sport

ESPN denies talks on Apple TV move

Apple's Apple TV set-top box could get more sports programming as part of a deal with Disney's ESPN network.

Bloomberg today relays its chat with ESPN marketing executive Sean Bratches, who said that the company would be game for offering its WatchESPN service through the Apple TV to existing cable subscribers.

"We're a platform-agnostic content company," Bratches told Bloomberg. "To the extent that in the future there's an opportunity with Apple to authenticate through the pay-TV food chain as we're doing with Microsoft, that's something that we will participate in." … Read more

Fans make sport of mistakenly tweeted porn link

It is surely accepted that sports writers are the most talented employees of news organizations.

They work under the most pressure, and their creativity is unbounded.

However, with that pressure comes the possibility of pain.

So I am torn and twisted by the information brought to me through Gizmodo that Vito Stellino, the very ball-sports oriented writer of the Florida Times Union, seems to have got his links in a bind by offering his Twitter followers material of a difficult nature.

No, he didn't start Weining (that's the practice of attempting to attach a personally revealing image to … Read more

The 404 1,052: Where we meet the million dollar man (podcast)

2K Sports held its annual "Perfect Game Challenge" last night with a million dollar prize, and today we'll chat with the winner of the MLB2K12 tournament, Mr. Chris Gilmore.

Twenty-year-old Gilmore bested Charles Bates 10-1 in the tournament final that pitted him against eight other highly ranked players. We'll obviously ask him what he plans to do with the bounty, but we also want to know about his history with competitive video games, his preparation process in the weeks leading up to the event, and how it felt to breathe the same air as Kate Upton.… Read more

Madden 13 First Look: Will new commentary change the game?

Remember what the NFL was like this time last year? The league was in a state of suspension. Free agency didn't start until the late summer. Meanwhile, EA showed off Madden 12 and its first-ever fan-voted cover athlete Peyton Hillis amid speculation over whether there would even be a full NFL season.

A year later, everything couldn't be more different -- except for Madden, that is. In the first hands-on play time with the new version scheduled for release sometime in the late summer, you'd be hard-pressed to tell what, if anything, had changed. Except for presentation.… Read more

Athlete exposes alleged dirty e-mailer on Facebook

Public figures are often subject to approaches from the unwelcome.

German Olympic high jumper, Ariane Friedrich, seems no different. However, her approach toward a man who allegedly e-mailed her pictures of his genitalia is certainly somewhat novel.

For she took to her Facebook page and posted his name, details of his hometown, and excerpts from his missives.

MSNBC reports that she accompanied the post with the message: "It's time to act, it's time to defend myself. And that's what I'm doing. No more and no less."

Friedrich knows a little about defending herself. She'… Read more

NBC to live-stream all sports from London Olympics

NBC is taking a big step with this summer's Olympics that is sure to please Internet viewers.

Reversing an earlier policy, the network is expected to formally announce tomorrow that all 32 sports at the Olympic Games in London will be streamed live at NBCOlympics.com, The New York Times reports.

"Whatever is on schedule that day, if cameras are on it, we'll stream it," Rick Cordella, vice president and general manager of NBC Sports Digital Media, told the paper. "The hot topic is always, 'Why don't you show all your sports live?' We … Read more

ScoreBig on tickets to sporting events and shows

Do you like to go to sporting events and shows? Most people like to get out to the ballpark or a concert every once in a while, but often rising ticket prices, service fees, and extra hassle keep people from buying tickets.

ScoreBig Daily (Free) is an app for iPhone that works with the ScoreBig.com Web site to get you good seats for events for much less than the original ticket price. As of today's launch of the app, ScoreBig only works with events in L.A. or San Francisco, but it will soon be available for most … Read more

2013 Subaru BRZ Limited: Believe (most of) the hype

Take a moment and mentally process all of the hype surrounding the launch of the 2013 Subaru BRZ. Go on, I'll wait. Now take that hype and dial it back to 80 percent. That's how good the Subaru BRZ is. It's not the second coming or the messiah for performance driving -- it's not perfect -- but it is quite good.

The B in BRZ should stand for "balanced" because that's exactly what Subaru's new rear drive coupe is. This car is all about balance with a near 50-50 weight distribution between … Read more

2013 Lexus GS 350, 450h: A tale of two sport sedans

Every year at the Western Automotive Journalists' annual Media Days at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, there's at least one large sedan that surprises me with its on-track poise. Last year, that car was the Acura TL SH-AWD, but this year it was the 2013 Lexus GS 350 F-Sport that left me scratching my head.

2013 GS 350 F-Sport

The last time I found myself behind the wheel of a Lexus GS, it was back in 2008 when a GS 450h hybrid surprised me with its straight-line performance and understated, muscular stying. The newest 2013 Lexus GS is anything but … Read more

Adidas plans world's first 'smart soccer match' for July

Adidas' miCoach service, which is essentially its answer to Nike+, will be playing a major role in the Major League Soccer All-Star Game in July.

According to the company, the MLS game will be the world's "first smart soccer match," allowing coaches to track player performance on the pitch. Adidas hasn't revealed too many details on how the service will work, but it appears that coaches will be able to access real-time player statistics, including speed, acceleration, and power output, from a tablet. The software also provides alerts coaches might need to consider.

Although Adidas calls its player-tracking software the "next step in player performance analysis technology," it might make some sport purists take a step back. The kind of information to be made available to the MLS All-Star Game coaches is unlike anything they've had before. And that kind of data could make the game more reliant upon raw data than instinctual decision-making -- a key aspect of soccer since its inception.… Read more