NBA Pickem Week 3: Luka Lighting It Up Edition: There's a light week of just four TV games on the NBA national schedule, beginning Wednesday night when the Sixers and Pistons meet as the top two teams in the East. NoMich stays in first atop the pickem standings. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:21 AM - 5 comments

NFL Pickem Week 8: Trade All the Colts Edition: The NFL returns tonight on Prime with the Panthers/Packers in the battle of five shared Scrabble letters. NoMich leads the pickem standings by 29 over Jagsnumberone. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to football at 01:04 PM - 14 comments

NBA Pickem Week 2: Knicks Collecting Ls Edition: There are six national TV games on the NBA slate this week, beginning with a Tuesday NBC doubleheader of Pistons/Knicks and Blazers/Lakers. New York has opened the season with three losses, including one to my undermanned Orlando Magic. NoMich leads the pickem standings. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 03:40 PM - 8 comments

NFL Pickem Week 7: What the Hell Rams Edition: The NFL returns tonight but I don't remember who is playing. I do remember that the pickem standings are led by NoMich and that all but two of us locked the Rams over the Cardinals. Tahoemoj didn't lock them and Bender picked the Cards, which is brilliance heretofore unimagined. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to football at 02:06 PM - 13 comments

Play the SportsFilter NBA Pickem: The NBA season tips off Tuesday with a tripleheader on NBC, starting with the Boston Celtics visiting the Detroit Pistons at 3 p.m. Eastern. That's followed by LeBron playing for the Philadelphia 76ers at the New York Knicks. Tickets are as low as $1,007, according to VividSeats. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:23 AM - 9 comments

NFL Pickem Week 6: Think of England Edition: The NFL returns tonight with the Seahawks and Broncos meeting on Prime at Mile High or whatever the stadium is called these days. NoMich takes the lead in the pickem standings with Rumple and Ic23b tied for second four points back. The future Tommyocasiocortez wins the week with 80. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to football at 10:31 AM - 14 comments

NFL Pickem Week 5: Injuries A-Plenty Edition: The NFL undertakes its fifth week tonight as the outgunned Buccaneers of Tampa travel to face the Cowboys of Dallas. Ic23b leads by four over Rumple atop the pickem standings but I won the week with 79, which ain't nothing. Make your picks, kids.

posted by rcade to football at 01:56 PM - 16 comments

NFL Pickem Week 4: How 'Bout Them Raiders Edition: The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns meet Thursday night on the bookstore to open week 4 of the NFL season. The game I most want to see is the battle of the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon. Ic23b holds on to first in the pickem standings. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to football at 09:54 PM - 13 comments

NFL Pickem Week 3: Quarterback Infirmary Edition: The third week of the NFL season starts with Michael Penix Jr. attempting to revive the Atlanta Falcons against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Ic23b continues to lead the pickem standings. Make your picks and protect your quarterback.

posted by rcade to football at 08:46 PM - 17 comments

NFL Pickem Week 2: I Drafted A.J. Brown Edition: The NFL returns tonight with the Detroit Lions playing the Buffalo Bills in their new stadium. Ic23b leads in the pickem standings. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to football at 02:45 PM - 16 comments

The Roger, Rafa and Djoker Era is Over: For the first time since 2002, the top 10 in men's tennis doesn't have anybody named Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic. Djokovic, 39, fell from 5 to 12 after the U.S. Open. The current ATP Rankings are led by Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz.

posted by rcade to tennis at 09:30 AM - 0 comments

D.K. Metcalf Blows the Lid Off Antarctica: "I think there is another civilization inside of Earth," said D.K. Metcalf. "Why can’t you just book a trip to Antarctica? ... [W]hy is there a meeting between every world leader of every country in Antarctica, specifically?"

posted by rcade to football at 09:59 AM - 3 comments

SEC Threatens to Expel LSU: A vote by two-thirds of the schools in the SEC could take place Thursday that would kick LSU out of the conference after 93 years. It probably won't come to that but SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is mad enough to speak the words "lack of institutional control," which by coincidence was the motto of SMU in the 1980s. But in Latin: "defectus moderationis institutionalis."

