Louis “Red” Klotz, the mastermind behind several of the teams that perennially lost to the Harlem Globetrotters, died at 93 after more than 60 years working with the famed team of basketball showmen. Klotz passed away in his sleep overnight
WORCESTER, MA–It’s about two hours after the Germans have captured their fourth World Cup and first without a divisive geographic prefix. The Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra transitions into “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.” Musicians, like comics, possess a good sense of
KISS star Gene Simmons says sports reporters hold morally upright athletes like Tim Tebow to a different standard that those who find trouble wherever they go. “It’s interesting to me that media often picks on the good guys and lets
In 2010, Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert labeled LeBron James’s exodus “cowardly” and “narcissistic.” Four years later, James returning to Gilbert’s employ has added nearly a half-billion dollars to the value of his franchise. Then, Gilbert felt the pain in
The Houston Rockets have traded Jeremy Lin and a future first-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers for cash. The deal shifted Lin’s $15 million salary–with about $8 million counting against the cap–off Houston’s books for 2014-2015, allowing the team
We live in a cynical age, an age in which we project and predict based on criteria that include salary caps, mid-level exceptions, biannual exceptions, and even Larry Bird exceptions. We predict what athletes will do based on what other
This time, like the last time, LeBron drags out the decision. But it’s the enormous ego of Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, not that of the best basketball player on the planet, that prolongs the drama. “If it wasn’t for
World Cup ratings are high–astronomically so. National Public Radio reports that ESPN and Univision, which acquired the rights to broadcast the tournament in English and Spanish, respectively (with Univision paying three times the price!), are celebrating some of the highest
Floyd Mayweather has announced his next opponent. It’s his last opponent. The welterweight champion will take on Marcos Maidana on September 13. Mayweather won a memorable majority decision victory over the Argentine brawler on May 3. Maidana gave Mayweather one
The Brooklyn Nets will pay an NBA-record $90.57 million in luxury-tax penalties to the rest of the NBA teams for their gargantuan 2013-2014 payroll. Team owner Mikhail Prokhorov boasts a net worth exceeding $10 billion. Based in large part on
A day after describing his wife as so gentle as not to harm a fly, Donald Sterling continued to invoke the animal kingdom in court on Wednesday in reference to his bride. “Stay away from me, you pig,” Sterling angrily,
A massive thunderstorm in Rio de Janeiro knocked out ESPN’s power just after Germany shellshocked Brazil by scoring five goals in 18 minutes in the first half. “Our studio has gone dark much like Brazil,” host Mike Tirico said. He
The Chicago White Sox thought they had a great promotion idea by giving fans White Sox rain ponchos to wear in the stands during the July 2 game. Unsurprisingly they were produced in a brilliant white color. The problem only
Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert called former player LeBron James’s departure from Cleveland “narcissistic” and a “shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own.” Now he wants James in a Cleveland tank-top again. Despite the very
Everynew installment of the World Cup tournament resurrects the debate on the popularityof soccer in the United States. Even NBAgreat Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recently weighed in on the strange sports pro-con controversy.is suddenly inspired to rise once more and proclaim, ‘Onward
Life is going from bad to really bad for Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon, who was pulled over and arrested early Saturday morning in Raleigh, North Carolina for speeding and driving while impaired (DWI). According to NBC3 WKYC, the
B.J. Penn, one of two–along with Randy Couture–two-division UFC champions, retired from mixed-martial arts (MMA) on Sunday night. The MMA legend called it a career after taking a beating from Frankie Edgar in their featherweight fight. Penn retires with
Jeff Samardzija, who was traded to the Oakland Athletics from the Chicago Cubs on Saturday, then started for Oakland on Sunday, left some Oakland fans wishing his name was “Catfish Hunter” or “Bob Welch” when they failed in their attempts
Even though the United States have been eliminated from the World Cup, ESPN’s broadcasts of the tournament’s quarterfinal matches during the Fourth of July weekend set more records for the network. According to Nielsen, “the Independence Day match between host
On Sunday afternoon, a Major League Soccer player received a yellow card for celebrating a goal by taking a selfie photo with fans. Sporting Kansas City forward Dom Dwyer scored in the 33rd minute against the Chicago Fire and promptly
