NBA Pickem Week 2: I Wish I Was a Little Bit Taller: There are four national NBA games on slate this week -- an ESPN doubleheader of Cavs/Celtics and Lakers/Wolves tonight and a Prime double of Celtics/Sixers and Lakers/Grizzlies on Friday. I am still not used to TNT being hoopless. Scooby leads the pickem standings with 60, hitting five locks. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:10 AM - 5 comments

CFL Pickem Week 21: Mostly Seeded: The last week of the CFL regular season decides the East Division winner. Hamilton and Montreal are both 10-7 as they play Ottawa and Winnipeg, respectively. The Redblacks have nothing to play for (advantage Hamilton) but Winnipeg can't climb in the standings and might rest for the playoffs (advantage Montreal). I'm leading the pickem standings as the contest heads to the postseason. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to football at 01:33 PM - 3 comments

NFL Pickem Week 8: Miami Blues: The NFL returns tonight with the Vikings facing the Chargers at Sofi Stadium. Six teams have a bye this weekend, which couldn't have come soon enough for the Jaguars. Jagsnumberone leads the pickem standings. Make your picks and think good thoughts for Mike McDaniel, who is struggling so badly in Miami he can't afford full-size pants.

posted by rcade to football at 09:47 AM - 15 comments

Enter the SportsFilter NBA Pickem: The new NBA season begins Tuesday night. There are national games on NBC, ESPN, Amazon Prime and Peacock but not TNT, with 75 more than last season. Join us this season by picking the winners and margins, making any game a slam dunk to sharpen the contradictions.

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:16 AM - 12 comments

CFL Pickem Week 20: Playoffs Approacheth: The Canadian Football League returns with Winnipeg and Calgary looking to earn playoff spots. The Stampeders get in with a win Saturday night or a loss by B.C. or Winnipeg. Winnipeg gets in with a win by B.C. Somehow they don't need their own win on Friday night in any scenario. I'm leading the pickem standings. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to football at 10:45 AM - 3 comments

NFL Pickem Week 7: Don't Sleep on Seattle: The NFL returns tonight with a divisional matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the sad remnants of the Cincinnati Bengals. Sunday begins with an early London game of Rams/Jaguars. Jagsnumberone leads the pickem standings and I'm in second, but Jacksonville getting run over by the Seattle defensive line brought us back to the peloton a bit. NoMich wins the week with 66.

posted by rcade to football at 10:33 AM - 15 comments

Oldest Living Newspaper Sportswriter Tells All: Art Spander began covering sports for the Santa Monica Evening Outlook in the early '60s. He's still on the beat today, most recently at this year's golf U.S. Open, in columns for his own website. The Athletic catches up with the 86-year-old throwback to another era. “No one has ever been as romantic about sports as Art," said Al Michaels, a friend of 52 years. "He works. He works hard. He cares. He cares hard. I don't know how, but no matter what, he's never lost that sense of wonder."

posted by rcade to media at 04:23 PM - 0 comments

For the Love of God Stop Betting Parlays: With sports betting now legal in 38 states and D.C., Americans are losing billions of dollars on parlays. "Wagering is entertainment, not income generation," says an executive at FanDuel, which generates two-thirds of its income on these high juice, multi-leg, low-odds wagers.

posted by rcade to general at 10:12 AM - 4 comments

NFL Pickem Week 6: Get Up, Trevor, Get Up: Even after the greatest NFL game of all time, the season must go on. The Philadelphia Eagles visit the New York Giants tonight to kick off the sixth week of the season. There are big matchups Sunday: San Fran at Tampa Bay and Detroit at Kansas City. This was a rough week in the pickem standings for everyone except Jags fans. Jagsnumberone and myself jump into first and second place. Make your picks

posted by rcade to football at 09:50 AM - 19 comments

CFL Pickem Week 18: Happy Early Thanksgiving : Canada's Thanksgiving weekend brings a four-game slate of CFL games starting Friday night with Toronto/Saskatchewan. The Argonauts and Redblacks are eliminated from the playoffs, leaving the Blue Bombers, Stampeders and Elks to fight for two spots. I'm in the lead in the pickem standings. Make your picks and give your thanks.

posted by rcade to football at 10:07 PM - 5 comments

CFL Pickem Week 18: The City That Fun Forgot: The CFL returns for week 18 tonight when Saskatchewan visits Ottawa. Ic23b leads the pickem by 6. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to football at 01:20 PM - 3 comments

NFL Pickem Week 5: Keep My Name Out of Your Mouth: The NFL returns Thursday night with an NFC West clash between the undermanned San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams, both 3-1. Sunday games begin at 9:30 a.m. in London, where the Minnesota Vikings face the Cleveland Browns at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Shouldn't that have a name like Aunty's Spotted Dick Stadium by now? In our pickem standings, Ic23b leads by 3 over Jagsnumberone while Bender wins the week with 74. Two players picked the Jags to beat the Niners and both of them are DTWD.

