nj.com • November 19 2025

He was the architect of an N.J. Pop Warner dynasty. Now he’s reshaping high school football.

It was one of the biggest wins of Nasir Gaines’ coaching career, taking down an undefeated opponent in one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the 2025 season.But it wasn’t without difficulty. After Newark’s Malcolm X Shabazz High won a hard-fought game against previously unbeaten Kinnelon 28-14 last month, Gaines gathered his Shabazz players in the end zone.“Stop being okay with being average,” he shouted, still fuming over an interception that stopped a touchdown drive late in the first...

nj.com • November 15 2025

N.J. sports are expanding rules to limit blowouts. Not everyone is cheering.

The final score left many New Jersey sports fans perplexed. The Cresskill High girls soccer team 12, Pompton Lakes 0.The outcome of the late September game marked one of the biggest high school soccer blowouts in recent memory. Days later, Cresskill coach Adam Khriss was suspended from coaching for one game, and league officials sent a memo emphasizing “sportsmanship” and the responsibility of coaches “to model good behavior and demonstrate integrity with your team.”The blowout also reignited de...

nj.com • October 7 2025

It was the most violent day ever on N.J. sports fields. Are we doing anything about it?

A violent brawl between high school football teams that spilled off the field and into streets surrounding the stadium.A post-game melee in the handshake line that led to a high school soccer star charging after a news photographer and grabbing him by the throat.An argument among parents at a youth football game over a cowbell — yes, a cowbell — that turned physical and led to police being called.The spate of ugly incidents exploded in rapid succession across New Jersey sports fields on a single...

Substream Magazine • June 3 2024

Can Everybody Please Be Normal About the WNBA?

Like many others, I was excited about the WNBA opening its doors to new fandom. The 2024-2025 season is coming off the headwinds of an NCAA women’s basketball tournament that drew record-high viewership and boasted an incredible draft class with players such as Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardosa, Cameron Brink, and the highly decorated Caitlin Clark. It felt like a perfect synergy, as the WNBA was experiencing record-high ratings. With more eyes, the hope is that you get fans that follow the new playe

Substream Magazine • April 16 2024

Let's Use The Excitement Around The 2024 WNBA Draft To Give The League Its Deserved Investment

Even before the 2024 WNBA Draft, there was excitement about the league’s future. Preceding all of this, the Women’s NCAA Championship and Tournament broke ratings records. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert spoke of expansion and the goal of making this a 16-team league by 2028. Warner Bros Discovery expressed interest in acquiring the U.S. broadcast rights, as noted by The Atlantic. Not to mention that the WNBA was about to welcome one of their most talented draft classes, with the likes of Cait

Capitalize the B. • April 1 2024

The NCAA Women's Basketball Trash Talk Is Great, Actually

I've been a basketball fan for most of my life, and a particular trash-talking story always seems to circle the wagons. You know the one. Right before the 1988 NBA 3-point contest, Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird was in the locker room with his opponents and said, "Which one of you guys is playing for second?" The exact language of what he said varies, but he did say something to that effect and proceeded to go out and win. There is a 20-minute YouTube video where players and journalists recoun...

Awful Announcing • February 24 2024

More WNBA-NBA integration will be an asset to both leagues

Sabrina Ionescu’s 3-point battle vs. Steph Curry makes us wonder what the future could hold.

Almost a week has passed, and we still haven’t quite nailed down how to cure the lethargy around the NBA All-Star weekend. But that’s not to say that there hasn’t been a wide variety of assessments about why we got here.

If you ask Stephen A. Smith, he lays the blame for the fall of the slam dunk contest squarely at the feet of Lebron James. It would have been great for one of the greatest players to c

Awful Announcing • January 22 2024

Sports Illustrated's downfall is a symbol of sports journalism's ongoing erosion

When I was a teenager, there was this mall my friends and I used to go to. The space outside school and our houses was where we could just be high schoolers. We would stop by the food court and peruse the many stores inside. If one of us had money, we could buy clothes or a video game. Most importantly, there was a place where we could just be ourselves outside the watchful eyes of the adults in our lives. As I got older, that mall started to disintegrate piece by piece. First, the big retail st

