You remember Mo Farah, right? He's the Somali-born runner who became the darling of the 2012 Summer Olympics after winning gold in the 10,000 meter and 5,000 meter races. How could you forget the man who gave us this image?

Someone should ask that question of the local news anchor in the video above, who was tasked with interviewing Farah after his victory in the Rock 'N Roll New Orleans half marathon. After expressing some shock at the fact that this guy she's clearly never heard of before set the course record, she asks Farah, "Haven't you run before?" Farah graciously answers the question, somehow preventing himself from screaming, "Um yeah, I've run before. EVER HEARD OF THE OLYMPICS?"

h/t Jody

Dwight Howard finished last night's Lakers-Nuggets game with 15 points, 14 rebounds, and four blocked shots. That is a perfectly acceptable stat line, and it's the kind of line that Howard has been putting up all year. But last night's game also featured a collection of moments that served as reminders that despite his respectable numbers, there is something off about Howard's game.

In the clip at the top of the page, you will see Dwight Howard bully his way into the post against JaVale McGee, unleash a halfhearted pump fake, and then have his attempted hook shot blocked with ease.

Here's Howard completely ignoring a loose ball just a few feet from his grasp and allowing the Nuggets to corral another turnover:

And here he is near the end of the game, getting an alley-oop spiked on his head by Kenneth Faried:

Whether because of injury, fatigue, or disinterest, Howard was a step slow time and time again. But the Nuggets, whose fast-paced and frenetic style is designed to expose opponents who are a step slow, simply laid bare issues that have been plaguing Howard all year. He used to be the larger-than-life presence who commanded your attention and wasn't so easily victimized by the likes of JaVale McGee. Now he's just kind of there, putting up decent numbers, getting dunked on, and anchoring a defense that spent last night giving up 78 points in the paint.

This amazing picture comes to us courtesy of the Wall Street Journal's Chris Herring. That's Knicks head coach Mike Woodson wearing a shirt that bears his own stoic visage above the word "Coach." It's so simple yet so hilarious, and it's the best wardrobe decision that any NBA coach has ever made.

It's been fun to watch Woodson become a more notable NBA personality this year. Nobody ever paid any attention to him in Atlanta, where he was a straight man coaching a team full of boring straight men, but in New York he has become the perfect comedic foil to this madcap Knicks team. I mean, we're still laughing at this picture.

[Twitter]

Some members of the Florida Atlantic University student body are not very happy about the fact that their school has agreed to sell the naming rights to its on-campus stadium to GEO Group, a slimy corporation that operates detention centers and for-profit prisons across the globe. On Monday, a group of FAU students calling themselves the Stop Owlcatraz Coalition occupied the university president's office and demanded that the deal with GEO Group be reconsidered. From the Chronicle of Higher Education:

Gonzalo Vizcardo, a student and spokesman for a group calling itself the Stop Owlcatraz Coalition, said the students and other protesters had rallied on the campus Monday morning, then marched to the office of President Mary Jane Saunders to demand that she speak to the group about the naming deal. He said Ms. Saunders did not come out of her office, so about 50 protesters staged a sit-in.

After about two hours, he said, "she came out and offered to meet with us on Friday at noon for an hour to discuss the stadium-name deal."

Here's a video of the university president finally coming out of her office to speak to the students. It's nothing too exciting, although things do get a tad bit testy at the end:

Once again, here's a handy list of all the shitty things GEO Group has been accused of doing.

[Chronicle]

Previously: FAU Stadium's New Prison Sponsor Is Frantically Trying To Wipe Abuse Allegations From Wikipedia

With respect to the shoving party that spilled into the first row, the most entertaining thing about last night's Warriors-Pacers game was Stephen Curry crossing up his opponents with extreme prejudice. His first victim was George Hill, whose valiant attempt to play good transition defense ended with him falling onto his ass and reaching up to grab Curry like a drowning man looking for rescue. Later in the game, Curry set his sights on Tyler Hansbrough, who was transformed into a helpless baby, pawing after his just-out-of-reach rattle, while Curry shook free of him and splashed a three.

