Brooklyn Nets Unveil New Logo: After leaving New Jersey behind and getting a "good riddance" from the jilted governor, the Brooklyn Nets have unveiled a simple black-and-white color scheme and new logos designed by music mogul and minority Nets owner Jay Z. He previewed the logo at a recent concert.

posted by rcade to basketball at 02:12 PM - 11 comments

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

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

AP: 'So Far Pujols is a $240 Million Mistake': How bad has Albert Pujols' start been for the AL West last-place Los Angeles Angels? "With the game on the line with two outs in the eighth inning Friday night and a runner on second base, the Indians pitched to Pujols instead of giving him the open base," writes AP's Tim Dahlberg. Pujols popped out and is hitting .226 with no homers and four RBI.

posted by rcade to baseball at 05:22 PM - 25 comments

Colts Make Quarterback Chandler Harnish Mister Irrelevant: This year's Mister Irrelevant, the celebrated final pick of the NFL Draft, is seventh round Indianapolis Colts draft pick Chandler Harnish, the quarterback for Northern Illinois. In recent years, the last pick has failed to live down to the honor. Four of the last five are still on NFL rosters and Kansas City Chiefs kicker Ryan Succop, the 2009 pick, signed a $14 million, five-year contract in December.

posted by rcade to football at 05:00 PM - 4 comments

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 3 comments

Derrick Rose tears left ACL in game one of the playoffs: is out for the remainder of the season.

posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 06:45 PM - 8 comments

Yankees Great Moose Skowron Dies: Former New York Yankees great Moose Skowron, who won four World Series titles with that team and another with the Los Angeles Dodgers, died Friday of congestive heart failure at a hospital in Arlington Heights, Ill. He was 81. Skowron was one of only two players to hit three home runs in World Series Game 7s. "Moose will always be remembered as being one of the key members of the Yankees' dynasties in the 50's and early 60's," Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said.

posted by rcade to baseball at 03:53 PM - 2 comments

National Anthem on an Electric Violin Made Out of a Bat: If you were watching the Orioles-A's game from Camden Yards tonight, you saw a guy playing the National Anthem on an electric violin made out of a baseball bat. This is how that looks and sounds. This is the guy talking about and showing off his Louisville Slugger violin. And this is the Washington Post profile of Glenn Donnellan, a violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra and the maker and player of the world's only electric baseball bat violin (via MetaFilter).

posted by rcade to baseball at 08:36 AM - 2 comments

SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle

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

Tigers Fans Owe Inge Better: Yes, it's a Yahoo! article, and yes, it was possibly written by Brandon Inge's little brother, but still.

posted by The_Black_Hand to baseball at 01:18 AM - 12 comments

Delmon Young Accused of Anti-Semitic Brawl: Detroit Tigers left fielder Delmon Young was arrested Friday on a misdemeanor hate crime charge for allegedly yelling "fucking Jews!" at a yarmulke-wearing panhandler outside a New York City hotel, sparking a physical altercation with several other men at around 2 a.m. Friday. Young was "highly intoxicated," sources told the New York Post.

posted by rcade to baseball at 03:47 PM - 4 comments

An Anatomy of Three Hits: Hall of Fame goalie Ken Dryden pens an essay at Grantland about hits and their consequences in the NHL of today and yesteryear.

posted by holden to hockey at 02:30 PM - 1 comment

Pep Guardiola to end reign as Barcelona coach in summer: Guardiola is the most successful coach in Barca history, with three league titles, two Champions Leagues and a Copa del Rey among his haul--plus the chance to win a fourth in a few weeks--and will be succeeded by current assistant Tito Vilanova. "The reason is simple: four years is enough," said Guardiola.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 11:52 AM - 4 comments

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle

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

2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs Pickem, Round 2: Canadian? Go home, eh. Original Six with a Cup in the last decade? GTFO. Never won a Cup? Welcome to the Western Semifinals. So, c'mon and get your picks in for round 2, and feel free to trash-talk the results of round 1...

