It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up. | | | | A day watching the horses.
(Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.”
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| | rantnrave:// If an NBA ALL-STAR GAME draft happens but no one sees it, does it matter? The NBA says it does. The league changed its ASG format from East vs. West to having captains pick teams. Then they wouldn't let anyone know how it went down. In an era of endless content, where nearly everything is monetized, the NBA held a conference call Thursday afternoon with LEBRON JAMES and STEPH CURRY so they could pick teams. To save players embarrassment, to save LeBron and Curry from being put into awkward positions, and because the players union didn't want it. Fair enough. Except -- with all due respect -- who cares? The results will leak anyway -- look for a #WOJBomb coming soon -- and the NBA is a league that feeds off embarrassment and cattiness. The NBA thrives on drama and personalities and plot lines. Withholding this morsel of fun from its fans seems antithetical to the whole experience of being an NBA fan. The NHL had a live draft for its All-Star Game and no one seemed to mind. Give the last pick a bonus. It'll wash over quickly. The NBA missed a big opportunity by keeping its draft private. It's off-brand for a league that usually gives its audience what it wants... The XFL is back. OK, not quite the XFL. Maybe nothing like the XFL. But VINCE MCMAHON plans on launching a football league in 2020. The details are hazy. McMahon says it'll be a more family-friendly version of the league he ran in 2001, which would reflect the WWE's evolution. The XFL launched during the heart of the ATTITUDE ERA. Today, the WWE is more family friendly and less daring -- trying to soften an organization built on sex-appeal and irreverence. This new league won't have cheerleaders and maybe won't allow for much player individuality. He says there will be no political or social issues, but that players will have to stand for the national anthem (spot the contradiction). Ten games a season, eight teams and 40-man roster. Games that could fit into a two-hour window. McMahon's league will lack the player quality of the NFL so is he banking on painting a more wholesome, conservative friendly ethos to build a fanbase that's annoyed by the NFL's social issues? McMahon wants to make the XFL the league the NFL sees itself as. McMahon's league will start despite supposed falling NFL popularity. Could it be a gauge to measure whether fans are finding the NFL less interesting or football? If you don't remember the XFL, THIS WAS THE XFL is your wayback machine into that fun year. As fondly as it's remembered, it did fail after a year. How will XFL 2.0 be better?... Send it in, JEROME!... I won't go until they change their name to the TAYLOR HAM... RIP WARREN MILLER. | | | - Mike Vorkunov, curator |
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 | ESPN |
| North and South Korea have agreed to march under a unified flag and combine their women's hockey teams at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. But political divisions and fears still govern the region. | | |
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 | Vanity Fair |
| With Germany in tatters, his small business bankrupt, Oskar Speck got into his kayak in 1932 for what would become an epic, seven-and-a-half-year paddle-30,000 miles, packed with hero's welcomes and near-death escapes. | | |
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 | The Hardball Times |
| In the spring of 1953, Syd Pollock, owner of the Indianapolis Clowns, decided to try to capitalize on the 1940s success of the All-American Girls Pro Baseball League by adding a woman to the roster: second baseman Toni Stone. Soon, the Clowns had two more female players: pitcher Mamie “Peanut” Johnson and second baseman Connie Morgan. | | |
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 | MEL Magazine |
| Adam Lefkoff sits on a gray banquette in the lobby of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. His hands rest contentedly on his slight paunch and his face beams beneath the brim of his white baseball cap. | | |
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 | Mpls.St.Paul Magazine |
| At age 97, Sid Hartman--the most powerful man in the history of Minnesota sports--isn't planning to go out on top. Column after column, show after show, he's determined to stay there. | | |
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 | Tom vs. Time |
| Coming off the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is already looking ahead to next season. This premiere episode offers an intimate look inside Tom's unique, well honed training process -- and his drive for perfection -- heading into the 2017 NFL season. | | |
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 | Deadspin |
| The darkest day in NFL history began with several Philadelphia Eagles players arriving at Veterans Stadium at midnight, some 13 hours before the scheduled kickoff of a game against the Chicago Bears. They weren't there to play; they were there precisely not to play. | | |
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 | The Undefeated |
| It’s a combination of all that winning, Oakland’s place in the black power movement and these unusual times. | | |
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 | The Athletic |
| Don’t pee on someone’s yard. It’s a simple lesson, yet one so many men fail to follow. And, before I go on, I’d like to apologize to the Millers, the Garganos, the Choys, the Luftigs and, ahem, Joan and Stan Pearlman--my folks. For four of the five cited examples, I was young and dumb. For the fifth, I was young, dumb and six Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers in. Eh, maybe seven. | | |
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 | Outside Online |
| During 40 years of adventure, hard-charging writer and climber Mark Jenkins has asked a lot of his wife and kids. After his fourth attempt on a dicey Chinese peak, he examines the risks and rewards of a risk-defying career. | | |
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 | The CUSP Show |
| Joe and Tom are joined by Neal Pilson, founder and president of Pilson Communications for a conversation on everything sportsbiz. Neal served two terms as president of CBS Sports and is known for negotiating huge television broadcast contracts for all of CBS's major sports franchises including, MLB, NASCAR, NFL and more! | | |
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 | The Guardian |
| English commentary suits Premier League games but it fails to describe what is really going on when two Italian clubs meet. | | |
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 | FiveThirtyEight |
| With a crush of worldwide media searching for talking points, the two weeks between the NFL's conference championships and the Super Bowl can feel like an eternity. Every little aspect of the two teams is up for (over) analysis. | | |
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 | The Players' Tribune |
| Getting drafted to play pro soccer was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. But there’s a bit more to the story than just that. | | |
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 | Bloody Elbow |
| With an extensive resume in fighting fascism and far-right movements across Europe and Asia, Lamprou was introduced to Muay Thai as a means of self-defence. While it was supposed to serve a practical purpose during tense encounters with fascists, Lamprou found himself drawn to the sport which eventually changed his life. | | |
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 | The Atlantic |
| The 2018 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee played with an originality that outshone even his incredible statistics. | | |
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 | Lansing State Journal |
| Many have applauded Judge Aquilina's approach to Nassar's sentencing. One judge criticized her, calling the proceeding 'violative.' | | |
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 | Vice Sports |
| The Knicks unicorn has entrusted his health and well-being to a buff, celebrity-whispering doctor who has a religious fervor for the squat rack. | | |
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 | Bleacher Report |
| "I used to pray for times like this, to rhyme like this/so I had to grind like that to shine like this," raps Philadelphia's own Meek Mill on "Dreams & Nightmares (Intro)." In the past week, the 2012 album cut has gone from cult favorite to the soundtrack to the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl run. | | |
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 | Nieman Journalism Lab |
| A lot of publications are paying lip service to inclusiveness and diversity. "Outside" is actually doing it. | | |
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 | YouTube |
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