Jameson's Sport Writing Portfolio

Manchester United was once the best football club in England and for the most part, the world. It's the club that produced huge stars such as David Beckham, George Best, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, and dozens of other names. A lot of United's success was built around their world-class manager: Alex Ferguson. A manager that was so successful, he was even knighted by Queen Elizabeth. Ferguson produced some of the best teams in the world, including the 1999 team that won the English Premier League, the FA Cup, and the Champions League, the last English team to win a treble that included a continental tournament win. From 1986 to 2013, Ferguson's teams won a total of 38 trophies. But in 2012, the cross-town rivals Manchester City won their first Premier League trophy, signaling the beginning of the end of Man United's dominance over England and Europe. United's demise has led to the rise of multiple other clubs in England. But what exactly happened a...

Well, friends, we are only a day away from NFL kickoff Sunday. We've already gotten to witness the first opening game on Thursday night with that Packers-Bears snoozefest. Sunday should offer some much more compelling games. Now, though, all eyes are going to be on the New England Patriots (once again) after they picked up Antonio Brown off waivers following his release from the Oakland Raiders. Yet again, the Patriots went out and nabbed a disgraced yet insanely talented wideout for Tom Brady to target. It's a tale thats beginning to become lore in the NFL: if the first team doesn't want you, New England certainly will. AB's addition is another example of the Patriots' front office wisely waiting for the drama to die down so they can secure a Top-5 talent without having to overpay the player. AB will be signed to a one-year contract, so he is not guaranteed to be a stud under Bill Belichek's guidance and playcalling. But he is Antonio Brown, the same receiv...

With the new season of European club football upon us, I thought it would be good to discuss some of the summer's biggest transfers. Many big names in the game are prepping for next season with their new clubs. Some of the transfers were predictable, others totally out of the blue, but I can guarantee you the excitement for the newest season is real. In this post, I'll break down some of the most surprising and entertaining transfer sagas this summer. Let's dive in: 1) Juventus: De Ligt, Ramsey, and Rabiot Juventus had probably the best transfer period of all the clubs in Europe, as they operated in efficient and clinical fashion to secure the signatures of Welsh CM Aaron Ramsey from Arsenal (free transfer), French CM Adrien Rabiot from PSG (free transfer), and Dutch CB Matthijs De Ligt from Ajax ($95 million). Juventus signed six new players, but these three stand out because of the way they were nabbed by the Italian superclub. First came Aaron Ramsey in January, ...

I've played lacrosse my whole life. I was introduced to the sport when I was six years old, and what turned into casual catches and throws with my dad in the backyard turned into a deep love for the game. To this day, I still love watching college lacrosse. The best Division 1 players are any young lacrosse player's idol. They are arguably the most skilled players in their sport, but sadly, college lacrosse is about the peak of any player's lacrosse career. I wondered when lacrosse would finally get its chance to be one of the big professional sports in the US. I think I can confidently say that with the new Premier Lacrosse League starting up this summer, professional lacrosse might finally be on the rise in popularity, media coverage, and (the best part in my opinion) actually competitive lacrosse. For those who do not follow professional lacrosse (and I don't know many people who do, myself included), there have been multiple attempts to establish a legitimate ...

On July 18, Ajax FC center-back Matthijs De Ligt chose to sign with the reigning Serie A champions Juventus for a deal worth $95.5 million. The 19-year old Dutch defender was arguably the most coveted prospect in all of European club football. After having a breakout campaign at Ajax in which he became the youngest captain of the club at age 19, secured a domestic double with wins in the Dutch Ervidersie and Dutch Cup, beat Real Madrid and Juventus in the Champions League knockout rounds, and made it all the way to UCL semi-finals before falling to Tottenham. De Ligt’s skill on the ball and in set pieces is only matched by his countryman, Virgil Van Djik of Liverpool, the favorite for this year's Ballon D’or. After the speculation that De Ligt would follow his Ajax teammate and fellow young Dutch prospect, Frenkie De Jong , to Barcelona and after rumors that De Ligt would be the cornerstone of Manchester United’s rebuild, he chose the Italian giants. Out of all the clubs t...

A lot has happened since the first blog about all the free agency and trades in the NHL. There have been a bunch of roster shake-ups, as seasoned veterans are now finding themselves in different colors, in different cities, and with different teams. Let's dive in: 1) Perry; Pavelski Sign Deals with Stars The Dallas Stars added some goal-scoring when they inked former Anaheim Ducks winger Corey Perry to a one-year contract and former San Jose Sharks center Joe Pavelski to a three-year deal. With a roster that now includes scoring threats such as Tyler Seguin, Jaime Benn, Miro Heiskenan, Alexander Radulov, John Klingberg, and breakout rookie Roope Hintz, Dallas is gearing for another deep playoff run while Seguin and Benn are still in their primes and while goalie Ben Bishop is still in good form. Some might say the Stars are taking a bit of a risk, signing two aging former elite talents. Dallas has a reputation for buying names to win now rather than develop talent. They curren...

