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20 Years Ago, Hollywood Became Self-Aware; Or, How A Robert Altman Movie Helped Create TMZ
Everybody loves a comeback. It's always gratifying to see an athlete or musician or actor rebound from a potentially career-threatening injury or drug problems or racist comment and re-emerge to reign triumphant again. Of course, there's also a selfish component to other people's comebacks: On some ...

Will Kimbrough Welcomes You To Opening Day With A Special Version Of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame"
What's more American than beginning the Major League season spread over four days in two weeks on two continents? How about an American singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in Sweden? Here's the first in a series of exclusive renditions of our national pastime's theme song we'll be featuring on Dea...

Why Did We Ever Like These Movies? <i>American Reunion</i>, Reviewed.
When you think of the big franchises of the last 10-15 years, you've got your Lord of the Rings and The Matrix and Harry Potter. But in its own special category has to be American Pie. For a four-year run starting in the late '90s, Jim and Stifler and the rest of their Michigan crew were Hollywood's...

Science! Simulates The Kentucky Wildcats Vs. The Washington Wizards
Paul Bessire runs PredictionMachine.com and created the Predictalator, the most advanced sports forecasting software available today. The technology has the ability to account for all of the statistical interactions of the players, coaches, officials, and fans (homefield advantage) in each game. The...

<em>Titanic</em>: The Original <em>Twilight</em>
On April 10, 1998, my sister came to visit me in Los Angeles. That was her 18th birthday, and while she was ostensibly heading to Los Angeles to visit her older brother, the real reason she made the trip was to assert her newfound independence: She was gonna get a tattoo....

30 Paragraphs About 30 MLB Teams From The Baseball Prospectus Crew
The following is excerpted from the team chapters and player profiles of the perpetually splendid Baseball Prospectus. You can buy the book now. Projected records via BP's playoff odds report. ...

Should You Eat Your Marijuana During A Police Stop? A Guide
Detroit Lions running back Mikel Leshoure is being arraigned today in Berrien County, Mich., court on a marijuana charge. As with many low-stakes weed busts, the details are whimsical:...

14-Year-Old Accidentally Kills Man Twice His Size With Wrestling Move
Our first WrestleMania-related death is here, and it's neither Ohio nor Florida. It's Louisiana, where a bunch of people got together to watch the pay-per-view, and hold their own mini-matches on an inflatable mattress. At one point a 14-year-old, 5-foot-6, 110-pound boy put his 24-year-old, 5-foot-...

Here's A Bunch Of Bros Going Nuts Over The End Of WrestleMania
WrestleMania XXVIII was last night, and The Rock won, and some people were chair-throwingly excited....

Antonio Valencia's Screwball Goal Was A Work Of Odd Beauty
A brilliant defensive performance by Blackburn Rovers was ruined when Manchester United's Antonio Valencia sliced in a strike that caught keeper Paul Robinson out of position and floated into the goal. Don't let Robinson's failure detract from the ridiculous spin Valencia put on the shot, though;...

Fishing Writer Submits April Fools' Column Without Telling His Editor, Paper Runs It As Fact
April Fools' Day is a day when internet users need to be especially vigilant. For every creative and well-conceived joke, like Google's 8-bit maps or AdBlock's CatBlock, there are 10 dumb "pranks" that consist of nothing more than "making shit up" and calling it an April Fool's Day joke. They're not...

Joe Maddon Wears Short Shorts
The Rays like to have fun, and nothing screams fun like booty shorts. For the Rays' pregame workout on Saturday, the entire team decided to don short pants, because they're a bunch of guys! Hanging out together! Showing a little thigh!...

Wrestlemania Got An Early Start At Today's Penguins-Flyers Game
The last minute or so of today's Pens-Flyers matchup on NBC was a big chunk of madness, but our favorite part is this—in which a Hulkamania-inspired Pens fan who spent most of the game giving shit to Scott Hartnell and the Flyers gets what's coming to him in the form of some masterful trolling. Or...

Beadle Blitz: SportsNation Producers Make Michelle Beadle Run Around Like An Idiot For April Fool's Prank
Here is some rare family-friendly hijinks from the ESPN crew. The producers of SportsNation get Michelle Beadle to dress up in a green suit for a fake 3D CGI spot, all in the name of fun. Beadle seems like a good sport about it all but promises revenge all the same. It's just too bad they didn't p...

Despite Scoring Two Goals, Mario Balotelli's Biggest Impact Yesterday Was This Hissy Fit
A fractured Manchester City side patched together a 3-3 draw at home against Sunderland yesterday thanks in part to two Mario Balotelli goals. Yet City management find themselves most concerned with Balotelli's on-pitch behavior, especially in light of this tantrum he threw yesterday over not bein...

Are You Laughing Yet?! <i>Mirror Mirror</i>, Reviewed.
Everybody involved with Mirror Mirror is trying to be funny. It's a strange, sometimes uncomfortable, sight to see, not unlike when a dramatic actor or an athlete hosts Saturday Night Live and you think to yourself, "Let's see how this is gonna work ..." And in the case of Mirror Mirror, it mostly p...

WrestleMania Betting Odds, And How To Gamble On Pro Wrestling
WrestleMania XXVIII will go down Sunday in Miami, and I'd like you to ask yourself some questions. Can the Undertaker extend his Wrestlemania record to 20-0? Will Chris Jericho or CM Punk get the better of what could be an all-time classic? Does the Rock still have what it takes to bring down John C...

Why Should Several Big Schools Pay A Company $10K A Year To Monitor Their Athletes' Twitter Accounts?
Pete Thamel has a story in the New York Times about a spunky, depressing new company called Varsity Monitor. Its motto (emphasis Varsity Monitor's):...

<em>Slap Shot</em>: The Only Honest Sports Movie
From the very first scene of Slap Shot, the classic hockey film makes its stance clear: The way everybody talks about sports is bullshit. Denis Lemieux, the befuddled language-challenged Charlestown Chiefs goalie, is on television talking to broadcaster Jim Carr, who is trying to get fans to bring t...

Trent Richardson Smash!
Pro days are serious business. With fewer players taking part in the Combine, whether due to injury or the founded fear that performing can only hurt their draft stock, the highly controlled pro day has become the showcase of choice for the top prospects. This is bad news for the NFL Network, and ...