We're partial to the second crossover, simply because it ends with one of Curry's gorgeous jump shots falling straight through the center of the basket. There are few things in the NBA that are as aesthetically pleasing as Curry effortlessly flicking a high-arcing jumper towards the rim. It's like watching a physics equation come to life.

Curry finished last night's game with 38 points on 14-20 shooting, sinking seven of his ten three-point attempts. It was a uselessly fantastic performance in a game that the Warriors lost and not many people watched. Here's hoping that the Warriors hold on to their playoff spot, and that Curry's next brilliant game unfolds in front of a bigger audience.

It's getting harder and harder to remember that the Philadelphia 76ers, who just polished off a six-game losing streak and sit in the dregs of the Eastern Conference at 22-33, were full of hope coming into this season. It was less than a year ago that a plucky Sixers team scrapped its way into the playoffs as an eight-seed, dispatched the Bulls (minus Derrick Rose) in six games, and then dragged the Celtics through a hard-fought, seven game series in the conference semis. The Sixers had exceeded their expectations, and the future looked promising.

Then the trade happened. As part of the massive Dwight Howard deal, the Sixers sent away Andre Iguodala, Mo Harkless, and Nikola Vucevic in exchange for Andrew Bynum. Still, the future continued to look bright. Bynum was coming off the best season of his career, and the departure of Iguodala would mean that talented youngsters like Jrue Holiday, Thaddeus Young, and Evan Turner could take a stab at driving the offense.

And now here we are. Andrew Bynum has yet to play a single game for Philadelphia, the team is five games back of a playoff spot, and head coach Doug Collins is starting to lose it. After last night's loss to the Magic, Collins gave a revealing postgame press conference, in which he tacitly admitted to losing his grip on the season and seemed generally helpless and exasperated.

On if there is anything he can do to turn things around:

Can I tell you something? If everybody looked inside themselves as much as I do, this world would be a CAT scan. There's not two days that go by that I don't go to Rod, I don't go to Tony, "What can I do? How can I do anything different? How can I be a better coach? How can I be a better leader? How can I help these guys?" Sometimes you gotta help yourself.

When asked if he has leaders on his team:

They say it's a player's league, well then take ownership. Take ownership. That's all I'm asking, take ownership of you're putting out there...Me staying up, working harder, not sleeping, that's not going to help anything. There's nothing wrong with our preparation. I looked out there to start the game, three guys weren't even sweating when we started the game.

On his performance as a coach:

No one takes this harder than I do. Nobody. I'm a guy who, when I have coached, I have always been able to find some answers. And I have not been able to find answers. And from my standpoint, that is very disappointing, because I'm paid to do that.

So, things are pretty bleak in Philadelphia, but nobody should be surprised by this. Collins was set up to fail when he was handed a team that had replaced three valuable players with an oft-injured and mercurial star. No amount of scheming or motivating can erase holes in the roster as large as the ones the Sixers have. Add in the fact that Collins has a tendency to burn out on his teams after presiding over an initial improvement in performance (In 27 years, he has never coached one team for longer than three seasons), and his arrival at this point comes with an air of inevitability.

Maybe the Sixers will keep Collins around for one more season, giving him a chance to coach a full-strength team that includes Bynum, but that seems unlikely given how harried and defeated he has become. If Collins leaving Philly means that he'll be able to return to TNT and push Reggie Miller out of the broadcast booth, though, we're all for it.

In a game that nobody expected to be as entertaining as it was, the Miami Heat pulled out a 141-129 double-overtime victory against the Sacramento Kings last night. The Kings should be proud of how well they hung with the Heat before getting demolished by an angry LeBron James, but they shouldn't be proud of this bit of failed trolling from Tyreke Evans.

With the game well in hand, Dwyane Wade attempted to dribble out the clock near half court. That's when Evans decided to swoop in for the steal, streak down to the other end of the court, and then completely blow an wide open layup. Evans then had an entire jar of salt poured into his wounds when Wade got the ball back, placed it under his right foot, and struck a conqueror's pose as the clock expired.

