Top Ad
I DIG Radio
www.idigradio.com
Listen live to the best music from around the world!
I DIG Style
www.idigstyle.com
Learn about the latest fashion styles and more...
I Dig Sports

I Dig Sports

Bangladesh bowling coach Courtney Walsh wants fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman to be given enough time to recover from his ankle injury, and not be used too much during the tri-series in Ireland next month. Walsh suggested that given Mustafizur's habit of picking up small injuries, he should be geared towards his work for the World Cup, which begins two weeks after the Ireland tour.

Speaking after the side's first training session in Dhaka before leaving for Ireland, Walsh was concerned about the injury worries to some of his pace bowlers. Apart from Mustafizur, Rubel Hossain has a side strain while Mohammad Saifuddin is suffering from a tennis elbow. Even Abu Jayed is said to have picked up a niggle.

But it is Mustafizur who has had such an impact in the Bangladesh bowling line-up after the 2015 World Cup and is the biggest concern ahead of the next big event in England.

"[Mustafizur] has got a big role to play in the World Cup, once he is fit," Walsh said. "But I don't think we rely on any one player. Shakib [Al Hasan], Mash [Mashrafe Mortaza] and Rubel have been consistent. Fizz hasn't been as sharp since his injury, and he keeps picking up slight niggles. A fully fit Mustafizur can win games for you but we have to have him as fit as possible. We have a bit of time on our side. My concern is that I hope we don't over-rush him, and probably use him too much in Ireland, and he is not fresh for the World Cup.

"Out of the five we have three injured - Fizz, Rubel and Saifuddin, who has the tennis elbow. We need to get them back into bowling, within the right frame of mind, and be sharp enough to do a bit of bowling in Ireland and be ready for the World Cup. We have Taskin Ahmed, Khaled Ahmed and Shafiul Islam as well [for back-up]. You can probably say that we have them just in case we need them."

Walsh said that playing the tournament in England, where the pitches are mostly expected to help the batsmen, will require the pace bowlers to not just have skills, but also know when and where to use them. "It will be a big challenge. The World Cup is going to be long tournament," Walsh said. "There are going to be some good cricket wickets, which are batting-friendly. We have to be intelligent, and try to execute well.

"We have to read the conditions and the surfaces we play. Some places the ball might swing more than others. We have to assess when we get there. Most of the wickets will be docile and flat. We have to work on our variations and execution.

"Everybody studies one another these days, so they know our strengths and weaknesses. Likewise, we also know theirs. So it is about execution on the day, and try to be smart."

Walsh said that the progress shown by someone like Saifuddin, whose bowling has evidently improved in recent months, had excited him.

"He has come along tremendously. He has bowled very well," Walsh said. "He is a very excitable allrounder. His form in the domestic tournament has been very good. His confidence is quite good. He is keen to do what he is doing. If we can get him fully fit with the tennis elbow being solved, it will be a big plus for us as well."

Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Alyssa Healy has said she understands the reasons for the gender pay gap in cricket but believes the women's game will continue to push for equal pay.

Healy has become one of the stars of the sport after a memorable run of form, that saw her named Player of the Tournament when Australia won the T20 World Cup last year and continued into a prolific home season which included her winning the Belinda Clark medal.

The women's team were a shining light for Australian cricket last season, following their T20 success with home series victories against New Zealand in T20s and ODIs, and Healy rose to being one of the best players in the world.

"I'm realistic in saying that it's the men's team who are bringing in most of the money," Healy told Nine's 60 Minutes in an interview alongside husband Mitchell Starc. "And they deserve the amount of money that they're getting, while we keep building our game.

"I've got no doubt that one day the women's game will do exactly the same. There's more opportunities for young girls and older girls like me to go out and play for their country and actually get paid for what we're doing. So I think that's pretty special."

Under the 2017 Cricket Australia pay deal, the women were brought onto the same base pay as the men, although overall they remain a long way off being on a level footing.

When Starc was asked about the pay difference, he took a diplomatic line. "It's not for me to determine what I get paid and what she gets paid. That's up to Cricket Australia," he said.

The women's game in Australia is, along with England, the most advanced in the world with the Women's Big Bash League having helped attract a large audience of women and young children. Next season the WBBL will be played in its own window - during October and November - for the first time rather than running concurrently with the men's Big Bash.

Next year Australia will defend their T20 title on home soil. The final will be staged at the MCG on March 8 - International Women's Day - and there is the ambition to play it in front of a record crowd for a women's sporting event. That figure is currently the 90,185 who attended the FIFA Women's World Cup final between USA and China in 1999.

