Shoutouts: The real Iron Sheik, plus EPL 100, Tyson, PEDs

We have a bumper crop of Shoutouts this week, starting with an unexpected look behind one of the most colorful personas in wrestling history. The comments, as usual, mostly come from Bleacher Report’s Quality Editors, who review B/R stories before they’re considered for placement on the site cover and in other programming channels.

After Addiction and Tragedy, The Iron Sheik Gets Back Up off the Mat by Keith Elliot Greenberg

We all have a lot of fun with Sheiky, including when he writes for Bleacher Report. But this story about the real-life Hossein Khosrow Vaziri, the murder of his adult daughter and his subsequent spiral into and recovery from crack addiction is a seriously riveting read.

EPL 100: Ranking the 100 Best English Premier League Players by Sam Tighe

Awesome work here from B/R’s tactical analyst. It’s a very difficult topic to rank the top 100 players in the EPL, but this slideshow is easy to read and well-researched.

Marion Baroli’s Retirement Leaves Tennis World in Shock by Lindsay Gibbs

Nice job of outlining Bartoli’s career and touching on who she is as a person. The last line pulled it all together: “Permanent or not, this announcement was confusing, emotional, heartfelt and completely unexpected—much like Marion Bartoli herself.”

Gentler Mike Tyson Returns to Boxing as Promoter by Lyle Fitzsimmons

A fun article on the former heavyweight champ and his new role. Fitzsimmons has firsthand quotes throughout, and they’re classic Tyson: “Being ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson was a lot of work, a lot of f*cking work,” he said. “Do I enjoy being just Mike Tyson better? Hell yeah. ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson was crazy. I had to be ready to kill someone just for saying hi to me. This is a lot better life.”

How They Got Away with It: Biogenesis and Testosterone Explained by Will Carroll

An in-depth look at the latest on performance-enhancing drugs. Everything you’d want to know about testosterone!

Alternatives to the One-and-Done Rule in the NBA by Alec Nathan

Cool topic. The first slide, about mirroring what the EPL does, is creative. Alec has five different options, and none of them sound forced or unfeasible.