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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:...

How Brazil Will Wreak Absolute Havoc On Their World Cup Foes
Brazil is widely thought of as the greatest soccer nation in the world, not just because it's dominated the sport, but because it's perfected it. ...

We've Been Friends Long Enough You'll Understand
Head on over to SB Nation and check out Cee Angi's story on Vin Scully:...

Shaq: The Next Superstar
From our pal Charlie Pierce, check out this 1992 profile of Shaquille O'Neal:...

Work Horse On Ice
Dig this day-in-the-life story about Gordie Howe from 1959. Written by the great W.C. Heinz for the Saturday Evening Post:...

Prince At The French Open With A Scepter
Prince was at the French Open yesterday, and he brought a scepter. So here are a bunch of pictures of Prince, who was at the French Open with a scepter....


David Price Hits Two, Stays In Game As Most Of Boston Is Ejected
The Red Sox and Rays cleared the benches last night which, by itself, is barely worth mentioning but then someone put a microphone in front of David Ortiz's face after the game. Ortiz was not very happy with Tampa's ace David Price, who plunked him with the very first pitch Ortiz saw since hitting t...

Galen Rupp Mask Forecast: High, With A Chance Of Stupid Photos
Some people look badass in masks. Galen Rupp does not....

The "Voodoo Science" Behind A Nike Running Program: An Insider Talks
Vern Gambetta is afraid he comes off as a grouchy old man. He's not that old. And those statements about lifetime bans for drug cheats and Nike Oregon Project's "innovations"? That's straight shooting from a guy who might be the most influential person in sports conditioning today. ...

USATF Hires Dopers As Coaches, Doesn't See What's The Big Deal
Yes, USA Track & Field will sue your balls off if you mess with The Almighty Swoosh. But taking performance-enhancing drugs? They're much more forgiving. Hell, they'll even give you a job....