot went up—this shot was ill-advised. You can't really expect the referee to be ready to call a foul on a half-court shot with 18 seconds left on the s...

Alabama's Trevor Releford Beat The Georgia Bulldogs On A Nice Little Floater From Beyond Half-Court
At this point, it's useless to compare buzzer-beaters. This one's the best, that one's the best, the one with the chunky Canadians is the best—it's all relative. But if you're a fan of unexpected end-of-game twists, graceful floaters from about 55 feet away, and jubilant hometown crowds, we recomm...

Who Shot? J.R.: Why We Love The Knicks' Gunner
Here are all the players in NBA history who shot 29 or more times in a game but attempted two or fewer free throws. It's quite the list, really. Among other things, it's also a pretty good list of the best fadeaway artists in NBA history. You can almost see these games in your head. Catch-and-shoot...

Kobe Bryant Told Serge Ibaka His Nutshot On Blake Griffin Was "Hogshit"
Serge Ibaka's karate chop on Blake Griffin's junk earned him a healthy fine and criticism from some of the NBA's elite—including Kobe Bryant, who said if the Thunder star tried the trick on him, he'd respond with a smack in the mouth....

High School Coach Whose Wife Was Diagnosed With Cancer Hits Half-Court Shot For $20,000
This happened between the third and fourth quarters of last night's Lakers-Thunder game, and it's one of the best fan-makes-half-court-shot videos of the year. The fact that Heath Kufahl's perfectly executed shot is followed by everyone on the court freaking out jumping around to a Blur song makes...

No, The Lakers Did Not Prove That They Can Compete With The Thunder Last Night
Last night, the Oklahoma City Thunder decimated the Los Angeles Lakers. Not only did the home team hang 122 on the Lakers, they bullied their way into the paint for 52 of those points and racked up another 22 on fast breaks that left Los Angeles gasping and ragged. L.A. surrendered 37 points in the...

The U.S. State Department Actually Clarified That Dennis Rodman "Has Never Been A Player In Our Diplomacy"
In case you were wondering:...

"Sweat Is Just Your Fat Crying," Says Weird Sign In Alabama Weight Room
That's it, we've officially run out of motivational slogans to slap on the walls of places where college athletes congregate. The day that this sign was hung up in the University of Alabama football team's weight room is the day that someone should have taken a step back and said, "You know what, m...