Tag: FTW

Why the NFL’s last-minute Christmas plans may be delaying the 2024 schedule release

Let this be a lesson that the NFL never learns anything.

The NFL’s 2024 schedule release is probably supposed to be happening this week. Even though it probably could’ve been a succinct email, we’re supposed to learn when everyone will play each other. But it seems the NFL’s own (unsurprising) last-minute hubris might delay the next part of the calendar, where we breathlessly devote time to the league without a second thought.

According to Pro Football Talk, the league’s relatively recent Christmas plans to play two games on the upcoming Wednesday holiday might have thrown this schedule bonanza for a loop. It’s apparently to the point that the league likely hasn’t even figured out the concrete logistics for Christmas, which has delayed everything else.

More from Pro Football Talk:

“Equally mysterious is the reason for the delay. The most obvious source of the complication is the fairly recent decision to play two games on Wednesday, December 25 — after the league insisted for months that it wouldn’t wedge games onto Christmas when it lands on a Tuesday or a Wednesday. Between picking the teams to play on Christmas and selling the broadcast rights to the games and then having those same four teams play the preceding Saturday, the plan might have thrown a wrench into the gears.”

Do you mean to tell me the NFL might have gotten a little arrogant about its success and growth, which potentially delayed another part of the year it wants to dominate? No. No way. I’m so shocked.

Tim Legler roasted Jamal Murray for his silly (and incredibly inaccurate) heat pack toss

What a brilliant roast of Jamal Murray.

Monday night was a rough one for the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets and Nikola Jokic. Denver officially fell behind 2-0 in its second-round series with the juggernaut Minnesota Timberwolves and looked utterly lifeless in the process. The player who probably had the toughest night was Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray.

While getting flustered by the aggressive Minnesota defense, an injured Murray started cracking under the pressure. Things boiled over so much that he even threw a heat pack at referee Marc Davis from the sideline. According to Bennett Durando of the Denver Post, the incident is reportedly being reviewed by the league.

ESPN analyst Tim Legler had a unique take on the bizarre situation.

He used Murray’s abysmal Game 2 performance (3-of-18 from the field! more turnovers than assists!) to roast him over missing Davis with the heat pack:

Oof. Man. How do you ever live this down if you’re Murray? Not only did he get rattled in a big game, he completely lost his composure in the worst possible way. Roasts like this from Legler are well-earned.

The Timberwolves have the Nuggets completely against the wall and Nikola Jokic has nowhere to run

Nikola Jokic has to wear the most embarrassing loss of his career.

DENVER — Every NBA great has at least one truly embarrassing loss on their resume. Michael Jordan against the “Jordan Rules” Detroit Pistons. LeBron James against the 2010 Boston Celtics at the end of his first stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Magic Johnson against the 1981 Houston Rockets, falling way short of a surprise title defense. It doesn’t matter how exceptional you are. Eventually, you can’t avoid that one glaring blemish people will never forget.

For Nikola Jokic, it might be the 2024 Minnesota Timberwolves.

Monday night was a must-win game for the reigning NBA champions. The math on teams winning a playoff series after falling down 2-0 is so short, but it’s not impossible. The math on teams advancing after losing the first two games at home?

We’re almost talking about seeing Haley’s Comet again before that happens.

Yet, despite the situation, despite his knowing that Jamal Murray is nowhere near full capacity with a calf strain, necessitating that Denver somehow get more from its likely three-time MVP, Jokic laid a massive egg on national television. Sixteen points. Thirteen shots (just five in the first half). Four turnovers. Against a relentless and confident Minnesota squad that is tailor-made to stop him — that played without likely four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert — Jokic wilted at the first sign of adversity.

He took one punch, checked out, and so did the Nuggets in defeat.

Jokic’s postgame press conference trying to diagnose a 26-point loss that never felt all that close didn’t help matters. He sure sounded defeated.

When asked to clarify his Game 1 comments about how “losing doesn’t motivate him,” Jokic took a long, awkward pause before eventually settling on winning actually, in fact, motivating him. Sure. Later, he couldn’t pick a concrete answer for why the Timberwolves, who look like the NBA Finals favorite after a 6-0 start to these playoffs, have had him and the Denver offense so stymied.

“Maybe we are trying too much just by driving into a lot of people,” Jokic explained. “I think we can help each other, just trust the pass a little bit more. But one part is they are physical, and they make you play that way.”

It didn’t get much better. When asked about how he expects his team to respond from its disastrous 0-2 hole for Friday night’s Game 3 in Minneapolis, Jokic shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

“I don’t know. We will see.”

