BY J.A. SCHWARTZ The Giants won a franchise record 107 games in 2021, baffling pundits all season long as they outplayed their bitter rivals to the south to the National League West division title. Though they unseated Los Angeles atop the division for the first time since 2013, the Dodgers …
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BY J.A. SCHWARTZ Tampa Bay, led by the ageless Tom Brady, will start the defense of their Super Bowl title when the host the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the playoffs. The Eagles are the last franchise to defeat Brady in a Super Bowl, and will look to …
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BY J.A. SCHWARTZ The 2021 NFL season has concluded, and the playoff pairings are set. Aaron Rodgers has the Green Bay Packers sitting atop the NFC bracket, and they have the only bye in the conference with six other teams squaring off to to advance to the second round. In …
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BY J.A. SCHWARTZ The best three-point shooter in the history of the National Basketball Association (by percentage) works in the Chase Center in San Francisco. He’s the leader of the Golden State Warriors, and has been an iconic presence for the franchise since his arrival in 2014. On those days …
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BY J.A.SCHWARTZ Sports franchises are driven by clearly defined forces that prioritize victory. When their teams succeed on the field of play, they’re likely to see local broadcast ratings improve, which helps drive advertising rates and interest in the club. Winning draws more fans, spending money on parking, concessions and …
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BY J.A. SCHWARTZ Following yesterday’s American League preview, we now turn our focus to the National League, with the 106 win Los Angeles Dodgers hosting the St. Louis Cardinals, winners of 19 of their last 22 games (including a franchise record 17 in a row), Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. …
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BY J.A. SCHWARTZ The MLB playoffs are now set to begin. The postseason format will revert to the pre-pandemic standard, and ten teams (as opposed to 16 in 2020) are in the mix, hoping for October glory. The final few playoff spots weren’t determined until the season’s final day, when …
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BY J.A. SCHWARTZ Continuing our countdown of the best teams in the NFL heading into the 2021 season, here’s our Top 8: 8. Los Angeles Rams: When a team can put Aaron Donald, who has won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year twice in the past three seasons, in …
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BY J.A. SCHWARTZ The 2021 NFL season will be the second straight campaign waged in the shadow of a pandemic. Last season, most of which was staged in cavernous stadiums largely empty due to virus avoidance procedures, still ended in a familiar way to NFL fans: with Tom Brady lifting …
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BY J.A. SCHWARTZ On February 2, 2020, Jimmy Garoppolo led his San Francisco 49ers into the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LIV in Miami leading the AFC Champion Kansas City Chiefs 20-10. During the first three quarters, Garoppolo was surgically accurate, completing 17 of 20 passes for 179 yards and …
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