Archives for July 2012

July 31, 2012

Big deals at the deadline; help or hurt?: Here is a team-by-team sampling of the in-season trades that had an effect on that year's pennant race. This year's deadline was about 15 minutes ago. Who did well, who did poorly, and who did nothing? I disagree with at least one of the author's selections, but I'll add that as a comment later.

posted by Howard_T to baseball at 04:14 PM - 18 comments

CFL Pick 'Em, Week 6: One-point victories on the field make wins exciting but pick 'em movement hard. It's bye week time, so make half of your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 03:55 PM - 9 comments

Jerry Jones: 'I Want Me Some Glory Hole': Lamenting the lack of success the Dallas Cowboys have experienced, owner Jerry Jones told reporters at the team's introductory press conference this week, "I've been here when it was glory hole days and when it wasn't. I want me some glory hole!"

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

Chinese Swimmer's Amazing Time Raises Questions: Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen, 16, won the gold in the women's 400-meter individual medley, finishing the last 50 meters in 28.93 seconds. That speed was faster than men's gold medalist Ryan Lochte's 29.10 seconds in the same span, prompting BBC presenter Claire Balding to ask former British Olympian Mark Foste, "How many questions will there be, Mark, about somebody who can suddenly swim so much faster than she has ever swum before?"

posted by rcade to olympics at 12:19 PM - 23 comments

July 30, 2012

Twitter Suspends Journalist Critical of NBC: The British journalist Guy Adams, a Los Angeles-based correspondent for The Independent, had his Twitter account suspended after he posted a series of scathing messages about NBC's Olympics coverage and encouraged his followers to email network Olympics executive Gary Zenkel. An NBC spokesperson said, "We filed a complaint with Twitter because a user tweeted the personal information of one of our executives." Adams posted Zenkel's corporate email address.

posted by rcade to Olympics at 05:21 PM - 10 comments

July 29, 2012

July 28, 2012

Steelers' Minority Owner Interested in Buying into Browns: The Cleveland Browns have spent much of their recent history likely feeling as if they have been owned by the Steelers ... Now, they might be bought by a member of the Steelers ownership group who is a self-described ardent Steelers fan.

posted by scully to football at 10:13 AM - 3 comments

July 27, 2012

For the Glory of Your Country, er, Countries: Some of the Olympic athletes competing in these Games became citizens of their country as recently as 10 days ago. "Citizenship, an institution steeped in notions of equality, identity, loyalty, perhaps even sacrifice, is being turned into a recruitment tool used to bolster a nation’s standing relative to its competitors," writes Ayelet Shachar, one of six people debating the subject on the New York Times website. Triple jumper Yamile Aldama is competing in her third Olympics for her third country. She was Cuban in 2000, Sudanese in 2004 and is British today.

posted by rcade to olympics at 07:14 PM - 13 comments

July 26, 2012

Slave Genes Myth Must Die: Olympic Champion sprinter Michael Johnson says, All my life I believed I became an athlete through my own determination, but it’s impossible to think that being descended from slaves hasn’t left an imprint through the generations. . . . Difficult as it was to hear, slavery has benefited descendants like me –- I believe there is a superior athletic gene in us.

posted by rumple to olympics at 03:26 PM - 20 comments

July 25, 2012

Cal Ripken's Mother Abducted at Gunpoint: Violet Ripken, the 74-year-old mother of baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., is home safe after being abducted at gunpoint from her Harford County, Md., home and held for nearly 24 hours. The kidnapper drove her around central Maryland and she was found unharmed and alone in her vehicle at 6:15 a.m. Wednesday.

posted by rcade to baseball at 03:02 PM - 4 comments

Olympic Sexism: Men Fly First Class, Women Fly Coach:
The Japanese women’s soccer team and the Australian women’s soccer and basketball teams were relegated to economy while their male counterparts flew business class. This is despite the fact that the women’s teams are ranked higher and have played better in the past.

posted by grum@work to olympics at 11:40 AM - 6 comments

Athlete Dropped from Olympics for Twitter Joke: Greek triple jumper Voula Papachristo has been expelled from the Olympics for using Twitter to support a far-right party and make this comment Sunday: "So many Africans in #Greece at least West Nile mosquitoes will eat homemade food." Though she apologized for what she called a joke, her country's Olympic federation gave her the heave-ho and said she "placed outside the Olympic team for statements contrary to the values and ideas of the Olympic movement."

