Avsnitt
-
As we settle into the new year, the phrase “deer in headlights” feels like an apt description for the state many members of “sports Twitter” currently find themselves in. More than two years after Elon Musk took over Twitter, now known as X, the platform has become an increasingly unpleasant space for sports conversations. While many users have already migrated to other platforms like Threads and Bluesky, plenty more are staying put—unhappy with the current state of affairs but reluctant to abandon the communities they’ve carefully curated and built.
Today, we’re joined by three guests who have been notable contributors to the sports Twitter community for more than a decade. TJ Adeshola (X, Instagram) formerly oversaw sports partnerships at Twitter, Reeta Hubbard, aka “The NFL Chick” (Bluesky, X), is a longtime sports commentator currently hosting Gridiron Gals, and Jason Concepcion (Bluesky, Instagram, X) is the Emmy-winning host of Six Trophies. They spoke with David Dennis Jr. to reflect on the glory days of sports Twitter, explore how and why it took a turn for the worse, and discuss where the community goes from here.
Check out the playlist, featuring our favorite stories of 2024.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The sports world is transforming in 2025, with new rule changes, new playoffs formats, and many other innovations across the landscape. So we brought on some of our favorite regular guests — Katie Barnes, Bill Barnwell, Elle Duncan, Luis Miguel Echegaray, Andreas Hale, Ryan McGee, Jeff Passan — and Clinton Yates, who will be back in the host’s chair later this month, to tell us not only what they’re most excited to cover in 2025, but also what they’re most excited to watch as fans.
Plus, guest hosts Michele Steele and David Dennis, Jr. share their hot takes for the year and our team of ESPN Daily producers reveal what they’re most looking forward to covering on the show.
Check out this playlist featuring our favorite stories of 2024.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Saknas det avsnitt?
-
On September 26th, 2024, the Athletics played their final game ever in Oakland, the city they’ve called home for 57 years. As friend of the show Jeff Passan wrote, baseball in the East Bay was “killed by greed… John Fisher did not have to move this team… This was a choice. A wrong one. History will sneer.”
For the conclusion of our Death of a Sports Town series, we trekked to the Oakland Coliseum and bore witness to the sights, sounds, and emotions of a city’s last gasp as a big time pro sports town.
It was a poignant and passionate display from a vibrant and rich fanbase, defiant to the very end. Today, we share that experience with you.
Check out the playlist, featuring our favorite stories of 2024.
Death of a Sports Town Episodes:
Apple Podcasts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, & Part 4
Spotify: All episodes
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
In covering Oakland’s unraveling as a big time sports town, we’ve documented the greed, the loss, the dubious decisions, and the rich sports community soon to be left behind. But we’ve yet to fully examine the most pertinent question of all––does the Athletics planned move to Las Vegas make any sense at all?
Today, in part four of our series Death of a Sports Town, we take stock of why the A’s (and MLB) are so enamored with Las Vegas––a city soon to be the smallest market in the league––why this move will be extraordinarily messy, and why Oakland is America’s most-underappreciated sports town.
Check out the playlist, featuring our favorite stories of 2024.
Death of a Sports Town Episodes:
Apple Podcasts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, & Part 5
Spotify: All episodes
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The loss of three professional sports teams in five years has thrust Oakland into the media spotlight, with coverage focusing on every twist, turn, stadium proposal, and relocation rumor. But amid all that noise, a central experience has been overshadowed: the story of the fans.
In part three of our series, Death of a Sports Town, we turn our attention to the diehard Oakland sports fans who refuse to let their city’s reputation define them. We explore the thriving, tight-knit community that grew within the walls of the Coliseum and how, even after the teams have left, those bonds strive to endure in the face of an uncertain future.
Check out the playlist, featuring our favorite stories of 2024.
Death of a Sports Town Episodes:
Apple Podcasts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, & Part 5
Spotify: All episodes
Statement from the Athletics:
ESPN emailed the Oakland Athletics, asking “What does the team feel it owes its fans and the city of Oakland as September 26th approaches?” The team responded with the following statement:
“We are deeply grateful to Oakland for being home to the A’s for nearly 60 years. In that span, the team and its fans celebrated four World Series championships, served as home to seven American League MVPs, made countless lasting memories, and achieved a storied place in baseball history. After an earnest and unprecedented effort to bring a visionary ballpark to downtown Oakland, we were unable to reach a deal, and more importantly, secure a reliable path to a fully approved project. We appreciate the community members, local leaders and staff who worked diligently to build a new home in Oakland and applaud the fans who passionately advocated for the team to stay. The A’s time in Oakland will always be a cherished part of this franchise’s history, and we carry that spirit forward on this journey to Sacramento and eventually to our new home in Las Vegas. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the loyal fans for their unwavering support throughout the years.”
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Any time a franchise owner threatens to leave a city, the pressure and scrutiny on civic leaders intensifies. But in Oakland, a parallel story emerged—a group of activist fans who refused to let the Athletics go quietly.
