Archives for November 2012

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 2 comments

November 29, 2012

Josh Harding diagnosed with muscular dystrophy: Minnesota Wild goaltender Josh Harding said he will continue to play as an inspiration to others with the disease.

posted by jjzucal to hockey at 06:08 PM - 5 comments

New Golf Rule Would Ban Anchor Putting: The United States Golf Association and the UK's Royal & Ancient have proposed a new rule to put the kibosh on anchoring putters. Under the rule players can no longer anchor a putter on their body. Fifteen percent of the players on the PGA Tour used an anchored putter this year, 11 percent last and 6 percent from 2006 to 2010, said USGA director Mike Davis. "We believe a player should hold the club away from his body and swing it freely, whether it's a putt, a chip, a pitch, a bunker shot, an iron shot, a recovery shot or a shot played from the teeing ground," Davis said. "We think this is integral to the traditions of the game."

posted by rcade to golf at 05:50 PM - 7 comments

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 22 comments

November 28, 2012

HoboJacket: Some MIT guys have a... great? idea: buy clothes from schools you hate and give them to the homeless. They get warm, and you get the chance of seeing someone begging for spare change in a Bulldogs jacket. Is this a brilliantly terrible idea or a terribly brilliant one?

posted by Etrigan to culture at 11:08 PM - 6 comments

Eagles Cut, Jaguars Claim Jason Babin: The Philadelphia Eagles cut defensive end Jason Babin and he was claimed by the Jacksonville Jaguars, who at 2-9 were second in line to grab a player off waivers. Babin has 5.5 sacks this season and 30.5 the preceding two years. Babin, 32, signed a five-year, $27.725 million contract with Philadelphia before the 2011 season. The Jaguars are on the hook for $1.69 million this year, but the $16.225 million he's owed from 2013-15 would likely be renegotiated. The Jags are last in the NFL this year with 13 team sacks.

posted by rcade to football at 08:40 PM - 7 comments

Champions League may have 64 clubs & Europa League scrapped: Seven English and five Scottish clubs would make the expanded field if M. Platini's latest, er, brainstorm becomes fact. At least it would end all those Thursday nights away requiring dark o'clock flights home from the Continent.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 11:48 AM - 6 comments

November 27, 2012

Marvin Miller, 1917-2012: Miller, the most important figure in the MLBPA's history, died today at 95. He helped Curt Flood challenge the reserve clause, which led to free agency and the wonderfully peaceful sports labor situation we have today.

posted by yerfatma to culture at 01:02 PM - 5 comments

Ill Teen's Pep Talk Inspires New York Giants: A 15-year-old who has been fighting Burkitt's lymphoma gave a pep talk to the New York Giants that the team is calling the inspiration to its big victory Sunday night over the Green Bay Packers. Adam Merchant, a dedicated fan of the Giants from Barre, Vt., was asked by Coach Tom Coughlin to say a few final words to the team after a week of practice. Adam gave a talk that ended with this message: "Play like the world champions you are." New York won 38-10. "You look at this kid, who's going through so much in his life, and his one wish is come and be with us?" said wide receiver Victor Cruz. "It was inspiring."

posted by rcade to football at 08:11 AM - 8 comments

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 28 comments

November 26, 2012

Jets Fan Fireman Ed Hanging Up His Helmet: "Fireman" Ed Anzalone, the well-known New York Jets fan who leads the J-E-T-S chant from the stands, is giving up the unofficial job because of abusive fans. "Confrontations with other Jets fans have become more common, even though most Jets fans are fantastic," he writes for Metro. "This is an indication of how society has lost and is continuing to lose respect for one another. ... Although I can 'hold my own,' I do not want to lose my temper and make a stupid mistake. I have a responsibility to the families and kids that enjoy the game and Fireman Ed." The former New York City firefighter has been rooting for the team since 1975.

