Basketball

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The year ahead in sports

Looking forward to more scoring and less scandal
It seemed for every hail Mary, walk-off homer, and buzzer beater in 2011, the sports pages had a story on work stoppages, performance-enhancing drugs, or mind-boggling college-conference realignments.
By SEAN KERRIGAN | December 28, 2011

The Curse of Len Bias

The curious decline of a team that had it all
This article was originally published in the December 1, 1995 issue of the Boston Phoenix.
By BILL SIMMONS | December 14, 2011

Shopping, simplified

Balls, pucks, and monster trucks
With the holidays, and their attendant sturm und drang , upon us again, I was thinking about sports news in the context of Thanksgiving.
By RICK WORMWOOD | November 30, 2011

Review: The Mighty Macs

A study in stereotypes
Based on a true story, but drawing on every underdog sports movie ever made, Tim Chambers's tale of Immaculata College's 1971 championship women's basketball team had me going — up to the regional semi-finals.
By PETER KEOUGH | October 18, 2011

The cruelest month

Balls, pucks and monster trucks
When T.S. Eliot wrote "April is the cruelest month," was he talking about how the last few weeks unfolded for New England's major sports teams?
By RICK WORMWOOD | April 20, 2011

The Celtics and the birth of the real NBA

Sports Dept.
The Providence Journal 's estimable sports columnist, Bill Reynolds, is out with a new book, Rise of a Dynasty: The '57 Celtics, the First Banner, and the Dawning of a New America .
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | December 22, 2010

Things Celtics players shouldn't do before they die

Plus a quick chat with Jo Jo White
Looking for the perfect gift for naughty Lakers fans on your Christmas list? (A swift kick to the chestnuts, alas, doesn't quite jibe with the whole holiday-spirit thing.)
By SCOTT FAYNER | December 15, 2010

Review: NBA Jam

Baller status update
Maybe NBA Jam wasn't the best game of all time, but when it appeared in arcades back in 1993, it acquired a pop-culture cachet that most games couldn't dream of.
By MITCH KRPATA | October 19, 2010

Slammed: Lance Stephenson's comeback goes south

Plus, Roger Clemens gets what he deserves.
Just a few months ago, Lance Stephenson was looking like basketball's feel-good comeback story.
By MATT TAIBBI | August 26, 2010

Taking his shot

Mission Hill's Will Blalock has played professional basketball all over the world, from Anaheim to Israel, but he's still trying to make it big.
A story about what happens when your dreams come true . . . almost.
By PAUL FLANNERY | August 15, 2010

Food fights

Marshall football orders out, and Rick Pitino regrets getting table service
At least it wasn't a home invasion.
By MATT TAIBBI | August 11, 2010

Buzzer beaters

The home-invasion trend hits Philly. Plus, Shawne Williams's spiral continues.
This is starting to get creepy.
By MATT TAIBBI | August 04, 2010

Shack attacked

Overzealous cops are at it again. Plus, is UGA going for Oregon's crown?
Before Shaq, there was Shack.
By MATT TAIBBI | July 28, 2010

Sports Blotter: ESPN kiddie rap

It ain't easy being Green. Plus, UGA cops play the name game, and D-West gets weird.
Man, has any sports scandal ever gotten less coverage?
By MATT TAIBBI | July 21, 2010

Lost splendor

Balls, Pucks and Monster Trucks
In case you haven't heard, LeBron James will play basketball in Miami next season. Yawn.
By RICK WORMWOOD | July 14, 2010

Sports blotter: In the rough

Did Johan Santana go out of bounds? Plus, LT's self-abuse defense falls short.
Another day, another New York sports icon fends off a rape allegation.
By MATT TAIBBI | June 30, 2010

Riot squads

While Boston chilled, LA burned. What makes fans in some cities go wild — win or lose?
On the morning that the Celtics and the Lakers readied for Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals, framing one of the most storied and intense rivalries in pro sports, the police departments of Boston and Los Angeles geared up for the worst.
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 28, 2010

Sports Blotter: Dead Duck

Oregon's Masoli finally stalls out; plus, a World Cup ambush, and Florida strikes back
The saga of the University of Oregon football team grows sadder and sadder.
By MATT TAIBBI | June 24, 2010

Tugboats and bugboats

Balls, Pucks & Monster Trucks
As I write this, the Celtics are one win away from their 18th NBA title, but that is not our focus.
By RICK WORMWOOD | June 16, 2010

Cardinal sin

Drunken golf-cart fun at Stanford; plus, an aspiring NHL goon takes his show off the ice
Here's one you don't hear every day. J.J. Hones, a point guard on the Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team, has been dismissed from the squad for a DUI. No big deal, right? Happens all the time in college sports.
By MATT TAIBBI | June 16, 2010

Bandwagon fans gear up

Benchwarmers
Only after buying a "Beat L.A." T-shirt, methodically checking ESPN for World Cup updates, and watching every installment of the NBA Finals with a religious fanaticism, has the hard truth settled in: I am a bandwagon fan.
By ANDREW STEINBEISER | June 16, 2010

Bust busted

Keith McCants mccan't stay out of trouble; plus, another Clockwork Orange homage
Bring up the topic of biggest NFL draft busts of all time and most people come up with the same short list of notorious names, all of them quarterbacks.
By MATT TAIBBI | June 10, 2010

Phillip Merling: Oh, baby

A Dolphin gets flagged for illegal hands to face; plus, Zach Randolph resurfaces
This week's foul NFL news emanates from down South, where Miami Dolphins defensive lineman Phillip Merling was busted for assaulting his pregnant girlfriend.
By MATT TAIBBI | June 02, 2010

Parental advisory

The pros take a back seat to their misbehaving moms and dads
An exceedingly bizarre sequence of events transpired this past week — the parents of two different playoff-competing NBA players were arrested in separate incidents, one on each coast.
By MATT TAIBBI | May 26, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

Sacked

NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor takes another hit
We always knew Lawrence Taylor was a good bet to get in trouble.
By MATT TAIBBI | May 17, 2010

Review: Just Wright

Bench this fairy tale
As glossy as you might expect, the film double-dribbles with its familiar story of the ugly duckling who wins the swan.
By BRETT MICHEL | May 12, 2010

Facebook fracas

Clinton Hart has one too many friends; plus, a pack of ’Dawgs starts chasing the Ducks
Sooner or later, Facebook had to figure into the sports-crime scene. There are at least two cases now of pro football players getting arrested for assault in fights resulting from their wives looking at their Facebook friends lists.
By MATT TAIBBI | May 05, 2010

Ledge Lessons

We love you, stressed-out college kids! So relax, and remember how good you have it.
As advocates of higher education and living as long as medically possible, we were sad to read that, according to new-media-powerhouse Web site the Daily Beast, Greater Boston is home to not one but five of the most stressful colleges in the United States.
By CHRIS FARAONE | April 28, 2010

Cookie monster

Senseless tragedy at FIU; plus, late-night fun at Marshall and some Oregon fallout
The Florida International University football program was rocked recently when running back Kendall Berry was stabbed to death in front of eight witnesses — allegedly by an ex–FIU teammate.
By MATT TAIBBI | April 14, 2010