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Forgiving The Club Kid Killer: My Prison Friendship With Michael Alig
After just a few recent minutes in conversation with Michael Alig, we'd fallen right back into the intellectual relationship we'd developed over two prisons and several shared years in the incarcerated world. I always liked him; I'd even forgiven him for when he tried to rat me out. (He did gracious...

Uruguay Are Inevitable
Many believed that Uruguay's dramatic run to the World Cup semifinals in 2010 was somewhat of a surprise. It wasn't....

World Cup Group C Preview: Let's Be Honest, This Is A Crapshoot
Here's your Group C hub and open thread where you'll find our previews and predictions....

Why Japan Is One Of The World Cup's Most Exciting Teams
Japan is the best team in Asia, and it's not even close. Part of the reason they are the best is because they might be the closest thing to Spain's tiki-taka seen anywhere on the international stage....

For Ivory Coast's Golden Generation, This Is Their Last Shot At Glory
It's put up or shut up time for Ivory Coast this summer. The Elephants have gone almost a decade as easily Africa's most talented squad, yet time and again, they've come up short in international play. In a finally forgiving World Cup group, and with a couple key players in the form of their lives, ...

Dammit, Greece Are Going To Try To Win Ugly Again
Greece has a pretty good domestic league that produces a handful of pretty good players who represent their pretty good national team. In the gauntlet that is European international competition, pretty good usually isn't enough. This year, though, Greece made it through the fire to earn a spot in th...

Even Without Superstar Falcao, Colombia Is Still A World Cup Terror
First, Colombia had to navigate the difficult South American World Cup qualifiers. It was easy. Led by superstar striker and certifiable beast Radamel Falcao, Colombia booked their tickets for the tournament after easing to a second-place finish in CONMEBOL. Going into 2014, Colombia looked a world ...

Wrestler Wins Hepatitis C Lawsuit Against Abdullah The Butcher
Abdullah the Butcher, a WWE Hall-of-Famer, continues to wrestle the indy circuit into his 70s. And his gimmick remains the same: He bleeds, and he makes his opponents bleed, and they tend to bleed all over each other. That's a big problem when he's carrying around a blood-borne disease....

World Cup Group B Preview: Not Quite The Group Of Death, But Damn
Here's your Group B hub and open thread, where you'll find our previews and predictions....

Australia Should Probably Just Relax And Enjoy Their Holiday
A couple dozen Australian soccer players will vacation for a couple of weeks this June in Brazil. Here's what you need to know....

How Josh Donaldson Became One Of The Best Players In Baseball
If I asked you to name the player who has accumulated the second-most WAR over the last calendar year, you'd probably flip a coin in your head to decide between Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera. Or maybe you'd get a little creative, and name Yasiel Puig or Andrew McCutchen. One guy who probably wouldn'...

Vidal Is A Goddamned Tank; Or Why Chile Can Go Far In The World Cup
Chile's most memorable World Cup story is actually how they missed out on the 1990 and 1994 tournaments. Yes, they finished third in 1962 and gave Spain all they could handle in the first knockout round in 2010, but besides those two Cups, they've only gotten out of the group stage once, when they a...


A Shadow Of Themselves, The Netherlands Need A World Cup Miracle
In 2010, the Netherlands shocked the world by making it all the way to the World Cup final in South Africa. This year, many believe this team diminished. The oldest of their squad have since moved on, and injuries to stars like midfielder Kevin Strootman and keeper Maarten Stekelenburg have further ...

How Spain Can Ride <em>Tiki-Taka</em> To International Immortality
Off top, we need to acknowledge Spain's unprecedented dominance of international and club soccer over the past decade. Historically, however, Spain has been sort of a laughingstock. To understand the impact of Spain's international failure, you must first understand Spain's great domestic rivalry: R...

World Cup Group A Preview: There's Brazil, And There's Everybody Else
Here's your World Cup Group A hub and open thread, where you'll find our previews and predictions....

Eto'o's Last Ride: How Cameroon Can Shock Everyone At The World Cup
Cameroon are Africa's darlings and have qualified for the World Cup seven times, more than any other nation on their continent. This year, they'll be sending a familiar squad of hardened veterans with some young upstarts sprinkled in to Brazil. But this summer is also different, because it'll likely...

For World Cup Glory, Mexico Will Need To Get Their Shit Together
El Tri: the pride of Mexico, the class of CONCACAF (at least historically). In Brazil, they will look to continue their impressive streak of making it out of the group stage in five straight tournaments, despite recent turbulence in the team....

Croatia's World Cup Strategy: Rise And Grind
Croatia are a team stuck in the middle—physically, tactically and in overall proficiency. They aren't fast. They grind and plod their way to victories. They're often caught with holes deep in midfield against elite competition. The side lacks any real width. ...

The Birdman's Vengeful Ghost
Fine piece of reporting from Flinder Boyd:...