From Jordan Love’s disappointing debut as Green Bay Packers QB1 to the L.A. Rams getting dominated by the Tennessee Titans at home on Sunday night, the NFL saw more than its fair share of big upsets and strange moments in Week 9. So we bring our own starting QB, Alex Smith to discuss. Plus, how Aaron Rodgers’ vaccination status loomed over the weekend...and what we think of the ManningCast curse.

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NFL Week 9 with Monday QB Alex Smith

Barry Bonds’ baseball achievements are staggering: from home run records to MVP awards to Gold Gloves to mind-boggling slugging and on-base percentages, the numbers place him squarely among the game’s all-time greats. But Bonds’ successes have been tarnished by what is known about his use of performance-enhancing drugs. For the last nine years, Bonds has been eligible for enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame and each year, when the ballots are tallied, has come up short. Now he is in his final year on the writers’ ballot, making the issue of his worthiness for selection more urgent than ever before. Jeremy Schaap joins the show to ruminate on Bonds’ career: the stupendous feats of his youth; his relationship with managers, teammates and the media; his late-career performance surge; and the steroids controversy, all of which is chronicled in the new E60 special BONDS, which Schaap hosts this Sunday at 9:30 pm ET. 

Should Barry Bonds Be In The Baseball Hall of Fame?

It’s been a head spinning week in the NFL. On Wednesday, reports surfaced that Packers QB Aaron Rodgers tested positive for covid, and will not play in Sunday’s marquee matchup vs. the Chiefs. Rodgers previously told the media and his team that he was “immunized,” and has undergone other treatments that did not include the vaccine. So QB Jordan Love will see his first NFL start against a Chiefs team that seems beleaguered by turnovers and bad defense. Elsewhere, Browns receiver Odell Beckham Jr. may be coming to the end of his career in Cleveland, after his father Odell Beckham Sr. posted a video on social media blaming QB Baker Mayfield for Beckham’s poor performance. And, the New Orleans Saints are dealing with two massive injuries to QB Jameis Winston and WR Michael Thomas. Bill Barnwell takes us through all of these NFL storylines and more at the halfway point of the season.

Bill Barnwell on Rodgers’ Vaccine Status, Chiefs Struggles and More

The Atlanta Braves are World Champions! So Tim Keown joins us from Houston, where he takes us through how the Braves got here. Then, when the Brooklyn Nets host the Atlanta Hawks tonight, two of the most divisive players of the modern NBA will face off. James Harden and Trae Young are two of the best players in the league, thanks in part to their skill with the dark arts of drawing fouls. But this offseason, the NBA decided to crack down on offensive players engaging in so-called “foul hunting” and the results are being felt across the league. Brian Windhorst explains why many think the new rules are changing the game for good, even if not everyone is happy about them.

Braves Win World Series! Then: How New NBA Rules Truly Change The Game

When pro hockey player Kyle Beach reported his sexual assault by a Chicago Blackhawks video coach in 2010, the team failed to act. Beach filed a lawsuit against the team as “John Doe” and a 100-plus page report on his experience, as well as the team’s handling of the incident, has led to resignations from team leaders who were involved. Emily Kaplan tells us how the Blackhawks and the National Hockey League failed one of their own by covering up abuse, and what happens next as the truth is told.

NHL Blackhawks Sexual Abuse Case: Explained

Halloween fell on the eighth Sunday of this NFL season, and it belonged to backup QBs. Cooper Rush put on his Dak Prescott costume and led the Dallas Cowboys to a last minute game winning TD. The Saints’ Trevor Siemian stepped in for the injured Jameis Winston and defeated Tom Brady, and Mike White performed arguably the most unlikely feat of the day, in breathing life into the Jets’ fan base by leading them to an upset win over the Bengals. ESPN Daily’s QB-1 Alex Smith breaks down how a bunch of backups managed to trick everyone on a very strange day of football.

NFL’s Halloween Belongs to the Backup QBs

You might know about Freddie Freeman, first baseman for the Atlanta Braves, who you’ll see take the field tonight in Game Three of the World Series vs. the Houston Astros. Freeman’s also the Gold Glover and four time All-Star...who battled back from covid to win NL MVP last year. But the Freddie Freeman you don’t know is even more remarkable. In a re-air of our episode from April, Buster Olney takes us inside the E:60 documentary Full Circle: The Freddie Freeman Story, and presents an exclusive and emotional portrait of one of the game’s best players. Freeman opens up as never before about the loss of loved ones, as well as the struggles he and his wife have endured in starting a family of their own. 

