Archives for June 2014

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

June 29, 2014

Costa Rica Faces Greece in Unlikeliest World Cup Knockout: Costa Rica, the surprise of the World Cup tournament thus far, faces Greece Sunday in a knockout game in the World Cup round of 16. The Ticos were not expected to survive a group that included Uruguay, Italy and England, but they won it. Greece beat Ivory Coast in its final game for a surprise escape from its group. This is the first time the countries have ever played each other, and only the second time Costa Rica has reached this stage. They're bidding to be the first CONCACAF team to reach the quarterfinals since the U.S. in 2002. Greece has only one two of its nine World Cup matches and was scoreless in all seven losses.

posted by rcade to soccer at 10:50 AM - 1 comment

Mexico Faces The Netherlands in Round of 16: After making the World Cup only through the divine intervention of San Zusi, Mexico has been on an impressive run so far. But now they face The Netherlands, the 2010 runner-up who absolutely demolished 2010 champ Spain in the opening game and helped them exit early. Mexico has lost three times and drawn once in its last matches against the Dutch and exited the World Cup at this stage every time since 1994. Arjen Robben and Robbie Van Persie are within 1 and 2 goals, respectively, of Johnny Rep's all-time national goal record in the finals.

posted by rcade to soccer at 10:44 AM - 14 comments

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

June 28, 2014

Colombia Faces Suarez-Less Uruguay in World Cup Knockout: Uruguay may have bitten off more than it can chew in a World Cup round of 16 match against fellow South American side Colombia, playing without star striker Luis Suarez after his suspension for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in the final group game. This is only the second time Colombia has reached the round of 16 and the first time it enters as a group champion. Uruguay has won 6 of the last 8 against Colombia, but lost the last two cup matches it played without Suarez.

posted by rcade to soccer at 11:34 AM - 12 comments

Brazil Faces Chile in World Cup's First Knockout Game: South American rivals Brazil and Chile meet Saturday in the World Cup round of 16. Brazil hasn't lost to Chile since a cup qualifier in 2000, winning 10 out of their last 12 meetings, and has beaten Chile three times in knockout games. Chile has only reached the final four of the tournament once, in 1962, where they lost to Brazil 4-2 and it went on to hoist the trophy. Neymar, Thiago Silva and two other Brazilians enter this match on yellow cards.

posted by rcade to soccer at 11:26 AM - 6 comments

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

June 27, 2014

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

June 26, 2014

Luis Suarez Banned 9 Games for Biting Opponent: Uruguay star Luis Suarez has been banned for nine games and four months by FIFA for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini during their World Cup match. Suarez had two prior biting incidents in the past five years, one while he played for Liverpool in England's Premiership and another at Ajax in Holland. The decision takes away Uruguay's top player and one of the standouts of the tournament before its match against Colombia in a knockout game Saturday. The punishment covers the start of Suarez' club season as well for Liverpool.

posted by rcade to soccer at 10:11 AM - 28 comments

U.S. Escapes Group of Death, Advances Despite Loss: The U.S. men's soccer team lost to Germany 1-0 but advanced to the next round of the World Cup with Portugal's 2-1 victory over Ghana, winning the goal differential tiebreaker over Portugal. Thomas Mueller scored for Germany in the second half. This is the first time the Americans have advanced out of the group round in two successive World Cup tournaments.

posted by rcade to soccer at 10:04 AM - 6 comments

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 23 comments

June 25, 2014

Mavericks, Knicks shuffle up players.: And the Summer of fun for the NBA begins. Dallas sends Jose Calderon, Sam Dalembert, Shane Larkin and Wayne Ellington in exchange for Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton. Naturally, both media markets are trying to figure out how this positions their respective teams to (re)sign certain free agents. (Dallas; New York)

posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 11:17 PM - 2 comments

Tim Lincecum Throws 2nd No-Hitter Against Padres: San Francisco Giants hurler Tim Lincecum has thrown another no hitter against the San Diego Padres. He had six strikeouts and only one walk Wednesday in the 4-0 victory. The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner threw his first no-no against the Padres last July.

