Dave Sheinin

☀️ The Sunday Long Read: Fireworks, Political Violence, Fancy Watches The week's best journalism. Every Sunday.

Don't miss our first newsletter of 2026, featuring @stephenrodrick.bsky.social, @briangroh.bsky.social, @davesheinin.bsky.social & more! mailchi.mp/sundaylongre...

Analysis | Is anything real anymore? In 2025, even sports fans started to doubt. The integrity of games might be sports’ most precious commodity. This year’s gambling scandals have fans questioning it — a trend some view as an existential threat.

2025 may be remembered as the year a reckoning began over the unholy marriage of sports and legalized gambling.

The 10 best sports theme songs of all time — and what makes them great Our list of the greatest sports theme music includes John Tesh’s iconic “Roundball Rock,” several dark riffs on football and a whole lot of nostalgia.

If you want to improve your life, spend some time with this absolutely terrific piece by @davesheinin.bsky.social who gets behind the damn piano to show us how iconic sports theme music works

wapo.st/480klhN

The 10 best sports theme songs of all time — and what makes them great Our list of the greatest sports theme music includes John Tesh’s iconic “Roundball Rock,” several dark riffs on football and a whole lot of nostalgia.

Words couldn’t fully convey the awesomeness of these 10 epic sports themes, so I tried doing it at a piano

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

Ep 10: Al Powell & Jim Place— “Win Little Battles—Tackling Racism & Social Justice Through Football” YouTube video by Truth In The Arena

“You’re seeing genuine, authentic trust & that’s the first step. That’s all we want to achieve, the first step.”

🎙️ Following the WAPO article from @davesheinin.bsky.social, I spoke w/ Ohio HOF 🏈 coaches Al Powell & Jim Place about their Social Justice 7v7 Tourney ⤵️

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMjU...

In football-mad Ohio, a camp focused on social justice is still going strong For the fifth straight year, football teams came together for discussions about social justice, unity and acceptance. The event has continued despite the end of diversity-related initiatives across th...

For the fifth straight year, high school football teams in Ohio came together for discussions about social justice, unity and acceptance. The event has continued despite the end of diversity-related initiatives across the state and the country.

‘Kill yourself’: Toxic mix of betting, social media fuels athlete abuse As live-betting and “prop bets” explode, athletes say they face more threats from fans than ever.

In recent months the problem of online threats and harassment of athletes by gamblers appears to have become more widespread, more specific and more sinister.

Read more from @davesheinin.bsky.social, @andrewgolden.bsky.social and a host of @postsports.bsky.social reporters here:

The NBA is facing an analytics-fueled crisis. MLB can relate. Critics say the steep rise in three-pointers has made the NBA less entertaining, mirroring MLB’s recent fan revolt. Neither sport has an easy fix.

Last night, the Celtics tied an NBA record with 63 3PAs. In the first quarter, 22 (!) of their 24 FGAs were 3's. Is this the product the NBA wants? Is it what the fans want? We explored this issue and more in our project, Beautyball

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

The NBA is facing an analytics-fueled crisis. MLB can relate. Critics say the steep rise in three-pointers has made the NBA less entertaining, mirroring MLB’s recent fan revolt. Neither sport has an easy fix.

What a terrific piece by @davesheinin.bsky.social on the impact of analytics on the NBA, and MLB, and how the leagues are trying to keep the games interesting. No paywall here: wapo.st/4hcN5FJ

Read this series. It turns out you can break sports like a boardgame. The problem of analytics is the homogenization of play, from MLB's three true outcomes to the NBA's 3-point assault. Optimization makes everyone the same. If there's only one "winning" strategy, what's the point of watching?

Part 3 of “Beautyball” explores whether the NFL could someday face the same crisis of deteriorating aesthetics that has plagued MLB and the NBA

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

The NBA is facing an analytics-fueled crisis. MLB can relate. Critics say the steep rise in three-pointers has made the NBA less entertaining, mirroring MLB’s recent fan revolt. Neither sport has an easy fix.

Part 2 of our project, "Beautyball," has as its protagonist Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who wonders, like many, whether today's NBA is in the same place MLB was several years ago: optimized to the point where the league needs to take steps to fix its aesthetics www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...

Analytics transformed sports. Has it also made them less entertaining? The “Moneyball” era changed how teams play, coach and are built. But the quest for efficiency is increasingly being blamed for robbing sports of their beauty.

What happens when analytics and optimization effectively "solve" a sport, and how can leagues push back to fix their aesthetics? MLB already knows. The NBA is finding out. The NFL and NHL? Stay tuned. Here is part one of our three-part series, "Beautyball":

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