posted by MeatSaber to fantasy at 12:37 AM - 17 comments

Luck, Griffin, Insert Name Here: The 2012 NFL Draft begins at 8 p.m. Eastern, where the Indianapolis Colts will take Andrew Luck, the Washington Redskins will pick Robert Griffin III and the Cleveland Browns will pick third, having reached a trade to move up with the Minnesota Vikings.

posted by rcade to football at 07:45 PM - 15 comments

Power (Dis)Play? Teams In Black Draw More Penalties : Hockey teams wearing darker-colored jerseys are more likely to be penalized for aggressive fouls than teams wearing white jerseys, according to new research. Teams wearing black jerseys in particular get penalized the most, according to an analysis that may offer a window into the hidden psychological dynamics of the ongoing NHL playoffs.

"Teams that wore black jerseys were penalized more, significantly more, than teams wearing other colored jerseys," said researcher Gregory Webster of the University of Florida, Gainesville.

posted by Wensink to hockey at 04:54 PM - 16 comments

Bayern Munich Earn Champions League Final with Victory over Real Madrid: Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will miss a chance to face his old squad and Bayern Munich's Jupp Heynckes gets revenge on the team that fired him despite winning the Champion's League title in 1998. Bayern Munich goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer, played a major part, saving Real's first two penalties - from Ronaldo and Kaka. Sergio Ramos's missed effort is thought to be somewhere in low orbit. Bayern Munich will probably be favoured as the pre-selected "neutral" ground will in fact be their home stadium. Plus Chelsea will be without many starters due to accumulated yellow cards and the idiocy of their captain, John Terry.

posted by scully to soccer at 12:43 PM - 2 comments

Some Bruins Fans Took the Loss in a Classy Way: Reactions on Twitter after Joel Ward scored the game-winning goal for the Washington Capitals over the Boston Bruins in game 7. NSFW. Not safe for anyone who hoped we're better than this in 2012.

posted by yerfatma to hockey at 11:21 AM - 29 comments

Is the Positionless Player the Future of the NBA?: Paul Flannery on Avery Bradley's ascent.

posted by yerfatma to basketball at 11:17 AM - 3 comments

Per unnamed league sources: Pro Bowl game likely to be stopped: "Many players who will be selected during the league's NFL draft are regarded as future Pro Bowlers but the Pro Bowl game itself likely will be suspended this season and beyond, according to league sources."

posted by apoch to football at 09:52 AM - 13 comments

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

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

It Runs In the Family: Chandler, Jon, and Arthur Jones have come a long way from wrestling in the basement. Soon their family will boast two NFL defensive linemen and a UFC champion fighter.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia to football at 10:39 PM - 0 comments

Falcons Acquire Samuel from Eagles: The Atlanta Falcons have acquired four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel from the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a draft pick. Samuel, 31, has agreed to restructure his contract to a three-year, $18.5 million deal with Atlanta.

posted by rcade to football at 03:50 PM - 2 comments

Panthers President Too Important for Twitter Critic: After a New Jersey Devils fan told him on Twitter he was "making an ass of himself and the organization," Florida Panthers president Michael Yormark said this in response: "You have 70 followers. No one cares what you think." Now Devils fan Lauren Ashley Rufino has 1,900 followers and was given sweet suite tickets to Tuesday's playoff game between the teams.

posted by rcade to hockey at 01:04 PM - 14 comments

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

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

Man-Down Chelsea Buries Barcelona: After captain John Terry was red-carded in the 39th minute, a 10-man Chelsea FC squad fell down 2-nil and then mounted a comeback for the ages to tie FC Barcelona 2-2 and advance on aggregate to the Champions League final. Ramires scored a goal right before the half and Fernando Torres clinched it in extra time.

posted by rcade to soccer at 08:16 PM - 22 comments

Death in the London Marathon: Claire Squires, 30, from Leicestershire, collapsed on the final stretch of the 26.2-mile course on Sunday. She was running to raise money for the Samaritans, for whom her mother has been a volunteer for 24 years, and in memory of her brother who died of an overdose. She hoped to raise a few quid. As of this post, her Justgiving account had raised almost £450,000 from more than 40,000 donations.

