Author: Michael

As a Yankees fan, I can’t wait for the playoffs to start, but for all the wrong reasons.
No, I’m not waiting for the postseason in hopes of the Yankees capturing another American League Championship or better yet, a World Series (Ha! these days?). Rather, I can’t wait for the playoffs to start so the Yankees disaster of a season can end.
Case in point, I’m watching last night’s game where the Yankees – almost in an attempt to deliberately lose – pitched Luis Severino. And he straight up stinks these days. No surprise here, they got shut out by the Braves 5-0.

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Alabama football coach Nick Saban does not want to flip a coin to decide on a starting quarterback.
And it’s that close with No. 4 Alabama’s season opener on Sept. 2 against Middle Tennessee, and the real season opener on Sept. 9 against No. 11 Texas.
Leftover transfer portal addition Tyler Buchner from Notre Dame has not taken over the position left by NFL overall No. 1 pick Bryce Young – now with the Carolina Panthers. Buchner may be closer to third team than first at the moment, even though he played at Notre Dame for Alabama’s new offensive coordinator – Tommy Rees.

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There’s nothing like a little crosstown rivalry to get the juices flowing.
The White Sox are well on their way to missing the playoffs, but don’t mind playing spoiler to the Cubs, who are fighting for a wild card spot halfway through August.
All-Star centerfielder Luis Robert Jr. returned to the lineup and blasted his team-high 32nd home run in the top of the seventh inning to give the White Sox a 4–3 lead in a game they eventually won 5–3 on Tuesday night.

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Sage Steele settled her lawsuit with ESPN and parent company Disney on Tuesday. In doing so, Disney admitted liability for taking away her right to free speech.
One would think that Steele prevailing is a win for journalism. As we wrote Tuesday, Steele’s lawsuit informed Disney and companies alike that employees are not powerless. That there are consequences of applying punishment disproportionately on the basis of a company-wide political bias.
Yet, it’s members in the media who have taken more issue with the lawsuit.

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A vacation-edition mailbag so let’s rip through some Q&As …
So I was sitting at my desk last week when an email came across the blower. Subject: “Survey shows: 71% of US Tennis Players Think They Could Win Against Pros.” O.K., I’m opening. This was “the findings of a survey we did over at Action Network.” Clearly this was not a rigorous, peer-review academic study. (Note the credibility-undermining phrase “over at.”) But neither was this a sample size of six guys at a bar.

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Former Olympic swimmer Helen Smart, known by her maiden name of Don-Duncan during her competitive days, has died at the age of 43. Smart represented Great Britain during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. She was a school principal at the time of her passing.
There is no cause of death known at this time, but according to the New York Post, Smart’s loved ones have described her passing as “sudden.”
Smart retired in the early 2000s and became the principal at Worsley Mesnes Community Primary School in Wigan, England, a town in Greater Manchester.

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