The Lead

Early on this season, the Los Angeles Rams looked like a juggernaut, with Matthew Stafford leading them to a 7-1 start, and gaining some momentum as a contender for MVP. Then, the Rams lost three in a row, suddenly raising a lot of questions about just how good this team is. Ahead of their Monday Night Football matchup with the Arizona Cardinals, we check in with The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue to...

Before their dramatic loss to Rutgers on Thursday night, the Purdue Boilermakers became the top team in men's college basketball for the first time in school history. Yet, after a stunning early exit last year from the tournament las year and losses like they suffered on Thursday night, questions remain over whether this team is really a legitimate National Championship contender. Today, The Athle...

The Cincinnati Bearcats made football history this week by becoming the first non-Power Five team to make the College Football Playoff since its inception in 2014. But what makes their accomplishment even more remarkable is the fact that the program was in shambles just five years ago, and was basically irrelevant for much of its existence. Reporter Justin Williams, who covers Cincinnati for The A...

This past Sunday in Las Vegas, the Washington Football Team found itself in another closely-contested game, and found a way to beat the Raiders for their fourth straight win. Today, we’re joined by The Athletic’s Ben Standig to look at how this team has turned things around after a hopeless 2-6 start, the impact of quarterback Taylor Heinicke and head coach Ron Rivera, and what to expect in a big...

Cale Makar and Bowen Byram have a lot in common. Both are young, extremely talented defensemen for the NHL's Colorado Avalanche, both are former #4 overall picks, and both hope to have long and successful hockey careers. But so far, the two have followed very different paths, with Makar ascending to superstardom and Byram struggling with the aftermath of multiple concussions. Today, Peter Baugh, w...

It's been a wild week for Notre Dame football: The winningest coach in program history abruptly left for another job, then the school named his successor just a few days later, and on Sunday the Irish narrowly missed out on a College Football Playoff berth. Today, The Athletic's Pete Sampson joins us to talk about Brian Kelly's fateful final 24 hours in South Bend, what his exit to LSU reveals abo...

So far this season, Brooklyn Nets fans have gotten used to the sight of LaMarcus Aldridge knocking down mid-range jumpers, which he’s done at a higher percentage than any other player in the NBA. However, it wasn’t all that long ago that it appeared the big man’s career was over after a scary April night brought on by a heart issue. Today, The Athletic’s Alex Schiffer tells the story of Aldridge’s...

Manchester United turned some heads last week when it announced that Ralf Rangnick, an influential German coach and sporting director, will serve as its interim manager until the end of the season. Today, The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein tells us about the man known as 'The Godfather of German coaching,' how he changed the definition of what a soccer coach could be in his native country, and why...

For many people, the best wide receiver in the NFL is Green Bay Packers star Davante Adams. But the former Fresno State standout's rise to superstardom from the gritty streets of his hometown in East Palo Alto was anything but easy. Today, The Athletic's Matt Schneidman joins us to talk about the special relationship that helped Adams stay on the right path growing up and how he overcame a difficu...

The clock is ticking for Major League Baseball, with a potential lockout on the horizon this week, as the collective bargaining agreement is set to expire at 11:59pm ET on Wednesday. Today, we’re joined by The Athletic’s Evan Drellich to look at why the players and owners are once again at a bitter impasse, and the no-nonsense negotiator for the players, Bruce Meyer, who should have a major say in...

For much of their existence, the Florida Panthers have been, frankly, one of the worst teams in the NHL. But over the last few years, the Panthers have become legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. The Athletic's Michael Russo covered the Panthers for more than a decade, and he joins us today to explain what's behind their record-setting start to the 2021-22 season and why, after legendary head coach...

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government did something that it later apologized for and called a grave error: it rounded up and forcibly relocated tens of thousands of Japanese Americans, moving them to internment camps where they lived in extremely harsh conditions for years. Inside one of those camps, near Topaz, Utah, a high school football team was formed and surprised many of th...

