Archives for August 2016

August 31, 2016

CFL Pick 'Em, Week Eleven: Happy Labour Day! Dr. J is on vacation, but that doesn't mean the Pick' Em sleeps. Sleep is for the weak. Grab a long-weekend coffee for the drive home from the cottage and make your picks inside.

posted by Reever to fantasy at 04:27 PM - 17 comments

Teddy Bridgewater Tears ACL, Will Miss Season: Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered a dislocated knee and a torn ACL when he went down during a non-contact drill at practice Tuesday, ending his 2016 season. Bridgewater dropped back to pass during a drill, planted his foot and immediately went down. The 23-year-old quarterback led the Vikings to a division championship last season. His backup is Shaun Hill, 36. Before this injury the Vikings were a popular choice of gamblers to win the Super Bowl, with odds trailing only the Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots.

posted by rcade to football at 10:25 AM - 6 comments

August 30, 2016

August 29, 2016

Raiders Stadium Backers To Las Vegas: Give Us $750 Million, Or Else: ... Rich old baby Mark Davis, truly evil plutocrat Sheldon Adelson, and Las Vegas’s scummy sheen have all combined to create one of the most abhorrent cast of characters we’ve ever seen attached to a stadium financing project. If anyone can finally convince American sports fans and politicians that publicly funded stadiums are a massive scam, it’s these goons.

posted by NoMich to football at 05:55 PM - 5 comments

August 28, 2016

Hope Solo takes leave of absence: Hope Solo, who was suspended from the U.S. Women's National Team after the Olympics, has been granted a leave of absence from the NWSL's Seattle Reign.

posted by jjzucal to soccer at 07:55 PM - 5 comments

August 27, 2016

August 26, 2016

August 25, 2016

How Football Transfers Work: Player amortisation, agents' fees and broken fax machines explained.

posted by owlhouse to soccer at 04:17 AM - 1 comment

August 24, 2016

August 23, 2016

August 22, 2016

The Great Sports Myth: the widespread assumption that sport is, inherently, a force of good—despite the fact that it can both empower and humiliate, build bonds and destroy them, blur boundaries and marginalize.

posted by rumple to culture at 06:07 PM - 2 comments

August 21, 2016

CFL Pick 'Em, Week Ten: Every game was a blowout last week, which is no fun. Well, I guess it's fun for the winning team. And their fans. But won't someone spare a thought for the poor Pick 'Em players? Shed a single tear and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 11:03 PM - 16 comments

August 20, 2016

August 19, 2016

Fantasy Premier League Week 2 Begins Today: Week 2 of the Premier League begins today at 3:30 p.m. ET when Manchester United plays Southampton. BillsaysthisScores leads our fantasy league followed by FC Outlaw and The Zlatanic Verses. This week's biggest pickups are Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho, Middlesborough forward Alvaro Negredo and Swansea defender Stephen Kingsley.

posted by rcade to soccer at 11:12 AM - 1 comment

August 18, 2016

August 17, 2016

CFL Pick 'Em, Week Nine: It's the dog days of August. That means it's hot (yes, even in Winnipeg) and everybody is injured. Even me. Ow! Book your physio and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 10:41 PM - 14 comments

LeBron James Wants to Own an NBA Team: LeBron James said in a podcast he hopes to buy an NBA team in the future. He said, "My dream is to actually own a team. I don't need to (be) fully hands on. If I'm fortunate enough to own a team, then I'll going to hire the best GM and president that I can. But I feel like I got a good eye for not only talent, because we all see a lot of talent, but the things that make the talent." With career earnings exceeding $1.3 billion so far, it's a viable goal.

posted by rcade to basketball at 12:29 PM - 7 comments

August 16, 2016

August 15, 2016

Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky in the Same Relay? It Could Happen.: What if there were one last event, a mixed-gender medley that teamed the nation’s winningest women with its most-medalled men.

posted by bender to olympics at 12:57 PM - 3 comments

August 14, 2016

August 13, 2016

August 12, 2016

Hope Solo Calls Sweden 'Cowards' After U.S. Loses Quarterfinal: U.S. women's national team goalkeeper Hope Solo added to her controversial Olympics reputation by calling Sweden "a bunch of cowards" for the strategy they employed in defeating in a 1-1 draw settled by 4-3 penalty kicks. "Sweden dropped off. They didn't want to open play. ... They dropped into a 50. ... I think it was very cowardly. But they won. They're moving on, and we're going home."

posted by rcade to soccer at 06:46 PM - 10 comments

Join SportsFilter's Fantasy Premier League: The Premier League season begins Saturday morning, which means it's time to build your squad for our Fantasy Premier League. Use the link to join (the code is 1607479-394225). Returning teams may be entered automatically. Last year's champion Red Loop has already returned with the Scufflin Hillbillies. The first decision we all must make: to Zlatan or not to Zlatan.

posted by rcade to soccer at 01:27 PM - 5 comments

August 11, 2016

WGN Anchor Goes on Epic Rant About Rules for Covering Olympics: Fed up with the restrictions on video and logo usage imposed by NBC Universal on other TV networks and stations, WGN sports anchor Pat Tomasulo had an entertaining Howard Beale meltdown. "I'm not even going to report on the Olympics, I'm going to report on that other event that's going on -- the international athletic competition run by one of the most corrupt organizations in the world," he says.

