12:58 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is a fan of statistics and he can tell you that his Manchester United players are running further, creating more and giving up fewer chances than at any point during his two years in charge at Old Trafford. But really there are only a couple of numbers
11:50 AM ET Associated Press The Canadian government, citing “national interest grounds,” gave its approval Thursday for the start of NHL training camps. It issued an exemption to the mandatory 14-day quarantine period for NHL players and team staff to return to the country. The five provinces with NHL franchises, however, must give their approval
4:12 PM ET Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio — Center Pierre-Luc Dubois, who led Columbus in goals, assists and points during the playoffs, signed a two-year, $10 million contract extension Thursday that keeps him with the Blue Jackets through the 2021-22 season. Dubois, who was a restricted free agent, will earn $3.35 million during the upcoming
4:56 PM ET A massive brawl broke out in the moments following the Armed Forces Bowl, marring Mississippi State‘s 28-26 win against Tulsa. It is unclear what sparked the fight, which included kicking, punching and several members from both teams. What started with some shoving near midfield during the postgame handshake, spilled toward and down
11:53 AM ET Associated Press Former Manchester United boss Tommy Docherty has died at 92 after a long illness. Photo by Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images Former Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty has died at the age of 92, his family announced on Thursday. Docherty, affectionately known as “The Doc,” had suffered from a long
1:46 PM ET Zdeno Chara isn’t ready to retire, doesn’t want to play a reserve role, and that’s why he’s no longer the Boston Bruins captain. After 14 seasons with the Bruins, Chara, 43, signed a one-year, $795,000 contract with the Washington Capitals as a free-agent defenseman on Wednesday. He captained three Boston teams that
10:01 AM ET For the second consecutive day, the Cleveland Browns have shut down their practice facility to conduct contact tracing after two more players tested positive for COVID-19. One of the latest players to test positive is already on the reserve/COVID-19 list and had been in isolation after being identified as a high-risk close
7:30 AM ET METAIRIE, La. — Long before 2020 forced the sports world to deal with so many unprecedented wrinkles, there was the plight of the 2005 New Orleans Saints. “We were literally the Bad News Bears of the NFL,” wide receiver Lance Moore said of a vagabond team that had to evacuate New Orleans
10:43 AM ET Ohio State’s depth chart won’t have as many holes for Friday’s College Football Playoff semifinal at the Sugar Bowl, but coach Ryan Day said that doesn’t mean the Buckeyes are back to full strength. Ohio State was without several key players for the Big Ten Championship Game on Dec. 19, including star
10:17 AM ET Associated Press Andy Murray has pulled out of the Delray Beach Open to minimize his coronavirus risk as he looks ahead to the Australian Open. The 33-year-old Murray said he was concerned about “the increase in COVID rates and the transatlantic flights involved” with traveling to the Florida tournament that begins Monday.
8:44 AM ET The words of encouragement from Germany boss Joachim Low came to haunt Mario Gotze. “Show the world you’re better than Messi,” he told the 22-year-old as he prepared to come on in the 2014 World Cup final with the game locked at 0-0 against Argentina. Ten minutes later, Gotze turned and volleyed
8:38 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard will play for the LA Clippers on Wednesday for the first time since suffering a mouth laceration on Christmas night. Clippers head coach Ty Lue said Leonard will return against the Portland Trail Blazers after a two-game absence due to the mouth injury suffered at Denver last
5:55 PM ET Timothy Bradley Jr. From the moment the fight was announced, Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell was going to boil down to one major talking point: whether or not Garcia is ready to step up and prove he’s the real deal as an elite boxer and not just a social media star. But
3:04 PM ET NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr doesn’t believe the NHL will back out of its plan to allow players to return to the Olympics in 2022. “Assuming the Olympics go forward in the ordinary course, you can always envision scenarios in which something would happen that would change the equation,” Fehr told ESPN
7:00 AM ET Trends change fast in the NHL. One year’s boom is the next year’s bust. But enough about the San Jose Sharks … As is tradition, we now present “what’s in and what’s out for hockey in 2021,” a look at old trends being superseded by new ones. Feel free to disagree with
1:37 PM ET A high-profile middleweight tilt between 2020 breakout Kevin Holland and Derek Brunson will headline UFC Fight Night on March 20, sources told ESPN. Contracts have not yet been signed, but both sides have agreed to the five-round headliner. The UFC has not yet announced a location for the event. Holland (21-5) is
7:25 AM ET It has been an extremely weird year for NHL prospects, with many playing shortened seasons and/or taking long hiatuses between competitive gameplay. That takes a toll on player development. But while it is a bit more difficult to do so than in normal years, we’re ranking every pool and identifying each franchise’s
10:25 PM ET UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya has long targeted 2021 as the year he would move up and try to become a double champion, but the plan was always to challenge Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title. But with Jones pursuing his first heavyweight bout, Adesanya will instead take on Jan Blachowicz