The regular season’s Pick Six contest is done and dusted, and now Pick the Playoffs can begin. This week, go for Houston, Seattle, Pittsburgh and Green BayFor NFL teams, the playoffs represent the culmination of months of hard graft. But here on the Guardian sport blog, they simply represent a fresh start. Our regular season Pick Six contest is at an end, but now it is time for the Pick the Playoffs to begin. First, though, we must crown our regular season champion. In past years, this has often been a close-run thing, but this time it was not at all; castigers has led the way for weeks and held off one final late push from the chasing pack to...
If the authorities are determined to curb slow play, picking on the world No1 while ignoring others who are renowned for a lack of urgency makes no senseIt is the subject guaranteed to send even mild-mannered golfing observers into a state of frenzy. Piece the words slow and play together before watching sparks fly; it can really be great fun. The only thing more consistent than slow play is the regularity with which people prattle on about it. Related: Muirfield members face their demons again: is it time to let the ladies in? | Marina Hyde Related: Sport calendar 2017: your essential guide to the next 12 months Continue reading...
His move to Celtic might have fallen through, but the Timbers midfielder has nothing left to prove in America, and a fresh challenge would do him goodBrendan Rodgers was left confused by the first question posed over Celtic’s interest in Darlington Nagbe. Asked about a player called “Darling”, the Northern Irishman didn’t immediately process who or what he was being pressed on. It’s fair to say Nagbe’s name isn’t exactly renowned in Scottish soccer circles. Related: Seattle's triumph, and good riddance to Gerrard: the 2016 MLS season in review Continue reading...
There are plenty of underwhelming quarterbacks lining up this weekend but that could provide some upsets to liven up the playoffsA few days before the start of Christmas and Hanukkah signalled the merciful end to 2016, it was announced that a spring developmental football league was slated to debut in April. Unaffiliated with the NFL, the four-team league will feature free agent players instructed by experienced coaches, and is designed to give fringe players a chance to open some eyes and latch on to NFL teams. But the NFL is not one to let any competitor leagues pop up unopposed, so this Saturday and Sunday we will see the debut of the NFL’s own developmental league, one they’re calling “the...
Questions surrounded the Green Bay Packers quarterback as his team struggled mid-season. But there are few players better when things around them collapseNot long ago the football world appeared to have given up on Aaron Rodgers. Now with the Green Bay Packers winning the NFC North he’s a popular pick for league MVP. This is how the NFL works. Seasons are rarely coronations; they are more tests or perseverance. People get hurt. Knees and ankles and shoulders fail. Bodies ache. Plans dissolve into mayhem. Teams rise and fall. Winning is survival. And with a week between each game, few things on this planet are as susceptible to overreaction and hyperbole as America’s most popular professional sport. Related: Kobe returns and...