The Week: Most Recent Sports Posts

What is belly putting, and why did pro golf ban it?

The Week — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:40:00 -0400

Golf's governing bodies on Tuesday announced a new rule that will prohibit players from anchoring putters against their bodies, a practice commonly known as "belly putting" or, less comically, "anchor putting."

The controversial change, which was first proposed last November, will go into effect January 1, 2016.

In a statement, the two groups, United States Golf Association and the R&A, said the new rule, called 14-1B, was necessary because anchor putting is a "substantially different form of stroke that may alter and diminish the fundamental challenges of the game"

"The new Rule upholds...

Are injuries to All-Stars ruining the NBA playoffs?

The Week — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:51:00 -0400

The Miami Heat entered the season heavily favored to repeat as NBA champions, and they've never relinquished that front-runner status.

Yet their path to another title has grown steadily easier as crucial players from opposing teams go down, one after another, to season-ending injuries.

The list of sidelined players reads like an All-Star game lineup. The Bulls played all season without former league MVP Derrick Rose; the Celtics lost starting point guard and enigmatic roller skater Rajon Rondo to a torn ACL; the Lakers saw one of the game's all-time greats, Kobe Bryant, rupture his Achilles;...

Were the New England Patriots wrong to cut a player with diabetes?

The Week — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:22:00 -0400

This week, the New England Patriots cut defensive tackle Kyle Love, who was recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

The move came as a surprise, since Love had played in every game the past two years, starting in 16 of them. Though the Patriots did not specify why they had dumped Love, they released him under a non-football injury or illness designation, and his agent made it clear he believed Love's diagnosis was the driving factor.

"This comes on the heels of Kyle having been diagnosed within the past two weeks with Type-2 diabetes," Love's agent, Richard Kopelman, told ESPN Boston. "Naturally...

David Beckham retires: 4 ways of looking at his legacy

The Week — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:40:00 -0400

International soccer star and professional celebrity David Beckham on Thursday announced he'll be retiring after this season, putting an end to one of the most storied soccer careers in recent memory.

Beckham's star power extended well beyond his career on the pitch, making him a global icon not only in the world of soccer, but in the fields of pop culture, fashion, and commerce. He won league championships in four countries and played in three World Cups, but also married a pop star, spawned a movie about his signature free kicks, and modeled underwear on countless billboards.

As Beckham prepares...

WATCH: The Bruins' incredible, last-minute comeback to win Game 7

The Week — Tue, 14 May 2013 09:20:00 -0400

Last night, the Boston Bruins advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs in thrilling fashion, staging an incredible comeback that saw them score four unanswered goals down the stretch to stun the Toronto Maple Leafs and win Game 7 of their first round series.

Down by two with under two minutes to go, the Bruins pulled their goalie to gain the extra man advantage, and quickly cut the lead to one. Then, with less than a minute left and the Bruins' season on the line, Boston's Patrice Bergeron tied it up with a high shot that just snuck in under the crossbar. A few minutes into the overtime...

Why a former NHL player's family is suing the league for his death

The Week — Mon, 13 May 2013 21:24:00 -0400

The family of former NHL defenseman Derek Boogaard has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the league, alleging that the NHL is to blame for the brain damage Boogaard suffered during his playing days and the painkiller addiction that ultimately led to his death.

In the suit, the family claims the league and its doctors pumped Boogaard full of painkillers to keep him on the ice, where he was a noted brawler. After years of crippling head injuries and a couple of treatment programs, Boogaard died of a painkiller overdose in May 2011 at the age of 28.

"The NHL drafted Derek Boogaard because...

Death at the America's Cup: When did sailing get so dangerous?

The Week — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:30:00 -0400

A two-time Olympic sailing medalist, Andrew "Bart" Simpson, was killed Thursday when a 72-foot catamaran flipped in the San Francisco Bay during training for this summer's America's Cup races. Rescuers said the 36-year-old Brit was trapped underwater for as long as 10 minutes beneath the trampoline connecting the twin hulls of the boat, which is owned by Sweden's Artemis Racing. It appears to have knifed head first into the water and flipped end over end, an accident similar to the highly publicized capsizing last fall of defending champion Team USA Oracle's boat.

The tragedy re-ignited a debate...

How college coaches dominate state budgets: By the numbers

The Week — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:15:00 -0400

When people think of (and sometimes criticize) the pay earned by public employees, they don't usually think of college football coaches. But it's "a gross mischaracterization" that the football coach is the highest-paid employee in every state, says Reuben Fischer-Baum at Deadspin. "Sometimes it is the basketball coach."

Fischer-Baum combed through media reports and public records to find which state employee draws the biggest salary in each state. It's a real eye-opener. (See his infographic below.) The coaches probably aren't sucking up your tax dollars, Fischer-Baum notes, since most are paid...

The lessons of the Dodgers' and Blue Jays' massively expensive failures

The Week — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:07:00 -0400

$334 million doesn't go as far as it used to.

