Editorials Articles - Page 1366

On a yearly basis, one of the most hotly contested debates in the NBA is who will bring home the league’s Sixth Man of the Year honors. Once viewed through the prism of having been the league’s best player not able to crack a starting rotation, recent seasons have shown that there’s immense value in […]

Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox was far from terrible during his rookie campaign, as he averaged 11.6 points, 4.4 assists, 2.8 rebounds and a steal over 27.8 minutes per game. However, he wasn’t great either, as evidenced by the fact that he shot 41.2 percent from the floor, 30.7 percent from the 3-point line and […]

Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer is one of the best pitchers of this generation. With three Cy Young awards to his name and four consecutive sub-3.00 ERA seasons, “Mad Max” has become one of the most dominant presences on the mound. His reputation as a workhorse has led to six straight seasons of at least […]

The Boston Red Sox were the story of the 2018 season, and at the center of it all was right fielder Mookie Betts. Betts led all of baseball–including pitchers–in fWAR (10.4), batting average (.346) and slugging percentage (.640) while hitting 32 homers, stealing 30 bases and winning his third consecutive Gold Glove. In one of […]

Even after falling to the eventual World Series Champion Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series, the Houston Astros have work to do to make it back to that point in 2019. Having lost key contributors in free agency, this team has holes that need to be plugged efficiently in order to replicate […]

There once was a time when Jimmy Graham, currently of the Green Bay Packers, was widely regarded as the best tight end in all of football. As a third-round pick from the 2010 NFL Draft, Graham wasn’t immediately projected to become a superstar given his draft spot in relation to the overall scarcity of talent […]

The linebacker position has increased in importance in the NFL over the past few seasons as defenses seek to add players who can play the inside run and cover from sideline-to-sideline. A solid class of free agents have been paid handsomely, with Kwon Alexander leading the pack with a four-year, $54 million contract from the […]

After jumping out to a huge lead and being forced to fight back from a late-season divisional deficit, the Milwaukee Brewers pulled out their first National League Central Division championship since 2011 and their second ever in franchise history. Riding on the back of NL MVP Christian Yelich, combined with the shutdown bullpen and interesting […]

Just four years ago, the Colorado Rockies were at the very bottom of the NL West standings. Struggling to find good pitching and hampered by aging veterans, the Rockies jettisoned franchise icon Troy Tulowitzki in the hopes of garnering a new sense of direction. Colorado has improved in every year since 2015, culminating in a […]

Becoming a star in the NBA is no small feat. Each roster carries a maximum of 15 players and there are only 30 teams in the entire league, so even making the NBA is a major accomplishment. To stand out as one of the very best in that small fraternity is a an accolade that […]

The Miami Heat are in NBA purgatory, and it’s the worst place for a team to be. This season projected to be more of the same for the Heat: a competitive team that would be a first-round playoff exit. Well, it looks like that’s literally what may be the end result. Currently 32-35, they’re the […]

For the Toronto Raptors, integrating Marc Gasol at the trade deadline was always going to be an intricate process. This wasn’t a team struggling to stay alive in the heat of a playoff race. It wasn’t even an organization dealing with the pressure of a disgruntled superstar, similar to the 2007-08 Los Angeles Lakers that […]

The St. Louis Cardinals were one of the most polarizing teams in baseball last season. After a 47-46 start, manager Mike Matheny was fired and replaced by bench coach Mike Shildt. The Cardinals would go 6-7 in Shildt’s first 13 games as interim manager before getting red-hot in August, finishing with a 22-6 record in […]

As the NBA has evolved so has the talents of its players. In today’s game offense is key unlike the defensive centric NBA of generations past. Due to rule changes, and the overall lack of physicality, scoring in today’s NBA is easier than ever. The goal of basketball is to put the ball in the […]

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton has had his share of rookie growing pains. The eighth overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft, and one of the superstars of the Summer League, Sexton struggled during the early months of the season. Through the first 13 games of his career, he posted just 12 points per contest […]

The story of Devin Booker has been one of a historically young scorer on a Phoenix Suns squad anchored to the depths of the Western Conference. As one of nine players to average 23 points and 4.5 assists from ages to 20 to 22 — his second season through this one (his fourth) — Booker […]

Coby White has been one of the standout freshmen in college basketball this season. The guard has been an important part of North Carolina’s season, leading them to a top five national ranking and likely to a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. White’s scoring ability is his greatest asset, but he has also shown […]

The New York Giants season didn’t go as anticipated in their first season under Pat Shurmur. The Giants ended the year with a record of 5-11—which was last place in the NFC East. There were some bright spots on the season though. Saquon Barkley—the Giants first-round pick in 2018—was absolutely phenomenal. Barkley led the NFL […]

The New England Patriots are World Champions once again after winning their sixth Lombardi trophy in the past 18 seasons. Their focus now shifts to 2019 and defending their title. As with every NFL team, changes are coming to the Patriots this offseason. Left tackle Trent Brown, the anchor of the Patriots’ offensive line that […]

