October 18, 2013
Week 7 NFL Viewing Guide: Von Miller Returns
10 Spot One player we’ll be going out of our way to watch for at least 10 plays. Von Miller, OLB, Broncos Peyton Manning’s return to Indianapolis also marks Von Miller’s return to the field, and right now it looks like the Broncos need it. After missing the first six games of the season for […]
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The Triangle All-Stars: J.J. Redick and Kelly Olynyk
Compiling the Triangle NBA All-Stars offers a way for us to celebrate the players we love way too much. You can see the other entries in the series here. Check out the latest additions, J.J. Redick and Andrea Bargnani, below. Hey, guys … it ain’t White Boy Day, is it?! It’s White Boy Day! J.J. […]
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Cousin Sal’s Week 7 Prop Bets
Week 6: -52,500 jermajesties Season: +5,500 jermajesties Week 6 was a disaster. I split my four picks, got screwed over by Denver in the first half and — of course — by the Texans, who I was foolish enough to put in a three-team teaser again. I think if Matt Schaub bet on himself as […]
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11-Day NBA Warning: Inside Roy Hibbert’s Offseason Training
Roy Hibbert is enclosed by a trapezoid-shaped metal bar, flanked on both sides by large black plates that are elevated slightly off the ground by two wood boxes in order to ease the burden on his towering frame. The Pacers’ All-Star center lowers his center of gravity, tightly gripping the faded silver handles on each […]
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Text Messages to Carmelo Anthony: Blue-Collar
Carmelo Anthony is a human with a cell phone so I sent him some text messages. Me: Yo, yo, Melo. Carmelo: hey Me: so you’re gonna be a free agent then, huh? Carmelo: ha. Yeah. Me: yeah. I saw that news clip. That’s … that’s something. Carmelo: ??? Me: well, I mean, because why are […]
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NHL Grab Bag: Tyler Bozak Finds Way to Ruin Winning for Toronto Maple Leafs
Welcome to a weekly grab bag of thoughts and observations from the past few days and/or decades of NHL hockey. The Three Stars of Comedy Recognizing the NHL personalities from around the league who produced the most comedic fodder for fans. The third star: The Toronto Maple Leafs may never win again And it’s all […]
Read more503 vs. 206: The Historic Portland-Seattle Hardwood Rivalry
Off and on for more than 40 years, the best basketball players from Portland and Seattle have battled each other in small, packed gyms with little media fanfare. Find out what got the rivalry restarted as the two cities play a home-and-home series for pride and the right to call themselves the best in the […]
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Who’s That Guy? Houston Texans Quarterback Case Keenum!
Who’s That Guy is an orientation tool we’ve been using to navigate college football’s vast landscape. This week we’re sticking a foot out of bounds to highlight a former NCAA great making his NFL debut. WTG is filmed in front of a live studio audience. Who Is He? Houston quarterback Case Keenum. Houston Cougars or […]
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Bill and Jalen’s NBA Preview: Milwaukee Bucks
Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose respond to the revolt in the YouTube comments of their NBA Preview videos by ranking the Bucks at no. 15. Bill and Jalen break down the new-look Bucks by evaluating what the arrival of O.J. Mayo, Caron Butler, and “Greek Freak” Giannis Adetokunbo means for Milwaukee. They also get a […]
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The World Will Never Stop Paying Tribute to Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward, Nor Should It
Provided clinch-happy heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko isn’t involved, it’s rare that the lasting image from a boxing match is that of a hug. But a hug is precisely what I picture when the subject of the third and final fight between Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward comes up. Over a period of 13 months they […]
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Tigers Leave Too Many Opportunities on the Table
The Red Sox won a nail-biter Thursday, topping the Tigers, 4-3, and moving to within one game of claiming the American League pennant. In a game that featured a few spectacular plays, it was the handful of squandered opportunities that stood out most of all. The Tigers failed to recognize Miguel Cabrera’s injuries. That hurt […]
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About Last Night: Happy to Be Napoli
In case you were busy frantically shorting Arian Foster futures, here’s what you missed in sports on Thursday: Mike Napoli hit a monster home run as the Boston Red Sox got to Anibal Sanchez and beat the Tigers, 4-3, to take a 3-2 ALCS lead back to Fenway Park. When asked how big a moment […]
Read moreOctober 17, 2013
12-Day NBA Warning: The Most Valuable Gordon
If you gave me 20 minutes to create a player in NBA 2K13, my finished product would basically be Gordon Hayward. He’d be a tall and athletic wing capable of doing a little bit of everything — solid perimeter shooting, posting up against smaller players, making quick reads in motion (with or without the ball) […]
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Week 7 Fantasy Football Preview: If It Feels Wrong, Do It Anyway
It’s hard to believe, but in a couple days we’ll be halfway through fantasy football’s regular season. Are you livin’ on a prayer? God knows I am. Tom Brady and Ray Rice have sunk my dynasty league team’s ship to an unthinkable 1-5, and unless things turn around this weekend (SPOILER ALERT: they won’t), the […]
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Men in Blazers: Special Guest Brandon McCarthy
Rog and Michael relive Panama’s heartbreaking loss to the U.S. and cautiously celebrate England’s World Cup qualification. MLB pitcher Brandon McCarthy stops by. Listen to this podcast here. Subscribe to the Grantland Network on iTunes, and check out our podcasts page.
