When it comes to office gift exchanges or your best friend’s annual White Elephant Secret Santa/Hanukkah Harry-palooza, we say the goofier the better. Here’s what to bring to get every coworker and friend-of-friend fighting to unwrap your gift.

For the fan who wishes football jerseys were part of the office dress code:

For the one who has more sneakers than she has closet space:

For the fan who’s nostalgic for the ’90s:

For the one who reps her fave sport with flair:

From Emma McIlroy at Wildfang, for all the Power Players on your team:

For the one who’s sneaking in a sip to the game in style:

For the one who’s never let go of her inner child:

For the fan who turns every trash can into a basketball hoop:

For the girl who’s always up for a tailgate:

For the enthusiastic cheerleader who’s got spirit, yes she does:

For the one who’s better in the arcade than on skates:

For the one who folds paper footballs under the table during meetings:

For the chef who wants to be the next Michelle Wie:

For the one who’s always up for a little competition:

Winning Gifts to Bring to Your White Elephant or Yankee Swap Party This Year was originally published in The Relish on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Depending on who you’re buying for (and what your budget is) the price you’re willing to pay for a holiday gift can vary as widely as Cam Newton’s post-game outfits. Whether you need something small for a White Elephant exchange or you’re going all out and sparing no expense, we guarantee you’ll find something here for your favorite sports fan.

Budget-Friendly Gifts for Sports Lovers

For the fan who bakes as well as she throws:

For the nostalgic fan who scrapbooks everything:

For the fan who likes to keep her beverage as cold as a hockey rink:

For the fan who loves art as much as the NFL:

For the fan who misses her Game Boy Color from 1998:

For the girl who’s ready to roll no matter where she goes:

Best Gifts for Sports Lovers When Price is No Object

For the fan who thinks tailgates don’t have to mean plastic seating:

For the fan who wants to eat like Tom Brady:

For the Fenway fan who already misses Big Papi:

For the tailgating queen who always keeps it classy:

For the ping pong princess:

For the snow bunny whose best friends are her dogs:

For the fan who wants to be the next Aaron Rodgers:

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The Best Gifts for Every Sports Lover on Your List No Matter Your Budget was originally published in The Relish on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The holidays happen during football season — coincidence? We think not. It’s the perfect time to gift the tailgating hostess with the mostess on your list with goodies that hopefully *you’ll* get to enjoy too. In the form of invites to delicious future gatherings, of course. Whether you need sporty ideas for gifts to give others or wishlist fodder to hint about to your own loved ones, we’ve got you covered. This week, here are tailgating essentials for the fan who always throws the best parking lot party.

For the fan who likes her rosé with a side of sausage and peppers:

For the fan who needs to keep cool (and wants to indulge her inner child):

For the fan who likes to keep her bubbly at just the right temp:

For the fan whose game-day gear is as stylish as she is:

From our tailgating guru Daina Falk at Hungry Fan, for the cook who wants to use minimal effort:

For the fan who always keeps her eyes on the prize:

For the fan who wants her tailgate made in the shade:

For the traditionalist who appreciates modern convenience:

For the environmentalist who moonlights as a wannabe DJ:

For the fan who is secretly the next Dak Prescott:

For the creative cook who wants more than burgers and hot dogs:

For the fan who wants all her tailgating needs in one place:

Sports served up fresh in your inbox, on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Follow along!

What to Get the Fan Who’s the Life of the Tailgate was originally published in The Relish on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The holiday season is here! And that means presents. So whether you need sporty ideas for gifts to give others or wishlist fodder to hint about to your own loved ones, we’ve got you covered. First up: we’re tackling the fashionista fan who looks fab even when her team is not quite as flawless…

Stocking stuffers for the fan who played too:

With a scarf from ZooZatz, she’s reppin’ her team *and* staying cozy:

For the diehard Lakers fan:

Bling for when a Super Bowl ring is out of reach:

From our fave Emma McIlroy at Wildfang, for the fan whose first priority is girl power:

For the college girl who’d love to wear pajamas all day:

For the fan who wants to remind us all about this possibly-once-in-a-lifetime event with every #OOTD:

For the coolest girl in school:

For the all-weather tailgater:

For the fan who’s green (even if her team colors aren’t):

For the fan who likes her gameday outfit easy, breezy and straight outta a style blog:

Sports served up fresh in your inbox, on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Follow along!

What to Get the Fan Who Looks Good Even When Her Team Doesn’t was originally published in The Relish on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Power Players is a series by The Relish profiling the #girlbosses of the sports world. Sign up to get The Relish in your inbox and meet our newest Player each Monday.

All those stereotypes that women aren’t good with statistics? Dead wrong. Brandon, Ashley and Courtney have been football fans their entire lives, creating their own spreadsheets and holding their own in the discussions that would inevitably come up at family functions. In the three years since founding Her Fantasy Football podcast, they broadcast on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio and have been finalists for the 2015 Fantasy Sports Writers Association Podcast of the Year.