In a startling development, a new book alleges that Major League Baseball (MLB) gave New York Yankee star Alex Rodriguez permission to use testosterone during the 2007 season. The book, Blood Sport: Alex Rodriguez, Biogenesis and the Quest to End
Americans hear a familiar refrain: this World Cup will finally conquer America for soccer. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, old enough to remember Pele’s 1970s swansong with the New York Cosmos sparking such bold declarations, isn’t buying it. In an article at Time,
What’s in a name? More than $5 million for Jimmy Graham. An NFL arbitrator ruled that the Saints stud plays as a tight end and not a wide receiver today. By applying the franchise tag on the lanky hybrid as
Boston Red Sox star David “Big Papi” Ortiz thinks he has the explanation for why the Chicago Cubs have had such a long losing streak: they play too many day games. Ortiz points out that it is difficult for Cubs
ESPN’s Tuesday telecast of the USA’s gut-wrenching 2-1 loss in extra time to Belgium in the World Cup’s Round of 16 was the highest rated World Cup match in the network’s history. According to Nielsen, the game drew a 9.6
The NCAA has re-opened an investigation into the no-show classes and grade fixing scandal for athletes at the University of North Carolina years after the scandal and long after it allowed its own investigation to lie fallow. Between 1997 and
The swirling controversy over information allegedly gleaned illegally from the internal database of the Houston Astros and published on Deadspin.com continues to grow. The controversy started on Monday when Deadspin published the information from an Astros shorthand version of ten
The U.S. makes it to the knockout round in Brazil, Americans get knocked out at Wimbledon, and the national pastime returns to normalcy. Soccer Evangelists The United States plays in the most important soccer game in the nation’s history today.
Philadelphia’s nickname conjures up the city’s past. Its roster moves evoke the future–the distant future. Sometimes the Philadelphia 76ers confuse themselves for the Delaware 87ers, their D-League affiliate. The 76ers seem to be always developing, never arriving as the finished
The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Kansas shooting guard/small forward Andrew Wiggins with the first pick in the NBA Draft. The Canadian player–the second year in a row that Cleveland has taken a Great White North product first–averaged 17.1 points a game
Many who wanted to stream the U.S. vs. Germany World Cup game on Thursday afternoon on WatchESPN’s video-streaming service could not do so at kickoff because of “unprecedented demand” at noon eastern. ESPN said “viewership for the first half of the USA-Germany
The death of Padres star and Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn is causing a new awareness of the dangers of smokeless tobacco. Addison Reed and Stephen Strasburg, two former San Diego State players now competing in the major leagues, both
LeBron James has informed the Miami Heat that he will exercise the option to terminate his contract, ESPN’s Chris Broussard reports. The superstar becomes an unrestricted free agent on June 30. James looked to make $20 million next year with
Soccer dominates the sports world once every four years. It’s rarer than a blue moon. Enjoy it while it lasts. If the United States manages to last in the World Cup, the game’s limited time in the limelight may not
San Diego Relief pitcher Alex Torres became the first major league player to wear a protective padded cap in a game when he donned the isoBlox cap pitching against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. Fans may jeer. But they
ESPN’s telecast of the United States men’s soccer team’s thrilling and heartbreaking 2-2 draw with Portugal on Sunday evening was the most-watched soccer match in U.S. history. When combined with the number of viewers on Spanish-language Univision, the match’s audience
Former Baylor star Isaiah Austin, 20, projected as a first-round pick in the upcoming NBA draft, has been diagnosed with Marfan syndrome, a life-threatening condition affecting his heart. He says he will not play basketball again. Austin, who is 7’1″,
The U.S. men’s soccer team’s heartbreaking 2-2 draw against Portugal in the Amazon jungle on Sunday night was the highest-rated World Cup broadcast ever on ESPN. The match averaged a 9.1 overnight rating, which, according to Nielsen, beat the previous
A two-day auction of the entire contents of the Pontiac Silverdome was recently completed giving fans the opportunity to buy all sorts of stadium memorabilia. Up for sale: the contents of the stadium’s 25 bathrooms. All 25 bathrooms were sold
John Kerry occasionally graced the Fenway Faithful with his presence in the lower box seats during his time as a United States senator from Massachusetts. Now that Kerry serves as secretary of state, he confesses that small talk with big
