nico Page 6 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Dallas Mavericks turned into pumpkins
When I wrote the Dallas Mavericks were a mess earlier this season, it was right after they traded one terrible contract in Kristaps Porziņģis for two terrible contracts in Spencer Dwindiddle and Davis Bertans. My argument was not that the Mavs had made the wrong move in ditching the Latvian bum. Nor...

Is there something wrong with Dallas that we don’t know about?
I think it’s fair to say that Dallas isn’t going to get the press that Boston has been getting since about a month into its second-half turnaround. Jayson Tatum has been unbelievable, which is new for him because he’s lacked the consistency that’s demanded of great players. What Luka Dončić is doing...

NIL guidelines show up 10 months too late
The end is near. You can feel it in the air. Mark Emmert is gone, the board is shrinking, the indiscriminate and omnipresent power the organization once held over schools, coaches, and athletes is disappearing. The words “NCAA investigation” no longer spark fear in the hearts of those threatened. Sc...

Phil Mickelson’s transformation into Shooter McGavin is almost complete
No wonder Phil Mickelson has been hiding out in Dagobah — or is it Elba? Golf’s second-biggest name, who has taken a self-imposed hiatus since his comments on working with a Saudi-backed golf league went viral for all the wrong reasons, is getting the unauthorized biography treatment from Alan Shipn...

Joel Embiid might be a world champion after all
Joel Embiid’s best chance of becoming a champion is unlikely to happen in 2022. A concussion and right orbital bone fracture have cast doubt on his availability for the Sixers’ semifinal series against the Miami Heat. If he’s unable to play, the Sixers are doomed and The Process-era Sixers will repe...

The NBA X Factors
The playoffs have started, and it’s been one of the most chaotic first rounds in recent memory. Both conferences feel very wide open thanks to critical injuries and various superstars playing underwhelming basketball. Going into this year’s postseason, it felt like a rematch of last year’s Finals be...

Did you notice these cool details from MLB Opening Day?
After an offseason filled with turmoil and uncertainty, Major League Baseball kicked off the 2022 season yesterday...with two postponements, one of them Red Sox at Yankees. Yeah, that wasn’t a great way to kick things off. Pushing back the start of your marquee series is never a good thing,especiall...

The case for Tennessee
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel says that spring practice looks “unrecognizable” from where the Vols were a year ago in Knoxville. Reeling from the termination of Jeremy Pruitt and a large chunk of the coaching staff after the NCAA found proof of recruiting violations at the university, Heupel was ...

Baseball is back to not caring what you think
You know, just for a second there, I thought baseball might give everyone a little time to enjoy the lockout being over, to soak in the excitement of the anticipation of spring training games and the season that will start right on its heels. To feel the reflected heat of the Arizona and Florida sun...

Making a case for the Utah Jazz
It wasn’t supposed to go this way. This essay was going to make a case for why the Utah Jazz could finally win a championship this season. But when it was all written out, the facts just didn’t line up. Can the Utah Jazz do it? Can they win it all? It seems unlikely, doesn’t it? Especially with the ...

Not all Olympians are apoplectic over the Beijing Games
I tried. I tried to focus on the competitions and athletes at the Olympics instead of wallowing in the politics, conditions, and COVID of it all. No longer. I can’t take it anymore. The men’s skiing halfpipe final was more scary to watch than it was fun because gale-force winds (probably an exaggera...

The Mavericks are a mess
The Mavericks’ Kristaps Porziņģis acquisition and subsequent trade has been one of the most embarrassing and impactful mistakes of modern NBA history. Especially when it comes to surrounding their young superstar, Luka Dončić, with a contending roster....

James Wiseman deserves to be more than Kevon Looney with an upside
There’s still time for James Wiseman to turn into the player the Warriors thought he would be. This is his second season, he’s only 20 years old, and a meniscus tear isn’t microfracture surgery. He participated in contact drills Tuesday for the first time since the tear last season, according to ESP...

Why this Chicago Bulls moment matters
It wasn’t supposed to last this long. When Michael Jordan slightly pushed off Bryon Russell to square up for a 17-foot jump shot with 5.2 seconds left in 1998, the future was a giant question mark. The moment the shot clock expired, the rebuild began. Bulls fans knew the band was broken up. This wou...

Don’t fumble the bag
Just like a loose ball, when the bag is in reach, you dive headfirst for it. Every summer, a handful of teams, big and small markets, choose to resign, extend, or offer big money to one of their rising players. Sometimes it works out. Other times, you’re stuck with Kevin Love. Although kudos to Love...

There’s no getting around it, the NFL despises women
There was a time in my life when nothing was as exciting as the start of the NFL season, the Bears season, here in Chicagoland....

Changing the World Cup to every two years could (but won’t) help soccer’s have-nots
Changing the World Cup to a biennial event is an awful idea. That’s not the most groundbreaking statement, but I wanted to put it bluntly because that’s the point I want you to remember from the rest of this. And if FIFA president Gianni Infantino is to be believed, and the move has a majority backi...

Inter Milan lost their two best players and manager but might win Serie A again anyway
It is not agreed upon defending-your-title strategy to watch one’s manager, and one of the best in the business in Antonio Conte, walk out the door in a huff mere weeks after said title due to disagreements over the financial planning. Though to be fair, that is kind of Conte’s finishing move. Still...

Report: Rick Carlisle’s treatment of others bothered Luka, led to coach leaving Dallas
The details from the report corroborating the rumor that Rick Carlisle can be an asshole are juicy, for sure. Apparently, he belittled FODs (Friends of Luka Dončić) Dennis Smith Jr. and Salah Mejri, accusing Smith of being jealous of Dončić before trading him; saw former assistant coach Jamahl Mosel...

So, about that pandemic…
The Detroit Lions, finally in the win column after beating the Vikings last week, head into their game on Sunday without 19 percent of their roster due to injuries and coronavirus....