Kind of sad that it took them so long to acknowledge us. Some of my friends are angry, because they feel like Nike is trying to capitalize on this demographic and the political atmosphere. They feel like it's really cool right now to have advertising about equality and diversity. Part of me thinks they're just trying to cash in. | | | | Catcher Wellington Castillo tagged out Colombia's Oscar Mercado to save the Dominican Republic from defeat.
(Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “Kind of sad that it took them so long to acknowledge us. Some of my friends are angry, because they feel like Nike is trying to capitalize on this demographic and the political atmosphere. They feel like it's really cool right now to have advertising about equality and diversity. Part of me thinks they're just trying to cash in.”
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| | rantnrave:// It's easy to see why the OLYMPICS retain a foul stench. RICHARD MCLAREN uncovers an institutional doping program and faces backlash and attacks not only from RUSSIA, the perpetrator, but also the from the INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE. Did the IOC think there's something wrong with McLaren's report or is it not really interested in anti-doping? Does it want just enough of an investigation to pat itself on the back for its efforts? That we have assumptions but don't know the answer is problematic for the organization... Manny is still being Manny. In JAPAN, that means MANNY RAMIREZ can get unlimited sushi and practice is optional... I love the NCAA TOURNAMENT but I don't forget that the NCAA and its universities are profiting from it, while the players aren't. THE NATION'S DAVE ZIRIN makes the case that the student-athletes are being exploited. The NCAA would say they're getting scholarships and an education. You make your own judgment. Some (most?) colleges have more money than they know what do with. And when you can't (won't) pay the players, it has to go somewhere and it usually pays for buildings and goes to the coaches. To football's coordinators. Basketball's assistants. And, at KENTUCKY, the tennis coach, who makes more than the average professor. There's no limit to who can can get rich in college sports anymore -- except the players... Want to win your bracket? Go with chalk. And don't pick a 16-seed... But let your kids fill out their own brackets. No need to over-parent here... If you fill out a bracket based on the coaches' TWITTER accounts, JOE FAVORITO has you covered... What is this going to do to THE CHAINSMOKERS' ITUNES downloads?... What is AMAZON's plan for eSports?... The LOOT CRATE looks like a great idea. If you're a sports fan who craves surprises -- I fit this demographic to a T -- it seems worth trying. | | | - Mike Vorkunov, curator |
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 | The Undefeated |
| From barbershops, to churches to soul food restaurants, here’s how players past and present made themselves at home. | | |
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 | The Ringer |
| An inside look at video game developer and Gamergate critic Brianna Wu’s unconventional approach to running for Congress. | | |
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 | ESPN |
| All Russell Westbrook needed to make history was to be left alone. This is the untold story of how he found his singular drive. | | |
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 | The New York Times |
| Millions of Americans take part in pools for the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament, pools that can be straightforward or surprisingly complex. | | |
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 | FiveThirtyEight |
| Upsets, upsets and more upsets. Every year, they help drive the NCAA Tournament to a special place in our sports culture. And yet, despite 128 opportunities, we still haven’t seen the king of all upsets. | | |
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 | The Nation |
| The NCAA has become a bigger and bigger business-but athletes are in the same position they’ve been for decades. | | |
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 | Vice Sports |
| Last month, Mack Beggs made national news by becoming the first trans wrestler in the Class 6A division to win a state title in Texas. The story was all too familiar for former high school wrestler Rayne Bray. | | |
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 | USA Today |
| Dad grooming sons, including UCLA's Lonzo, to become basketball stars and money-making machines. | | |
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 | BP Toronto |
| Catcher defense is an interesting thing. When trying to evaluate it, most of the talk has shifted towards pitch framing (or receiving), with cursory mentions of “controlling the running game” and blocking ability. This makes some sense, as we have data to quantify all of these things. | | |
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 | Bleacher Report |
| Nike sparked similarly breathless coverage recently after it announced the Nike Pro Hijab, the brand's first hijab for athletes and the first ever available on a mass-market scale. "My reaction was, 'Oh, that's nothing new, the sports hijab has been around for decades,'" says triathlete Shirin Gerami. | | |
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 | Nerdist |
| An uninterrupted conversation with Maverick Carter about meeting Michael Jordan in 2002 alongside LeBron James; his formative internship at Nike; managing LeBron’s career; likability; lessons learned from “The Decision”; projects at Uninterrupted like documentaries “Fight Mom” and “Fiba Allow Hijab” and Draymond Green’s new podcast “Dray Day”; and more. | | |
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 | NY Daily News |
| In his ascendance, Jay Wright has been obsessive and assertive, a peddler and a pointillist, constantly curious and evolving as he re-evaluates every decision, from diction to worldview. Atop his field, he mixes sermons from a team chaplain with sleight-of-hand lineups. | | |
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 | Yahoo Sports |
| The World Baseball Classic has its flaws, but it is still exciting and dramatic. MIAMI - For some reason, the World Baseball Classic perpetually finds itself fighting against what it isn’t. The World Baseball Classic is exciting. | | |
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 | New York Magazine |
| Why some sporting legends credit it with helping them stay cool under pressure. | | |
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 | Slate |
| How the NCAA abuses statistics to stack the deck against small schools. | | |
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 | VentureBeat |
| Amazon’s been busy building out an epic esports ecosystem, or empire, that is simply unprecedented. Just in case you haven’t appreciated the reality of the situation, let’s take a look at the timeline. | | |
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 | Sports Illustrated |
| How the Northwestern Wildcats overcame years of futility to claim their first NCAA tournament bid. | | |
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 | Deadspin |
| “Woody has a big engine and this natural ability to kick really well. He almost always has the fastest last lap. I don’t think he understands it either—he just turns his brain off and goes as hard as he can. I mean, if you thought about how much it’s going to hurt, you might not do it.” | | |
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 | The Washington Post |
| Most college teams lose money, but as basketball revenues soar, so do salaries for coaches of lower-profile sports. | | |
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 | SB*Nation |
| There are lots of fantastic draft prospects headed to a TV near you during the NCAA Tournament. Lean in to the college game and enjoy. | | |
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 | YouTube |
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