The Jacksonville Jaguars appear to be getting their act together after years of ineptitude. It should play well in the league’s push in EuropeIf the Jacksonville Jaguars are indeed London’s NFL franchise then how strange is it for the capital to possibly have an NFL playoff team?After years of failed attempts to win more than five games in a season, the Jags – long tipped for a move from Florida to the UK – sit at 4-3, tied for first place in the AFC South and are a legitimate threat to be playing in the post-season. And who would have figured this?Is this seat taken? pic.twitter.com/uIqnzhiIdE Continue reading...
Liberty Media’s $8bn acquisition of Formula One in January has given rise to fresh questions about the series’ intentions in the United StatesAbout an hour’s drive from where I live, in the coastal hinterlands of South Carolina, lies the city of Savannah, Georgia. And every so often I’ll cross the border for a taste of the big city.On one such excursion a few months back, while walking through a neighborhood on the fringe of Savannah’s tourist district, I found myself doubling back to examine a historical marker for something called the American Grand Prize. What’s its connection to Sunday’s United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas? Well, it’s the granddaddy, an early milepost on the way to Formula One as...
America’s most progressive major sports league may be at the onset of its most important season – and not for what will happen on the courtImagine a sports league whose athletes are encouraged to speak out against social injustice. Imagine a league that doesn’t treat activism like a threat, painting over the shouts for change with flimsy public relations initiatives in hopes of placating fans and advertisers. Imagine a league that invites difficult conversations rather than close its eyes and hope the uncomfortable moments go away. As the NFL dithers in the face of player expression, the NBA embraces it. For the last three weeks NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has danced around the proper response to his players’ silent shout...
Lewis Hamilton may decide against kneeling for the US anthem in Austin but his interest in political issues is a welcome change in the world of F1Lewis Hamilton is the most fascinating character in Formula One and thankfully so. It is a sport whose participants have become so stage-managed as to have hidden their personalities behind a slick corporate veneer. Hamilton has been steadfast in remaining true to himself. At the US Grand Prix this weekend, he may do so again but with potentially huge and also perhaps unexpected repercussions. If the British driver chooses to kneel during the US national anthem on Sunday, it would put him at the heart of one of the most divisive conflicts between politics and...
This week’s roundup also features Mitch Trubisky’s two-point conversion, some UFC cartwheeling and fun and games in Bosnian football1) Lewis Hamilton can overtake Michael Schumacher in the all-time US Grand Prix standings with victory on Sunday. Back when a dry F1 race wasn’t settled on the first corner, the 1990 edition saw Ayrton Senna and Jean Alesi battle it out in a Phoneix classic. Hamilton won on the race’s return in 2012, as the DRS zone delivered some great racing in the newly minted Circuit of the Americas. In 1984, Nigel Mansell got out and pushed his Lotus toward the finish line in Dallas, but fainted from exhaustion in searing heat. At least some racing happened, unlike the controversial 2005...