SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

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

Christopher Hitchens: Sports Bring Out the Worst in Humanity: "Whether it's the exacerbation of national rivalries that you want -- as in Africa this year -- or the exhibition of the most depressing traits of the human personality (guns in locker rooms, golf clubs wielded in the home, dogs maimed and tortured at stars' homes to make them fight, dope and steroids everywhere), you need only look to the wide world of sports for the most rank and vivid examples," writes Christopher Hitchens. "As George Orwell wrote in his 1945 essay The Sporting Spirit, after yet another outbreak of combined mayhem and chauvinism on the international soccer field, "sport is an unfailing cause of ill-will."

posted by rcade to general at 05:54 PM - 15 comments

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

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

The New Orleans Saints win the Super Bowl: The New Orleans Saints have won Super Bowl XLIV. They beat the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 at Sun Life Stadium in South Florida. Saints quarterback Drew Brees was 32 of 39 for 288 yards and two touchdowns. But it was the big 75-yard interception return for a touchdown by cornerback Tracy Porter that sealed the deal.

posted by tommytrump to football at 09:54 PM - 75 comments

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

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

Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, 5 Others Join Hall of Fame: This year's NFL Hall of Fame inductees are Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, Dick LeBeau, Floyd Little, John Randle, Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith. Links go to local coverage from their hometown papers. Smith and Rice were in their first year of eligibility. Little and LeBeau were veterans' picks, and LeBeau went in as a player, not a coach. Kudos to MSNBC for finding a picture of Smith and Rice in Cardinals and Seahawks uniforms, respectively.

posted by rcade to football at 08:56 PM - 6 comments

The virtues of big-time college sports:: According to columnist David Brooks at the New York Times.

posted by cjets to general at 01:51 PM - 4 comments

Fourth down and freakonomics: A football is often referred to as a “pigskin,” though it’s been a long time since that term was accurate. Modern-day footballs are made from cow leather, made from the hides of slaughtered cattle. That got us wondering: What are the odds a given cow will make it to the Super Bowl?

posted by rumple to football at 12:14 PM - 0 comments

Crash kills Leafs GM Brian Burke's son: Brendan Burke, 21, who broke homophobic barriers in hockey, dies in accident in Indiana. ESPN's John Buccigross weighs in with a moving history of the young man with We love you, this won't change a thing.

posted by NoMich to culture at 10:53 AM - 11 comments

SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle

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

13-Year-Old Commits to USC: University of Southern California coach Lane Kiffin received a verbal commitment Thursday from 13-year old quarterback David Sills of Bear, Del. "His skill set is off the chart," said Steve Clarkson, who has been Sills' "personal coach" for three years and produced a video of his play. "I've never seen anyone at his age do what he's been able to do."

posted by rcade to football at 05:10 PM - 10 comments

QMJHL suspends Marco Scandella indefinitely : For the second time in less than 3 weeks, the QMJHL has suspended one of its players indefinitely for elbowing an opponent in the head. And for the 2nd time, the incident involves a member of Team Canada’s silver-medal-winning 2010 world junior team. Val d’Or Foreurs defenceman Marco Scandella has been suspended pending a disciplinary investigation into an elbow he dished out against Rimouski Océanic forward Alexandre Durette during the first period of a game Wednesday night. The impact reportedly shattered Durette’s protective visor and left him with a concussion and deep cuts to his face. Video: Marco Scandella strikes Alexandre Durette in the face with his elbow

posted by tommytrump to hockey at 02:19 PM - 0 comments

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle

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

Devils add Kovalchuk: New Jersey added a little bit of firepower for the playoffs, adding the NHL's leading goal scorer over the last 9 years.

posted by tahoemoj to hockey at 08:52 PM - 13 comments

38 Years of Super Bowl Commercials: The "world's largest archive of superbowl [sic] commercials." In some years all the regional ads are included as well, but "banned ads" that claim to have been rejected from the Super Bowl are not. The site has 38 out of the 44 super bowl years. [via MetaChat]

posted by terrapin to football at 08:04 AM - 17 comments

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

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

Who Dat who say Who Dat when I say Who Dat?: Come on sports fans. Where is this going to end? Is the NFL going to claim Yay as their intellectual property too? Is any word or phrase once remotely associated with professional football be at risk?

posted by irunfromclones to football at 07:20 PM - 14 comments

Affair Split Up US Men's Team Before '98 World Cup: Former U.S. soccer coach Steve Sampson said Tuesday -- for the first time ever -- that when he dropped team captain John Harkes from the U.S. men's national team right before the World Cup in 1998, it was because Harkes had an affair with the wife of teammate Eric Wynalda. The US went on to finish dead last in the 32-team field. "There are just certain lines that one cannot cross," Sampson said. The incident was dredged up by new reports that England captain John Terry had an extramarital affair with a teammate's ex.

posted by rcade to soccer at 03:49 PM - 15 comments

Photos of Super Bowl Venues: from Time.

posted by terrapin to football at 10:33 AM - 2 comments

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

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

The Path Less Traveled: Six years ago, no major college team wanted Pierre Garcon because he’d given them no reason to want him. Sunday he plays for the Super Bowl.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia to football at 11:05 PM - 17 comments

