sports Page 819 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Mario Balotelli Does Thing
Inter Milan sacked manager Claudio Ranieri this week, and introduced interim manager Andrea Stramaccioni this morning at a press conference....

John Calipari Reminds You That You Care More About The Kentucky-Louisville Rivalry Than His Players Do
Every morning, the fine folks at Sports Radio Interviews sift through the a.m. drive-time chatter to bring you the best interviews with coaches, players, and personalities across the sports landscape. Today: Not only aren't they from the Bluegrass State, but they don't stay there long enough to care...

Lionel Messi Tries His Hand At Basketball In A New Herbalife Ad
Okay, so the punch line is kind of ridiculous and would be a clear violation in an real basketball contest. Given the one-on-one game between Barcelona star Lionel Messi and a random basketball player has a clock counting down, we're pretty sure Herbalife isn't particularly concerned with the deta...

Sports Scores Could Soon Be Coming To Siri
"Siri, what's the Avalanche score?"...

Reggie Evans Silenced A Heckler With A Simple Slip Of The Middle Finger
The heckling began the moment Reggie Evans stepped out onto the floor to start pregame warmups....
![A Stoppage-Time El Salvador Goal Brought An End To The Olympic Dreams Of U.S. Men's Soccer [UPDATE]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/Image_Not_Found_1x_qjofp8.png)
A Stoppage-Time El Salvador Goal Brought An End To The Olympic Dreams Of U.S. Men's Soccer [UPDATE]
The United States will not field a men's soccer team at the London Olympics after this stoppage-time goal by El Salvador's Jaime Enrique Alas forced a 3-3 draw in the CONCACAF U-23 qualifying tournament....

If You Think Andrew Bogut Is Injury-Prone, He Thinks You're "Uneducated"
Every morning, the fine folks at Sports Radio Interviews sift through the a.m. drive-time chatter to bring you the best interviews with coaches, players, and personalities across the sports landscape. Today: Bogut, out for the season, says it's just a chain of freak accidents....

The Atlanta Hawks' Mascot Was "In Bad Shape" After Smashing His Beak On The Rim During A Dunk Stunt
Atlanta mascot Harry the Hawk Sky Hawk was feeling it in the beak after this stunt went wrong during last night's game against Utah. Reader James sent this in, noting that while the mascot appears to return to the floor to finish the routine, it's almost certainly a backup they keep for such circ...

Tim Tebow Waited 16 Minutes And 40 Seconds To Mention Jesus At Today's Press Conference
Tim Tebow's New York Jets debutante ball is over, and while he (reliably) avoided saying much of anything interesting, doing a quick analysis of the press conference transcript (via closed captioning) may provide some clues as to how the quarterback (?) will adapt to the New York media sphere. ...

Bristolmetrics: Dick Vitale Said "Baby" A Mere 14 Times On <em>SportsCenter</em> Last Week
This is a regular feature breaking down, minute-by-minute, the content that appears on ESPN's 11 p.m. edition of SportsCenterthroughout the week. Graphic by Jim Cooke....


There Were Three Stooges At Yesterday's NASCAR Event, And They Were Not Named Dale, Darryl, Or Darrell
From the moment he slipped the fire suit over his frizzed hair, Larry knew his dreams had finally become reality. He'd aspired to pilot the speed machine from the time he was five years old, playing with Matchbox—...

Dwyane Wade Hit A 65-Foot Buzzer-Beater
The Heat helped narrow what had been a sizable deficit in their battle with the Thunder in Oklahoma City thanks to this 3/4-court bomb to end the third quarter by Dwyane Wade. Mike Tirico was still only mildly impressed. [ESPN]...

Here's The Dancing Baylor Fan Heard ’Round The World
We tweeted him out earlier in GIF form, but this Baylor fan enthusiastic that his team was within 13 (!) of Kentucky deserves the full Deadspin Video treatment—so here you are. [CBS]...

Meet Minor League Guy On Third, The Most Fascinating Cardinals Prospect Since Albert Pujols
My girlfriend is passionate about keeping a scorecard at the ballpark, but she doesn't bother with it when we go to Grapefruit League spring training games. There's so many roster changes and substitutions in the late innings, she says, and keeping up takes the fun out of enjoying beer & sunshine....

Tonight's "O Canada" Before The Pens-Sens Game Was So Bad Players Were Laughing Before It Finished
The Ottawa Senators hired opera singer and judge of Canada's Got Talent Measha Brueggergosman to sing the anthems before tonight's home matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and got more than they bargained for—literally....

Houston Dynamo's Colin Clark Calls Ball Boy A "Fuckin' Faggot," Offers Weak Apology
As noted earlier today on Dirty Tackle, Houston Dynamo winger Colin Clark is under fire for blowing up on a ball boy early in last night's match in Seattle. His apology (through Twitter) was of the typical "I didn't mean to disrespect anyone" variety and suggests Clark hasn't been exposed to those...

Dubstep Nolan Ryan Wants To Look At That "Tremendous Wiener"
After public outcry and questioning regarding the Texas Rangers' plan to sell a $26 hot dog this season, team owner/president Nolan Ryan took to the Galloway & Company program on KESN-FM 103.3 in Dallas to profess his own curiosity about the behemoth frankfurter. He spoke about it in such a parti...

Peter Crouch Just Scored The Goal Of The Year In English Soccer
Peter Crouch's volley would be astounding in any context, but that it put Stoke up 1-0 on Manchester City makes it that much more a golazo. If Rooney's bicycle goal last season was its top score, Crouch's today is almost certainly that of the '11-'12 campaign. [Fox Soccer]...

Emile Heskey's Elbow Thoroughly Mangled Johan Djourou's Nose
Today's Arsenal-Aston Villa match from Ashburton Grove got off to a violent start as Gunners defender Johan Djourou took Emile Heskey's elbow straight to the beak—though Djourou was as much responsible for propelling his face into Heskey as much as anything. Despite spending several minutes down o...