st Page 1895 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Hours After Defeat, An Australian Rower Was Smashing Store Windows: Foreign Olympics News That Couldn't Fit On The Desk Of Bob Costas
Deadspin and Gelf Magazine bring you the best (or at least the most interesting) foreign-produced journalism about the London Olympics. ...
Adderall Is The NFL's Hot New PED Excuse
Giants safety Tyler Sash was banned four games earlier this week, after testing positive for a banned substance. But this was no ordinary failed piss test—Sash claims he was using Adderall, under a doctor's supervision, and Adderall is a drug that the NFL's totally cool with when it's prescribed for...
Learn All About The World Games, The Haven For Rejected Olympic Sports
The Olympics are often considered a great showcase for sports that really don't get any recognition in everyday life—like gymnastics. But what about the sports that don't even make the Olympics? When do Tchoukball and Fistball (which is the actual name of an actual sport) get to show the world wha...
Ethiopian Steeplechaser Slams Into Race's Final Hurdle, Leaves Track In A Wheelchair
Here's pretty much the definition of "agony of defeat": Ethiopian steeplechase competitor Birhan Getahun, already far at the back of his qualifying heat at the end of the race, fails to navigate the final hurdle and slams down to the track. (Steeplechase hurdles, unlike those used in the hurdle ev...
Alex Morgan's Knee Obliterated A Kiwi Goalie's Face
It was a horrifying moment in the second half of today's women's soccer match between the U.S. and New Zealand, as American star Alex Morgan drove a knee directly into New Zealand keeper Jenny Bindon's face. It was the second blow to the head for Bindon in the match, and yet she somehow managed to...
Everything You Never Needed To Know About Trampoline
Trampolining is not just for cute foxes in viral videos—it's a crazypants real sport that made its Olympic debut in 2000. As Canadian Karen Cockburn, the bronze medalist at those games, said after winning her medal, "A lot of people don't really know what trampoline is, they think it's a toy you jum...
Before Steroids And Supplements, Olympics Dopers Used Brandy And Strychnine
These days, Olympians have to pass random drug tests and steer clear of shady supplements to avoid the wrath of the IOC and World Anti-Doping Agency. But back in 1904, during the Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Thomas Hicks of the United States (pictured above, middle) secured gold in the marathon rac...
Remembering When Bill Russell Played A Corrupt Judge On <em>Miami Vice</em>
I'd love to know the backstory behind this inspired bit of casting. Who is it that looks at a script calling for a corrupt Miami judge and says, "Get me Bill Russell on the phone now!" Indeed, in a second-season episode of Miami Vice, Russell makes a star turn as a crooked judge who pays off gambl...
NBC Aired A Promo Featuring A Monkey Doing Gymnastics At The Most Inopportune Time
After Bob Costas wound down tonight's Olympics coverage by editorializing about Gabby Douglas's all-around gold medal ending stereotypes and tearing down racial barriers, NBC followed it up immediately with this promo for Animal Practice featuring a monkey doing gymnastics. That's... unfortunate....
Gabby Douglas's Beam Performance Gives Us The Defining Photo Of The London Olympics
I'm just not certain how sports photography gets any better than this. Greg Bull of the Associated Press deserves every Sports Photo of the Year Award coming his way in a few months' time. Gabby Douglas gave a historic performance today in the women's gymnastics all-around, and this is a photo worth...
Women's Gymnastics: Gabby Douglas Leaves The Rest Of The World Behind
Where the Olympic men's gymnastics all-around final had been a gradual, predictable victory for favorite Kohei Uchimura, the women's final came down to the last routine and the last score. When the tabulation was done, Gabby Douglas of the United States took the title, becoming the first woman of co...
Fake, Jingoistic, And Stupid: Gymnastics Coverage Is The Worst Part Of NBC's Olympics
If you have a full-time job, no privacy at work, and/or a boss who cares about productivity, you probably didn't spend two hours in the middle of the day, like I did, watching the women's all-around Olympic gymnastics final. This means that you get to see it tonight on NBC, with routines sprinkled b...
A Very Obsessive Guide To <em>Sight & Sound</em>'s Greatest Films Poll
Yesterday was heaven for film lovers and list fanatics as Sight & Sound unveiled its once-a-decade poll of the greatest films of all time. There are actually two separate lists—one for critics, one for directors—and the big news was that, after topping the poll since 1962, Citizen Kane had been repl...
Bobby Valentine And Buster Olney Don't Like Each Other Very Much
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: After Buster said the players all hate Bobby, Bobby fires back....
These Fans At Last Night's Cardinals-Rockies Game Might Still Be Chasing This Foul Ball
This is what happens to a foul ball that gets hit into the stands at Coors Field in the late innings when no one's there to grab it. That announced crowd of 29,547 really hung around till the end to see if the Rockies could battle back after falling behind in the seventh. As a result, the ball ......
Would You Like To Donate Money To A $50,000 Sarah Phillips Documentary? If So, You Are Too Late
A few days ago, someone wanted to raise $50,000 for a Sarah Phillips documentary. As we remember, Phillips got into all sorts of trouble while she was a columnist at ESPN and a gambling columnist at Covers.com. But this proposed documentary didn't set out to wrestle broader themes like creepy scams...
If You're In NYC Tonight, Come Hear Some Good Writers Talk Boxing And Soccer
It's time for another edition of Gelf's excellent Varsity Letters reading series. This month's slate features former Washington Post staffer and veteran boxing writer William Gildea, the author Theresa Runstedtler (who has written about boxing legend Jack Johnson), and GQ's Mark Kirby, who will disc...
Olympic Photographer Forgets To Remove Lens Cap, Can't Figure Out Why He Can't Take Pictures
A moment of levity yesterday, as one sad-sack photographer struggled to work out why he couldn't get some good closeups of eventual all-around gold medalist Kohei Uchimura. After 10 solid seconds of checking his camera, a revelation: the lens cap was still on. We've all been there, guy....
This Steelers Fan Has A Memorial Sticker On His Car's Rear Window Dedicated To His Foreskin
I don't know if memorial car stickers are a thing elsewhere in the country, but they're popular in Florida. People here regularly attach vinyl stickers to their rear windows in tribute to a beloved who has passed away....
No One Is Saying Whether NBC's Olympic Streaming Is A Success
NBC coughed up more than $1 billion to air these 2012 Summer Olympics and it's going to squeeze every last revenue dollar out of its investment. That means constant tape delays, tons of commercials, overly creative editing, and jingoism galore. (And you can probably forget about seeing anything inte...