ad Page 302 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

World Cup 2022 Preview: Group D — Can Denmark be the midnight bomber what bombs at midnight?
If you ascribe to the theory that this will be a truly goofy World Cup — that the short run-up, the injuries everywhere (not clear the amount of injured is all that abnormal but let’s go with it), the odd setting — and that some team from out of nowhere could make a run, you’re probably sizing up yo...

Tom Brady finally fell off that cliff in Germany, but not the one you’re thinking
In the latest edition of “when trick plays go wrong,” we get Tom Brady falling flat on his ass while running a simple go route. Halfway through the third quarter of Tampa Bay’s game against Seattle in Munich, Germany, Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich decided to run a wildcat-looking p...

Have the Mets learned nothing from Bobby Bonilla?
A few days ago, the New York Mets officially re-signed closer Edwin Díaz to a five-year deal worth $102 million, the largest contract ever for a reliever, by a wide margin. The details of Díaz’s contract are as follows:...

Germany has always wanted American football
When tickets for the NFL’s first game in Germany went on sale in July, the worst seats in the entirety of Allianz Arena were being sold left and right for upwards of $600. Germany has never had a mainstream NFL game in the country before, and although the first matchup would obviously be given a ser...

These are the top 5 Heisman Trophy candidates through Week 10
Week 10 of the College Football season really shook things up. No. 1 Tennessee went down. Alabama and Clemson were all but knocked out of the College Football Playoff. And a few Heisman candidates had some good and not-so-good performances that changed things up in the rankings, including a newcomer...

If the NFL cares deeply about player safety, then why are teams still playing on artificial turf?
In the inherently violent contact sport of football, there’s only so much that can be done to make the game safe. Ensuring the safety of its players should be the No. 1 concern for any football league, especially the NFL. Over the past decade, the league’s favorite slogan has been “player safety.”...

Jacob deGrom and Bruce Bochy are a match made in heaven
The MLB hot stove is not officially underway, but it’s warming up, and arguably the biggest name on the pitching market is two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom. Earlier this week, deGrom officially opted out of his Mets’ contract — a decision most people saw coming — and almost immediately th...

The warm glow of MLB Hot Stove’s warming glow: NL Central
It’s officially the offseason now, as we’ve gotten Scott Boras’s Fozzy Bear-in-the-college-dorm act at the GM Meetings. So let’s keep this record spinning right round and move to the NL Central, which I don’t feel personally about at all....

UNSUNG GENIUS: Dissecting Dusty Baker's bullpen brilliance for his sabermetric critics
Dusty Baker “ought to be part of the conversation around MLB’s best-ever managers,” concluded Neil Paine from FiveThirtyEight after studying the most overachieving managers, and “shouldn’t need a ring to validate his career.” Agreed. Let’s go further....

Tua Tagovailoa is the real deal
Prior to the season, the NFL world was conflicted on Miami Dolphins starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s viability as a franchise quarterback. Even after his six-touchdown performance in Week 2, the world was still divided. Maybe it was just a fluke game. Hell, even I pointed out that bad quarterba...

This awful stretch of Raiders’ 1st-round draft picks is a sign
Yesterday, after failing to find a trade partner, the Las Vegas Raiders cut former first-round safety Johnathan Abram. According to reports, the Raiders were shopping both Abram and fellow 2019 first-round selection Clelin Ferrell, but, after being unable to find trade partners, Vegas opted to cut t...

Here's the USMNT's roster for the 2022 World Cup
Well, it’s official. Here’s the merry band of men that will head to the deserts of Qatar…unless they get hurt this weekend and have to be replaced. But let’s be positive. After eight years, we now have an actual World Cup squad to debate! Get to know them and love them before you curse their name wh...

Dejounte Murray has been better than advertised to start the season
Following last season’s disappointing journey and final destination, the Atlanta Hawks are off to a blazing start to this season. They are 7-3 and not only look like the clear best team in the Southeast division, but also like one of the better squads in the Eastern Conference....

The US Midterm elections explained to NFL fans
U.S. midterm elections are similar to the midpoint of the NFL season in that everyone is under the impression that it’s all rigged when, in fact, it’s merely a complex, shambolic set of systems from state to state that are sometimes overburdened and can fall victim to the occasional human error. The...

The warm glow of MLB Hot Stove’s warming glow: AL Central
We continue our whip around the baseball offseason by looking at the American League’s worst division, which was won by a team that wasn’t even trying to win, the AL Central....

Anyone can play Qatar — World Cup 2022 Group A Preview: Netherlands, Senegal, Ecuador, Qatar
It’s still hard to believe that for a team with the history of The Netherlands — three-time World Cup finalist, Euro ‘88 champion — that their recent history doesn’t even include qualification as an automatic. They missed the last World Cup, and 2016’s Euros. The latter was the first European Champi...

Dwight Howard can’t get an NBA job while other past their prime vets continue to collect paychecks
Former slam dunk champ Dwight Howard, aka Superman, entered the 2022 NBA season on the free agent list. Throughout training camps and three weeks into the season, nobody has come knocking at Howard’s door until now. And you’ll never guess what team is giving Howard a chance to continue his career — ...

The warm glow of MLB’s Hot Stove warming glow — NL West
Everywhere except Houston, it’s time for teams and fans to try and get to where Houston is. Or it will be in January or February instead of November and December, like it used to be. Anyway, we run through what teams might need and what they might do, for most of them these things don’t line up, and...

Week 9 NFL Powerless Ranking: The votes are in and these teams are trash
It’s time to check in on the teams that can’t get out of their own way. We’re officially halfway through the 2022 NFL season, and it’s been unpredictable at times, but there are always a few teams we expect to disappoint their fan bases. Now let’s get into the powerless ranking for Week 9....
