Leicester head coach Michael Cheika has been hit with a two-week suspension after being found guilty of disrespecting an independent match-day doctor.
Champions League Cinderellas, Mauricio Pochettino’s first camp with USMNT & should Lionel Messi win MLS MVP?
Christian and Kyle Martino react to a busy Champions League week. Then, the guys look ahead to the USMNT’s first international window under Mauricio Pochettino. Later, Christian and Kyle discuss whether Lionel Messi deserves this season’s MLS MVP.
Lionel Messi, despite missing half of the MLS season, is still the clear MVP
Lionel Messi's unprecedented MVP candidacy challenges the history of U.S. pro sports, but his transformative impact for Inter Miami is undeniable.
The five county cricketers of the year
A player can only make the list once. View the previous winners: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017
By Gary Naylor for the 99.94 Cricket Blog
The Australian (with a British passport, so watch this space) conforms to the template of an English seamer. Even his curved run up is old-school, helping to get the shoulder turn and slightly round-arm action that promotes the outswing that leads to nibble after nibble after nibble.
Continue reading...FC Cincinnati, MLS denounce alleged anti-gay slur targeted at player during game vs. NYCFC
An MLS game got ugly at one point on Wednesday.
Impromptu haka leaves Jahrome Hughes with a tear after Dally M win
- ‘That meant a lot,’ says Melbourne Storm’s Kiwi No 7 after tribute
- Sydney Roosters forward Olivia Kernick wins women’s medal
An emotional Jahrome Hughes has admitted he had a tear in his eye after Melbourne teammates launched into a haka to honour his Dally M medal, while Roosters second-rower Olivia Kernick won the women’s award.
In scenes reminiscent of fellow New Zealander Roger Tuivasa-Sheck’s win in 2018, Melbourne winger Will Warbrick took over the Dally Ms to celebrate Hughes’ award. After holding off James Tedesco by one vote and landing the first big individual honour of his career, Hughes watched as Warbrick launched into a haka alongside Storm second-rower Eliesa Katoa and Canberra prop Joseph Tapine.
Continue reading...The Spin | County Championship 2024 awards: the final word on the season
Surrey won Division One yet again, but more counties get a look-in – for reasons great and farcical – in these awards
The 2024 County Championship season dribbled to an end on Sunday afternoon, handshakes taken as early as was polite, while the autumn roared in. It was the longest Championship season on record – stretching from 5 April to 29 September – finishing with the favourites, Surrey, easing to victory with one round to go and Sussex winning Division Two on the final day, a thousand supporters hanging around in gloves to watch Clare Connor present the trophy.
But how quickly things move on. Rod Bransgrove announced the sale of Hampshire to the Delhi Capitals co-owners before the Spin had time to pull the season’s trophies out of the Guardian cabinet where they have been gathering dust since last year. So belatedly, and somewhat overshadowed by powerbrokers in important shoes rustling papers in mahogany boardrooms, here are the summer’s County Championship awards.
Continue reading...County cricket talking points: joy at Glamorgan and Yorkshire as season slips away
Yorkshire replace Lancashire in Division One of the Championship, with Glamorgan winning the One-Day Cup
By Gary Naylor for the 99.94 Cricket Blog
Even the weather gods seemed irritated by the scheduling of the Metro Bank One-Day Cup Final, rained off on the Sunday and held over to the reserve day, a miserable, back-to-school, Monday if ever there was one.
Continue reading...South African pitch invader knocked out cold in brutal hit
A pitch invader was knocked out cold by a security guard during a rugby match in South Africa.
Jorge Martín wins crash-hit Indonesian Grand Prix to extend MotoGP lead
- Spaniard seals redemptive victory after accident last year
- Bagnaia 21 points behind Martín after finishing third
Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martín led a crash-hit Indonesian Grand Prix in Mandalika from start to finish, to win his third race of the season and extend his lead over the reigning champion, Francesco Bagnaia, to 21 points in the MotoGP standings.
Martín started on pole in hot and humid conditions at the Mandalika International Street Circuit and stayed in front throughout the race, despite having his fellow Spaniard Pedro Acosta breathing down his neck.
Continue reading...Rugby convert Joseph Suaalii jumps gun before chat with Wallabies coach
Rugby convert Joseph Suaalii may have got a little ahead of himself before he even suits up for his first game in the 15-man code.
Relentless South Africa will not let up after claiming Rugby Championship
After beating Argentina to seal the title, the world champions will look to sweep England, Wales and Scotland
Two World Cups, a British & Irish Lions series and now the Rugby Championship. South Africa are in possession of every major trophy available to a southern-hemisphere team. Does this put them on par with the all-conquering All Blacks of Richie McCaw and Dan Carter? It is a question best unpacked over a second pint in the pub. That it is worth asking, though, is a testament to the evolution of this team under Rassie Erasmus and the potential heights they may yet reach.
This 48-7 win over Argentina included all the familiar notes of a Springboks classic. Their scrum consumed the Pumas pack with Ox Nché – a man who famously joked that “salads don’t win scrums” – feasting in the set piece, winning a string of first-half penalties seemingly on his own. Eben Etzebeth, now with a record 128 caps for his country, began the day with tears in his eyes and was totemic throughout. Pieter-Steph du Toit, who continues to produce player-of-the-match performances with his father’s hamstring surgically implanted in his left leg, bossed the breakdown and scored two of his team’s seven tries.
Continue reading...‘Soul destroying’: Warrington eliminate St Helens in golden drop goal thriller
- Eliminator playoff: Warrington 23-22 St Helens
- George Williams’ kick sets up Hull KR semi-final
The Super League playoffs may only be 48 hours old but if this is what the remainder of the road to Old Trafford looks like, we are in for some treat: not that it will be any consolation to supporters of St Helens after this most remarkable of sudden-death ties.
For weeks, the Saints have been so brittle that many felt when they ended the year sixth – their lowest league finish since 1994 – this would be somewhat of a formality for a Warrington side who have caught the eye so much in Sam Burgess’s first season as a head coach. But anyone with even a brief history of Super League should not know you can never write the Saints off.
Continue reading...Augusta National assessing damage caused by Hurricane Helene
One of the nation's most storied golf courses is dealing with the aftermath of Helene, the former Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Florida on Friday
One of the nation’s most storied golf courses is dealing with the aftermath of Helene, the former Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Florida on Friday and was downgraded to a tropical depression as it continued its wrath into Georgia on Friday.
Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley said in a statement Saturday officials still are assessing how much damage was done to the iconic course, which has hosted the annual Masters Tournament since 1934. Augusta, Georgia, is located in the eastern portion of the state, along the border of South Carolina.
Continue reading...‘Gutted’: Same old story as Wallabies’ horror record extended despite gutsy effort v All Blacks
The Wallabies’ Test drought in New Zealand extended to 23 years when their brave challenge in Wellington was repelled by an All Blacks’ onslaught on Saturday.