Sports

Associated Press Nov 27, 2024, 08:03 PM ET Open Extended Reactions LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bob Baffert returned to Churchill Downs for the first time in 3 1/2 years on Wednesday, saddling the winner in the seventh race at the home of the Kentucky Derby. Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen shook hands with the Hall

Tom Hamilton, Senior WriterNov 27, 2024, 03:11 PM Close • Joined ESPN in 2011• Covered two Olympics, a pair of Rugby World Cups and two British & Irish Lions tours• Previously rugby editor, and became senior writer in 2018 Open Extended Reactions England and Harlequins prop Joe Marler has announced he will retire from professional rugby on Friday.

Nov 27, 2024, 07:49 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Emanuel Navarrete will take on Oscar Valdez next week in a rematch of their August 2023 bout that ended in a one-sided decision victory for Navarrete. The fight on Dec. 7 (ESPN/ESPN+, 10:30 p.m. ET) will be contested for Navarrete’s WBO junior lightweight title. Navarrete (38-2-1,

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterNov 26, 2024, 07:46 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Conor McGregor will no longer be the face of Irish whiskey brand Proper No. 12 after he was found liable in a sexual assault case last week in Dublin. Proper

D’Arcy Maine, ESPN.com Nov 26, 2024, 12:09 PM ET Open Extended Reactions The 2024 tennis season is officially over, and what a year it was on and off the court. With the emergence of a new group of dominant superstars, the swan songs of others and countless memorable moments and matches, it was truly a

Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior WriterNov 25, 2024, 05:55 PM ET Close Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia Open Extended Reactions Tiger Woods announced Monday he won’t compete in next week’s Hero World Challenge, an unofficial tournament he hosts in the Bahamas. The 15-time major

Andreas Hale, ESPNNov 25, 2024, 02:15 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Most Valuable Promotions released a statement Monday regarding the growing controversy that Jake Paul’s unanimous decision victory over Mike Tyson was fixed, calling the allegations “illogical and inane.” The YouTuber-turned-prizefighter Paul, 27, dominated the iconic former heavyweight champion in their Nov. 15 clash at

Open Extended Reactions If the top NBA awards were handed out one month into the 2024-25 NBA season, which players and coaches could stake their claim to the coveted titles? A few MVP-caliber superstars such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic have found their teams struggling early in the season. Will they be

Jordan Raanan, ESPN Staff WriterNov 24, 2024, 06:45 PM ET Close Jordan Raanan is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN. Raanan covers the New York Giants. You can follow him via Twitter @JordanRaanan. Open Extended Reactions EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Defensive captain Dexter Lawrence II thought the New York Giants played “soft” in a

Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior WriterNov 24, 2024, 12:41 AM ET Close College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University. Open Extended Reactions A wild day in the SEC produced only one postseason guarantee: Georgia is headed back to the conference championship game for a fourth consecutive season. The league confirmed Georgia’s spot

Eric Karabell, ESPN Senior WriterNov 22, 2024, 09:27 AM ET Close ESPN contributor on TV, radio, podcasts, blogs, Magazine Charter member of FSWA Hall of Fame Author of “The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments” Open Extended Reactions It’s November and the fantasy baseball offseason is, pardon the pun, in full swing. Right now, most sports fans

Associated Press Nov 22, 2024, 09:35 PM ET Open Extended Reactions CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Chase Elliott was named NASCAR’s most popular driver for the seventh consecutive year at the sport’s season-ending awards ceremony Friday night. The only major NASCAR award determined solely by the vote of fans, Elliott earned 266,363 votes to beat out Hendrick

Associated Press Nov 22, 2024, 10:04 AM ET Open Extended Reactions CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Denny Hamlin will have a new crew chief in 2025. Joe Gibbs Racing announced Friday that Chris Gayle will serve as the crew chief for Hamlin’s No. 11 team, with Chris Gabehart being promoted to competition director. Gayle has served as

Nov 21, 2024, 09:19 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Bestowing new nicknames upon the German double winners has become something of a cottage industry. Throughout last season’s unprecedented unbeaten domestic campaign, Bayer Leverkusen time and again summoned the kind of mental willpower late in games with which illusionist Uri Geller in his spoon-bending days was

Tom Hamilton, Senior WriterNov 21, 2024, 11:39 AM Close • Joined ESPN in 2011• Covered two Olympics, a pair of Rugby World Cups and two British & Irish Lions tours• Previously rugby editor, and became senior writer in 2018 Open Extended Reactions South Africa take on Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday evening, with the

Greg Wyshynski, ESPNNov 21, 2024, 07:00 AM ET Close Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer. Open Extended Reactions Before the 2024-25 NHL season, we made bold predictions for all 32 teams, ranging from individual player achievement to where teams would end up in the standings. With almost a quarter of the season in the

Open Extended Reactions Anything is possible after Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson. Recent history has proven that there are plenty of ways for content creators-turned-boxers to draw interest from future opponents. Some have used the path of deflection, downplaying their desire to face someone to get under that fighter’s skin. Some have directly called out

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterNov 20, 2024, 09:19 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov will defend his title against Paul Hughes on Jan. 25 in Dubai. The fight marks the first event of a new, multiyear

Tom Hamilton, Senior WriterNov 19, 2024, 07:02 PM ET Close • Joined ESPN in 2011• Covered two Olympics, a pair of Rugby World Cups and two British & Irish Lions tours• Previously rugby editor, and became senior writer in 2018 Open Extended Reactions MÁLAGA, Spain — Rafael Nadal said he would only let his emotions break through at

Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior WriterNov 19, 2024, 06:50 PM ET Close Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia Open Extended Reactions Six-time PGA Tour winner Lucas Glover called the circuit’s newly announced changes to reduced field sizes and the number of fully exempt cards “terrible.”