Baseball delivered in a big way in 2023 – as it always does. It was a season that strengthened the resumes of stars, and introduced impactful rookies who quickly joined those ranks. We witnessed historic firsts, said farewell to fan favorites and were enthralled at every turn. In short, baseball was the best, yet again. Here are 23 of the biggest stories of the 2023 season. Texas Rangers, road warriors Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the Rangers’ run to the title was their unblemished postseason road record. That’s right, the Rangers played 11 road games this October and November…
Author: rivalryedition
Michael Scotto @MikeAScotto Nets will bring top scorer Cam Thomas (22.8 points) off the bench. Dorian Finney-Smith will start with Cam Johnson, Nic Claxton, Mikal Bridges and Spencer Dinwiddie. This is their 2nd-most-used 5-man lineup with a 117.1 offensive rating, 110.4 defensive rating and +6.7 net rating – 6:49 PM
Adam Schefter, ESPN Senior WriterDec 30, 2023, 07:45 PM ETClose ESPN NFL Insider Joined ESPN in 2009 Former president of the Pro Football Writers of America and the author of four booksLamar Jackson has the Baltimore Ravens close to clinching the AFC’s No. 1 seed and has emerged as the favorite to win his second MVP award.But last offseason, there weren’t any other teams that made a major push to sign Jackson, and only a couple appeared to have expressed mild interest in signing the star quarterback to an offer sheet.The two teams known to have inquired about Jackson’s services…
James Cronin scored one of five tries for LeicesterLeicester: (28) 35Tries: Rogerson, Brown, Cronin, Martin, Penalty Cons: Pollard 4Bath: (10) 22Tries: Schreuder, Hennessey, Richards Cons: Bailey, Harris Pen: Bailey Leicester beat a much-changed Bath side who missed the chance to finish 2023 back at the top of the Premiership.Matt Rogerson, Mike Brown, James Cronin and George Martin tries raced Tigers to a bonus point before half-time, as Louis Schreuder and Orlando Bailey put Bath on the board.A penalty try stretched the Tigers’ lead to 25 points before late scores from Louie Hennessey and Ewan Richards.The win moves Leicester above Bristol…
Melbourne Stars 211 for 3 (Webster 66, Stoinis 55*, Lawrence 50, Boyce 1-15) beat Adelaide Strikers 205 for 4 (Lynn 83*, Short 56, Maxwell 2-21) by seven wicketsMarcus Stoinis blasted his way back to form by helping the Melbourne Stars pull off their greatest BBL run chase in a seven-wicket win over the Adelaide Strikers on New Year’s Eve.After Chris Lynn (83* off 42 balls) and Matt Short (56 off 32) lifted the Strikers to an imposing 205 for 4 at Adelaide Oval on Sunday, Beau Webster (66* off 48) and Stoinis (55* off 19) silenced the bumper crowd of…
By Rune Gjerulff @runegjerulff Heading into 2024, FC Köln have yet to appoint a successor for Steffen Baumgart. Photo: Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA 4.0 FC Köln will begin preparations for the second half of the season without a replacement for Steffen Baumgart. The Bundesliga club confirmed on Sunday that interim coach Andre Pawlak will take charge of the first training session of the new calendar year on Tuesday. Eleven days later, the Billy Goats play a crucial home match against 1. FC Heidenheim. Baumgart left his position as head coach after 17th-placed Köln lost 2-0 to Union Berlin in…
Tottenham Hotspur have agreed personal terms in principle with Genoa defender Radu Dragusin, sources have confirmed to 90min.Spurs are on the hunt for a new centre-back and have made signing one their top priority for the January transfer window.90min reported earlier this week that Tottenham were eyeing 21-year-old Dragusin, but a deal would not be as easy to complete as suggested in the Italian media.Sources have now told 90min that Spurs and Dragusin have reached a broad agreement over personal terms, though this was never expected to be a stumbling block.Tottenham and Genoa remain in talks over a transfer fee,…
Arsenal are looking to bring in attacking reinforcements in January and they have identified the Bayer Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface as a target, according to a report from Fichajes. The 23-year-old Nigerian striker has been impressive form for the Bundesliga club scoring 16 goals across 23 matches in all competitions. He has picked up eight assists along the way as well. Arsenal could certainly use a reliable centre-forward like him, especially with Gabriel Jesus struggling to score goals consistently. The 26-year-old Brazilian has scored just three goals in the Premier League this season and Arsenal will certainly need more quality…
Talk about irony. Kota Miura, son of “King Kazu” Kazuyoshi Miura, a soccer legend from Japan, suffered his first MMA defeat via soccer kicks at RIZIN 45, which took place Sunday in Saitama, Japan. Miura fought veteran kickboxer and MMA debutant Koji Tanaka, a.k.a. “Kouzi”, in the main card portion of the show and was dropped with a nasty left elbow from the clinch. “Kouzi” landed heavy strikes from top position on the ground before getting back to his feet and landing soccer kicks, forcing the referee to stop the action for the knockout 59 seconds into the second round.…
Georgia coach Kirby Smart said college football’s current bowl system, marred by opt-outs and transfer portal departures, is a major issue that needs to be fixed moving forward following Saturday’s 63-3 win over Florida State in the Orange Bowl. Playing without nearly two-dozen of its two-deep personnel, the Seminoles trailed by 39 points at halftime during the most lopsided bowl game in history.”I can say we had our guys and they didn’t have their guys, I can listen to all that, but college football has got to decide what they want,” Smart said, via Dawgs247. “I know things are changing. Things are going to change…