Excuse this self-indulgence, but I need to update my Wish List: I wish, in Howie Rose’s final season, the Mets had provided him more opportunities to, “Put it in the books.” I wish that live baseball fans would stop booing every time a visiting pitcher throws to first to keep the runner close. I wish … Read more
For nearly two decades Dave Portnoy made his life and his company, Barstool Sports, into an online reality show of sorts — oversharing everything from office friction to his own dating life. Now he’s written a memoir. With so much already out there, why go through the trouble? “Ego,” Portnoy humbly told me. “The thought of … Read more
Say, fellas, when you get a chance, do us all a favor and do absolutely nothing. It’s an ASAP matter, but it can wait. To only limited surprise, Adam Silver issued a look-away pass to the Spurs’ super-duper star Victor Wembanyama for landing a vicious, intended and arguably felonious, full-swinging elbow to the undefended head … Read more
Netflix is close to inserting itself into the NFL schedule again. The streaming platform is close to a deal with the league that will likely include the Week 1 game in Australia between the 49ers and Rams, a Thanksgiving Eve game and Christmas games, Puck News’ John Ourand reported Thursday. The Australia game will take … Read more
The 2026 NFL Draft can officially begin. As commissioner Roger Goodell took the dais for the first round of the draft Thursday, the crowd at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium let their boos rain down on him — even with a Terrible Towel in hand. He even egged the fans on, saying: “Pittsburgh, you can do better … Read more
Roger Goodell believes Bad Bunny’s upcoming Super Bowl halftime performance is going to be an “exciting and a united moment.” Speaking Wednesday at the Fall League Meeting in New York, the NFL commissioner addressed the controversy that has swirled around the decision to host the Puerto Rican superstar on the game’s biggest stage next February … Read more
Is the NFL — and Swifties everywhere — ready for it? During an appearance Wednesday on the “Today” show, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell didn’t do much to quell chatter over the possibility of the newly engaged Taylor Swift performing in the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show. “We would always love to have Taylor play. She … Read more
Could college football be getting the “RedZone” treatment after ESPN’s seismic acquisition of the NFL property? NFL commissioner Roger Goodell opened the door as much Wednesday, hours after the league and ESPN formally announced a deal in which a number of NFL properties, including the beloved Scott Hanson program, would fall under the Worldwide Leader’s … Read more
DeMaurice Smith had a lot on his plate as the head of the NFL Players Association from 2009-23, and Aaron Rodgers didn’t make Smith’s job any easier. Rodgers was public in his disapproval of the 2020 collective bargaining agreement, voting against the agreement with dissent for the 17-game season. “The god of Cheesehead Nation was … Read more
It’s like modern baseball, lousy with conspicuous, shameless artificial additives and cheap con jobs. It’s now almost an obligation to stand at first and signal your dugout for group approval — a shallow ritual — after hitting a checked-swing bloop single. But diminished standards have become standardized. Even the natural act of laughter has been … Read more
It’s business as usual for the NFL when it comes to Jay-Z. Commissioner Roger Goodell told media members Wednesday that the league’s relationship with the rapper, accused of rape in an amended lawsuit this week, has not changed. “We’re aware of the civil allegations and Jay-Z’s really strong response to that,” Goodell said at the … Read more
Imagine … Imagine if MLB players spent as much time practicing winning fundamentals — say, bunting — as they do practicing and perfecting elaborate home run celebrations. Imagine if late in close games in anticipation of a 10th inning with automatic runners on second, prospective leadoff batters were sent inside to the batting cage to … Read more
Roger Goodell didn’t mince words when talking about the efforts of pro football’s dedicated network. When appearing on the stand Monday as part of the ongoing “NFL Sunday Ticket” trial, Goodell not-so-subliminally judged NFL Network’s production quality when airing “Thursday Night Football.” “I had my own opinion that our production was below standards that the … Read more
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo isn’t buying what the NFL is selling in terms of streaming. The well-known sports talker is still enraged weeks later about the NFL’s decision to air the Chiefs-Dolphins wild-card round playoff game on the NBCUniversal-run platform, Peacock. Russo has not been alone in his dismay over the NFL’s decision to broadcast … Read more
The NFL’s decision to broadcast the Chiefs-Dolphins wild card game exclusively on Peacock — which requires viewers to pay for a subscription — has received additional backlash ahead of the game, with Rep. Pat Ryan (N.Y.) blasting the NFL and NBC in a letter addressed to commissioner Roger Goodell and NBC Sports president Rick Cordella. … Read more
This was in the late 1970s, on my first beat — covering the New York Cosmos, at the time the most famous team in the world for its collection of world-famous, store-bought, mismatched and often discordant soccer stars. We were in Dallas to play the Tornado, best known as the team that starred Kyle Rote … Read more
What are we doing? How has it gotten to a point that when you go to an NFL game you have to really be concerned about the idea that you might be in a fight or one may break out right next to you? Maybe this was always the case, but, like a lot of … Read more
When the NFL announces its attendance for each game, it really should refer to the crowd as its studio audience or extras or ambient noise providers. The fans are just there to provide the background for the TV show. To prove it, in his latest act of greed, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has enacted flexible … Read more