Month: October 2024

Like the proverbial tree falling in the forest, or the sound of no hands clapping, the prospect of Antonio Conte not joining Tottenham Hotspur has a certain paradoxical quality to it. Conte joining Tottenham: on some level, I suspect we all knew how this would pan out. The initial fire-streak of success; a brief title challenge; the inevitable implosion and acrimonious divorce, leaving only bittersweet memories and a squad packed with unshiftable 29-year-old wing-backs.

But Conte not joining: somehow this feels meaningful and epic in itself, a mini-tale of clashing egos and competing ambitions and insecurity and longing all packed into a week-long heavily briefed news cycle. And for all the disputed details of their courtship – are we real…

Jürgen Klopp believes it is a mark of Cody Gakpo’s character and commitment that he joined Liverpool while Champions League qualification is uncertain, describing the new signing as someone “who doesn’t want to jump on a running train, he wants to push the train”.

The Netherlands’ World Cup forward is in line for his Liverpool debut on Saturday when Wolves visit in the FA Cup third round. Gakpo had several options when leaving PSV Eindhoven, including Manchester United, but was set on Liverpool after talks with Klopp and the Netherlands’ captain, Virgil van Dijk.

Wolves’ Julen Lopetegui unhappy at Liverpool’s longer rest before FA Cup tieRead more

The 23-year-old’s preference for a club that cannot…

This time last year Harvey Barnes was a slightly anxious father-to-be with his life off the pitch dominated by the need to keep scouring Rightmove for a new home in the north-east.

Twelve months on, the Newcastle winger and his partner are parents of a soon-to-be one-year-old daughter, Harper, and finally feel settled in a new house – yet something is still missing.

Barnes remains desperate to become one of the first names on Eddie Howe’s teamsheets and is anxious to make up for lost time after a frustrating first season at St James’ Park following his £38m transfer from Leicester.

Men’s transfer window summer 2024: all deals from Europe’s top five leaguesRead more

“When you com…

Draft stock is as volatile as any investment traded online. In the past few years, Reddit has been surprisingly instrumental in socially engineering artificial increases in the stock of both. The reliability is iffy, but that hasn’t stopped gamblers working sportsbooks from going all in based on a post over at r/sportsbook from a user who claimed Kentucky QB Will Levis was informing family and friends that Carolina was taking him with the No. 1 overall pick. [Update] Carolina selected the odds-on favorite Bryce Young with the first pick. credits: Reddit In a just world, everyone would have checked for verification on Twitter, but with verification badges gone, nobody knows who to trust. Google News would have been a reliable source of info, but at times news takes a while to filter …

This game has been stressful to watch. After an uneventful first half, in which the Americans hit every part of the goalposts but couldn't find the back of the net, Alex Morgan finally capitalized on this beautiful goal. Japan tied it up a few minutes later. If you're not watching now — and if you didn't celebrate like the portly young man who flashes the camera here — then yes, you're a bad American. Video via @Jose3030. …

An occasional series featuring our readers' tales of momentary sports glory. If you've got a video of your own brush with athletic greatness, send it to [email protected], subject: Glory Days. This story comes from Kit: Not sure if this qualifies as "athletic heroism," but I knocked out Randy Moss in the 1992 WV state AAA high school football championship. This was way back when Moss was a sophomore at DuPont H.S. and played defense. Running a crossing route, I caught a pass and Moss tried to level me. But I was able to turn and lower my shoulders quickly enough to knock the wind out of Moss, while breaking his tackle. He stayed on the ground for a few minutes and the trainers had to come out and get him. Unfortunately for our team, he only stayed out for…

Well, Bill Simmons made his appearance on "The Colbert Report," and, as you'd probably expect, those who can stay up that late are talking about it today. Some are pointing out that he finally confirmed that Red Sox fans are happier when they're miserable, a viewpoint he had disparaged for years; some liked his plan for 18-year-olds to play for USA Basketball, even though we thought that sounded suspiciously — no, exactly — like the plan espoused in Chuck Klosterman's column last week; and some, former ESPN employees, were actually live blogging the thing. And we've got the video. Sheesh. We are starting to feel vaguely overselling. Anyway, we thought Simmons was fine: "The Colbert Report" seems like an incredibly difficult show to be a gu…