March 14, 2013
The 2013 Giants Look a Lot Like the 2012 Giants
The San Francisco Giants are bringing back the same starting lineup that won them last year’s World Series. The starting rotation is exactly the same. Of the 25 players projected to make the team’s Opening Day roster this year, 22 were also Giants last year. The only three that aren’t: a utility infielder, a backup […]
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Jim Crews and the Rise of the Saint Louis Billikens
Saint Louis interim coach Jim Crews met Rick Majerus 35 years ago, but he can’t remember exactly where. It was on the recruiting trail, he thinks, or maybe at a camp, or maybe just at a restaurant. Crews was an Indiana assistant then, having graduated from IU in 1976 as part of the last undefeated […]
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NBA Shootaround: Frustrated Incorporated
So much amazing is happening, and the Shootaround crew is here to help you keep track of it all. You’ll find takes on moments you might’ve missed from the previous night, along with ones you will remember forever. The Tournament of Knicks-Nuggets Story Lines netw3rk: Without narratives our brains would be lost in a chaotic […]
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B.S. Report: JackO
Bill Simmons kicks off the 2013 baseball talk by calling his buddy JackO to discuss the poor state of the Yankees universe. To listen to this podcast, you can download it on iTunes here or go to the ESPN.com PodCenter here.
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Most Hated College Basketball Player, Day 4: The Agony of Ainge
It was an unusual evening in the Eliot Lounge, a dearly departed home for wayward journos on Massachusetts Avenue in Boston. It was not an overly unusual evening in the Eliot Lounge. It wasn’t anything like the evening when the Stanford marching band played the room. It wasn’t remotely like the evening when the guy […]
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Jalen Rose on That Time He Intentionally Tried to Injure Kobe Bryant
At the end of last night’s Lakers-Hawks game, with L.A. down two and three seconds to go, Kobe Bryant (guarded by Dahntay Jones) attempted a baseline jumper to tie things up. His shot rattled out and Kobe collapsed to the floor, clutching his leg in pain. In replays of the incident, it appears as if […]
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About Last Night: Wes Welker’s Feeling a Mile High
In case you just saw the trailer for Upside Down and found yourself suddenly back to square-one on your big screenplay idea, here’s what you missed in sports on Wednesday. Wide receiver Wes Welker has left the New England Patriots, signing a two-year contract with the Denver Broncos. “I always hated Welker,” said Northeastern sophomore […]
Read moreMarch 13, 2013
The Sublime and Ridiculous Djimi Traore
I was in an e-mail exchange with the writer Kevin Sampson recently and I happened to mention the name Djimi Traore and his recent move to Seattle Sounders. If it’s possible to beam with pleasure in an e-mail, that’s what I got back, as he described Traore perfectly as an “absolutely shambolic hero.” Traore has […]
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Men in Blazers: The Budweiser Cup, Tim Howard’s Injury, and the Search for America’s Next Top Soccer Fan
The FA Cup, a.k.a. the Budweiser Cup featuring the Football Association, made headlines again over the weekend; there hasn’t been such a resounding return to relevancy since Betty White bit into a Snickers. In this week’s pod, the Men in Blazers review Chelsea’s game of two halves against Manchester United, touch on Everton’s alarming slide, […]
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Why Matt Barnes, of All People, Could Be the Key to a Clippers Playoff Run
Two nights ago, as the Spurs and Thunder tangled in a rematch of last season’s most exciting playoff series, it was easy to drool over another San Antonio–Oklahoma City conference finals. The old lion, its pinpoint system bolstered by some new tweaks in talent and Gregg Popovich’s playing rotation, scrambling for one more Finals appearance […]
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NHL Midseason Report: Fighting Is Up! So Are the Canadiens! … But Not the Flyers
Every team in the NHL has played at least 24 games. That means it’s time for a random collection of observations from the season’s first half, loosely held together by a common structure of … oh, I don’t know, let’s go with “threes.” Everyone good with threes? Cool, threes it is. Three teams that have […]
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Steve Hutchinson and the Overlooked Value of Guards in the NFL
Lost amid all of yesterday’s free-agent chatter was the news that after 12 seasons, Steve Hutchinson’s NFL career is over. Ray Lewis and Tony Gonzalez were the names oft-mentioned this offseason when discussing all-time greats walking away from the game, but Hutchinson belongs in any conversation about the best players of the past 10 years. […]
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With Plenty of Depth, This Tribe’s on a Quest
It’s 8:15 on a Monday morning in Goodyear, Arizona. Seeing 50 grown men dressed as cartoon characters, superheroes, and supernatural beings is a bit jarring. Justin Masterson came decked out as an 8-foot bear. A slimmed-down Jason Giambi rocked the head-to-toe Green Man. Matt Capps was a slightly forlorn-looking penguin. Ubaldo Jimenez wore a Reno […]
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Video: Jalen Rose on Being Hated in College, and Disrespecting Michigan State
Jalen Rose recounts his playing days at Michigan after learning that Grantland has him listed as a no. 1 seed in our “Most Hated College Basketball Players of the Last 30 Years.” Watch the video after the jump.
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NBA Short-Attention-Span Power Rankings: Ricky Don’t Lose That Number
A survey of the players and teams making moves in last night’s NBA action. 1. Ricky Rubio Chris Ryan: This is not the most wonderful time of the year. And it shows. Most of the NBA stories you’re going to be reading during the last few weeks of the season will concern knee drains, tanking, […]
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Most Hated College Basketball Player, Day 3: Loving and Hating Psycho T
Readers, hear me out. The last thing I want to do, in the midst of a “fun” bracket, is stir your blood to mutiny. I’m here to advance Psycho T to the next round, not to praise him. The editors have made Tyler Hansbrough a 1-seed in the ’00s region, and the editors are all […]
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About Last Night: Dwight’s Homecoming Dance
In case you were busy dealing with your body shutting down all systems unrelated to the production of mucus, here’s what you missed in sports on Tuesday. Dwight Howard scored 39 points as he led the Los Angeles Lakers to a 106-96 win over the Magic in Orlando, where he played the first eight seasons […]
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