el Page 512 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
James Harden's wine is a vintner’s nightmare
The first sip of James Harden’s cabernet sauvignon caused a visceral stepback, and the sudden urge to chuck my glass at any wastebasket within 30 feet. Completely bereft of any tannins, the bouquet was as generic as seemingly any bottle picked off the shelves of a 7-Eleven, and went down with equal ...
Aaron Rodgers and the familiar NFL faces in new places
After silly season, and training camps around the country are well underway, most of the big moves of the NFL year have already taken place. Those who hoped for greener pastures found what they believe is an upgrade from their last situation, despite no proof to the contrary, yet. Some of the bigges...
Russell Wilson, Dak Prescott, and the NFL players facing a make-or-break year
One thing we love about the NFL is all the storylines that carry over from one season to the next and those that are created during the offseason. Whether we’re asking if this is the year Dak Prescott finally gets Dallas over the hump or if Jordan Love has what it takes to make Green Bay forget abou...
Bill Belichick is up to his same old tricks, and they may not be good enough anymore
The Ezekiel Elliott signing was a solid move by Bill Belichick. Elliott may no longer be the athlete who cleared opposing defenders the way that he cleared high hurdles as a high school track and field star, but he is still a football player who can contribute to a winning team. Any extra depth is w...
Vlatko Andonovski was bad at a very tough job
If one didn’t want to kick dirt on Vlatko Andonovski as he recedes from the USWNT manager job, and kicking dirt is kind of what we do around here, it would be wise to point out the size of the task he was faced with. He took over a team that had won two World Cups on the spin, so there was really no...
Northwestern football coach David Braun seems to think it’s a real challenge to not haze
At some point in the near future, football coaches are going to have to be relabeled into their own scientific category. It’s a real question if they’ve been human, or homo sapien, for a long time. Northwestern’s David Braun is only just the latest to prove it. ...
Sage Steele and Michele Tafoya: A match made in delusion
So how does one become an official member of the “Coalition of Courage,” Michele Tafoya? Is there a fee? Do you hold meetings? Is there a secret intake process that has been passed down through the decades? Or does one simply have to take a decorated career in an industry that becomes more difficult...
Victor Conte: Players are still doping and the leagues know it
There is a warped irony in the timing between Netflix’s new sports-doping documentary, Untold: Hall of Shame, and the most recent suspension of a professional athlete for violating a league’s performance-enhancing drug policy....
Embarrassing moron thinks space lasers started Maui wildfires
There’s anxiety, and then there’s paranoia. If you’re afraid of flying, crowds, or clowns, that’s understandable. Everybody has their own quirks, but when it comes to the hardcore baseless conspiracy theorists — say, shadowy government forces using cutting-edge military weaponry to start a deadly fi...
Boy, noise sure does follow CM Punk
In a sense, CM Punk can’t help it. Given every twist and turn and crash and surge his career has had, eyes are going to be on him wherever he is, even when that’s off camera. And if you believe there are those who still have knives out for him within AEW, well it’s not much of a surprise he’s being ...
Ja’Marr Chase’s Mount Rushmore is a little different than most
Ja’Marr Chase was recently asked to list his top wide receivers of all time in the form of Mount Rushmore, and he went in a different direction than you’d probably expect. He listed a couple of regulars we usually see on these rankings, then Chase went into left field on one of his choices. Chase mi...
To understand the RICO allegations against Team Trump, look to FIFA
After four indictments, the mental gymnastics required to equivocate for Trump requires advanced parkour skills. As of now, the former president faces 91 charges — between Miami, New York, Washington D.C., and Atlanta — which are enough to fill out an entire regional tournament bracket. It can be da...
The continuing adventures of Angel Hernandez, Leo Messi is doing that thing again, and charter flights in women’s sports rears its ugly head
If you haven’t been following the touring artist exhibition that is Angel Hernandez attempting to call balls and strikes, or simply trying to disprove the utility of rules and conventions in society at all, in various Major League parks this summer, you’re missing one of the truly great examples of ...
<i>Hard Knocks</i>: These magic tricks were more interesting than Aaron Rodgers or the Jets
A break from the Aaron Rodgers Variety Hour was needed at the start of the second episode of Hard Knocks. There is plenty of footage of him being chummy, playful, and even the passive-aggressive side of him that surely gets old with his coworkers after a while. The New York Jets and HBO viewing audi...
It’s time to get over it: LeBron James isn't the GOAT
It isn’t often that I agree with Stephen A. Smith. But this time, I must admit he’s right in his assessment of LeBron James and his camp. Smith appeared on Paul George’s Podcast P show and told a story about an interaction with James’ agent/business partner/friend, Rich Paul. SAS says Paul gives him...
Do you know just how bad the Colorado Rockies have been?
It’s a baseball axiom that the Colorado Rockies are clueless, helpless, directionless. They don’t have any stars, they don’t have any prospects, and they don’t have any idea how to get or produce either. Their ballpark presents a unique set of problems, but the Rockies are certainly not the organiza...
10 NFL teams everyone thinks will be good this season, but won't be
Every team had a great offseason. All those gaping, even-the-blind-can-see problems your favorite team had no longer exist. Here’s where a path to greatness starts. Of course for most, that won’t be true. The heavy hitters didn’t go away and until your favorite players get hit in the mouth, all the ...
Sage Steele paved the way for her own demise at ESPN
Typically when a longtime SportsCenter anchor decamps, it’s a solemn affair. Just two months ago, ESPN’s Neil Everett’s departure left his colleagues saddened. ESPN vets like Marty Smith, Scott Van Pelt and Stan Verrett were among the talent who publicly sang Everett’s praises....