Rather than tell you what I think about the upcoming NFL season, I have a better idea: let me tell you who you might want to read. I have friends do this for me with HBO series – I tell them to watch the first season, tell me if it sucked, and if not I pay a prorated on-demand fee and watch the season in two days, call my cable provider to return on-demand, and no one is any bit the wiser. True story. The same problem applies with the NFL: there’s a whole lot of crappy analysis and no one to sift through it all and tell you where to find the good stuff.
I hope everyone tuned in last night to watch ESPN’s Free Agency Summit. It brought together the four most too-cool-for-school ESPN personalities: Tony Kornheiser, Mike Wilbon, Dan Lebatard, and Bill Simmons, a.k.a. the “Sports Guy.”
I’m curious whether or not viewers enjoyed the segment. I found it kind of disappointing. Read more
When it comes to Lebron, I am full fledged believer in the gospel according to Skip Bayless.
Lebron, unlike the true NBA greats, lacks the ability to carry teams. He plays a little selfish and fails to get the most from his teammates (see Carlos Boozer and Mo Williams). And as Skip says, he’s the ultimate front-runner. Sure, he’ll destroy the Milwaukee Bucks in historic fashion, but he also won’t show up against real competition even when the experts have picked him to win (think Spurs, Celtics, Magic).
But much as I can’t stand the guy, I find this summer’s free agency brouhaha quite compelling. I can’t get enough of it. I’m even following Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter, so my interest has pretty much reached dork-status.
But maybe you’re not following free agency in the same stalkerish way as I am. Here are four good reasons you should. Btw, everyone’s doing three, five, or ten reasons these days; it’s become cliche. If you want ten good reasons, check out Mike Florio’s lame-ass posts on Sporting News. If you want to read some wise-ass who thinks he’s awesome, keep reading after the break.
During this busy baseball week we got word that one of the great players of the modern era has decided to retire. Ken Griffey, Jr. is one of those unique players that fans who got to see him swing the long ball and snag deep shots will talk about forever. It’s a sad time for us who grew up watching Griffey, but we also recognize that the right time had come. Injuries had hampered Griffey in the past decade, slowing him down to a fraction of his former self. Nevertheless, he played through the pain and found his way around the league and eventually back to Seattle, where he made his biggest impact. Read more
When it was announced recently that New York would play host to the 2014 Super Bowl, everyone leaped to the conclusion that this would open up possibilities for other cold-weather non-traditional locations to be the next to bring the big game to their cities. It was Boston, Philly, Chicago, and now Washington. Each of those cities is going to be campaigning over the next years to be picked as a future host to the Super Bowl, citing New York’s selection as an impetus to get the green light. Here’s the problem with that thinking: Read more
The man who only a few years ago excited the entire league with his return skills may finally achieve his potential stardom this coming year for the Bears. Devin Hester disappointed many fans last year when he put up weak numbers as a receiver. But that hasn’t deterred new offensive coordinator Mike Martz from singing Hester’s praises: Read more
The Flyers surprised everyone last night when they came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Bruins and advance to the Eastern Conference finals. What made that win so sweet is that it capped off a four-game streak that brought the team back from the brink of exiting the playoffs, and propelled them to join history as one of the few teams to rally from down 3-0 in a post-season series. Moreover, the Flyers were the underdogs in the series and have now set up a conference final pinning the #7 seed against the #8 Canadiens.
What sort of drama they’ve wrought! Consider that in the West it’s the #1 Sharks and #2 Blackhawks facing off. While that’s bound to be a strongly fought and competitive series, all eyes are focused now on the East. Here’s what people are saying about the Flyers as they head into a series that’ll bring them one step closer to a Stanley Cup: Read more
With the way people are talking this morning about the Canucks-Blackhawks game one you’d think that Vancouver’s just locked up a spot in the finals. Sure, they trounced the ‘Hawks 5-1 in the series opener and set an unexpected tone for the series. But by no means does that mean more than just one win where it matters; Chicago could regroup and send the message right back in game two. Read more
Collisions at home plate are an inevitable reality in baseball games, especially when pinning two eager and competitive teams up against each other. They are exciting for fans to watch, too, as you brace for the impact of the moment when the ball and the player match wits to see who can arrive first. The catcher just has to simply stand there and wait for the smack and the tag. Read more
The Cavaliers trampled the Bulls 96-83 in the first game of their post-season series. Lebron had his typical great game, leading the way for the Cavs, but it’s Shaq that everyone’s buzzing about. You see, the Diesel missed the last 23 games of the season for the team, and questions were being lobbed about Shaq’s potential for production in the playoffs, coming off his thumb injury. Moreover, O’Neal’s age – 38 – was a concern for many who wondered if the big guy could even hack it anymore.
But hack it he did, as he contributed 12 points in the victory in just 24 minutes, while contributing in a variety of other ways. While the Cavs have always been the favorite to come out of the East this year, this win just confirmed that the team doesn’t have holes in the middle. Here’s what the commentators are saying Shaq adds to this contender: Read more
The sports world is still abuzz this afternoon over Kansas’ early exit from the NCAA tournament. Everyone who had the Jayhawks going to deep into their brackets – if not all the way – is left wondering what happened and why their plans got derailed. Kansas was the clear favorite to contend for the national title, and even President Obama had them winning it all. There are a few theories floating around about what went wrong for the Jayhawks yesterday: Read more
The much-anticipated opening ceremony held last night in Vancouver was overshadowed by news of the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili, a Georgian luger who died during a practice run. Olympics’ organizers were quick to implement changes to the track to make it safer for the competitors; there’s hope that the games will go on as planned without accident or incident. But there’s now no viable way that the Olympics will recover from the simple fact that someone died there. Read more
The Chicago Blackhawks have soared to the top of their division, surprising many NHL fans. The Hawks have had a short history of losing, to say the least, and casual hockey fans are probably surprised every day to find the team still atop the standings. But that doesn’t mean all the news for Chicago these days is good news. Patrick Kane – who’s developing a reputation for mischief – was caught, along with teammates John Madden and Kris Versteeg, without shirts on inside a limo in Vancouver last week. Read more
One of baseball’s great dynasties has been broken up. Peter Gammons makes his debut on MLB Network this week when he hosts a show built around the Hall of Fame induction proceedings. Gammons is bound to be his thoughtful and inquisitive self as he covers who’s in and who’s out of the Hall. The niche network will surround Gammons with some excellent contributors like Bob Costas, Tom Verducci, Ken Rosenthal, and more.
There’s no time for Gammons to settle in with his new and talented colleagues as he’s being put right to work. And then some. He’ll host shows, contribute to others, and appear more on MLB Network than he ever did on ESPN, a sports network that covers more than one sport during a broadcast and over the course of a season. Gammons even got the scoop about Boston (his local team) signing Adrian Beltre today. The man is a workhorse. Read more
Rep. Heath Shuler is one of the few people who’s seen the inside of Washington, D.C.’s two major institutions: Politics and the Redskins. So when the Washington post conducted an interview with the Congressman, naturally the two topics were both tackled.
Although it’s obvious that football remains an interest in Shuler’s life, his affinity for the Redskins in particular as a major component of his life struck me as noteworthy. Shuler’s personal ties lead back to North Carolina, and his football tutelage to Tennessee. He first arrived in Washington for the first three years of his five-year career, but the city would eventually come to mean something more to him in his next, political role. Read more
