Sam Schneider | May 27th, 2020
In a move that surprised absolutely no one, Major League Baseball owners proposed a return-to-play plan that the players effectively scoffed at, putting fans’ hopes for a baseball return in question. Continue reading
Sam Schneider | May 24th, 2020
Memories are short among NFL fans. Many do not even recall that the Houston Texans finished the 2019 season with a division championship at 10-6 and beat an upstart Buffalo Bills team in the first round of the playoffs. Following that, they went up by 21 points in the divisional round before the eventual SBLIV Champion Kansas City Chiefs went on a rampage and sent them packing. A tumultuous offseason then erased those memories for fans outside of Texas.
Sam Schneider | May 20th, 2020
The Cincinnati Bengals hit it out of the park during the draft, beginning with Joe Burrow and continuing round-by-round to fill needs on the roster to pair with an active free agency and seem to have immediately changed their fortunes headed into 2020. With the scheduled offseason workout programs and post-draft rookie minicamps canceled, Zac Taylor’s vision of adding free agent veterans seems savvy, but it takes a lot to flip a franchise. The dominoes must fall the right way and here is how it happens, and this is how they will.
Sam Schneider | May 16th, 2020
After a 2019 season that saw the Los Angeles Chargers finish 5-11 and in the basement of the AFC West, they hit the ground running in free agency. The Chargers don’t have to look far into the rear-view mirror to see a 2018 season where they went 12-4 under Anthony Lynn and made the playoffs. In 2020 they open the brand new SoFi Stadium in Southern California (a joint venture with the LA Rams) and are ready to christen their new digs with a winning season. What does 2020 hold for the Bolts? Here are some (very) bold takes for this season’s Chargers. Let’s get crazy! Continue reading
Sam Schneider | May 12th, 2020
Forrest Gregg and Kenny Anderson. Sam Wyche and Boomer Esiason. Zac Taylor and Joe Burrow? The former pairs both went to the Super Bowl together and we will know reasonably soon if a trip to the promised land is in the cards for the latter. Cincinnati is buzzing.
Sam Schneider | May 5th, 2020
“Wel- uh um ttoo Ope ing-ing Day-ay ah twennnnnty-tee bayayseball eason!”.
More iconic words have probably never been spoken in the history of Major League Baseball. Even with less-than-stellar Wi-Fi, the announcer (sitting on his deck near the coast of South Carolina) is ushering in the first game of a season. It was delayed by a world pandemic and still with many restrictions in place. He is watching the same feed as you and me. Coming to us from a solitary camera perched in the stands. It is roughly seventy-five feet behind home plate and elevated for a full view of the field.
Sam Schneider | May 1st, 2020
The Los Angeles Chargers started free agency like a shock-wave. The right side of the offensive line was fortified and they added key pieces to the defense that made it potentially one of the best in the league in a weaponized division. Coming off a 5-11 season that included three straight losses to close the campaign, that was only the start. Continue reading
Sam Schneider | April 29th, 2020
The Cincinnati Bengals spent over $158 million in free agency in 2020, a sign of commitment to bring fans back to Paul Brown Stadium and to putting a better product on the field before going into the draft with the number one overall pick. The top of the draft was no surprise. They selected the best quarterback in college last year coming off arguably the greatest season in college football history. Continue reading
Sam Schneider | April 22nd, 2020
Sam Schneider | April 22nd, 2020
Sam Schneider | April 21st, 2020
Sam Schneider | April 20th, 2020
Sam Schneider | April 10th, 2020
The Los Angeles Chargers started off free agency with a bang, establishing a defense and couple offensive line pieces that should help them transition into the post Philip Rivers era. After shoring up the right side of the line with Bryan Bulaga and trading for Trai Turner, the left side was largely untouched. That lends itself to taking the first southpaw drafted since Tim Tebow ten years ago.
