jim Page 31 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Ranking the 12 NFL head coaches hired straight from the Power 5 college ranks since 2000
Dear NFL GMs and owners, you may want to think twice about hiring a head coach straight outta the college ranks. While there have been success stories — Jimmy Johnson going from the U to Big D being the best example — that really hasn’t been the case in this millennium. Matt Rhule is the latest flop...

Lions need to fire Dan Campbell — because were he Black, he’d be gone already
It’s been said that the greatest trick that’s ever been pulled off is when the devil convinced people he didn’t exist. That honor should belong to the editors at HBO, because Hard Knocks had y’all fooled....

Can Danny Dimes ride Saquon’s coattails to a Giants postseason return?
The 2022 season was supposed to be about closure. Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones were the two talismans of the Dave Gettleman era who were on their way out. Instead, Barkley appears reenergized after missing countless starts over the past two seasons. Much to the chagrin of Giants fans, Brian Dabol...

Two takeaways from college football on Saturday
There wasn’t much surprising about the results from Saturday. Oklahoma continued its free fall, getting shut out by Texas, 49-0. Even though Jimbo Fisher gave Nick Saban a game in Bryce Young’s absence, the Crimson Tide pulled through. None of the top 10 lost despite Oklahoma State playing with its ...

There’s a reason Mike Leach’s quarterbacks have never cost him his job
The next time a pundit says “Missing on such-and-such QB cost coach X his job” will be my next visit to the psych ward. You know why Spencer Rattler didn’t cost Lincoln Riley his job, and Paul Chryst couldn’t survive Graham Mertz? One looks at a chalkboard as a place to draw plays, and the other see...

Jim Harbaugh and Jimbo Fisher are kindred spirits
Jim Harbaugh and Jimbo Fisher are two identical strangers on similar paths. Both were top-notch quarterback gurus who haven’t been able to find a consistent spark behind center. This season, Texas A&M is on its second quarterback while Harbaugh has been deploying a platoon system featuring J.J. McCa...

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar should be upset with Kyrie Irving — but where was this energy for Jim Brown?
Kyrie Irving’s antics are infuriating. But, so were Jim Brown’s. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar seems only to be irritated by one of them. And that’s the problem....

Bobby Wagner joined an elite group on Monday: The ‘athletes who have pounced on fans for invading the field’ club
Several memorable plays were made during the San Francisco 49ers’ 24-9 victory against the Los Angeles Rams on Monday. There was Deebo Samuel’s back shoulder catch that he turned into a 50-plus yard touchdown, as well as Jeff Wilson Jr.’s touchdown run that first gave the 49ers the lead....

These 10 modern-day players’ primes were squandered by inept teams
Mike Trout is the tree that falls in the forest every September. He might as well exist in the cold, vacuum of space. If there’s any evidence that sports are raw and unscripted, it’s Trout’s annual storyline. His slow fade from public consciousness as the playoffs creep closer is in stark contrast t...

Micah Parsons declares Dallas Cowboys’ ‘Doomsday Defense’ is back
The Dallas Cowboys are playing the best defensive football we’ve seen from them in quite some time. Last year the defense was good at creating turnovers, but this season they’re barely giving up anything to opposing offenses. Comparisons to past Cowboys defenses are beginning to emerge, and one pers...

Dave Aranda and Matt Campbell are a few clones away from being billionaires
College football programs are racing to fire their coaches so they can perfect that desperate vibe in an attempt to attract a new hire. You know which desperate vibe I’m talking about. It’s the one that single people are allergic to, the one that says, “I’m lonely and have gone through way too much ...

Set your DVR when Deebo Samuel and Talanoa Hufanga are playing
In the fall of 1994, Michael Jordan was still away from the NBA and the World Series was canceled. For a young Chicago Bulls and White Sox fan, there wasn’t much to look forward to in sports, especially with Horace Grant having just signed with the Orlando Magic in free agency....

Antonio Inoki leaves behind a legacy that rivals any in combat sports
There’s not an athlete in combat-sports history with a bigger influence than Antonio Inoki. How many other professional wrestlers have a common opponent in Superman? Inoki is one degree of separation from Clark Kent because of his 1976 fight against Muhammad Ali, then the WBC and WBA heavyweight cha...

Top 5 potential landing spots for Saquon Barkley
New York Giants halfback Saquon Barkley is in the final year of his rookie contract. In that time, he’s won a Rookie of the Year Award, had two 1,000-yard rushing seasons, and...scored just four times in the last two-plus years due to injuries....

Golden State’s Draymond Green diversifies his portfolio buying Major League Pickleball team
The 2022 NBA season is just about upon, with media day happening earlier this week and the first preseason games scheduled for the weekend featuring the defending champion, Golden State Warriors, and the Washington Wizards in Japan. As for Warriors’ All-Star forward Draymond Green, he’s got plenty o...

Dick Butkus: Comedy icon
When the NFL’s 100 Greatest Players of All Time list was assembled back in 2010, legendary Chicago Bears middle linebacker Dick Butkus was voted 10th by the panel. He was presented by longtime Indianapolis Colts offensive line coach Howard Mudd. A story he told about Butkus pretty much sums up the l...

One, two, three … balks, you’re out?
Is Marlins’ reliever Richard Bleier the first Jewish pitcher to be called for a balk on Rosh Hashanah? I don’t know. What is a stone-cold fact is coming into Tuesday’s game against the Mets, Bleier had made 572 professional baseball appearances over the course of 15 years — never in his seven big le...

Remember The Vet? MetLife Stadium is garnering the same reputation
Some of you out there remember what used to be unanimously known as the worst venue in major North American professional sports, Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Eagles and Phillies shared that facility for more than 20 years....

The NFL’s bottom five QBs of Week 3
Each week of the NFL season, we watch some fantastic quarterback performances. Then we have those that make us cringe. For every great QB outing, there are five others that make even the most diehard fan want to puke....

The Dallas Cowboys’ offense isn’t great, but they still have Micah Parsons on Monday Night Football
The Dallas Cowboys enter their Monday Night Football matchup with rival New York Giants feeling good, after what some called an upset win last week over the Cincinnati Bengals. But of course, since this is Dallas and Jerry Jones, there’s always some kind of controversy surrounding America’s Team....