playoffs Page 163 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Jason Heyward Fought The Sun To Make A Spectacular Home Run-Robbing Catch
The MLB postseason is here! Our first of the two goofy-ass Wild Card games is underway, and it's already forcing us to spin up the highlight reel. Here's Jason Heyward working against the sun to rob Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina of a home run, and keeping the St. Louis-Atlanta game scoreless early...
Your MLB Wild-Card Deathmatch Open Thread
Hey everyone, the playoffs start tonight! We've got two do-or-die games to watch: The Cardinals are taking on the Braves at 5:07 p.m. EDT, and the Orioles are squaring off against the Rangers at 8:37 p.m. EDT. That's like, seven straight hours of baseball....
How The Crazy-Ass AL Division Races Unfolded: Visualizing Momentum
The Athletics and the Yankees clinched their respective division titles on the same day, but the paths they took to get there were very different. The A's budget freight train slammed through a Rangers squad that had sat atop the AL West for over 170 consecutive days, while the Yankees barely edged ...
Bud Selig Hopes It Takes Tiebreaker Games To Decide The Wild Cards
Every morning, the fine folks at Sports Radio Interviews sift through the a.m. drive-time chatter to bring you the best interviews with coaches, players, and personalities across the sports landscape. Today: The Commish on Melky, the wild cards, and labor peace....
Just How Tight Is The AL Playoff Race?
With three weeks to go in the season, over half of baseball is still in the race. Seventeen teams are within five games of a playoff spot. You might think that's mostly due to the new second wild card, and that's the case in the NL. With all three division leaders comfortable and the Braves safe at...
The Pittsburgh Pirates Will Not Be Ignored
For as sublime and most valuable that Andrew McCutchen's play has been this season, the truly exciting thing about the Pirates is that they're starting to become more than just one star player. To that end, the Pirates—12 games over .500 and with playoff odds standing at 57 percent—are going for it ...
A Hypnotic Look At Every Goal In The NHL Playoffs
Part art, part statistic in motion, this living infographic from Bård Edlund is a soothing chronological tally of every single goal in this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs. Especially keep an eye on the puck diarrhea of that first round Flyers-Penguins series. It's a nice alternative to the real thing...
Pucks, Lies, And Videotape: Where Is The Kings' Stanley-Cup-Winning Puck?
The last puck of the Stanley Cup Finals: an important relic, timeless for the player who gets to keep it as a souvenir of the greatest achievement of his profession life, yet strangely secondary. In the rush to celebrate the final horn, not a single member of the Kings gave a thought to that little ...
Bristolmetrics: Nobody Cared About The Roger Clemens Trial Except ESPN
When last we met, the Jerry Sandusky trial was largely ignored, the Heat were once again all over SportsCenter, and hey, ESPN did a good job covering a perfect games and a no-hitter. What would this week bring? ...
John Hollinger Had The Best NBA Preseason Predictions, Jon Barry's Were Nearly The Worst
With the NBA season concluding last week with a Miami Heat championship, let's revisit how those pre-season pundit predictions turned out. We tracked the picks from 30 ESPN pundits across 11 categories (6 division winners, 2 conference champions, NBA Finals champion, MVP, and rookie of the year)....
Fewer Threes, More Post: How LeBron James Completely Overhauled His Playoff Game
Unlike last year, LeBron James dominated the 2012 playoffs like the best basketball player in the world. We asked Kirk Goldsberry, of the indispensable CourtVision, what was different about James's postseason play this time around. ...
Why Was David Stern Sitting Next To One Of Rupert Murdoch's Sons Last Night?
James, as you may already know, is Rupert Murdoch's youngest son. He also is entangled in that whole phone-hacking mess in London....
LeBron James: World Champion Cocksucker
I know that last night was supposed to be LeBron James's face turn and that, while he warmly celebrates his first title with teammates and family, I'm supposed to see LeBron in a whole new light. Maybe he's not such a bad guy. Maybe this playoff run has brought out a depth of character heretofore un...
Juwan Howard And The Triumph Of The Superteam
Once upon a time, a group of gifted basketball players decided to join forces to dominate their sport. They were as talented as they were hyped, and they ushered in an era of style and scoring, a blueprint for superteams to come. But a funny thing happened: Winning wasn't as easy on the court as it ...
Bristolmetrics: <i>SportsCenter</i> Spent 45 Seconds On The Jerry Sandusky Trial Last Week
When last we met, the Heat got nearly as much coverage as every other sport combined, the NFL doldrums meant the Jaguars were somehow the most talked-about team in football, and the Mets were temporary kings of MLB. What would this week bring? ...
The Thunder-Heat Series Isn't About The Noise; It's About The Beauty
Before turning on the television to watch Game 3 of the NBA Finals last night, I made the mistake of going to ESPN.com to read about the game, and then I compounded that mistake by clicking on this link, which led me to a video clip of Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless screaming about how terrible ...
Yes, LeBron James Fouled Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant's shot with 10 seconds left to tie last night's NBA Finals Game 2 didn't drop, and now the series is tied 1-1. Arguing over whether a foul should have been called on LeBron James is silly; Durant just as easily could have been called for a charge moments before, and there's no guaran...
Dear ESPN: Your Movie-Tie-In Promos Suck
I was watching the NBA Finals last night. Or, at least, I was attempting to watch them. ESPN was unconcerned with my ability to watch the fucking game and much more interested in running 17 different introductory segments to the game. This is what ESPN always does. They run a dramatic intro to the g...
The Devils Had A Grand Old Time At The Clubs After Their Game 6 Loss
Here we go again. Time to have that age-old debate over whether it's acceptable for athletes to have fun and go out partying after losing a championship. It seems like we just had this argument four months ago, but the answer remains the same: Yes, it is always acceptable. ...
LeBron James Cuddled The Larry O'Brien Trophy Like It Was One Of His Children
I had a conversation about LeBron James with my grandmother at a cousin's wedding in Colorado this weekend. My Баба lives outside of Cleveland, and like all awesome old ladies she has strong opinions about sports. Our discussion turned to basketball and LeBron James's psyche....