Riker’s Block

  • We’re days away from one of football’s biggest events. No, football’s not back yet. The seven-round NFL Draft is close and sends the next wave of young talent into the NFL. Below are my predictions for the first 10 picks, as well as the strategies for the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens. Los Angeles Rams–…

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  • The following short story was submitted for the Michael J. Doran writing contest for Wootton High School and was selected as the first-place winner. The fictional story is set at Wootton but is inspired by real-life events.   Everett Chambers strolled down the hallway, ready for his first day of high school to be over…

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  • It could have been the best shot in college basketball history. With six seconds remaining down by three points in the national championship game, North Carolina point guard Marcus Paige, standing behind the three-point line, snatched a pass from out of Villanova big man Daniel Ochefu’s hands, squared to the basket, and jumped into the…

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  • Awards Predictions AL MVP: Mike Trout, Centerfielder, Los Angeles Angels The best player in baseball will take a much-deserved MVP award, finishing in front of Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson, and Jose Abreu. NL MVP: Giancarlo Stanton, Rightfielder, Miami Marlins Stanton will lead the MLB in homers in a bounce-back campaign, though it does little to…

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  • 2016 NL West Preview

    Spotlight on the San Francisco Giants There should be a lot of excitement by the Bay, and not only for the Warriors. It’s an even numbered year, which bodes well for San Francisco, which has won 3 of the last 5 World Series championships. The Giants have a strong core around catcher Buster Posey (6.1…

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  • National League Central Spotlight on the Chicago Cubs Could this be the year? The Cubs took a big step forward last year behind rookies Kris Bryant (.275, 26 homers), Addison Russell and Kyle Schwarber (5 postseason homers) with a historic season from Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta (1.77 ERA, 22-6). Chicago exceeded expectations, winning 97…

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  • 2016 NL East Preview

    Washington Nationals On paper, the Nationals look like a worse team than last year. Starter Jordan Zimmermann (Detroit), shortstop Ian Desmond (Texas), starter Doug Fister (Houston) and closer Drew Storen (Toronto) are elsewhere, and the Nats, World Series favorites a year ago, don’t look like a powerhouse anymore. New manager Dusty Baker is the answer…

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  • 2016 AL West Preview

    Spotlight on the Texas Rangers For the Rangers, who were the most surprising team in the majors last year, 2016 is a boom or bust year. On one side, Texas has World Series potential, but their injury history could make that goal look silly by midseason. The return of ace Yu Darvish is the major…

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  • March Madness is over. The massive 68-team tournament produced teams for the ages, from the 15 seed Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, who by upending championship hopeful Michigan State pulled off the most stunning early upset in the history of March Madness, to the team Middle Tennessee lost to in the next round, 10 seed Syracuse…

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  • March Madness was in full throttle last week, but the biggest game wasn’t in the college ranks. Saturday featured a clash of the titans of the National Basketball Association, the 63-7 Golden State Warriors visiting the 59-11 San Antonio Spurs. The two teams are enjoying historic runs, each undefeated at home and on pace to…

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