gunnar hendershow

Oh so it's going to be a rule that can't ever be interpreted correctly. Wonderful.

I am curious what will separate non-shortlist players from those getting in right away in the future. Obviously a currently active player like Harry Kane or Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't need to be put up to a vote once they retire. But there's presumably going to be years where that slam dunk inductee isn't there and do they just look at the prior year's shortlist for the best player who didn't get in?

I just knew this was coming when Mark Andrews got hurt from one on primetime TV. I kinda don't like it because you've already told defensive players where else they can't make or initiate contact. The space gets smaller and smaller. I'm surprised it was unanimous.

I want John Terry to get in just to see if he dons a full kit for his induction ceremony.

Peter Angelos has passed away at 94.

I agree with that top 5. You wouldn't trade up for a WR and Arizona seems committed to a quantity over quality currently. Marvin Jr in a Greg Roman offense is hilarious. His WRs don't typically have numbers well below career averages or anything but the routes are awful and designed to open up space for TEs. I've wondered if they'll trade down to get Bowers but without a top WR on the roster they're definitely taking one of them at 5. Ravens are definitely going OT or CB with their first pick. I sense they'll patchwork edge rushing again. OT is a more immediate need but they'll be taking a look at all the CBs and if one they love is there I doubt EDC flinches.

He more or less is, though spring training success can just mean "mashed AAA level pitching". There's just a lot of guys without options that they'd lose if they DFA'd any of them and they currently don't want to do that. Someone will get injured at some point and then they'll bring Holliday up. Right now, with what happened to the Mets, teams are being very cautious having the season-opening IL stints to avoid DFAing players, but after a few weeks there will be plausible deniability you could say.

Jackson Holliday has been reassigned to the minor league camp and won't be on the Opening Day roster. Orioles are frankly in a pickle because they have too many guys without options right now. No doubt he'll be up later on in the season, as will Mayo and Kjerstad, but to start it's not a huge surprise. Especially since, as I repeatedly get reminded, you need infielders fluent in Spanish if you're going to have Spanish-speaking pitchers.

What's a club to do? The betting companies will pay more. If the league wants to do away with them, should offer to subsidize non-betting sponsors to offset the difference. Then, of course, that cost gets passed down to the fans so not great either.

It would be exactly how a prominent athlete with a gambling habit would want to do it, have someone else be the person "placing the bets" so that if it boils over they can be absolved. People aren't crazy for thinking that's what happened, unfortunately.

There might be more to this since it sounds like Ohtani was going to pay off his gambling debts. Then the attorneys and maybe team/MLB got involved.

I take back saying that the England kit looks like France. The pictures they released had a dumb filter that made them look dark blue but that's actually purple. Great work, marketing team.

Chapter 9

The saga that is the teams finally squaring up and punching back against Boras continues. Snell to the Giants. 2 years/$62 million w/ an opt-out.

I believe, while both away days, Forest still has fixtures against Sheff Utd and Burnely whereas Luton are done with both. Feel as if that may make all the difference.

Why did they go "let's dress like France"?

From the Pro Bowl to being a 3rd stringer. Fall from grace

Can't call attention to the match-fixing that's definitely happening in college and probably seeping into the NBA.

Bears got nothing for him after all that. Wow

Start time was inconvenient for me on a Saturday and, well, didn't miss much it appears. Wolves-Coventry was incredibly slow when I was watching but I missed the entire 2nd half and, evidently, some magic.

Read once you get through the first part of it

I assume you mean Randy White? There's a lot of guys right below that top 3, Joe Greene and Warren Sapp come to mind. But it's very much a locked in top 3.

It does sometimes happen that a club in the midst of a disappointing league season wind up storming through the Champions League. Liverpool in 2005 and Chelsea in 2012 both immediately spring to mind.

I believe it was rumored after the Super Bowl too and he may have even been asked about it right after the game. Analytics generally don't lie about careers and he's either a top 3 lock or the greatest interior defensive lineman of all-time.

Aaron Donald has retired.