Big picture

The last time Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad met, Super Kings were without MS Dhoni, and they lost five wickets for 22 runs, and the game.

Dhoni recovered from back spasms and returned with a bang against Royal Challengers Bangalore, but Super Kings eventually came up short, by just one run. Meanwhile, even as Super Kings have suffered back-to-back losses on the road, Sunrisers have notched up back-to-back victories at home.

Super Kings couldn't have asked for a better time to return home: they have three matches on the trot at Chepauk, where they have won four out of four so far. They have also welcomed back Dwayne Bravo from a hamstring injury, but there are still concerns over his death bowling. Super Kings will be more worried about their top order - both Shane Watson and Suresh Raina are still searching for form ten matches into the season.

Sunrisers, on the other hand, have thrived at the top, with Jonny Bairstow and David Warner peeling off the runs. All told, they both have contributed 71% of the 1349 runs Sunrisers have scored in IPL 2019. Left-arm quick Khaleel Ahmed, who has hit hard lengths in the Powerplay and executed the slower offcutters well at the death, has lent another dimension to the already versatile attack. Then, there's Ambati Rayudu v Vijay Shankar Round 2 to look forward to.

In the news

  • Harbhajan Singh was unavailable for Super Kings' last four games - all away from home - because of a stiff neck. If he's fit, he should slot into the XI at Chepauk.

  • This will be Bairstow's last match in IPL 2019 - he has to report for duty back home as England begin their World Cup preparations.

  • There was a light drizzle in Chennai on the eve of the game, and both Super Kings and Sunrisers did not train, having been in action on Sunday.

Previous meeting

The Dhoni-less Super Kings froze with the bat in the end overs in Hyderabad and were then punished by Warner and Bairstow in a defeat that was termed as a "great wake-up call" by coach Fleming.

Likely XIs

Chennai Super Kings (possible) 1 Faf du Plessis, 2 Shane Watson/Sam Billings, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Kedar Jadhav, 5 Ambati Rayudu, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Imran Tahir, 11 Shardul Thakur/Mohit Sharma

Sunrisers Hyderabad (possible) 1 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 2 David Warner, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 Deepak Hooda/Manish Pandey, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Shahbaz Nadeem, 10 Khaleel Ahmed, 11 Sandeep Sharma

Strategy punt

  • Watson has managed just 56 runs in four innings at an average of 14 and strike rate 100 at Chepauk in IPL 2019. There's a case for Super Kings to draft in Sam Billings, who is a good player of spin and can rotate the strike better.

  • Dhoni's go-slow against spinners, particularly against the ones that take the ball away from him, is well-documented. Sunrisers should make sure Rashid Khan and Shahbaz Nadeem get a crack at Dhoni. The Super Kings captain has scored just 14 off 22 balls from Rashid (while being dismissed once) and 22 off 23 balls from Nadeem in T20 cricket.

  • Get Khaleel to bowl back of a length to Faf du Plessis. The Super Kings opener has struggled against this length in IPL 2019, barely scoring at a run a ball while getting dismissed three times in 22 balls.

Stats that matter

  • Watson has been dismissed seven times inside the Powerplay this season. No other batsman has been out more times within the first six overs.

  • Super Kings have a run rate of 6.2 in the Powerplay in IPL 2019 - their lowest in an IPL season.

  • Dhoni needs one six to clock up 200 sixes for Super Kings.

  • Rashid needs three wickets to reach 50 wickets in the IPL.

Delhi Capitals bowl, bring in Morris for Lamichhane

Published in Cricket
Monday, 22 April 2019 07:22

Toss: Delhi Capitals chose to bowl v Rajasthan Royals

Shreyas Iyer won the toss and Delhi Capitals chose to bowl at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur against Rajasthan Royals.

Iyer said he had faith in his team's batting line-up and opted to chase because he reckoned the pitch would stay the same through the game. Royals captain Steven Smith said he would have also bowled, and the surface for the game looked more batting friendly than it had been for the past few matches in Jaipur.

This will be the first meeting between these two teams this season.

Capitals will go to the top of the points table if they win this match, tied with Chennai Super Kings on 14 points, but ahead on net run-rate. This will also put them in an excellent position to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

Victory is more critical for Royals, who have only six points from nine games so far. They also don't have Jos Buttler, who has already gone back to England for the birth of his child.