Today, they’re giving us a behind-the-scenes look at a recording day, the Super Bowl party dip their whole fam is obsessed with, and the perils of being a woman on sports talk radio.

Take us through a day in the (work) life for you…

ASHLEY:
5 am: My alarm goes off and I snooze it for about 1 1/2 hours before getting up.

BRANDON:
6 am: My alarm goes off. I’m trying to be out of bed and completely ready by 6:30 am. This is a new habit that I started this season because of morning deadlines.

COURTNEY:
6:15 am: My alarm goes off and continues to go until it wakes my husband up. He always gives me an extra 15 minutes.

ASHLEY:
6:30 am: I finally roll over, cursing life as I am not a morning person. I immediately grab my phone to check emails in bed. I check to see if I got the players I want on the waiver wire… I usually don’t and am irritated for about 10 seconds.

COURTNEY:
6:30 am: I wake up and check Bleacher Report in bed before I hear “Mom!!! I’m hungry!!!”

BRANDON:
6:30 am: I write my daily article from 6:30 to 9:30 every morning. If I don’t have a specific article due that day for Pro Football Focus, I spend that time researching. These three hours are CRUCIAL for me to feel a sense of professional accomplishment at the beginning of the day.

COURTNEY:
6:45–8:10 am: My morning involves drinking a lot of coffee while cooking breakfast for my kids, getting both the children and their backpacks ready.

ASHLEY:
7 am: Now that I have checked and hopefully put out any fires, I start my fantasy football rankings for running backs and kickers, the two positions I have been tasked to cover this season.

8:30 am: With rankings done, I start my notes for my teams that I cover for our podcast that will take place that night. I only have 30 minutes before I have to start my day job.

BRANDON:
9:30 am: On Sundays, I head into SiriusXM for a show that I co-host on SiriusXM, Bleacher Report Radio. On other days, I spend one hour checking emails and checking in on social channels, then walk for an hour, then I officially get ready for the day (shower, makeup, etc.)

COURTNEY:
8:50–11:15 am: This is when I actually do the majority of my research: my rankings, update injuries, read any statements by coaches and make sure no one got arrested overnight. I’m in charge of putting together the outline for the show.

BRANDON:
12:30 pm: I normally do a few live videos on Periscope and Facebook, usually a Q+A with Pro Football Focus. I have a standing appearance on Bleacher Report on Tuesdays to talk waiver wire adds (I also do a podcast that day at 10:30). Some days I have other appearances or meetings.

I’m also in charge of our website and coordinate our partnering efforts. I don’t have a background in marketing or sales (I’m a recovering actress, actually) so this can be time-consuming, but I love it.

ASHLEY:
10 am-4 pm: My life is conference calls scheduled an hour apiece from 10 am through 4 pm. Some calls will end early so I fire up a Lean Cuisine or do a 7-minute workout. They are all video conference calls, so I have to find time to throw on makeup and a shirt so that I look like all business on top.

COURTNEY:
After 11:30 am: I am back to mom first, while I fit in as much football as possible. A little NFL Network, ESPN, but mostly Sofia the First.

ASHLEY:
4 pm-6 pm: I answer as many emails as I possibly can and complete as many tasks that have come through during the day.

BRANDON:
5 pm: My break. I basically work all day and night, so I take a 10:30 am walk and a break at 5 pm. Sometimes I cook a nice dinner. Sometimes I stare at HGTV for one hour. But I set an alarm and make sure I’m cuddling with my puppy, Lucy. Sometimes my husband gets some cuddles, too.

6 pm: Back to the grind. This is when I do my podcast notes based on research I’ve compiled through the week. The Her Fantasy Football Podcast starts as about 30 pages of notes compiled between the three of us.

We like stats. We don’t like to wing it.

This outline takes time, but it’s worth it. On non-podcast days, I coordinate our FanDuel contest called DICED. It’s like Chopped from the Food Network, but instead of food, we give participants lineup ingredients like all of your running backs have to play in away games. Or no one on your team can be named Mike or Michael. It’s fun and creative and free! People love it.

ASHLEY:
6 pm-9 pm: Now I am in crunch mode doing my research for our Her Fantasy Football podcast tonight. I have highlighted my sections so I can easily see which sections have one of my teams in it, which drives my sisters (also my co-hosts) crazy. I look at news feeds to make sure I am up to date with what has occurred throughout the week and then I turn to Yahoo to search relevant players. I then look at matchups and points against averages to determine whether I think they are a good play that week. Somewhere around 7:30 pm my husband rolls in from work and he is in charge of dinner on Wednesdays. We generally hop on a Gchat around 10 pm MST to get started with our show.

