Tag: ESPN

Report: Portland Trail Blazers to ink unsigned free agent Carmelo Anthony

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, former Thunder forward Carmelo Anthony will sign a non-guaranteed deal with the Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trailblazers have decided to roll the dice on former Oklahoma City Thunder forward Carmelo Anthony, according to ESPN senior writer Adrian Wojnarowski.

Anthony spent 2017-18 in Oklahoma City. The Thunder brought Anthony in from the Knicks, but the veteran, who has been accustomed to being the headliner throughout his NBA career, never fully meshed with Russell Westbrook and Paul George. During his stint in OKC, Anthony averaged a career-low 16.2 points.

He last played in the league in the 2018-19 NBA season for the Houston Rockets and has struggled to find a home for the final chapter of his now- 17-year career over the summer.

At the same time, cascading injuries and lofty postseason aspirations combined to push a struggling Portland Trail Blazers franchise to warm to the idea of bringing on Melo, who has been perceived in some circles as resistant to accepting a lesser role as he ages out of a starting one.

Now, standing at 4-8 midway through November, the team has decided that injuries to Jusuf Nurkic and particularly Zach Collins, have stretched the frontcourt rotation too thin, especially at the power forward position.

Anthony, per Wojnarowski, will be brought on to help out in that regard on a non-guaranteed deal and will join the team on their coming road trip. No word on other contract details, though presumably, it will be at the veteran’s minimum given the team’s cap situation.

Texans’ Deshaun Watson in a three-headed race for NFL MVP

ESPN recently released their NFL MVP stock watch, with Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson in the thick of the race to win the award.

Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson continues to make those that picked him to win MVP look smart. After nine games of play, the third-year Pro Bowler has his Texans at 6-3. Individually, he is in the thick of a three-man race for MVP.

Watson, Russell Wilson and Lamar Jackson are all in contention to win the league’s highest individual honor. According to ESPN, Wilson leads the pack, with Jackson and Watson following, in that respective order.

ESPN’s Courtney Cronin, Matt Bowen, Mike Clay, Jeremy Fowler, Dan Graziano, Kevin Seifert and Field Yates are complimentary of the third-place candidate in Watson.

Their reasoning for Watson’s ranking in ESPN’s NFL MVP stock watch:

“In his first nine games, Watson reached career highs in passer rating (107.1), completion percentage (70.2%) and passing yards per game (270.2). He has plenty of MVP-worthy moments, such as throwing a winning touchdown pass against the Raiders after being kicked in the eye and leading Houston to a blowout against Jacksonville the following week in his fourth game this season with multiple passing touchdowns and no interceptions. The only player with more such games is Wilson (seven).

The Texans are atop the AFC South because of what they’re doing offensively with Watson at the helm. In two full seasons’ worth of games, Watson has 75 total touchdowns, the second-most during such as span in NFL history. Coming off a bye in Week 10, Watson has the chance to put his MVP candidacy front and center when he faces off against Jackson and the Ravens.”

On the season, Watson has thrown for 2,432 yards and 18 touchdowns to five interceptions, while also pitching in 279 rush yards and five ground touchdown. If he can lead Houston to a win over the Jackson-led Ravens on Sunday, those MVP chants may be getting louder.

Former Seahawk Malik McDowell sentenced to 11 months in jail

Former Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Malik McDowell was sentenced to 11 months in jail according to Michigan court records.

Former Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Malik McDowell has been sentenced to 11 months in jail after pleading guilty to multiple crimes in Michigan, according to court records obtained by ESPN.

McDowell was also given three months of probation and ordered by a judge to write four essays over the next 90 days. The essay topics included finding meaning in life other than committing crimes, the importance of respecting the rule of law, the principles of the Declaration of Independence and how his behavior undermined them, and the importance of respecting property rights.

McDowell was the 35th overall pick in the 2017 draft by the Seahawks, but he was involved in an ATV accident just three months later and never played a down in the NFL.

