January 6, 2015
Picking Up the Wild-Card Pieces
Arizona, Cincinnati, Detroit, and Pittsburgh each has to make the difficult transition from playoff contender to uninvolved bystander this week, and with that switch comes a focus on 2015.
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This Frog Has Wings: Your Hypothetical Timeline Compendium for the College Football Playoff
We’ve got a full week to muse between now and the Oregon–Ohio State title game in Arlington, so indulge, why don’t you, in some thought exercises with us.
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Cavalier Move: Breaking Down a Surprisingly Sensible Three-Way Trade
The Cavaliers get wing depth and a 3-and-D player without doing much further damage to their already damaged cap sheet; the Knicks get salary relief and rid themselves of two players they no longer wanted; and the Thunder enter uncharted tax territory by gambling on a wing talent with a season and a half left on his cost-controlled rookie deal. Win-win-win?
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Five Key Thoughts From the World Junior Championship of Hockey
Think of the WJC as hockey’s version of March Madness, except instead of everyone’s rooting interests being driven by some tenuous former ties to some school and/or gambling, it’s based on strident nationalism.
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Who’s the Boss? Ranking College Football’s New Head Coaching Hires
The dust has begun to settle on the annual college football coaching carousel and — brace yourself for the shock — it’s been another banner winter for middle-aged white guys, who are a perfect 14-for-14 in filling available FBS openings. In order to help you distinguish one receding hairline from the next, we’ve put together this handy, highly scientific ranking of the new hires, from the most likely to succeed to the least. Remember: Success is defined differently at Nebraska than it is at, say, Tulsa, and all hires are graded according to that curve.
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‘B.S. Report’: Jalen Rose and David Jacoby
Bill, Jalen, and Jacoby pop the trunk and talk about the Detroit Lions’ loss, the Clippers’ team chemistry, and the troubles in Cleveland.
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Is Alejandro Bedoya the Future of American Soccer?
At a time when many Americans are returning from Europe to play in Major League Soccer, drawing the ire of their national team coach for doing so, Bedoya has taken a different path.
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NBA Overnight: The Dubs Roll the Thunder! Dion Gets Traded! Dirk Passes Moses! And More!
Kind of a lot happened yesterday. Here’s pretty much everything you need to know about from a crazy day in the NBA. Well, everything except for LARRY SANDERS! possibly quitting basketball.
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The East for the Taking: Toronto’s Master Plan
Don’t look now, but the Raptors have their sights on being a contender for quite some time. Plus, 10 things to like (or not).
Read moreJanuary 5, 2015
‘The Grantland NFL Podcast’: Recapping Wild-Card Weekend
Mays and Barnwell break down how the refs got the Lions-Cowboys call wrong before reviewing the rest of wild-card weekend.
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‘B.S. Report’: Discussing the NFL Playoffs With Cousin Sal and Remembering Stuart Scott With Gus Ramsey
Cousin Sal and Bill discuss the NFL playoff picture before ESPN’s Gus Ramsey comes on to remember Stuart Scott.
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NFL Wild-Card Weekend Winners and Losers: Stewart Shines, Luck Launches, and Stafford Suffers
Jonathan Stewart finally has a playoff game to remember, Andrew Luck continues to lead the Colts, and Matthew Stafford comes oh so close.
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Q&A With Dennis ‘Baby Rondo’ Schröder: Atlanta’s Ascendant PG on Skateboarding and the Utility of Mayonnaise
There haven’t been many umlauts in the NBA. (Hanno Möttölä and Martin Müürsepp, anyone?) But there have been fewer still with blond-striped coiffures. Last year, the Atlanta Hawks used their 17th pick on Dennis Schröder, a feisty point guard from Germany who is at the intersection of this particular Venn diagram.
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Cowboys Up: Detroit Meets Its End in the House of Jerry
Terrible officiating? Maybe. But the Dallas Cowboys are moving on.
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Pardew, Pulis, and Poor Alan Irvine: What to Make of the Premier League’s Latest Round of Managerial Musical Chairs?
After a surprisingly prudent couple of months of collective patience from Premier League higher-ups, the managerial merry-go-round has finally started spinning.
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Columbus Crew: Our Ohio State Bureau on Urban Meyer’s Magic, Oregon’s Omen, and the Buckeyes’ Beauty
Here’s a weird Grantland fact: Three of our writers live in Columbus, Ohio! We put Mark Titus, Michael Baumann, and Matt Borcas on an email thread and asked them to talk about the Buckeyes for your entertainment. They said a lot of really mean things about Alabama and Oregon. Enjoy.
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NHL Weekend: How the West Was Lost
A look back at the biggest games and emerging story lines of the NHL weekend.
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Wild-Card Wrap-up: A Flag on the Play
A full slate of memorable NFL playoff games will end up being remembered for one thing: a call that wasn’t made.
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