Death in the London Marathon: Claire Squires, 30, from Leicestershire, collapsed on the final stretch of the 26.2-mile course on Sunday. She was running to raise money for the Samaritans, for whom her mother has been a volunteer for 24 years, and in memory of her brother who died of an overdose. She hoped to raise a few quid. As of this post, her Justgiving account had raised almost £450,000 from more than 40,000 donations.

posted by JJ to other at 12:30 PM - 1 comment

Two Horses Put Down at 2012 Grand National: For the second consecutive year two horses have died at England's prestigious Grand National. Synchronised and According to Pete were destroyed after breaking legs. The RSPCA described the deaths as "totally unacceptable" and called for "an urgent examination" of the race.

posted by scully to other at 06:06 PM - 2 comments

Why You Should Always Use Protection: New Zealand cricket batsman Kane Williamson suffered a broken box during a match today against South Africa when a throw by an unapologetic Dale Steyn hit him "flush in the groin region." "You do want your box to break rather like the front of a racing car," said the announcer. "If it smashes up then it disperses the energy."

posted by rcade to other at 10:37 AM - 14 comments

Williams Late Try is Winner for Wales: Wales lifted the Triple Crown at Twickenham after a thrilling victory over England. Replacement Scott Williams was the hero as his sensational second-half try completed a dramatic Welsh comeback. With the scores tied at 12-12, the replacement centre ripped the ball off Courtney Lawes and regathered his own kick ahead to score the decisive try. In a thrilling finale, England wing David Strettle came within inches of scoring with the final play of the game, as the television official ruled he had not grounded the ball in the corner.

posted by scully to other at 01:29 PM - 3 comments

Iditarod Dog Runs Away in Alaska: The German musher Silvia Furtwrangler had a small problem after she arrived in Alaska to prepare for the Iditarod sled dog race a week ago. Her lead dog, Whistler, escaped the truck and ran into the woods around Anchorage. Neither cries of "Whistler, kommen sie!" nor moose steaks and bacon lured him back, and he was seen at various places around town for four days. Finally, a brownie and roast beef lured him into the garage of someone who saw him on the news. "Iditarod dogs bolt from their mushers seemingly every year -- often during the race, but sometimes before, when teams arrive in Anchorage and skittish huskies, unfamiliar with the city, disappear into neighborhoods," reports the Anchorage Daily News.

posted by rcade to other at 09:27 AM - 5 comments

Cyclist: Why Doping Must Never Be Legalized: "I was a professional cyclist. ... I had several contract negotiations with teams that were at a higher level than mine. I possessed all they wanted as far as skills, personality, engine, etc. But there is always a question they ask at the final meeting. It is code. And if you answer incorrectly, your contract offer is pulled. That question is 'Are you willing to do everything it takes for the team to win?'"

posted by rcade to other at 06:59 PM - 3 comments

Contador should have hired Armstrong's lawyers: Contador gets a two-year ban and forfeits a Tour de France win (among other victories). Andy Schleck is now elevated to the yellow jersey for that year.

posted by sbacharach to other at 11:25 AM - 8 comments

Volleyball's Wizard of Westwood to retire at the end of this season: "The era of Al Scates coaching UCLA is a special era in collegiate athletics that, maybe because it's men's volleyball, most people don't appreciate." This will be Coach Scates 50th and final season as the head coach at UCLA, highlighted by 19 NCAA titles, 44 USMNT members, 27 Olympians, and 42 seasons of "mutually agreed-upon one-year contracts".

posted by Ufez Jones to other at 06:38 PM - 1 comment

Not your business: after a yes-it-is-no-it-isn't ruling on the permissability of her underwear, Tina Maze tells the FIS where to get off.

posted by lil_brown_bat to other at 09:11 AM - 8 comments

Bowling Great Don Carter Dies: Don Carter, the bowler who led his sport during its golden age on television in the 1950s and 1960s, has died at age 85. Carter was the first athlete in American sports to sign a $1 million endorsement deal. "Don was one of the greatest bowlers who ever lived," fellow pro Carmen Salvino said.

posted by rcade to other at 09:55 AM - 2 comments

"In the white spaces. I think about the silence at Lord's, and I understand. Test cricket is different from the rest of the world because it was designed to be." : Having travelled to India for the World Cup (as mentioned here), Wright Thompson visits the home of cricket and meditates on the nature of the Test match.

posted by etagloh to other at 07:18 PM - 9 comments

Kim Jong Il: Greatest athlete of his generation.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia to other at 06:49 PM - 10 comments

Kisenosato promoted to ozeki: Sumo's rising star Kisenosato has been promoted to the elite rank of ozeki after a tremendous run of 60 wins in 90 bouts over the past 12 months. He seems to be the only rikishi who has Mongolian yokozuna Hakuho's number, having beaten the grand champion several times. Here's a 2006 interview with Kisenosato, and for a bonus, Hakuho vs. Asashoryu, splitting the world in half.