That's it, we've officially run out of motivational slogans to slap on the walls of places where college athletes congregate. The day that this sign was hung up in the University of Alabama football team's weight room is the day that someone should have taken a step back and said, "You know what, maybe we're trying a little too hard here. Let's just throw a 'Play Like A Champion' sign up there and be done with it."

Also, Alabama has a smoothie bar? Jealous!

[Alex Scarborough]

Back in November, former WNBA star Chamique Holdsclaw was involved in an incident with ex-girlfriend and former teammate Jennifer Lacy. Holdsclaw allegedly smashed the window of Lacy's car with a baseball bat, then proceeded to stick a gun in the window and fire a shot through the car while Lacy was still in it.

Today, Holdsclaw was indicted on two counts of aggravated assault, three counts of criminal damage, and one count of possession of a firearm in commission of a felony. Here is a picture of a 9mm shell casing that was recovered from Lacy's car following the incident in November:

Holdsclaw battled depression throughout her career, and once attempted suicide in 2006.

Image via Atlanta Police Department

[USA Today]

Tipster Joe provides us with our latest Virgil sighting. He's still in New York, and he's currently riding the Queens-bound N train through Manhattan. The photo is rather blurry, but we know Virgil's sad mug when we see it.

Steph Curry wasn't the only one doing what he was put on Earth to do last night. Monta Ellis, one of the league's most renowned chuckers, had himself a quintessential Monta Ellis game in Houston. He scored 27 points on 9-24 shooting and hit the crazy, game-winning buzzer-beater you see above. It's almost too fitting that a guy who is known for taking wild, reckless shots would win a game on a shot as hurried and off balance as that one.

Ellis made the most of the moment by sprinting straight off the court as soon as the shot went in. There are few things more bad ass than sucking the air out of an entire arena with a buzzer-beater and then leaving everyone behind in stunned silence. It's the NBA's version of the mic drop.

You're going to have to watch this a few times, and even then you probably won't be able to properly wrap your mind around this insane catch from N.C. State center fielder Brett Williams. A full-speed diving catch that smoothly transitions into a mid-air somersault should be impossible to pull off, which is precisely what makes this clip so enjoyable.

[Big League Stew]

Following the Daytona 500, NASCAR driver Jeremy Clements was slapped with an indefinite suspension after making a racially offensive remark in the presence of a NASCAR official and a reporter from MTV. Here's how Clements described his actions to ESPN:

"And while we're walking they started, he (MTV) started, asking me questions," Clements said. "And it wasn't recorded. We were just talking. So I said one remark about how I wouldn'..."

He stopped short.

"I can't say that part," he said.

"That's pretty much how it happened," he continued. "And even after I said what I said, they still kept asking me questions. It didn't seem like it was a big deal at all. I didn't even think twice about it, like, after. I know I shouldn't have said it. Even when I did say it, I shouldn't have said it. But I didn't think it was going to be a big deal."

And yet, nobody has been willing to reveal exactly what Clements said. His explanation to ESPN was frustratingly vague, and NASCAR is only willing to go so far as calling the remark "intolerable and insensitive."

Our friends at Jalopnik have been all over this story, and they have identified the MTV reporter who was with Clements. Marty Beckerman was covering the race for MTV's Guy Code Blog, and sent out this vaguely suggestive tweet early this morning:

Breckman has told Jalopnik that he will be publishing a story about the incident shortly.

Update: We're still waiting for the MTV story, but one NASCAR media photographer is now claiming that Clements's comment was directed at a female driver, and was more sexist than racist:

[ESPN]
[Jalopnik]

Curious about how gigantic weirdo Dennis Rodman's trip to North Korea is going? It's going great! Today, Rodman took in an exhibition basketball game with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. They watched members of the Harlem Globetrotters take on a North Korean "dream team," and then became besties for life. Vice, which sent a crew to document Rodman's trip, captured some adorable pictures of the pair yukking it up and bonding during the game. And then there's this, from the Associated Press:

"You have a friend for life," Rodman told Kim before a crowd of thousands at a gymnasium where they sat side by side, chatting as they watched players from North Korea and the U.S. play, Alex Detrick, a spokesman for the New York-based VICE media company, told The Associated Press.

