Rockies Eject Visiting Fan for Throwing Homer Back: Arizona Diamondbacks fan Joshua Pickett was ejected from a Colorado Rockies game at Coors Field Thursday for throwing a Rockies home run back onto the field. "The guy told me I had a prize, then told me I'm getting thrown out," Pickett said. "I didn't think I did anything wrong. I've seen it all the time."

posted by rcade to baseball at 09:27 AM - 12 comments

MLB Fires Arbitrator Who Unpunished Braun: Major League Baseball management has fired Shyam Das, the arbitrator who overturned Ryan Braun's drug suspension in February. Das served in the job for 13 years and could have been removed at any time with written notice by either the league or the player's association. "He served the parties with professionalism and distinction," union head Michael Weiner said.

posted by rcade to baseball at 07:41 PM - 9 comments

Manchester City Wins Premier League: With the first top-level championship in 44 years slipping from their grasp, Manchester City scored two goals in added time over QPR, winning the match 3-2 and snatching the Premier League crown from Manchester United. Sub Edin Dzeko scored the equalizer in the 92nd minute and Sergio Aguero rocketed the winner past goalie Paddy Kenny with under two minutes left. "City had played with their supporters' nerves to the point of brutality," writes Daniel Taylor for The Guardian.

posted by rcade to soccer at 12:46 PM - 17 comments

Lakers Win Game 7 Over Nuggets: The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets, 96-87, in game 7 of their playoff series Saturday. Leading the Lakers, Pao Gasol had 23 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots. Metta World Peace returned from suspension to score 15. L.A. has not lost a game 7 at home since the 1969 NBA Finals, when they were beaten by the heavy underdog Boston Celtics.

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:07 AM - 2 comments

AP: LeBron James Wins 3rd MVP in 4 Seasons: LeBron James will be announced Saturday as the NBA's MVP, an unnamed league source told AP. This would be the third time he's hoisted the Maurice in four seasons. Only four players have more: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6), Michael Jordan and Bill Russell (5) and Wilt Chamberlain (4).

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:59 PM - 2 comments

Nebraska Assistant Under Fire for Anti-Gay Beliefs: Nebraska assistant football coach Ron Brown is facing calls for his dismissal after he addressed the Omaha City Council in March to oppose a measure adding gender identity and sexual orientation to the city's anti-discrimination policy. "The question that I have for you all is, like Pontius Pilate, what are you going to do with Jesus?" Brown, a born-again Christian and preacher, asked the council. "You will be held to great accountability for the decision that you make." Omaha passed that measure. Brown wrote a letter to the local paper Sunday opposing a similar measure in Lincoln but did not appear before the council, possibly under pressure from university officials. He wrote that he would not discriminate against a gay athlete: "I have and will embrace every player I coach, gay or straight ... but I won't embrace a legal policy that supports a lifestyle that God calls sin."

posted by rcade to football at 03:38 PM - 26 comments

'I Touched the Ball Before It Went Out, Coach': Remember when the Bears were going to win the high school basketball championship over the Eagles, but our star player Alex blew it with his honesty? A video from the the Foundation for a Better Life.

posted by rcade to basketball at 12:22 PM - 8 comments

CBS Golf Writer Mocks Overweight Players Championship Fan: While covering the first round of the Players Championship Thursday at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl., CBS Sports golf columnist Steve Elling calls a fan following Tiger Woods around "300 pounds of cottage cheese stuffed into a 200-pound sack" and posts seven more insulting comments about her on Twitter. Is this acceptable?

posted by rcade to golf at 06:09 PM - 22 comments

Terrelle Pryor: I Sold Uniform to Help Mother: Former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor, punished by the NCAA for selling his uniform pants for $3,000, said he did it to help his mother pay her bills. "The reason why I did it was to pay my mother's gas bill and some of her rent," he told Sports Illustrated. "She was four months behind in rent. ... It was freezing cold in November, December, and she's using the oven as heat. ... Whenever I write my book, the proof will be in there, the receipt that the money I gave my mother was to pay the electric and heat bill. That's what I did as a kid. I was telling the NCAA, 'Please, anything that you can do. I gave my mother this so my sister wouldn't be cold, so my mother wouldn't be cold.' They didn't have any sympathy for me."

posted by rcade to football at 10:30 AM - 15 comments

NFL Player Quits Over Concussion Risk: After eight seasons in the NFL, offensive lineman Jacob Bell is retiring from the NFL at age 31 because of the sport's concussion risks. "I've been thinking about some different things, thinking about health, thinking about the future of my family having to deal with some kind of crazy disease that nobody even knows about, where people want their brains studied after they're dead," Bell said. "Donating their brains to research. It's just crazy to see how someone like Junior Seau took his own life over -- God knows what he was really struggling and dealing with. But you have to believe it came from the game of football. I want to get out before the game makes me get out, where I can get out on my own terms, and I can limit the amount of stress and negative impact that the game would leave on me."

posted by rcade to football at 02:36 PM - 9 comments

Josh Hamilton Has 4-Homer Game in Baltimore: Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton hit four home runs Tuesday night against the Baltimore Orioles, going 5-for-5 with 8 RBI (the fifth hit was a double). Hamilton becomes the 16th player in big league history to hit four homers in a game and the first since Carlos Delgado in 2003.

posted by rcade to baseball at 10:33 PM - 6 comments

Cole Hamels Admits Hitting Bryce Harper on Purpose: Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels intentionally hit Washington Nationals rookie Bryce Harper with the first pitch he threw to him in the first inning of Sunday's game. "I was trying to hit him. I'm not going to deny it," Hamels said. "I'm just trying to continue the old baseball. ... It's just, 'Welcome to the big leagues.'" Harper stole home on Hamels that inning and Nats pitcher Jordan Zimmerman hit Hamels with a pitch. The Phillies won 9-3.

