the Page 769 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

NBC Sports Host Who Shoots Elephants Compares Critics To Hitler
Of course he does. Tony Makris, the gun-humping NRA lobbyist whom we last saw on the NBC Sports Network shooting an elephant in the face, has recently been dealing with some people who are critical of his decision to shoot an elephant in the face. To Makris, those people are just like Hitler....

The Confidence Man
From Samanth Subramanian's 2011 story on Lalit Modi for the Caravan. ...

Risk And Romance Among NBA Groupies: An Embed's Report
Originally published in the April 1992 issue of Esquire. Reprinted here with the author's permission....

John Lardner Evaluates Ted Williams
From a John Lardner column for Newsweek, “The World’s Richest Problem Child”:...

The Last Laugh: Mailer And Ali By George Plimpton
Norman Mailer went out running with Muhammad Ali one morning, a few days before the fight with George Foreman in Zaire. He asked me to go with him, but I thought of the long ride to Ali’s training camp at N’Sele in the darkness, and thumping along for five miles or so in the wake of the challenger, ...

The Johnny Cash Museum
Garden & Gun on the Johnny Cash Museum. ...

Pitcher Do Get Lonely (Even Scrubs)
I used to play stickball with my pals out in Brooklyn in the late '90s. One summer morning I was pitching and getting bombed. When I tried to be cute, I didn't come anywhere near the box on the wall. When I tried my best David Wells and just put the ball over the plate, they murdered me....

Shirley Povich on Football
Slide on over to the Washington Post and check out this selection of football columns by Shirley Povich. ...

Vodka Samm Has Been Immortalized In A Painting
Vodka Samm, the University of Iowa student who infamously blew a .341 after getting arrested at a Hawkeyes football game, is now art. The painting above is currently up for sale on eBay. Go on, make a bid. YOLO....

Jack Davis' Uppercut
From The Bristol Board, a favorite spot, here is a page of original artwork by Jack Davis circa 1952....

Roger Angell On Mariano Rivera
Angell's take on Mariano Rivera Appreciation Day:...

NCAA Eases Up On Some Penn State Sanctions, Acts Like A Dick About It
The NCAA announced today that it will gradually start restoring some of the football scholarships it took away from Penn State in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Beginning next season, the Nittany Lions will get an additional five scholarships back per year, allowing the program to return to...

Jhumpa Lahiri's Latest Book
Jhumpa Lahiri is one of my favorite writers. Her new novel is called The Lowland. ...

Here's A Dude Shooting An Elephant In The Face On NBC Sports Network
What is this shit? For some reason, NBC Sports Network has been airing an NRA-sponsored hunting show called Under Wild Skies, on which gun-humping NRA lobbyist Tony Makris shoots elephants in the face....

Demaryius Thomas Recovers Raiders Onside Kick, Issues Muntzian "Ha-Ha"
The Broncos throttled the Raiders in a game that wasn't anywhere near as close as the score might suggest, and Denver receiver Demaryius Thomas got in a final blast late when he foiled Oakland's onside attempt....

Coming Soon: The Best American Sports Writing 2013
Coming October 8 is The Best American Sports Writing 2013. Edited by J.R. Moehringer. Check out the table of contents over at series editor Glenn Stout's site. Looks to be another sure shot to this great long-running series. ...

Mary McCarthy on Salinger's Closed Circut
Who you callin' a phony? From her 1962 Harper's review of J.D Salinger's Frany and Zooey, here's Mary McCarthy:...

The Gamer According To Tom Boswell
"Baseball has a name for the player who, in the eyes of his peers, is well attuned to the demands of his discipline; he is called 'a gamer.' The gamer does not drool, or pant, before the cry of 'Play ball.' Quite the opposite. He is the player, like George Brett or Pete Rose, who is neither too inte...

Appreciating Larry Merchant's Newspaper Career
Earlier this year Stan Hochman paid tribute to Larry Merchant, who was a great sports editor at the Philly Daily News and a terrific columnist before he turned to TV:...

The Panthers' Defense Is Battering Eli Manning Around
Halfway through the third quarter, the Giants have generated 20 yards of offense. Part of that is thanks to the Panthers' front seven, which has harassed and pressured Manning....