ale Page 104 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Make it a best of 13
Usually, especially in a Stanley Cup Final, you need at least a few games before the level of play truly takes off. Coaches and teams want to try different things, chase their matchups, or keep things tight as they can to preserve already exhausted players until there is absolutely no choice. No one...
What, if anything, do we take from the USMNT draw with El Salvador?
Let’s start by not overreacting to a 1-1 draw against El Salvador. It was the same result that kicked off the United States’ Octagonal round of World Cup qualifying. That matchup from last September mattered way more to the US. And the Yanks didn’t score in that game....
The (likely) beginning of the end for Serena Williams
After losing to Naomi Osaka in the semifinals of the 2021 Australian Open, Serena Williams’ response to a reporter’s inquiry about whether her tearful exit was her subconsciously saying goodbye went somewhat unnoticed....
Wimbledon needs Serena Williams more than Serena Williams needs Wimbledon
The greatest tennis player of all time is returning to the sport’s most prestigious tournament. But this time around, one side needs the other more than ever. And Serena Williams isn’t the thirsty one....
How many women does it take to convince Deshaun Watson deniers?
How many will it take? The answer wasn’t 10. It wasn’t 20. We’re quickly approaching 30 — perhaps that will be the number of women coming forward with allegations of sexual misconduct about Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson that will finally get people to stop defending him or claiming that all of t...
The NHL finally gets its era-shifting Final with Lightning vs. Avs
Hockey being what it is, mostly weird and random, rarely throws up the two best teams in the NHL’s showpiece, the Stanley Cup Final. Sometimes we get close, and most seasons it’s actually hard to decipher who are clearly the best teams. With shootouts and overtime goofiness affecting the standings, ...
The Minnesota incubator is about to do it again
Since the Minneapolis Lakers won half of the league’s first 10 NBA titles and then shuffled off to Los Angeles where they won13 more, Minnesota has been an incubator for NBA championship parades–in other cities. After the Lakers’ relocated to L.A., the NBA didn’t return to Minnesota until 1989. The ...
Well, the Mike Tyson comparisons weren’t all wrong
After being named 2020’s Prospect of the Year by several publications, including Sports Illustrated and The Athletic, Edgar Berlanga, 25, was acclaimed as the Puerto Rican Mike Tyson. The 16 opponents Berlanga put to sleep in his first 16 fights against journeyman fighters tied the record and led to...
The Rangers will almost certainly learn all the wrong lessons
To figure out where the New York Rangers are going after being dumped out on their ass by the Tampa Bay Lightning, it’s important to retrace how, and especially why, they got here....
It’s OK, Matt Swarmer, Chicagoans were too drunk or distracted to remember that
The Chicago Cubs matter insomuch as they give the fine people of the Windy City an excuse to day drink and eat hot dogs. Outside of that one year, this season isn’t that much different from most others. They’re 23-35, 10 games back of the division leading St. Louis Cardinals, and nine games out of t...
It's actually OK to root for the Astros' Yordan Alvarez
I’ll admit it. I’ve done it. I’ve rooted for the Astros post-sign stealing scandal. It’s not a habit or anything. When it’s between blatant cheaters and Atlanta, there’s still too much of me that hates Chipper Jones and the whole racist taunt thing to have pulled for last year’s champs in the World ...
Put MacKenzie Gore in the All-Star Game!
Voting for the MLB All-Star Game opened yesterday. While the fans have all the power to send their favorite position players to the Midsummer Classic, pitchers will once again be determined by each of the league’s managers: Houston’s Dusty Baker and Atlanta’s Brian Snitker. While each of them will f...
Whatchagonna do NHL?
The NHL Department of Player Safety needs to get to the bottom of this quickly. The video evidence against Lightning captain Steven Stamkos allegedly spitting on Alexis Lafrenière appears damning, yet not conclusive. Why else would he cock his head back and lunge forward with his lips puckered at th...
Guess poor recruiting was all Brian Kelly’s fault
Notre Dame has landed a five-star quarterback — their highest-rated offensive commitment in a decade — in none other than C.J. Carr, the grandson of national-title winning Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr. This is the latest in a series of offseason wins for Marcus Freeman, who has yet to clock an act...
Aaron Rodgers’ rumored new admirer is just a normal hippie, not a witch
Guys, Aaron Rodgers isn’t dating a witch, and her name isn’t Blu of Earth. It’s just Blu, and she’s a podcast host as well as the founder of Florescence, a “modern mystery school for women to reclaim the magical, radically authentic, wise, wild, unapologetic you.”...
Roving pack of feral dogs ate all of the Suns’ homework
Having a season end the way it did for the Suns — finishing with the best record in the NBA and failing to make it out of the second round — will leave any organization aimlessly ambling around the neighborhood asking their dog where it all went wrong. The latest bit of Sean Maguire-ian “It’s not yo...
Top candidates fit to manage Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani
Two weeks ago, the Los Angeles Angels were on top of the world. They had the best record in the AL West. Mike Trout was healthy and playing at the level we’ve come to expect. Shohei Ohtani had gotten off to a rocky start on the mound, but he’d lowered his ERA to an incredible 2.82 after his May 18 s...
The Tampa Bay Lightning have channeled Admiral Ackbar to get back into the series
Perhaps the biggest sign that a team has entered its own class in the NHL is that it can play any way it has to, or wants to, to win. Whatever you ask of them, they have an answer. Some pretenders like the Hurricanes, once you take away their preferred style — in the case of the Canes it’s dump it i...
Aaron Judge’s soaring cost is something Yankees haters can take solace in
Those of you waiting for the Yankees to cool off might be in for a long summer of chafing, as the best team in baseball keeps churning along with the Dark Side theme, increasing in volume after every towering Aaron Judge home run. As we know, Palpatine is never truly dead, and as soon as you think t...