In the second part of our series, Death of a Sports Town, we examine the three men who led the Warriors, Raiders, and Athletics away from “the Town,” the reasons behind their decisions, and the intimate story of one fan who launched a movement to fight back.
The multipart series: ‘Death of a Sports Town’ is being re-published in the feed for the next 3 days. If you don’t want to wait, you can check out all of the episodes of this series from when they originally aired at the links below.
Check out the playlist, featuring our favorite stories of 2024.
Death of a Sports Town Episodes:
Apple Podcasts: Part 1, Part 3, Part 4, & Part 5
Spotify: All episodes
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
On the afternoon of September 26th, the Oakland Athletics played the Texas Rangers in their final game ever in the city they’ve called home for 57 seasons. Following the lead of the Warriors and Raiders, they are the third major sports franchise to leave the city in just five years.
This exodus is the culmination of decades of decisions, negotiations and missteps. And now, Oakland is no longer a big-time sports town.
So how exactly did we get here? How does this all look and feel on the ground in the East Bay? And when a city loses all its teams, what’s left behind?
With the help of lifelong Bay Area resident Tim Keown, we’ve been exploring these questions for months. And today, we kick off our multipart series Death of a Sports Town with a look at the ironically rich history of sports in “The Town,” and we unearth the 30-year-old decision that doomed sports in the gritty-city-by-the-bay.
The multipart series: ‘Death of a Sports Town’ is being re-published in the feed for the next 4 days. If you don’t want to wait, you can check out all of the episodes of this series from when they originally aired at the links below.
Apple Podcasts: Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, & Part 5
Spotify: All episodes
Check out the playlist, featuring our favorite stories of 2024.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
It’s one of the most infamous fan stories in sports history: when Eagles fans booed Santa at halftime of a game played at Franklin Field. But who was the Santa in question - and why was he booed and pelted with snowballs? It’s ESPN Daily’s Christmas tradition to bring you this episode, so hear an encore with Jeremy Schaap and Mina Kimes as they reflect on the enduring legacy of the Philadelphia Santa.
Check out the playlist, featuring our favorite stories of 2024.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
By the time the end of the year rolls around, it’s easy to forget what has gone down in the previous 365-ish days. A story that felt like the center of the world in February, is lost to the passing of time as winter turns to spring turns to summer turns to fall turns to winter.
But don’t fear, because today Michele Steele, David Dennis Jr., and Greg Wyshysnki hand out their awards for the biggest and best sports stories of the year.
Check out the playlist, featuring our favorite stories of 2024.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
As the NFL season heads into its final few weeks, the jockeying for playoff position is getting more intense.
There are three teams grouped at the top of the NFC, and with the Lions and Vikings poised to face off in week 18, and the Eagles coming off a tough loss in Washington on Sunday, it looks like the road through the NFC could run through the north.
Meanwhile in the AFC, the Chiefs and Bills held serve. Buffalo survived an early scare from the Patriots, and Kansas City scared us all by taking no precautions with Patrick Mahomes against the Texans (of course it worked out).
So today ESPN sports analytics writer Seth Walder and Ben Solak dig into the numbers to explain all of the postseason machinations in play.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
After months of games, upsets, rankings, arguments and prognostications – the College Football Playoff is finally here.
And tonight the race for the national championship starts in earnest in the heart of college football: Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.
That showdown between Indiana and Notre Dame is just an appetizer for a full meal of games this weekend that could somehow create more questions than answers as we enter year one of this new 12-team bracket.
So today, our intrepid expert Ryan McGee joins us to break down the first round and beyond in the CFP and also tells us why he hopes we will soon say bye-bye to all these byes.
Check out the playlist, featuring our favorite stories of 2024.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The 1970s were a tough decade for the New York Jets. After winning the Super Bowl in 1969, they quickly became the laughing stock in the NFL, unable to post a single winning season throughout the decade.
But in 1981, four promising young defensive lineman changed everything. Mark Gastineau, Adbul Salaam, Marty Lyons and Joe Klecko became such a prolific force on the Jets defense that they earned the moniker ‘The New York Sack Exchange’.
These players are the subject of the newest ESPN 30 for 30 Film 'The New York Sack Exchange' which debuted last Friday, and is available right now on ESPN +.
Today Rich Cimini, a Jets beat reporter for ESPN, and a lifelong Long Islander, gives host David Dennis Jr. the inside scoop on the New York Sack Exchange. He describes the interpersonal tension that brewed alongside their incredible success on the field, and explores a legacy that persists to this day.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
It's hard to believe that Indiana, which has lost more college football games than any other FBS program, has earned a spot in the inaugural twelve team college football playoff. And no matter what happens in their instate showdown with Notre Dame Friday night, it's already been a dream season for head coach Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers. A decade ago, Cignetti made a risky bet on himself, moving from a title-winning assistant role under Nick Saban at Alabama to head coach at little-known IU-Pennsylvania. But now his confident style has completely changed the culture in Bloomington.
Today, Adam Rittenberg joins Harry Lyles Jr. to introduce us to the man himself and explain how Cignetti’s already thinking far past this season, with a vision to make Indiana a powerhouse for years to come.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
It started out as a rumor — one that most people thought was a joke — but now it’s all very, very real: Bill Belichick is the new head coach of the University of North Carolina football team.
