ones Page 32 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Doris Burke, Mike Breen, and Doc Rivers are a match made in…something
Weeks after ESPN split up the NBA’s quirkiest broadcast TRIO by inexplicably laying off Jeff Van Gundy, the suits in Bristol had a high bar to reach for the new three-man-weave in its NEXT lead broadcast team. Mike Breen was a certified starter as the voice of the Worldwide Leader’s play-by-play NBA...

Rangers, Astros, and Angels, oh my!
At 40-20, the Texas Rangers looked to be a lock for the postseason. The Dallas-area MLB team always appears to have a loaded farm system, and those moves looking toward the future paid off at the same time the big-money signings stayed healthy. In addition to all that, pitching whisperer Bruce Bochy...

Where did the American heavyweight boxing champions go?
Errol Spence and Terence Crawford’s highly-anticipated welterweight Fight of the Year doubles as a ring showdown for the pound-for-pound crown that boxing aficionados have been counting down to for years....

Is Saquon Barkley stuck in a time loop, or just us?
On the surface, Saquon Barkley’s new contract with the New York Giants feels a lot like the franchise tag. It’s a one-year deal worth roughly the amount of same money — $10.1 million fully guaranteed vs. $10.091 million via the franchise tag — but with about a million in incentives. The main distinc...

Arthur Smith’s Falcons are riding the Bijan Robinson train in an age of aviator offenses
Arthur Smith migrated to the Falcons after laying down the railroad tracks for the Tennessee Titans’ 2020 AFC Championship berth. One would hope he isn’t trying to put his spin on the Derrick Henry cloud of dust offense he conducted for two years, but with Bijan Robinson. An essential part of buildi...

It’s fair to ask Nick Saban about Alabama’s racist politics
Kay Ivey — the Republican Governor of Alabama — doesn’t have more juice than Nick Saban. That’s how things work in the South, especially when you’ve won seven national championships as a head coach in the SEC. And since people are more familiar with Saban than Ivey, it’s fair to ask him about a ruli...

Ain’t no love in the heart of NFL ownership for running backs
On the field, running backs have an offensive line to protect them. Off of the field, all they have is each other. The position with the shortest career span in the NFL has become the one that comes with the hardest fight to receive a contract that properly compensates their contributions. The deadl...

Thank goodness the WNBA learned from last year’s all-star mistake
The WNBA decided to put minimal effort into one of its most prestigious individual honors this season. During last season’s All-Star Game, the league was embarrassed by the MVP trophy that winner — Kelsey Plum — could have dangled and referred to as “her little teacup.” Jewell Loyd was named MVP of ...

NCAA treating violations with the leniency of a Boulder beat cop on 4/20
The University of Tennessee was hit with an $8 million fine, among other penalties, on Friday for “hundreds” of NCAA violations. Former coach Jeremy Pruitt and his staff committed north of 200 infractions, and while pretty much all of them weren’t a huge deal individually, when you rattle them off i...

NBA 2K’s decision to put Sabrina Ionescu on the cover was based on race — not merit
Being a superstar is the lone requirement for receiving superstar treatment — like being on the cover of a video game. Well, that’s unless the league you play in has always been Black, and your whiteness has been hijacked as a marketing tool — providing you with superstar treatment when you aren’t a...

Robert Kraft would be crazy to pick Mac Jones over Bill Belichick
Bill Belichick on the hot seat sounds like sci-fi fiction, but according to the Boston Globe, Robert Kraft might be losing his patience. There are truths, lies, and somewhere in between that sandwich are juicy, salacious rumors....

Saquon Barkley’s only option is to threaten to end the Giants’ season before it starts
A big second contract for an NFL running back is a rarity. Derrick Henry shared carries during his first three seasons as a pro, following his nearly 400-carry junior season at Alabama. In Year 4 he became the best running back in the NFL and received a new 4-year contract in 2020. Saqon Barkley has...

Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier’s spinoff league offers a platform for WNBA stars
Every offseason, women’s basketball’s finest head abroad to take part in leagues that run concurrently with the NBA schedule. Unfortunately, that often creates a problem for the WNBA teams that have them under contract between May and the completion of their respective seasons in early fall. That’s ...

Where should expectations be set for Victor Wembanyama’s summer league dress rehearsal?
Victor Wembanyama’s career prologue is almost as long as he is. It already feels like Wembanyama’s in his second NBA season doesn’t it? It feels like just yesterday, when he was in the (French) Finals at the exact same time as Nikola Jokic. According to Marc Stein, Wembanyama’s scheduled NBA debut h...

How deep will the Jerry Jones docuseries actually go?
No matter how irrelevant the Dallas Cowboys are on the field, football fans, networks, and social media conversations frequently revolve around the organization. The off-field drama surrounding the Cowboys often captures headlines even more than on the field. And most of the time, those narratives r...

The 15 Most Valuable Professional Sports Franchises
This story was corrected and revised on July 6, 2023. ...

Dan Le Batard was right — ‘Embrace Debate’ has destroyed sports television
Too much of anything is bad for you. Excessive amounts can be catastrophic. Dan Le Batard hinted at this a few months ago. And after the reported cancellation of Bomani Jones’ Game Theory on HBO, it’s become quite clear — “embrace debate” killed sports television shows. ...

Dak Prescott is <i>finally</i> joining the pickleball phenomenon
Pickleball has become one of the biggest recreational sports in the mainstream over the past few years. It’s become so popular that numerous celebrities and pro athletes are joining and investing in the “niche” sport after seeing its growth potential. Last month, Prescott finally joined the cool kid...

The $100M questions for the NBA free agents who cashed in
Before anybody evaluates contracts or shouts that Fred VanVleet is overpaid from the mountaintop, let’s take a moment to congratulate all of the free agents who just guaranteed themselves and their families generational wealth. Tyrese Haliburton, Jerami Grant, Desmond Bane, Kyrie Irving, Cam Johnson...

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. ...