rant Page 84 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
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...
What Dwyane Wade And LeBron James Can Learn From Kevin Durant And Russell Westbrook After Game 1
The Miami Heat began the third quarter of Game 1 of the NBA finals leading by seven points. The Heat had played brilliantly throughout the first half, executing crisp passes that criscrossed the floor and left the Thunder unable to close out on wide open three-point shooters. It looked like the Hea...
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...
Thunder Take Game 1, Send Pat Riley Into His Own Personal Hell
Bless you, Pat Riley. For all your maniacal tendencies and consistently omnipresent persona, you're just willing to put yourself out there in the Chesapeake Energy Arena crowd and subject yourself to a first-hand view of the Thunder's gripping comeback in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Kevin Durant chipp...
Happy First Birthday, Grantland! It's Been A Delight Watching You Grow.
Sock photo via Grantland director of business development David Cho's Instagram....
I'm Worried About Quentin Tarantino's <em>Django Unchained</em>
It'd be difficult to find a bigger Quentin Tarantino fanboy than I am. It's a little embarrassing, actually; I was one of those nerds posting on alt.fans.tarantino dorkboards the year Justin Bieber was born. (The fact that Google archives Usenet forums from 20 years ago is just cruel.) I think Jacki...
ESPN's Going To Produce A Bunch More <em>30 For 30</em> Films
So, fantastic news. ESPN will announce at today's upfront that they will roll out a second series of sports documentaries under the 30 For 30 umbrella, even though it's no longer the network's 30th anniversary and there may not be 30 of them. The first one will premier this fall, and new films will ...
Summer Is The Goddamn Worst
May has started, which means that we're quickly running out of May and I don't want May to end because that means summer is here and OH FUCK GOD PLEASE NOT AGAIN....
Before Steve Kerr Sends 19-Year-Old Players Back To College, He Should Try Some Academic Research Himself
Former NBA star Steve Kerr penned a lengthy, multi-sectioned argument in Grantland this week in which he not only defends the NBA's current ban on players under age 19 but pushes for the minimum age to be raised to 20. Forcing young people to spend more time as scholar-athletes, according to Kerr, ...
Greg Oden Says He Became An Alcoholic, Got Offers To Work In Porn
Mark Titus has a piece over at Grantland that offers a "rare and candid" look at the reclusive Greg Oden, who was finally released by the Trail Blazers in March after five seasons marked mostly by injuries. Titus, who writes about his basketball experiences on his blog, Club Trillion, acknowledges u...
Everybody Loved Grantland
Excerpted from Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter....
Tonight's Weather Forecast Will Not Be Seen Because Our Set Has Been Invaded By Bears
Havoc reigned in Scranton tonight when WNEP-TV's 11 p.m. newscast was interrupted by bears. Black bears, specifically, at least four of which decided to invade the outdoor set from which meteorologist Kurt Aaron was preparing to deliver his weather report. Aaron was, understandably, concerned for ...
James Jones Flopped, And It Sent Jeff Van Gundy On An Apoplectic Rant
ESPN basketball analyst Jeff Van Gundy has gone on rants about flopping before, but today's (sparked by a third-quarter dive by James Jones in the Heat-Knicks matchup) is one for the ages. Play-by-play man Mike Breen tries his hardest to get Van Gundy off the topic, but fails—JVG even runs over t...
There's A New Dunk Of The Year Candidate, And It's This Durant-To-Westbrook Alley-Oop
Okay, so we're getting a bit repetitive. First this was the dunk of the year, then this was in the running too. Yeah, yeah, they're all great dunks, and so is this one, from the second quarter of tonight's Thunder-Kings tussle in Oklahoma City. What's it got going for it? Well, it's a lob, and wh...
ESPN Is Shuttering Page 2
ESPN.com's Page 2 is closing today. What that means for you depends on how old you are....
You Can't Stop Kevin Durant, But You Can Force Him To His Right
Durant is known for being able to go left or right, and finish with either hand. The data shows that to be true from near the basket and from midrange. But if you can keep KD on the perimeter, he's significantly more likely to beat you from the left....
Someone Should Just Blow Up The Orlando Magic At This Point
In the ongoing Dwight Howard-Stan Van Gundy bitchfest, there is only one true solution: just get rid of everyone. Trade Howard. Fire Van Gundy and general manager Otis Smith. Then sell the team. Until then Orlando will have a superstar who does not want to be there being coached by a coach who does...
Joe DiMaggio's Corpse Has Endorsed A Candidate For Broward County Sheriff
Joe DiMaggio has been dead for 13 years and thinks you should elect Louie Granteed to be Broward County's sheriff. Actually, Granteed got the endorsement of Morris Engelberg, DiMaggio's lawyer and confidante and guy who's been making money off the DiMaggio estate for years. But as the executor of th...
What Is The Grantland Book Good For? A Deadspin Investigation
The second issue of the McSweeney's Grantland Quarterly is out now. For those of you unfamiliar with the title, the quarterly is a $25 anthology of Grantland.com stories you could read online for free. Why take a collection of internet posts and re-publish them on heavy paper stock set between two...