samfels27 Page 56 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Whither Sammy Sosa?
It’s biased because of where I grew up, and certainly wasn’t the biggest oversight in the continuous and mud-tasting Hall of Fame debate. But much like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have now fallen off the ballot, so has Sammy Sosa. And yet no one seems to care....

So where are we with Christian Pulisic?
It may feel like the USMNT’s qualification process has been going on for about 32 years. Which is what happens when you cock-up the last one and everyone has to wait eight years between World Cup appearances (hopefully). Still, it’s important to stress that the U.S., if it can manage two wins in the...

Who are the Columbus Blue Jackets?
It was a slow night as far as news goes. So as I was kicking around various sites and headlines, I noticed the Calgary Flames put up a touchdown on the Columbus Blue Jackets, a 6-0 blanking. And then looking under the hood, I saw that the Jackets surrendered 62 shots. 62....

FIFA president claims biannual World Cup will solve immigration, poverty, and maybe mortality?
Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, is still campaigning for his biannual World Cup, a mythic destiny/personal quest to bathe the organization’s execs in even more cash, gold, and swag bags. However, you can’t campaign for this ridiculousness on the platform that it will make the rich even rich...

And this is how you want to decide what players are paid?
Wherever you land on the Hall of Fame debate — be it a certain player or the whole process or anything in between — or wherever you are on the CBA negotiations, yesterday was simply a hilarious day for how people want players rewarded for what they do on the field, be it money or esteem....

The USMNT heading to the arctic seems just a touch chicken
It’s been beaten into the ground and then shot repeatedly, but it’s hard to stress enough how different and weird this World Cup qualifying schedule is. Just the three-game windows, spread over just seven days, make for nearly impossible logistics. ...

An older, more economical Rafa Nadal can still fight
Because he’s five years the junior of Roger Federer, it’s been interesting to watch Rafa Nadal’s career kind of trail in Federer’s wake and how much it follows this same path. At 35, much like Federer did at age 35, Nadal entered this Australian Open off a huge injury layoff, as he didn’t play after...

Hockey was never going to eradicate its racism problem instantly
It would be easy to label it “just another weekend in hockey.” And that’s what it was, as the NHL’s two minor leagues dealt with incidents of blatant and horrific racism....

For one evening, Mohammed Salisu was Gandalf
Usually, when one player dominates a game, bending it to his will, you think of hat tricks and thunder-bastard goals and everything offensive. After all, soccer is judged on who scores and who doesn’t. And that goes for pretty much every sport....

Sunday had the best and worst the NFL has to offer
I doubt there will come a day when we regard the number of successful two-minute drills that a quarterback has authored as something all that special. It won’t ever become like pitcher wins in baseball, something we completely disregard now. The NFL and those who cover it will always pump it up to u...

I don’t care if it’s loser talk
Generally as a fandom, when all you have is to delight in the follies of your rival, it means you have nothing of your own. The actual act is an admission of defeat, a lesser position. You’ve been beaten, humiliated, rendered to the sidelines, and all you can do is just watch and hope that the team(...

What to make of Nick Kyrgios?
You wouldn’t have noticed two nights ago, or two mornings ago, as it tends to be with the Australian Open. Daniil Medvedev, currently the favorite to win the whole tournament, beat Nick Kyrgios in four sets. Kyrgios didn’t make it that easy on him, and won the third set while hitting some amazing sh...

C’mon AEW, give us an intergender match
There’s a picture of Kris Statlander and Adam Cole from last week’s Dynamite that’s been the basis for a lot of chatter on Twitter lately. It’s led to a lot of fans calling for something simple, something totally possible, and yet something not ever considered by the company itself:...

So what is the Olympic spirit, anyway?
We’ve all known that these upcoming Olympic games were a bad idea, and that’s putting it insultingly lightly. When they were first announced, even if you could get past the tiny little morsel of the egregious human rights abuses of the Chinese government (and you shouldn’t), there’s the whole thing ...

WWE veered a little close to Nazism last night
Bemoaning the impact of Vince McMahon and Bruce Pritchard on NXT has been done in many places, including this one. For some, it is truly sad to see what was once a unique and massively enjoyable product become yet another base for the boring, uncreative, and rote choices McMahon and Pritchard make w...

So this Romelu Lukaku thing is a problem, just not in the way we thought
Back in August, I wrote this. And it sure seemed that way, as Chelsea utterly destroyed Arsenal, spearheaded by Romelu Lukaku. These were the defending European champions, who had just added the best striker from Italy in Lukaku the previous season, and he seemed like the final piece for Chelsea to ...

I won't get fooled again!
Before this NHL season started, I made myself a promise. Under no circumstances would I be suckered by the Carolina Hurricanes again. It would be the first time in a while I wasn’t lured in, seduced by the treats I thought I would find within the Canes’ bandwagon, only to be thrown into a boiling ca...

Here are the Penguins again, hanging around, hanging around, can’t get rid of them…
In a world where the Patriots didn’t exist (and what a world that would be), perhaps the gold (and black) standard for bucking against the tides, refusing to be victims of a salary cap and system specifically designed to prevent sustained success, and just general obstinance would be the Pittsburgh ...

So about those expanded playoffs…
The NFL got its first Monday night playoff game. It’s got its first expanded playoffs in a non…well, less COVID season (barely). And it was all something of a bust. One good game, five ass-kickings, some wondering what all the fuss was about....

For Kyler Murray, the questions will keep coming
I’m sure Kyler Murray will look forward to another year of questions about whether or not he has a big win within him. Last season, the Cardinals only needed to win one of their last two to make the playoffs. Murray put up a 66 rating in Week 16 against the Niners, and then was hurt for the season f...