This one is more of a podcastito. Jalen had a spare 15 minutes between taping ESPN studio shows to give the people what they want. We talked about the Lakers, how people make too much of who takes the last shot in games, retiring the word "swagger," and — most important — the rumors that Rihanna is dating none other than the New York Knicks' J.R. Smith.
Oh yeah, Jalen also went off about something that made him want to stick both his hands down his throat and "just vomit.” I apologize in advance for the 30 seconds of laughter that followed that statement — not very professional on my part, huh?
You can write what you want about Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum. He is probably not going to read it. He told Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago.com the following: “I don’t read the papers. I’m not a guy that tweets, or whatever you call that thing. I’m not a big computer guy. I don’t read the news. [During] my free time, I watch the NFL channel as much as I can … to keep up on [things] for fantasy reasons.”
That's probably a really good idea. I try to watch as much NFL channel as I can too, to keep up on things, for environmental policy reasons. I wonder what else Dale Sveum is not into. What other wonders of the modern world is he not a big guy about?
Who needs NBA analysts to break down the playoffs when you can call one of the best NFL guys around? That's right, I called up our old friend Mike Lombardi to talk about his beloved Sixers, NBA coaching vs. NFL coaching, and the philosophies behind building an NBA team vs. building an NFL team. We also rehashed last month's draft and talked about the Saints, Drew Brees and the league's ongoing concussion crisis. Somehow a 20-minute conversation turned into 45 minutes.
From there, I called ESPN Films vice-president Connor Schell to talk about this week's announcement that the 30 for 30 series was returning to ESPN, as well as the short-film component on Grantland that launched this week. As always, Connor was furious that I never told him we were calling and will be complaining about it for the next month.
Question: Under what circumstances would you ever use the names Babe Ruth and Jose Hernandez in the same sentence?
Answer: BABIP.
For a statistical novice like myself, Batting Average on Balls in Play is one of the most confusing stats around.
Measuring the stat isn't the confusing part. For every ball a batter puts in fair play that doesn't go over the fence and isn't a sacrifice bunt, how often does he get a hit? Historically, league average has hovered around .300. Teams' increased emphasis on defense in recent years has knocked that figure slightly lower; it's .291 this season.
Interpreting the stat, especially from a batter's perspective (and in this post, I'm not considering the pitching side of things, which is influenced by team defense and other factors), is where things get rocky.
After splitting a couple ofone-point games to open their series with the 76ers, the Boston Celtics emphatically won Game 3 in Philadelphia on Wednesday night by shooting 52 percent from the field while holding the Sixers to just 41 percent shooting. Since there was a mini Storage Wars marathon on A&E on Wednesday night, your plan was probably to watch that for a little bit before checking out the second half. But because the game was pretty much over at halftime, chances are you immediately flipped back to A&E for the remainder of the night. And when you woke up this morning, I’m guessing you regretted your decision and have spent all day wondering what happened with last night’s game. Well, luckily for you, I watched the entire thing and made notes on everything you missed. Here are my four observations.
It's going to be really sad when the Thunder take Kobe Bryant's robot body and drop it in the ocean like Megatron. Until then, let's enjoy Black Mamba, fashion critic. Come shop with him.
Every week, without fail, the Grantland Fantasy mailbag (grantlandfantasy@gmail.com) fills up with the same question: "Player X has been worse than 10,000 loose stools — should I dump him?"
These questions often have easy answers. No, you should not dump Jose Bautista. Yes, you should dump Willie Bloomquist. But the vast majority of major leaguers fall somewhere between Bautista and Bloomquist, and we don't mean Steve Bedrosian, Sean Berry, and Dante Bichette.
So much amazing is happening, and the Shootaround crew is here to help you keep track of it all. You'll find takes on moments you might've missed from the previous night, along with ones you will remember forever.
'Rondo Was Extremely Serious'
That was Doc Rivers’s assessment of his point guard’s demeanor going into Game 3 in Philadelphia. It ended with Rajon Rondo scoring 23 points (13 in the first quarter), doling out 14 assists, and losing just one turnover. So, yeah, you could say Rondo was serious. After Game 1 — in which he messed around and got a triple-double — the Celtics point guard complained of not getting his nap before the game and how it negatively affected his performance. Rondo looked … well-rested Wednesday night.
