Basketball, game-day food and the rooms where we watch
Courtside reading for game nights
Basketball you can follow from a bar stool, game-day cooking that holds up for a crowd, beer worth the second round and the culture of watching sports together.
For fans who care about the fourth quarter and the food on the table in equal measure.
We are a small crew of writers who have cooked on pub lines, poured beer through playoff runs and charted more games than we can count. Here we write about the things that make a game night good: reading the action on a screen, wings that stay crisp, nachos that survive a long timeout, the right beer for a three-hour broadcast and the rooms where strangers end up high-fiving.
Recipes are cooked before they are written. Basketball pieces are watched, rewound and argued over. New articles land in the Playbook most weeks.
Sheet pan chicken nachos for a full room: the rotisserie shortcut, shredded chicken that stays dry, the best cheese for nachos and a two-pan game plan.
10 minKeep reading
The best cornhole boards for game day: regulation sizes, how far apart to set them, which bags to buy and how to play fair in a tailgate lot.
11 minKeep reading
A beef and bean chili and a vegetarian pot for twelve, how to hold both safely hot for four hours, a toppings bar and the cornbread question.
9 minKeep reading
Smoked chicken wings with crisp skin: how long at 225, 250 or 275°F, which mild woods to use, a simple dry brine and the hot finish for rubbery skin.
9 minKeep reading
How to pick a safe grill brush for your grates, from coil and mesh to steam and hardwood, and what to do about the old wire one on the hook.
11 minKeep reading
A hot start is fun and mostly noise. Here is what to watch in the opening weeks instead: rotations, shot diet, defensive schemes and pace.
8 minKeep reading
The fan's calendarTip-off in October, March brackets, June finals and the long summer of trades: a year of games worth watching together.
Where to watchSightlines, sound, seats and the small clues that tell you a room will actually put your game on the big screen.
GalleryTaps, booths, walls of screens and the basement setups that rival them, in pictures and the notes that go with them.
