The St. Louis Cardinals have missed the playoffs each of the last two years and that’s just not something that happens very often. In fact, only once in the 21st century, have the Cardinals finished out of the money in two straight years (2007-08) and never in the new millennium have they missed October baseball […]
The Vegas Golden Knights and Washington Capitals have very different histories, the expansion Golden Knights just beginning and the Capitals a long and torturous existence. What they have in common is this—neither have won a Stanley Cup or even so much as one game in the Finals. A feel-good story is coming out of the […]
Earlier this week, TheSportsNotebook took a look at surprising NL East contenders in the Braves and the Phillies. A key premise of any long-term race in this division is that the Washington Nationals, the odds-on favorite and winner of four of the last six NL East crowns, won’t kick into high gear and leave everyone […]
Prior to the start of the NBA playoffs, Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antonio said that it was unfair to say his team’s impressive 65-win regular season had to be validated in the postseason, or to judge the entire year based on what the Rockets did in the playoffs. I thought that was a little […]
Remember the 2011 National League Division Series between the Phillies and Cardinals and the epic pitchers’ duel between the late Roy Halladay and Chris Carpenter? The Cards won that game 1-0 behind Carpenter and ended the Phillies’ 102-win season. Turns it out that was the last happy moment for the Phils. They haven’t had a […]
The NBA offseason is still almost a month away, but the Milwaukee Bucks have already won it. The Bucks secured their future when they signed Mike Budenholzer to a four-year contract to be their new head coach. GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS Start reading today. This was as significant a hire as the Bucks have ever made. […]
The Atlanta Braves have been in the baseball wilderness since their 2013 run to the NL East title. The Braves haven’t had so much as a winning record since then and the last three years have been particularly bad, with an average record of 69-93. But 2018 has been different and after yesterday’s stunning six-run […]
The second leg of the Triple Crown is the biggest event of the sports world, as the Preakness Stakes runs from Baltimore early Saturday evening (6:45 PM ET, NBC). Justify validated his standing as Kentucky Derby favorite and is an even more decisive 1-2 favorite at Pimlico tomorrow. GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS Start reading today. The […]
I like horse racing. I’m not an diehard who reads The Daily Racing Form or goes to the data available at Equibase.com every day, but I think the excitement value provided by a horse race is as good as any in sports. One of the things I appreciate the most of my three years working […]
The Boston Celtics were supposed to be dead in the water when the NBA playoffs began. Yes, they’d enjoyed a nice regular season, earning the 2-seed in the Eastern Conference in spite of an Opening Night injury to Gordon Heyward. But when Kyrie Irving went down…well, any reasonable person would have concluded that was a […]
The Toronto Blue Jays occupy a unique status in the MLB landscape right now and not one that other teams would admire. Of the teams playing .500 or better, and thus viable playoff hopefuls, Toronto is the only one with zero shot at a division title and reduced to playing for a one-game wild-card shot […]
The Los Angeles Angels have been one of baseball’s good stories in the early part of this season. They’re narrowly leading a tight three-team race in the AL West with the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners. The Angels’ Shohei Otahni has electrified the game with his dual role as starting pitcher & designated hitter. Mike […]
