ja Page 218 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Even without Ben Simmons, 76ers’ collapse shows why they need to trade Ben Simmons
The second game of the season is hardly time to panic, so the 76ers shouldn’t. They’ve got a really good team, the Ben Simmons drama will eventually work itself out with either a trade or a return to the lineup and eventual “but what about the playoffs?” storyline (that would grate on everyone until...

Dwight Howard in another Hollywood disaster? It’s too soon to tell, but yikes
If only the NBA season were the Colecovision game that the Lakers roster grew up playing, they could unplug it, and plug it back in....

You know how sneaky-annoying auto-renew can be? Well, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy loves it now
Mike Gundy’s new perpetually renewing contract at Oklahoma State is just another reminder that cancel culture does not exist, and especially does not exist for mediocre rich white men like Gundy....

Hear me out: Relax… Melvin Gordon should <em>still</em> be a thing in Denver’s offense
The Denver Broncos got embarrassed last night. The Broncos — who started the season 3-0, might I remind you — lost to the Browns’ practice squad offense. Yeah, I know Cleveland’s defense is solid, but come on. Case Keenum? D’Ernest Johnson? Those guys beat you?...

Turns out Oklahoma’s Heisman candidate was their backup QB all along!
This year’s Heisman race felt a lot like last year’s race early on, in that no one really dropped jaws instantly a la Lamar Jackson, Reggie Bush or Johnny Football. It will probably end up going to Bryce Young, just because Alabama will be 12-2/13-1 and his stats will be better than everyone else’s....

Trae Young feels disrespected — and that’s a good thing
The Atlanta Hawks blasted the Dallas Mavericks in their season opener, 113-87, with Trae Young racking up 14 assists and Deandre Hunter holding Luka to 18 points on almost as many attempts (17). Afterward, Young had a message for the haters:...

Seven things the Raiders could have done for Black people to atone for Gruden <i>besides</i> having Yolanda Adams & Grambling State’s band perform
The Raiders can’t do better because they don’t want to do better....

Ex-exec offers peek inside the high school nightmare that is the Mavericks’ front office
You always have to take the word of a former/disgruntled employee with a few grains of a salt and a shot of tequila (and a lime if that’s your thing), so when former Mavs front office exec Haralabos Voulgaris compares your franchise’s dysfunction to “high school drama,” it’s fair to be skeptical. Ye...

Joey Gallo is this generation’s Adam Dunn
Nothing against him, but New York Yankees outfielder Joey Gallo is irrelevant in Major League Baseball right this second. His team isn’t in the playoffs. He’s never played for any of the teams involved in either Championship Series. He’s at home watching the games from his couch, the same as you and...

The Tomahawk Chop is a shameful reminder of America’s continuing genocide against indigenous nations
It’s 2021. Only a single win away from the Word Series, the Atlanta Braves seem poised to take one of the most visible stages in American sports for the first time since 1999. If they do, 10 million people will be tuning in to their home games to see their majority white fanbase in their majority wh...

Dolphins must give Tua a real chance before staining franchise with Deshaun Watson trade
The Dolphins are 1-5 and very much not the team pundits and oddsmakers thought they would be (they need to go 9-2 the rest of the way to hit that 9.5 O/U win total). A large part of that is that second-year QB and alleged franchise savior Tua Tagovailoa hasn’t lived up to expectations....

Nick Rolovich would like everyone to know he feels very persecuted
Much to Washington State’s chagrin, their Nick Rolovich troubles aren’t over yet (and that doesn’t even count his 5-6 record with the Cougars). After Rolovich received several warnings from the Washington State University administration and athletic department that he would be removed as head coach ...

Warriors fire warning shot to NBA by laying smack down on Lakers
The NBA season officially began Tuesday night with a doubleheader, and in the main event, the hoops world was treated to a showdown between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers. One thing I took away from the season opener is what I’ve been saying all along. The Warriors will contend...

Turns out Jamal Adams wasn’t saying HE was the best in the nation
The most recent Sunday Night Football matchup featured the Russell Wilson-less Seahawks taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field. The game itself was nothing special as the Steelers managed to squeak by the injury-riddled Seahawks 23-20 in overtime. Aside from the weird fumble play that happ...

Bucks/Nets is still NBA’s best David vs. Goliath storyline these days… only David has a ring now
It was déjà vu in Milwaukee last night as the Bucks took on the Brooklyn Nets in their season opener — a team they had last faced in a Game 7 overtime thriller in the Eastern Conference Semifinals just a few months earlier. In that one, memorably, the Bucks were saved from a loss by none other than ...

Steve Bruce is still thinking about cabbage
Steve Bruce was managing at Aston Villa in the Championship, one level below the English Premier League, when a cabbage was thrown at him from the stands before a 3-3 draw against last-place Preston North End....

Daryl Morey — not Ben Simmons or Doc Rivers — should be getting the blame in Philadelphia
If there was a scouting report on Daryl Morey, under strengths it would read — “uncanny ability to never get blamed for creating disasters.”...

You always want a Laz Diaz show in a League Championship Series, amirite?
I’ll put it right here at the top when discussing the Astros 9-2 win in Game 4 over the Red Sox, because I’ve spent the latter half of my life having Red Sox fans yell at me in some sort of fashion anyway. The non-strike call Laz Diaz came up with on Jason Castro from Nathan Eovaldi’s curve in the n...

The Bills went for the win on Monday night, and don’t you dare judge them because it didn’t work out
The old saying, “playing not to lose, instead of playing to win,” was used in some of the most hypocritical ways in the past. It was used in football to shame teams that jump in the prevent defense too early, or run the ball three consecutive plays when leading at the end of a game to try and run ou...

Ben Simmons is going full James Harden, which you should never do if you don't actually shoot the ball
For those who saw clips from the Philadelphia 76ers practice on Monday, it would have been reasonable to draw the conclusion that guard/forward Ben Simmons didn’t want to be there. One picture showed him practicing with his phone in his sweatpants pocket, and in a viral clip he was dribbling a baske...