npr Page 14 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
USWNT Striker Christen Press Is Way Too Fast
Like, those six players the USWNT's Christen Press runs past aren't scrubs. That's France, one of the best national teams in the world. And even they can't keep up with Press as, with two wicked bursts, she flies past them like they're stuck in quicksand before passing the ball into the back of th...
Minnesota High School Hockey Teams Throw Down In Line Brawl
A Saturday playoff hockey game between Minnesota high schools Benilde-St. Margaret's and Eden Prairie turned into a line brawl with less than a second remaining....
How "The King Of Good Times" And Dan Snyder Brought India Cheerleading
The Cricket World Cup begins this weekend in Australia, and the rest of the globe will be paying attention as India defends its title in what should be the biggest sporting event of 2015. Domestically? We can expect, well, crickets. ...
At Least 14 Killed In Egyptian Soccer Riot; Fans Post Photos Of Victims
According to Egyptian state television, a soccer riot that broke out in Cairo today left at least 14 dead (Update: authorities are now saying that the official death toll is at 22). The clash was between supporters of Egyptian Premier League club Zamalek and security personnel at Air Defense Stadium...
Yes, The Reversed Call In Lions-Cowboys Really Was Rd. 1's Biggest Play
A proper inventory of what did and didn't go in Detroit's favor in Sunday's playoff game against the Cowboys would include, at minimum, the NFL ruling that "first-time offender" Ndamukong Suh was eligible to suit up; a hot start followed by scoring just six points over the final three quarters (fo...
Sure, <i>Now</i> The Jets Make The Biggest Plays Of The Week
After the Jets let Miami's Lamar Miller dash for a 97-yard touchdown run at the beginning of the third quarter, which was the longest play from scrimmage in Dolphins history, they trailed by 10 points, their WPA sat at 20 percent, and it appeared Rex Ryan would lose his last game, which seemed f...
Miami Lost And Then Won The Game On Two Huge Special-Teams Plays
With about five minutes remaining in a tied contest against Minnesota, Miami received a kickoff with the game seemingly tilted in their favor with Win Probability at 61 percent and an opportunity to run clock and take a late go-ahead lead. But rookie wideout Jarvis Landry slipped on the return, got ...
The Biggest Two-Yard Run Of Week 14
Glancing briefly at box scores will tell you the Colts beat the Browns and Andrew Luck threw a go-ahead touchdown with 32 seconds remaining. But the box score won't tell you the leverage of the plays leading up to the touchdown, or that Boom Herron's two-yard rush immediately preceding the touchdo...
Andy Dalton Dug His Team A Hole With An Early Interception
Whenever we round up the most highly leveraged plays every week using Brian Burke's WPA from Advanced Football Analytics, the list is usually littered with late-game turnovers and touchdowns. So it's interesting that Andy Dalton getting picked off by Tampa Bay's Johnthan Banks on the very first pl...
The Bucs Found A Really Impressive Way To Blow The Game This Week
We normally go over the most highly leveraged plays, or some collection of them, when we round up Brian Burke's WPA from Advanced Football Analytics every week. The list is almost always bottom-heavy, comprising plays that just happened to occur in the fourth quarter, or long touchdowns, like Lata...
Notre Dame Dicked Themselves On Some Late 4th Quarter Plays
Down three with just a few minutes remaining in the game, Notre Dame was pushing the ball deep into Louisville territory and had a chance to take a late lead with a go-ahead touchdown. Facing second and goal from the nine yard line, it appeared the Irish would at the very least tie the game and se...
Carolina Won And Then Lost The Game On Two Huge 4th Quarter Plays
Late in the fourth quarter against the Falcons, Cam Newton and the Panthers were driving, down two, when Newton hit his rookie wideout Kelvin Benjamin for a 17-yard gain, taking Carolina down to the Atlanta 32, within field goal range. It represented the biggest gain in WPA for the week—28 percentag...
Auburn's Fumbles Were As Costly As 204 Yards And Three TDs
Last week, Auburn forced a few turnovers late in the game to escape with a win over Ole Miss. This week Auburn had a few turnovers in critical situations in what resulted in two of the most detrimental plays of the week, according to data from fantasy sports app Pivit....
Drew Brees's Fumble Was The Most Disastrous Play Of Week 10
Drew Brees made several big plays to will the Saints into overtime and give his team a chance at beating the 49ers. But in overtime Brees was sacked and fumbled, which led to San Francisco's game-winning field goal. The fumble was the detrimental play of the week according to data from Brian Burke...
Ole Miss's Fumbles Were The Most Damaging Plays This Week
After last week's tough loss to LSU, Ole Miss once again trailed a ranked division opponent in the fourth quarter. Ole Miss put together some promising drives, but two fumbles prevented the Rebels from retaking the lead and resulted in two of the costliest plays of the week, according to data fr...
Colin Kaepernick's Fumble Was The Most Devastating Play Of Week 9
Week 10 starts in a few hours, so while we can, let's finish cleaning house on Week 9. Down by three with ten seconds remaining, the 49ers were one yard away from the St. Louis end zone and appeared on the verge of victory. But Colin Kaepernick fumbled in what was not only the most detrimental pla...
Here's T-Pain Singing His Ass Off Without Auto-Tune
T-Pain was and is entertaining—and T-Pain was and is important—not just because he built a career a decade ago by making fun, light songs about drinking and/or having sex with women, but because of how he did it. He utilized and popularized Auto-Tune, and in doing so transformed both rap and R&B, pa...
Tampa Bay's Overtime Fumble Was The Most Costly Fuckup In Week 8
After receiving the ball to start overtime, Tampa Bay could have ended the game with a touchdown drive. But Tampa tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins fumbled on the first scrimmage play of overtime, and Minnesota linebacker Anthony Barr returned the fumble for a touchdown, which ended the game and...
LSU's Defense Dominated In Critical Situations This Week
Although Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace was shut down through much of Saturday's game against LSU, he had two chances late in the game to lead his team to victory. However, LSU's defense stopped both of Ole Miss' late drives and accounted for two of the most impactful plays of the week, according...
Kyle Orton Was The Most Pivotal Quarterback In Week 7
According to data from Brian Burke of Advanced Football Analytics, Kyle Orton had three of the NFL's top five most positive plays of the week on the Bills' game-winning drive. ...