COURTNEY:
8 pm: I head over to my parent’s house to record (and leave my husband with the kids). I finish up my notes or make changes based on what happened during the day.

ASHLEY:
10 pm MST: As sisters, this is our time to chat face-to-face each week before Her Fantasy Football business.

BRANDON:
11 pm ET: I live on the East Coast, so we get this started at 11 pm my time. (Thursday is the only day that I sleep in.)

ASHLEY:
10 pm-12 am MST: We are supposed to start recording at 9 pm MST but inevitably we start an hour later.

BRANDON:
2 am ET: I roll myself to the bedroom and get ready for a new day.

ASHLEY:
12 am: My sisters and I have said goodbye, but now I need to edit the show for the morning and answer emails.

COURTNEY:
12 am MT: I go home and clear out some social media questions. There are a TON of questions. Always.

ASHLEY:
1 am MT: I will get up early to load our podcast to BlogTalkRadio, SoundCloud and herfantasyfootball.com. For now, I get into my PJs and crawl into bed… and often open up the sleep hypnosis app I use when my mind is racing and I can’t shut it off.

What are your essential apps?

BRANDON: Evernote. I keep everything there. It’s been a great tool for organizing my thoughts, ideas, to-do items and general lists. I started a new habit of recording every single thing that I eat, because otherwise I overindulge. I love food and booze. Love. I use MyFitnessPal religiously (even if I go over). Fitbit family challenges are helping me move more. AUDIBLE! I don’t have time to read like I would like, but I can listen to books on the train or while I’m taking all of those steps. And the app Clue. They calculate your fertility window, which is good information for if you’re trying or not trying… if you know what I mean.

ASHLEY:
I am an iPhone user: Clock (alarm clock), Weather, Calendar, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Fitbit (so that I can be depressed at just how little I move throughout the day), Southwest and Hilton (I travel a lot for my day job), Lyft (no drinking and driving), Yahoo, ESPN, MFL 2016, FanDuel, Bleacher Report, RotoWorld, SnapChat, DeepCalm (sound app), Sleep Well (sleep hypnosis app), 7MWC (7-minute workout app), Penny Pal (trying to brush up on my French from high school).

Name a time when it wasn’t so great to be one of the only women in the room…

COURTNEY: Social media can get weird. I think some men will see their friends asking us questions and then make a comment that they would never listen to a woman about football.

More times than not, the man who asked the question will tweet us after the game saying that we helped them win. I don’t engage with haters. It’s not worth my time.

ASHLEY: We were once asked to do an appearance and when we got there someone mentioned that they were excited to see the “catfight” that would ensue between us and another female who was hosting. I guess she had expressed some negative feelings towards us. First of all, when women talk, or even disagree, this does not and should not constitute a “catfight.” We immediately got nervous that this “catfight” was an expectation. We went back to our hotel room to game plan. “We are here to talk fantasy football, pure and simple.” We went through every question and angle we thought might be thrown at us and came up with our answers or a way to turn it back to what we were there to talk about… football. No one came at us in a negative fashion once on air. We were able to talk about what we wanted to talk about, the glorious game that is Fantasy Football, but you better believe we were prepared just in case.

BRANDON: One time I was a guest on a radio show with two male co-hosts and a male producer. There was a call-in guest that was climbing up the DFS (daily fantasy sports) ranks and the guy launched into a speech right after being introduced.

“Hey, sorry guys. I’ll get back to this interview in a second, but Brandon… what you said, right before the break, about the Indianapolis defense… that was spot on. I mean, I’ve never respected a woman before, but it sounds like you actually know the game. It’s amazing! I’m super impressed. They do have trouble covering slot receivers and you caught on to that. I’ve literally never heard any woman talk about anything like that in my life. I am blown away!”

I said something like I was happy to hear that he agreed with me and continued like nothing happened until the end of the segment. All of the men around me had their heads in their hands. Once the interviewee hung up all of the men apologized. “Oh my God! I am so sorry. I cannot BELIEVE he said that!”

I could.

I explained to these men that this isn’t all that unusual. The only thing that perhaps was unique about this instance was this particular man’s self-awareness.

I explained that this man never respected a woman before. Ever. He admitted it. And that’s a learned behavior, but perhaps today we made a difference. Maybe he’ll be more respectful of women who work in the sports industry, but more importantly, maybe he’ll respect his significant other, his daughter, his mother. If any of us can help change the perspective of even one individual, we’ve done some good.

What advice would you give to a young woman who wants to work in sports?

COURTNEY: Be the best you can be. That goes for anything you do. Make sure your voice is heard, not choreographed by someone else.

Don’t be afraid to get into a pissing contest. Sometimes OTHERS need to have you put them in their place to fully respect you in this field.

