Sign Of The Apocalypse

For nearly two decades now, Sports Illustrated has stirred the tea leaves to discern a weekly Sign of the Apocalypse. Deadspin salutes the magazine's ongoing effort to head off the end of times, but declines to quietly cede to SI the scoop on the biggest event in world history.

Here's Sports Illustrated's SotA this week: "To create the signature rude sound that accompanies a player's advancement to another level in the new mobile game Fart Cat, designers used a recording of the horn that blares every time the Blues score a goal at Scottrade Center in St. Louis."

Deadspin had several candidates for its SotA, for what a week it was! Rob Gronkowski has a new cereal, after all, named Grönk Flakes. (But only on potential Super Bowl-winning catches, right?) A gentleman of the lowest order was arrested for threatening to murder children over the new LeBron sneaks. Another fine citizen mime-mouthed a swordfight in his cheeks right behind home plate at Wrigley Field until security ejectulated him.

So much signage to choose from … but Deadspin anoints the following its Sign of the Apocalypse:

Researchers in the UK analyzed 500,000 fish caught in the North Sea last year and ascertained that virtually none of cod remaining there are adult fish - potentially threatening stocks, if the cod are being caught before reaching reproductive maturity. None of the fish caught in Europe's North Sea ports showed any cod older than 13, leading the head of the project to pronounce that fewer than 100 such fish now live in the entire North Sea.

Just 100 cod left in the North Sea [The Telegraph]