Author: Don Yaeger

When I sent a request to talk with a central figure of the biggest sports story of the weekend, his coach told me he’d have to wait until the player awoke to schedule a time. If I’d had the weekend Tim Becker had, I don’t know that I’d ever want to wake up. Unless you’re a diehard Florida State Seminoles fan or a rabid fan of college baseball, you likely have never heard of Tim Becker. And even the hardest of hard-core...

Let’s play a game: pretend for a moment that you’re the leader of a successful franchise, coming off four straight seasons winning at least 60 percent of your teams’ games. The greatest thorn in your side has just left your division, leaving you a pretty clear window to get to a championship game. You have your eye on a superstar you think could make a difference, but to get him, you’d have to give up your most popular...

Not too long ago, I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine that I’ll call Bob, mostly because that’s his name. Bob works in Vegas as a casino host, and Bob knows just about everything there is to know about betting lines, propositions, and numbers. In fact, there’s not much that Bob doesn’t know about the science and magic of professional wagering.

Let’s start here: if you want to be great, you’d better have a short memory. That may sound like an odd statement, but it was the major takeaway from the weekend’s NBA action. Whether you’re talking about Steph Curry’s dismal Game 6, Damien Lillard’s abysmal Game 7, or Kawai Leonard’s long struggle in Toronto’s final game, the Conference Semifinals ended far differently than they began.

Have you ever screwed up so badly you wanted to go into hiding? It’s a natural response to failure. We don’t like to own our mistakes, because they make us feel small. Unworthy. Less than human. Know what’s not a natural response to failure?

I’ve sat down twice in the last few days to enjoy the Golden State Warriors versus the Houston Rockets in the NBA playoffs. Like a lot of hoop-heads, I’ve been savoring this matchup since these teams went seven games in the Western Conference finals a year ago. Stephen Curry against the indomitable Chris Paul. Kevin Durant against the crafty Clint Capella. James Harden against anybody. These are the matchups that...