Just what would make someone with eight Super Bowl rings decide that an ACC afterthought should be the next stop in his career? And while many people could argue that the transfer portal and NIL deals are making the college game look more like the NFL every year, there is still one more important question: Can someone with a notoriously frigid demeanor handle the glad-handing and booster-hugging world of NCAA football?
Ryan McGee joins host David Dennis, Jr. to answer all those questions and to spell out just what a Belchick Era in Chapel Hill might look like and also to remind everyone that there’s nowhere to go but up for a team that hasn’t really mattered for over a century.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
After 15 weeks of NFL football, the playoff picture is becoming more clear. But almost as important as who is going to get in, is how they are going to get there. We saw both the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks finish their games with questions about the health of their signal callers.
While in Detroit, the Lions, already seriously injured on defense, suffered through more pain in a loss to the Buffalo Bills.
But that’s what happens at this time of year. Nobody is playing healthy. Except for Ben Solak and ESPN sports analytics writer Seth Walder. Ben switches into the hosts chair, while Seth subs in as guest. The pair make sure you understand how the action unfolded on Sunday, and why it went down the way that it did.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Few rivalries are as bitter as the ones that exist between two teams in one city.
Ask New York Mets fans and New York Yankees fans, where the hatred can divide households. Or Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox fans whose team alliances mix with the pride in their neighborhoods. While out west, Los Angeles Lakers fans play the big brother, to their neglected stepsiblings, Los Angeles Clippers fans.
Well across the pond on Sunday, in the United Kingdom, Manchester will be the site of one of those rivalries as Manchester United and Manchester City will meet in the Manchester Derby for the 195th time.
Today Luis Miguel Echegaray, himself a former resident of the U.K., describes how these two clubs have defined the city for decades, and explores the modern challenges each of them are facing on and off the pitch, before explaining to Michele Steele how Liverpool is perched atop the Premier League standings, happy with whatever outcome emerges.
You can honor Jim Valvano and support ESPN’s V Week with a donation to the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
In 2008, Lisa Salters reported an E60 documentary called Blood Brothers about the family of former NBA star Carlos Boozer and their quest to save their son, Carmani, from sickle cell disease.
But it turns out that journey was just the tip of the iceberg, because in April of this year — 16 years later — Blood Brothers was back on for a very different reason.
ESPN NBA Draft Analyst Jonathan Givony joins host David Dennis, Jr. to take us through Lisa and E60’s reporting from 2008 and April of this year, and explain how a story of medical triumph ultimately landed in his own jurisdiction as the Boozer’s younger sons, twins Cameron and Cayden Boozer, became top NBA draft prospects.
You can stream the E60 Documentary Blood Brothers on ESPN+.
You can honor Jim Valvano and support ESPN’s V Week with a donation to the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The field for the College Football Playoff is set and with a new expanded 12-team format, this looks to be the most exciting path to the title that we have ever seen.
And as we are quickly reminded, no matter how big the playoff bracket gets, someone is always going to be left out, and that someone is always going to have something to say about it.
But what about those other 36 bowls? The ones that have nothing to do with winning a national title? Are they nothing more than a big show of pomp, circumstance and giant Pop Tarts?
David Hale joins David Dennis Jr. to tell us what we can expect to see this bowl season, and beyond, as college football, in its second century of tradition, is evolving faster than it ever has.
You can honor Jim Valvano and support ESPN’s V Week with a donation to the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The Emirates NBA Cup is now in year two and we're all still trying to feel out what place it will take in the league’s attention economy. But one thing is clear –– nearly everyone is thrilled to have some bigger stakes on the table this early in the NBA season. Are the Oklahoma City Thunder ready to avenge their playoff elimination against the Dallas Mavericks? Can the New York Knicks prove their new offense-first approach to be a winning formula? Are Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors ready to contend for another title?
With the cup quarterfinals happening Tuesday and Wednesday, Tim Bontemps joins David Dennis Jr. to preview what to watch for and why this week will give us our biggest indication yet as to which contenders are for real.
Tue, Dec. 10
Magic vs. Bucks | 7 p.m. ET (TNT)
Mavericks vs. Thunder | 9:30 p.m. ET (TNT)
Wed, Dec. 11
Hawks vs. Knicks | 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Warriors vs. Rockets | 9:30 p.m. ET (TNT)
You can honor Jim Valvano and support ESPN’s V Week with a donation to the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
14 weeks into the 2024 NFL season, and the playoff picture is starting to come into focus. The Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, and Philadelphia Eagles are in. And both the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers are sure to punch their tickets to the postseason soon.
In the NFC, the competition for the rest of the landscape is fierce, while in the AFC, all but one of the teams currently slated for the playoffs has more than a 90% chance of making it in.
So today, Michele Steele and Ben Solak break down how the teams that are in got there, and what everyone else needs to do in order to have a shot.
You can honor Jim Valvano and support ESPN’s V Week with a donation to the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices - Visa fler
