Archives for December 2013

December 31, 2013

December 30, 2013

Nicolas Anelka scored twice this weekend and celebrated in a way only Nicolas Anelka could: sending a heartfelt gesture to a close friend going through some tough times. The friend is a old-school comedian with a style reminiscent of old European theatres, specifically, WWII's Eastern and Western Fronts and the gesture is his, a variation on the Nazi salute combined with a more traditionally obscene gesture.

posted by yerfatma to soccer at 10:02 AM - 6 comments

Former Formula 1 World Champion Michael Schumacher Fights For Life: The seven-time World Champion remains in a coma in a French hospital after falling and injuring his head while skiing.

posted by Mr Bismarck to auto racing at 09:29 AM - 3 comments

Eagles, Packers Advance to Playoffs: The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys 24-22 to win the NFC East and advance to the NFL Playoffs. The Cowboys had the ball with a chance for a game-winning drive with 1:49 left, but backup quarterback Kyle Orton threw an interception to cornerback Brandon Boykin. For the third season in a row, Dallas finishes 8-8 and drops a deciding game 17 for the East crown. In another division battle, quarterback Aaron Rodgers returned from injury and led the Green Bay Packers to a 33-28 road win over the Chicago Bears to win the NFC North. Rodgers threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to Randall Cobb on fourth-and-long for the go-ahead score with 46 seconds left.

posted by rcade to football at 09:03 AM - 14 comments

Browns Fire Chudzinski After Only 1 Season: The Cleveland Browns have fired head coach Rob Chudzinski following a woeful 4-12 season in his first at the helm. The Browns lost 10 of their last 11 games, including a home defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars that particularly upset team management, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Several Browns players publicly scoffed at reports of Chudzinski's firing before it was announced, and afterwards two unnamed players texted Mike Silver of the NFL Network. One wrote, "this organization is a joke" and another "we are so dysfunctional. These billionaires need to pick somebody and stay with them. These aren't girlfriends." Early front-runners to replace him are New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, a Cleveland native, and Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien, a former Patriots offensive coordinator.

posted by rcade to football at 08:51 AM - 30 comments

December 29, 2013

December 28, 2013

December 27, 2013

Piers Morgan Bowled Over: I can't explain any of this, but CNN host Piers Morgan was pelted multiple times by a cricket ball thrown by a former pro, to the delight of an Australian audience. He suffered a cracked wrist and bruised ribs.

posted by rcade to other at 04:31 PM - 24 comments

Former Major Leaguer Paul Blair dies: One of the best baseball players to ever use a glove. Ever.

posted by dyams to baseball at 12:02 PM - 2 comments

December 26, 2013

Nnamdi Asomugha Retires as an Oakland Raider: Three seasons ago, cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was one of the most coveted free agents in the NFL at any position and signed a five-year, $60 million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. Tomorrow is his last day in the NFL. He's signing a one-day deal to retire as an Oakland Raider.

posted by rcade to football at 10:16 PM - 8 comments

December 25, 2013

December 24, 2013

December 23, 2013

'He Sees You When You're Sleeping': Mancester City fullback Aleksandar Kolarov offers his reading of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town."

posted by rcade to soccer at 12:16 PM - 0 comments

December 22, 2013

Glazer: Rex Ryan Told Team He's Likely Fired: New York Jets coach Rex Ryan reportedly told his team Saturday night that he's out as head coach. "Guys, word on the street is that I'm getting fired. I'm not coming back," Ryan said, according to Jay Glazer of Fox.

posted by rcade to football at 01:04 PM - 6 comments

December 21, 2013

Texas Rangers Land Shin-Soo Choo: The Texas Rangers and outfielder Shin-Soo Choo have reportedly agreed to a seven-year, $130 million deal, according to the Dallas Morning News. The New York Yankees also wanted Choo and offered him $140 million for seven years, but that works out to less money than Texas factoring in state taxes. Choo, 31, will likely become the Rangers leadoff man and left fielder

posted by rcade to baseball at 04:16 PM - 8 comments

December 20, 2013

This is Football: Normally the English FA can be relied upon to do something stupid. However, they commissioned poet and writer Musa Okwonga to pen an ode to celebrate their 150th anniversary. With a few special guests.

posted by owlhouse to soccer at 12:06 AM - 0 comments

December 19, 2013

Dennis Rodman is the third best player in NBA history: The multi-year, multi-part series has reached a finale. Includes a cool visualizer.

posted by rumple to basketball at 06:23 PM - 1 comment

Don't Get Andrew Luck Started on Soccer: Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck loves the other football. He spent nine years of his youth in London and Germany while his dad Oliver was an exec in the World League of American Football. "The passion the supporters have for their football clubs in Europe is different from the passion NFL or college teams will have," he told ESPNFC's Roger Bennett. "And I think both are great in their own right, but to me ... the supporters of a Tottenham, Arsenal or Manchester United ... I love watching the games and hearing them chant and sing, and I love the fluidity of soccer. The football I play tends to be a much more staccato sport where you go, you stop for a while, maybe a TV timeout, and then you start up again."

