Some kids don’t even know who he was. It just became a brand. It went from an endorsement into a brand. | | | | Andreas Wanks soars for the mountains in Innsbruck, Austria.
(Adam Pretty/Bongarts/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “Some kids don’t even know who he was. It just became a brand. It went from an endorsement into a brand.”
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| | rantnrave:// What's better for the NBA: an exciting playoffs or a thrilling offseason? The WARRIORS are a dynasty in the making -- so dominant that the rest of the league has to reach for the moon. The ROCKETS traded for CHRIS PAUL, teaming him with JAMES HARDEN. The CELTICS could add GORDON HAYWARD and PAUL GEORGE. Free agency hasn't even started. The arms race is bringing out the best in the NBA. Will anyone catch GOLDEN STATE? Probably not next season. But get rich or die trying. Has the past week been worth the sleepy two months that preceded it? The NBA is like the NFL now. It demands a 10-month-long attention span. Ratings are climbing. Revenue is growing. Is this because the quality of play is so good and stars are plentiful? Or because of the offseason drama? Is it because LEBRON JAMES changed teams twice in high-profile announcements or because the CAVS and HEAT won championships? It's hard to separate the two. But if there's as much drama in late June and July as there is during the NBA FINALS, maybe that's a good thing... The baseball is juiced. That seems to be the prevailing wisdom. Is that bad? Home runs are up. Offense is up. Strikeouts are up, too, but that's got nothing to do with the baseball itself. MLB doesn't want to admit it but, according to FIVETHIRTY EIGHT's ROB ARTHUR, MLB tinkered with the baseball to make it tighter and smaller, which makes it fly farther. That's why this season has played out like an episode of OPRAH. You get a HR! You get a HR! And you get a HR! Home runs saved baseball once before, when MARK MCGWIRE* and SAMMY SOSA* roamed the field. It's helping now, too. The glut of strikeouts wasn't as tenable when runs weren't as easy to score. Making the sport more enjoyable is what league offices should be doing. It is a consumer product, after all. There's no shame in admitting that... MUHAMMAD ALI's FBI files. Dig in... The definitive piece on PAT SUMMITT one year after her death... KEVIN VAN VALKENBURG wants TIGER WOODS to stop playing... Meet NICO HISCHIER, the NHL's No. 1 pick. | | | - Mike Vorkunov, curator |
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 | FiveThirtyEight |
| Smaller baseballs with flatter seams are carrying farther, turning some warning-track outs into round-trippers. | | |
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 | Sports Illustrated |
| For the elite running back who once pulled on colored wigs and novelty glasses to embody playful alter egos, financial ruin turned life after the NFL into a struggle. | | |
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 | MMQB |
| NFL players have signed a five-year deal with WHOOP, a biometric performance company that measures workout strain, recovery, and quality of sleep via a wearable band. If teams want to see the data, they’re going to have to pay up . . . but they won’t be the only customers. | | |
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 | Golf Digest |
| How a legal opening let Phil Mickelson wiggle out of an insider-trading case that snared Billy Walters. | | |
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 | ESPN |
| Kevin Van Valkenburg never thought he'd think or say the words, but he believes that now is the time for the 14-time major winner to stop aiming for an epic comeback on the course and move into a new role. Coach Tiger, anyone? | | |
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 | SportsRip |
| In the fall of 1987, the cast and crew for a low-budget baseball movie began filming at Durham Athletic Park, an old stadium located in the heart of Tobacco Road. | | |
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 | espnW |
| "I'll apologize for objectifying male athletes when their earning potential depends largely on their ability to cash in on their sex appeal," says Kavitha Davidson on coverage of female athletes. | | |
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 | Compete |
| Women remain a minority in the esports industry, but they have always been a presence in competitive gaming scenes. Compete’s video team interviewed four female esports experts about their successes, their struggles, and their different takes on competitive gaming’s gender disparity. | | |
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 | Bloomberg TV |
| "The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations" explores successful leadership through the personal and professional choices of the most influential people in business. Renowned financier and philanthropist David Rubenstein travels the country talking to leaders to uncover their stories and their path to success. | | |
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 | The Ringer |
| Nothing is sweeter than beating the team that beat you in the Finals. | | |
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| Sports Illustrated |
| When Tennessee's whirlwind of a coach, Pat Summitt, hits you with her steely gaze, you get a dose of the intensity that has carried the Lady Vols to five NCAA titles. | | |
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 | The Hardball Times |
| Attending Nationals' Night OUT 366 days after the Pulse nightclub shooting. | | |
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 | SB Nation |
| The defensive end recruit speaks to SB Nation about his week after wearing ‘"I hope I don’t get killed for being black today" T-shirt. | | |
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 | Esquire |
| Why's the tennis icon mocking Serena Williams? He says, ask Sigmund Freud. | | |
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 | For The Win |
| Adrian Wojnarowski officially is leaving Yahoo Sports for ESPN. | | |
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 | USA TODAY |
| Two years after controversially dropping the program, the Blazers are building new facilities and will return to FBS. | | |
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 | Baseball America |
| The Mets paid Tebow a $100,000 signing bonus when they signed him. Financially, he’s earned the South Atlantic League teams that back a multitude of times over. | | |
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 | The New Yorker |
| The show draws parallels to the genres critics condescend to-soaps, tabloids, punk, horror-but the series itself is subtle. | | |
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 | Outside Online |
| It's within this cavern of discomfort where we take stock of our courage--and figure out what we're made of. | | |
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 | Complex |
| Made in America has become a hot topic in the U.S., and we took a trip to the brand's factory in Maine to find out what it's really all about. | | |
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 | YouTube |
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