seanebeckwith Page 45 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

NBA Power Tankings: Who's No. 1 (No. 30)?
Oh goodie, misery. The last portion of the NBA season kicked off Thursday, and that means Cancun is in sight for at least 10 franchises. With their seasons already in the blender, they might as well add ice, Cointreau, Casamigos, agave, and an FT of lime juice before kicking back in the training poo...

Washington D.C.’s most famous athlete is notably silent on Putin invading Ukraine
As far as approval ratings go, Alexander Ovechkin’s standing among Washington, D.C., natives is as high as it gets. He’s arguably the greatest professional athlete to call the District of Columbia home. He’s been there for 17 seasons. He’s a 12-time all-star. He led the Capitals to a Stanley Cup tit...

PGA commissioner cites complacent business plan as proof it isn’t complacent
Denying complacency is a telltale sign of complacency. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan did just that when he said the tour has “zero complacency” while addressing the rival Saudi golf league with the urgency of someone conducting business on the turn. ...

Champions League Final likely to be moved out of Russia over Ukraine conflict
Not less than a week after the Russia Olympic Committee won 32 medals — second most overall but somehow ninth in the standings because of questionable Russia shit — Vladimir Putin appears to be preparing to invade the Ukraine. Now, the sporting world seems to be paying attention to the crisis in rea...

Lefty’s wrong turn lands him in the long stuff
Phil Mickelson was served a delightful slice of shit sandwich Tuesday as he and one of his longtime sponsors KPMG parted ways. You’d have to assume it was over the golfer’s comments on his willingness to do deals with the Saudis for the betterment of golf, but you also can’t rule out Mickelson’s “co...

Tom Izzo needs a stiff handshake and an even stiffer drink
Perhaps Tom Izzo was testing the mettle of his players Tuesday when he called getting rid of the postgame handshake line “the biggest farce… of anything I’ve ever heard of” right before getting drubbed by Iowa. If the sound of his voice doesn’t give away his gruff stance, anyone who’s followed colle...

Let’s see All-Stars, Pro Bowlers mess around with generational wealth on the line
The reason why I’m against an NBA midseason tournament is the same reason why All-Star weekend events and Pro Bowls don’t work: incentive. Rings are the only unit of bragging rights that matters. It’s why people laugh when Carmelo Anthony talks about all of his Olympic gold medals. There’s no reason...

With the MLB trying so little to end the lockout, here are other things they could try less at, too
I’ve seen disgruntled NBA superstars dogging it because they want to be traded, try harder than the MLB has tried to end this lockout. All parties bear some of the onus over these extended, aggravating negotiations, but when given the choice between ripping the proverbial Man, or ripping the people ...

Not all Olympians are apoplectic over the Beijing Games
I tried. I tried to focus on the competitions and athletes at the Olympics instead of wallowing in the politics, conditions, and COVID of it all. No longer. I can’t take it anymore. The men’s skiing halfpipe final was more scary to watch than it was fun because gale-force winds (probably an exaggera...

Mikaela Shiffrin’s response to failure is more important than failing
When I’m left sifting through the rubble, struggling to find any remnant of hope in the disaster that has befallen me, I try to remember advice my father never stops giving me: “You can’t control the things that happen to you, but you can control how you react to them.”...

Please, please, please let us see Giannis vs. Embiid in the playoffs
Giannis Antetokounmpo has been playing at an MVP level for so long the media stopped giving him the award. It’s a level that very few players have reached. Depending on their side of the argument, people lament that Michael Jordan and/or LeBron James should have considerably more MVP trophies becaus...

Frisky NFL teams that could get friskier with the right QB
Watching the Rams walk a tightrope without a net this season was exhilarating. They traded two first round picks for Matthew Stafford, and people who hated the deal were a Tom Brady comeback away from laughing at Stan Kroenke and Los Angeles for being so frivolous with their assets. (I would’ve been...

The path to an NBA championship is increasingly volatile
Neil Young gets credit for the line, “It’s better to burn out than to fade away,” but Kurt Cobain made it infamous. That dichotomy stuck with me, and it’s impossible not to see it in sports....

Super Bowl Ads Roundup: More cameo than commercial
It feels like tweens put more effort into their TikToks than ad agencies put man hours into Super Bowl ads. Feature a celebrity endorsement — or six — into a commercial and we’re good, right? Don Draper called Peggy Olsen lazy for pitching a Joe Namath cameo in the ’60s, and here we are, 60 years la...

Longtime Team USA snowboard coach under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct
You can add “Sexual misconduct allegations against a U.S. coach” to the list of off-the-slopes issues overshadowing the on-snow and -ice accomplishments at the Winter Olympics. In a series of Instagram posts Friday, former U.S. snowboard cross athlete Callan Chythlook-Sifsof alleged current U.S. sno...

Aaron Rodgers wins another MVP… wake me up when it’s another Super Bowl
By most metrics, Aaron Rodgers is a better quarterback and person than Brett Favre. He throws considerably less (Stannis Baratheon: fewer) interceptions, completes a higher percentage of passes, has a better win percentage, hasn’t been a creep, and didn’t bilk a charity out of money for an appearanc...

Kevin Durant makes James Harden the last pick on the playground... and it's awesome
I don’t know whose idea it was to hold the NBA All-Star Draft the same day as the trade deadline, but they deserve a massive raise....

Kristaps Porziņģis, in search of a version of himself that doesn’t exist, traded to Wizards
This post could take longer than it has to because Kristaps Porziņģis once averaged 22 points for the Knicks. It won’t, though, because that player is no more. What’s left is a shell of a unicorn in search of a situation that will allow him to at least chuck as much as his former self....

James Wiseman deserves to be more than Kevon Looney with an upside
There’s still time for James Wiseman to turn into the player the Warriors thought he would be. This is his second season, he’s only 20 years old, and a meniscus tear isn’t microfracture surgery. He participated in contact drills Tuesday for the first time since the tear last season, according to ESP...

Mikaela Shiffrin doesn’t have to look too far for a tale of redemption
When Mikaela Shiffrin skied out of her second event at the Winter Olympics on Tuesday night, it was shocking. She’s been the face of U.S. Olympic coverage, including my coverage, and not only did she fail to medal in her first two races, she failed to even finish a run. ...