The good vibes continued to flow after the game, when Rodman was invited back to Kim's palace for a decadent, ten-course feast. Then everybody got drunk:

What a whimsical world we live in.

[AP]
[VICE]

More details about the recent theft of Guido the Italian Sausage have emerged, and they come courtesy of those who carried out the heist. Ted Berg of USA Today Sports received a message from the sausage thieves, and under the condition of maintaining their anonymity, they told him all about the great sausage heist of 2013.

Six residents of Cedarburg and nearby Mequon, Wis. ranging in age from 26 to 55—five women and one man—collaborated on the heist. Feeling "over-served and underappreciated," the Brewers fans left a fundraiser at the new Cedarburg location of Milwaukee's Curling Club with the sausage costume for a night out on the town on Feb. 16.

Fueled by "two bottles of Cedar Creek's finest wine," the instigator said she "put it on, stood by the door, and ducked out. Then ran full speed to the car."

From there, the group went to T.J. Ryan's bar "for some PBR's" then "off to the [Cedarburg] Roadhouse to jam with the band, then home for a night cap."

They also sent along a plethora of photos depicting their night of debauchery with Guido. Here's Guido jumping in on an impromptu jam session:

Be sure to check out the whole sordid tale. Go for the pictures of Guido dancing, stay for the puntastic ransom note.

Top image via

[USA Today]

Thank you for your continued support of Deadspin. We hope you had fun chatting with us today. We'll be back with more hot blogs tomorrow.

Man, why can't we live in a world where Ricky Rubio magically appears whenever we're having a bad day and tells us to turn our frowns upside down? Spilled coffee on your new shirt? Poof! There's Ricky reminding you that sea otters hold hands when they sleep next to each other so they don't float away. Totally blew that job interview? Pow! There's Ricky to tousle your hair and teach you how to say "I love you" in Spanish.

Alexey Shved finished last night's game with five points on 1-8 shooting, but he probably feels like he can take on the world this morning.

via CJ Fogler

A quick refresher: NASCAR driver Jeremy Clements said something that was deemed racially insensitive in the presence of a NASCAR official and an MTV blogger following the Daytona 500, which was dumb, though we don't know how dumb because NASCAR, which suspended Clements indefinitely, won't tell us what he said, which is dumb, too. Clements then spoke to ESPN and admitted to saying something offensive in the vaguest way possible, which was dumb. Then the MTV blogger, Marty Beckerman, told our pals at Jalopnik that he would be commenting on the story, and after almost 24 hours he did, sorta:

"I was there to do a fish-out-of-water story about going to NASCAR and having a wild, crazy weekend. And, we were doing interviews with many of the drivers, and I was on the way to another interview — we were looking for [driver] Johanna Long's trailer — and the NASCAR publicist called Mr. Clements over and asked him for help finding her," Beckerman said. "He walked us toward where she was, and on the way over, I explained to him that Guy Code is rules for guys, how you treat your friends, how you treat your ladies, things like that. I was there to do a humor piece, so I asked him what would be Guy Code for race car drivers, and he blurted out [a phrase that used the n-word]."

That's dumb. So, yeah. At this point, it's unlikely that we'll ever find out what Clements said. You know how you know a scandal is dumb? When the dumbest part of it isn't even the fact that the whole thing was started by a question about Guy Code.

[Jalopnik | MTV]

If the two people in this photo weren't famous, it would be quite the optical illusion. Is the guy on the left some kind of bearded mini-person, or is the guy on the right a gigantic mutant? I can't tell!

According to Kevin Love, who posted this photo to his Instagram account, Pekovic is a huge fan of Galifianakis. Let's hope this leads to the big man making an appearance on Between Two Ferns.

Zoltan Mesko is a punter for the New England Patriots. He got pretty bored on Wednesday.

I don't know Zoltan, maybe? But you shouldn't be asking us for permission. Do you whatever you want to do, man.

Huh. That's kind of weird.

[Spin It]