Sean M. HaffeyWhen I was in Little League there was an umpire notorious for trying to move games along briskly. He was adamant about catchers on the hitting team getting their gear on with two outs. His in-between inning warm-ups were comically short.
Late in games, the tie went to whoever would put him in his car and down the road.
This is all worth noting because according to recent analysis, the bias toward getting baseball games over with quickly extends well beyond Little League umpires paid in beer money, but even at the highest levels of the sport. According to fivethirtyeight.com, Major League umpires have shown a tendency to call balls and strikes in extra innings in favor of the team that will end the game soonest. The analysis looked at 32,000 pitches thrown between 2008 and 2016, and showed that strike zones expanded and shrunk in the bottom half of extra innings based on specific criteria.
Put simply, if the visiting team was ahead and needed to get outs to end the game, t..

The core four of “Seinfield”—and if you need them named, you're reading the wrong article—is what made the show turn, but it was the secondary cast of eccentric characters that put the program over the top. We're talking Frank and Estelle Costanza, J. Peterman, Bania, George Steinbrenner…Newman…and our personal favorite, David Putty.
How can you not be magnetized by Putty's level-headed demeanor and monotone voice, and certainly his affinity for high-fives and Arby's doesn't hurt the cause. But if we're talking Putty, we'd be remiss in forgetting his turn as a hardcore New Jersey Devils fan in “The Face Painter,” his fandom hitting such a fever pitch that it drives a priest insane.
Though “Seinfield” has been off the air for two decades, no story continues to resonate across our cultural landscape like the “show about nothing,” which is why the Internet was delighted to see the following at last night's New Jersey Devils playoff game:
https:/..

A longtime Golf Digest editor returns to the golf course where he fell in love with the game to say goodbye.

photologicaAt some point in recent years you have likely stumbled upon the notion that moderate drinking is in some ways good for you. Something about the heart, and antioxidants—whatever, you didn’t really want to delve into deep. Medical studies that conveniently fit your lifestyle are like $20 bills randomly found on the street. The more questions you ask, the less satisfying the answer.
Anyway, we bring this up because of a new multi-nation study published in the Lancet that says in essence, no, not really. Whereas moderate low-risk drinking for men in the U.S. was defined by doctors as two drinks a day or 14 drinks a week, the new study says anything more than a drink a day has hazardous effects on your life expectancy. A little bit of drinking still has some redeeming benefits in that it lowers the risk of heart attack. But after that, other risks are elevated: stroke, heart failure, random texting of old girlfriends, etc.
Of course this is particularly relevant to us given our o..

Don't look now, but the Las Vegas Golden Knights have thrown their hat in the ring to become one of the greatest stories in the history of sports, if they already aren't. The NHL's newest team swept the L.A. Kings in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday night, bouncing a franchise that has won two Stanley Cups in the last six years.
Now, the Knights have quickly shifted from fun storyline to Stanley Cup co-favorite after opening the season with 200-1 odds to raise the cup. It lines up perfectly with the theme of Vegas' entire season, one that went from “this is cute”, to “they can't keep this up”, to “they won't be able to do it in the playoffs.” Just ask Kings defenseman Drew Doughty, who played in all four of L.A.'s matchups with the Knights in the regular season. After two losses, Doughty claimed there's no way Vegas would be better than L.A. by the end of the season, which he was right about, as the Kings went on to beat them in the fin..

SAN ANTONIO (AP) Sergio Garcia had a long history with Texas even before he became a part-time resident.

He made his PGA Tour debut as a pro in 1999 at the Byron Nelson Classic and caused an immediate sensation with the gallery outside Dallas when he made eight birdies in 15 holes and had a chance for a 59 when he had a 4-iron into the par-5 16th hole. He finished par-par-bogey for a 62 and tied for third that week.

Two years later, the Spaniard won his first PGA Tour event at Colonial, the first of three victories in the Lone Star State.

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Now, the connection extends to family. He married Angela Akins last summer, and he’s based out of the Austin area when he’s playing in America. That’s where he was last week after missing the cut at the Masters, for a family gathering of both parents and plenty of doting on Azalea, their 5-week-old daughter.

”Changed a lot of nappies,” Garcia said. ”We went to the ranch a couple of times. We practiced a little bit with..

A fire was reported at National Golf Links of America, with video and photos showing the clubhouse engulfed in smoke.

Watching these NBA Playoffs, which, don't get us wrong, have been great, but one can't help but pine for the old days. The days of true rivalries, when men were men, shorts where short and driving the lane was basically risking a visit to the hospital. Sure, there's been some C-level beefs, Spike Lee-Reggie Miller-esque rivalries, and more drama with Lance Stephenson and LeBron James. But in this oversaturated social media world, it all just feels manufactured.
The thing is, it wasn't even that long ago when there still was some real hatred in the playoffs, most of it provided the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat (and even Kobe's Los Angeles Lakers to an extent). While everyone played their part, Kevin Garnett was the star, providing an old school feel with his A+ (sometimes extremely messed up) trash talk, physical play and “I ain't nobody's” friend, win by any means necessary, “BAR FIGHT” mentality.
Now that he's retired, Garnett has attempted to ..

Kevin WinterLike private Caribbean islands and charter jets before them, the new A-list status symbol is owning your own tequila company. Diddy (or whatever he's going by these days) has one, Elon Musk wants one, and Clooney just sold his for a cool billion. Now, if reports are to be believed, the great Brahma Bull—Mr. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson himself—is getting in on the agave game with his new nectar, Mana Tequila.
FacebookPinterestAccording to TMZ, Johnson has officially filed papers for the “Mana Tequila” name, which, in a punny twist of fate, simply means “spirit” in Polynesian. A launch date and core expressions are still unconfirmed, but a Cinco de Mayo announcement of The People's Anjeo and Raging Bull Reposado certainly seems likely.
Whether or not The Rock will actually try his own supply remains to be seen, of course. Generally speaking, he doesn't put anything in his body that isn't chicken, fish, or, massive, heaping mounds of pancakes, but let's ..

Brian Babineau(Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)Remember Freddie Mitchell? He was the fifth receiver on the Philadelphia Eagles' 2004 Super Bowl team that infamously said he didn't know any of the names, only the numbers, of the New England Patriots secondary, only to purposefully state each of their numbers incorrectly? That didn't work out too well for “FredEx,” as he caught all of one pass for 11 yards in the Eagles 24-21 loss. Afterwards Mitchell claimed the Patriots were “little girls,” a lame response made even lamer given, you know, he caught one pass for 11 yards in a loss.
Why do we bring this up? Call it a free history lesson for Eric Bledsoe.
Despite the absence of their two best players and backup point guard, the Boston Celtics are up 2-0 in their first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks. A standing due in no small part to Terry Rozier, the third-string Boston guard who's dropped 46 points and played lock-down D through the first two ..