the Page 843 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Hoosiers Coach Tom Crean Is Sweet-Talking Someone—A Recruit, He Says—And It's Creepy
This strange series of events unfolded on Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean's timeline this afternoon. If our tips line is any indication, that clarification in the second tweet ("That was to a new recruit") was a wise move. The first, weirdest tweet has been deleted. We thought we'd leave it here ...

And Now The Paterno Family Is Appealing The NCAA Sanctions Themselves
Onward State has the complete letter the family sent this afternoon to the NCAA, but here's the gist:...

Nothing We Haven't Seen Before: <em>Total Recall</em>, Reviewed.
1. As a skeptic of the original Total Recall, I was ready to give its remake more than a fair shake. My primary issue with the original is how little it does with the film's initial, fantastical Philip K. Dick premise, that the difference between reality and fantasy is not only slim but perhaps irre...

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...

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...

The Hussars Are Coming
Here's a Polish volleyball fan in a rather interesting outfit. I didn't actually know what this was, so I consulted Twitter who informed me of the legendary Polish Winged Hussars. I'm impressed with the build quality but mostly with the fact I'm quite sure there's a cache of beer stored in the cent...

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...

Remembering The Joyous, Tie-Dyed All-Stars Of The 1992 Lithuanian Basketball Team
In the summer of 1992, a pair of teams from freedom-loving nations took the Olympics by storm. At the end of the Games, both stood proudly on the medal stand as their flags rose to the rafters. 20 years later, two documentaries were made about their exploits....

NBC Has Awarded Justin Bieber U.S. Citizenship
NBC's been on the social networking kick these Olympics, and the Peacock Network has taken great pride in illustrating tweets of the rich, famous, and otherwise. They stumbled a bit yesterday, though, as the very Canadian black metal rocker Justin Bieber found himself identified as an American in N...

Joe West Gets Clobbered Upside The Head, Starts Bleeding, Does Not Break Into Song
It was a tough night behind the dish for Joe West, who got knocked hard in the ol' noodle by the follow-through of Carlos Lee's swing. The game was delayed for a few minutes while West was attended to by the Braves' medical staff. Sadly, as far as we know, he did not pass the time by humming a few...

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 ...