cc Page 223 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Browns Wanted To Suck, And The Injury Gods Have Obliged Them
The Cleveland Browns went into this season tanking about as openly as you’ll ever see in the NFL. With the front office now controlled by Ivy Leaguers, the Browns spent the offseason stockpiling draft picks—they drafted 14 players in June, all of whom made the 53-man roster, and have another dozen-p...

Manchester United Have A Wayne Rooney Problem
Despite what you may have heard, Wayne Rooney does not in fact suck. He remains a really good Premier League player who is very smart and boasts a unique skill set that can be quite valuable to the right team. However, he was really bad in Manchester United’s 3-1 loss to Watford, and it’s becoming i...

North Carolina Governor Planted Questions From Fake Reporters To Avoid Answering Ones About Anti-LGBT Law
The Charlotte Observer reports that North Carolina governor Pat McCrory’s campaign planted three fake “press” questions at a recent event to keep that newspaper from inquiring about the millions of dollars of revenue lost by the state after its passage of the anti-LGBT House Bill 2....

Edinson Cavani Scores 4 Goals In First Half, Somehow Still Looks Kinda Bad
Finally, the Soccer Gods have seen fit to smile upon poor old Edinson Cavani. For the Uruguayan striker’s brave and unrelenting tilt at the enormous metaphorical windmill that has been tormenting him—gusting his first touches four yards further than required, blowing wide shots that should be gimme ...

Jordan Henderson Scores Dipping Rocket From Distance
Surprisingly, that is Jordan Henderson—not Philippe Coutinho—scoring a beautiful curling, dipping effort from almost 30 yards to put Liverpool up 2-0 away at Chelsea. ...

Blind Brazilian Soccer Man Scores A Couple Bangers In The Paralympics
Meet Jefinho, the blind soccer five-a-side player who’s been called the “Paralympic Pelé.” In the semifinals of a Paralympics against China, Jefinho demonstrated how he earned such a lofty moniker by dusting the entire Chinese defense before cracking in a shot from distance—twice....

A.J. Burnett Told Andrew McCutchen To Hit Two Homers, So He Did
The Pirates whacked a mess of dingers in their 15-2 win in Philadelphia, but none quite so on-demand as Andrew McCutchen’s. Former Pirate (and Phillie) A.J. Burnett visited the Bucs’ clubhouse before the game, and, like a dying child, he had a request for his favorite slugger....

U.S. Soccer Lashes Out Against Megan Rapinoe For Kneeling During Anthem
Megan Rapinoe knelt Thursday night during the national anthem, her first time doing so in a U.S. Women’s National Team uniform, and U.S. Soccer was quick to make its frustration known. She first knelt during the anthem earlier this month, expressing her support for Colin Kaepernick before an NWSL ga...

Leicester City Aren't Done Yet
Leicester City won the Premier League last season, so this year they’re in the Champions League. Let me repeat that: Leicester City, a team that three seasons ago was happily dashing about in England’s second tier, somehow plucked up more points than Manchester United and Arsenal and Liverpool and C...

ACC Pulls Championships Out Of North Carolina Over Anti-LGBT Laws
Following the NCAA’s lead, the ACC announced Wednesday it will be relocating all neutral-site championship events previously set in North Carolina. This is being done in reaction to House Bill 2, the anti-LGBTQ piece of legislation already responsible for the removal of the NBA All-Star Game, March ...

Edinson Cavani Is A Hero
Maybe we’ve been looking at this all wrong. Maybe Edinson Cavani—the once world-bestriding striker who now seems trapped in his own private purgatory, one where his intelligent movement and powerful runs allow him to crash through defenses at will, only for all semblance of confidence and skill and ...

Evil Person Ruins Lionel Messi's Career In Video Game
One of the chief appeals of the much-beloved video game series Football Manager is seeing how this meticulously-researched game that goes to absurd lengths for realism forecasts the future, and how you, by way of your invented manager avatar, can affect that future. Usually, gamers accomplish this t...

Wisconsin's Bronson Koenig To Join Dakota Access Pipeline Protests
Wisconsin point guard Bronson Koenig, the most notable Native American men’s basketball player in the nation, has made public his plans to join the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. Koenig will make the 11-hour drive with his older brother and his trainer to a protest site near Bismarck, North Dakota...

Here's Barcelona, Literally Walking The Ball Into The Net
Great goals come in all shapes and sizes. A particularly satisfying kind of wondergoal is the one where the players tip-tap the ball between each other, snaking their way through the entire defense with technique and quickness rather than brute physicality, and only sliding the ball over the goal li...

Soccer Man Gets Extremely Hyped About This Dope Thing He Just Did
It’s not often that defenders are the architects of highlight reel-quality plays, and seeing as an acrobatic goal-line clearance is basically the defensive equivalent of a golazo for an attacker, it makes sense that Bursaspor’s Aziz Behich was super pumped after pulling off this amazing feat:...

Mario Balotelli Is Back, Baby!
The shirt colors look familiar but the team is different, and so are the country and the pressure and the expectations, and maybe even the player, too. Mario Balotelli is back on the soccer field for the first time in a long time, and he’s doing good things for the first time in even longer....

Romelu Lukaku Smashes Sunderland, And Everton Might Be Pretty Good This Season
Sunderland were terrible. Their defending was appalling all game, most obviously on Everton’s third goal. Who the hell is marking Romelu Lukaku here?...

Thankfully, The Manchester Derby Wasn't All About José Mourinho And Pep Guardiola
It’s more than a little understandable that the narrative buildup coming into this weekend’s Manchester Derby was centered on the game as a managerial showdown. Yes, the two iconic managers of this generation—José Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, two legitimate soccer geniuses who famously and furiously ...

Patriots Martellus Bennett And Devin McCourty Raise Fists After National Anthem
No player knelt during the national anthem before tonight’s Patriots-Cardinals game, but New England tight end Martellus Bennett and defensive back Devin McCourty raised their fists afterward....

Ray-Ray McCloud Boner Costs Clemson Touchdown<em></em>
Ray-Ray McCloud’s 74-yard punt return went to waste after the Clemson returner dropped the football prior to crossing the goal line, handing possession back over to Troy with a touchback....