posted by JJ to other at 12:30 PM - 1 comment

Quitter Replaces Quitter at Arkansas: Only four and a half months after taking the football head coaching job at Weber State, John L. Smith is leaving to become the interim head coach of Arkansas. The 63-year-old coach is bailing on his alma mater without ever coaching a game to be the one-year replacement for Bobby Petrino, who quit the Atlanta Falcons in 2007 only 13 games into a five-year contract to lead the Razorbacks. "Smith left behind 18 new recruits who believed in him -- and were betrayed by him. He left behind a staff that came to Ogden because of him," writes ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski.

posted by rcade to football at 11:28 AM - 3 comments

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

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

N.J. state troopers face probe for 'Death Race 2012' down Parkway to AC: Brandon Jacobs, recently of the Super Bowl champion NJNY Giants, was one of the alleged racers. "In the complaints, obtained by The Star-Ledger, witnesses said that in the early afternoon of March 30, they saw two State Police patrol cars with their emergency lights flashing driving in front of and behind the southbound caravan, which included dozens of Porsches, Lamborghinis, Ferraris and other vehicles, all with their license plates covered with tape."

posted by billsaysthis to culture at 05:54 PM - 6 comments

The Other Ballpark That Just Turned 100: Fenway Park wasn't the only ballpark whose 100-year centennial took place on April 20 of this month. Tiger Stadium opened on the same day as Fenway in 1912, but no one affiliated with the Tigers or Detroit marked the occasion. Today, a Google Maps flyover shows what remains at the storied corner of Michigan Street and Trumbull Avenue. "The only acknowledgment of the old ball yard is a small plastic sign," reports Eric Adelson of Yahoo Sports. A volunteer group called the Navin Field Grounds Crew keeps the lot mowed and chalks the lines once a week. The ghosts of baseball past take care of themselves.

posted by rcade to baseball at 05:10 PM - 12 comments

ESPN Report Claims Saints' GM Eavesdropped on Opponents from 2002-2004: "There was a switch, and the switch accessed offense and defense," said the source. "When Randy was there, it was the Saints offense or defense, and when Mickey was there it changed over so it was the visiting offense or defense," the source said.

posted by yerfatma to football at 03:51 PM - 9 comments

Lawsuit: Driver 'Too White' for NASCAR: An aspiring Hispanic driver has filed a federal suit against NASCAR, claiming he was denied the opportunity to compete in the racing circuit's diversity program because he looks "too Caucasian." Michael Rodriguez, 24, is of Spanish and Puerto Rican descent and claims he was discriminated against because of his blue-eyed, fair-skinned complexion. NASCAR Attorney Jeff Pasek argued in court that if the diversity program was not allowed to consider a driver's skin color, "it would make a mockery of the program."

posted by rcade to auto racing at 10:43 AM - 20 comments

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

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

World Peace Ejected for Vicious Elbow: As he celebrated a fast break dunk, Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace inexplicably threw a vicious elbow into the head of Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden Sunday. Harden left the game with a possible concussion and the former Ron Artest was immediately ejected and likely will be suspended. "This was about as cheap as a cheap shot gets," said Ken Berger of CBS Sports. World Peace is the reigning holder of the NBA's citizenship award.

posted by rcade to basketball at 08:02 PM - 18 comments

Cuban: NBA 'Stupid' to Let Stars in Olympics: "If you look up stupid in the dictionary, you see a picture of the USA Dream Team playing for free for corporate America so the U.S. Olympic Committee can make millions of dollars. If you come up with something that you own, that you give it to me for free so I can make billions of dollars, I want it. And it has nothing to do with patriotism. It's all about money. You don't see the Olympic Committee saying, 'Oh we made so much money. Let's give it to people.'" -- Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:33 AM - 19 comments

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

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

Philip Humber Throws Baseball's 21st Perfect Game: Chicago White Sox pitcher Philip Humber retired all 27 Seattle Mariners hitters in a 4-0 victory Saturday, throwing Major League Baseball's first perfect game since^* May 29, 2010, and only the 21st in league history. The closest the M's came to a hit was in the fourth when Alex Rios chased down a Dustin Ackley liner at the warning track. In the ninth, Humber fell down 3-0 in the count to Michael Saunders before striking him out. Humber's 96 pitches were the second least in a perfecto.

