joel Page 3 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
This year’s Australian Open is drunk
The Australian Open is already kind of geared for weirdos, at least on these shores, given that you have to sacrifice sleep and any usefulness the next day to enjoy it. But this year’s edition has been off the rails, making it even more worth it for those of us who are prepared to throw ourselves of...
Pascal Siakam makes the Pacers good at what they’re bad at, excellent at what they do best
The calendar has not yet reached February, but the Indiana Pacers have decided to kick the trade deadline into high gear. The No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference made a win-now move with darkhorse MVP candidate Tyrese Haliburton currently sidelined with a hamstring injury. Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnaro...
Aaron Rodgers and Pat McAfee are proof that ESPN only wanted Black talent to ‘stick to sports’
“It’s not what you say, but how you say it,” is a wise adage. But at ESPN, it’s always felt like who said it was more important than what was said. Aaron Rodgers and Pat McAfee haven’t been sticking to sports for a while now, which was, and still is, a privilege that former and current Black employe...
ESPN didn’t say Aaron Rodgers was dumb, they said his joke was dumb
The firestorm engulfing ESPN is a product of its own doing, which is what makes all of this Pat McAfee-Aaron Rodgers drama so funny. The worldwide leader hired comic relief and, shockingly, he simultaneously lit Disney and Bristol ablaze from Indiana. In case you missed the fallout from Rodgers insi...
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is ascending into the MVP conversation
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the NBA’s dullest superstar, which has allowed him to sneak up behind the league while they sleep on his ascendance. On Tuesday night, SGA propelled the Oklahoma City Thunder to their latest signature win. After a two-week stretch in which they’ve made mincemeat of the NBA...
Zion Williamson is losing money for not losing weight
One of the league’s best young players may have his career slip away before our eyes. ...
The Flyers are good right now, but having faith in them might be like believing in Santa Claus
For the past 10 years or so, the Flyers have just muddled. There has never been any particular direction. Sometimes they’ve been kinda good, but nowhere near good enough to do anything that mattered. Sometimes they’ve been kinda bad, occasionally really bad, but never by design with their sights set...
This week in the basketball: Illinois St. coach in n-word flap; Giannis Antetokuonmpo still hasn't found his ball
What a typical response to racism from the head coach of Illinois State men’s basketball. During a home game on Saturday, Ryan Pedon got in an altercation with Norfolk State head coach Robert Jones. A situation that was none of Pedon’s business, because Jones was not even talking in the direction of...
The NFL’s 'Inspire Change' weeks have begun — does anybody know?
When the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders meet on Thursday night in a game that will determine who’ll be third and fourth in the AFC West, Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit will more than certainly find time to discuss the NFL’s biggest priority for the next two weeks — “diversity.”...
The Washington Wizards can't even tank properly
For some pro franchises, when it rains, it most certainly pours. The Washington Wizards entered the season with seemingly new life behind the acquisition of former Golden State Warrior Jordan Poole. Thus far, the tandem of Poole and Kyle Kuzma has been underwhelming, to say the least. The Wizards fe...
Why is no one screaming about the NBA’s MVP race yet?
There’s one unquestioned upside to the NBA’s In-Season Tournament. The endless promos and exhausting exposure to promote Adam Silver’s baby — and debate over if it’s working or if it matters — has overshadowed the usual topic de jour as we hit the quarter-season mark: The MVP race....
Juan Soto is finally a New York Yankee. Took long enough
The New York Yankees have finally acquired outfielder Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres, according to New York Post columnist Joel Sherman, and ESPN’s Jeff Passan. ...
2023 NHL goals saved percentage leaders
This article is based on data from Sportradar....
Deion Sanders’ first year at Colorado proved how gullible people can be
Before the 2023 season started, ESPN’s Tom Luginbill said that Colorado might have the worst roster in college football. By the end of the 2023 regular season, Deion Sanders was strictly focused on the future, given that he had failed at the present....
You're reading this correctly: The Kings might actually be the best team in hockey
You’d be forgiven if you’ve lost track of the Los Angeles Kings for a while. We’re coming up on 10 years since their last Stanley Cup. They haven’t won a round in the playoffs since, with four pretty inglorious dirt naps in the first round in the interim. They threw up (maybe literally) some pretty ...
These are the all-time NBA starting fives
While debating politics over Thanksgiving can cause irreplaceable family fissures, debating the all-time starting fives for each NBA team holds way fewer stakes. There are many different ways to build an all-time starting five, all of which illicit strong reactions. Some people prefer to choose the ...
The Cardinals appear to want to assemble the worst starting rotation
The 2023 season for the St. Louis Cardinals was an absolute disaster. Though they entered it as the NL Central favorites, even if by default, they lost 91 games as pretty much everything went wrong. The epicenter of their collapse was their starting rotation, which contained pitchers that couldn’t s...
2023 NBA free throws percentage leaders
This article is based on data from Sportradar....
Oklahoma City showed Golden State what Basketball Darwinism looks like
Victor Wembanyama has dominated so much of the rookie phenom discourse that Chet Holmgren’s gotten lost in the trees. Holmgren is finally emerging from the forest though. Scoring a commanding 36 points and hitting the game-tying three in an overtime win over the Golden State Warriors will open some ...
Zion Williamson is the NBA’s most polarizing talent
Zion Williamson is a series of contradictions. He’s a near-300-pound space mover who elevates like he’s in zero gravity. He’s both the mythic John Henry racing a machine and the steam-powered drill he beat in a race because it continuously broke down. Williamson has the build of a defensive end, but...