AND NOT EVEN THAT IMPORTANT

What with their country being reduced to smouldering piles of rubble by a paranoid maniac, the chances of their national football team participating at the Human Rights World Cup are probably not weighing heavily in the minds of too many Ukrainians right now. But as the great Arrigo Sacchi once said, football is the most important of the least important things, and Ukraine are scheduled to play Scotland later this month at Hampden, with the winners going on to play Wales or Austria for a place at this year’s ill-advised winter jamboree. As inconsequential as it might seem in the cosmic scheme of things, a decision needs to be made over whether or not the match can or will go ahe…

The first time Mikel Arteta and Andoni Iraola left Spain they did so together, on a bus bound for the Netherlands. It was the summer of 1994, they were 12 years old and crossing the border with them were a dozen or so other boys and their families. They had 20 long hours ahead, but no one cared: those were the best of times and it is the trips the kids remember most fondly, a pioneering neighbourhood football team travelling to Italy, Sweden, France, even Mexico. Where, usually, they won.

Almost 30 years later, now coaches at Arsenal and Bournemouth, Arteta and Iraola meet at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday. Born less than three months and six miles apart, they have played 1,206 professional games and coached 408 more across six countries b…

Tianba recorded 172 points in the grand finals to win the $2.5 million Peacekeeper Elite League Spring 2024 on Sunday in China. Tong Jia Bao Esports finished in second place with 144 points, followed by ThunderTalk Gaming (134) and TeamPal (128). Tianba qualified for the World Cup 2024. Chinese star Qingbo "Qz" Zhang of Tianba was named the Finals MVP and earned $69,216.57. The tournament began on Feb. 22 with 20 teams competing for a $780,762.89 grand prize and qualification into the World Cup 2024. Peacekeeper Elite League Spring 2024 prize pool: 1st: $780,762.89 and World Cup 2024 qualification — Tianba 2nd: $337,776.85 — Tong Jia Bao Esports 3rd: $173,041.42 — ThunderTalk Gaming 4th: $157,813.78 — TeamPal 5th: $250,563.98 — Weibo Gaming 6th: $76,138.22 — S…

The NFL season hasn’t started yet, so we have to pretend that certain teams aren’t a lost cause. However, a cause has never been so lost as the 2022 New York Giants. New coach and general manager be damned, the franchise that hasn’t won more than six games since 2016 is continuing its trend of misfortune. This is evidenced by Sunday’s preseason matchup against the Bengals when 27 players were either inactive due to injury, or got hurt during the game, according to Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. One of the standouts from that contest, second-year wide receiver Collin Johnson, tore his achilles Wednesday and will miss the entire season. Last year’s first-round selection, receiver Kadarius Toney who missed seven games in 2021, was seen holding his hamstring in practice…

The Rangers beat the Rays last night, but perhaps only because Marty Foster's strike zone extends to Plano. This was the strikeout the ended the game, a 5-4 Texas victory, and Tampa Bay is wondering what could should have been. Joe Nathan had been shaky. He had already given up one run. There was a runner on first. Ben Zobrist saw that Nathan couldn't find the plate, so he never once took the bat off his shoulder over a six-pitch at-bat. Every pitch was out of the strike zone. Three of them were called strikes, with strike three being the most egregious of all. This is how baseball makes you sad. Joe Maddon was furious, taking to his Twitter account afterward to opine, "That can't happen in a major league game." Joe Nathan, who locked down his 300th career save…

Auburn announced on Thursday that men’s basketball players Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy have been suspended indefinitely. While the school did not specify the reason for their suspensions, the fact that they were recommended by the school’s compliance department confirms that they are “Player 1" and “Player 2” from the FBI’s investigative report, per The Montgomery Advertiser. Even with that being the case, head coach Bruce Pearl told the Advertiser he still does not know the identities of “Player 1" and “Player 2.” The university released the following statement in conjunction with the suspension announcements, which came hours before the men’s basketball team’s sole exhibition of the preseason: “To avoid any potential eligibility issues, Auburn At…

data-mm-id=”_q9s8bi66z”>Jake Fromm is foregoing his senior season to enter the NFL Draft. Before the Sugar Bowl, he let on that he received a grade, but wouldn't reveal what it was. Considering the decision, it must have been pretty good, which is interesting because the latest mock from CBS Sports pits him in the fourth round after 100 other prospects.But here he comes anyway. His stock is down significantly from early in his career where the first round was a given, the top-10 seemed possible, and the No. 1 spot within reach. A lackluster junior year will do that. Fromm's completion percentage dipped down to 60.2 after a 67.3 campaign in 2018. He was under 50 percent in the five games preceding the Sugar Bowl. Efficiency eluded him, as did big plays and collecting impressiv…

data-mm-id=”_q7evsoooh”>CNN's Erin Burnett was brought to tears on OutFront Friday night during an interview with the widow of a man who died from COVID-19. Burnett was repeatedly moved as Maura Lewinger spoke about her late husband Joe's battle with the disease. Joe Lewinger's first coronavirus test came back negative, but his symptoms continued to worsen. He died on March 25 after an 11-day hospital stay. His wife spoke on the importance of social distancing and doing what can be done to ensure fewer families have to go through what hers has in the past month. The sad truth is that interviews like these are going to become commonplace over the next weeks and months. And they should. It'd be a dereliction of duty to not be human during a humanitarian criss. Shocki…

data-mm-id=”_mhx59hkc3″>Bombs are not subtle. There is little nuance in maximum blast. They often leave the world splintered into two measures of time: before impact and after. But it's always more complicated than a single cause and effect.Adrian Wojnarowski is known for his scoops yet transactional reporting (and as this sentence is being typed he's breaking Chris Paul to Phoenix) did not land him atop the NBA media mountain. His best selling Miracle of St. Anthony was, at its core, about humans doing extraordinary things. When Giannis Antetokounmpo runs like an actual deer, eliciting fear in every defender within a 60-foot radius, a fierce collision with the rim is imminent. He is one of basketball's best players because he possesses almost superhuman physical gifts. …

data-mm-id=”_3sq6iiu44″>With the NBA postseason arriving, ESPN appears to be giving writer Tim Bontemps a little bump. Bontemps was back on Get Up on Wednesday and even got his own graphics package for a HOT-TEMPS bit where he hits viewers with some hot takes, like the Phoenix Suns should really try to win the NBA title this year..@TimBontemps believes the Suns NEED to win an NBA title:"When you trade all those picks for a guy in his mid-thirties with the injury history KD has … they gotta take advantage of this right now because who know what they're going to look like next year and beyond." pic.twitter.com/qnKyR0dLJJ— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) April 12, 2023Scorching. Of course, not all the HOT-TEMPS came during that segment. Earlier in the show Bontemps talked about Zio…