Last offseason, as most baseball teams refused to shell out big bucks for free agents, two teams — Toronto and Los Angeles — went for broke. The Blue Jays (2013 payroll: $118 million) and Dodgers ($226 million) made waves all winter, acquiring enough big-name players to turn their rosters into All-Star teams. The Jays took a team that finished fourth in the AL East with a mere 73 wins and added so much talent that analysts fell over themselves to crown Toronto the 2013 division champ. Los Angeles, meanwhile, added pieces to what was rapidly...

Major League Baseball's vexing instant replay problem

The Week — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:30:00 -0400

It's a double! It's a home run! It's — no, wait, it's just a blown call.

When Major League Baseball instituted limited instant replay in 2008, it was supposed to prevent umpires from botching potentially game-changing home run calls. Yet as we saw in Wednesday night's Athletics-Indians game, that system is still fallible, leading some to question whether the league should have greater authority to reverse such errors.

Trailing by one run in the ninth inning, A's infielder Adam Rosales crushed a ball that video evidence clearly shows cleared the outfield wall before clanging off a...

Should pitchers be required to wear helmets?

The Week — Wed, 08 May 2013 21:35:00 -0400

On Tuesday, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ was struck in the head by a line drive that sent him crumpling to the ground. His left hand, cupped to his face, was covered in blood. Happ had to be wheeled off the field on a stretcher, and though he has since said the injuries are not too serious, the incident has rekindled an old debate: Should pitchers wear protective headgear?

Pitchers, more than anyone else on the field, are vulnerable to being drilled by hard-hit balls. They stand just sixty feet and six inches from the plate, and their follow-through can leave them in a defenseless position...

NBA playoffs: The 8 best feuds, taunts, and trolls so far

The Week — Wed, 08 May 2013 09:17:00 -0400

1. Tim Duncan stops being boring, starts being silly

The Spurs' Tim Duncan is a two-time league MVP and four-time NBA champion who has a shot at winning No. 5 this year. The Lakers' Dwight Howard has never won a title and is on a dysfunctional team that just got swept by Duncan's Spurs. This gif from SB Nation is all you need to know about how that series went:

2. Kobe Bryant trolls his own team

Speaking of the Lakers' woes, things got so bad for the team that Kobe Bryant, sidelined with an Achilles injury, live-tweeted a critique of their play during the team's Game 1 loss to the Spurs...

Why is Jason Collins coming out a bigger deal than Brittney Griner?

The Week — Sun, 05 May 2013 12:45:00 -0400

With the nation's attention fixated for much of the last week on Jason Collins becoming the first active male athlete in a major team sport to come out as gay, you might be forgiven for forgetting — if you ever knew — that the number one WNBA draft pick, Brittney Griner, came out a few weeks ago. Or that Sheryl Swoopes did in 2005. Or that Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King did in the 1980s (the latter was outed).

How do we explain the difference in media fanfare between Griner's announcement and Collins'? Why is Collins heralded over and over as a Jackie Robinson–type...

13 delightfully crazy Kentucky Derby hats

The Week — Sat, 04 May 2013 07:00:00 -0400

Get your mint juleps ready, folks, because it's Derby day. Saturday marks the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. And as most everyone knows, it's not all about the ponies. Endearingly over-the-top hats are also a major part of the festivities. Here, a photographic guide to some of our favorites from years past:

May 6, 2006 (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

May 3, 2003 (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

May 3, 2008 (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

May 2, 2009 (REUTERS/Brent Smith)

May 2, 2009 (REUTERS/Jeff Haynes)

May 7, 2011 (Frank Jansky/ZUMA Press...

Spitballs, nail files, and other ways pitchers cheat

The Week — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:10:00 -0400

Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz came under fire this week for allegedly applying a foreign substance to baseballs to give them extra movement on their way to the plate.

Blue Jays announcers Dirk Hayhurst and Jack Morris, both of them former pitchers, first made that accusation Wednesday, after Buchholz stymied the Jays en route to a Boston win. Buchholz only pitched so well, they claimed, because he appeared to wipe an unidentified substance from his forearm onto baseballs throughout the night.

Though the jury is still out on whether Buchholz cheated — Buchholz claims the mysterious...

Meet Glenn Burke, the first openly gay pro athlete

The Week — Fri, 03 May 2013 11:45:00 -0400

NBA player Jason Collins was widely hailed this week — and obliquely vilified — for becoming the first openly gay active pro athlete in a major men's sport. He isn't, says Allen Barra at The Atlantic. "The Jackie Robinson of gay rights was Glenn Burke, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland A's from 1976 to 1979." If you didn't know that, you're not alone. Thanks to a deafening silence from MLB officials and the sports media, "Burke is remembered less today as a pioneer for gay rights and more as the man who, along with Dusty Baker, invented the 'high five,'" says Barra...