TheScore.com Blog

A £250,000 Rugby Kick

Andrew Stoeten — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:28:52 PST

Here’s amateur Stuart Tinner winning a contest at Wembley by kicking a rugby ball off the crossbar from distance. Nails.

Patriots and Jets: Star Wars Style

Andrew Stoeten — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:48:22 PST

From Global Sports Fraternity we’ve got Luke Skywelker and Han Brady trying to rescue Princess Giselle from the clutches of Jabba The Rex.

Uh… apparently the Jets and Patriots play this weekend.

Amazing World Series Time Lapse Video

Andrew Stoeten — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:49:56 PST

Darren Rovelle of CNBC has caught this fantastic time lapse video of the 2009 World Series, which was made by 26-year-old photographer Robert Caplin.

“The project involved shooting for about nine hours during Game Six with three Canon EOS 5D Mark II cameras. Caplin edited down the 12,000 images with his girlfriend Laia Prats into the short piece, which ended up running at 24 frames per second,” he writes. “He then matched it to Chopin’s Waltz No. 5.”

World Series Time-Lapse by Robert Caplin from Robert Caplin on Vimeo.

50 Cent’s Entourage Tussles With Marv Albert

Andrew Stoeten — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:53:41 PST

According to a story in the Los Angeles Times, while taping an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, noted sportscaster and back-biting toupee-wearer Marv Albert inadvertently wandered into the path of musical guest 50 Cent’s posse, who had no clue who he was, and got in his face about why he was in the area.

As Albert arrived, with an entourage of one, TNT public relations specialist Jeff Pomeroy, there was a sudden scuffle when a multitude of 50 Cent protectors seemed unfamiliar with Albert. There was shouting ("It's Marv Albert," yelled a Kimmel show guard, a pronouncement that seemed to have no effect on the 50 Cent phalanx.) There were obscenities. A fist or two flying. A "Don't you put your hands on me" pronouncement.

And finally Albert made it to his waiting room, relatively unruffled but slightly puzzled. "Did you see that?" Albert said. "I thought they were kidding, but then I realized they weren't."

Bonus points to the Times for their use of “phalanx”.

AIK Stockholm Joins KHL

Andrew Stoeten — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:35:56 PST

In a bit of news today that should have the NHL’s league office taking notice, Pierre LeBrun of ESPN is reporting that Swedish second-division team AIK Stockholm have agreed to join Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League starting in 2010-11.

"The acceptance of the invitation by AIK Hockey Club to join the KHL is very important for us," KHL president Alexander Medvedev said in a news release. "It confirms the positive dynamics in the development of hockey and the good chances to get off the ground the project of setting up the Pan-European Championship."

In September, Medvedev proposed at an IIHF council meeting that club teams from other European leagues join the KHL in future years.

"Yes, I made a presentation during the [IIHF] council meeting in Tunisia with the idea to have a pan-European league, with involvement of Scandinavian and Central European hockey clubs," Medvedev told ESPN.com in an October interview. "I believe it's the only way not to stagnate and to better develop European hockey."

This announcement is made doubly interesting by the fact that you may remember AIK from an incident last season. Former AIK player Jan Huokko had his cell phone stolen in the summer before last, and a video from the phone, featuring Huokko, his girlfriend, and a sex toy not being used on her made its way onto the internet. When he returned with his new club, Leksand, the AIK fans littered the ice with sex toys, and held up a banner—complete with inflatable penis—that read: “Bend over bitch!”

Scott Niedermayer Nearly Causes A Riot

Andrew Stoeten — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:57:24 PST

OK, riot may be a bit strong, but we’ve got a great video here from Fark of Anaheim Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer kindly giving his stick to some home fans after making his victory lap as the first star of a recent game, and then looking on helplessly as a fight breaks out over who gets the coveted souvenir. Gold.

Morning Link Dump – Elisha, Johnson, Lutai, Leafs

Andrew Stoeten — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:46:02 PST

Obligatory Sports Babe

This morning we’ll go with Sean Avery’s sloppy seconds, because according to Sportress of Blogitude, she’s been named Grand Marshall of the Grey Cup parade for this year’s event in Calgary.

