vic Page 32 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Novak Djokovic is still a selfish jackass
You would think that after watching Rafael Nadal become the first player to reach 21 grand slam wins, Novak Djokovic would have gained some sort of perspective, knowing that he himself had cost himself the chance to be the first one to do it, which he’ll never have again. That maybe, just maybe, he ...

What it means when prosecutors decline to charge sexual assault
I have a love/hate relationship with Olivia Benson and the ubiquitous Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU to those of us who have it on the background at least 65 percent of the time). On one hand, it’s copaganda of the highest order, where police are nearly always the good guys, and one cop in p...

Olivier Giroud continues to just do the work
It is hard to look at Olivier Giroud and think “grafter.” Because it’s not hard to look at Giroud at all. Ask Leslie Jones. It would be silly to suggest that people don’t make conclusions based on how a player looks. It’s hard to reconcile him as a pure, old-school center forward. Strong, holds up t...

Little trouble in big China
The Olympics are underway, and China is showing the world that all that talk about totalitarianism and suppression of freedom is… uh… well, let’s check in with Sjoerd den Daas, the East Asia correspondent for the Dutch news network NOS....

Hate Tom Wilson all you want but he deserves to be an NHL All-Star
There are few names that drum up hockey fans at large with such visceral rage as Tom Wilson. His introduction to the league has been well-documented as a young, tough, ultra-physical, trash-talking specimen Capitals’ fans adore. The rest of the league’s fans, not so much. Especially in Boston and Ne...

Tennis is having the goldenest of all Golden Ages
It’s strange how normalized greatness is during something’s golden age. If you look at music for example, hip-hop peaked in the ’90s for a lot of people like classic rock did in the ’60s and ’70s. However, even when 2Pac and Biggie were at the apex, rappers like Nas and Jay-Z weren’t in the picture ...

Why this Chicago Bulls moment matters
It wasn’t supposed to last this long. When Michael Jordan slightly pushed off Bryon Russell to square up for a 17-foot jump shot with 5.2 seconds left in 1998, the future was a giant question mark. The moment the shot clock expired, the rebuild began. Bulls fans knew the band was broken up. This wou...

Caleb Williams follows Lincoln Riley to USC, furthers OU fans’ spiral
Caleb Williams officially twisted the knives Lincoln Riley stuck in the backs of Oklahoma fans when he left for Southern California as the talented QB announced Tuesday he’s following his coach to USC. He did so via tweet, featuring videos with appearances by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Will Ferrell....

IDIOT OF THE MONTH: The usual suspects are back at it
Welcome to Deadspin’s IDIOT OF THE MONTH, the most electrifying ceremony in sports media. Following up on the hotly contested 2021 IDIOT OF THE YEAR awards, we have for you today, well, many of the same ninnies and twits who appeared on that vaunted list. The calendar year, it turns out, is not some...

Rafa Nadal had just enough
Whether Rafa Nadal likes it or not, and he probably doesn’t mind because he seems an amiable sort, he’ll be more closely linked to Roger Federer than Novak Djokovic. It was Federer who was unchallenged for years until Rafa built a base on clay, and then slowly ate into his advantages on grass (beat ...

Mike MacDonald, Michigan exchange student, heads back to the NFL
John Harbaugh let Jim have a little Mike MacDonald — as a treat. But after a successful one-year loaner program that I have to assume is kind of like studying abroad for NFL position coaches into the weird, wonderful land of college football, MacDonald has been brought back to the Ravens as the prog...

Porzingis to the basket and the cash... D'OH!
The hottest new trend in NBA betting seems to be first basket parlays. Essentially, a bettor guesses which player will score the first basket in a given game. On December 29, 2021, Jim James thought he’d give one of these parlays a shot. He put $100 on a four-game parlay assuming that Jaylen Brown w...

Don’t fumble the bag
Just like a loose ball, when the bag is in reach, you dive headfirst for it. Every summer, a handful of teams, big and small markets, choose to resign, extend, or offer big money to one of their rising players. Sometimes it works out. Other times, you’re stuck with Kevin Love. Although kudos to Love...

Preposter-Russ!
In his inaugural season with the Los Angeles Lakers, former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook has been underwhelming to say the least. Over his last ten games, the Brodie has averaged 15.2 points per game while shooting an abysmal 36.4 percent from the field and 21.4 percent from deep....

An older, more economical Rafa Nadal can still fight
Because he’s five years the junior of Roger Federer, it’s been interesting to watch Rafa Nadal’s career kind of trail in Federer’s wake and how much it follows this same path. At 35, much like Federer did at age 35, Nadal entered this Australian Open off a huge injury layoff, as he didn’t play after...

What to make of Nick Kyrgios?
You wouldn’t have noticed two nights ago, or two mornings ago, as it tends to be with the Australian Open. Daniil Medvedev, currently the favorite to win the whole tournament, beat Nick Kyrgios in four sets. Kyrgios didn’t make it that easy on him, and won the third set while hitting some amazing sh...

Turns out, rumors of OBJ’s football demise were greatly exaggerated
Everything’s coming up Odell in 2022. Halfway through the fall, Odell Beckham Jr.’s future in the league looked dim. Season after season had been shortened by one injury or another, and he was in the middle of what was quickly turning out to be the worst year of his career — he hadn’t scored a singl...

Novak Djokovic threw a temper tantrum for the ages
Novak Djokovic has effectively chosen to remain unvaccinated over his bid to break the men’s Grand Slam singles record. That may not have been his aim, but his choice nonetheless has consequences....

Novak Djokovic finally loses in Australia
It’s finally over. Novak Djokovic’s appeal of the revocation of his visa by Australia’s Immigration Minister was rejected, and the country finally got to punt his water-mutating brain elsewhere. Which means Djokovic will not be breaking the record for most Grand Slam titles in Melbourne, though that...

Hit the road, Novak
No-vax Djokovic is having a hell of a time trying to play in the Australian Open, a Grand Slam he has won a record nine times, because it turns out this pandemic is serious business. He had his visa revoked for a second time and faces deportation because he’s not vaccinated, according to ESPN. He’s ...