sports Page 422 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

There is no escape from the Astros
The longer the Astros stick around, the more baseball fans complain and bring out the tired jokes about their cheating. Maybe more opponents get suspicious, as Chisox pitcher Ryan Tepera did after Game 3. This is obviously the price the Astros have to pay for 2017’s scandal, and the only price they...

Let's not give Trevon Diggs the DPOY just yet
Trevon Diggs has been an absolute monster this season for the Dallas Cowboys. He’s limited some of the best receivers in the game to under 50 yards and hasn’t allowed a single receiver to record more than five receptions. He’s allowed only 465 yards with six interceptions through 16 games. Now, you’...

No one cares if they can coexist
To claim that there is one tired storyline trope that WWE has to do away with is to bring a squirt gun to a massive inferno. It doesn’t cover the breadth of the company’s problems, and you probably don’t have enough ammo to even take care of the specific portion you want. And it might come down to p...

Pierce and Garnett team up for podcast
For all of you NBA podcast lovers out there, you’ll soon have another to add to your favorites list. Former Boston Celtics and Hall of Famers Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett seem to be jumping into the NBA podcasting arena. Pierce posted a tease for the new venture via Twitter on Monday morning....

Wait… why isn’t Kyle Shanahan on the hot seat?
In four-plus years as the head coach in San Francisco, Kyle Shanahan has gone 31-38. He’s finished either third or last-place in his division in three of his four full seasons, and despite his teams consistently finishing in the top half of the league in terms of total offense and defense, they are ...

Can Westbrook thrive as a third option with Lakers?
The Russell Westbrook era is underway in Los Angeles, and after his first couple of games in a Lakers uniform, Mr. Triple-double accounted for 14 turnovers in 39 minutes. He had 9 in one game alone. Sure, it is only the preseason, and the games and turnovers don’t count, as the future Hall of Famer ...

Davis Mills jumps Trey Lance and Zach Wilson in Rookie QB rankings
The 2021 draft class will be a focal point of the NFL for years to come. It yielded five quarterbacks who have a chance to make a significant impact on their franchises this season and beyond. ...

32 teams need to hear this: There is no pitching formula for the playoffs
Many years ago now, baseball pundits and fans tried to come up with a “secret sauce” for success in the playoffs. It can be pretty infuriating to simply accept that the sport’s biggest prize is handed out at the conclusion of a tournament that is essentially random. There had to be a reason these th...

2021 NHL Previews: Flyers haven’t made a good move since acquiring Gritty
The Metro Division is jam-packed with teams who could disappoint. Sid and Geno are back for their 16th season in Pittsburgh, and the bottom has to fall out eventually. Similarly, Alex Ovechkin is 36 and coming off a career-worst 24-goal season. Carolina was one of the darlings of hockey last year, b...

Catching up with the NHL (We hardly had time to miss ya!)
The NHL is back on its regular schedule after two straight pandemic-curtailed seasons, and that means it kicks off right now, even though it still doesn’t feel like hockey season outside in most of North America....

Stop venerating men who care about nothing but football
Back in 2016, Bleacher Report wrote this in a profile of former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden:...

Patrick Mahomes is just not the greatest anymore
The biggest myth in the NFL is that Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the league....

2021 NHL Previews: Fifty-four years between Cups for Toronto, going on 55
The Toronto Maple Leafs have now crossed the Rangers Line. The most famous Stanley Cup drought in history belonged to New York, which for years had to hear “1940” chants until Mark Messier, Mike Richter, and company finally broke the hex in 1994....

100-win Rays come up short again, which is where this is all heading
The Red Sox kneecapped the Rays, 6-5, in the bottom of the ninth last night — another walkoff — and the ending of a series usually launches a 1,000 ships carrying annoying narratives. The big one from this one is that the Rays’ way of doing things, with their positionless pitching staff, essentially...

Dinosaur organization has dinosaur coach, film at 11
There isn’t much to add to the whole Jon Gruden dumbassery that my colleagues Carron Phillips didn’t address yesterday or Criss Partee the day before. Gruden never deserved his position, certainly didn’t do much to earn it while he was there, and then was found out as a world-class asshole who also ...

J.R. Smith makes competitive golf debut for North Carolina A&T
Former NBA Sixth Man of the Year J.R. Smith has officially embarked on his journey into the world of collegiate sports. On Monday, Smith debuted for the North Carolina A&T men’s golf team. But the first round of his college athletic career wasn’t as productive as he’d indeed hoped....

Hear me out: The Warriors are ready to contend again out West
Call me crazy, but the Golden State Warriors will be a force in the Western Conference this season. Yes, you heard me correctly. Golden State will be a thorn in the side of every team in the West this year, because everyone is sleeping on them, apparently....

The USMNT can’t live without Tyler Adams
When this World Cup qualifying cycle began, we had hoped that the U.S. would surprise us and break new ground on what they could do. And they’ve done that, we just didn’t know it would be showing us how bad they can play at times. ...

2021 NHL Previews: The Canucks will upset you deeply
Look, I had to pick someone. This division is sadness. If the NHL had relegation, at least three-quarters of the league would probably be booted before the season started, just to save the time and travel costs. So, really, no one has expectations that I can bust. Vegas doesn’t even really have to b...

Robot umpires would destroy the beauty of the catcher position
2022 will be longtime St. Louis Cardinals’ backstop Yadier Molina’s final season. When Yadi finally calls it quits, he will leave an incredible legacy behind — one of defensive prowess, solid offense, and fear being struck into the hearts of baserunners everywhere....