posted by Hugh Janus to other at 09:21 AM - 4 comments

Antelope Takes Out Cyclist: During a weekend competition at Albert Falls Dam in South Africa, cyclist Evan van der Spuy was knocked off his bike when a red hartebeest sprung from the brush and head-butted him. Red hartebeests, a type of antelope, are among the swiftest animals in Africa and can attain speeds of 65 mph. "Think I might need a new helmet, that's just a guess," Van der Spuy said.

posted by rcade to other at 01:39 PM - 11 comments

Calipari, Rose, and Memphis Athletic Director R.C. Johnson settled.: After the NCAA completed an investigation into Rose's SAT scores, they vacated Memphis's 07-08 season and faced 3 years probation. Now comes word that in May of last year, attorneys representing a group of season ticket holders settled a lawsuit against Coach Calipari, Rose, and A.D. Johnson. The suit alleges that the ticket-holders had made donations to the Tiger Scholarship Fund, but that the actions of the accused could lead to further charges against the University's athletic department which would in turn, lower the value of their season tickets.

posted by lilnemo to other at 03:23 PM - 4 comments

The Shame of College Sports: The Atlantic on some of the legal problems with the NCAA's amateurism rules.

posted by Bonkers to other at 11:04 AM - 1 comment

Could Rugby Take Off in the US?: The fastest growing team sport in the United States is rugby, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers' Association. The number of players for full-contact rugby in the country grew from 750,000 to 1.13 million in 2010. Four of the U.S. matches in the Rugby World Cup, which begins Sept. 9, will be broadcast in the U.S. "There are huge opportunities for rugby in America," said Nigel Melville, the chief executive of U.S. Rugby.

posted by rcade to other at 09:56 AM - 21 comments

The Rugby World Cup 2011: starts this Friday. Held in New Zealand for the first time since 1987, the home side are hoping they can repeat that victory. Because it's been pretty lean since. And like all other kinds of World Cup, there's the obligatory hoax prostitution story.

posted by owlhouse to other at 03:09 AM - 2 comments

The Depressing Demise of The Nature Boy: woo'?

posted by yerfatma to other at 11:19 AM - 11 comments

Woman, 98, Earns Judo's Top Belt: At age 98, Sensei Keiko Fukuda of San Francisco has become the first woman to be promoted to judo's highest level of 10th degree black belt -- a mark reached only by three people in the world. "All my life," this has been my dream," said Fukuda, who was kept at lower belts for decades longer than less-skilled men, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

posted by rcade to other at 01:18 PM - 24 comments

Cadel Evans Takes Yellow Jersey: In the next-to-last stage of the Tour de France, Australian Cadel Evans seized the yellow jersey by overcoming a 57-second deficit to Andy Schleck of Luxembourg and a four-second gap to his brother, Frank. Evans, a two-time runner up, is all-but-guaranteed to win because the final stage is largely ceremonial.

posted by rcade to other at 03:36 PM - 3 comments

Meet the Michael Jordan of Bulls: One of the top athletes in the world at the moment is a 1,600-pound bull. Since October 2009, no pro bull rider has ridden Bushwacker for even eight seconds, the minimum needed to earn a score. The average is 2.97. The bull tops the rankings. "When the gate opens he just explodes," said Shorty Gorham. If you can spare nine seconds, watch videos #1, #2, #3 to see him in action.

posted by rcade to other at 01:11 PM - 10 comments

Motorcross Racer May Be Indestructible: Australian motorcross racer Chad Reed flew more than 40 feet off a hill during the AMA Pro Motocross Championship in Minnesota this weekend, then unbelievably got up, picked his bike up and continued racing. "I'm just happy to still be here," Reed said.

posted by rcade to other at 10:54 AM - 1 comment

So, Cricket, Maybe?: With the NFL and NBA potentially going dark in the fall, Michael Schur and Nate DiMeo of Grantland.com decided to watch the India-Pakistan cricket match to see if it can be a suitable replacement (via MetaFilter).

posted by rcade to other at 12:17 PM - 17 comments

Lesnar out of UFC 131 amid health battles: Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar has had a reoccurrence of diverticulitis and has been forced to withdraw from his June 11 fight against Junior dos Santos in Vancouver.

posted by BornIcon to other at 01:51 PM - 1 comment

Jockey Found Dead at Churchill Downs: Michael Baze, a 24-year-old jockey who rode this year's Kentucky Derby second-place finisher Nehro to its only win, was found dead in his vehicle Tuesday afternoon at Churchill Downs. No signs of foul play were found. Baze had 34 wins out of 238 starts this year with purse earnings of nearly $1.2 million.