McDowell was arrested in February of this year and charged with assault, resisting arrest and operating a vehicle while intoxicated. He was found in possession of a stolen F-150 Raptor, which led to charges of receiving and concealing stolen property.

McDowell was also been previously arrested and given 12 months of probation for a drunken-driving incident, also in 2017, as well as a disorderly conduct charge outside an Atlanta nightclub.

After his latest sentence, McDowell apologized and vowed to be better, while indicating he still has hopes of playing in the NFL.

“I’m doing everything I need to do, seeing all the doctors I need to, working out … doing everything I can to get back to where I was, back to the NFL,” McDowell said, according to the Oakland Press, and added that he’s “very remorseful.”

McDowell’s legal issues don’t just stem from arrests. He has been sued by the Seahawks, who seek repayment of about $800,000 of his signing bonus after an arbitrator’s ruling.

McDowell spent two seasons on Seattle’s non-football injury list before getting waived.

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How to Watch Milwaukee Bucks, NBA Live Stream, Schedule, TV Channel, Start Time

Watch the Milwaukee Bucks Live Online this season.

All Giannis, all the time. That’s what life is like in Milwaukee these days as the Bucks have become a must-see attraction in not just the NBA, but the world of sports. That’s how big of an impact the “Greek Freak” has had since his emergence as the top player in the league. The reigning NBA Most Valuable Player carried his team to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. This season, the Bucks are looking to take it one step further by bringing a championship back to the Cream City for the first time since 1971. 

Watch the Milwaukee Bucks 2019-20 Season

Next game: vs. Chicago Bulls, Nov. 14, 8:00 p.m. ET 

Local TV affiliate for the season: FOX Sports Wisconsin

Streaming option for the season: fuboTV (watch for free)

It doesn’t appear as if the league has found a way to stop Giannis yet. After dominating the regular season in 2018-19, the 24-year-old superstar has picked up right where left off. He is among the top five in the league in both scoring and rebounding through the first 10 games of the season. His extraordinary exploits have led to the Bucks once again being considered among the favorites in the East. 

While Giannis will certainly get most of the attention, the Bucks wouldn’t be in the position that they are without a great supporting cast. Milwaukee’s four other starters also average double-digits in scoring, led by forward Khris Middleton, who has emerged as a very valuable asset by Giannis’ side. Throw in the likes of Eric Bledsoe and Brook Lopez, along with veteran sharpshooter Kyle Korver off the bench and there’s no reason not to expect the Bucks to be contending for a title come the spring. 

Bucks November 2019 Schedule

All Times ET

Thu. Nov. 14 vs. Bulls, 8:00 PM

Sat. Nov. 16 @ Pacers, 7:00 PM

Mon. Nov. 18 @ Bulls, 8:00 PM

Wed. Nov. 20 @ Hawks, 7:30 PM

Thu. Nov. 21 vs. Trail Blazers, 8:00 PM

Sat. Nov. 23 vs. Pistons, 8:30 PM

Mon. Nov. 25 vs. Jazz, 8:00 PM

Wed. Nov. 27 vs. Hawks, 8:00 PM

Fri. Nov. 29 @ Cavaliers, 7:30 PM

Sat. Nov. 30 vs. Bobcats 8:00 PM

We recommend interesting sports viewing and streaming opportunities. If you sign up to a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.

ESPN names Steve Slaton the Texans’ top one-hit wonder

ESPN released their list of top one-hit wonders for all 32 teams, and RB Steve Slaton was the Houston Texans’ selection.

There are players who enter the NFL that give their respective clubs hope that they have locked down the position for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, those players turn out to be one-season solutions that still leave the organization in a bind.

ESPN compiled their list of all 32 teams’ “one-hit wonders,” and Sarah Barshop, who covers the Texans for the four-letter network, pegged former 2008 third-round pick Steve Slaton as the franchise’s top one-hit wonder.