posted by rcade to football at 03:11 PM - 54 comments

Just like they drew it up: After five years in the wilderness, the Toronto Argonauts traded for a franchise quarterback for a shot at the championship at home. An up-and-down 9-9 season threatened to upset that plan, but they put all the pieces together at the right time, and dominated the Calgary Stampeders 33-25 to win the Grey Cup.

posted by DrJohnEvans to football at 09:44 AM - 2 comments

Chizik, Spaziani, Hope, O'Brien, Embree Fired: Five college coaches were fired Sunday, most notably Gene Chizik at Auburn. Two years ago, Chizik was hoisting a BCS championship trophy. Auburn lost every SEC game this year and finished 3-9. He was 33-19 overall and 15-17 in conference. Joining him in on the unemployment line are Boston College's Frank Spaziani (2-10 this year, 22-29 overall), Purdue's Danny Hope (6-6, 22-27), North Carolina State's Tom O'Brien (7-5, 40-35) and Colorado's Jon Embree (1-11, 4-21).

posted by rcade to football at 09:07 AM - 8 comments

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 19 comments

November 25, 2012

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 16 comments

November 24, 2012

Grizzlies Off to Hottest Start Ever: With Friday night's 106-98 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, the Memphis Grizzlies climbed to 9-2 and reclaimed the NBA's best record. This is the best start ever for the 18-year-old franchise, which reached the Western Conference playoffs the past two seasons. A TrueHoop post from earlier this month describes how they're winning.

posted by rcade to basketball at 01:07 PM - 1 comment

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 1 comment

November 23, 2012

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 13 comments

November 22, 2012

Cole: Football Should Eliminate the PAT: Yahoo's Jason Cole believes the NFL should get rid of the point-after-touchdown kick: "Since the start of the 2009 season, all but 22 of 3,186 extra points have been converted, according to Elias Sports Bureau. That's 99.3 percent. Furthermore, of the 22 conversion kicks that have been missed, only three (all of them in the 2010 season) had any impact on the final outcome of the game. That's three out of 672 games."

posted by rcade to football at 01:58 PM - 23 comments

CFL Pick 'Em, Grey Cup Edition: It's Grey Cup fever in Toronto: Stampeders fans are trying to smuggle horses into hotels, the convention centre is filled with vomiting Manitobans, and Rob Ford is falling down. Oh, and the Argos get home field advantage. Join the party and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 01:22 PM - 14 comments

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 29 comments

November 21, 2012

'Macho' Camacho Shot in Face: Hector "Macho" Camacho was clinging to life Wednesday after being shot in the face a night earlier in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, while in a car. "The situation with Macho is very delicate," said Dr. Ernesto Torres at the Centro Medico trauma center in San Juan. "The prognosis is not good." Camacho was parked outside a liquor store with a friend when he was shot. Cocaine was found on the friend, who was killed. Two assailants fled in an SUV.

posted by rcade to boxing at 02:32 PM - 1 comment

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 12 comments

College Player Scores 138 Points In A Game: Jack Taylor of Grinnell College (D-III) scored 138 points in a 179-104 win over Faith Baptist. He was 27-of-71 in three-pointers and 52-of-108 from the field overall, plus 7-for-10 on free throws.

posted by TheQatarian to basketball at 12:13 AM - 33 comments

November 20, 2012

Could the Yankees Be Sold?: Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is acquiring 49 percent of the YES Network, the broadcaster of the New York Yankees. Most of the stake is coming from Goldman Sachs, which owned 40 percent, but some may come from the Yankees' own 34 percent share. Murdoch reportedly will have the right to increase his share to 80 percent within five years. "Can you imagine The Boss allowing someone else, anyone else, to have control over an entity that he valued as much as the Yankees?" asks Wallace Matthews. "[H]istory shows that once [Murdoch] gets his foot in the door, he winds up owning the place. ... And from there, how much of a stretch is it to imagine Murdoch, or his family, seeking to own the team as well?"