posted by rcade to football at 05:54 PM - 3 comments

Enter the SportsFilter NFL Pickem: Our long-running NFL Pickem is back starting with a Wednesday-night opener of the Seattle Seahawks hosting the New England Patriots. That is a weird day to play a football game. Pick the winners and spread, making any and all a stone cold lead pipe lock to heighten the contradictions between victors and vanquished. Good luck!

posted by rcade to football at 09:51 AM - 12 comments

Clippers Lose 5 First-Round Picks for Cheating Salary Cap: The NBA has taken five first-round picks from the Los Angeles Clippers and $30 million, as well as suspending owner Steve Ballmer for one year, for circumventing the salary cap when signing Kawhi Leonard four years ago. The league found that Leonard was rewarded with over $28 million in side deals orchestrated by the team. Leonard also has to give back $700,000.

posted by rcade to basketball at 04:59 PM - 11 comments

Join the SportsFilter Fantasy Premier League: The Premier League kicks off tomorrow afternoon. If you're playing Fantasy Premier League, use the link to add yourself to our league. You can be in multiple leagues and we all pick from the same pool of players with a 100 million pound budget.

posted by rcade to soccer at 05:37 PM - 0 comments

Dodgers Acquire Tarik Skubal for 3 Top Prospects: The Los Angeles Dodgers, already loaded, have traded top-30 prospects Zyhir Hope, River Ryan and Brady Smith for Tarik Skubal. The best team in baseball adds the best pitcher in baseball. Bah humbug.

posted by rcade to baseball at 12:29 PM - 1 comment

NFL Coach Kyle Shanahan Injured in Car Crash: San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan broke three ribs, a hand and his nose when his Tesla collided with an SUV earlier this month in downtown Palo Alto. Police issued no citations. Shanahan is still experiencing concussion symptoms two weeks later and hasn't fully resumed work.

posted by rcade to football at 09:01 AM - 0 comments

LeBron Chooses the 76ers: After considering retirement, LeBron James has chosen to sign a two-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, where he joins Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and Jaylen Brown. Philly were last NBA champs in 1983 behind Dr. J and Moses Malone. LeBron's salary is only $4 million a year unless I'm mistaken but he makes $80 million a year in endorsement money so he might be OK financially.

posted by rcade to basketball at 01:31 PM - 6 comments

New York Knicks Are NBA Champions: For the first time since 1973, the New York Knicks are the champions of the National Basketball Association. Jalen Brunson scored 45 points as New York erased a 31-15 deficit against the San Antonio Spurs. No lead was safe for the Spurs in these Finals.

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:37 PM - 5 comments

NBA Playoff Pickem: NBA Finals: The New York Knicks play the San Antonio Spurs in game 1 of the NBA Finals tonight at Frost Bank Center. Pick the series winner, number of games and a bunch of props. BornIcon is leading the pickem standings with one round to go.

posted by rcade to basketball at 03:13 PM - 10 comments

Enter the SportsFilter CFL Pickem: The Canadian Football League kicks off Thursday night when the Montreal Alouettes visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. SportsFilter is running a CFL Pickem contest that covers the 21 weeks of the regular season and the playoffs. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to football at 09:40 AM - 6 comments

NASCAR Driver Kyle Busch Dies of Illness at 41: NASCAR driver Kyle Busch died today after being hospitalized hours earlier with a severe illness. The two-time NASCAR champion was 41 and won a truck series race just six days ago, savoring the win in the post-race interview by saying "you never know when the last one is."

posted by rcade to auto racing at 07:08 PM - 3 comments

NBA Playoff Pickem: Conference Finals: The San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight in game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals. The Cleveland Cavaliers face the New York Knicks tomorrow in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Pick the series winner, games required and the usual props. Good luck!

posted by rcade to basketball at 02:13 PM - 10 comments

Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini Does Not Matter: If an NFL coach had an extramarital relationship with a national NFL reporter, do we have to care? No, argues Greg Bedard of Boston Sports Journal. "If it was my job to cover extramarital affairs about owners, executives, players, coaches, I’d never cover the games," he said. The argument that it matters because people care about it is circular. The public is titillated by all kinds of things that don't matter.

posted by rcade to football at 10:53 AM - 2 comments