Sport

So in the summer of 2008, he invented a player. He would be a promising 16-year-old from Moldova, a country distant enough that his fictional roots might not easily be exposed. And his name would come straight from the statue of Ó Conaire. After all, the plot of his short story centers on a character who “knows his donkey is useless, but tries to sell it to the highest bidder,”…

RELATED: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings | Owner points standings NASCAR handed out an L1-level penalty to the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team of Kyle Larson following Saturday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway. The penalty was for rear brake cooling assembly that didn’t meet standards, and Larson’s second-place finish was ruled encumbered. In addition, crew chief Chad Johnston was fined $75,000 and suspended for…

Michelle Obama honored late Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver on Wednesday at the 2017 ESPY Awards in Los Angeles. The former first lady, who was welcomed on stage with a standing ovation, presented the Arthur Ashe Courage Award to Shriver’s son, Timothy Shriver, who now chairs the Special Olympics. “I am here tonight to honor a remarkable woman, a woman who believed that everyone has something to contribute and everyone deserves…

Ellis, Acton, and Currer Bell. Robert Galbraith. George Eliot. Since Charlotte Bronte declared that she and her sisters “had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice,” talented women writers have chosen to use a male pseudonym. More recently, when Catherine Nichols submitted a manuscript under her own name and then under a male nom de plume, the results were predictable. The problem, she concluded,…

Photo: Getty Images The International Olympic Committee on Tuesday voted untraditionally to award bids for both the 2024 and the 2028 Olympics, with one going to Paris and another going to Los Angeles. While the question of which city gets which event still has to be worked out between the two, the vote means that, barring a failure to agree, Los Angeles will host the Olympics in the next 11…

The International Olympic Committee on Tuesday approved an unusual proposal to name two winners in the Summer Games bidding race between Los Angeles and Paris. Gathering at a meeting in Switzerland, IOC members unanimously agreed to the idea of awarding 2024 to one city and 2028 to the other. The decision all but assures that Southern California will get the Olympics back for a third time. The IOC just has…

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti and Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo gesture after the voting at the IOC extraordinary session in Lausanne, Switzerland July 11, 2017. Credit: REUTERS/Pierre Albouy Paris and Los Angeles are both poised to host the Summer Olympics within the upcoming decade, in 2024 and 2028, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) agreed in principle Tuesday. The IOC made the announcement at…

Big names: Miami F.C. midfielder Robert Baggio Kcira was named after the Italian great Roberto Baggio. Souvenirs: T-shirt, $25. Knapsack, $60. Wool hat, $30. Food: Nathan’s hot dog, $4.50. Foot-long, $5.75. Domestic beer (Bud), $8. Premium beer (Corona), $8.50. Vendor’s response to “What’s really good?” “The burgers.” Were they really good? No. Cool thing: View of the Atlantic Ocean and Coney Island’s amusement park rides, including the parachute drop lit…

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (from left), IOC President Thomas Bach and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo raise hands Tuesday in Lausanne, Switzerland, after the IOC voted the cities can work out a deal to host the 2024 and 2028 Olympics. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (from left), IOC President Thomas Bach and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo raise hands Tuesday in…

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, right, receives a jersey signed by the Iranian national soccer team last month to celebrate the country’s qualification to the 2018 World Cup. (EPA/Presidential official website handout) For the last 38 years, it’s been illegal for women to attend soccer matches in Iran. Two of the country’s most prominent names in the sport say it’s time to change that. “This is the demand of millions upon millions…

Last month, Trump met in the Oval Office with the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, and “pledged his full support” for the Los Angeles bid, the White House said at the time. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Trump promised to back the city’s Olympic bid when the two spoke in November following Trump’s electoral college win. It would be the third time the Summer Games were held in Los…

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The age-old question in sports is how much of a good thing eventually turns bad by means of oversaturation? That’s certainly a topic in NASCAR right now regarding the annual Camping World Truck Series event at Eldora Speedway. In just five years, the Dirt Derby has transitioned from a risky proposition to a marquee event on the overall national touring schedule. Naturally, when something works and is enjoyable,…

Photo credit: Getty Images Reports of a lawsuit alleging that former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle hid cameras in private areas of his family home came out last week, but details were vague. Jalopnik now has a copy of the lawsuit, and the allegations—including 24/7 DVR recording and his race team having access to the feeds—are incredibly bizarre. Last week, we reported on the suit against former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup…

Baseball is the only major sport without a clock. When we first played baseball as kids, the game wasn’t over until mom called from the back porch telling us supper was ready. We played with total disregard for how well—or badly—we played yesterday, and we never thought about tomorrow. Baseball and time creep along side by side, yet never intersect. With its disregard for time, baseball suits the elderly. For…

RELATED: Full weekend schedule The surface at New Hampshire Motor Speedway will be treated with both PJ1 TrackBite and the “tire dragon” in advance of this weekend’s on-track action in the Granite State. The PJ1 conditioning — previously called VHT — is a type of resin that will be applied to the middle groove at Loudon. The expectation is that the additional grip will increase the number of driving lanes…

As annoying as it may be, soccer players killing time during a match is just a part of the sport. We see everyone do it, from goalkeepers to ball boys, and it’s a pretty effective way to hold on to a result with just a couple minutes to go.  Then there is this: Lucao, a player for Brazilian club Criciuma, wanted to waste some time during his team’s visit to…

Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota could have new competition in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.  NASCAR has been in talks to bring another automaker to the sport and it’s expected to happen sooner rather than later.  “We are aggressively pursuing new (manufacturers),” NASCAR vice president Steve O’Donnell said Monday on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. “We want to make sure that they come in similar to how Toyota did and it’s…

The International Olympic Committee said on Monday it is working hard to make sure North Korea takes part in next year’s Winter Olympics in neighboring South Korea, despite political tensions in the region. Continue Reading Below A leading North Korean sports official said recently it was too late to accept an offer from the South to form a unified team to take part in Pyeongchang in February. But the IOC said…

“Special Olympics has given someone like me as a parent enjoyment to reach out and let him be a young man,” Friemel said. “He may not truly be able to go on a bowling team, but he gets to do Special Olympics, and that puts a smile on his face. In the world we live in right now, we can’t tell what’s going to happen tomorrow, but we can live…