The Quarterback-less NFL MVP Rankings

For someone who loves both giving awards and pro football, I should love the NFL MVP race. And maybe I would, if it weren’t completely devoid of fun and/or intrigue. Bill Barnwell wrote about this in detail amid last year’s uncharacteristically murky race, but here’s the gist: The NFL MVP is the Best Quarterback Award, […]

We Went There: Teenage Mutant Ninja Hertl’s Four-Goal Night

Tomas Hertl’s first goal of the evening sent Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist packing. After his second, he stole a happy glance up at his mom and girlfriend. The Sharks were dismantling the Rangers and it was starting to get late when the young Czech rookie scored again. Still, no one at the SAP Center (née […]

Bill and Jalen’s NBA Preview: Toronto Raptors

Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose speculate where new Raptors GM Masai Ujiri will send Rudy Gay, marvel at the NBA Summer League work of Jonas Valanciunas, and celebrate Toronto’s “champagne and campaign”–ability. Check out the video below.

Tigers Survive, Red Sox Advance on Another Wild October Night

The Detroit Tigers forced a decisive Game 5 in Oakland on Thursday, while the Boston Red Sox advanced to the American League Championship Series, as both teams eked out tight victories Tuesday. Though Anibal Sanchez did struggle in Game 3, Detroit found itself facing elimination because its best hitters had done very little over the […]

About Last Night: Red Sox Keep Rolling

In case you were busy faking injuries to run down the clock at your office, here’s what you missed in sports on Tuesday: The Boston Red Sox are in the ALCS after holding off the Tampa Bay Rays, who set a postseason record with nine pitchers in their 3-1 loss. Rays manager Joe Maddon was […]

Week 5 Fantasy Football Review: Look, Not Everyone Can Draft As Well As Harry Potter

Daniel Radcliffe named his fantasy football team Barkevious Mingo’s Mum, and now that I know that, my life is complete. Wizards are surely mankind’s finest fake football players, and they apparently boast unrivaled team-naming prowess, so we can assume that Danny Rad took Peyton Manning first overall, eschewed disappointing backs like Stevan Ridley and David […]

Two Teams, Two Games, One City: A Night of Sports Heartbreak for Atlanta

“Hey, basketball’s back. The Hawks played tonight.” A friend said this to me, but I didn’t look up to see who it was. I was sitting on the floor of a bar, hat partially over face, watching texts from lifelong friends fly in, most echoing the same sentiment: “What did we do to deserve this?” […]

Bad Quarterback League, Week 5: The Matt Schaub Machine Cannot Be Stopped

We’re keeping it quick with BQBL this week, and we begin in Houston. It’s damn near impossible for a bad quarterback to top a game in which he was beating the best team in the league only to have the lead slowly slip away, putting an exclamation point on it all with a pick-six to […]

Julio Jones Goes Down, the Falcons Are Out

The good news for Atlanta sports fans is that there’s nothing left to pin your hopes on for a while. It’s been a gruesome 24-hour period: The Braves were knocked out of the National League playoffs on late-game heroics by the Dodgers, the Falcons were shockingly upset at home on a last-second field goal by […]

Escalating Mike Davis: The Week Ahead in Ill-Advised Texas Longhorns Sound Bites

Texas Longhorns wide receiver Mike Davis had himself an unacceptably intimate encounter with the knees of Iowa State defensive back Deon Broomfield during Thursday night’s Longhorns-Cyclones game: Broomfield shared his thoughts on the incident after the game via Twitter, and got right to the point: “Mike Davis really tried to take me out.” Davis took […]

We Went There: The Bucs Start Here

Pirates fans remember Sid Bream’s spikes-first slide into home plate as if his spikes had sliced through their collective femoral arteries. That was back in ’92, in the seventh game of the NLCS. The Pirates wouldn’t have a winning season for another 21 years. This week’s Cardinals-Pirates playoff series was about restoring life to a […]

21-Day NBA Warning: LEBRON JAMES THROWING TIRES

Thank You for Not Coaching, Week 5

Mike Smith just can’t get it right these days. When he’s aggressive, his team fails and gets second-guessed. When he’s conservative, his team eventually fails and gets second-guessed some more. I was ready to give his Falcons a week off from this space, since they were playing in the Monday-night game and I’ve usually got […]

Jonah Keri Podcast: Dave Cameron, Paul Sporer, and Jane Lee

In the middle of one of the craziest days that baseball has seen in years, we had to do a podcast! Dave Cameron of FanGraphs joined Jonah Keri to break down all four League Division Series. On the docket: Was starting Clayton Kershaw on short rest a good idea? Can the Rays hang with the […]

#HotSportsTakes: Greg Schiano Is the Coach This Culture Needs

Every now and then, we will attempt to write the worst sports column on earth. Today: Let’s talk about Greg Schiano and life on the American battlefield. PISCATAWAY, NEW JERSEY — The National Football League is not a democracy. It doesn’t matter what you think. This isn’t your office. Not everyone gets to raise their […]

19 Takeaways From an Epic MLB Playoff Quadrupleheader

We’re only seven days into this year’s MLB playoffs, and it’s hard to figure out how things can get any better. Monday’s events were so scintillating, so maddening, so ludicrous, that a dozen attempts at narratives have been tossed in the trash. Instead, we present 19 key moments from a quadrupleheader for the ages. 19. […]

Bill and Jalen’s NBA Preview: Boston Celtics

Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose are back with a breakdown of the Celtics’ upcoming season that includes a potential trade sending Rajon Rondo out of Boston and a revelation that Jalen used to routinely deface the Celtics’ home floor as a tribute to Larry Bird, all with the help of the Doobie Brothers. Lots of […]

B.S. Report: Bob Costas

Bill Simmons talks to legendary sportscaster Bob Costas about the 30 for 30 Free Spirits, memories from the ABA, and the current MLB playoffs. Listen to the podcast here. Subscribe to the B.S. Report on iTunes, and check out our podcasts page.

About Last Night: Dodgers Punch Their Ticket

In case you were busy representing the University of Southern California in its quest to replace Lane Kiffin, here’s what you missed in sports on Monday: Juan Uribe hit the go-ahead home run and Brian Wilson earned the win as the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched a spot in the NLCS with a 4-3 win over […]