fin Page 32 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The Maple Leafs won the game they should have lost, which they never do
It’s almost always futile to look for “signs” or “omens” in playoff hockey. The next bounce off someone’s ass doesn’t really care what happened before, and apparently, this season, neither will the next call the ref misses but still manages to leave your D-man maimed, and the opposing forward an ope...
East Coast folks, get over yourselves if you can’t stay awake for a late playoff game
I’m well aware that the most visible of the loud sports fans reside between Boston and Washington. In that nearly 450-mile stretch of I-95, there are more than 16 million television households along with ESPN’s two main studios. Of course that will inevitably lead to East Coast griping about sports ...
Death, taxes, and James Harden disappearing during the playoffs
James Harden’s sunsetting in the playoffs is a reliable annual trend. Similar to Punxsutawney Phil emerging as a sign spring has sprung, but with darker clouds in the forecast. For what feels like a decade, Harden has disappeared into his shell once the best-of-seven portion of the schedule begins. ...
The Golden State Warriors can't wait to get home
Sure the NBA playoff games have been close, but the Western Conference three-seed vs. six-seed matchup has brought forth the same result as in the Eastern Conference. On the Atlantic coast, the Philadelphia 76ers have pounded the Brooklyn Nets in two consecutive games. On the left coast, the Sacrame...
Duke teammates’ bid on Washington Commanders relies on billion-dollar layaway plan
Instability is the core tenet of the Washington Commanders’ Dan Snyder era. It’s only appropriate that the jankiest, messiest, reprobate of a team owner in modern NFL history ends his tenure with a tinge of chaos. On Thursday, reports blasted throughout the league that Snyder had agreed to a non-exc...
Finding the NBA playoff X factors
The NBA playoffs are where superstars can add to — or subtract from — their legacies. They may come up clutch, or absolutely choke under the spotlight. The same goes for coaches. But there are always subplots around certain youngsters, role players, and unknowns who can make a name for themselves. T...
Here's which NBA playoff teams will boom or bust
NBA fans are preparing for one of the most equitable and competitive playoffs in recent memory. The lack of an active dynasty or superteam has the door open for nearly any team to make a Finals run. We’ve highlighted five teams headed toward playoff glory and five teams destined for despair. We cons...
The NBA has a Charles Barkley problem — again
TNT’s flagship show Inside The NBA is at its best this time of the year, as fans tune in multiple times per week to watch Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson, and Shaquille O’Neal do their thing. But what happens when the star of the NBA’s biggest and best studio show gets on TV to tell fans...
Battle of the bottom of the Eastern Conference barrel
The Eastern Conference hasn’t been as wide open as the West this season, so their play-in race wasn’t nearly as exciting. There isn’t much expected from the play-in participants in the east, even though the Miami Heat were in the Eastern Conference Finals last postseason. In the east, the Milwaukee ...
At Princeton, a turnaround one man saw coming
“I was born delusional,” said Chris Ayres, Princeton’s head wrestling coach, earlier this year. “But I think — I really do — that delusion is a good thing.” He just proved his point. At Tulsa, Oklahoma’s NCAA wrestling tournament last month, Ayres pulled off one of the least likely turnarounds colle...
Don’t be so quick to count out the Western Conference's top-seeded teams
A large swath of NBA media is out on the top seeds in the Western Conference — and it makes sense, because, for the first time since the 1996-97 season, the East is far and away superior....
Mark Cuban is not who we thought he was going to be
This past week has been the dried-out cherry on top of an expired whipped cream sundae of a 2022-23 season for the Dallas Mavericks. They entered it one game out of the play-in tournament a shade under two months after trading for Kyrie Irving. It would be easy to blame him for Mavericks’ fall, but ...
Republican-sponsored anti-LGBTQ bills attacking transgender youth participation in sports reaches new low
Republicans en masse across the country haven’t made it clear what they truly stand for outside of hating others and tolerating racism and all forms of bigotry. They’re more afraid and concerned of Black peaceful protestors and children properly identifying their sexuality than insurrectionists, mas...
Redefining what it means to be a unicorn
“Unicorn” is up there with “new normal” and “positionless basketball” as far as terms I would love to see removed from my brain. Any big man with guard skills is dubbed a unicorn, and we’re led to believe the NBA is a mythical universe populated by elves, dragons, and wizards. Well, technically the ...
Previously out of work Frank Lampard is back at Chelsea for the interim
Chelsea FC have literally been the definition of average in the Premier League this season. For a club that was crowned European champions less than two years ago, being considered average at anything might as well be worse than relegation. The Blues have close to the same number of wins, draws and ...
The Isiah Thomas-Michael Jordan beef still going strong decades later
I guess if Michael Jordan gets to remain bitter about events from 40 years ago then everyone else from that time should be granted the same courtesy. In 2021 it was Scottie Pippen — promoting his bourbon and book — who was publicly critical of Jordan. Since the NBA 75 Greatest Team gathered at the 2...
Can we just skip the Eastern Conference play-in tournament this year?
As the NBA regular season nears its end, teams continue to jockey for playoff and play-in tournament positions producing some wild races heading toward the finish line. The race in the West is setting up for a photo finish over the last few days, with both playoff and play-in implications on the lin...