blu Page 22 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Esa Lindell Kept Diving And Diving And Then Suffered Cosmic Justice

Let us stipulate that diving, or flopping, is not so common in hockey as it is in some other sports we could name, nor is it generally treated with anything but outright contempt. It does exist, and it does, unfortunately often, work, but it’s not regarded with the grudging respect for its value it ...

Is Fernando Rodney Okay?

Vladimir Tarasenko Remains The Best Reason To Watch The Blues

Goaltender Jordan Binnington is getting the overwhelming share of attention during this dominant run the Blues have enjoyed since putting him in net halfway through the season, and it’s not hard to see why. The team sucked before he showed up, and now they’re in the second round of the playoffs with...

It's Not Really The Playoffs Until There's A Brad Marchand Controversy

The most irritating man in hockey had returned for the second round of the playoffs after lying relatively dormant in the first, as Bruins forward Brad Marchand is back to inventing petty tricks to get in his opponents’ heads....

Vlad Jr. Is Finally, Finally Bringing His Mighty Dingers To The Majors

Huzzah, baseball friends! Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has been the best and most exciting and most popular player in the Toronto Blue Jays organization for more than a year, is now finally good enough to join the Toronto Blue Jays:...

The Jets Can't Win At Home And Can't Protect Leads, But Other Than That, Everything's Fine

It all started so well for the Jets, and ended so poorly, which is how an alarmingly large number of games have gone for Winnipeg this year, and is why there are potentially an alarmingly small number of games left for them. For the 11th time this season, the Jets lost a game they had led entering t...

Vlad Jr. Hit A Ball Out Of A Minor League Ballpark, Almost As If He Is Too Good To Be Playing In Them

While hitting for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on Wednesday night, Vlad Guerrero Jr. crushed a poor baseball all the way out of a minor league ballpark in Pawtucket. And if the Toronto Blue Jays have any sense, Guerrero himself will also be exiting minor league parks very soon....

What The Hell Happened To The Lightning?

Six days in April can change a lot....

The Lightning Should Spend The Entire Summer With Paper Bags On Their Heads

Never has an NHL team had more reason to be embarrassed. First period of Game 1 aside, the Tampa Bay Lightning who won 62 games in the regular season failed to show up in their first-round series against the tremendously underestimated Columbus Blue Jackets, and they paid the price. As the Lightning...

Did Michael Avenatti Fall For A Hoax Invoice Claiming That Nike Paid Zion Williamson's Mom?

Two weeks ago, before he was indicted in United States District Court for a wide variety of crimes, lawyer Michael Avenatti intimated that he had proof of Nike paying Zion Williamson to attend Duke, and doing so by paying Williamson’s mother for bogus consulting services. His threats were quite spe...

The Lightning Look Like Toast

“We’re still playing Tuesday. We’re still alive.” That’s Lightning head coach Jon Cooper giving an exhaustive list of everything positive about this opening-round series for Tampa, which could indeed end on Tuesday, just not in a way he or anyone else could have ever predicted....

The Lightning Dug Themselves Into A 2-0 Hole, Then Nikita Kucherov Made Things Worse [Update]

Now that the Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning have played two playoff games against each other, let’s check in on the team that Vegas all but guaranteed would have a spot in the Stanley Cup final:...

Jordan Binnington Would Not Be Rattled

The unlikely savior of the St. Louis Blues’ season came through again in Game 1 of their first-round fight with the Winnipeg Jets. Rookie goalie Jordan Binnington, who showed up midseason to go 24-5-1 and pilot the Blues from last place to the playoffs, didn’t get overwhelmed by a sellout crowd in M...

The Columbus Blue Jackets Are Not Here To Get Steamrolled

Some fans say that the 3-0 lead when you’re the Presidents’ Trophy winners playing Game 1 at home in the first round against an eight seed from Ohio is the most dangerous lead in hockey, and the Tampa Bay Lightning found that out the hard way in their 4-3 upset loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on W...

Chris Sale Is Messed Up Right Now

A fun way for a runner on third to give the middle finger to a pitcher without drawing a fine or suspension is to just straight-up steal home, when the ball’s in the pitcher’s hand. “I am not afraid of you,” the thief says. “I will make an extremely dumb choice and come away unscathed, because you w...

At Least If The Blue Jackets Miss The Playoffs It Won't Be <i>Because </i>Of This Goal

Columbus has an awful lot riding on making the playoffs, and the race for the East’s two wild card spots is so tight that every single goal has the potential to decide seasons. So if the Blue Jackets and their fans were dreading the possibility of an offseason spent bemoaning this fluke Boston goal ...

Duke Is Out. What Will You Do With Your Hate Now?

At the exact moment Duke lost to Michigan State on Sunday, our sporting Borg collective went through the following thoughts, in this order and all within a second:...

This Blue Jays Fan Has Ice Water In Her Veins

The Blue Jays and Tigers split a four-game series to open the season. The primary highlight of the series came on Saturday, when Brandon Drury fouled off a pitch in the fourth inning. A fan behind home plate did not flinch with the ball headed straight at her head....

The Glance That Put Michigan State In The Final Four

It is one of those historical ironies of the sport that Duke is heading home because the refs didn’t call many fouls on them. Usually, the free-throw disparity—the Blue Devils took 13 to Michigan State’s six—and perceived favoritism works in Duke’s favor. But not on Sunday, not in the closing second...

Coach K's Trust In R.J. Barrett Ruins Duke's Final Four Dreams

With two-and-a-half minutes remaining in regulation, Zion Williamson attracted a double-team in the post and found an open RJ Barrett at the top of the three-point arc so that his Canadian teammate could give Duke a 64-63 lead. No one knew it at the time, but that shot would wind up being the last p...