athletics Page 7 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Baseball always gives you a moment
I have lamented how the last series of the MLB season didn’t contain much drama, which it’s supposed to. Sure, the Phillies clinched a playoff spot on Monday, and there was some seeding to sort out, but overall the last three games of the season passed by in a vacuum, kind of befitting the weekday n...

Florida A&M fiasco reminds us that college sports are professional sports
NIL is sensible. It was ridiculous that “amateur” athletes were not allowed to accept anything of financial value for their athletic talents, except for the fees to attend the institution so that they can play on the team and be properly housed and nourished so they can play well....

The Huskers haven’t even left for Ireland, and they’re already taking Ls
College football season is nearly upon us, and this year the brand is officially expanding. After COVID complications nixed last year’s attempt to hold a game at an international locale, the pandemic has been around for so long that nobody cares anymore. So get ready, people who were upset about the...

Hey Coach Cal, Kentucky isn’t just a basketball school anymore
Standing up for your program and athletes is commonplace for a college head coach, especially one with the pedigree of John Calipari. Coaching one of the royal bluebloods of college athletics in Lexington, with a lifetime contract no less, certainly skews his view of things from the mountaintop. A l...

Welcome to Blah-gust, the worst time of the sporting calendar
Mark it down: 9:35 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 10. We’ve reached the peak (nadir?) of sports’ slow season. You know it’s the doggiest of dog days when ESPN is killing time with Little League World Series coverage. No disrespect to the youth, but I’m not going to subject myself to watching children’s athlet...

Mariners make splash in hopes of ending lengthy postseason drought
The Seattle Mariners are looking to make the playoffs for the first time in over 20 years. Ichiro’s rookie season was the last time they played past 162 games. Heading into Saturday’s games, Seattle is only a half-game ahead of Tampa Bay in the Wild Card standings, and it’s far from a guarantee the ...

It’s time to trade Ohtani — here are some possible deals for the two-way superstar
I can’t believe what I’m about to say: The Angels have to trade Shohei Ohtani....

Our Conference Mock Draft: Big Ten Edition
Welcome to the new Big Ten! As a lifelong Midwesterner, I have a certain fondness for the conference, and I wanted to preserve some major rivalries while keeping an open mind for expansion to new markets....

The CFBPA is not a union, but it’s making demands like one
It appears the jig is up — as if it hasn’t been for some time — and it’s clear there’s actually enough money to pay student-athletes. The thing about alleged educational institutions unapologetically trampling tradition en route to exorbitant TV deals is people notice....

MLB trade deadline candidates — Arms
Don’t expect the fever dream that was last year’s deadline (Aug. 2), but there are still some impact pitchers who could be on the move....

The A’s lone All-Star was set to fly commercial to LA — until a division rival saved the day
Being an All-Star is a good feeling, or at least I’d think so. Clearly, I’ve never been named an MLB All-Star, but the confirmation that you are in fact one of the game’s best players, getting to line up alongside several legends, and have that star next to your name on your Baseball-Reference page ...

The A’s were ruined by many
Whenever the Oakland A’s move to Vegas — something that feels more like “when” as opposed to “if” — it will be kind of the same story as the Montreal Expos, the last team to move. By the time it happened, the owner and commissioner will tell you it was a poisoned market where no team could flourish....

Months after the Art Briles fiasco Grambling State is dealing with more coaching drama
Something ain’t right on The Yard in Louisiana....

This July 4th, let's celebrate athletes who revolutionized the game
On the 266th Independence Day in U.S. history, it’s a perfect time to look back at some of the radical revolutionaries in sports. Sometimes the path to success in athletics requires an innovative approach that changes the course of history. Let’s honor some of the luminaries and talents who channele...

The SEC is still better
There’s a confident nature among the collective of Southeastern Conference fan bases, and what their conglomerate represents. Having covered the league as a hometown beat writer for one of the oddball geographic teams in the league, Mizzou, and therefore having traveled to many of the other cities a...

Predicting the future NCAA landscape
As we approach an era where USC kicking off at 9 a.m. Pacific time in freezing November East Lansing temperatures is a very realistic and potentially biennial situation, let’s look at the options for college athletics going forward....

NIL turns 1
It’s been one year since the NCAA adopted a name, image and likeness (NIL) policy, allowing its “amateur” athletes to monetize and benefit off their own personal brands and make money over the table. This is all while attending one of their institutions and donating endless time to their athletic pr...

USC and UCLA joining the Big Ten
Here’s the end of regional conferences as we know it. USC and UCLA, two staples of the West Coast-heavy Pac-12 Conference, are reportedly leaving for the Big Ten Conference. The move was first reported Thursday afternoon, signaling an even-greater power shift from the Power Five Conference model, wh...

MLB isn’t even pretending it wants to keep the A’s in Oakland
The A’s’ time in Oakland is dwindling. We don’t know when they’ll be gone. We just know that it’s going to happen. If team president Dave Kaval’s cryptic tweets talking about the energy from sports fans in Las Vegas last year weren’t proof enough, MLB has all but confirmed our suspicions with their ...

Stopping the count: How Power 5 schools avoid Title IX compliance
It’s been 50 years since Title IX was signed into law. It’s been 38 years since the Supreme Court ruled that Title IX didn’t apply to college athletics, and 34 years since Congress overruled that decision through legislation. And it’s been one year since duplicate counting of female college athletes...