ty Page 694 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

What Does Buck Showalter Think Is The Hardest Job In Baseball?
Every morning, the fine folks at Sports Radio Interviews sift through the a.m. drive-time chatter to bring you the best interviews with coaches, players, and personalities across the sports landscape. Today: It's not the O's job....

Reconstructing The Most Exciting Day In The History Of Soccer (And Maybe Sports, Period)
The final day of the 2011 MLB regular season enchanted us with its insanity; its events became a video game montage and inspired its own tag here on Deadspin. That day, however, only determined which teams would gain entry to the playoffs. By comparison, Sunday's final day of the English Premier ...

Better Know An Umpire: Bill Miller
Welcome to Better Know An Umpire, an effort to educate ourselves on the human elements who have ultimate decision-making power over some 2,500 Major League Baseball games a year. (All cumulative statistics are through the 2011 season, unless otherwise stated.)...

Sean Payton Is The Prophet Elijah
New Orleans is getting used to life without Sean Payton, who has begun serving a one-year suspension for his role in the bounty scandal. There was always the possibility that the Saints would handle the situation quietly and without hyperbole or fanfare, not wanting to draw attention to the actions ...

Laurie Fine To File Libel Suit Against ESPN
That "major announcement" that Laurie Fine promised for us later this morning, at a castle for some reason? It's exactly what you thought. Fine is bringing a libel lawsuit against ESPN, reporter Mark Schwarz, and producer Arty Berko for their reporting of child sexual abuse allegations against forme...

The Los Angeles Galaxy Was Extremely Happy To Visit The White House
There's a lot going in this photo, taken today during the LA Galaxy's obligatory champion's visit to the White House. (Well, not everyone finds it necessary.) As usual, Obama looks happier than anyone else, although a beaming Bruce Arena seems up to the challenge....

Former NBA Coach Plagiarizes Spurs Message Board For ESPN.com Column
John Carroll was the head coach at Duquesne for six years, and an assistant coach in the NBA for nine—including a 36-game stint as interim head coach for the Celtics in 2004. He's now sharing his expertise for Scouts Inc., which was purchased by ESPN in 2006. Since then Carroll's scouting reports ha...

Stephen Strasburg Got Icy Hot On His Balls Today
The Stras got knocked around in just four innings of work against San Diego today, and maybe you'd be tempted to write it off as a fluke. Sometimes a guy just has a bad day. But this is Stephen Strasburg, and nothing can make him mortal. Nothing besides, perhaps, burning testicles....

Carlos Tevez Happily Wields "R.I.P. Fergie" Sign At Man City's Parade
After a miracle at Etihad, two goals in stoppage time, gave City its first title since 1968, the team today celebrated with a parade. The trophy was carried through the streets of Manchester on an open-top bus, attended by delirious fans and at least one jubilant forward who does not forgive or forg...

The Capitals Are A Team Without A Coach Or A Plan
Dale Hunter will not return as coach of the Washington Capitals, it was announced just two days after the Caps lost a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference semifinals. It's a shock to just about everyone but the Capitals. As GM George McPhee said, "It wasn't unexpected." ...

David Stern Doesn't Really Give A Shit About Flopping
The short answer is, there's no short answer to flopping. It's nearly impossible to legislate intent, except in the most egregious of cases. Soccer has long failed to address even the glaring dives, and the NHL's embellishment penalties are often more controversial than the plays that don't get whis...

Fergie's Got A Feeling Tonight's Gonna Be A Bad Night
Here's a helpless Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson receiving the news of Man City's miracle to rip the Premiership title from his hands yesterday, something we'll cover in much more detail later as befitting the insanity that was the final day of action in England's top division....

Here's The Joey Barton Meltdown From Today's Stunning Manchester City Comeback
Before we got to the dramatic finish, QPR's Joey Barton provided some initial fireworks after getting sent off for an "off-the-ball incident involving Carlos Tevez."...

Manchester City Scores Two Goals In Added Time Against QPR To Snag EPL Title From Manchester United
On one of the more dramatic endings you'll likely see, Manchester City ripped the EPL Title from the hands of Manchester United after scoring two goals, the last of which you see here by Sergio Aguero, in stoppage time for its first EPL title in 44 years....

Josh Hamilton Is Hitting Baseballs Like Crazy
Josh Hamilton currently has 17 home runs. That is five better than his nearest competition, Matt Kemp and Carlos Beltran. Obviously Hamilton's had a pretty good week. After hitting four home runs in one game, Hamilton had two more last night against the Angels—adding another layer to the fun game T...

Don Nelson Finally Will Graduate From College This Weekend
You know what they say. All these dumb NBA players go to college to play basketball, not to learn; it's a farce. No one gets a degree. Things used to be much better in the 1960s before John Calipari and all his fancy sneakers came to town....

Christian School Forfeits State Championship Game Rather Than Compete Against Player Who Is Black*
An Arizona high school baseball team forfeited the state championship game Wednesday rather than face an opponent whose squad featured a black* player....

The USFL Is Making A Comeback, Will Be Nothing Like The Old USFL
The United States Football League is apparently being reborn next March, with teams in eight cities playing a 14-game schedule through June 2013. Not everything is cemented yet, including which cities will actually get franchises, but the effort has attracted some noteworthy investors and advisors, ...

Thunder PA Announcer Arrested And Fired After He Allegedly Forced Kids To Watch Him Masturbate
Jim Miller, the public address announcer for Oklahoma City Thunder games, was arrested yesterday and charged with three felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child under 16. The Thunder announced shortly thereafter that they had fired Miller....

What Josh Beckett Does On His Off Days Stays Between Josh Beckett And His Off Days
After apparently solving things a few weeks ago, the Red Sox have (thankfully) returned to aggressive catastrophe status. They're 2-8 in their last 10 games, including an 8-3 thrashing yesterday at the hands of the Cleveland Indians. Josh Beckett gave up seven runs in a little more than two innings,...