review Page 874 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Denzel Washington Will Kick Your Ass Now: <em>The Equalizer</em>, Reviewed
1. I know we just talked about Liam Neeson around here, but I feel obliged to bring him back up, because suffice it to say, if Liam Neeson doesn't have the aforementioned late-career action-movie rebirth, there is no way The Equalizer exists. Ostensibly a big-screen reboot of the CBS crime procedu...
Ain't No Liga Like The One I Got: Your 2014-15 La Liga Preview
Here we are. The La Liga season has just started up, and now we get to watch the league with the world's three best players, its two best teams, and the saddest hodgepodge of patsies since Enter the Dragon. In spite of these financial realities, Spain managed to produce Europe's wildest title race...
A Conversation With Phillip Roth
Check out this 1974 interview from the Ontario Review with Joyce Carol Oates and Phillip Roth....
32 Paragraphs About 32 Teams: A Thinking Fan's Guide To The NFL Season
The following is excerpted from the team chapters of the always-excellent Football Outsiders Almanac. Buy it here....
Pirates Still Stewing Over Controversial Walk-Off Loss
The Diamondbacks won last night on a walk-off fielder's choice in the 10th, as Nick Ahmed successfully broke up the Pirates' potential double-play by getting hit in the arm by Jayson Nix's throw to first. Pretty perfect positioning with that arm, actually. Maybe a little too perfect....
Blocking-The-Plate Rule Screws Marlins; Mike Redmond Starts Undressing
The Marlins got boned in a major way by the new and confusing rule that prohibits catchers blocking the plate. Although Zack Cozart was initially ruled out by home plate umpire Mike Winters, a lengthy umpire review eventually overturned the call and ruled him safe. Instead of a 1-0 Marlins lead he...
There Is No Explanation For Blowing This Call
This was a trapped ball. It was pretty clear, and indisputably so on replay. Yet umpires upheld their initial ruling of a catch, even after Ron Gardenhire's challenge. My headline up there isn't some huffy hyperbole on just how baffling the call was—it's about how umpires literally didn't give an ...
Scarlett Johansson Enters The Matrix: <em>Lucy</em>, Reviewed
1. Lucy posits that if a person were able to somehow assess 100 percent of his or her brain capacity, he or she would be able to travel through time, from the Big Bang to the dinosaurs to the dawn of man to the end of the world, and gather all the wisdom from millennia and hand it over as a gift to ...
High On Life: The Divine <em>Boyhood</em>, Reviewed.
1. Boyhood makes you want to protect—to save—everyone onscreen. They're not in any sort of peril, at least not plainly so; there are alcoholic dads and neighborhood bullies and some broken hearts, but no one's ever in any danger of being attacked by a bear or anything. But without ever seeming t...
Melissa McCarthy's Self-Made Waterloo: <em>Tammy</em>, Reviewed
1. So what happened here, exactly? Tammy is a passion project for Melissa McCarthy—she co-wrote the film with her husband, Ben Falcone, who also directed and has a small role as a fast-food manager—and she spent nearly a decade trying to make it. So why is it so, so terrible? This is the movie McCa...
Replay Review Doesn't Prevent Umpires From Completely Blowing Call
In the seventh inning of last night's game between the Rockies and Cardinals, Matt Carpenter went to first after seemingly being hit by a Franklin Morales pitch. The Rockies challenged the play, and after a lengthy replay review, the original call was upheld despite it being pretty damn clear to eve...
A Sense Of Where You Are
From Clancy Martin's review of Geoff Dyer's new book:...
![MLB's New Home-Plate Rule Had Its Lowest Moment [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/774951566475460387.jpg)
MLB's New Home-Plate Rule Had Its Lowest Moment [Update]
This run, the Reds' sixth of 11, didn't have much of an impact on the result of a game, which saw Pirates outfielder Travis Snider take the mound in the ninth (and strike out Joey Votto). But the controversial play at the plate may have been the best example yet that no one, not managers, coaches, o...
Mo' Meta Blues: <em>22 Jump Street</em>, Reviewed
1. How much credit are we supposed to give a movie for being self-aware? 22 Jump Street is so self-conscious and nervy about its status as an unnecessary cash-grab sequel that it never stops bringing it up. There are multiple inside-baseball asides about how much more expensive missions are the seco...
Everything You Need To Know About Every World Cup Team
Here's your full World Cup preview hub, where you can find our breakdowns for all 32 teams throughout the tournament. ...
World Cup Group H Preview: A Dark Horse, A Couple Mules, And A Goat
Here's your Group G hub and open thread where you'll find our previews and predictions....
How Russia Evolved Into One Of The World Cup's Most Dangerous Teams
Russia's march to Brazil began at the Euro 2012 tournament in Poland/Ukraine. The Russians, led by Dutch manager Dick Advocaat captured the attention of Europe with a comprehensive 4-1 thrashing of the Czech Republic in their opening game. The free-flowing, explosive Russian attack, a product of Ad...
Hey, At Least Getting Bashed In Group Play Won't Break Algeria's Heart
Algerians, like many former French colonies, are used to watching some of their most promising potential internationals playing for the old rulers. Algerian fans will probably cheer Karim Benzema due to the French-born striker's Algerian heritage. They might also rue, or maybe sardonically snicker a...
Can South Korea Make Another Surprise Run In Brazil?
South Korea are one of Asia's traditional soccer powers. They and Japan have bossed the continent for decades now, coasting to World Cup to World Cup, where they've tried to prove that Asia's got real talent. In Brazil, South Korea have a chance to once again show that though Asia's a historically w...
Let's Stop Calling Belgium A Dark Horse
It's not a perfect fit, but Belgium are the closest thing we have to a true dark horse in this World Cup. They won't step onto the pitch as a mysterious bunch of kids in cleats—indeed, the whole reason they are so intriguing is because everyone expects these Belgians to be running things in a few ye...