In mid-April, sportsbooks around Las Vegas started to post their lines for the opening weekend of NFL action. It was exciting to see what the market feels about those Week 1 contests (apparently, they're for the Raiders and against the Chargers, for one), but that's just 16 games. We need more chances to throw away our money.
Enter the Cantor Gaming group, the arm of Cantor Fitzgerald that operates the sportsbooks at several Vegas-area casinos, including the brand-new sportsbook at the Palms. The Cantor books are known for being non-smoking and offering tablets for live betting during games, but they took a step forward in our hearts in May by posting lines for a few more of those NFL games we like to throw money at. Instead of merely posting lines for the 16 games of Week 1, Cantor posted lines for the first 16 weeks of professional football.
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Wednesday.
Oklahoma City rallied from seven points down, and Kevin Durant scored the winning basket with 18 seconds left, in a 77-75 win over the Lakers. "How you like me now, Seattle?!" said Russell Westbrook, just because he hadn't been a real dick in a while.
1. Sergio Agüero: The Quiet Neighbor
Triangle Blog Brother/Rankonia Writer Emeritus Chris Ryan nominates Agüero, who is this week’s hero:
"Are we underrating Sergio Agüero? He isn't as prone to fireworks or setting off fireworks as Mario Balotelli and he doesn't have a deep, unquenchable love of golf like Carlos Tévez, he just scores goals. Alex Ferguson called Manchester City the noisy neighbors. But the only time there is a noise surrounding the Argentine, nicknamed "Kun" (King), is when he scores. And what a sound he created Sunday.
Despite having the best regular-season record, the San Antonio Spurs had some problems on defense — particularly containing ball handlers in pick-and-roll situations. According to Synergy Sports, they were last in the league in terms of points per possession allowed to ball handlers in these plays. I expected the Los Angeles Clippers to exploit this weakness with PNR plays for Chris Paul and for him to take over like he did against the Grizzlies. But that's is not what happened Tuesday night. The Spurs were able to hold Paul to just six points on 3-of-13 shooting, and, while he did have 10 assists, the Spurs forced Paul into five turnovers, as well.
The baseball season is a long and lonely road. To preserve his sanity, Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter keeps a diary. These are excerpts from The Captain's private journal.
Wednesday, May 9: vs. Tampa Bay
I don't want to talk about the game. Suffice it to say, it didn't go our way. Robertson loaded the bases in the ninth with nobody out, gave up four runs, and blew his first save as our new closer. Yeah, we can all talk about how much we're going to miss Mo, but D-Rob hadn't given up a run since last September. (I know this because every reporter at my locker mentioned it. Guess that was a "thing" in the press box tonight.) Is pitching the ninth really that much harder than the eighth? I'm not a reliever, I actually play baseball for a living full time, so maybe I'm not the best person to speak to that difference in the alleged "closer mentality." Anyway, Davey Robby be fine. He's the guy. Or maybe Sori. Let's not get too wedded to one "the guy." We're deep in the pen, it's more about finishing games we're winning than labels.
This didn't feel like just another end to a season. In the hours following Borussia Dortmund's 5-2 triumph over Bayern München in Saturday's DFB Cup Final in Berlin, we were gifted with reactions as illuminating as the bit of theater that unfolded on the Olympiastadion pitch earlier that night. The victors were flush. Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge's take on the evening (a "disgrace," "every Dortmunder goal was a slap in the face") will likely be ringing in every Red's ears until they finally lock horns with Chelsea at home in the Champions League final this coming weekend. But a post-match press exchange (via Die Zeit) with Bayern striker/smoothie Mario Gomez bottled the moment best.
The United States is unequivocally the best place in the world to watch football. With all 10 of the final Premier League matches available on television or online, even England couldn't hold a candle to the coverage of The Sport of the Future here in America. Look out, competitive camel jumping — soccer is on the move.
And what a day it was. By beating 10-man Queens Park Rangers in a frantic finale, Manchester City won its first league title since 1968, shed their long tradition of self-harm, and validated the business savvy of sheikhs with money to burn getting involved in football. In this week's pod, Michael Davies and Roger Bennett attempt to make sense of it all, while taking stock of the rest of the league — everything from Arsenal maintaining third position to Bolton vanishing through the trapdoor. But the football doesn't stop here. It never does. Just days before the Champions League final, the Blazered Men preview Bayern Munich vs. Chelsea — a day of delight for Davo but a Sophie's Choice for Rog.