The Seattle Seahawks were supposed to take a big step back during the 2018 season, but instead improved their record to 10-6 and made another playoff appearance, although they lost in the wild card round to the Dallas Cowboys. As long as Russell Wilson is under center, Seattle will be competitive, but in order to […]

With the 10th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos have some curious options. Some draft networks have the team trading up, wanting to select a quarterback. Others have them standing pat and going defense-specifically addressing the D-line, while others think offensive tackle and even the potential for a wide receiver to compliment the […]

The 2018 season was a disappointment for the Green Bay Packers, but it’s not like any Aaron Rodgers-led team is that far away from contention in any given season. Yes, the Packers have a handful of holes to fill this season. They’d be smart to find a pass-rusher or two through the draft and free […]

Coming off an MVP season, it is hard to match expectations, especially after they were set so high in the previous year. While Milwaukee Brewers right fielder Christian Yelich rose from being a solid core of the Miami Marlins to the National League MVP in his first season in brewtown is a testament to how […]

The 2019 offseason went off with a bang after the doors to trades and free agency signings were blown open. The latest bomb that was dropped in the News on Wednesday’s official start of free agent signings is the New York Jets winning the Le’Veon Bell sweepstakes, signing the three-time Pro Bowl running back to […]

Coming off a season that saw him fall well below his offensive outputs in 2017, the year of 2018 for Aaron Judge was something that can best be described as forgettable. Lacking that true lineup protection with Giancarlo Stanton also having a down season, Judge was forced to take on more of the offensive workload […]

Last season, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich won the National League MVP Award after a breakout season in which he nearly won the Triple Crown. Yelich led the NL in batting average (.326), finished second in RBIs (110) and third in homers (36) while posting a 166 wRC+, also tops in the league and fourth […]

Riding their upstart youngsters and a team that exceeded expectations earlier than expected, the Atlanta Braves cruised through the 2018 regular season on their way to winning the National League East divisional crown, something they had not won since 2013. While experts knew that the Braves would have a solid season, not many thought that […]

Electronic Arts’ “Madden NFL” video game is one of most successful game series of all time, selling over 130 million copies since 1988. Beginning with Madden NFL 2001, each game featured a new NFL star on its cover, and fans quickly noticed a correlation between an athlete landing on the cover of Madden and a […]

Few teams in the NFL are in a better position than the Indianapolis Colts. They managed to win a playoff game despite starting the season with a 1-5 record. Andrew Luck is healthy, and they have the most cap space in the league. It is safe to say that the Colts are a testament to how quickly […]

The Minnesota Vikings underachieved in 2018, finishing the year with a mediocre 8-7-1 record. A sexy preseason pick to win the Super Bowl, the Vikings missed the postseason altogether after reaching the NFC Championship the season prior. Despite signing Kirk Cousins to a three-year, $84 million fully guaranteed contract last offseason, the Vikings’ offense regressed. […]

Not only is the free agent class of 2019 set to be top heavy with plenty of star talent, it could also end up being one of the most impactful offseasons the league has seen in a while in terms of redistribution of power. Players like Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, and […]

As far as bold predictions went for the San Francisco 49ers, the team was full of buzz going into the 2018 season. From a five-game winning streak in the previous season and much buzz around the team and their new quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, many thought the team had what it took to make a playoff […]

Super Bowl teams like the Los Angeles Rams lose crucial talent every single offseason. Other teams will hope they can acquire Rams free agents to fill their own roster needs and build their own championship culture. That means the Rams may find themselves looking for talent outside of household names. Los Angeles currently holds about […]

Red flags and alerts concerning character issues are at an all time high in the NFL. Simple lapses in judgment are costing current and future NFL players millions of dollars. Future NFL players must undergo the scrutiny of intense background checks from NFL teams with general mangers making the final decisions on these players. Green […]

The Los Angeles Chargers will bring about $25 million in cap space to free agency. They’ve got their own contributors who need new deals as well as extensions to workout for Philip Rivers and Melvin Gordon. That means Los Angeles will need to be frugal in improving their roster. That’s especially the case if they […]

One of the biggest topics of discussion in the NBA world on Tuesday is the heated verbal altercation that Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook got into with a Utah fan during the Thunder’s 98-89 win over the Jazz on Monday night. Westbrook threatened the fan and his wife, and after the game was over, […]

Before the 2018-19 NBA season got underway for the Los Angeles Lakers, the storied franchise seemed to have turned things around with a promising young core set to be led by the team’s biggest free agent acquisition since Shaquille O’Neal set to lead the way in LeBron James. Unfortunately, the team that has missed the […]

Over the past few years during this historic Warriors run, the team has enjoyed a deafening home-court advantage in Oracle Arena. However, this season, the last season at Oracle has not gone according to plan. The Warriors have lost 10 games at home this season, at 24-10. It is not just this season the defending […]

Coming into the 2018-19 NBA campaign, not many people expected the Los Angeles Clippers to be a playoff team. Gone were the days of Lob City, with Chris Paul now residing in Houston and Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan staking out in Detroit and New York, respectively. Yes, that Clippers team never made it past […]