February 23, 2012
A Big Win for Ryan Braun
Ryan Braun will be in the Milwaukee Brewers lineup on Opening Day. On Thursday, an arbitration panel upheld Braun’s appeal and threw out a pending 50-game suspension against the reigning National League MVP. It marked the first time that a major league player has ever had a positive drug test overturned.
Read moreIrish Guys Are Compiling (Wins)
Sweet headline, right? About 5 percent clever, 95 percent annoying? Felt appropriate for a blog post about Notre Dame. Dare I say … ZING? (And dare I say … alienating the target demographic?) Let me put on my Seinfeld cap on for a moment ($3.99, J.C. Penney’s online bargain bin) and ask an important question […]
Read moreThe Epicenter of NYC’s Linsanity Party Scene Speaks Out
Eddie Huang is the Owner-Chef at Baohaus, Host of Cheap Bites on the Cooking Channel, and Author of the forthcoming memoir with Random House: Spiegel & Grau, Fresh Off the Boat. Here is the story of how a Jeremy Lin started an unforgettable party.
Read moreHow to Guard Jeremy Lin
The New York Knicks have gone 9-2 since Jeremy Lin’s breakout game earlier this month. Lin’s domination has been, in large part, because of his skilled play off the pick-and-roll. The Knicks, who beat the Atlanta Hawks 99-82 on Wednesday and face the Miami Heat tonight, have set picks for Lin on 45.9 percent of […]
Read moreThe Miami Heat Aren’t the Story (And They Should Be Fine With That)
In the past two weeks, the Miami Heat have looked like the team that many have thought (and feared) they might become since LeBron James announced the intention to take his talents to South Beach. Miami has won each of its past seven games by double digits, and it has filled those wins with enough […]
Read moreGrantland Network Podcast: Katie Baker with Craig Custance
As two good American hockey fans, Katie Baker and Craig Custance couldn’t let this week pass by without marking the 32nd anniversary of the Miracle on Ice. In this podcast, they are joined by Dave Ogrean, who was a young public relations guy for USA Hockey during the 1980 Olympic Games. (He’s now the executive […]
Read more2012 MLB Season Preview: Cleveland Indians
Every year around this time, Las Vegas casinos start posting over/under win totals for MLB teams. The LVH released its lines on Monday. The number on the Indians? 78.5 wins. Bet the over. Bet it hard. The Indians have a lot going for them this season, starting with three starters at the top of the […]
Read moreAbout Last Night: Pujols Isn’t ‘The Man’
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here’s what you missed in sports on Wednesday. Albert Pujols objected to billboards in the Los Angeles area calling him “El Hombre.” The words mean “the man,” and Pujols would rather not use that nickname in deference to Cardinals legend Stan “The Man” Musial. The […]
Read moreFebruary 22, 2012
The Shootaround: NBA News, Notes, and Marvin’s Room
Whisper While You Work Imagine if every year, your workplace went through layoffs and employee reviews the week before and after Christmas. That light at the end of the tunnel is in touching distance, it’s all gift wrap and roasting chestnuts and holiday parties, and then, all of a sudden, your job is thrown into […]
Read moreHow to Prepare for a Jeremy Lin Crash
Hey, have you recently been enjoying watching Jeremy Lin play basketball for the New York Knicks? Me too! It’s been so much fun! But I also suffer from an unredeemable, sometimes-I-even-surprise-myself level of neurosis, which means every once in a while, when I watch Lin do something magical and awesome, I can’t help but think: […]
Read moreThe Terrible Truth About Kentucky
There are lies we tell ourselves about the Kentucky Wildcats and John Calipari — comfortable fibs, supported by deceptive history, that help us sleep at night. They certainly make it easier to imagine a national champion from outside Lexington raising the trophy in early April, and they preserve a Manichean black-and-white simplicity that stifles the […]
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2012 MLB Season Preview: Detroit Tigers
Victor Martinez out for the year with a knee injury? No problem when you have an owner who desperately wants to win a World Series and will spend whatever it takes to try and make it happen. The Tigers dropped $214 million on Prince Fielder, more than making up for Martinez’s lost bat and reestablishing […]
Read moreGrantland Network Podcast: Men in Blazers
It’s the time of the season when the competitions start to bleed together. In the span of only a week, connoisseurs of association football can dabble in the eclectic delights of the FA Cup, take in the seductive Champions League, slum it with Europa, obediently return to the Premiership, and then cap it all with […]
Read moreLooking Behind the Sportsbook Curtain
It takes a lot to surprise Jay Kornegay. As the sportsbook director at the LVH (formerly Las Vegas Hilton) sportsbook, Kornegay’s seen it all during his eight years at the helm of the city’s bellwether operation — and made money for the casino in the process. When you run a book with the widest variety […]
Read moreRankonia: The Triangle Power Rankings
1. Deron Williams, A Chip on His Shoulder the Size of the Ritz Nominated by David Jacoby for “trying to launch Williamsanity at MSG.” Williams scored 38 for the Nets in their victory over their cross-river rivals, the Knicks. He did so with a gleam in his eye that looked like he was avenging a […]
Read moreExplaining the Situation on J.R. Smith’s Face-Head
As the public becomes increasing comfortable with the New York Knicks being a decent team and Jeremy Lin consistently putting up impressive numbers, a new Knicks-related issue has presented itself that no one seems to be able to wrap their foreheads around: Earl “J.R.” Smith III and that hair situation. After J.R.’s first game as […]
Read moreAbout Last Night: Last of the Losers
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here’s what you missed in sports on Tuesday. There are no more winless teams in Division 1 college basketball. Binghamton University became the last team to win a game this season, beating Vermont 57-53 and moving to 1-26 on the year. Interestingly enough, the win […]
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