Articles

Why We Watch: Dirk Nowitzki, The Stretch

Jonathan Tjarks

It's not just that Dirk Nowitzki revolutionized the position he plays on the floor, although he did do that. But in becoming both a great player and a NBA champion, Nowitzki also exploded his own narrative, and won the right to write his own ending.

What's Eating Roger Goodell

David Roth

Whatever Super Bowl Sunday brings us, Krewe du Vieux's float of a giant vagina eating Roger Goodell has already given us the most enduring, and maybe most appropriate (if still plenty inappropriate), image for Super Bowl XLV.

The Lost Scrolls of Dr. Z

Diana Moskovitz

Sports Illustrated Presents Dr. Z's Greatest Moments in Super Bowl History should be the most famous piece of sportswriting about football, period. So how come you’ve almost certainly never heard of it?

10 Royal Rumble Silver Linings

Tom Breihan

It's usually one of the WWE's most reliably entertaining events, but Sunday's Royal Rumble was mostly a dispiriting and Rock-afflicted mess. Mostly, but not entirely.

Why We Watch: Joakim Noah, In Pursuit

Patrick Hajduch

Joakim Noah was a widely reviled disaster in Chicago, right up until the moment that he became the best and most reliably berserk reason to watch the Bulls. During the good times and the bad, Noah has always been himself. In his new, All-Star guise, he's simply more himself than ever.

Sportsflicks: Second String, or The Bills Win The Super Bowl

Tom Keiser

It may be some time before the Buffalo Bills play in another Super Bowl. Luckily, there's Second String, the movie in which a tiny Canadian quarterback with a big heart leads the Bills to an unexpected win. Also, Jon Voight wears a hat and looks angry.

Robert Fick and Dmitri Young Are Making Sense

Drew Avery

It seemed reasonable to expect a mess from FYI, the low-budget "vodcast" hosted by former Detroit Tigers misfits/miscreants Dmitri Young and Robert Fick. But while the show itself was kind of a mess, it was also oddly earnest and endearing. And that was before they started telling Matt Anderson stories.

Why We Watch: Pepe, Discipline, Punishment, Excitement

Elliott Turner

Why do you hate Pepe? Looking beyond particulars such as that Messi hand stamp (and subsequent disingenuous apology that would make Lance Armstrong look sincere), the reasons you hate Pepe can be easily classified. However, here's the odd part: the reasons you hate Pepe are also the reasons you should (and deep down do) love him. 

Jim Harbaugh's Wild Will

Eric Freeman

Jim Harbaugh is pretty much a lunatic, inarguably a great football coach, and a leader who has proven surprisingly willing to let his players express themselves. All are admirable to at least some degree, but Harbaugh also represents some of the worst things about the NFL.

When Smush Parker Saved The World

Flinder Boyd

Smush Parker was years removed from his last NBA game when he played in the most important game of his basketball career. That game happened to be an outwardly insignificant basketball game between two losing Greek teams, during the darkest days of that nation's economic crisis.