Howe finally starts Tonali v Man City as crucial Newcastle star confirms contract extension is ‘close’

data-mm-id=”_iu0pax1e9″>New Year's Day featured two games involving a team from the Big Ten going against a team from the SEC. Minnesota won one and Alabama won the other. Thus, we know for sure that the two conferences are perfectly equal in every single way. That's how this works, right?One of the more perplexing phenomenons in all of sports is the faction of people who feel the quality of a football conference is to be determined by either their bowl record as a whole or, more confounding, the result of two exhibition games between the fourth-to-sixth-best teams in each by record. And yet it happens– especially when the Big Ten and SEC are involved. As a card-carrying Midwesterner, I can save everyone the time and energy. The SEC is superior to its more corn-fed brethren.…

data-mm-id=”_l3qoe44cc”>Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys have reportedly resumed contract talks. While that's a positive development, it's only the first step in the two sides working out a deal. At some point, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys have to just bite the bullet and pay Prescott. It won't be cheap, but it has to get done. The Cowboys placed the franchise tag on Prescott for 2020, which means he'll make about $33 million this season if the two sides don't come to a long-term deal. Given the current quarterback market, that's about what he'll need to make per year in a new contract. The average annual salary among the NFL's top quarterbacks in 2019 ranged from about $32 million to $35 million. Prescott has been a stabilizing force under cen…

data-mm-id=”_m3cb6pgqv”>No one likes a tattletale. Don't rat on your friends. Snitches get stitches. As a part-Italian growing up in Northern New Jersey, these words were ingrained into me at an early age. Not because we're mafia. But because in New Jersey, it's not cool to be a narc. Yet today, I will have to break away from my upbringing and tell on Tom Brady. He broke Florida law and we have the video to prove it. At 8:30 a.m. ET, Tom Brady arrives for the first time at the #Bucs training facility. You can see him putting on a mask and going inside the testing trailer. pic.twitter.com/Mc3a6XDGg3— Kyle Burger (@kyle_burger) July 23, 2020While most people are focused on the fact that Tom Brady has arrived at Bucs camp for the first time, I couldn't help but notic…

data-mm-id=”_rwfqwhbuc”>Raheem Mostert was a revelation for the San Francisco 49ers during the 2019 NFL season, jumping from a special teams guy to the team's best running back. Now Mostert wants a raise the 49ers appear unwilling to give him. As a result, he formally asked the franchise to trade him on Wednesday. After months of unproductive talks with the 49ers about fairly adjusting Raheem Mostert's contract (which paid him for special teams) we have requested a trade. Disappointing that it would come to this for a guy who led all NFL RBs in YPC & helped lead them to the Super Bowl.— Brett Tessler (@TesslerSports) July 8, 2020Mostert was huge for San Francisco during the team's run to the Super Bowl, rushing for 336 yards and five touchdowns in three postseason …

data-mm-id=”_vyq8rv4bk”>LaMelo Ball is a top prospect in the upcoming NBA Draft and will, in all likelihood, be a top-3 selection, top-5 at worst. This means the Ball family will be, yet again, front and center in the sports news cycle for a while. Not that they ever really left that realm. Things kick-started today in that regard when LaMelo held a press conference after a workout during the draft combine with media. He was asked about his father LaVar's comments that he would be a bad fit with the Golden State Warriors. LaVar made those comments in June. LaMelo brushed it off and made it abundantly clear that this draft cycle would not go the way older brother Lonzo's did. LaMelo disagrees with LaVar on not fitting with the Warriors:"He has his opinions, I have mine. .…

data-mm-id=”_4qx8ipv5e”>LeBron James took to Twitter on Wednesday and ripped the NBA for its compressed schedule and offseason for the 2020-21 season. He argued that the league's decision-making has lead to the litany of injuries we've seen this season and especially in the postseason. And, frankly, he's right. The rant came hours after reports surfaced that the Los Angeles Clippers believe Kawhi Leonard had torn his ACL. He's just the latest star-level player to get injured during these playoffs. That list includes Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Mike Conley, Anthony Davis, Donovan Mitchell, Joel Embiid and that's a partial list. James himself was hobbled by an ankle injury suffered during the regular season and Jamal Murray tore his ACL on April 14. Here's L…

data-mm-id=”_4co57chnf”>If you've been tailing my picks for Team USA during the knockout stage of the Olympic basketball tournament, you're now 2-1 and, depending on how much you bet, up at least a few bucks. We've hit on the under against Spain and Australia and, unfortunately, missed on the Team USA first-half spread against Australia — they were actually trailing at halftime before blowing out the Aussies in the second half. Now we're in the gold medal game of these men's basketball Olympics where Team USA faces France, which eked out a 90-89 win over Luka Doncic and Slovenia in the semifinal match. The French have several big-name players and a win over Team USA already under their belt, having beaten the Americans 83-76 in the qualifying round-robin tourn…

data-mm-id=”_6zpe9b6oe”>The New Orleans Pelicans gave us news on Zion Williamson's status for the first time in months today, announcing that the superstar talent has been cleared for on-court activities after a lengthy rehab for his hamstring injury and will be re-evaluated in two weeks to see if he can return to the court. Given the season ends in two and a half weeks, this pretty much means Zion is done for the year– a massive bummer for all those who like watching sick dunks and especially for the Pelicans, a trendy pick for a sleeper contender in the Western Conference before they collapsed down the stretch. For those keeping track at home, that means Zion will have played a whopping 29 games in the last two seasons. His maximum extension will kick in after this season and h…

data-mm-id=”_nz9n4cvzl”>Inter Miami beat LAFC 3-1 Sunday night, and while Lionel Messi didn't score a goal, he did make some news. The all-time great had two assists and, oh yeah, his Internet-famous bodyguard took out a fan who ran onto the field to touch Messi. In the middle of the match, a fan wearing a Messi Barcelona jersey ran onto the field and went up to the superstar. Stadium security couldn't stop the fan in time, but Messi's bodyguard got to him pretty quickly and ripped him away. Here's video from a few angles:A Barcelona and Messi fan rushed onto the field to embrace #Messi, but Messi's bodyguard proved faster. #LAFCvMIA #LAFC #InterMiamiFC pic.twitter.com/LlJodNIif7— Love Anne Shop (@shoploveanne) September 4, 2023Messi’s bodyguard w…

data-mm-id=”_kvfwfc55x”>It's been a particularly rough weekend for Skip Bayless. Yesterday he saw his Colorado Buffaloes and Coach Prime get throttled by Oregon, meaning Undisputed's trip to Boulder this coming Friday won't be quite as fun. The poor man simply wanted to rub a Dallas Cowboys-scented balm on the pain this afternoon but the trip to Phoenix turned into a horror show as the Arizona Cardinals showed sudden signs of life and completely outplayed America's previously-unbeaten team. Desperate to feel something and create content, Bayless turned the camera on himself to record a wordless 26-second reaction video that rivals anything found in even the most harrowing found-footage films. I am speechless.pic.twitter.com/xIA640jCPI— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayle…