refs Page 1 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Girls can talk trash, too
Depending on whatever echo chamber you’ve decided to inhabit on social media, the final of the Women’s college basketball tournament might sound very different than it does to someone else. I’m sure for all the genuine college basketball fans out there, and especially LSU fans, all there is is an ap...

The warm glow of MLB Hot Stove’s warming glow — AL East
The GM Meetings are in the books, the Winter Meetings aren’t in the distant future, and the rumors are beginning to fly. You can be sure your favorite team is talking to agents for players! Does that mean anything? Nope, sure doesn’t! But you’ll take anything at this point, and they know that. So we...

We should be trying to find ways to extend, not shorten, college football games
Since when did we start caring so much about the length of sporting events? MLB’s rush to shorten games seems like a direct response to society’s inability to be bored for any length of time. My favorite thing to do on the train in the morning is tally the people who aren’t looking at their phones a...

Kia Nurse drains half-court three for the win
Yeah, Dame Time is cool and all but have you ever seen Kia Nurse drain a three at the buzzer?...

We have more baseball crime-scene clowning
Yesterday, Twins’ backup backup center fielder Rob Refsnyder gave us a blooper that should play in stadiums across American ballparks by... [checks date] tonight....

Again? Seriously?
I’m tired. Of officials blowing big, important calls in the playoffs, mostly, but also of having to write blogs about them that try to say something more intelligent than well, it’s bad to get these calls wrong in such big moments, but also being an NHL official is a difficult job and even the best ...

Craig Berube Works The Refs, Because Not Much Else Is Working For The Blues
Jordan Binnington will be back in net and the Blues believe his newfound porosity was a fluke, and Oskar Sundqvist will return after serving his one-game suspension, so not only are they ready to move past their Game 3 shitkicking, but they’re out of excuses for it. Mostly. Down 2-1 in the Stanley C...

What Happened To All The Interesting Refs?
One of the nerdier things a basketball fan can do at 9 a.m. Eastern Weirdo Time is to go to the NBA website and glom onto the identities of the officials who will work whatever game interests you True, NBA ref nerddom is an exceedingly small subset of Nerdvania, but let a thousand sets of hipster gl...

The Blues Got Screwed By Yet Another Officiating Disaster
Images the NHL wants to linger after an hard-fought overtime game: the jubilation of the goalscorer; his teammates erupting on the bench and spilling over to celebrate on the ice; the disappointment and hard-earned exhaustion of the losers, skating off in disbelief....

The NBA Got Out Of Basketball's Way
When Allie LaForce was dispatched to get a postgame interview from Tuesday’s Rockets-Warriors game, she or maybe her producer chose the sport’s third eye, Klay Thompson. Not bad, as these things go. Thompson is always a better choice than nearly anyone else for these say-little-and-then-go-inside se...

If This Is Rockets-Warriors, Let's Just Get It Over With As Soon As Possible
In case you ever decide to hate sports without the crutch of a rooting interest, financial, familial, or simply laundry-based, here’s your ticket. The pre–NBA Finals NBA Finals are already a drunken bar argument, and they’re only going to get worse. The Houston Rockets ... the Golden State Warriors ...

You're Not Supposed To Be Allowed To Do This
It’s not that points matter any more as the weather turns warmer—they count just as much in November as they do in March—but this is the part of the season where every blown, salvaged, earned, or gifted point comes with the attached hyperawareness. The Dallas Stars are in the thick of it, two points...

Oklahoma's Robert Barnes Not Flagged For Potential Targeting Hit On West Virginia's Marcus Simms
Oklahoma outlasted West Virginia in a 59-56 classic Big 12 shootout that likely had defensive coordinators everywhere weeping for the future of their positions. But even with all of the scoring, and general back-and-forth action, one of the biggest plays in the game came at the tail end of the first...

NHL Linesman Can't Stop Getting Gruesomely Injured
Capitals winger Andre Burakovsky suffered an “upper-body injury” on a big check in Sunday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Blue Jackets, and will not travel to Columbus for the series’ next two games. He got off easy compared to linesman Steve Barton....

Spring Training Baseball Means This Guy Hitting A Double Through A Hole In The Wall<em></em><em></em>
Rob Refsnyder, a utility guy who featured in a few games with both the Yankees and Blue Jays before heading to Cleveland at the end of 2017, notched what could very well be the most memorable play of his career today in a random spring training at-bat....

Louisiana Tech Player Ejected For Being Too Rad
Unless you live in Ruston, La., chances are the name Jacobi Boykins won’t ring a bell. That’s a shame, because the senior Louisiana Tech guard is and has been a great watch during his four years with the Bulldogs, albeit one sequestered to Conference USA games. He’s the best three-point shooter on a...

$13 Billion Industry Uses Folded-Up Piece Of Paper To Determine Outcomes
The Cowboys earned a first down tonight in a play so ridiculous it made the Steelers’ loss look positively pedestrian. The NFL uses computer chips in uniforms, pads, and the football itself—but the decision to award first downs still comes down to a technology so analogue it existed two hundred year...

Kentucky Fans Flooded Elite Eight Referee With 800 Angry Voicemail Messages
Kentucky fans left more than 800 voicemails for referee John Higgins after the team’s Elite Eight loss to North Carolina, seven of which have been flagged by law enforcement as threats. The messages were reviewed by police in Higgins’s home of Omaha, and those containing threats have been sent to re...

Law Enforcement Identifies Kentucky Fans Who Threatened Elite Eight Referee
Seven Kentucky fans who harassed and threatened referee John Higgins after the team’s Elite Eight loss have been identified by law enforcement, according to the Associated Press....

Dale Scott Immobilized, Taken Off Field On Stretcher After Taking Foul Tip To The Face
Dale Scott left the field in Toronto tonight on a stretcher as the 31-year veteran umpire took a foul tip directly to the face....