Every year, a few WNBA players unexpectedly break out.
Last year, it was Veronica Burton who went from a seldom-used bench player in Connecticut to the face of the Golden State Valkyries, upping her production from 3.1 points and 1.9 assists per game in 2024 to 11.9 points and 6 assists in 2025. At 25 years old, Burton was named the WNBA’s Most Improved Player.
Historically, it’s common for players to make a leap in their Year 3 or Year 4 season. Before Burton, it was DiJonai Carrington who was named Most Improved in 2024, her fourth season in the WNBA.

WELCOME TO CAMP NOU!!! For the first time in 1,140 days, The Greatest Stadium on Earth opens its doors for a UEFA Champions League match as Barcelona welcome Eintracth Frankfurt for their sixth league phase game in desperate need of a win to keep their slim hopes of a Top 8 finish alive. This should be fun, and you’re welcome to join us to follow and comment all the action.

Philip Rivers is back in the NFL, which is so wild given the fact that he last threw a pass for the Indianapolis Colts in… 2020.
But the father of 10 (and he’s a grandfather now, did you know that?) knows Shane Steichen’s system, so he might be the right fit even if he’s very old by NFL standards.
Which brings us to all the facts that are being thrown around about Rivers’ age on X (formerly Twitter) as he gets ready for his return. We collected a few of them for you to be in awe of.

How Patriots can clinch AFC East, playoff berth in NFL scenarios for Week 15 vs. Bills originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The New England Patriots are on the brink of a major breakthrough.
They can clinch the AFC East, or at the very least a playoff spot, in Week 15 when they take on the Buffalo Bills.
Each week, the NFL releases all the permutations of clinching scenarios, and the Pats are one of the main teams in that spotlight this week.

Truly, Phillip Rivers could not have picked a worse week to end his NFL retirement and likely start (assuming his practices go well) for the desperate Indianapolis Colts.
That’s because his first assignment in trying to save the Colts’ season will be Mike Macdonald’s ravenous Seattle Seahawks. On the road in Seattle. Phew. PHEW. In case you’re not aware of how dangerous that is for a 44-year-old quarterback who hasn’t played professional football in half a decade, here’s the statistical picture.

Desert Vipers continued their unbeaten start to the International League T20, beating MI Emirates by just one run in a dramatic finish.
Chasing 160, Muhammad Waseem (24), Tom Banton (34) and Nicholas Pooran (31) set a solid platform for Emirates before Kieron Pollard (23) and Tajinder Singh (17 from seven deliveries) upped the pace to leave their side needing 18 runs from the last 15 balls of the innings.

Relive the biggest moments from every Premier L

After losing Daniel Jones for the season with an Achilles injury, the Indianapolis Colts are turning back the clock to shore up their quarterback room.
By signing a grandfather.
Philip Rivers, who has not played in the NFL since the 2020 season and is yes, a grandfather, is signing with the Colts after meeting with the team and working out for the coaching staff. This is a reunion of sorts on two levels. head coach Shane Steichen was a coach in the Chargers organization for years, and Rivers’ final NFL season came in Indianapolis with the Colts.

Pete Prisco and Kyle Long join CBS Sports HQ to

Dan Orlovsky joins The Pat McAfee Show to discu

Brad Crawford joins CBS Sports HQ to react to N

John Breece joins CBS Sports HQ to discuss the

Mackenzie Brooks joins CBS Sports HQ to break d

#ESPN #NFL #packers

Visiting a Freiburg side unbeaten in Europe
Points needed in Germany
The UEFA Europa League’s league phase is heating up, and our Red Bulls are under pressure if they want to keep their hopes of advancing alive. Facing SC Freiburg away this Thursday, December 11th at 21:00 CET will be anything but easy.
The German Bundesliga side recently suffered a 1-2 defeat at Heidenheim, but they still sit in ninth place in their domestic table. In Europe, Freiburg are in an even better position.

