A big part of the fun of watching March Madness comes from being wrong. This may not be true for the loyalists and degenerates who have an emotional or financial stake in the outcomes, but I treat the college basketball season and its giddy final act more or less the same way that I treated … Read more
Consider the sugar beet, a sweet and tapered tuber. Unlike tropical sugarcane, sugar beets grow in temperate zones, enabling colder regions of the United States to farm their own sugar instead of relying on imports. From the late 19th century through the late 1970s, Utah abounded with sugar beet farms, and the crop’s presence influenced … Read more
Welcome to a special, unsanctioned edition of the The Not-So-Great Defector Bake Off. Usually, Kelsey and Chris attempt to complete the technical challenges from the newest season of The Great British Bake Off in their own home kitchens, with the same time parameters as the professional-grade bakers competing on the show. Today, they are just baking, as a … Read more
Detroit basketball fans have a new chant. In addition to the “DE-TROIT BASKETBALL” thing—more of a shout, really, but you take my meaning—they now chant “M-V-P” for young Cade Cunningham, who in his fourth NBA season has made The Leap. Cunningham is posting career highs in points, assists, defensive rebounds, blocks, usage, and scoring efficiency, … Read more
Detroit basketball fans have a new chant. In addition to the “DE-TROIT BASKETBALL” thing—more of a shout, really, but you take my meaning—they now chant “M-V-P” for young Cade Cunningham, who in his fourth NBA season has made The Leap. Cunningham is posting career highs in points, assists, defensive rebounds, blocks, usage, and scoring efficiency, … Read more
I did not want to be writing about Tom Izzo and Rick Pitino this week. You can find glowing features on each of those septuagenarian coaching legends from the past few days at various media outlets. They don’t need me to carry water for them; the two have won a combined 1,400 games, three national … Read more
So much of this portion of the NBA season feels sloggy and labored, even after you allow for the drama of multiple seedings battles—West places two through eight and also ten and eleven; East places four through six; the sewage gumbo of the Southeast Division—and the lopsided Vengeance Pageants being staged by Jimmy Butler against … Read more
Wednesday night, the Maple Leafs scored on a piece of improbably timed slapstick; Buster Keaton couldn’t have done better. Simply trying to clear the zone on a penalty kill, Simon Benoit—he of do-a-cool-punch-then-get-punched fame—put the puck around the boards. Referee Kelly Sutherland, preparing to get out of the way, tripped over his own skates, fell … Read more
On Saturday, U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg tried and failed to block an agreement between the Trump administration and El Salvador that would pay the Central American country $6 million to imprison hundreds of people who were living in America. To make the deal happen, the Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act of … Read more
This morning I received what appeared to be blessed confirmation from NFL insider Tom Pelissero that the Minnesota Vikings were officially out of the Aaron Rodgers (snickering) sweepstakes. I had waited far, FAR too long for this news to drop. The Rodgers-Vikings connection only made sense to media members carrying water for a desperate, jobless … Read more