The Mourning After Page 44 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Si Woo Kim goes full 'Tin Cup' after breaking his putter
If you break your bat in baseball, you get a new bat....

Drink in the Trevor Bauer tears
In some ways, it felt like MLB set up their new “inspection of baseballs” rules specifically for Trevor Bauer. He’s the one who openly bitched about the Houston Astros pitchers and their increased spin rate. He’s the one who demonstrated, in Houston, what foreign substances could do. He’s the one wh...

Jazz and Suns give us a sensational late-night cookie in a season lacking real drama
I’ve used this space to try and quiet any meaning to NBA regular-season games. It’s been especially acute this season, when teams have rarely been at full-strength, and they seem more intent on just being intact for the playoffs, which they know are what counts and are more likely to have at least s...

The U.S. should boycott the Beijing Olympics because it’s the Olympics
No one seriously expects the U.S., or any of its allies, to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing....

Fernando Tatis writhing in pain has ruined everything
This is what happens when you believe in something good:...

Shohei Ohtani’s performance last night was something to marvel
I’ve written about Shohei Ohtani before in this space. About how he almost certainly can’t be all that he teases, and the Angels are losing out on all he can be as a hitter or a pitcher by allowing him to be both. ...

Jalen Suggs turned a ho-hum NCAA Tournament into one for the ages
The NCAA men’s basketball tournament hasn’t really been all that exciting this year. Sure, there have been upsets, and a handful of close games, but particularly in a year without Duke and Kentucky in the field at all, and several other traditional powers in the doldrums, not to mention the whole to...

McDonald lifts Arizona over UConn, will face Stanford in all-PAC-12 Final
Stanford vs. Arizona will be the matchup for the women’s national title, and the Pac-12 will have its first national champion since 1992, when the Cardinal — then, as now, coached by Tara VanDerveer — won its second title....

No, Kevin Durant… you’re still short an actual apology
Y’see Kevin Durant, you don’t seem to get why you’re apologizing. In one sense, I appreciate how nakedly obtuse you are about the whole thing. It beats the PR department-fueled apologies we usually get from someone like you that are treated as the real thing. You’re making it easy for everyone to se...

No one seems to care that Kevin Durant is a homophobe
I made jokes about it yesterday, and that’s really all the effort I was prepared to give it. And yet, another day rolled by after Michael Rapaport (who I assume just walked off the set of another charity MTV softball game as that’s still what he does, right?) revealed the heinous and disgusting mess...

The NFL is poised to be the victory cigar
It was a triumphant day for the NFL, at least the business of the NFL and for its owners. Somehow it always is, even when they’re not playing games. The league announced adding a 17th game officially, even though it doesn’t make sense on any logical level other than owners looking at a pile of money...

With Francisco Lindor and Anthony Rizzo seeking extensions, it's a tale of two owners
Lindor-palooza has apparently begun. News broke last night that the Mets have offered Francisco Lindor a 10-year, $325 million extension to his deal that ends after the season. Lindor is apparently after a 12-year, $385 million deal. As always, both sides are making noise about negotiations being cu...

A modest proposal for the NFL’s 17th game
It was the worst-kept secret, and the NFL owners have been pushing for this for years. But this week the NFL will make the 17th game official. The players hate it (see Alvin Kamara), but some are kind of shocked that they agreed to this in the latest CBA. Communication is not the NFLPA’s strong suit...

Ayanna Pressley wins pastries from Ilhan Omar in Boston-Minnesota hockey bet
Ayanna Pressley is, as we’re led to believe they say where she’s from, wicked smart....

UCLA’s Mick Cronin coming around on what a crappy, exploitative sham the NCAA is
UCLA coach Mick Cronin is peeved about Dashien Nix playing in the G League instead of the Bruins....

Empty protests of Qatar World Cup show players see evil, but can't close FIFA's Pandora's Box
It’s been a week for performative protests in soccer. Last Sunday, Glasgow Celtic and Rangers followed Wilfried Zaha’s lead and tore the facade of the kneeling before the opening whistle protest. It was just three days after one of Rangers’ players was racially abused by an opponent, and it was clea...

The USWNT’s fight for equal pay is still kind of nebulous
Yesterday, Megan Rapinoe and Margaret Purce met with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. Afterward, both Rapinoe and Purce met with the press. As always, Rapinoe was forthright, cutting, insightful, and funny. None of what comes next is to argue against Rapinoe being anything less than a ...

Washington Football Team is the lack of a choice, but maybe that’s a good thing
I don’t think for a second that a majority of Washington fans have told the Football Team that keeping “Washington Football Team” is their preferred choice. That’s what the team’s president was trying to sell yesterday as the campaign/process of finding a new name continues. Fans are allowed to subm...

Dodgers fans buy billboard outside Fenway to taunt... someone
I wouldn’t sit here and try to argue that Red Sox Nation is undeserving of being kicked while they’re down. They’ve had it their way for a very long time, though they would say they didn’t have it their way for a much longer period of time. And obviously, there isn’t anyone they didn’t annoy even ju...

With LeBron and LaMelo out, it was a bad weekend for stars in the NBA
If the NBA is purely for TV ratings these days, and it kind of has to be thanks to very limited or no crowds, then Adam Silver probably poured himself a stiff drink on Sunday night....