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RELATED: Pictures of Gordon through the years | Junior through the years Jeff Gordon is not done after all. The recently retired Hendrick Motorsports driver will compete for the first time this year Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr. , who will be sidelined at least two more weeks due to concussion-like symptoms, according to a team release. Gordon will also sub for…

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Ask Thea Hanscom why she plays baseball and you get a simple answer: “Baseball’s what I grew up doing,” she said. “So I enjoy doing it.” Since the rising ninth-grader started playing T-ball at age 6, she’s been a minority in a game traditionally played by boys. There have been other girls on her teams, but she’s the only one who has continued to play. “Mostly the girls quit (playing),”…

It’s hard work for a country to get turfed out of the Olympics. You must seriously dedicate yourself to the task. It’s not enough to have a brutal, devious autocracy that flagrantly intimidates its domestic critics and is author of miseries all over the world. It’s not even enough to dope your athletes until they virtually glow in the dark. You really need to get caught in the act so…

It’s hard to believe that the youth sports market is worth $14 billion—that’s a lot of halftime orange slices—but if you think about how much time parents spend shuttling their little ones from practice to practice, it starts to make sense. So it comes as no surprise that Sports Illustrated, the venerable sports magazine (and sister title to Fortune), wants a piece of it. The brand this morning released a…

The next several days will make sports history. Russian athletics are facing global accusations of the existence of a state-sponsored doping system, and at least some of the charges appear grounded. The most outspoken opponents of doping recommend banning Russia from the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, while international sports officials are trying to formulate a compromise. For its part, the global sports community must make certain ethical…

Photo credit: Michael Steele/Getty Images The hubris and planet-sized egos of lunatic sports owners is a core Deadspin beat, from Joe Lacob’s horniness for the Larry O’Brien trophy, to Stan Kroenke’s dead raccoon hair, to Dan Gilbert’s simpering evil. When the Panthers’ owner gets a dang statue of himself with two actual panthers built out front of his stadium, you should expect us to make fun of him. However, Tinkoff…

Today, the sports media, most notably television, is more powerful than ever. As an example, approximately 75 percent of NFL revenues come from television rights fees, up from 45 percent in 1979.

Nearly 45,000 fans filed into Busch Stadium on April 15, Jackie Robinson Day in Major League Baseball. They watched the Cardinals, all of whom wore jersey No. 42 in honor of the man who broke baseball’s color barrier 69 years earlier, slug a stadium-record six home runs in a 14-3 rout of the visiting Cincinnati Reds. Earlier that evening, less than five miles away, the predominantly black…

Buy Photo Ozark’s freshly renovated U.S. Baseball Park will host the inaugural championship series of the Show-Me Collegiate Baseball League this weekend.(Photo: News-Leader File Photo)Buy Photo Ozark’s U.S. Baseball Park got a $1.5 million makeover in February, and will host its first championship series less than six months later. The Show-Me Collegiate Baseball League enters the postseason Wednesday and is set to crown its first ever champion this weekend. The…

Ask Thea Hanscom why she plays baseball and you get a simple answer: “Baseball’s what I grew up doing,” she said. “So I enjoy doing it.” Since the rising ninth-grader started playing T-ball at age 6, she’s been a minority in a game traditionally played by boys. There have been other girls on her teams, but she’s the only one who has continued to play. “Mostly the girls quit (playing),”…

CHICAGO (AP) — Jeurys Familia escaped a bases-loaded jam with a game-ending double play after Rene Rivera drove in the tiebreaking run with two outs in the top of the ninth, lifting the New York Mets over the Chicago Cubs 2-1 on Tuesday night. Familia walked Addison Russell and Miguel Montero to start the ninth, then Javier Baez reached on a bunt single when third baseman Jose Reyes threw wide…

The second half of baseball’s season has opened and we’re set for a heck of a stretch run. A total of 18 teams sit at or above the .500 mark heading into Tuesday night’s action, which means a ton of teams have a shot at reaching the postseason and making a run at a World Series title. With that in mind, here is a look at those contenders and the…

LONDON — With just over two weeks until the opening ceremony, Russia still doesn’t know whether its athletes — all or even some — will be competing in the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. It may all come down to the lawyers. While the International Olympic Committee decided Tuesday to ban from the Rio Games all Russian Sports Ministry officials and other administrators implicated in…

Photo credit: Michael Steele/Getty Images The hubris and planet-sized egos of lunatic sports owners is a core Deadspin beat, from Joe Lacob’s horniness for the Larry O’Brien trophy, to Stan Kroenke’s dead raccoon hair, to Dan Gilbert’s simpering evil. When the Panthers’ owner gets a dang statue of himself with two actual panthers built out front of his stadium, you should expect us to make fun of him. However, Tinkoff…

Chip Kelly’s vision in Philadelphia is officially dead, from the players — like DeMarco Murray, Byron Maxwell, and Kiko Alonso, all of whom were traded this offseason — to the sports science. The player purge happened earlier this offseason, but the Eagles‘ decision to move away from sports science is a recent development. Until now, it looked as if it would be the only surviving remnant from the Kelly era,…

It’s hard work for a country to get turfed out of the Olympics. You must seriously dedicate yourself to the task. It’s not enough to have a brutal, devious autocracy that flagrantly intimidates its domestic critics and is author of miseries all over the world. It’s not even enough to dope your athletes until they virtually glow in the dark. You really need to get caught in the act so…

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LA’s Kershaw suffers setback Clayton Kershaw has experienced a recurrence of soreness in his back since throwing a four-inning simulated game on Saturday. The outing was intended to be his last tune-up before he rejoined the big league roster. Instead, Kershaw will be shut down until his pain goes away. He has not pitched since June 26 because of a herniated disk. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts indicated…