John Pudner wrote his first statistical analysis for the New York Post more than 20 years ago, ranking pitchers on opposite Sundays from when Bill James ranked batters, and he was named as the top sports news writer in his newspaper class in Virginia by the Virginia Press Association.
Since then he has run more than 200 political campaigns for candidates or ballot issues while continuing to write statistical analysis for sports and developing a database of thousands of basketball players at www.valueaddbasketball.com and writing for www.crackedsidewalks.com. He met with and advised several NBA teams to advice on the future performance of potential draft picks this year. His work for the Alabama Farmers Federation in 2010 included helping to coordinating door-to-door efforts that reached the homes of 170,000 voters, and his more recent statistical work was featured by CNN/Sports Illustrated.
ESPN NBA reporter Chris Broussard (pictured) questioned Jason Collins's assessment that he is a Christian in addition to being the first openly male gay athlete in any of the major US sports. Openly gay correspondent LZ Granderson responded by making the case for gay marriage without addressing the question Broussard was answering. While the White House and former President Bill Clinton lauded Collins’s “courage” in making his announcement, it may have taken more courage to make Broussard’s comments.
29 Apr 2013
With Derrick Rose still not mentally prepared to play basketball despite receiving medical clearance March 9, the Bulls could not stop his counterpart Deron Williams from pulling the Nets to within a game of the Chicago and forcing a game six in the best-of-seven, first-round Eastern Conference series.
29 Apr 2013
The only usher Michael Jordan saw during the NBA playoffs this weekend was Usher himself, who sang at Jordan's wedding to former model Yvette Prieto. Spike Lee also did not have to scout out LeBron James for a possible Eastern Conference championship series, as he joined Patrick Ewing, Tiger Woods and 300 other guests in Juniper FL.
28 Apr 2013
Jared Cowan is only 22 years old, and Erik Condra (center photo) has played more college games for Notre Dame than he has played in the NHL, but both came up big and Chris Neil had a great fight with the Bruins Milan Lucic to set the tone in a 4-2 win that finalized the NHL playoffs (see table below).
28 Apr 2013
Brandon Jennings predicted his Milwaukee Bucks would stun the Heat in six games, but the Heat did not even need All-Star Dwyane Wade to complete a sweep. Wade sat by his old college basketball court to rest his injured knee, and watched his buddy LeBron James score 30 points in a business-as-usual 88-77 win.
28 Apr 2013
COLUMBUS, OH - Blue Jackets fans crowded the streets leading into Nationwide Arena (see photo), and maintained a frenzy as they nervous watched the ice and the scoreboard to see if they would make the playoffs Tuesday. The Jackets entered final action Saturday one point behind the Red Wings (54-53) and three regulation wins behind the Wild (21-18) in the tie-breaker (see table below) with only two playoff spots available - and they made their fans wait more than two-and-a-half periods before scoring to rally for a 3-1 win.
27 Apr 2013
The Rangers line of Derek Stepan, Ryan Callahan, and Carl Hagelin (left to right in photos) came out on fire and were relentless in pressuring the New Jersey Devils from the opening face-off. The combined to score two first period goals and never let up, winning to guaranty they will finish at least in seventh place and thus avoid an opening round playoff against the Conference leading Pittsburgh Penguins.
27 Apr 2013
Forty years, ago the Rangers tried to keep the Islanders from joining the NHL. Thirty years ago the Islanders won their fourth straight Stanley Cup. Twenty years ago, the Islanders won their last playoff series. Saturday, the Rangers likely forced the Islanders to open the playoffs in Pittsburgh this week, where they will face an uphill battle in trying to give the fans at Nassau Coliseum at least one more great memory as they prepare to move to Brooklyn in 2015.
27 Apr 2013
The Celtics played in Boston for the first time since the marathon bombings, giving fans a chance to cheer first responders. However, the Knicks left them little to cheer once the game started. Carmelo Anthony helped make the case that the Knicks are the only team that can challenge the Heat this year as the Knicks stripped the ball from the Celtics repeatedly in a blowout win Friday that gives them a chance to sweep the Celtics Sunday (1 p.m. tip) right before the Heat tries to complete a sweep in Milwaukee, both on ABC.
26 Apr 2013
On Thursday, LeBron James said “it sucks” to be voted only the second best defensive player in the NBA, but had only five defensive rebounds, and not a single steal or blocked shot. Dwyane Wade went 1 for 12 on his old home court in Milwaukee where he was an All-American for Marquette. The scary thing is the rest of the Heat can win without the dynamic duo dominating, as they beat the Bucks 104-91 to claim the first 3-0 lead in an NBA playoff series.
26 Apr 2013