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 07:17 PM - 18 comments

Phoenix Coyotes' Raffi Torres Suspended 25 games: There is throwing the book, and then there is launching the entire library, which is what the NHL has done at the Phoenix Coyotes' Raffi Torres.

posted by tommytrump to hockey at 12:51 PM - 20 comments

SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle

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

Accountant Signs With Dolphins: In a move guaranteed to someday be an uplifting film, Les Brown, who never played college football and was most recently employed as an accountant at an investment firm, has signed with the Miami Dolphins after impressing scouts during pro day at BYU (where his brother was an offensive lineman before graduating this year and another brother is currently a tight end). Brown is up against some stiff competition as a tight end (including Anthony Fasano), but he signed an NFL contract, and who among us can say that?

posted by Etrigan to football at 06:38 PM - 5 comments

Larry Brown officially hired as SMU men's basketball coach.: One year before moving to the Big East, the Mustangs have hired the Hall-of-Famer for an undisclosed salary. This is Brown's first college coaching gig since he lead the 1988 Kansas Jayhawks to a national title.

posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 02:12 PM - 7 comments

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 3 comments

Is Robert Griffin III Overrated?: Two NFL scouts quoted anonymously by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel aren't sold on Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Robert Griffin III, expected to go first or second in the NFL Draft one week from today. "As much as is written about his athleticism, his athleticism under duress in the pocket isn't even close to Cam Newton's," a scout said. "This guy, the only way he gets big plays with his feet is if he's got a wide-open field and the sea opens for him."

posted by rcade to football at 12:26 PM - 13 comments

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

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

Pat Summit steps down as head coach at Tennesse: she will take on the position of Head Coach Emeritus while dealing with early onset dementia.

posted by yerfatma to basketball at 01:57 PM - 11 comments

The Fencing Response: (youtube link) "The fencing response is an unnatural position of the arms following a concussion. Immediately after moderate forces have been applied to the brainstem, the forearms are held flexed or extended (typically into the air) for a period lasting up to several seconds after the impact. The Fencing Response is often observed during athletic competition involving contact, such as football, hockey, rugby, boxing and martial arts. It is used as an overt indicator of injury force magnitude and midbrain localization to aid in injury identification and classification for events including, but not limited to, on-field and/or bystander observations of sports-related head injuries." via The Concussion Blog

posted by apoch to general at 10:22 AM - 7 comments

Working for the clampdown: Asham gets 4, Neal and Backstrom get 1, Shaw got 3 yesterday. Is Torres next? Shanahan strikes back.

posted by kokaku to hockey at 09:41 AM - 23 comments

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

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

NBA May Add Sponsor Logos to Jerseys: NBA owners were presented last week with sample uniforms that had sponsor logos on them, a sign that the idea's under serious consideration. "If we add sponsor logos to jerseys, we recognize that some of our fans will think we've lost our minds," said NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver. "But the NBA is a global business and logos on jerseys are well established in other sports and commonplace outside the U.S. Our goal isn't to be the first major league to do it, but in the same way that virtually all arenas and stadiums now have naming rights deals, we recognize it's only a matter of time."

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:02 PM - 9 comments

Jets Cornerback Has 10 Kids with 8 Women: New York Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who turned 28 Sunday, has 10 children with eight different women. He pays $3,500 in child support each month to six of the women and couldn't name all of his kids on HBO's Hard Knocks. The New York Post reports that his ex-girlfriends may star in a reality show against his wishes. "We're not catty women. We have a close, tight-knit friendship and understand what each other's going through," said Ryan Ross, his girlfriend for six months and mother of his fifth child.

posted by rcade to football at 02:23 PM - 15 comments

No Relief in Sight: Tom Verducci asks if baseball's approach to closers makes any sense.

