the Page 840 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

NCAA Names Former Sen. George Mitchell As Penn State's "Athletics Integrity Monitor"
The appointment of an Athletics Integrity Monitor (note the capital letters) is part of the oh-so-serious sanctions the NCAA dropped when it smacked Penn State with its shithammer. This is straight from the statement the NCAA issued today:...

Gore Vidal's <em>Myra Breckinridge</em> Became One Of The Weirdest Movies Ever Made
Gore Vidal died yesterday, and though he appeared as an actor in a few movies—he played a professor in With Honors, an evil futuristic fellow in Gattaca and, most memorably, as Tim Robbins' lefty opponent in Bob Roberts—he'll be remembered, in a movie sense, as the guy responsible for Myra Breckinri...

Going Under: What Happened To U.S. Synchronized Swimming?
There is a YouTube video of synchronized swimmer Mary Killman performing what is called a Rocket maneuver to the song “Johnny B. Goode” as part of her final solo at the 2011 synchronized swimming world championships in Shanghai. Killman, who will compete in this summer’s Olympics, says it is one of ...

What The Jingoists Are Saying Today: "Suck it Russia! 'If You Don't Like America, You Can Get Out!'"
I honestly don't even know what that means. Is it directed at...Russia? Is Russia currently in the United States? If so, has it expressed displeasure with being in the United States? Why is it in quotes? Is it an oft-quoted saying? Now directed at Russia? So many questions. But let's move on to wha...

Don't Blame Badminton Players For Throwing Matches. Blame The Sport's Crappy System.
Four teams of women—two from South Korea, one from China, one from Indonesia—were kicked out of the Olympics after they all attempted to lose their matches in the group stage. It was a farce, bringing boos from the crowd and condemnation from the Olympic and badminton communities. Yet the fault lies...

When It Comes To Gymnastics, It's Good To Pick A Winner
We always enjoy catching people knuckle-deep, but it's somewhat disturbing in this context. It's probably because of the come-hither look on his face. (It's actually because of his pencil mustache.)...

The 10 Films I'm Most Excited To See At The Toronto Film Festival
We've got about a month left of summer movie season, but the studios are about to start unveiling their Oscar candidates—that is, the films they think are actually good. A lot of these get their launch at the Toronto Film Festival, which will run from September 6 to 16....

This BBC Interview With Chad Le Clos's Father Is The Media Moment Of The Games So Far
Moments after South African Chad Le Clos denied Michael Phelps gold in the 200 butterfly, BBC sat down with an ecstatic Bert Le Clos to talk about the surprising victory. Funny, bizarre, and often unintelligible due to Bert's Afrikaanglish, it's a must-watch interview and the sort of thing you'd n...

ESPN Finally Covered The NHL, Thanks To The Olympics
These are dark days for ESPN, with NBC stealing the nation's collective sports eyes and talent evacuating Bristol like a Chris Berman barbecue dinner. Desperate to reclaim public attention, the WWL is going after that untapped market of Columbus Blue Jackets fans, albeit in a strange way. By random...

To Protect A Dan Snyder-Owned Radio Station, The Redskins Banned A Competing Station From Airing RG3's Press Conference
The Redskins are severely limiting Robert Griffin III's media exposure before the season starts. No chats after practices, no cameras at his locker—just one press conference a week, making six in all. So it was a massive local media scrum when Griffin held his first presser last Wednesday, with all ...

Singer Of Worst National Anthem Performance Ever Blames Vuvuzelas For Making Her Sing Off-Key
The parents of 11-year-old Harper Gruzins are defending their daughter's performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Saturday's Galaxy-FC Dallas match, claiming critics who called it the worst national anthem performance ever are "mean and hateful."...

NBC's No. 1 Tweeting Critic Has Been Suspended From Twitter
Guy Adams is The Independent's Los Angeles bureau chief. During the Olympics so far, he has carved out a nice spot on the how-much-NBC's-coverage-sucks beat. Now his Twitter account has been suspended—supposedly because NBC had it cut off after he complained:...

There Are Four Olympic Athletes Without Countries To Represent
They were hard to miss: the "Independent Olympic Athletes," walking under the Olympic flag, dancing and jumping their way through the Parade of Nations. But what's their deal? In an Olympics with 204 teams—11 more than there are countries at the United Nations—how did four athletes find themselves e...

Perverts Abound At The London Olympics
We acknowledge gymnasts' leotards leave little to the imagination, and while we've never attended a competition in person it's just assumed that, like on a nude beach, staring is the sort of thing most would consider gauche....

Nobody Goes To The Morgue Anymore, It's Too Crowded
The trade deadline (non-waiver) for major league baseball is this Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. ET. Predictably, things are picking up. Francisco Liriano was traded last night to the White Sox. Zack Greinke was traded to the Angels on Friday. Rumors also abound this time of year, with various columnists spec...

This Is The Worst National Anthem Rendition Ever
Back in January, we brought you Steven Tyler's "Star-Spangled Banner" performance and asked how it stacked up to the worst-ever performances. (Your leading vote-getter was Roseanne's regrettable 1990 crotch-grabbing rendition.)...

Our Experts On Fashion And Danny Boyle Are Here To Discuss The Opening Ceremony. Join Us.
Hey! How about that opening ceremony that concluded a few minutes ago? Now we get to watch it! Thanks NBC. ...

The Freeh Group Denies Anyone From The Freeh Group Discussed The NCAA's Use Of The Freeh Group's Investigation Of Penn State
Just got the following in my inbox a few minutes ago, which is a reference to this:...

<em>Total Recall</em> Is a Lot Dumber Than You Remember
The remake of Total Recall — which features Colin Farrell as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kate Beckinsale as Sharon Stone, Jessica Biel as Rachel Ticotin and Bryan Cranston as "Cohaagen give these people some air!" — opens a week from today. The original Total Recall came out in 1990, right on the edge of...
![Missing: One Giant Furry Green Mascot, Believed To Be Walking Around Boston [UPDATE: Found!]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/17u52sy9081gdjpg.jpg)
Missing: One Giant Furry Green Mascot, Believed To Be Walking Around Boston [UPDATE: Found!]
Wally the Green Monster, the semi-beloved mascot of the Boston Red Sox, has gone AWOL. The theft was reported to BPD at 2:22 pm, and the suspect is believed to STILL BE WEARING THE COSTUME SOMEWHERE AROUND BOSTON RIGHT NOW....