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

July 24, 2012

Rangers Starter Colby Lewis Done for Season: Texas Rangers starting pitcher Colby Lewis will have surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his right elbow, ending his 2012 season. Lewis is 6-6 with a 3.43 ERA in 16 starts this season and has been a strong postseason contributor for Texas at 4-1 with a 2.34 ERA in eight starts.

posted by rcade to baseball at 01:21 PM - 4 comments

CFL Pick 'Em, Week 5: Welcome to the age of parity. Division titles are up for grabs, and we have our third pick 'em leader in four weeks. Be a part of the insanity and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 11:22 AM - 16 comments

July 23, 2012

Ichiro is now a Yankee.: Traded for right-handers D.J. Mitchell and Danny Farquhar to the Mariners.
Huh.

posted by grum@work to baseball at 07:11 PM - 18 comments

Everton's Tim Cahill Joins Red Bulls: Australian midfielder Tim Cahill, 32, is moving to the New York Red Bulls after eight years at Everton in the Premiership and seven years prior to that at Millwall. He has 108 club goals and 24 for the Australian national team.

posted by rcade to soccer at 06:35 PM - 3 comments

Penn State Fined $60 Million, Paterno Wins Vacated Since 1998: For its attempts to cover up a serial child molester in its coaching ranks, the NCAA has hit Penn State with a $60 million sanction, a four-year football postseason ban, four-year loss of 10 scholarships, and the removal of all wins dating to 1998, taking away the late coach Joe Paterno's status as the winningest coach in college football's highest level.

posted by rcade to football at 09:16 AM - 76 comments

July 22, 2012

Ernie Els Rallies to Win British Open as Adam Scott Collapses: Adam Scott was four shots ahead with four holes to play but bogeyed them all allowing Ernie Els to claim the championship. Tiger Woods shot a triple-bogey on the sixth hole and finished at 3 under.

posted by justgary to golf at 03:36 PM - 3 comments

Olympic Anthem + Electric Guitar: 5 more days... Until then, a young rock guitarist riffs on the anthem.

posted by jacknose to olympics at 03:24 PM - 2 comments

Penn State Removes Paterno Statue Ahead of 'Unprecedented' Punishment: Penn State removed the 900-pound bronze statue of Joe Paterno from outside the campus stadium this weekend ahead of "unprecedented" punishment due to be announced Monday against the school by the NCAA. "I believe that, were it to remain, the statue will be a recurring wound to the multitude of individuals across the nation and beyond who have been the victims of child abuse," said Penn State president Rodney Erickson.

posted by grum@work to general at 10:37 AM - 23 comments

July 21, 2012

Don Larsen Takes Back Perfect Game Uniform from Museum: Don Larsen is auctioning the New York Yankees uniform he wore during his 1956 World Series perfect game, even though he gave it to the San Diego Museum of Champions 48 years ago and the institution thought it was a gift. "I felt I wanted to do something with it," said Larsen, 82. "I'm not getting any younger." Other museums have dealt with take-backs on valuable items decades later. Larsen, who never made more than $20,000 a year in his career, could make up to a million from this sale.

posted by rcade to baseball at 06:08 PM - 3 comments

July 20, 2012

Sports Journalist Dies in Aurora Shooting: Jessica Redfield, an aspiring sports broadcaster in Denver, died in Friday's movie theater shooting rampage in Aurora, Colo, after narrowly escaping a June mass shooting at a Toronto shopping center. Redfield's last tweet to a friend at Sporting News: "Movie doesn't start for 20 minutes." On her personal blog, in her last entry she recounted her narrow escape, "It's hard for me to wrap my mind around how a weird feeling saved me from being in the middle of a deadly shooting."

posted by rcade to general at 11:35 AM - 4 comments

July 19, 2012

SLYT: helluva dunk: I saw this, and I thought you should see it (etc.)

posted by nthdegx to basketball at 06:54 PM - 5 comments

July 18, 2012

Tour de France Sabotaged by Tacks: Around 30 competitors in the main pack of the Tour de France got flat tires and one rider crashed Sunday after someone spread tacks on the road. Astana rider Robert Kiserlovski broke his collarbone and has dropped out of the race. "There's nothing stopping more of that sort of stuff happening," said leader Bradley Wiggins. "It's sad."