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 01:42 PM - 2 comments

Alabama's Crystal BCS Trophy Destroyed: The $30,000 Waterford crystal football awarded to Alabama for winning the BCS championship was knocked off its pedestal and shattered during spring game festivities. The unnamed father of a player on the team tripped on a rug. This has happened before: In 2006, Orson Charles broke Florida's crystal football while on a recruiting visit. He later signed with Georgia. Alex Scarborough of ESPN in Alabama tweeted a picture of what was left.

posted by rcade to football at 10:03 AM - 8 comments

Get your pencils out..: On average, 30-40 fans are kicked out of every NFL game. Starting this year, any fan kicked out of a game will be banned from the stadium until they pay for a 4 hour online course on anger mgt and pass a test. May be some empties in my section this year.

posted by Debo270 to football at 08:01 AM - 17 comments

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

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

Mets Runner Reaches Second, Runs Back to First: During Friday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets catcher Josh Thole advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by pitcher R.A. Dickey, then mistakenly ran back to first as if a foul ball had been called -- and was thrown out for a double play. (See video here on the Video link.) "I knew the ball was fair. I even looked down," Thole said. "You can go watch the video. I checked in. The ball was on the floor. I just took off running back to first. I've got no other explanation."

posted by rcade to baseball at 02:03 PM - 2 comments

Richardson Goes To Prom: Trent Richardson takes Alabama fan and cancer survivor Courtney Alvis to her senior prom.

posted by gfinsf to football at 09:06 AM - 4 comments

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 27 comments

Brian Wilson May Need Tommy John Surgery: San Francisco Giants closer and beard laureate Brian Wilson has "structural issues" in his right elbow and will likely need surgery, manager Bruce Bochy said. Wilson had Tommy John surgery in 2003 as a college pitcher at LSU.

posted by rcade to baseball at 12:20 PM - 8 comments

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

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

Two Horses Put Down at 2012 Grand National: For the second consecutive year two horses have died at England's prestigious Grand National. Synchronised and According to Pete were destroyed after breaking legs. The RSPCA described the deaths as "totally unacceptable" and called for "an urgent examination" of the race.

posted by scully to other at 06:06 PM - 2 comments

Serie B Soccer Player Dies After Heart Attack on Pitch: Piermario Morosini, a 25-year-old midfielder for Livorno in Italy's second-tier Serie B league, has died after collapsing on the pitch from cardiac arrest Saturday 31 minutes into a match against Pescara. "Morosini collapsed, he tried to get back up but then collapsed again," said Danilo Iannascoli, the Pescara general manager. Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba suffered a similar collapse March 17 but is recovering in a hospital.

posted by rcade to soccer at 11:40 AM - 1 comment

SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle

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

Zach Tomaselli: I Made Up Accusations Against Bernie Fine: Zach Tomaselli, 23, a convicted child molester who claimed he was sexually abused as a 13-year-old by Syracuse assistant coach Bernie Fine, now says he made it all up. "I never met Bernie Fine or went to an autograph session. ... It has become a burden of a lie and I am sick of it. Bobby Davis told me what to tell detectives and it pretty much took off from there." Davis, 39, was a former Syracuse ball boy whose claims of being molested as a minor by Fine cannot be prosecuted due to the statute of limitations. Federal prosecutors used Tomaselli's statements as the basis to search Fine's home in November. When asked if he accused Fine to get leniency in his own criminal case, Tomaselli said, " I can't talk about my case, but you can guess the answer."

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:17 AM - 9 comments

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle

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

Completely unsurprisingly, Terry Francona does not want to be part of Fenway's 100th Birthday: somewhat more surprisingly, the Boston Globe let his ghostwriter pen an article about that. But then they edited it. Can't imagine why.

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 03:59 PM - 13 comments

Top High School Player Chooses Kentucky: Nerlens Noel, a center who is the No. 1-ranked high school basketball player by Scout.Com, has announced his choice of college by having it shaved into his head. Noel, who has written several columns for ESPNHS.Com, appears to have been swayed by the one-and-done championship UK won with this year's freshmen. "I'd definitely say it makes me think about Kentucky more," he wrote after the title game.

posted by rcade to basketball at 03:04 PM - 2 comments

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 26 comments

Cuban Soccer Player Defects to U.S.: Yosmel de Armas, a Cuban national soccer player who disappeared while the team was in Nashville to play an Olympic qualifying match in March, has defected and will seek asylum in the U.S., his attorney said. Seven Cuban soccer players defected in 2008 after a qualifier. Three more and they can field a team.