posted by rcade to other at 01:23 PM - 1 comment

'The GAA Player who Performs in Front of 70,000 at the Weekend Will Be Teaching Your Kids on Monday': "It was a picture of the dissidents' worst nightmares. The GAA was defining the police in Northern Ireland as 'us' and Ronan Kerr's killers as 'them'." Fintan O'Toole muses on the role of the Gaelic Athletic Association in defining and redefining what it is to be Irish (via MetaFilter).

posted by rcade to other at 10:14 AM - 7 comments

Belgian cyclist dies in Giro D'Italia crash: Today was a tragic day in professional cycling. Leopard-Trek's Wouter Weylandt was fatally injured today in a crash on the third stage of the Giro d'Italia. The 26-year-old went down on the Passo del Bocco and was unable to be revived by paramedics and doctors.

posted by misskaz to other at 12:11 PM - 7 comments

The members of many collegiate women's sports teams....aren't: Aren't what? Aren't women? Aren't team members? Aren't athletes? The answer: yes.

posted by lil_brown_bat to other at 08:23 AM - 13 comments

The top 10 sports broadcast calls of all time.: With these broadcasts came the inevitable memorable calls by the announcers. It’s a rare skill to summarize the occasion aptly and not be overwhelmed by it. Some announcers rise to the challenge, others fall victim to it. But either way, what they said at the spur of the moment, in complete spontaneity, would be preserved for posterity.

posted by gfinsf to other at 08:36 AM - 16 comments

Great set of photos showcasing the culture of cricket in South Asia: : young and old, amateur and professional, prisoners and priests.

posted by rumple to other at 11:10 PM - 6 comments

More Than Cricket: India versus Pakistan is always full of meaning. This time, it's a World Cup semi final.

posted by owlhouse to other at 07:37 PM - 23 comments

396-Pound Sumo Wrestler Runs Marathon: Kelly Gneiting, a 396-pound sumo wrestler, has set a new Guinness world record as the heaviest person to complete a marathon. Gneitling completed the Los Angeles Marathon in 9 hours 48 minutes and 52 seconds. "I was really struggling in the last five miles," he said, "but I said to myself, 'If I have to crawl, I will.'"

posted by rcade to other at 12:47 PM - 9 comments

Thoroughbred Charity Let Horses Starve to Death: The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, one of the world's largest racehorse charities, has failed repeatedly to pay for the upkeep of the 1,000 horses in its care, leaving some emaciated or dead from starvation. "They were making their administrative payroll this whole time, but the horses they were suffering," said Gayle England, the operator of an Oklahoma horse farm. "They need to be held accountable."

posted by rcade to other at 02:36 PM - 2 comments

Big Wave Surfer Dies at Maverick's: Big-wave surfer Sion Milosky, 35, died Wednesday at Maverick's Beach in Half Moon Bay, Calif., when he wiped out and was held beneath the surface by a second wave. "He had this huge smile on his face and just turned around and paddled into this 50- to 60-foot wave," said surfer Ken "Skindog" Collins. "That was the last time I saw him." See video of Milosky surfing.

posted by rcade to other at 10:41 AM - 10 comments

Irish Cricket Team Defeats England in World Cup: In an upset of monumental proportions, the Ireland cricket team defeated the England cricket team by three wickets with five balls remaining in Bangalore today. A Test-playing nation being defeated by an associate nation is rare at best. England is ranked 3rd in the world among one-day international (ODI) playing squads, and had just managed a tie against India, one of the tournament favorites, on Sunday. The achievement is being hailed as a victory to lift the national spirit in Ireland, a country dealing with heavy financial problems and a bailout from the EU.

posted by boredom_08 to other at 02:24 PM - 7 comments

Bangladesh madly in love with cricket: ESPN sends Wright Thompson to Dhaka, Bangladesh to witness the fervency of the fans at the Cricket World Cup.

posted by reenum to other at 10:47 PM - 4 comments

Two-handed-bowler-wows-way-to-state-title: Is this a lefty or a righty? You gotta see his form, but it's a winner.

posted by Shotput to other at 08:47 PM - 2 comments

Study: Stretching Does Not Prevent Running Injuries: Runners who stretched before running were no less likely to get injured, according to a new study of 2,000 runners by a George Washington University professor of sports medicine. "Over a period of three months, it did not make any difference if you stretched or didn't stretch before a run," Dr. Daniel Pereles said. The runners most likely to be injured were the ones who changed their routine, either from stretching to non-stretching or vice versa.

posted by rcade to other at 09:21 AM - 19 comments

Teen Bull Rider Dies in Florida: Brooke Ann Coats, a 16-year-old bull rider from Florida, collapsed at a Brandon rodeo Friday night after she was thrown from a bull and kicked in the chest. She died during surgery at Tampa General Hospital. Coats was wearing a helmet and vest during the amateur competition.

posted by rcade to other at 11:34 AM - 38 comments