Sam Schneider | April 7th, 2020
The Cincinnati Bengals caught some people sleeping in the 2020 offseason, bucking the no-spend narrative that has permeated the national media when owner Mike Brown opened the coffers for Zac Taylor, Katie Blackburn, and Duke Tobin to go after big free-agents which you can read about here. That spending has filled many gaps in a defense that was tossed around like a rag doll last season and enables the Bengals to draft for the best player available scenario in the upcoming draft.
Sam Schneider | April 2nd, 2020
It’s been a long offseason. Aside from the delay of baseball due to the ever-growing concern over Covid19, there were also a lot of developments with respect to the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal. Fines, bans, and firings that made for an eventful offseason but also lent itself to the feeling that it has been particularly drawn out. Continue reading
Sam Schneider | March 30th, 2020
The San Francisco Giants finished 2019 with their third straight losing season. Although their win total increased each of the last two seasons, there’s not a lot of good to look forward to in 2020 as the rebuilding continues, but there are pieces in the organization that lend themselves some hope for the future. Continue reading
Sam Schneider | March 23rd, 2020
BREAKING NEWS: Mike Brown’s checkbook must have known that an Ohio ‘stay at home’ order was coming because it went out and had a little fun last week. The Bengals dropped over $109 million on committed contracts so far in the free agency period following a historically bad 2-14 season in 2019 under first-year head coach Zac Taylor. Continue reading
Sam Schneider | March 22nd, 2020
A few weeks ago, I did a mock draft here on the Los Angeles Chargers based solely on the positional needs of the team. After several days of free agency, the Chargers instead have set themselves up to draft according to best player available due to several team-altering moves made during that time. They released two captains in Brandon Mebane and Thomas Davis, followed by placing the franchise tag on tight end Hunter Henry. Afterward, they found themselves with just over $50 million to spend in free agency before the draft, on their draft picks, and for any additional adds they need to make later this summer. Thus far, general manager Tom Telesco has delivered.
Sam Schneider | March 18th, 2020
I saw some very strange things on Monday. Netflix automatically started an episode of The Masked Singer (spoiler: not a fan), there was wall-to-wall pandemic coverage including people doing the ‘Coronavirus Challenge’, and the internet notified me that March 16th is known as National Everything You Do Is Right Day. Unfortunately for fans of the Houston Texans, coach and general manager Bill O’Brien did not get the memo on that last one. Continue reading
Byron Jewell & Sam Schneider | March 11th, 2020
Welcome to part two of our Conference Championship predictions. Byron and Sam are getting you all set with the automatic bids taking you to Selection Sunday this weekend. Make sure to check back next week for our NCAA Tournament predictions featuring sleeper picks, upsets, and what team will be left standing when the dust settles.
Byron Jewell & Sam Schneider | March 10th, 2020
Byron and Sam are here to get you all set for this week’s Conference Championships leading up to this year’s Selection Sunday on March 15th. Don’t forget to check back in with The Scorecrow for next week’s coverage on everything March Madness, including matchups and bracket picks. Without further ado, let’s get to all of this week’s Total B.S. info! Continue reading
Sam Schneider | March 5th, 2020
The Los Angeles Chargers lost eleven games in 2019, leading them to earn the sixth overall spot in the 2020 NFL Draft. Nine of those eleven games were by one score. That one score narrative (which had unfortunately plagued Philip Rivers his whole career) came to a head last year and resulted in the franchise deciding to move on and not offer him a new deal. Disgruntled back Melvin Gordon held out for the first three weeks of the season before reporting to the team. He is also headed for a new team. The Chargers’ record was a direct result of neither one of these things. The team also lost tight end, Hunter Henry, for four weeks and the offensive line was completely decimated for much of the year.
Sam Schneider | March 1st, 2020
Eventually, your little brother grows up. Sometimes, he turns out to be bigger than you’d expected.
The old adage “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” doesn’t hold nearly as much water in sports as “If you can’t join ‘em, beat ‘em.”. The Los Angeles Clippers seem to be bent on the latter as they’ve begun a pattern of trying to best their Staples’ Center counterparts, and in doing so, make themselves into a perennial contender.