Yankees Venture Into ... Soccer?

The Yankees are extending their reach into the world of soccer. The team will be co-owners of an MLS squad called the New York City Football Club expected to play its first game in 2015, reports the Guardian . The Yanks will own about a quarter of the club, with the...

Double Amputee Summits Everest— Without Prosthetics

Sudarshan Gautam is missing both his arms, but that didn't stop him from achieving his dream: to reach Mount Everest's summit, which he did yesterday, according to his website . The Calgary man, 31, is the first double amputee to climb the mountain with no prosthetic limbs, Sun News reports. Gautam,...

Nadal, Serena Triumph at Italian Open

Rafael Nadal controlled the Italian Open final from start to finish, beating Roger Federer 6-1, 6-3 today in the 30th meeting between the two stars. Nadal improved to 20-10 in his career against Federer, and won the Italian Open for the seventh time. He also showed once again that he'll...

No Triple Crown: Oxbow Wins Preakness

Oxbow won the Preakness today, ruining Orb's bid to capture the Triple Crown. Oxbow led from start to finish in the race, which ended up being the sixth Preakness victory for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas and his 15th Triple Crown victory, the most in horse-racing history. "I...

Racing's Dick Trickle Phoned in Own Suicide

Longtime racing driver Dick Trickle not only killed himself yesterday in a North Carolina cemetery at age 71, he matter-of-factly called 911 beforehand to let police know where they would find his body, reports TMZ . The dispatcher initially didn't realize Trickle was referring to himself until he clarified, "No, I'm...

The Angry World of Oscar Pistorius

Oscar Pistorius returns to court next month for his murder trial, notes the Huffington Post , and anyone interested in the case should make a new Vanity Fair piece required reading. The article by Mark Seal doesn't have any bombshell revelations on the main question—did the amputee Olympian murder girlfriend...

David Beckham Is Retiring

David Beckham says he will retire from professional soccer at the end of the season. The 38-year-old Beckham, who recently won a league title in a fourth country with Paris Saint-Germain, has become a global superstar since starting his career at Manchester United. "I'm thankful to PSG for giving me...

Man Killed 2 Weeks Into Yearlong Soccer Trek

A Seattle man's attempt to dribble a soccer ball from his hometown to Brazil for charity has ended in tragedy just two weeks and a few hundred miles in. Richard Swanson, 42, was struck and killed by a pickup truck in Lincoln City, Oregon, yesterday morning, the AP reports. The...

OJ Simpson Back in Court, Looking for New Trial

OJ Simpson is back in a Las Vegas courtroom today, hoping a judge will grant him a new trial in his armed robbery-kidnapping case. Simpson's new lawyer convinced the judge last year to reopen the case , arguing that Simpson's original lawyer, Yale Galanter, had a personal interest in preventing himself...

Dead Hockey Enforcer's Family Sues NHL

The NHL has been hit with a wrongful-death lawsuit from the family of New York Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard, who died two years ago this week from an accidental overdose of prescription painkillers and alcohol. After his death, the 28-year-old was found to have suffered brain damage from a disease...

Inside the 'Most Brutal Race on Earth'

To call the Barkley Marathons quirky would be accurate—the entry fee for first-timers to the 100-mile race is a license plate from their home state; the race dates aren't posted (entrants have to just figure it out); there are hidden checkpoints, and GPS devices aren't allowed; and the race...

Diplomat Rodman Plans August Mission to N. Korea

Dennis Rodman already has asked his pal Kim Jong Un from afar to "do me a solid' and release imprisoned American Kenneth Bae. Now he's going back to North Korea in early August to ask in person, reports TMZ . Why? Because, Rodman explains in his unique version of diplo-speak, President...

Let's Ban Team Sports From Gym Class

Yes, kids need their exercise during the school day—but team sports are an unnecessary and potentially scarring way to get it, argues Jessica Olien. She tried hard as a kid in PE, but "the culmination of each class was the annihilation of my self-confidence," she writes at Slate . "We...

ESPN Could Help Pay Your Mobile Bill

Sick of worrying about staying within your data limits? ESPN is considering helping you out. The channel has discussed the possibility of subsidizing users' data plans with at least one top wireless carrier, the Wall Street Journal reports. For users, the result could be that ESPN usage wouldn't factor into...

No. 69 on Maxim's Hot 100: Manti Te'o's Fake Girlfriend

The No. 1 pick for this year's Maxim Hot 100 is no surprise, since Miley Cyrus just couldn't contain her excitement and spilled the beans over the weekend —but No. 69 is definitely an amusing surprise. It's Manti Te'o's fake girlfriend, as Mashable noticed, and she's ranked hotter than such...