posted by rcade to baseball at 05:25 PM - 20 comments

A search for the original New England Patriots' fan: has a strange and surprising twist to it. The calls are coming from inside the house!

posted by yerfatma to football at 03:01 PM - 1 comment

Broken Aereo: The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that Aereo, a service that lets users watch broadcast television on Internet-connected devices with dime-sized digital antennas, is effectively stealing content from the media companies.

posted by Bonkers to general at 11:10 AM - 3 comments

The 10th Annual chicobangs Memorial SpoFi CFL Pick 'Em: That's right, it's a big round numberversary! This will have been the tenth time we all decide to while away our Junes and Julys with the pickings of games football du Canada. It's three downs, 110 yards, and all the players whose names you learned last year have already been cut, but otherwise you have no excuse not to jump in and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 09:35 AM - 19 comments

June 24, 2014

Luis Suarez Bites Opponent at World Cup: Uruguay striker Luis Suarez bit Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during their World Cup match Tuesday, the third time in his career he's clamped down his massive choppers on an opponent during a match. A minute after the incident, Uruguay's Diego Godin headed a corner kick into the net for a 1-0 victory, sending his team into the round of 16 and knocking out Italy.

posted by rcade to soccer at 03:00 PM - 38 comments

LeBron Taking His Talents Out of South Beach: LeBron James will exercise his early termination option and become an unrestricted free agent, his agent Richie Paul has informed the Miami Heat. He was scheduled to make $20 million next season. In James' four seasons with the team, the Heat went to four straight NBA Finals and won two championships.

posted by Mr Bismarck to basketball at 09:46 AM - 18 comments

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

June 23, 2014

Preseason Fantasy Football League, Anyone?: This is an insane idea, but I'm floating it now to determine interest before I start writing any code. I'd like to run a preseason fantasy football league on SportsFilter, but I need at least 10 NFL-starved degenerates who can commit to playing by the Hall of Fame game on Aug. 3. It would likely be a common pool league where players get a budget and assemble a team. Rules and scoring suggestions are welcome. If you're not watching until the bitter end of preseason games to see if the fourth-string Jacksonville quarterback completed a touchdown pass to an undrafted Atlanta wideout, I will have failed.

posted by rcade to fantasy at 03:40 PM - 5 comments

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

June 22, 2014

Portugal Ties U.S. in Final Seconds of Match: The U.S. men's national team was less than a minute from clinching a place in the round of 16 in the World Cup when Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo made a perfect crossing pass to Varela, who headed it past keeper Tim Howard for a 2-2 draw. Jermaine Jones and Clint Dempsey scored goals for the U.S. following an early Nani goal for Portugal.

posted by rcade to soccer at 09:09 PM - 7 comments

Baylor Center and NBA prospect Isaiah Austin has been diagnosed with a career-ending genetic disorder.: Austin has been diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome, meaning the connective tissues in his body are weakened and he likely has an enlarged aorta. Austin, a 7'1" Center also has a detached retina in his right eye. He was pegged as a late first/early second round draft pick and would have been the first partially-blind NBA player.

posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 04:43 PM - 3 comments

Alex Torres First Pitcher to Wear Protective Cap: San Diego Padres reliever Alex Torres became the first pitcher in Major League Baseball to wear the new protective padded cap in a game. The league has been testing different protection since Oakland A's pitcher Brandon McCarthy was struck by a line drive and suffered life-threatening brain injuries 17 months ago. The look inspired comparisons to Dark Helmet and Super Mario on Twitter, but Torres said, "It doesn't feel like how it looks on my head."

posted by rcade to baseball at 10:50 AM - 6 comments

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

June 21, 2014

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

June 20, 2014

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

Luis Suarez Pushes England to Brink of World Cup Elimination: Wayne Rooney's first ever World Cup goal drew England and Uruguay level at 1-1 in the 75th minute but Premiership top scorer Luis Suarez scored the winner 10 minutes later for a 2-1 win Thursday night. To survive the group stage, England now needs to beat Costa Rica by 2 goals and Italy to beat Costa Rica and Uruguay.

