ii Page 31 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

America’s Olympic biathlon podium drought continues
The US came extremely close to a podium spot in the only Winter Olympic discipline they’ve never medaled in: The biathlon. I’m not an expert on the sport, I’m only pretending to be after watching a couple hours of competition, but when I heard the announcers say we’ve never even medaled in the biath...

Super Bowl trivia: Which QB won the same year his alma mater won the national title?
Q: When was the only time that a quarterback won the Super Bowl in the same year that his alma mater won college’s national title?...

These are the best Super Bowl halftime shows of all time
It’s hard to know whether the ads or the halftime show has become the bigger attraction of the Super Bowl. It feels like the combination of the two has made the game ancillary. Certainly, nothing exemplifies the bombast and ridiculousness of the occasion more than the halftime show, with a two-hour ...

Guess what Ben Simmons? You proved Shaq’s point
Philadelphia 76ers’ guard Ben Simmons has not played a single game all season. Why? He wants to be traded. Why? Because after an abysmal 2021 postseason that saw Simmons shoot 34.2 percent from the free throw line before getting bounced by the Atlanta Hawks in the second round, Simmons rightfully re...

Tennis is having the goldenest of all Golden Ages
It’s strange how normalized greatness is during something’s golden age. If you look at music for example, hip-hop peaked in the ’90s for a lot of people like classic rock did in the ’60s and ’70s. However, even when 2Pac and Biggie were at the apex, rappers like Nas and Jay-Z weren’t in the picture ...

Ben Simmons is reportedly still mad at Joel Embiid for last season
It’s unfortunate that it came to this in Philadelphia....

The road to the next title keeps getting tougher for Pat Mahomes and Co.
I’ll admit it. I jumped the gun. The overwhelming reaction to the Chiefs victory over Buffalo in the AFC Divisional Round had me thinking of a much bigger picture than I should have. It’s a fact that at their best, Kansas City can beat anyone because when it’s clicking, no one slows down Patrick Mah...

What was the fastest score in Super Bowl history?
The fastest score can be looked at two ways. Either by number of plays or time taken off the clock. In Super Bowl XLI, Bears speedster Devin Hester scored on the opening kickoff, speeding from one end of the field to the other in 14 seconds. One play, one score....

No Ben Simmons, no problem: Joel Embiid is carrying Philly on his shoulders like a backpack
Unless you live in Philly, most of you probably haven’t paid much attention to the 76ers over the past four to six weeks. Philadelphia has been on quite the roll, winning 16 of their last 20 games since having their Dec. 19 game postponed against the New Orleans Pelicans due to COVID-19. Philly had ...

Who kicked the shortest field goal in Super Bowl history?
You can’t kick a 9-yard field goal anymore, but two players did it. Jim Turner kicked one for the Jets in Super Bowl III, having already made kicks from 32 and 30, and Mike Clark did as well in Super Bowl VI....

The only team to not punt in an entire Super Bowl
The New England Patriots in a Super Bowl LII loss to the Eagles....

What was the shortest touchdown play in Super Bowl history?
Terry Brown and Derrick Jensen share this record, both on blocked punts that were recovered in the end zone. So the answer is 0 yards....

What was the closest Super Bowl final score?
In Super Bowl XXV, Bills kicker Scott Norwood lined up a 47-yard field goal with the hopes of giving Buffalo its first Super Bowl title. With the score 20-19, the Giants held a slim one-point lead....

Rafa Nadal had just enough
Whether Rafa Nadal likes it or not, and he probably doesn’t mind because he seems an amiable sort, he’ll be more closely linked to Roger Federer than Novak Djokovic. It was Federer who was unchallenged for years until Rafa built a base on clay, and then slowly ate into his advantages on grass (beat ...

International athletes to watch at this year’s Winter Games
Finding noteworthy athletes from the rest of the world might still be easier than cherry picking from the America tree, but it’s harder to decide which multi-medalist athlete or teenage phenom to leave off the list. I tried to get a nice mix of both, but there are quite a few times when I simply had...

These skiers, snowboarders, curlers, and skaters will have you chanting ‘U-S-A!’
Yes! The Winter Olympics are here, and I’m not going to be sitting at a copy desk in a Colorado ski town awaiting results from halfway around the world this time. I don’t know what to be happier about: My work inbox being free of Olympic coverage plans, or my knowledge of skiers, snowboarders, cross...

Don’t fumble the bag
Just like a loose ball, when the bag is in reach, you dive headfirst for it. Every summer, a handful of teams, big and small markets, choose to resign, extend, or offer big money to one of their rising players. Sometimes it works out. Other times, you’re stuck with Kevin Love. Although kudos to Love...

Now Daryl Morey thinks he can land Harden in the offseason? Just make a trade already, man!
Daryl Morey is really trying to apply that “shoot for the moon, if you miss you’ll land among the stars,” saying to his attempts at a Ben Simmons trade. Actually, knowing what we know about Morey he would probably debunk that saying with the explanation, “the stars are actually light years farther a...

FIFA president claims biannual World Cup will solve immigration, poverty, and maybe mortality?
Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, is still campaigning for his biannual World Cup, a mythic destiny/personal quest to bathe the organization’s execs in even more cash, gold, and swag bags. However, you can’t campaign for this ridiculousness on the platform that it will make the rich even rich...

Difficult Super Bowl Trivia: Part 3
Last year’s Super Bowl, a 31-9 win for the Buccaneers over Kansas City, was the first time in five years that the Big Game was decided by two or more touchdowns. It was easy to forget a lot of what happened as soon as the game ended, but if you’re a trivia buff, you know that every moment in a Super...