The Arsenaling Of Arsenal's Season Has Begun

“It’s a horrible week,” Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger admitted after losing to a short-handed and off-form Manchester City team on Sunday—this just a few days after losing to an off-form Everton team in similarly depressing fashion. As expected, this season that looked like it might be The One is beginning to reveal itself to be just like all the others.

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Quinn likes how inexperienced Falcons keep contributing (Yahoo Sports)

Atlanta Falcons tight end Austin Hooper (81) celebrates his touchdown against San Francisco 49ers with Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Aldrick Robinson, right, during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Coach Dan Quinn appreciates how the Atlanta Falcons are positioned atop the NFC South, holding a one-game lead over Tampa Bay with two games left in the regular season. Now if the Falcons could just stop getting key players hurt, but Quinn is hardly despondent. ”I know we’re judged by what happens on Sundays, but honestly I thought the game from yesterday was won during the week,” Quinn said Monday.


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Nerlens Noel And The Sixers Are Reaching A Breaking Point

Before the Sixers’ season even started, Nerlens Noel understood that there were too many large dudes in Philly and too few good ideas about what to do with them. But because Noel has been recovering from knee surgery, it was only last Friday that the Sixers had to confront this nauseating truth head-on, as they finally played their trio of true centers in the same game. The initial results were bleak. Joel Embiid, maybe the most promising of the bunch, got awkwardly shifted to power forward to make room for Jahlil Okafor, and Noel played an uneventful eight minutes, letting let some of his dissatisfaction spill out into public view: “I mean, I’m too good to be playing eight minutes … that’s crazy, that’s crazy, that’s crazy. Need to figure that shit out. Fuck it,” he told reporters after a 100-89 loss to the Lakers.

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Dispatches From The War On Marching Bands

America’s War on Marching Bands continues apace. The Rice MOB angered Baylor fans with a Title IX-themed show. The Stanford Band was suspended for the semester, which they maintain is about the school prioritizing its image over student life. And now the Columbia University Marching Band, of which I am an alum, is being told it can’t perform in the library the night before finals, as it has done every semester for over 40 years.

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Tim Duncan's Retirement Ceremony Was Charming And Delightful

The Spurs retired Tim Duncan’s No. 21 last night in a muted, charming ceremony, proving that you can still celebrate a guy’s legacy even if that guy’s central myth is his complete absence of flash, ego, or pomp. That image of Duncan can sometimes feel reductive or parodic, but last night it was just nice to see it burnished by a whole a slew of anecdotes from coaches and teammates past. Fans of fundamental basketball were treated to a highlight reel of Duncan operating in the low post, demonstrating immaculate footwork, setting screens, pulling Fabricio Oberto up off the floor, adjusting his jersey in the locker room, embracing teammates, embracing trophies, and embracing basketballs. It was a fine sendoff for Timmy, who came across as nothing short of a perfectly moral being and basketball automaton.

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The Denver Broncos Clearly Miss Former Vols Peyton Manning and Malik Jackson

The Denver Broncos would already be in the NFL playoffs if former Tennessee Volunteers Peyton Manning and Malik Jackson were still there.Hey John Elway, how has forcing Peyton Manning out the back door worked out for you? Your Denver Broncos might not even make the playoffs this year because of at…

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Asshole Tries To Sell Photo Of Michael Schumacher In Hospital Bed For $1.04 Million

Despite repeated requests for privacy, a photo of seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher lying in his hospital bed following his brain injury was offered to several publications for $1.04 million, reports Motorsport-Magazin. Schumacher sustained severe head injuries in a 2013 skiing accident that left him unable to walk or stand, per the last update given in September.

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