off Page 254 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Despite Layoffs, ESPN Will Soon Have "More Employees Than Ever"
Earlier this year, ESPN went through a unexpected series of layoffs, in the end shedding somewhere close to 400 people. It was done, ESPN folks were told, as a critical cost-cutting measure in the run-up to the launch of Fox Sports 1 and with higher fees looming for Monday Night Football and basebal...

Minor League Team Wins On Walk-Off Wild Pitch During Intentional Walk
Walk-off walks are entertaining, and walk-off wild pitches even more so, but how about a walk-off wild pitch during an intentional walk? Minor league baseball provides us with the best occurrences....

Here, Queer: Canned
This here's a good one, case you've never read it. Pamela Colloff's 2005 Texas Monthly profile of basketball coach Merry Stephens:...

The Time A Baseball Player Sent A Rat To A Female Sportswriter
This column originally appeared in the Sacramento Bee on June 26, 1986. It is reprinted here with the author's permission. ...

The Madness of Pro Football
This one is a keeper. From Men's Journal in May, 2011—“The Ferocious Life and Tragic Death of a Super Bowl Star,” by Paul Solotaroff and Rick Telander:...

The Best And Worst Baseball Beat Reporters, According To You
Last week we concluded our crowd-sourced guide to the best and worst beat reporters in Major League Baseball. Today, we collate. We read your reviews and picked out the best and worst beat reporters for every team where some consensus could be discerned. We also pulled some of your choicest comments...

Mariners Players Pay Tribute To Ken Griffey Jr. In Perfect Fashion
So this is awesome. On Saturday, the Seattle Mariners inducted legendary center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. into the team's hall of fame. During the hour-long ceremony (you can watch the whole thing here), all of the current Mariners stood at the top step of the dugout, and honored Griffey Jr. by wearin...

The Crowd Sounds Happy
Baseball lends itself to radio, this much we know. Hasn't changed much through the years either. The game still sounds good on the radio. But let's go back some, and hear about Nicholas Dawidoff's experiences listening to Ned Martin call Red Sox games in the 1970s:...

The Best And Worst Beat Reporters In Baseball: AL East
Rally 'round the flag, boys—we've got one last edition of the Beat-Off. For the last week, you've helped us identify the best and worst beat reporters for 25 teams in Major League Baseball. Now we conclude with the AL East....

MLB Continues To Be Bad At Memes
Two things: The movie Face/Off came out in 1997, and this is some pretty dreadful Photoshopping. ...

The Best And Worst Beat Reporters In Baseball: AL Central
The Beat-Off, our crowd-sourced effort to determine the very best and the very worst reporters in Major League Baseball, is winding down. We've covered the National League and the AL West. Today, the AL Central. ...

Andrew Shaw To Auction Off The Stitches From His Glorious Hockey Face
Andrew Shaw's busted-up face was one of the highlights of the Chicago Blackhawks' Stanley Cup victory. Shaw hoisting the cup while his face continued to swell and blood oozed from his stitched-up wounds is an image that will always hold a place in hockey history, and now fans have the opportunity to...

The Best And Worst Beat Reporters In Baseball: AL West
Welcome back to The Beat-Off, our crowd-sourced effort to determine the very best and the very worst reporters in Major League Baseball. Last week, we covered the National League. Today, we turn our attention to the American League. We'll start with the AL West. ...

The Best And Worst Beat Reporters In Baseball: NL West
Welcome back to Deadspin's Beat-Off, a crowd-sourced effort to determine the best and worst reporters covering Major League Baseball teams. This week, we've covered the NL East and NL Central. Today we'll finish off the senior circuit with the NL West....

The Best And Worst Beat Reporters In Baseball: NL Central
This week, we're posing a question: Who's the best (and worst) beat reporter for each MLB team? Yesterday, we tackled the NL East, and today we move to the NL Central. We've organized the threads by team. Jump in the discussion down below and tell us why your favorite/least-favorite reporter is the ...

The Best And Worst Beat Reporters In Baseball: NL East
With the trading deadline a day away and with the MLB season sliding headlong into third, it's time we all start paying attention to baseball again. Where to turn? For the next week, we'll be posing the question to you: Who's the best beat reporter for each MLB team? ...

Old Man Giambi Hits Walk-Off, Kicks White Sox Off His Lawn
Jason Giambi gave the Indians a 3-2 win over the White Sox with this walk-off home run to deep center field. Giambi, 42, is apparently the oldest man in baseball to hit a walkoff home run, narrowly edging out Hank Aaron by 45 days....

No One Came To The Hall Of Fame Ceremony
Yesterday, the Baseball Hall of Fame enshrined its three newest members: a catcher, and umpire, and an owner who have been dead for a combined 226 years. The BBWAA's thank-you note from the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce will not be forthcoming....

