us Page 760 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Reporter Alan Schwarz Changed The NFL; He's Here To Talk Concussions
We're joined now by New York Times enterprise reporter Alan Schwarz. Best known for his groundbreaking work on football's concussion crisis, he also wrote a terrific history of the role of statistics in baseball, and is a regular recipient of warm holiday greetings from Roger Goodell. Have questions...

Insane College Football Drive: 24 Plays, 90 Yards, Zero Points
So if you didn't catch Saturday's Colorado School of Mines-Western New Mexico game—I DVR'd it*—you missed out on one of the longest, strangest, and ultimately fruitless possessions in college football history....

There's almost no way the USMNT can earn a top seed at the World Cup: The top eight seeds for Brazil will be decided by this month's FIFA rankings, where the U.S. currently sit 13th. Even if they win both matches this week, moving into the top seven (host Brazil are automatically in) would require s...

Hip Hop Pioneers: Two Old White Guys
My man Steinski, and his partner, Double Dee....


Got news tips? Send 'em to [email protected]. Want to reach an individual editor or writer? Go here. And don't forget to like us on Facebook....

Sir Bam Bam
There are 23 large iron lamps affixed to the ceiling. The tints of neon light they throw down into the indoor batting cage, a concrete room tucked deep into the guts of Yankee Stadium, vary according to when they were last smashed out by errant balls and replaced. Under these lights, largely out of ...


The Olympic Torch Keeps Going Out
The Olympic torch relay began in Moscow two days ago, and the flame has already been extinguished four times. It's a slight embarrassment for the host nation, but a fairly large one for the factory that made the torches, and also happens to make ballistic missiles....

The Champ And The Chump: The Meaning Of Liston-Clay I
Originally published on March 7, 1964, in The New Republic. Reprinted here with the permission of the author's family....

Harry Potter's Fantasy Football Team Is Named "Barkevious Mingo's Mum"
The New York Times Magazine cover story this weekend was about Daniel Radcliffe, better known simply as the boy who played Harry Potter. It's an interesting read if you like learning about celebrities who seem pretty grounded and only just a little bit tortured by fame. You learn that Radcliffe is h...

Impostors Posing As USC Reps Reach Out To Potential Football Coaches
So you know those reports that say USC has reached out to Tony Dungy and (possibly) Jack Del Rio to replace Lane Kiffin? Yeah, well, those overtures never happened. Oh, someone claiming to be from USC did call Dungy and a member of the Denver Broncos coaching staff. Whoever it was just wasn't actual...

Win Or Lose, Carlos Beltran Is The King
Carlos Beltran hit the 16th postseason home run of his career yesterday, passing Babe Ruth on the career postseason home run list. If you've watched playoff baseball over the last decade you know all about Beltran's surreal ability to come up big in October, but there probably aren't that many casua...

Clumsy Rugby League Child Faceplants
Consider this the coda to our extensive NRL Grand Final coverage. As Sydney take the stage for the trophy presentation, a kid (one of the players'?) attempted to join them. He didn't make it. Now he falls forever, trapped in a gif....

You Can't Neutralize Stupid: Why Dusty Baker Might Not Get Another Job
Originally published on Baseball Prospectus....

The Night Johnny Carson Found Out His Wife Was Banging Frank Gifford
Tucked inside the Hunger Games promotional pamphlet that was last week's issue of Entertainment Weekly was a rather amazing book excerpt from Henry Bushkin, lawyer to the late Johnny Carson. In the excerpt (not yet online), Bushkin describes accompanying Carson on a late night break-in of his seco...

The Texans' Worst Defender Is Matt Schaub
The Houston Texans' defense has been very good this year. The unit ranks tops in the league in passing yards allowed per game, total yards allowed per game, and is ranked as the fifth-best defense in the league by Football Outsiders' DVOA statistic. These marks are made all the more impressive by th...

Zach Bogosian Barfed Up An Easy Goal
Corey Perry's game-winner for the Ducks, coming with 5:31 left, goes in the books as unassisted. Zach Bogosian knows he did his part....

Matt Schaub Is A Broken, Morose Man: Your 49ers-Texans Roundup
49ers 34, Texans 3: As you can probably tell from the final score, San Francisco controlled this game. Matt Schaub threw a pick-six within the first two minutes of the game, his fourth in four straight games; he was not happy. ...