professional athletes

Stories 21 - 34 | << Prev 

Crazy Sports Salaries Prove Supply and Demand Works

(Newser) - Sports fans love to grouse about athletes' salaries and bemoan the ever-rising prices of tickets, concessions, and merchandise. But “it isn’t some vague indefinable ‘they’ who pays the players,” writes Allen Barra for the Wall Street Journal. “It’s you, or rather, it’s us....

16-Year-Old Quits School for Pros

Aims to get GED, qualifying him for 2010 draft

(Newser) - A 16-year-old baseball player is skipping his last 2 years of high school to head to college—and hopefully a big-league contract, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. Bryce Harper’s father acknowledges that “there are going to be critics” of the move, but says “Bryce is always looking...

Suspension Over, Phelps Prepares for Meet

(Newser) - Michael Phelps’ suspension ended today, and the swimmer is back in the pool preparing for a tourney next week in Charlotte, the AP reports. The Olympian said he was actually unaware of the end of the 3-month ban, imposed after photos emerged of him hitting a bong. “I had...

Cups Runneth Over as Stacking Goes Big Time

Global sport gains ESPN following and its own 'Tiger'

(Newser) - Stifle that laugh. Cup-stacking is a sport in its own right, complete with a championship tournament, an ESPN following—even its own Tiger Woods. That’s Steven Purugganan, an 11-year-old who so masterfully piles plastic cups into pyramids that fans and reporters chase him for attention. Last week’s tournament...

New Procedure Uses Athletes' Own Blood to Heal Them

Practice could become standard orthopedics

(Newser) - Before the Super Bowl, Hines Ward and Troy Polamalu got a dose of an exciting new medicine: their own blood. They join at least one Major League pitcher, 20 pro soccer players, and many more casual athletes as early adopters of platelet-rich plasma therapy, a shockingly simple new procedure that...

Sports World Full of Obama Fans
 Sports World 
 Full of Obama Fans 
OPINION
Jan 21, 2009 12:28 PM CST

Sports World Full of Obama Fans

Usually politically quiet, sports stars come out in favor of new prez

(Newser) - Barack Obama's powers of inspiration and unification reach beyond the political world: "All around the country, athletes responded to the new president," Gwen Knapp writes for the San Francisco Chronicle. The inauguration sparked tears from big men who take physical punishment for a living, and Obama's rise has...

Eyes, Brain Make Cards' Fitzgerald Quite the Catch

Star receiver has rare visual skills and a souped-up onboard computer for analysis

(Newser) - More than height, speed, or jumping ability, highly developed eyesight and an extraordinary internal computer make Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald a top-tier NFL receiver, a scientist tells the Wall Street Journal. Fitzgerald’s optometrist grandfather put him through drills to improve his “visual dominance,” enabling him to take...

On Sports Exchange, 'Trade' Takes on New Meaning

Create a 'Sportfolio' and buy and sell shares in your favorite athletes

(Newser) - Trading baseball cards with your friends is so 20th century. A new website allows sports fans to trade shares in athletes and even teams, effectively wagering real money on the performance of pro and college athletes, reports Reuters. "I see the marketplace being enormous," says an early investor...

NFL Defenses Tuning In This Season
NFL Defenses Tuning In
This Season
Aug 28, 2008 4:16 PM CDT

NFL Defenses Tuning In This Season

Radio hookup aims to keep foes (ie, Patriots) from stealing signals

(Newser) - NFL defenders are hearing voices in their heads—often the screams of their coaches. An off-season rule change allows select defensive players to use the same helmet communication devices quarterbacks have long been using, USA Today reports. While kinks are being ironed out, the system means incidents like the Patriots’...

Bull Durham No More: Minor Leagues Have Major Money

Once known for cheap thrills, baseball's lower echelons generating tidy profits

(Newser) - If your impression of minor league baseball is still Bull Durham-era, Forbes has an update for you. Gone are dirt-poor players traveling to low-tech stadiums on creaky buses: The top 20 teams are worth an average $21.2 million each, and they pulled in $9.8 million per team last...

10 Possible Teams for Favre
 10 Possible Teams for Favre 
Jul 12, 2008 11:30 AM CDT

10 Possible Teams for Favre

The QB legend may play again, and he wants out of his Green Bay contract

(Newser) - The maybe-not-as-retired-as-we-thought Brett Favre has asked the Green Bay Packers to release him from his contract so he can play elsewhere. It's far from certain the Packers will agree, but USA Today runs down 10 places he could go:
  • Baltimore Ravens: Favre's agent has placed players there before.
  • Buffalo Bills:
...

Russian Soccer's No. 1 Fan? The Kremlin

Russian nationalism plays out on the pitch, and politicians pay out off it

(Newser) - Russia's soccer team takes the field against Spain today in the Euro 2008 quarterfinals with an unlikely and ardent cheering section—the Kremlin. The team, resurging after years in decline, can thank the hefty monetary backing of an oil magnate afraid to run afoul of Moscow. And, as Josh Patashnik...

When a Wealthy Jock Needs a Ride...
When a Wealthy Jock Needs a Ride...
Jun 22, 2008 12:28 PM CDT

When a Wealthy Jock Needs a Ride...

Macky Dancy has a Rolls or Lamborghini, even for a Mets pitcher

(Newser) - Macky Dancy has a deal for you, if you're a millionaire athlete with $200,000 to drop on an upscale ride, the New York Times reports. The 31-year-old salesman, based on Long Island, has delivered Rolls Royces and Lamborghinis to athletes like Allen Iverson and Zab Judah—yet admits he's...

Fortunate 50: Sports Elite in the Green

Tiger, NBA stars top Sports Illustrated annual income ranking

(Newser) - Forget all the talk of economic uncertainty. Sports Illustrated has released its fifth annual Fortunate 50 ranking of top athlete incomes, and things are certain as they've ever been; the NBA pays the best, women aren't being paid enough and Tiger Woods is absolutely untouchable. Ranked by combined on- and...

Stories 21 - 34 | << Prev 
Most Read on Newser