Candace Buckner

Just wanted to take a minute, for no particular reason whatsoever, and celebrate some of the brilliant work that my
@postsports.bsky.social colleagues have done in recent weeks.

These stories take time and resources. They're also what make The Post so great. All gift links/free to read...

I wrote about Audi Crooks bc she is special in her craft, & unlike any other star player. What makes her great at hoops & unique among her peers comes from her body.

But in a world still too obsessed w/ judging the shape of a woman’s body, how should fans talk about female athletes & their size?

Thanks so much for reading and sharing, Christopher!

Column | News conferences exist to inform fans. It’s too bad so many don’t get that. The debate over a reporter’s actions after a Jacksonville Jaguars game reveals a troubling misunderstanding.

The conversation and backlash to the conversation re: the Jacksonville Jaguars news conference revealed one thing: Sports journalists have a problem.

Free & open link for all:

wapo.st/4sGqfgt

Column | With no one running the asylum, college hoops has gone full crazy In the latest evidence that no one is in charge, James Nnaji, who was drafted by an NBA team two years ago, is somehow eligible to play at Baylor.

With no one running the asylum, college basketball has gone full crazy.

Column from @candacedbuckner.bsky.social

Tackling is one of football's basic crafts. Few players in NFL history have mastered it like Bobby Wagner. www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...

Column | Advice to Puka Nacua: Hang out with people who have as much to lose as you Evidently wanting more attention than one NFL game per week provides, the Rams’ star receiver appeared on a live stream that got him the wrong kind.

This week Puka Nacua appeared on a live stream — and we could stop right there to break down all the reasons this ranked as an epically dumb decision. Nothing quite makes a crisis manager groan when reading a headline that features the words “pro athletes” & “live streams.”

wapo.st/4q5pbBj

Stripped of his armor of maize and blue, Sherrone Moore looked small. At his arraignment Friday, Moore looked afraid, or maybe he was worried. Without the brim of his block “M” hat framing his face, Moore was exposed yet remained hard to read. He looked only like a criminal defendant.

Column | Could a 44-year-old grandpa start an NFL game Sunday? ‘Heck yeah.’ Philip Rivers, 44, hasn’t played in five years and watched this past Sunday’s games from his couch. That might not stop him from being in the Colts’ huddle.

Like a lot of us last Sunday, Philip Rivers was watching NFL football on his couch.

But unlike the rest of us coach potatoes, Rivers got a surprise call to join the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad.

And nearly five years after his last NFL game, Rivers might start Sunday 🤯

wapo.st/4pBiuqj

Hot takes by the lake: The Shedeur Sanders story Don’t have an opinion on this fifth-round pick of a last-place NFL team? Then you’re seemingly the only one.

Christmas in Cleveland just got more merrier because the quarterback who evokes so much emotion, such weirdness from people, will be the starter for the final four games of the season.

It’s Shedeur SZN!

www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...

Column | Indiana swears by Fernando Mendoza, college football’s purest interview The quarterback led the Hoosiers to their first Big Ten title since 1967, probably clinched the Heisman Trophy — and kept it clean afterward.

Indiana's Fernando Mendoza can present himself as Mr. Nice Guy, he is a bad, bad man. On the Hoosiers and their standout quarterback from @candacedbuckner.bsky.social:

All eyes on 5 today. Expecting word on his game availability from Dan Quinn in a few hours.

Happy college football signing day. Remembering the days when coaches huddled around fax machines to confirm players' commitments:
www.wsj.com/articles/SB1...

Oh the day of fax! This is good, Rachel!

The Wizards waived him after he shoplifted, and now he’s an emerging talent Washington could use players like Ryan Rollins, who is enjoying a breakout season with the Bucks two years after his time in D.C. ended ignominiously.

Talked to Ryan Rollins on Monday and tried to sort through his departure from the Wizards.

