mat Page 27 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

2023 Baseball Hall of Fame voting results fallout
Unlike most sports’ Hall of Fame votes nowadays, the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame voting process has been the subject of much analysis, scrutiny, and often ridicule in recent years. There isn’t another major sport with so much elitism that all-time great players aren’t offered immortality via ...

I need a ruling on how we’re supposed to feel about Bronny James
Despite being the only prospect outside of the top 23 that made the McDonald’s All-American team, Bronny James is the game’s headliner. The 34th-ranked recruit in 2023 is getting a dramatically larger brand bump from his last name than Arch Manning, and I don’t know whether to be outraged or sympath...

National football powerhouse Mater Dei is trying to make assault allegations disappear
In November, Mater Dei High School in Orange County, Calif. lost its first football game since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Bryce Young’s high-school program was defeated by St. John Bosco, 24-22, at the Rose Bowl in the Southern Section Division I Championship Game. There’s no shame for high schoo...

Where's the outrage about the rest of the NBC NFL crew?
Ever since NBC NFL analyst Tony Dungy tweeted out a common right-wing, anti-trans, completely-debunked talking point, much of sports media has been focused on Dungy’s history of aligning himself with anti-LGBT+ individuals and organizations. And rightly so. I myself was so outraged by Dungy’s transp...

Pair of NHL brothers face off for first time, share penalty box minutes
The Joseph family had a memorable Friday night as P.O. Joseph of the Pittsburgh Penguins and brother Mathieu Joseph, playing for the Ottawa Senators, faced off for the first time as NHL players. Mom and dad were in the stands for the game for the occasion, and as only brothers can do, got put in tim...

Wide Right: The biggest missed kicks in NFL playoff history
About halfway through the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Wild Card game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars, Chargers’ kicker Cameron Dicker missed a seemingly insignificant field goal wide left. No matter though. The Chargers were up 10, and with so little time, three points wou...

Will this year's MVP also win the Super Bowl?
Patrick Mahomes. Joe Burrow. Jalen Hurts. Josh Allen. One of these four quarterbacks has a chance to do something that hasn’t been done in 23 years — win the MVP and the Super Bowl in the same year....

Maybe Byron Leftwich should have taken that Jacksonville Jaguars' job
Not long ago, former NFL QB Byron Leftwich was a hot-shot coaching candidate du jour. Last offseason, the moribund Jacksonville Jaguars — the team that drafted him — in particular, were ready to go all in on Leftwich as their next head coach....

Brett Maher won't miss his kicks this Sunday
Dallas Cowboys kicker Brett “The Triple Threat” Maher was anything but automatic during PATs during last Monday’s Wild Card Round victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That was the first Cowboys’ playoff road win since 1992, but Maher certainly didn’t help. He went 1-for-5 on PAT attempts, with zer...

Andy Murray can’t help himself
Andy Murray must really love tennis. At least he’d better, considering what he puts himself through every match in the past few years and over his whole career. It’s like he can’t get off the court when there have definitely been times he should get off the court, both in making his wins easier and ...

How enticing are each of the offensive coordinator openings?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich. Leftwich just finished up his fourth season as Tampa’s OC, having reached the playoffs each of the last three seasons — or every season with Tom Brady at quarterback. However, despite the playoff berth, 2022 was hard to watch. The ...

Here are our NHL midseason awards
Handing out awards in the middle of the season is always a little silly, because just about anyone can spasm 40 games of brilliance. But hey, we’re here to be silly! So it feels like a great time to go over the first half of the NHL season and see who is the leader in the clubhouse for the baubles h...

There is no circumstance where Brian Daboll wins Coach of the Year
The biggest lies in human history are as follows: ...

A compilation of the most notorious con artists in sports
George Santos, Anthony Devolder, or whatever identity he’s assumed by the time this is published, pulled off one of the most daring cons in U.S. history during the midterm election cycle. In an era of con artists exploring extreme lengths to swindle their way into office, Santos faking a resume, spe...

Napoli are Showtime
While Arsenal have gobbled up most of the world’s oxygen in the “came from nowhere to lead the league” category, there’s another team in Europe that’s outside the usual cast of characters that is destroying the competition. And while Arsenal may be a joy to watch, they’ve got nothing on S.S.C. Napol...

UFC's Dana White is already back to his usual antics
It didn’t take long for Dana White to get back to business as usual....

Ron DeSantis is going full Florida Man on NHL diversity job fair
Florida governor Ron DeSantis’ obsession with anything that is of interest to minorities or marginalized groups has gone past disturbing. In his worldview, the only discrimination that matters is anything that benefits disadvantaged communities. The newest target of his anti-woke diatribes is the NH...

Do ex-ESPN employees suing Disney over 2021 vaccine mandates have a legit case?
Two former ESPN employees, reporter Allison Williams and producer Beth Faber, are suing the Worldwide Leader. Usually, when something like this happens, there’s some salacious accusation at its core. However, some lawsuits are so frivolous they’re clearly a cry for attention....

Sportsbooks will find a way to avoid paying out, won't they?
You know what’s more impressive than surpassing your season expectations? How about surpassing them with one fewer game than the rest of the league? Prior to the current NFL season, most sportsbooks listed the Bengals projected win total at 9.5, while the Bills were listed at 11.5. They ended the se...

Chris Ballard, Paul Riley blame cancel culture for self-manufactured problems
There’s an increasing trend of people in power, mostly white men, using cancel culture as a rallying cry to garner support for whatever their cause may be. Indianapolis Colts GM Chris Ballard said he didn’t want to be “canceled” because he “failed” the organization, and banned NWSL coach Paul Riley ...