Transfer Deadline Day, not much nonesense yet: Dimitar Berbatov providing the most amusement so far, flying to Italy but returning to England without meeting anyone from Fiorentina after the move was hijacked by Juventus and the player instead signing instead for Fullham. And of course from that same club Clint Dempsey still sits and waits, spurning offers from Aston Villa and Sunderland in hopes that Liverpool or Arsenal will yet come in for him. Mancini has been busy on the blue side of Manchester, selling notorious chest-stomper Nigel de Jong to a vastly changed AC Milan and buying Scott Sinclair and a some would say past his sell by date Maicon. Liverpool have done some business, selling Charlie Adam to Stoke (who also brought in American Maurice Edu) and loaning Jay Spearing to Bolton, after loaning(?!?!?!) lost boy Andy Carroll to West Ham last night.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 12:07 PM - 5 comments

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle

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

High School Builds $60 Million Stadium: A Texas high school is opening its new 18,000-seat stadium, which includes an upper deck, 38-foot-wide HD video screen and six corporate sponsors. The pricetag for the taxpayer funded stadium in the Dallas suburb of Allen is $60 million. The team's opening game at Eagle Stadium is against Southlake Carroll, another Dallas/Fort Worth school ranked No. 1 preseason in Class 5A. Our intention is not to recoup the money it cost to build the stadium," school district spokesman Tim Carroll said.

posted by rcade to football at 04:10 PM - 6 comments

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

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

Drop Shot Picks Up at U.S. Open: The drop shot, once regarded as desperate on hardcourts, has come back into vogue, reports USA Today. Roger Federer, who thought of it as "sort of a panic shot" in the past, is now using it to throw off heavy hitters standing at the backline. "I just realized it was very hard to hit through the guys time and time again, because they track down everything," he said. "Maybe by using the drop shot a bit more they have to play closer to the line; then it's easier to hit through them again."

posted by rcade to tennis at 09:19 AM - 1 comment

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

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

ESPN Keeps Baseball with $5.6 Billion Deal: ESPN and Major League Baseball have reportedly reached an eight-year, $5.6 billion TV rights deal, more than double the current contract. "That’s $13 million more in each team's pocket per year starting in 2014, though the ESPN deal alone," writes Craig Calcaterra of Hardball Talk.

posted by rcade to baseball at 03:27 PM - 7 comments

CFL Pick 'Em, Week 10: Here we are at the official halfway point of the season for all those people who prefer to round up. That's right, it's the Labour Day Classic! Stock up on your extra U's and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 01:49 PM - 12 comments

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

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

Sports on Earth Covers Sports on Earth (but Mostly America): Former Sports Illustrated and Kansas City Star sportswriter Joe Posnanski is the senior columnist at a new sports website launched by MLB Advanced Media and USA Today. Opening day pieces from Sports on Earth cover the Red Sox/Dodgers trade, Rafa Nadal and Peyton Manning. In Posnanski's intro to the site, he writes a bit underwhelmingly, "The idea here is to build a sports website around great writing. That's not exactly a new idea."

posted by rcade to general at 04:13 PM - 0 comments

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

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

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

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

Wayne Rooney's Leg Gashed, Out Four Weeks: Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney's leg was sliced open in an accidental collision with Fulham's Hugo Rodallega during a match Saturday. During extra time of Man U's 3-2 victory, Rooney fell and Rodallega's boot slashed his leg above the knee, leaving a large open cut that teammate Danny Welbeck was too squeamish to look at. "It was a very bad one. He has gone to hospital. It looks like he will be out for four weeks," United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said. Rooney and Ferguson are on the outs and his days with the club could be numbered, claims The Sun tabloid.

posted by rcade to soccer at 08:26 PM - 1 comment

Hall of Famer Rod Carew ... Not a Jew: Contrary to what Adam Sandler claimed in his Chanukah Song back in 1994, Hall of Famer Rod Carew is not Jewish, he told TMZ at Los Angeles International Airport. "I was about to convert, but I never did. ... I got to know Adam. (The song) was good." Carew's first wife Marilynn Levy was Jewish and their three daughters were raised in the faith, according to some people on the Internet.

posted by rcade to baseball at 12:17 PM - 2 comments

SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle

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

Torture or training? : Inside the brutal Chinese gymnasium where the country's future Olympic stars are beaten into shape.

posted by phaedon to olympics at 04:02 AM - 2 comments

Red Sox considering a blockbuster trade: a deal that would send Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto to Los Angeles.

