On the Red Sox’s historic implosion:

Drinking beer in the Sox clubhouse is permissible. So is ordering take-out chicken and biscuits. Playing video games on one of the clubhouse’s flat-screen televisions is OK, too. But for the Sox pitching trio to do all three during games, rather than show solidarity with their teammates in the dugout, violated an unwritten rule that players support each other, especially in times of crisis.

A profile of Bob Fishman, the impresario of CBS’s NFL production crew.

The original article on Billy Beane and the Oakland A’s, published a month before the release of Moneyball.

Eight years after Moneyball, nearly every MLB front office has integrated statistical analysis into its strategic process. So where does that leave a former wunderkind like Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein?

On the battle between Shaquille O’Neal and his former IT guy, who’s in control of much of O’Neal’s archived (and often damning) correspondence.

A profile of Barry Bonds published as the steroid talk intensified.

An attempt to sort out whether Vick is truly a changed man or simply a very gifted football player who was bound to be forgiven.

An 11-month investigation ends with a booster, now in prison for a Ponzi scheme, going public with details of how he spent millions on college athletes from 2002 to 2010.

[Shapiro] said his benefits to athletes included but were not limited to cash, prostitutes, entertainment in his multimillion-dollar homes and yacht, paid trips to high-end restaurants and nightclubs, jewelry, bounties for on-field play including bounties for injuring opposing players, travel and, on one occasion, an abortion.

On FIFA’s history of scandal.

How Frank and Jamie McCourt bought the Dodgers for “for less than the price of an oceanfront home in Southampton” and eventually became entangled in one of the most expensive divorces in California history, which laid bare their finances and confirmed what many already knew: they had bankrupted one of the most storied franchises in baseball.

In all, the McCourts reportedly took $108 million out of the team in personal distributions over five years—a sum that Molly Knight, a reporter with ESPN who has extensively covered the story, notes is eerily similar to the cash payment that she says Frank McCourt has claimed he made for the team.

Was Steinbrenner’s Partner the “Madoff of Memorabilia”? Inside a collector’s hoax.

What happens to 7-footers when they step off the basketball court?

On witnessing an incredible junior college basketball game 23 years ago in North Dakota.

Fred Wilpon, the owner of the hapless New York Mets, had more than $500 million tied up with Bernie Madoff when the Ponzi scheme was exposed. Now he may be forced to sell his beloved ballclub.

A profile of Felipe Lopez, high school phenom.

In his first Major League at bat, Adam Greenberg was hit in the head with a fastball. He never made it back.

On recommitting to the Knicks after “a decade of dysfunction and delusion.”

The author came late to basketball. A profile of his favorite player:

He creates a sense of danger in the arena and yet has enough wit in his style to bring off funny ideas when he wants to.

Basketball is considered one of the most difficult sports to effectively bet on, therefore gamblers like Haralabos Voulgaris who make a handsome living on NBA lines are a rare breed, whose knowledge of the game and personal statistical databases rival most of the league’s front-offices’.

What one learns about Jose Canseco while trying, unsuccessfully, to interview Jose Canseco.

A profile of Carmelo Anthony, newly anointed savior of the New York Knicks.

Manny Ramirez is a deeply frustrating employee, the kind whose talents are so prodigious that he gets away with skipping meetings, falling asleep on the job, and fraternizing with the competition.

The inner workings of a high school basketball team stacked with international talent.

Behind-the-scenes the Cincinnati Ben-Gal cheerleaders.

An ode to the fastball and the pitchers who throw it best.