If results go their way, NYC FC could secure a postseason spot for the first time. Plus, DC and Orlando go at it, and Seattle are desperate for a win in LAIn 2002, the New York Yankees outbid the Boston Red Sox for star Cuban pitcher Jose Contreras, forcing Red Sox president Larry Lucchino (who retired last year) to vent his frustration. “The evil empire extends its tentacles even into Latin America,” he told the New York Times, and from that precise moment the Yankees had a new nickname. How fitting then, that 14 years later the evil empire could see their soccer club clinch their first ever playoff spot on Star Wars night in the Bronx tonight. Related: 'We're...
The Broncos look to continue their flawless title defense, while the Falcons look to soar in the Superdome. Plus, take part in our tipping contestWhat a week it has been in the NFL. First we learned that the Vikings might not have been crazy to trade for Sam Bradford, then that Matt Forte does an alarmingly good Arnold Schwarzenegger impression. I would ask who could ever have predicted such a thing, but in fact I already know the answer - grafhamboy - the one and only person to call every game correctly in week two. Related: Patriots make light of Brady and Garoppolo absences to beat Texans Continue reading...
For too long, the league was interested in making itself palatable for a white audience. Under Adam Silver it is listening to its black playersIf there is one thing clear about the current NBA, it is that it is no longer the league of David Stern. As a businessman, the league’s former commissioner was a visionary, building a booming operation that now reaches around the globe. But on social issues he stumbled, creating policies that almost seemed designed to make a league of mostly African American players appear palatable to a white audience.It was Stern, after all, who 11 years ago created professional sports’ first sideline dress code that he called “business casual”. It came at a time when a phrase thrown...
This week’s roundup also features drone surfing, hardcore whiff-whaff, and the best way to overtake a peloton1) It doesn’t get easier for Brendan Rodgers. A fortnight after his side took a pasting in Spain, it’s ‘Battle’ of Britain week: Celtic versus Manchester City on Wednesday. He can take heart, though, from some notable BoB classics – including Celtic’s 2-1 1970 European Cup semi-final win over Don Revie’s Leeds in front of 136,000 at Hampden Park; Rangers winning both legs of 1992’s clash with Leeds; Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen undoing Uefa Cup holders Ipswich in 1981; and Celtic beating Liverpool on the way to the 2003 Uefa Cup final. 2) Life’s good right now for Lamar Jackson – Louisville Cardinals’ Heisman Trophy...
Big Papi was supposedly done in 2009 after two subpar seasons. Seven years later, he’ll get MVP votes. If he’s hitting like this at 40, why can’t he do it at 45?No one cares about the gifts. So what that the Astros gave David Ortiz a cowboy hat and the Royals some barbecue sauce and the Twins some peanut butter and the Mariners 34lbs of salmon. Ortiz shouldn’t not come back because he’s worried the Padres will be upset they bought him a surfboard as a retirement gift and then he didn’t retire. They probably still have the receipt. “I thought a lot about it,” Ortiz said in November 2015, announcing this would be his final season after back-to-back last...