As the chase to the Stanley Cup begins, the Eastern and Western Conferences have completely different outlooks. Colorado or Calgary look the part to be the Western Conference champions, and I’m not sure there’s anything the rest of the field of six can do about it. The Eastern Conference is as wide open as ever with tough, but imaginable paths, to a Stanley Cup Final for most of that side of the bracket. Instead of looking at why any of the 16 NHL teams left standing will be the ones to lift Lord Stanley’s Cup, I’m looking at why each of them won’t be the chosen ones. I’ll be right about 15 and guaranteed to be incorrect about only one. I like those odds. I have a prediction for who’ll win the Stanley Cup but that doesn’t matter here. Florida Panthers source: Getty Ima…

It would be very….I guess we call it “this age” as 2021 hasn’t really separated itself from 2020 yet, for leagues like the NBA, NHL, various soccer leagues, and UEFA as a whole to avoid the Olympics like the plague, and then watch them canceled. Earlier on Thursday, The Times of London r eported that Japan was deadset on not hosting the games and they would have to be canceled. At this point, it would be too late to find an alternative venue, unless the IOC allowed Vladimir Putin or a protege to completely bulldoze some area of their country and put it up there. And they just might! The idea of having hundreds of thousands flocking to Japan during a pandemic — and the odds that this would all be over by the end of July seems a crock — is a nightmare that even the IOC wouldn…

Chris Rock is hosting the Oscars this year, and he took the gig long before the nominees were announced and everyone got pissed because all of them were white. So here we have one of the greatest social commentators of his generation presiding over a ceremony that is in DESPERATE need of a public flagellation. Sounds potentially promising, right? WRONG. Here’s what’s gonna happen Sunday night: Rock is gonna come out onto that stage, and he’s gonna take his jabs, and that audience—the fucking lifeless audience of plasticized actors, each of whom needs six publicists just to do basic addition—will go OOH, like someone slapped a baby in front of them. OMG HE JUST SAID A TRUE THING, SHOULD I CLAP? And then the monologue will peter out and the show will go on—and on and on and on…

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry was just reinstated to the NFL after an eight-game suspension. That's good. Police are already investigating him for another incident. That's bad. Police were called to the parking garage of Newport on the Levee Tuesday night, on reports of a pair of disorderly customers. Investigators say Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry and another man, Alston Desious Dyneal fought with a valet parking attendant after they tried to park their car without paying.

An argument allegedly ensued, with Henry reportedly saying "don't you know who I am." Levee Security was called, but the pair left. The report says both Henry and Alston were banned from the Levee and were asked to leave. No one has been arrested. Yes. Henry said, "…

Steve Smith has long been one of the best interviews in the NFL, and his move to the Baltimore Ravens doesn't seem to have done much to change that fact.
He recently sat down with CSN Baltimore to talk about how he's fitting in with his new team. He revealed that he likes being in Baltimore because the Ravens play like bullies, and then he proceeded to share his precise methods of bullying. Steve Smith will take your juice box. Steve Smith will take your applesauce. Steve Smith will break your spork.
Damn, Steve, the spork? That's cold. Damn. …

data-mm-id=”_n2ys9jnuu”>They are stacking the dead in a refrigerated truck outside a Queens hospital where 13 people lost their lives yesterday to the coronavirus. The worst is yet to come. This is a nightmare with an indeterminate end. And New York City, as the canary in the coal mine, is just the beginning. The fight there will become the fight in hamlets and villages from sea to sea. We are a nation caught looking and the course to normalcy is a marathon, not a sprint.To think that they'll play baseball games a few miles away in Flushing in a few weeks is absurd. It does not compute. The idea of our national pastime as the Great Distractor is a shiny object of no substance. A nice, rosy thought to steal before sighing and facing each day that bleeds into the next.Rob Manfred, a…

data-mm-id=”_gmjc47t8n”>TheMaven, which operates Sports Illustrated's editorial on a license via the brand's parent company Authentic Brands Group, announced a round of layoffs today in the wake of anticipating losing about $30 million in expected revenue on account of the advertising market drying up to coronavirus. This includes SI, where Ben Strauss of the Washington Post reports that "at least" six editorial staffers and one business-side employee have been laid off. So far, these are the staffers who have announced they are exiting:After almost 20 years, today is my last at Sports Illustrated. Hell of a ride. I got to work alongside childhood idols, collaborate with some of the best editors in the business, and live out a dream. Best job in the world, I always …

data-mm-id=”_aigb3ah2p”>It took fewer than a handful of minutes for viewers to realize that Nickelodeon's broadcast of the Bears-Saints game was a fantastic idea on paper that may have only been improved in practice. One of those things where we all wonder why it didn't happen sooner. A plainly obvious meatball that hadn't yet been blasted for a home run. There are already discussions underway about the possibility of doing something similar for the Super Bowl, and if that's not possible, making the kid-friendly presentation a regularity going forward. In what's proven not to be an isolated anecdotal experience, my two children each showed more interest in football than they ever have. They loved the graphics, the slime, the overall youthful vibe. The younger o…

data-mm-id=”_o5ktxsvhp”>UPDATE: The Suns traded for Chris Paul. The Phoenix Suns are finalizing a deal to acquire Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star guard Chris Paul, sources tell ESPN.— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 16, 2020The Phoenix Suns have gone a full decade since making the NBA Playoffs. That was the Steve Nash era, so it's been a minute. Devin Booker was in junior high. DeAndre Ayton was in elementary school. Now the Suns are considering a trade for Chris Paul, who was still in New Orleans the last time the Suns made the playoffs. Can those three come together and make the Suns good again?The quick answer is yes. The Suns had their most wins since 2015 before the pandemic shut down the season. When they showed up in Orlando, only so that the NBA could justify shoeh…

data-mm-id=”_pdewwxmyh”>The Los Angeles Lakers had their best game in months last night, winning 121-110 over the Chicago Bulls. This is obviously good news for the Lakers as the playoffs rapidly approach and they continue to jostle for a spot in the play-in tournament in the Western Conference. On the other hand, the fact that we all consider an 11-point win over a sub-.500 team Los Angeles' best win in a long time is probably not a good sign and reflective of how good this team really is– that is to say, not very good at all. But that doesn't matter! Whenever this team shows even the slightest glimmer of competency there will be many media members who see that as a green light to declare Lakers Back!? On Thursday morning, it was Jay Williams' turn as he dared the audi…