Sports is like rock 'n' roll. Both are dominant cultural forces, both speak an international language, and both are all about emotions. | | | | Hockey's back.
(Bill Smith/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “Sports is like rock 'n' roll. Both are dominant cultural forces, both speak an international language, and both are all about emotions.”
| - | Phil Knight, Nike founder |
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| | rantnrave:// The two scandals ripping through sports -- the FBI crackdown on alleged fraud and bribery across college basketball, and MLB investigation into ex-BRAVES GM JOHN COPPOLELLA for shady deals in LATIN AMERICA and the draft -- have something in common. Sports rely on a cap system regulating how much amateurs can make. In college sports, it's nothing. In baseball, each team has an allotment it can use each year on bonuses dictated by MLB. Caps keep spending in check for high-revenue teams, and try to maintain competitive balance with the have-nots. Unchecked salaries could lead to top-heavy leagues. Sometimes they go outside the lines. Some teams want to offer more than they're allowed. Is that fair to the players or the teams? Would we have as many controversies if sports existed in a free market? Would the FBI need to get involved if the NCAA allowed players to be paid? Is it the NCAA's fault the FBI is involved? CBS SPORTS' JONAH KERI argues spending limits are a matter of justice -- that international caps exploit players. Would teams benefit if there was no salary cap? Would teams be better off if they didn't have to skirt the rules (and the law) and everything was out in the open? That might run up their costs but lower their chance of getting caught in a scandal. What's better for the leagues? This isn't about right or wrong, it's about what's in their best interests. COACH K says something needs to change. The NCAA and MLB won't tweak the rules without university and owner backing. How much is a scandal worth?... The NHL's back. Will the PENGUINS three-peat? Can CONNOR MCDAVID prove he's a worthy rival to SIDNEY CROSBY? Will hockey work in LAS VEGAS? Can STEVEN STAMKOS stay healthy and be a star again? Will a 20-year-old break a 50-year-old STANLEY CUP drought? Thirty-one players who'll define the 2017-18 season. SportsSET: "Ice Ice Baby: Bone-Crunching Hockey Oral Histories"... NHL opening night, NL wildcard game, WNBA FINALS Game 5 -- it's a great night for sports. Get the remote ready. Great problem to have... Baseball is too slow. Baseball has never been faster. | | | - Mike Vorkunov, curator |
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 | Vice Sports |
| He's the country's top overall high school football player. And he just left his neighborhood behind. But the people closest to him say football isn't even his greatest gift. | | |
|
 | Green Bay Press-Gazette |
| Sixty years ago, they were no longer America’s darling. On their deathbed, the Packers were barely the pride of Green Bay. | | |
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 | CBSSports.com |
| The system is rigged to benefit ownership and punish labor, and that's unacceptable. | | |
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 | The Ringer |
| Can the new device withstand a marathon gaming binge? | | |
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 | The New Yorker |
| The statistic represents an imagined baseball utopia. It is about what should have happened--a vision of a better world than the one that exists. | | |
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 | The Washington Post |
| "I think the thing that Jesus does best is second chances," he said. | | |
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 | Huck Magazine |
| Although worshipped while in the ring, Mexico’s star Lucha libre wrestlers live markedly different lives outside of it. | | |
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 | Yahoo Sports |
| Last year, a prominent agent received a phone call from a 770 number. On the other end was John Coppolella, the general manager of the Atlanta Braves. He wanted to talk about one of the agent's clients. | | |
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 | The Guardian |
| In 2009 Ronald Dlamini became the first black MMA champion in South African history by claiming the welterweight title. However, his life changed in 2012 after a fight in New Zealand when Ronald was rushed to hospital and diagnosed with meningitis. He was in a coma for 10 days and, when he awoke, discovered he was blind. | | |
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 | The New York Times |
| Daryl Morey, the Houston Rockets’ mastermind, is a huge theater buff, and he is now producing a musical about -- what else? -- basketball. | | |
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 | Versus Reviews |
| With so much talk around shoes in the NBA, we were interested in seeing just what players were wearing. So we decided to take a look at what every player in the league, along with the rookies, are wearing when they take the court. | | |
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 | Victory Journal |
| How one high school team put a nation on the map. | | |
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 | Men's Journal |
| How does the world’s most celebrated climber decompress after pulling off the sport’s greatest feat? He heads north to size up North America’s tallest alpine wall. | | |
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 | GQ |
| An honest conversation with one of baseball's most outspoken personalities. | | |
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 | MLive.com |
| For 14 years, he's done the remarkable at the game's most unremarkable position. And nobody's noticed. Because he's a freaking long snapper. | | |
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 | Chicago Tribune |
| So how did 'Bryzzo' become a thing? And how did those hilarious Major League Baseball ads get made? | | |
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 | SB Nation |
| The '90s were the NBA's most memorable jersey phase, for better or worse. | | |
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 | Polygon |
| The Nielsen Company says it doesn’t have to be that way. | | |
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 | ESPN |
| Vladimir Tarasenko grew up in the Siberian plains, but the Blues star and doting dad -- who also happens to be the league's most consistent scoring threat -- has made Missouri his home. He gave ESPN.com an inside peek at a day in the life of a superstar. | | |
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 | OCTOBER |
| Support the Red Bulls? Or Orlando City? The Crew? Now you're affecting the beer they're... brewing? | | |
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 | YouTube |
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