si Page 346 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Bengals exemplify not overthinking a top draft pick with Ja’Marr Chase
The Cincinnati Bengals had an important decision to make with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Joe Burrow played plenty well enough in 2020 to solidify his place as the Bengals’ franchise quarterback for as long as he is able to play football. In the draft, the Bengals needed to use tha...

Boy… Charlotte Flair sounds like a barrel of kittens
Backstage drama in professional wrestling is part of the charm, given that it usually finds its way into their on-screen storytelling. Reading about rumors and whispers in the business becomes a major staple for a lot of fans. But still, like sports, when things from backstage and in the locker room...

LSU, USC head coach candidate deniers auditioning for vacancies this weekend
I’m about as sick of the college football coaching carousel chatter as Mike Tomlin. I know reporters are obligated to ask these questions, but it’s like asking a child standing in front of a puddle of spilt milk, “Did you do this?” There needs to be a word for asking a question you know you’re not g...

Somehow the 'BuT-tHe-AmATeUR-MoDeL!' NCAA survived the beginning of NIL
We’re approaching the four-month mark since the NCAA officially approved name, image, and likeness rights for student-athletes and, somehow, the apocalypse has not come, the collegiate model has not collapsed, and Dabo Swinney is still coaching (to some extent, at least). As athletes, schools, spons...

NFL owners have a fixer — his name is Roger Goodell
Ray Donovan. Olivia Pope. Roger Goodell. ...

Houston Texans owner Cal McNair is the latest disgrace in the NFL
I’m starting to sense a pattern here....

Those who don't know their history (from earlier in the day) are doomed to repeat it
Banner day for commissioners all around, as Roger Goodell couldn’t wait to get his whole foot in his mouth and possibly brain as well. Goodell announced that the investigation into the WFT’s culture won’t be released publicly other than a summary. This was on the same day, the SAME DAY, that an NHL ...

Even on MLB’s biggest night, Rob Manfred can’t keep his thumb out of his ass
I understand at the dawn of every league’s championship that the commissioner has to do something of a state of the union. Roger Goodell, Gary Bettman, Adam Silver… they all have a press conference before Game 1 or the Super Bowl. Given the daily nature of baseball, Rob Manfred has to do it on the d...

The Blackhawks are forced to face their reckoning, 11 years too late
The details are always worse than you can imagine, even if the overall arc of the story is exactly what we all expected. And so it proved as the Chicago Blackhawks released the findings of their internal investigation into how the organization handled accusations of sexual assault and harrassment by...

Pete Carroll finally making some sense — but will it be enough to keep Russ cookin’ in Seahawks kitchen?
Pete Carroll and Seattle Seahawks fans are getting a taste of what life without Russell Wilson could be like if he leaves the franchise. The Seahawks were struggling before Wilson injured his right middle finger in their Week 5 game against the Rams, and they’re now 0-2 without him in the starting l...

I dare you to ask Mike Tomlin about the USC job
On Monday, former USC quarterback Carson Palmer appeared on the Dan Patrick Show. At the end of the interview, Patrick threw in a question about Palmer’s role in USC’s coaching search and it turned into the highlight of the interview. He said that USC is looking at several coaches, and mentioned a n...

Floyd Mayweather is the latest celebrity whose vaccine stance we didn't need to hear
Floyd Mayweather has decided to weigh in on the Kyrie vaccine situation and, in a move that shocked absolutely no one, not only supported Irving’s stance but actually went so far as to say that Kyrie was “leading a revolution.”...

You’ll never believe this, but everyone’s losing their mud about the Maple Leafs
If you looked up and to the north this morning and thought you could make out a noxious cloud in the distance, don’t worry, it’s just the usual October phenomenon. The NHL season is two weeks old and the Toronto Maple Leafs have not awarded the Stanley Cup due to the majesty of their excellence and ...

Is a small-market, slow-build dynasty even possible in this era of basketball?
A single championship does not a dynasty make, despite Kevin Durant’s comment this summer that the Bucks were “forming somewhat of a dynasty.” ...

This Bulls team is legit
No more bullshit in Chicago — these Bulls are good....

Vladimir Tarasenko is on the warpath
Let’s watch Vladimir Tarasenko ether something called Mikey Anderson during the Blues’ 3-0 win last night over the Kings, shall we:...

The Mannings are back to try to save a far-from-marquee <em>Monday Night Football</em> matchup
The Manning brothers took a one-fifth season hiatus, but they were back yesterday for the fourth Manningcast of the 2021 NFL Season. Eli and Peyton returned to their respective dens, or basements, or whatever on ESPN2 providing their commentary on a low-scoring Saints-Seahawks Monday Night Football ...

I was at the record-setting 9-OT game… and it was even worse in person
Saturday was my first game at Beaver Stadium since graduating from Penn State. I drove an hour and a half to my friend’s house in York, Pa., on Friday and then woke up at 5 a.m. the next morning to drive two hours to State College with his family and set up a tailgate in the cold and rain....

Alex Ovechkin is in a hurry, because he has to be
One of the pleasures of getting back to a normal NHL schedule is that we pick up perhaps the biggest record chase in North American sports, and that’s Alex Ovechkin’s quest for 895 goals. He seems to recognize the urgency, as he’s scored five goals in five games so far this season. But if you’re Ove...

Week 7 NFL Powerless Rankings: The Chiefs keep falling, the Jets are real bad
We’re about halfway through the 2021 NFL season, and at this point, we can pretty much separate the serious contenders from the pretenders....