NFL RedZone: The People’s Champ

I don’t really know where to start. There’s a lot to discuss. First the facts? • NFL RedZone is a television channel. • It is hosted by Scott Hanson. • It premiered in September 2009. That’s really all I’ve got. Now for the emotions.

BQBL: Waka Flacco Flame and the Debut of Ponder’s Progressions

The scores weren’t high on the BQBL leaderboard this week, but the outstanding individuals occupying it performed acts displaying a level of ineptitude that we had yet to see in the BQBL. Three-and-Out Ravens (Joe Flacco), 79 points: With both teams coming into the game at 5-1, the buildup to the Ravens-Texans tilt on Sunday […]

Fourth-and-Short: Bears and Lions Play a Misdirection Game

Having suggested that the Bears were the best team in football last Monday, I anxiously tuned in to Monday Night Football’s tilt between the Bears and Lions to see just how gruesome the effects of my (unintentional) reverse jinx would be upon Chicago. Instead, the Bears showed up and played an impressive game under the […]

College Basketball Team Previews: The Dangerous Outsiders

All this week, we’ll be running college basketball team previews for the 20 (or so) Most Interesting Teams, starting today with the Dangerous Outsiders and working our way up to the Big Guns. Kurosawa’s film Yojimbo begins with a nameless samurai entering a town ravaged by two rival gangs. Both sides try to hire the […]

Grantland’s Halloween Costume Contest Returns!

Here is an abbreviated list of the reasons Grantland loves fall: Cowl-neck sweaters ALL PUMPKIN EVERYTHING Increased availability of fun sizes Brisk 72-degree temperatures across the greater Los Angeles area Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween […]

I Suck at Football, Week 7: Burfict From Now On

Holiday-obsessed movie director Tim Burton, on growing up in Burbank: “The only way you’d know it was a new season is if you’d walk into Sav-On or Thrifty’s and walk down the aisle and see Halloween decorations or Christmas decorations … The weather certainly didn’t do it for you.” This is both true and not […]

MLB Playoff Wrap: Scutaro Finds Zihuatanejo

In 2012, Marco Scutaro escaped from the Colorado Rockies. All they found of him was a North Face fleece, an empty bottle of Fat Tire, and an old Dante Bichette jersey, damn near worn down to the nub. I remember thinking it would take a man 600 games to tunnel to a better team. Old […]

About Last Night: They Might Be Giants

In case you were out living a life of leisure, here’s what you missed in sports on Monday. Matt Cain pitched 5.2 scoreless innings and the Giants won their record-tying sixth elimination game of the postseason, routing the Cardinals 9-0 to reach the World Series. The only hiccup came when rain began to fall late, […]

B.S. Report: Joe House, Cousin Sal, and JackO

In Part 1 of 2, Bill Simmons and guest co-host Joe House call up Cousin Sal to guess the Week 8 lines, then discuss discouraging wins from the Patriots and Cowboys and an encouraging loss from the Redskins. In Part 2 of 2, Bill Simmons and guest co-host Joe House call up JackO to discuss […]

Can Carmelo Anthony Really Play Power Forward? And Should He?

Two important things happened over the weekend in Knicks world, where Important And Often Very Dramatic Things are always happening: Ronnie Brewer was cleared to practice again, and the Knicks announced that Amar’e Stoudemire will miss between two and three weeks after doctors found a popliteal cyst behind his left knee — the same knee […]

BOOGIEWATCH and WOOBLY Watch: A Preseason NBA Two-for-One

This is the first installment of BOOGIEWATCH, the Triangle’s running series on the NBA’s most compelling, hilarious, and huggable power forward. We will tally all things Boogie, a list that includes dirty looks, headbands thrown in disgust, defensive indifference, first-quarter fouls, moments of brilliance (Motivated Boogie edition), and moments of brilliance (Unintentional Boogie edition). It […]

Stop What You’re Doing and Watch Roy Hibbert’s “Gangnam Style” Flash Mob

Jalen and Bill on Shaq’s Potential

Jalen Rose and Bill Simmons discuss facing Shaquille O’Neal in the NBA Finals and how Shaq never reached his full potential as a player.

NFL Run & Shootaround: Quarterbacks ‘R’ Us

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. Questions But No Answers in Foxborough This is getting tiresome. Almost every week, I get in this […]

West Virginia’s Air Raid Problem: Air Travel?

West Virginia lost their second game in two weeks on Saturday, falling to Kansas State, at home, 55-14. There were plenty of reasons behind the Mountaineers’ loss. A passing attack that usually operates with no regard for fire safety laws could not get any sparks flying, gaining only 155 yards in the air (a historic […]

We Went There: Dwight Howard’s Lakers Debut

Two months wasn’t enough. Even with 72 days to picture these Lakers, there was no way to be ready for what came over the speakers Sunday at Staples Center. Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, and Dwight Howard are in one place, and last night they were there for the first time. The excitement started […]

MLB Playoff Wrap: One Game for the Series

Thoughts on a 6-1 Giants rout in Game 6 of the NLCS while avoiding the obvious jokes …

About Last Weekend: Giants Give Cards the Bird

In case you were out living a life of leisure, here’s what you missed in sports over the weekend. Ryan Vogelsong struck out a career-high nine batters through seven dominant innings as the Giants beat the Cardinals 6-1 to force a deciding Game 7 in the NLCS. Vogelsong’s name literally means “birdsong” in German, which […]