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5 Odd Balls
Sure, you know your footballs, baseballs, tennis balls and basketballs. But what about the lesser-known balls? Let's take a closer look at some, er, odd balls now. 1. Jai Alai
SPORTS
How The Los Angeles Dodgers Helped to Snuff Out Communism
2011 has been a difficult year for the Los Angeles Dodgers. With the owners going through a messy divorce (who gets the house? Who gets the team?) and attendance down, the Dodgers filed for Chapter 11 as Major League Baseball stepped in to assume day-to-d
7-Pound Purple Dumbbells and 14 More Gimmicky Heisman Campaigns
Last month, the Northwestern athletic department garnered national attention when it shipped two 7-pound purple dumbbells to about 80 college football writers across the country. A subtle hint that the recipients should spend a little more time in the gym
11 Prominent Authors Who Excelled in Sports
Some of the most important literary figures of the last century had previously made a name for themselves in athletics. Here are the stories of a halfback who became a beatnik, an Olympic-hopeful wrestler who became leader of the Merry Pranksters, and nin
How Much Do Professional Sports Commissioners Make?
During tonight’s NBA draft, commissioner David Stern has been shaking hands with the league’s newest crop of rookies, welcoming them into a life of luxury and a potential lockout. If there is a work stoppage, Stern will manage just fine financially. Here’
What is the NFL Supplemental Draft?
Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who had been suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season for NCAA rules violations, announced Tuesday that he will enter the NFL’s supplemental draft rather than return to school. Here’s a brief history of
The Last Three Ties in Stanley Cup Finals History
If Boston wins at home tonight, the Stanley Cup Finals will head back to Canada for a deciding Game 7. If Vancouver wins, the Canucks will clinch their first Stanley Cup in three tries. But what if the teams
The Greatest Basketball Team You've Never Heard Of
In the opening chapter of his book, On the Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance, NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recounts the time a reporter asked him what profession he would have chosen if he hadn’t become a pro basketball play
Why Michael Jordan's Fancy New Sneakers Cost $5,000 Per Game
Who doesn’t love Air Jordans? They’re favorites of everyone from basketball players to the fashion conscious. When the shoes first hit the market, though, they had a high-profile naysayer: NBA Commissioner David Stern. Nike released the first design of i
Bruce Jenner, John Wayne and a Newborn Baby: 18 Curious Draft Picks
It's a guarantee that in this year's NFL Draft, a future Hall of Famer will be selected after someone who never plays a down in the league. What we can say with equal certainty (well, almost) is that no team will try to draft a newborn baby, select a Holl
On Redheaded Quarterbacks and Whether Linemen Can Swim
Quarterback in the NFL is the position that drives the franchise, sometimes into a sinkhole that swallows reasonable chances of success for years on end. No wonder teams spend so much pre-draft time prodding, probing and analyzing quarterbacks. The decis
Amazing Tales From the Boston Marathon
Runners dressed as Forrest Gump, Elvis, Bozo the Clown and the Cat in the Hat all crossed the finish line in front of me at the Boston Marathon one year. So did a shirtless participant running backwards, possibly in search of a Nike endorsement. A magic
Baseball's Best (and Weirdest) Ballpark Promotions
In the 1960s, Major League Baseball teams began giving away bats, balls, caps, and helmets to lure fans to the ballpark. As Mets vice president James K. Thomson told the New York Times in 1968, “People like something for nothing. Everybody comes to the fa
The mental_floss Guide to the NCAAs (The West)
We may not be much help in filling out your bracket. But throughout this week we’re going to bring you a _flossy take on March Madness: one interesting fact about each of the 68 teams in the tournament field. Today we'll wrap things up with the West
How the NCAA Made Robert Parish Disappear
Parish had a monster college career, but according to the NCAA, the games he played in never took place.
The mental_floss Guide to the NCAAs (The East)
We may not be much help in filling out your bracket. But throughout this week we’re going to bring you a _flossy take on March Madness: one interesting fact about each of the 68 teams in the tournament field. Today we're tackling the East
Scab Story: The 1987 NFL Strike
The specter of an extended work stoppage means we don’t know exactly when we’ll get to watch pro football again. We’re not experts on the lockout, but we thought this might be a good time to fill you in on the details of the NFL’s last major labor crisis
More Measurables! Comprehending the NFL Combine
Certain people can feel a storm approaching. Their joints ache. The NFL Scouting Combine sends a similar physical warning for me, but the symptoms are usually migraine-related. I felt it coming a few days before the NFL Network televised the event that e
The Cleveland Curse
Help. Somebody. Anybody. Dr. Phil. Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo. Buffy The Vampire Slayer. We're not picky. No need for archaeologists to take a flyer on finding a hellmouth in Belize. We got you covered. Basketball season. Football season. Basebal
11 NFL Rules Named After People
New rules in the National Football League, as in any sport, are often enacted in response to repeated on-the-field actions or bizarre incidents involving a specific player or coach. These rules commonly take the name of the individuals indirectly responsi
Foooood iiiiin Spaaaaace: The Curious Case of the Contraband Corned Beef
In 1965, Command Pilot Gus Grissom and Pilot John Young successfully piloted the Gemini 3 spacecraft on a four-hour and forty-three-minute mission into Earth’s orbit, completed a handful of tests of the craft’s capabilities and returned safely to solid gr
Bud Shaw's Year in Review
In 2010, retired heavyweight Mike Tyson appeared on Animal Planet. As a pigeon racer. The Pittsburgh Pirates fired a pierogi mascot for ripping the team on Facebook. A Norwegian cross country skier blamed failing to win a gold medal in the Winter Olymp
The Last Time the NFL Played on Tuesday...
Citing public safety concerns related to the forecasted winter storm that ultimately dumped more than a foot of snow on much of the Philadelphia area, the National Football League postponed Sunday night’s Eagles-Vikings game until tonight. According to th
Show Them the Money: 8 Famous and Infamous Sports Agents
In addition to all of the stereotypically negative things you might be inclined to say about sports agents, you can say this: they’re an interesting bunch. Here’s a collection of agents who became famous for all the right, wrong, or unlikely reasons. 1.