sports Page 52 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The NFL’s franchise tag is un-American
What happens every time an NFL quarterback resets the QB market? A relatively crap quarterback gets overpaid. The reason Daniel Jones netted a four-year $160 million deal after one good season, instead of getting franchise tagged like he should’ve been, is Joe Burrow got enough money that, by compar...

The Avalanche have gone full Freddie Four Fingers
The NHL trade deadline has gotten into high gear a couple days before Friday afternoon’s deadline, so let’s roll through the highlights of what’s already gone down....

With Russell Wilson gone, Sean Payton can’t point the finger at anyone but himself
Now that the Denver Broncos have made their decision about moving on from the Russel Wilson era, it’s time for head coach Sean Payton to get serious. There’s a lot at stake here and Payton can’t whiff on this quarterback selection. Whether it be via free agency or the draft, Payton is only going to ...

NCAA athletes are trying to unionize again — but this time it feels different
On Tuesday, Dartmouth’s men’s basketball team became the latest college team to attempt to unionize — voting 13-2 to join Service Employees Union Local 560, which currently represents other Dartmouth employees. As labor unions rise in popularity — more than two-thirds of all Americans and 88 percent...

Nick Saban retired, so why is he acting like he was forced out?
For those of us who hoped Nick Saban retiring would be the end of Nick Saban, this idle/jilted version of him might be even more insufferable. In an ESPN story about how Alabama pivoted from Saban to Kalen Deboer in 49 hours, the seven-time title winner revealed that “player attitudes” and the NIL e...

Spanish police confiscate pickaxes, clubs at Champions League game
Spanish police were able to stop a potentially massive and dangerous brawl from breaking out during a Champions League match between Real Sociedad and Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday. ...

15 NBA players we wish competed in the Slam Dunk Contest
The NBA Slam Dunk Contest is on life support. The G-League’s Mac McClung has won the contest for a second year in a row. Despite Boston’s Jaylen Brown attempting to bring stars back to the iconic event, his dunks were relatively unimpressive. ...

When Emmitt Smith talks about race, people should listen
Emmitt Smith is probably not the first athlete people associate with Black people’s American struggle. He wasn’t at the press conference with the then-Lew Alcindor (now known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Bill Russell, and Jim Brown in support of Muhammad Ali electing to not serve in the United States mi...

Daryl Morey is Oppenheimer for the NBA’s nuclear offensive age
It’s Oscars Week, which feels like as good a time as any to draw up the NBA storylines and characters which could double as Oscar nominees. ...

No tag for Barkley, Danny Dimes buyer's remorse: The Giants appear ready to hit the reset button
The New York Giants are reportedly looking to move on from QB Daniel Jones — whom they signed to a four-year, $160 million deal — and decided against using the franchise tag on Saquon Barkley, arguably the second-best player in franchise history. ...

It was time for Jamal Adams and the Seattle Seahawks to part ways
The Seattle Seahawks are entering a retooling phase. It’s not quite a full-on rebuild but there’s enough movement within the organization on and off the field that the team will look quite different next season. It was announced on Tuesday that the Seahawks would be releasing three-time Pro Bowl saf...

The Devils waited too long to make a change
It was only slightly over a year ago that New Jersey Devils fans were apologizing en masse to Lindy Ruff. They had called for his head early last season, and then when the Devils caught fire they all were ready to admit they had egg on their face. New Jersey would go on to the second round of the pl...

Which NFL players received the franchise tag from their teams?
With free agency around the corner, the NFL is currently engaged in its age-old tradition of taking some of the best names off the market. The franchise tag period allows teams to hold onto premier players just a bit longer, extending the negotiation window for a long-term deal while still maintaini...

Don't count on the LA Clippers — they're sure to let you down
The Los Angeles Clippers have been a delightful surprise in the NBA since bouncing back from a rough start once James Harden joined the team at the end of October. ...

The Rangers have a big, dumb sideshow: Matt Rempe
It was natural to think the New York Rangers “got it” after they traded in the misguided clenched jaw ways of Gerrard Gallant behind the bench for the usually up-tempo ways of Peter Laviolette after the Devils essentially skated them out of the building last spring in the first round. The Devils wer...

If you can’t trust Anthony Edwards, you can’t trust the Timberwolves
I’m not anti-analytics, because data matters, but there’s no way to factor in things like your best player missing tipoff because he was a late arrival, or a coach pulling his second-best player when he’s on pace for a 70 burger. The Minnesota Timberwolves are a very good basketball team, by record,...

Rajah Caruth’s historic NASCAR win is a feel-good story we should all celebrate
It’s simple. Since America loves an underdog, America should be applauding Rajah Caruth....

Do the Thunder have a Josh Giddey problem?
Need any more evidence that Gilbert Arenas’ bellyaching about Europeans and foreigners ruining basketball with their sweet outside strokes is all hot air? I’ll give you one: Josh Giddey. Now that his legal woes appear to be in the rearview mirror, the whispers about his liabilities in the Oklahoma C...

Damian Lillard finally played like the superstar the Bucks expected him to be
It is tempting to say that the Milwaukee Bucks turned a corner on Monday night. Without Giannis Antetokounmpo in the lineup, they were still able to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers, 113-106, and remain undefeated since the All-Star break. Damian Lillard did not play his best game of the season in An...

Russell Wilson, the most sound and fury signifying the most nothing
One can’t help but wonder if Russell Wilson had just thrown that last pass in Super Bowl 49 into the third row how the rest of it might have played out. Seattle would likely have had consecutive Super Bowls, he’d be a god in the PNW, and perhaps everyone would have had more patience for the mountain...