Jokic is going to wear Monday night for a long time. Unless Denver achieves the unfathomable and somehow takes four of the next five games to beat these ravenous Timberwolves, there is no other reasonable conclusion. These kinds of disinterested, frustrated efforts do not fade into obscurity from the mind of your average NBA basketball aficionado. They are the types of losses that linger and make you question everything you thought you knew about an all-time great.

“Yeah, he got that title, BUT maybe he really could be victimized in the pick and roll.”

“Yeah, he won three MVPs, BUT that one game against the Timberwolves. Woof.”

“Yeah, he’s a great leader, BUT it sure seems like he did sometimes quit when his team needed him.”

It’s unfair, given the status of Murray’s health (and other questions) on an already thin Denver roster, but that’s the deal when you’re the star player. This is the unofficial contract the “best player in the world” signs. Either come through for your team at all costs, or wear the embarrassment for everyone to see. It’s never been about being fair.

Minnesota’s leader, Anthony Edwards, wasn’t convinced Jokic and the Nuggets are quite down and out after Monday night’s humiliation.

Right now, he might be the only one who still thinks so.

“That’s the defending champs over there,” Edwards said. “They’re not gonna come out and play like that again. We gotta be ready to take their punch.”

Mason Black’s dad was so emotional after watching the Giants pitcher get his first career strikeout

What a heartwarming speech.

There are few things better in sports than watching a proud parent beam with joy over their child’s success. Mason Black’s family afforded us this awesome opportunity on Monday afternoon.

With the former third-round draft pick making his MLB debut against the Philadelphia Phillies, of course his parents were going to be there to support him. When Black eventually notched his first career strikeout in the early goings, his dad was simply over the moon.

He was almost at a loss for words before simply saying what he felt in his heart. Moments like this remind you what sports and life are all about:

Oh, goodness, who’s cutting onions? Cut it out!

The Black family will probably remember this moment for the rest of their lives — as they should — because that little speech right there is just special.

Featured image courtesy of NBC Sports Bay Area

Pat Riley had a fiery response to Jimmy Butler trolling the Celtics while injured

Pat Riley sounds VERY annoyed with Jimmy Butler.

Fresh off an appearance in the 2023 NBA Finals, the Miami Heat disappointingly fell way short of their goals after losing to the Boston Celtics in five games in the first round. Part of that might have been due to Jimmy Butler’s knee injury, who didn’t appear in the series.

It’s what Butler did while sidelined that seems to have ruffled the wrong feathers in South Beach.

On Monday, during his season-ending press conference, Heat president Pat Riley gave his take on Miami’s year and what might happen next for the organization. When it came to discussing Butler’s antics while trolling the Celtics, Riley sounded very annoyed, to put it lightly:

To be fair, Riley probably has a point. Unless you’re actually playing, there’s no need to fan the flames for a competitive playoff rival. I probably wouldn’t have said this in public, though, so it’s worth noting that Riley did. He’s been around the block before with star players.

This sentiment is especially notable in the context of a discussion that centered around Butler’s future, who has two years left on his contract with the Heat. Despite any rumors to the contrary, it doesn’t seem like Miami and Riley are quite ready to move on:

What this all sounds like to me is that Riley wants his franchise player to just carry himself more like a franchise player. It’s probably not to the point that he would sever ties with Butler, but who knows?

Nikola Jokic’s dry joke about the Timberwolves’ big men sets the stage for the Nuggets’ toughest test yet

Nikola Jokic always tells the truth.

The Denver Nuggets are the reigning NBA champions with Nikola Jokic, the best player in the world and the likely soon-to-be three-time MVP. They will need him to start playing like it to advance past the resurgent Minnesota Timberwolves, a fellow NBA Finals-caliber opponent.

And he knows it.

On Saturday night, after the Nuggets dropped a disappointing Game 1 at home, Jokic predictably played it cool during his postgame press conference. Even though the Nuggets got off to yet another slow start and were “out-clutched” by Anthony Edwards and his friends, Jokic didn’t seem all that troubled. This sort of even-keeled approach has served him well in his nine-year career.

But Jokic’s dry joke about Minnesota’s three primary big men — Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Naz Reid — was revealing. While undoubtedly intended as respect for his opponent, it was probably also Jokic acknowledging the tall (pun not intended) test in front of him and his team:

Jokic isn’t lying. Denver could use another viable big man, even just some spot minutes, to throw into its rotation. Because what the Timberwolves can do to the Nuggets that most other teams can’t is throw three different high-quality big men at him.

Gobert is a likely soon-to-be four-time Defensive Player of the Year. Towns is one of the most gifted seven-footers in basketball. Reid won this season’s Sixth Man of the Year honors. Even with Gobert and Towns both fighting foul trouble on Saturday, Reid came in and scored 14 fourth-quarter points while doing an admirable job defending Jokic. Meanwhile, Jokic had his second straight game with at least seven turnovers, showing that he might be cracking at carrying a heavy burden for Denver while Jamal Murray nurses a calf strain.