posted by rcade to other at 11:13 AM - 2 comments

NCAA President: Death Penalty Possible for Penn State: In an NPR interview Monday, NCAA president Mark Emmert would not rule out shutting down the Penn State football program because of the way allegations of sexual abuse by former coach Jerry Sandusky were covered up. Emmert said he had "never seen anything as egregious as this in terms of just overall conduct and behavior inside a university." The so-called death penalty was last assessed on a major athletic program against SMU in 1987. Mark Jones, the NCAA's former managing director of enforcement, said the case could bring major changes to how the NCAA polices schools. He asked, "When do you step in and when do you not step in, and do you always have to step in, now that you've potentially stepped in here?"

posted by rcade to football at 09:58 AM - 34 comments

July 17, 2012

Knicks Won't Match Offer for Jeremy Lin: The New York Knicks confirmed Tuesday evening they would not match the Houston Rockets' three-year, $25 million offer to Jeremy Lin. Earlier, two team sources told Stephen A. Smith that they wouldn't, and the Knicks store was suddenly missing all Jeremy Lin items. The sporting goods chain Modell's has 40,000 Lin items in stock. Mitch Modell said, "If Jeremy Lin leaves the Knicks, the discounted prices we will have will be Li-". No, I just can't do it.

posted by rcade to basketball at 01:16 PM - 8 comments

July 16, 2012

CFL Pick 'Em, Week 4: Drama on the field results in another serious shuffling in our little standings. Are you the one with the nailed spread or the one with the goose egg? Find out while you're making your picks inside. And please note that this week's games start extra early, with a Wacky Wednesday game in Toronto!

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 04:59 PM - 13 comments

July 15, 2012

New Knick Jason Kidd Arrested for DWI: Just days after he signed with the New York Knicks, Jason Kidd crashed his SUV into a telephone pole in the Hamptons at 2 a.m. Sunday and has been arraigned on misdemeanor DWI charges. Kidd, 39, was the only person in the car and suffered minor injuries in the one-car accident. The gossip site TMZ is running a photo of Kidd taken at a club that night and claims, "Multiple witness tell TMZ that Kidd appeared 'incredibly drunk' ... after being carried out by a few friends, Kidd got in his car to drive off ... despite protests from his friends."

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:39 PM - 18 comments

July 14, 2012

Paterno's Secret $3.3 Million Parachute: In January 2011 Penn State head coach Joe Paterno testified to a grand jury about Jerry Sandusky. That same month he began secretly negotiating a special $3 million payout, forgiveness of $350,000 in loans and other perks if 2011 was his last season as coach. His contract didn't expire until the end of 2012 and the school wasn't seeking his ouster, making the logic of the deal curious. University president Graham Spanier agreed to the golden parachute contract with Paterno in August without telling the board of trustees. Deadspin characterizes the deal this way: "A powerful icon ... held an entire University hostage."

posted by rcade to football at 11:11 AM - 65 comments

On racism in football:  

posted by yerfatma to soccer at 09:14 AM - 2 comments

July 13, 2012

Fantasy football in the age of CTE: So, here's the deal: for the past five years, I've run my (small) company's fantasy football league. It's become something of an office institution, with two annual trophies (the championship trophy and the Toilet Bowl) that get passed on to each season's champions, with a new plaque with their names. We have a lot of fun with it. I'm just not so sure that I can continue to have fun, given what we're learning about CTE.

I'm not interested in getting into a debate about whether CTE caused Junior Seau to kill himself, or about whether his career as a football player caused the CTE. It's enough for me to know that former professional football players seem to be showing up with a lot of CTE, and that CTE's effects are profoundly crippling (not to mention the other ailments that ex-NFLers are prone to). It's enough for me to know that this happens and that the NFL is soft-pedaling it, when (as I see it) the only ethical course of action would be to pursue it as aggressively and discuss it as fully and publicly as possible. I can't make the NFL do the right thing, but I can refuse to give my support to them as they do the wrong thing. Withdrawal of fan support over this issue is the only thing that will cause the NFL to take it seriously.

Accordingly, I'm thinking about resigning my commissionership this year, and announcing my reasons why to my league. I'll hand it over to anyone who wants to run it, but to be honest, I think that once I speak up about it, no one is going to feel ok going ahead with it. I don't want to be the Ruiner of Fun, but I don't feel ok just starting up the league as if nothing is wrong.

One alternative that has occurred to me is to charge would-be players $20 to join the league, and donate the money to an organization such as PAST (see the link) that unlike the NFL, is actually doing something about CTE. I don't know much about PAST, though (like whether they're actually doing any good). I also don't know if there are other organizations that are either helping former athletes directly, or working on the NFL to change policies. So, this was all a rather long-winded way of asking: does anybody out there know more about organizations that are doing something to address the issue of CTE and other health problems in ex-NFL players?

