The Sportsballers

I spend what is probably an unhealthy amount of time thinking about baseball.   Usually I am thinking about ways to make the game more fun and interesting for fans.   Looking forward to the upcoming (hopefully), COVID-19-shortened, 60-game season I thought to myself, “what if the regular season were two of these?”   And fully down the rabbit hole I went. The Format ·          The regular season would be divided into two halves with the All-Star Game between, and each half would be 60 games (or 70 or 80 but the number of games is not important to this discussion). ·          Teams would qualify for the postseason based on the standings after each half. o    3 division winners and 1 wild card team in each League Scenarios ·          If 1 team wins its division in both halves, they advance to the Division Series. ·    ...

As you no doubt have heard by now, Washington’s football team announced today that they are officially retiring their nickname and are in the process of selecting a new name and logo that will “not use any Native American imagery.” In December of 2013, I wrote a blog post on my old site titled ‘ The Washington “Slurs,” ’ an extension of a college journalism assignment, in which I defended the use of the name. I considered as many sides to the situation as I could think of at the time. I considered the history of the name, with the understanding that there is a lot of controversy over how accurate the origin story is or even whether the coach we were supposedly “honoring” was actually Native American. I considered public opinion of various American Indian sources, including the differing opinions of the Oneida Indian Nation and of Robert Green, a retired Chief of the Patawomeck Tribe in the Fredericksburg area. I also considered various polls that have been conducted over t...

Hello, everyone!  As you may know, the Sportsballers concluded their most recent episode  with a friendly discussion regarding Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and his case for future Hall of Fame enshrinement.  Unfortunately, we had some technical difficulties and the debate was cut short, so as promised, here's my analysis of Matt Ryan's career so far and whether he's on the road to Canton. It goes without saying that there are many roads to the Hall of Fame.  Some guys make it by winning championships or individual accolades.  Others build their résumé with statistical prowess.  Some are just so gifted that achievements or numbers cannot explain their impact.  Does Matt Ryan meet the threshold for any of these paths to greatness?  We're about to find out. Career Accomplishments: This is probably the easiest area to evaluate for Matt Ryan.  He has won an MVP and made one Super Bowl appearance.  For comparison, I've lo...