NFL Pickem Week 15: Old Man Rivers: The NFL returns tonight with the Atlanta Falcons going to the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whose loss to New Orleans made me one of two survivors left in a 166-entry $1,400 pool. Jagsnumberone holds on to first in the pickem standings and Rumple wins the week with 76. Make your picks and send good thoughts to quarterback grandpa.

posted by rcade to football at 04:00 PM - 16 comments

NBA Pickem Week 8: NBA Cup Runneth Over: There are six national NBA games this week but we only know the first four. Tonight the first NBA Cup quarterfinals on Amazon Prime pit the Heat against the Magic at 6 p.m. Eastern followed by the Knicks at Raptors at 8:30 p.m. Tomorrow the quarterfinals continue with the Suns at Thunder on Prime at 7:30 p.m. Eastern and Spurs at Lakers at 10 p.m. The winners will play in the Cup semifinals on Saturday. I'm leading the pickem standings with week-winner Howard_T in second. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:24 AM - 7 comments

NFL Pickem Week 14: The Eagles Have Landed: The NFL returns tonight with the Dallas Cowboys visiting the Detroit Lions seven days after their Thanksgiving Day games. The Philadelphia Eagles will attempt to arrest their descent on Monday night in a road trip to face the Los Angeles Chargers at Sofi Stadium. Jagsnumberone leads the pickem standings and Ufez wins an upset-filled week with 90. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to football at 02:31 PM - 14 comments

NBA Pickem Week 7: NBA on NBC: Tonight's doubleheader on NBC is the only national games for the week. The New York Knicks visit the Boston Celtics at 8 p.m. Eastern and the Oklahoma City Thunder go to the Golden State Warriors three hours later. I am now leading the pickem standings thanks to a near dunk on those Luka-stealing Lakers. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:24 AM - 4 comments

McIlroy Races to Odd Conclusion About IndyCar and NASCAR: While casting doubt on the idea that the PGA and LIV will ever unify as one tour because of the latter's "irrational" spending, Rory McIlroy lamented other divisive fractures in sports and said, "You look at boxing for example, or you look at what's happened in motor racing in the United States with Indy and NASCAR and everything else, I think for golf in general it would be better if there was unification." IndyCar and NASCAR?

posted by rcade to golf at 11:03 AM - 0 comments

NFL Pickem Week 13: Trippin' on Tryptophan: The NFL's Thanksgiving tripleheader features Packers at Lions, Chiefs at Cowboys and Bengals at Ravens. There's also a Black Friday game of Bears at Eagles, completing the "Lions, Tigers and Bears, oh, my!" trifecta. Jagsnumberone holds on to first in the pickem standings with 830 points, 25 ahead of me. Tommybiden won the week with 90, hitting 8 of 9 locks. Happy Thanksgiving one and all.

posted by rcade to football at 08:48 PM - 13 comments

NBA Pickem Week 6: Turkey Eve Tripleheader: There are five national NBA games this week -- a doubleheader of Magic/Sixers and Clippers/Lakers on NBC Tuesday and a tripleheader on ESPN Wednesday of Pistons/Celtics, Wolves/Thunder and Rockets/Warriors. Scooby now leads the pickem standings by 4 after winning the week with 26 points. Make your picks and pass the rolls.

posted by rcade to basketball at 08:10 PM - 4 comments

NFL Pickem Week 12: War of Attrition: The NFL returns tonight with the Buffalo Bills visiting the Houston Texans on the bookstore site. The league has no more pedestrian football to inflict on Europe but four teams are on bye. Jagsnumberone leads the pickem standings by 20 over Bender. Tron7 wins the week with 101 and climbs to fourth place. Make your picks and think of the endangered quarterback.

posted by rcade to football at 01:20 PM - 15 comments

Greg Norman Thinks a Lot of Greg Norman: Now that he's gone from LIV, the Saudi-funded upstart golf league's failure to attract TV ratings and losses exceeding $600 million have not dampened Greg Norman's admiration of himself. “The voice of the critic is far louder than the voice of the advocate,” he said. “And I use that as my pillar of strength.”

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

NBA Pickem Week 5: Don't Call Me Angel Reese: There are four games to pick this week, starting tonight on ESPN with Houston going to Cleveland at 7 p.m. Eastern. Howard_T leads the pickem standings by one point over NoMich. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 01:52 PM - 5 comments

CFL Pickem: Grey Cup Sunday: The Saskatchewan Roughriders face the Montreal Alouettes tonight at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg for the Grey Cup. The game airs in the U.S. on CBS Sports Network and in Canada on TSN/RDS/CTV. Make your picks, final Canadian football diehards.

posted by rcade to football at 12:46 PM - 3 comments

NFL Pickem Week 11: Mighty Minnows: The Jets and Patriots meet tonight for Thursday Night Football after a week in which the Jets, Dolphins and Saints all won. Condolences to survivor pool players. Sunday begins with a 9:30 a.m. Eastern kickoff for the Commanders and Dolphins in Madrid. Jagsnumberone continues to lead the pickem standings at 663 with three others in the 600s. Ic23b wins the week. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to football at 11:50 AM - 13 comments

NBA Pickem Week 4: Fired Nico: There are four more national games this week on the NBA calendar. On Wednesday night ESPN has a doubleheader of Magic/Knicks and Lakers/Thunder. On Friday Amazon has Heat/Knicks and Warriors/Spurs. Scooby leads the pickem standings and I win the week though remain in the cellar. Make your picks. Do not hire Nico.

posted by rcade to basketball at 08:03 PM - 4 comments

CFL Pickem Week 23: And Then There Were 4: Today's CFL playoffs decide the teams that will play in the 112th Grey Cup. Montreal faces Hamilton at 3:00 Eastern and B.C. faces Saskatchewan at 6:30 Eastern. I expanded my lead in the pickem standings by hitting both locks with exact scores. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to football at 07:56 AM - 3 comments

NFL Pickem Week 10: War of Attrition: The NFL's tenth week begins with Raiders/Broncos tonight and Falcons/Colts in Berlin on Sunday at 9:30 Eastern. I thought the international games were over already. Jagsnumberone leads the pickem standings by 8 and Bender climbs to second place by winning the week with 66. Make your selections. Sorry about your elbow, Jayden.

posted by rcade to football at 09:39 AM - 22 comments

NBA Pickem Week 3: I Wish I Was a Baller: There are four games to pick from the tube this week, beginning tonight with Wolves/Knicks and Spurs/Lukas on ESPN. The pickem standings have Scooby in first after everybody but Howard_T laid an egg. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:21 AM - 5 comments

CFL Pickem Week 22: Hello Playoffs: The CFL playoffs begin Saturday with Winnipeg vs. Montreal at 2 p.m. Eastern followed by Calgary at B.C. at 5:30 p.m. I'm leading the pickem standings by only 12 after Tommybiden outscored me by 28. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to football at 06:29 PM - 5 comments

NFL Pickem Week 9: Torn Labrum Fractured Shoulder Socket: The second half of the NFL season begins Thursday night when the Ravens and Dolphins try to get their third wins. We all get an extra hour on Sunday to prepare our predictions, seasonal and daily fantasy lineups, prop bets and survivor picks. Maybe this is all getting out of hand. Jagsnumberone leads the pickem standings by 11. Tommybiden wins the week with 89. Sorry for all the garbage time snaps, Carson Wentz.

posted by rcade to football at 07:39 PM - 12 comments

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 - 7 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