Author: Michael

Austin Reaves spent plenty of time defending Warriors star Stephen Curry during the 2023 NBA Playoffs, and it’s safe to say the Lakers guard walked away feeling the pain of it. Reaves joined Showtime Basketball’s All The Smoke with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson and discussed going head-to-head with Curry.
Reaves admitted that guarding the Golden State star was “hell” and said during the first two games of their series, he couldn’t make a shot because he “had no legs” from chasing him around.
“It’s honestly hell, to be honest.

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As soon as Becky Sauerbrunn became captain of the U.S. women’s national team, she began preparing the squad to one day be without her.
It wasn’t that she felt retirement was imminent when she landed the captaincy in January 2021. (Hardly.) But she had been around long enough to know the value of planning ahead. Sauerbrunn was first called up to the national team in ’08. The center back had played through coaching changes and strategy shifts. She had been on the fringes of the roster and on the pitch for every minute of a triumphant World Cup.

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1. Bob Kravitz has been a sports columnist for nearly 40 years. Most known for his work at the Indianapolis Star, the award-winning Kravitz has also written for the Rocky Mountain News, Sports Illustrated (our paths never crossed) and The Athletic.
Kravitz, as he put it, “got whacked by The Athletic in early June” when the company parted ways with 20 writers.
That line comes from Kravitz’s first column on his new Substack page.

My debut column on Substack, in which I hammer away at The Athletic and share how I’m going to make a go of it on this platform. https://t.

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The easiest way to spark a baseball brawl is for a pitcher to throw a fastball high and tight on a batter. Whether or not the batter is actually hit by the pitch, it’s only natural for him to be angry—sometimes angry enough to drop his bat and charge the mound. 
Game 2 of Japan’s NPB All-Star Series on Thursday began with a variation on that script. The very first pitch that Hiroshima Carp pitcher Aren Kuri threw to Orix Buffaloes outfielder Yutaro Sugimoto whizzed right past his head. Sugimoto immediately dropped his bat and sprinted toward Kuri.

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Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
From the locks, to the lol no’s.
The amount of quarterback talent in the NFL right now is obscene. Not only are we in a golden age of young QBs, but pass-friendly rules and a 17-game regular season has pushed air yards through the roof.
This depth of young talent could very easily have a profound effect on franchise records. Today we look at all 32 teams, their current all-time leader in yardage, and whether we can expect that record to topple with the team’s current starter.

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As NBA free agency slows to a crawl, and we enter the mid-summer doldrums from a transaction standpoint, there isn’t all that much to explore from one day to the next anymore.
But there are several teams that still appear to have a number of key, unresolved roster choices to make; preferably before training camp begins in early October for most clubs.
With that in mind, here are the five teams most in need of a move or two.

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USC football enters the fall with a sour taste in its mouth after blowing a lead and losing to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl. A large part of that collapse, as well as the Trojans’ two losses to Utah, stemmed from the defense.
Rather, a lack thereof.

@TYassmin21 ARE YOU KIDDING?@Utah_Football makes it a 2 score game pic.twitter.com/LEphhNMUsI
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) December 3, 2022

Lincoln Riley’s offense was cooking last season. Caleb Williams won the Heisman Trophy.
The other side of the ball was not as successful. USC’s defense ranked 106 out of 131.

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