up Page 258 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
A few thoughts on the start of 2022 World Cup
While the World Cup started yesterday, it doesn’t really kick off until today. The World Cup, for fans, is about the NCAA tournament-type feel of multiple games every day, and there are three today and four per for the next couple of weeks. That’s the real tournament. If we didn’t all feel weird eno...
Lotta goals in the desert — World Cup Daily Diary Day 1
We’ll be running a daily roundup of everything that happens in Qatar, starting with the opening day today. Take the journey with us....
Yes, Bills Mafia is the best fanbase and it’s not even close
I love the San Francisco 49ers. I grew up in the Bay Area, and instead of cheering for my father’s favorite team — the then-Oakland Raiders — in Super Bowl XXXVII. I cheered for the Bucs, a team I had zero affiliation with just because I didn’t want to see San Francisco’s cross-town rival win a chip...
USMNT’s Christian Pulisic finally gets his chance
The embarrassment of the United States men’s national team missing the 2018 World Cup had several layers. One of the most understated at the time, and one that luckily has been forgotten about over time for fans of the Stars and Stripes, is how the adorned future of American soccer would always be a...
The USMNT needs a striker in Qatar — can Jesus Ferreira be the answer?
It’s been the longest-standing position battle for the United States men’s national team. It’s been basically a forever chase to find a stable striker. The No. 9 spot has been taken by dozens of Americans, with no real claim to the throne. Brian McBride? Jozy Altidore? Joe-Max Moore? All had tempora...
World sporting events are becoming a different kind of guilty pleasure
While this World Cup is unlike any other due to the start time and Middle East location, there is a recent world competition that comes to mind. Think about it. Climate unfit to host the event, haphazard accommodations, stories of government overreach, and sportswashing. That sounds like the Beijing...
A College Football Playoff bid is on the line for USC the next three weeks
It’s the penultimate week of college football’s regular season, and I’ll give you four guesses as to which conference has the most ranked teams. I’d like to thank SEC fans for their quick response, but nope, it’s not them. Big Ten fans aren’t even chiming in because one of their two divisions doesn’...
Does Aaron Long belong in Qatar?
It’s hard to describe why there’s angst around Aaron Long. Does the United States men’s national team have better center backs? Yes. Has he taken the spot of more deserving players? Yeah, but that’s more up for debate. If you’re basing personnel decisions on trust with USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalt...
Walker Zimmerman ready to test himself ‘against anyone’ at 2022 World Cup
Has anyone done more to improve his stock with the United States men’s national team over the last 18 months than Walker Zimmerman? There’s no one clearly above him. The Nashville SC stalwart was in and out of the Yanks’ lineup for years before asserting himself as the captain of the 2021 Gold Cup s...
Titans don’t lack for self-awareness
The Tennessee Titans returned Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers back to the land of sadness, winning via their usual blueprint. They continued to convert goal-to-go situations into touchdowns, Derrick Henry did King Henry things, and the defense held the Pack to 271 yards of total offense. ...
Philly swiped right on Ndamukong Suh and it’s a perfect match
The Philadelphia Eagles have gone all in on winning a championship. The proof of that is seen in their latest signing. It was reported Thursday afternoon that the Eagles have signed former All-Pro defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh to a one-year deal. Suh, at one time, was considered the nastiest player...
10 NBA storylines that deserve more love
It feels like we’re already in midseason form. Truth is, we’re barely a month in....
Elon Musk is doing his best impression of some of sports' most epic flameouts
No one strives for failure....
Shaq Moore’s surprise World Cup inclusion gives USMNT comfort on backline
One of the true shockers of the United States men’s national team’s World Cup roster reveal was Shaq Moore making the cut. His inclusion, alongside striker Haji Wright, appeared to come the most out of left field for diehard fans of the Stars and Stripes. Moore has had recent call-ups, played in fou...
Are Twitter and sports headed for a crash?
In 2008 when I started covering the New York Jets, I also joined Twitter. It was a great way to break news, see what your competition knew, and hear from regular fans....
World Cup 2022 — Group H preview: Yes, Portugal can win this and no, it won’t be pleasant if they do
Let’s get the main reason out of the way. No one outside of Portugal wants to see giant pain in the ass, huffing his own farts, twice-accused rapist Cristiano Ronaldo — who has denied the allegations — hoist the trophy. It was bad enough in 2016 when he left the final injured that he made sure every...
DeAndre Yedlin is USMNT’s only bridge to last World Cup appearance
Before we can truly look forward, we must go back in time, to a marvelous place where the United States men’s national team missing the World Cup was such an afterthought, it would be equal to falling into the abyss. Yeah, a few CONCACAF rivals like Panama and Costa Rica were rapidly improving and b...
It’s no less a referendum on Neymar — World Cup 2022 Group G preview
This World Cup is setting up as either a treatise or a coronation for Lionel Messi. He recently collected his first major trophy with Argentina — 2021’s Copa America — but still needs the World Cup to stand on the same pedestal as Diego Maradona in most’s eyes. He’s coming to Qatar with unquestionab...
Qatar definitely understands how this whole 'sports media' thing works
We’re less than a week away from the opening ceremonies for the World Cup (which, by the way, still don’t have an announced performer, after being turned down by Rod Stewart, Dua Lipa, and now Shakira), and things in Doha are progressing just about as well as expected when you hold a World Cup in a ...
Your 2022 World Cup safe bets
While every World Cup is unique in its own way, and this one especially, there are certain happenings you can count on. They come about every tournament. The pressure, the coverage, the overall oeuvre of the whole thing just drives people into the same patterns. Over the next month, you can look for...