October 3, 2013
How Bayern Munich Dismantled Manchester City
Let’s marvel at the first 75 minutes of football that Bayern Munich put together on Wednesday en route to a dominant 3-1 win over Manchester City by breaking down their three goals. (Apologies for those of you outside of the U.S., for whom I would recommend heading to 101 Great Goals for video highlights.)
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NFL by the Numbers: First-Quarter Edition
In going with the theme of yesterday’s quarter-season NFL awards, the space between Week 4 and Week 5 represents the first good opportunity to take some measure of the numbers that teams are putting up and the ways they’re doing so. In some cases, teams that are off to hot (or cool) starts have had […]
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Bill and Jalen’s NBA Preview: Utah Jazz
Bill and Jalen take a studied look at the Utah Jazz and break down the growth of Gordon Hayward, an important season for Derrick Favors, and the work of one of the NBA’s most underappreciated mascots, Jazz Bear. Check out the video, below.
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Derek Jeter’s Diary: A Captain’s Tears, a Centaur’s Haunches
The baseball season is a long and lonely road. To preserve his sanity, Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter keeps a diary. These are excerpts from The Captain’s private journal. Thursday, September 26: vs. Tampa Bay Rays You wanted it to be a special night. You wanted it to be perfect for Mo. Because more than anybody, […]
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Video: Jalen Rose Predicts Michael Jordan Will Return for One Game! Is That Even Possible!?
In the below video, taken from Bill and Jalen’s forthcoming preview of the Charlotte Bobcats’ season, Jalen explains to a flabbergasted Bill that he thinks Michael Jordan will return to the NBA to play one game for the Charlotte Bobcats.
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Five Takeaways From Indians-Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are off to Boston for a 2008 ALCS rematch after shutting out the Indians, 4-0, Wednesday night in Cleveland. This was a classic Rays win, one powered by talent, but also flawless preparation.
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About Last Night: Detroit Heads East
In case you were busy being harassed by Brian McCann and the party police, here’s what you missed in sports on Wednesday: The Detroit Red Wings made an early two-goal lead stand up in their first game as an Eastern Conference team, taking their season opener against the Buffalo Sabres 2-1. “It’s tough,” said Red […]
Read moreOctober 2, 2013
27-Day NBA Warning: Pau Gasol Is Nice
Picture yourself waking up from a multi-day, Pinkmanesque bacchanal. The couch is smoldering, strangers are snoring in the hallway, ominous stains dot the rug, and the detritus of now-departed house guests litter the scene. There, in the dawn light seeping through torn drapes, is a person dutifully bagging the beer bottles, wiping off the counters, […]
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Tuesday Night Lights: A Fistful of Fire Ants
I was under the impression we were to play School F. this week. I was wrong. I’d transposed the names on the game schedule. We actually played School K., the only other school in our zone that challenges for the championship every year. They are a pack of wolves. If you can make it out […]
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Men in Blazers: Special Guest Barry Hearn
After a week in which both Manchester teams were shocked by lesser opposition, Michael and Roger welcome the mighty Barry Hearn, who teaches them about football and life. Listen to this podcast here. Subscribe to the Grantland Network on iTunes, and check out our podcasts page.
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Vegas Weekend Recap: Could Alabama Beat Jacksonville?
“Jacksonville is the worst NFL team I have ever seen,” says Golden Nugget bookmaker Aaron Kessler. Not many people in Vegas disagree. Nine-point underdogs at home last week against the Colts, the Jags were supported by an extremely positive trend: Home-team underdogs of more than eight points had covered 23 of 25 against the spread. […]
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MLB Playoff Hate Primer: The Best Player to Despise on Each Team
The playoffs are a time for triumph and joy, and in a month our lasting image for the season will be some team celebrating a World Series win with champagne and goggles. But it would be wrong to ignore the flip side of that coin. Wayyyy more teams will lose, and their fans will suffer […]
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We Went There: The 100th U.S. Open Cup Final
Some months ago, I found myself walking through an empty fairground in deepest Brooklyn, to a U.S. Open Cup first-round game between Brooklyn Italians and Icon FC. I made eye contact with half the crowd, watched a stray ball bounce into a Dumpster (where presumably it still remains), and heard every shout from the benches […]
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AL Wild-Card Preview: Indians vs. Rays
On Monday, we highlighted how the Rays’ starting pitching edge, plus just enough offense, would propel them to victory over the Rangers in Game 163. The starting pitching matchup is much tougher to call for Wednesday’s Rays vs. Indians wild-card elimination game, which — along with the 10 million kooky things that can happen in […]
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Grantland NFL Podcast: Eugene Monroe, NFL Trades, and Adopting the Cardinals
Bill Barnwell and Robert Mays analyze the sudden glut of offensive line trades, break down three Week 4 contests, and talk about their adopted Cardinals. You can listen to this podcast on the ESPN Podcenter here, or subscribe to the Grantland Sports podcast network on iTunes here.
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The NBA Media Day Power Rankings
We’ve been getting in the mood for basketball for a few weeks now, but the NBA season doesn’t officially begin until Media Day. That’s when everything that’s amazing and ridiculous comes back at once. The photos, the quotes, the trash talk, the outrageous predictions. It’s all there. And it’s been even better the past few […]
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We Went There: A Heroes’ Welcome for the Blackhawks
On the first day of the government shutdown, the Washington Capitals arrived in Chicago, looking to bring a momentous occasion to a screeching halt. Though the organization has long since dropped the ’90s look — a jersey featuring the Capitol building and two crossed sticks — the Caps, backed by a scorching power-play unit, had […]
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Oklahoma City Crossroads: How the Thunder Can Improve Without Russell Westbrook
I’m normally not a big “gut feeling” guy, but I randomly mentioned to the Grantland bosses last week in L.A. that the Thunder just “felt due” for some unexpected move. They didn’t have enough financial flexibility to add even one meaningful NBA player in free agency, perhaps leaving them (and their rivals) to wonder whom […]
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What We Learned on NHL Opening Night
The NHL season opened Tuesday night with three games — a classic rivalry matchup that saw the Leafs beat the Habs 4-3, the Blackhawks earn a 6-4 win over the Capitals on Stanley Cup banner-raising night, and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Oilers 5-4 on their first visit to Edmonton in 17 years. Needless to […]
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Handing Out the NFL’s Quarter-Season Awards
During Monday Night Football, Jon Gruden noted that every one of the coaches he knows (which is presumably a lot of coaches) breaks up the season into four quarters. It’s their way of breaking down the season into manageable chunks; if you can go 2-2 in each quarter, you’re doing a decent job. That logic […]
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Bill and Jalen’s NBA Preview: Orlando Magic
Bill and Jalen discuss the Magic’s roster, Arron Afflalo’s effectiveness, and the “Champagne and Campaign”–ability of Orlando, Florida. Check out the video below.
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Five Takeaways From the Reds-Pirates Wild-Card Game
The Pirates are off to St. Louis, while the Reds are headed home after Pittsburgh won the wild-card elimination game 6-2 Tuesday night, before a delirious home crowd at PNC Park. It was a monumental win for a franchise that had gone 21 years since its last postseason victory. It was also a game that […]
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About Last Night: Welcome Back, Hockey
In case yinz were busy getting to Pittsburgh to … wait, yinz? Who the hell are yinz? Anyway, here’s what you may have missed in sports on Tuesday: Oh my goodness, hockey’s back? Hockey’s back! And with it came a barrage of goals from defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago, which beat Alex Ovechkin and the […]
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