mat Page 29 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Sports take workshop: Sean McVay can resuscitate Baker Mayfield’s career
Welcome to sports take workshop, where opinions are half-assed because there’s not enough evidence to fully support the spice. Today the focus is Baker Mayfield. The new Los Angeles Rams QB was cut by Carolina on Monday, claimed off waivers by the Rams on Tuesday, and came off the bench to lead L.A....

LeSean McCoy has some of the wildest takes in football
Shady McCoy was one of the most exciting football players of the 2010s. He led the NFL in rushing in 2013, scored 17 touchdowns in 2011, reached five straight Pro Bowls, won back-to-back Super Bowls in 2019 and 2020 (although he wasn’t really a factor on either team at that point), and was named to ...

What’s next for the USMNT?
You know it’s over when your star midfielder is showing up courtside at Miami Heat games. Or the rumors of contract talks with the manager are heating up, while he tries to gain leverage by whispering about European club jobs. Time to call for the Lyft officially....

A decade-plus of Eastern Conference mediocrity can’t be easily forgotten
It’s weird how much energy goes into debating which conference is the NBA’s best. It makes sense in college football because schools can’t play all 100-plus teams each year, and strength of schedule determines playoff spots. But in basketball, with all 30 organizations facing each other at least twi...

The NBA’s newest award is a better fit for MLB teams
It’s bad enough that there have been 16 NBA playoff spots since 1984. At that time there were only 23 teams in the league. It’s 2022, and still more than half of the league gets into the playoffs, and that’s not even counting the highly entertaining Play-in Tournament. Sure the New Orleans Pelicans ...

Let the King hold court on any subject, especially Jerry Jones
Whataboutism is a dangerous game. The comparison of apples to oranges, as opposed to just Honeycrisps and Fujis, appears to be the necessary pivot to distract from an actual issue. Walking and chewing gum at the same time is possible, preferable, and has become an impressive skill in the public eye....

Barry Bonds is deserving of a Hall of Fame exemption
At best, it’s a crapshoot....

Will Levis could be Josh Allen — and I could be Mark Twain
If it was up to me, Will Levis putting mayonnaise in his coffee wouldn’t only discount him from being a first-round pick, but it’d also land him in prison. People who are obsessed with condiments need serious reform in their lives. Scars from working at Subway in high school aside though, I think Le...

The 5 best landing spots for Jacob deGrom
Oft-injured, but damn near unhittable when healthy, former New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom was bound to draw numerous suitors once free agency started, and while the rumors haven’t been circulating at quite the speed we expected, deGrom’s market has heated up recently, but the heat hasn’t come from t...

Can Yanks keep Judge with historic deal?
The New York Yankees have offered star slugger Aaron Judge an eight-year deal, worth roughly $300 million, according to ESPN insider Jeff Passan....

Welcome to the pressure cooker, Matt Rhule
It’ll be interesting to see if the day ever comes when the hiring of a new coach at Nebraska is met with a cavalier attitude. “Well, shit, why not him?” is only uttered when the university names a men’s basketball coach. ...

Deion Sanders to Colorado is the 'fish out of water' comedy I want to see
It’s a comedic style we’ve seen in Hollywood plenty over the years. The fish-out-of-water mentality. Pluck the main character from their established world and place them into a weird situation where any semblance of normality is gone. Legally Blonde nails it. So does The Jerk. My favorite of that ge...

U.S. beats England, 0-0
What psychopath called the long-awaited United States men’s national team’s Black Friday showdown against England a scoreless draw? I’ll have whatever you’re drinking. After gaining my bearings after that stiff cocktail, and realizing Matt Turner nor Jordan Pickford allowing a goal wasn’t just falla...

5 surprising NBA rookies you need to know about
As Paolo Banchero begins to run away with the Rookie of the Year award, there are still hidden gems and surprise showings by first-year players selected outside the top 10. We have highlighted which ones have been the biggest surprises thus far and project comps for their young career....

Hell no, keep Carlos Beltran out of Cooperstown
The 2023 MLB Hall of Fame ballots were sent out yesterday....

Hey, Bill Belichick, we told you so
Remember when photos of a shredded Mac Jones circulated before the season? Patriots fans were so hyped by the Mac-churian Candidate’s transformation that they gave him a standing ovation the first time he ran out on the field in training camp. ...

Week 11 NFL Powerless Ranking: The champ is here!
It’s time to check in on the teams that can’t get out of their own way. We’re halfway through the 2022 NFL season, and much of it has been unpredictable, but there are always a few teams we expect to disappoint their fanbases. Now let’s get into the powerless ranking for Week 11....

This is what inexperience looks like
It’s taken some cognitive dissonance for USMNT fans leading up to this World Cup, to sort of ignore the fact that they were showing up with the most inexperienced squad possible. Only Deandre Yedlin has ever been on a World Cup squad before, and he’s hardly anywhere near the first 11. It also has a ...

The truth about Zach Wilson is becoming clear
The subterranean arc of Zach Wilson’s career hit a new low in New York’s 10-3 loss to the New England Patriots. For 59 minutes and 30 seconds, the Jets’ defense surrendered only one field goal against the New England Patriots. However, punt returner Marcus Jones’ game-winning punt return in the wani...