Should that sort of mix continue, with Minnesota’s bigs collectively trying to wear Jokic down, the Nuggets’ title defense may not last much longer. If their inconsistent play doesn’t tell the story here, then the fact that they now trail in a playoff series for the first time in two years should. In due time, they may well illustrate why it’s so hard to repeat in the NBA.

Still, there remains hope for Denver.

Jokic is seldom this uncharacteristically sloppy for long stretches. With his and the Nuggets’ backs against the wall, they have usually responded very well during this era of Denver basketball with this core. When push comes to shove, the Nuggets are doing the shoving. It’s more that they haven’t had to answer this kind of adversity in a while.

The 2020 version of the Nuggets came back from consecutive 3-1 series deficits against the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers. In 2021, without both an injured Murray and Michael Porter Jr., a severely undermanned Denver squad beat the Portland Trail Blazers after also losing Game 1 of the series at home. Heck, even during last year’s Finals, and even though they were definitively the better team, Denver rebounded from a disappointing Game 2 defeat at home to the Miami Heat to storm back and take both matchups in South Beach before eventually winning its first title in franchise history in an emphatic five games.

The Timberwolves might be different. Even beyond Minnesota’s three-headed Cerberus of bigs, Edwards is a matchup problem that Denver doesn’t have a definitive answer for. In all honesty, most teams might not have an answer for Minnesota’s strengths, which is why it wouldn’t be surprising to see it win this series.

But for now, it’s just one game and one loss. It doesn’t pay to ride the emotional highs and lows of what could be a long series, as some Nuggets veterans professed on Saturday. That is, provided they even things up at 1-1 on Monday.

Denver still has Jokic, perhaps the one player in the league who could really dig deep, go into overdrive, and turn this series into the all-out war most everyone still expects. It’s hindsight in retrospect and might just be a moral victory, but the fact that the Nuggets held a four-point halftime lead and were tied with Minnesota late in the fourth quarter despite another poor Murray shooting effort should be encouraging.

The Nuggets can win this series, but Jokic and Murray have to start playing like Jokic and Murray. Jokic specifically must be the best player on either team, something that happened in each of those previous instances when opponents actually backed the Nuggets up against the wall. Murray, meanwhile, probably can’t leave the top three of the overall hierarchy by the time the dust settles. We have yet to see it this postseason but to advance to their third Western Conference Finals in the last five seasons, the Nuggets’ franchise players will have to bring their A+ game moving forward.

No questions asked.

These Nuggets have a precedent of responding with fury when they take a gut punch. It’s been a while since they took such a vicious body blow at the hands of a terrific opponent, even longer than these playoffs.

Now they have no choice but to respond in kind and deliver.

J.J. Watt is prepared for DeMeco Ryans to call for an NFL return if the Texans really need him

J.J. Watt has unfinished business in the NFL.

J.J. Watt knows the score. While an overwhelming majority of younger NFL legends are probably unlikely to walk their retirements back (Aaron Donald, cough, cough), Watt certainly fits the bill of someone who could suit up again in the right situation.

Enter DeMeco Ryans, one of Watt’s old teammates and close NFL friends, as he coaches the rising Houston Texans.

At a charity softball game on Saturday, Watt revealed he had previously told Ryans’ that if the head coach came calling from a place of real desperation, he’d make his NFL return. However, the former three-time Defensive Player of the Year maintained that this offer will only last for another year because it’s so taxing to try and keep his body in good enough condition to play in the NFL.

Here’s Watt’s quote about coming back to play for the Texans in full:

“I’ve had 12 great years in this league and I’m very thankful to have walked away healthy and playing great,” Watt said. “I told DeMeco [Ryans] last year, I said, ‘Don’t call unless you absolutely need it, but if you ever do call, I’ll be there.’ And he [Ryans] knows not to call unless he absolutely needs it. This is the last year I’ll tell him that, because I’m not going to keep training the way I’ve been training, but he knows that if he ever truly does need it, I’ll be there for him. I don’t anticipate that happening. They’ve got a very good group.”

After everything he’s been through, it remains highly unlikely that the 35-year-old Watt would come back to the league. In fact, he seems to only really be considering it because his friend now coaches the team where Watt made most of his NFL legacy. Well, that and the Texans appear to be a prime Super Bowl contender — something Watt unfortunately never won during his career.

Imagine Watt coming off the defensive edge for Ryans’ Texans while CJ Stroud launches dimes on offense. At the very least, it’s a super cool thought.

Why Aaron Donald’s retirement might not be entirely set in stone

Aaron Donald might be living his best life but football is different.

