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Jason returns

Publisher stuffs game-fixer Tim Donaghy's book idea; Antoine Walker's broke
As next week will feature a Friday the 13th, it’s time to check in on the NBA’s very own Jason, Tim Donaghy.

By MATT TAIBBI | November 04, 2009

Aqib Talib's press coverage. Plus, the Whizzinator wilts, and Christmas comes early to Philly.
Charges have finally come in on Aqib Talib, the frequently high (if you believe his pre-draft drug tests) and drafted-up-high (20th overall in 2008) Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback who reportedly decked a cabbie because . . . well, it’s still not exactly clear why.

By MATT TAIBBI | October 28, 2009

Nothing is shocking

A Louisville Cardinal gets winged. Plus, wrong-way scootering in Georgia.
Time again for our semi-regular look at law enforcement’s current go-to gadget: the Taser.

By MATT TAIBBI | October 21, 2009

Just fight, baby

The Oakland Raiders fall into a silver-and-black hole. Plus, a UFC fighter gets punchy.
Things just keep getting exponentially worse (and more amusing) for the Oakland Raiders.

By MATT TAIBBI | October 14, 2009

Throwing strikes

Chuck Knoblauch chokes in the clutch. Plus, the SUNY-Binghamton story gets worse.
For us New Englanders, Chuck Knoblauch was always kind of tough to take.

By MATT TAIBBI | October 07, 2009

Wild, Wild West

Delonte West tries out for the Washington Bullets. Plus, SUNY-Binghamton is at it again.
Former Celtic Delonte West has long been known as a clutch shooter, but he's apparently taking that reputation a little too literally.

By MATT TAIBBI | September 30, 2009

The Olympic (shell) games

There are billions of reasons why every debt-saddled American should hope that the US does not get the gold in 2016.
It’s been 13 years since the pageantry and spectacle of the Summer Olympic Games — and the mythical economic boon that goes with it — has graced US soil. But we’ll find out next week if, in a secret-ballot vote in Europe, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will award the 2016 Games to Chicago, the American city competing for the bid.

By ANNE ELIZABETH MOORE | September 25, 2009

Catch a falling star

Willie Williams and Charles Rogers prove that "can't miss" prospects sometimes do
There was a time, not long ago, when two things were true. The first was that the University of Miami was a perennial college-football powerhouse. The second was that Willie Williams was going to be the next big thing among college-football linebackers.

By MATT TAIBBI | September 23, 2009

Are you ready for some Footballz?

Ha-Ha Huddle Dept.
These days, thanks to Internet-related information overload, football fans are more educated than ever. So why, exactly, do we need idiotic TV commentators telling us what we already know about how talented Drew Brees and Adrian Peterson are, or that the game all comes down to turnovers?

By RYAN STEWART | September 17, 2009

Lightning dolt

Did Shawne Merriman take his shot at love?
Outstanding story out of San Diego last week, where terrifyingly stone-headed Chargers linebacker Shawne "Lights Out" Merriman was detained by police after similarly dumb-as-crap semi-famous bisexual reality-show skank Tila Tequila accused him of choking and restraining her in his apartment after an argument.

By MATT TAIBBI | September 16, 2009

America's scam

Eugene Lockhart funds his own buyout. Plus, why do pro athletes hate cabbies?
What a year for former New England Patriots and the criminal-justice system!

By MATT TAIBBI | September 09, 2009

Fall guys

As summer winds down, sports crime picks back up
No shortage of sports-crime activity this week — in fact, it's been an extremely busy time, so much so that it's worth a bullet-point to get to some of the developments in brief.

By MATT TAIBBI | September 02, 2009

Smear tactics

Accused athletes unleash their attorneys
In the world of sports crime, there are two kinds of arrests. In the first, an athlete causes a public scene in some way, the police come, and the athlete is eventually squeezed into the back of a cruiser and taken away. The other kind of crime happens outside of public view.

By MATT TAIBBI | August 26, 2009

Magic man

A former NBA scrub gets caught speeding. Plus, Patrick Kane is sent to the penalty box.
Magic mushrooms may make for amusing Eminem lyrics, but are not and never have been a strong theme in the ongoing sports-crime story.

By MATT TAIBBI | August 19, 2009

Going streaking

Snapping out of the annual NFL training-camp lull. Plus, Plaxico Burress gets his.
It has been an unusually quiet week or so in sports crime, which is perhaps not unexpected, since this is the one time of year when the most arrest-prone class of athletes in America — NFL players — are sequestered in training camps and usually too dog-tired from two-a-days and running suicides to bother to punch out bar skanks or kick in police cruiser windows.

By MATT TAIBBI | August 12, 2009

Stopping Traffic

The Fighting Sioux clean out the garage. Plus, quincy carter continues his slide.
North Dakota might not be the first place you think of when it comes to sports crime, but if the players up there maintain their recent pace, we might soon be listing the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux alongside such infamous programs as the University of Miami Hurricanes and the Florida State University Seminoles.

By MATT TAIBBI | August 05, 2009

Bagged Ben

Sexual-assault charges hit the Steel City. Plus, money-saving tips from Chris Nilan.
Hard to know what to think about the Ben Roethlisberger story. In the annals of sex-harassment accusations, it is not among the most convincing; not only did the plaintiff never go to authorities, she waited a full year to make her case public.

By MATT TAIBBI | July 29, 2009

Felonious dunk

Antoine Walker throws up a brick. Plus, breaking and entering, Arkansas-style.
The Antoine Walker Era was one of the most depressing in the history of Boston sports — having to root for that guy was like having to be a groomsman at your sister's jailhouse wedding to a shoplifter with a club foot.

By MATT TAIBBI | July 22, 2009

Blue Hawaiian

Timmy Chang gets flagged for intentional grounding. Plus, a stabbing story and Bruce Smith's bad knees.
Remember Timmy Chang? You do if you're a college-football junkie — he was the quarterback for June Jones's University of Hawaii team, and ended his career as the NCAA's all-time leading passer.

By MATT TAIBBI | July 15, 2009