ty Page 334 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The U.S. needs to beat Mexico tonight, so it better act like it
There isn’t one crescendo to World Cup qualifying, but the U.S. hosting Mexico tonight is just about as close it gets. They’ll play again in the spring of course, and both have other matches to negotiate. But this is one of the games that gets highlighted as soon as the schedule is announced, and ev...

Yes, the Fall Stars Game is a big deal
Since the game’s inception in 2006, the Fall Stars Game has been a showcase for upcoming Major League Baseball talent. Cody Bellinger, Pete Alonso, Vlad Guerrero Jr., Harrison Bader, and Ronald Acuna Jr. are just some of the great names who’ve come up to the big leagues and already made their mark a...

Adam Schefter wows us once again with his journalistic integrity
The NFL-Adam Schefter Pipeline hit another kink yesterday when the ESPN insider reported on a tip from Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook’s agent, alleging that Cook was a victim of domestic violence and extortion. Just a few hours later, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported that Cook’s forme...

Steven Gerrard takes the next step in his journey home
There isn’t anyone involved in Steven Gerrard taking over as manager for Aston Villa that doesn’t know the deal here. The ending that Gerrard wants is that this is the route to land him as manager of Liverpool one day, the club that he — mostly single-handedly — kept relevant for his playing career ...

It’s time for the annual Scott Boras 'yuk-fest'
I suppose one of the less heralded benefits of being ungodly rich is that no one is going to tell you you’re not funny and you’re killing Fozzy Bear. Isn’t that how we ended up with John Mulaney?...

OBJ is ring-chasing, and who can blame him?
Despite being only 29 years old, based on his statistics and games missed due to injuries the past few seasons,Odell Beckham Jr. could be in the twilight of his career. Through six games this season, OBJ is averaging the fewest yards per game, fewest receptions per game, lowest catch rate, fewest ya...

WWE and pro wrestling have always needed a union, but will it ever happen?
Talk of unionizing professional wrestling pops up at least once a year, with it usually coming on the heels of another needless round of WWE releases due to “budget cuts” like my colleague Sam Fels wrote about regarding their most recent cuts last week....

Drumming up some interest: Boilermaker coach making a name for himself with upsets
Outside of Ohio State, it’s hard to definitively say what’s real and what’s Iowa in the Big 10. The conference has had six teams ranked in the top 10 — Penn State twice, Iowa twice, Michigan and Michigan State — lose over the past five weeks. Two of those six upsets have come at (and due to) the han...

How do you screw up someone like Keith Lee?
If it feels like I come here every four to six weeks or so to bemoan WWE’s latest release and wonder how they could waste such a talent so thoroughly that they’re simply discarded like the recycling, it’s kind of because I do. We could do this all day, and by now you probably already have your own l...

A tale of two Windy Cities
It was comeback city in Chicago last night, as the Bulls and the Bears both mounted fourth quarter efforts against their respective opponents, to — ahem — varied success....

2021 Rookie QB Rankings: A Fields of Dreams, the Lawrence of the land and Big Mac
We’ve reached the midway point of the NFL season, and rookie quarterbacks are always front and center, with some living up to the hype and others not as much. With that, let’s look at how the 2021 rookie class fared in Week 9....

Upset Sunday! In the NFL, division leaders, one loss teams, Cowboys, Bills, Rams, it doesn’t matter L’s were handed out like club flyers on Sunday
The NFL had a case of the upsets in Week 9. Some teams were dealing with extenuating circumstances, such as the Green Bay Packers without MVP quarterback Aaron “I discount double-checked the coronavirus myself” Rodgers and the New Orleans Saints trying to get quarterback Trevor Siemian to play like ...

NFL Powerless Rankings: The not very good, the bad and the ugly
The NFL season is halfway done, and now we know who the contenders are and the teams we can write off as pretenders. We can talk about the contenders another time because this list is about those less fortunate teams in the league. Now it’s time to check out the worst of the worst from Week 9....

The Reds are blowing up something that never stood
Yeah, so I did write this last year. The Reds only ended up moving Raisel Iglesias, and you can always fashion a bullpen out of the leftovers, scraps, and spare duct tape you have laying around if you’re determined enough. The Reds didn’t move anything else, and were competitive until the season’s f...

Week 9 NFL Betting Primer: Best Over/Under, Spread, Teaser and Prop Bets
Oof, a rare goose egg came out of last week’s action, though to be fair, that was easily one of the most bizarre football slates any of us had ever seen. When something like Mike White beating the surging Bengals outright to sink our teaser happens, just try to laugh and move on....

UNC Wakes up
Say what you will about college football, but Saturdays are never boring....

Boxing’s next celebrity hype night may pit Deron Williams against Frank Gore (Need we ask why?)
Deron Williams announced Friday that he is becoming the latest boxing/MMA enthusiast to get in the ring....

James Madison gets its moment in the Sun (Belt)
Conference realignment trickle-down has officially reached the Football Championship Series, as the Sun Belt Conference officially announced the addition of James Madison University Saturday by a unanimous vote of its members’ CEOs....

Stepping away from football was Calvin Ridley’s choice, which means it was the right one
Mental health has been a hot-button issue in sports the past few years. Dating back to 2017, when Cleveland Cavaliers’ forward Kevin Love stepped away from his team after a panic attack suffered in the middle of a game, we’ve started seeing more athletes either take a stand in support of people with...

Your regular reminder that Connor McDavid is magic
On the night that Edmonton retired Kevin Lowe’s number 4, the Oilers and Rangers paid tribute the best way they could, by reviving the 1980s with an 11-goal thriller....