as Page 493 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The next Olympics will be held without Russia and Belarus, but maybe not Russians and Belarusians
World sports fans in search of a natural antagonist for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris will have to find countries other than Russia and Belarus to root against. The IOC has decided not to invite the countries due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, which started mere days after the Beijing Winter Oly...
NBA 2K’s decision to put Sabrina Ionescu on the cover was based on race — not merit
Being a superstar is the lone requirement for receiving superstar treatment — like being on the cover of a video game. Well, that’s unless the league you play in has always been Black, and your whiteness has been hijacked as a marketing tool — providing you with superstar treatment when you aren’t a...
Skip and Rich are Undisputed, it could work
If Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez can share a set together then why not Richard Sherman and Skip Bayless? That was a one-time viral social media beef 10 years ago. Bayless is several controversies removed from that one. That A-Rod and Jeter beef stewed for decades, much of it with them next to each ...
Sports are awesome, but the business is fascinating
Something about summer in America will always feel more like the true transition of the year as opposed to New Year’s Day. The holiday has so much pomp and circumstance that it’s difficult to take the time to truly reflect on the year, and it is also very cold in much of the country. During the summ...
The NFL’s leading rusher seems like an afterthought during the offseason
Running backs have been devalued for some time in the NFL. Top RB paydays pale compared to quarterbacks and wide receivers around the league. NFL offenses once coveted backs who could carry the rock 20-plus times each game and were willing to pay them accordingly. Now all that’s out there for the le...
How about some real stakes for the NBA In-Season Tourney?
If the NBA’s goal with its in-season tournament is to simply further pad its upcoming national television rights deals, that’s fine. A few more nationally televised contests will always increase the package, and the players on the floor for these games will compete. However, stars won’t change their...
An MLB postseason without suspense is like a ham no burger
Be it actual, or unspoken, the rules change for most postseasons. Hockey leaves its 3v3 overtime format in the regular season so game No. 57 doesn’t last forever, but reinstalls the old rules for the playoffs, leaving open the possibility for four-hour marathons. What is and isn’t a foul changes in ...
Northwestern’s decision to keep Pat Fitzgerald’s assistants is proof that Northwestern isn’t a serious place
The “intellectual elite” are failing in Evanston. In the same week in which we discovered that Northwestern’s head football coach Pat Fitzgerald’s laughable two-week suspension should have led to his eventual firing for running a program that’s “allegedly” allowed hazing and racism to run rampant fo...
Mike Gundy eloquently dismantles Oklahoma for ending Bedlam
About 95 percent of the time, Mike Gundy’s rants are nails on a chalkboard, a car alarm at 5 a.m., or any alarm in the morning. However, the other 5 percent? Gold, Jerry, gold! The latest redeemable instance came at Big 12 media days, when the Oklahoma State head coach tore into Oklahoma, and justif...
Saudi Arabian money is bleeding into the sports world
In 2017, one of the top chess players in the world announced she wasn’t going to play at the World Championships this year in Saudi Arabia. Anna Muzychuk cited the conditions that women would have to play in on her Facebook post, she explained she didn’t want to be accompanied by a man when she trav...
World Cup Group D Preview: Can England complete the set?
The question in all sports has been that once you break through and win, does winning again become easier? Is the mental block gone? Or does the pressure simply build even more, as triumphs go from hoped for to expected? This is only one of the few things that England will be wrestling with at the W...
The NFL’s most dysfunctional team operates out of 345 Park Avenue
For years, Dan Snyder caused maximum chaos for the Washington Commanders, and months after agreeing to sell his team, he’s still a reliable source of drama. If the NFL can’t convince its franchises to willingly submit to HBO’s Hard Knocks anymore, maybe the league needs to open its own kimono. Trans...
Saquon Barkley’s only option is to threaten to end the Giants’ season before it starts
A big second contract for an NFL running back is a rarity. Derrick Henry shared carries during his first three seasons as a pro, following his nearly 400-carry junior season at Alabama. In Year 4 he became the best running back in the NFL and received a new 4-year contract in 2020. Saqon Barkley has...
If the New York Jets can’t revive Hard Knocks, HBO needs to cancel it
Congratulations to the New York Jets, the winner of a prize no NFL team wants: The honor and privilege of being on this season’s Hard Knocks. The show, which has gone from one of HBO’s bell cows to regularly scheduled programming, has lacked purpose for years primarily because teams and the NFL aren...
Women’s World Cup preview: Can the Japanese bookend the American’s dominance from Group C?
This should be pretty straightforward. It’s a matter of whether Spain or Japan advances from Group C as the winners, and who heads to the knockout stage as runners-up. That leaves Costa Rica and Zambia leaving Oceania early, but does anything exactly go to plan on the world stage? Group C has as cle...
Despite Wimbledon exit, Chris Eubanks proclaimed himself as an irreplaceable part of the American tennis scene
What a rollercoaster sport can be sometimes. In the first set of his Wimbledon quarterfinal against Daniil Medvedev, little hope existed for Chris Eubanks to overcome the world’s No. 3-ranked player. Eubanks’ serve and volley game were on point, but while Medvedev was serving, the American upstart l...
Try telling Kyrie Irving that ANTA is a significant step down from Nike
Kyrie Irving held a significant place in shoe culture up until he ran his mouth and got his Nike deal revoked. The mercurial point guard (pretty sure he single-handedly turned that phrase a cliche) consistently had the most popular sneaker at the company despite his on-again, off-again relationship ...
Here we go already with the Wemby MVP talk
Hyperbole often rules the day in sports media in the social media age. Everyone is almost subconsciously attempting to go viral during every waking moment. Enter former NBA player and current TNT analyst Kenny Smith. While calling a summer league game this week, Victor Wembanyama’s name came up in t...
Rand Paul’s thoughts on Black athletes reflects the GOP’s company line
It’s not exactly a revelation to discover that white conservatives identify more with the PGA Tour than the NBA. It’s become part of their doctrine to attack the largely black National Basketball Association for just about anything. So we shouldn’t be shocked that one of their most prominent members...