posted by rcade to soccer at 12:51 AM - 19 comments

June 19, 2014

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

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

June 18, 2014

New Zealand Wins Nude Rugby Match Over England: "The country's premiere naked rugby team beat a spirited English challenge yesterday afternoon in their pre-test match curtain-raiser. ... The Nude Blacks are used to dominating their encounters, having lost only one of their 13 games in the south. But some hard play by the English kept the game tight ..." Photo gallery.

posted by rcade to other at 10:51 PM - 2 comments

Spain Eliminated from World Cup After Just 2 Games: Spain followed its 5-1 thrashing by The Netherlands with a 2-0 loss to Chile Wednesday, ending its defense of the World Cup crown it won in 2010 after just two games. Chile's Eduardo Vargas poked a close-range shot past Spain keeper Iker Casillas and Charles Aranguiz doubled the lead by hitting an ill-advised Casillas punch off a free kick into the net. Chile, which entered the tournament with the daunting task of being grouped with both World Cup finalists of four years ago, advances out of the group with The Netherlands.

posted by rcade to soccer at 09:31 PM - 1 comment

USPTO Cancels Redskins Trademarks: The United States Patent and Trademark Office has canceled the Washington Redskins trademark registration, calling the football team's name "disparaging to Native Americans." Federal trademark law does not permit registration of trademarks that "may disparage" individuals or groups or "bring them into contempt or disrepute." The landmark case, which appeared before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, was filed on behalf of five Native Americans.

posted by rcade to football at 10:44 AM - 22 comments

World Cup Confidence Pool Leader: After every World Cup team has played once and Brazil and Mexico twice, MrFrisby leads the confidence pool over tron7, myself and wduchene. Cl trails all others superlatively in the race for the coveted Constanza.

posted by rcade to soccer at 10:28 AM - 9 comments

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

June 17, 2014

Keeper Guillermo Ochoa Saves Mexico's Tocino: Mexico keeper Guillermo Ochoa made several spectacular saves to keep Brazil scoreless in a 0-0 draw in a World Cup match Tuesday. This puts Mexico in a great position to advance after two games. Both Mexico and Brazil have 4 points in Group A while Cameron and Croatia play tomorrow seeking their first points of the tournament. The 28-year-old keeper's heroics are well-timed. He's a free agent after his French side AC Ajaccio was relegated to Ligue 2 this past season.

posted by rcade to soccer at 07:09 PM - 12 comments

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

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

June 16, 2014

U.S. Defeats Ghana with Late Header by John Brooks: Clint Dempsey scored in the first 34 seconds and substitute John Brooks in the 86th minute as the United States men's soccer team defeated Ghana 2-1 in their World Cup opener in Brazil Monday night. Ghana dominated the second half after injuries to American striker Jozy Altidore and defender Matt Beisler, scoring an Andre Ayew goal in the 82nd minute. But on a corner by Graham Zusi set up by Fabian Johnson, Beisler's replacement John Brooks headed it past the Black Stars keeper. The U.S. and Germany are tied atop Group G after one game.

posted by rcade to soccer at 08:38 PM - 5 comments

MLB Hall-of-Famer Tony Gwynn has died at age 54.:
The 15-time all-star passed away from cancer. Known for his hitting (8-time NL batting champ), his greatest season (1994) was shortened by the player's strike.

