Unbalanced
The Unbalanced explores the world of sports and the culture surrounding it; from basketball to baseball, football, hockey, wrestling, and more.
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Top Stories
Stories in Unbalanced that you’ll love, handpicked by our team.
Lovin’ the PWHL
The inaugural season for professional women’s hockey is well underway and I, like many North American sports enthusiasts, have cottoned on to the excitement of the games and the fanfare. Most of the women playing are relatively well-known through previous media exposure during Olympic games, World Championships and Rivalry matches between Canada and the United States. Yesterday, March 8, being International Women’s Day, I decided that I would pay tribute to the women of the world in my own little sports-minded way, and watch a PWHL game between the teams from Toronto and Montreal. Casually observing the new teams since the start of the season, I had suspected that the Women’s league was somehow different from the NHL and other men’s hockey leagues around the world. Sometimes these differences don’t show up during the Olympic games or World Championships because of the media focus on winning gold medals and the like. However, during a regular season hockey game, be it a men’s game or a women’s game, one gets a chance to really notice what the respective games are all about. I would therefore like to weigh in on what have formerly been suspicions but now are being seen as true differences between men’s and women’s professional hockey.
John Oliver SmithPublished 20 days ago in UnbalancedA Spirit That Fears Nothing
There are many sound reasons to repudiate professional sport in general and NHL hockey in particular. After all, the game has been as utterly defiled by cynical, avaricious late-stage capitalism as every other aspect of contemporary existence. The ordinary fan is incessantly encouraged by marketers and advertisers to gamble, guzzle alcoholic beverages and devour kilograms of fast food, which is a bald oxymoron if you contemplate it for a moment. Salaries are stratospherically inflated, as are ticket prices, and what passes for discourse generated by the participants in, and commentators upon, the game is so full of cliches and verbal false limbs that Orwell’s ghost will never stop screaming.
D. J. ReddallPublished 2 months ago in UnbalancedThe History of the Adams Division
I've followed the NHL in some form for 30 years, but I'm still learning about the league I enjoy watching. A long time ago, I did learn about the old divisions: Adams, Patrick, Norris, and Smythe. These divisions predated the geographical ones that we've known for the last 30 years, and the rivalries were immensely intense during that period. This will be the first of four stories focusing on those classic divisions, and I'll start geographically, even though the names had nothing to do with location. First off, the Adams Division.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 3 months ago in UnbalancedA Look Ahead to Week 18 of the 2023 NFL Season
Week 17 kicks off tonight, but I want to take a look ahead to Week 18, the final week of the regular season. We all love the final week, don't we? We've really loved it since they changed the final week's schedule back in 2010. The final week always completes the league's playoff puzzle, it's do or die for a lot of teams looking to get in and even clinch divisions. However, a lot of games lacked a lot of drama, and even saw teams not give their all when they know that they can't move up in the standings. So in 2010, the NFL decided to make all of the final week's games divisional, because regardless of where a team is in the standings, that team wants to give their all to defeat a division rival.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 3 months ago in Unbalanced63 Strikes, You're Out!
They did it, folks. They finally did it. The Los Angeles Chargers actually fired Brandon Staley as their head coach, with the firing coming after the Chargers suffered a very embarrassing loss on national television. The Chargers were on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders, and it was a game that saw the Raiders absolutely pour it on. 63 points. Nine touchdowns--seven of them by the offense. The 63 points fell just 10 short of the long-standing record set by the Chicago Bears, who scored 73 points in the 1940 NFL Championship Game over Washington. However, the Raiders' 63 points are the most in team history, and marked the second time this season that a team scored 60+ points--the Miami Dolphins scored 70 points in Week 3.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 3 months ago in UnbalancedNFL Week 9 Recap: Nine Months
January 2, 2023. We all remember that Monday evening. The Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals faced each other in what was the final Monday night game of the season. Regarding the game and the storyline, it was two teams jockeying for position in the AFC, as they were both in position to possibly take the AFC's #1 seed. This was an important game for both teams, but before the 1st quarter ended, there was suddenly something much, much more important than the game of football.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 5 months ago in UnbalancedFantasy Football is BACK!
Despite being English, I have found myself becoming more and more enamoured with the sport that the Americans call “football”. Watching American Football in the UK used to be a most difficult proposition, aside from the Superbowl the only way to watch any action was a highlights show at 1am on a Wednesday morning. During the nineties and early 2000’s I was school aged, but after that coverage started to improve. In recent years Sky Sports have added the Thursday and Monday night games, as well as three Sunday matches. Even then, the absolutely baffling decision to host games only on nights when most people have work confuse me no end. But as my interest has grown, I’ve put additional effort into trying to keep up with the games when I can. My wife has since joined me in this interest, but unlike me she is a reasonable person, who goes to bed at a sensible time rather than staying up into the night watching foreign sports and typing up nonsense for strangers to read (4th wall break! Hi, thanks for reading).
