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WNBA Playoff Preview with LaChina Robinson Aug 17, 2022

Show notes

The WNBA playoffs tip off tonight, after a season dominated by stories about Brittney Griner’s detainment in Russia. On the court, legends such as Sylvia Fowles and Sue Bird are retiring and stars like A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum are lighting up the next generation. Could this finally be the year for the Connecticut Sun? Or will the Chicago Sky become repeat champions? LaChina Robinson joins the show to explain the changes to the WNBA’s playoff format, and tells us what we should be watching this postseason.

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Patriots’ Playcalling Mystery: Who is New England’s Offensive Coordinator? Aug 16, 2022

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Question: who’s calling offensive plays for the New England Patriots this season? Head Coach Bill Belichick has dodged the question thus far, saying that the team is “going through a process.” And while assistant coaches Matt Patricia and Joe Judge split playcalling duties in the Patriots’ first preseason game…the answer may lead right back to the man who’s always been considered a defensive mastermind: Bill Belichick himself. Seth Wickersham explains what’s going on in Foxborough, and whether Bill Belichick is secretly a master of the other side of the ball as well.

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The Rise of the Black Quarterback Aug 15, 2022

Show notes

There is no bigger job in America than NFL quarterback. No position is so disproportionately influential on the field or visible off of it, and no job is so culturally ingrained in our national imagination. A quarterback is a star athlete, a team spokesman, a locker room leader and a prom king: a main character, in other words. But the NFL spent literal decades refusing to cast Black players in that role. As we see QBs like Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson prepare for the upcoming season, we ask Jason Reid to examine the unique, oft-forgotten history of the Black quarterback, and how it explains some ongoing conversations that the NFL still cannot escape.

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Why Sylvia Fowles is Looking Forward to Life, and Death, after Basketball Aug 12, 2022

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Much of the attention in the WNBA this season has gone to the farewell tour of Sue Bird, but she’s not the only legend retiring this year. Sylvia Fowles is hanging up her sneakers after 15 seasons, 8 all-star appearances, an MVP award, and countless other accolades. Fowles may be the best pure center to ever play in the WNBA, but her excellence hasn’t drawn the same spotlight as some of the league’s other top stars. Kevin Van Valkenberg explains why “Mama Syl” is one of the most beloved figures in the WNBA, and the surprising plans she has for her post-basketball life…becoming a mortician.

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How Serena Williams Changed the Game Aug 11, 2022

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The word “GOAT” gets thrown around a lot, but when it comes to Serena Williams, it’s not hyperbole. From her first major in 1999 at the age of 17, to her record-breaking 23rd major in 2017 (the most in the Open Era), Serena has been synonymous with dominance. On Tuesday, Serena announced her “evolution” away from tennis in a Vogue article and plans to step away at the conclusion of this year’s US Open. ESPN Senior Writer and tennis encyclopedia Howard Bryant looks back on Serena’s legendary career one more time…before it comes to a close.

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Aaron Judge Chases 61 HRs and MLB History* (Kind Of) Aug 10, 2022

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For 37 years, Roger Maris’ single-season home run record of 61 stood alone as possibly the greatest single-season achievement in baseball. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa broke the record in 1998, and so did Barry Bonds three years later. But those achievements came at the height of the steroid era, and in the more than two decades since, no player has topped Maris’ mark. But this season, the Yankees’ Aaron Judge is on pace to comfortably surpass Maris. Jeff Passan joins us to explain what Judge topping Maris would mean for Major League Baseball, and whether fans might come to regard Judge as the true single-season home run king.

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Sean McVay’s a Super Bowl Champion. Now What? Aug 09, 2022

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For many, becoming an NFL head coach is the career pinnacle… and then it completely takes over your life. The hours, the pressure, the volatility, the responsibility for the jobs and families riding on the team's success. It can be overwhelming. Even if you are the boy genius. Seth Wickersham explains how Rams Coach Sean McVay, the youngest coach ever to win a super bowl, is now facing questions no 36-year-old has confronted before. What do you do after you’ve reached the summit at such a young age? Is it possible to have a life outside of football? Or are the demands of the job – the obsessiveness, the anxiety, the adherence to a round-the-clock schedule where you’re never fully unplugged – necessary prerequisites for NFL head coaching success?

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The NFL’s Appeal in the Deshaun Watson Case, Explained Aug 08, 2022

Show notes

When former federal Judge Sue L. Robinson handed Deshaun Watson a six-game suspension last week, the reaction from many was clear: it wasn’t enough. Robinson’s ruling acknowledged Watson’s “egregious” behavior, which had been chronicled in dozens of accounts of sexual misconduct, but said she was bound by precedent of punishment in previous NFL cases.

Now, the league is appealing Watson’s suspension – hoping for a stronger punishment while setting a new precedent for how the National Football League handles cases like these going forward. ESPN’s Cleveland Browns reporter Jake Trotter tells us what the NFL’s appeal means for Watson’s future, whether he might take the league to court, and what it all says about how the NFL administers player discipline going forward.

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Sam Alvey Keeps Losing. So Why is the UFC Fighter So Happy? Aug 05, 2022

Show notes

Losing night after night isn’t easy for any athlete, but veteran UFC fighter Sam Alvey’s winless streak is something to behold. Alvey, whose nickname is “Smile’n,” hasn’t won a fight since 2018. After going 0-7-1 in his last 8 fights, if Alvey loses tomorrow night against Michal Oleksiejczuk, he’ll own the longest winless streak in UFC history. So why is Alvey still smiling? That’s the question Ryan Hockensmith wanted to answer when he traveled to Alvey’s farm in Tennessee where he lives with his wife, a former America’s Next Top Model winner, six kids under the age of 10, and a menagerie of animals. What emerges is a portrait of a fighter whose life philosophy flies in the face of every cliche we’ve come to expect from an athlete.

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The Wild Chase for the LeBron James Triple Logoman Card, feat. Drake Aug 04, 2022

Show notes

The lucrative world of sports collectibles has gone from 0 to 100 in the past two years. And just this summer, the chase for a rare LeBron James Triple Logoman Card that ended up selling for $2.4 million saw nonstop hype as bids included multiple bounties, an offer of a Lamborghini for the person who discovered the card… and even rap megastar Drake is goin’ in on the hunt, intriguing both experienced collectors and novices who are starting from the bottom. So today, ESPN collectibles expert Dan Hajducky takes care to bring us a massive story about sports cards as investments, and one dance between card collectors that has seemed to last forever.

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