mat Page 19 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The Leafs sign Ryan Reaves, solving a problem they don't have
At least the Toronto Maple Leafs never disappoint. At least anyone who isn’t a Maple Leafs fan, that is....
ESPN’s studio show format made its talent expendable
After weeks of speculation and rumors, ESPN gave us its own version of Black Monday, letting loose around 20 highly visible, and in a few cases, staple personalities Friday. Jeff Van Gundy, Suzy Kolber, Jalen Rose, Keyshawn Johnson, Matt Hasselback, Todd McShay, Max Kellerman, Steve Young, and LaPho...
USMNT striker Jesús Ferreira is best against crappy teams
The surest bet for the United States men’s national team to score a goal is Jesús Ferreira against a shitty team. The FC Dallas striker has padded stats that look much more impressive than they are. In 20 appearances for the Yanks, Ferreira has 11 goals. He became the 29th American to score 10 or mo...
Taurean Prince finds out about own free agency from Woj tweet
Adrian Wojnarowski’s sources inside front offices might be a little too eager to share with him. ...
We have a new Michael Jordan gambling-related conspiracy theory
Michael Jordan’s sale of his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets to Melvin Capital founder Gabe Plotkin prompted a new strain of conspiracy theories pertaining to the relationship between MJ’s purported half-billion dollars in stock losses due to the GameStop meme-stock short squeeze in January ...
NHL Draft: Who is going to take hockey's Sidd Finch?
The NHL Draft, which takes place tonight and tomorrow, isn’t quite the NFL Draft. Most of the players taken won’t show up for a season or two with their NHL teams. It’s also not the MLB draft, where it’ll be a long time either and everyone spends those middle years going off Twitter videos from vari...
Notorious cheater Lance Armstrong has some thoughts on fairness in sports
Lance Armstong, a cisgender man and notorious cheater with, as far as I can tell, no training in anything related to endocrinology, biology, or gender-affirming care, has some thoughts on the fairness of transgender women competing in women’s sports. On a related note, irony died today....
College basketball is still the best route to the NBA, but maybe not for the stars
Of the 58 players selected in the 2023 NBA Draft, 46 went the traditional route: They played collegiately. NBA teams have drafted a handful of players outside of that pathway for years, especially in the second round. Nearly 80 percent of players selected coming through the college ranks might appea...
It’s getting a little late a little early for the San Diego Padres
One of the many things about the expanded playoffs in MLB is that a team doesn’t have to be good for six months. Or really even three. Put two good months together and a team can probably Forrest Gump their way into the dance. It’s what the Phillies did last year, after all. That’s what the San Dieg...
The USWNT better not have any centerbacks get hurt
We wondered out the USWNT would heading into the World Cup without Becky Sauerbrunn. The starting lineup should be ok, but how would Vlakto Andonovski answer the question of the eroded depth without the captain around? It would appear he’s decided to not answer it at all. ...
The Cincinnati Reds are in first place, but they’re not there yet, and their owner still sucks
Given where the NL Central is, and where their various teams are in their “processes,” it’s not really a huge shock that the first part of the season was the Pittsburgh Pirates burning hot for a bit, fizzling out, and now a new, young, rebuilding team can rise to the top for a while and see what lif...
The New York Yankees are running out of numbers to issue
The New York Yankees have a long, storied history, with 45 players being inducted into the Hall of Fame. The Bronx Bombers have also retired the numbers of their greats — players and managers, including some that aren’t in Cooperstown. All in all, the Yankees have retired 22 numbers — including from...
Michael Jordan failed as Charlotte Hornets owner
It turns out he is human. With Michael Jordan completing his sale of the Charlotte Hornets on Friday, his report card as the majority owner of the team can officially be stamped with a big, red “FAIL.”That said, MJ’s biggest flaw wasn’t draft history, or front office acumen, it was the choice of fra...
Deion Sanders has lofty football goals — and a potential foot amputation on the horizon
Despite the limited amount of time it’s been since Deion Sanders became a college football head coach, it feels a lot longer — and weeks like this last one are why. “Coach Prime” has been in the news not once, but twice. The former is trivial, the latter is not....
Antonio Brown's disastrous Albany Empire tenure predictably gets worse
It appears that Antonio Brown won’t be suiting up with the Albany Empire this season after the National Arena League terminated his squad’s membership agreement. ...
The NHL Playoffs have turned players from heroic to selfish
It’s now an NHL playoffs tradition right up there with the handshake line. Right after a team is eliminated, usually starting with the second round, and beyond, the losing team’s coach or beat reporters or both will start to announce what injuries various players had been carrying throughout the spr...
US Open pits the face of the PGA against one of LIV's top blood money takers
The merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf Tour doesn’t have to wait long to see some corporate synergy, as one of the PGA’s four major tournaments, the US Open, tees off this week in California. Possibly the biggest cash cow on each side of the debate won’t have to wait long to get reacquainted w...
The United States men’s national team’s Gold Cup squad lacks stars, serves better long-term purpose
It’s clear by interim United States men’s national team head coach B.J. Callaghan’s 23-man roster for this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup that winning the tournament isn’t the only priority. How else do you explain giving players like Christian Pulisic a pass? It’s not a break as he barely played at Che...
Don’t worry folks, the St. Louis Cardinals still suck
We’ll get the “motherfuck” possibilities out of the way at the top, and perhaps immediately speaking to them will hold them off for a little while longer. But they will happen. 1. The NL Central is complete clown-shoes, and no matter how bad the St. Louis Cardinals play they’ll never be out of it. 2...