Rajasthan Royals: 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Sanju Samson (wk), 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Riyan Parag, 6 Ashton Turner, 7 Stuart Binny, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Shreyas Gopal, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Dhawal Kulkarni

Delhi Capitals: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Colin Ingram, 6 Axar Patel, 7 Sherfane Rutherford, 8 Chris Morris, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Amit Mishra, 11 Ishant Sharma

Chennai loses out on hosting IPL 2019 final

Published in Cricket
Monday, 22 April 2019 06:37

Hyderabad has been confirmed as the venue for the IPL final on May 12 after Chennai Super Kings failed to provide a solution to the long-standing issue of the three disputed - and closed - stands at MA Chidambaram Stadium.

As reported last week, Super Kings - the defending champions and, therefore, the rightful hosts of the final - had been given time by the IPL authorities to identify a way around the problem. ESPNcricinfo understands that the Super Kings management has since conveyed its inability to do so by May 12, and the final has now gone to Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, the home venue of last season's runners-up, Sunrisers Hyderabad.

According to the latest update, Chennai will host Qualifier 1, while the Eliminator and Qualifier 2 will be held in Visakhapatnam.

Super Kings have hosted four home games, including the season opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore, this year with the stands closed. However, IPL officials were concerned about the bad optics the vacant stands present, especially on TV, for the marquee matches.

The Chennai corporation had closed the three stands - I, J and K, adding up to roughly 12,000 seats - in 2012 as there were discrepancies when the stadium was refurbished before the World Cup in 2011. Only once since then have they been opened to the public, after Tamil Nadu Cricket Association got special permission to do so for an India v Pakistan ODI in December 2012.

Hertl leads Sharks to win after vowing a Game 7

Published in Breaking News
Sunday, 21 April 2019 22:53

LAS VEGAS -- After the Game 5 victory last Thursday, San Jose Sharks forward Tomas Hertl told an arena full of jubilant San Jose fans that there would be a Game 7 in their series against the Vegas Golden Knights.

"I know we have one more game and come back for Game 7," he said. "I believe it. We're a better team than them."

His short-handed goal in double overtime in Game 6 on Sunday delivered on that proclamation, giving the Sharks a 2-1 win in Las Vegas and a 3-3 series tie to force Game 7 on Tuesday night.

Just don't start calling him a modern-day Mark Messier.

"There was no guarantee," Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. "Tomas wears his heart on this sleeve. I don't know how that rolled out, whether it was through social media, but it was ridiculous."

San Jose center Logan Couture said perhaps something was lost in translation. "I know the word 'guarantee' was thrown out there, but his English is a little broken. It's tough for some of us to understand him sometimes," he said.

As for Hertl? "It feels great. You know, everyone will say there's a guarantee for Game 7 and everything. Well, there is the guarantee: Game 7. Now we have to go and finish it," he said.

play
0:31

Hertl delivers on Game 7 guarantee vs. Golden Knights

Tomas Hertl says it feels great to deliver on his guarantee that the Sharks would take the Golden Knights to a Game 7.

The Sharks forward scored the game winner 11 minutes, 17 seconds in the second overtime. San Jose forward Barclay Goodrow was given a penalty for slashing the stick out of Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb's hands. With the Knights on the power play, the puck was intercepted by the Sharks.

Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic sent a pass to a streaking Hertl out of the zone. Knights defenseman Shea Theodore took an odd approach, attempting to play the puck rather than using his body to prevent Hertl from shooting. That allowed the Sharks forward to snap one past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (27 saves) and make good on his vow to the fans.

Hertl wasn't sure whether he was going to shoot the puck on the play or dump it to change.

"[Fleury] took a little step left. I don't know if he was cheating because I shot glove side the last couple games," said Hertl, who has five goals in the series. "I don't really know, because I was really tired. I couldn't even celebrate. I didn't know what to do."

According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Hertl is the first player in NHL postseason history to score a short-handed goal in double overtime or later.

His goal ended an intense, wild Game 6 between the two burgeoning rivals, despite there being only three goals scored in five periods. That's because Sharks goalie Martin Jones literally saved the day with a 58-save effort, continuing a comeback effort in this series following three bad games that led to Knights wins.

The Sharks scored with 6.5 seconds left in the first period, converting a Golden Knights neutral zone turnover. Couture scored his fourth of the postseason, giving the Sharks the lead -- something they had in the two previous games they won in the series. In fact, no team that has had a lead in this series has ever trailed in a game.

