Archives for July 2013

July 31, 2013

EA Loses in Court to Ex-NCAA Athletes: A federal appeals court has ruled against Electronic Arts in a lawsuit by former college athletes who accused the company of using their images in video games without permission. The athletes, including former Arizona State University quarterback Samuel Keller, claimed that EA had misappropriated their identities and likenesses without compensation. The judges noted that in the 2005 edition of NCAA Football, the ASU quarterback had the same "height, weight, facial features, hair color and style, home state, playing style, school year, skin tone, throwing arm, uniform number and visor preference as Keller."

posted by rcade to general at 03:19 PM - 2 comments

ESPN's Wright Thompson Gives Fans Startling Glimpse into Life of Johnny Manziel: Johnny Manziel is just a young man trying to deal with the fame that comes with a Heisman Trophy and the expectations that come with an alter ego as polarizing as Johnny Football.

Of course, being a 20-year-old is never easy, but it's especially hard when every action, tweet and purchase is scrutinized by anyone with a camera or Twitter feed.

posted by BornIcon to football at 08:16 AM - 3 comments

July 30, 2013

Angels Paying Heavily for 10-Year Gamble on Pujols: Two years into Albert Pujols' 10-year, $240 million contract, the Los Angeles Angels are paying a heavy price for making such a long bet on the 33-year-old, writes Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. Pujols is likely to miss the rest of the season with a partial tear of the plantar fascia in his left foot. "I saw him earlier this season, and it hurt me to watch him run," said one major league scout.

posted by rcade to baseball at 06:27 PM - 9 comments

July 29, 2013

Golfer in Lead Quits Tournament for Wife's Labor: On Saturday, Hunter Mahan was on top of the leaderboard at the Canadian Open when his wife Zoe unexpectedly went into labor. He left the tournament, giving up a chance to win $1 million, and Brandt Snedeker won the event. "Zoe will be getting a very nice baby gift from me," Snedeker said. "I can't thank Kandi enough for going into labor early."

posted by rcade to golf at 12:33 PM - 27 comments

July 28, 2013

David Ortiz Ejected After Crushing Dugout Phone: After arguing a 3-0 strike call on with umpire Tim Timmons, David Ortiz struck out, flipped out, took out his anger on a dugout phone and was thrown out in a 7-3 Boston Red Sox win over the Baltimore Orioles Saturday. The phone, crushed by Ortiz swinging his bat and sending pieces flying, still worked afterwards. "It rang," Boston manager John Farrell said. "Somebody called down."

posted by rcade to baseball at 09:20 AM - 10 comments

July 27, 2013

Will New York City Evict Madison Square Garden?: In a 47-1 vote, the New York City Council limited Madison Square Garden's permit at its current location above Penn Station to 10 years. The operators of the facility that houses the Knicks and Rangers, presently undergoing a $1 billion renovation, want a license to stay there in perpetuity, but many civic groups believe the site is needed to expand and modernize the train station. "Now is time to get to work and build the Penn Station that New York City and the region desperately need in order to improve transit access and spur economic growth in the city and throughout the region," said the New Penn Station Alliance.

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

Drugs in Sport: The Game and the Metagame.: How mathematical logic could address some of our concerns.

posted by owlhouse to general at 07:48 AM - 3 comments

July 26, 2013

Cowboys Stadium Renamed AT&T Stadium: Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced that the team's $1.2 billion stadium is now known as AT&T Stadium. Terms were not disclosed, but the telecommunications giant based in Dallas likely will fork over $400 million (20 years) to $600 million (30 years), estimated Marc Ganis of SportsCorp Ltd. Five percent of the deal will be shared with Arlington, whose taxpayers forked over $325 million of the cost to build the city-owned facility.

posted by rcade to football at 01:47 PM - 9 comments

Meyer admits mistakes ... sort of: Urban Meyer on Wednesday finally and inevitably stopped running from the messy trail he left at Florida.

posted by bo_fan to football at 07:00 AM - 4 comments

July 25, 2013

Tim Hudson's Ankle Broken Covering First: Atlanta Braves pitcher Tim Hudson was stepped on by Eric Young Jr. as he covered first base Wednesday night against the New York Mets, causing a gruesome ankle injury. Speeding down the line, Young extended his foot to reach the bag and accidentally stepped on Hudson's lower leg, driving his right ankle into the ground.

posted by rcade to baseball at 10:01 AM - 3 comments

July 24, 2013

CFL Pick 'Em, Week 5: Last week featured heartbreak, triumph, injury, and a rare shutout. This week features a game on Tuesday. How can you compare? Grab your slide rule and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 09:54 AM - 14 comments