He played 20 seasons with the Padres, and always had an OPS over 100+, and never struck out more than 40 times in a season.

posted by grum@work to baseball at 11:56 AM - 17 comments

The San Antonio Spurs beat the Miami Heat 4-1 to win the NBA championship.: Amidst all the drama (and great basketball) in the early rounds of the playoffs we were left with a repeat of 2013, Spurs versus the Heat. However, this year the results were markedly different as the Spurs dominated the last 3 games of the series in an unquestionable way. Kawhi Leonard is my new hero; a young man whose father was murdered 6 years ago and on Father's Day carried his team to a championship and won the MVP award. Oh, and he doesn't really want to talk to the press.

posted by jeremias to basketball at 10:48 AM - 9 comments

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

June 15, 2014

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

June 14, 2014

SportsFilter World Cup Confidence Pool Standings: The standings have been updated through last night's Chile/Australia game and all the entries in the contest are now visible. I'm still looking over the code for bugs, so double-check the math on your score.

posted by rcade to fantasy at 12:41 PM - 10 comments

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

June 13, 2014

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

June 12, 2014

The 2014 World Cup is Here: Twelve stadiums will host 64 football matches during the month long World Cup tournament in Brazil, which begins today. The Telegraph has prepared this Google Earth flyover of each stadium. Use this discussion for today's World Cup talk.

posted by rcade to soccer at 02:49 PM - 13 comments

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

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

June 11, 2014

Enter SportsFilter's World Cup 2014 Confidence Pool: We're running a confidence pool for the World Cup, a contest in which you give all 32 teams a point value from 32 to 1 and receive points each time they win or tie in the tournament. The first prize is an Adidas Brazuca Glider Soccer Ball.

posted by rcade to fantasy at 09:12 AM - 22 comments

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

June 10, 2014

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

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

June 09, 2014

Chicago Cubs Honor 100-Year-Old Lifetime Fan: The Chicago Cubs honored Louis Reinhart on Sunday. The centenarian lifelong Cubs fan -- described as "still too young to have seen the Cubs win a World Series" -- was born the year Wrigley Field opened.

posted by rcade to baseball at 01:11 PM - 0 comments

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

June 08, 2014

World Cup 2015 Fantasy League is ON!: Pick your team and join in the fun.

posted by billsaysthis to fantasy at 09:31 PM - 22 comments

Miguel Cotto Shows He's Better Than Ever in Dominant TKO Win vs. Sergio Martinez: Miguel Cotto was everything he could be Saturday night. He was fast. He was powerful. He was precise. He was dynamic.

posted by BornIcon to boxing at 09:10 AM - 0 comments

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

June 07, 2014

California Chrome Makes Triple Crown Bid: California Chrome could become the 12th Triple Crown champion with a win in the Belmont Stakes in New York at 6:52 p.m. Eastern Saturday evening. The last to achieve the fear was Affirmed in 1978, 36 years ago. Chrome will start one spot from the inside rail for the mile-and-a-half race -- the longest Triple Crown event. "I know it'll be tougher going a mile and a half, but this horse is a good horse. I think he's the real McCoy," said trainer Art Sherman.

posted by rcade to other at 10:28 AM - 8 comments

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 0 comments

June 06, 2014

UNC's McCants: 'Just show up, play': Former North Carolina guard Rashad McCants told ESPN that while he was in school he barely went to class, tutors wrote his term papers and that he took bogus classes in order to stay eligible.

posted by BornIcon to basketball at 08:58 AM - 2 comments

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

June 05, 2014

Kings Take Game 1 of Stanley Cup Finals: The Los Angeles Kings overcame a 2-0 deficit to come back and defeat the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime of the Stanley Cup Finals opener on Wednesday night. "The gulf between the two teams, razor thin in the first 40 minutes of a 2-2 game, seemed a mile wide when the Kings found their footing in the third period, outshooting the Rangers 20-3," reports Robert Tychkowski of Canoe Sports. "Big, tough, fast, skilled and they don't stop coming. Ever."

posted by rcade to hockey at 10:34 AM - 0 comments

Don Zimmer was truly a baseball man: Don Zimmer was married at home plate at Dunn Field in Elmira, N.Y., between games of a doubleheader on Aug. 16, 1951. What more do you need to know?

posted by BornIcon to baseball at 08:11 AM - 9 comments