“You’re seeing genuine, authentic trust & that’s the first step. That’s all we want to achieve, the first step.” 🎙️ Following the WAPO article from @davesheinin.bsky.social, I spoke w/ Ohio HOF 🏈 coaches Al Powell & Jim Place about their Social Justice 7v7 Tourney ⤵️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMjU...

For the fifth straight year, high school football teams in Ohio came together for discussions about social justice, unity and acceptance. The event has continued despite the end of diversity-related initiatives across the state and the country.

In recent months the problem of online threats and harassment of athletes by gamblers appears to have become more widespread, more specific and more sinister. Read more from @davesheinin.bsky.social, @andrewgolden.bsky.social and a host of @postsports.bsky.social reporters here:

Last night, the Celtics tied an NBA record with 63 3PAs. In the first quarter, 22 (!) of their 24 FGAs were 3's. Is this the product the NBA wants? Is it what the fans want? We explored this issue and more in our project, Beautyball www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...

What a terrific piece by @davesheinin.bsky.social on the impact of analytics on the NBA, and MLB, and how the leagues are trying to keep the games interesting. No paywall here: wapo.st/4hcN5FJ

Read this series. It turns out you can break sports like a boardgame. The problem of analytics is the homogenization of play, from MLB's three true outcomes to the NBA's 3-point assault. Optimization makes everyone the same. If there's only one "winning" strategy, what's the point of watching?

Part 3 of “Beautyball” explores whether the NFL could someday face the same crisis of deteriorating aesthetics that has plagued MLB and the NBA www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...

Part 2 of our project, "Beautyball," has as its protagonist Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who wonders, like many, whether today's NBA is in the same place MLB was several years ago: optimized to the point where the league needs to take steps to fix its aesthetics www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...

What happens when analytics and optimization effectively "solve" a sport, and how can leagues push back to fix their aesthetics? MLB already knows. The NBA is finding out. The NFL and NHL? Stay tuned. Here is part one of our three-part series, "Beautyball": www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...