ball Page 132 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Aaron Ramsdale’s fingertips may have saved the Premier League title for Arsenal
There isn’t another league that can produce the utter chaos, at least as consistently, as the Premier League can with yesterday’s 2-2 draw between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield. It starts with the end-to-end action, two teams waylaying into each other for various periods of the game. Which is the...

Who will win as the Lakers, Timberwolves, Pelicans, and Thunder battle for play-in spots?
The 2022-23 NBA regular season has come to a close, and it’s time again for the league’s newest tradition, the play-in tournament. This year the Western Conference had the race to watch down the stretch as it was tighter than spandex in the wrestling ring. In fact, the west was close for most of the...

After 26 years, the WNBA finally gets chartered flights — kinda
It’s easy to spot a basketball player in the airport. Their height and attire usually give them away. And if you’ve ever seen them board a flight, you’ve probably been in awe of the way they can fold their limbs into non-first class seats. Well, that’s pretty much what the women of the WNBA have bee...

OBJ’s addition to the Ravens does nothing to shield Baltimore from Lamar Jackson’s plea
For months, it’s been the elephant in the room for the Ravens. Baltimore has done almost everything in its power, because actions mean more than any words out of John Harbaugh’s mouth, to anger and agitate star quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Ravens haven’t committed long-term to Jackson as the corne...

Treat Rudy Gobert worse than Draymond Green — at least his punch was behind closed doors
It’s not about what was done, it’s about who did it. And if you don’t believe that, this week will be a sports debate-off on the events from the final day of the NBA’s regular season — which included Minnesota Timberwolves star center Rudy Gobert taking a swing at teammate Kyle Anderson on the bench...

At Princeton, a turnaround one man saw coming
“I was born delusional,” said Chris Ayres, Princeton’s head wrestling coach, earlier this year. “But I think — I really do — that delusion is a good thing.” He just proved his point. At Tulsa, Oklahoma’s NCAA wrestling tournament last month, Ayres pulled off one of the least likely turnarounds colle...

The Mavericks give away the game
Well now it’s pretty obvious what NBA teams really think of the play-in tournament. The Dallas Mavericks spent the weekend doing everything they could to drop right out of the 10th seed and into the draft lottery, which they successfully did. Mavericks fans are probably most excited about the season...

MLB’s rule changes have made baseball more like itself
One week into the MLB season, the rule changes are by and large a huge success. It seems that fans and players alike overwhelmingly like the changes. ...

Don’t be so quick to count out the Western Conference's top-seeded teams
A large swath of NBA media is out on the top seeds in the Western Conference — and it makes sense, because, for the first time since the 1996-97 season, the East is far and away superior....

Mark Cuban is not who we thought he was going to be
This past week has been the dried-out cherry on top of an expired whipped cream sundae of a 2022-23 season for the Dallas Mavericks. They entered it one game out of the play-in tournament a shade under two months after trading for Kyrie Irving. It would be easy to blame him for Mavericks’ fall, but ...

Redefining what it means to be a unicorn
“Unicorn” is up there with “new normal” and “positionless basketball” as far as terms I would love to see removed from my brain. Any big man with guard skills is dubbed a unicorn, and we’re led to believe the NBA is a mythical universe populated by elves, dragons, and wizards. Well, technically the ...

The Atlanta Hawks have been the definition of mediocrity
The Atlanta Hawks season has been a Sisyphean quest to remain above .500. They came, they saw, and they Even Stevened for most of the season. If you ever wondered what a wedgie between the rim and the hoop personified this season was, it would be the 41-39 Atlanta Hawks. ...

Charles Oakley tells Isiah Thomas: MJ doesn't 'want to be your friend'
Former NBA star Charles Oakley has never been one to bite his tongue. After all, he played in the Association during a time when basketball was much different, and it wasn’t uncommon for teams to have multiple enforcers. In fact, while playing in Chicago with Michael Jordan, some would call Oakley M...

Is it time to start talking about Aston Villa?
The Premier League, at least this season, has become stratified in a way it never has before. There seem to be only two categories. You’re either fighting against relegation or you’re in the race for the Champions League. It’s a little more nuanced than that under the hood, though not by much. From ...

Previously out of work Frank Lampard is back at Chelsea for the interim
Chelsea FC have literally been the definition of average in the Premier League this season. For a club that was crowned European champions less than two years ago, being considered average at anything might as well be worse than relegation. The Blues have close to the same number of wins, draws and ...

If the NBA had a Dunk of the Year award, Ja Morant would be the winner
As we enter the final weekend of the NBA season, there are only a few regular season awards yet to be wrapped up. The most notable is the MVP race, but you’re delusional if you think I’m going to write about that. What I’m here to talk about today is the Dunk of the Year. It’s not an official award ...

UConn has 5 national titles — but their championship game TV ratings suck
When three different coaches have combined to win five national championships at one men’s college basketball program since 1999, it means they’re one of the sport’s blue bloods. But, you know that question that goes, “If a tree falls in the forest, and there’s no one around to hear It, does it make...

Brett Favre is your Jackass tournament winner
Mr. Packer barely squeaked past the former Georgia Bulldog to capture the inaugural Sports Jackass Bracket Championship. This matchup was by far the closest of the tournament, and these competitive jackasses saved their best for last. Had this been an actual competition on the field, it would’ve com...

The Baltimore Ravens are doing everything they can to agitate Lamar Jackson
Lamar Jackson has suffered a plethora of indignities at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens. Add one more to the mix. Traditionally, MVP-caliber quarterbacks negotiate for top-dollar extensions that set the standard for the quarterback compensation model. Throughout their battle with Jackson, Baltimor...
