pe Page 445 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

NFL's 1-0 frauds: Don't let them fool you
Week 1 gave us some surprises, late-game blunders, and heroics we’ve come to expect from the NFL each week. For some teams that captured a Week 1 victory, it was business as usual. But for others, there is still plenty of doubt whether Week 1 is the start of something magical or if they’re faking th...

Berhalter’s shortcomings on display with September roster omissions
Mark it down now. John Brooks, one of the two Americans in any severity of contention to claim one of the 26 United States men’s national team spots on the plane to Qatar, will be watching the games on a TV screen. Brandon Vazquez, the 23-year-old FC Cincinnati striker with 16 goals this season, won...

We need to redefine what an ‘expert’ is in sports media
One of my favorite parts of NFL coverage is no matter how bad you were at your job, you qualify as an expert because some clueless owner made the mistake of hiring you. Imagine if you hired a plumber, he came over and not only didn’t unclog your toilet but clogged the others in the house and was so ...

Who the hell let Ray Hudson in the house?
CBS has mostly been a gift to soccer fans. Unlike Turner when it bought the Champions League rights, forgot about it until the day before the tournament started, and then dusted off some closet and called whatever former USMNT members were within an hour’s flight of the studio, CBS has taken its cov...

The College Football Marty McFly Rankings for Week 2: USC is the most back of any team that’s ever been gone
It was a pretty good week for teams still working their way back to the arbitrary standards that their fans set for them, and the rate at which ranked schools and heavy favorites were going down Saturday, I was a little nervous. I’m not quite sure what this list will look like once all of these team...

Dez Bryant still wants another chance in Big D
Following Dallas’ opening day massacre at the hands of Tampa Bay, former Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant was on Twitter touting how he’d be a good presence in the locker room to get the team’s “attitude” heading in the right direction....

What are the odds? Try zero
In his NFL head coaching debut, Denver Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett’s pall extended beyond football notoriety. On the same night Quinta Brunson accepted her Emmy for outstanding writing for a comedy series over the still body of Jimmy Kimmel, Hackett played dead during what should have been ...

Well, it appears Denver does not want Javonte Williams to be 'the guy'
Last night, Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season wrapped up, giving us a sight we didn’t think we’d see all year: The Seattle Seahawks sitting atop the NFC West standings. Geno Smith and company gave Broncos country the business, taking down the heavy favorite by a final of 17-16. The Broncos had several c...

It pays to have a top target
Do you remember the wide receiver carousel of the offseason? Do you remember when star wideouts were being moved like they were 30-year-old NBA players with a salary-matching contract (looking at you Trevor Ariza)? Do you remember when teams elected not to pay their best pass-catchers because they d...

The Ravens might be feeling some déjà vu after Week 1
The Baltimore Ravens lucked out with their Week 1 opponent. They are still recovering from the injury wrecking ball that blasted through their roster last season. Fortunately for them, Lamar Jackson was back in his position as their starting quarterback for the first time since the second quarter of...

Should the Rays, Jays, and Mariners race to the bottom?
We knew the new baseball playoff system, with the addition of a third wildcard team, would create quirks. In a vacuum, it works because all division winners are considered equal. But in reality, where people play the games, they very much are not. Teams are hard to judge on just their record, becaus...

Drew Brees can’t cut it as a broadcaster or a doctor
Even though fans decided en masse that they did not want to hear Drew Brees’ football observations on television, there are still a lot of people still wearing their No. 9 New Orleans Saints jersey that wants to know his thoughts as he watches football over the weekend....

Week 1’s most and least valuable players
Saquon Barkley had never won a season opener in the NFL prior to Sunday. If it weren’t for his 24 touches and 194 yards from scrimmage, Barkley would be starting an NFL season in a 0-1 hole for the fifth time in his career. Instead, Barkley’s high usage day kept the New York Giants afloat in their 2...

The thing about Barcelona’s wackiness is it just might work… on the field at least
This is where you’d stick the video of Jesse Pinkman screaming, “He can’t keep getting away with it!” That depends on how you’d define “getting away” and also ignore the fact that Jesse was just a whiny loser. But the feeling is familiar to all, the lamentation that there are just some forces or bei...

Falcons coach, not the media to blame
Well, that didn’t take long....

Matt Ryan and Joe Burrow overslept and missed the first 3 quarters of Week 1
It takes a second for muscle memory to kick in when you haven’t played a game in eight months. Joe Burrow and Matt Ryan seemed to forget that in the NFL, you can’t wait until the fourth quarter to focus and execute....

Week 1 Takeaways: The garbage kicking, field-goal missing, place-kicking phenomenon that opened the 2022 NFL season
I firmly believe that I’m not the only person who had a warm feeling all inside the chest region on Sunday. That lovely feeling wasn’t provided by a lovely smelling indica from the dispensary. It came from the reality that the NFL had finally returned....

HBO isn’t the only home for a Song of Ice and Fire
You can only hope you’re witnessing history at the moment. You obviously can’t know until the perspective of time kicks in. You tell yourself that this moment or that moment feels different than other ones you think you saw. But does it? Are you just telling yourself that? You can tell yourself anyt...

The Rams were allegedly circling like sharks in preparation for Jimmy Garoppolo’s release
According to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Rams and Jimmy Garoppolo “had the makings of a deal” in place if the 30-year-old QB had been released by the San Francisco 49ers. Hearing this now, if it’s indeed true, isn’t shocking. Under head coach Sean McVay, the Rams have built their team on...

The WNBA Finals are A’ja Wilson’s to lose
Candace Parker’s repeat bid being squashed by the Connecticut Sun in Friday evening’s winner-take-all Game 5 against the Connecticut Sun was the sort of hoops history-altering that will reverberate more than Queen Elizabeth. Sue Bird is the all-time point god, but her career also arrived at its firm...