st Page 1912 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

How Do You Get The Contest Out Of Your System? Trying To Answer The Only Question On Anybody's Mind At Nathan's
The Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest is a lot of things—patriotic, promotional, repellant—but above all, the contest is a study in misdirection. Like so many of Coney Island's storied card sharks and freak shows, the contest succeeds by distracting its audience, pl...

Better Know An Umpire: Joe West
Welcome to Better Know An Umpire, an effort to educate ourselves on the human elements who have ultimate decision-making power over some 2,500 Major League Baseball games a year. (All cumulative statistics are through the 2011 season, unless otherwise stated.)...

Steve Nash Is Headed To The Los Angeles Lakers
Looks like point guard Steve Nash isn't going to the Raptors or the Knicks. He's going to the Los Angeles Lakers, who've agreed to a sign-and-trade with the Phoenix Suns, in exchange for multiple future picks. John Gambadoro of 620 KTAR in Phoenix was the first to report the news, followed by ESPN's...

Olympics Field Guide: Alise Post, The 21-Year-Old "Beast” Of Women's BMX
Name: Alise Post...

Appreciating The Genius Of Joey Chestnut Requires Watching Him Eat In Super-Slow Motion
Joey Chestnut retained the mustard-yellow belt at Coney Island today with a command performance, consuming 68 hot dogs (and buns) in ten minutes and falling just shy of setting a new "official" record....

Better Know An Umpire: Hunter Wendelstedt
Welcome to Better Know An Umpire, an effort to educate ourselves on the human elements who have ultimate decision-making power over some 2,500 Major League Baseball games a year. (All cumulative statistics are through the 2011 season, unless otherwise stated.)...

Joey Chestnut Downs 68 Hot Dogs To Win Sixth Straight Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest
Well that was gross. Joey Chestnut just wrapped up his sixth straight championship at the world's most popular eating contest by mashing 68 hot dogs down his gullet in ten minutes. Chestnut had the contest in hand from start to finish, and gets to go on being called the world's best competitive eate...

Timbers Defender David Horst Took A Shot To The Face At Point-Blank Range
The Portland Timbers turned away San Jose last night at Jeld-Wen Field with a 2-1 win over MLS' top squad. It didn't come without some pain and suffering, though, as defender David Horst lay his face on the line for his team to block a shot in the 37th minute. Lest the reputation that soccer play...

How To Eat 1 Gallon, 9 Ounces Of Ice Cream In 12 Minutes Without Getting A Headache: The Secrets Of Ed "Cookie" Jarvis
Tell Me When It's Over is an interview series in which we ask former athletes about the moment they knew their playing days were over. Today: Ed "Cookie" Jarvis, a 46-year-old real estate agent, married father of two, cancer survivor, and retired competitive eater....

Bristolmetrics: Amid College Football Chaos, ESPN Reports On Which Games Will Be Seen On ESPN
When last we met, Roger Clemens was the most important defendent, the NBA ended but continued to dominate, and Rick Reilly continued to lift his own material. What would this week bring? ...

Double Amputee Oscar Pistorius Will Compete In The 2012 Olympics
Less than a week ago, it appeared that Oscar Pistorius's feel-good story had come to an end, as the double amputee sprinter had failed to post a worthy time in the 400 meter race at the Olympic qualifiers, effectively killing his chances to represent South Africa at this summer's games....

Olympics Field Guide: Peter Hudnut, Water Polo's Comeback Kid
Name: Peter Hudnut...

5 Times As Many People Watched The BET Awards As Watched ESPN <em>Sunday Night Baseball</em>. Sports TV Ratings, In Context.
A weekly feature wherein we contextualize TV ratings for national sports broadcasts. Data via Nielsen and Sports Business Daily. Viewership numbers represent approximate number of persons tuned to a given program; ratings share refers to the percentage of all households using a television who are tu...

Jaromir Jagr Signs With Dallas Stars, Is Still Old And Not Very Good
Earlier today, Jaromir Jagr—who said on Sunday that 21 teams made him offers— signed a one-year deal with the Dallas Stars. It's worth $4.5 million....

Meet Your Gold-Medal-Favorite 2012 U.S. Olympic Gymnastic Team (And The Men, Too)
There weren't many surprises in the United States women's gymnastic team that emerged this past weekend from two days of all-around competition at the Olympic trials. This was the set of gymnasts that we seemed destined to end up with for months now, or at least since returning Olympic champion Nast...

The Grierson & Leitch July 4 Extravaganza: Movies That Made Us Love America
Today and yesterday, Grierson & Leitch honors America by spotlighting films that exemplify the best our country has to offer—and the worst. Yesterday: Movies that made us feel worse about America. Today: Movies that made us love this goddamned country. ...

Records Suggest PSU Officials Knew In 2001 That Sandusky Shower Incident Involved More Than Just "Horsing Around"
The meeting supposedly took place in 2001 in response to the now infamous shower incident reported by Mike McQueary. As we learned from CNN, Penn State's trio (VP Gary Schultz, president Graham Spanier, and athletic director Tim Curley) had initially devised a three-pronged approach to dealing with ...

Sorry, Mario Balotelli Didn't Really Make This German Fan Cry: How TV Lied To You During Euro 2012
In the 36th minute of the Euro 2012 semifinal, Mario Balotelli scored his second goal, a screamer to the top right corner. Balotelli ripped off his jersey and flexed, and the telecast cut to a woman in the stands, a German flag painted on her cheek, a single tear leaking from her eye....

The Time I Got Stool Softener For My Ear Because My Earwax Was Stabbing My Brain, And Other Poop Stories
Hello, little lambs. It's me, some lady! You might remember me from yelling about vagina over at Jezebel, or from that time one year ago when Drew went on vacation and I wrote a weird Funbag about banana phones and jism. Can you believe it's been an entire year? ME NEITHER. But now Drew has up and l...

Raptors Sign Landry Fields Solely To Cockblock The Knicks On Steve Nash
Marc Stein reports that the Raptors have agreed to terms with Knicks RFA guard Landry Fields, at three years for around $20 million. That's exactly the sort of backloaded, poison pill deal we wrote about yesterday—the Knicks have the right to match the offer, but probably not the financial wherewith...