Jeff Demps: Back on Track and 21 Forever
Really gloomy times in my profession, but Olympic silver medallist and New England Patriots kick returner Jeff Demps just brightened my day by announcing he intends to return to the track this spring and summer. This is big news for a track nerds like me, and for anybody else who wonders whether the U.S. track … Read more
Manti Te’o: Reflections and more questions
A week after Deadspin broke the news that the most heart-wrenching story of the college football season — the tragically shortened romance between Notre Dame football star Manti Te’o and leukemia-stricken girlfriend Lennay Kekua — was in fact a massive hoax put over on media and football fans alike, we still have more questions than … Read more
Jeff Demps sprints to the NFL at the perfect time
The track nerd in me rejoiced when I saw former University of Florida two-sport star Jeff Demps settle into the blocks to run the leadoff leg for the United States’ 4 x 100-metre relay team in the semi finals at the Summer Olympics in London. Most American sports fans probably knew him as a powerfully-built … Read more
More predictable than an Usain Bolt victory? The NFL question
About an hour before the men’s 100-metre dash final at the 2012 Olympic Summer Games I tried to pre-empt a conversation we all knew would arise about whichever man triumphed in the most intense (less than) 10 seconds in sport. It’s the same discussion that crops up every four years, as the mainstream sports world … Read more
Extreme Makeover: NFL Combine Edition
The NFL scouting combine is here, and when you try to imagine the kind of degenerate football addict who would devote precious weekend hours to watching football players run, jump and lift weights while a team of announcers fill air time by analyzing everything from a player’s college stats to his hand size… well, just … Read more
About this weekend: Three thoughts
1. THE UFC NEEDS A NEW SUPERSTAR — STAT Saturday night kickboxing ace Alistair Overeem toppled Brock Lesnar with a series of shots to the midsection, but minutes after the bout, when the WWE star-turned UFC cash cow announced his retirement from the Octagon, the folks running the world’s fastest-growing sports league probably felt like … Read more
Race matters…because Cam Newton says it doesn’t
I can empathize with Cam Newton if he doesn’t want to be that guy. You know him. The one who screws up on the job, draws criticism for it and then blames racism rather than confronting his own shortcomings. Nobody likes that guy because his antics desensitize people to actual racism that demands real remedies. So … Read more
I AM CANADIAN — And my people drive me nuts
For a group of people bellicose enough to accept and encourage bare-knuckled fighting on skates as a normal part of the sporting experience, Canadians are amazingly crystal-chinned when it comes to American criticism of the Great White North. Excuse me, perceived American criticism of the land of socialized health care. American readers, understand this about Canadians: As … Read more
Don’t Think I Didn’t Notice…
1. That the NFL didn’t impose the six-game suspension Jim Tressel will have to serve before starting his new gig analyzing replays on game days for the Indianapolis Colts. The self-benching was agreed upon by Tressel and the team with no input from the league that suspended Terrelle Pryor for his role in the same scandal … Read more
Pissed over Pryor but we can’t quit the NFL
By now we should all know that the NFL’s ruling on Terrelle Pryor — that the former Ohio State quarterback can enter the supplemental draft but must serve a five-game suspension — makes no sense. To justify the move the NFL explained that by receiving cash and hiring an agent while still on football scholarship … Read more
