

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.
NFL 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 22 days 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 3 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 3 months ago in UnbalancedFull-Contact
I lay on the ground flat on my back after the hit. I could literally feel the pain shoot down from my chest right out my butt; it was like I was trying to pass a knife through my digestive tract. It was, without a doubt, the most painful thing I had ever experienced.
Linda McQuadePublished 3 months ago in UnbalancedThe lioness has laid to rest
The double champ has officially retired as of this weekend. It's never been a secret my favorite female fighter is Valentina Shevchenko, so Amanda Nunes is always a sore subject for me. I would have loved to see Valentina redeem her losses. But it is what it is and this article is for Amanda. My goodness what an amazing career she has had.
Dyllon RodillonPublished 6 months ago in UnbalancedFinals Game Five: Joker's Wild
When the Denver Nuggets took Games Three and Four so so easily in Miami, I knew that it would be over. I was looking forward to Game Five, because it was back in Denver's Ball Arena, and the Nuggets have a good chance to clinch their very first NBA Championship on their home court. To be honest, I expected the Nuggets to flat out demolish the Miami Heat--you know, just get it over with and celebrate.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 6 months ago in UnbalancedPeanuts & Crackerjack
Cleveland Stadium 1948 The ninth inning stretch. The ball game is tied with two outs, two strikes and a man on second. I tap the bat on home plate. Its dead weight lumbers as mental exhaustion takes its toll. Man on second, willing to chance it. Pitcher eyes him but doesn't give in to the dangerous bluff. I kick up dust, readying my stance, the bat lays stiff upon my cramping shoulder. It's daylight still, but the stadium lights are on anyway. They trick my brain into believing they are causing the sweltering heat. The roar from the crowd intensifies. Sporadic clouds are motionless as if they don't want to miss this exhilarating predicament. The crafty catcher adjusts his stance and spits to the dry dirt. The staunch umpire doesn't flinch or even blink; he knows how important his call will be. The pitcher winds up, his grip tells me its gonna curve. The release is fierce. Beads of sweat from his hair and face disperse in every direction as the force of his might is unfailing. My left leg lifts - an instinctual move that will increase the power of my swing. My eyes lock on the speeding white dot as it instantly becomes the target I intend to destroy. The swing is late, but I manage a solid tip. The ball is taking a fast bounce toward the pitcher who is recovering from the almighty throw. The man on second leaves in a desperate rush. I drop the bat and focus my sprint on the only destination I have - first base. Three defenders race inward to be the first to retrieve the skidding ball. Man is now on third! I watch the open glove of my adversary, wondering if I will win this race. I switch my attention to his eyes, looking for a clue, some kind of reaction that tells me the ball is in the air and heading his way. All I see is frustration. The roar of the crowd spikes, something happens that I can’t see. The first baseman takes off right as my left stride touches the bag. I waste no time turning my head to see the pitcher laying on his stomach, pounding the turf with an open glove. He misses the opportunity to out me and the ball has quickly bounced past him. Excitement grows. This isn’t over yet... It has become a fight to tag out the runner heading homeward. The catcher falls to his knees in obvious desperation as he watches my teammate make the run of his life. He knows it’s going to be close when he sees the shortstop fumble the ball for a second too long. I jump up and down with no plans on leaving first base. All my chips are on the speed and agility of the active runner. His cleats dig into the dirt, creating a dust storm in his wake. He dives into the air and lands on his chest to begin the crucial slide to home plate. The shortstop fires the ball to the catcher. It immediately begins closing the gap. The crowd's roar decreases as everyone awaits this gut-wrenching outcome. The bench begins to celebrate even before he reaches the plate. The crowd goes nuts. Everyone knows how this story will end… The runner is met by the entire team as his fingers inch across home plate. The sound of the ball making contact with the catcher's glove is milliseconds too late. The ump swings his arms outward, officially calling him safe. We won! We won this hard-fought game to advance! Emotions sink in.
Lamar WigginsPublished 6 months ago in UnbalancedEscape Velocity
First comes the searing shock of mind-numbing agony from flesh-to-flesh contact. Barely clothed bone against barely protected muscle. Anything impacted with enough force can go flying. Vaseline, hair, blood, sweat, fragments of skin, mouth piece, shoes. Everything is fair game.
