si Page 180 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

James Harden's wine is a vintner’s nightmare

The first sip of James Harden’s cabernet sauvignon caused a visceral stepback, and the sudden urge to chuck my glass at any wastebasket within 30 feet. Completely bereft of any tannins, the bouquet was as generic as seemingly any bottle picked off the shelves of a 7-Eleven, and went down with equal ...

Bill Belichick is up to his same old tricks, and they may not be good enough anymore

The Ezekiel Elliott signing was a solid move by Bill Belichick. Elliott may no longer be the athlete who cleared opposing defenders the way that he cleared high hurdles as a high school track and field star, but he is still a football player who can contribute to a winning team. Any extra depth is w...

Victor Conte: Players are still doping and the leagues know it

There is a warped irony in the timing between Netflix’s new sports-doping documentary, Untold: Hall of Shame, and the most recent suspension of a professional athlete for violating a league’s performance-enhancing drug policy....

Ja’Marr Chase’s Mount Rushmore is a little different than most

Ja’Marr Chase was recently asked to list his top wide receivers of all time in the form of Mount Rushmore, and he went in a different direction than you’d probably expect. He listed a couple of regulars we usually see on these rankings, then Chase went into left field on one of his choices. Chase mi...

To understand the RICO allegations against Team Trump, look to FIFA

After four indictments, the mental gymnastics required to equivocate for Trump requires advanced parkour skills. As of now, the former president faces 91 charges — between Miami, New York, Washington D.C., and Atlanta — which are enough to fill out an entire regional tournament bracket. It can be da...

The continuing adventures of Angel Hernandez, Leo Messi is doing that thing again, and charter flights in women’s sports rears its ugly head

If you haven’t been following the touring artist exhibition that is Angel Hernandez attempting to call balls and strikes, or simply trying to disprove the utility of rules and conventions in society at all, in various Major League parks this summer, you’re missing one of the truly great examples of ...

Being a famous offensive lineman | Michael Oher

10 NFL teams everyone thinks will be good this season, but won't be

Every team had a great offseason. All those gaping, even-the-blind-can-see problems your favorite team had no longer exist. Here’s where a path to greatness starts. Of course for most, that won’t be true. The heavy hitters didn’t go away and until your favorite players get hit in the mouth, all the ...

After the ESPN shakeup, we still have Hubie Brown to keep teaching us basketball

Following its highest-rated NBA Playoff in two decades, ESPN decided to take a hatchet to its game coverage of the league. Gone from the network entirely are Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy. Replacing them on the No. 1 commentator team alongside Mike Breen are Doris Burke and Doc Rivers. Ryan Ruocco...

Juan Soto provides the perfect metaphor for the Padres season, and Neymar ends up where he was always meant to be

The San Diego Padres are running out of time. They seemed to know it, as Juan Soto blew up at them last week after another dispiriting loss. It’s clear that something is amiss below the surface for San Diego, and Soto was doing his best to try and get everyone focused on what really matters, closing...

'I was already a success story' says Michael Oher

Unfortunately for Colts' Jonathan Taylor, his trade request leverage is not that of an NBA player

Jonathan Taylor is back at Indianapolis Colts training camp. He is still on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list and also his stance on remaining with the team has not changed. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Taylor still wants out of Indianapolis....

Blindsided: Michael Oher claims he was never legally adopted by the Tuohy family in court filing

Michael Oher just finished a press tour for his new book. The preface discusses how he became a rarity — a famous offensive lineman — and how the 2009 movie that chronicled his journey to Ole Miss and the NFL, The Blind Side, made him well known beyond football circles. The film dives into Oher’s jo...

Premier League Round 1 Review: Chelsea and Liverpool play a pretty silly match after a very silly week

If it feels like Chelsea and Liverpool haven’t been able to escape each other for about 20 years, that’s probably because they haven’t. It can be traced back all the way to 2004, when Steven Gerrard was thisclose to joining Chelsea from Liverpool, and then months later they met in the League Cup Fin...

Wander Franco placed on administrative leave, off Rays roster [Update]

UPDATE: Aug. 22, 11:20 a.m.: Franco has been placed on administrative leave by MLB, who issued the following statement:...

The Sixers don’t have time for another prolonged James Harden trade saga

The staring contest is underway between James Harden and Daryl Morey as the Philadelphia 76ers announced they have ended talks to trade the former MVP. Unhappy with his role and contract offer, Harden requested a trade earlier this offseason, but his desired destination, the LA Clippers, couldn’t co...

Who’s more exciting: Shohei Ohtani or Elly De La Cruz?

This is not an argument about who’s the better player: Shohei Ohtani, or Elly De La Cruz. Ohtani is probably the best two-way player in baseball history, and De La Cruz has 55 games to his name. The discussion is about excitement, about who’s highlight you’re watching first, about throwing a complet...

World Cup Day 21: This tournament will be remembered for how far the women’s game has come

We have our final four. When you get this deep into a tournament, anyone who’s not seen as chalk has done something grand, like Morocco’s men’s team last year and Colombia’s women’s team would’ve been this year. The South Americans entered as the lone surprise to make the quarterfinals. They benefit...

Saudi League soccer and Fox Sports: A match made in apathy

There are several analogies that could be used to illustrate the hubris of Fox Sports partnering with the Saudi Pro League, and as easy as it would be to use the retirement tours of big name soccer stars, and the marginal effect they’ve had on MLS here in the states, Lionel Messi is on a barnstormin...

Big Ten athletes should be on the hunt for NIL deals with airlines

Soon, Big Ten teams from the Midwest and East Coast will have a “West Coast road trip,” like they do in the pros, and vice versa. But unlike professional athletes, these players won’t be getting compensated for their “jobs,” and some of them will be on commercial airplanes as they fly across the cou...