van Page 27 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
So this is what it feels like to be a howling soccer fan at the World Cup?
There’s a unique frustration to watching Team USA men’s basketball in the Olympics after the world caught up. Yes, America has a better collection of raw talent, and when motivated, and conducted like an actual team, they can come away with gold. However, it’s always a slog at some point, with savvy...
World Cup Day 8: The Aussies step in it
This tournament started with how every organizer wishes it would, with both hosts getting wins to up the energy and buzz around the whole thing. World Cups and big tournaments are just better when the hosts are relevant and getting the home fans excited. But now both Australia and New Zealand are up...
The USWNT gets out of medium security jail
The pregame chatter mostly centered around Netherlands manager Andries Jonker’s quotes in the Matchday -1 press conference. It certainly had USWNT followers getting a little tight in the seat. In full:...
Evander Holyfield allowed Donald Trump to make $2.5 million off his 2021 boxing match
God looks out for fools and babies. But, does that grace get extended to 58-year-old men? Or can we just admit that Evander Holyfield played himself?...
Shout out to SUNY Morrisville for getting attention by being asinine
SUNY Morrisville and Catholic University had better hope for rain or early fall for their noon kickoff in Morrisville, N.Y. on Sept. 16. If there are any remnants of summer in the atmosphere then their cleats had better come with air conditioning because the field is going to feel like hot coals....
Women’s World Cup preview: The Americans will run into trouble in Group E
The most deceiving thing about the United States women’s national team’s chances of a three-peat isn’t that it has a major target on its back and therefore is part of the game plan to knock out from every other nation in Australia and New Zealand. That was true for the 2019 showcase in France. How’d...
Northwestern’s decision to keep Pat Fitzgerald’s assistants is proof that Northwestern isn’t a serious place
The “intellectual elite” are failing in Evanston. In the same week in which we discovered that Northwestern’s head football coach Pat Fitzgerald’s laughable two-week suspension should have led to his eventual firing for running a program that’s “allegedly” allowed hazing and racism to run rampant fo...
The NFL’s most dysfunctional team operates out of 345 Park Avenue
For years, Dan Snyder caused maximum chaos for the Washington Commanders, and months after agreeing to sell his team, he’s still a reliable source of drama. If the NFL can’t convince its franchises to willingly submit to HBO’s Hard Knocks anymore, maybe the league needs to open its own kimono. Trans...
The USMNT looked terrible against Canada, and it doesn’t matter
It took until the 88th minute for the United States men’s national team’s C-squad to score a goal on home soil in a major-tournament quarterfinal and 15 seconds after play resumed for the offense to take place that gave Canada a golden opportunity to take it away. An uninspired first half, saved by ...
The Rockets have become the NBA’s most polarizing team
The Houston Rockets have been stuck in zero gravity since their post-Harden rebuild began two years ago. Despite their lottery successes they still have no direction. The Rockets lit the fuse this summer expecting a controlled explosion and witnessed the creation of the NBA’s most opulent sparkler....
Damian Lillard and James Harden need to exchange travel plans
The two superstars residing on the NBA’s bustling trade block have their bags packed. Damian Lillard has been hinting at Miami as his preference for weeks while the mutual interest between Harden and the Los Angeles Clippers is hard not to notice. Check back in a year and Harden may change his mind ...
Hey, at least the Houston Rockets are trying
We laughed at Dillon Brooks’ unceremonious exit from the Memphis Grizzlies, but it will be him with the cheshire grin plastered to his face every time that a direct deposit hits his account. On Saturday he signed a four-year, $80 million contract with the Houston Rockets. The day before, Fred VanVle...
ESPN’s studio show format made its talent expendable
After weeks of speculation and rumors, ESPN gave us its own version of Black Monday, letting loose around 20 highly visible, and in a few cases, staple personalities Friday. Jeff Van Gundy, Suzy Kolber, Jalen Rose, Keyshawn Johnson, Matt Hasselback, Todd McShay, Max Kellerman, Steve Young, and LaPho...
Christian Pulisic’s move to AC Milan is the USMNT’s biggest news of the summer
The most substantial story for the United States men’s national team this summer has nothing to do with the Gold Cup. Nor any of the drama surrounding Gregg Berhalter’s return to the Yanks’ helm. It was always where the best American male soccer player on the planet, Christian Pulisic, landed in the...
The $100M questions for the NBA free agents who cashed in
Before anybody evaluates contracts or shouts that Fred VanVleet is overpaid from the mountaintop, let’s take a moment to congratulate all of the free agents who just guaranteed themselves and their families generational wealth. Tyrese Haliburton, Jerami Grant, Desmond Bane, Kyrie Irving, Cam Johnson...
ESPN breaks up its broadcast superteam-in-slacks as Jeff Van Gundy enters NBA free agency
As ESPN reaches the end of its fiscal year today, the Worldwide Leader has commenced its semi-annual purge of top talent. On Wednesday, the pink slip Russian Roulette landed on Jeff Van Gundy, after 16 years with the network....
DeAndre Hopkins is the latest pass catcher Bill Belichick wants from the department store
Once again, Bill Belichick is shopping for No. 1 wide receivers at Ross. Which is not to say that it’s impossible to find good clothing there. Customers simply have to be willing to pour through the racks and try on a lot of clothing— especially tops — if they want to find a Randy Moss at 60 percent...
The Reggie Evans Bad Basketball Basketball Hall of Fame 2023 inductees
Studies have shown that negative news garners more of the public’s attention than positive news, so with that knowledge, I propose an alternative to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. The Basketball Hall of Fame has the prestige, but it doesn’t generate as much conversation as Twitter ramblings f...
First-round NBA Draft grades on a pass/fail system
If you’re like most underachievers and procrastinators, the letter grade doesn’t matter as long as you pass. I’ve lived most of my life by the mantra that “C’s are for degrees” and look where it’s gotten me: Writing about sports for living, and passing judgment upon others without retaliation....
Victor Wembanyama won't be NBA Rookie of the Year
Every betting site has Victor Wembanyama installed as the runaway favorite to earn Rookie of the Year. In case you want to start engraving Victor Wembanyama’s name on the award already, take a moment to consider this. Rookie of the Year hasn’t always gone to the incandescent talent from every draft ...