Life's Too Sports

The Atlanta Braves defeated the Cincinnati Reds by the score of 1-0 in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series on Wednesday. Despite Reds' starter Trevor Bauer pitching an absolute gem (7.2 IP, 2 H, 12 SO), the Braves managed to capitalize in the clutch moments of a scoreless contest. Atlanta didn't make an error on Wednesday afternoon. Their defensive capabilities were on full display in the seventh inning, when Austin Riley's diving tag prevented Aristides Aquino from breaking the scoreless tie. Meanwhile, the Braves also received a stellar performance from their young starter Max Fried (7.0 IP, 6 H, 5 SO). As the matchup crept closer to becoming the longest scoreless game in MLB postseason history, however, it was Atlanta's relievers who repeatedly dealt clutch strikes to escape jams. In the 11th inning, Tyler Matzek struck out Mike Moustakas to strand the bases loaded. In the 12th, Matzek struck out Freddy Galvis with two runners in scoring positi...

On June 26, 1997,  Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling introduced the world to a remarkable new sport called Quidditch. In theory, Rowling's invention is fairly simple. For those who are unfamiliar with the game, I will provide a brief description of its rules.  Quidditch is played in a 7-on-7 format on flying broomsticks. Each team features three "Chasers" who attempt to throw a large ball (called the Quaffle) past the opposing team's "Keeper" into one of three circular hoops.  Every time the Chasers succeed in beating the Keeper, their team is awarded 10 points. Meanwhile, there are a pair of bat-wielding "Beaters" on each team who add to the chaos by clubbing two smaller balls (called Bludgers) at their opposition. However, the most important position on the field is that of the "Seeker", which is Harry Potter's position on Gryffindor's Quidditch team during his time at Hogwarts.  Each team has one Seeker who scours t...

For the first time since 2004, the Tampa Bay Lightning are Stanley Cup Champions. Despite faltering in Game 5 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals, the Lightning clinched eternal glory on Monday night with a 2-0 victory in Game 6. The deciding goal came off the stick of young phenom Brayden Point in the opening period, as the Dallas Stars mustered only 22 shots in the series finale. After falling in six games to the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals, Monday's victory had to feel particularly sweet for the Lightning, who endured 15 postseason overtime periods -- the most in NHL history -- en route to their second title. Emerging as the best in a 31-team league is no small feat, and the 2019-2020 NHL season tested this explosive Tampa Bay squad in more ways than one. After a four-month hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Lightning secured their spot as the 2-seed in the Eastern Conference following a series of mid-summer Round Robin matchups. However, a ...

The San Francisco Giants saw their season come to a premature conclusion on  Sunday , largely due to the subpar efforts of home plate umpire Rob Drake. According to Umpire Auditor, Drake made 27 incorrect calls during Sunday's game. Alongside the image posted above, Giants' insider Alex Pavlovic tweeted: "Rob Drake was awful all afternoon. Ended the game (and season) on this pitch. Bring on the robots." While it is easy to blame San Francisco's demise on a bad strike call rather than assessing their failures as a whole (the team wasted golden opportunities to clinch a postseason berth on  Thursday  and  Friday ), it isn't as though one poor call ended their season. All three of Austin Slater's strikeouts (including the one that eliminated San Francisco from postseason contention) came on pitches that Statcast registered as balls. In the seventh inning, Drake also rung up Mauricio Dubon on a pitch inside; in the eighth, he rung up Evan Longoria on a pitch b...

Following heartbreaking losses on Thursday and Friday , the San Francisco Giants (29-29) entered Saturday evening's matchup with their postseason fate still in their own hands. Unfortunately for the Giants, that is no longer the case. Despite a solid outing from Johnny Cueto, San Francisco's offense was unable to produce on Saturday. After the Giants finally tallied a pair of runs in the eighth inning, the Padres countered with three in the ninth en route to a lopsided 6-2 victory. Although San Francisco is technically tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for the National League's 8-seed (at 29-30), Milwaukee owns the tiebreaker heading into the final day of the regular season. In other words: for the Giants to qualify for the 2020 MLB Playoffs on Sunday, they must win  and the Brewers must lose. There is a small silver lining for San Francisco in considering the status of the St. Louis Cardinals (29-28). If the Cardinals lose to the Brewers tomorrow, their season i...

On Thursday, the San Francisco Giants suffered a heartbreaking loss against the Colorado Rockies. On Friday, the San Francisco Giants suffered a heartbreaking loss against the San Diego Padres. If that sounds like déjà vu, it should. Despite a shaky bullpen performance, the Giants seemed poised to turn their fortunes around after a 5-4 victory in Game 1 of Friday's double-header. However, any celebration was short-lived, as Trent Grisham launched a walk-off home run to propel the Padres to a 6-5 victory in Game 2. For San Francisco, the Game 2 defeat was particularly painful, as they took a major hit in the expanded Wild Card standings (pictured below) while allowing a visiting team to celebrate a walk-off victory on their home field. 2020 -- it's been an odd year. Furthermore, a proclivity for blowing leads isn't promising for these Giants (29-29) as they head into their two most crucial games of the season. The good news : the Giants still control their own d...

