qa Page 3 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Weird-As-Hell <i>USA Today</i> Blog Reads Like Ad Copy For The Qatar World Cup
We’re all in agreement that holding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is a bad idea, right? Like, historically bad, since both the oppressive heat and the lack of infrastructure make the tournament such a logistical nightmare that it has to be played in December, with an entire city created from scratch t...
The D.C. Metro Will Stay Open Late For A Capitals Game Thanks To The Generosity Of, Uh, Qatar
Aside from the nonstop playoff losses, I imagine the worst thing about being a Washington D.C.-area sports fan is the fact that the Metro closes at 11:30 on weeknights, often before local games—especially playoff baseball—come to an end....
World Cup Construction Workers Go Months At A Time Without A Day Off
A consultant group serving as the “External Compliance Monitor” for the 2022 FIFA World Cup released its second annual report on Wednesday detailing labor conditions at construction sites in Qatar. The tone of the accompanying press release is positive, touting “a new spirit” and labor law reforms (...
Gael Monfils Thwacking This Poor Ball Is Deliciously Satisfying
Most of the time, the tennis ball needs to be struck up and over the net, only to fall back down to earth. Viewed from the side the ball’s path would describe a gentle arc, like a parenthesis tipped onto its back....
Manchester United Scout Journeys To Iceland To See Game Being Played In Qatar<em></em>
Iceland and the Czech Republic met yesterday for a friendly match, which the Czechs won 2-1 over Thor’s Mighty World Cup-Bound Soccer Raiders. The current international break is replete with friendlies scattered around the world, and as such, major clubs have sent their scouts to go check them out. ...
Atlético Madrid Kicked Themselves In The Dick Again<em></em>
When the Champions League groups were announced, there was no doubt that Group C was going to be a tough one to advance from. With Chelsea, Roma and Atlético Madrid all battling it out for two slots, we knew that one very good team wasn’t going to be in the knockout stage. But what we didn’t expect ...
Q&A: Dean Blandino On Confusing NFL Rules, The Dez Bryant Catch, And The Cowboys' Party Bus
In April, NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino surprised a lot of league people by leaving to take a job with Fox Sports. Blandino’s role with the NFL was to eat shit whenever an official or an officiating crew screwed up. Now, he gets to serve as an in-game rules analyst alongside Mike P...
Slavery-Supporting Nation's Propaganda Arm Buys Kylian Mbappé In Super Shady Transfer
Qatar is a loathsome county built on corruption, a labor system that closely resembles slavery, and the support of the murder of innocent people through the financial backing of terrorists. Qatar is also the owner of French club Paris Saint-Germain, the country’s luxurious and extravagantly gilded s...
Qarabağ Just Became The Feel-Good Story Of The Champions League
Dino Ndlovu scored a second-half goal that proved to be just enough for the Azerbaijani club Qarabağ, as today they advanced to their first-ever Champions League group stage, winning their matchup with FC København by virtue of away goals. With this win, Qarabağ is now a thrilling underdog about to ...
Jermichael Finley Says Leaving Football Is Hard But Coming Back Might Be Worse
Last week, after former Ravens linebacker Zach Orr announced he hoped to return to the NFL just five months after retiring with a congenital spine condition, ex-Packer Jermichael Finley said that Orr’s story “hits very close to home.”...
How Qatar Used Its Youth Soccer Academy To Influence The World Cup Bidding Process
The Aspire Academy’s listed mission statement is to “develop well educated sports champions” and “foster Qatar society realizing a healthy, active lifestyle.” The Qatari government founded Aspire in 2003, building a state-of-the-art sports complex in Doha with the aim of identifying and training ath...
Five Gulf Countries Cut Ties With Qatar; FIFA Has No Comment
Five Arab countries—Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen—have severed diplomatic ties with Qatar, cut off all travel to and from the country, and ordered their citizens to leave the country. According to the BBC, the countries have accused Qatar of destabilizing the regi...
Margaret Court Says She'll Boycott Airline "Where Possible" Over CEO's Support Of Same-Sex Marriage
Margaret Court, an outstanding retired Australian tennis player turned outstandingly annoying Christian pastor, has announced her intention to boycott the airline Qantas because the company’s CEO Alan Joyce recently signed a joint letter calling for marriage equality....
A Q&A With Tony Reali About Postpartum Depression And Anxiety In Dads
Tony Reali, the host of ESPN’s Around the Horn, always wanted to be a dad: “I wanted a whole team of kids. I’ve said this to everyone with ears.” So when he experienced what he called an attack of postpartum anxiety one Sunday afternoon in September 2015 when he was home alone with his one-year-old ...
This Slave-Built Qatari World Cup Stadium Sure Is Pretty!
Judging by the looks of the newly renovated Khalifa International Stadium—the first stadium construction project the nation has completed ahead of the 2022 World Cup it will host—Qatar’s massive population of migrant workers, who toil under life-threatening conditions in a working system often descr...
A Conversation With Gift Ngoepe, Your New Favorite Baseball Player
Last night, the Pirates’ Gift Ngoepe became the first African-born player to appear in a major-league game. He came in to play second in the top of the fourth and hit a single off Jon Lester in his very first at-bat in the bottom of the inning. Later, he walked and helped turn the game-ending double...
What It’s Like To Announce A Tennis Match That's Been Interrupted By Loud Sex Noises
Mike Cation heard a moan, and figured it was just two people in the stands talking loudly. The tennis announcer, working the USTA Pro Circuit’s Sarasota Open on Tuesday, looked at the crowd and saw everyone looking around. Then it became clear: This wasn’t two people talking. This was two people fuc...
The Best Quarterback In Women's Football History Is Back For One Last Ride
Sami Grisafe just might be the best quarterback in the history of women’s football. In 2000, she became the first female to play quarterback in a Varsity Division I high school game for Redlands High School in California. She played professionally for the Chicago Force of the Women’s Football Allian...
How Craig Breslow Used Science To Engineer His Way Back Into Baseball
Craig Breslow is a little surprised that the media has made such a big deal out of his offseason reinvention. After a decade of pitching effectively in the major leagues, 2016 saw him demoted to the minors in May and released by two different teams before the season’s end. The way he looked at it, i...
Q&A: Eugene Monroe On Why The NFL Desperately Needs Medical Marijuana
Last month, offensive tackle Eugene Monroe retired from the NFL at 29 years old, after seven seasons with the Jaguars and Ravens. Monroe’s retirement came just a few months after he declared his advocacy for medical marijuana as a way to combat the constant pain that comes with life as an NFL player...