What happened: Slaton, a third-round pick in 2008, was quickly named the starting running back for Houston as a rookie. He started 15 games and finished the season with 10 total touchdowns and 1,282 rushing yards, which ranked sixth in the league. Slaton’s best performance came against the Colts, when he ran for 156 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.

For Slaton, the turnover bug bit him hard as he coughed up the ball four times through the first five games of his sophomore campaign. Ultimately, coach Gary Kubiak benched Slaton in favor of Ryan Moats. In 2011, the Texans cut Slaton after three games to start the season, and he ended the year played another three for the Miami Dolphins.

Slaton landed at No. 45 on the Texans Wire’s list of 100 greatest Texans.

Latest FPI projections from ESPN have Dolphins picking 4th in 2020

ESPN’s latest projection of the final standings courtesy of their Football Power Index forecasts Miami to hold the 4th pick in 2020 Draft.

The Miami Dolphins pulled off a stunner this past weekend in Indianapolis — aided by the Colts’ absence of starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett to an ACL injury. The win brought the Dolphins to 2-7 on the season and effectively ended the team’s hopes and dreams of landing the 1st-overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. The Dolphins now trail the Cincinnati Bengals by two games in the race for the top spot and each team is trending in opposite directions — Miami is surging with confident play, while the Bengals just got stomped by the Ravens in an embarrassing defeat.

ESPN’s Football Power Index agrees: Miami’s odds of walking away with the top pick in the 2020 NFL Draft are now pretty slim. Two weeks ago, the Dolphins were given 66% odds to land the first pick. Now? That number sits at 12%. The latest projection forecasts Miami to pick 4th: behind the winless Bengals, the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants.

No problem. Miami will have ample opportunity to do business with either Washington or New York to ensure they get a top quarterback prospect, should they feel it necessary to land “their guy”. And the deeper into the process things get, the more it seems LSU’s Joe Burrow is the emerging favorite to be the player who demands selection with the top pick this offseason.

Miami will have opportunities to win a few more games along the way: ESPN’s projection has the Dolphins finishing the season at 4-12 and even if the Dolphins went 5-11, Miami would fall no lower than 6th in the ESPN projections — losing ground to two more teams who already have young quarterbacks in the New York Jets (Sam Darnold) and Arizona Cardinals (Kyler Murray).

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Where do Chargers stand in NFL power rankings after Week 10?

After suffering defeat in Week 10, Chargers Wire takes a look how the Bolts stack up in power rankings heading into Week 11.

In one that they needed badly, the Chargers were unable to deliver after suffering defeat to the Raiders on the national stage. The loss dropped Los Angeles to 4-6, but their playoff hopes are still alive.

Let’s see where the Bolts are viewed in power rankings.

USA Today: 19 (Previous: 19)

“Key injuries … Philip Rivers trying to do too much … off-field distractions … we’ve definitely entered “same-old Chargers” territory.”

Touchdown Wire: 22 (Previous: 22)

“Last Thursday night, Oakland rookie Josh Jacobs’ 18-yard touchdown run with 1:02 left in the game gave the Raiders a 26-24 lead over the Chargers. The Raiders then kicked off to the Chargers, who gave the ball to Philip Rivers in the hope that he could engineer a crucial win. What resulted was probably the worst drive of Rivers’ career. The veteran shot-putted the ball all over the field, and only one of his seven passes didn’t fall incomplete — his last pass of the night, which was caught by Oakland safety Karl Joseph.”

NFL: 18 (Previous: 18)

“Philip Rivers is currently on the dark web searching for mind-eraser technology to wipe away a lost Thursday night in Oakland. The Chargers quarterback threw three interceptions and had two more picks nullified by penalty in a 26-24 loss to the Raiders that put Los Angeles’ playoff hopes in serious doubt. Rivers was under constant duress due to a surprisingly meddlesome Oakland front seven, which had its way with an L.A. offensive line missing both starting tackles. The low point for the Chargers came on a final possession that went like this: incompletion, incompletion, incompletion, penalty (first down), incompletion, incompletion, incompletion, interception. Like I said, Philip Rivers is scouring the digital underground in search of mind-eraser hardware. Next up for the Chargers? A showdown against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in Mexico City. It’s a virtual must-win for the Bolts.”

