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This Is What The WWE Has Reduced Itself To
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Matt Forte's Fumble Was The Most Damaging Play Of Week 5
With under fives minutes to play in a tie game, Chicago possessed the ball with an opportunity to control the clock and take the lead. But Matt Forte fumbled in what was the most detrimental play of the week. According to data from Brian Burke of Advanced Football Analytics the fumble lowered th...

Counterprogramming Football: What To Watch Today Instead Of The NFL
In evaluating the NFL's concussion protocol, it's important to look at why concussions are dangerous in the first place. For helpful perspective on this, let's step away from football and look at a much more direct activity centered around doing awful damage to an opponent's brain: boxing....

Alexis Knocks Chelsea Keeper Out Cold; Keeper Stays In Game
Early in today's match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Arsenal midfielder Alexis Sánchez turned to run down a hopeful ball over the top, nearly got on the end of it, and ended his run by plowing his hip through Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois's head. Courtois appeared to be knock...

In England, A Team's Fans Are Sometimes More Powerful Than The Owner
This story is a great example of the fundamental differences between European soccer clubs and American franchises. ...

Prince Songs To Fuck To, Ranked
Prince released two new records this week. And since Art Official Age and PlectrumElectrum (as with all releases from the world's most seductive singer) are loaded with sexiness, it's an appropriate time to attempt to quantify his past sexiness. Let's do this....

Thirteen Ways Of Looking At Greg Maddux
A record producer friend once told me that Check Your Head, the Beastie Boys' 3rd album, was perfectly realized. That's stuck with me over the years, the idea of being able to achieve something that lives up to your ambition. In a 1978 Playboy Interview, Bob Dylan said: "The closest I ever got to t...

Antrel Rolle: Prince Amukamara Is Good Now Because He's Gettin' Laid
Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara was a first-round pick in the 2011 draft, and hasn't exactly lived up to the high expectations that were set for him in the three years since. But so far this season, Amukamara has been playing well—he's got two picks and seven passes defended through the first fou...

Pain And Violence As A Way Of Life: Muhammad Ali-George Chuvalo II
Leonard Gardner is the author of one of the finest sports novels ever written, Fat City, a masterpiece of the terse style that is, in the words of Denis Johnson, “so precisely written and giving such value to its words that I felt I could almost read it with my fingers, like Braille.” Gardner also ...

How Hulk Became The World's Most Underappreciated Superstar
If there's one good thing about the handful of great players plying their trade in Russia—and it would be the only good thing, mind you—it's that their home Champions League ties often start a few hours before the rest. That timeslot gives their abilities at least a modicum of the attention they des...

Looks Like The Manchester United Traveling Circus Might Really Happen
During the latter stages of last season, there were rumors that United might partake in a tour of the Middle East and Asia during the missing midweek Champions League fixtures that otherwise would've filled the schedule and coffers. It was funny enough to mention in passing, but too outlandish to be...

Chiefs Safety Husain Abdullah Flagged For Muslim-Prayer TD Celebration
Kansas City Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct Monday night when he went to his knees in prayer to celebrate a Tom Brady pick-six. Abdullah—a devout Muslim who sat out the 2012-13 season to make Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca—shouldn't have been penalized....

Palmer Vs. Palmer
Over at the Daily Beast, I reprinted Tom Boswell's fine 1983 portrait of Jim Palmer:...

E.J. Manuel Was The Most Catastrophic Quarterback Of Week 4
E.J. Manuel played poorly Sunday, completing only 47.7 percent of his passes and throwing two interceptions. While box score summaries can sometimes hide clutch play in critical situations that wasn't the case here. According to data from Brian Burke of Advanced Football Analytics, Manuel accounte...

Counterprogramming Football: What To Watch Today Instead Of The NFL
So, here we are at Week 4, roughly the quarter mark of the NFL season and the first round of bye weeks. Bye weeks were introduced to the NFL schedule in 1990 as a way of extending the regular season, and teams use the time to make roster changes, occasionally fire a coach or two, and, most importa...

Wayne Rooney Gets Dumbest Red Card Ever
Manchester United are taking on West Ham today, and after captain Rooney and striker Robin van Persie goals put United up two after just 22 minutes, West Ham pulled one back eight minutes before half. In the second half, the visitors settled in and began to dominate play. We've seen this movie befor...

Everton Saves Point At Liverpool with Phil Jagielka Half-Volley Stunner
A stoppage-time equalizer from Phil Jagielka silenced the crowd at Anfield and seized a point from Liverpool at today's rendition of the Merseyside Derby. ...

How To Be A Soccer Fan
Towards the tail end of this past World Cup, more than a few readers emailed us looking for guidance on how to become a soccer fan. Never ones to disappoint our adoring readership, we've now obliged. Here's how we imagine that conversation would go....

Watch Manchester United Fans Brawl With Guys Dressed Like Waldo
In one corner, a bunch of drunken oafs fresh off leaving a United match. In the other corner, a bunch of drunken oafs celebrating a bachelor party and wearing matching Where's Waldo? shirts and hats. It's the most England video there is. ...

Manchester United's Defenders Don't Actually Know How To Defend
Manchester United were supposed to play yesterday in England's League Cup. Instead, they were home chilling, because on August 26, they got curb stomped by third-division midtable side MK Dons. ...