NFC West Division preview 2024 predicted order of finish, record San Francisco 49ers (12-5) The 49ers have plenty of playmakers and signed "hold-in" WR Brandon Aiyuk to an extension. But LT Trent Williams remains a holdout and without him the line might not give Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, Aiyuk and Co. enough time to make plays. Will the 49ers regress after losing (again) to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl? Los Angeles Rams (10-7) With WR Cooper Kupp returning, the Rams have one of the best receiving tandems in the league with Puka Nacua, who was the runner-up for Offensive Rookie of the Year last season. RB Kyren Williams also had a breakout season in 2023, giving QB Matthew Stafford plenty of options. One massive worry: the Rams have to re…

Canadian ski cross racer Chris Del Bosco fought gravity and lost during a qualifying heat, losing control at the worst moment and catapulting some 30 feet down the course and landing hard on his right side. As a longer video shows (he’s in Heat 8), Del Bosco misjudged the previous jump and went too far, which caused him to overcorrect, lose his balance just before the fateful jump, and lean back too far back. Cruelly enough, Del Bosco himself asked for changes to the course’s jumps to prevent a situation exactly like his, and he even helped organizers smooth over a few portions of the course. After the crash, Del Bosco stayed on the snow for 10 minutes before being stretchered off and taken to the hospital. A Team Canada doctor told CBC that Del Bosco was stable and was being tr…

Some people are fans of the Oakland Raiders. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Oakland Raiders. This 2015 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Your team: Oakland Raiders Your 2014 record: 3-13, featuring the league’s worst point differential (-199). “ What this ball represents and what this hole represents are the first four games of the season. The first quarter of our season … This ball, to me, goes in this hole! Okay?” You will not find a more motivational hole than the hole Tony Sparano dug. Sparano, you will recall, was promoted to interim head coach (all Raiders coaches should be labeled as “interim”) after Dennis Allen was canned after just four games last season. They could have canned Allen a full year ago. Instead, they burned o…

Rainbow Stand 2012 (aka Teczowa Trybuna 2012) bills itself as the Polish national soccer team's first gay fan club. And who knows, maybe they are. Per the Warsaw Business Journal, members have asked UEFA for separate seating during the Euro 2012 tournament which will be played in Poland and the Ukraine. Unfortunately, during trips to matches in Poland, we often encountered unpleasantness, harassment and violence from the ‘real' fans. … Let's Kick homophobia from the stadiums. We dream that the rainbow stands permanently etched into the landscape of Polish rooting thereby changing its current woeful image. We do not want to build a ghetto. Obviously we would prefer that in Poland there was no need for rainbow stands. The request makes sense in light of an advocacy …

Sebastian Aho had a goal and two assists and the visiting Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 Saturday night. Michael Bunting and Seth Jarvis also scored for the Hurricanes, and Andrei Svechnikov added two assists. Aho has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in his past three games. Pyotr Kochetkov made 25 saves as the Hurricanes won their third straight game. Timothy Liljegren had a goal and an assist and Nicholas Robertson also scored for Toronto, which has lost three in a row (0-2-1). Max Domi added two assists, and Martin Jones stopped 25 shots. Bunting, a former Maple Leafs player, scored during a power play at 2:24 of the first period. Aho's pass from the end boards into the slot set up Bunting, who slid the puck through the five-hole for his eight…

data-mm-id=”_ui436uigm”>Greg Schiano got hired by Rutgers again, which naturally meant that Clay Travis and Joel Klatt were going to have a disagreement about the merits of what went down when Travis led the campaign to undo the coach's hiring at Tennesee. Neither of their opinions on the matter are much different than in 2017, and can essentially be summed up here:Again, you're dead wrong…we told you that slandering a man based on 3rd party, uncorroborated information in order to undermine his hiring because you didn't want him as your coach was unethical, dirty, and pathetic…even for you https://t.co/Gsz024S9Jw— Joel Klatt (@joelklatt) December 1, 2019The crux of Travis' argument is that Tennessee fans were vilified for getting the administration to change c…

data-mm-id=”_nqi97abj8″>We have a new leader in the Big Lead Yearlong ATS Pick clubhouse as Stephen Douglas rode a 7-3 record in Week 11 to the top of the standings. Not to be outdone, Ryan Phillips also went 7-3 last week and Brian Giuffra went 6-4. Our season-long leader, Ryan Glasspiegel, had a down week (2-8) while Bobby Burack went 5-5 and Liam McKeone went 4-6. Still, all but one person is above .500 for the season. Week 12 features spicy matchups between some of the best teams in the league in primetime (Colts-Texans, Packers-49ers, Ravens-Rams). Here are our picks for Week 12 based on lines taken from Westgate Superbook on Tuesday. Season Record: Stephen Douglas 59-49-1; Bobby Burack 56-51-1; Brian Giuffra 52-46-1; Ryan Phillips 56-52-1; Ryan Glasspiegel 55-53-1; Liam McKeone 4…

data-mm-id=”_rqxoy8obw”>Anthony Rendon helped the Washington Nationals top the Houston Astros in the 2019 World Series and dropped a bomb about that matchup on Monday. Rendon claimed the Nationals knew the Astros were stealing signs during the World Series. During a media session on Monday, Rendon — who is now a member of the Los Angeles Angels — was asked about the Astros sign-stealing scandal. He answered several questions concerning how he views the players now, etc. Then he was asked if the Nationals knew the Astros were stealing signs. Here's what he had to say:Anthony Rendon said the Nationals were tipped off on the Astros’ sign-stealing prior to the 2019 World Series and that they were suspicious. Said this was pretty well known what Houston was up to, but said that he…

data-mm-id=”_ddo3ixctt”>Andy Dalton signed with the Dallas Cowboys. Dalton signed a one-year deal with the Cowboys that will be worth between $3 million and $7 million. This could complicate Dak Prescott's life and contract negotiations. Dalton spent the first nine years of his career in Cincinnati before the Bengals drafted Joe Burrow and released the Red Rifle. It was assumed he would go somewhere he would either be the obvious starter or at least compete for a starting job. And maybe he did. The Cowboys placed the exclusive franchise tag on Prescott way back in March, but have still not been able to agree to a new contract. The latest rumor is that the length of a new deal is an issue. By signing Dalton, the Cowboys have insurance no matter what. If Prescott ends up holding ou…