Bill talks to Bill Barnwell about Wes Welker's departure from the New England Patriots and other NFL free-agency moves.
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Smart Guy Wednesday: Aaron Schatz and Bill Barnwell join Bill Simmons to preview the NFL's wild-card weekend.
The year in sports, 2012, told in GIFs and riffs.
Here's a video of Lionel Messi scoring 86 goals in the year of our Maradona, 2012, breaking Gerd Muller's record of 85 goals for club and country in a calendar year.
It's hard to pick just one. There was the cheeky chip against Valencia, a shooting-star free kick against Atletico Madrid, the time he froze the Bayer Leverkusen backline in carbonite like a bunch of German Han Solos, and when he invented the geometry of the future against Granada. I liked when he backed a pickup truck into a compact parking spot on the roof of Zaragoza's keeper's garage, and when he made Philippe Senderos look like Lennie from Of Mice and Men against Switzerland. I loved the free kicks against Uruguay and Real Madrid, and the snapshot against Deportivo La Coruña. Nobody's better at their chosen sport than Lionel Messi is at football, right now. Watching him score 86 goals, either during the games, or in YouTube compilations, for Barcelona or for Argentina, was one of the greatest gifts we received this year. He'll be justly rewarded for these accomplishments with trophies and silverware, but I just wanted to give him my thanks. Watching him play is one of the best things I did with my time this year.
— Chris Ryan
On any given Sunday (or Monday, or Thursday), your NFL Run & Shootaround crew will be gathered around multiple televisions, making inappropriate jokes and generally regressing to the mean. Catch up on all the NFL action right here.
I don’t know when a series of improbable events starts to mean something, but I do know it looks that way in Indianapolis. The Colts were dead on more than one occasion yesterday in Detroit, but when Andrew Luck got the ball back down five with 1:07 left, I’m not sure anyone watching doubted how it would end: with a 75-yard drive and a Colt in the end zone.
There are plenty of rational explanations for what happened at Ford Field in the final six minutes and 40 seconds, just after Luck’s pass for T.Y. Hilton was intercepted with Indianapolis down 12. Detroit has struggled to develop its running game all season, and few teams are less apt at draining the clock at the end of games than the Lions. The result was two stalled drives that could’ve ended the game but instead handed the ball back to Luck, who’s an explanation all his own. The most notable play on the Colts’ final drive wasn’t the throw to Reggie Wayne or the one to Dwayne Allen on the sideline. It was the willingness to spike the ball on an early second-and-1, understanding that in that situation, the down was inconsequential. Andrew Luck is going to be great, but I’m not sure any of us knew how much his head — or his legs — would play a part in it.
On any given Sunday (or Monday, or Thursday), your NFL Run & Shootaround crew will be gathered around multiple televisions, making inappropriate jokes and generally regressing to the mean. Catch up on all the NFL action right here.
The day after the Seahawks announced that Russell Wilson would be their Week 1 starter, I was driving to work and listening to someone — I can’t remember whom — lambaste the decision on sports talk radio. His argument was that after dumping a truckload of money off at Matt Flynn’s place, this move didn’t make a lot of sense. The Seahawks, he said, didn’t have a plan. And I nodded along in agreement.
Well, two months later, the Seahawks are 4-2, coming off the most impressive regular-season win in Pete Carroll’s tenure, and are three days from a game against San Francisco for temporary supremacy in the NFC West. The way they’ve done it is fairly simple — there may have been a lacking plan for Seattle’s offense, but on defense, their identity is as defined as that of any other team in the league.
Immediately after Jayson Werth's walk-off home run on Thursday night, I knew I wanted to make my way down to D.C. for Game 5 of the Cardinals-Nationals series. I'm nominally a Red Sox fan; the Nationals have been near and dear to my heart during this baseball season for gambling purposes. On the same December day that the Nats traded for Gio Gonzalez, I went to the sportsbook and put a bet down on them to win the National League at 18-to-1. Even though that ticket was eventually burgled after I moved back to Boston, I still found myself pulling for the Nationals to win the pennant. Even if I couldn't cash my bet, it would be nice to see the long shot I got behind pull through. Combine that with an endearing cast of characters on the roster and an exuberant fan base, and I'll admit it: I had a little bit of Nat-itude. I'm not ashamed.
On any given Sunday (or Monday, or Thursday), your NFL Run & Shootaround crew will be gathered around multiple televisions, making inappropriate jokes and generally regressing to the mean. Catch up on all the NFL action right here.
Week 4 began with three teams that remained undefeated, and although some late-game craziness kept it that way, Sunday was an indication that all unblemished records are not created equal. Arizona continued its close-game antics with an overtime win over 400-yard passer Ryan Tannehill. Atlanta needed a Cam Newton mishap and a secondary flub to beat Carolina. Only the Texans, who rolled Tennessee on its way to 4-0, looked the part of a team deserving the league’s best record. The question that remains is why this wasn’t to be expected.
On any given Sunday (or Monday, or Thursday), your NFL Run & Shootaround crew will be gathered around multiple televisions, making inappropriate jokes and generally regressing to the mean. Catch up on all the NFL action right here.
Within a span of eight minutes, three games — Dolphins-Jets, Titans-Lions, and Saints-Chiefs — featuring six middling contenders briefly turned bad football into balletic anarchy. And in one of those special, even DirecTV’s–Sunday Ticket–package–is–useless moments, three games that seemed, on their faces, to be less than important quickly unraveled a rare combination of overtime results. To convey what happened in the fourth quarter in Tennessee would require a dry-erase board, a fully loaded Sharpie, and a mastery of the dark arts. It was a ludicrous game, one of the most exciting you’ll ever see while also trying to watch seven other games. In the end, the Titans got a win-win: a victory in the standings; an encouraging performance in OT after Detroit stormed back behind Shaun “LOL” Hill; and a brief affirmation that Jake “The Quake” Locker is their quarterback of the present and future. Until next week.
