On September 24 1983, a brilliant young Argentinian footballer playing for FC Barcelona was brutally fouled in a Spanish league game against Athletic Bilbao. The resulting injury incapacitated Diego Armando Maradona for four months and ultimately resulted in him leaving Barcelona for Naples and a serious cocaine addiction. More than the fouling player (who already had the nickname "Butcher of Bilbao"), many blamed Bilbao's coach and his somewhat lacking concept of "fair play". [more inside]
posted by Skeptic on May 16, 2010 - 46 comments

Did UEFA fix today's Champions' League quarter-final draw? [more inside]
posted by uk_giffo on Mar 14, 2008 - 35 comments

"In terms of language, it is also the most offensive official Major League baseball document that we have ever seen." An auction house obtains a one page letter sent to baseball players in 1898, outlining the league's new anti-cursing policy. Includes lots of examples of the kind of language that is not allowed. Nervous auctioneers not sure how to exhibit it. Purely of historical interest, naturally. [more inside]
posted by LobsterMitten on Dec 2, 2007 - 86 comments

Robert Cutter, Phillip Kuhn and Marlene Kuhn, Thursday night league bowlers: "I take the bus to the bowling alley," says Robert. "It takes me about an hour. I've been bowling 36 years. I've never missed bowling in 36 years. I'm the first one here and the last one to go home. I even beat the sheet maker (the guy who keeps score for the teams). If I have the flu, I'm still bowling. I still come. I've got rheumatisim and I'm still bowling. If I don't bowl I sit on the couch." When asked if he'd ever consider quitting bowling, he said, "Hell no! I gotta be dead first!" ..."Phil and I have been bowling five years," says Marlene. "We've only missed bowling once in five years. We walk here. We walk even when it rains or snows. It's about 4-1/2 miles to get here. I try to do my best. I've got a bad leg. I've got a trick knee that goes out on me. We're going to start up our own team soon: the Klingons. We watch Star Trek all the time. We're Trekaholics. We have a cat named Leonard 'Bones' McCoy."
                                        Marzano's Miami Bowl
posted by y2karl on Nov 13, 2004 - 17 comments

Want free admission to a baseball game? Get a tattoo. The Daytona Cubs, a minor league affiliate (high A-ball) of the Chicago Cubs, are running a promotion where "Any fan 18 or older who gets a Daytona Cubs tattoo from Willie's Tropical Tattoo in Ormond Beach, Fla., will receive a lifetime general admission ticket." "I'm not squeamish about where someone wants to put it," said Charlie Subock of Tropical Tattoo. "It might be disrespectful to get it on your butt. But if you didn't like the Cubs, that may be the place to put it."
posted by moz on Nov 30, 2001 - 9 comments