rant Page 80 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Grantland just dropped nearly 20,000 words from the great Brian Phillips on the Iditarod. If we said we had read it and it was great we would be lying, because reading it will take a couple hundred lunch breaks or so, but we can probably bet that it is great. The layout itself is beautiful. [Grantla...


Russell Westbrook's Awesome Block Leads To Kevin Durant's Scary Dunk
Here, in just over 30 seconds, is a perfect encapsulation of what makes the Oklahoma City Thunder such a frighteningly good team. Not only do they have a point guard who can recover from a defensive lapse with a brutal chase-down block, they also have a small forward who can corral the loose ball, ...

Kevin Durant Congratulated The Louisville Women's Basketball Team, And Some Dude Accidentally Got Punched In The Face
Kevin Durant was in the house last night when the Louisville women knocked off Brittney Griner and Baylor in Oklahoma City. After the game, Durant paid his respects by visiting the Cardinals' locker room. He was greeted like a rock star. One of his pals just got in the way. [SportsGrid, via Tom B.]...

Hey, Grantland Is Streaming Live From Bill Simmons's "Man Cave"
Here's ESPN's counterprogramming from Day 1 of the tournament: A live feed from Bill Simmons's house. Jalen Rose has a bat over his shoulder, there's a tux and Simmons is wearing a T-shirt for a fictional band. There's lots of talk about gambling. Watch it here. ...

LeBron James Is A Better Defender Than The Computerized Version Of An Ideal NBA Defender
There is plenty of great information to be gleaned from Zach Lowe's exclusive look at the Toronto Raptors' camera tracking system, known as SportVU, but buried within the piece is yet another anecdote that demonstrates the fact that LeBron James is not of this planet....

Lady Who Filed Paternity Suit Against Michael Jordan Changes Her Mind
Pamela Smith, mother of Grant Pierce Jay—the kid with a YouTube account who said he was Michael Jordan's illegitimate son—has dropped her paternity suit against Michael Jordan. According to TMZ, Smith dropped the case at her attorney's urging....

Welcome, "Kinglandia"! <em>Sports Illustrated</em> Is Giving Peter King His Own Website
Peter King and Sports Illustrated are taking a crack at the Grantland model....

Vince Carter Gets His Ankles Destroyed By Kevin Durant
Hey Vince Carter, you are old! Your ankles would really appreciate it if you would stay away from 6-foot-10 mutants like Kevin Durant from now on. ...

Justin Durant's Jokey Chick-Fil-A Application Is Actually A Rite Of Passage For America's Child Laborers
This week Detroit Lions linebacker Justin Durant, a free agent, popped by a Chick-fil-A and filled out part of an application. (Middle initial: R.) His explanation was succinct. “Rough outchea bruh,” he tweeted....

Taste Test: Will Dorito-Sheathed Tacos Be The End Of Us All?
You saunter up to the counter at your local Taco Bell, you order your Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Taco (taking care not to actually say all of that, for fear of creating the accurate impression that you have paid rapt attention to the television advertisements and planned this trip in advance; instead ...

We’ve Translated This Apoplectic Irish Soccer Fan's Rant For Those Not Fluent In Crazy-Speak
A few weeks ago, Juventus defeated Celtic 3-0 in Champions League play. Soon after, this video of a mildly distressed Celtic fan appeared on the internet. We do not know who this young woman is, and we do not have any idea what she is saying in this video, but we do know that her grief is very rea...

Kobe Bryant Guarantees The Lakers Will Make The Playoffs
What do Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, and Metta World Peace have in common with Chris Mihm, Chucky Atkins, Lamar Odom, and Caron Butler? If the season ended today, those would be the only two supporting casts in Kobe Bryant's career with which he didn't make the postseason. One of these rost...

My Encounters With Ray Lewis's Deer-Antler Hookup, The Man Who Could Change The History Of Sports (Or Something)
"You're on the phone with someone who could change the history of sports," said Deer Antler Man....

The <em>B.S. Report</em> Report: Bye
Julia Alvidrez, Gawker Media's operations manager, is an unabashed fan of Bill Simmons and everything Grantland. She is also an occasional reader of Deadspin. Every week, she recaps Simmons's podcast, The B.S. Report, for us. This is her final recap....

Ray Lewis's Deer Antler Spray Was Another Imaginary Drug Scandal
Originally published in Bloomberg View...

The Steven Soderbergh Experience: Brilliant, Modest, Fiercely Intelligent, Ultimately Disappointing
"I was watching one of those iconoclast shows on the Sundance Channel. Jamie Oliver said Paul Smith had told him something he hadn't understood until very recently: 'I'd rather be No. 2 forever than No. 1 for a while.' Just make stuff and don't agonize over it. Stop worrying about being No. 1. I s...

The <em>B.S. Report</em> Report: A Lobster That Had A Lot Of Poop Inside
Julia Alvidrez, Gawker Media's operations manager, is an unabashed fan of Bill Simmons and everything Grantland. She is also an occasional reader of Deadspin. Every week, she will recap Simmons's podcast, The B.S. Report, for us....