posted by rcade to soccer at 01:35 PM - 2 comments

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

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

Arkansas Lays Down Petrino: Bobby Petrino has allegedly been fired as coach of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks football team, following a motorcycle accident that expanded to reveal a probable extramarital affair with a Razorback staffer that Petrino had just hired.

posted by Etrigan to football at 08:31 PM - 22 comments

Urban Meyer: I Wouldn't Let My Son Go to Florida: Ohio State coach Urban Meyer told a top recruit's family that he wouldn't let his son go to Florida because of character issues in the locker room, multiple sources told Sporting News. At least 30 players were arrested in Meyer’s six seasons in Florida, including many of his top athletes, and players often went undisciplined. Wide receiver Percy Harvin physically assaulted wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales, grabbing him by the neck and throwing him to the ground, sources said. Harvin was never punished.

posted by rcade to football at 12:16 PM - 16 comments

Dodgers Bought with Insurance Policyholder Funds: The Mark Walter-led group that bought the Los Angeles Dodgers is making questionable use of funds to do so, claims New York Times Dealbook columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin. "A quick background check and some back-of-the-envelope math raises an obvious red flag: how on earth can this group of individuals afford to pay $2 billion in cash?" he asks. Walter's Guggenheim Partners is using money collected from policyholders by insurance company subsidiaries to buy the team. "Using insurance money -- which is typically supposed to be invested in simple, safe assets -- to buy a baseball team, the ultimate toy for the ultrarich, seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen," Sorkin writes.

posted by rcade to baseball at 09:36 AM - 10 comments

Skip Bayless' athletic history is a little less impressive than he claims.: The local paper confirms as much.

posted by yerfatma to culture at 08:32 AM - 26 comments

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

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

Colorado State Football Players Beat Down Students: Four Colorado State University freshmen are recovering from injuries suffered in a fight with several of the school's football players. J.D. Haley and Danny Gocha say they were leaving a party in Fort Collins with two other people when the athletes drove by and yelled homophobic insults. When Gocha said the same insult back, the SUV stopped. "You could just tell they were looking for a fight,” Haley said. “They just started beating the back of Donny's head in. I covered Donny’s head with my body. We were all scared for his life." Gocha's eyes are swollen shut, his teeth are chipped and he has a shoeprint on his back. Players Nordly Capi, Colton Paulhus and Mike Orakpo -- younger brother of NFL linebacker Brian Orakpo -- were suspended Saturday by the team for unspecified reasons.

posted by rcade to football at 01:11 PM - 6 comments

Nicklas Lidstrom is ahead of the game: An exploration of what make Lidstrom, Lidstrom.

posted by apoch to hockey at 12:46 PM - 6 comments

Mavericks Cut Ties with Lamar Odom: The Dallas Mavericks have made Lamar Odom inactive for the rest of the season, cutting their ties to the veteran forward after his spectacularly dismal year. Odom was acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers before the season for a 2012 first round pick and the $8.9 million trade exception the Mavericks received in Tyson Chandler's sign-and-trade deal with the New York Knicks.

posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 11:34 AM - 7 comments

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

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

Ozzie Guillen: 'I Love Fidel Castro': As the Miami Marlins try to fill their new stadium, a comment by manager Ozzie Guillen probably won't help. "I love Fidel Castro…I respect Fidel Castro," he told Time magazine. "You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that [expletive] is still there." He subsequently apologized. "I'm against everything 100 percent -- I repeat it again -- the way this man (been) treating people for the last 60 years," he said.

posted by rcade to baseball at 04:36 PM - 24 comments

2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs Pickem: After an almost interminable preseason, it feels goos for the NHL to finally get their regular season underway...

posted by MeatSaber to fantasy at 12:16 PM - 21 comments

Messi Nets 60th Goal of Season: Messi has scored 38 goals in La Liga this season, and 14 in the Champions League and now is 7 goals behind Gerd Muller's (Bayern Munich) 1972-73 campaign all-time record.

