pete Page 18 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

WWE veered a little close to Nazism last night
Bemoaning the impact of Vince McMahon and Bruce Pritchard on NXT has been done in many places, including this one. For some, it is truly sad to see what was once a unique and massively enjoyable product become yet another base for the boring, uncreative, and rote choices McMahon and Pritchard make w...

Youth football needs to start embracing rugby more adamantly
Late in the third quarter of last night’s Wild Card matchup between Arizona and Los Angeles, Rams head coach Sean McVay drew up a stretch play to the left side on 2nd & short. Left tackle Joe Noteboom sealed the edge and running back Cam Akers reached the first down line without being touched. As he...

Mike Zimmer may have left the Vikings quietly, but he let them know how he felt while he was there
Black Monday was last week in the NFL and with a slew of coaches receiving their pink slips, it was time for another tradition in pro sports: Teams anonymously skewering their recently-axed coach, especially if the firing came as any sort of surprise....

Week 18 NFL Betting Primer: Best Over/Under, Spread, Teaser and Prop Bets
Unfortunately, the last week of the year has arrived. On a brighter note, the column has produced nine straight over/under victories, so technically, we’re actually seeking a sweep of the second half of the season in totals. Soak it in as we enter the historic first-ever “Week 18.”...

Mike Tomlin is proof that NFL owners’ unwillingness to hire more Black coaches is a stupid and willful decision
If Mike Tomlin were white, he’d be on the Mount Rushmore of NFL coaches and it wouldn’t be debatable....

You play to win the game… or do you?
More than half of the NFL remains in playoff contention heading into the final week of the season. That includes teams like the Packers, who have clinched home-field advantage throughout the postseason, and it includes teams like the Raiders and Chargers, who play each other but can both get into th...

It's time to hold Pat McAfee accountable for amplifying Aaron Rodgers' fake news
Question: Have you ever been out in public and seen a kid being a terror to anything and everything in sight, as the child ignores their parent’s pathetic pleas to stop?...

Hate Jake Paul all you want, but at least he’s about to get Amanda Serrano what she deserves
Amanda Serrano has been lighting up her opponents for many years. At 33 years old she has been a professional fighter since 2009 and has only lost one fight. She has a 42-1-1 record for her professional boxing career, and has a 2-0-1 MMA record. Her calling card: pure power. ...

Week 15: COVID messed up this week’s schedule, and three teams might have messed up their postseason
Week 15 of the NFL season provided us a very much not needed throwback to the 2020 NFL season. Players and coaches have tested positive at times in 2021, but this past week COVID hit like a Spider-Man movie. It was everywhere and re-acquainted us with a familiar friend: Re-scheduled games....

Week 15 NFL Betting Primer: Best Over/Under, Spread, Teaser and Prop Bets
So remember last week when I was sick? Yeah uh, that turned out to be COVID. Just like so many players the last several days, I, too, fell victim to the COVID list. Nevertheless, that didn’t prevent another 3-1 week, our sixth straight winning showing. Now that I’m activated, I can get back to conti...

Will Urban Meyer get a shot at redemption? Let's look at how other coaches bounced back after failing miserably
Urban Meyer is out as coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars after going 2-11 in his only partial season at the helm. While that’s 13 more games than Meyer ever should have coached in the NFL, and he leaves with a lower winning percentage in the league (.154) than Marty Mornhinweg (.156), it somehow does...

The first surprise of the NIL era has arrived, and it’s Deion Sanders poaching No. 1 football recruit Travis Hunter
Deion Sanders has caused a shift of tectonic plates in the college football world. Since March 2020, Travis Hunter, the No. 1 overall football recruit in America, has been committed to Florida State. Hunter reiterated his commitment to the university in both September and October. The Tampa Times wr...

5 totally realistic trade destinations for Damian Lillard
Any rational Trail Blazers fan would avoid watching the team right now. Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and Anfernee Simons are all injured. ESPN.com’s promotion for its Portland-Golden State matchup Wednesday is a “Top five Lillard trades they’d love to see” article, and a clip of Stephen A. Smith s...

And just like that… (poof)... NXT is gone
It’s not that it was surprising. Back when WWE announced it was completely reshaping it’s junior brand, NXT, I wrote that it would be the end of what fans of the black and gold had come to love. I guess I’m just impressed (while simultaneously depressed) at how ruthlessly and efficiently it came to ...

Cordarrelle Patterson, the RB/WR/KR/FS quadruple-threat
Versatility isn’t talked about enough in the NFL. We talk about minimally when evaluating defensive draft prospects. “He’s great in man and zone”, “he can stuff the run and drop back into coverage”, “he has the size to be an effective pass rusher, but also the speed to keep up with slot receivers”, ...

Now that you’re probably sick of those leftovers and I have your attention, I have some dark horse Super Bowl contenders for you
Happy late Turkey Day. I hope those who enjoy Christmas music were at least able to hold out until after the Thanksgiving meal. ...

Week 12 NFL Powerless Ranking: All around the world same song
We’re in the second half of the NFL season, and we can separate the contenders from the pretenders. We’ll talk about the contenders later because this list is about the less fortunate teams in the league. Let’s check out the worst of the worst from Week 12. Welcome to this week’s NFL Powerless Ranki...

Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is my college football team to be good
The idea of getting back to a previous, dominant form is antithetical to moving forward. By looking back and chasing past eras, schools like USC, Miami, Nebraska and others are envisioning levels of dominance that are extremely rare and difficult to replicate — or in some cases *cough* Texas *cough*...

Week 11 NFL Betting Primer: Best Over/Under, Spread, Teaser, and Prop Bets
Going into Thanksgiving Weekend up on the campaign is always something to be thankful for. Making sure that happens, though, still requires one more solid week....

Mel Tucker's potential $95 million deal is redemption for every Black coach who's ever blown a whistle
Jay-Z once asked, “Would you rather be underpaid or overrated?” For Black coaches, that option has rarely presented itself, as most times they’re both underpaid and underrated. Mel Tucker and Michigan State are about to change that....