NFL
Hamill pans Rodgers’ outfit
Mark Hamill, the actor who played Luke Skywalker, on Wednesday took a swipe at Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers for his decision to wear a Star Wars sweater while acknowledging that he misled people about his COVID-19 vaccination status. “Of all the sweatshirts he could have worn, he had to take full responsibility in THAT one?” Hamill wrote in a Twitter post that included a clip of the Rodgers interview. Rodgers was this week fined US$14,650 by the NFL for attending a Halloween party, despite protocols that prohibit unvaccinated players from gathering outside of the club facility in a group of more than three players.
FORMULA ONE
Neymar backs Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton on Wednesday stayed onside with his Brazilian fans by calling up soccer star Neymar ahead of a big weekend for the Briton’s bid for a record eighth Formula One championship. The Mercedes driver told reporters that he hoped to watch his friend in a FIFA World Cup qualifier between five-time champions Brazil and Colombia at the home of Sao Paulo’s Corinthians yesterday. “I’m very much in contact with Neymar, quite often. We were just talking actually earlier today,” the Briton told a news conference for team sponsor Petronas. “I know he’s playing tomorrow, I really want to go and watch the game.”
FORMULA ONE
Teams hit by freight delay
Teams at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo have seen valuable freight required for their preparations held up in Mexico, where last week’s round in the Formula One championship took place. “There were delays in freight departing Mexico on Monday due to the weather conditions, meaning some freight is still to arrive in Brazil,” an F1 spokesman said. “We expect this to arrive tomorrow with no wider impact on the race weekend,” he added. The opening practice session for the 18th round of the 22-race championship takes place today.
BOXING
Fury ‘badly injured’: father
John Fury said in an interview with BT Sport that his son Tyson Fury had cortisone injections in both elbows and a six-hour operation to remove bone spurs after last month’s knockout victory over Deontay Wilder. “Tyson was very badly injured going into that fight,” John Fury said. “He said to me afterwards: ‘I couldn’t box, I couldn’t work the jab... The pain when throwing the jab was unbearable, so I was fighting two people — the pain in my own body and him. All we could do was make it a war, and I wanted to win more than he did.’”
NHL
Ducks focus amid probe
The Anaheim Ducks are trying to keep their focus on a five-game winning streak and not the NHL’s latest investigation into workplace misconduct. On Tuesday, long-time Ducks executive vice president and general manager Bob Murray was placed on leave amid a probe into verbal mistreatment of staff. Professional conduct has come under heightened scrutiny after the Chicago Blackhawks were fined US$2 million for their handling of sexual assault allegations by former first-round pick Kyle Beach. The Ducks learned of Murray’s leave before Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime victory at Vancouver.
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
LIKE FINE WINE: Thirty-eight-year-old Djokovic won his 101st title of his career in Athens, becoming the oldest tournament winner since Ken Roswell, 44, in 1977 Elena Rybakina on Saturday clinched her biggest title since Wimbledon in 2022, defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. The world No. 6 put on yet another serving masterclass and was at her returning best as she became the first Kazakh and the first player representing an Asian country to lift the WTA Finals singles trophy. Having gone 3-0 in round-robin play, Rybakina earned a record US$5.235 million and would finish the year ranked No. 5 in the world. “It’s been an incredible week, I honestly didn’t expect any result, and to go so far,
The tri-nation Twenty20 international series featuring hosts Pakistan, as well as Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, is to be played entirely in Rawalpindi from Tuesday next week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday, after this week’s suicide bombing in the capital, Islamabad. The change came after at least eight Sri Lankan players asked to leave over security fears following Tuesday’s bombing that killed 12 people and wounded 27. Their country’s cricket board issued a stern directive to the team to stay put or face consequences. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the decision to stay was taken after “close consultations” with hosts Pakistan who
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