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11 Feb 2012 11:59

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Culture, Sports, U.S.: Jeremy Lin lights up Lakers, sets new team record for Knicks

  • 89 points scored by Jeremy Lin during his first three starts with the New York Knicks this week
  • 80 points scored by former team record-holder Bill Cartwright in his first three starts, way back in 1979-1980 source
  • » What can’t he do? With a solid showing against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, including a career-high 38 points scored, Jeremy Lin set a new Knicks team record (EDIT: And league record) for the most points scored by a player in their first three starts since the NBA-ABA merger. He’s also one game away from matching Lebron James’ — 20 point, 5 assist, 50 percent shooting — four-game performance streak, the longest streak by any player this season.

31 Mar 2011 14:28

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Sports: A national pastime to pass your time

  • The long winter is over: For those of you who are baseball fans, Opening Day is an occasion when anticipation, good vibes, and nostalgia of all stripes can wash over you in an instant. And as two-thirds of us here at ShortFormBlog have the World Series-winning Giants in our backyard, the local enthusiasm is hard to miss. A fun bit of trivia, courtesy of The Atlantic: since William Howard Taft, every President besides Jimmy Carter has thrown out at least one ceremonial first pitch. Likely due to the kerfuffle that unfolded over his NCAA basketball bracket, President Obama will not be throwing the first pitch at the Nationals opener this year. source

26 Oct 2009 07:30

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Sports: Did ESPN’s firing of Steve Phillips expose a double-standard?

  • Steve Phillips is no longer working for ESPN. His ability to be an effective representative for ESPN has been significantly and irreparably damaged, and it became evident it was time to part ways.
  • The ESPN network, in a statement • On the firing of “Sunday Night Baseball” analyst Steve Phillips, after he had an affair with a 22-year-old production assistant. ESPN admitted in the quote that it wasn’t the analyst’s conduct that got him fired, but the fact that he made the network look bad. Our take: We, as a culture, were largely sympathetic to David Letterman, even though he basically did the same thing. Why shouldn’t we do the same for Steve Phillips? However, we will say this much – Letterman got to control the story, while ESPN and Phillips largely didn’t. • source

20 Oct 2009 10:23

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Sports, U.S.: Steve McNair, a mistress, and a series of desperate texts

  • Baby I might have a break down im so stressed. baby i might need to go to the hospital. baby whats wrong w[ith] me i can hardly breath[e].
  • Sahel Kazemi • In a text exchange between her and former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair the day before they were both found dead in a murder-suicide. Kazemi sounded increasingly desperate in the messages, while McNair was getting annoyed by the constant contact due to the fact that he was with his children. McNair, who was married with children, was seeing a second girl on top of Kazemi. • source

15 Oct 2009 11:19

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14 Oct 2009 20:48

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Sports: St. Louis Rams bidders rushing to get away from Rush Limbaugh

  • It has become clear that his involvement in our group has become a complication and a distraction to our intentions; endangering our bid to keep the team in St. Louis.
  • St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts • On the decision to dump the talk show host from his group bidding on the future of the St. Louis Rams. The criticism of the host’s possible ownership of an NFL franchise reached a fever pitch earlier this week, to the point where commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the situation. The barking points revolved around remarks he’s made about Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick and black players in general that seemed racist to many. For Checketts’ part, he says Limbaugh was only a minor partner. • source

10 Oct 2009 14:06

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Politics, Sports: Rush Limbaugh owning the St. Louis Rams: It’s a racial thing

  • I don’t want anything to do with a team that he has any part of. He can do whatever he wants, it is a free country. But if it goes through, I can tell you where I am not going to play.
  • New York Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka • Explaining why he wouldn’t play for Rush Limbaugh as a St. Louis Ram, specifically saying his comments about white kids “getting beat up on the bus while black kids are chanting ‘right on'” are racist. Limbaugh is one of the investors trying to buy the team, which quickly went from one of the NFL’s best teams to one of its worst. 24 of the NFL’s 32 teams need to approve the still-in-early-stages bid if it goes through, so Limbaugh better hope that he has a lot of friends among the 32 owners. • source
 

10 Oct 2009 13:51

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Sports: Ryan Howard upsets 12-year-old girl. 12-year-old girl gets even.

  • 12-year-old Jennifer Valdivia caught slugger Ryan Howard’s record-setting 200th home run ball at a Phillies game in July. She offered to give the ball to Howard, with the promise he would show up. He never did. source
  • Feeling that the potentially-valuable ball was stolen from her. Valdivia and her mother got a lawyer, and this week, in the midst of the Phillies’ playoff run, threatened to sue. The ball was promptly returned. source

08 Oct 2009 21:47

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Sports: This fuzzy guy right here is the greatest baseball player ever

Not a lot of movies exist of Babe Ruth, the greatest of the greats in an era before digital cameras. This is the ONLY one that exists of him playing in the outfield. source

07 Oct 2009 21:21

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Sports: Ah, high school football: A drunk fan smacks a ref with a chair

  • There’s a good two minutes of buildup before the pretty awesome payoff. Trust us, stick with it. Stadium chair-on-referee violence beckons.source