Kyle Shanahan says great defenses shouldn't have to trick their opponents “Coverages are coverages. Fronts are fronts. It’s very rare that a team just does something nobody else does. They just do it better.” “You try to find ways to attack it, and you can always come up with some new ways in the offseason, but usually a new way has to do with putting a different player in a different spot and finding a better matchup.” “Seattle is pretty much the same scheme with a lot of the same players, especially at the pivotal spots. They’re into what they do. There’s no reason for them to change.” “They don’t have to trick too many people. They’re very sound at what they do, and they’re very good at what they do. They make you line up and play.” “It’s similar to how we were in 2019. Everybody knew what we were doing, but we were really good at it, we had really good players doing it, and we did it over and over again.” “That’s the best way to build a defense. You don’t have to get lucky with calls or put guys in risky positions.”

Joe Mazzulla on reports of the Celtics vibes being high at training camp "Every team you lead is the most together team right now. Because we haven't traveled. No one's gotten benched. No one's been on a losing streak. No one's gotten blamed in the media. No one's had to go stand in the corner for 10 minutes and not get the ball. So, you learn those things as the season goes on, and you just learn how to work through those things together. And you can't simulate those. It just comes with time. And so, right now I would say all 30 teams feel great about themselves, and we got to wait till adversity hits. And adversity is even a strong word. There's nothing really adverse about playing in the NBA. But we got to wait until stuff doesn't go your way, and then you got to figure out who we are and how we're going to be at our best." (Via @NoaDalzell)

Pete Rose shares tons of baseball knowledge with A-Rod and Frank Thomas. It’s a 6 minute video, but I promise you, it’s the best thing you’ll see about Pete Rose today.

The hardest lesson NFL MVP Steve Young ever had to learn. "Fear-based thinking is a liar. I was afraid of failure, so much so that I paid this price so that I could have success. I learned as an older person, that's a fallacy. That's fraudulent." "I'm not going to pay for success with my worry and fretting. Man, fame is a thief. Fear-based thinking is a thief. There's a lot of thieves in life."

How can you not be romantic about baseball?

Nats minor league affiliates collectively have hit 67 pct more HRs this year than in '25. To put it in perspective, a batter would need to hit 122 HRs to top Barry Bonds's single-season mark by the same pct. A look inside a remarkable year on the farm: washingtonsun.com/sports/was…

Even a challenging day is a blessing. Life is all about perspective. We are lucky to be alive and grateful to have breath in our lungs!