ericblum Page 4 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

World Cup Day 16: Spain can win the whole damn thing
After a meager one-day break without games, the second half of the Women’s World Cup began with two games, on paper, that should’ve been close. Neither happened. Spain kicked Switzerland’s ass and Japan deserved to beat Norway by more than the game’s final 2-goal margin. While the Japanese were comf...

Has the rest of the world finally caught up to the U.S. Women's soccer team?
For those used to the United States women’s national team dominating the globe, this edition of the Women’s World Cup has come as a shock. Those who don’t tune in every four years expected turbulence, but the level of bumps and lumps the Americans have taken in Australia and New Zealand has already ...

Stephen A. Smith reaches new low with Joe Rogan-level conspiracy theories
Just because you’re rich and famous, doesn’t mean you’re smart. That’s never been clearer in society (hi Elon, never been a fan). Pretty sure that’s what Good Charlotte was singing about. In today’s edition of showing your celebrity ass, mostly figurative, sometimes literal, welcome to the party Ste...

Vince McMahon served federal grand-jury subpoena
After more than a year entangled with an alleged hush-payment scandal, WWE executive chairman Vince McMahon had a federal grand jury subpoena executed on him through federal law enforcement agents and a search warrant last month, according to a company disclosure. The filing made through the Securit...

Here's betting Iowa State QB Hunter Dekker's career is over after allegedly gambling on team
As of July 2021, name, image, and likeness allowed college athletes to earn money using their personal brands while under the NCAA’s watch. Well, at least above-the-table payments. Betting has obviously never been part of that agreement, as placing money down on games you’re involved in brings in th...

World Cup Diary Day 13: The Dutch and English show the USWNT what good soccer looks like
Running simultaneously with the United States’ infuriating performance against Portugal was just as disappointing of a game for the Vietnamese. The only difference? The United States are the two-time-defending World Cup champions and little was expected of Vietnam on the global stage. The Netherland...

Women's World Cup 2023: The USWNT isn't a championship squad
Portugal’s headed home looking happy. The flight back to Lisbon should be filled with post-elimination joy and realizations of long-term progress knowing how they held the former undisputed world champions in check. And that’s all you need to know about how the United States women’s national team pe...

Rangers, Astros, and Angels, oh my!
At 40-20, the Texas Rangers looked to be a lock for the postseason. The Dallas-area MLB team always appears to have a loaded farm system, and those moves looking toward the future paid off at the same time the big-money signings stayed healthy. In addition to all that, pitching whisperer Bruce Bochy...

World Cup Day 10: Sweden want you to know it’s not messing around
To open this year’s World Cup, Sweden hoped for a straightforward contest against, on paper, the easiest team to beat in Group G in South Africa. It didn’t go that way, with the Swedish escaping that contest Wellington by the skin of its teeth with a win. Sweden needed a 90th-minute Amanda Ilestedt ...

World Cup Day 9: England wins and loses at the same time
Doing the bare minimum to win seems to be England’s way in this World Cup. The Three Lionesses have a pair of 1-0 wins in the tournament, including the win over Denmark early Friday morning. Already without Leah Williamson, Beth Mead, and Fran Kirby for the global showcase, Keira Walsh was taken off...

Colorado’s impending Big 12 reunion signals chaos for the Pac-12
Last week at the Pac-12 Conference’s annual football media days, Colorado was considered by far the league’s biggest flight risk. It’s USC and UCLA’s last season affiliated with the West Coasters before, let’s be honest, being promoted to the Big Ten. The Power Five is truly a supreme duo, with the ...

Lionel Messi’s quick start for Inter Miami has MLS’ detractors quiet
The shouts about Major League Soccer at large from other parts of the sports world get repetitive. Stating it’s a retirement league was always a jaded view. Perhaps it was the league with the most publicity that was willing to take big names past their prime. And while a lack of promotion and relega...

World Cup Day 6: Linda Caicedo is ready to be soccer’s next big female star
Group H was always going to be a battle between the teams not named Germany for who would advance alongside the European powerhouses. There were thoughts that Morocco could go from unknowns to the knockout rounds, then it lost 6-0 to Germany. The last two teams to play their first group stage game w...

Not all change is a good thing, as the Coastal Athletic Association shows
Are we sure this isn’t April Fools’ Day? About two weeks away from when Division-I football teams open fall camp, one of the best FCS conferences and overall D-I mid-majors across the country changed its name. And not only does the shift not make sense, it’s a straight-up repetitive name that doesn’...

World Cup Day 3: A demolition to start the United States’ three-peat campaign didn’t happen
The last time the United States women’s national team opened a World Cup, it scored 13 goals against Thailand. That pile-on isn’t typical and wasn’t a drubbing for the sake of sticking it to Yul Brynner. There was no downside to putting up the unanswered baker’s dozen for the sake of goal difference...

Cupcakes aren't just reserved for American football
We see it in American sports every year. Usually in the first few college football games of the season, powerhouses take on an FCS team to inspire confidence and have the entire roster see the field and get in-game experience. Oddly enough, that matchup for Alabama takes place as the penultimate gam...

Deadspin predicts the Women’s World Cup
How was the USWNT’s Megan Rapinoe being thrust into the forefront of sport and society while helping the United States women’s national team lift a second straight World Cup title four years ago? No matter how long ago it feels, the next edition of the global showcase is here, with 32 teams competin...

First former Northwestern football player files lawsuit in program’s hazing scandal
A little more than a week has passed since allegations of a toxic locker-room culture were unearthed about Northwestern’s football program, leading to the hasty dismissal of head coach Pat Fitzgerald. The first lawsuit in the scandal was filed Tuesday morning against the university, Fitzgerald, and ...