BRANDON: Schedule social media time, and stick to it. People want you to have a ton of followers, but it’s actually more important to have good, honest interaction. Also, adhering to a schedule stops you from losing your soul to busy work. I schedule one hour in the morning and one hour at night. That’s it. For all platforms.

ASHLEY: First, I would tell her to read the book Lean In. Every woman should read that book. Every man should read that book, as well (especially if he wants to be a leader in his organization) to get a glimpse at how women think and feel, and how they can also help level the playing field.

Having a job in sports has the added challenge of some people’s perception being that women know nothing about sports. Someone will treat you as inferior.

Always try to better yourself, learn as much as you can, log in enough hours to be an expert at anything you do, trust yourself, have confidence, stay kind and true to yourself. You have to know that you will have bad days but that you will also have great days. Interestingly enough, most of my professional sports experience has been positive with other fantasy football colleagues who have been nothing but respectful and supportive. Keep faith and don’t be scared to jump in.

I’m having a Super Bowl party! What are you bringing?

ASHLEY: I am bringing our family staple: clam dip. One can of minced clams to one block of regular cream cheese. You might be tempted to go with a low-fat cream cheese option, but don’t do it! It throws the consistency off and is not as yummy. My husband is allergic to all seafood and I had a moment when we first started dating where I thought I might have to break up with him as I couldn’t give up clam dip on Sundays. We worked it out… just no kissing on Sundays :) Yes, it’s that good.

BRANDON: I also bring clam dip. Is this embarrassing?

COURTNEY: We love to make a BLT dip: sour cream, onion powder, shredded lettuce, 2 tomatoes chopped, crumbled bacon, shredded cheddar cheese. Eat it with tortilla chips. Just enough vegetables.

There is a small deli in Soldonta, Alaska where they make Echo Lake Cheese Dip and it is amazing. The ingredients are: shredded cheddar cheese, mayo, chopped jalapeño, liquid smoke, garlic powder, jalapeño juice, and cayenne pepper. Served with tortilla chips.

If you could brunch with people from the sports world, who would be on your dream team?

ASHLEY: Jackie Robinson would be fascinating as I would love to hear from him personally about the struggle he encountered when he broke through the racial ceiling in MLB. I think as a woman I could get a lot of inspiration from his story.

Also, Phil Mickelson is my favorite athlete of all time and is the one person on this planet that I would maybe get starstruck around. It all started when I would go with my family to the International golf tournament in Castle Rock, CO each year and see how exciting and outrageous Phil Mickelson’s play would be. As a quiet, shy kid at the time, I took a lot of inspiration from how he just put himself out there and went balls to the wall on every play regardless of risk and potential failure.

BRANDON: A League of Their Own is one of my favorite movies. I sob like a baby at the end. First, it’s about sisters. But second, I knew that opportunity for women ceases to exist and it kills me. I would love to have experienced that heyday, eat a hot dog with some of the teammates and just be there when it existed.

COURTNEY: Greg Norman has always been one of my favorite golfers. When I was 16 I told him I loved him. The feeling is still there. Usain Bolt would have to be there. Serena Williams is one of the best athletes of all time; it wouldn’t be brunch without her. David Robinson and Ivan (Pudge) Rodriguez are not only amazing athletes but as a young girl I was in love with them. David Robinson is why I enjoy basketball and the Spurs are my favorite NBA team. Marshawn Lynch would bring the Skittles.

Who needs to be permanently benched?

BRANDON: I could never see another headline about Greg Hardy and it would still be too soon.

COURTNEY: Josh Brown, for sure. There should be no room for this kind of behavior in the NFL or anywhere else. O.J. Simpson. That’s an easy one, but I think the correctional office is taking care of that for us.

ASHLEY: Tony Romo scares me. I am genuinely scared for his health and I hope he retires. I feel the same about Jordan Cameron, who has been plagued with concussions. Jordan Reed is coming pretty close to the “it’s not worth it” status for his health as well.

Give props to a fellow #girlboss power player in the sports world:

BRANDON: I make an effort to follow and support all women in our industry. Even if someone messes up, I don’t pile on. I know that being a woman means that other people will do the dismantling. It’s tough out there. Speaking of, I don’t know how Sarah Thomas does it. Being a referee has to be the most thankless and disrespected career in sports. People are so incredibly rude to ALL referees, but being the first woman to referee a NFL game? Wow. That takes guts.

ASHLEY: Stephania Bell is a BOSS lady! We got to interview her a few years ago and she has been nothing but supportive and full of kindness since we became acquainted. She is a true delight and is boss at everything that she does. When I mentioned earlier that you need to do the work to become an expert in your field (10,000 hours of logged work is a good benchmark), Stephania is THE expert at ESPN and is the expert on anything health related for pretty much every sport. She has worked her way from not only being respected and perceived as an expert but has gotten herself a major seat at the table and has been flawless with it.

