Guy Spurrier

Toronto

Features Editor at TheScore

Features editor at @theScore. Data viz enthusiast 📈📉📊

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Articles

Paths differ, but Oilers, Jets having fortitude tested

2 weeks ago | thescore.com | Guy Spurrier

Rarely has a playoff hockey team been as hard to figure out as this year's edition of the Edmonton Oilers. Through four games, the Los Angeles Kings have outscored them in the first and second periods to the tune of 14-6. Bad!But the Oilers have also won the cumulative third periods 11-5. Great! (And they have the only goal scored in overtime.)Should Edmonton be lauded for showing the resilience to keep roaring back in games in which it's being comprehensively beaten?
Quick closeout would help Leafs slay playoff demons

2 weeks ago | thescore.com | Guy Spurrier

Of course it was never going to be that easy. The Toronto Maple Leafs don't do series sweeps. They don't even do almost-sweeps. While grinding through long series has been a hallmark of the Core Four era, with all of them going to a disappointing final game other than the blip of 2023, the trend goes back much further. The last time the Leafs won a seven-game series in fewer than six games was in 1999, when they beat the Buffalo Sabres in five games in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Ovechkin's goal-scoring record by the numbers

1 month ago | thescore.com | Guy Spurrier

Alex Ovechkin became the most prolific goal-scorer in NHL history Sunday, breaking the career record he had shared with Wayne Gretzky. To put the scope of Ovechkin's accomplishments in context, we have a series of infographics that mark his place in history in a number of categories.
NFL kickers' futility hit a new low last week

Dec 3, 2024 | thescore.com | Guy Spurrier

Before we close the books on Week 13, let's take a moment to lament the collective woe of the NFL's placekickers, who did something unprecedented this century. In no other week have kickers missed as many field goals as they did in Week 13. Dustin Hopkins' first-quarter misfire for the Cleveland Browns on Monday night was the 24th miss. The previous low-water mark was back in Week 12 of 2001 when NFL kickers missed 23.
The very expensive problem of QB contracts

Nov 8, 2024 | thescore.com | Guy Spurrier

Imagine if three of the highest annual salaries in the NBA went to Cam Thomas, LaMelo Ball, and Trae Young. They're fine players who can fill a stat sheet, sure, but they're not on anyone's list of best players in the league. It would be odd if they carried the biggest tickets, yes? But that kind of incongruity is normal business in the NFL. Three of the four highest-paid players in the league by annual salary are Dak Prescott, Trevor Lawrence, and Jordan Love. No. 5 is Tua Tagovailoa.
They don't make the truly quirky pitchers like they used to

Oct 26, 2024 | thescore.com | Guy Spurrier

Baseball's basic rules haven't changed in a century, but every generation has its own cast of characters. In the 1970s and '80s, baseball produced a certain kind of pitcher who could capture the imagination of young and old. The game wasn't as ubiquitous as it is now, with every game on TV regionally and national games multiple times a week. You caught glimpses of those pitchers on highlights, Mel Allen's "This Week in Baseball," or NBC's Saturday afternoon game of the week.
Oilers replay last season's script, including dismal opening act

Oct 17, 2024 | thescore.com | Guy Spurrier

The Oilers posed an interesting existential question after one period of play in Edmonton on Tuesday night: Is it possible to have a Stanley Cup hangover without actually winning the Stanley Cup? Edmonton dropped its first three games of this NHL season convincingly, scoring three total goals and allowing 15. Not what you want from a presumed Cup contender.
A solid September from Bichette would answer a lot of questions

Aug 15, 2024 | thescore.com | Guy Spurrier

It's not often that an injury to a baseball player is a good thing. Yet for Bo Bichette, maybe it kinda sorta was? Here's the case, which I'm not entirely serious about: When Bichette went down on July 20, the Toronto Blue Jays shortstop was mired in the longest, deepest funk at the plate in his career. Even in 2022, when an anemic April caused him to lose his All-Star spot and an absolutely scorching September ended up making his full-season numbers look fine, he had some other good months.
Into the gap: Vlad Jr.'s value vs. expectations

Jul 19, 2024 | thescore.com | Guy Spurrier

There are many confounding things about the Toronto Blue Jays' season so far. How did the entire bullpen get hurt? Are the hitters trying to avoid hitting home runs? Why would people spend all that money to sit in the fancy new seats behind home plate and then spend the game looking at their phones? But the biggest puzzle might be the Vlad Paradox. He's an elite hitter, but he's also kind of a disappointment.
Tiger's decline is hard to watch, but he's found that spark of old before

Jul 17, 2024 | thescore.com | Guy Spurrier

Tiger Woods had barely turned professional when he first took umbrage at something Colin Montgomerie said. As a 21-year-old playing in his first Masters as a pro in 1997, Woods was paired with the 34-year-old for the third round. Montgomerie was asked about the phenom and noted - not unreasonably - that Woods' inexperience might be a problem on the weekend of a major championship.