it Page 559 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

From the College Football Playoff to the Super Bowl — Cincinnati is the capital city of football. Huh?
When they said that “on any given Sunday (or Saturday) any team can beat any other team,” I’m guessing they weren’t talking about football teams from Cincinnati winning games that would put them on the sport’s biggest stages. ...

For a moment, it actually felt like L.A. was all in on the Rams
LOS ANGELES — It took a few hours, but a roar finally bellowed out in the sports bar following Aaron Donald’s forced interception of Jimmy Garappolo. A noise level that for most of the game didn’t exceed the level of a drunk birthday party group in the back of a restaurant. The moment Donald envelop...

It’s the ones he didn’t make
This probably won’t apply if Tom Brady is doing all this for the attention and doesn’t actually retire. Quarterbacks have a habit of doing that. Brett Favre. Aaron Rodgers. Or maybe it’s just a Packers thing. Still, when you’re the centerpiece of a league that’s the centerpiece of the sporting consc...

A San Francisco 49ers win would give us something rarely seen in the Super Bowl: a rematch
We’re down to the final four teams left in the NFL postseason, and Championship Sunday is upon us. In the 56-year history of the Super Bowl, we’ve had seven rematches. That’s about 12.5% of the games being played between franchises that previously met on the big stage. This year there is an excellen...

Conference Championship NFL Betting Primer: Best Over/Under, Spread, Teaser and Prop Bets
Not many days out of the 365 we are given each trip around the sun can match the excitement of Championship Sunday. ...

Tom Brady’s legend will last a lifetime
We’ll see when Tom Brady’s career is actually over, but his name will be part of the conversation in the NFL for decades to come. There’s plenty of room to debate about the greatest of all time, and there’s plenty of time to have that debate, but there’s no question at all that Brady leaves the game...

Brian Kelly dances down the recruiting trail
Danny Lewis, a tight end from New Iberia, La., had been ticketed for Cincinnati, but decommitted from the Bearcats earlier this month. Reopening his recruiting process, Lewis visited Alabama last week, and got some photos of himself all decked out in a Crimson Tide uniform. Neat! Seems like a fun ti...

Vikings would be a Super opportunity for Jim Harbaugh
The idea of Jim Harbaugh returning to the NFL has seemed like a leverage play since the rumor started floating around, shortly after Michigan’s loss to eventual national champion Georgia in the Orange Bowl....

Joe Burrow and Matthew Stafford are giving me déjà vu of Super Bowl L
I know neither the Rams nor Bengals have punched their way into the Super Bowl yet, but just look at what would be happening if both teams won on Sunday....

Mike MacDonald, Michigan exchange student, heads back to the NFL
John Harbaugh let Jim have a little Mike MacDonald — as a treat. But after a successful one-year loaner program that I have to assume is kind of like studying abroad for NFL position coaches into the weird, wonderful land of college football, MacDonald has been brought back to the Ravens as the prog...

Reid-Mahomes' run reminiscent of Belichick-Brady
It’s a remarkable reference point of consistency that the Kansas City Chiefs will host their fourth straight conference championship game Sunday, this time trying to stave off the resurgent Cincinnati Bengals en route to a third straight Super Bowl appearance. ...

Freshman golfer J.R. Smith is seeking an NIL deal
The J.R. Smith undergrad Twitter chronicles have been a delightful highlight of the past few months. The 15-year NBA veteran was drafted straight out of high school in 2004, and after retiring from basketball, decided to get his degree at North Carolina A&T, the largest HBCU in the country. He also ...

The lower 28
There are 28 NFL teams not playing this weekend, which means there are 28 teams trying to figure out how to get to where they want to go: the Super Bowl. Some, naturally, have better ideas about it than others....

<i>My time in Permian Panthers country</i>
I didn’t know how I was going to feel eight months out of college packing up everything I own, shoving it into my midsize sedan, and moving nearly two time zones away from the East Coast for the first time. But I knew for growth personally and professionally, I needed to feel it....

TNT looks to keep legacy of teetering on the edge with signing of Barkley 2.0: Draymond Green
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green really tapped into something a couple of years ago during his war of words with Hall of Famer and TNT analyst Charles Barkley. Turner Sports was so impressed with Green’s brash opinionated style that they struck up a relationship, and now it’s been announ...

Kansas City has its own version of the ‘Super Bowl Shuffle’ and it’s… something
This Kansas City Chiefs team is already legendary. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Co. led by Andy Reid, will never have to buy a plate of Jack Stack in K.C. again. I personally know way too many Chiefs fans, so it’s nice to see them not have to pretend Elvis Grbac, Alex Smith, or Trent Green were...

Gronk only pawn in game of life
When Rob Gronkowski finally decides to retire for good, he will do so as one of the greatest tight ends ever to play the game. To some, he’s already the GOAT at his position, and has been for several years at this point. Gronk, who has already retired from football once, was on TMZ recently, and the...

Jeff Garcia goes after Mina Kimes in rant straight out of 1995
I thought we, as a sports community, were moving away from the “You didn’t play the game so you can’t comment on it,” way of thought. Maybe that’s just my echo chamber that doesn’t include a voice like former NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia....

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...

Try shooting free throws with THIS in the background
Concentration is key to performing at peak potential in sports. When shooting free throws, many players have rituals they undergo before attempting their shot. Steve Nash is one of the greatest free throw shooters of all-time — posting a career percentage of 90.43 percent. His ritual consisted of mi...