posted by rcade to baseball at 02:59 PM - 9 comments

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 6 comments

November 19, 2012

Maryland Moving to Big Ten: Maryland's board of trustees have voted to leave the Atlantic Coast Conference and join the Big Ten, a move that's likely to be followed tomorrow by Rutgers out of the Big East and give the conference 14 members. The top five college conferences have added 10 members in recent years, causing a domino effect of moves all the way down to the Sun Belt. "Tradition has ceased to exist in college athletics, so it shouldn�t even be part of the conversation," writes John Feinstein. "There will be a lot more money waiting for Maryland�s budget-strapped athletic department in the Big Ten."

posted by rcade to football at 11:45 AM - 24 comments

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 11 comments

November 18, 2012

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 10 comments

November 17, 2012

Formula 1 Racing Returns to the U.S.: Formula 1 racing returns to the U.S. for the first time in five years Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas race outside Austin, Texas. The $400 million track, the first built expressly for F1 in the U.S., has a 10-year contract. "The track seems spectacular," said Fernando Alonso, who trails Sebastian Vettel by 10 points going into the season's penultimate event. More than 100,000 fans are expected to attend.

posted by rcade to auto racing at 04:24 PM - 5 comments

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 30 comments

November 16, 2012

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 9 comments

November 15, 2012

The Statistical Case Against Miguel Cabrera for MVP: With no more election to forecast, FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver turns his attention back to baseball, suggesting that the numbers favor Mike Trout over Miguel Cabrera as the AL MVP. "Perhaps 10 or 20 years ago, when evaluations of base running, defense and clutch hitting were murkier, stat geeks would have argued that Cabrera deserved the M.V.P. on the basis of the hard evidence," Silver writes. "Now that some of the 'intangibles' have become measurable, we know that Trout did more of the little things to help his team win.

posted by rcade to baseball at 05:55 PM - 30 comments

CFL Pick 'Em, Division Finals Edition: It's straight shootin' as the home team wins out in the semis. Time to get domed up and take on the favourites. Take off your jacket and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 11:14 AM - 15 comments

R.A. Dickey First Knuckleballer to Win Cy Young: New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey, who went 20-6 with a 2.73 ERA, has become the first knuckleballer to win the Cy Young. The 37-year-old is a remarkable success story. In 1996, Dickey was a hard-throwing first-round draft pick of the Texas Rangers about to sign a $800,000 contract when a team doctor saw Dickey on a Baseball America cover and thought he was holding his arm awkwardly. A physical revealed that his arm lacked a ulnar collateral ligament (UCL). He signed for one-tenth that amount and was expected to have a short career due to arm trouble. "Imagine winning the lottery and then losing the ticket," Dickey said. He stuck around by throwing a forkball he called "the thing" that eventually morphed into a knuckler. "To surrender to being a new person and a new pitcher is tough. You kind of feel like the leper of the colony, a circus act."

posted by rcade to baseball at 09:24 AM - 5 comments

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 4 comments

November 14, 2012

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 15 comments

November 13, 2012

The Miami Marlins fire-sale continues.: In a multi-player deal, the Toronto Blue Jays have landed three former All-Stars from the flailing fish - Pitchers Mark Buerhle and Josh Johnson and shortstop Jose Reyes. In exchange, the Marlins receive pitcher Henderson Alvarez and shortstops Yunel Escobar and Adeiny Hechavarria.

posted by Ufez Jones to baseball at 07:33 PM - 27 comments

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 21 comments

November 12, 2012

SpoFi Holiday Giving Project: One World Futbal: Inspired by images of Darfur child refugees playing soccer using trash instead of a ball surrounded by barbed wire, amid hovels made of plastic, cardboard and sticks Tim Jahnigen developed a ball made of a closed-cell foam that makes it durable, doesn't need a pump to inflate and has a "cap" that allows the ball to re-inflate, even if punctured. Since so many of us are soccer fans I thought we might band together to buy a few balls for the project as a group holiday project. The cost is $25 per ball and I'd like to try to raise $500.