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 06:10 PM - 34 comments

Serena Still Unapologetic About Outbursts: Asked by the New York Times about her on-court tantrums against a lineswoman and chair umpire at the U.S. Opens of 2009 and 2011, Serena Williams remains unapologetic. After being called for a foot fault, Williams told lineswoman Shino Tsurubuchi in 2009, "I swear to God I'll [bleeping] take this ball and shove it down your [bleeping] throat" and was immediately disqualified from the quarterfinal. Her take on the controversy today? "I don't foot-fault. Like, I have in the past, but this woman should never make a call in the semifinals of a Grand Slam on a person who doesn't foot-fault. She was totally wrong. I'm sorry. I'm not sorry. I looked at her like -- I tried to warn her. And then she did it again."

posted by rcade to tennis at 02:58 PM - 5 comments

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle

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

Greg LeMond smiles: As of today, he is the only US-born Tour de France winner. Lance Armstrong has been suspended for life and stripped of his titles.

posted by yerfatma to general at 10:19 PM - 38 comments

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

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

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

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

Is there a racially motivated quarterback controversy brewing in Washington?: Skip Bayless thinks so. Bayless claims that it is human nature for white fans to cheer for white athletes; therefore, fellow rookie Kirk Cousins will be the fans' choice over #2 overall pick Robert Griffin for the starting job.

posted by tahoemoj to football at 04:02 PM - 36 comments

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

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

CFL Pick 'Em, Week 9: It's panic time as we hit the halfway point with almost everybody in contention. Hit the red button and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 09:23 PM - 12 comments

Augusta National adds first 2 female members: For the first time in its 80-year history, Augusta National Golf Club has female members. The home of the Masters, under increasing criticism the last decade because of its all-male membership, invited former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore to become the first women in green jackets when the club opens for a new season in October.

posted by tommytrump to golf at 11:55 AM - 20 comments

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

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

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

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

West Brom Crushes Liverpool on Premiership Opening Day: Liverpool opened the Premiership season Saturday with a 3-0 loss to West Bromwich Albion. New Liverpool skipper Brendan Rodgers watched goals by Zoltan Gera, Peter Odemwingie and Romelu Lukaku hand his squad a road loss before a Europa League qualifier Wednesday and next weekend's EPL match against Man City.

posted by rcade to soccer at 04:25 PM - 5 comments

Join SportsFilter's Fantasy Premiership: None of the old codes appear to be working, so I created a new fantasy league for Sportsfilter on the Premiership website. To join, use code 1997450-406331. Although games start today, you can jump in for week two if you haven't created a team yet.

posted by rcade to fantasy at 09:26 AM - 6 comments

SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle

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

Tommy John Tears Strasburg Shutdown Plan: Former Major League pitcher Tommy John has launched a surgigal strike against the Washington Nationals management for their plan to bench Stephen Strasburg when he reaches 160 to 180 innings (current total: 139.1). "You want him healthy. I understand that. He's the franchise. But you know what? The golden ring only comes around on the merry go round maybe one time," John said. "You've got a chance to win now. Now, I don't say you trash the kid, but you pitch him."

posted by rcade to baseball at 10:10 AM - 18 comments

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 25 comments

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

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

First Win for U.S. Men in Mexico: After 75 years, 23 losses and one tie, the U.S. men's soccer team has won a match in Mexico for the first time ever. Mexican-American Michael Orozco Fiscal scored a goal in the 80th minute and Tim Howard made two monumental saves to hold on for a 1-0 victory.

posted by rcade to soccer at 10:57 PM - 6 comments

Perfect! Mariners' Felix Hernandez : Whenever Felix Hernandez takes the mound, the possibility of seeing something special, of witnessing immortality, is always lurking. On Wednesday, on a brilliantly sunny day, that possibility became reality, as Hernandez threw the 23rd perfect game in major-league history, and the first in Mariners history. "I don't have any words to explain this," Hernandez said in a TV interview after the game. "I've got to throw one. I've been working so hard to throw one, and I got it. It was in my mind the whole game."

posted by tommytrump to baseball at 06:24 PM - 17 comments

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

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

Boston Red Sox clubhouse ready to explode.:
This isn't going to end well.

posted by grum@work to baseball at 06:01 PM - 38 comments

Premier League season starts Saturday: The transfer window has been quiet so far, enough so that Mancini went public at the lack of funds, though judging by their beat down of Chelsea in the Community Shield they may not need anyone new. My Reds have made two buys, ManUtd brought in a Japanese playmaker (and IPOed), Chelsea bought three quality attackers (but let Drogba go to China), and Arsenal paid big money (overpaid?) for Podolski. Robin van Persie, Luca Modric and Clint Dempsey sit by their phones waiting for news that their moves to, respectively, Juventus/Manchester/Spain (??), Real Madrid and Liverpool have come through.