July 23, 2013

July 22, 2013

MLB suspends Ryan Braun for remainder of season: The suspension takes place immediately, so Braun will be suspended for the final 65 games of the season, beginning with the Brewers' game Monday night at Miller Park against San Diego. The sanction came as a result of MLB's investigatiion into the infamous Biogenesis clinic, which was exposed as having sold PEDs to players after documents were released to various news agencies earlier this year. The suspension also exposed Braun as a liar because he has stated many times that he never used PEDs and never wavered from that stance. He recently told reporters, "The truth hasn't changed," referring to ongoing speculation that he would be suspended for PED use.

posted by tommytrump to baseball at 06:05 PM - 8 comments

July 21, 2013

July 20, 2013

July 19, 2013

NHL Re-Alignment:: The NHL announced the new alignment today, with two conferences of two divisions each. The Detroit Red Wings will now play in the Eastern Conference in the Atlantic Division, and the Winnipeg Jets will be in the Western Conference in the Central Division. Let the natural rivalries (Tampa-Toronto?) begin to take shape!

posted by tahoemoj to hockey at 02:22 PM - 10 comments

July 18, 2013

CFL Pick 'Em, Week 4: Narratives give way to weather reports as the east coast heat wave has stifled the offences of any team east of Minnedosa. The action shifts into the frigid west this week, so don your parkas and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 10:51 PM - 14 comments

Nashville Predators Paint Ice Yellow: The Nashville Predators are having some fun with their home arena during the off-season, painting the ice a golden shade of yellow. They're doing it for the children.

posted by rcade to hockey at 03:52 PM - 5 comments

July 17, 2013

R&A will look at gender issue after British Open: TL;DR: Ain't no big thang, chums.

posted by billsaysthis to culture at 04:06 PM - 3 comments

So you've purchased a football team: here's how to use it for nefarious means. This week's The Economist provides "A villain’s guide to football". As a counter-balance, they also offer suggestions on cleaning up the game.

posted by yerfatma to soccer at 08:28 AM - 1 comment

Classic Mo-ment: Rivera's final ASG flawless: Mariano Rivera's spikes crunched into the warning track as Metallica's "Enter Sandman" began its familiar strains over the public address system, accompanying the all-time saves leader for one last All-Star Game jog across the outfield grass.

posted by BornIcon to baseball at 08:00 AM - 10 comments

July 16, 2013

July 15, 2013

July 14, 2013

Tim Lincecum Throws No-Hitter for Giants: San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum no-hit the San Diego Padres at home Saturday night, saved by right fielder Hunter Pence's diving catch in a 9-0 victory. He threw a career-record 148 pitches, striking out 13, walking four and hitting one batter. "You don't see a pitcher up over 140 pitches in a no-hitter often," catcher Buster Posey said.

posted by rcade to baseball at 12:32 PM - 3 comments

July 13, 2013

July 12, 2013

Jacksonville Owner Buys Fulham FC: Shahid Khan, owner of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, has bought Fulham FC of the English Premier League.

posted by Mr Bismarck to soccer at 08:52 PM - 11 comments

July 11, 2013

July 10, 2013

Mets Anger Indians to Avoid Offending Braves: The New York Mets decided to hold a Native American Heritage Day on July 25, working with the American Indian Community House non-profit to put on pregame festivities that included traditional dancing and singing outside Citi Field. But the opponent that day is the Atlanta Braves. Fearing it would look like a protest against the Braves mascot and the team's offensive fake-Indian fan rituals, the Mets called off the singing and dancing. Now there will be no American Indians and no event. "It's disappointing," said Rick Chavolla of the American Indian Community House nonprofit, "but it sort of amplifies a pattern of what we've been dealing with for hundreds of years."

posted by rcade to baseball at 11:04 PM - 5 comments

July 09, 2013

CFL Pick 'Em, Week 3: Alright, that's enough warmup. This week's for REAL. We're gonna score some points, get on top, and finally figure out who the heck Edmonton has been starting at quarterback. Grab your playbook and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 11:19 PM - 15 comments

Barrett Green sues: the Washington NFL team, Gregg Williams, and Robert Royal for fostering and participating in the bounty program that encouraged the "unusual, outrageous, and... obvious cheap shot" that ended his career.

posted by Hugh Janus to football at 10:12 AM - 2 comments

July 08, 2013

Dying Browns Fan's Last Request: The obituary of Mansfield, Ohio, resident Scott Entsminger, who died on July 4 at age 55, contains this passage about his favorite NFL team: "A lifelong Cleveland Browns fan and season ticket holder, he also wrote a song each year and sent it to the Cleveland Browns as well as offering other advice on how to run the team. He respectfully requests six Cleveland Browns pall bearers so the Browns can let him down one last time."

