Two New England Patriots say they will not meet Donald Trump after their Super Bowl victory. At least they’re not dodging the issue like their quarterbackIn the midst of the idiotic “stick to sports” movement engulfing anyone in the media who dares to disagree with the White House, Super Bowl LI was another prime example of how sports will always be intertwined with politics.After the New England Patriots secured arguably the most shocking comeback win in American sports history on Sunday, their loquacious tight end Martellus Bennett presented the US public with another test of their sanity: either accept that athletes can make their own stands or risk being embarrassed trying to muzzle them. Related: Two New England Patriots say...
The Sacramento Kings center picked up his 16th technical foul of the season on Monday, the fastest any NBA player has reached that mark since 2006-07, but Rasheed Wallace’s record might be impossible to breakIn Monday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls, with just 1.1 seconds remaining, the Sacramento Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins picked up a technical foul by yelling at an official. With that ill-advised burst of emotion, Cousins set a dubious record: he received his 16th technical of the season earlier than any other player since a 2006-07 NBA rule change, beating Dwight Howard’s previous record by nearly a month.By picking up his 16th tech, Cousins earned himself an automatic suspension for Wednesday’s game against the Boston Celtics plus...
After the draw with Serbia and the win over Jamaica, USA’s new coach has several issues to address before the must-win game against Honduras in MarchJanuary team camps are MLS-dominated affairs that tend to be a mix of the experimental and a participation prize event. Players who’ve performed well for their clubs but have rarely featured for the national team get some recognition and some minutes – but that rarely turns into a platform for further time with the national team. Continue reading...
The Atlanta Falcons quarterback was statistically perfect with the NFL title within his grasp. But he was soon to find out that statistics can lieMatt Ryan was perfect. With under nine minutes left to play in Super Bowl LI, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback had completed 13 of 16 attempted passes for 202 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Through the arcane calculations of the NFL’s statisticians, that gave him a passer rating of 158.3 - the highest score possible. Literally, perfection. At that moment, he appeared the likely winner of the Super Bowl’s Most Valuable Player award. The Falcons had just given up a field goal, but they still held a 28-12 lead over New England. All they needed to...
At the age of 39 the New England Patriots quarterback is as dangerous as he was when he won his second Super Bowl at 26. It’s as if he can go on foreverBefore the Super Bowl winning drive Tom Brady stood on the Houston stadium’s field and said to his team-mates: “Let’s go.” And later, after the New England Patriots had won on the game’s final play and confetti tumbled over them their right tackle gushed: “He thrives on those moments.” That was 13 years ago, on the night the Patriots won their second Super Bowl, which came in the same stadium, in a similar high-scoring game, won at the end by the Patriots on a drive led by Brady,...