Posts

A new bounty of Premier League TV money is likely to see Manchester United make substantial moves in the transfer market this summer, with Sir Alex Ferguson desperate to secure one last Champions League trophy before he retires. The centre of midfield has been long overdue an arrival and given Paul Scholes’ impending retirement, Darren Fletcher’s ongoing battle with illness, Ryan Giggs’ age and Anderson’s likely departure, a move for a deep-lying midfielder seems likely....

The media were already revved up in Marathon Grief mode. Television networks were trying, as it were, to bite their lower lips, emulating the president’s preferred manner for advertising his very solemnest sincerity. Early in this century a wit defined a newspaper as a device incapable of distinguishing between a bicycle accident and the collapse of civilization. At the century’s end we have mass media with wondrous capacities for subtracting from understanding by adding to the public’s inclination for self-deception and autointoxication....

These days, the trouble with the art world, as the painter Vija Celmins put it, is too much Duchamp and not enough Czanne. In other words, there are too many clever text-and-video installations around and not enough well-crafted painting and sculpture. That’s why the big Czanne show that just opened at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (through Sept. 1) promises to be such a tonic. It’s sure being hyped like that: extra-strength art medicine in blockbuster size....

The response to her bronze medal winning performance in Turkey has been overwhelming to say the least. She still can’t believe that none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated her on the achievement in a sport that usually begs for attention. “I never thought the Prime Minister would tweet for me. It is unreal. I just hope we are finally treated at par with athletes of popular sports. As of now, there has been no support whatsoever from the government,” Aanchal told PTI from Turkey where she secured the bronze in Alpine Ejder 3200 Cup organised by the Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS)....

The New York right fielder cut down the Angels’ Kole Calhoun at the plate to end the top of the third inning, with a throw clocked at 100.5 mph. MLB.com’s Statcast reports (via ESPN’s Coley Harvey) that the throw was the hardest by a position player this season, topping a 99.9 mph throw by . . . Judge. Now THAT’s exit velocity. “About time. I’ve been trying to hit 100 here,” a joking Judge said with a smile when told postgame (via YES Network) of his throw’s speed....

Quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson — player representatives for the Packers and Seahawks, respectively — took exception to the inclusion of a 17th regular-season game in the CBA and the addition of a playoff contest for No. 2 seeds. Rodgers and Wilson were among the 14 dissenters in a Wednesday morning vote on the CBA by the NFLPA’s 32 player representatives. Both men cited player health as their primary concern....

The retired U.S. forward will be joining ESPN as an analyst and will be producing and hosting her own podcast, “Fearless Conversation with Abby Wambach,” the Associated Press reported. MORE: Wambach through the years | Could MLS expand to Detroit? Wambach will cover the European Championships in France and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August. However, her role won’t be limited just to soccer. She will be working with ESPN Films and shows like “Outside the Lines....

The Floatride Energy 4 running shoes can work for runners at any level because they can accommodate slow- and fast-paced runs. They aren’t exactly cheap, but they are competitively priced at $110. A new, higher-end addition to Reebok’s line, the Floatride Energy X shoes include a carbon fiber plate in the forefoot. And because of the plate, the running shoes provide even more energy return after many miles. Priced at $170, the Energy X rivals other shoes that usually land past the $200 mark....

The faithful cheered, but Gore fumed. He hadn’t been warned of what the president would say. Gore thought he had made it clear–in private and public–that Clinton should butt out of the presidential campaign. Their relationship had always been an uneasy, vaguely competitive one. Gore was not about to ask for public help, or advice, even if Democrats (including the party chair, Ed Rendell) were agitating for Clinton to play a bigger role, and even if The New York Times–that same morning–had front-paged a story about Clinton’s exclusion from the campaign....

It is not as if sport hadn’t dealt with moral turpitude in the past, but the frantic pace at which the blows have rained over this very basic of human endeavours has left many seasoned followers badly bruised and battered. The first of those blows was dealt when the USADA drew the curtains open on the sordid tales of drug peddling that fuelled one of the most narcissistic campaigns for money and fame ever witnessed in the guise of sport....

Making up most of those new cases and hospitalizations: large chunks of the remaining unvaccinated population. According to Verywell Health’s latest vaccine sentiment tracker survey, nearly a quarter (23%) of our respondents remain undecided or against getting the COVID-19 vaccine. This proportion hasn’t changed meaningfully in two months. With a significant portion of the U.S. population still unvaccinated, virus variants are given more room to spread—making the risk of COVID worse for everyone....

According to a report from the Orlando Sentinel, the AAF and the Orlando Apollos owe the University of Central Florida $1.1 million on paper, per the contract signed between the organizations. The report noted most of the money is for future rent of Spectrum Stadium, but UCF sent three invoices to the AAF for the three home games the Apollos played in the stadium and for security and police detail....

The Indian domestic cricketers have been hit hard due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation. The BCCI could not organize the Ranji Trophy last season, with only Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophies being played. In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra asked the BCCI to extend the contract system to domestic cricketers, so that their financial needs can be taken care of in uncertain times like these....

Green Bay knocked off its divisional rival Detroit 35-17 on “Monday Night Football.” The Packers’ offense was firing on all cylinders, and Rodgers was pleased that the team’s performance silenced its critics. “There’s so many overreactions that happen from a week-to-week basis,” Rodgers said to reporters after the game, per ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. “So it’s nice to come out, have a good performance and get the trolls off our back for at least a week....

So where does that throw to Jared Cook rank? With three seconds left, on third-and-20, rolling to his left, running out of room, and hitting Cook with even less room, toenails dragging the sideline, for 36 yards? The one that saved the Packers season and killed the Cowboys and freaked out even Rodgers’ gushiest admirers? MORE: Packers-Cowboys, as it happened Too bad it wasn’t in the Super Bowl, or with the Super Bowl on the line....

The Kenyan team that participated in the 2003 edition of the World Cup also enjoyed a similarly unprecedented dream run. It was a run that inspired millions in the African nation. A striking feature of Kenya’s campaign was their ability to surprise quality opposition with outstanding individual performances. Kenya had progressed through the group stages to the Super 6s on the back of some impressive individual as well as collective showings....

Speaking on his international teammate, Duminy said: “AB de Villiers proves a case in point as to how the T20 game has evolved. Look at the number of shots he has and the kind of spectacular innings he played the other night (vs Sunrisers). His batting is not about just trying to hit straight out of the park. It`s about being innovative and being able to understand what bowlers are trying to achieve....

Blue Box hasn’t revealed an overwhelming amount of information about Abandoned, but it’s revealed just enough to get fans speculating. A lot of fans firmly believe that Abandoned isn’t its own game at all, and that Blue Box Game Studios is secretly developing the next Silent Hill game. Blue Box Studios insists that it has nothing to do with Silent Hill or Hideo Kojima, but in spite of that, Silent Hill fans are picking apart everything that they know about Abandoned in search of clues that would suggest Hideo Kojima is working on Silent Hill with Konami again....