posted by rcade to olympics at 01:26 PM - 4 comments

August 10, 2016

Longtime ESPN Broadcaster John Saunders Dies: John Saunders, a familiar face on ESPN for three decades who hosted SportsCenter, The Sports Reporters and coverage of college football and basketball, has died at age 61. No cause of death is given. Saunders had a book coming out with John Bacon next spring, Playing Hurt, whose blurb states that he "confesses his constant battle with depression and how it nearly cost him his life."

posted by rcade to general at 12:36 PM - 9 comments

Prince Fielder's Baseball Career is Probably Over: After a second neck surgery, Prince Fielder is likely out of baseball at age 32. He would finish with 319 home runs, the same as his father Cecil who was done at age 34. Prince was an iron man before Texas, averaging 157 games a year from 2006 to 2013. But after Texas acquired him for Ian Kinsler and $30 million, he's played one full season in three. He's still owed $24 million a year through 2020. The Rangers will pay $9 million a year, the Tigers $6 million and the Rangers' insurer $9 million.

posted by rcade to baseball at 11:23 AM - 3 comments

August 09, 2016

Tim Tebow Wants to Play Baseball: Tim Tebow has been training for a year to play professional baseball. He'll invite all 30 Major League Baseball teams to a tryout later this month. He last played the sport as a junior at Nease High School in 2005, hitting .494 on a team that reached the state semifinals.

posted by rcade to baseball at 08:55 AM - 19 comments

August 08, 2016

CFL Pick 'Em, Week Eight: Back on schedule! We've fired our accounting team, invested in a shiny new solar-powered calculator, and can confidently say that rcade's official point total is... 5318008? That doesn't sound right. Check your arithmetic and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 05:23 PM - 14 comments

August 07, 2016

Alex Rodriguez to retire from baseball: Inarguably the greatest shortstop to ever play the game, and certainly one of the greatest hitters in history, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees has formally announced the intention to retire next Friday, and move into a position as special advisor and instructor for New York.

While the terms of the agreement with the Yankees does allow him to pursue a position on other major league teams, his dramatic loss of skill this year makes it likely he'll have played his last game some time this week, ending an often contentious, rarely popular (with fans or media), but undeniably successful on-field career. Barring an unexpected homerun barrage in the next few days, or a stint with another team next season, he'll finish just shy of the 700 HR mark and the fourth highest total of all time.

posted by hincandenza to baseball at 10:37 PM - 2 comments

Ichiro finally reaches 3,000 major league hits: Fittingly for one of the game's most unique hitters, the slap-hitting wizard got his 3,000th hit as a triple (video) off the right field wall in the 7th inning of the Miami-Colorado game, capping an illustrious major league career.

Or possibly not "capping": while not the same electric All-Star hitter he was in those first 10 years after breaking in as a much-hyped 27-year-old rookie for Seattle in 2001- when he racked up 10 straight 200-hit seasons including the single-season record of 262- he is still a productive player this year, hitting .318 (110 OPS+) in limited playing time with Miami. Seemingly ageless, he has even said he'd like to play until he is 50, which for a player of his style and rigorous fitness regimen isn't beyond the realm of possibility, potentially adding to his already gaudy career statistics and delaying what is almost certain to be a first-ballot HoF induction.

posted by hincandenza to baseball at 10:15 PM - 3 comments

Jim Furyk Scores First 58 in PGA History: Golfer Jim Furyk of Ponte Vedra, Florida, has turned in the lowest single-round score in the history of the PGA Tour. He shot a 12-under 58 Sunday in the final round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. Six golfers had a 59 previously, including Furyk. No one had ever written "58" on his card at the end of a round. Asked how it feels to score 58, Furyk replied, "One worse than 57."

posted by rcade to golf at 04:17 PM - 4 comments

August 06, 2016

August 05, 2016

August 04, 2016

FINA - as bad as FIFA? : The murky waters of international swimming.

posted by owlhouse to olympics at 06:05 AM - 1 comment

August 03, 2016

The Bennett Brothers vs. Everyone: MICHAEL AND MARTELLUS Bennett tend to perplex people. This becomes clear when we stop for lunch at a West Hollywood café, the kind of crunchy, actressy place that serves food on wooden boards. The brothers split up as soon as they walk in. Michael circles a display of expensive sweets ("I don't eat American chocolate," he sniffs), and Martellus hovers near the entrance, offering health and safety advice to customers as they leave the restaurant. "Wrap it up," he counsels a man walking out the door. The guy stares at him, trying to deduce why a stranger is telling him to wear a condom.

posted by BornIcon to football at 12:43 PM - 1 comment

August 02, 2016

CFL Pick 'Em, Week Seven: A partial post this week: the standings will be up later in the week, but games start Wednesday, so I figured I'd better get this up sooner rather than later. Mind the gap and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 03:30 PM - 16 comments

August 01, 2016