rafael Page 14 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The Orioles Used A Special Bat Named "Stumpy" Against Mariano Rivera
Buster Olney has a fun little Mariano Rivera story from former outfielder and current V.P. of baseball operations for Baltimore, Brady Anderson....
Rafael Da Silva Put Manchester United Up A Goal With A Screamer From 25 Yards Out
Manchester United is having a strong season, and sits atop the Premier League standings as of today, but the team can't fall asleep against "basement boys"—sounds kinky—Queens Park Rangers, the team they're playing as I write. Man U is currently up 1-nil [UPDATE: 2-0! Ryan Giggs, just as we posted] ...
How ESPN's Dan Rafael Became The Most Important Journalist In Boxing: A Cautionary Tale
Dan Rafael is the most important boxing journalist in the world, merely by dint of being the only full-time boxing correspondent at ESPN. He has access—to fighters, to promoters, to fans—that other writers could only imagine. He has 70,000 followers on Twitter; few other full-time boxing writers can...
Maria Sharapova Is Pimping Her Stupid Candy, And Other Important Storylines: A U.S. Open Preview
You could argue the turning point of the 2012 U.S. Open—which starts today—already happened. Well, three turning points, actually....
Rafael Nadal Pulls Out Of U.S. Open With An Injury, So Let's Cue The "Style Of Play" Talk
Rafael Nadal announced this morning that he's pulling out of the U.S. Open, which begins in less than two weeks. What for? An "injury." No one knows what. When Nadal pulled out of the Olympics—he hasn't played a match since he was bounced in the second round of Wimbledon—it was a little unclear what...
Shock! Rafael Nadal Loses In Second Round Of Wimbledon To—Wait, Who? Lukas Rosol!
So: Greatest upset in Grand Slam history?...
Rafael Nadal Wins French Open On Novak Djokovic's Double Fault, Restoring Balance To Tennis's Best Rivalry
The conditions were better, the courts were (mostly) drier and the power and topspin returned to Rafael Nadal's game. It took Nadal less than an hour today to break Djokovic's serve twice and win the fourth set, 7-5, continuing yesterday's suspended match and take his seventh French Open....
Rafael Nadal Is Neurotic About Everything (Including Ham)
Rafael Nadal is a troubled soul who hates lots of things. This week, Nadal revealed yet another thing he hates:...
Are You Ready To Dance To The Music Of Caroline Wozniacki? (Features Dog, Tennis Ball)
Fame-chasing tennis underachiever Caroline Wozniacki still hasn't won a Grand Slam, but she has released her first music video, "Oxygen." It's predictably noisy, cheap, and Euro (a German or Belgian shepherd is the star of the video? So is a tennis ball?)...
Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic Will Play Madrid's 85,000-Seat Soccer Stadium
Tennis sure does love its stunts. In 2005, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer played a few games 700 feet off the ground, atop Dubai's Burj Al Arab hotel. Last year, Federer and Rafael Nadal played on a floating court in the middle of Doha Bay. Now, Nadal and 60 Minutes darling Novak Djokovic are slated...
ESPN Cameras Caught Rafael Furcal With His Pants Down
With an on-premises pool and the overall clothing-optional vibe of Miami, the new Marlins ballpark is ripe for sighting people without their pants on. We just figured the first person to be spotted sin pantalones would be a spectator, not a player. But ESPN did us right by grabbing this shot of t...
Your "Oh No, It's 3:30 A.M. " Liveblog Of Federer-Nadal At The Australian Open
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are set to meet in the Australian Open semifinals on Thursday, in a match scheduled to begin at 3:30 a.m. ET. It's the 27th time the pair have met on a tennis court, with the Majorcan matador holding a 17-9 edge all-time, 7-2 in Grand Slams. The meeting is notable, con...
Rafael Nadal Was For Playing Tennis This Week Before He Was Against It
Rafa took to the microphones to decry tennis's crowded calendar: just four days ago he was in the US Open final, giving him little time to fly to Spain and prepare for today's Davis Cup match against Richard Gasquet....
Tom Brady Is No Novak Djokovic
We're doing a season-long NFL roundtable with our friends at Slate. Check back here each week as a rotating cast of football watchers discusses the weekend's key plays, coaching decisions, and traumatic brain injuries....
Rafael Nadal's Leg Cramps Made For An Awkward Press Conference Yesterday
This video will make anyone who's ever suffered from a muscle cramp cringe. Rafael Nadal was settling in for a post-match press conference after a straight-set win over David Nalbandian yesterday when he was suddenly hit with the pain of a stiffened calf muscle....
An Instructional Video On How To Pretend To Hit A Forehand Like Rafael Nadal
This is cool, if you're a tennis player/fan, or just a fellow lefty who believes in the general supremacy of lefties. Rafael Nadal hits his forehand with an average topspin of 3,200 RPMs, which is more than any human to ever play the game of tennis. The New York Times explains how he does it. [NYT]...
Rafael Furcal Is Super-Uncoordinated
Via Buster Olney: "Rafael Furcal sprained his thumb when bracing a fall, after tripping over a rope near the batting cage here in Wrigley." If he's this clumsy while sober, we'd hate to see him drunk....
Watch A Blue Jays Reliever And Manager Get Ejected On The Day Roy Halladay Returned To Toronto's Mound
Your morning roundup for July 3, the day after some baby gators proved a mud hole is better than any stop, drop and roll mantra....
Mavericks Fan Sitting Behind George Lopez Speaks For All America
Your morning roundup for June 6, the day we learned the value of Bernie Madoff's underwear. H/T @bubbaprog, proprietor of mocksession.com, for accurately predicting what might tickle us this morning (and others for sending in their own grabs)....
Rafael Nadal's Post-Match Comments Display The Self-Esteem Of A Teenage Girl
Rafael Nadal may not be quite on Novak Djokovic's unbeatable level, but, uh, he's still number one in the world. You'd think that would manifest itself in his words with reporters after a straight-sets victory over Ivan Ljubicic today....