America’s biggest league now has two Los Angeles teams. Judging from opening weekend, there may not be many fans to watch themIn American sports there seems to be an obsession with empty stadiums during games. It’s as if some secret mandate exists requiring fans to spend hundreds of dollars for tickets, drop $15 for a beer and then spend two hours trying to exit a postgame parking lot. Nonetheless, sports writers – including this one at times – feel compelled to snap photos of empty stadium seats and share them on social media. These pictures usually include some snarky observation about the home team or a swipe at fans who left early.#Rams #INDvsLAR RT @EPLSB: @[me] NFL fever in Los...
It’s not hyperbolic to say the game in the States is alive because of African American players like the Williams sisters and Sloane StephensThere’s been no shortage of anxiety over the future of American tennis over the last decade.Andy Roddick’s abrupt retirement during the 2012 US Open left the United States without an active men’s grand slam champion for the first time in 129 years, since the inception of what then was called the US National Championships. And while Venus and Serena Williams have combined for 30 major singles championship, 121 WTA titles and 173 finals appearances – and counting – the hand-wringing over their successor on the women’s side persisted. Related: Sloane Stephens’ win over Madison Keys warms hearts...
South African’s serve will be key weapon in his first slam final appearance as he looks to upset the odds against world No1If Rafael Nadal is to win his third US Open here on Sunday afternoon – which seems likely after his merciless crushing of Juan Martín del Potro – he will have to nullify the awesome serve of Kevin Anderson, the South African appearing in his first slam final at the 34th attempt.The Spaniard has been to this stage of tournaments 108 times previously, 22 of them in majors, in his trophy-heavy career. It is where he has played the overwhelming majority of his best tennis, in big-stage showdowns with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Only rarely...
Will the Patriots repeat? Are the Jets destined to lose every game? Can anyone stop David Johnson? Guardian writers on what’s coming up this seasonThe NFC South has produced the last two NFC Super Bowl representatives in the Falcons and Panthers and, along with the Buccaneers and Saints, the division has four teams capable of winning 10 games this year. But predicting the “last place team in the NFC South” is a bit of a cop out. So let’s go with the Dallas Cowboys. Ezekiel Ellott’s absence, poor pass defense and a sophomore slump by Dak Prescott could leave Dallas at home in January. DG Continue reading...
The 24-year-old has bounced back from injury and disillusion to climb 900 ranking places within two months, a testament to her nous and upbeat approachShe is the unlikeliest player in a most improbable last four but Sloane Stephens’ run to the business end of this year’s US Open feels in many ways right on schedule. The 24-year-old is one of four American women through to Thursday night’s semi-finals after the top eight women’s seeds were eliminated by the quarters or earlier for the first time at a grand slam in the Open era. None of them, least of all the unseeded and unfancied Stephens, were favored to make it this far. Related: American women fill US Open semi-final spots after...