van Page 19 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker saved Arsenal’s season
We spend a lot of time trying to unearth the little tactical nugget, or superlative performance from one player, or decoding the 3D art that most soccer matches at the highest level usually are to figure out why one team won or lost and why this team is higher in the table than the other. But someti...

Carl Weathers was countless Americans’ Happy Place
I just want to start this off by saying, I’m dedicating this piece to Carl Weathers, and if Shooter McGavin tries to claim otherwise, I will rattle off a stream of obscenities that’ll make Lee Trevino shake his head from Garland, Texas. ...

Penguins on the edge; The Canucks are for real?; A bad hockey take for the ages
No one ever wants to admit the end is coming, much less is here. Especially when there are signs that it’s still a bit of a ways off, if one knows where to look. There will come a day when the Pittsburgh Penguins will recede into the background, which they haven’t really done since the beginning of ...

Maybe we have to take the Vancouver Canucks seriously
I know, the words “take seriously” and “Vancouver Canucks” having a get together in the same sentence is awkward for everyone. At least everyone outside of Vancouver, as there perhaps is no team that takes itself more seriously than the Canucks, which is what underlies their never decreasing sense o...

I hope Gio Reyna is ready to run
“Where In The World Is Gio Reyna?” appears to have an answer, as reports this morning say that he is in England to wrap up a loan deal with Nottingham Forest. You know when you get the “Here We Go!” from Fab that it’s official. ...

Kim Mulkey needs to show up for Brittney Griner’s jersey retirement at Baylor
Anyone who dresses the way Kim Mulkey does loves attention. And since the ultra-competitive and always controversial head coach has never shied away from the camera, she might as well show up in Waco next month for a photo-op on Brittney Griner’s big night — even if the two can’t stand each other....

Jurgen Klopp and the importance of Now
“It’ll never get better than this.”...

Haters won't be happy with Pat Mahomes-LamarJackson AFC Championship game; Andy Reid is greater than Belichick?; Don't punch Ravens' Super Bowl ticket yet
There were some tense moments for most of the favorites in the Divisional Round. The current NFL darling Detroit Lions almost let the game slip away on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The San Francisco 49ers are fortunate that Jordan Love forgot how to throw a football in the fourth quarter...

The Los Angeles Kings are getting itchy
Rarely is it a good sign when, A) the head coach is being asked if his job is in jeopardy, and B) the coach doesn’t have much of a problem with that being asked. That’s where the Los Angeles Kings, along with coach Todd McClellan, find themselves after either losing or tying their 12th of 14 games l...

Adrián Beltré leads baseball's 2024 Hall of Fame class
Adrián Beltré, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer are headed to Cooperstown. ...

The Heat got better <i>and</i> saved money by trading Kyle Lowry
One of the greatest charge-drawers the world has ever seen is no longer with the Miami Heat. Kyle Lowry will be creating turnovers by hitting the deck somewhere else for the rest of the season. The Heat have traded him to the Charlotte Hornets, along with a 2027 protected first-round pick, and recei...

Tristan Thompson gets 25-game PED suspension
Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson was hit with a 25-game PED suspension, according to reports. ...

What do the Edmonton Oilers want with Corey Perry?
The Edmonton Oilers have been the NHL’s hottest team for a good long while now. They’ve won 13 in a row, and since that woeful 2-9-1 start, they’ve gone 24-6-0, which over a full season would be a 131-point pace. They’ve vaulted themselves out of the Motel For Men where the Sharks live, that they sp...

Don't mean to rain on Joel Embiid, but scoring 70 points isn't getting the Sixers out of the second round
Reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid ran amuck on the San Antonio Spurs Monday night in Philly, dropping 70 on Victor Wembanyama and crew. Even Kevin Durant was thoroughly impressed when learning of Embiid’s feat during his postgame presser after the Suns’ win over the Bulls. In doing this, Embiid set a new...

Dan Quinn, Jim Harbaugh and all of the NFL coaching, exec hires
With interviews entering late rounds and the new league year inching closer, we are finally seeing some of the coaching and front-office vacancies around the league get filled. To check out every opening around the league, check out our firings list. Tap in for all the latest head coach, coordinator...

Luka Doncic and each NBA team's leading single-game scorer
Update: Luka Doncic is the latest NBA star to drop 70+ points this season. It topped his Dallas Mavericks single-game record of 60, set in 2022. ...

Buccaneers have tough decisions to make on Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ surprising season is finally over, but now they’ve got some huge decisions to make. Primarily about the futures of Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans in Tampa. Both would like to stay, and with Evans being homegrown, he’ll likely have some influence on the team when it comes to ...

Liverpool finally find a win in third gear
The Premier League finished up their split round, in what constitutes their winter break. So let’s run through every game that went down Saturday and Sunday, which doesn’t even allow us to get to our usual five bullet points! It’s our break, too, we guess. And sorry to any Brighton or Wolves support...

The NBA 'superstar' landscape has shifted
There is no greater conduit for NBA hyperbole than the conversation around “superstars.” To have a rational, substantive debate, there must first be basic groundwork for what constitutes superstar status. First, the bad news: former Finals MVPs Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, LeBron James and Kawhi Leona...

Eastern Conference is a mess; Bruins don't need centers?; Sam Reinhart makes history
We’re halfway through the NHL season, which is now meant as a device to make everyone look stupid. Or really, to make me look stupid, which isn’t all that hard, because I’m stupid. After 41 games, we should have an idea of who is what and who’s going where. But in the Eastern Conference, we really d...