COURTNEY: Stephania Bell is also by far my favorite person to watch and listen to. She found something that is extremely important in sports and became the best at it. In the fantasy world, injuries can be your worst nightmare, but Ms. Bell makes you feel good about making a decision on whether you want to start or sit a player. I would also like to give a shout out to Sarah Thomas. Not only is she a bada$$ referee, but she also seems like a bada$$ person.

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Meet the Three Sisters Building a Fantasy Football Empire, Boys Allowed was originally published in The Relish on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

College basketball’s regular season starts Friday (!!) Here’s everything you need to know.

What Happened Last Season

While the early rounds of March Madness were full of upsets (see: Yale over Baylor, Little Rock over Purdue, Middle Tennessee over Michigan State, and Syracuse over Virginia), the national championship came down to the two teams that dominated their respective conferences (the Big East and the ACC) all season long: Villanova vs. North Carolina, with the Wildcats edging out the Tar Heels 77–74.

What to Look Forward to This Year

The defending champs and runners-up should still be good, but they’ll have to contend with the return of two teams we all love to hate (unless you went there): Duke and Kentucky. Coach K and Coach Calipari are legends in their own right, which has allowed them to recruit top-tier talent: The Blue Devils have returning sharpshooter Grayson Allen plus a stellar freshman class, and the UK Wildcats brought in a high-flying group of froshies as well. Looks like the 2016–2017 season will be all about the blue and white.

Perennial Powerhouses Worth Keeping an Eye On

It should be no surprise to see these names near the top of the rankings, too: Kansas. Virginia. Arizona. Oregon. Xavier. Gonzaga. All of these teams have been reliable regulars in the NCAA tournament for the past few years if not longer and are likely to show up again this season. Check out the AP & USA Today polls for the rest of the ranked teams.

Big Ten Spotlight

Basketball is king in America’s heartland, so it makes sense that the mostly Midwestern-based Big Ten Conference boasts several schools on the leaderboard. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was just inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, so with him at the helm, the team always has a shot. One of our fave players, Nigel Hayes (more on him in a bit) has stepped up big for Wisconsin the past couple of years and we have no doubt he’ll do so again. Indiana also promises to be a force to be reckoned with, especially since OG Anunoby is poised to build on his success from last season and have a breakout year.

The Player You Need to Know

As talented as Nigel Hayes is on the court, he’s just as awesome off of it. The senior Badgers forward has been known for a while as the funny man — he threw some hard-to-spell vocab words at a press conference’s stenographer, imitates Anchorman’s Ron Burgundy to keep his teammates laughing, and bought 2,100 donuts for the entire Wisconsin basketball student section to thank them for selling it out (and breaking the record within three minutes, no less). He’s not afraid to speak out on the serious stuff, too: He’s a staunch advocate for paying college athletes (they are stars in their own right who most of the time have to pay their own medical bills because insurance won’t cover all), and on Monday he joined several other Wisconsin athletes to decry the racism they encountered on the school’s campus. The world needs more Nigel Hayes.

The Biggest Scandal in the NCAA

The Cardinals are a great basketball team, but their on-court achievements have recently been overshadowed by scandal: News broke last year that strippers and escorts had been hired for the team’s recruits by Andre McGee, the university’s former director of basketball operations. The process to determine exactly what punishment the NCAA will hand down is still ongoing. (The team took a self-imposed punishment by disallowing themselves from the NCAA tournament this past March, but it’s pretty clear that won’t be the end of it.) It’s possible that head coach Rick Pitino could be suspended for “failing to monitor” McGee, and the NCAA could potentially vacate wins involving players that took part in the events (including their national championship title from a few years ago), but we’ll likely have to wait until early 2017 to find out more.

The Best Mascots in the Game

Is there anything better than seeing a dog as part of the pageantry at a basketball game? We didn’t think so. Two of our faves both happen to be bulldogs: Butler Blue III (aka Trip, short for “triple”) and Jack, of Big East schools Butler University and Georgetown University. The dogs themselves are buds — they hang out when the teams play, mention each other on Twitter (Trip/Jack) and Instagram (Trip/Jack) often, and even ran for President/VP:

Trip tore his ACL about six weeks ago, but will hopefully be good to go by game time Saturday evening. We’re rooting for you, buddy!

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Your 2016–2017 College Basketball Cheat Sheet was originally published in The Relish on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Stay sporty and cozy at the same time

The weather outside is veering toward frightful, which means it’s time to snuggle up on the couch, preferably in front of a roaring fire. Aside from the obvious (snacks and a TV to watch whatever game is on), here’s everything you’ll need.

Must-Wear

Around here, autumn is sweater weather, and we found some for you to wear no matter which team you’re cheering for.

