nit Page 111 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Gregg Berhalter drops the ball on USMNT roster
Expected, disappointing. Two words that best describe my reaction to seeing the United States Men’s National Team’s roster for the final trio of octagonal World Cup Qualifying matches, beginning next week. Outside of the core, can’t-miss players and super-subs, which any soccer fan with a brain coul...

Fictional Hooper Bracket: Rucker Region
This region is a little more unconventional than the Venice Courts. There are old favorites like Tommy Sheppard, but also characters from anime, commercials, and a Ray Allen appearance that you might have forgotten about from the early 2000s....

Baker Mayfield’s not as bad as you think
If there’s one thing you can rely on with the Colts, it’s that they’ll have a high draft pick as their quarterback....

Russia extends Brittney Griner's detention by two months
One of our country’s elite basketball players remains in a Russian prison, a country that’s showed no signs of deescalating its meaningless war against Ukraine and indirectly trying to provoke other countries into joining the conflict....

Herschel Walker, GOP Senate candidate, proudly fails to understand science
Ah, just what we needed right now — Herschel Walker coming out as the anti-science candidate. Maybe I was optimistically ignorant to think we’d left mainstream creationism in the twentieth century, but Walker, who has become a prominent conservative political figure in his state and is the leading R...

That was some fiendish Atlético Madrid treachery
You’re not supposed to miss a blister. You’re not supposed to get nostalgic about a paper cut on that webby part between your thumb and forefinger. You shouldn’t smile at stubbing your toe against the bed or couch that causes you to limp for an hour....

Colin Kaepernick’s still got it in his workout videos, but your favorite team will probably sign a sorry white quarterback instead
It’s been more than five years since Colin Kaepernick has thrown a pass in an NFL game, but it doesn’t mean that he’s done throwing to NFL receivers. ...

Don’t Bill-ieve it
One of the great selling points for public money going being used to build a stadium is that, while the stadium itself will be used by teams owned by billionaires, there will be an economic impact to the surrounding community that makes the public investment worthwhile....

Will Wade has been fired — free Christian Dawkins
Christian Dawkins is in federal prison. Will Wade is at home. This is a story about sports, money, college basketball, a corrupt justice system, and racism. It’s an American saga. ...

The best to not do it
Over the years, we’ve seen some great runs during March Madness and some highly talented teams. But the most talented teams don’t always take it all the way to a national championship. Many have fallen short, and some didn’t even make it to the Final Four. Here we rank some of the best teams in NCAA...

Everton can’t really get themselves relegated, can they?
In the previous decade, we could have asked this question about Aston Villa, West Ham, or Newcastle. All of those clubs are of the same size as Everton, all should be comfortably in the second tier of the Premier League behind the big six, if not breaking into the big six themselves. And yet, the la...

Jerry Jones brings back Michael Gallup on $62 million deal
Well, here we go again. ...

Discriminatory hiring practices in the NFL aren't limited to head coaches
The only thing more ridiculous than the money TV networks are throwing at guys to be analysts is the fact that a Black man has never had one of those coveted longtime gigs....

Texas A&M got jobbed
Did the NCAA Tournament selection committee watch the SEC Tournament? There’s no way it paid proper attention. Otherwise, its messaging to Texas A&M — as well as ACC Tournament Champion Virginia Tech, should the Hokies have not upset No. 2 Tournament seed Duke on Saturday night — is their resumes we...

Everyone wants to attend their own funeral
In a sense, we’ve done this to ourselves. The amount of attention, emotion, and time we spend not just dissecting the NFL, but the specific position of quarterback in the NFL, would warp any person who plays the position and is on the receiving end of all that. It’s probably one of the big reasons t...

This freaking guy
Tom Brady couldn’t stay away after all. His retirement lasted less than six weeks, reversing course to announce his intentions of returning to Tampa Bay for his 23rd NFL season. Harkening back to memories of Brett Favre with the Jets and Vikings, Brady’s “retirement” more so served as a long vacatio...

Record-breaking NIL contract will have the NCAA pocket-watching again
The NIL landscape has opened up a world of big and small endorsement opportunities that have no tangible connections to college campuses. This deal, the largest NIL one ever signed by a non-professional athlete, has placed a spotlight on the hinterland of the NIL landscape....

Goodbye and good riddance to Will Wade
It took way too long to oust Will Wade from his place atop LSU men’s basketball, but the deserved guillotine finally made its swift chop on Saturday afternoon, a major moment in the 4-year-plus NCAA investigation into wrongdoing surrounding his time in Baton Rouge. Wade was fired with cause, meaning...

Kyrie brings loser energy to Brooklyn
Thanks to a change in arena policy last week removing the vaccine requirement for entry, Kyrie Irving was allowed in the building in Brooklyn on Saturday night for the first time all season – as a spectator, for Duke-Virginia Tech in the ACC championship game....

Portland’s six-game losing streak is worse than you think
The Portland Trailblazers are not the worst team in the NBA. They’re far from it actually. However, their past six games would indicate otherwise. They’re tanking like there’s no tomorrow. Since their Feb. 24 matchup at home against the Golden State Warriors, the Trail Blazers have lost every game t...