posted by rcade to baseball at 10:38 AM - 37 comments

Bob Ryan: 'Football is Inherently Unsafe': Boston Globe sports columnist Bob Ryan: "I am a lifelong fan of football. I am well-versed in its history. I revel in the collegiate pageantry. I like my NFL Sundays as much as the next guy. ... I rate the 2001 Snow Game for the AFC championship as one of the top five sporting events I have ever covered. But you knew there was going to be a but -- the basic mentality of the game has troubled me for a long, long time."

posted by rcade to football at 03:36 PM - 15 comments

Chelsea Beats Liverpool 2-1 to Win FA Cup: Chelsea defeated Liverpool 2-1 Saturday in England's FA Cup final. Didier Drogba's goal, which made him the first player to score in four finals, proved decisive. Second-half substitute Andy Carroll scored one goal for Liverpool and was centimeters from another, a screaming header that Chelsea goalie Peter Cech kept from fully crossing the line. Chelsea's road to victory in the oldest competition in club football went through Portsmouth, QPR, Birmingham City, Leicester, Tottenham Hotspur and finally Liverpool.

posted by rcade to soccer at 12:48 PM - 9 comments

Is ESPN columnist Sarah Phillips scamming people on the internet?: Eight months ago, a writer who specializes in sports-betting was hired by ESPN, sight-unseen. Fast-forward six months and accusations are swirling that she is either not who she says she is, or she is using her platform to grift internet gamblers and content creators. A story that's about fifty percent JT Leroy and fifty percent Nigerian prince (via MetaFilter).

posted by rcade to general at 07:49 PM - 7 comments

Bryce Harper Pinch Hits in D.C. Softball Game: Cool: Playing softball next to the Washington Monument. Cooler: Having Washington Nationals rookie Bryce Harper show up and join the game for an at bat.

posted by rcade to baseball at 11:16 AM - 3 comments

Brooklyn Nets Unveil New Logo: After leaving New Jersey behind and getting a "good riddance" from the jilted governor, the Brooklyn Nets have unveiled a simple black-and-white color scheme and new logos designed by music mogul and minority Nets owner Jay Z. He previewed the logo at a recent concert.

posted by rcade to basketball at 02:12 PM - 11 comments

AP: 'So Far Pujols is a $240 Million Mistake': How bad has Albert Pujols' start been for the AL West last-place Los Angeles Angels? "With the game on the line with two outs in the eighth inning Friday night and a runner on second base, the Indians pitched to Pujols instead of giving him the open base," writes AP's Tim Dahlberg. Pujols popped out and is hitting .226 with no homers and four RBI.

posted by rcade to baseball at 05:22 PM - 25 comments

Colts Make Quarterback Chandler Harnish Mister Irrelevant: This year's Mister Irrelevant, the celebrated final pick of the NFL Draft, is seventh round Indianapolis Colts draft pick Chandler Harnish, the quarterback for Northern Illinois. In recent years, the last pick has failed to live down to the honor. Four of the last five are still on NFL rosters and Kansas City Chiefs kicker Ryan Succop, the 2009 pick, signed a $14 million, five-year contract in December.

posted by rcade to football at 05:00 PM - 4 comments

Yankees Great Moose Skowron Dies: Former New York Yankees great Moose Skowron, who won four World Series titles with that team and another with the Los Angeles Dodgers, died Friday of congestive heart failure at a hospital in Arlington Heights, Ill. He was 81. Skowron was one of only two players to hit three home runs in World Series Game 7s. "Moose will always be remembered as being one of the key members of the Yankees' dynasties in the 50's and early 60's," Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said.

posted by rcade to baseball at 03:53 PM - 2 comments

National Anthem on an Electric Violin Made Out of a Bat: If you were watching the Orioles-A's game from Camden Yards tonight, you saw a guy playing the National Anthem on an electric violin made out of a baseball bat. This is how that looks and sounds. This is the guy talking about and showing off his Louisville Slugger violin. And this is the Washington Post profile of Glenn Donnellan, a violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra and the maker and player of the world's only electric baseball bat violin (via MetaFilter).

posted by rcade to baseball at 08:36 AM - 2 comments

Delmon Young Accused of Anti-Semitic Brawl: Detroit Tigers left fielder Delmon Young was arrested Friday on a misdemeanor hate crime charge for allegedly yelling "fucking Jews!" at a yarmulke-wearing panhandler outside a New York City hotel, sparking a physical altercation with several other men at around 2 a.m. Friday. Young was "highly intoxicated," sources told the New York Post.

posted by rcade to baseball at 03:47 PM - 4 comments

Luck, Griffin, Insert Name Here: The 2012 NFL Draft begins at 8 p.m. Eastern, where the Indianapolis Colts will take Andrew Luck, the Washington Redskins will pick Robert Griffin III and the Cleveland Browns will pick third, having reached a trade to move up with the Minnesota Vikings.

posted by rcade to football at 07:45 PM - 15 comments

Falcons Acquire Samuel from Eagles: The Atlanta Falcons have acquired four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel from the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a draft pick. Samuel, 31, has agreed to restructure his contract to a three-year, $18.5 million deal with Atlanta.

posted by rcade to football at 03:50 PM - 2 comments

Panthers President Too Important for Twitter Critic: After a New Jersey Devils fan told him on Twitter he was "making an ass of himself and the organization," Florida Panthers president Michael Yormark said this in response: "You have 70 followers. No one cares what you think." Now Devils fan Lauren Ashley Rufino has 1,900 followers and was given sweet suite tickets to Tuesday's playoff game between the teams.

posted by rcade to hockey at 01:04 PM - 14 comments