FOOTBALL
Judge denies replay request
A US federal judge on Thursday refused to order the NFL to consider replaying the National Football Conference championship game in which the Los Angeles Rams defeated the New Orleans Saints after a critical missed call. Saints season ticket holders who sued over the game could not compel NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to enforce NFL rules letting him order a game’s replaying or rescheduling after an “extraordinarily unfair” act, US District Judge Susie Morgan said. Frank D’Amico, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, said in a statement that Morgan did not rule on Goodell’s authority to act, and the NFL’s inaction denied his clients a chance to buy Super Bowl tickets at face value. In refusing to intervene, Morgan concluded that the NFL and Goodell had no “unequivocal duty imposed by law” to investigate. “The writ of mandamus may not be used to enforce a disputed right,” Morgan wrote.
SOCCER
Messi inspires production
With Lionel Messi and some of his Barcelona teammates in attendance, Cirque du Soleil has presented its production inspired by the Argentina great. Guests were given the red-carpet treatment on Thursday, as producers showed details about “Messi10,” the production that Barcelona said is “inspired by the talent, success and living legend that is Leo Messi, who so brilliantly exemplifies the spirit and values of the beautiful game.” The performances are to begin in October in Barcelona. The production is expected to go on an international tour beginning next year.
GOLF
Controversial event beings
Thomas Pieters on Thursday fired a seven-under-par 63 to leave the big names in his wake in the opening round of the inaugural edition of the controversial Saudi International. The world’s top three, Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson, are all competing this week despite a wave of criticism over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. Earlier on Thursday, European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley defended the decision to hold the Tour’s first-ever event in Saudi Arabia. “We obviously evaluate first and foremost the safety of our players and our staff,” he told reporters at the Sport Business Summit in Abu Dhabi. “We’re excited that the Saudi International is on our schedule.” England’s Paul Casey opted out, while world No. 1 Rose said: “I’m not a politician, I’m a pro golfer.”
BASKETBALL
Prozingis traded to Mavs
The Dallas Mavericks have agreed to a surprise trade for one of the most talented young players in the NBA, the New York Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis, according to multiple reports. The Knicks are to receive Dallas’ Dennis Smith Jr, DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews and a future first-round draft pick in return for Porzingis, who has been out for nearly a year with a knee injury. Porzinigis was voted an NBA All-Star last season and was averaging 22.3 points per game. The Mavericks would also receive the Knicks’ Tim Hardaway Jr and Courtney Lee, ESPN reported. Kevin Durant once called Porzingis a “unicorn” due to his blend of skills. “He can shoot, he can make the right plays, he can defend, he’s a seven-footer that can shoot all the way out to the three-point line,” Durant said in 2016. “That’s rare. And block shots — that’s like a unicorn in this league.”
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Starting with three fights in the first nine seconds and ending with a celebration and a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off final, the US on Saturday delivered exactly what Matthew Tkachuk hoped for by beating Canada. “We needed to send a message,” Tkachuk said. “The message we wanted to send is ‘It’s our time.’” Tkachuk fought Brandon Hagel off the opening faceoff, brother Brady tussled with Sam Bennett the next time the puck dropped, J.T. Miller dropped the gloves with Colton Parayko next and the Americans followed those fisticuffs with a 3-1 victory over their biggest rival. “That was one of the
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,