Stephanie J. BradberryPublished 8 months ago in Unbalanced
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Kigali, Rwanda Should Host NBA Office Not Kenya; Africa's Basketball League Finally Getting World-Wide Attention
Tuesday, 28 November 2023 By: TB Obwoge After meeting with the NBA (National Basketball Association) while in the United States, President William Ruto, some how signed an agreement allowing the NBA to create an office in Nairobi, Kenya. Despite the fact that there are some very strong, basketball loving countries in Africa, Kenya not being one of them.
IwriteMywrongsPublished about 6 hours ago in UnbalancedJohn Jay Beats Greeley and Builds Legacy to end Season
On Friday November 2 John Jay suited up for Horace Greeley, and for seniors like Luca Duva, the finality was inescapable. “The last night of playing football, I left my heart on the field,” said the running back, and together, the Wolves didn’t let all the emotion go untapped.
Rich MonettiPublished about 6 hours ago in UnbalancedAvalanche Game 21 Recap: Just Like 2022
The Colorado Avalanche's winning tear continued with a home win over the Calgary Flames, and the brief two-game homestand continues with a meeting against a team who is very close to them: the Tampa Bay Lightning. This will always be special to us Avs fans; as we all know, the Avalanche defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games to win the Stanley Cup in 2022. Since then, however, the Bolts have won the last two meetings from last season, while the names have definitely changed from both sides since that iconic Cup Final took place.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished about 11 hours ago in UnbalancedNFL Week 12 Recap: Overtime...Why Did It Have to Be Overtime?
For the recap of the Thanksgiving and Black Friday games that kicked off Week 12, click here. We all love overtime, don't we? Overtime means more of the game we love. This season is actually a milestone: it's the 50th season of overtime in the NFL. It was beginning in the 1974 season that the overtime period was finally introduced to regular season games; before that year, overtime only took place in the playoffs. It was purely sudden death until 2010, which was the year that playoff games received the OT rules that exist even now. Those rules would be instilled into regular season games in 2012, and it was in 2022 that the OT rules were changed again for playoff games. In any event, the overtime period in the NFL is amazing, and so many football fans love it.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished about 14 hours ago in UnbalancedSomers Makes Easy Work of Pelicans in First Round Of Playoffs
On Friday October 27, Somers began their postseason defense of their New York State football title. Pelham on the slate, the number one standing seemed to hang over the medium sized crowd and put fans in a somewhat subdued mood. Like they had seen this movie many, many times before, the diehards had a pretty good idea how this night would end, and the outcome proved the home crowd exactly right.
Rich MonettiPublished 2 days ago in UnbalancedAvalanche Game 20 Recap: When You're Hot, You're Hot
From what we've seen in the last few games, the Colorado Avalanche that we know and we're used to? That team is back. The Avs picked up a huge Black Friday victory over the Minnesota Wild, but it's right back to work a day later. This time, the Avalanche returned home to face off against the Calgary Flames for the first time all season. With this, the Avs have one Pacific team they have yet to face this year: the Edmonton Oilers. Colorado entered this meeting with a 6-2 record against Pacific opponents.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 3 days ago in UnbalancedSurvivor Series 2023 Recap: He's Back...AGAIN
Well...CM Punk is back for the umpteenth time. Oh boy. Let's get this out of the way, shall we? So the main event was the men's WarGames bout: Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, "Main Event" Jey Uso, and Randy Orton against the Judgment Day and Drew McIntyre. It looked like the babyface side would be shorthanded, as it was teased that Orton hadn't arrived and wouldn't do so. The Judgment Day and McIntyre appeared to have that permanent 5-on-4 power play well in hand. It even looked like we'd see a Money In The Bank cash-in during WarGames!
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 3 days ago in UnbalancedNFL Thanksgiving & Black Friday Recap: All You Need is Love
Week 12 is not over, but despite this, I decided to split the recap into two parts, with this story centering on the Thanksgiving games, as well as the NFL's first-ever Black Friday game. One reason is that it'll be easier to cover each portion of the week, as everyone played this week, though because of the holidays, only 12 games are played on Sunday and Monday. Another reason is because I wanted to put a special spotlight on the four games, especially the Black Friday game.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 3 days ago in Unbalanced
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