By Sports Capital Journalism Program Staff | @SportsCapJour

The Kansas City Star’s Rustin Dodd on how the Royals’ Whit Merrifield is fulfilling the family dream.

Gridiron Now’s Rachel Baribeau opens up about herself being abused and why college football’s disjointed culture is breaking her heart.

Boxer, activist and humanitarian icon Muhammad Ali died Friday at 74.  Memories of him poured in. Here are 10 of the best, in no particular order:

• NJ.com’s Jerry Izenberg on his friendship with Ali.
• Former Chicago Tribune sports writer Fred Mitchell on his day with Ali in Michigan.
• The Boston Herald’s Ron Borges tells the revealing story of Ali in the kitchen.
• Marc J. Spears writes at The Undefeated about his two hours with Ali in 1999.
• Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole on what made Ali a hero to so many.
• David Kindred, in a special to FOX Sports, attempts to explain the famous and infamous Ali.
• ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap put together a video obit of Ali.
• ESPN’s Tommy Tomlinson writes about how he and his dad learned to love Ali.
• Keith Olbermann, at The Ringer, details his four encounters with the Greatest of All Time.
• Philly.com’s Dick Jerardi on spending time with Ali at Deer Lake.

Kevin Sherrington, of the Dallas Morning News, on how interim coach Jim Grobe said in five minutes what former Baylor athletic employees failed to say.

Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan on a Kansas high schooler’s 157-pitch outing and everything that’s wrong with amateur baseball.

Rembert Browne, of New York Magazine, has an insightful Q&A with ESPN’s Doris Burke.

Excelle Sports’ Gabriella Levine details Holly Rowe’s workload covering women’s basketball since returning to ESPN.

SI’s Michael Rosenberg on how Kyrie Irving re-invented himself.

Before Chris Borland, there was Jacob Bell, an offensive lineman who retired in 2012 because of head trauma fears. Story by The MMQB’s Emily Kaplan.

John Branch, of The New York Times, writes about how ex-NHL enforcer Stephen Peat is now a threat to himself.

FiveThirtyEight’s Benjamin Morris examines why predicting an NBA playoff series isn’t like predicting a game.

The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis profiles Fox announcer Joe Buck.

With a social media-savvy commissioner and a growing number of owners from the tech world, the NBA is looking to become the world’s biggest sports league. Story by Wired’s Mark McClusky.

The New Yorker’s Reeves Wiedeman dives into how 19-year-old American gymnast Simone Biles is transforming gymnastics

Dirk Chatelain, of the Omaha World-Herald, provides an in-depth look at how one of Nebraska’s best high school soccer players deals with selective mutism.