For 10 straight years, Felix Hernandez has been the Seattle Mariners’ starter on Opening Day, making him one of only seven MLB pitchers to start a decade’s worth of season openers. Since debuting for the Mariners in 2005, Hernandez has become synonymous with Seattle baseball like Ichiro and Edgar Martinez, but in a little over a week, his era will come to a symbolic end. For the Opening Day matchup between the Mariners and A’s in Japan, Hernandez won’t be the starter. This comes as a surprise to nobody, really, not even Hernandez himself. But still, it’s a real bummer hearing him trying to process his career’s decline. Via AP: Asked if he was upset, Hernandez said simply, “Yeah,” but declined to elaborate on his emotions. “I knew it was going to happen,” he added.…
The Dongslinger finally called it quits in the past year, but not without great fanfare. We did our most recent HOF inductions in September 2010, just before the world saw his penis. It was an episode that touched off something of a national conversation about dong shots, and it earned Favre a $50,000 fine after an NFL "investigation." Favre retired for real in January, but there were lawsuits to come, followed by the usual rumors of another comeback, the appearance of a doppelganger at Packers camp, and an ESPN story that said he'd answer the phone if the Bears came calling even though the Bears weren't interested, after which his agent answered the phone when we called to inquire if he'd also listen to the Ice Capades. And, so, here we are, ready to pre…
data-mm-id=”_oqijhpjwq”>The Oklahoma Sooners are known for their offensive prowess and innovations. Punting on 4th and goal, however, is a new one entirely. Surprisingly ensnared in a honest ballgame with the Kansas Jayhawks, the Sooners, up 14-7, seemed set to restore things to normalcy late in the first half, situated seven yards away from the goal line with just over two minutes to go. This being college football, however, things didn't go exactly to plan. On first down, the Sooners endured a holding penalty, which eventually led to a sack of quarterback Jalen Hurts. The combined loss of 18 yards placed the Sooners 25 yards away from the endzone, but a field goal was certainly still on the table. Then came a reverse, in more ways that one.Oklahoma's attempt put the ball in…
data-mm-id=”_yroer2gow”>The fallout from the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal has inspired an endless number of takes. Unfortunately, many of them have been directed at the ex-Astros pitcher Mike Fiers (who's now with the Oakland Athletics), without whom we would not have heard of many of the details of the team's deception.The three guests on ESPN's morning program Get Up — not one of whom is connected to baseball in any way — weighed in on former Red Sox great David Ortiz's comment that Fiers "looks like a snitch" for not speaking up about the Astros' sign-stealing sooner. Never mind the fact that if Fiers had spoken up,it would have likely have cost him his job and possibly gotten him blackballed for "not being a team player."…
data-mm-id=”_744cpyu2p”>LeBron James and Zion Williamson had a pretty nice little duel on Sunday night on ESPN. The Los Angeles Lakers, without Anthony Davis, beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 122-114. James and Williamson both had great games. LeBron was nearly flawless, scoring 34 points on 14-of-21 shooting to go along with 13 assists and 12 rebounds. His one big mistake was forgetting how official basketball games work as he started to dribble the ball up the court instead of pass the ball inbounds after a lengthy replay review. lolbron pic.twitter.com/eoo2X3UTE9— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) March 2, 2020As for Zion. Yeesh. The kid is 19 years old and he tried to go toe-to-toe with LeBron James on ESPN and he outscored him. Zion finished with 35 points on 14 of 21 field goal attempts…
data-mm-id=”_82gbjp0ng”>You'll see a lot of people talking about Kawhi Leonard's series-winning buzzer beater against the 76ers today. That is because it's the one-year anniversary of the shot that sent the Raptors to the Eastern Conference Finals, which they ultimately won on their way to their first-ever championship. While the spotlight will justifiably be focused on the man who made the shot, some attention should be given to the man who called the shot. Because Kevin Harlan absolutely nailed it. The set up was perfect: "Is this the dagger?" But the key to me was that Harlan, and analyst Greg Anthony, had the wherewithal to go quiet as the ball hung in midair after hitting off the front of the rim. The silence built the tension, a tension that grew from the…
data-mm-id=”_uevw14dcn”>On Wednesday, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred told ESPN's Karl Ravech the league will have a season this year in one form or another. During an interview before the 2020 MLB Draft was aired, Manfred said, "I can tell you unequivocally we are gonna play Major League Baseball this year."While the owners plan to respond to the MLB Players Association's latest proposal (89 games with full prorated salaries) the two sides remain apart in negotiations. If things break down, Manfred does have the power to unilaterally implement a plan (which would reportedly consist of a 48-game season) as long as the players get their full prorated salaries. That is the result of negotiations between the two sides in March. If that happens the player…
data-mm-id=”_rqu3p1iaq”>The Los Angeles Lakers have created a blueprint this postseason. Lose Game 1 to get the pundits buzzing and pre-writing a postmortem on how LeBron James has lost his magic and the Anthony Davis experiment was a bust. Then win Game 2 in convincing fashion as a Men In Black memory-pen-eraser-thingy to invalidate such opinions. In the Blazers' series, Game 2 foretold of four straight victories. The same could very well be true for this Rockets' series. That is, if the Lakers stick to their guns and commitment to being schoolyard bullies as they did Sunday night. Davis, perhaps a bit befuddled at all the positive press P.J. Tucker received for being a big-boy pest in Game 1 (as Davis actually went 10-for-16 with tons of round numbers rounding out his stats…
data-mm-id=”_c6cb3ai1m”>Three months and three days after they arrived, the Los Angeles Lakers will finally leave the Disney campus in Orlando. They will fly home today as world champions, and will eventually bear rings that will serve as a reminder of the time they spent in a bubble of the NBA's creation. While the country tore itself apart between battles over social injustice and the coronavirus pandemic, the league created a safe haven for basketball, a sanitized environment that will come with a bill of nearly a quarter-billion dollars. When rumors of the bubble first hit the news cycle, eyebrows were raised all around. Could the NBA, a professional sports league, do what the world's governments and superpowers failed to do? Could they really keep COVID-19 more than six …
data-mm-id=”_7kmvghjuo”>Super Bowl LV has finally arrived. In one corner, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers led by one Tom Brady. In the other, the Kansas City Chiefs led by one Patrick Mahomes. The narratives are ripe and the play should be entertaining. We here at The Big Lead have some thoughts about the main event. Thus, a series of bold predictions for you to chew on. Here we go. Super Bowl Predictions Jason Pierre-Paul Wins MVP to Cap Off Remarkable Comeback Story The Super Bowl MVP almost always goes to the most productive offensive player of the winning team. Occasionally it is a defensive player, usually one who returns an interception for a touchdown (like Seattle's Malcolm Smith against the Broncos in 2014). But this is a space for the boldest of claims, so this is mine: the Sup…