7:15 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN It was a normal Tuesday for Giannis Antetokounmpo, outside of inking a big business deal. He ate dinner with family, visited the Buy Buy Baby store in Wisconsin to shop for toys and clothes for his infant son, Liam, then went home and fell asleep, only to wake up for
6:58 PM ET LIVERPOOL, England — There were only 2,000 fans inside Anfield to celebrate Roberto Firmino‘s 90th-minute winner for Liverpool against Tottenham Hotspur, but the noise that the small crowd generated told you everything about the importance of the Brazilian forward’s late header. Firmino knew too, as his celebratory run deep into his own
8:00 AM ET Men’s tennis’s governing body has announced the Australian Open will start on February 8, three weeks later than planned. While Tennis Australia and the Victorian and Australian governments are yet to confirm, the ATP on Thursday revealed its revised 2021 calendar with the Melbourne Park grand slam front and centre of pandemic-forced
8:32 PM ET Associated Press DENVER — Bud Black hears the Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story trade rumors, and he is entertained. It’s just that time of year, the Colorado Rockies manager contended Wednesday in a Zoom call. “My expectation is that they’ll be with us come Opening Day,” Black said of his star players.
6:36 PM ET American Athletic Conference commissioner Michael Aresco strongly criticized the College Football Playoff selection committee for dropping undefeated Cincinnati another spot in its rankings — behind three two-loss teams. During an interview on the Paul Finebaum Show on Wednesday, Aresco said the CFP selection committee needed to do some “soul searching” and is
7:53 PM ET Associated Press LONDON — The Australian Open is set to begin Feb. 8, three weeks later than planned, as part of a pandemic-altered 2021 tennis calendar released by the men’s professional tour Wednesday. The ATP said that men’s qualifying for the season’s first Grand Slam tournament is being moved to Doha, Qatar,
Britain’s Chris Froome will make his debut for Israel Start-Up nation in January’s Vuelta San Juan in Argentina. Froome struggled for form last season following injury in 2019 and was not selected for this year’s Tour. “This will mark the beginning of a much-anticipated new chapter of my career,” said Froome, 35. The eight-day race
4:55 PM ET ESPN News Services NFL owners have delayed a decision on implementing a 17-game regular season for 2021. During a teleconference call Wednesday that replaced the usual December gathering of owners in Dallas, they opted to push back any move on the expanded season until early in 2021. The NFL and the players’
4:52 PM ET UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili‘s next fight is still up in the air. Most expected Zhang to fight former 115-pound champion Rose Namajunas in 2021, but UFC president Dana White recently told BT Sport that fight wasn’t finalized. “What I’m hearing is Rose does not want a title shot,” White said. “Rose
11:45 AM ET Yoel Romero said his release from the UFC was “completely unexpected,” explaining that he was training with the hope that he would be one or two wins from another title shot. Instead, Romero will now work toward getting a shot at a Bellator title, and he said there’s a “huge possibility” his
Colombia’s former world keirin champion Fabian Puerta has been banned from cycling for four years after testing positive for an anabolic steroid, the International Cycling Union (UCI) says. Puerta, 29, won the world title in March 2018 and tested positive out of competition in June that year. He was suspended two months later for the
Sao Paulo’s Interlagos circuit has signed a five-year deal to host the Brazilian Grand Prix until 2025. The official name of the race will be the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, reflecting the city’s investment in the event. It signals the end of plans backed by Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro to move the country’s grand prix
2:46 PM ET Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild signed goalie Andrew Hammond to a one-year, two-way contract Wednesday, adding insurance at the position in light of a long-term injury for Alex Stalock. The Wild announced Stalock, who took over as their primary goalie down the stretch last season, has an upper-body
12:49 PM ET USC got off to a fast start in the college football early signing period with ESPN 300 quarterback Jaxson Dart committing to the Trojans on Wednesday. Dart is the No. 73-ranked recruit overall. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound signal-caller from Draper, Utah, is the second-highest-ranked commit in the Trojans’ class. He chose USC over
3:47 PM ET Frank Ragnow went up to quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Chase Daniel early in Sunday’s loss to Green Bay and told them they would have to make the line calls the rest of the game. Because Ragnow could barely talk. At the time, Daniel thought it was funny — mostly because no one
3:14 PM ET Houston Rockets star James Harden did not directly answer questions about his desire to be traded during his first media availability since his brief holdout at the beginning of training camp. “Right now, I’m just focused on being here,” Harden said Wednesday, a day after playing 21 minutes in a preseason win
3:20 PM GMT Sunday’s Champions Cup pool match between defending champions Exeter Chiefs and Toulouse has been called off after a number of Exeter players and staff tested positive for COVID-19, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) said on Wednesday. Due to the public health guidelines in place, EPCR said Exeter cannot send a matchday squad
2:21 PM ET The decision by Kevin Cash to take out Blake Snell in a 1-0 game in the sixth inning of Game 6 of the World Series against the Dodgers sparked controversy around baseball regarding the balance of analytics and traditional baseball savvy. More than a month after the final out, the Rays manager