Crunching Tackles

When the NBA shut down for the second time in 2020, the reason was very different. What did the NBA players gain by staging a boycott of games for a few days? Was this helpful to their cause? Should they finish this season?

On this week's podcast, we discuss:

- Why the NBA players chose to boycott

- What the increase in politics mean for sports

- Why some athletes may feel left out of the conversation

- What Barcelona got wrong with Lionel Messi

- And why we are Anakin Skywalker but want to be Obi-Wan Kenobi.

As always, make sure to subscribe and follow us on Twitter at @crunch_tackles and on Instagram at @crunching_tackles!

Everyone likes to debate who the G.O.A.T. is, but what is the criteria to determine it? On this episode, John and Chad break down the different ways to define greatness, and explain which method is the best.

On this week's podcast, we:

- Answer your Star Wars questions

- Debate statistics vs. achievements as a way to define greatness

- Theorize about athletes who would excel in multiple sports

- Argue about a suit, and whether or not trends are good in fashion

- And Chad returns to last weeks episode about college football with a stern reminder to UNC.

As always, make sure to subscribe and follow us on Twitter at @crunch_tackles and on Instagram at @crunching_tackles!

The Big 10 and Pac-12 have suspended their fall football seasons, but what will the rest of college sports do? Will we have a season? What will that look like?

On this week's podcast, we discuss:

- Which city is the best sports town

- Why did two major conferences cancel their fall football seasons?

- Will this lead to a collegiate player's union?

- Plus Chad and John rant to each other about Star Wars.

- And Chad resorts to reckless and inappropriate ad hominem attacks!

As always, make sure to subscribe and follow us on Twitter at @crunch_tackles and on Instagram at @crunching_tackles!

What have we learned from the return to sports since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic? Where are sports at now, and what will they look like in the future?

On this week's podcast, we discuss:

- Tiger King vs. The Last Dance for best documentary

- How different sports leagues are planning their return

- Will there be fans in 2020?

- Nike's new advertisement

- And praise athletes using the anthem to promote their beliefs

As always, make sure to subscribe and follow us on Twitter at @crunch_tackles and on Instagram at @crunching_tackles!

What makes an elite rivalry? Why are some games more important to a team than all the others? What is the best rivalry in sports?

We discuss:

- The future of Major League Baseball's season after positive COVID-19 tests.

- Rank our all-time favorite sports rivalries

- Discuss the moral implications of fan violence in a rivalry

- Explain why Joe Kelly has been unfairly punished by MLB

- And Chad rants about how good Patrick Mahomes is...again.

As always, make sure to subscribe and follow us on Twitter at @crunch_tackles and on Instagram at @crunching_tackles!

The world has been crazy recently, so this week we take a break from it all to look at some athletes who are making a difference in the world for the better. (And it's under 45 minutes this time!!!)

On today's episode:

- We introduce a brand-new listener question segment (name TBD).

- We share the inspirational stories of athletes like soccer player Marcus Rashford, who has helped provide millions of British children with meals.

- We discuss whether sports make as much of an impact on their communities as we say they do.

- And finally in VAR Corner, John calls out the NBA on the China situation, Chad loves the Seattle Kraken, and we discuss whether Chad's refusal to become a Charlotte FC fan is disloyal to his homeland.

As always, make sure to give us a rating and subscribe if you enjoy this episode!

We're back this week with a quick look at the background of the Washington NFL franchise's decision to drop the name "Redskins" after almost 50 years of protest.

We discuss:

- The history of the term and the franchise's decision

- List our favorite and least favorite sports team names on the market

- Argue about whether the Oakland Athletics is a legitimate team name

- Touch on the most recent instances of anti-Semitism in sports

- And break down the Man. City ruling and the future of Financial Fair Play

As always, make sure to subscribe and follow us on Twitter at @crunch_tackles and on Instagram at @crunching_tackles!

After a vacation, the boys are back (with a guest) to discuss the place of the National Anthem in sports? Should they continue to be part of the pregame sports tradition? Or is it time to retire the song from sports?

As always, make sure to subscribe, rate and review, and follow us on Twitter: @Crunch_Tackles

and Instagram: @crunching_tackles

We go toe-to-toe this week to debate one question: are fighting sports immoral? We discuss:

- Injury concerns

- Crowd bloodlust

- The Roman gladiators

- Conor McGregor's bad behavior

We finish off the conversation as John bemoans the sad state of his team and we make some bad puns. As always, if you enjoy our content, please subscribe and leave us a review!

The Rooney Rule has been in place in leagues like the NFL since the early 2000s. On this week's episode, we discuss changes to the rule that have been made over the years, break down a recent NFL suggestion to incentivize minority hires, and talk through some potential solutions to the issue of minority representation in elite coaching.

On our VAR Corner segment, we take some time to talk about Drew Brees, cancel culture, and the importance of dialogue in solving society's problems.

As always, thanks for listening, and we'd love to hear your feedback!