It’s only been a week since our last pod but so much has happened since then, I don’t even have time for my usual long winded soliloquy to open the show. I mean, the James Harden experiment has produced incredible returns since the trade broke last week, we saw Ja Morant return from injury nearly two weeks early and lift his Grizzlies team like a future MVP might do, and NBA fans have to be bummed for CJ McCollum, as the Blazers’ star is seeing his All-NBA caliber season halted for a few months with a foot injury; get well soon baller. And of course we had our last full weekend of football for the season, as a field of eight teams was whittled down to four. Baker and his Browns put up a good fight against the Chiefs, and almost pulled off the upset after Patrick Mahomes left the game with a neck injury. Tom Brady likely ended Drew Brees’ career, Aaron Rodgers took another step towards his second ring and Josh Allen took another step towards establishing his Playoff credentials, and the stage is set for Conference Championship Weekend! Whew, and that only gets us started with what we have to get into today; good thing I skipped the long winded soliloquy! So sit back, the NFL Playoffs are down to the final four teams, the NBA season is all over the place and we’re breaking down how it’s all unfolding, next on the Roundup Podcast, so let’s get rolling . . .

What a mess. I really feel for Rockets fans right now, as the James Harden to Brooklyn trade awaits finalization. This loyal fanbase must feel betrayed after basically giving the keys to the franchise to their superstar, signing him to a long term contract, and then watching as he held the team hostage over his trade demands. Well, he got his wish. The Nets are a superteam, the Rockets are rebuilding and sports media gets the juiciest story of the new year, but something here feels wrong. At least this blockbuster trade temporarily overshadows the Association’s Covid problem, as games are postponed and players miss time on the Covid reserve list. Now there’s no use in speculating on how this will all play out, so today, we’re just gonna focus on the basketball. Oh, and some football too, of course. Speaking of which, I gotta admit, I was wrong. Wild Card Weekend, excuse me SUPER Wild Card Weekend, was everything the league said it would be, and adding two more Playoff teams didn’t destroy the integrity of the postseason tournament like I worried it might. In hindsight, adding more games to the weekend slate was a gimme, but it took the experience of reveling in two days of back to back to back games for me to be sold. As for the games themselves, we got a few upsets from the Rams, Browns and Ravens, and we may have seen the final performance from Philip Rivers in a nail biter vs the Bills, but the story of the weekend was a trio of young QBs from the 2018 draft class who all managed to advance their teams to the next round. Josh Allen ran the show, Lamar Jackson took over when it counted, Baker Mayfield made plays, and they all took the next step by winning Playoff games for their teams, so for just a moment, let’s ease off of the criticism of these young men a bit and give them the credit they deserve, and then we can all see what they do this weekend. So sit back, the NFL Playoffs are just getting going, the NBA season is already on overdrive and we’re breaking down how it’s all unfolding, next on the Roundup Podcast, so let’s get rolling . . .

We could all use a fresh start. The trials and tribulations of 2020 have been documented ad nauseam, no use in rehashing old stuff now, so it’s with great anticipation that we welcome in 2021. Just think, in 2021 it just might finally be time for Buffalo to brush off decades of futility and bask in the successes of the Josh Allen era as it unfolds. 2021 might see Lamar or Baker carry their teams deep into the Playoffs. Maybe 2021 is the year that Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees win that elusive 2nd ring, or Rivers gets his chance to win his first. 2021 may be the year that KD reclaims his rightful place among the greatest active NBA players, or that we get to watch Steph on the court for the whole season, maybe scoring 62 or something? It’s not out of the realm of possibility to think that 2021 is the year Luka or AD win an MVP, or Ja sneaks into the conversation when he gets healthy. For that matter, neither is the idea of Giannis winning his first ring, or LeBron winning his 5th. Now for you skeptics who say January 1st is just another day, you’re right, time is contextual, but forgoing a discussion on the discrepancies of the Gregorian calendar, there’s a special kind of symbolism in the new year, the possibilities that despite whatever came before, something new lies ahead. The point is, in the immortal words of KG, “Anything is possible!”  So sit back, the NBA season is already all the way up, while the NFL Playoffs are just getting going and we’re breaking down how it’s all unfolding, next on the Roundup Podcast, so let’s get rolling . . .

