The Dunk Contest Format Is Completely Different This Year

If the NBA dunk contest has disappointed you in recent years, you might consider tuning into this year's edition. The NBA has instituted a new set of rules for the contest, and they have the potential to make this year's version much more watchable than the boring, craptastic contests we've seen in years past. The worst part about the dunk contest has always been the pockets of cringe-inducing dead air that are produced by one dunker trying and failing to pull off the same dunk over and over again. The new rules should eliminate some of that depressing downtime, because the first round is now a "freestyle" round. It works like this: The six dunkers will be divided into two teams, East and West, and will all participate in the freestyle round simultaneously. Basi…

The Iowa Hawkeyes Are Already In Midseason Form

One should never go into spring break cold. It's important to ease into it with a few warmup public intoxication arrests, as these three Iowa football players can tell you. On the left there is James Ferentz, redshirt freshman center and son of Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz, who in February signed a contract extension through the 2015 season. But it was Ferentz's buddies, freshman tight end Zach Derby and freshman fullback Tyler Christiansen, who did the most impressive work here. According to criminal complaints and University of Iowa Department of Public Safety Associate Director Bill Searls, Zachary Merlin Derby, 19, and Tyler Allen Christiansen, 19, approached an off-duty UI police officer and attempted to pick a fight with him. The incident happened around 2 a.m. in …

Boston College bids to sweep season series vs. Notre Dame

Boston College and Notre Dame continue Atlantic Coast Conference play with their second meeting in as many weeks on Saturday afternoon in South Bend, Ind. The Eagles (11-8, 2-6 ACC) have won three consecutive meetings in the series following a 63-59 home win on Jan. 15. Boston College followed that up by losing two straight games, including Tuesday's 76-71 setback at Virginia Tech. A second-half rally to cut an 11-point halftime deficit down to two in the final minute was not enough for the Eagles on Tuesday. Devin McGlockton collected 19 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. "You just find yourself digging out of a hole when you're down 12 or 13 on the road," Boston College coach Earl Grant said. "I thought the second half was real…

Quarterback Options for the Chiefs in Patrick Mahomes' Absence

data-mm-id=”_plzpbtas2″> Kansas City's Super Bowl hopes took a blow when Patrick Mahomes sustained a knee injury during a Thursday night showdown with the Denver Broncos, a game the Chiefs eventually won 30-6. While the injury is not as serious as once feared, it looks like the Chiefs will still be without Mahomes for a "brief" period of time, and will look to someone else to run the league's most feared offense. For the second half of last night's game, that someone was backup Matt Moore, but the Chiefs might look elsewhere for next week's contest against the Packers.Here are a few ideas. 1. Matt MooreThere's always sticking with Plan A. Moore did an adequate job in relief of Mahomes last night against the Denver Broncos, going 10 of 19 for 117 yards…

Tom Brady is the Only Man Who Can Save the Los Angeles Chargers From Themselves

data-mm-id=”_tpb0j1r7x”>The Los Angeles Chargers, as they are prone to do, have found themselves in a bind of their own creation. They were a playoff team in 2018, but fell apart in 2019 and went 5-11. Their star running back missed a chunk of the season while holding out. Once the regular season mercifully ended, the team announced they wouldn't be bringing back Philip Rivers, the face of the Chargers for 15 years. To top it off, all this happened on the eve of the opening of their new stadium. Los Angeles had an extremely tough time selling tickets last season, and everyone noticed. "Home" games were regularly dominated by opposing fans. And that was in their temporary digs at Dignity Health Sports Park, with a capacity of 27,000. Their new SoFi Stadium will have a cap…

The Buffalo Bills Are AFC East Favorites

data-mm-id=”_n1qm19rhg”>We live in strange times. Throw a dart out your window and it'll pierce something that seems out of place and vastly different than expected. That's true of the big stuff and the trivial. Yesterday the NFL gave us a brief reprieve with a flurry of moves, including the Buffalo Bills trading for game-breaking wide receiver Stefon Diggs. One can argue the Minnesota Vikings got the better end of the deal by stock-piling draft picks. But in the short-term, the addition of Diggs makes an already ascendent team even scarier and better positioned for the season to come. That and Tom Brady's departure from New England combine to make Buffalo the more sure bet in the AFC East this season. The Bills are perfectly poised to snap New England's 11-year str…

'Game of Zones' Comes to a Perfect Conclusion

data-mm-id=”_wfv1rwtza”>*Warning: Spoilers ahead for the series finale of Game of Zones*Bleacher Report's extremely popular Game of Zones web series came to its conclusion on Thursday after six years of episodes. What started off as a brief two-minute sketch turned into a beloved narrative that every NBA and Game of Thrones fan looked forward to. The finale, as we expected, was perfect, just over a year to the day of the awful finale of Game of Thrones. Watching this, I was absolutely blown away by the foresight (and the luck) the writers had with the final episode. These have been in the making for months, if not a year, and somehow the finale comes out the day after Paul Pierce makes headlines because he left LeBron James off his five greatest players of all-time list. The Micha…

Stephen A. Smith Defends Tom Brady's Decision to Ignore NFLPA, Work Out With Teammates

data-mm-id=”_lv6bjsonz”>Despite the pleas of the NFL's Players Association, Tom Brady is among several players who are continuing to work out together. First Take tackled the subject today, debating whether Brady should face criticism for that decision. I am among those who believe he absolutely should. Stephen A. Smith is not. He argued that it is possible to work out while adhering to safety protocols that lower the chances of everyone involved catching coronavirus. .@stephenasmith got fired up after Max criticized Tom Brady and his Buccaneer teammates for working out at a Tamp Bay high school ? pic.twitter.com/zCYMtW2k65— First Take (@FirstTake) June 24, 2020This is definitely a true statement. It is not what Brady did. He posted several Instagram pictures of himself and his …

Denver Nuggets Just Continue to Defy the Odds Time And Time Again

data-mm-id=”_cwd1o1qig”>The discourse this week will mainly be focused around the Los Angeles Clippers and how it all went wrong. Rightfully so, too. Never before have we seen a team with that much talent and hype fold in this manner. How can a starting five with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard not score a single point in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter? How did Doc Rivers manage to blow his third 3-1 playoff lead? These questions will dominate a good portion of basketball discussion for the next few months. But man, how about those Nuggets? As you've surely heard by now, they're the first team in NBA history to come back from multiple 3-1 deficits in the same playoffs. First they did it against the Utah Jazz, then against Los Angeles. There were points, especiall…

Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh McCown Both Have Incredible Backup Quarterback Trees

data-mm-id=”_sl0i87bmc”>Ryan Fitzpatrick lost his job as starting quarterback for the Miami Dolphins to rookie Tua Tagovailoa earlier this week. Almost 38, Fitzpatrick was very disappointed as his days as a starting quarterback in the NFL may be over if everything goes well for Tagovailoa. Of course, as Josh McCown has proved, if Fitz wants to stay in the NFL, you can be a backup into your 40's. McCown, 41, is still on the Philadelphia Eagles' practice squad. Still, it kind of feels like the end of a uneventful era. Fitzpatrick and his beard have been a part of the NFL for a long time now. The temptation to overstate the importance of Fitzpatrick's longevity is understandable. Take, for instance, this tweet from ESPN analyst and former NFL scout Jim Nagy.Might not have m…