Capitalize the B. • January 3 2024

The Pat McAfee and Aaron Rodgers song and dance flew too close to the sun

Last week, Fox Sports' Nick Wright spoke about Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and likened his thinking to being a relative at Thanksgiving: "Nobody wants to get caught in a corner with because this guy tells you the hard truths." Those "truths" have regularly found a home on ESPN's The Pat McAfee Show. In this weekly segment, Rodgers made jokes about Travis Kelce and his Pfizer ads and bizarrely challenged him and Dr. Anthony Fauci to a team debate with Robert F. Kennedy. He's also used McAfee's

Capitalize the B. • January 3 2024

No, we don't need a Chris Benoit biopic

The Iron Claw has been out for more than a week, and naturally, people are looking forward to the next wrestling biopic. Wrestling does a unique dance between the lines of athleticism and theatrical storytelling elements. It's a natural marriage!

But something has been bothering me concerning the next name some people are championing to get the silver screen treatment. Even though it's been picked and prodded to death, there is probably a market for a "fall of WCW" miniseries on one of these st

DraftKings Network • November 13 2023

So, this is how the Bill Belichick era ends. With a fake spike INT

I have watched enough football in my day to know when a man is at the end of his rope and clinging to anything to drag him out of that pit of despair. When New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones threw his then league-leading 10th interception with 4:22 to go in the 4th quarter, only down four points to the Indianapolis Colts, coach Bill Belichick was at his wit's end. This is an eight-time Super Bowl champion with a tactician-like mind that can scheme to neutralize your best players on offen

DraftKings Network • November 13 2023

So, this is how the Bill Belichick era ends. With a fake spike INT

I have watched enough football in my day to know when a man is at the end of his rope and clinging to anything to drag him out of that pit of despair. When New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones threw his then league-leading 10th interception with 4:22 to go in the 4th quarter, only down four points to the Indianapolis Colts, coach Bill Belichick was at his wit's end. This is an eight-time Super Bowl champion with a tactician-like mind that can scheme to neutralize your best players on offen

DraftKings Network • November 1 2023

The NFL Week 9 QB Index Spectacular

Happy belated Halloween to all the listeners out there in radio land. I hope you got more treats than tricks – I cannot say the same for the wee hours of the Las Vegas Raiders headquarters. It’s time to talk about quarterbacks. We’re almost halfway through the 2023 NFL season, the trading deadline is over, and there has been some movement regarding some who have taken the reigns and others who might be holding a clipboard. Here are some of the observations I’ve noticed during week eight.

As it

DraftKings Network • August 22 2023

NFL Preseason Week 3 Quarterback Index

It’s the last week of the NFL preseason, so things are becoming more solidified regarding depth charts. Many of these games these weekends will serve as dress rehearsals before we officially kick off the 2023 NFL regular season. But that also means players will be fighting for their lives to make 53-man rosters.

Right after the NFL Draft, we introduced the 2023 NFL QB starter index. There are plenty of interesting quarterback competitions and so I’m bringing it back in some shape and form for t

DraftKings Network • July 21 2023

So long Daniel Snyder, and thanks for all the fish

In full transparency, I’ve had this draft ready since April. That was when I first heard that Daniel Snyder was looking into selling the Washington Commanders. The title derived from Douglas Adams’s book of the same name was also in my brain. Instead of dolphins leaving me a note after they left planet Earth, the Daniel Snyder era has left me nothing but great contempt and exhaustion.

As I’m sure many long-time Commanders faithful fans like me who have watched this team continually underachieve

DraftKings Network • July 18 2023

The troubling devaluation of the NFL running back position has been going on for a while

When former running back Demarco Murray had his 2014 breakout season, where he led the league in rushing with 1,845 yards, notched his second straight Pro Bowl selection, and won AP Offensive Player of the Year, there were questions around the number of carries he was getting. The Dallas Cowboys rode his 449 total touches to a 12-4 record and a playoff berth but didn’t reward him with a long-term deal. Quite the contrary, Murray left to play for the division-rival Philadelphia Eagles in 2015.