Thursday's extra-inning loss was nothing short of heartbreaking for the San Francisco Giants. Consecutive victories over the Rockies had catapulted this team back into the 7-seed before their 3-0 lead disappeared in the final game of the series. The Giants will certainly feel the effects of Thursday's defeat after stranding the winning and tying runs at third base (in the 10th and 11th innings, respectively). However, despite the obvious blow, San Francisco's playoff hopes remain alive . Courtesy of the Cardinals' victory over the Brewers on Thursday, the Giants enter Friday clinging to the 8-seed. Here's a look at the National League postseason picture. The Giants are slated to finish their season with a four-game set against the Padres (including a double-header on Friday). On paper, this matchup doesn't look great for two reasons . First,  San Francisco is 1-5 against San Diego this season, and the Padres have doubled the Giants' offensive ou...

Entering Wednesday's slate of games, the National League playoff picture looks like this. Though the Dodgers, Braves, Cubs, and Padres have had the privilege of celebrating postseason births, the 5-8 seeds remain hopelessly undecided. In the National League Central, the Cardinals, Reds, and Brewers are all looking to clinch the 5 or 6-seed and avoid Wild Card positioning. In the National League East, the Phillies have an uphill climb if they wish to surpass the Marlins to do the same. And then there's the San Francisco Giants. Projected to finish 24-36 during their 2020 campaign, the Giants have already exceeded expectations this season. However, entering this final homestand , San Francisco hoped to catch fire and steal one of the Wild Card playoff spots. Despite losing in embarrassing fashion on Monday, the Giants rebounded with an impressive win on Tuesday to work their way back into a tie with the Reds and Brewers. And now, only six games remain. Unfortunately for San Franc...

Lumos. As I have not written an article about the Harry Potter universe since my assessment of fandom shipping in 2017, I thought it might be time to dust off my old spellbooks and get to work. What better way to ease back into this marvelous realm than with a complete ranking of the wizarding school's infamously cursed teaching position? From 1991 to 1998, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry saw seven "Defence Against the Dark Arts" Professors instruct its students. And here are my rankings. 7. Dolores Umbridge Placing Umbridge last has to be a controversial pick given some of the horribly evil instructors who shared this position with her throughout the 1990s. However, her character is absolutely intolerable. In Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, Umbridge refuses to allow her students any hands-on practice with spells, denies the return of Lord Voldemort, and subjects our favorite protagonist to cruel and unusual punishment. While her movie depiction is quite a...

With eight games remaining in their 2020 campaign, the San Francisco Giants (26-26) currently hold 10th place in the National League postseason race. 2020 has proven to be a challenging year for everyone, and the Giants' regular season efforts are no exception. Despite starting the season with a record of 8-16, the team caught fire in late August  to propel themselves back into relevance. However, the Giants' final stretch will determine whether their resurgence is enough to play for baseball's ultimate prize. There will be eight National League postseason contenders this season.  Due to a divisional record tiebreaker, San Francisco will need a combination of losses from the Cardinals (26-24), Phillies (27-26), Reds (27-27), or Brewers (26-26) to snag the 7 or 8-seed. The Giants' final homestand begins tonight, with the Rockies flying in for a four-game set. San Francisco will then conclude its season with four against the Padres (including a Friday doubleheader to make...

On Friday, the NBA announced that Bucks' superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo had received his second consecutive MVP award. After the Lakers defeated the Nuggets 126-114 in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, fellow NBA superstar LeBron James was approached for comment.  He didn't hold back. "It pissed me off. That's my true answer," James said. “It pissed me off because out of 101 votes, I got 16 first-place votes. That’s what pissed me off more than anything. Not saying the winner wasn’t deserving of the MVP, but that pissed me off.” If I had to guess, I'd say he's pissed off. However, James wasn't alone in his criticism of the announcement. USA Today's Mark Medina wrote an opinion article illustrating some reasons he believes James deserved the award over Antetokounmpo. Medina argues that James 1) led the league in assists, 2) performed better than Antetokounmpo in head-to-head matchups, and 3) navigated a young Lakers team through th...

