Link The Presidential Box-Off
Which American president from history would win in a fight?
Opinion EXCLUSIVE: Obama, Romney on Sports Debate Issues
The DH
Obama: I like the designated hitter. Not everyone was given the tools to hit, just as most hitters can't pitch well. But pitchers do more than their share to help the team. I am okay if they get some help at batting. It's a team, after all.
Romney: Pitchers need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and learn to swing the bat if they want to make it in the big leagues. There are no handouts in professional sports. We've coddled these American League pitchers for far too long.
Elite Quarterbacks
Obama: I'm not too worried about the elite quarterbacks. They're doing just fine. In fact, the system is stacked in their favor. You can't touch a guy like Tom Brady without getting a flag. The elite quarterbacks get all the calls. What we need to do is focus more on the success of the middle class of quarterbacks — the Jay Cutlers, the Joe Flaccos — and make sure they have a fair shot. If we can build up that middle class of quarterbacks, the league as a whole will be better off.
Romney: I want all quarterbacks to improve and aspire to that elite status. But those who are elite already got there through a lot of hard work and are not to be demonized. Let's be honest: Are people tuning in to NFL games to watch Tom Brady or a guy like Joe Flacco? It's Brady. I want the elite quarterbacks like Brady to get more calls in their favor. If the top quarterbacks do well, ratings for the entire NFL will be strong — and that provides revenue for everyone.
Opinion 10 MORE High Schools With Better Team Names Than Your High School's
SportsPickle published a list of 10 high schools with great team names. You submitted other schools that deserved to make the list. Here they are …
- – - – -
#10 – Frankfort High Hot Dogs
Frankfort, Indiana
Do their players celebrate a lot? Is there a hot dog manufacturing plant in the town? Did their previous mascot, a bulldog, catch fire in a tragic accident? Like hot dogs themselves, it's probably a mix of everything.
#9 – Hoopeston Area Cornjerkers
Hoopeston, Illinois
It's surprising this school even has sports teams. Most teenage boys would choose to stay home jerking their corn over playing a sport.
Opinion The 10 Excuses People Make for Their Failed Athletic Career
1. "It was all politics"
You think our country is a political nightmare? You should have seen this guy's high school. The athletic department was rife with "politics." And because of these vague "politics," this guy didn't get the playing time he deserved. Why would any coach keep a superstar athlete who could make his team win off the field? "Politics, man. Politics." Oh.
Where he is now: Getting passed over for promotions at work because of "office politics, man. Office politics."
2. "My coach was an idiot"
How incompetent was this head coach? He made the second-coming of Michael Jordan into a career backup who averaged 3.4 points a game as a senior. That is truly some poor coaching.
Where he is now: Working for an idiot boss.
3. "If it wasn't for my injury, things would have been different"
Bo Jackson, Sandy Koufax, this guy: amazing athletes who had their careers cut short due to injury. If it wasn't for the sprained ankle he suffered in 7th grade football, pretty much every sports record in history would be owned by this tragic figure.
Where he is now: Riding around in a Jazzy Power Chair because he weighs 500 pounds/his back went out.
Opinion The 15 Worst Jobs in Sports
In this economy, it's nice just to have a job. Except maybe these sports job.
#1 — Dugout Cleaner
The next time you watch a baseball game, pay attention to the players in the dugout. They're great at putting things in their mouths, but they're physically incapable of keeping them there. Sunflower seeds, tobacco juice, swishes of Gatorade … they all get spat back onto the dugout floor until they form a thick sludge of disgustingness. By the bottom of the ninth inning, everyone's spikes-deep in a goo so foul that it's right on the verge of becoming a sentient being and attacking the clubhouse, and it's someone's job to clean it up. Did you get it all clean, guy? Great! Savor this moment. There are only 80 more home games this season!
This person's second job: Port-a-John repairman.
Opinion The 25 Most Unbelievable Sports FACTS!
1. Baseballs were originally made from the foreskins of horses.
2. The state sport of Alabama is figure skating.
3. A race car with a wood-burning engine finished 3rd in the 1927 Indianapolis 500.
4. Boxing legend Rocky Marciano invented the fax machine.
5. Studies show high school tennis players score significantly lower on math tests, it is assumed because of the sport's illogical 15-30-40 scoring system.
6. According to the official Major League Baseball rule book, baseball games "are to last 9 innings or two and one-half hours, whichever comes first."
7. The NCAA required college football players to study during halftime until 1925.
8. The Houston Rockets did not discover until the 14th game of the 1984-85 NBA season that their home arena rims were set at 9-feet, 7-inches.
9. It is customary for jockeys to be paid in coins, no matter how large their winnings.
10. In the ancient Greek Olympics, wrestling matches were in the nude and a match did not end until one of the competitors became aroused.
News Hurricane Too Weak To Put Sports In Perspective
"In meteorology, a Category 1 storm is one that we characterize as being too weak to put sports into perspective," said Greg DiSiorno of the National Weather Service. "Whereas a Category 3 storm — which is what Katrina was — packs enough force to put sports into perspective for a week all the way up to a month."
DiSiorno says he doesn't think a Category 4 hurricane will ever make landfall.
"A Category 4 is so strong it actually causes sports to be put in their proper perspective permanently and, really, create a better society. It results in a sincere change in people's outlook on life. And not just for a few weeks or until the playoffs start or until the next fantasy draft, like with a small hurricane or a terrorist attack or an athlete death. It would be truly sincere with a Category 4," he said. "But a storm of that magnitude is more of a theoretical storm really. The Bigfoot of meteorology. It will never happen."
Opinion The 8 "Athletes" You'll See At The Beach This Summer
Going to the beach is a chance for rest and relaxation. For most people. But not these people. These people are ready to COMPETE!
1. The Beach Volleyball Players
Remember the beach volleyball scene in Top Gun? These people consider that to be the greatest three minutes in cinema history. They'll bump, set and spike their way through an entire week at the beach and do it with an attitude that even Val Kilmer's Ice Man would find douchey. Speaking of Ice, once these people return home from the beach and their Smirnoff buzz wanes, they'll discover they blew out their ACL way back on Tuesday. Not cool, bro!
2. The Long-Distance Swimmer
In the water there is a generally agreed upon distance from the shore — about 50 yards or so — that no one goes beyond. And if you do, the lifeguard whistles you back closer to shore. But the Long-Distance Swimmer guy can't hear the whistle because his head is in the water and he's flailing away, apparently training to be the first man to swim across the Atlantic. Nor does he care, because he is Long-Distance Swimmer guy. No teenage lifeguard is going to stand in his way of immortality. No, the teenage lifeguard will only delay his mortality when he swims out to save Long-Distance Swimmer guy, who started to get tired and is now panicking and flailing around upon seeing he's way way WAY too far out from shore.
