ew Page 1903 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

5 surprising NBA rookies you need to know about
As Paolo Banchero begins to run away with the Rookie of the Year award, there are still hidden gems and surprise showings by first-year players selected outside the top 10. We have highlighted which ones have been the biggest surprises thus far and project comps for their young career....

Did Qatar even want the World Cup?
The small Middle Eastern country — known for its poor human rights record — is the World Cup host, but did Qatar actually WANT it to begin with? Whichever government officials were responsible for bringing the world’s biggest sporting event to their country must’ve wanted it enough to take the initi...

Tom Thibodeau, Tony Soprano, and the New York Knicks
Almost a year ago, I contemplated the soul of Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, searching for answers to his most pressing coaching quandaries. Humans are prone to making connections, comparing and contrasting, to make sense of the chaos around us. In the world of the NBA, Thibodeau shares much of th...

Sean Payton is haunting coaches on the hot seat
It’s rare to read scuttlebutt about which job a coach wants. The job market for unemployed coaches typically works the other way around. Jobs open up, a slew of coaching candidates cram into the interview lobby. Sean Payton is in a unique position where he can call the shots. ...

Even Ryan Leaf has Jets jokes for ‘Mormon Ryan Leaf’
Jets fans have not had a good week. As Al Michaels once so elegantly put it, “They’ve had a worse week than Harvey Weinstein.” ...

Planes, trains, and a running game
A couple’s ability to get along when they’re marooned away from home due to travel issues is an indication of the strength (or weakness) of their bond. External turmoil forges or breaks a relationship, and this hastily written analogy is where the Bills are at as a team and in real life. ...

This week in obnoxious athlete entitlement
Nearly 10 years after the ButtFumble, a next-generation Jets quarterback is fumbling his job away and coming across like a buttface in the process. There was no escape for the Jets quarterback on Sunday or afterward. Based on reports from Jets insiders such as Rich Cimini, the Jets’ fractured locker...

Can’t get no respect
If the playoffs were starting right now, the New England Patriots would be the AFC’s sixth seed. They’d get an opening-round matchup with the Tennessee Titans, followed by a likely road gig against the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s a tough path in the already daunting American Football Conference. That s...

World Cup Daily Diary Day 3: Whoops!
Saudi Arabia manager Herve Renard might be the most handsome manager at this tournament, and he certainly didn’t have a problem taking a page from another handsome manager, Jose Mourinho. If you recall the cold war that Barcelona and Real Madrid had when Mourinho was at the helm at the Bernabeu, th...

The biggest World Cup upsets of all time
As Saudi Arabia shocked the globe by defeating Lionel Messi and World Cup favorites Argentina on Tuesday, it provided the most recent example of a tremendous upset victory at the quadrennial showcase. Argentina was No. 3 in the FIFA rankings and Saudi Arabia was the second-lowest ranked team to play...

Hey, Bill Belichick, we told you so
Remember when photos of a shredded Mac Jones circulated before the season? Patriots fans were so hyped by the Mac-churian Candidate’s transformation that they gave him a standing ovation the first time he ran out on the field in training camp. ...

Messi, who? World Cup favorites Argentina suffers shocking upset to Saudi Arabia
Most American soccer fans went to bed Monday night ready to skip Tuesday’s opening game. Better to get some sleep than watch a blowout when Argentina is going to be in the tournament for a while right? Saudi Arabia entered Group C’s opening match as a +1800 underdog (per BetMGM odds) to win and gave...

Maybe Jimmy G throwing touchdown passes is part of a winning formula
It has been a while since Jimmy Garoppolo threw four touchdown passes in a single game. The last time was Dec. 8, 2019. That day, Garoppolo went toe to toe with Drew Brees, and won 48-46 at the Superdome. That was the game that changed the minds of many who did not believe that Garoppolo could lead ...

The best from the start
There’s an old hockey axiom that any young defenseman needs 200 games in the NHL to come into his own. Unlike most of the sport’s theories, which are usually grizzled old horseshit that everyone has just gone along with out of terror for ever rocking the boat in any way, it holds some water. It’s a ...

Week 11 NFL Powerless Ranking: The champ is here!
It’s time to check in on the teams that can’t get out of their own way. We’re halfway through the 2022 NFL season, and much of it has been unpredictable, but there are always a few teams we expect to disappoint their fanbases. Now let’s get into the powerless ranking for Week 11....

Jaylen Brown confusing Black Hebrew Israelites for Omega Psi Phi is a bigger issue than he realizes
There’s an old African-American proverb that perfectly describes Jaylen Brown, it goes like this: “You all in the Kool-Aid and you don’t even know what flavor it is.”...

The truth about Zach Wilson is becoming clear
The subterranean arc of Zach Wilson’s career hit a new low in New York’s 10-3 loss to the New England Patriots. For 59 minutes and 30 seconds, the Jets’ defense surrendered only one field goal against the New England Patriots. However, punt returner Marcus Jones’ game-winning punt return in the wani...

Jamie Hayter, Toni Storm, and finding the snap
The main conclusion of AEW’s Full Gear PPV on Saturday night is that the company is ready to move into a different time, headed by some of the younger guys on its roster. Two of its “pillars” bookended the show, as Jungle Boy Jack Perry (he may just be Jack Perry now) opened the event with a killer ...

AFC West was on full display on Sunday
The Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers showed on Sunday why the AFC West was a popular preseason pick to be the best division in the NFL....

A few thoughts on the start of 2022 World Cup
While the World Cup started yesterday, it doesn’t really kick off until today. The World Cup, for fans, is about the NCAA tournament-type feel of multiple games every day, and there are three today and four per for the next couple of weeks. That’s the real tournament. If we didn’t all feel weird eno...