Category: Following Sports

Sports Forecast for Monday, January 5, 2015

Sports is no fun if you don’t know what’s going on. Here’s what’s going on:

In today’s segment, I covered:

  • NBA Basketball – Oklahoma City Thunder at Golden State Warriors, 10:30 p.m. ET on NBA TV.
  • NHL Hockey – San Jose Sharks at Winnipeg Jets, 8 p.m. ET on regional cable.
  • NCAA Basketball – Notre Dame at North Carolina, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
  • NCAA Basketball – Oklahoma at Texas, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.
  • And more!

For email subscribers, click here to get the audio.

You can subscribe to all Dear Sports Fan podcasts by following this link.

Music by Jesse Fischer.

What happened on Sunday, January 4, 2014?

  1. SO MUCH FOOTBALL: So much that we’ll have a special edition of our NFL One Liners coming out in a little while. Watch this space (as Rachel Maddow says) for those convenient reminders of what to say if someone engages with you in a conversation about football.
  2. Cavaliers struggle without their horse: Sports writer and impresario Bill Simmons has a theory he calls the Ewing Theory that teams often counter-intuitively play better when they are missing their star player. This isn’t proving true for the Cleveland Cavaliers. After losing to the Dallas Mavericks 109-90 yesterday, the Cavaliers have lost three of four games while their star Lebron James is out with a knee injury.
    Line: Not that it disproves the Ewing Theory, but the Cavs stink without LeBron.
  3. So long, Stuart Scott: A popular and groundbreaking ESPN personality, Stuart Scott, died yesterday. Scott started at ESPN 22 years ago and is remembered most fondly for his time as an anchor on the sports highlight show, Sports Center. In the 1990s, when that show was the biggest thing in sports, Scott was one of the most charismatic anchors. People throughout the sports world (including President Obama, who said of his fellow Chicagoan: “I will miss Stuart Scott. Twenty years ago, Stu helped usher in a new way to talk about our favorite teams and the day’s best plays.”) are paying tribute to Scott. For more, read the ESPN obituary here.
    Line: [Whatever you say about someone who has died at 49. If you knew his work, I wouldn’t try to feed you a line. If you didn’t, just ask people who are sports fans what they remember about Scott.]

2015 NFL Wildcard Weekend Good Gop, Bad Cop Precaps

It’s the NFL Wildcard weekend. The first of two weekends with four NFL playoff games spread across Saturday and Sunday like an octopus with each limb representing a team still alive to make the Super Bowl. Wildcard weekend is, in my mind, the second best weekend of the NFL season. This year, my friend Brendan and I recorded 10-15 minute preview podcasts of each of the games. I’ve linked to those in the game titles below. But, lucky for you, it’s not just Brendan and me blathering on about the NFL. Fresh of a season of previewing all the NFL games, our favorite police duo bring their good cop, bad cop act into the playoffs and preview all the matchups in the National Football League this weekend.

Wildcard Weekend

Saturday, January 3, at 4:35 p.m. ET, on ESPN

Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers

Good cop: I think this is the most compelling of all this weekend’s playoff games! The Panthers have been much maligned because of making the playoffs with a losing record! But you know what? The NFL isn’t like the NBA where the top seeds almost always win! Anything can happen in the NFL! The Panthers are coming off four wins in a row and I think they’re a dangerous team! Meanwhile, Arizona is a battle-tested team that’s had to rely on each other all year to overcome injuries! Not only have they overcome, but they thrived in the most difficult division in football, the NFC West! Don’t write off the Cardinals!

Bad cop: On any given Sunday, this game would be about the tenth most interesting on the NFL schedule. Just because these two terminally flawed teams made the playoffs and will play each other doesn’t mean the game will be worth watching. If it sounds like a mediocre game and it smells like a mediocre game and it looks like a mediocre game… it probably will be a mediocre game; even in the playoffs.

Saturday, January 3, at 8:15 p.m. ET on NBC

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

Good cop: If you don’t like this game, then you don’t like football! This is the perfect blend of old-timey smash mouth football and new-age innovative offensive football! The Steelers and Ravens really, actually, more than what is normal even for football teams, don’t like each other! And they play harder against each other than against any other teams! Add that to the additional playoff intensity and you’re going to get a game that’s blisteringly exciting! I know I’m not alone in being excited for this game! The NFL schedulers always put the most exciting game on Saturday night of these four game playoff weekends!!

Bad cop: Everything you said is true. Also true is the fact that the vast, silent majority of people, even football fans, are cringing now more than ever when they see a player get injured, especially with a brain injury. All that extra intensity? It’s not going to create better performances, it’s going to create more chaos and more injuries. I think I’ll take a pass on this one and abuse my own brain in an acceptable way, like drinking beer and watching the entire last season of Downton Abbey to prep for Sunday’s season premiere.