On this Thanksgiving holiday, we're replaying an episode that first aired this summer, just before the start of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. It's the inspiring story of 24 year-old American swimming phenom Morgan Stickney, who has faced a mind-boggling series of medical challenges during her career, but has somehow come out on the other side -- baffling doctors and inspiring many people along...

We're just a few weeks into the women's college basketball season and there's already plenty to talk about. The top two teams in the country have already faced off, star players are taking their games to a new level, and rising contenders are already upsetting some of the traditional powers. Today, The Athletic's Chantel Jennings fills us in on some of the season's biggest and most intriguing stor...

Two Sundays ago, Cam Newton made his dramatic return for the Carolina Panthers, and helped lead them to a win over the Arizona Cardinals. Then, this past Sunday, in his much-anticipated first game back in Carolina, Newton and the Panthers came up short against the Washington Football Team. Today, we’re joined by The Athletic’s Joe Person to look at why the Panthers made the decision to bring him b...

During a chaotic 2020 college football season, Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud spent most of his time on the bench as an understudy to Justin Fields. Now the redshirt freshman has not only stepped into the starting position, but has guided the Buckeyes to one of their best offensive seasons in school history -- and made a strong case for himself as a Heisman Trophy candidate. In the wake of the...

Johnny Juzang exploded onto the college basketball scene during the 2021 NCAA Tournament after he led the eleventh seeded UCLA Bruins on a surprising run all the way to the Final Four. Now he's looking to get to the next level and take his team all the way to the championship. Today, The Athletic's Seth Davis, who recently spent time with Juzang and his family, tells us how the sharpshooting junio...

In just his second NFL season, Jonathan Taylor is already one of the NFL's best running backs. But before he turned his attention to the gridiron, the Colts star was far more fascinated with Outer Space than he was with scoring touchdowns. Today, The Athletic's Zak Keefer tells us how the NFL's leading rusher went from aspiring astronaut to one of the most unstoppable players in football. Read Zak...

Four years ago, Bruce Arena's reputation as a miracle-working soccer coach took a bit of a hit when the U.S. Men's National Team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. A year and a half later, he took the reins of the New England Revolution -- a team with a long history of success that had fallen on hard times. And now, Arena has just finished guiding the Revolution to the most successful regul...

An NFL team's success often comes down to the guy lining up under center. If your signal caller is a star then the playoffs are probably calling. If he's not ... well, you might be in trouble. The Athletic's Mike Sando polled insiders from around the league to rank every team's starting quarterback and today he tells us how the rankings have shifted after 10 weeks of action.  Read Mike Sando'...

After a couple of years mostly out of the spotlight, watching other teams reach the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors have come roaring back to start the 2021-22 season. Today, we’re joined by The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami to look at three key reasons why Steph Curry and the Warriors are back among the best teams in the league, and whether this team has the look of a bona fide title contender. F...

Mark Borowiecki is best known as a hard-hitting defenseman with the NHL's Nashville Predators -- a guy who has doled out plenty of bone-crunching checks and who has dropped the gloves more than a few times. He's also earned the nickname "Boro-Cop" for his tendency to stand up for justice on and off the ice, and to defend people who need protecting. But the hardest battle of his 11-year NHL career...

Carli Lloyd officially retired on Sunday as one of America's most decorated and celebrated soccer players. She's won everything from the World Cup to Olympic Gold Medals to FIFA World Player of the Year. Perhaps more than the achievements on the pitch, Lloyd was known for her maniacal drive and singular focus to become one of the best players to ever lace up a pair of cleats. But that approach als...

The last time the Boston Celtics took the floor, on Saturday night, they watched Luka Doncic hit a game-winning dagger to drop their record to 4-6 — the latest setback in a season that has already seen a lot of turbulence. Today, The Athletic’s Jared Weiss breaks down all the turmoil that Boston has faced (including the semi-public dispute between Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum),...

Three weeks ago, the New England Patriots were 2-4, and many experts were saying their season was over. But now the Pats have won three straight games and are just half a game behind the Bills for first in the AFC East. So what's behind their turnaround? Matthew Fairburn, who covers the Pats for The Athletic, joins us to explain. Plus, we hear some untold stories about Bill Belichick's wry sense o...