Sports

Sports

Super Bowl Underdogs, Are Stats On Their Side?

11:26am February 12, 2013

by Mike Pesca

The Baltimore Ravens hope to top off their run to the Super Bowl with a win in the big game Sunday. If they do, they'll continue a trend of unlikely champions — six of the past eight Super Bowl victors weren't the top seeds in their conferences.

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Sports

Week In Sports: NBA Season Hits Halfway Point

12:11pm February 09, 2013

The NBA's All-Star Game is just next weekend, and it's a surprise which teams are hottest going into the break. In Pennsylvania, the Paterno family is gearing up to address last summer's devastating Freeh Report. Civil War-era baseball also made headlines this week. NPR sports correspondent Tom Goldman shares all this with Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon.

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Maltipoo Shaggy is dressed as a Yankees fan at the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade in New York City last year. Commentator Frank Deford says the Yankees are turning into a home for the assisted living.

It's The Dog Days For America's Sports Dynasties

10:51am February 06, 2013

by Frank Deford

We used to have three bona fide dynasties: the Yankees in baseball, the Celtics and Lakers in basketball, and the Cowboys in football. We even had dynasties in college sports. But no more. Commentator Frank Deford says our dynasties are melting as fast as the Arctic ice cap.

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Sports

When Athletes Cheat, Who Really Wins?

8:48am February 06, 2013

They are the athletes who cheat to gain an edge. And now, it seems we read or hear about them almost every day.

49ers fan Kristofer Noceda (third from left) with friends at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

Sports

Keeping Those Jerseys Unwashed For The Big Win

6:16pm February 03, 2013

by Amy Held

On Super Bowl Sunday, there are likely a lot of unwashed Ravens and 49ers jerseys around. It's just one of many superstitions sports fans cling to in the belief it will bring their team victory. But superstitions may also be beneficial from an evolutionary standpoint.

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Inside The Training Room: Uncovering Football's Scars

6:41pm February 02, 2013

On the eve of Super Bowl Sunday, host Laura Sullivan speaks with former NFL lineman Tre Johnson and writer Tom Junod, whose piece in this month's Esquire takes readers into the training room, where players recover from their many injuries. And in many ways, those injuries last a lifetime.

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Jimmy Cliff in a Volkswagen "Get Happy" commercial.

Sports
Arts

For Super Bowl Ads, More Social-Media Savvy

7:17pm February 01, 2013

by Elizabeth Blair

For years, Super Bowl ads have gone viral after they've aired. But these days brands like Doritos and Volkswagen are turning to social media to crowdsource ad creation — and to boost the buzz long before the big Sunday kickoff.

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How Do You Solve A Problem Like Colin Kaepernick?

7:55pm January 31, 2013

by Mike Pesca

The gifted quarterback can run and pocket pass, skills that helped him lead the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl. But what will it take for the Baltimore Ravens to stop — or at least slow down — Kaepernick on Sunday?

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History Joins The 49ers In Opposing Ray Lewis

9:09am January 31, 2013

by Frank Deford

It's rare in sport for someone to declare that this will be the finale and then go out a winner, says commentator Frank Deford. But, on Sunday, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis hopes to do just that.

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Sports

Super Bowl XLVII

7:30am January 30, 2013

The Big Game is just days away - Super Bowl 47 from New Orleans.

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