Looking for something simple and a little vintage-inspired? Old Time Hockey has a sweatshirt like this one in stock right now for almost every NHL team (sorry, Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, and L.A. Kings fans). They’re fleece-lined too — just because the players are on the ice doesn’t mean the fans have to freeze! One of these can be yours for $74.99.

In the holiday spirit already? Klew has a fantastic line of ugly sweaters with just about any logo you could want, whether it’s an NFL, NBA, MLB or college team (and even a couple NHL). They’ve got several different styles, so you’re sure to find at least one to wear enthusiastically and un-ironically. Regular price for is $69.99, but most are on sale right now for at least $10 less.

Want something a little more luxe? Cashmere specialist brand The Elder Statesman is partnering with the NBA for a line of luxury hats, scarves, T-shirts and sweaters (latter pictured below). You’ll be paying a pretty penny for these — the hats are $420, and the sweaters themselves are $1,620. They’ll be available at Barneys New York starting tomorrow, Nov. 4, and eventually will be sold directly by The Elder Statesman online as well.

Must-Read

No game on? Curl up with the next book on our reading list: Game Changers: The Unsung Heroines of Sports History. Ladies blazing trails and proving that any sport men can do, women can do just as well, if not better? We’re all about it. If there’s a younger person in your life you know would love this, Level the Playing Field: The Past, Present, and Future of Women’s Pro Sports is soon to be released as well.

Must-Have

Whether you’re flipping channels or turning pages, the best accompaniment on a cold day is a hot drink. We’ve got just the mug for that. In keeping with our historical-vintage theme, we’re loving these Patent Prints mugs featuring sketches of sports equipment. Get one for just $15.99.

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The Coziest Way to Rep Your Favorite Sports Team was originally published in The Relish on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

MLB update, NBA teams to watch, NFL issues + more

World Series Preview

It’s a Midwestern battle for the ages: after shutting out the Dodgers for a 5–0 NLCS-clinching win Saturday night, the Chicago Cubs are moving on to face Cleveland in the World Series. You’ve heard all about how historic it is — how Cleveland hasn’t won it since 1948, but how even that’s recent compared to the Cubs’ last World Series win in 1908 (and until now, they hadn’t even made it in since 1945; looks like the Curse of the Billy Goat is officially broken).

That was then, this is now, and these two teams are set to play a dynamite best-of-seven. As we saw in their series against the Red Sox and the Blue Jays, Cleveland’s pitching throughout the playoffs has been out of this world, and the Cubs are no slouch in that department either. Add in penchants for stealing bases, diving catches and huge hits, and we are absolutely stoked for Game 1 tomorrow. Want more? Check out our What You Need to Know About the World Series cheat sheet here!

P. S. Did you notice that we didn’t use Cleveland’s baseball team’s name? That was on purpose: protests are escalating over it and the team’s logo, Chief Wahoo. Now that the team’s in the spotlight, more and more people are recognizing the name and logo as racist. During the ALCS against Toronto, a Canadian First Nations activist filed a court injunction to try and stop the team from displaying the name and logo on their uniforms, but was denied; even so, there were Toronto sports announcers who refused to say the team’s name, just as there are those around the NFL who refuse to say the Washington team’s name. While the Cleveland organization has made efforts to provide an alternate to the caricature logo, it still hasn’t disappeared entirely — here’s hoping this national stage will give advocacy groups who are planning to protest more leverage moving forward.

NBA Preview + 5 Teams to Watch Who Aren’t the Warriors

Not a baseball fan? You’re in luck: the NBA regular season starts tomorrow night, too. Last year’s finalists — the Cavaliers and the Warriors — are still set to be great, especially since the latter brought in Kevin Durant during the offseason, but there are some other teams we think you should be keeping your eyes on too.

1. They may be young and often overlooked, but don’t count out the Minnesota Timberwolves: they have a couple of stars in Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins.
2. The Boston Celtics have gotten better and better under coach Brad Stevens, and the addition of Al Horford should kick their game up yet another notch.
3. Last year was Paul George proving he could come back from a broken leg. This year, it’s time for him to lead the Indiana Pacers even further, especially since he now has recent acquisitions like Jeff Teague by his side.
4. The Toronto Raptors kept most of the team that made it to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, including All-Star pair Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan; there’s no reason to believe they can’t do well again.
5. The San Antonio Spurs may have lost a leader when Tim Duncan retired (though not really — he has whatever role he wants on the team’s staff, according to coach Gregg Popovich) but they still have Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard, and LaMarcus Aldridge, and they brought in Pau Gasol this offseason — yeah, they’re going to be just fine.

When Dessert Is Way Better Than Dinner

Guys. What was that last night. After a fairly bland game, overtime went into overdrive for the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals. Both kickers choked, leaving the score 6–6, the first tie in the NFL since 2014. Ties in pro football are maybe more common than you realized. While this was the first in Seahawks’ history, the Cardinals have had three 6–6 ties, the other two in 1970 and 1972.

