john Page 66 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Here’s a dumb baseball argument
Before we get into this at all, it has to be stated that Dan Szymborski, and his ZiPS computer projections, have changed the way most people watch and evaluate baseball. They are revolutionary, so to call him to the mat isn’t really fair. It’s what ESPN asked, he did his job. But this latest piece, ...

Matt Nagy doesn’t know a halftime adjustment when he sees one
Nagy gonna Nagy!...

Please ban complaining about analytics from sports broadcasts, I can’t take it anymore
I understand Americans hate math. I largely share that sentiment and understand no one wants computation to interfere with a day off work sitting on the couch, gorging on food and drink while watching large men collide at high rates of speed on television....

Sorry Vegas, but there’s no way Jim Harbaugh or Nick Saban goes to the NFL
NFL teams have been looking at college coaches to fill their head coaching vacancies more than ever. In each of the past three seasons, at least one coach made the jump to the NFL after years of working at the collegiate level. Urban Meyer is the most recent college coach to take that route, and alt...

Do you have to pay attention to the Anaheim Ducks?
Surprise hockey teams don’t come around in the same way as they do in the NBA. In professional basketball, generally the newest team that you have to watch has one or two young stars that are starting to find it. Like Memphis with Ja Morant of late, or the meteoric rise of the Suns. Not only do you ...

So Aaron Rodgers has a long-lost twin and Bill Burr plays for the Texans, glad I know this now
Bill Burr would moonlight as a punter in the NFL. It’s the perfect job for him to get back some money, as I’m sure the pandemic put a hurting on his touring revenue. I can hear the joke about it now:...

Soccer, much like football, didn’t come home either
I wanted to resist the urge to give into the Timbers Army’s desire to claim Portland as “Soccer City USA.” It’s quite a label to bestow on yourself, and having grown up in direct opposition to Detroit’s “Hockeytown” self-flagellation, my alarms don’t need much prodding to go off. ...

Old coach yells at cloud, shakes fist in air
In the past week, the NHL news around here has been excessive violence, more excessive violence, the Flyers being hellaciously awful, and the latest lunatic turns in the decade-long saga of the league trying to make fetch happen in Arizona....

Don’t worry, Seattle, you’re not losing Megan Rapinoe
It makes for a neat and interesting storyline that Megan Rapinoe is unprotected for Thursday’s NWSL expansion draft, right up until you think about it....

The Miami Hurricanes and Chicago Bulls have put the pedal to the metal, but don’t expect them to be what they were in the past
The young, promising Chicago Bulls are in second place in the Eastern Conference, and the Miami Hurricanes have high hopes after hiring a new football coach — it’s like it’s 1989 all over again. Fans of both teams have great reason to be excited....

Mike McCarthy should choose his words carefully
Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy returned from his 10-day COVID-19 hiatus this week. And almost immediately upon returning, he said something that will assuredly become bulletin board material by the Washington Football Team in their upcoming NFC East showdown....

I can’t be the only one who thinks the Giants are an odd choice for Russell Wilson
Per reports, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson would strongly consider waiving his no-trade clause for the New Orleans Saints, Denver Broncos, or New York Giants. ...

Scottie Pippen Jr. hit a clutch shot against Temple, but still has long way to go in reaching dad’s level
As the son of an NBA legend, it can be tough, especially if you take up the same sport as your pop’s. It’s even more challenging when you’re named after that legend, like Scottie Pippen Jr. is. Still, Scottie Jr. is forging his own path at Vanderbilt. He showed off his clutch genes against Temple Tu...

Allen Iverson’s all-time starting lineup may be the most unstoppable hypothetical team ever
The debate of all-time anything in sports is always a conversation that can carry on forever. No matter what sport you’re a fan of, there is usually an argument to be had over who the greatest of all time is in that sport. ...

And just like that… (poof)... NXT is gone
It’s not that it was surprising. Back when WWE announced it was completely reshaping it’s junior brand, NXT, I wrote that it would be the end of what fans of the black and gold had come to love. I guess I’m just impressed (while simultaneously depressed) at how ruthlessly and efficiently it came to ...

Major League Soccer has a better ‘Rooney Rule’ than the NFL
Eighteen years ago, the most prejudiced sports league in American professional sports (Major League Baseball is a close second) created their version of “affirmative action” when they came up with the Rooney Rule — named after the legendary Steelers owner Dan Rooney — in hopes of helping diverse can...

Rockets are stuck in a staring contest with John Wall and there’s no end in sight
If you want to know who has the sweetest gig in America right now, look no further than John Wall of the Houston Rockets. Wall isn’t rehabbing an injury for the first time in years, he’s supposed to be 100 percent healthy, yet he has not suited up for one of Houston’s first 23 games this season....

NFL Week 13: Baltimore is better, but Pittsburgh has a good history in these types of games
Week 13 is normally when we start seeing the NFL playoff picture unfold. However, in 2021, we’re still unsure if there are even any good teams in the league. The NFL is so tightly knit nowadays that even the 0-10-1 Detroit Lions still have not been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs....

Antonio Brown’s chef turns out to be a whistleblower!
Turns out the chef was telling the truth! Bucs’ wide receiver Antonio Brown has been suspended by the NFL for three games without pay after “misrepresenting” his COVID vaccination status to the league....

There goes Brent Musburger again, making cringeworthy comments and being on the wrong side of race issues
You are looking live at Brent Musburger who once again is more riled up at the response to racism and misogyny than the actions that evoke a response. These days he’s the radio play-by-play person for the Las Vegas Raiders. He was talking on JT the Brick’s KRLV show about Jon Gruden’s lawsuit agains...