I

DraftKings Network • May 17 2023

Director Alison Klayman on ‘Unfinished Business’ and the perseverance of the WNBA

In April of 1996, the NBA Board of Governors approved what would be now known as the WNBA (or Women’s National Basketball Association). This was announced with a core three of Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, and Rebecca Lobo. The beginning of the league was hot off a 1996 gold medal women’s basketball Olympic team effort, and on June 21, 1997, the WNBA started its history with the appropriate tagline, We Got Next.

Within the short time the league has existed, it’s been through a lot. Expansion, co

DraftKings Nation • April 3 2023

While people try to gatekeep sportsmanship, Black athletes are unapologetically themselves

In some circles, they call Boston Celtics great Larry Bird “the greatest trash talker” ever. I remember one particular story where in a 1986 game against the Portland Trail Blazers said he would play most of the game left-handed because “he was saving his right hand for the Lakers. (Bird would score 20 of his 47 points left-handed). If you’ve been in a competitive sport, trash talk is essential to how athletes communicate. It's just a jousting of gamesmanship.

If a player gets hot on the basket

DraftKings Nation • March 9 2023

The Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers are the Hollywood divorce story of the NFL offseason

Most of us have been in a situation where we know a relationship is about to end. There is a point and time when you awkwardly tip-toe around it. Maybe even a last-ditch effort to salvage things – perhaps a vacation or dinner at your favorite restaurant. In the end, somebody has to say those two words – it’s over.

This is precisely what the Green Bay Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers are doing right now. Except it feels like they’ve moved on to other interests and are trying to figure out w

DraftKings Nation • March 7 2023

What the hell are the Ravens thinking with this Lamar Jackson franchise tag fiasco?

The 2023 off-season NFL quarterback carousel is underway, and we’ve already had some developments. Derek Carr concluded his short “you’ll miss me when I’m gone” tour and signed with the New Orleans Saints. Aaron Rodgers has emerged from his darkness retreat and is preparing to meet with the upper brass of the New York Jets (the meeting should feel reminiscent of the Brett Farve fiasco in 2009).

The Chicago Bears are the belle of the ball with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. That p

DraftKings Nation • March 1 2023

The Jake Paul boxing experiment is not dead (yet)

Jake Paul lost. We all had a feeling it would eventually happen, but (according to Paul) at least 500,000 pay-per-view buyers tuned in to see his first loss in a competitive fight against Tommy Fury. Fury is not Nate Robinson or Ben Askren – he’s a young cruiserweight with a boxing pedigree. Somebody with experience and not a retired MMA fighter would give Paul trouble. While many rejoiced in the “Fall of Paul,” his overall allure in the fight game still has some muster.

It’s taken a hit with t

DraftKings Nation • February 20 2023

Let’s just say this NBA All-Star weekend had a noticeable lack of buzz to it

Outside of a couple of highlights, I had to look at the box score to check if Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic actually played in the All-Star game. We’re talking about a guy averaging 33 points and 8 assists a game. Come to find out; he only had four points on five attempts in 19 minutes. Luka?

That sentiment carried itself throughout the whole game. Except for some spirited back-and-forth between Boston Celtics teammates Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the game itself ... well, it just h

DraftKings Nation • February 17 2023

The very first XFL game was definitely a sight to behold (for good and the bad)

Let me quickly set the stage for you. WWE (then known as the WWF back in 2001) was riding high at the end of the Attitude era. The company had officially bought out their competition in WCW and ECW and then did an invasion angle which, well, happened. Stone Cold Steve Austin had briefly turned into a heel (a bad guy) at Wrestlemania 17, winning the WWF Championship. Then they realized this wasn’t a good idea and changed him back.

Within all this was the creation of the XFL – the brainchild of V

DraftKings Nation • February 7 2023

Director Joslyn Rose Lyons on ‘Stand’ and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf’s long journey back

In speaking with director Joslyn Rose Lyons about Stand, a documentary chronicling the life of Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, the word light came up frequently. Justifiably, we think of light positively. Lights show us the way and bring us warmth. However, light also offers things to the forefront that we might not be ready to see. Light often attracts some darkness. Mahmoud has never allowed limitations and impediments to hold him back.

Born Chris Jackson, he grew up in Gulfport, Mississippi. Despite pov