Ball so hard.

freshphotons:

Katrin Schacke.

Sports Illustrated has chosen the Vancouver kissing couple as their image of the year for 2011. If photographer Richard Lam doesn’t have a nickname… Heck, he should just change his name to Peter Parker after the heroics that were needed to capture this image. Amazing!

The picture would never have come to pass without photographer and Vancouver native Richard Lam. After freelancing for Getty at Game 7 at Rogers Arena, Lam followed his news photographer’s instincts and headed into the riots—ducking past police horses and through alleys with burning cars. While running from a police line that had charged at a crowd to make it disperse, Lam saw Jones and Thomas. Working without a flash and a shutter speed so low that the slightest movement would blur the images, Lam snapped two shots of the pair before the moment passed.

The New York Times has really been steppin’ up their funny game lately. Here’s a slideshow of Andy Samberg re-enacting iconic men’s tennis champions: McEnroe, Agassi, Borg, Connors, and Sampras. (Photo illustration by Walter Iooss Jr. Digital composite by Picturehouse.)

When you think of a true baseball legend — at the top of the order is Willie Mays. Who can forget The Catch, easily one of the most epic over-the-shoulder catches in the history of epic over-the-shoulder catches. Nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979 and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.

To commemorate the 60th anniversary [May 25th, 1951] of Willie Mays Major League debut, LIFE.com presents previously unpublished photos of Willie Mays from the 1950s and ’60s.

A gallery of Opening Day goodness by Matt Dayhoff of the The Eye.
Warning: These photos were taken from Opening Day games in Cincinnati, St. Louis, New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., and viewing them may lead to digging your glove out of the garage and calling your best bud for some catch.

→ Opening Day goodness.

Jared Wickerham snaps a nifty shot of LeBron James’ pre-game chalk toss ritual. Love the faces in the crowd, especially the cop to LBJ’s right. Btw Cavs shock the Heat 102-90.

Based on the ‘Blue Man Group’ vibe and the somber look of these Spring Training photos, we’re predicting that the Detroit Tigers will have a so-so kind of season.

dubliner:

Muhammad Ali vs. Cleveland Williams
Houston Astrodome (80ft above the ring)
1966

Photo: Neil Leifer

This is often regarded as one of the greatest sports photographs of the 20th century and is Leifer’s favourite photograph of his 40 year career.

You don’t have to be a professional sports photographer anymore to capture the next great sports photo. 10 Stunning iPhone Sports Photographs [GALLERY] [via Mashable]

life:

Here, a series of recently discovered, previously unpublished photographs by LIFE photographer George Silk, featuring Roosevelt “Rosey” Grier and famous New York Giant teammates like Frank Gifford, Andy Robustelli, and others.

Rare, Unseen: 1960 New York Giants

If you like vintagy sports photography and have a bit of a man crush on Frank Gifford like we do, then this great collection of photos by George Silk is a must see.

gq:

The 25 Coolest Athletes of All Time: The Covers

For a brief stretch while we were assembling this issue of GQ, we debated ranking our 25 coolest athletes in order. Which would’ve meant crowning someone as the coolest of all time. Eventually we scrapped the idea—for a lot of reasons, but chiefly: its kinda uncool to rank coolness so meticulously—but if we had stuck with it, that fella up there was the frontrunner for number one. Pick up the print edition to read Alan Richman’s fantastic tribute. Little known fact: before he became one of the world’s most celebrated restaurant critics, Alan was a sports reporter in Philadelphia—and one of his first gigs was covering the Sixers and Julius Erving.

Nothing cooler than Dr. J’s fro.