If you can walk away from the NFL in good health while having accomplished everything of significance, you should take it and run. That’s what Los Angeles Rams legend Aaron Donald did when he retired earlier this offseason.

But according to Rams GM Les Snead, there might be an (extremely unlikely) possibility that Donald suits up in a helmet and shoulder pads once again soon.

In a recent interview with The Rich Eisen Show, Snead maintained that he would keep Donald’s phone number on speed dial in case the Rams make another playoff run. Why? Because he’s not entirely convinced Donald could stay away if he sees another potential Super Bowl championship in the front view mirror.

More from The Rich Eisen Show:

“I did mention to Aaron [Donald] that going back to our Super Bowl [56] run, that there was a player by the name of Eric Weddle, who kind of jumped into the playoffs, and we signed him to the practice squad,” Snead said. “And we standard elevated him for four straight games to a Super Bowl championship. So, I did mention if we happen to get to the playoffs again, maybe we’ll circle back and see if the cup’s not quite filled. But that’s just a rumor. I doubt Aaron’s going to do that.”

Donald walked away from the Rams with 10 Pro Bowls, eight First-Team All-Pro selections, three Defensive Player of the Year Awards, and, of course, that fateful win in Super Bowl 56. He is arguably the greatest defender in pro football history, and he will strut into Canton, Ohio, as a First-Ballot Hall of Famer one day. Lest I forget, according to Spotrac, the 32-year-old earned over $170 million in his 10 NFL seasons and left the game in good health — at least relative to how other football players might stand near the latter stages of their careers.

It would flatly be pretty shocking for Donald to come back to the game in any capacity, given that he really has nothing else to accomplish and is coasting in a well-deserved retirement.

Snead agreed on those points, but, as he continued on The Rich Eisen Show, that’s not gonna stop him from trying to get Donald back in the fold:

“Aaron’s [Donald] one of those guys where he’s so principled, he might feel uncomfortable that, ‘You know what, I didn’t go through those other 18 (games) with the guys, I’m not sure I can go through the playoffs with them,'” Snead said. “Not sure. We might tempt him. No breaking news here.”

Needless to say, Donald pulling a “Tom Brady” and coming back to the NFL this fall probably won’t come to fruition. But hey, I suppose crazier things have happened.

NHL fans ripped Mitch Marner for his awful back-checking effort on the Bruins’ Game 7 winning goal

Mitch Marner has some explaining to do.

The Toronto Maple Leafs had an incredible 3-1 series comeback over the Boston Bruins in hand. Then they went, and Leafs’d it all up (yes, we’re making that a verb now). And well, of course, they did!

With their season on the line, with one unlucky and bad bounce capable of sending them home, the Maple Leafs got caught sleeping at the worst possible time in the early stages of overtime in Saturday night’s Game 7. Specifically, while various Toronto players froze while back-checking, it’s Mitch Marner’s that is the hardest to overlook.

That’s because he got caught puck-watching while his man, Boston’s David Pastrnak, skated right behind him to get in position for the game-winning goal. The sequence remains so brutal on every rewatch if you’re a Toronto fan:

While Pastrnak deserves credit for the skillful finish — and yes, it was an unlucky bounce for Toronto — it’s hard not to wonder what happens if Marner doesn’t fall asleep at the wheel. These are the kinds of “little” plays that hockey players have no choice but to make if they want their team’s season to continue. Instead, in the biggest moment of the Maple Leafs’ season, Marner froze, and that was just enough to let the Bruins and Pastrnak sneak by.

(Note: Marner also had just three points in the seven-game series. He is a first-line player for Toronto. Yikes.)

Despite an incredibly talented core of players on paper, the Maple Leafs now have seven first-round losses in the postseason since 2017. The franchise has not advanced past the second round since 2002. With players like Marner making basic mistakes like this, it’s not too hard to see why this time of year remains a veritable torture chamber for Toronto fans.

NHL fans were naturally aghast over Marner’s effort on the Bruins’ game-winning goal:

The Aces set up a joke shrine to Candace Parker on her old locker to celebrate her retirement

OK, the crutch is a hilarious touch.

An all-time legend of the game, Candace Parker walked away from the WNBA as one of the greatest basketball players in history. She achieved virtually everything significant in her career and definitively left the game a better place for the next generation.

So of course her old Las Vegas Aces teammates were going to be sad about her departure. Kudos to them for showing a great sense of humor about it, too.

In a new video courtesy of Sydney Colson, the two-time defending champions have set up a joke shrine to Parker in her old locker. It’s set to emotional music and features various Aces players, such as A’ja Wilson and Alysha Clark, dropping off specific mementos about Parker, like a crutch and what appears to be wine.

It’s very well done and perfectly tongue-in-cheek:

Now that is one proper (and amusing!) way you say goodbye to an icon of the game.