Diana Taurasi grimaced on the court as her Phoenix Mercury teammates carefully pulled her to her feet late in the third quarter of Game 1 of the W.N.B.A. semifinals. On the preceding play, she’d bumped into Las Vegas Aces forward Dearica Hamby while trying to dribble, skidding awkwardly to the floor. Taurasi limped up and […]

For No. 7 Cincinnati, history suggests that its route to the College Football Playoff looks like this, and only this: Beat No. 9 Notre Dame on Saturday, then win the last eight games of the regular season, then win an American Athletic Conference title. Fail at any of those things, and the dream is finished. […]

By Wednesday night, the humiliation was complete. In the space of 24 hours, the two teams that had for so long regarded themselves as the pinnacle of modern soccer — the greatest clubs in the world, the inevitable destinations of the game’s best and brightest, the rightful possessors of its biggest trophies — had been […]

A prominent head coach in the top women’s soccer league in the United States was fired on Thursday after several former players accused him of verbally and sexually abusing them while they were members of his teams, a troubling reminder of the power dynamics that can put women in professional sports in vulnerable positions even […]

Flying all over North America every week is part of being a major leaguer. The Milwaukee Brewers, for instance, traveled as far away as San Diego and Miami as part of their 162-game regular season this year. Now multiply that by 30 teams across Major League Baseball. Brewers reliever Brent Suter can’t help but think […]

Tennessee Titans at Jets, 1 p.m., CBS Line: Titans -7.5 | Total: 46 Receiver A.J. Brown’s hamstring injury should not stop the Titans (2-1) from winning this game easily, given the team’s other formidable stars, running back Derrick Henry and receiver Julio Jones. The Jets, however, lack such options. Rookie quarterback Zach Wilson has thrown […]

By any argument, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has had an exceptional career through his first three N.F.L. seasons. Drafted at the end of the first round in 2018, he quickly emerged as one of the league’s most dynamic players, winning six of his first seven regular-season starts in his first year and the Most Valuable […]

Rookie quarterbacks are typically mediocre to dreadful. Fans tend to remember exceptional cases, like Justin Herbert’s offensive-rookie-of-the-year-winning performance in 2020, while the struggles of top prospects like Dwayne Haskins, Josh Rosen, Josh Allen, Jared Goff and many others are either forgotten or politely retconned when they later achieve success. It is rare, however, for so […]

The Tampa Bay Rays recently bestowed a new contract and a new title on their baseball operations leader, Erik Neander. He began the season with dueling corporate epaulets — senior vice president of baseball operations and general manager — and is now president of baseball operations. This was not, however, an elevation in rank. “This […]

The N.B.A. has denied the request of Andrew Wiggins, a Golden State Warriors player, for a religious exemption from the coronavirus vaccine, which is required in San Francisco to attend large indoor events, including Warriors home games. The league’s decision complicates matters for the team and for Mr. Wiggins, a 26-year-old forward who was the […]