The rise of maybe the best American soccer player ever, who’s been linked to Liverpool and Manchester United, doesn’t square with US Soccer’s problemsChristian Pulisic is already at one of the biggest soccer clubs in Europe. Borussia Dortmund are perennial Bundesliga challengers, consistent performers at Champions League level and average crowds of just under 80,000 fans per game, but still, this is only viewed as a rung on the young American’s ladder to the top. That says a lot about what is expected of Pulisic. He is a superstar in-waiting. Related: Arsenal will not sell Alexis Sánchez without a replacement, says Wenger Continue reading...
Oakland’s new coach has always been known for his scary intensity. But has age – and a long spell in the TV booth – softened what made him great?This was in the summer of 2000, back when Jon Gruden was still the impossibly young coach of the Oakland Raiders fighting a team owner stuck in the past. We were walking across a threadbare field at the team’s training camp – a makeshift operation set up behind a country hotel – and he kept shaking his head at the tufts of grass that looked like islands in an ocean of dirt. His face was a mix of disgust at the shoddy conditions and pride for the way he made the best...
The Winter Games are rarely a hotbed of political intrigue. But these are strange times – and athletes want to make their voices heardWhen Lindsey Vonn looked toward the Pyeongchang Winter Games, which kick off in 30 days’ time, the Olympic gold-medalist seized the opportunity to slam Donald Trump: “I hope to represent the people of the United States, not the president.” She added: “I want to represent our country well. I don’t think that there are a lot of people currently in our government that do that.”In a country where unquestioning deference to the office of the presidency is a presumed duty of citizenship, this was a remarkable statement. But was it a clarion call for athletes to become...
It’s probably unfair to say this but Minnesota and Philadelphia simply don’t have the quarterbacks to make a convincing playoff runOver the last 42 years the regular season’s top teams have gone to the playoffs with an expectation of winning their first postseason game. They often don’t, of course, but the people who set sports betting lines have named the No1 seed as favorites every time in their playoff opener. Never have they wavered on this. Their faith in the higher seed has been automatic. But faith never met Nick Foles, the unfortunate replacement for Carson Wentz as the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback in these playoffs. For the first time since the NFL began using team records to set seeding the...
Of the 12 NFL playoff teams, eight are led by coaches in their first-ever NFL head coaching job. Let it be a guiding light for teams looking to fill vacanciesThe unusually cold weather hitting parts of the United States has closed theme parks usually stuffed with visitors this time of year. Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon, Universal Orlando’s Volcano Bay and Florida’s Sea World are all shuttered indefinitely. But one ride that is popular every January remains in operation: the NFL coaching carousel. Ride at your own peril. Six NFL head coaching jobs are open following the usual end-of-season round of firings and resignations. The Oakland Raiders, Chicago Bears, New York Giants, Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals are all looking...