Thanks,

posted by lil_brown_bat to fantasy at 10:26 PM - 5 comments

New York Cosmos Will Join NASL: The New York Cosmos are joining the North American Soccer League (NASL), the second-tier of U.S. pro soccer, in the hopes of one day reaching the MLS. The original Cosmos management spent $10 million, generated some hype and got Pelé‚ and Eric Cantona attached to the effort, but this line from Grant Wahl shows how that all worked out: "An actual team with real players is coming."

posted by rcade to soccer at 09:26 PM - 2 comments

July 12, 2012

New Jersey Devils' Cam Janssen telling us how he really feels NSFW: On his Devils losing to the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup finals: Host: "The first time I did a fat chick, a buddy picked me up from a party and I was hung over and he goes, 'Do you realize what you just did?' ... I would imagine it's something like that. It's like you had a chance, and then it's like ..."Janssen: "Damn fat broads, man." Host: "So the L.A. Kings are the fat broads?"Janssen: "They are. They're the fat broads that you regret bangin', and I've been there and done that." ... Janssen: "There's some shit-talkin' that goes down that pisses some people off. There's a lot of personal shit, man, like, guys know personal shit. ... You wanna get in people's heads to get them off their fuckin' game and don't get me wrong, you don't wanna go too deep with shit because we all have our issues here. Let's be honest."

posted by tommytrump to hockey at 09:06 PM - 5 comments

Paterno, Penn State Officials Knew About Sandusky in 1998: Coach Joe Paterno and other Penn State leaders "repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to [Jerry] Sandusky's child abuse" from authorities, investigator Louis Freeh states in a report he issued today. Paterno and the others "never demonstrated, through actions or words, any concern for the safety and well-being of Sandusky's victims until after Sandusky's arrest," the report states. Freeh found that they knew about the 1998 investigation of Sandusky, three years earlier than the shower rape witnessed by Mike McQueary. "The evidence shows that Mr. Paterno was made aware of the 1998 investigation of Sandusky, followed it closely, but failed to take any action," he writes. "None of them even spoke to Sandusky about his conduct. In short, nothing was done and Sandusky was allowed to continue with impunity."

posted by rcade to general at 09:41 AM - 26 comments

July 11, 2012

The History of WFAN: (and, technically, WHN)

posted by yerfatma to culture at 05:17 PM - 3 comments

NL Stomps AL in All-Star Game: The National League's 8-0 victory over the American League in the All-Star game extends their winning streak to three games and secures World Series home-field advantage for another year. The NL scored five off Detroit Tigers starter Justin Verlander in the first inning and got another three off Texas Rangers pitcher Matt Harrison. AL manager Ron Washington wasn't happy Verlander opened the game throwing 100 mph, which he doesn't do in regular games. "Obviously, you don't want to go out like that, but I had fun," Verlander said.

posted by rcade to baseball at 09:36 AM - 4 comments

July 10, 2012

CFL Pick 'Em, Week 3: Our little rankings get a quick shake-up early in the season. Note the early Thursday start this week, so don't delay and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 09:50 AM - 21 comments

July 09, 2012

AP source: Yankees tell Reggie to steer clear: The New York Yankees have reportedly order Reggie Jackson to stay out of the Yankee clubhouse and avoid other team events following reports about critical comments he made to Sports Illustrated, questioning the validity of some of Alex Rodriguez's in the wake of Rodriguez's admission to using PEDs. Jackson's comments also questioned the qualifications of Gary Carter, Kirby Puckett, and others for inclusion in the HoF.

posted by billinnagoya to baseball at 08:18 PM - 2 comments

Vicente Padilla: Mark Teixeira Once Threatened Me with a Bat: Red Sox pitcher Vicente Padilla and Yankees hitter Mark Teixeira have bad blood going back to when they were teammates on the Rangers. Since then, Padilla has faced Teixeira 18 times, given up two homers and hit him three times. After Teixeira called Padilla a "guy who throws at people," Padilla responded in a Spanish-language interview, "I think, maybe, he picked the wrong profession. I think he'd be better off playing a women's sport. ... The problem is he talks about all the wrong things that others have done, but the things he's done -- against the Latinos (on the Rangers) -- he doesn't open his mouth about. He once threatened me and said he was going to hit me with a bat, and that's when we were playing on the same team."

