April 10, 2015
The NBA’s Furious 17: Capturing the Noncontenders’ State of Mind
You just rooted for a team for six months only to realize that it has no shot at winning it all. Let’s accentuate the positive with a little help from Dom Toretto.
Read more
Leonard Williams Has Rocks in His Gloves, Sideshow Bob’s Hair, and Richard Seymour’s Game
“Heavy hands” is a term scouts use often with regard to defensive linemen, meaning that when they punch a blocker in the chest, or use a club move, the blocker is moving. Williams might as well have rocks in his gloves. He jolts blockers constantly, easily allowing him to toss them away when he’s done.
Read more
Suit Up: How MLB Mentors Pay It Forward, One Lesson (and Shopping Spree) at a Time
The life of a major league rookie can be simultaneously exhilarating and scary, and baseball’s rites of passage demand that veteran players step forward to calm those jitters. A benevolent team elder can impart his many years of life and baseball wisdom to a rookie, putting him at ease and making him feel that he belongs. Two of baseball’s best currently reside in Colorado.
Read more
NHL Grab Bag: A Replay Conspiracy
We’re supposed to believe that Sportsnet, which paid billions for Canadian TV rights, wants to keep a Canadian team out of the playoffs?
Read more
The LeBron Lineage: Duke-Bound Luke Kennard Is Ohio’s Next Great Basketball Talent
Whether by happenstance or a LeBron James–inspired renaissance, Ohio has recently produced a slew of notable NBA lottery and first-round draft picks. Could a guy from the tiny town of Franklin be next?
Read more
Return of the King: Falling in Love With Matt Harvey All Over Again
Matt Harvey’s back. And he’s beautiful.
Read more
City of Black Roses: The Bright Spot in Portland’s Dark Season
C.J. McCollum has made the most of his opportunity after a rash of Blazers injuries. But is it too late for Portland?
Read more
The NBA/NFL Crossover: Who Is the Aaron Rodgers of Basketball?
For instance, Dwight Howard is the Donovan McNabb of the NBA. You see how this works?
Read more
‘Jalen and Jacoby’: Discussing the Chris Copeland Incident, Kyrie Irving’s Controversial Bobblehead, and More
Jalen and Jacoby cover the Chris Copeland incident, examine the controversial Kyrie Irving bobblehead, and update the hip-hop music video bracket.
Read more
English Entropy: Will the Best Premier League Teams Ever Match Madrid, Bayern, and Barcelona?
For everyone other than Chelsea, there’s a long way to go.
Read moreApril 9, 2015
‘B.S. Report’: Haralabos Voulgaris
NBA gambler Haralabos Voulgaris joins Bill on the ‘B.S. Report’ to break down what an MVP candidate should be and why the Memphis Grizzlies fell apart. Then they predict the conference finals.
Read more
You Stay Classy, Dallas: How a Texas Sports Anchor Became an Internet Sensation
The magic of Dale Hansen’s socially conscious sports rants.
Read more
Ready, Set, Statcast: What the New Data Stream Can Teach Us About MLB
We’re only a few days into the 2015 MLB season, but eye-opening Statcast data is already trickling into our lives. Here’s a quick look at several ways in which even this limited stream of Statcast info — with more likely to follow in the near future — can teach us more about baseball, provided MLBAM doesn’t turn off the tap.
Read more
‘Cheap Heat’ Podcast: Talking AJ Lee’s Retirement, John Cena, and More
The guys talk AJ Lee’s retirement, announce-team drama, and the John Cena redemption tour.
Read more
Lightning Round: James Dolan SPEAKS!
Yesterday, ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ published an interview with James Dolan, the owner of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers, CEO of Cablevision, and frontman of JD & The Straight Shot. Interviews with Dolan are such a rare occurrence that we decided to gather our Rangers and Knicks fans, our New Yorkers, and our media conglomerate watchers in one place for a lightning-round reaction about what Dolan had to say.
Read more
SimCity: Calculating the Worst-Case Cost of Jon Lester’s Pickoff Aversion
Jon Lester hasn’t attempted a pickoff in his last 66 starts. It’s a staggering and strange statistic — but is it a harmful one? Five baseball simulators can help us find out.
Read more
NHL End-of-Season Awards: Best Trade, Worst Trade, Most Entertaining Meltdown, and More!
Sure it’s early, but how much can really change in just 60 hours?
Read more
When They Were Young: How Eight NFL Draft Prospects Rated As Recruits
This year’s top prospects definitively prove that more than one path leads to sharing an awkward bro-hug with Roger Goodell. For your edification, eight particularly noteworthy examples.
Read more
‘The Ropes’ Podcast: Sugar Ray Leonard on Mayweather-Pacquiao, and Angel Garcia on Training His Son
Rafe Bartholomew and Brian Campbell discuss the latest MayPac news and interview Angel Garcia about training his son Danny to fight Lamont Peterson on Saturday night on NBC.
Read more
NBA Shootaround: Picking Our Dream First-Round Playoff Matchups
This week, we got a little impatient waiting for the regular season to wrap up. So here are our dream matchups for the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Read more
Winter Is(n’t) Coming: Watching Western Ski Resorts Grapple With Historic Drought
A visit to Squaw Valley to see how recreational mountains are surviving — or not — after their fourth winter of historically low levels of snowpack.
Read more