On May 7, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ was struck in the head by a line drive and suffered a head contusion and small fracture behind his left ear.

One year earlier, then Oakland A’s pitcher Brandon McCarthy was struck in the head with a line drive and required emergency surgery after suffering an epidural hemorrhage, a brain contusion and a skull fracture.

And it seems like every year, this happens at least once during the Major League Baseball season.

It’s only a matter of time before a pitcher is killed. (more…)

Two years ago, I was struggling to decide on what team to bet in the Super Bowl so I decided to consult my good luck charm—my wife.  My wife, Mrs. Sacks, knows next to nothing about football.  Yet amazingly, she accurately predicted the Packers would defeat the Steelers in Super Bowl 45.   The next year I decided to try my luck again, and this time, she not only predicted that the Giants would cover the spread but that they would win outright over the Patriots in Super Bowl 46.

So here am I again trying to pick between two evenly-matched teams.  I’m having trouble deciding between the 49ers and the Ravens.  So for a third straight year, I’m looking to my wife, who doesn’t know the difference between a punt and field goal, to handicap the Super Bowl.  Here’s how the conversation went (This conversation is completely real).

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This is always a great time of year at Living with Balls. The Super Bowl is around the corner, which is usually exciting in its own right. But because I create my annual Super Bowl drinking game, I see a huge spike in visits. My pageviews nearly double because of it. Apparently, there are plenty of degenerates in this country looking to get obliterated during the Super Bowl.

If you are one of those degenerates, then you came to the right place.  This Super Bowl drinking game is guaranteed to get you FUCKED UP. But as I do every year, I must warn you with this disclaimer…

This drinking game is not for the casual drinker. Proceed with caution. Living with Balls is not responsible if you get violently ill or die from playing this game. I recommend you adjust the rules to your tolerance or just quit playing when you’re good and drunk.

I have set up a game for both beer and shots. You’re welcome to do one or the other, or play both.  God help you if you try playing both.   Here’s the Super Bowl 47 Drinking Game.  (more…)

Every year, in the world of fantasy football, there are a few guys that just don’t live up to expectations. No matter how good your team is, you’ll always have at least one guy on your team that you hate. Every so often, there will be a guy SO BAD that you swear you’ll never draft him ever again. NO MATTER WHAT. You hate him for destroying your dream of fantasy football glory and you’ll never forgive him.

The 2012 season is no different. Below you will find a list of players who are currently the most hated men in fantasy football.

This year, I’m especially bitter because my fantasy team has had a rough go of it. There are numerous people on this list that I have on one of my two struggling teams.  I should have just put my entry fee on black at the roulette table at Party Casino instead and I could have saved myself some aggravation.

Note: stats are accurate through week 10 of 2012 season

Vernon Davis- Tight End, San Francisco 49ers (more…)

For this first time ever, the NFL is having Thursday night games every week. When I initially heard this, I thought it was great. Another night to watch football! Another night to gamble (click here) on NFL spreads!

But it’s a couple weeks into the season now and I’m starting to realize Thursday Night Football might not be that great of a thing after all. At least not for me. Here are a few reasons why… (more…)

Fantasy football draft season is here!  Around this time of year, any serious fantasy football player is likely to be spending a lot of free time pouring through cheat sheets, reading magazine and Internet articles and looking for injury updates on players they are targeting.

This is all well and good but it’s important to not neglect your fantasy football team name.  This is a KEY aspect of any fantasy football league and all owners should give their team name proper thought.  Picking a lame team name is such an egregious offense; one could make an argument for kicking an offender out of the league.

Picking a good team name can be very challenging, however.   It may just as difficult as deciding on a your draft strategy.  From searching through forum alias names and avatars, through to player monikers on JackpotCapitalCasino.com, there are lots of genius ideas around the web. Here are a few tips to help you come up with a great team name… (more…)

There are 32 different sports in the London Olympics Games. Most of them are very exciting but some of them are pretty dumb. Considering the Olympics decided to eliminate both baseball and softball recently, it’s hard to believe some of the events that made the cut over them. I’ve compiled a list below of what I think are some nominees for the dumbest sport in the Olympic Games. Check out the nominees and then be sure to vote! (more…)

It seems like you cannot watch a professional sporting event these days without being bombarded by advertisements. A NFL coach challenges a play and we see an ad for the Coors Light Freeze Frame. The 15th out of a baseball game is recorded and you are reminded that GEICO can save you 15 percent on car insurance. We watch, what we think is a slam dunk contest, but when Blake Griffin jumps over car, we are really just seeing a cleverly disguised ad for Kia. It’s already out of control— and it’s about to get worse….

The NBA recently announced they would begin to allow advertisements on jerseys beginning in the 2013-14 season. The NBA Board of Governors approved the use of 2” x 2” patches, which they estimate will generate an additional $100 million dollars in revenue.

This is probably just the beginning. All it takes is for one major sports organization to do this. It’s only a matter of time before other major professional sports follow suit. Though Bud Selig, the commissioner of MLB, has already gone on record in saying he wouldn’t allow that. But he’s retiring soon and how do we know the next commissioner will feel the same way? (more…)

“Home to more than 10,000 athletes at the Summer Games and 2,700 at the Winter, the Olympic Village is one of the world’s most exclusive clubs. To join, prospective members need only have spectacular talent and — we long assumed — a chaste devotion to the most intense competition of their lives. But the image of a celibate Games began to flicker in ’92 when it was reported that the Games’ organizers had ordered in prophylactics like pizza. Then, at the 2000 Sydney Games, 70,000 condoms wasn’t enough, prompting a second order of 20,000 and a new standing order of 100,000 condoms per Olympics.”

This is a paragraph from a recent article from ESPN Magazine. In one of the more fascinating articles I’ve read in quite some time, writer Sam Alpour sheds light on what its like for athletes to live in the Olympic Village— and apparently it’s two weeks of constant sex and debauchery. (more…)

The 2012 MLB All-Star game is approaching. Though I feel the baseball All-Star game is more interesting than the all-star games of other professional sports, it’s still pretty damn boring. Of course one way to make it more interesting is to make a drinking game out of it.

Since my annual Super Bowl Drinking Game has been very popular, why not make another version? So with that in mind, here is the first Living with Balls, MLB All-Star Drinking Game!

As always my lawyers have asked me to make this statement:

This drinking game is not for the casual drinker. Proceed with caution. Living with Balls is not responsible if you get violently ill from playing this game. Feel free to adjust the rules to your tolerance or just quit playing when you’re good and drunk.

You’ll need beer and some hard liquor. There are a few possibilities for taking shots. (more…)