smith Page 30 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Jolly St. Perk, fashion faux pas, and more from NBA Draft night
I had the ESPN broadcast of last night’s NBA Draft on while cooking dinner, and even with my hands occupied by a pot of mac and a large spoon instead of my phone and internet, I knew Kendrick Perkins was going to get broiled over hot Twitter embers....

The 2022 NBA Draft’s top five picks felt like a sidekick draft
The 2022 NBA Draft’s starting lineup is exactly what we thought it would be with a zesty twist.Paolo Banchero, Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren, Jaden Ivey, and Keegan Murray flew off the shelf to kick off the evening. After reports emerged earlier in the day that the Orlando Magic were sinking their hoo...

No WR has ever won league MVP...until 2022, that is
The NFL’s MVP Award has been around since 1957. In that time, fullbacks have won the award four times. Two defensive players have been given the honor, and even a kicker has taken home the hardware. Zero pass catchers have won the award though, and for the most part, none have gotten particularly cl...

Riding the Chet Holmgren overhype train
The 2022 NBA Draft is just hours away, and the top three seem to be locked among Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga), Jabari Smith (Auburn), and Paolo Banchero (Duke). Some talking heads and experts think it’s a toss-up as to which player will be selected No. 1. I don’t think it’s even close. Holmgren is pullin...

Man alive, Dan Snyder has a lot to answer for
Daniel Snyder has run one of the NFL’s flagship franchises into the ground. From revenue to attendance and overall fan interest, the now-Commanders have never been less relevant to the most popular sport in America, with no signs of the end of the plummet in sight....

Back to school
The Chet Holmgren vs. Paolo Banchero vs. Jabari Smith debate as to who will be the first player taken in tomorrow’s NBA Draft has been the talk of the entire season (and offseason). Three one-and-dones from great schools representing the way it’s been done for decades, two of them not yet 20 years o...

Jabari Smith could put Orlando back on the right track
The Orlando Magic seems to have finally figured it out. Since Dwight Howard left in the clumsiest way possible in 2012, the franchise has been mired in mediocrity. They have been the poster child for the dreaded NBA purgatory. Since Howard’s departure, they’ve made the playoffs twice, losing in the ...

Hockey Canada is as rotten as you thought
Sporting higher-ups being brought in front of a government hearing isn’t restricted to these borders, as yesterday the CEO, president, and chief of the board of governors of Hockey Canada were questioned by Canadian MPs over a settled lawsuit by a woman claiming she was gang-raped by eight players w...

How the 2022 NBA Draft will go — Lottery Edition
Last year’s draft is already looking like an all-time great. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t gems to be had in the 2022 NBA Draft. Analysts have said this is a four-person draft. But with the league experiencing greater parity than it has in the last two decades, the need for high-impact rol...

Make it a best of 13
Usually, especially in a Stanley Cup Final, you need at least a few games before the level of play truly takes off. Coaches and teams want to try different things, chase their matchups, or keep things tight as they can to preserve already exhausted players until there is absolutely no choice. No one...

Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James for an NBA title? It could happen in real life, just not quite the way you want it
It’s the 2043 NBA Finals. The erosion of the east coast is impossible to ignore, and it will be illegal to hold summer football activities outdoors because the average temperature in most places will be 115 degrees. But indoors, the matchup the world has been waiting for will finally take place. Tha...

Little Caesars and the NFL together, as they know what their customers want
There will be no more Craig Robinson and JuJu Smith-Schuster Super Bowl pizza commercials. Because the NFL feels the need to let the world know that they have an official sponsor for everything whether it be pizza, beer, or tablets that Tom Brady smashes into pieces....

The JaMarcus Russell story is much more complicated than you think
JaMarcus Russell really does feel like one word. That’s the way that it goes for athletes like him, Tony Mandrich, Ryan Leaf, Anthony Bennett, and Trent Richardson. The reason for that, only one word comes to mind at the thought of them: Bust....

Marcus Smart is the player Draymond Green used to be
The Draymond Green brand is still strong enough that LeBron James openly fantasizes about playing with him and his podcast is a hot topic even while the Warriors fall into a 2-1 hole against the Boston Celtics. Green, now 32, still benefits the Golden State Warriors in many ways. He sets bone-crushi...

4 Black Baseball Players Who Followed Jackie Robinson's Lead in 1947
Jackie Robinson wasn’t the only Black baseball player to suit up in the big leagues in 1947. After he broke the color line and became the first Black baseball player to play in the American major leagues during the 20th century, four other players of color soon followed in his footsteps....

Richard Jefferson’s rant on shortening the season is off-base
Professional sports is not the easiest way to earn a living. That was part of what Richard Jefferson was trying to get at during his viral rant after Adam Silver dained to consider the idea of shortening the NBA season. Jefferson was drafted in 2001 and to his credit, the first 10 seasons of his 17 ...

It looks like the NFL is getting a new owner — Rob Walton, another white guy
When Maya Angelou said, “When people show you who they are, believe them,” she was foreshadowing the actions of the NFL. ...

Looks like that’s it for the Boston Bruins, the dynasty that almost was
In every sport now, it seems one of the most fascinating things to watch is when an organization decides a particular roster has run its course. Thanks to salary caps everywhere (or just the totally not but really is a cap in baseball) there always comes a time when you have to pull that trigger as ...

This is probably as close as Connor McDavid will get
There’s not much more that Connor McDavid can do. For that matter, Leon Draisaitl should be attached to that lament permanently now, after he also averaged two points per game in the playoffs with maybe two functioning limbs. They’re the only players to average two points per game in the playoffs ov...

2022 NBA Draft Profile: Chet Holmgren
It almost feels too perfect. The scrawny, 7-foot, 195-pound sopping wet Chet Holmgren from Gonzaga playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder. It’s easy to imagine him sharing the court with Josh Giddey and Aleksej Pokusevski. Three caucasian dudes, all above 6-foot-8, and all with diverse skill sets and...