If you have a metric that never matches up with the eye test, it’s probably wrong. And if it never surprises you, it’s probably useless. But if four out of five times it tells you what you know, and one of out five it surprises you, you might have something. | | | | Nationals infielder Anthony Rendon reps for his native Houston.
(Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “If you have a metric that never matches up with the eye test, it’s probably wrong. And if it never surprises you, it’s probably useless. But if four out of five times it tells you what you know, and one of out five it surprises you, you might have something.”
|
| |
| | rantnrave:// MADDEN 2018 dropped and the new feature everyone's buzzing about is its LONGSHOT mode, the new narrative feature that follows DEVIN WADE as he reaches for football stardom. It's a playable movie within a video game, like a first-person narrative arc found in RPGs. WAYPOINT's MIKE PIELLUCCI calls it the evolution of sports video games. Each new edition of Madden needs something other than updated rosters to get people to buy it, and storytelling has been a missing keystone for sports games. Graphics have progressed to an unreal place. Gameplay is great. Adding a long story arc for players to invest in is a differentiating factor from past years. Can it reel in non-sports fans? Will the inclusion of a narrative mode make it into the football game for FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS fans? Probably not. But it's the natural extension of where games have been headed, from create-a-player mode where you could build and customize new players to an an earlier EA creation, FIFA 17's THE JOURNEY, that followed a soccer player as his career progressed. Longshot isn't flawless. It lacks subtlety. Maybe there will be other hiccups. But EA is trying something new, and innovation isn't perfect.. Paying mid-tier starting quarterbacks in the NFL is damned if you do and if you don't. Can't win with them. Can't win without them. MATTHEW STAFFORD is football's highest paid player. He doesn't deserve it on merit but so goes the NFL's complex contract structure, where position and timing matter most. He's probably not a top-10 QB. But letting a good starting QB walk is a non-starter, especially for a playoff contender. The best way to set your team up for a SUPER BOWL is with a good QB. The best way to box yourself in is by paying a good QB a bloated salary that prevents you from building around him. Think of the RAVENS after they re-signed JOE FLACCO. Or why the REDSKINS are going year-to-year with KIRK COUSINS. The only good QB contracts are the ones for stars like BRADY and RODGERS. Every other team has to decide whether its QB is good enough to overpay... That awkward moment when your teammate rips your shoes and the brand paying you $300 million to be the face of the company... CENA vs. REIGNS on the mic. No holds barred. Did they break kayfabe?... Smart move by SNAP to bring its SPECTACLES to the US OPEN. Always a great experience and visuals. Fodder for snaps... MAJOR LEAGUE LACROSSE has a data security problem... 51 years ago at CANDLESTICK PARK... Bawitdaba da bang da bang BRADY? | | | - Mike Vorkunov, curator |
|
|
 | SB Nation |
| Dale Jr. says goodbye at Bristol, and NASCAR has a problem. | | |
|
 | The Ringer |
| The former running back once carried South Louisiana's hopes and dreams. Just years later, he was shot dead miles from home. The people around him still reflect on what was-and what could have been. | | |
|
 | Southwest: The Magazine |
| How a 21-year-old Vietnam War veteran picked up a golf club and played his way into the World Golf Hall of Fame. | | |
|
 | Outside Online |
| On the other side of a traumatic adventure mishap lie nightmares, a never-ending recovery, and sometimes an entirely new perspective on existence itself. | | |
|
 | Waypoint |
| What Telltale did for the adventure game, EA wants to do for the sports narrative. | | |
|
 | Fast Company |
| Hands on with the Ionic, the long-awaited watch that Fitbit suggests is more about building a better fitness tracker than going after Apple or Samsung. | | |
|
 | USA TODAY |
| The events in Charlottesville and the current climate of political polarization have spurred athletic departments to prepare to deal with protest. | | |
|
 | The New York Times |
| Exit velocities, launch angles, distances, ‘barrels’ -- do more stats describing how a ball is hit make us smarter about baseball, or make the game more fun? | | |
|
 | Yahoo Sports |
| The average age of the Filipino national roster is 25. They are square in Generation Mighty Ducks, with the seminal Disney hockey film debuting in 1992. Finding an NHL game on television in the Philippines requires a tiered cable TV system and a road map. Discovering “The Mighty Ducks” was a hell of a lot easier. | | |
|
 | The Verge |
| To live in microgravity, astronauts need to stay fit. | | |
|
 | Texas Monthly |
| In minor league football, the battle is about a lot more than moving the ball downfield. | | |
|
 | Underdog Dynasty |
| Come celebrate the 10-year anniversary of one of the greatest upsets in sports history. | | |
|
 | WBUR |
| Barry Zito's parents met while working for Nat King Cole. But they didn't push Zito toward music. So he ended up in Major League Baseball -- and found his way to music on his own. | | |
|
 | GQ |
| These young stars just might return America to its days of men's tennis greatness. | | |
|
 | Victory Journal |
| At Speed Week, puts Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats are on a different space-time plane. | | |
|
 | Howler Magazine |
| A major investment that could have a big impact on the expansion of youth soccer in America. | | |
|
 | Deadspin |
| Floyd Mayweather beat Conor McGregor's ass; McGregor put on a respectable effort against an elite boxer, winning a moral victory. McGregor looked as sharp as he could have, and showcased improved skills; Mayweather was a faded husk of his former self. The fight was competitive in stretches; the fight wasn't close. | | |
|
 | Bleacher Report |
| The very thing the college football world has wondered for seven years now while big, bad Texas has wandered aimlessly through season after season of mediocrity. How do you restore Texas to its glorious past, you ask? | | |
|
 | The Washington Post |
| While his brother Michael Bennett of the Seahawks sat during the national anthem, the Packers tight end explained the message behind his political cartoon. | | |
|
 | ESPN |
| Last month, the world celebrated the legacy of Michael Jordan with his 50th birthday. But perhaps the coolest off-the-court thing he did in his career, back in the spring of 1992, was forgotten. | | |
|
| | | | | Thirty Seconds to Mars ft. Travis Scott |
| | | | |
|
|
| © Copyright 2017, The REDEF Group |
|
|