posted by scully to soccer at 10:18 AM - 2 comments

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

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

Train hard, respect each other, work as a team and honour your homeland: Ethiopia's town of runners.

posted by owlhouse to olympics at 11:37 PM - 0 comments

Former Saints Player: Filmmaker Betrayed Me: When documentary filmmaker Sean Pamphilon taped coach Gregg Williams telling the New Orleans Saints to injure opposing players, he was there with former Saints player Steve Gleason to cover his battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). "The Saints trusted me and gave us unlimited access in filming, and I, in turn, trusted Sean Pamphilon," Gleason writes. "Sean Pamphilon and I have an agreement that all recordings ultimately belong to me and my family. ... I did not authorize the public release of any recordings."

posted by rcade to football at 09:58 AM - 12 comments

SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle

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

Times Reporter Wishes She Could Boycott Masters: New York Times golf reporter Karen Crouse wishes she could skip the Masters. "If it were left to me, which it seldom is in the power structure of writer versus editor, I'd probably not come cover this event again until there is a woman member," she told Golf.Com. "More and more, the lack of a woman member is just a blue elephant in the room." Her editor Joe Sexton called her comments "completely inappropriate and she has been spoken to."

posted by rcade to golf at 10:08 PM - 38 comments

Longtime Cowboys Assistant Coach Joe Avezzano Dies: Joe Avezzano, the special teams coach of the Dallas Cowboys during their three Super Bowl wins of the '90s, died in Italy Thursday of a heart attack. He was 68. Avezzano, a popular presence in Dallas known affectionately as "Coach Joe" even after leaving the Cowboys in 2002, had gone to Italy two months ago to lead a team in the Italian Football League. The job gave him a chance to visit Avezzano, Italy. "I am the long lost heir to the throne," Avezzano joked before his departure. "They've been looking for me in Italy for years. Now they've found me and I'm going back and I will return to Avezzano." Cowboys special teamer Bill Bates once was shocked to see blood trickling from Coach Joe's forehead on the sidelines, an injury he refused to explain until after the game so it wouldn't become a distraction. "Don't worry about it, but you head-butted me," he told Bates in the locker room.

posted by rcade to football at 10:17 AM - 3 comments

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle

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

Looking Back at 100 Years of Baseball: From The Christian Science Monitor comes a look back at 10 seasons, every 10 years from 1912. If you have the time, look through all of it. Links to each of the covered seasons appear at the top of each page, so selecting a single season is easy. Lots of fun facts about the highlights of each season, such as the season long pitching duel in 1912 between Smoky Joe Wood and Walter Johnson, or pitcher Jim Tobin of the Boston Braves hitting 3 consecutive home runs in a game an 1942.

posted by Howard_T to baseball at 05:16 PM - 0 comments

Police Draw Guns on Torii Hunter at Home: Torii Hunter had an unexpected guest after the Los Angeles Angels' final exhibition game Wednesday. Cops showed up with guns drawn after he accidentally triggered his alarm and his wife couldn't be reached by phone. "They didn't believe I lived here in Newport coast so they walked me upstairs at gunpoint to get my ID," he said on Twitter.

posted by rcade to baseball at 03:12 PM - 2 comments

Mets offering freebies: How bad is life at Citi Field? The New York Mets are offering free tickets for this opening weekend's games against Atlanta.

posted by jjzucal to baseball at 01:43 PM - 1 comment

Williams Told Saints to Injure 49ers: In a speech to his players the night before the Saints-49ers playoff game, Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams told them to injure specific opponents, test whether one receiver was still suffering the effects of a concussion and that he'd pay personally for a hit on 49ers quarterback Alex Smith. The speech was recorded by documentary filmmaker Sean Pamphilon and shared with Yahoo Sports. "We need to find out in the first two series of the game, the little wide receiver, No. 10, about his concussion," Williams told the Saints' defenders, referring to Kyle Williams. "We need to [expletive] put a lick on him, move him to decide. He needs to decide."

posted by rcade to football at 09:15 AM - 33 comments

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 20 comments

If they really want to be competitive, the Oakland A's should move to New York: At least that's what Slate's Neil deMause says. Should Billy and the boys pack up and head east?

