owl Page 129 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Well That Was An Officiating Clusterfuck
In an ironic twist, it was James Harden that spoke up about officiating problems in Game 1 of the Rockets-Warriors series. He told reporters after the game that “he just wants a fair chance” and that he’s willing to live with whatever results come from the game as long as it’s called “the way it’s s...

In Denver, No One Could Hear Gregg Popovich Scream
The San Antonio Spurs had pushed the much more talented Denver Nuggets to a final seventh game in their first-round matchup. After absorbing strong scoring efforts from their opponent’s stars, Gregg Popovich’s team stormed back in the second half and eroded a strong double-digit lead down to a one-p...

This Penalty Kick Is So Bad That The Player Who Took It Was Immediately Cut
It’s been quite the whirlwind week for Venezuelan soccer player Bendix Parra. Last Tuesday, he was a starter in one of the biggest matches in the history of his club, Paraguay’s Independiente. This Tuesday, he found himself unemployed when Independiente tore up his contract. All of this for one espe...

Mallex Smith Just Straight-Up Swatted Austin Hedges's Fly Ball Over The Wall
Not all dingers are created equal. Some rocket out of the park at 118 miles an hour and are never seen again; some are routine fly balls that get pushed a few inches beyond the wall by a helpful wind. Some stay in the yard, like cowards. This one, from Austin Hedges of the San Diego Padres, had no b...

Phillies Third Base Coach Owns The Absolute Hell Out Of Maikel Franco
One of the cooler moments televised baseball has to offer is a liner to left with a reasonably quick runner on second base. The camera cuts to the standard view of a ball in play, and you get a good look at everything happening all at once: the ball cruising through the left side and into the outfie...

Dexter Fowler Kindly Helps Noah Syndergaard Get His First Home Run Of The Season
Mets pitcher, and hand, foot and mouth disease survivor, Noah Syndergaard was up 2-1 in the count against Dakota Hudson in the top of the fourth. On the following pitch, Syndergaard swung and sent the ball deep to center field. Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler began tracking the ball back towards ...

Angels' Justin Bour Gave Up An Embarrassing Double-Play Because Of A Massive Brain Fart
In the bottom of the eighth against the Mariners on Friday, Angels first baseman Justin Bour popped a ball up over the infield on the same pitch that his teammate, Brian Goodwin, had tried to steal second. Bour assumed that the pop-up would result in an easy out and started walking to the dugout str...

The Pacers Kept Handing Bojan Bogdanovic The Ball Until It Killed Them
It looked like the Pacers got some much-needed redemption on Wednesday. After putting up a measly eight points in the third quarter against the Celtics in Game 1—Indiana would go on to lose 84-74—the Pacers had a strong third quarter of their own in Game 2, outscoring Boston 29-16. But that momentum...

Marcell Ozuna Demonstrates The Dangers Of Trying Too Hard
In the top of the eighth inning with nobody on and nobody out, Kiké Hernandez hit the ball deep into left field. Thinking the ball had been absolutely crushed, Cardinals left fielder Marcell Ozuna decided to try and set himself up to make a catch that would be a strong contender for the season’s bes...

Paris Saint-Germain's Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting Delivers A Strong Contender For Miss Of The Season
Cameroonian international Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting has been having a tough time on his new Ligue 1 squad. After heading over to Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer from Stoke City, the forward has only managed to net three goals in 18 appearances. His first goal came in September of last year aga...

Bryce Harper's Attempt At Hurdling Willians Astudillo Could Have Gone Better
A frequent, but debatable, criticism of Bryce Harper’s game over the years has been his occasional lack of effort. So naturally, when the opportunity arose for the new Phillies signing to show some gusto with his base running, things went pretty awry....

Hugo Lloris Reminded Us That There Are Infinite Ways To Craft A Goalkeeping Howler
History will show that Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld’s 90th minute own goal was responsible for gifting Liverpool a 2-1 win during a tight race for their first league title since 1989-90. History can be a strange and misleading thing. In this case what Alderweireld is responsible for is stand...

Max Muncy Bat Flips On A Harmless Fly Out Like A Complete Buster
Bat flips are great, as a stylish way of punctuating a mighty dinger. It’s less cool but probably acceptable to bat flip after a particularly well-hit non-dinger, if that non-dinger should be a walk-off RBI single. However broadly you are prepared to abide the spread of the bat flip, probably baseba...

It's Too Early To Say The Cubs Are In Trouble, But Not Too Early To Enjoy Their Fuck-Ups
The Cubs have not gotten off to the start anyone envisioned over the winter. They’re 1–3, having dropped a season-opening series to the Rangers, and having absorbed a deflating 8–0 loss to the Atlanta Braves Monday night. This is a vanishingly tiny sample size, and the Cubs were picked by various ex...

Joey Gallo Nearly Decapitates His Pitcher While Trying To Throw Out A Runner
I mean, yeah, nobody likes Joey Gallo for his defense. The Rangers outfielder is a man whose dingers are to be admired and whose mediocrity in the outfield is to be ignored if you want to fully enjoy him as a player. But somebody’s gotta play out in left for Texas, even if he represents a grave dang...

AC Milan Loses Due To Horrendous Goalkeeping Boner 30 Seconds Into The Match
There are goalkeeper errors, and then there are goalkeeper boners, and AC Milan’s star wonderkid between the sticks found out the difference on Saturday. 20-year-old goalie Gianluigi Donnarumma gifted Sampdoria a goal in the first minute by nonchalantly kicking the ball directly at opposing striker ...

Rick Barnes, What
Purdue and Tennessee are playing overtime in a genuinely fantastic, insane college basketball game. Lots of threes, lots of clutch plays, lots—lots—of missed free throws. Purdue’s Carsen Edwards knocked down a pair of late freebies to tie it up for Purdue, which left Tennessee to inbound the ball u...

The City Got Too Big For Fran Dunphy And Phil Martelli
There was something appropriate about Fran Dunphy and Phil Martelli exiting the scene on the same day. Dunphy’s “retirement” as Temple’s head coach had been announced in advance; his final season with the Owls ended with last night’s First Four loss to Belmont. Hours earlier, Saint Joseph’s surpris...

Inept Soccer Team Takes Fifty-Four (54) Shots And Scores Zero (0) Goals
Bolivian club Nacional Potosí hosted Venezuelan club Zulia last night in a Copa Sudamericana match, South America’s equivalent to the Europa League. Nacional had 79 percent possession of the ball and popped off a staggering 54 shots. Zulia took just six shots all night and completed just 47 percent ...

America Vs. Adam Levine's Nipples: All The FCC Viewer Complaints About The Super Bowl Halftime Show
I’ve been FOIAing viewer complaints to the Federal Communications Commission about the Super Bowl every year since M.I.A. flipped off the world in 2012, and this edition was bountiful indeed, drawing the most complaints since that first year. The FCC received 94 complaints regarding last month’s CBS...