that Page 14 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Blackmail, Sexual Obsession, Fight Fixing: Behind The Weird Scenes On The Night Floyd Patterson Conquered Boxing
Excerpted from W.K. Stratton's Floyd Patterson: The Fighting Life of Boxing's Invisible Champion, available today from fine booksellers everywhere....
The Circadian Advantage: How Sleep Patterns Benefit Certain NFL Teams
Imagine, for a second, that you are in a casino in Las Vegas. You have been in town for a few days, spent too much and slept too little, and recently found out the hard way that you are not as good at poker as you had thought. Now would be a good time to find a wager where the odds, like a tipsy bar...
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...
Olympics Memory: Beijing's Many Mascots Get An Un-Friendly Welcome
As the London Olympic mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville, greet visitors with their expressionless, chilling, cyclopean stares, we remember the controversial unveiling of the previous Summer Olympics mascots. In this excerpt from Tom Scocca's Beijing Welcomes You: Unveiling the Capital City of the Futu...
Lane Kiffin Just Can't Wait To Steal Penn State's Star Running Back
It's practically open season on Penn State's football roster, as far as other Division I coaches are concerned. As part of Monday's sanctions handed down by the NCAA, any current Penn State player can transfer without penalty, and so long as another team has a scholarship opening, then all that's ne...
The Steroids Era Was Just Like The Housing Bubble: How MLB Incentivized Widespread Fraud
Excerpted from Twilight of the Elites, available now wherever books are sold....
The Nuggets' Front-Court Is Going Viral
Late last night, word came down that the Nuggets had re-signed center JaVale McGee to a four year, $44 million contract. McGee will join recently acquired forward Anthony Randolph and forward Kenneth Faried, a rookie sensation for the Nuggets last year, in the team's front-court. None of these thre...
Will Clark Saved The Giants, And I Missed It
The Hall of Nearly Great hits web shelves today, and it's a bargain at $12. It has 42 terrific writers—heavyweights such as Rob Neyer and Joe Posnanski, and Deadspin folks, too: Owen Good and Will Leitch—with essays on the nearly great players they love. You can read about Brad Radke, Andy Messersmi...
How Michael Jordan And Nike Teamed Up To Conquer The World
It's easy to forget that there was once a time when Michael Jordan wasn't considered the greatest basketball player ever. But Jack McCallum remembers that time, and describes it (and how Jordan changed things) here, in an excerpt from his new book Dream Team, which we wrote about two weeks ago. The ...
Denver Brewery Makes Clown Question Bro Beer, Bryce Harper Suggests Donating Proceeds To Fund For Daughter Of Slain Officer
Fine, so it was someone in Bryce Harper's stable of handlers, but still, it's a nice sentiment. "That's a clown question, bro" has taken on a life of it's own and a Denver brewery named a beer using the famous retort to join in on all the fun just as Harper was in town to play the Rockies....
If You're In New York City Tonight, Go Listen To Some Fine Writers Praise And Scorn The Yankees
This month's edition of Gelf's terrific Varsity Letters reading series brings together Rob Fleder (he edited Damn Yankees, in which this appeared), Steve Rushin, and our man Alex Belth (who profiled George Kimball here in December), and, if you so choose, you, dear reader! 7:30 p.m. tonight at Pacif...
The New Best Place For A Home Run Derby: An Aircraft Carrier
This morning I lamented that our country is falling woefully behind in the "playing sports where sports aren't meant to be played" arms race. Several readers were quick to point out that I was wrong, and America continues to rock faces. Yesterday, the Class A South Atlantic League held the first r...
The Stupid, Stupid, Unforgettable Madness Of Adam Sandler. <em>That's My Boy</em>, Reviewed.
There are few things in modern cinema as reliable as an Adam Sandler movie. Since 1992, he's appeared in at least one film every year except for 1997, and just about all of them have been terrible. And yet there's something oddly comforting and exciting about the arrival of a new Sandler offering. I...
Bryce Harper To Prying Canadian Reporter: "That's A Clown Question, Bro"
Must be tough doing business in the Toronto press corps. The town’s favorite team is toast by February every year. You can do “Where Is Gary Roberts Now?” or “At Home With Nazem Kadri” only so many times. Sometimes you have to write about the Blue Jays and their opponents, and, yes, there are a fe...
Whose Post-<i>SNL</i> Film Career Is Andy Samberg Most Likely To Have?
It was fitting how Andy Samberg decided to leave Saturday Night Live. His castmate Kristen Wiig's departure had been talked about for months, the anticipation heightened by her Bridesmaids success and Oscar nomination, and she was given an unprecedented sendoff on the season's final episode to refle...
The Birth Of The Magical 1971 Macon High Ironmen, Baseball's Version Of <em>Hoosiers</em>
Despite—or perhaps because of—their ragtag roster and hippie manager, the 1971 Macon High Ironmen found themselves in the Illinois state baseball championship. Chris Ballard first chronicled the team in a long piece for SI in 2010, and he's explored them in even more depth in One Shot at Forever. In...
What Boxing Writing Can Teach Us About Everything: A.J. Liebling On Moore-Marciano
Between the Victorian era and the Sixties, boxing was a regular and prominent feature of American life. Knowing something about the fights—being good with your hands, or maintaining an opinion about the welterweight division or fixed bouts or how to beat a southpaw—was a very common piece of equipme...
Minor League Home Run Derby To Be Held On Flight Deck Of Old Aircraft Carrier
The Naval aircraft carrier USS Yorktown participated in Pacific Theater battle campaigns during both World War II and the Vietnam War. Next month, the old battleship will serve as a launching pad of a different kind....
JaVale McGee Gave Us The Going-Away Present Of Trying To Dunk His Own Missed Free Throw
This season JaVale McGee did crazy things, lazy things, stupid things, and even awesome things. Last night in the final moments of the Nuggets' Game Seven loss to the Lakers, he gave us all a nice parting gift when he tried to dunk his own missed free throw....
Everybody Loved Grantland
Excerpted from Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter....