November 19, 2012
Marcus Smart to College Basketball: Hello
The most interesting part of the Puerto Rico Tipoff championship game, which ended with a 76-56 Oklahoma State upset over no. 6 NC State, was always going to be the point guard duel: Wolfpack junior Lorenzo Brown vs. Cowboy freshman Marcus Smart. Brown emerged as one of the most exciting point guards at the end […]
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Don’t Look Now, the Spurs Are Changing Their Game
Here’s a sobering thought: The Spurs are 8-2, with the fifth-best point differential in the league, and they are basically screwing around. OK, that’s an exaggeration. Gregg Popovich rarely screws around, even though it’s delightful when he does. But the Spurs are clearly experimenting, with an eye on reinventing themselves on both ends of the […]
Read moreNature, Nurture, and Knockouts: The Continued Rise of Adrien Broner and the Sooner-Than-Expected Fall of Seth Mitchell
Seth Mitchell was yesterday’s news. It was about five minutes after midnight, meaning it was now the day after Mitchell got knocked out in two rounds by 5-1 underdog Johnathon Banks. Mitchell, the man projected just a couple of hours earlier as the brightest hope for American heavyweight boxing, was invisible to the reporters trickling […]
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B.S. Report: Cousin Sal
Bill Simmons and Cousin Sal break down Week 11 in the NFL, examine the mystery of home teams failing to cover the spread, and guess the Week 12 lines. To listen to this podcast, you can download it on iTunes here or go to the ESPN.com PodCenter here.
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NFL Run & Shootaround: Dre Day
On any given Sunday (or Monday, or Thursday), your NFL Run & Shootaround crew will be gathered around multiple televisions, making inappropriate jokes and generally regressing to the mean. Catch up on all the NFL action right here. The Leap You don’t expect to see the word “Jacksonville” sitting next to the number 37 on […]
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Kendrick Lamar’s Adrien Broner Heat Check
Kendrick Lamar is on a roll. After being anointed the new king of the West Coast by the AARP Cali rapper collective of Dr. Dre disciples, he went on to appear on Drake’s Take Care, release perhaps the rap album of the year in good kid, m.A.A.d city (the rare “actually met unfairly high expectations” […]
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Stuck Between Systems: The Ever-Changing Lakers Take On the Rockets
How many adjustments does a team need to make before you just throw up your hands and call it broken? If you read any of the papers in Los Angeles or listen to any sports talk radio or scan through the dozens of purple-and-gold blogs, you’d believe there must be some master solution that will […]
Read moreJalen Rose Report: Gambling on NBA Planes
Jalen details how gambling on NBA planes really works, how much money changes hands, and when debts are paid.
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Making Sense of College Football’s Nuclear Weekend: Notre Dame Is No. 1
A century before the Saturday evening that will forever be recalled for the painful death of Bill Snyder’s 16 precepts in Waco, and for the gumming up of Phil Knight’s fast-twitch widget-production apparatus in Eugene, and for Les Miles’s epic Lebowski Speech — tell me he doesn’t resemble Jesus Quintana just a little at the […]
Read moreAbout Last Weekend: Oregon Quacks Themselves Out of the Title Game
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here’s what you missed in sports over the weekend. No. 13 Stanford stymied no. 2 Oregon’s vaunted offense and all but ended the Ducks’ national title hopes with a 17-14 overtime upset. In what can only be called a copycat crime, an enraged Oregon fan […]
Read moreNovember 16, 2012
Fantasy Island Week 11 Previews
Each week, the Fantasy Island contestants will submit a preview for each of that weekend’s games. The best preview from each game will be selected and combined with the others into one comprehensive guide, and points are awarded based on how many individual previews from each writer are selected. Get it? OK. We sorta do, […]
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Your Semi-Ignorant College Football Guide, Week 12
Guys, I’m not gonna put lipstick on the Week 12 pig. This is not a terrific Saturday. After several weeks of knocking us back on our heels with marquee game after marquee game, NCAA football is slumming it. This is the week when most SEC teams are playing what I think are high school squads, […]
Read moreMike Trout Is the Real MVP, Miguel Cabrera Is the Players’ MVP
Mike Trout should have won the American League Most Valuable Player award. He didn’t, for reasons ranging from Cabrera winning the Triple Crown (a three-stat measure that conveniently leaves out a whole host of factors that point to Trout’s season trumping Cabrera’s) to Cabrera’s team making the playoffs while Trout’s went home (the Angels won […]
Read moreCousin Sal’s Week 11 Prop Bets
Only I could win four out of five of my major prop bets, go 3-and-0 with my best bets against the spread, and not have a dime to show for it. Yes — I too loaded up on a three-team teaser with the 49ers over the Rams. Neither team won, so as a result, I […]
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CourtVision: The Slowtime Lakers
Mike D’Antoni’s best teams were in Phoenix during the mid ’00s. Those great Suns teams were led by Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire, and their play was characterized by up-tempo pace, brilliant floor spacing, and great shooting. They were youthful, fast, and really fun to watch, leading the NBA in scoring for three consecutive seasons, […]
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Heavyweight Boxing and the Need to Rope a Hope
Our century-long search for the Great White Hope is over. We found him. Two of him, in fact. And we can’t wait to be rid of him. The pronouns in play here could probably use some clarification. The “our” of the first sentence refers to a racially charged segment of America. The “we” of the […]
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Alabama’s Chances of Playing for the BCS Championship Are Better (But Less Deserved) Than You Might Think
Despite Alabama’s loss to last year’s Big 12 also-ran Texas A&M, reports of the SEC’s death are greatly exaggerated. And entirely premature. That conference is like the sunrise. You can’t stop it. From a statistical standpoint, there is only a 1-in-7 shot that all three of the remaining unbeatens in college football — Notre Dame, […]
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The Jalen Rose Report: Jalen Rose and David Jacoby (Plus Video!)
Jalen Rose and David Jacoby talk about the Lakers’ hiring of Mike D’Antoni, NBA players’ mile-high gambling etiquette, and how athletes manipulate the media. Also, check out the video Jalen Rose listing the five current NBA players whom he would want next to him in a dark alley.
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The Trenchie Awards: The Vikings’ O-Line and the Best Line Play From Week 10
In celebration of the NFL’s release of the all-22 and end-zone film for the 2012 season, each week we’ll be bringing you the best in offensive- and defensive-line play. For the winners of last week’s Trenchies, click here. The John Hannah Award for General Road Grading The Minnesota Vikings offensive line
Read moreAbout Last Night: Miggy 1, Sabermetrics 0
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here’s what you missed in sports on Thursday. Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera won the AL MVP award, beating out Angels rookie Mike Trout by a healthy margin. And now it’s time for the ANGRY OLD SPORTSWRITER! “Look, I know all you stat nerds out there […]
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