rist Page 26 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

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...

Wiz Khalifa continues Pirates tradition of pitching while totally zooted
While the Pirates will never build him a statue, Dock Ellis has made sure that the greatest accomplishment in sports was performed by a Pirate. That was throwing a no-hitter while on LSD. Perhaps as our country continually lessens its aversion to drugs it’ll get the display it deserves at PNC Park, ...

Brent Venables (pot) takes a shot at Miami (kettle)
This time last year, no college football writer had Oklahoma coach Brent Venables, or Miami skipper Mario Cristobal on their annual hot seat list. And for good reason as both coaches were in the first season of their respective contracts. Well a year and 14 losses combined later, any realistic fan o...

The Gold Cup was never about lifting another trophy for the US
The reinforcements won’t be coming from this group. Outside of goalkeeper Matt Turner — whose status as the unquestioned No. 1 goalkeeper for the United States men’s national team didn’t change after five games in this year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup — what player from this American squad that only defeate...

Women’s World Cup preview: Can the Japanese bookend the American’s dominance from Group C?
This should be pretty straightforward. It’s a matter of whether Spain or Japan advances from Group C as the winners, and who heads to the knockout stage as runners-up. That leaves Costa Rica and Zambia leaving Oceania early, but does anything exactly go to plan on the world stage? Group C has as cle...

Despite Wimbledon exit, Chris Eubanks proclaimed himself as an irreplaceable part of the American tennis scene
What a rollercoaster sport can be sometimes. In the first set of his Wimbledon quarterfinal against Daniil Medvedev, little hope existed for Chris Eubanks to overcome the world’s No. 3-ranked player. Eubanks’ serve and volley game were on point, but while Medvedev was serving, the American upstart l...

World Cup Group B Preview: It’s time for Sam Kerr to take this itty bitty world by storm
We spilled some ink in these parts about Mallory Swanson by herself making the USWNT a threat to win the World Cup, before her unfortunate injury. But the US isn’t the only team with a player who is capable of grabbing a short tournament by the haunches, and the co-hosts Australia may have the bigge...

The USMNT looked terrible against Canada, and it doesn’t matter
It took until the 88th minute for the United States men’s national team’s C-squad to score a goal on home soil in a major-tournament quarterfinal and 15 seconds after play resumed for the offense to take place that gave Canada a golden opportunity to take it away. An uninspired first half, saved by ...

Victor Wembanyama passes first test
If it wasn’t obvious from Victor Wembanyama’s interview on J.J. Redick’s podcast, this young man is ready for NBA life. Las Vegas, the slow July sports news cycle, Britney Spears, all of it crashed down on him in less than 24 hours. However, when it came time to address the scenario, Wembanyama was ...

The Orioles need to trade for Shohei Ohtani, and Christian Pulisic in Milan
Sure, it’s completely ridiculous. But being a baseball fan is about being ridiculous and, before owners crushed our spirits, discussing trades used to be the most fun part. Are the Angels going to admit that thanks to Mike Trout’s injury on top of all their others that it’s probably over for them? N...

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...

Christian Pulisic’s move to AC Milan is the USMNT’s biggest news of the summer
The most substantial story for the United States men’s national team this summer has nothing to do with the Gold Cup. Nor any of the drama surrounding Gregg Berhalter’s return to the Yanks’ helm. It was always where the best American male soccer player on the planet, Christian Pulisic, landed in the...

Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada might be AEW’s biggest dream yet
At its heart, AEW’s working ethos has always been to give fans what they want. What that means, most of the time, is to put on matches that seemed impossible before, or that their fans have been hoping to see one day. Whatever the hiccups at times, whatever the drama, whatever the long way around th...

There’s less shame in porn than on the set of <i>First Take</i>
The easiest way to get clicks for the past week or so hasn’t been Victor Wembanyama content, or Damian Lillard trade destinations. No, if you really wanted to gin up page views and subscribers, put Zion Williamson and Moriah Mills in a headline. It’s the reason why Stephen A. Smith has repeatedly go...

NBA contenders might have to start holding onto those first- and second-round picks
The Golden State Warriors have been the model franchise for how to keep a core group together. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green were able to stay united for a decade for a few different reasons — salary cap increase, luck, well-timed contracts — but No. 1 on that list is they spent mon...

Acquiring Kristaps Porziņģis is great, but Boston still has a point guard problem
After a disappointing postseason in Boston, the Celtics have completed one of the biggest trades of the 2023 offseason by acquiring Kristaps Porziņģis. All the Celtics had to do was ship out Marcus Smart to get it done. But bringing in Porziņģis doesn’t necessarily address Boston’s real issue over t...

The Beal-Porzingis-Paul deals feel like a D.C. psyops campaign
After blundering through the last decade, The D.C. Universe is rebooting. Not the Snyderverse IP. I’m talking about the grotesque prospects for basketball in the District of Columbia. Hang around there long enough and you’ll catch me moaning about the bleak times facing the Commanders, Nats, and Wiz...

Dust off the trampolines, Slamball is back
Shout out to the old Spike TV network. Classic programs such as The Joe Schmo Show, Pros vs. Joes, and Slamball called that network home. Spike TV may no longer exist, but Slamball is making a triumphant return to the small screen. Starting July 21 it will be aired on ESPN....

It was hard not to get a little giddy about the USMNT
Being a USMNT fan usually involves seeing things that aren’t there, or at least things that could be there but aren’t yet. It’s usually what the team could develop into, or dreaming about flashes being carried over into a full 90 minutes one day, or when an injured player or two returns or makes his...

El Tri comes through in all its embarrassing, pathetic glory on an interesting night for the USMNT
US-Mexico games that count for something, even the CONCACAF Nations League, usually are more than just a result. They are a comment on where each program is at that moment, and most of the time where each is heading. Thursday night’s semifinal may have been the most definitive statement on both, inc...