The Week: Most Recent sports

The deadly odds of climbing Mount Everest: By the numbers

The Week — Tue, 22 May 2012 10:15:00 -0500

Four climbers died over the weekend as a rush of adventurers tried to reach the top of Mount Everest, creating what Nepali mountaineering official Gyanendra Shrestha described as a "traffic jam." With so many people crowding the world's highest peak, many have to spend more time at high altitudes than they should, forcing them to use up their oxygen, and increasing the chances that the notoriously perilous climb will prove deadly. And yet, this weekend, another crowd is expected to exploit a narrow window of good weather in the prime May climbing season as they scramble for the summit. ...

The biggest wave ever surfed: The mind-blowing video

The Week — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:40:00 -0500

The video: Last November, 44-year-old pro surfer Garrett McNamara captured the world's attention when he came face-to-face with a monstrous wave just off the coast of Nazare, Portugal. Now, the Guinness Book of World Records has officially recognized the 78-foot slab of ocean as the largest wave ever ridden; McNamara narrowly edges out the previous record, set by Mike Parsons back in 2008, by a foot. With the aid of a jet-ski to tow him in (waves this size are impossible to paddle into manually), McNamara says he first glimpsed the record-setter rumbling in the horizon behind a smaller wave. (Watch...

Junior Seau and the disturbing NFL suicide trend

The Week — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:26:00 -0500

The suicide of former NFL linebacker Junior Seau Wednesday at age 43 is once again raising questions about the links between violent NFL play, head trauma, mental illness, and suicide. After Seau's girlfriend discovered the former star at his southern California home Wednesday morning with a gunshot wound to the chest, police are investigating the incident as a suicide. If that's the case, Seau would be the second retired NFL player to commit suicide in recent weeks. Here's what you should know:

Who is Junior Seau?
He's a 12-time Pro Bowl linebacker, and generally considered "one of the best players...

The London Olympics opening ceremony: What we know so far

The Week — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:55:00 -0500

London is gearing up for the 2012 Summer Olympics, and with fewer than three months until the opening ceremonies on July 27, organizers have started the long tease. The big opening presentation is being rehearsed in a giant, heavily guarded circus tent set up in a vacant Ford factory in east London. Ceremony artistic director Danny Boyle, of Slumdog Millionaire fame, is keeping tight-lipped about what he has planned, but as acts fall into place and organizers try to build excitement for the upcoming sporting bonanza, details are dribbling out. Here's what we know so far:

1. Britain is determined...

Should Saudi Arabia's all-male team be banned from the Olympics?

The Week — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:50:00 -0500

Activists have launched an internet campaign calling on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban Saudi Arabia from the Summer Olympics in London because the kingdom prohibits Saudi women from competing at the Games — or even participating in organized sports at all. Saudi leaders had hinted that they might let women represent their country for the first time this year, but ultimately decided against it. Human rights activists say the Saudi policy violates Olympic rules against discrimination. So is there a chance Saudi Arabia will be barred from competing? Here, a guide:

Is Saudi Arabia...

Time for the NFL to scrap the Pro Bowl?

The Week — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:05:00 -0500

Could the Pro Bowl be over? ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports that the NFL will likely end the annual all-star game next year. This speculation, attributed to unnamed league sources, comes after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in February that the quality of the game must be improved or he would eliminate it. The Pro Bowl is typically played in Hawaii the week before the Super Bowl, and with many players taking it easy to avoid injury, fans booed loudly during this year's game. Plus, 20 players who were selected opted not to play at all, raising "the question of whether the game is still...

Metta World Peace's violent foul: How severely should the Laker be punished?

The Week — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:15:00 -0500

Metta World Peace's violent past has resurfaced. In the final minutes of the first half of Sunday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Los Angeles Lakers forward was ejected after committing a vicious foul. World Peace celebrated a dunk by throwing his elbow with jarring force at Oklahoma City forward James Harden's head, leveling him and taking him out of play indefinitely with a concussion. (Watch the video below.) World Peace, who changed his name from Ron Artest in 2011, apologized for what he called the "unintentional elbow." Still, he has a history of violent behavior, including...

NBC's Olympics live stream: A huge win for sports fans?

The Week — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:34:00 -0500

"Whatever is on schedule that day, if cameras are on it, we'll stream it." That's what NBC's Rick Cordella tells The New York Times, announcing that, for the first time ever, all 32 Olympic sports will be live streamed online this year. That amounts to a total of 2,500 hours of live coverage, completely changing how sports fans can watch the world's biggest sporting event. Traditionally, viewers in the U.S. would have to wait for NBC's tape-delayed primetime telecast to watch big Olympic events, leaving them vulnerable to results spoilers throughout the day. For the 2008 Beijing Summer Games, NBC...