In New Orleans, the Saints completed some sort competence inversion master class. They lost after the no-good, very-bad Chiefs sloooowly overcame an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit. Jamaal Charles ran all the way to Vaughan’s Lounge and back, Ryan Succop kicked all of the field goals, and the Saints felt a true pain. Theirs was a loss-loss. It’s clear that they are weak and 0-3 and officially praying for a secret package from Sean Payton this week. It will contain either a redesigned playbook and in-depth tape analysis, or 53 cyanide capsules.
In preparation for the NFL season, Bill talks Super Bowl favorites, sleepers and more with Grantland's NFL guru, Bill Barnwell.
1. LeBron James: FEEL THE HEAT
LeBron James! Champion of the NBA! Champion of the late-night talk show circuit! And now — champion of Rankonia! Congratulations, LeBron. I know this means a lot to you. Rankonia Pal Chris Ryan has this week's top nomination:
Here's LeBron James doing the ceremonial David Letterman victory lap that comes with winning a major sports trophy. I love everything about this: Paul Shaffer throwing down some Power Station for the intro music; the genuine, beaming smile on LeBron's face when he walks, like he is genuinely chuffed to be getting a standing ovation; and of course his showing self-restraint by not going HULK SMASH when Letterman opens the interview by asking him if he's going to go back Cleveland. That, LeBron, is what we in the karma business call MARIO CHALMERS'S REVENGE.
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.
Here is the play-by-play rundown of Kevin Durant's fourth quarter in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Sunday:
11:26 — Kevin Durant bad pass
9:00 — Kevin Durant makes 2-point shot
7:54 — Kevin Durant misses free throw 1 of 2
7:54 — Kevin Durant misses free throw 2 of 2
5:50 — Kevin Durant misses 25-foot 3-point jumper
5:26 — Kevin Durant defensive rebound
5:06 — Kevin Durant out-of-bounds lost turnover
3:47 — Kevin Durant shooting foul
3:36 — Kevin Durant makes 19-foot jumper
2:30 — Kevin Durant misses 10-foot jumper
1:06 — Kevin Durant misses 9-foot jumper
The Shootaround gang is here to break down all the story lines going into today's Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat.
The 13 greatest NBA players of all time are Jordan, Russell, Kareem, Magic, Bird, Wilt, Duncan, Kobe, West, Oscar, Shaq, Moses and Hakeem in some order (you just read mine). Every one of those 13 guys captured at least one NBA championship. Eight prevailed in their first Finals. Four snagged rings during their second trips. Only West repeatedly fell short, losing seven Finals before finally winning with the '72 Lakers … and in his case, poor West only made the mistake of crossing paths with the Russell Dynasty. So if LeBron James loses his third straight Finals (2007, 2011 and, now, 2012), that would make him the unluckiest, least successful superstar since West.
Digging a little deeper, only seven other NBA players won at least three MVP awards: Russell, Jordan, Kareem, Bird, Magic, Wilt, and Moses. The first five won titles in their first Finals trip; Moses made it happen his second time (with the '83 Sixers). The career Finals record of those seven guys (not counting LeBron): 34-16. Oh, and only four players qualified for the 42 Club at least four times — you know, the club for any NBA player who averaged 42-plus combined points, rebounds and assists in a single postseason (13 playoff games or more). Here's that list:
1. Mario Balotelli: Role Model
Rankonia Founding Father Chris Ryan is with you, Mario Balotelli, which means you get this week’s top spot.
"This week, Manchester City and Italian striker Mario Balotelli made headlines by declaring, ‘I will not accept racism at all. It's unacceptable. If someone throws a banana at me in the street, I will go to jail, because I will kill them.’
Has it really been six days since the last B.S. Report? Even Andrew Bynum doesn't mail it in that egregiously. We tried to make up for it with a special two-parter — in Part 1, Grantland's Bill Barnwell came on to discuss the NFL's over-unders for win totals (just released by Vegas this week), prompting lively discussions with me, Barnwell and co-host Dave Jacoby about things like: "Aren't the 2012 Saints screwed? Why would anyone bet the over for them?" and "Is 9 and a half the over-under for Denver's win totals or the number of games Peyton Manning will play this season?" We also got Barnwell to admit that he hibernates like a bear during football's offseason, and that he's been asleep for the past three weeks.
Then, in Part 2, my buddy House joined us to discuss the unwatchable Celts-Sixers series, my fears for Game 7, Pacers-Heat, what Miami will do if they lose the title, whether anyone can beat San Antonio or not, and why Phil Jackson and Steve Nash might be headed to the same team next season. Also, we made up fake Pau Gasol trades and picked Dwight Howard's next team. And we tried to jinx Miami as much as we could.
All in all, it was a successful 80 minutes of blabbering.
It's the inaugural episode of The Triangle Podcast. Each episode, I'll talk to a few different Triangle writers about the sports they cover. This week, I talked to Bill Barnwell about the falling NFL draft stock Vontaze Burfict, the Dolphins pinning their hopes on Ryan Tannehill, and whether a system should come before personnel when it comes to drafting players. I also checked in with Katie Baker on the crazy, bloody, and dramatic Stanley Cup playoffs, then Roger Bennett, one half of the Men in Blazers, joined me to recap two insane days of Champions League semifinals and the upcoming Manchester derby. Finally, I talked to Jonah Keri about Carl Crawford's trip to Dr. James Andrews and Oakland's five-tool star in the making, Yoenis Cespedes.
