sports Page 616 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Deion Sanders's Disaster Of A School Is Being Shut Down
Following an eight-month investigation, the Texas Education Agency announced yesterday it will move to shutter Prime Prep Academy, the charter school co-founded by Deion Sanders. It has been, let us say, a long time coming....

All 100 Times Jeter's Name Was Mentioned On Fox—And All Zero Of Gwynn's
Lest you forget, Fox was sure to make you aware that this is Derek Jeter's final season in the majors. The Captain's name was spoken no fewer than 100 times on tonight's All-Star Game broadcast, but at what cost? That of remembering people like Tony Gwynn, Don Zimmer, or Bob Welch—none of whom were ...

Who Actually Got The LeBron James Scoop?
LeBron James returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers was something well beyond a huge sports story; it was an immaculately executed public relations coup that added probably hundreds of millions of dollars to the economic impact of the single most valuable player in American sports. And dangling off ...

How Cleveland And <em>Sports Illustrated</em> Won The LeBron James Sweepstakes
As it happens, LeBron James's free agency, conducted under seemingly total radio silence, kicked off in earnest exactly when everyone thought it did: with a Cleveland radio guy reporting that Dan Gilbert's private jet was bound for Miami....

LeBron James To Sign With Cleveland: "It's Time To Get To Work"
Kaboom. After all that speculation, LeBron James has announced—in an as-told-to piece written for Sports Illustrated—that he will return to the Cleveland Cavaliers....

There's Nothing Awkward About A Bunch Of Athletes Showering Together
The always-enjoyable David Fleming has a story about communal showers in this week's ESPN The Magazine. It's nominally about the Michael Sam controversy, and asserts that no one cares if a gay man is looking at penises in the locker room—because everyone is looking at penises in the locker room....

Mama, We Made It
Send stories, photos, and anything else you might have to [email protected]....

How The UFC's Biggest Show Of The Year Turned Into A Fiasco
If you follow mixed martial arts long enough, even at a casual level, and if you are capable of feeling shame or outrage, the sport will eventually embarrass you. For those of us who follow the sport intently, especially those of us who deeply love it, this is a regular, sometimes daily, occurrenc...

Why Do So Many Sportswriters Love Bruce Springsteen?
Hello. My name is Drew, and I think Bruce Springsteen is just OK. I have never bought one of his albums. I have attended one of his concerts (I was shitfaced), but only one. I used to practice singing "Brilliant Disguise" in the shower when I was in high school so that I could serenade a girl wi...

Novak Djokovic Gives Point To His Opponent Instead Of Replaying It
There was a rare moment of sportsmanship in today's match between Novak Djokovic and Radek Stepanek. Even in a tight fourth set, Djokovic was nice enough to concede a point to his opponent....

30 Years After Whiffing On ESPN, Time Inc. Starts Digital Sports Network
Time Inc., parent company of Sports Illustrated, has launched a new digital sports network that will seek to "plug into the soul of digital and move at the speed of Twitter," according to the network's president, Jason Coyle. The venture is called 120 Sports, and on first glance it seems like a grow...

Bill James Calls For Revolutionary Changes To The American Economy
Over at his website, Bill James has a fun feature called "Hey Bill," where he answers questions from readers. Sometimes these have to do with esoteric baseball topics and sometimes they have to do with other things, such as the ongoing debate over James's idea to fundamentally change the structure o...

Portugal-United States Was The Most-Watched American Match In History
If you're looking to make the argument that soccer has finally gained a foothold with the American sports-watching public, you'd be off to a good start by citing the TV ratings from last night's thriller between Portugal and the United States, because they were bananas. ...

Insane Car Crash Slowed Down For Maximum Viewer Discomfort
"When I woke up the morning of jump day, I called my wife and told her that I had a bad feeling," said James Kirkam, the 4 Wheel Motor Sports Creative Team Leader for the GoPro video above. ...

There's Something Off About This <em>Sports Illustrated</em> Cover
Above is the cover of this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, showing Kawhi Leonard skying through the air, his arm cocked back and ready to spike a dunk on poor Chris Andersen's head. There's a slight problem with this image, though....

Ambiguous "Pole Vault Relay" Includes Many Poles, No Vaults
It's unclear what exactly is going on here. There seem to be plenty of spectators and official timing equipment, implying a track meet, and cheering, indicating competition. But there is no such thing as a pole vault relay....

Big-Ass Bear Shows Up At Baseball Game, Is Unimpressed
This big-ass Alaskan bear was recently out for a walk when it stumbled upon the American Legion baseball field that some fools decided to build near its home. "Great," the bear must have thought. "Forgot about this dumb-ass baseball field they built on my walking route."...

Who Is The Skip Bayless Of Ghana (And Italy And England And ...)?
So I watched the U.S. pull off a thrilling win over Ghana last night and after the euphoria died down and I had to take a beer shit, I thought about what local Ghanaian reaction would be to this stinging defeat. Surely, there must be a Bill Plaschke-type back home at the Ghana Ghazette, doling out ...

The Map The NCAA Got Thrown Out At Trial
At today's proceedings of O'Bannon v. NCAA, an antitrust suit which seeks to give players a share of the profits off their likenesses, the NCAA's lawyers successfully objected to the entry into evidence of our map showing that coaches are the highest-paid public employees in 39 of 50 states....

The Swing Machine
From SI's Tony Gwynn tribute issue here's Richard Hoffer's 1995 profile, "The Swing Machine":...