Expectations are soaring for USC football this season as they come off last year’s strong finish and Rose Bowl win. Sam Darnold is an early Heisman favorite and projected as the first overall pick in the NFL draft. This is a program that consistently recruits well. Oddsmakers have taken notice—based on preseason betting numbers, the […]
Brian Kelly enters his eighth season at Notre Dame and is feeling real pressure over his job for the first time. Kelly has produced two major bowl appearances in seven years and been the most successful Notre Dame coach since Lou Holtz left in 1996. But that only elevates Kelly above a few other coaches […]
It happens in the last two months of most baseball seasons—a team surges from off the radar and makes a push for the playoffs. If you look in the American League at teams on the playoff fringe, the Baltimore Orioles are the most likely team to make that run. Let’s begin with the definition of […]
The Columbus Blue Jackets are the most underrated team in the NHL as the league starts its postseason tonight. The Blue Jackets are one of the four best teams in hockey—joined by the Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks. You can make a good case for any one of these teams to win the […]
Two days after Super Bowl Sunday, the city of Boston was celebrating as the New England Patriots rode the duck boats through downtown amidst the snow and slush. Nearby, at the headquarters of the Boston Bruins, big changes were afoot. The Bruins fired head coach Claude Julien, who had been at the helm since 2008 […]
On the surface, the NL West would seem to be a two-team race between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. I suspect most fans would instinctively see it that way, and anticipate a year-long battle between the old rivals. The smart money in Las Vegas sees it differently though—based on early betting odds, […]
Brian Kelly spoke bluntly about his former quarterback this week. The Notre Dame head coach said of DeShone Kizer, who chose to leave early for the NFL the following… “He should still be in college. … He needs more time to grow in so many areas, not just on the field but off the field…(but) […]
North Carolina’s 71-65 win over Gonzaga for the national championship last night won’t be a game that will be sent to the archives as a masterpiece. There are a number of ways to tell the story of the poor quality of play, but these numbers will suffice… *Joel Berry was named Most Outstanding Player. He […]
Final Four Saturday was a good one, with both games coming down to the final minute. I don’t know that either game reaches the absolute top rung of best Final Four games ever—both Gonzaga and North Carolina seemed in control for extended stretches before it suddenly got close. But two games being extremely compelling did […]
It’s the first year of the post-David Ortiz era for the Boston Red Sox. Ortiz was the single common thread connecting a trio of World Series champions spread out over a decade and he went out with a bang last season. That’s a lot to live up to, but the 2017 Boston Red Sox have […]
The NHL regular season comes to an end next weekend and it’s time to look at candidates for the Hart Trophy, given annually to the NHL MVP. Here are six worthy candidates followed by how I’d rank them… Connor McDavid (Edmonton): Hockey’s brightest young star would invoke the name of Gretzky even if he didn’t […]
The New York Mets took a step back in 2016. After winning the National League pennant in 2015 and being picked by some to win the World Series last year (or maybe it was just me that took the Mets to win it all in ‘16, I don’t know), the team slipped behind the Washington […]