Woman Chokes on Hot Dog, Dies at Wrigley Field

One minute, Maureen Oleskiewicz was watching her beloved Cubs warm up before their Sunday home game against the Reds—and the next she had collapsed between the rows, unable to breathe. "She just went down," her brother Martin, 23, tells the Chicago Tribune . The 28-year-old hadn't made a noise or...

Teen Who Fatally Punched Ref Charged With Homicide

Family and friends honored the memory of Utah soccer referee Ricardo Portillo at an emotional funeral service yesterday just hours after the teenager who punched him before he fell into a coma was charged with homicide by assault. The charge, issued when an attack unintentionally causes death, is less serious...

Ex-NFL Player Arrested Twice In One Day

Any out-of-work NFL player can get arrested for DUI. But it takes a special kind of dedication to get arrested 15 hours later for breaking into an impound lot in broad daylight in an attempt to get your car back. Titus Young allegedly has that dedication; police tell the Press...

Rodman Asks Kim Jong Un for Big Favor

See America, Dennis Rodman's friendship with an oppressive, warmongering dictator isn't all bad after all: The NBA Hall of Famer and self-appointed diplomat has asked BFF Kim Jong Un to release imprisoned US citizen Kenneth Bae, CNN reports. "I'm calling on the Supreme Leader of North Korea or as I...

Blue Jays Pitcher Beaned by Line Drive, Hospitalized

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher JA Happ is in stable condition in the hospital after being hit in the head by a searing line drive from the bat of Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Desmond Jennings. Play at Tropicana Stadium was halted for 11 minutes while Happ, who was bleeding but conscious,...

Howard Kurtz: 'I'm Truly Sorry'

Howard Kurtz took to his own show today to face the music over his Jason Collins flub , turning to the camera and apologizing, reports Politico . “This time the media mistake was mine—a big mistake, more than one in fact," said Kurtz, who denied that he lost his gig at...

Soccer Ref Dies After Punch From Player

A 46-year-old soccer referee who was punched by a teenage player during a game and later slipped into a coma has died, police said. Ricardo Portillo of Salt Lake City passed away at the hospital, where he was being treated following the assault last weekend, a police spokesman said last...

Orb Wins Kentucky Derby

Orb splashed through the slop to win the Kentucky Derby today, giving Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey his first victory in the 3-year-old classic. When the field turned for home on the cool, overcast afternoon at Churchill Downs, Normandy Invasion grabbed the lead while Orb was gearing up. But...

Floppy Fashion: 20 Fabulous Derby Hats

The Kentucky Derby is known as much for hats and high fashion as it is for fast horses. This year, rains are swamping Churchill Downs, but fans on the infield are still holding their heads—and their hats—high. Bigger and bolder is the rule for hats that often dwarf...

Stablehand's $75 Bet Makes Him a Millionaire

With the Kentucky Derby running this weekend, everybody's rolling out the feature stories in advance. It will be seriously hard to top this one in the New York Times : It's the story of Conor Murphy, 29, who was shoveling manure last year as a stablehand in England until he placed...

Soccer Ref in Coma After Being Punched by Teen

A soccer referee in Utah is in a coma after being punched by a teenager during a weekend game. Police say a 17-year-old player in a recreational soccer league punched 46-year-old Ricardo Portillo on Saturday after Portillo called a foul and issued him a yellow card. Portillo remains in critical...

How to Grab Obama's Ear: Buy ESPN Airtime

How to woo Barack Obama to your cause? Via ESPN, apparently. Companies and organizations have been buying up ad time on the sports network with the hope of catching the known sports fan's attention, Politico reports. "It's certainly a tactic that’s talked about a lot," says a media strategist who...

Inside the Fight for Junior Seau's Brain

An in-depth report from Frontline and ESPN's Outside the Lines describes the fight for Junior Seau's brain following his suicide last year—a fight that ESPN reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru, who are working on a book and documentary about brain injuries in football, call "a scientific backroom brawl....

Obama Calls Jason Collins, Is 'Impressed'

After becoming the first active NBA player to come out as gay , Jason Collins got a phone call from the president himself. President Obama called Collins "to express his support and said he was impressed by his courage," a White House official tells CNN . Michelle Obama , Bill Clinton , and Chelsea...

NBA's Jason Collins: I'm Gay

Free agent NBA center Jason Collins came out of the closet today, in a cover story op-ed for Sports Illustrated that makes him the first active NBA player—and the first active male athlete in a major American professional team sport—to do so. "I wish I wasn't the kid...