October 21, 2011
The Top 15 Non-Storylines of the College Basketball Season
At the start of the college basketball season, fans are looking for their team’s story — a compelling narrative that will define their school’s season. In the coming months there will be plenty of talk about conference records, coaching decisions, and off-the-court controversies. But, in the interest of balance, I’ve gathered the storylines guaranteed to […]
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Rangers Steal a Win at the Finish Line
Of all the potential advantages in play for the Cardinals and Rangers during the World Series, three were most stark. Tony La Russa had made a career out of making wise in-game moves, especially with his bullpen, giving the Cardinals a big edge over Ron Washington and his track record of iffy decision-making. The two […]
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About Last Night: Rangers Make Some Sacrifices
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here’s what you missed in sports on Thursday. The Rangers rallied for two runs in the ninth, scoring both on sacrifice flies, to even the World Series at one game apiece with a 2-1 win over the Cardinals. My only question is this: Why do […]
Read moreOctober 20, 2011
The Saturday Agenda
The most intriguing televised contests of your college football Saturday, collated into the somewhat obvious (The Manning) and the somewhat less obvious (The Leaf): Act I The Manning: North Carolina (5-2) at no. 7 Clemson (7-0), noon EST, ESPN Appeals To: Tobacconists, Homer Jordan Always at this time of the season, there is at least […]
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The Champions League Parallel Universe
One of the great things about the UEFA Champions League is how it acts as a kind of alternative reality for players and teams. It’s almost like the island from Lost; a place where you can reinvent yourself and change your fortune, parallel to the league season you may want to forget.
Read moreLet’s Ask iPhone’s Siri Some Questions About Baseball and the Boston Red Sox
The iPhone 4S has arrived, and with it, the promise of a new and better world, one where all our questions could be answered by Siri with a single press of a button. Although it was initially billed as a mere digital assistant tasked with the mundane duties of reading aloud texts or managing your […]
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Cousin Sal’s Gambling Blog: Week 7
We’re back in the black baby! Last week I hit on a monster proposition bet — a 30/1 long shot paid out when the Bears were the highest scoring team in Week 6. 30/1! Seriously — what other bloggers are giving out 30/1 winners? Arianna Huffington? Perez Hilton? I’m guessing hardly ever. I also hit […]
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The Second Act Of Kansas State’s Bill Snyder
As soon as he hears Bill Snyder’s name, Barry Switzer cuts off the question. He’ll tell you about Bill Snyder. Switzer’s tenure at Oklahoma — a reign that included three national championships and 12 Big 8 titles — ended after the 1988 season, just before Snyder took over at Kansas State. The Wildcats had spent […]
Read moreWorld Series 2011: Meet Your St. Louis Cardinals!
Chris Carpenter – Perhaps seeking to capitalize on the baseball player’s fame, a winemaker named Chris Carpenter makes a wine called “Cardinale.” The actual Chris Carpenter has the world’s most boring quotations page. Jaime Garcia – also the name of a cigar maker, who is probably not trying to capitalize on the baseball player’s fame. Edwin Jackson […]
Read moreCollege Football Preview: Waiting for the Week of Chaos
“Brother Chaos rules all about.” Those words come from the song “Jimi Thing” by the Dave Matthews Band, and it’s a good idea to sing them out loud if you ever want to be shunned at a party. But don’t sleep on Brother Chaos; he’s a real phenomenon, and he makes his presence known in […]
Read moreB.S. Report: Ticketmaster CEO Nathan Hubbard
As I mentioned in yesterday’s column, I brought Nathan Hubbard (CEO of Ticketmaster) into our L.A. Live studio to discuss the future of the ticket business for sports and music, the effects of the secondary ticket market and the HD/Internet/Facebook/Twitter era, the future of live events, and how all of this affects both the NBA […]
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The Intricate Balance of Hedging Your Bet
We’re going to discuss a topic this week related to the World Series: Hedging bets. In the middle of September, Grantland reader Nick made a trip to the Bellagio and decided to put $20 on his beloved Cardinals to win the World Series. St. Louis was 4.5 games out of the Wild Card hunt at […]
Read moreGrantland Network Podcast: Men in Blazers
It was a rainy day in the Crap Part of Soho, the sky dangerously close to the ground, but the Men in Blazers felt completely at home. In this week’s pod, Michael and Roger jump right into last weekend’s Premier League action with the event henceforth referred to as the greatest experience of LeBron James’ […]
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Cardinals Win the Battle of Managers, Game 1
During Wednesday’s podcast, Rany Jazayerli said the Cardinals would likely steal a World Series game at some point, because Tony La Russa would outmanage Ron Washington. Wow, that didn’t take long. Let us count the ways that La Russa either outfoxed the Rangers, or Washington shot himself, and his team, in the foot during the […]
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About Last Night: Cardinal Knowledge
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here’s what you missed in sports on Wednesday. Allen Craig’s RBI single in the sixth inning proved to be the game-winning run as the Cardinals beat the Rangers 3-2 in Game 1 of the World Series. A series of bullpen moves by Cardinals manager Tony […]
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