My story is like that of many others this holiday season. The best laid plans plans to travel home and spend the holidays with the family were preempted by some pandemic, you may have heard of it, but needless to say, it’s obviously a huge bummer. So what’s a marooned sports fan to do over the holiday weekend? Well fortunately, the NFL and NBA have it all laid out for me, and with a nice holiday meal, it might be a pretty good weekend after all. Christmas Day I’ll wake to a full day of NBA action, including my Warriors vs the Bucks, and mix in a little Vikings/Saints around dinner time. Then Saturday we get an NFL special tripleheader, followed by a full slate of football on Sunday, and cap it off with MNF. Sprinkle in some more NBA throughout the weekend and that’s a pretty nice little holiday schedule. Not bad for making do over a Covid Christmas! So sit back, the NBA season starts today, the NFL is hurtling down the stretch drive and we’re breaking down how it’s all unfolding, next on the Roundup Podcast, so let’s get rolling . . .

Sneaky great sports weekend we’re coming off, and lots to talk about today, with NBA previews and Week 14 of the NFL season in the books, but first, a tribute to some great scheduling. Granted, the NFL action was hit or miss in Week 14, but my standards for football are pretty low; give me any two teams in an NFL game that means something and I’m in, so Thursday night’s Ram victory was good enough for me. Then Friday we got our first glimpses of NBA preseason, enough to tide me over til Saturday night and what I was really waiting for; the Warriors first preseason game. Now, I’d be watching under any circumstances, sure, but my anticipation was through the roof for this meaningless exhibition, and the payoff was extremely satisfying. It might not seem like much, but after all the Warriors have been through the past few years, seeing Wardell Stephen Curry take the court was a special kind of thrill. I was still buzzing as I coasted through the Sunday slate of NFL games, some good action here and there, but preseason hoops again preempted everything, as we got to see KD return to action for the Nets in another feel good moment. Wrap it up with the Bills flexing on the Steelers and a great Browns/Ravens tilt that went down to the wire, interspersed with the return of Zion on Monday, and it was sports fan nirvana! But the best part? This is what the sports calendar will look like for the next 2 months, hoops and football all week, every week, and while these NBA preseason games mean nothing in the standings, there was something magical about seeing some of those guys out there on the floor again and seeing the new teams together for the first time. The NBA is back baby! So sit back, it’s NBA preview time, the NFL is hurtling down the stretch drive and we’re breaking down how it’s all unfolding, next on the Roundup Podcast, so let’s get rolling . . .

The pressure is on! In Week 12 in NFL, we saw a Broncos team playing without a real QB and a Ravens team missing 9 starters, including MVP QB Lamar Jackson, but even with decimated rosters, the games went on. It’s a race against time, and a virus, for the NFL, as they push on with their schedule through Covid and criticism, doing everything they can to keep the season on track. In the moment, the cliches all seem true; the, as they say, “optics” aren’t great. This is uncharted territory, and in choosing to push on, the League has had to make some tough decisions, but all in all, the season seems salvageable and I’d bet as much money as the league stands to gain that we get a Super Bowl. Hopefully the NBA has observed and learned from the NFL’s struggles and has a plan of their own ready to go, but the dynamics of an NBA season are so much different than those of an NFL season, and with smaller rosters, more star power, and multiple games per week, there will be a different set of challenges. While I’m confident in both leagues seeing their seasons through to the finish, I fully expect to hear more criticism of how the leagues are handling this unprecedented situation, but to sports fans I’d ask one simple question; would you rather have no NFL or NBA at all? Not me, I’m ready for a full winter of hoops and football, so if they’re gonna decide to play the games, bring it on, depleted rosters and all! So sit back, the NBA is less than 3 weeks away, the NFL is hurtling towards the stretch drive and we’re breaking down how it’s all unfolding, next on the Roundup Podcast, so let’s get rolling . . .