Jonathan Marchessault got it back at 11:20 of the second period after William Karlsson won a puck battle with Erik Karlsson, tucking home the puck behind Jones.

The teams went to overtime, and the first extra session featured several close calls for both, none closer than a Timo Meier shot off his own rebound that sailed over Fleury and would have entered the net had it not been for some heroics by defensemen Jon Merrill and Colin Wilson sprawled behind him.

But in the second overtime, Hertl's shot ended it for the Sharks, who return home with a chance to complete a rally against a Golden Knights team that has had the better of the play in this series.

Any guarantees for Game 7, Tomas Hertl?

"No, no, no, no. I guarantee we will try our best," Hertl said, laughing.

"Game 7 is the most fun game you can play in the NHL."

Bills add former Jags RB Yeldon to backfield

Published in Breaking News
Monday, 22 April 2019 06:40

The Buffalo Bills signed former Jacksonville Jaguars running back T.J. Yeldon to a two-year contract on Monday.

He joins a Buffalo backfield that already includes veteran running backs Frank Gore and LeSean McCoy.

The Bills have been active in free agency, adding several new offensive players, including Gore, wide receivers John Brown and Cole Beasley, tight end Tyler Kroft and offensive linemen Mitch Morse, Spencer Long and Quinton Spain.

Yeldon's time with the Jaguars didn't end on good terms. Executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin blasted Yeldon and Leonard Fournette for their demeanor on the sidelines during the 2018 finale after both players sat on the bench (Yeldon was active but Fournette was not) and appeared disinterested throughout the 20-3 loss to the Houston Texans. Coughlin released a statement after the game in which he said they were "disrespectful, selfish and their behavior was unbecoming that of a professional football player."

The 25-year-old Yeldon didn't do much the second half of the 2018 season, carrying the ball 23 times and catching 18 passes in the final eight games. He was a much bigger part of the offense in the first half of the season, when he started in place of Fournette, who missed six games because of a hamstring injury.

The Jaguars drafted Yeldon in the second round (36th overall) of the 2015 draft and he led the Jaguars in rushing as a rookie with 740 yards despite missing four games with an injury.

He finished his four years in Jacksonville with 1,892 yards and six rushing touchdowns and 171 catches for 1,302 yards and six touchdowns.

ESPN's Michael DiRocco contributed to this report.

Almost every year it seems a memorable trade happens during the NFL draft as the clock ticks and the phones ring. So which draft-day trade has had the biggest impact -- good or bad -- on each NFL franchise?

We asked our 32 NFL Nation reporters to look back at each team's most meaningful swap on draft weekend. Some brought championships and others pain. All of them were unforgettable.

Scan through all 32 teams by division, or click here to jump ahead to your team:


AFC EAST

Buffalo Bills

The trade: Buffalo sent second- and fifth-round picks in 2004 and a first-round pick in 2005 to Dallas to select quarterback J.P. Losman at No. 22 overall in 2004.

The Bills already had selected wide receiver Lee Evans at No. 13 after missing out on quarterbacks Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger earlier in the draft. Then-Buffalo general manager Tom Donahoe, in search of his quarterback of the future to replace Drew Bledsoe, traded back into the first round for Losman. The Tulane product spent only one year (2006) as the full-time starter and failed to build on that 3,000-yard season. Had the Bills kept their first-round pick in 2005, they could have selected Aaron Rodgers. -- Mike Rodak

Miami Dolphins

The trade: In 2013, the Dolphins traded their first-round (No. 12) and second-round (No. 42) picks to Oakland to move up to No. 3 and select Oregon defensive end Dion Jordan.

The move turned out to be a big bust, with Jordan contributing little on the field and failing several drug tests -- including one that caused him to be suspended for the entire 2015 season. He eventually was reinstated, retired, then was cut. His Dolphins career ended with only three sacks, and Miami failed to make the playoffs, going 8-8 in each of the two seasons after he was selected. The trade cost the Dolphins a chance to get two key contributors had they stayed put, and a look back at the players selected in the top 50 that year includes Sheldon Richardson (No. 13), Star Lotulelei (No. 14), Desmond Trufant (No. 22), Xavier Rhodes (No. 25), DeAndre Hopkins (No. 27), Travis Frederick (No. 31), Zach Ertz (No. 35), Darius Slay (No. 36) and Le'Veon Bell (No. 48). -- Cameron Wolfe

New England Patriots

The trade: New England acquired receiver Randy Moss from the Raiders for a fourth-round pick on April 30, 2007, the final day of the draft.

