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The Week That Was (March 2-6, 2026)
A roundup of what I wrote, read, watched, etc. over the past week.
 • Neil Paine
Why F1's 2026 Title Odds Look Nothing Like 2025's
The most dramatic rules reset in modern Formula 1 history has upended the sport's recent hierarchy — and compressed years of potential change into one…
 • Neil Paine
Japan Is the WBC Standard — So Why Is the U.S. Favored?
Odds have the Americans as heavy World Baseball Classic favorites for 2026, but historical dominance suggests "Samurai Japan" (侍ジャパン) is being…
 • Neil Paine
The Celtics Are Thriving Without Jayson Tatum. That’s Why His Return Could Get Complicated.
Boston lost an MVP candidate and stayed a Top-3 Net Rating team anyway — turning what should be a simple upgrade into something more delicate.
 • Neil Paine
Lou Holtz Was College Football's Original Turnaround Artist
The Hall of Fame coach made a career of jumping from program to program and fixing them fast — a restless approach that now defines the modern sport he…
 • Neil Paine
The Strike Zone We (Think We) Want
MLB's official introduction of Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenges highlights the tension between the rules of the game in theory and in practice.
 • Neil Paine
My 🔥Burning Questions🔥 for the Stretch Run of the 2025-26 NHL Season
After an extra-long Olympic pause, here’s what matters most in the final push toward the '26 playoffs.
 • Neil Paine
Team USA Finally Got Its Golden Breakthrough Against Canada
Jack Hughes' overtime winner Sunday punctuated a decades-long climb from North American hockey's "little brother" to a full-fledged equal.
 • Neil Paine
It Took Alysa Liu's Improbable Comeback to Put U.S. Women’s Figure Skating Back on Top
A 24-year Olympic gold drought ended when the once-retired prodigy completed one of the most unlikely arcs in the sport’s modern history.
 • Neil Paine
The U.S. Women Finally Have Their Olympic Curling Moment
Twenty years after the hype, the Americans are nearing a long-awaited Olympic curling breakthrough.
 • Neil Paine
Dale Earnhardt Owned the NASCAR Spotlight — and Still Does
The Intimidator was iconic. He was also NASCAR’s most consistent, versatile and dominant driver when the lights were brightest.
 • Neil Paine
The NBA Knows How to End Tanking — But It May Not Want To
Severing the link between draft order and record would curb incentives to tank overnight. But doing so might cost the league something it values more.
 • Neil Paine
Ilia Malinin and the Curse of the American Olympic Coronation
Anointed as America's next Olympic icon, Malinin instead joined the long history of U.S. stars undone by the weight of expectation.
 • Neil Paine
🏅 Who's Winning The 2026 Olympic Medal Race — And Who's Beating History?
A look at which nations are outperforming (or falling short of) their historical share of Olympic medals in 2026 events completed so far.
 • Neil Paine
🏁 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Rankings 🚗
Tracking the top drivers in the sport, all season long.
 • Neil Paine
The North Dakota State FBS Experiment is Finally Here
What happens when the FCS' greatest dynasty moves up a level?
 • Neil Paine
Revisiting the Chris Paul Conundrum
CP3 will retire as an all-time great whose playoff résumé never matched his statistical brilliance — reopening the debate over what his career reveals…
 • Neil Paine
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