Full Circle: The Freddie Freeman Story (Re-Air)

David Olson is a quiet, Midwestern father of three, living an ordinary life. That is until one day this summer, when doing some home renovation, he discovered some bowling balls buried under the steps leading to his backyard. And not just two, or three, or 10 or 20 bowling balls. In total, Olson uncovered a whopping 162 bowling balls from his property, and ended up going viral with his story. Where the balls had come from? How did they end up at Olson’s house? Ryan Hockensmith explains this stranger-than-fiction story of man’s unexpected discovery…and the unexpected way in which it ultimately transformed his life.  

The Mystery of the Backyard Bowling Balls

“Play Like a Champion Today.” It’s one of the most iconic phrases in sports, and it’s long been synonymous with Notre Dame. Over the years, legendary Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz has told the story of the team’s famous sign, and the traditional pregame slap that’s performed as they take the field. Holtz put up the sign, yes. But where did he get the idea? Another powerhouse college program has some thoughts which dispute Holtz’s claims. ESPN’s Dave Wilson tells us who might - or might not - deserve credit for one of the sports world’s most famous sentences. Then, listeners and friends of ESPN Daily share their sports superstitions with us, ahead of Halloween.

Can Notre Dame Claim “Play Like a Champion Today?”

Deep in the heart of Texas we find Jeff Passan, as the Houston Astros host Game 1 of the World Series tonight against the Atlanta Braves. For the Astros, it’s a chance for some vindication, after being baseball’s public enemy number one for their sign stealing scheme in 2017. For the Braves, it’s a chance to win their first World Series in a quarter century, and cap a stunning postseason run for a team that had the worst regular season record of any in the playoffs. Jeff Passan is in Houston, and breaks down everything you need to know for the Fall Classic.  

Houston’s Empire Strikes Back: World Series Preview With Jeff Passan

Jared Goff returned to his former team at SoFi Stadium as a member of the Detroit Lions on Sunday, after the QB’s new coach made critical remarks about his performance, with the Rams’ Matt Stafford facing his old Lions teammates. Our own Monday Quarterback Alex Smith breaks down that ex’s matchup and more. Smith and guest host Emily Kaplan talk the Kansas City Chiefs’ blowout loss to the Tennessee Titans, plus Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ upset victory over Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. And our Week 7 spin around includes tribute to National Tight Ends Day.

NFL Week 7: Goff-Stafford Showdown, Bengals Lead AFC, Panic Time in KC?

Intense arguments that give way laughter: it's a feature on the set of Pardon The Interruption. In this fourth and final installment of the PTI podcast series, we look at how Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon can tick each other off *and* bring out the best in the other. Because behind the yelling, there is always love and respect. Their contrasting thoughts and behaviors have sparked important conversations that transcend sports. Hear journalists, sportscasters and a longtime appreciator of the show, Barack Obama, reflect on the enduring impact of PTI.

SPECIAL SERIES: The Legacy of PTI

Intense arguments that give way laughter -- it's a feature on the set of Pardon The Interruption. In this fourth and final installment of the PTI podcast series, we look at how Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon can tick each other off *and* bring out the best in the other. Because behind the yelling, there is always love and respect. Their contrasting thoughts and behaviors have sparked important conversations that transcend sports. Hear journalists, sportscasters and a longtime appreciator of the show - Barack Obama - reflect on the enduing impact of PTI.

Bob Voulgaris turned his career as a professional, data-driven NBA bettor into a team job when Mark Cuban made him Director of Quantitative Research and Analysis for the Dallas Mavericks. But tension built between Voulgaris and then-GM Donnie Nelson, and relationships with players got muddy. Reports in The Athletic this year claimed the former bettor was running the show behind the scenes in Dallas, and today the GM, coach and Voulgaris are no longer with the team. Now, Voulgaris sits down for his first interview since he left the Mavs.

EXCLUSIVE: Was a Former NBA Bettor Running the Mavs?

Turf toe. It’s a known injury in football. But behind the cutesy name lies an injury NFL players dread more than any other, involving a teeny tiny bone in the foot. Turf toe can be incredibly painful and long lasting, with no real remedy for players other than time. And it can lead to permanent damage, if not properly healed. ESPN Senior Writer Dave Fleming takes us inside his cabinet of sports curiosities, with terrible tales of turf toe from around the NFL. Then, Pablo shares an update on the Ben Simmons saga.

Turf Toe Tales: The NFL’s Most Dreaded Injury?

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