Honoring Jackie Robinson: A visual tribute

The Week — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:30:00 -0500

Sunday marked the 65th anniversary of the day Jackie Robinson debuted as a Brooklyn Dodger, breaking the color barrier by becoming the first African American to play Major League baseball. To commemorate the occasion, Major League players across the country sported Robinson's signature number 42. In honor of the baseball — and cultural — pioneer, here's a look back at his legacy, on the field and off:

Should Ozzie Guillen be fired for praising Fidel Castro?

The Week — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:40:00 -0500

Outspoken baseball legend Ozzie Guillen, hired this winter to lead the rebranded Miami Marlins into a bright new future, was served a five-game suspension Tuesday after he praised Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in a magazine interview. "I love Fidel Castro," the Marlins manager told TIME. "You know why? A lot of people wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years but that motherfucker is still here." Though Guillen has apologized for his remarks, angry fans and local politicians, particularly those in Miami's vibrant Cuban community, are calling for his firing. Should...

Trend alert: Pedicures... for male athletes?

The Week — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:10:00 -0500

Several sports stars — including Tim Tebow, the New York Jets' polarizing backup quarterback, and Dwyane Wade, LeBron James' partner on the Miami Heat — have discovered something that many women have known for a long, long time: Pedicures are great. But for high-profile pros, the lavish foot treatment isn't just a luxury — it's a necessity to enhance athletic performance. Here, a brief guide to why so many manly men are finally warming up to pedicures:

How can we be sure that athletes are getting pedicures?
There's plenty of evidence. On a recent trip out west, newly-minted New...

The NFL's pay-for-pain scandal: Does 'disturbing' new audio doom Gregg Williams?

The Week — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:26:00 -0500

The NFL's pay-for-pain scandal — dubbed "Bountygate" — has become even more villainous, thanks to an "extremely disturbing" audio clip that's surfaced implicating Gregg Williams, the former defensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints. (Listen to the NSFW audio below.) Williams was suspended from the league indefinitely for running a bounty pool that awarded players bonuses for brutally tackling members of opposing teams in the hopes of injuring them. Filmmaker Sean Pamphilon, who gained access to the Saints while filming a documentary, released the expletive-ridden audio clip,...

Nike's new NFL uniforms: Revolutionary or yawn-worthy?

The Week — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:57:00 -0500

Nike pulled off a huge coup in 2010 when it wrangled the apparel rights for the NFL from Reebok. At a cost of $1.1 billion, Nike will produce uniforms for all 32 of the league's teams for five years, depriving Reebok, now a division of Adidas, of some $250 million in annual revenue. And though plenty of fans were excited to see the uniforms once they were wrung through the "Nike design centrifuge," the new duds have met with decidedly mixed reviews. Are they a bust?

Move on, there's nothing to see here: With the exception of the Seattle Seahawks' outfits, the uniforms "look exactly the same...

Broga: No-shame yoga for men

The Week — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:08:00 -0500

Feel more comfortable in a weight room than in a yoga studio? Convinced that yoga is "too New Age-y or hippie-ish" — or simply too hard? You may want to try "Broga," a type of yoga designed specifically for guys. The classes are less zen-focused than traditional yoga, and cater to men who aren't as limber as their female counterparts. "It's okay if you can't touch your toes," the Broga website reads. Here, a guide to the latest exercise trend:

Why do men need their own yoga?
"I was seeing a lot of male friends and family in their mid-30s suffering and not knowing what to do about it," co...

How The Hunger Games made archery hot again

The Week — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:10:00 -0500

The Hunger Games burned up the box office for a second week in a row, bringing in another $61.1 million and pushing its domestic take over $250 million. Even so, the movie has arguably done more for archery than it's done for Hollywood, says Andy Grimm in the Chicago Tribune. Ever since trailers first introduced audiences to the film's arrow-slinging heroine Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence) last August, more young women have started showing up at archery ranges. Here's a look at how The Hunger Games is reinvigorating the medieval pastime:

How does The Hunger Games make archery look...

The 'deadly' horse-racing industry: 4 disturbing revelations

The Week — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:31:00 -0500

After the shocking and very public death of the racehorse Eight Belles — euthanized after breaking two ankles on national television at the 2008 Kentucky Derby — the racing industry promised Congress that it would tighten its safety standards. But an investigation by The New York Times found that horses continue to die at an alarming rate. Here, four talking points about horse-racing's "deadly" crisis:

1. It's still common for racehorses to die on the track
The Times found that 3,600 horses have died while racing or training at government-regulated tracks over the last three years...