Stuck.
(Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Stuck.
(Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
SPORTSREDEF PICKS
Meb Down the Homestretch, Making Exercise Obsolete, Most Valuable Punter, School Spirit Is a Slur, Michelle Kwan...
Mike Vorkunov, curator November 3, 2017
QUOTABLES!
quote of the day
Dumping Tyrod Taylor because you think you can do better is like hitting a 17 in blackjack. You can do better than your hand, but you probably won't.
sports
rant n' rave
rantnrave://

Will you watch MEB KEFLEZIGHI run Sunday? Do you know he's running? Meb will run the NEW YORK CITY MARATHON and finish his sterling career. He won't go out with the big, glorious exit he deserves. The NYC Marathon is one of my favorite events of the year. Watch it the first Sunday of every November as a city gets overrun by runners. Some gallop ahead of the pack, their efficiency mystifying, as if pulling off 26 consecutive sub-5-minute miles is normal and not an amazing example of how far humans can push their bodies. Some stomp their way to the finish line, the weekend warriors checking one off the bucket list. Meb is running at its best. He is an immigrant who achieved greatness running under the US flag. His family arrived from ERITREA as refugees. He started running at 12. He's never been the best runner in the world, but he does have an OLYMPIC silver medal. He helped rejuvenate US long distance running. Read SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's TIM LAYDEN look back at Meb's career. The LA TIMES' HELENE ELLIOTT says he's the best US long distance runner ever. Maybe. Maybe not. Running is funny that way. It should be simple to compare runners' times, but the different eras warp our understanding of them. It took too long for Meb to be accepted fully by the US running community. A victim of the critics who hold preconceived notions of who is a true American, what they look like, and where they're from. There's no argument anymore. Meb is a part of US running's fabric and he'll be missed. He's on the homestretch now. Watch him before he's gone... TSA PRECHECK is coming to NFL games. Expedited security lines. Until everyone gets it and we're all standing in line again wondering we paid for... Sad to hear DESHAUN WATSON's rookie season is over because of a torn ACL. He was putting together one of the best seasons by a rookie QB ever. The TEXANS finally had a quarterback. The NFL keeps losing stars. ANDREW LUCK is done for the year too. QB play drives watchability. Watson will hopefully be good as new next year. But this season keeps spiraling downward... SAM HINKIE from downtown... Why is STEPH CURRY named in the new tax reform bill?... Ready for liftoff.

Mike Vorkunov, curator

November 3, 2017