posted by rcade to baseball at 10:49 AM - 14 comments

July 08, 2012

Federer Denies Murray, Wins 7th Title: Roger Federer defeated Andy Murray in the Wimbledon men's final Sunday, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, claiming his seventh title in the event and making the United Kingdom cry. Federer reclaims the No. 1 ranking in tennis and becomes the first player in his thirties to win a Grand Slam final since Andre Agassi in 2003. Murray, 25, won his first set in a slam final after nearly taking Federer's head off with a return at a pivotal moment.

posted by rcade to tennis at 02:26 PM - 12 comments

July 07, 2012

Serena Williams Wins Fifth Wimbledon Title: At the age of 30, sixth-seeded Serena Williams completed an unexpected Wimbledon singles title run with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Agnieszka Radwanska. She joins her sister as five-time Wimbledon singles champs, winning her first Grand Slam title in two years.

posted by rcade to tennis at 01:52 PM - 4 comments

July 06, 2012

Andy Murray Reaches Wimbledon Finals: For the first time since 1938, a male British tennis player has reached the Wimbledon finals. Andy Murray defeated Jo-Wilifried Tsonga 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 and advances to play six-time champion Roger Federer, who beat Novak Djokovic 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

posted by rcade to tennis at 02:09 PM - 3 comments

July 05, 2012

Euro 2012 Confidence Pool (Final Standings): Congrats to our winner, goddam, who narrowly pipped second-place finisher owlhouse (and apologies to those of you whose entries the software ate). Full standings inside.

posted by holden to fantasy at 11:43 AM - 1 comment

Steve Nash headed to Lakers after sign-and-trade with Suns: The Los Angeles Lakers made a significant move that should keep them a contender in the NBA's Western Conference. On Wednesday, they reached an agreement to acquire point guard and two-time MVP Steve Nash from the Phoenix Suns in a sign-and-trade deal that will send four future draft picks and $3 million in cash to the Suns.

posted by BornIcon to basketball at 07:00 AM - 26 comments

July 04, 2012

Minnesota Wild agrees to terms with Parise and Suter: The Wild scored a major coup, agreeing to terms Wednesday with Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, considered the two biggest prizes in this year's free-agent class. Parise, a forward who is a Minnesota native, and Suter, a defenseman, each received 13-year, $98 million deals according to people familiar with the terms. Parise and Suter will form a star-studded tandem that will be expected to alter the fortunes of a franchise that has missed the playoffs four consecutive seasons.

posted by tommytrump to hockey at 01:04 PM - 7 comments

July 03, 2012

July 02, 2012

Fan Struck by Bullet at Rays Game: While attending the Tampa Bay-Miami game June 16 at Tropicana Field, Charles Sweatt was hit by a bullet that likely fell through the stadium's roof after being fired a mile or more away. Sweatt was treated by paramedics briefly for a bruise and went back to his seat to watch the rest of the game. "I've been shot at and shot around but never hit until now," said Sweatt, the police chief of Parker, Fla.

posted by rcade to baseball at 03:14 PM - 3 comments

CFL Pick 'Em, Week 2: Blowouts on the field mean tight margins in the pool. Sharpen your pencils and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 02:37 PM - 15 comments

Euro 2012 Fantasy League final standings: Nik Olsen won by a good margin while I edged out Holden, BS Johnson(?) and tselson by a hair for second.

posted by billsaysthis to fantasy at 12:06 PM - 3 comments

July 01, 2012

Spain Reigns in Euro 2012: Spain trounced Italy 4-0 in the Euro 2012 tournament finals with goals from David Silva, Jordi Alba, Fernando Torres and Juan Mata. Winning its third consecutive major tournament, Spain set a new record by allowing just one goal the entire tournament. Italy had to play a man down after Thiago Motta suffered a hamstring injury, lacking any more substitutions.

posted by rcade to soccer at 04:48 PM - 26 comments

Player Completes Perfect Set at Wimbledon: Yaroslava Shvedova played a flawless set of tennis, the best by a woman in at least 44 years, in the third round at Wimbledon. She won every point (24) and every game (6) in the first set against Sara Errani, winning 6-0, 6-4. The last pro to do it was Bill Scanlon in a first-round match in 1983. "To me, that's almost as incredible as Isner-Mahut," said Sam Querrey, one of the men's competitors.

posted by kokaku to tennis at 02:22 PM - 2 comments