Coach tempted out of retirement by prospect of working with 21-year-old German while creaking Murray returns to US Open as an almost invisible former championWhen Andy Murray hooked up with Ivan Lendl seven years ago, he seemed convinced that, after several experiments with other coaches, he and old Rock Jaw would be together for the rest of his career. Within a year, he had broken through for an Olympic gold medal and his first grand slam title at the US Open. Two Wimbledon titles would follow – then injury, struggle and no little angst.When Murray arrived this week in New York to prepare for the US Open, the last major of the season, he may have experienced a shiver of regret, or...
The club’s sudden and unexpected upturn is a serious threat to American League powerhouses, and confirmation of one man’s skillsBilly Beane, the executive VP of baseball operations and resident mad scientist of the Oakland Athletics, is back disrupting American League powerhouses, safely ensconced beneath 50 feet of crap. After four losing seasons the ballyhooed Beane, made famous around the globe thanks to his portrayal in Moneyball, has his A’s on the brink of bringing Hollywood storylines back to the Bay Area. And only now, after nearly two months of piling up victories, is the baseball world finally taking notice. Related: 'It was intentional': Braves and Marlins brawl after Urena hits Acuna with 97mph fastball Chaptain America has a PSA for...
The league thinks it can appease the president on player protests, but Trump’s latest broadside makes it clear that’s not the caseIt’s funny. It’s almost as if the president wants people talking about a handful of NFL players taking a knee at the start of a preseason football game rather than, say, anything else currently going on in the United States. On Thursday night, a couple of Miami Dolphins players took a knee during the national anthem as part of an ongoing symbolic protest against social injustice and police brutality. Once again, president Donald Trump went on Twitter to denounce the players and demand that the NFL put a stop to it.The NFL players are at it again - taking...
For years larger-than-life coaches like Meyer could operate without oversight or interference, but society has evolved and sports have caught upFor years, the two most powerful coaches in college football have been Alabama’s Nick Saban and Ohio State’s Urban Meyer. Combined, their teams have won nine of the last 15 national championships. They are giants in a sport where coaches are already exalted to mythical proportions, the highest-paid public employees in their states, their word greater and more important than even the presidents of their schools.So the fact that Ohio State put Meyer on administrative leave this week, pending an investigation into what Meyer knew about an assistant coach’s history of domestic abuse, shocked many. Meyer, it always seemed, was...
With the Tournament of Nations behind them, the world’s No 1 team is eight weeks from opening their France 2019 qualifying campaign. Here are five things they must do to retain their titleBy the time 2017 ended, it seemed as if the US could do little wrong in midfield. Anchored by the partnership of Julie Ertz and Samantha Mewis, plus a rotating cast of talented attack-minded midfielders, Jill Ellis’s team found it easy to dominate matches and out-press their opponents. However, the team was unable to pick up from where they left off in the new year, and still have not found that form. Injuries to both Ertz and Mewis, as well as several others, have forced Ellis to try...