posted by rcade to football at 08:26 PM - 13 comments

CFL Pickem Week 17: Everybody Rae Dawn Chong Tonight: Calgary faces Montreal Friday night in the start of the CFL's sixteenth week. Hamilton visits Winnipeg Saturday in another game with big playoff implications. I'm leading the pickem standings after a dismal three-point week. Make your picks in honor of Edmonton's own 1980s It Girl and Chris Pratt discoverer.

posted by rcade to football at 05:00 PM - 4 comments

NFL Pickem Week 4: Out Like a Lamb: The NFL returns for week four without Nick Bosa, James Connor and Najee Harris, all out for the year with injuries, and a Thursday night NFC West clash between the 2-1 Seahawks and Cardinals. When the Ravens and Chiefs meet Sunday afternoon one of them will fall to 1-3 barring a tie. Ic23b still leads the contest pickem and NoMich wins the week with 96. Shoulda placed some bets. Make your selections.

posted by rcade to football at 11:42 AM - 12 comments

CFL Pickem Week 16: Argo Naut Yourself: The CFL returns this weekend with Friday and Saturday night doubleheaders. BC quarterback Nathan Rourke plays tomorrow night and is just 38 passing yards from breaking the record for a Canadian, which Russ Jackson had held since I was two years old. Standings.

posted by rcade to football at 03:40 PM - 6 comments

NFL Pickem Week 3: Travis Kelce is Mad as Hell and is Not Going to Take It Anymore: The third week of the NFL season kicks off Thursday night with the struggling Dolphins against the steamrolling Bills. On Sunday night the Chiefs meet the Giants as winless teams. Ic23b leads in the pickem standings.

posted by rcade to football at 09:40 AM - 15 comments

CFL Pickem Week 15: Everything's Coming Up Saskatchewan: There are CFL doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday night, beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern tonight with Winnipeg at Hamilton. Only three teams have winning records in the league, which seems like a statistical outlier to me. Current standings have me in the lead. Hooray self!

posted by rcade to football at 11:45 AM - 3 comments

NFL Pickem Week 2: Wake Up, Al!: The NFL kicks off week 2 tonight with more low-energy Al Michaels on Amazon Prime. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to football at 11:49 AM - 18 comments

CFL Pickem Week 14: The Other Saturday Football: Canadian football returns Friday night with B.C./Ottawa followed by a Saturday tripleheader. Four teams are 6-5 or 5-6 so it might be a good time to stack up some wins (pickem standings). Good luck, CFL! My first-hand knowledge of how teams are playing is about to drop precipitously.

posted by rcade to football at 04:33 PM - 3 comments

Play SportsFilter's NFL Pickem: There's just one day left before the start of the National Football League's 106th season, when the Micah Parson-less Dallas Cowboys go on the road to face the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Our pickem contest has also returned. I don't know about you, but I am in fact ready for some football.

posted by rcade to football at 11:10 AM - 18 comments

Cowboys Trade Micah Parsons to Packers: The Dallas Cowboys have traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers for two first-round draft picks. Green Bay has already signed him to a four-year, $188 million deal ($136 million guaranteed) that makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.

posted by rcade to football at 05:32 PM - 9 comments

CFL Pickem Week 13: Happy Labour Day: The CFL has a special Labour Day schedule of games on Sunday and Monday, starting with Winnipeg at Saskatchewan on Sunday. All three games are on CBS Sports in the U.S. and TSN in Canada. Our pickem is a five-point race led by Ic23b over myself (standings). Make your picks.

posted by rcade to football at 03:15 PM - 5 comments

Cadillac Joins F1: Cadillac, the first new team to join Formula 1 racing in 10 years, has chosen Sergio "Checo" Perez and Valtteri Bottas as drivers for its inaugural season. Both of them bring over a decade of experience on the circuit. Bottas also brings one of global sport's best mullets.

posted by rcade to auto racing at 02:24 PM - 1 comment

CFL Pickem Week 11: The Week of Blown Locks: The CFL Pickem resumes tonight with the Friday night tilt between two two-win teams: Toronto and Edmonton. Nobody scored a point last week because we all blew up so many locks (standings). Ouch!

posted by rcade to football at 02:57 PM - 5 comments

Knicks Owner Bans Thousands of Lawyers: James Dolan, the owner of Madison Square Garden and the New York Knicks, maintains an "attorney exclusion list" from his venues that uses facial recognition to keep thousands of them out of events. All attorneys at a firm that sues MSG get the banhammer. "We always are getting notice letters," said the personal injury litigator John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan. "I get letters. My wife gets letters. My kids get letters." He responded by setting up SueMSG.com looking for new cases.

posted by rcade to basketball at 07:55 AM - 1 comment