Month: December 2024

Expectations are a dangerous thing. Nobody knows that more than NBA coaches, and we had our latest example Friday when the Coach of the Year Curse came after Mike Brown. The Sacramento Kings deposed him as head coach on Friday, a little more than two years after taking over a 30-win team that had an […]

CINCINNATI — The moment Tee Higgins caught the game-winning 3-yard touchdown pass from Joe Burrow in overtime, he heaved his third touchdown reception high into the air as a cathartic release. For Higgins, however, as he was surrounded by his teammates, flashing a confident glare with diamonds on his teeth shining off the flashing Paycor […]

Oscar Wilde once famously wrote that “to concede one goal direct from a corner is a misfortune, to concede two in eight days looks like carelessness.” The thoughts of Oscar, noted corner-kick scholar, may have been rushing through the heads of anyone associated with Manchester United recently after they allowed not one but two ‘olimpicos’ […]

Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said Luka Dončić is “doing fine” after the 25-year-old star’s home was burglarized Friday in what was the latest occurrence in a string of break-ins into professional athletes’ homes in the past few months. “I reached out, texted him,” Kidd said Saturday. “He’s doing fine (after) going through that incident. […]

SACRAMENTO — Early Friday afternoon, not long after Mike Brown completed his final practice as head coach of the Sacramento Kings with an 18-minute news conference, general manager Monte McNair called him. Assistant general manager Wes Wilcox, who was finishing up a separate phone call, eventually joined the conversation on speaker phone. Brown’s two-and-a-half-season tenure […]

Anyone else losing track of what day it is? Between NFL on Wednesdays and Saturdays, endless food and end-of-year chaos, it’s a complete blur (and somehow I’m also already out of AA batteries for my toddler boys’ new toys). The holidays really do come with a time warp; add in all the unsolicited life advice […]

There was a game in El Paso where even a two-touchdown lead wasn’t safe. … There was a game in Houston where a pitcher allowed four base runners on three pitches. … And then there was that game in Los Angeles where Mookie Betts hit for the Strangest But Truest cycle of his career. (Spoiler alert: […]

There are two ways to look at Chelsea not signing a front-of-shirt sponsorship deal before the start of the season. You could view it as a failure, with companies not wanting to fork out £45million-plus for the privilege of being in prime position on their kits following a disappointing Premier League campaign in 2023-24, buoyed […]

If you want some long-term relationship advice, I offer you this: Find someone who loves you as much as news outlets love end-of-the-year content. The New Yorker did a piece 11 years ago on why our brains love lists, and it holds up today. Among other reasons: It spatially organizes information and promises a story […]

CHICAGO — With two minutes and 14 seconds remaining in a horrendous game against the Seattle Seahawks, the fans seated in the United Club of Soldier Field started to chant. “Sell the team!” “Sell the team!” “Sell the team!” The Chicago Bears decided to punt after fourth-and-inches from their own 39 turned into fourth-and-5 following […]