Why Washington cut him, how he feels about the team and what's propelled him to make a leap this season in my latest for @postsports.bsky.social 👇🏾.

www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...

Column | This wasn’t a college football problem. This was a Lane Kiffin problem. The messiness around the coach’s exit from Ole Miss to LSU was entirely of his own making.

This is Lane Kiffin here: the legacy hire born in the red zone, the narcissist who quite skillfully can find the “I” in “Team.” More than anything else, he’s Football Coach, unbothered by the body count of jobs on his résumé, and the amount of bridges he’s incinerated along the way.

wapo.st/44JGAXf

Column | The small-town football player who took a run at an NFL star’s record Myles McLaughlin brought the national spotlight to Knox, Indiana, as he approached Derrick Henry’s career rushing mark.

From his small Indiana town, Myles McLaughlin made a memorable run at Derrick Henry’s national high school rushing record.

Read @candacedbuckner.bsky.social’s full column:

Column | The small-town football player who took a run at an NFL star’s record Myles McLaughlin brought the national spotlight to Knox, Indiana, as he approached Derrick Henry’s career rushing mark.

The autumn when Knox, Indiana became one of football’s biggest stories.

Thanks to Myles McLaughlin, a former no-star recruit who chased after history.

wapo.st/48cQz8B

Column | Hey, SEC, maybe it should mean just a bit less Having a passion for football is cool, but it’s probably better to keep it away from your day job.

After another weekend when the civilians of the SEC took this brand slogan (“It Just Means More”) cooked up by an advertising firm way too personally, however, football could stand to mean a wee bit less.

Latest column & 🎁 link for y’all:

wapo.st/4r9pR9A

Column | Josh Harris might have to choose between Trump and an angry fan base The Washington Commanders might now have the toughest assignment in football.

If it’s true that Trump really wants the new Commanders stadium named after him, then owner Josh Harris will have a problem with many, if not most, of his own constituents.

Column from @candacedbuckner.bsky.social

We just finished this up, feel free to read through the answers from @spencernusbaum.bsky.social and me:

Column | If you were ready to fall in love with the NBA again, you lost that bet What felt like a dream opening week to the season got a rude awakening with Thursday’s news of a gambling scandal.

Is it too corny to care about sports? To still feel seduced by sentimentality even as many of today’s fans define joy simply as the moment a parlay pays out? The NBA’s latest gambling scandal would indicate so.

www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...

The biggest question for the Wizards this season is whether the team will keep its 2026 draft pick, which is top-eight-protected.

Washington is racing to the bottom. Who could beat it there?

www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...

Column | Indiana football: A success story even Hoosiers fans are trying to grasp In Bloomington, fans are learning what it means to be a football school, which means paying their coach and staying for the second half.

At Indiana, fans are enjoying their Cig, and staying past halftime.

A Saturday in Bloomington, Ind., where football is, like, a thing now.

wapo.st/3JjNTNY

#Commanders WR Deebo Samuel (heel) has been downgraded to out against the Cowboys tomorrow. Washington will also be without WR Terry McLaurin (quad).

Quinn said McLaurin is "frustrated," but his body just isn't ready.

🤷🏽‍♀️

Complete trust is great when you have blinders on. Just don’t look around and start noticing how long other franchises have needed to rebuild.

Column | LeBron James is selling his credibility, one Decision at a time With an insatiable thirst for attention, the King is devaluing his legacy with every silly social media post and thoughtless advertising campaign.

On Tuesday, the King must have been bored. So he decided to see how much attention he could get by teasing about his future. Then once the crowds had gathered, do what he’s been most eager to do with his platform lately: sell a product.

Some words:

www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...

An L.A. story: Commanders force fumble, and Chargers crumble With Jayden Daniels back under center, Washington takes charge after a second-quarter turnover and rolls past Los Angeles.

Momentum is real. Today, it came on Quan Martin's hit in the 2nd quarter, and felt to the #Commanders defense like "a gasp of air." www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...