posted by rcade to soccer at 03:51 PM - 1 comment

December 18, 2013

December 17, 2013

December 16, 2013

December 15, 2013

Jameis Winston Wins Heisman in a Landslide: Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston claimed the 79th Heisman Trophy in a landslide in New York City Saturday night. Alabama's AJ McCarron was second in the voting, followed by Northern Illinois' Jordan Lynch, Boston College's Andre Williams, Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel and Auburn's Tre Mason. Winston's margin of victory is the seventh-biggest of all-time. He received 2,205 points, 1,501 more than McCarron, who polled 704 points. The rest of the point totals were Lynch, 558; Williams, 470; Manziel, 421; and Mason, 404.

posted by rcade to football at 10:09 AM - 2 comments

December 14, 2013

December 13, 2013

December 12, 2013

The all-time World Cup finals league table: Not surprise that Brazil top this table or that Germany is a close second, but a bit surprising for me the gap after that, both in points and goal difference. Spolier alert: USA are in 25th heading into next summer ;)

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 10:46 AM - 1 comment

December 11, 2013

Kirk Cousins to start for Redskins in Week 15: Barring a disaster of a performance from Cousins, he will likely be the starting quarterback for the remainder of the season.

posted by BornIcon to football at 09:29 AM - 10 comments

December 10, 2013

December 09, 2013

Three managers unanimously elected to Baseball Hall of Fame:
At the end of the 1981 season, these three managers had a combined career managing record of 705-912, with only two winning seasons (out of 11+ seasons managing) between them. Fast forward 32 years, and a 6853-5159 record with 63 winnings seasons (out of 78+) between them, and Joe Torre, Bobby Cox, and Tony LaRussa were inducted into the HOF by the Veteran's Committee.

posted by grum@work to baseball at 01:33 PM - 7 comments

Broncos' Prater Kicks Record-Breaking 64-Yard Field Goal: In the second quarter against the Tennessee Titans, kicker Matt Prater of the Denver Broncos set a new NFL record Sunday with a 64-yard field goal, passing the four kickers who hit a 63 yarder: Tom Dempsey of New Orleans in 1970, Jason Elam of Denver in 1998, Sebastian Janikowski of Oakland in 2011 and David Akers of San Francisco in 2012. Prater's kick was made in high-altitude Denver, which helps kick distance, but only in 14 degree weather.

posted by rcade to football at 10:04 AM - 10 comments

December 08, 2013

Ohio State Falls, Auburn Likely to Face Florida State: Ohio State's winning streak ended at 24 games as the Buckeyes lost 34-24 to Michigan State, a defeat that appears all but certain to put Auburn in the National Championship game Jan. 6. They would face undefeated Florida State, which rolled over Duke in the ACC Championship Game.

posted by rcade to football at 12:36 AM - 29 comments

December 07, 2013

Sporting KC Wins MLS Cup on 10th Round of Penalty Kicks: Before their home stadium in 20 degree weather (7 degrees factoring in wind chill), by far the coldest final in MLS Cup history, Sporting Kansas City defeated Real Salt Lake on penalty kicks 7-6 Saturday. The teams were tied 1-1 after 120 minutes from a goals by Alvario Saborio of RSL and an Aurelien Collin equalizer for KC. Keeper Jimmy Nielsen outdueled Nick Rimando on PKs and then spray-painted "2013" under "MLS Champions" at Sporting Park in the postgame celebration.

posted by rcade to soccer at 08:18 PM - 10 comments

December 06, 2013

U.S. in World Cup's Group G (as in Grim): The draw for the 2014 World Cup was telecast live at 11 a.m. Eastern, and the United States has ended up in Group G alongside Germany, Ghana and Portugal, an extremely tough draw for the Americans.

posted by rcade to soccer at 11:37 AM - 26 comments

UW Snaps Up Boise's Petersen: After Boise State wunderkind coach Chris Petersen allegedly turned down the USC job, the Trojans turned to Washington's Steve Sarkisian. UW responded by taking Petersen after what is described as a short negotiation.

posted by Etrigan to football at 10:16 AM - 5 comments

December 05, 2013

No criminal charges for Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston: Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston will not be charged after an investigation into an alleged sexual battery, State Attorney William Meggs said today.

posted by BornIcon to football at 02:10 PM - 18 comments

December 04, 2013

New Year's Eve, 1975: Montreal Canadiens vs. Soviet Central Red Army. Complete video of possibly the greatest ice hockey game ever played. Introduction by Dick Irvin, Jr. Via the NHL History Channel, which has some other excellent nostalgia.

posted by rumple to hockey at 02:26 PM - 2 comments

December 03, 2013

Meet the New York Times 4th Down Bot: The New York Times has launched a Twitterbot that will analyze every fourth down play in an NFL game, determining whether the coach made the right call or not. The analysis uses a statistical model created by Brian Burke of Advanced NFL Stats. "In general, it finds N.F.L. coaches far too conservative," the paper observes.

posted by rcade to football at 04:42 PM - 3 comments

December 02, 2013

USC Hires Steve Sarkisian: The USC Trojans have hired head coach Steve Sarkisian away from Washington, according to reports Monday. Since taking over in 2009, Sarkisian led the Huskies to a 34-29 record. Prior to that he was a USC assistant for seven seasons and was the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator under Pete Carroll. Ed Orgeron, the interim coach who led the team to a 6-2 record, is being pursued to stay on in another job.

posted by rcade to football at 03:06 PM - 9 comments

December 01, 2013