ben-cosgrove - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
![A Total Eclipse of the Sonny: The Night 'The Greatest' Was Born](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/wprzfowcgyh7mpqtumyr.jpg)
![Grab Your Screwbat And Go Win, Young Man](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/nvb8efxmld8esozzr5fj.jpg)
![Dem Bums In Da Spring](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/vfo44eyk7uftdfbvcqu9.jpg)
Dem Bums In Da Spring
These are some damn good pictures. There is energy here — a genuine playfulness and terrific personalities. But the real appeal of these George Silk photos from the Dodgers' spring training camp in 1948 is the singular glimpse they afford of baseball in post-WWII America. ...
![For Some Stupid Reason, Everyone Was Shocked When Clay Beat Liston](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/19gpiwd06u1uejpg.jpg)
For Some Stupid Reason, Everyone Was Shocked When Clay Beat Liston
Fifty years ago tomorrow, in Miami Beach, 22-year-old Cassius Clay beat the hell out of Sonny Liston and took the world heavyweight crown from the Big Bear. According to the great New York Times sportswriter Robert Lipsyte, "only three of 46 sportswriters covering the fight had picked Clay to win." ...
![Tony Kubek Once Brought A Camera To Spring Training, Then Mantle Farted](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/19g2xeusvukxbjpg.jpg)
Tony Kubek Once Brought A Camera To Spring Training, Then Mantle Farted
In the 1960s, the likelihood of taking at least one photograph of Mickey Mantle ripping — or pretending to rip — a fart during spring training was, evidently, quite high. Perhaps LIFE magazine's editors weren't aware of this, because in February 1961 they handed 25-year-old shortstop Tony Kubek a pr...
![Swimsuit Issue: The Butterfinger Edition](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/19f9ypdm7qljmjpg.jpg)
Swimsuit Issue: The Butterfinger Edition
The 50th anniversary edition of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue hit newsstands this week, which (inevitably, perhaps) evokes memories of a Golden Age when a bikini-clad blonde eating a Butterfinger was the veritable emblem of hotness....
![A Photog Remembers When, And Why, "Uncle Tom" Frazier Kicked Ali's Ass](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/19ctps8vkxpgmjpg.jpg)
A Photog Remembers When, And Why, "Uncle Tom" Frazier Kicked Ali's Ass
Today is Muhammad Ali's 72nd birthday. Four decades ago, after three-and-a-half years away from the ring, he was half-assedly gearing up for a title fight with the reigning champ, Joe Frazier. LIFE photographer John Shearer remembers that winter well....
![Faces Of The Young America League: Guts And Glory In The Rockies](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/19cm2ei32vc0vjpg.jpg)
Faces Of The Young America League: Guts And Glory In The Rockies
Way back when, at a time when organized football for school kids was something of a rarity, LIFE's Alfred Eisenstaedt made some portraits of tough little guys playing in Colorado's Young America League in 1939. (See more Young America League photos here.)...
![This Old Chinese Figure Skater Has Smooth Moves, Awesome Facial Hair](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/19btrty4k6ebljpg.jpg)
This Old Chinese Figure Skater Has Smooth Moves, Awesome Facial Hair
In February 1946 readers of a popular weekly magazine were introduced to exactly the sort of scene Henry Luce likely had in mind when, a decade earlier, he and poet Archibald MacLeish crafted their famous prospectus for a publication initially called "The Show-Book of the World." The still-stirring ...
![At The 1960 Cotton Bowl, A Syracuse Win And A Nasty Racial Ruckus](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/19bbigtfic2dhjpg.jpg)
At The 1960 Cotton Bowl, A Syracuse Win And A Nasty Racial Ruckus
In January 1960, an undefeated Syracuse team whipped Texas, 23-14, in the Cotton Bowl. [See rare photos from the game here.] But it wasn't especially pretty, as LIFE magazine reported in its Jan. 11, 1960, issue: ...
![When Chickens Play Baseball, We All Win](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/199x89qqfkckxjpg.jpg)
When Chickens Play Baseball, We All Win
"Casey Number Two, who is more temperamental than her colleagues, jumps on the playing field to peck at the first baseman, who has blocked her hit."...
![75 Years Ago NFL Players Looked Like This](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/199lr74jovxbwjpg.jpg)
75 Years Ago NFL Players Looked Like This
"Pro football is almost a different game from college football," LIFE magazine helpfully informed its readers in October 1938. In those years, the biggest pro sports in America were baseball, boxing and horse racing; professional football barely registered on most fans' radar. But pro ball was makin...
![A Face Only A Hockey Puck Could Love](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/198wblvpft16vjpg.jpg)
A Face Only A Hockey Puck Could Love
Once upon a time, NHL goalies played without masks. Unsurprisingly, their faces often got all fucked up. In 1966, LIFE published an article, "The Goalie Is the Goat," that not only aimed to put a human countenance on "hockey's reviled and bludgeoned fall-guys," but featured a photo of what looked li...
![The Badassest Rookie Linebacker The NFL Has Ever Seen](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/198a0jn6q7bmajpg.jpg)
The Badassest Rookie Linebacker The NFL Has Ever Seen
I was never a Bears fan, although I do admire the uniform — orange, black and white together just feels football-y, somehow — and I bawled like a crazy person while reading I Am Third and again while watching Brian's Song. (Damn you, James Caan. Damn you to tearjerking hell.) But recently I came acr...