In today’s column I discuss different perspectives I’ve encountered recently across different sports, from the spectator to the “hater” to the half-asleep flag football referee. Option 1: The Joys of Rooting Against Rivals Entering the league championship round of the MLB playoffs this month, three of the four teams remaining were my least favorite teams: … Continue reading Read Option: The Views from the Sideline
Hey guys! I’ve written a lot of series over the years, and their names have ranged the spectrum from cringy (Professor Sports) to clever (Varsity Letter) to fitting (Nostalgia Blast). Today, as I kick of the college era of Johnriker.com, I’m resurrecting one of my favorite formats/names, the Read Option. Quick history lesson -- my … Continue reading Read Option: On the ‘Cats, Cubs, Ravens and Cowboys
Picking a Super Bowl champ at the start of each season is a very inexact science. Over the past 10 predictions I have done, only one time did I pick the correct champion, and that was my own 2012 Baltimore Ravens. There are chalk ones, like correctly predicting the Seahawks-Patriots in 2014, and outside-the-box ones … Continue reading Why the Los Angeles Rams Will Win Super Bowl LIV
Back in elementary school, I frequently read a book about the Baltimore Ravens and one line always stood out. In discussing Baltimore’s tradition of stifling defenses, it described the Ravens’ unit as something to the effect of “tougher a brick wall” and “stingier than cobwebs.” I saw those imposing Ravens defenses for four glorious years … Continue reading Ed Reed: Pick-six king enshrined in Canton
Set the Browns aside, and the NFL team that has captured the most media attention this offseason has been, as usual, my Dallas Cowboys. 2019 figures to be a pivotal season for the Boys, with arguably the most talented team since the dynasty of the 1990s, but success is far from guaranteed. Already, star running … Continue reading State of the Franchise: Dallas Cowboys
The following paper is my Senior Independent Project (SIP) from my senior year in my school's Humanities and Arts program. The paper focuses on the career and impact of Dallas Cowboys' general manager and owner Jerry Jones and was awarded the meritorious designation by the H&A judges/panel. Given the nature of this project as a … Continue reading SIP: Lone Star- Jerry Jones’ Impact on the Dallas Cowboys and NFL
Joe Flacco has been the quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens for as long as I’ve been a fan of the team, an era with great victories and devastating defeats that is coming to an end with his recent trade to the Denver Broncos. Flacco fit in perfectly with the hard-nosed Ravens’ teams of the late … Continue reading With trade, the memorable Joe Flacco era comes to end
Even with championship games that pitted the best teams in their respective sports, this football season has had its fair share of intrigue and unpredictability. While all of the new developments have been exciting in the NFL and NCAA, they’ve also torn apart many of my predictions. These are the best and worst of my … Continue reading The Best and Worst of My 2018 Football Predictions
As a major consumer of sports media, I’ve developed refined tastes preferences for a variety of different forms of sports media, from magazines to newspapers to books to websites to talk shows to broadcasts and everything in between. Each one can come with a different role or purpose, but regardless of its role a great … Continue reading The best of the best in sports media
As far as Super Bowl matchups go, this Sunday’s Big Game between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams is as great a matchup us NFL fans could get. Though it was an upset victory over the favored Rams in the Super Bowl in 2002 that started a Patriots’ dynasty that still hasn’t died … Continue reading These five matchups will determine Super Bowl LIII, and my SB pick
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