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How the Chiefs Built the Best Defense in Football
Exactly one year ago, the Kansas City Chiefs were 1-5 just starting a welcome bye week. Three days earlier they’d been embarrassed by a previously 1-3 Buccaneers team, 38-10, with 31 of those points coming in the second half. Kansas City was losing by an average of almost two touchdowns, with a pair of quarterbacks […]
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We Went There: Wales-Belgium World Cup Qualifier
In retrospect, I should have seen the warning signs. The mission didn’t seem difficult: Watch Belgium play among a mass of cheering, flag-waving, jersey-clad Belgians. I was going to be in Belgium, after all, which is in Europe, which means — rash generalization — people love soccer. But I saw more Los Angeles Lakers hats […]
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The Triangle NBA All-Stars: Andrea Bargnani and Kenneth Faried
Compiling the Triangle NBA All-Stars offers a way for us to celebrate the players we love way too much. You can see the other entries in the series here. Check out the latest additions, Andrea Bargnani and Kenneth Faried, below. Kenneth Faried Why We Love Him: Kenneth Faried only has one gear. Some people have […]
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Sloppy Night Football on Thursdays? Guess Again
It hasn’t been a banner year for Thursday Night Football. With the NFL expanding the Thursday-night package from eight games in 2012 to 13 games in 2013, there will be a Thursday-night pro game during just about every week of the regular season. That uptick has not been met with praise and excitement. Players are […]
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The Andrew Bogut Conundrum: What Will the Warriors Do With Their Center?
Andrew Bogut’s impending free agency was going to be a secretly fascinating subplot to the coming NBA season, but Bogut, delightfully candid as always, yanked back the curtain by revealing the status of contract-extension talks with the Warriors in a chat with NBA.com’s Scott Howard-Cooper. Seriously, Bogut went off about everything. • That the two […]
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Johnny and Jameis and Why College Football Works
Last weekend I was talking to a friend who doesn’t like college football. This is a perfectly reasonable opinion when you remember what we’re talking about. College football is screwed up in so many different ways that it’s impossible to keep track of just who’s getting screwed at any given moment. Except you never forget […]
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The 10 Greatest Anti-Riveras of the NHL (Ranked!) (Again!)
Last week, I looked at the NHL’s Mariano Riveras, the 10 best in hockey history who spent their entire career with one franchise. Then I tried to rank them. Then everyone yelled at me. So, fun times all around. A reader suggested a natural follow-up: the anti-Riveras, superstars who spent their career bouncing around multiple […]
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Bill and Jalen’s NBA Preview: Portland Trail Blazers
Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose preview the Blazers’ season by asking if Damian Lillard can stay effective in Year 2, what Thomas Robinson will bring to this roster, and why Mo Williams has Twitter beef with Bill.
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What a Difference a Day Makes in the LCS
Kicking the Momentum Fairy in the ass, the Dodgers and Tigers shrugged off tough losses, hoisting themselves back into their respective series with convincing wins Wednesday. Here’s what went down. The Dodgers showed that spending a quarter-billion dollars can have some advantages after all. Absorbing $260 million worth of salary and surrendering multiple quality prospects […]
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About Last Night: It’s Austin, Mr. Jackson If You’re Nasty
In case you were busy preparing to take back a national park from the bears, here’s what you missed in sports on Wednesday: Jim Leyland’s decision to move Austin Jackson down in the batting order could not have worked out better, as the Tigers outfielder broke out of his slump, reaching base in all four […]
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