posted by tahoemoj to baseball at 02:13 PM - 11 comments

Baylor Lady Bears First to Go 40-0 in Winning Second National Title: Brittney Griner and Baylor dominated Notre Dame in the NCAA women's basketball championship on Tuesday night, winning 80-61, and capping a 40-0 season.

posted by scully to basketball at 10:28 AM - 1 comment

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

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

MLB prediction thread!:
Everybody embarrass themselves and make some wild guesses!

posted by grum@work to fantasy at 02:58 PM - 15 comments

NASL All-Time Leading Scorer Giorgio Chinaglia Dead at 65: Mostly known as a big fish who played in little ponds over his career — and a legend in his own mind — Giorgio Chinaglia lit up the North American Soccer League in the late 70s and early 80s, playing along side legends such as Pele and Franz Beckenbauer, and scoring 242 goals in 252 NASL matches including playoffs.

posted by scully to soccer at 02:42 PM - 11 comments

You've Run a Long Way, Baby: The Boston Marathon is about to celebrate 40 years of women competing in the event, but a woman snuck in five years earlier. In 1967, Syracuse college student Kathrine Switzer crashed the marathon, which had been all-male for 70 years. When race organizer Jock Semple saw her, he chased her down, grabbed her and yelled, "Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers!" Her boyfriend foiled Semple with an impressive block. Afterwards, a stunned Switzer kept running and told herself, "I'm going to finish this race on my hands and knees if I have to, because nobody believes that I can do this."

posted by rcade to olympics at 10:38 AM - 3 comments

The second weekend in April: means only one thing to a golf fan - it's Masters time. Tiger Woods won two weeks ago at Bay Hill and is the 5/1 favourite. Mark O'Meara likes what he has seen of him in practice. Rory McIlroy threw it away last year, but is second favourite this time out. Faldo thinks Donald has got what it takes. Hunter Mahan cursed himself by wining last week. Big Phil's playing well, and even Harrington thinks he might have something to show. Martin Kaymer has yet to make the cut in four starts, but skipped one over the water into the hole at 16 in the practice round, so maybe this is his year! Let the jacket fight commence!

posted by JJ to golf at 09:02 AM - 10 comments

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

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

Kentucky Makes It Eight: The Kentucky Wildcats capped off one of the most dominating NCAA tournament runs ever with a 67-59 win over the Kansas Jayhawks in the men's college basketball championship Monday. Kentucky dominated the first half and led by as much as 18 in the game, but Kansas closed it to 65-59. This is the eighth championship in Kentucky's history and the first for coach John Calipari.

posted by rcade to basketball at 12:06 AM - 10 comments

Why Baseball is the Best—And Least Exploitative—American Sport...: according to Georgetown University Professor Michael Kazin. "Compared to the dysfunction, scandal, and discontent commonplace in other professional sport, baseball is looking better than ever."

posted by lawn_wrangler to general at 04:55 PM - 5 comments

Coach Bobby Petrino Crashes Motorcycle: Arkansas Razorbacks football coach Bobby Petrino crashed his motorcycle Sunday night after veering off an Arkansas highway and was taken to the hospital. The accident occurred on Highway 16 around 20 miles from Fayetteville. ESPN reports that Petrino, 51, is "pretty banged up" but expected to fully recover.

posted by rcade to football at 11:27 AM - 2 comments

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

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

Fair Ball Uganda Documentary: Short film on the Uganda/Canada Pearl of Africa Series Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Aftershow travelling through Uganda, Jimmy Rollins raps in Uganda, Uganda's Mr Baseball & Images of Uganda

posted by tommytrump to culture at 06:12 PM - 0 comments

Kentucky Will Face Kansas: The favored Kentucky Wildcats will meet the Kansas Jayhawks Monday in college basketball's national championship. The two winningest programs in college basketball history last played in November. Kentucky won 75-65 and opens as a 6.5 point favorite for the title. These repeat champs last won in 2008 (Kansas) and 1998 (Kentucky).

posted by rcade to basketball at 12:01 PM - 9 comments

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

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