There is a particularly spirited discussion on Deadspin's Facebook page about our post earlier today, "Butt." [Facebook] Read more

Meanwhile, in Chicago, Joel Reese defends Clark the Pantsless Cub. Neil Steinberg does not. Some highlights: "Horror ... pantsless obscenity ... Smurf-like blandness ... monstrosity ... homogenized ... this excrescence ... designed to pacify the sick children it visits in hospitals (thus freeing actual players from… Read more

ESPN statement on the Deadspin/Dan Le Batard ballot: "We respect and appreciate Dan’s opinions and passion about Hall of Fame voting. He received his vote while at the Miami Herald. We wouldn’t have advocated his voting approach, which we were just made aware of today." [ESPN] Read more

Chris Kluwe has lawyered up. [Pioneer Press] Read more

Is Stephen Marche the worst writer working in the English language today? It says here yes. (See also this and this.) Read more

John Dominis, a longtime photographer for Life magazine, died on Monday. He was 92. Even if you don't know the name, you know the work. (The photograph below, of Mickey Mantle's helmet toss, is his. So is the famous shot of Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the '68 Olympics.) There's a lot more at Life's website.
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Here's a very nice story about Deadspinner Brian Hickey and his recovery from a hit-and-run in 2008 that left him with a severe brain injury. [NewsWorks] Read more

Joe MacLeod, whose unapologetically awkward movie-junket interviews are appointment reading, has an unapologetically awkward chat with Oscar Isaac, star of Inside Llewyn Davis. Read more

"College football coaching is a crackpot profession. It rewards moral treachery if not outright cruelty. If Mack Brown has a boast, it's that he did the job with insufficient gusto. He coached the game but never bent to its demands on his soul." Bryan Curtis elegizes Mr. Football. [Grantland] Read more

We're beta testing a new discussions format. Any thoughts? Read more

Bloody Elbow's Connor Ruebusch has a very good breakdown of Manny Pacquiao, who was last seen around these parts eating Juan Manuel Márquez's right hand. Pacquiao-Rios starts in a few hours. I've got Pac-Man, by decision. [Bloody Elbow] Read more