Sunday, January 4, at 1:05 p.m. ET on CBS

Cincinnati Bengals at Indianapolis Colts

Good cop: I am totally fascinated by this game! It’s the perfect test of the power of sports narrative! Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton is known for collapsing in big games, like playoff games where he’s 0-3 and primetime games where he’s 3-6! At least this game is only in the playoffs and not also in primetime! On the other side of the field, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is known for coming through in big games! Last year in the playoffs he actually managed to recover his running back’s fumble on the two yard line and run it into the endzone for a touchdown! This game is football and fate intertwined!

Bad cop: You talk about fate? I’m the one who feels like Cassandra all the time here. This game is going to be so bad. It’s the worst of the four. I keep telling everyone this and no one will listen to me. Dalton is bad at football, his best receiver AJ Green is injured in seventeen different ways, and just to top it off, this game is going to be played indoors on carpet. That’s no place to play a playoff game. Pah.

Sunday, January 4, at 4:40 p.m. ET on Fox

Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys

Good cop: The weekend ends with the best matchup of the four games! For most of the year, the Cowboys had the best offense in the NFL and Detroit had the best defense! This game matches strength against strength! The Cowboy’s offensive line against Detroit’s defensive line! A gigantic game between the two traditional Thanksgiving day hosts?!! It’s like it’s Thanksgiving all over again! A cornucopia of wonderful football!

Bad cop: Mmm. Just like the Turkey at your Thanksgiving dinner this year, this one is a little overcooked. As good of a matchup as this looked a month ago, now it’s dry and less tasty. Sure, both teams won four of their last five games but look who they played. Dallas beat up on Bears, Eagles, Colts, and Redskins (only one playoff team) while the Lions feasted on the Buccaneers, Vikings, and Bears twice (no playoff teams.) Talk about turkeys. Whoever wins this game will be sure to lose next weekend, so why even bother watching?.?

2015 NFL Wildcard Preview Detroit at Dallas

Hey everyone and Happy New Year!

January isn’t just the best time to break your newly  made resolutions, it’s also a great time for following and watching football. The NFL playoffs begin this weekend and to help prepare for the games, I invited my old friend Brendan Gilfillan to join me in a series of podcasts. We’ll go through each NFL playoff game and talk through the most interesting characters, the basic plot of the game, who we want to win and who we think is going to win, and just for fun, we’ll share our favorite player names from each playoff team. I hope you enjoy it.

The NFL Wildcard Round

NFL Football — Sunday, January 4, 2015 — Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys, 4:40 p.m. ET on Fox.

  • Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receiver Calvin Johnson, and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh
  • Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, running back DeMarco Murray, and wide receiver Dez Bryant
  • A plot synopsis of the game
  • The players on both teams whose names we most envy and enjoy
  • Who we want to win and who we think is going to win
  • And much, much more!

For email subscribers, click here to get the audio.

 

You can subscribe to all Dear Sports Fan podcasts by following this link.

Music by Jesse Fischer.

2015 NFL Wildcard Preview Cincinnati at Indianapolis

Hey everyone and Happy New Year!

January isn’t just the best time to break your newly  made resolutions, it’s also a great time for following and watching football. The NFL playoffs begin this weekend and to help prepare for the games, I invited my old friend Brendan Gilfillan to join me in a series of podcasts. We’ll go through each NFL playoff game and talk through the most interesting characters, the basic plot of the game, who we want to win and who we think is going to win, and just for fun, we’ll share our favorite player names from each playoff team. I hope you enjoy it.

The NFL Wildcard Round

NFL Football — Sunday, January 4, 2015 — Cincinnati Bengals at Indianapolis Colts, 1:05 p.m. ET on CBS.

  • Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton and wide receiver A.J. Green
  • Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck and wide receivers Reggie Wayne and T.Y. Hilton
  • A plot synopsis of the game
  • The players on both teams whose names we most envy and enjoy
  • Who we want to win and who we think is going to win
  • And much, much more!

For email subscribers, click here to get the audio.

 

You can subscribe to all Dear Sports Fan podcasts by following this link.

Music by Jesse Fischer.

2015 NFL Wildcard Preview Baltimore at Pittsburgh

Hey everyone and Happy New Year!

January isn’t just the best time to break your newly  made resolutions, it’s also a great time for following and watching football. The NFL playoffs begin this weekend and to help prepare for the games, I invited my old friend Brendan Gilfillan to join me in a series of podcasts. We’ll go through each NFL playoff game and talk through the most interesting characters, the basic plot of the game, who we want to win and who we think is going to win, and just for fun, we’ll share our favorite player names from each playoff team. I hope you enjoy it.

The NFL Wildcard Round

NFL Football — Saturday, January 3, 2015 — Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers, 8:15 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and defensive players James Harrison and Troy Polamalu
  • Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith, Sr., quarterback Joe Flacco, and linebacker Terrell Suggs
  • A plot synopsis of the game
  • The players on both teams whose names we most envy and enjoy
  • Who we want to win and who we think is going to win
  • And much, much more!

