Month: October 2024

Week 1 of the NFL preseason continues Friday night with a matchup between the Houston Texans and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Texans already have a preseason game under their belt with the Hall of Fame Game last week while the Steelers could have a quarterback battle on their hands in their preseason opener.

Let’s get into my Texans vs. Steelers predictions and NFL picks for this preseason game on August 9.

Texans vs Steelers prediction

My best betOver 19.5 1H (-105 at DraftKings)

My analysis

Since the Houston Texans already have a game under their belt, they plan on playing all their healthy starters for the beginning of this game. That means we will see reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud su…

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, for the A-League Men is back, this time celebrating its 20th season. It’s a time for hope, for spirits swelled by the promise and potential that comes with the blank slate of a new season. And that goes not just for the 13 sides taking part in this year’s competition but, as has invariably been the case of late, also the league itself, which has lurched from crisis to crisis in recent years to test the depths of even the most ardent supporter’s endurance.

‘The best left foot is back’: Juan Mata lands at Wanderers amid A-League Men fanfareRead more

It all begins on Friday, when Central Coast host Melbourne Victory in a rematch of the 2023-24 grand final. In that contest, the Mariners yet again…

Sooner or later, it all comes crashing down. The house of cards known as college athletics has always had cracks in its foundation. It’s a skyscraper that a short-sighted architect created. Faulty wiring and cheap materials were used to construct it, and unpaid workers were forced to build it. During the 2016-2017 school year, the NCAA made history when it brought in $1 billion in revenue and has remained at that mark, or near it, since. When it happened, it initially raised eyebrows. How could a non-profit organization that “governs” college sports bring in that much? Schools make their money off tickets, television deals, conference alignments/payouts, and merchandise, making it a little easier to understand how they generate millions each year, but the NCAA? What do they eve…

Carli Lloyd said the biggest takeaway from the scintillating bronze-medal-winning performance of USA in their 4-3 defeat of Australia was that you “don’t win championships without the winning mentality”.

The USA team had laboured to a semi-final against Canada in which they endured a bruising 1-0 defeat and Lloyd reflected on the impact of the drive shown in their final game. She and her fellow veteran Megan Rapinoe each scored twice – one of Rapinoe’s goals came direct from a corner – and said they were undecided on their international futures.

Bev Priestman’s road from County Durham to Olympic final with CanadaRead more

“Hopefully everyone on this squad and people watching and people that have been …

Fifa’s decision to appoint supermodel Adriana Lima as an official fan ambassador ahead of the Women’s World Cup was “tone deaf” and unnecessary, according to former football administrators, players and gender equality campaigners.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino said Lima, a former Victoria’s Secret model, “lives and breathes” football and would be an “excellent link” between the sporting body and fans worldwide. Lima describes herself as a football fan, but appears to have had no official involvement in the sport before now.

Moya Dodd, a former vice-captain of the Australian women’s team who once led Fifa’s taskforce on the women’s game, was staggered by the appointment. She questioned the m…

A second half goal from Victor Boniface was enough to earn Bayer Leverkusen a 1-0 home win over Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday, giving the German side a perfect start to their campaign while the Italians are still without a point.

The only goal came six minutes after the break when Boniface fired home a rebound after Mike Maignan had parried a shot from Jeremie Frimpong.

Kai Havertz hits high notes to knock down PSG and bolster Arsenal’s beliefRead more

It was no more than the home side deserved after an opening half in which they had the majority of possession and chances but could not find a way past Maignan, while Milan struggled to get a foothold in the game. The goal spurred the visitors into action …

The bane of sports analysis, especially when it comes to soccer in a nation that has become too mature in its fandom of the sport to accept this kind of drivel, is to default to claiming something unquantifiable as the reason a team won and a team lost. “Wanted it more” is a phrase you hear all too often. Heart is referenced. Know-how another. This gets old fast, because it’s highly unlikely that whoever ends up on the losing end, especially in competitions as massive as the World Cup, didn’t also want to win just as badly. We can do better. That didn’t stop Carli Lloyd, Fox’s studio analyst and former star of the USWNT, reverting to the full Bane speech from Dark Knight Rises, “Victory has defeated you!” in the immediate aftermath of the hairball the USWNT coughed up las…

"Men invented nepotism and practically live by it. It's okay for women to do it, too." All week long, I've been thinking about that quote from Roxane Gay's forthcoming essay collection, Bad Feminist—a prayer-hands-emoji-inducing aphorism that echoed again during last night's premiere of The Maya Rudolph Show, a campy, one-hour variety cabaret echoing both Carol Burnett and the Muppets. During the opening number, Rudolph danced and sauntered across the stage while showing off three enviable cocktail dresses: a retro pink chiffon frock; a shimmering, inky-black floor-length gown; and a sheer-and-tinsel dancer's mini. She introduced her trio of sidekicks: funny men Sean Hayes, Fred Armisen, and Andy Samberg. And between jokes about having her own stage…