PS: Remember to pick your fantasy team before then.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 01:18 PM - 17 comments

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

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

Johnny Pesky, 1920-2012: Boston Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky died today at 92 years of age. He had been associated with the team in one capacity or another nearly continuously since 1942. Pesky, nee Paveskovich, is most remembered for the right-field foul pole that bears his name in Fenway Park.

posted by Howard_T to baseball at 05:12 PM - 6 comments

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

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

Dolphins Dump Chad Johnson After Arrest: The Miami Dolphins have terminated wide receiver Chad Johnson's contract 24 hours after he was arrested in a domestic battery case involving his wife. Johnson's wife Evelyn Lozada accused him of head-butting her during an argument in front of their home. He's been charged with misdemeanor simple domestic battery.

posted by Mr Bismarck to football at 11:45 PM - 24 comments

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

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

CFL Pick 'Em, Week 8: It's a tiebreaker week as the logjam at the top gets shattered. No such luck in the CFL standings though. Hedge your bets and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 10:40 AM - 11 comments

SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle

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

Honey Badger gets cut: Tyrann Mathieu, a Heisman Trophy finalist a year ago and the most dynamic player on LSU’s preseason No. 1-ranked football team was permanently dismissed from the team Friday. Coach Les Miles said the dismissal of Mathieu, a junior defensive back/punt returner from New Orleans, was for “violation of team policy.” Neither Miles nor athletic director Joe Alleva would say which policy was violated by Mathieu

posted by Ufez Jones to football at 06:41 PM - 15 comments

Lakers to Get Howard, Lose Bynum in Four-Team Trade: The Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets are finalizing a deal today that sends Dwight Howard (Orlando), Earl Clark (Orlando) and Chris Duhon (Orlando) to the Lakers; Andrew Bynum (LA) and Jason Richardson (Orlando) to the 76ers; Andre Iguodala (Philly) to the Nuggets; and Arron Afflalo (Denver), Al Harrington (Denver), Nikola Vucevic (Philly), Moe Harkless (Philly), three lottery-protected first-round draft picks (LA, Philly, Denver) and a 2013 second-round pick (Denver) to the Magic.

posted by rcade to basketball at 08:44 AM - 24 comments

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle

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

U.S. Women Take Soccer Gold: Before an Olympic-record crowd of 80,203, two goals by midfielder Carli Lloyd and some spectacular saves by keeper Hope Solo led the U.S. women's soccer team to the gold medal over Japan. Yuki Ogimi scored the only goal for Japan. American midfielder Tobin Heath got away with a handball in the first half that would have been a penalty kick because it occurred in the box.

posted by rcade to soccer at 06:39 PM - 5 comments

Gary Bettman: Players locked out September 15th if no deal is reached: Would a second lockout in a decade be disastrous for hockey or for Bettman?

posted by dfleming to hockey at 03:23 PM - 7 comments

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

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

One Small Step.: Sarah Attar is one of the first two women to compete in the Olympics under the flag of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The other was Wojdan Shaherkani, a judoka. And today Tahmina Kohistani also became the first Afghani to race in the Olympics. All three were fully clothed and sported hijabs to cover their hair.

posted by phaedon to olympics at 02:00 AM - 0 comments

Usain Bolt Will Get Man United Tryout: After Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt discussed his love of soccer following his gold medal finish in the men's 100-meter final, the world's fastest human is getting a trial with Manchester United. "We would love to have him along," a team source said. Defender Rio Ferdinand was making his own appeal on Twitter. "If you want that trial at Man Utd shout me," he tweeted. "I’ll speak to the boss. Well done in 100m."

posted by rcade to soccer at 12:30 PM - 14 comments

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

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

CFL Pick 'Em, Week 7: Looks like some of you wrung a good number of points out of a pittance of games. Are you one of the multitudes in first place? Find out and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 01:19 PM - 11 comments

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

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

U.S. Defeats Canada in Epic Women's Soccer Semifinal: The U.S. women's soccer team fell down a goal three times to Canada on scores by Christine Sinclair, but tied the Olympic semifinal 3-3 in regulation and won on a last-minute header by Alex Morgan. Megan Rapinoe scored twice and Abby Wambach found the net after two controversial penalties on Canada. "I have never seen a team in an elite-level game given an indirect free kick in the box for the opposing goalie being deemed to have held onto the ball longer than the six-second time limit," writes Grant Wahl, who called the match "one of the greatest games I've ever seen."

posted by rcade to olympics at 05:49 PM - 41 comments

Turner Buys Bleacher Report for $175 Million: Turner has bought the user-generated sports article site Bleacher Report for $175 million. The site is powered by "6,000 mostly unpaid contributors who churn out more than 1,000 articles a day," reports Deadspin.

