it Page 459 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Draymond Green’s chasing that farewell contract, but do the Warriors love him like that?
In the aftermath of Golden State’s 2022 NBA title, the expectation was that the Warriors and billionaire owner Joe Lacob’s Midas Touch would continue forever. While reporting on Golden State’s $171 million luxury tax bill, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst referred to its championship as a checkbook win. That ...

Get your torches and pitchforks ready, it’s time for Bengals slander
The Cincinnati Bengals were every analyst’s nightmare last season. Nobody expected them to win the AFC North. They did. Nobody expected them to reach the Super Bowl. They did. Now, in 2022, everyone is expecting similar results, maybe not another Super Bowl appearance, but at least 10 wins and a pla...

Decoldest Crawford is here to help beat to summer heat
As much as I want to yell at colleges, “This is your responsibility!” every time a student-athlete gets a NIL deal, I occasionally get distracted by how perfect the partnership is. Whether it’s an unheralded Kansas fullback turning a game-winning two-point conversion into an Applebee’s eating spree,...

The best sports calls of the 21st century
Is there anything that defines a moment in sports history quite like the announcers’ call over the sounds of a raucous crowd and a celebrating team (and your own sobs)? Do you believe in miracles, the band is on the field, the Giants win the pennant, pretty much anything Jack Buck ever said — they’r...

Vaxxed, unvaxxed, going to be vaxxed — it doesn’t matter anymore to the Yankees (or any team really)
Whatever wink, wink, nod, nod, jab, jab agreement Andrew Benintendi has with the Yankees, his vaccination status wasn’t discussed in the trade talks that ended with him in pinstripes, if the verified tweeters are to be believed. Other verifieds are alleging that the left fielder is willing to get th...

Is this the beginning of the end of Brittney Griner’s detainment?
From the beginning, Brittney Griner’s status has been the most unique American hostage situation in modern history. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, her celebrity status, and her identity as a Black lesbian woman have heightened the urge to get her home as quickly as possible in a wartime climate th...

Moving to a 16-team College Football Playoff isn’t easy — but may very well happen
“Sixteen just seems to be out there,” Gene Smith, Ohio State’s athletic director, said at the Big Ten media days. “You can’t ignore it.”...

Biden approves prisoner swap in attempt to bring Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan home
Brittney Griner has been detained in a Russian prison since her arrest in February of this year, while simultaneously existing in limbo as negotiations have taken place to free her. As Griner’s high-profile trial has played out in public view, the negotiations to end her Russian captivity have progr...

The Dodgers will be buyers at the deadline — here’s who they should target
The Dodgers have a few glaring holes on their roster....

Texas Rangers could (eventually) have two top-of-the-line starters in their rotation
Finally, the Texas Rangers’ front office is attempting to position the franchise out of American League irrelevance. The team hasn’t won a postseason game since 2015 and, in the seven years since, Texas has tried to revamp its roster multiple times with players like Ian Desmond, Mike Napoli — eligib...

NFL reminds Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and Kyler Murray that, despite being QB1s, they’re still second-class citizens
During the spring of 2019, New York Giants’ former general manager Dave Gettleman made a declaration during the pre-draft process after falling in love with a certain prospect. “After the three series I watched, I saw a professional quarterback. So that’s when I was in full-blown love,” he said abou...

BIG Conference needs to ask itself some BIG questions before proceeding
College football is changing faster than it can handle. There are no playbooks or 100-level courses for what’s next in the sport. It feels like when I took a journalism business class after the Recession, and the professor was asking the students for suggestions. ...

Let’s talk about this horrendous 2023 MLB Hall of Fame class
The 2022 Hall of Fame class was loaded. When Jimmy Rollins, Tim Hudson, and Prince Fielder are some of the low-end first-years, and two of them don’t even receive five percent of the vote, you know it’s an insane class. Between Álex Rodríguez, David Ortiz, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens, 2022 was on...

Mike Sando’s QB tier list saved all its heat for Black QBs
Top 10 NFL lists are typically there to incite a reaction. But Mike Sando’s 2022 QB Tiers List thwacks you upside the head over and over. The exclusion of Lamar Jackson from quarterback top 10 lists this offseason is standard operating protocol, but the disdain for the league’s top black quarterback...

Cardinals give Kyler Murray a homework ultimatum
Kyler Murray has found himself in detention — or, at least, the NFL’s version of it. As details of his new $230 million contract extension with the Arizona Cardinals come out, the rockiness of his offseason relationship with the team suddenly makes a whole lot more sense. ...

Retirement? We all know Vince McMahon didn’t leave WWE of his own volition
Stop calling it a retirement. Without the details of alleged hush payments skyrocketing well beyond $12 million to keep various women quiet, now-former WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon would still be in unquestioned power. He didn’t leave his post of 40 years unprovoked or out of humility to trans...

Our Conference Mock Draft: Big Ten Edition
Welcome to the new Big Ten! As a lifelong Midwesterner, I have a certain fondness for the conference, and I wanted to preserve some major rivalries while keeping an open mind for expansion to new markets....

Our Conference Mock Draft: ACC Edition
This new ACC is all about the show. We kept a couple of rivalries but our main goal is to entertain you. There are Hurricanes, Badgers, three different Tigers, and some of the most annoying people on the planet wearing their stupid scarlet. So lean back in your drop top, and turn on the 8 Ball & MJG...

Our Conference Mock Draft: Big 12 Edition
Nostalgia doesn’t fix everything. Looking at a photo of your ex won’t bring them back. They’re likely off with Claude, galavanting around the South of France....

Our Conference Mock Draft: Pac-12 Edition
Picking in the middle of the rounds made strategizing to keep rivals together a challenge, but we’ve got the finances to thrive once we’re inevitably forced to categorize student-athletes as employees....