champ Page 7 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Novak Djokovic had a bad day at the office, for once
If beating Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros is sport’s toughest assignment, beating Novak Djokovic in Melbourne can’t be too far behind it. He hadn’t lost there in some 3,000 days (a COVID deportation playing some role in that), he’s won the tournament 10 times and he was still coming off a previous se...
Coco Gauff-Aryna Sabalenka is tennis' best rivalry
Women’s tennis hasn’t had a great rivalry in some time. The tour was dominated by Serena Williams for so long and no one could have managed to look her in the eye for very long. The closest was her sister Venus, yet matches between the two regularly and mostly were hard on the eyes, because both see...
The Lions cannot be happy with 'just being there' against the Niners
The Detroit Lions are in the NFC title game. No, it’s not a dream, it is reality and they’ve got folks believing. Detroit can turn the page, beginning a new chapter in their history. Appearing in their first Super Bowl and beating one of the NFL’s most successful franchises to advance would be an ex...
The Bucks may not have a plan, but they aren't afraid to throw money at a problem
At least Milwaukee Bucks fans can say that the Haslems aren’t penny-pinchers. Jimmy and Dee bought their way into the NBA last spring when they purchased former franchise co-owner Marc Lasry’s share. Since then, two Bucks head coaches have been fired and their most recent hire is one of the most wel...
Andy Reid’s career arc is the inverse of Bill Belichick’s
Now in his sixth consecutive AFC Title game, Andy Reid is making up for lost time after struggling to get over the hump during his decade and change in Philadelphia. The venerable Chiefs coach is a virtuoso playcaller who has shepherded Kansas City to three Super Bowls, two Lombardi Trophies and has...
Jim Harbaugh and the HCs that also played for their teams
Jim Harbaugh is returning to the NFL as the next head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. What you might have forgotten is that he played quarterback for the franchise in 1999 and 2000 — back when the Bolts were still in San Diego....
The LA Chargers are finally interesting
Los Angeles’ most faceless and fanless team has landed a superstar. The NFL is a failsafe league. All of its television rights are national — as well as massive — and the roster construction is limited by a hard salary cap. The Los Angeles Chargers may not be hurting financially, but they are a thir...
Taking the Daniil Medvedev ride at the Australian Open
Most of my life, I have found tennis very easy and yet very hard to watch. It’s easy in that it’s a beautiful sport to gaze upon, the players’ ballet-like movements and the steady rhythm of the sound of the ball hitting the racket and then the court over and over can lull one into a lovely state of ...
The Heat got better <i>and</i> saved money by trading Kyle Lowry
One of the greatest charge-drawers the world has ever seen is no longer with the Miami Heat. Kyle Lowry will be creating turnovers by hitting the deck somewhere else for the rest of the season. The Heat have traded him to the Charlotte Hornets, along with a 2027 protected first-round pick, and recei...
Novak Djokovic was the boulder, Taylor Fritz was Sisyphus
It has to be hard enough to work through the mental gymnastics it takes to take the court against Novak Djokovic, convinced you can win. That’s what professional athletes do, of course, it’s part of the job. But they’re also still human, and it gets hard to shut out the list that makes Djokovic the ...
Don't mean to rain on Joel Embiid, but scoring 70 points isn't getting the Sixers out of the second round
Reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid ran amuck on the San Antonio Spurs Monday night in Philly, dropping 70 on Victor Wembanyama and crew. Even Kevin Durant was thoroughly impressed when learning of Embiid’s feat during his postgame presser after the Suns’ win over the Bulls. In doing this, Embiid set a new...
San Francisco wanted Tom Brady over Brock Purdy this season
The San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback room could have looked a lot different this season....
AMC should reboot the <i>Walking Dead</i> starring lame duck Mike McCarthy
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones decided last week to bring Mike McCarthy back for another go after that embarrassing first-round loss at home to Green Bay. Now word comes that while they are sticking with McCarthy, he won’t be getting a contract extension. So, essentially Jones has given his head c...
The NBA 'superstar' landscape has shifted
There is no greater conduit for NBA hyperbole than the conversation around “superstars.” To have a rational, substantive debate, there must first be basic groundwork for what constitutes superstar status. First, the bad news: former Finals MVPs Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, LeBron James and Kawhi Leona...
The 2023 Lions feel like the post-Katrina Saints
Another dome team led by an acolyte of Sean Payton with a young, innovative playcaller helming an explosive offense, a rehabilitated quarterback making the most of his second chance and a highly drafted rookie tailback are coalescing to alter the trajectory of a bottom-feeding franchise....
The Bills played their role perfectly
Every great dynasty has its one foe that is there simply to be toppled and make that conquering force look all the more mighty. Michael Jordan had the New York Knicks. Tom Brady had Peyton Manning. The New York Yankees had the Boston Red Sox. And then the Red Sox had the Yankees. The Romans kicked a...
A playoff game for the top pick in the NFL Draft sounds good — until you remember that human beings would be participating in it
Professional athletes play sports for two reasons: They play to make money and to win games. There is no other incentive necessary, or that would even work, to get the maximum effort out of players. And what would certainly be a terrible idea, is adding a “playoff game,” in which the result is the w...
Jordan Love’s best and worst were on display this postseason
No matter how Jordan Love’s season ended, it was an unmitigated success. He put himself in a position to secure a bag from Green Bay this offseason, obliterated the Dallas Cowboys with a 3-touchdown performance in his playoff debut, and was an all-around feel-good story despite the unhappy ending. B...
The 49ers can’t play like they did against the Packers and expect to win a Super Bowl
The San Francisco 49ers advanced to their fourth NFC championship game in five years after escaping a Green Bay Packers onslaught, 24-21. While they are the favorites to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, it’s clearly going to take a herculean effort by Christian McCaffrey to carry ...
C.J. Stroud and every rookie QB to win an NFL playoff game
C.J. Stroud became the latest rookie QB to win a playoff game for his team. The Houston Texans shellacked the Cleveland Browns, 45-14, and the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft looked terrific....