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In this week’s episode of Slate’s sports podcast Hang Up and Listen, Josh Levin, Mike Pesca, and special guest Mike Schur, the co-creator of NBC’s Parks and Recreation, talk about the DeAndre Jordan emoji saga and Mark Cuban’s response to Jordan’s decision to re-sign with the Los Angeles Clippers. They are also joined by tennis writer Courtney Nguyen to discuss yet another dominant performance by Serena Williams, focusing on why she continues to receive less fanfare than the beloved Roger Federer. Finally, they talk about advances in sabermetrics, including the increasing importance of exit velocity in recognizing a player’s potential.
Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned on the show:
- Follow Mike Schur on Twitter and listen to his sports podcast with Joe Posnanski, the Poscast.
- Before reneging on his word, DeAndre Jordan verbally committed to the Dallas Mavericks.
- Mavericks small forward Chandler Parsons and Jordan had dinner five nights in a row.
- Los Angeles Clippers and Mavericks players used travel emojis on Twitter to illustrate their attempts to sway Jordan’s decision.
- In the midst of the emoji battle, Paul Pierce posted a photo of a rocket emoji instead of the emoji itself.
- Blake Griffin and other members of the Clippers organization enjoyed dinner and a game of spades at Jordan’s house as they waited for him to sign his new contract.
- Grantland’s Zach Lowe interviews J.J. Redick about Jordan and the emoji exchanges on his podcast The Lowe Post.
- ESPN’s Chris Broussard tweeted that Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was “Driving around downtown HOUSTON begging (thru texts) Jordan’s family 4 address to DeAndre’s home.” He later apologized for tweeting without receiving confirmation from his sources.
- Cuban used his argument with Broussard to promote his texting app Cyber Dust.
- Cuban was fined $25,000 for discussing free agents DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews before the conclusion of the moratorium.
- Jordan told Cuban that he was on a date when the Mavericks coach was attempting to contact him about signing.
- Zach Lowe writes that the NBA should either ban talks until the end of the moratorium period or get rid of the moratorium completely.
- Follow Courtney Nguyen on Twitter and listen to her podcast No Challenges Remaining.
- Read Courtney’s coverage of Wimbledon for Sports Illustrated.
- Serena Williams defeated Garbine Muguruza to win Wimbledon and earn her fourth consecutive Grand Slam title.
- The BBC’s Tom Fordyce says that we should show more support for Williams.
- Williams took 12 months off from tennis to battle a foot injury and a life-threatening pulmonary embolism.
- A 2011 Guardian piece on how Williams “tarnishes her legacy” by yelling at umpires.
- Williams said she was “done with controversy” when a reporter asked her about grunting at this year’s Wimbledon.
- The New York Times’ story on body image in women’s tennis.
- Williams is often the target of misogynist comments online about her physical stature.
- Mike Schur’s beloved, dearly departed website, Fire Joe Morgan.
- Rolling Stone’s Erik Malinowski profiles Daren Willman, who runs the baseball analytics site Baseball Savant.
- Don Denkinger messed up a major call in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series.
- The site Brooks Baseball features the PITCHf/x Tool, which allows fans to analyze pitcher performances in any MLB game.
- The New York Times’ Tim Rohan explains that exit velocity has become an important tool for evaluating a player’s potential.
- ESPN’s Home Run Tracker site allows you to sort home runs by exit velocity.
- Fire Joe Morgan attacked Juan Pierre and defended Adam Dunn. Grantland’s Ben Lindbergh explains why it isn’t that simple.
Hang Up and Listen’s weekly Superbikes:
Josh’s Superbike: Even dedicated fans get frustrated when the New York Mets continue to mislead their fans about player injuries.
Mike’s Superbike: Is “side out and rotate” the name of a sports blog or podcast? What about “runners at the corners”?
Mike Schur’s Superbike: The baseball All-Star Game is deeply flawed, and no one is doing anything about it.
On this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Josh Levin, Mike Pesca, and Mike Schur discuss the intersection of sports and comedy, focusing on the new Andy Samberg tennis mockumentary 7 Days in Hell as well as professional athlete cameos on Parks and Recreation. Visit slate.com/hangupplus and try it free for two weeks.
Podcast production and edit by Zack Dinerstein. Our intern is Emma Zehner.
You can email us at hangup@slate.com.