Imagine you are Kevin Durant, arguably the second-best player in basketball at this very moment. You're in the last year of your contract with the Golden State Warriors, the team that has been to four straight NBA Finals, three of which you have a been a major focal point in, and a two-time Finals MVP winner. Now, though, you've ruptured your Achilles, your team is currently losing to Kawhi Leonard's Toronto Raptors, and the team that is equipped with two, perhaps even three, legitimate All-Star players in Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. Throughout your whole Warriors career, you have been mocked, triggered, and poked at for joining them because it seemed like the easy way out. Now you're probably going to be out for the rest of next season; the Warriors don't seem intent on signing you to a max deal; and it looks like the Golden State Dynasty is ending. Would you have left for Brooklyn? Now picture Kyrie Irving, the Boston Celtic point guard ...

On Sunday, US and Netherlands Women's National Teams graced the pitch at Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon, France, for the final match of the Women's World Cup. The US was hoping to win back-to-back World Cups for the first time in their history, while the Netherlands was looking to end the US Women's Team's dominance over international soccer. The game, however, turned out exactly the way the US team hoped for: domination in possession, plenty of shots on goal, and of course, outstanding play from some the team's mega-stars. The US Women's Team are champions of the world once again; now it is time they get the respect they deserve. The final match played out well. The US commanded the game with 54% possession against the Netherlands' 46%. The real action came in the second half, after the US was awarded a penalty by VAR. Megan Rapinoe opened the scoring at the 61st minute, followed by Rose Lavelle's goal at the 69th minute. The Netherlands only had f...

Image from  https://www.nhl.com/rangers Well, here we are... after almost a full season of speculation on where the NHL's Breadman would end up, he ended up right in my home state. I AM SO HAPPY!!!!! This is one of the best free agent signings the Rangers have done and for the first time in a long time, I can confidently say the GMs and front office are doing a great job at rebuilding the Rangers. LW  Artemi Panarin signed a seven-year, $81.5 million contract with the New York Rangers!  Let's put this into perspective: after the dismal 2016-17 season, the Rangers start offloading money to open up the cap space for better free agents. I was kind of critical about the Derek Stepan trade that gave the Rangers the #6 pick in that year's draft. It didn't seem smart to get rid of one of our best players at the time. Then came next season, when the fire sale started. When the Rangers sold big by offloading Rick Nash, JT Miller, Ryan McDonagh, Michael Grabner, a...

It may only be July, but hockey season is only three months away. First puck drop is October 2nd, but the drama has already begun as the summer progresses. The Draft and Award Show were some of the biggest highlights; now as free agency starts, the league is going to be way different. Many of the current rosters won't be together as the trade wars and free agency bids begin. So let's take a look around the league at some of the biggest stories. 1) Hughes and Kakko go #1 and #2 It shouldn't be a surprise that Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko got picked first and second overall in the Draft. They had been hyped up for months going into the Draft and they are easily the best players in the prospect pool. The Devils and Rangers struck gold with their new forwards, especially when they are two teams in need of an extreme offensive upgrade. Hughes will give the Devils a legitimate two-line center arsenal. He and Nico Hischier will provide excellent playmaking and scoring in th...

I don't watch a ton of MLB or any baseball for that matter. I keep up with the Yankees just because I'm from New York and my family has rooted for the Pinstripes since before I can remember. I've been lucky enough to be alive for most of the Yankees World Series wins in the 1990s and the 2000s (mostly the 2000s because I was a baby in the late 90s lol). Now the new generation of Yankees has come with talents like  Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, DJ Lamehieu, Arolids Chapman, and Masahiro Tanaka.   This season has been an interesting one for the Yanks: the roster has plagued by injuries to the big players like Stanton and Judge, but the guys who sub in are playing just as well and crushing home runs like it's mundane. The Yankees are good for first place in the AL East, and I'm hopeful they win another World Series title soon. Baseball is a weird position in America right now. It has lost some of its appeal to the public for a multitude of reasons. One is the ris...

This summer is rife with transfer rumors as soccer fans everywhere pay close attention to blogs, articles, and the news to hear about major signings for big clubs. There is a lot of fixation right now about which major superstars will be next season. We have already seen huge spending on Real Madrid's part for Eden Hazard of Chelsea, Luka Jovic of Frankfurt, Ferland Mendy of Lyon, and Rodrygo of Santos.  While the Spanish superclubs (Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid) and the English Top 6 (Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool) look to get strong in hope of contending for domestic trophies and continental glory, there seems to be more rumors going around about players making switches from other leagues. One of the biggest names that nobody is talking about anymore in Mauro Icardi of Inter Milan. The Argentine striker was once a highly-pursued player, but now he is undesirable by all clubs, including his current one. What happened?...