Had no idea these could end in ties? It’s okay, Donovan McNabb didn’t know either when it happened to the Eagles in 2008.

Annie Apple on Twitter

Why I couldn't "shut up" about Mara's callous stance on domestic violence... https://t.co/vKEjNOeOfN

Annie Apple Is Over It

In an essay on SI.com, Annie Apple (mother of New York Giants CB Eli Apple) addressed Giants kicker Josh Brown’s domestic violence case — and Giants co-owner John Mara for not doing more after Brown admitted to the abuse. “How are you a so-called champion of domestic violence but lack basic compassion for a victim?” she asked. Apple reveals that she is a domestic violence survivor and urges anyone in a similar situation to seek help.

Her son, while supportive, gave an uneasy interview about it: “…she’s always going to speak up no matter what. I can’t really control that, so I just have to do what I have to do, which is play football.’’

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5 Basketball Teams to Root for this Year That Aren’t the Warriors was originally published in The Relish on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Used to seeing the Red Sox, Yankees, Giants or Cardinals in the World Series? Not this year. Time to welcome in two teams that have both been waiting a very long time for this.

What you need to know about… Cleveland’s team

More on why we’re not saying their full team name here.

• Don’t you love the drama of a steal? A base runner outfoxing a pitcher, or just knowing his legs are stronger than the catcher’s arm? Cleveland basically perfected the art this year; the team did it 134 times this regular season, with an 81% success rate (which led the American League), and four players stole at least 15 each.
• When they’re on, they’re on: the team won a franchise-record 14 consecutive games this summer.
• You think Cleveland’s sweep of the Red Sox in the Divisional Series was impressive (because, you know, it’s Boston, and when it comes to sports the Red Sox somehow are always great at everything)? It gets better: One of those three games was a 6–0 shutout.
• Cleveland owns Toronto: The Cavaliers beat the Raptors in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, and the Cleveland baseball team won the ALCS against the Blue Jays in five games, holding the Jays to just eight runs total.

Player(s) to watch (and why): All of the pitchers, but especially Corey Kluber, who has been pitching like a machine all year (it’s no coincidence his nickname is Klu-bot). Carlos Santana (no, not that one) has been hitting pretty “Smooth”ly too, and Coco Crisp plays with a snap, crackle, pop!

Root for ’em if… you think it’s time for “The Mistake on the Lake” to ride the Cavs’ wave and finally get its due.

What you need to know about… the Cubs

• This season ain’t no fluke; the Cubs are actually legit. With a regular-season record of 103–58–1 (the best in baseball for 2016), they went over the century mark for the first time since 1910.
• For only the second time in MLB history, all of the team’s infielders were voted into the All-Star game as starters.
• The Cubs smashing the Giants’ even-year lucky streak in the NLDS? Really should’ve been a sign of curse-breaking to come. Seventy-one years of not making a World Series thanks to an irate billy goat owner is officially over.
• In the NLCS against the Dodgers, the Cubbies were the comeback kids: from breaking a 4–4 tie in Game 1 with a pinch-hit, two-out grand slam to winning three games in a row after falling into a 2–1 series deficit to take the pennant, no matter how dire the situation, the Cubs usually manage to finagle their way out.
• Seen #FlyTheW all over Twitter? Here’s why: Wrigley Field literally hoists a “W” flag every time the Cubs win — they’ve been doing it since the 1930s (and naturally fans have started waving their own too). Oh yeah, and the stadium turned 100 this year; they’d love a World Series anniversary gift.

Player(s) to watch (and why): The entire season, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo have been hitting the ball like nobody’s business, and already this postseason Javier Baez has shown off some heroics on both sides of the ball.

Root for ’em if… you think 108 years is long enough to wait.

Bonus: This elementary school music class playing a 2016-specific steel drum version of “Go Cubs Go” is too great not to share.

Elementary Students Perform Unique Take on 'Go Cubs Go'

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What You Need to Know About the World Series was originally published in The Relish on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Baseball’s wrapping up, the NFL is all over the place + Derrick Rose walks

Cleveland Rocks, Cubs Dodge a Bullet (For Now)

Bye bye, Blue Jays: The Cleveland Indians took the ALCS four games to one to send Toronto packing, becoming the second Cleveland team to do so this year (the Cavaliers knocked the Raptors out of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals last spring). The Cavs ended up winning their championship, and now the Indians are in the World Series for the first time since 1997 and have a chance to win it for the first time since 1948. Is “The Mistake by the Lake” actually becoming “Cleveland-BELIEVEland”? We’ll have to wait ’til Tuesday — which is when Game 1 of the World Series airs — to find out. (Of course, it’s not all just changing luck. Cleveland’s pitching KILLED IT, from their starters to their relievers and closers; they held Toronto’s usually-home-run-heavy offense to only eight runs in all five games.)