ESPN: 19 (Previous: 19)

“At 4-6, the most important game for the Chargers is the next one, a Monday Night Football tilt against the AFC West rival Chiefs. With Kansas City losing over the weekend against the Titans, the Chargers still sit two games back in the division with six left to play. So even though it has been up-and-down year for the Bolts, they could catapult themselves back into the playoff conversation with a win over the Chiefs.”

Sports Illustrated: 19 (Previous: 18)

“Tough one to drop in primetime for a team that had a chance to take more steps away from the brink. The Chargers go as Phillip Rivers goes, and three interceptions were too much to overcome despite Melvin Gordon’s best game of the season (133 total yards, 1 TD).”

CBS Sports: 18 (Previous: 18)

“They can’t turn the ball over the way they did against the Raiders and expect to be a playoff team. That loss to the Raiders was a momentum killer.”

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ESPN’s Marty Smith shared an awesome moment with a local TV reporter after LSU-Alabama

So great.

ESPN’s Marty Smith is one of the better liked and respected reporters in the industry. He covered NASCAR for years before jumping into NFL and college football coverage, so few sports TV journalists know the everyday grind quite like Smith.

Following LSU’s win over Alabama on Saturday, Columbus, Ga., CBS affiliate WRBL reporter Jack Patterson was working on a taped recap from the field level and stumbled with his words during a take. Smith noticed Patterson’s frustration and approached the young reporter to offer some words of encouragement.

The result was an awesome moment of kindness that was all captured on video.

Smith told Patterson that he found those taped standup shots the toughest part of his job because he’d always try to be perfect.

Smith said:

“You wanna know the hardest part, the hardest part of our job is what you’re doing right now. The taped standup. Hate ’em. I hate ’em, man. Because if you’re live and you kind of mess up, whatever, you just keep on diggin. This thing — you wanna be just perfect. I can’t stand ’em.”

After the two took a photo together, Smith said:

“Keep plowing. You’re doing a good job.

Patterson’s reaction was particularly great. And as his clip went viral, he thanked Smith again and shared the photo.

Just as our Michelle Martinelli told me, “Marty Smith is nice.” He certainly backed it up in that exchange.

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NFL Power Rankings Week 11: Lions drop to bottom third of the NFL

The Lions (3-5-1) continue to fall in NFL Power Rankings, the loss of quarterback Matthew Stafford surely impacted their status in Week 11.

The Lions (3-5-1) continue to fall in NFL Power Rankings and the loss of quarterback Matthew Stafford surely impacted their status in Week 11 more than the loss to the Bears did.

Let’s take a look at where the Lions stand in the national eye.

USA Today: 27 (Previous: 18)

“Is Kenny Golladay most dangerous deep threat we don’t discuss? Back to those Next Gen Stats, no player averages more targeted air yards than his 16.5.” — Nate Davis

Touchdown Wire: 23 (Previous: 20)

“It’s going to be easy to blame Matthew Stafford’s back injury for Detroit’s 20-13 loss to the Bears, as Stafford had to sit while backup Jeff Driskel took the field. But Driskel wasn’t horrible; he completed 27 passes in 46 attempts for 269 yards, with one touchdown and one interception against one of the NFL’s most formidable defenses. When assigning blame for this loss, and for the collapse that has seen the Lions lose five of their past six games, one must look squarely at a defense that allowed four touchdowns to Oakland rookies in Week 9 and followed that up by making things all too easy for Mitchell Trubisky on his three touchdown passes. This looked like one of the NFL’s better pass defenses at times early in the season, but that narrative has completely fallen apart. Per Pro Football Focus, Detroit’s secondary has allowed 15 touchdowns to just three interceptions this season. No team is going to win that way consistently, no matter who their quarterback is.” — Doug Farrar

