Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Unbalanced.
What Went Wrong: Dodgers Dethroned
Even though the 2020 season was cut down to just 60 games in two months, it was quite a dream season for the Los Angeles Dodgers. In this current era, the Dodgers entered that year facing the possibility that they could be one of the biggest failures in all of sports. Despite the immense amount of money spent building the team, they kept coming up short. In 2016, the Dodgers were the team who lost the pennant to the Chicago Cubs--who hadn't won a pennant since World War II ended. 2017 and 2018 saw them in the World Series, but they lost both years. 2019 was an embarrassing season--a franchise record 106 wins, yet they suffer a Division Series loss to the Washington Nationals.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
What Went Wrong: Red Sox Bats Get Cold at Wrong Time. Top Story - October 2021.
Three years ago, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series--their fourth since 2004. What followed was two seasons of disappointment, dismay, and the proverbial axe falling on certain people. Their 2019 season was immensely disastrous, as they went 84-78--24 games worse than their 2018 championship season--and missed the postseason. Pitching was the main problem, though if you asked then-GM Dave Dombrowski, the pitching was just fine. That statement was why I used the word "then-GM." Dombrowski was fired in September of 2019, less than a full season after delivering a championship to Boston. It was that bad.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
NFL Week 6 Recap: The Jags' Losing Streak is Over, but Rodgers' Ownership of the Bears Lives On
After 400 days, the Jacksonville Jaguars finally won a game! The Jags served as the home team in their meeting with the Miami Dolphins, who were also disappointing--entering Week 6 at 1-4 after a season of assumed improvement. Tua Tagovailoa returned as the Dolphins' starter, but he made mistake after mistake in the outing in London. Despite this, the Dolphins led 20-17, until Matthew Wright's 53 yard FG curved to the left and went through. After a terrible 4th down conversion attempt by Miami, Jacksonville got into FG range, and Wright made another one, this time giving the Jaguars a walk-off win.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
CFL Week 11 Recap: Playoff Bound
As I said before in my story about how I became a CFL fan, Canadian Thanksgiving often begins the final push for the Grey Cup Playoffs, and even in this slightly abbreviated season, it's no different. Let me set the scene: it's mid-October, the season is nearly 3/4 done, and the league's playoff races are getting intriguing. As I figured, the first playoff clinching scenario was set for Week 11, and it was a simple one: the Winnipeg Blue Bombers could get in with a win. That's all. Sure enough, that's exactly what happened to kick off Week 11.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
The (Complicated) History of NFL Overtime
We all love overtime, don't we? Overtime means just a bit more of the game(s) we love. As we all know, overtime comes when things aren't settled after the allotted regulation time, which varies by sport. In hockey, it's three 20-minute periods. In baseball, it's nine innings. In basketball, it's four 12-minute quarters, and in football, it's four 15-minute quarters. However, while the other three sports seem to have their overtime rules figured out with little to no scrutiny, it's the NFL's overtime that has been under a magnifying glass for decades.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
What Went Wrong: Giants Fall Short in an Epic Clash
Without question, there are three rivalries in baseball that just stand out the most: Yankees/Red Sox, Cubs/Cardinals, and Dodgers/Giants. The rivalry between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox is actually the youngest of the three, but it's the most heated due to the Babe Ruth connection and the many decades they have spent battling each other for position. The Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals have been rivals since 1882--the oldest of the three battles. The Giants and Dodgers' rivalry started in 1890, but it spans not only three different centuries, but also two coasts, as the teams were founded in New York and later moved to California in 1958.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
What Went Wrong: A Taste of the Brewers' Own Medicine
Remember what the full story of the Milwaukee Brewers was? It was pitching. Pitching was the absolute nucleus of the Brewers' 2021 campaign. This was a season that saw their MVP slugger, Christian Yelich, miss several games due to injury. Yet in spite of everything, the Brewers' rotation (led by Corbin Burnes) and bullpen (led, once again, by Josh Hader) dominated and led the way for the Brew Crew. The team led all of Major League Baseball in shutouts.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
What Went Wrong: Rays Dethroned as American League Champions
The popular social media meme as of late has been "How it started/how it's going." The meme usually describes occurrences that start out very well, but as things progresses, they deteriorate...badly. The Tampa Bay Rays definitely qualify for that meme, as they ended up as the first casualty of this year's Division Series--eliminated in four games by the Boston Red Sox.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
What Went Wrong: White Sox Were Doomed From the Start
Despite many other postseason berths being clinched beforehand, the Chicago White Sox were the first to wrap up their division in 2021. The White Sox led the American League Central outright, never looking back, dominating the whole season. When the regular season ended on October 3, the White Sox's 93-69 record was 13 games ahead of the second place Cleveland Indians. A dominant season like that should be commended. It would be...if it didn't come with the following caveats.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
CFL Week 10 Recap: So You're Telling Me There's a Chance?!
The CFL holds celebrates two holidays with specially scheduled games: Labour Day in September and their Thanksgiving holiday in October. Week 10 featured a loaded lineup of games: a five-game schedule capped off by a Canadian Thanksgiving doubleheader, though strangely, the BC Lions were not part of this. The week kicked off with the Toronto Argonauts hosting the Ottawa Redblacks, and it wasn't even close. It was all Argos from start to finish, as Toronto blasted Ottawa by a score of 35-16, adding on to the Redblacks' woes.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
NFL Week 5 Recap: A Disgraceful Exit and So Many Missed Kicks
So let's talk about the huge elephant that's no longer in the Raiders' room: Jon Gruden. So prior to the Las Vegas Raiders' home game against the Chicago Bears (which the Raiders lost 20-9), it was revealed that in 2011, Gruden sent an email to Bruce Allen, then the president of the now-named Washington Football Team, lambasting Players Association head DeMaurice Smith, where he referred to him as "Dumborriss Smith," and said that he had "lips the size of Michelin tires." Clearly a very racist comment towards Smith, and it saw Gruden give something barely resembling an apology when he was asked about it after the Raiders' loss.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
Reviewing the Opening of the Queen's Crown Tournament
The season premiere of SmackDown featured, among other things, the beginning of WWE's first-ever Queen's Crown Tournament. Rumors and stories about WWE doing a Queen of the Ring Tournament had been swirling for about a year, and after many requests from women's wrestling fans such as myself, it finally came to pass. However, what should have been a great start to a monumental first for WWE's women's division was, well, anything but that.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
