dl Page 30 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

NFL QB candidates for the Daniel Jones ‘Don’t give up on me just yet’ award

One of the biggest stories to come out of a very eventful New York Giants season was the emergence of Daniel Jones. Jones went from not having his option picked up to being nicknamed “Vanilla Vick” and the team most likely franchise tagging him. There are two narratives to come of this development. ...

Best games on the NBA schedule this week: The West is rising

Don’t let anyone tell you the NBA schedule during the regular season is a poor entertainment product. Of course, a single game does not impact a team’s overall record the same way that it does an NFL team. In the NBA teams play multiple games per week. That is not changing anytime soon, especially w...

National football powerhouse Mater Dei is trying to make assault allegations disappear

In November, Mater Dei High School in Orange County, Calif. lost its first football game since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Bryce Young’s high-school program was defeated by St. John Bosco, 24-22, at the Rose Bowl in the Southern Section Division I Championship Game. There’s no shame for high schoo...

The Sports Nihilist: Anything but a Dallas-Philadelphia NFC title game

It’s odd how many NFL teams I hate despite not technically having an NFL team I root for. And I don’t feel like I’m in the minority on that either. Not the teamless fan part. The “I hate all of these teams” part. I refused to watch Patriots-Philadelphia Eagles and Patriots-Rams Round Two Super Bowls...

DJ Khaled & Fat Joe brought the love for golf & sneakers to <i>Grails</i>

The sports figures we lost in 2023

Here is where we look at some of the athletes and sports figures we’ve lost in 2023. That list includes football legends Jim Brown, and Dick Butkus, basketball HoFer Willis Reed, former men’s college basketball coach Bob Knight, hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Hull, Heisman Trophy-winning running back Ch...

Keep an eye on these 23 breakout stars in 2023: Part 1 [Updated]

One year ago, who would have thought that Julián Álvarez would be the breakout star of the World Cup instead of Gio Reyna, or that TCU backup Max Duggan would lead the Horned Frogs to a national championship game on the 1-yard line of 2022’s closing? Trying to predict which figures will rise to the ...

Was the Cavs’ ‘random’ PED test just fateful coincidence after Mitchell scored 71?

In one of the NBA’s more conspicuously timed sequences, the Cleveland Cavs were “randomly” drug tested just hours after Donovan Mitchell’s 71-point performance Monday night. It feels all too convenient for the association to “randomly” test the Cavs for performance-enhancing drugs one day after Mitc...

For Sale: Lightly-used NFL quarterback

The Las Vegas Raiders’ 2022 offseason had fans filled with optimism for the team’s future. After acquiring All-Pro receiver Davante Adams from the Green Bay Packers in March, the Raiders signed their franchise quarterback Derek Carr to a three-year extension. The two of them played together in colle...

The NBA’s poverty franchises

The competitive lifespan of an NBA franchise is delicate. A team’s championship relevance depends on many factors, including the front office’s competence, coaching staff, and the totality of star power on the court. “Poverty” in the NBA sense can be defined by the corrosion of the team’s ethics and...

It’s hard to be the smartest guy in the room without the GOAT

The debate about who was more responsible for the Patriots’ dominance — Brady or Belichick — ended pretty quickly when Brady won a Super Bowl in his first season with Tampa Bay. Since Brady left New England, Belichick’s record is an even 24-24, and 0-1 in the playoffs, with that lone postseason game...

Is this the dumbest play in NFL history?

The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl in 2018 and the Miami Dolphins didn’t make the playoffs. So their Dec. 9 matchup is far from one of the most memorable regular-season matchups in NFL history....

The defining characteristic of this year’s Buffalo Bills? Resilience

Buffalo and Miami did their best to try to follow up what happened in Minnesota. The third game of Saturday’s NFL triple header ultimately failed because when the Vikings decide they’re going to play a drunk football game, it’s Frank the Tank taking his first sip of booze....

Alexander Ovechkin, the 'GR8 One'

Alexander Ovechkin is the best pure goal-scorer in NHL history. That’s not up for debate. The longtime Washington Capital hasn’t been hockey’s best player for years, but his ability to put the puck in the back of the net is nearly as good as it was 15 years ago when he scored 65 goals during the 200...

Mike Leach, renaissance man [Updated]

Former Texas Tech head football coach Mike Leach will be posthumously inducted into the school’s Hall of Honor, along with his former QB Kliff Kingsbury. Leach won 84 games during his tenure, which lasted from 2000-09....

Which NBA title contender will Jae Crowder join?

Championship NBA teams have always revolved around star players, but the glue guys/role players make it possible for franchises to become title contenders. There are stars all over the Association, but only those with the best supporting casts can make deep runs into the postseason year after year. ...

Culture isn’t going to fix the Miami Heat’s offense

When trying to illustrate how much a team is struggling, one of sportswriters’ favorite go-to’s is, “If the season ended today…” As in, “If the season ended today, the Miami Heat would need to win two play-in games only to face the team that beat them in 2022 in the first round.”...

Pat Beverley is the Grinch

Someone’s getting coal in their stocking, because Los Angeles Lakers’ guard Patrick Beverley is turning into a real-life Grinch. Earlier this week on the Pat Bev Podcast the 34-year-old, three-time All-Defense Team member told listeners that he has already informed his kids that Santa Claus isn’t re...

Hey, Kyrie, you know who also felt free after getting dropped from a sponsor?

I might be reading into this too much, but did Kyrie Irving writing “I’M FREE” on his taped-over Nike sneakers feel slightly like Ye going on TikTok and declaring himself free? A 3-year-old could connect those dots, considering each knucklehead’s history of antisemitic views that subsequently got th...

There is a lot more than a championship on the line with Jimmy G’s injury situation

It’s Wednesday, Dec. 7, and there is still no clear picture of the timeline for Jimmy Garoppolo’s return to the field. ...