wan Page 5 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

If you're going to crash and burn, crash and burn like the Reds

Almost every demise in a baseball season is slow (unless you’re the Pittsburgh Pirates–more on them later). When a team still has a shot at the postseason by September, every game means that team is chasing something. And that chase means that should they falter on Tuesday, by Wednesday’s first pitc...

2023 MLB Hits leaders

This article is based on data from Sportradar. Text was compiled by an AI engine that was then reviewed and edited by the editorial staff....

Breanna Stewart is the heir apparent to Diana Taurasi’s scoring crown

In a sport where offense sells, Breanna Stewart is a closer. On Tuesday night, the New York Liberty needed each and every one of Stewart’s 40 points on a panoply of turnaround fadeaways, driving finishes, post-ups, and off-the-dribble triples to put away the Dallas Wings 94-93. ...

Why have there been so many WNBA broadcasting blunders this season?

Broadcasters in the 2023 WNBA season are mostly pronouncing players’ names right. Considering the frequency with which on-air talent mispronounced players’ names (or misnamed players) in recent years, this is a triumph....

Julie Ertz, the USWNT’s most irreplaceable player, retires

I’m a sucker for a midfielder. Especially one like Julie Ertz. It’s not that I played there or anything. It’s just something about a player who sees all the angles on both sides of the ball before being anywhere near it that gets me, I think. Xabi Alonso is my favorite Liverpool player of all time. ...

No one was more themselves than Bray Wyatt

It’s been a rough week for wrestling and its fans. One day after the institution of Terry Funk was lost, perhaps the most creative and certainly one of the most unique minds passed, Bray Wyatt, at the unfair age of 36. ...

Can the Rays survive the season without Wander Franco? | Agree to Disagree

Vlatko Andonovski was bad at a very tough job

If one didn’t want to kick dirt on Vlatko Andonovski as he recedes from the USWNT manager job, and kicking dirt is kind of what we do around here, it would be wise to point out the size of the task he was faced with. He took over a team that had won two World Cups on the spin, so there was really no...

Wander Franco placed on administrative leave, off Rays roster [Update]

UPDATE: Aug. 22, 11:20 a.m.: Franco has been placed on administrative leave by MLB, who issued the following statement:...

The USWNT is extraordinary — don't pretend otherwise

Neither the US Women’s National soccer team’s past glory in Megan Rapinoe, nor its future in young phenom Sophia Smith, could defeat Sweden in the present. Both players skipped penalty kicks high over the goal after a 0-0 tie in regulation, clear misses of the target altogether, in a 1-0 loss that w...

Has the rest of the world finally caught up to the U.S. Women's soccer team?

For those used to the United States women’s national team dominating the globe, this edition of the Women’s World Cup has come as a shock. Those who don’t tune in every four years expected turbulence, but the level of bumps and lumps the Americans have taken in Australia and New Zealand has already ...

The Oakland A’s might not even be the worst team this year, let alone all time

Coming into the 2023 season, many thought that the Oakland A’s had the potential to be not just the worst team in baseball this year, but the worst of all time....

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...

World Cup Group D Preview: Can England complete the set?

The question in all sports has been that once you break through and win, does winning again become easier? Is the mental block gone? Or does the pressure simply build even more, as triumphs go from hoped for to expected? This is only one of the few things that England will be wrestling with at the W...

Saquon Barkley’s only option is to threaten to end the Giants’ season before it starts

A big second contract for an NFL running back is a rarity. Derrick Henry shared carries during his first three seasons as a pro, following his nearly 400-carry junior season at Alabama. In Year 4 he became the best running back in the NFL and received a new 4-year contract in 2020. Saqon Barkley has...

World Cup Group B Preview: It’s time for Sam Kerr to take this itty bitty world by storm

We spilled some ink in these parts about Mallory Swanson by herself making the USWNT a threat to win the World Cup, before her unfortunate injury. But the US isn’t the only team with a player who is capable of grabbing a short tournament by the haunches, and the co-hosts Australia may have the bigge...

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....

The USWNT better not have any centerbacks get hurt

We wondered out the USWNT would heading into the World Cup without Becky Sauerbrunn. The starting lineup should be ok, but how would Vlakto Andonovski answer the question of the eroded depth without the captain around? It would appear he’s decided to not answer it at all. ...

Becky Sauerbrunn’s absence at the World Cup hurts more in the heart than on the field

The women’s World Cup continues to be a battle of attrition, even if it doesn’t start for another month. All the major powers are heading to Australia and New Zealand next month, seemingly with one hand tied behind their back, either through injury or strife within their programs (Canada and Spain)....

Israel's U-20 World Cup Team is a bright spot in a world where antisemitism is on the rise

The phrase “David and Goliath” gets thrown around too much in sports. There is typically a reason for those mismatches to take place, like in the case of No. 16 seeds in the NCAA Tournament needing to defeat a No. 1 to reach the round of 32. According to several Jewish texts, David was the King of I...