For email subscribers, click here to get the audio.

 

You can subscribe to all Dear Sports Fan podcasts by following this link.

Music by Jesse Fischer.

2015 NFL Wildcard Preview Arizona at Carolina

Hey everyone and Happy New Year!

January isn’t just the best time to break your newly  made resolutions, it’s also a great time for following and watching football. The NFL playoffs begin this weekend and to help prepare for the games, I invited my old friend Brendan Gilfillan to join me in a series of podcasts. We’ll go through each NFL playoff game and talk through the most interesting characters, the basic plot of the game, who we want to win and who we think is going to win, and just for fun, we’ll share our favorite player names from each playoff team. I hope you enjoy it.

The NFL Wildcard Round

NFL Football — Saturday, January 3, 2015 — Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers, 4:35 p.m. ET on ESPN.

  • Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians, their shaky quarterback situation, and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald
  • Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton
  • A plot synopsis of the game
  • The players on both teams whose names we most envy and enjoy
  • Who we want to win and who we think is going to win
  • And much, much more!

For email subscribers, click here to get the audio.

 

You can subscribe to all Dear Sports Fan podcasts by following this link.

Music by Jesse Fischer.

Sports Forecast for Friday, January 2, 2015

Sports is no fun if you don’t know what’s going on. Here’s what’s going on:

In today’s segment, I covered:

  • NBA Basketball – Dallas Mavericks at Boston Celtics, 7:30 p.m. ET on NBA TV.
  • NHL Hockey – Tampa Bay Lightning at Pittsburgh Penguins, 7 p.m. ET on regional cable.
  • NCAA Football – Kansas State vs. UCLA in the Alamo Bowl, 6:45 p.m. ET on ESPN.
  • And more!

For email subscribers, click here to get the audio.

You can subscribe to all Dear Sports Fan podcasts by following this link.

Music by Jesse Fischer.

What happened on Thursday, Jan 1, 2015?

  1. The Winter Classic went off without a hitch: The most important part of the NHL’s annual outdoor game on January 1 is that it gets completed with the requisite amount of spectacle and no major injuries. Both things happened (or didn’t happen) perfectly yesterday as the Washington Capitals beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on a crisp, sunny day in Washington D.C.
    Line: No matter how many times I see it, there’s still something special and cool about seeing an NHL game played outdoors.
  2. Stampeding Ducks trample Florida State: The first of the two college football semifinal games yesterday was a lopsided affair. The Oregon Ducks beat the Florida State Seminoles 59-20 in the Rose Bowl. Since the game was set up as a classic matchup of good (Oregon) vs. evil (Florida State), mostly everyone was happy with the outcome. I would even say that the reaction to quarterback Jameis Winston’s and Florida State’s dismantling on the internet could be described as gleeful.
    Line: Getting blown out by Oregon is a fitting end for Florida State. Good riddance.
  3. Sugar Bowl upset: The other college football semifinal game was the Sugar Bowl in Louisiana between Ohio State and Alabama. Alabama was favored in the game, having won the national championship recently and because they play in what is widely considered the best conference in the country, the SEC. Ohio State, playing with their third string quarterback, upset Alabama 42-35. This means that Ohio State will move on to play Oregon in the finals on January 12. The SEC has been so dominant that this is the first time in nine years the conference won’t have a team in the National Championship game. Most people think the move from a single national championship game to a four team playoff has made things more fair, but it’s also made things slightly more random. Alabama might be a better team but that doesn’t mean they will always beat a slightly worse team, like we just saw.
    Line: Great win for Ohio State, but no SEC team in the finals…? I guess having a playoff is more fun but it’s not necessarily more fair.

Sports Forecast for Thursday, January 1, 2015

Sports is no fun if you don’t know what’s going on. Here’s what’s going on:

In today’s segment, I covered:

  • British Premier League Soccer – Stoke City at Manchester United, 7:45 a.m. ET on NBC Sports Network. — You know those total lunatics who wake up early in the morning on January First to go run a 5k or a 10k or dive into the freezing cold ocean? Well here’s a sports fan rejoinder to them. Get up equally early, get yourself some orange juice, and watch some soccer. After a slow start, Machester United is up to third place in the premier league and still charging to the top. I doubt stoke will provide too much of a challenge but you never know.
  • NHL Hockey – Chicago Blackhawks at Washington Capitals in the Winter Classic, 1 p.m. ET (although it might be delayed) on NBC.
  • NCAA Football – Florida State vs. Oregon in the Rose Bowl, 5 p.m. ET on ESPN.
  • NCAA Football – Ohio State vs. Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
  • And more!

For email subscribers, click here to get the audio.

You can subscribe to all Dear Sports Fan podcasts by following this link.

Music by Jesse Fischer.