Sports Category

This season, the Western Conference has been as competitive as ever. Every single night a win or a loss could raise or drop you 2 or 3 spots in the standings. The West is hell, and there are eight or nine teams who have a legitimate case to come to represent it in June. The Dallas Mavericks currently sit in 5th place in the West, but are only 2 games out of 2nd and 4 1/2 out of 8th place. 42 games in the season they are 29-13, but they stillRead More

These are the Nationally Televised Games for the week. All times are Eastern Standard Time. Monday Detroit at Atlanta 2:30PM ESPN “We are shifting priorities to aggressively develop our younger players while also expanding the roles of other players in the current rotation to improve performance and build for our future. As we expand certain roles, others will be reduced. In fairness to Josh, being a highly versatile 10-year veteran in this league, we feel it’s best to give him his freedom to move forward. We have full respect forRead More

The tennis grand slam calendar starts today, and there is reason to be pumped up. The men’s draw is interesting to say the least, so without further adieu, let’s break it down… 2014 Will Not Be Repeated I love Stan Wawrinka (recall my man crush article “How Stan Became Stan the Man”), but he will not win another Australian Open title this year. He made his breakthrough last year, played the tournament of his life, and accrued a major title. But this year, look for someone else to win. ItRead More

For the second consecutive season, the Baylor Bears have suffered heartbreak after having their best season in program history. After giving up a 20 point lead in the 4th quarter to Michigan State, the Bears enter the 2015 season as a long shot to replicate the past two seasons. Last season was most likely Baylor’s best shot at winning a bowl as big as the Cotton Bowl. They had it won. The trophy was theirs. But yet again, discipline came into play as the Bears made every possible mistake theyRead More

The NFL is down to its final eight contenders, and over this weekend, that number will be whittled down to the final four. Here’s what to expect this Divisional Playoff weekend. All picks are against the spread, with lines reflecting January 9th. I’ve thrown in predictions at the end for good measure. HOME TEAM is in caps. Happy playoffs!   Baltimore Ravens (+7) OVER NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS Make no mistake, I think New England is the superior team here. However, I do think the Ravens are very capable of covering seven points. ForRead More

The finale of the 2014 Barclays World Tour Finals was won by Novak Djokovic. But there was no match, as Roger Federer dropped out of the tournament one hour before he was set to take the court. He made the announcement in an arena filled with stunned and disappointed tennis fans. People who had paid hundreds of dollars to see him play, and had traveled half way around the world. I was almost one of those people. I had traveled to London last week to see some of the tournament,Read More

Basketball used to come at a perfect time for me. Usually, by October, I’m chomping at the bit for basketball to begin. Usually there’s no basketball over the summer, other than Summer League, and by mid-October, my beloved Dallas Cowboys have already shown signs that they are headed to another season of mediocrity. This year was a bit different. The FIBA World Cup, along with an exciting rookie class, kept my attention throughout the summer. Also the Dallas Cowboys started off well, winning 6 of their first 7 games. WhenRead More

Technically, there are no playoffs in tennis. But this week is as close as it gets. There is reason to be excited with the best 8 players in the world competing against one another in a round robin format.   Who looks poised to win? Thus far, everyone has played 1 match. And they have been quite underwhelming. Milos Raonic has yet to show up to his first career World Tour Finals, falling hard in his opening match. And Marin Cilic didn’t perform terribly against Novak Djokovic but Djoko is too hotRead More

With just over a month left to play in the 2014 NCAA football season, one thing is becoming abundantly clear: even with the switch from the dreaded BCS to a 4-team playoff system, there is an overwhelmingly good chance that there will be all sorts of controversy over whether the four best teams in America actually make college football’s new Final Four. As things currently stand, the four teams that would vie for the National Championship would be Mississippi State (obviously), Florida State (obviously), Auburn (okay…), and Oregon (ummm). LeftRead More

Where I come from, and in many small-town parts of the country, high school coaches are the most respected and revered public figures in the neighborhood. Growing up, I kind of accepted this and even bought into it a little bit. It’s not until you get older and have the benefits of real life experience and hindsight that you realize how absolutely bonkers this is. I mean, watch TV for 20 minutes on a Saturday and you’ll realize that people who coach football (and most popular sports) are, for theRead More

Like many other sports writers, I have ranked all 32 teams in the NFL at the midpoint of the season. Unlike any of them, I have written a haiku to sum up each team’s season. I think it’s the most effective way. Let’s get started. #32 – Oakland Raiders No playoffs forever This year is no different Will they win one game?   #31 – New York Jets When Michael Vick is Your team’s best shot at winning You must really suck   #30 – Jacksonville Jaguars Congrats Jaguars fans! YouRead More

Hey baseball fans, do you remember what things were like a month ago? The Angels were tearing through everybody, Detroit was motoring their way to another AL Central title, and the Dodgers were cementing the NL West. Wow… I guess the old adage is true, “this is why we play the games.” And it especially applies to this postseason.     Partying Like It’s 1985 One of the truly remarkable sports stories in recent memory is that of this year’s KC Royals. Similarly to their ’85 team, most odds makers didRead More

“Here’s to God and football and, 10 years from now, Street, good friends livin’ large in Texas.” ~Tim Riggins, Fictional American Hero, Dillon Panthers Fullback.   Many professional football players love God very, very much, if their on-field behavior is to be believed. You know what I’m talking about if you’ve ever watched even a quarter of football. Ostensibly, everything they do is for him (or her). But does God love football players very, very much? We decided to sit down with the Big Man (or woman?! We’ll never tell!)Read More

RoyalTober All is well in Oz! The KC sports scene is hotter than a stolen microwave. The tidy 3 game sweep of El Halos will go down as a legendary moment in midwest sports. Thankfully, the story continues this weekend in Baltimore.     O’s-tober Creative name, I know. But the Maryland Ballers are giving October all they have, and proving a prime candidate for a world championship. There is nothing stopping them…. aside from the aforementioned red hot Royals squad. This weekend is set to be very exciting.  Read More

After 162 grueling games (163 for the Royals and Giants), we are down to the MLB’s final eight teams. Our remaining eight contestants now face off in a best-of-5 series in the League Division Series to advance to the League Championship Series. So who gets through to be one of the final four contenders for this year’s World Series? Here are my thoughts.   ALDS   Kansas City Royals (90-73) vs. Los Angeles Angels (98-64) The Royals are fresh off an exhilarating extra-innings win against the Oakland Athletics in theRead More