posted by rcade to football at 05:18 PM - 1 comment

July 07, 2013

Urban Meyer's Florida Gators Arrested Often: The arrest of former Florida Gator Aaron Hernandez on murder charges has cast a spotlight on Urban Meyer's years coaching at the school, where his players were arrested 31 times. Charges included aggravated stalking, domestic violence by strangulation, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and fraudulent use of credit cards. "Relating or blaming these serious charges to the University of Florida, myself or our staff is wrong and irresponsible," Meyer told a reporter in relation to Hernandez. "Our staff, myself and our families worked very hard to mentor and guide him."

posted by rcade to football at 05:26 PM - 7 comments

Andy Murray Wins Wimbledon, Ends Long British Drought: Andy Murray of Scotland has become the first British man in 77 years to win the Wimbledon men's tennis singles championship. Murray defeated Novak Djokovic of Serbia 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in a grueling 3-hour, 9-minute match played in the hottest temperature for a final since 1976. Since losing the final last year to Roger Federer, Murray has won the Olympic gold medal, the U.S. Open and now Wimbledon.

posted by rcade to tennis at 01:18 PM - 3 comments

July 06, 2013

Marion Batoli Wins First Wimbledon Title: In a match of unlikely low seeds, No. 15 Marion Bartoli of France defeated No. 23 Sabine Lasicki of Germany 6-1, 6-4 for her first Wimbledon ladies singles championship. The 28-year-old Bartoli, who lost to Venus Williams in the 2007 final, kept her 23-year-old opponent under constant pressure and fighting nerves, breaking her serve three times in the first set. "I felt overwhelmed," Lisicki admitted in the on-court interview following the match.

posted by rcade to tennis at 01:59 PM - 6 comments

July 05, 2013

Dwight Howard Will Bounce to Houston: Dwight Howard has decided to sign with the Houston Rockets, USA Today first reported. His representatives told the Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers he wouldn't be choosing those teams.

posted by rcade to basketball at 08:11 PM - 8 comments

July 04, 2013

Celtics Hire Brad Stevens as Head Coach: The Boston Celtics announced today that they have come to an agreement with Brad Stevens to be the 17th head coach of the team. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not announced.

posted by BornIcon to basketball at 08:08 AM - 5 comments

July 03, 2013

CFL Pick 'Em, Week 2: Here's your narrative for week one: there was drama! There was intrigue! Some of the teams won and some of the teams lost! Points were awarded! Get the scoop and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 04:53 PM - 14 comments

City Council OKs multimillion-dollar deal to keep Arizona Coyotes in Glendale: The NHL still has to give formal approval to an investment group called IceArizona (RSE) to complete their purchase. RSE promised to reimburse the city millions a year based on revenue drawn from new ticket surcharges, parking fees and a split of naming rights for the arena. The city council voted not only to pay RSE $15 million a year for 15 years (a total of $225 million) to run Jobing.com Arena, but to remove an escape clause under which the city could have terminated the agreement in the event that the city incurred losses of $50 million or more over five seasons. This comes at a time when the city of Glendale is struggling to find the money to fuel its fire engines. There was a hint of irony, then, when council member Sam Chavira, a fireman himself, addressed RSE's Anthony LeBlanc just before the vote and compared the Coyotes' new owners to firemen rushing into a burning building. That remark, just before Chavira eventually cast his deciding "yes" vote (Chavira was seen as the swing vote), also seemed out of place considering the 19 firefighters who lost their lives in Arizona battling a wildfire this week.

posted by tommytrump to hockey at 12:08 PM - 3 comments

July 02, 2013

Whitlock: Gangster Culture Has Corrupted Sports: "Aaron Hernandez is a reflection of where we are as a society. Like Allen Iverson and an endless plethora of fatherless and directionless modern athletes since the end of Michael Jordan's reign, Hernandez saw his athletic gifts as a platform to represent where he was from, not where he hoped to go," writes Jason Whitlock. "I am not surprised to learn that a 23-year-old professional athlete covered in tattoos is linked to several violent acts, including 'accidently' shooting a man in the face. Modern athletes carry guns. They do drugs. They mimic rappers and gangster pop-culture icons. ... Popular culture has so eroded the symbolic core principles at the root of America's love affair with sports that many modern athletes believe their allegiance to gangster culture takes precedence over their allegiance to the sports culture that made them rich and famous."

posted by rcade to football at 05:00 PM - 13 comments

July 01, 2013