vide Page 135 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

"Men Throwing Rocks With The Other Hand" Is Just Super
This video: sort of old. But we saw it on Kottke, and couldn't resist sharing it. What happens when you get a bunch of guys to chuck rocks with their weak arms? Hypnotic. Cathartic. Non-dominant....

Now Kobe Bryant Has Trouble With His Camera, Has To Be Told To Remove The Lens Cap
Like we said yesterday when we noticed a professional photographer covering the Olympics had the same sort of trouble, this kind of oopsie can happen to anyone. Including Kobe Bryant, who was caught by Bravo's cameras asking some guy for help at the Roger Federer match, only to be told right away ...

Ethiopian Steeplechaser Slams Into Race's Final Hurdle, Leaves Track In A Wheelchair
Here's pretty much the definition of "agony of defeat": Ethiopian steeplechase competitor Birhan Getahun, already far at the back of his qualifying heat at the end of the race, fails to navigate the final hurdle and slams down to the track. (Steeplechase hurdles, unlike those used in the hurdle ev...

Alex Morgan's Knee Obliterated A Kiwi Goalie's Face
It was a horrifying moment in the second half of today's women's soccer match between the U.S. and New Zealand, as American star Alex Morgan drove a knee directly into New Zealand keeper Jenny Bindon's face. It was the second blow to the head for Bindon in the match, and yet she somehow managed to...

In Danger Of Falling Behind, British Cyclist Intentionally Crashes To Get A Restart
The British men won gold in the team sprint, in a world record time. But it almost didn't happen. The Brits could have been eliminated in the first round, if not for a move just as underhanded as anything pulled by those badminton women kicked out of the Olympics....

Errol Morris's Short Film On Sports-Themed Funerals Is Morbidly Cool
One of the best things ESPN has ever commissioned is the fantastic 30 For 30 series, which is now available on Netflix Instant. There are more on the way this fall, but here's a short film done in that vein—directed by Oscar-winner Errol Morris (Mr. Death, The Fog of War, Standard Operating Proced...

This Is The Coolest Volleyball Play We've Ever Seen
We heard about this when it happened two days ago, but it took awhile to track down the video. When we finally saw it, it was a shock. Who knew you were allowed to kick the ball in volleyball?...

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...

NBC Aired A Promo Featuring A Monkey Doing Gymnastics At The Most Inopportune Time
After Bob Costas wound down tonight's Olympics coverage by editorializing about Gabby Douglas's all-around gold medal ending stereotypes and tearing down racial barriers, NBC followed it up immediately with this promo for Animal Practice featuring a monkey doing gymnastics. That's... unfortunate....

This Was The Only Positive For Nigeria In The Basketball Game They Just Lost To The U.S. By 83 Points
The final was 156-73, and as we watched the end of it here in the Deadspin office, we kept marveling at how Andre Iguodala, James Harden, Deron Williams, and Kevin Love kept chucking three-pointers in the final minutes. It was as if the U.S. would lose if it didn't win by 70....

These Fans At Last Night's Cardinals-Rockies Game Might Still Be Chasing This Foul Ball
This is what happens to a foul ball that gets hit into the stands at Coors Field in the late innings when no one's there to grab it. That announced crowd of 29,547 really hung around till the end to see if the Rockies could battle back after falling behind in the seventh. As a result, the ball ......

The Russia/Brazil Basketball Game Ended On This Wild Three-Pointer
The Russians led by 11 at one point in the third quarter, but they blew it. Enter Alexey Shved and Vitaliy Fridzon. Trailing 72-67 with 26 seconds to go, Shved scored five straight points to tie the game. But Brazil went back in front when Marcelinho Huertas scored on a layup with 6.1 seconds left...

Visual Confirmation That Mario Seneca Is The Most Sensitive Umpire In Baseball History
Last night, we told you about minor league umpire Mario Seneca, who ejected the music guy/college intern working for the high-A Daytona Cubs for playing "Three Blind Mice" after a questionable call. Today, video of the incident has surfaced (thanks to the Daytona Cubs themselves) and it confirms o...

Olympic Photographer Forgets To Remove Lens Cap, Can't Figure Out Why He Can't Take Pictures
A moment of levity yesterday, as one sad-sack photographer struggled to work out why he couldn't get some good closeups of eventual all-around gold medalist Kohei Uchimura. After 10 solid seconds of checking his camera, a revelation: the lens cap was still on. We've all been there, guy....

NBC Says They Cut Memorial Tribute To Save Time, But They Replaced It With Something Two Minutes Longer
The bullshit continues to flow from NBC's mouths as they attempt to justify slicing an entire portion of Friday's London Olympics opening ceremony from their tape-delayed broadcast. That portion included a tribute featuring two dead U.S. servicemen and a requiem for victims of the 7/7 terror attack...

MLS Defender's First Career Score Was This Miraculous, Game-Tying Goal In Injury Time
If anyone ever openly doubts the idea that it's better to be lucky than good, show them this video of Sporting KC defender Kyle Miller, who used his head in a most fortuitous manner Wednesday night, scoring the injury-time equalizer in a friendly against Stoke City of the Premier League. Even bett...

Disgraced Badminton Player Announces Retirement, Blames Poor Performance On Injuries
One of the eight badminton players who was disqualified from the Olympics for match-fixing is fighting back against those allegations, while also announcing her retirement from professional competition. ...

Gregor Blanco's Diving Catches Are Becoming Even More Impressive
This is getting to be old hat for San Francisco Giants fans. First, Blanco became a folk hero in SF for saving Matt Cain's perfecto with an incredible late-game diving catch. Blanco put forth a more impressive version of that feat Wednesday night, with less inherent drama but way more bodily extens...

NBC's Local Affiliates Don't Understand How Spoilers Work, Either
On Monday NBC inadvertently spoiled the result of a race they had yet to broadcast by showing its winner celebrating in a promo for the following morning's Today show. It seems its local affiliates aren't quite getting how to play the tape-delay game, either. Here's a clip from last night's 6 p.m....

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...