Luke FosterPublished 7 months ago in UnbalancedNFL Week 1 Recap: A New York Minute
The NFL is back, and this fan was ever so eager for the season to start. My reasons were simple. One, I had a good feeling about Fantasy Football this year, and two, I'm a Yankees fan who wants to forget about this disaster of a season. With every new NFL season comes new storylines and new questions, and one of the biggest new storylines of the debuting 2023 NFL season had to be Aaron Rodgers making his New York Jets debut on Monday Night Football.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 7 months ago in Unbalanced
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Most recently published stories in Unbalanced.
Avalanche Game 73 Recap: What Just Happened?!
As a Colorado Avalanche fan, I was entering Game 73 feeling quite confident. Yes, we were facing off against the high-powered New York Rangers. However, the Dallas Stars were facing the Vancouver Canucks...on the road. So I had a good feeling that first place could happen for the Avs again. The first part had to be taken care of: taking down the Rangers. The Avs were coming off the end of a nine-game winning streak, but at least Nathan MacKinnon's points streaks were still a thing.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished about 4 hours ago in UnbalancedLast Chance for Hurricanes?
A loaded day in the NHL saw six teams with a chance to clinch a playoff spot, and the Carolina Hurricanes were one of the teams with that opportunity. This was their second chance to do so, but their first attempt saw the Hurricanes defeated by the Pittsburgh Penguins in what was a homecoming for Carolina's biggest deadline acquisition of the season, Jake Guentzel. Take Two came against the Detroit Red Wings, and all they needed was just two simple points. They would get them behind a Frederik Andersen shutout; a 4-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished about 7 hours ago in UnbalancedBruins Clinch (Now, Don't Blow It)
Well, Boston Bruins, you made it. Somehow, you made it. Now what the hell are you going to do with it? The Bruins actually had a chance to clinch a spot on the previous night, needing only one more point in the standings to do so, but they couldn't get it done. Even so, despite the Bruins not being in action on this night, they could still get a spot, needing either a Detroit Red Wings loss or a Philadelphia regulation loss to get it done. Both outcomes came true, but the Philly loss happened first. The Flyers were defeated, 4-1, by the Montréal Canadiens. Yes, that's right. The Montréal Canadiens actually helped the Boston Bruins make the playoffs. What a world.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished about 7 hours ago in UnbalancedAvalanche Game 72 Recap: If It Wasn't for Bad Luck...
As the saying goes, "All good things must come to an end." But this was not the time. The Colorado Avalanche continued to ride high as winners of nine straight, the latest win being against a Pittsburgh Penguins team who led 4-0! With the Vancouver Canucks' home loss on the previous night, the Avs had the chance to move into the #1 spot in the entire Western Conference. The homestand continued, and it was against the Montréal Canadiens. Notice I didn't say the "lowly" Canadiens. I don't consider the Canadiens lowly. Are they going to be in the playoffs? No. But the potential's there. Even so, it did look like the Avs should win.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 2 days ago in UnbalancedRangers Become 1st Team to Clinch Spot in the 2024 Playoffs
One down, 15 to go. I always love seeing that first playoff spot clinched in any league, but it's always the most special in the National Hockey League. The first official clinching scenario belonged to the Vancouver Canucks on the previous night, but they couldn't get it done. On this day, four Eastern Conference teams had chances to clinch: the New York Rangers, the Boston Bruins, the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Florida Panthers. The Panthers and Bruins faced each other, with Boston winning, 4-3, in regulation. As a result, Florida couldn't clinch yet. The Red Wings/Capitals game was connected to all of the scenarios, but because that game went to OT, Boston couldn't clinch yet. The Canes lost, so they would have to wait, too.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 2 days ago in UnbalancedNavigating Controversy
In the realm of journalism, opinion pieces serve as a platform for writers to express their viewpoints on current events and controversial topics. These articles, often imbued with personal perspectives and insights, provoke thought, spark debate, and contribute to the rich tapestry of public discourse. In this exploration, we delve into the significance of opinion pieces in shaping our understanding of the world around us and examine the responsibilities that come with wielding the power of opinion in a media landscape saturated with diverse perspectives.
Paschal MmesomaPublished 4 days ago in UnbalancedAvalanche Game 71 Recap: No Surrender
I...love...this...team!!! We did it again, folks! Actually, I should say, we did it yet again! The Colorado Avalanche entered this Sunday matinee game on TNT on an eight game winning streak, and on top of the Central Division. The homestand entered Game #2 and it was against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's always interesting when Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon get together, and regarding this game, as Cody Rhodes would say, they have a lot to talk about.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 4 days ago in UnbalancedAvalanche Game 70 Recap: Elite 8
The Colorado Avalanche have reached the playoffs for six straight years, and a seventh is very inevitable. The Avs are on a big time roll--winning seven straight games, including sweeping a four game road trip in Western Canada and St. Louis. Following this stretch, the Avs returned to home sweet home--Ball Arena--and our opponents: the Columbus Blue Jackets. This is the first of two meetings against Columbus, and the first time the two teams are facing off on American soil since the 2021-22 season.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 6 days ago in Unbalanced
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The creative faces behind your favorite stories.
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