aka Page 25 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

What A Depressing Offseason
The caveats are caveats, but they do exist. Mike Moustakas is not a superstar, for reasons that are easy enough to identify. He has mostly been a decent defender at an important position, but his defense was unexpectedly and undeniably poor last year; he is a good hitter with real power, but not an ...

Mike Moustakas Will Return To The Royals For Less Than Half Of The Qualifying Offer Value
With three weeks until opening day, third baseman Mike Moustakas is reportedly finally signing a deal to stay in Kansas City. He’ll do so for just a fraction of what he was originally expected to bring in—a one-year, $5.5 million contract with $2.2 million in potential performance bonuses and a mutu...

U.S. Women's Gymnastics Coordinator Valeri Liukin Suddenly Resigns
In September 2016, Valeri Liukin was appointed to replace Martha Karolyi as the coordinator for the United States women’s gymnastics team. Karolyi served as the team’s coach for 15 years, leaving after the Rio Olympics. She since has been sued by a former gymnast for creating a “regime of intimidati...

Give This Camera Person A Raise
Here’s a fairly mundane play from last night’s game between the Raptors and Suns, which was made spectacular by the quick thinking of the camera operator under the basket....

The World's Greatest Fighter Was A Pro Wrestler Who Couldn't Fight
Often, when wrestling reporters cover mixed martial arts or vice versa, their readers revolt, wondering what the hell the sport and the pseudo-sport actually have to do with each other beyond the occasional crossover athlete like Brock Lesnar, Ken Shamrock, or CM Punk. The reality is that the histor...

Teresa Kaepernick On Trump Calling Injustice Protesters Sons Of Bitches: “It’s What Most Of Us Have Come To Expect From Him”<em></em><em></em>
President Donald Trump has made something of a hobby out of attacking private citizens, Colin Kaepernick among them. During a rally held in Alabama last night, he referred to Kaepernick (among others), though not by name, saying that NFL owners should, when faced with a player kneeling during the na...

Pro Tennis Player Can’t Stop Thinking About Those Mesothelioma Ads
If you’ve ever listened to the radio or watched daytime television, you know this ad: “If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma you may be entitled to financial compensation.” Of course you know this. There’s even a years-old meme....

You Can't Hit A Tweener Any Better Than This
Yesterday was only day one of the Rogers Cup in Toronto, but we might already have the shot of the tournament, courtesy of 20-year-old Russian Daria Kasatkina, who came up with one of the best tweener shots I’ve ever seen. ...

John Cena Gets Dropped On Head, Tells Shinsuke Nakamura “Don’t Be Sorry”
The first reaction a lot of people had to the news that Shinsuke Nakamura would face John Cena in a number one contenders match on WWE SmackDown was anger. “Why are they fighting on free TV?” people asked....

A Brief History Of Rugby Teams Trying To Respond To The Haka
The haka, performed by the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team, is one of the most famous spectacles in sport. The traditional pregame challenge is an exhilarating display that gets the blood pumping through the veins of the Kiwi players as they prepare themselves for the game ahead. The All Blacks’ h...

Raptors Will Keep Serge Ibaka, Lose P.J. Tucker, Stay Exactly The Same
Serge Ibaka has reportedly agreed to a three-year, $65 million contract to stay with the Toronto Raptors. Meanwhile, P.J. Tucker, the other big acquisition the Raptors snagged at last season’s trade deadline, will depart for Houston, having agreed to a four-year, $32 million contract. Assuming Kyle ...

Intriguing Foreign NBA Second-Round Draft Picks, Ranked
1. Alpha Kaba (France, pick no. 60, Atlanta Hawks)...

Champion Boxer And UFC Vet Among Those Arrested By FBI In Organized Crime Sting
Georgian boxer Avtandil Khurtsidze was supposed to fight Englishman Billy Joe Saunders next month for the WBO middleweight title, but he can’t make the fight anymore. He just got arrested in connection with an FBI sting on an alleged Russian/Georgian organized crime syndicate. ...

Red Sox Announcer Jerry Remy Says Pitchers Shouldn't Get Translators, Should "Learn Baseball Language"
Boston Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy took bizarre exception to Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka being visited by Japanese translator Shingo Horie and pitching coach Larry Rothschild in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s game....

World No. 1 Angelique Kerber Upset In First Round Of French Open By Ekaterina Makarova
Angelique Kerber became the first women’s No. 1 ever to lose on the first day of the French Open, falling to unseeded Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-2....

Masahiro Tanaka Got Back On Track Last Night
Very little has been going right for Masahiro Tanaka over the past month. Since his gem of a complete game shutout against the Red Sox four weeks ago, he’s been giving up more home runs than almost any other starting pitcher in baseball—in his last two starts, he allowed a combined 14 runs on seven ...

WWE Wants to Replace John Cena With Japan's Shinsuke Nakamura, And It Might Actually Work<em></em><em></em>
This Sunday night’s Backlash show marks the beginning of a new era in WWE, one that would have been shocking even two years ago. For the first time in its history, the world’s largest professional wrestling promotion is attempting to turn a Japanese wrestler into one of its top stars—the top star, i...

LeBron James Explains What He Was Thinking When He Made Serge Ibaka Look Like A Stupid Helpless Baby
So far the story of the second-round series between the Cavs and the Raptors is the degree to which the Cavs are completely unbothered by their opponents. Here’s the series summed up, in one image:...

The U.S. Gymnastics System Wanted More Medals, And Created A Culture Of Abuse To Get Them
Seventeen years ago, the U.S. women’s gymnastics team placed fourth at the Sydney Olympics, finishing behind Romania, Russia, and China. Coming four years after the gold medal from the Magnificent Seven, this placement was seen—both inside and outside the sport, by the press and by coaches like the ...

In One Interview, Larry Nassar Laid Out Exactly How He Gained Gymnasts' Trust
“We protect our athletes. That’s what we learned from 2000. Not just physically but mentally, you have to protect your athletes. You have to let them know you care.”...