October 1, 2014
Heisman Watch: It’s Ameer-acle!
If Abdullah can tear it up against Pat Narduzzi’s stingy defense, he’ll deserve to be the Heisman’s one true front-runner. If he doesn’t, then we can return our focus to Melvin Gordon, as there’s room for only one red and white-wearing Big Ten running back in this conversation.
Read moreStory Time With Jalen Rose: The Mansion
“Story Time With Jalen Rose: The Mansion” is not about Jalen using his NBA paychecks to buy a dream home for his family. “Story Time With Jalen Rose: The Mansion” is about Jalen using his NBA paychecks to buy a gaudy, diamond-studded bracelet with the same price tag as a mansion.
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The Sins of the New Orleans Saints
Before Sunday night, you could still rationalize the Saints’ struggles. They were two or three plays away from being 3-0, you could tell yourself, and they’d played two of their first three games away from the Superdome. But that stance is a little tougher to maintain after what happened in Dallas.
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NL Wild-Card Preview: Giants vs. Pirates
The Pirates are back in the playoffs for the second straight year following a two-decade drought, while the Giants are going for their third World Series in the last five seasons. Both teams have the horses to make a deep playoff run, but only one will survive tonight’s do-or-die NL wild-card game in Pittsburgh. Let’s break it down.
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The Third-Year Decision: What Will These NBA Teams Do With Their Still-Developing Prospects?
These days, fewer and fewer NBA decisions are rubber-stamp jobs. Teams have become more careful on the fringes of the salary cap under the post-lockout collective bargaining agreement. That’s especially true for the teams that need to be choosy in picking up third- and fourth-year post-lockout options on their first-round picks; those fourth-year options carry giant year-over-year raises ranging from 26 percent for the top pick all the way to 80 percent for the bottom six picks.
Read moreSeptember 30, 2014
Men Are Necessary: Some Thoughts About Derek Jeter’s Silent Style
Derek Jeter and the triumph of unstylized style.
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The 2014 NBA Media Day Power Rankings
Traditions are sacred in sports. They’re how we mark the passage of time. Spring doesn’t start until baseball comes back; fall’s not real until football returns; Thanksgiving doesn’t feel right until you’re passed out on the couch during the second football game. By that same token, it doesn’t feel like basketball season until we’re sifting through hundreds […]
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QB Curve: Connor Cook, Michigan State’s Model of Consistency
Quarterbacks: There are a lot of them! Each week, QB Curve will keep you up to speed on the game’s most important position by putting a different college signal-caller in the spotlight and putting the rest of the field in perspective. This week: Michigan State’s by-the-book star, Connor Cook.
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The Dallas Cowboys Tree of Competence
Somewhere between being a decade-long travesty and last Sunday’s victory over the New Orleans Saints, the Dallas Cowboys became a competent football team. Not a Super Bowl team, and maybe not even a playoff team, but a cohesive group of athletes paid to play football for a living. This is huge. How did this happen? The […]
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The Forever War: A History and Future Timeline of the Daryl Morey–Mark Cuban Feud
It’s an old-fashioned border war, the kind you just don’t see in the NBA anymore. It is a delight. Basketball fans everywhere should say a silent prayer every night for the rhetorical antagonism to boil over onto the hardwood.
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2014-15 NHL Preview: The Middle of the Pack
Yesterday, we kicked off NHL season preview week with a look at the bottom-feeder division — the league’s truly hopeless teams. Today we’re moving up the standings, with what we’re calling the Stuck-in-the-Middle Division. These are the teams that are good, but not great — they’re not quite Stanley Cup contenders, but each should be right in the […]
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Jonah Keri Podcast: MLB Playoff Preview Special
Jonah Keri talks to Dodgers pitcher Dan Haren, Nationals beat writer Adam Kilgore, Tigers beat writer Chris Iott, Cardinals beat writer Jenifer Langosch, Giants broadcaster Dave Flemming, Pirates radio host David Todd, Grantland writer/Royals die-hard Rany Jazayerli, A’s beat writer Jane Lee, Orioles beat writer Roch Kubatko, and Angels beat writer Alden Gonzalez about the MLB playoffs.
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MLB Awards: The 2014 AL and NL MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year Picks
The 2014 regular season is in the books, and the playoffs start tonight. Before we start the postseason dancing, however, there’s one final piece of pre-October business to handle: picking the 2014 MLB awards winners! Here are our votes for the American League and National League MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year honors.
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Is This (Finally) the End of the Patriots?
What is wrong with the Patriots? Well, if you’re looking at the offense, it’s almost everything.
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Quiet Steps: A New-Look Barcelona and Messi Embrace the Old Ways
New manager Luis Enrique has guided his team to the top of La Liga’s table, with 16 points from their first six games. Barcelona have yet to concede a goal, and, scarily, they are nowhere near their peak form. Luis Suárez has yet to play a minute for his new squad, and Neymar is only now rounding into shape after his World Cup injury. Barcelona’s decline, to the extent that there ever was one, appears to have been arrested. And it’s all thanks to evolution.
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AL Wild-Card Preview: A’s vs. Royals
The MLB playoff craziness kicks off tonight with the AL wild-card game between the Kansas City Royals and the Oakland A’s. It’s a matchup between two teams that play very different brands of baseball. So in a win-or-go-home contest, which side holds the edge?
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NBA Windows: The Rockets’ Missing Third Superstar and the NBA’s Continuity Problem
The NBA’s ever-changing financial landscape has teams like the Rockets struggling to round out their Big Three and maintain continuity. And it won’t get any easier in the future.
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