champ Page 34 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Chelsea and Tottenham is why we watch
After yesterday’s fracas (it was certainly more than a game,) the temptation is to call Chelsea-Spurs the best rivalry going in the Premier League. Liverpool-City might have more quality, and the best quality in Europe arguably, but everything is pretty civil and they’re too respectful of each other...

Predicting college football’s New Year’s Six teams
College football starts in a little more than two weeks. And for 135 days, the jostling to become a national champion will be ongoing. Obviously, only four teams will compete in the College Football Playoff but a dozen teams will be selected to the most lucrative bowls, otherwise known as the New Ye...

Retiring Russell’s jersey number should have happened a long time ago
Shame on the NBA....

Please don’t let WWE get its greedy paws on The Rock’s new VICE TV series ‘Tales from the Territories’
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has taken Hollywood by storm since he left the WWE, producing hit after hit on the big screen. Even with Johnson’s mainstream success, he’s never forgotten his pro wrestling roots. Now The Rock is teaming up with VICE TV on a series called “Tales From The Territories.”...

And, voila, Cameron Smith’s charisma is gone
We’ve reached a point where a golfer has to take a blood oath on their mother’s grave while stabbing a voodoo doll of Greg Norman for me to believe that any of these amoral sociopaths are staying with the PGA Tour. My hopes weren’t high for Cameron Smith, the young Australian who just won the Open C...

Never mind the draw, just enjoy Darwin Núñez’s first EPL goal for Liverpool
It took Darwin Núñez 13 minutes to notch his first goal in the English Premier League, but it came at the 64th minute because he was brought on as an £85m super sub during a swirling match at Craven College that saw Liverpool and newly promoted Fulham finish in a 2-2 draw. This is the first game of ...

I’d wreck my Subaru to be on the Patriots, too
In the barren wasteland that is sports in August, there are only baseball and speculative NFL stories to write about. And since we just wrote about Aaron Judge and he didn’t hit a dinger Friday night, we’ve got football chatter for you. Today’s anecdote comes from former New England Patriot offensiv...

Will Liverpool’s season be defined by children?
It depends on how you define drama whether or not you find any in the Premier League season. We pretty much know that either Manchester City or Liverpool will win the title. Some combination of Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, and maybe United will fill out the other Champions League places. Perhaps Newcast...

John Daly won’t be on the Saudi tour, but it’s not for a lack of trying
Before your Thursday gets worse, ask yourself if you’re really surprised that a self-indulgent huckster, the inspiration for Roy McAvoy’s storyline if “Tin Cup 2” ever happens, would be pro-Saudi tour. John Daly sets up HQ at a Hooters near Augusta every April, will sign anything from a cocktail nap...

A serene Tottenham Hotspur will take some getting used to
It’s pretty obvious a team has a habit, even a reputation or history, of being a fuckaround when its very name is used as a definition of that. “Spursinees” has been a term thrown around since just about the Premier League’s beginning, which makes it clear what everyone thinks of Tottenham. No matte...

How far can Brighton go?
The question almost every soccer fan gets from non-soccer fans, which is healthy, is, “So which team should I support?” You never mind hearing it, because it means your friend/acquaintance/bookie wants to become a fan, but it’s also an impossible question to answer. Your football club usually finds ...

Amanda Nunes made it clear that she is still as good as it gets in UFC
Julianna Peña is tough as nails. She took a beating for five rounds against Amanda Nunes last night. A brutal, bloody beating. Yet through the knockdowns and the elbows, Peña never took her foot off the gas pedal and was able to get Nunes in trouble (at times) on the ground later in the fight. Peña ...

Bill Russell, all-time NBA great and cultural icon, dead at 88
According to a statement released on social media, NBA legend Bill Russell died “peacefully” Sunday at the age of 88....

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 ...

The best sports calls of the 21st century
Is there anything that defines a moment in sports history quite like the announcers’ call over the sounds of a raucous crowd and a celebrating team (and your own sobs)? Do you believe in miracles, the band is on the field, the Giants win the pennant, pretty much anything Jack Buck ever said — they’r...

Moving to a 16-team College Football Playoff isn’t easy — but may very well happen
“Sixteen just seems to be out there,” Gene Smith, Ohio State’s athletic director, said at the Big Ten media days. “You can’t ignore it.”...

The Dodgers will be buyers at the deadline — here’s who they should target
The Dodgers have a few glaring holes on their roster....

NFL training camps are open and the leadership porn is sizzling
One of the more annoying things in life is when a person thinks a job title denotes leadership. Whether it’s newly-promoted assistant manager Greg trying to rally the staff during the lunch rush at Jimmy John’s, a CEO expecting underlings to laugh at all his jokes, or quarterbacks buying their offen...

Does Tony Khan have a second gear for Ring Of Honor?
It’s pretty standard now, bordering on canon, that Tony Khan will spit out a great pay-per-view whenever he needs to. And now it’s with multiple companies. Last Saturday, it was Ring of Honor’s turn, with “Death Before Dishonor.” And by any measure, it was a banger. Not perfect — rarely is a show ev...
