The biggest game of the NBA season is tonight, as the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder will square off in Game 7 of their Western Conference Final series. The winner tonight will move on to face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Golden State is looking for its second consecutive appearance in the finals, while OKC is shooting for its first finals birth since 2012, and just…
Your Ultimate Stanley Cup Finals Preview
The battle for Lord Stanley’s Cup begins Monday night in Pittsburgh. After upsetting the President’s trophy recipients-the Washington Capitals-and dethroning the reigning Eastern Conference champions-the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Pittsburgh Penguins are back in their first Cup Finals since 2009, when they defeated the Detroit Red Wings in seven games. Many thought that Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the Pens would have many more opportunities to hoist another Cup….
Introducing My Weekly MLB Power Rankings, Featuring Comparisons to TV Shows
Alright….so how do I explain how this is going to work……Well does anyone read weekly power rankings? I’m sure you have. They mostly look like this. They’re all pretty boring. The only one that’s any good is Jonah Keri’s “The 30” for SI.com (I’m sure some of you will remember Keri from the ol’days of Grantland; now I’ll be back in a bit while I quietly sob alone for…
Are the Thunder Dead on Arrival?
That’s it. Call off the dogs. After squandering a chance to close out the Golden State Warriors on their home court Saturday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder must travel back to Oakland in a do-or-die Game Seven. I’m sure many are saying the Thunder are done. They may be right. Having picked Oklahoma City to win this series in seven games, I don’t want to write them off. But…
Just When Everyone Counted Curry and the Warriors Out…
After being down three games to one with poor performances from their star players, the Warriors seemed to hit rock bottom last week. Or, at least that’s how the media made it seem. Talk about how overrated and un-clutch Steph Curry and the Warriors are was ubiquitous on just about every sports media outlet. Everyone was counting them out. This is the unanimous MVP? This is the team with the best…
MLB’s Qualifying Offer: A King’s Ransom
With the MLB draft less than two weeks away, I thought it would be appropriate to examine one of the most controversial topics surrounding the draft: the qualifying offer. Essentially, the qualifying offer intends to reward teams — presumably the small-market, low budget ones — that lose players in free agency. This reward comes in the form of an additional first-round draft pick for every player that signs with another team. Only…
Carrasco Shows Us Why He’s The Man
Atletico Madrid may have come up short in the Champions League Final, but amidst all the drama Yannick Carrasco exemplified how awesome he really is. In the 79th minute, Carrasco scored the equalizer on a cross from Juanfran. Carrasco’s skill and precision were flaunted as he was able to get his cleat ahead of a sliding Lucas Vazquez and guide the ball into the back of the net. But that’s not…
5 Bold Predictions for the 2016 NFL Season, From a Check Down Newbie
My name is Jack McElduff, and it gives me great pleasure to write my first piece for Check Down. I am heading into my sophomore year at Marist College (go Foxes), and couldn’t be more excited to start writing. Erik Manditch (known to the Check Down community as “Mando”) is an old high school friend of mine, so kudos to him for seeing my potential. With that said, I’d…
Introduction… and Sonny Gray
Hello readers. My name is Jeb Clarke and this is my first post here at Check Down. I am a recent (6 days) college graduate and I find myself in the awkward phase that most of my fellow classmates seemingly find themselves in post-graduation. It seems as though us graduates can be categorized into three groups. Group A includes the fortunate ones that obtained a fancy, suit-wearing job that requires relocating to…
Champions League Final Preview
And after 9 long months, it’s finally here. The UEFA Champions League Final. Through the rigorous international competition, only two clubs have stood the test of time and now play for their spot in history. And these two clubs happen to share a city. This year’s Champions League Final will start the next chapter in what is an already bitter rivalry between Real and Atlético Madrid. Despite playing each other in a number of…