The Cubs may have looked sluggish for the past couple games, but they were back in fine form tonight. Chicago jumped out to a 5–0 lead and never let up, finishing the game with a final score of 10–2 over the Dodgers and evening the series at two games apiece heading back to Wrigley. Looks like Frank Kaminsky’s White Sox jersey may have just fueled their fire.

Dez Bryant is V V Clumsy

NFL players: they’re just like us. While Dez Bryant looks to be on the road to recovery from his broken leg, he couldn’t catch any balls in practice yesterday because he’d cut his fingers while chopping carrots. Dez called his injury “extremely, extremely minor,” which is good, but c’mon man, those hands are the moneymakers! While personal chefs are a bit of an extravagance, and we’re impressed he held out this long, maybe it’s time. What with so many great players getting hurt pretty badly already this season, he’s lucky it wasn’t worse.

NFL Viewership on the Decline? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In this season of the blame game — you know, elections are rigged, Kim Kardashian brought on the robbery herself, no new Taylor Swift album in this even year cost the SF Giants another even-year world title — why shouldn’t SLIGHTLY declining NFL TV ratings be blamed on the player protests to the national anthem? That’s one result of a Yahoo Sports survey of 1,136 Americans who identified themselves as NFL fans. Of the 29 percent who said they are watching fewer games, the top reason given was the protests begun by 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick and picked up by other players. Even the non-sports media have an opinion, as from, of all places, The Atlantic, which, of course, blames the presidential elections (and the two debates that went up vs. NFL games). Sports website The Ringer even calls it a “crisis” and asks, Is There Too Much Football? Well, as far as NFL commish Roger Goodell is concerned, we all should just R-E-L-A-X. “We don’t think we’ve lost viewers,” and he, at least, is not blaming the player protests. To quote Cam Newton, “Next question.”

If You’re Watching the NFL This Weekend, Here’s What to Look For

The Colts’ offense might be sputtering and their defense might be sluggish, but you’ll want to keep an eye on their special teams this week: kicker Adam Vinatieri, who is 43 years old, is only two field goals away from setting an NFL record for consecutive field goals made (he has 41; the current record is 42, set by former Colt Mike Vanderjagt), and with the way the Colts have been moving the ball lately, he very well may get it on Sunday. He’s also third all-time on the NFL “points scored” list, which shows you just how long he’s been doing this, because he scores maximum three points at a time, and sometimes just one.

Other things to watch for in the NFL this week:

• The two surprise breakouts of the season, Minnesota and Philadelphia, meet at the same time as the Colts and Titans, so if you need a break from the AFC South, flip over to that one. Oh, and it showcases Sam Bradford facing his former team, too.
• We would’ve told you to watch for the Patriots-Steelers quarterback matchup, but since Big Ben is out and the Steelers’ defense hasn’t been great lately, even though Pittsburgh has Le’Veon Bell back and receivers like Antonio Brown, this one might be a little more lopsided than originally anticipated. Great if you’re a Pats fan, not so much for everyone else.
• The Seahawks-Cardinals game Sunday night should be more evenly matched, and division game means higher stakes.
• We’re equal parts excited and terrified for Brock Osweiler and his Houston Texans Monday night. He gets to go face his old team (like Bradford), but those Broncos also happen to have one of the best defenses in the league, and they’ll be chomping at the bit to get to him.

“When You’re A Star, You Can Do Anything”

Raise your hand if you’re surprised to hear that the New York Knicks plan to start Derrick Rose in their NBA season-opener next Tuesday against LeBron James and the world champion Cavaliers in Cleveland? Thank you for that show of no hands. The court that Rose has been most intimately attached to the last few weeks is the civil trial litigating the $21 million lawsuit against him and two friends for allegedly drugging a woman, breaking into her apartment and raping her while she was unconscious. His fate for that court was in the hands of an eight-person jury, who last night cleared Rose and his friends of all claims. Meanwhile, all the Knicks’ new guard must do to start in the basketball court event is make it to practice, not even worry about the final preseason games last night and tonight. Innocent until proven liable and yada, yada, yada, but it’s unseemly, to put it mildly.

Do Better, Sports

The Giants looked pretty bad for defending Josh Brown against claims of abuse toward his ex-wife Molly when the news broke back in August, as did the paltry one-game suspension he received. Now that a set of documents comprised of journal entries and emails written by Brown that admit to the abuse have been released? The entire situation looks a whole lot worse. No word on if the Giants know about this new development — here’s hoping they respond a bit differently this time.

Pieces of this article came from The Relish copy chief rach54.

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Derrick Rose Is Cleared as Another Pro Athlete Comes Under Fire for Abuse was originally published in The Relish on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.