posted by rcade to general at 02:27 PM - 5 comments

One Race, Every Medalist Ever: Comparing Usain Bolt's 2012 gold medal to every other 100m medalist in the history of the modern Olympic games.

posted by grum@work to olympics at 10:00 AM - 7 comments

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

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

Andy Reid's Son Dies at Eagles Training Camp: Garrett Reid, the 29-year-old son of Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid, was found dead early Sunday morning in his Lehigh University room at the team's training camp. Garrett, the oldest of Reid's five children, was sentenced to 23 months in prison in 2007 after crashing a car while he was on heroin. He was in camp to help with strength and conditioning. "Upon arrival attempts were made to revive the individual," said Lehigh police chief Edward Shupp. "They were unsuccessful. ... There were no suspicious activities." The Reids had been trying to help their son beat drug addiction since he began using his freshman year at BYU in 2002, Andy Reid and his wife Tammy told Philly Magazine. "We are a close family, but the drugs, they don't care about that. If you just happen to get hooked up with the right one, it possesses you, and nothing else matters," Andy said.

posted by rcade to football at 12:31 PM - 9 comments

I realise this will probably sound appallingly sexist : ...and that would be because it is.

posted by rodgerd to olympics at 06:40 AM - 16 comments

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

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

SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle

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

Would You Rather Win Silver Or Bronze? (Be Careful What You Wish For): "If you set aside the happy people who win gold and look only at the people who come in second and third, it's the men and women with bronze medals who invariably look happier than the athletes who won silver."

posted by Joey Michaels to olympics at 07:12 PM - 3 comments

Brick-by-Brick Olymp... errr... Global Sporting Event: "Animated reconstructions of the best moments of the global sport event taking place in the UK from 27 July to 12 August 2012."

posted by scully to olympics at 12:09 PM - 1 comment

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle

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

The oldest olympian: : Hiroshi Hoketsu first competed in the Tokyo olympics in 1964; 48 years later, he is still gives his best in dressage.

posted by rodgerd to olympics at 07:48 PM - 3 comments

Olympic Boxing Scandal: Japan's Satoshi Shimizu knocked down Azerbaijan's Magomed Abdulhamidov five times in the third and final round of their bantamweight bout yesterday. And yet, the judges scored the round in favor of Abdulhamidov, who spent more time on the canvas than on his feet.

posted by phaedon to boxing at 06:04 PM - 11 comments

Minor League Umpire Ejects PA Staffer: At Wednesday's Daytona Cubs game, umpire Mario Seneca ejected the stadium staffer who played "Three Blind Mice" over the ballpark's PA system after a questionable call. Derek Dye, 21, expects to be fined by the Florida State League for playing the song. "After the game, I was cleaning up the dugout and my phone was just chirping nonstop," Dye said. Seneca wrote on Facebook, "I called my league president (Chuck Murphy) afterwards, and he said I did the correct thing. His opinion is pretty much the only one that matters, since he's my boss."

posted by rcade to baseball at 01:50 PM - 9 comments

The first college football Coaches Poll is out: Last season's runner-up LSU has edged out last season's champion Alabama (who received two more first-place votes than LSU) by four points and still-under-sanction USC (who received one more first-place vote than LSU) by fifteen. Unsurprisingly, the SEC dominates the rankings, with three more teams in the top ten (#6 Georgia, #9 South Carolina and #10 Arkansas) and Florida and Auburn rounding out the list at #23 and #25, respectively. The Big 12 sees Oklahoma jump from a 10-3 #15 season last year to #4 in the new poll, while defending Pac-10 champions Oregon return at #5. The biggest leap up is the ACC's Florida State, from a 9-4 #23 season last year to a preseason #7. Michigan leads the Big Ten at #8 (with the two participants in last season's inaugural Big Ten Championship Game, Wisconsin and Michigan State, at #12 and #13 respectively). Huge drops include last season's #3 Big 12 champions Oklahoma State to #19, #7 Stanford to #18, and #6 Boise State to #22. All three lost high-powered quarterbacks to the NFL.

posted by Etrigan to football at 12:29 PM - 1 comment

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

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

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

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

Trying their best to win at losing: Eight badminton players face disciplinary hearings for "not using one's best efforts to win a match" after two Olympic women's doubles matches where both pairs were very obviously playing to lose their final group matches in order to secure a better draw in the knockout round. This is the first Olympic tournament that's not been a pure knockout competition; it may be the last.

posted by etagloh to olympics at 01:53 AM - 32 comments