Hater’s guide to the College Football Playoff: Dabo turns SEC tears into holy water

Of the many things worth hating about college football, most of them are at least tacitly associated with the most hated people in sports: television executives. They fix games that hurt your team. They don’t fix games that should be fixed to help your team. They find a way to keep those games at four […]

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Falcons bench QB Kirk Cousins for rookie Michael Penix Jr. amid struggles

The Atlanta Falcons are making the move they clearly did not want to make – replacing veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins with rookie Michael Penix Jr. starting immediately. Falcons head coach Raheem Morris announced the decision Tuesday night in a statement released by the team. “After review we have made the decision Michael Penix Jr. will […]

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For major leaguers, there’s the season, the postseason and wedding season

When Royals pitcher Alec Marsh proposed to his longtime girlfriend Makenna Harper in mid-November 2023, the rush was on. Not to get married, but to set a date. Harper met Marsh at Arizona State University, where she played softball and he was on the baseball team. She knew what all baseball significant others know: There […]

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Vikings, former teammates let Randy Moss know they have his back after cancer diagnosis

MINNEAPOLIS — An hour before the Minnesota Vikings kicked off against the Chicago Bears on Monday night, I conducted a test. Upon walking onto the main concourse at U.S. Bank Stadium, into a sea of Vikings fans filing in to cheer on a team fighting for the No. 1 seed in the NFC, how long […]

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NFL Power Rankings Week 16: Eagles, Bills the new 1-2, plus team MVPs

It looks like Josh Allen is going to run away with the NFL MVP award (which might be unfair to two-time MVP Lamar Jackson, who is playing so well that he also deserves consideration), but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more players who deserve a little attention as the season comes to a close. The […]

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Inside the mind — and tattoos — of 49ers’ George Kittle, one of the NFL’s most interesting players

“Howdy!” George Kittle says as he steps onto the podium on Nov. 24 in Green Bay, Wisc. It’s how he begins every news conference, and this time he seems disappointed when no one says howdy back. But it doesn’t seem like a howdy type of moment. The San Francisco 49ers have just lost 38-10 to […]

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NBA Trade Board 2024-25: Jimmy Butler, Cam Johnson and other rumored names on the market

Dec. 15 has come and gone, which means NBA trade season has officially commenced. Players who changed teams over the offseason are now able to be traded, which opens up a world of functionality and flexibility across the trade market. It’s now a race to Feb. 6, a nearly two-month window for teams to figure […]

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NFL QB stock report, Week 16: Why hasn’t C.J. Stroud played like the phenom he was as a rookie?

Houston Texans sensation C.J. Stroud had a chance to solidify himself this season among the NFL’s elite class of quarterbacks. The No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft was an easy choice for Offensive Rookie of the Year. During training camp, The Athletic asked coaches and executives which three quarterbacks they’d take to start a […]

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NBA makes mini-tournament format official ahead of 2025 All-Star Game

LAS VEGAS – As expected, the upcoming NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco will be a mini-tournament of three teams composed of the top 24 players in the league and the team who wins the Rising Stars Challenge. The new format, announced jointly on Tuesday by the NBA and National Basketball Players Association, will include […]

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Why are MLB’s free-agent contracts often beating projections this offseason?

They paid how much? For that guy? Free-agent prices in baseball seem astronomical, which isn’t only a bar-room conversation but might be something that’s driving smaller-market teams to use trades as their main way to add talent. But when back-end starting rotation options are pulling in deals in the $30-40 million dollar range, it does […]

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