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

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

College coaches, players, parents clash: Tywanna Patterson watched her son, Patrick, get lambasted by former Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie during a game at Rupp Arena last season, the outspoken mother felt compelled to send a message to her only child. “Don’t let [Gillispie] yell at you like that,” said Tywanna, screaming as she rose from her seat. “You yell at him. He’s the one who’s messing up.”

posted by irunfromclones to culture at 02:13 PM - 19 comments

League announces 2000s NFL All-Decade Team: This decade's 53-player team is comprised of two quarterbacks, four running backs, one fullback, four wide receivers, two tight ends, four offensive tackles, four guards, two centers, four defensive tackles, four defensive ends, six linebackers, four cornerbacks, four safeties, two kickers, two punters, two kick returners and two punt returners. Current New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and retired Colts coach Tony Dungy also were chosen for the team.

posted by bender to football at 12:14 PM - 11 comments

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 34 comments

Negro Leagues museum threatened : The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, a unique window into a vital chapter of American history that the late Buck O'Neil helped open 20 years ago, could be in trouble. Attendance and revenues are down, and a decision by new management to distance itself from O'Neil has splintered many of its most loyal supporters. What's more, the recession has cut deeply into donations. After posting its first loss two years ago of about US$30,000, the museum is looking at what one staffer termed “a monster loss” that could approach a quarter of a million dollars when the final accounting for 2009 is complete.

posted by tommytrump to culture at 07:24 PM - 13 comments

More people watched last year's Champions League final than last year's Super Bowl: The Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United last May drew an audience of 109 million. February's Super Bowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals attracted three million less. Formula 1's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was in third place with an average of 54 million.

posted by JButton to football at 06:31 PM - 11 comments

Calgary Flames deal Dion Phaneuf to Leafs : The Toronto Maple Leafs pulled off a seven-player trade with the Calgary Flames. Toronto landed star defenceman Dion Phaneuf. The Leafs sent forwards Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman and Jamal Mayers and defenceman Ian White to the Flames for Phaneuf, forward Fredrik Sjostrom and defenceman Keith Aulie. Leaf G.M. Brian Burke said he hopes to announce a second trade shortly. Also, he said his salary-cap situation will be "manageable" if the second deal goes through. The Leafs are near the NHL cap of $56.8-million. "Right now it's like a new pair of underwear, it's uncomfortably tight."

In the Toronto Maple Leafs second (but not sloppy) trade of the day, they have aquired Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the Anaheim Ducks' all-time winningest goalie . The Ducks will receive goalie Vesa Toskala and winger Jason Blake in return.

posted by tommytrump to hockey at 12:43 PM - 14 comments

Star Search: The Tulsa World takes a look at geographical recruiting trends among FBS programs. Infographical geo-porn ahoy.

posted by Ufez Jones to football at 11:19 AM - 5 comments

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

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

BCS under scrutiny from Capitol Hill: The Obama administration is considering several steps that would review the legality of the controversial Bowl Championship Series, the Justice Department said in a letter Friday to a senator who had asked for an antitrust review.

posted by FonGu to football at 07:36 AM - 18 comments

SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle

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

Kurt Warner Announces Retirement: Less than two weeks after the Arizona Cardinals' season-ending playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints, Kurt Warner announced his retirement from football with a year left on a $23 million, two-year contract. Warner, now 38, only started his first NFL game 10 years ago -- leaving behind a fruitful career as a grocery store stocker in Iowa. He finishes with 32,344 yards passing, 208 touchdowns, the second-most 300-yard passing games and a victory over the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl 0x22.

posted by rcade to football at 04:29 PM - 26 comments

Former Terrapin Men's Basketball Coach Millikan Dies: Before the success of Gary Williams, and the shame of Lefty Driesell, there was Bud Millikan. RIP.

posted by terrapin to basketball at 09:25 AM - 4 comments

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle

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

LeBron James Called for Suspiciously Low Number of Fouls: LeBron James is averaging 1.8 fouls per game, significantly lower than the 2.7 of the other scorers in the NBA's top 10 in that category and unbelievably low for a player who guards big men inside. Blogger Zachariah Blott does the math: "The likelihood of LeBron's foul counts occurring with his minutes is less than one in a million. ... The numbers all come out so ridiculous, it's undeniable that either a) we're witnessing a defensive talent more capable than Bill Russell, or b) the NBA/referees are blatantly protecting him."

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:33 PM - 18 comments

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

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

Arenas, Crittenton suspended for rest of season: The NBA takes a Stern stand on throwdowns in the workplace.

posted by irunfromclones to basketball at 05:01 PM - 28 comments

Weir-d?: US Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir has been taking some heat about his inclusion of fox fur on his most recent costume. Both PETA and Friends of Animals have criticized the skater and his designer for the use of the fur. The FoA sent this open letter to Weir. His response: "Every skater is wearing skates made out of cow. Maybe I'm wearing a cute little fox while everyone else is wearing cow, but we're all still wearing animals."

posted by BoKnows to olympics at 04:00 PM - 14 comments

Bode Knows....Tennis?: After the Olympics, world champion skier Bode Miller plans on scaling a different kind of mountain: He wants to try and play in the U.S. Open tennis tournament.

posted by BoKnows to tennis at 01:00 PM - 11 comments