Month: October 2024

data-mm-id=”_8hkg283hh”>Putting real world problems aside for a moment, it has been a very bad eight months for fans of the Boston Red Sox. Contract negotiations with the greatest home-grown talent they produced in decades deteriorated to the point where a trade felt inevitable. After months of waiting with sick stomachs, a deal was made, and the Red Sox received a paltry haul for Mookie Betts, one of the five best players in baseball. There were some legitimate arguments made about the value of paying any individual between $300 and $400 million for the next decade, but at its heart it was a cost-saving move made by an ownership group that has its fingers in dozens of pots around the world, including running Premier League side Liverpool. The following months did not improve matters. …

data-mm-id=”_jasx0fh2r”>This has been, without a doubt, the weirdest baseball season ESPN's Jeff Passan has seen in his nearly two decades of covering the sport. In wasn't all that long ago that fans tuned in for his early-morning updates on the labor talks and vacillated between hope for a season and guarded pessimism that one would never materialize. Yet here we are, on the first day of expanded playoffs after a 60-game sprint, made staccato by positive tests and daunting logistics. To borrow from a high schooler's yearbook quote, it's been a long, strange trip. One now entering a new leg. Passan, who told The Big Lead that he's learned he could survive without baseball, but that his life is exponentially richer with baseball in it, is part of the ESPN famili…

data-mm-id=”_2txbwz9yv”>The Buffalo Bills were on the cusp of their first playoff win since 1995. The Indianapolis Colts were trying to ruin their party. The Colts were driving down the field trailing by three, with the score at 27-24. Indy converted two straight fourth downs when Philip Rivers completed a pass to wideout Zach Pascal to put them nearly within field goal range. Paschal caught the pass, then got up and appeared to fumble while being tackled by Bills safety Jordan Poyer. But the officials called him down by contact. For some reason, an automatic review was not triggered and Sean McDermott had to sprint up the sideline to call a timeout. He did so barely before Indianapolis got the snap off, and the review was under way. It was clear as day that Pascal had gotten up and fu…

data-mm-id=”_lw1j5w4mr”>Juan Soto could be in a different uniform before the trade deadline. It seems impossible that we've come to this moment, but here we are. On Saturday, Ken Rosenthal reported for The Athletic that Soto rejected the Washington Nationals' latest gigantic extension offer worth $440 million over 15 seasons. It's an unholy amount of money even for a 23-year-old superstar/Scott Boras client, and Rosenthal said the Nationals figure he'll never sign in Washington for the long-term if he didn't sign that contract. Which is an understandable train of thought. With that in mind, the Nats are going to see if they can trade Soto for significant assets by this year's deadline. Per Rosenthal: Juan Soto is available. The All-Star outfielder recently…

data-mm-id=”_js7iuas63″>Threads, Meta's so-called Twitter Killer, opened up its doors to the unwashed public last night, making a strong first impression and — according to Mark Zuckerberg — surpassed the 10-million user mark in just a few hours. There are certainly some issues to be ironed out but it feels very safe to say that, of all the Twitter-inspired clones, this one has the most momentum and could accomplish its goal of making the bird app even more unappealing. Obviously, allowing users to only see posts from those they follow and establishing some sort of real-time connectivity so it can be used as a news service will improve the experience. One figures a halfway conscious company would understand this and implement these changes once everyone gets preferences so it&…

data-mm-id=”_1laznxjc9″>Atlanta Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia has found himself at the center of some on- and off-field drama during the division series against the Philadelphia Phillies. He made some relatively benign comments about about Bryce Harper following the Braves' Game 2 victory while the locker room was packed with reporters and was frustrated that they got out. Then in Game 3 he could only watch as Harper homered twice and stared him down while rounding the bases. As expected, Phillies fans are giving him the business as Game 4 plays out and Arcia tries to stave off elimination. And it's far from a one-sided conversation as the crowd's main target is giving it right back to them with great animation. Orlando Arcia giving it back to Phillies fans pic.twitter.…

data-mm-id=”_5oycmmuye”>Tommy DeVito has been starting at quarterback for the New York Giants and sort of Tim Tebow-ing his way to victories. But did you know that he's also Italian? It's a storyline that's gone mysteriously uncovered during his little run and we hope to learn more about this in the future. DeVito has continued to use his arm and legs with some measure of success in one of the Monday Night Football games against the Green Bay Packers and this impressive scramble set up a go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter. And wouldn't you know — ESPN found his friends in the family in the stands for a reaction shot. They did not disappoint. The Devitos and Tommy's agent 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/QShGkcKWxH— CJ Fogler accoun…