From the Roundup Podcast to you and yours, best wishes for a happy and healthy Thanksgiving! We’re back in the studio this week, fighting through some technical issues, and we’re about to get with the Guru, Gabe Goldfield, to break down a busy weekend of NBA offseason action, which started with the NBA Draft and moved straight into a wild flurry of free agent signings. But just hours before it all got underway, the NBA world suffered a collective gut punch, agonizing along with Klay Thompson as we learned of his devastating, season ending Achilles injury. What followed was a universal outpouring of support from nearly every sports media pundit and outlet, which makes sense cuz Klay is as beloved an NBA player as anyone out there, but the love you could feel being expressed was a nice surprise. Get well soon baller. Meanwhile, the NFL elite continue to separate from the pack, but if you look close enough, you see that the balance of power leans heavily towards the AFC, and we can show our work with our updated tiers. So sit back, it’s a rapid fire NBA offseason, the NFL is barreling towards the stretch drive and we’re breaking down how it’s all unfolding, next on the Roundup Podcast, so let’s get rolling . . .

We are doing something special here today on the show; I’m in Santa Cruz, chilling in person with Gaber a few days after enjoying a fabulous football Sunday at Casa Goldfield for Week 9 of the NFL season. As if that wasn’t awesome enough, we just got the news Saturday that the NBA will be starting the 2020-21 season on December 22, just a few short months after crowning the Lakers champs in the bubble. You know the motivation behind the decision, as Wu Tang told us, C.R.E.A.M., but to hoops aficionados, the why isn’t as significant as the fact that we’re gonna have Christmas Day basketball after all! As we said in last episode’s intro, life as we knew it pre-Covid may still be a ways off, but I guarantee you that sports fans are grateful for any semblance of normalcy that sports can offer us. So sit back, it’s the NFL at Midseason and the return of the NBA, and we’re breaking down how it’s all unfolding, next on the Roundup Podcast, so let’s get rolling . . .

While societies around the world are still adapting to a new reality seven months into this pandemic, very few things feel quite like they used to. That’s why it hit me last week, as we approached Week 7 of the NFL season and the World Series got underway, with the bizarro bubble NBA season over, at times it almost seems like a, dare I say, normal, pro sports fall in the US. After a while you get used to the masks and social distancing, you almost don’t notice it anymore, and as I followed the NFL and MLB this week, in proper context, there was something almost comforting about what a regular week it almost was in sports. And that’s what sports are really for, to provide respite from all of the real world issues you take on every day. So yeah, after what i think I can reasonably classify as a rough 2020, I’m jumping headlong into a classic David vs Goliath World Series matchup between the Rays and the Dodgers, and I’m enjoying every NFL moment just trying to figure out who might actually be a contender, and for a few hours at a time, everything seems as it should be. So sit back, it’s the NFL, the World Series and the omnipresent NBA, and we’re breaking down how it’s all unfolding, next on the Roundup Podcast, so let’s get rolling . . .

Twenty years from now sports fans might read about the 2020 NBA campaign, about how the Association dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic by playing out their season in a bubble, and they’ll see that LeBron collected his 4th ring as the Lakers won the title. Jimmy Butler’s huge performances might even get a footnote in the history books as well, but what the records won’t show is how much fun this topsy-turvy hoops “bubble season” was. Dedicated viewers were rewarded with a packed schedule that would make the NCAA tournament seem modest in comparison. We got multiple games nearly every day for months, and down the stretch, got to mix in some MLB and NFL games as well. Never in my life as a sports fan have I experienced anything like it, and likely, never will again. And now we return to a more normal fall, as the NFL enters WK 6 and as MLB’s Playoffs wind down, and don’t get me wrong, there’s still plenty of sports, but forgive me a moment if I’m already feeling nostalgic about what an unlikely yet glorious summer it was for hoops heads. So sit back, it’s the NFL, MLB Playoffs and a farewell to the NBA, and we’re breaking down how it’s all unfolding, next on the Roundup Podcast, so let’s get rolling . . .