posted by billsaysthis to culture at 02:13 PM - 22 comments

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 4 comments

November 11, 2012

Mike Leach Faces Player Mutiny at Washington State: "It is with a heavy heart that I announce my decision to forgo playing football for Washington State University. I realize the school is saying that I am suspended for violating team policies and may return next week, but this is a lie. This is an attempt by the athletic department to cover up what is really happening in that locker room." -- Washington State wide receiver Marquess Wilson, suspended Wednesday for what coach Mike Leach claimed was a violation of a team rule

posted by rcade to football at 11:51 AM - 15 comments

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 17 comments

November 10, 2012

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 28 comments

November 09, 2012

Lakers Fire Mike Brown: Dream Team, Nightmare, etc.

posted by yerfatma to basketball at 01:37 PM - 18 comments

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 10 comments

November 08, 2012

Golfer Disqualifies Himself 6 Days After Tourney: After advancing out of the first stage of the Q School, Blayne Barber realized he'd penalized himself one stroke instead of two for brushing a leaf in a sand trap while making a shot. He turned himself in for signing an incorrect scorecard, causing his disqualification and letting six players tied in 19th place advance to the next round because they moved up to the cutoff at 18th. "I knew I needed to do the right thing. I knew it was going to be disqualification," Barber said. "Doing the right thing and doing what I know is right in my heart and in my conscience is more important than short-term success."

posted by rcade to golf at 08:57 PM - 4 comments

NCAA Calls Bumper-Sticker Buyer a Booster: Two Indiana freshmen will be suspended for nine games this season because the wife of Mark Adams, their former AAU coach and legal guardian, bought $185 in bumper stickers from the school from 1986 to 1992. That makes Adams a booster in the NCAA's eyes and his money spent supporting Peter Jurkin and Hanner Mosquera-Parea an improper expense. The NCAA wrote in a letter to the school, "Despite the minimal nature of Mr. Adams' donations, and the fact that the last donation he made was more than 15 years before he provided expenses to a prospective student-athlete who enrolled at the institution, Mr. Adams must be considered a representative of the institution's athletics interests."

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:36 AM - 15 comments

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 7 comments

November 07, 2012

CFL Pick 'Em, Semi-Final Edition: The large mammals are hibernating, and the small mammals are getting scared off by their shadows. That's right, it's the beginning of the Canadian winter, which means it's time for the CFL Playoffs. Got a chip on your shoulder from the regular season pick 'em? Get your revenge inside. Sad because you missed out on the summer pickings? The winter pickings are full of killer bonus action. (And snow. Lots of snow.) Grab your longjohns and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 07:07 PM - 15 comments

Darvish Won't Play in Baseball Classic: Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish will not play for Japan in the World Baseball Classic next year. "After much deliberation, which has included a lot of consultation with my coaches and trainers, I have decided that I will not play," he said. "This was a very difficult decision for me as it is always a tremendous honor to represent my native country of Japan."

posted by rcade to baseball at 08:14 AM - 10 comments

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 14 comments

November 06, 2012

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 4 comments

November 05, 2012

CFL Pick 'Em, Final Standings: We have a clear-cut champion, but needed some math to figure out the Costanza winner(s).

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 11:18 AM - 5 comments

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 10 comments

November 04, 2012

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 5 comments

November 03, 2012

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 1 comment

November 02, 2012

Could Alabama beat an NFL team?: According to Ye Olde Ball Coach (Steve Spurrier) the Crimson Tide could beat the Jacksonville Jaguars. ESPN's Mike Golic says no way. 1934-1976 theCollege All-Star Football Classic was played between the NFL champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year.

posted by Folkways to football at 04:50 PM - 20 comments

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 8 comments

November 01, 2012

NFL eyeing bigger plans for London?: A year ago West Ham had the inside track to move into the Olympic Stadium after the Games but it's looking less and less likely, with the latest contender being American Football. London mayor Boris Johnson has launched talks with the NFL that could result in 10 games a season being held at the 80,000 seat stadium, which will already host two next season.

posted by billsaysthis to football at 11:53 AM - 22 comments