Pretending To Care About NASCAR

“He has been dominant, he has been consistent, he has been a shatterer of records. He has been squeaky clean, he has been polite, and he has stayed out of controversy's way,” says the St. Petersburg Times of the soon-to-be four time NASCAR champ. “So here is what I'm wondering: Why don't you love Jimmie Johnson?”

Oxford Town, Oxford Town, Everybody’s Got Their Heads Bowed Down

“The Ku Klux Klan will be among the masses descending on Oxford this Saturday when the Tigers play the Rebels,” reports The Daily Reveille. “Shane Tate, the North Mississippi great titan for the Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, confirmed via e-mail the KKK will rally on Ole Miss’ campus in protest of the Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones’ decision to remove From Dixie with Love from the Ole Miss band’s song selection.” Stay classy, Ole Miss.

Making Figure Skating Slightly Less Lame

“Police say Russian figure skater Andrei Lutai stole a car and drove it while drunk after finishing 10th overall in the Skate America competition in Lake Placid,” says an Associated Press report. “Police have charged Lutai with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, unauthorized use of a vehicle and aggravated driving while intoxicated.”

The Greatest Thing Ever?

Sign On San Diego has done all sports fans the wonderful service of putting together an NFL arrest database that ranges from 2000 to present, while making it searchable by player, team, position, or any combination of the three. Pointless but to illustrate the ridiculous leniency of the NFL, but also gold.

Less Leafs!!!

'”How much longer will the Maple Leafs be foisted on the majority of the nation each Saturday night?” asks the Toronto Sun, before answering their own question. “The deeper the struggling team's slump gets and the greater the level of anger rises in Leafs Nation, the closer CBC executives will look at how many homes the team reaches on Canada's most-watched weekly sports program.”

Brawl!

Here, via The Spoiler, we have a Copa Sudamerica brawl between Fluminese and Cerro Porteno, which started after Cerro Porteno conceded twice in injury time to lose 3-1 on aggregate. Yeah… it’ll do…

Oh My Gosh, Oh My Gosh, This Girl’s Good At Stacking Cups

Andrew Stoeten — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:04:29 PST

This is not the first time I’ve posted a video of some fantastic Sport Stacking, but oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, this one from Break is pretty good.

Really Fast At Stacking Cups - Watch more Funny Videos

It’s Bad Officiating Week!

Andrew Stoeten — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:10:09 PST

Not satisfied with the blatantly overlooked hand ball that put France through to the World Cup over Ireland? Well, here, thanks to Puck Daddy we have some similarly atrocious refereeing in an NHL game. Last night in Detroit the Red Wings lost to Dallas 3-1, but things could have been different if a ridiculously clear Brad May goal hadn’t been called back on the “intent to blow the whistle” rule.

From Fanhouse, here’s how the rule book defines the rule:

As there is a human factor involved in blowing the whistle to stop play, the Referee may deem the play to be stopped slightly prior to the whistle actually being blown. The fact that the puck may come loose or cross the goal line prior to the sound of the whistle has no bearing if the Referee has ruled that the play had been stopped prior to this happening.

As Puck Daddy says, it’s “one of the most asinine in professional hockey; the notion of ‘playing to the whistle’ is undercut by referees ending plays in their minds before actually blowing them dead. This Detroit farce is, perhaps, the most rancid example of its folly.”

Yep. There’s at least a good two seconds between when the puck is clearly in the net and when the whistle blows, and while that may not sound like much when written out, watch the clip to see just how blatantly ridiculous a call it is.

The Best Trick Play Ever (This Week)

Andrew Stoeten — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:43:01 PST

Or, as the Sporting Blog would put it, the best trick play that will never work again (this week).

The Trippiest Baseball Instructional Video Ever (This Week)

Andrew Stoeten — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:53:15 PST

Here we’ve got a clip of a bizarre little baseball instructional video that comes via Deadspin, who suggest that you “watch this, then go check your water supply for drugs,” which is almost as funny as a couple of their commenters, who quipped, “Wait, where were Tim & Eric in that clip?” and “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to play ball with the hamburger helper.” That’s pretty much all you need to know…

Bud Selig Does Something Sensible

Andrew Stoeten — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:43:19 PST

I know, Bud, it’s confusing the hell out of me, too.

