ale Page 118 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Zack Greinke saves the Astros
Well, not really, Of course not. We all know that’s a ridiculous notion. But what my book presupposes is...maybe he did?...

Mathieu and Hitchens aren’t all too pleased with Chiefs fans right now
The Kansas City Chiefs aren’t playing exactly as well as we all thought they would. Through seven weeks, the reigning AFC champions are 3-4, tied for last place in their division, and just not looking like the Chiefs we’ve come to know, love, and/or root against in recent years. Star quarterback Pat...

‘Bullpen’ is the hill you wanna die on?
Yesterday, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) called upon Major League Baseball to stop using the term “bullpen.”...

Thursday Night Football, Week 8: Injuries and COVID — it’s beginning to feel like 2020 again
Thursday Night Football has a reputation for being underwhelming. Just look at the seven Thursday games we’ve had thus far this season. Only two were really enticing matchups: Week 1's Cowboys-Bucs and Week 5's Rams-Seahawks. Luckily, in Week 8, we get another thrilling matchup between the 7-0 Arizo...

'Analytics understander' A-Rod logs on and fails in October once again
Does Alex Rodriguez know what “analytics” means? You would think he should, being a television commentator for baseball in 2021, but life is full of surprises — such as A-Rod praising the Houston Astros in Game 2 of the World Series for an “anti-analytics inning.”...

Somehow the 'BuT-tHe-AmATeUR-MoDeL!' NCAA survived the beginning of NIL
We’re approaching the four-month mark since the NCAA officially approved name, image, and likeness rights for student-athletes and, somehow, the apocalypse has not come, the collegiate model has not collapsed, and Dabo Swinney is still coaching (to some extent, at least). As athletes, schools, spons...

For one moment, Carli Lloyd had it all
It’s strange. For all the absolute world-class players the USWNT has had, and still does, we still think of them as a “team.” Maybe that’s a testament to their absurd depth, and their dedication to being the best as a unit, that we rarely single one out. Megan Rapinoe may have won Player of the Tour...

MLB Rebuilding in 2021: Totally luck out, and just find a great international player
Where would the Braves be without Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuña Jr.? Where would the Padres be without Fernando Tatís Jr.? What about the Astros with Carlos Correa, José Altuve, Yuli Gurriel, and Yordan Álvarez?...

This Bulls team is legit
No more bullshit in Chicago — these Bulls are good....

Alex Ovechkin is in a hurry, because he has to be
One of the pleasures of getting back to a normal NHL schedule is that we pick up perhaps the biggest record chase in North American sports, and that’s Alex Ovechkin’s quest for 895 goals. He seems to recognize the urgency, as he’s scored five goals in five games so far this season. But if you’re Ove...

It’s time to send Bob Nightengale to a farm upstate
It’s not much of a story that Bob Nightengale was once again spewing out lava of baseball drivel. That’s been his gig for years now, essentially just acting as a conduit for whatever bullshit the powers that be want out there in exchange for his beloved “access.” Access which he’ll use to lord over ...

An existential question for Man U fans ahead of their clash with Liverpool
Consider yourself lucky if you’ve never had that feeling about a coach when he’s not awful and he’s not great, but you’d rather not sack him because you don’t trust ownership to hire someone. I imagine it’s a lot like purgatory when you know you’re damned. You’re just kind of floating there, knowing...

SEE IT: Caleb Williams converts on 4th down on unprecedented 'strip' of own player
With Oklahoma up just five in the fourth quarter, coach Lincoln Riley decided to play aggressively, keeping the offense on the field for a 4th-and-1 on OU’s 46-yard line. The Sooners’ defense had been pecked apart (buh-dum-tss) in the second half, and the Jayhawks’ last drive prior to this play saw ...

We get it, Martellus Bennett: <em>Oooooh, </em>you’re really tough!
You know that kid in high school who could eat any spicy food, no matter how hot? They would go around gobbling ghost peppers, Carolina Reapers, or packets of “Fire” hot sauce from Taco Bell, one right after the other, just to prove they were tougher than everybody else. Then, when they asked other ...

You know how sneaky-annoying auto-renew can be? Well, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy loves it now
Mike Gundy’s new perpetually renewing contract at Oklahoma State is just another reminder that cancel culture does not exist, and especially does not exist for mediocre rich white men like Gundy....

Turns out Oklahoma’s Heisman candidate was their backup QB all along!
This year’s Heisman race felt a lot like last year’s race early on, in that no one really dropped jaws instantly a la Lamar Jackson, Reggie Bush or Johnny Football. It will probably end up going to Bryce Young, just because Alabama will be 12-2/13-1 and his stats will be better than everyone else’s....

Pitt is a three-point favorite against Clemson this weekend… how did it come to this?
Yep, you read that right. The University of Pittsburgh is favored Saturday against the formerly formidable Clemson Tigers — the same team that made appearances in six College Football Playoffs in a span of six years, winning two championships along the way. With the way Dabo Swinney’s team is playin...

He may still be Mad Max, but he’s also a weary warrior right now
The Braves are facing down the possibility of blowing a 3-1 lead to the Dodgers in the NLCS for the second year in a row after an 11-2 rout in Los Angeles last night. As they head back home to Atlanta, the Braves’ offense prepares to face Max Scherzer in Game 6 — a sentence that’s not as daunting as...

Ex-exec offers peek inside the high school nightmare that is the Mavericks’ front office
You always have to take the word of a former/disgruntled employee with a few grains of a salt and a shot of tequila (and a lime if that’s your thing), so when former Mavs front office exec Haralabos Voulgaris compares your franchise’s dysfunction to “high school drama,” it’s fair to be skeptical. Ye...

You always want a Laz Diaz show in a League Championship Series, amirite?
I’ll put it right here at the top when discussing the Astros 9-2 win in Game 4 over the Red Sox, because I’ve spent the latter half of my life having Red Sox fans yell at me in some sort of fashion anyway. The non-strike call Laz Diaz came up with on Jason Castro from Nathan Eovaldi’s curve in the n...