ti Page 1534 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Ray Lewis Is A Festivus Miracle
Going back to Brian Billick's days in Baltimore, the Ravens have refused to say the word "playoffs." Instead, the team adopted a code word to be used by the entire organization when describing post-season play (and selling merch): Festivus....

Who Wants To Sex J.J. Watt? Bengals-Texans, In Three Gifs
So, 23 years now, and a guaranteed extra 365 days (at least) on that 8,400 day playoff winless streak for the Bengals. Yikes! They sure do suck. Matt Schaub played just OK but still completed 29/38 passes, Arian Foster ran for 140 yards, and J.J. Watt continued to be a sort of revolutionarily good ...

<em>Newsday</em>, Like Twitter Users, Simply Cannot Tell Brian Kelly And Chip Kelly Apart
Two college football coaches, both named Kelly. Chip has just completed a marvelous season marred only by the fact that his Oregon Ducks did not get to compete for a national championship and stand to finish third or perhaps second in the final polls. Brian has one of the two teams playing for the n...

Your NFL Wildcard Open Thread
Cincinnati at Houston (NBC), 4:30 p.m.: The Texans may have the superior record but they backed into the playoffs, losing three of their last four, while the Bengals haven't lost a game by more than one point since Week 9. Plus, it'd be more fun if they won, so root for them....

The Bengals Really Could Break Their 8,400-Day Playoff Winless Streak Today
For a summer in college I interned for the sports department of the Columbus Dispatch, which sent me for a few days to cover Cincinnati Bengals training camp. The 1990s had just come to a close—a dismal era even by the Bengals' standards—and the beat writers killed time during practice by stumping o...

Jose Canseco Will Not Be The Next Mayor Of Toronto, Despite Promises To "Work Out The Citizen Thing"
Insane and hilariously clumsy Toronto mayor Rob Ford is fighting for political life after a judge ruled that Ford had violated conflict-of-interest laws by voting during a council debate concerning his obligation to reimburse lobbyists that had donated $3,150 to his charitable football foundation. I...

Watch The World Champion USA Junior Hockey Team Sing The Loudest And Most Off-Key Rendition Of The National Anthem Ever
We won! Though we were widely considered underdogs to the Russian and Canadian teams, the USA squad made it to the finals of the World Junior Championships in Russia and triumphed over Sweden, 3-1, to take the gold medal. Not only was it hockey—hockey still exists—it was a great American triumph, ...

Exclusive: Rick Fox Is Also Staying At Rex Ryan's Resort In The Bahamas
We've fought a nice little game of old-timey tabloid one-upsmanship with the New York Daily News this week. The NYDN broke the story on Wednesday that Rex Ryan had escaped from New York on a personal vacation. We countered with news of his whereabouts. The Daily News, for its part, dispatched a repo...

Asante Samuel's Mother Died, And The <em>Atlanta Journal-Constitution</em> Used An Inappropriate Photo
Asante Samuel joined the Falcons, in part, so he could be nearer to his ailing mother. (Here's a good piece on the bond between the two.) Christine Samuel died on Tuesday, and with the Falcons on a bye, Asante has been away from the team all week....

2012 Deadspin Hall Of Fame Nominee: Lynn Hoppes
His body of work as ESPN's senior Jonas Brothers correspondent had been impressive long before last year. But 2012 was when Lynn Hoppes really set himself apart. He told us how great the party was. He hired Sarah Phillips. He told us about Michael Bolton's hole-in-one. He copied shit verbatim from W...

Women's College Hockey Team Shut Down For Hazing
Dalhousie University, in Halifax, wasn't having a great season. The Tigers were 2-8-2, good for last in their division. They're probably not going to climb out of that hole since the team forfeited all their remaining games, after all but a handful of players have been suspended for their roles in f...

Ask Melinda Henneberger About Notre Dame's Sexual Assault Problem
Melinda Henneberger is a political writer for the Washington Post who runs the paper's She the People blog. She's also a Notre Dame alumna who has done extensive reporting for the National Catholic Reporter about the school's shameful treatment of women who have made sexual assault allegations again...


Only Two One-Point Safeties Have Ever Happened In NCAA Football History, And Brad Nessler Called Them Both
Tonight's mostly-boring Fiesta Bowl has featured the expected Oregon offensive firepower, but it's how they scored a single point that will make this a game to remember. After a third-quarter touchdown put the Ducks up 31-10 on Kansas State, the Wildcats blocked Oregon's extra point try, recovered...
![Colorado Hits Buzzer-Beater To Upset Third-Ranked Arizona, Referees Wave It Off For No Reason [UPDATE]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/Image_Not_Found_1x_qjofp8.png)
Colorado Hits Buzzer-Beater To Upset Third-Ranked Arizona, Referees Wave It Off For No Reason [UPDATE]
Colorado guard Sabatino Chen—who came into tonight's game averaging just 4.1 points per game—hit a buzzer-beater in Tucson to down third-ranked Arizona, only to find referees waving it off after a video review that appeared to back up the original call on the court of a good shot....

Report: Nation's Top High School Football Coach May Step Down
If you're looking for a legendary coach amid today's high school football landscape, it's hard to top Bob Ladouceur's credentials. But after 399 wins over 34 seasons at De La Salle High School in the Bay Area and throughout a tenure that has produced more than a few NFL players (read: Amani Toomer a...

Phil Jackson Has Put A Ginormous Diamond Engagement Ring On Jeanie Buss' Hand
Holy freakin' diamonds, Batman. Phil Jackson, who obviously knows a thing or 11 about acquiring rings, should never, ever be questioned in this department. Still, when it comes to the Lakers and larger-than-your-head rings, it's awful tough to beat the champ....

Ray Lewis Is A Complicated Problem Who Played Football With Simple Greatness
It’s easy enough to be cynical about Ray Lewis, after the 17-year veteran linebacker announced his impending retirement yesterday. In the foreground, there’s the recent image of Lewis, now that the years have reduced his ability to contribute on-field: the ridiculous, spasmodic dancing; the incessa...

Still America's Team: An Analysis Of Twitter Behavior Before Cowboys-Redskins
It was a good year to be a Redskins fan. Seven straight wins to close out the season. First playoff appearance since 2007. First NFC East title since 1999. A rookie running back who set the team record for rushing yards. And, of course, Black Jesus....

Bonnie Bernstein Explains Ray Lewis's Crimes With An Unfortunate Parable About Middle Schoolers Smoking
Somewhere along the line, we as a nation apparently chose to forgive/forget the fact that Ray Lewis was involved in a murder at a Super Bowl party in 2000. That Lewis and his friends got into a fight with another group, and two people in that other group were stabbed to death. That Lewis lied to cop...