LESAProject

As San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's desperation 4th-and-goal pass intended for receiver Michael Crabtree fell out of the end zone untouched towards the end of Super Bowl XLVII, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh yelled and pleaded with head linesman Steve Stelljes and side judge Joe Larrew for a holding call on Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith.Harbaugh reiterated his opinion post-game: "no question in my mind there was a pass interference and a hold."During that same interview, the losing coach also stated his disagreement with a previous pass interference call against San Francisco's Chris Culliver earlier in the period.Though NFL Rule 8-4 authorizes ...

Former Diamondbacks broadcaster and MLB alum Mark Grace has been sentenced to four months of work-release jail time and three years of probation following a second DUI conviction in just 15 months.Grace was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence on Aug. 23, 2012; exhibiting a blood-alcohol content of .095, in excess of the .08 legal limit. At the time, however, he pled not guilty to the charges against him.The Diamondbacks suspended Grace following his August arrest and confirmed on Oct. 4, 2012 that Grace and partner Daron Sutton would not be returning to Arizona in 2013.Barely two weeks later, ...

When first base umpire Jim Joyce missed a safe/out call at first base during Game 3 of the Cardinals-Nationals NLDS, the seemingly unwonted occurrence—ESPN once estimated umpires miss 20 percent of all close calls—exploded into a national headline that even The Associated Press saw fit to distribute.The first sentence of the AP release?It's another umpiring call that went the St. Louis Cardinals [sic] way this postseason.Ah, there's the rub.Implying that umpires, referees, judges and other sports officials are conspiring for or against certain teams is nothing new as fans often blame a team's misfortune on an impartial third party.As I previously wrote, scapegoating ...

MLB umpire Jim Joyce reportedly saved a woman's life Monday night by performing CPR when the woman, Diamondbacks food service employee Jayne Powers, went into cardiac arrest following a Levy Restaurants pregame briefing (via MLB.com).The incident occurred approximately 90 minutes prior to the evening's scheduled Marlins vs. D-Backs contest when veteran umpire Joyce—who was scheduled to work home plate that night—and crew-mates Lance Barrett, Jim Reynolds and James Hoye were arriving at Chase Field.While navigating the underground corridors en route to the umpires' dressing room, Joyce noticed a woman who had fallen to the ground and took immediate action.After ensuring ...

International competition is intense—with the best athletes from around the world competing for just three medals, it simply has to be.Yet while such rivalry often inspires perseverance and dedication, sometimes the lust for success provokes the shattering of moral codes, a destruction of ethics.Athletes and those involved with competition have long proven problematic for the International Olympic Committee, from men competing as women in the first half of the 20th century to various doping scandals in the century's second half and the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan "Whack Heard Around the World" in advance of the 1994 Lillehammer Games.After a high-profile scandal ...

A minor league umpire's ejection of an intern deejay for the Daytona Cubs for playing a sound clip of the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice" Wednesday has given added credence to the classic George Santayana statement, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."The odd scene unfolded in the visitor's eighth inning, after Fort Myers Miracle batter Andy Leer was ruled safe at first base by field umpire Ramon Hernandez, who ruled that Cubs first baseman Taylor Davis bobbled a low throw from shortstop Tim Saunders.Cubs manager Brian Harper then exited the dugout to argue the call ...

Joe Mikulik has served as manager of the minor league Asheville Tourists since 2000 and has been an embarrassment to professional baseball on the national stage since 2006.A former San Jacinto Junior College walk-on, Mikulik was drafted by the Houston Astros in 1984, sputtering around the minor leagues until retiring in the early 1990s, never having made it to MLB action.Despite his stalled playing career, Mikulik endeavored to assist others in achieving their dreams, turning to coaching and accepting a position with the Canton-Akron Indians in 1995 before his promotion to manager of the Burlington Indians in 1997 and finally ...

U.S. hurdler Lolo Jones dons a selection of what appear to be white ping pong balls as she sprints and leaps her way down the 100-meter track. By day's end, a computer will inform her what she is doing right and where she can improve.Welcome to Mathletics, the 21st century approach to running a faster race.With the help of Red Bull Project X, Jones is learning how to better her chances of winning a medal in London by taking performance science to an Olympic level it has never quite reached before.From Optojump LEDs to Phantom Flex Video, Jones is learning ...

Umpires, we have a dangerous concussion epidemic on our hands—heads.Earlier this week, MLB umpire Chad Fairchild took a 95-mile-per-hour sinker from Rockies pitcher Jeremy Guthrie to the center of his protective face mask, suffering a concussion that resulted in his withdrawal from the weekend's Rockies-Phillies series.Like most players and other officials, Fairchild toughed it out after his seventh-inning head-shot, sticking around for the remainder of Colorado's walk-off loss to Philly. After the game, manager Jim Tracy admitted that sophomore catcher Wilin Rosario had been crossed up: "He was looking for one pitch and another one showed up." The corresponding missed catch resulted in the direct ...

Coming to a living room near you...It all started at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games at Seoul—by then, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) had persuaded the International Olympic Committee to include the commonplace game of ping pong as a bona fide Olympic sport.With table tennis as trailblazer No. 1, it is high time here in 2012 that the Olympic Games welcome in more living room events as full-fledged, medal-bearing athletic contests.Let the Games begin with the following 10 "Olympic" sports you can play in your living room.Begin Slideshow