Rick Gano of the Associated Press is reporting that the MLB commissioner has actually done something that make a ridiculous amount of sense when he “said Wednesday he's working on tightening up the 2010 playoff schedule so there will be fewer gaps between games.”

“The Yankees and Angels played only eight times in 20 days going into Game 6 of the AL championship series,” Gano notes, after playing for six straight months averaging less than one off-day per week. It’s absolute insanity to have so many off-days during the most important time of the season when a) teams are used to going out and playing just about every single day, and b) it lets the entire playoff schedule drag into the month of November, where you can run into some particularly nasty weather, like the downpour that caused the clinching game five of the 2008 World Series to be suspended for two days before.

It makes complete and total sense to tighten the schedule—and I guess that’s why I’m kind of surprised that Selig is on board. And I’m not just saying that to be a dick, because in the very same article Gano notes that “Selig also said he would continue to discuss instant replay, but it's not expected to be a major topic when owners have a full meeting Thursday morning even though there were several missed calls by umpires during the postseason.” Because… yeah… who needs to actually get calls right?

Morning Link Dump – Lucy, Islanders, Daulton, Henry

Andrew Stoeten — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:35:43 PST

Obligatory Sports Babe

This morning, let’s go with glamour model Lucy Pinder, who does not qualify here by being a WAG—because, as far as Wikipedia’s concerned, she’s not—but because she “is an ambassador for Kick 4 Life, a charity that uses football to fight poverty and disease in developing countries.”

Surprising Islanders

Islanders Point Blank goes through the twelve reasons their team has been actually, surprisingly, kind of good this year, and decides that “Garth Snow’s acquisitions of Moulson, Roloson and Martin Biron. Including Mark Streit last year, the GM is 3-for-3 in UFA signings – with Moulson as the off-the-charts golden bonus. Charles Wang should have confidence that if he allows Snow to dig deep into the wallet for skill and character at any point over the next two years, his GM has a darn solid batting average.”

“Field Of Schemes?”

That’s the title of the latest fascinating piece from Patrick Hruby for ESPN’s Outside The Lines, who explains that “I definitely thought this would be an elevating assortment of words, a triumph of the human spirit with lots of pretty prose and a bright, happy ending. … But that was before … I ventured halfway around the planet to drink from a half-empty glass of half-curdled joy, before I discovered that a tale too inspiring to be true -- Cambodian refugee escapes the Killing Fields, comes to America, takes hope and baseball back to his homeland (and yeah, someone already is filming a documentary) -- is probably too deranged to make up.”

Football’s Gory Days

In 1909 football was quite a different game, explains NPR.org. “The Chicago Tribune reported that 26 players had been killed on the gridiron that year,” causing the president of Stanford to awesomely call the game “rugby’s American pervert,” which I’m also totally going to start doing from now on.

2012

“Yes, everyone's favorite lizard conversationalist, Darren Daulton, has a website to promote his metaphysics ‘starter kit’ so everyone can be prepared for falling buildings, tidal waves, and John Cusack's erratic piloting,” explains Deadspin of Dutch2012.com, ex-Phillies catcher Darren Daulton’s new front in the war against sanity, offering a surprisingly accurate depiction.

With Profuse Apologies To The Irish…

… and, frankly, to referees, who can’t be expected to get everything right, all the time, at elite-level pace, with a small crew and no replay… here’s the goal that sent France to South Africa… (via Sports Rubbish… at least, as long as it stays up)

UPDATE: Hogan-Flair Fight Video

Andrew Stoeten — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:55:06 PST

Thanks to With Leather there’s now a video of the fight between Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair at an Australian Press Conference that, for some reason, the Australian media thought was real—which, as WL points out, was also picked up, at face value, by TMZ who say: “We know — you’re thinking it’s all BS to promote the fight, but we spoke with somebody in Hulk’s camp who insists the entire thing was real … the blood and the injuries.”

Uh… yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s a real cut and real blood, but… obviously that doesn’t mean it’s not staged.

The Best Hockey Goal Celebration Fail Ever (This Week)

Andrew Stoeten — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:29:16 PST

Great stuff from the fantastic HockeyWebCast YouTube channel which shows Henrik Andersen scoring his first goal for Leksands IF in the Swedish Elite League, and then failing the celebration miserably.