Riker Report Week 4: Detroit’s prime time explosion highlights newsworthy and unpredictable week of action

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Welcome to the Riker Report, where I open up my game day files each week and share a quick-hitter observation or development from each of the eight NFL divisions. The season’s first wacky month finds the Minnesota Vikings at 4-0 and the Jacksonville Jaguars at 0-4, and the surprising results continued into Week 4. Let’s … Continue reading Riker Report Week 4: Detroit’s prime time explosion highlights newsworthy and unpredictable week of action

Riker Report Week 3: New York is (finally) enjoying quality NFL football

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Welcome to the Riker Report, where I open up my game day files each week and share a quick-hitter observation or development from each of the eight NFL divisions. Week 3 was a great week to be a New Yorker, with the Jets’ and Giants’ offenses powering their respective teams to statement wins. It’s time … Continue reading Riker Report Week 3: New York is (finally) enjoying quality NFL football

Riker Report Week 2: From fumbled pitches to fumbled leads, mayhem continues in season’s second week

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Welcome to the Riker Report, where I open up my game day files each week and share a quick-hitter observation or development from each of the eight NFL divisions. Week 2 continued the mayhem from the regular season’s opening week, with comebacks, shocking blowouts and defensive masterclasses shaking up the balance of power in the … Continue reading Riker Report Week 2: From fumbled pitches to fumbled leads, mayhem continues in season’s second week

Riker Report Week 1: Patriots set tone for the Jerod Mayo era with massive upset of Cincinnati

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Welcome to the Riker Report, where I’ll open up my game day files each week and share a quick-hitter observation or development from each of the eight NFL divisions. A hectic Week 1 featured rookie quarterback debuts, furious comebacks and thrilling finishes. NFL fans, we’re back. AFC East: Patriots kick off Jerod Mayo’s head coaching … Continue reading Riker Report Week 1: Patriots set tone for the Jerod Mayo era with massive upset of Cincinnati

NFL Preview 2024: Sizing up the Super Bowl contenders

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This season, the NFL is implementing a revamped kickoff structure aimed at reducing player injuries and enhancing the excitement of what has become a routine, predictable play. Players on both teams form a line of scrimmage of sorts, while the kicker and returner are stationed a good bit away from the trenches. In my offseason … Continue reading NFL Preview 2024: Sizing up the Super Bowl contenders

Opinion: Building my 2028 Summer Olympics itinerary, four years early

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Is there such a thing as Olympics overload? NBC bet this summer that for some sports fans, there’s no such thing, and the daily programming offerings from Paris entrapped even the most restrained of sports fans. For those tuning in for the theatrics of the highest-profile events, the primetime telecast fit the bill and compacted the … Continue reading Opinion: Building my 2028 Summer Olympics itinerary, four years early

Opinion: In celebration of training camp, one of the best parts of the NFL calendar

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NFL training camp is a force to be reckoned with.  In a sport that prides itself on a year-round calendar and an absence of lulls, training camp is the perfect tool to reel back in fans from baseball and the NBA offseason and build up excitement for upcoming NFL action. The practices don’t count in … Continue reading Opinion: In celebration of training camp, one of the best parts of the NFL calendar

Opinion: Team USA’s Olympic dominance is becoming a side note to basketball’s international growth in Paris

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Nothing quite captures basketball fans’ imagination like USA basketball each Olympic cycle.  From the first year that pro players were permitted to wear the red, white and blue to recent superstar pairings that have put the NBA’s super team era to shame, the sight of the NBA’s very best joining forces on the Olympic stage … Continue reading Opinion: Team USA’s Olympic dominance is becoming a side note to basketball’s international growth in Paris

Opinion: The value of a well-fitting baseball cup, and other insights I learned from working at a sporting goods store

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I can safely say that on my college graduation day, I did not expect for one of my future career opportunities to draw on my expertise on baseball cup sizes. But sometimes life requires stepping up to the challenge and expanding one’s boundaries, and this spring and summer I answered the call (figuratively and literally). … Continue reading Opinion: The value of a well-fitting baseball cup, and other insights I learned from working at a sporting goods store

Opinion: Remembering Jacoby Jones, an all-time Ravens playmaker and the receiver of the Mile High Miracle

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In the bowels of Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium on a Sunday afternoon a couple Octobers ago, I caught a glimpse of a Ravens legend and one of the most electrifying players I have ever watched.  The game itself — a Ravens-Browns matchup celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Super Bowl XLVII team — was soaked … Continue reading Opinion: Remembering Jacoby Jones, an all-time Ravens playmaker and the receiver of the Mile High Miracle