There’s always a goofy, ridiculous story in the lead-up to the Olympics. Who could forget the Paris Games’ race against the clock to make sure that the Seine was turd-free?
But the 2026 Winter Games have a “turd in the Seine” that comes in the form of a hockey rink that was, for some reason, built to the wrong specs.
After rumblings that the rink inside the still-delayed Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena — the primary home of hockey at the 2026 Games in Milan — had a playing surface that was a few feet short, it was confirmed that the rink would be 196.

Report: Aston Villa set to battle Chelsea in the race to sign 23-year-old forward
Panichelli’s Rise and Premier League Attention

Joaquin Panichelli’s emergence in Ligue 1 has brought a sharp jolt of intrigue to Premier League scouts. The 23 year old Strasbourg striker, signed for a reported €16.5million, has cut through French defences with clarity and calm. Ten goals in 19 games, including that eye catching brace at Paris Saint Germain, have given his name weight in conversations at Aston Villa, Chelsea and West Ham.

There is a certain relentlessness in the way he finishes.

Oswin Appollis makes admission on Mbokazi MLS move
Interview
Appollis speaks on Mbokazi transfer

Photo: Mbekezeli Mbokazi
Orlando Pirates winger Oswin Appollis has made an honest admission that Mbekezeli Mbokazi’s move to Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit Chicago Fire will serve as a motivation for the other players.
The 20-year-old defender has enjoyed a meteoric rise since making his professional debut in March 2025, and he went on to become regular at Bafana Bafana, whom he will represent at AFCON.

Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua continues to express anger and frustration over the team being snubbed from the College Football Playoff. A day after Bevacqua called out the ACC, the AD continued to lament Notre Dame’s snub, saying the team went on “one of the most dominant 10-game runs in the history of college football” leading up to the selection committee’s final decision.
Bevacqua made those comments during a season-end presser.

As we get ready to begin the fantasy football playoffs, let’s jot down a few strategy tips. Most of this will be review, and stuff we’ve written and talked about in years past. Some of these things are specific to December; other tips are more universal. As usual, many of these tips are common sense — common sense is the most important club in your bag.
[Upgrade to Fantasy Plus and gain your edge in player projections and much more]
It all boils down to good decisions.

Jim Bowden joins CBS Sports HQ to react to Kyle

Ben Solak lays out ways to improve the Chiefs’ struggling offense, makes his case for the Jaguars’ legitimacy and more.

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The North Carolina high school football playoffs head into the NCHSAA state championships this week between three locations in the University of North Carolina’s Kenan Stadium, Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Helen & Leonard Moretz Stadium and Durham County Memorial Stadium for classes Class 8A through 1A.
With plenty of storylines galore throughout the week, we are now going around the country for state championship matchups, game times and predictions as the high school football season winds down in its final weeks.

Spalletti: ‘I did damage to Juventus, Kenan Yildiz like Kvaratskhelia’
Luciano Spalletti admits he ‘did damage’ to the Juventus players with bad choices against Napoli, compares Kenan Yildiz to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and warns Jonathan David ahead of the Pafos game.
It kicks off at the Allianz Juventus Stadium in Turin on Wednesday at 20.00 GMT.
The Bianconeri suffered their first defeat since Spalletti took over from sacked Igor Tudor, falling 2-1 to Napoli in Serie A at the weekend.

Josh Lewenberg: Immanuel Quickley (illness) has been added to the injury report for tonight. He’s questionable vs New York.
bsky.

Minnesota Timberwolves PR: NEWS: @Timberwolves assign center Joan Beringer to G League affiliate @Iowa Wolves. Beringer will be available for Iowa’s game on Friday against Motor City.

Jon Krawczynski: Launch day for @Anthony Edwards and his production company, Three-Fifths Media: “Serious Business” is a series on Amazon Prime in which he competes against celebrities and athletes. Episode 1 includes a table tennis match against Olympian Lily Zhang.