NFL: 24 (Previous: 19)

“Here’s a hot take: The Lions really need Matthew Stafford. The quarterback, whose iron-man starting streak ended on Sunday due to a back injury, was sorely missed in a loss to the Bears that put Detroit’s playoff hopes on life support. Jeff Driskel stepped in for Stafford and had a few moments — his best being a pretty, 47-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Golladay that gave the Lions a spark in the fourth quarter — but this simply isn’t a balanced enough team to survive the absence of its best player. The typically overmatched Lions defense started off well, holding the Bears to just 20 yards on four fruitless drives to start the game. But Mitch Trubisky threw touchdown passes in the next three Bears possessions, putting Detroit in a 20-6 hole that was simply too deep with Stafford on the sideline. Now we wait to see how long the quarterback has to stay there.” — Dan Hanzus

ESPN: 21 (Previous: 18)

“Most important game left: Sunday vs. Cowboys. It’s cliché to say the next game is the most important because it’s the next one, but based on what’s happening with the Lions, it really is. Detroit has lost five of six games. Its defense doesn’t appear to be improving, and its offense might or might not have Matthew Stafford. The Lions get the Cowboys at home, and if they can’t beat Dallas, their season will be all but over considering the state of the NFC and that of the NFC North.” — Michael Rothstein

CBS Sports: 23 (Previous 20)

“If Matt Stafford is out for a while they are done. They are probably done anyway.” — Pete Prisco

Sports Illustrated: 24 (Previous: 16)

“Matthew Stafford has been this team’s most important player since Megatron pulled the plug, and predictably the Lions couldn’t squeeze enough out of Jeff Driskel to take advantage of two late fourth quarter drives. Detroit has underdelivered on the early season promise they flashed in those tight losses to the Chiefs and Packers.” — MMQB staff

Sporting News: 22 (Previous: 18)

“The Lions did their best to hang with the Bears, with Jeff Driskel doing his best Matthew Stafford impression at times. But the injury-related uncertainty of their usually durable leader during his best NFL season has to be a big emotional blow.” — Vinnie Iyer

Today’s the day: Everything you need to know about Disney+

Everything you need to know to get using the new Disney+ platform, including how to stream, price, and more.

Today is the day. Disney is opening up its vault with a new streaming service called Disney+. It begins today, November 12, and is available in the United States, Canada, and Netherlands to start.

For fans of Disney, Star Wars, National Geographic, Marvel, ESPN … these are exciting times. Disney has gone and made a big old conglomerate of content, and they’re now offering it with a standalone streaming service that’s pretty affordable compared to other options out on the market.

So let’s go through it. Let’s find out what all the fuss is about, and show you how to download Disney+ if you see fit.

What is Disney+?

Disney+ is a new standalone streaming service from Disney. It features almost 500 movies and over 7,500 episodes of television, per Disney.

What does Disney+ offer?

Yes, you will be getting all the classic Disney films you know and love. But Disney also owns Marvel, and Star Wars, and National Geographic, so you’re getting all of that good stuff, too. They’re also rolling out a new standalone Star Wars chapter: The Mandalorian, which for many Star Wars nuts will be worth the price of admission alone.

What does Disney+ cost?

Disney+ costs $6.99 a month, or you can get a year subscription for $69.99. They also have a bundle option where you can get ESPN+ and Hulu (with ads) for $12.99 a month.

How do I start using Disney+?

Disney+ is available for download on most major streaming devices. You can sign up and start watching on your laptop right now at disneyplus.com.

It’s also available on the following devices to start: Amazon FireTV and FireOS, Apple iOS and Apple TV, Android/Chromecast, Roku, Xbox One, PS4, LG webOS smart TVs and Samsung Smart TV.

Once you have an account, it will work on multiple devices for you.

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