npr Page 16 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Can Women's Pro Soccer Work In America? An Investigation, In Sweden
Originally published in Howler Magazine, which you can purchase here. Follow the magazine on Twitter, @whatahowler. Photo by Ryu Voelkel....

Non-Profit Executive Roger Goodell Made $29.5M In 2012
The National Football League, as everyone knows, is a not-for-profit charity, the chief purpose of which is to promote the growth of the sport of football. Sure, it rakes in hundreds of millions of tax-exempt dollars annually, and pays its executives tens of millions, but why not? Who can quibble wi...

ESPN Says The Ravens (Who Won) Had A Sub-Zero Chance Of Winning
The graph above, tweeted out by ESPN Stats & Info last night, shows the win probability for the Ravens and Vikings over the fourth quarter of their ridiculous Sunday game, which saw five lead changes in the final two minutes....

Advanced NFL Stats has made some significant tweaks to its win probability model, which now incorporates team strength and the value of second half kickoffs while adjusting the likelihood that trailing teams will attempt fourth-down and 2-point conversions late in the game. It's good stuff. [Advance...

Hockey Guy Punched
Whatever your feelings on fighting in hockey, it's a little satisfying to see Cam "If he's sucking cock, he's getting his ass kicked" Janssen take it on the chin....

Why Your Children's Television Program Sucks: <em>Jessie</em>
A look at the awful children’s programming you’re forced to endure before you can finally kick the kids out of the TV room to watch sports for eight hours. Image by Jim Cooke....

How Statistically Unlikely Was The Patriots Comeback? (Spoiler: Very)
How unlikely was Tom Brady's game-winning pass to Kenbrell Thompkins? Unlikely enough to make this Win Probability chart for the Saints look like it got stabbed in the heart with a spear. ...

Why The NFL's New Concussion Protocols Aren't Working
In January, the NFL announced that, starting with the 2013 season, all games would be played with an independent neurologist on the sidelines to assist with the evaluation and treatment of head injuries. It looked like the league had done a good thing. It was establishing a new, unbiased procedure t...

30 Paragraphs About 30 Teams: A Thinking Fan's Guide To The NHL Season
The following is excerpted from the team chapters of the excellent Hockey Prospectus 2013-2014, by the authors of Hockey Prospectus. Buy the PDF for $14.95 or order the printed book from Amazon....

32 Paragraphs About 32 Teams: A Thinking Fan's Guide To The NFL Season
The following is excerpted from the team chapters of the always-excellent Football Outsiders Almanac. Buy the PDF for $12.50 or order the printed book from Amazon....

A Young Karl Malone Once Fell For A Great Frank Layden Prank
The Salt Lake Tribune caught up with Karl Malone, who turns 50 tomorrow, a fact that ought to make any kid who followed basketball closely in the '80s and '90s feel really old. Malone tells the newspaper the story of his first visit to Utah in 1985, a little more than a month after the Jazz drafted ...


Why Your Children's Television Program Sucks: <em>Thomas & Friends</em>
A look at the awful children’s programming you’re forced to endure before you can finally kick the kids out of the TV room to watch sports for eight hours. Image by Jim Cooke....

American Treasure
Via NPR, Alan Lomax’s massive archive goes on line....

The NCAA Has Wagged Its Finger At Oregon And Chip Kelly
The NCAA's committee on infractions has spoken: Because of payments made to a recruiting service run by a guy who steered a prospect toward the Oregon football program, the Ducks have been hit with three years' probation and other penalties, most of which they had already imposed on themselves. Thus...

Why Your Children's Television Program Sucks: <em>Super Why!</em>
A look at the awful children’s programming you’re forced to endure before you can finally kick the kids out of the TV room to watch sports for eight hours. Image by Jim Cooke....

Why Your Children's Television Program Sucks: <i>The Fresh Beat Band</i>
A regular look at the awful children’s programming you’re forced to endure before you can finally kick the kids out of the TV room to watch sports for eight hours. Image by Jim Cooke....

Why Your Children's Television Program Sucks: <i>Dora The Explorer</i>
A look at the awful children’s programming you’re forced to endure before you can finally kick the kids out of the TV room to watch sports for eight hours. Illustration by Jim Cooke....

Time To Kill Boxing's Post-Fight Interview
On Saturday night, Tim Bradley, one of the world's best welterweights, fought Ruslan Provodnikov on HBO. Bradley, who has become a champion boxer mostly by possessing a will that has never broken, took heavy punishment, but won the fight by decision, despite being knocked down in the final 10 secon...