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#luka #nba #basketball #funny #espn #smellit

#basketball #nba #hoops #ESPN

The worst thing that can happen in sports is predictability. There’s a malaise that falls over a league when there’s such a clear delineation between the good and bad that the best we can do is pray for an upset, before fatalistically accepting that the Dodgers will win another World Series. It saps the joy out of contest and makes everything regress to the point where a season might as well be scripted television, and hell, there are entire message boards of conspiracy theorists who already think sports are predetermined.
This year in the NFL has been buck wild.

The Dodgers have reached a deal with former Mets closer Edwin Diaz, a source told ESPN’s Jorge Castillo.

Slugger Kyle Schwarber, who led the NL with 56 home runs last season, and the Phillies are finalizing a five-year, $150 million contract, sources told ESPN.

Inter Miami captain Lionel Messi has been voted the 2025 MLS MVP, becoming the first player in league history to win the award in two consecutive seasons.

Robbie Earle picks out Tyrick Mitchell as his u

With the 2026 World Cup coming to North America and the majority of the games being hosted in the United States, it’s only right that the event gets Americanized. 
Given that the tournament will run from June 11–July 19, temperatures in most host cities will be scorching. Therefore, FIFA announced earlier this week that every match during the World Cup will feature three-minute hydration breaks in each half.

Robbie Mustoe explains why Xavi Simons is his u

Arsenal attacker Max Dowman picked up an ankle injury playing for the under-21s this weekend

Arsenal have been dealt a fresh injury blow as the Gunners have announced that Max Dowman picked up an ankle injury while playing for the under-21s this weekend. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta did not include the 15-year-old in the squad that travelled to Aston Villa on Saturday when the Emirates Stadium club suffered a 2-1 defeat.

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Confirmed: Bittencourt to leave Bremen in summer
Sky Germany have confirmed that Leo Bittencourt will leave Werder Bremen in summer when the 2025-26 campaign ends. 
Both the club and player have reached an agreement and the 31-year-old midfielder will not extend his contract. 
After spending 7 years at Bremen, he wants a new challenge at the end of the season and will leave on a free transfer.
The move isn’t entirely surprising, given Bittencourt has barely featured under new coach Horst Steffen who arrived in summer.

Tonight on Peacock, the No. 13 Illinois Fighting Illini take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in a Big Ten men’s college basketball thriller at 7:30 PM. Tonight’s game marks the 195th meeting between the two programs whose storied rivalry dates back to 1915. Illinois leads the all-time series 112-82, including the last three meetings against the Buckeyes.
See below for additional information on tonight’s Illinois vs Ohio State matchup and find out how you can follow all of the college basketball excitement this season on Peacock.

Man City injury latest: Rodri and Mateo Kovacic
Man City injury latest as Champions League tension rises

Man City’s 3-0 victory over Sunderland at the Etihad finally delivered a first clean sheet since early November, yet the afternoon came with an unavoidable sense of incompleteness. Even as confidence began to resurface through fluent attacking play, the persistent absence of key midfield figures continued to frame the wider conversation.

Frantzdy Pierrot led the Haiti Men’s National Soccer Team to a spot in the World Cup next summer in North America. This is only the second time the Caribbean nation has ever qualified for the world’s largest soccer tournament.
Pierrot is a forward for Haiti and led the team in scoring during the Gold Cup last fall. He now plays in the professional soccer league in Greece, for a team named AEK Athens. Pierrot has come a long way since he was a freshman playing soccer at Melrose High School.
“What I remember most about Frantzdy was just how determined he was.

Stephen A.

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One of the more commanding figures in the Formula 1 paddock is departing the sport
Red Bull confirmed rumors on Tuesday that Helmut Marko’s time as a senior advisor was coming to an end. Framed as a “departure,” the team announced that after more than two decades, Marko decided to step away from the team.
“Helmut approached me with the wish to end his role as motorsport advisor at the end of the year.

Rich Eisen joins Dan Graziano, Jason McCourty,

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