It's the dead of winter. We're a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting and a good two-and-a-half until the games actually start to count. But down near the equator, baseball is only just heating up. On Wednesday, the pressure cooker that is the Venezuelan Winter League got a little too hot, however, when a bench-clearing dust-up turned into full-fledged criminal assault with former Arizona Diamondback Alex Romero at its center. The insanity got rolling when Rómulo Sánchez plunked César Varela, leading to a pretty standard bench-clearing dust-up. Nothing to write home about, by homicidal baseball standards, but still pretty fun.
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But as it turned out, that was only the amuse bouche for the feast to come. In the next inning, Romero stepped to plate and was summarily plunked in retaliation for the fracas. It wasn't a dangerous bean. Nothing head height. No high heat. But it did manage to knock loose some s..

The never-ending reality show that is the National Basketball Association was in rare form on Wednesday night, and the star at the center of it all was Jimmy Butler. He didn't break any records on the court, but he still made quite an impact in the Miami Heat's 122-108 win over the Indiana Pacers.
In addition to scoring 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting, grabbing six boards and dishing seven assists, Butler dominated the mental battle against Indiana's T.J. Warren, who was guarding Butler for most of the night, but not all of the night. Halfway through the third quarter, after the two had been jawing all night, Warren fouled Butler hard, and Butler took exception, squaring up like he was ready to fight. After the two were separated they played on, and on the very next play that Butler got the ball, he gave Warren the ol' fullback shoulder right in his chest, earning an offensive foul.
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Ross Kinnaird(Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)The Twitter accounts of most professional golfers are trash. They serve not as interactive platforms but tools of advertisement, brand activation and blandness. There are, however, a few beacons of light in this sea of darkness, none as bright as Phil Mickelson and his “Phireside” chats.
But Mickelson has made social waves not for his own video content, but my merely confirming a tale that sounds far too sensational to be true.
One of the trending topics, sandwiched between World War III and Royal Family nothingness, this week was the question, “Tell me a story about yourself the sounds like a lie but is absolutely true.” Someone with the handle “Rick Fil-A” (sigh) replied to the thread with a Mickelson anecdote:
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Which, frankly, doesn't seem that outrageous for Phil. Where it gets interesting is that Mickelson chimed in, adding it happened at a Guns N Roses concert:
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Our expert says the past month for Patrick Reed—what it has produced in sounds and scenes and sentiments from golf fans—is, fair or not, his new reality

Kyle Berkshire has said he originally got into long drive competitions to help his golf game. The thinking was that success at launching a golf ball would give him confidence, and eventually translate into success when he returned to the golf course. But if the reigning World Long Drive champ is looking for a second career in golf, he may have found a different option: trick shots.
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Of course, one could argue that being able to hit a golf ball as far as Berkshire does is a trick shot in itself. But Berkshire has been spending his offseason building quite the portfolio of more creative swings. Check out this flop shot:
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And this ridiculously spinning bunker shot:
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This even more ridiculous chip shot off a frozen lake:
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These Tiger-esque escape shots:
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This Aaron Judge-esque baseball shot:
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These are extreme, but why not go out on a real limb (Grand Slam, anyone?) when forecasting what might take place in the coming year

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