On September 16, the Los Angeles Dodgers became the first MLB team to punch their ticket to the 2020 MLB Playoffs.  As of September 18, the Dodgers boast a record of 36-15, and seem to be on their way to an eighth consecutive NL West Division title. However, despite their tremendous regular season success, Los Angeles has repeatedly failed to capture a World Series trophy since 1988. Here are five reasons they will be unsuccessful once again in 2020. 1. Clayton Kershaw It's no secret that Clayton Kershaw's regular season success has not translated to impressive postseason numbers during his illustrious career. In 2,322 innings pitched, Kershaw currently holds an astounding regular season record of 174-76 with an ERA of 2.44. Meanwhile, Kershaw has pitched 158.1 postseason innings to claim a record of 9-11 with a 4.43 ERA. These numbers from the Dodgers' ace are no coincidence, as he has taken the mound in 32 playoff games and failed to impress more often than not. Aside fr...

One year ago today, I had the opportunity to see my childhood idol in concert for the second time, as Avril Lavigne took the stage at Fox Theater in Oakland, California for the third show of her "Head Above Water Tour". Anticipation of the evening began a year prior (in September 2018), as Lavigne announced her triumph over Lyme disease by releasing the title track for her upcoming sixth studio album: "Head Above Water". This was a very personal song for Lavigne, as it was written during a vulnerable time in which she spent two years bedridden. In an interview with Billboard magazine, she said, " I was in bed for [expletive] two years. It's a bug - a spirochete - so you take these antibiotics, and they start killing it. But it's a smart bug: it morphs into a cystic form, so you have to take other antibiotics at the same time. It went undiagnosed for so long that I was kind of [expletive]." Thankfully for Lavigne and her family, friends, and fans...

In the past few weeks, I've ranked Maroon 5's " Red Pill Blues ", Taylor Swift's " folklore ", and Paramore's " After Laughter ". However, this has easily been my most challenging album ranking to date. Before I dive right into it (see what I did there?), I'd like to confess that I don't listen to many of the featured artists on this album; thus, I'm mainly assessing it through the lens of Sheeran's discography. And now, as they say in the UK, off we go... 15. BLOW I sincerely wish I could rationalize my ranking of "BLOW". On this track, Ed Sheeran experiments with the rock genre, which should be extremely exciting. He also features a pair of artists that I admire immensely in Chris Stapleton and Bruno Mars. So what's the issue? Aside from simply being caught off-guard by a new sound, I feel that overwhelming instrumentation somewhat negates the vocals of three phenomenal singers here. Nonetheless, it's ...

As NBA star LeBron James stands merely four victories away from his 10th NBA Finals appearance, comparisons to all-time great Michael Jordan continue to circulate. Personally, I do not believe that LeBron James is the GOAT . However, I decided to test this debate in a best-of-7 series on NBA2K20. My simulated match-up features 1995-1996 Michael Jordan and 2015-2016 LeBron James, as both players are ranked 99 overall in the game system. Jordan entered this season at 32 years of age, 11 years after making his NBA debut. Meanwhile, James entered this season at 30 years of age, 12 years after making his NBA debut. Here's the breakdown. Game 1: MJ 21, LeBron 19 Jordan's line: 16 MIN, 21-46 FG, 26 REB, 1 STL, 3 BLK, 5 TO, 7 OR, 11 DNK, 0 FLS James' line: 16 MIN, 19-43 FG, 21 REB, 5 STL, 5 BLK, 2 TO, 4 OR, 7 DNK, 1 FLS Game 2: LeBron 21, MJ 16 James' line: 14 MIN, 21-37 FG, 22 REB, 0 STL, 4 BLK, 1 TO, 5 OR, 6 DNK, 1 FLS Jordan's line: 14 MIN, 16-38 FG, 14 REB...

Thursday, September 10      Chiefs 34, Texans 20           Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushes for 138 yards and a touchdown in his NFL debut           The Chiefs have won six straight Week 1 games          The Texans have lost four straight Week 1 games          Patrick Mahomes ties two Hall of Famers (Dan Marino and Kurt Warner) for the most  wins in a quarterbacks' first 32 career games since the 1970 merger Sunday, September 13     Raiders 34, Panthers 30         Josh Jacobs rushes for a career-high three touchdowns          The Raiders are 5-0 when Jacobs records a rushing touchdown (and 2-7 when he doesn't)          Derek Carr posts his 20th career game-winning drive (ranking second in the league since 2014)          The Panthers have lost nine consecu...

With the NBA and NHL deep into their respective playoff brackets, MLB approaching its modified postseason format, and the first NFL Sunday on tap for tomorrow, I thought it might be interesting to illustrate some of the more meaningful moments in my time as a sports fan. Recognizing that everyone invests in a unique combination of teams, I'm interested to know how my "Top 10 Sports Moments" stack up with those of my readers.  Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below and don't forget to "Subscribe" for future post notifications :) 10. The 2018 World Series: Red Sox beat Dodgers in 5 games As an avid San Francisco Giants fan, something about the Dodgers losing in the World Series is simply irresistible. There's nothing sweeter than watching your rivals spend absurd amounts of money each offseason, stack their roster to clinch the NL West, and ultimately crumble when it matters most. While this one wasn't quite as memorable as the Dodgers...