smith Page 5 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The non-Mahomes, Purdy players to watch in Super Bowl LVIII
You know the big names of this Super Bowl matchup already. There’s no need to talk about Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy anymore, treating a 53-on-53-man matchup like it’s a one-on-one boxing match. We’ve gotten enough coverage of the Travis Kelces and the Christian McCaffreys of this game. ...

Julius Peppers, Antonio Gates, and the 15 Finalists for the 2024 Hall of Fame
The nominees for the National Football League’s Hall of Fame have been announced. Fifteen former players are eligible to be immortalized in Canton, Ohio, and the official ballot with five players will be named tonight at the NFL Honors ceremony. Here is a list of all 15 nominees. ...

An ode to Devin Hester, one of the few things about the Bears you can't mock
I have to sit here throughout the football season, and now even a month afterwards, and read all the other jackasses on this staff say stuff about the Bears. None of them are from here, most of it’s wrong, and even if it’s correct what gives them the right? Everyone’s got a goddamn thought and none ...

It's time for the Mavericks to fire Jason Kidd and Nico Harrison
No team in recent memory has failed to build around a generational superstar more than the Dallas Mavericks have with Luka Dončić. We are not talking about Anthony Davis in New Orleans. Dončić is a consistent top-five MVP candidate and First-Team All-NBA every season, one of a handful of players of ...

Here's what it will take to win Super Bowl LVIII
Football fans across the globe, be sure to enjoy the build-up to Super Bowl LVII, San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs. Another NFL game of significance will not be played until Sept. 5. That Thursday evening will be in the midst of an American presidential election campaign, and we should all...

Roger Goodell gets exposed again at the Super Bowl
They got rid of Jim Trotter. They moved the Commissioner’s annual Super Bowl press conference to Monday — and made it invite-only. They thought they did everything they could to protect Roger Goodell. They thought wrong. ...

Chris Russo was out of line when he called Dan Orlovsky 'a scrub'
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo is largely a loveable relic from the sports radio past. He’s strident, over the top, and plays into this character that he created 40 years ago. While doing his “What are you Mad about,” segment on ESPN’s First Take, Russo has admitted that it’s stupid and his antics are ridicu...

These are the current and former NBA players who need their own podcast
A decade ago, who would have thought that current and former players would be the best analysts and commentators in the NBA? A novel idea, eh? Former players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson’s “All The Smoke” and Gilbert Arenas were early purveyors of player-run podcasts. It’s since evolved to includ...

Your guide to hate-watching Super Bowl 58’s Chiefs-49ers rerun
The best 2024 could give us for Super Bowl LVIII is a rerun. The Kansas City Chiefs marching into a showdown against a defensive juggernaut helmed by a lowly-regarded quarterback is another reminder that time is a flat circle. We even got a Shanahan-McCaffrey revival 25 years after Ed McCaffrey and ...

Eric Bieniemy passed by again; Zach Wilson's Aaron Rodgers delusion; Patrick Mahomes' dad-bod saga
(UPDATE, 11:20 am, Feb. 1): ESPN is reporting that Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has been named Commanders head coach.)...

Ranking the new NFL head coaching hires
With the Washington Commanders hiring Dan Quinn, the NFL’s head coaching cycle has officially concluded. Barring any unforeseen firings, eight coaches have new jobs, and none of them are Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, or Mike Vrabel. With the dust finally settled, it’s time to see how each team fared...

To the 'Nikki Haley/America has never been racist' crowd, I present you the Cardell Hayes case
It has been eight years since former New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith was killed in a road rage incident. Cardell Hayes was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 25 years in prison back in December 2016. However, the verdict was not unanimous. At the time, Louisiana was one of only t...

There aren’t enough wealthy team owners on Earth to save the PGA Tour
The PGA Tour and LIV Golf are engaging in an arms race for the future of golf, with the former getting a $3 billion injection of cash from the Strategic Sports Group this week, while the latter is content luring defectors with massive contracts. The endgame for the PGA Tour? Try to keep golf as clos...

LeBron James has played with or against these 10 father-son duos
Love him or hate him, you have to marvel at the sheer longevity of LeBron James’ career. A Jan. 17 chyron from an ESPN on ABC broadcast revealed that the Washed King has played against 35 percent of all players to ever play in the NBA. As of Jan. 27, that massive pool of opponents now includes 10 di...

Chiefs-49ers and every Super Bowl rematch in NFL history
It’s feeling like 2020 all over again. Donald Trump and Joe Biden are presidential candidates, COVID is still a thing, and the Kansas City Chiefs will face off against the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl. ...

It’s been a positive hiring cycle for Black head coaches in the NFL, but . . .
All of life’s wins should be celebrated, but parades are meant for special occasions. And despite how progressive this hiring cycle for Black head coaches in the NFL has been, anyone who has already poured the champagne is an idiot....

Patrick Mahomes the game manager was good enough
In years past Patrick Mahomes had to be Quarterback Jordan. En route to his second Super Bowl, he became the first throwzini to lead the league in passing yards and win a Super Bowl in the same season. Last year, he had to will Kansas City through the postseason by scrambling on a high ankle sprain....

Blood-money sellout claims pending LIV-PGA merger is for the 'good of fans'
Bryson DeChambeau, one of the PGA defectors who took the Saudi blood money to join LIV, thinks the impending merger of the two organizations is what golf fans are clamoring for....

Ohio State is buying the best team NIL can get. It better pay off
Don’t get mad, get even. Or in the case of Ohio State, get everybody you can....

Ranking the final 4 teams in NFL playoffs
The stage is set. Four teams remain. Aside from some gut-wrenching, soul-crushing losses by the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys, these are pretty much the teams we expected to make it this far. ...