What a bargain. Moss went on to set the NFL record for most touchdown receptions in a season (23), giving quarterback Tom Brady the elite No. 1 weapon he has so seldom had over his career. In large part due to Moss' standout season, the Patriots posted a 16-0 regular-season record before they were upset by the Giants in Super Bowl XLII. -- Mike Reiss

New York Jets

The trade: On the morning of the 1980 draft, the Jets sent two first-round picks (No. 13 and No. 20) to the 49ers for the No. 2 pick to select receiver Johnny "Lam" Jones.

It turned out to be a bad move for the Jets, who selected the speedy Jones ahead of future Hall of Famers Anthony Munoz and Art Monk. Jones, who died recently after a long bout with cancer, never lived up to expectations. He finished with only 138 catches and 13 touchdowns. -- Rich Cimini


AFC NORTH

Baltimore Ravens

The trade: In 1999, the Ravens traded their second-round pick (No. 43) for Atlanta's first-round pick in 2000, which they used to land running back Jamal Lewis.

The Falcons selected tight end Reggie Kelly, and the Ravens got what turned into the No. 5 overall pick in the 2000 draft. Baltimore drafted Lewis, who carried the offense during the team's 2000 Super Bowl championship season and recorded the NFL's fifth 2,000-yard season in 2003. -- Jamison Hensley

Cincinnati Bengals

The trade: The Bengals moved from No. 5 to No. 1 overall after sending their first- and second-round picks to the Panthers to select running back Ki-Jana Carter in the 1995 draft.

It was a rare move for a franchise not known for draft-day trades, and the ultimate example of "what could have been" for the team. Carter signed a then-record seven-year, $19.2 million deal, but he played only three seasons with the Bengals. He missed his rookie season with a torn ACL and was never the same. The miss on that trade is representative of the futility of the franchise throughout the 1990s. -- Katherine Terrell

Cleveland Browns

The trade: In 2014, the Browns traded the No. 4 pick to move down to No. 9.

After moving down, the Browns traded the No. 9 pick to move up to No. 8 to take cornerback Justin Gilbert. This is the team that traded out of taking Julio Jones and traded up to take Johnny Manziel. Drafting Gilbert was as large a mistake as taking Manziel; neither was committed to being an NFL player. The better option: Stay at No. 4 and draft linebacker Khalil Mack, one of the best defensive players in the league. -- Pat McManamon

Pittsburgh Steelers

The trade: In 2003, the Steelers traded the No. 27, No. 92 and No. 200 picks to Kansas City for No. 16, which the Steelers used to select safety Troy Polamalu out of USC.

The Steelers are known as conservative when it comes to the draft. Rarely do they make splashy moves. But they needed to improve their secondary 16 years ago, and Polamalu was a true game-changer. They worked the phones in the draft room throughout the first hour of the first round and relied on good relationships with the Chiefs. The result: Pittsburgh got a future Hall of Famer. -- Jeremy Fowler


AFC SOUTH

Houston Texans

The trade: In 2017, general manager Rick Smith landed quarterback Deshaun Watson by trading the No. 25 pick and Houston's first-round pick in 2018 to the Browns for the No. 12 pick.

The Texans were in need of a franchise quarterback after sending Brock Osweiler to Cleveland following his lone season in Houston. In his first two seasons with the Texans, Watson missed time with a torn ACL but completed 66.4 percent of his passes for 5,864 yards with 45 touchdowns and 17 interceptions in 23 games. Houston had gone through eight starting quarterbacks after Bill O'Brien took over as coach in 2014 until Watson put a halt to the quarterback carousel. -- Sarah Barshop

Indianapolis Colts

The trade: On April 27, 2003, the Colts traded a fourth-round pick in 2004 to Houston for a fifth-rounder in 2003. The Colts used that fifth-round pick (No. 138) to select pass-rusher Robert Mathis.

Mathis, who was considered an undersized player coming out Alabama A&M, finished his career with 123 sacks (19th on the all-time list) and was named to five Pro Bowls. -- Mike Wells

Jacksonville Jaguars

The trade: In 2008, the Jaguars traded up from No. 26 to No. 8 to select defensive end Derrick Harvey.

Jacksonville gave up a lot -- No. 26, two third-round picks and a fourth-round pick -- to Baltimore for the No. 8 pick. The Jaguars were coming off a playoff appearance, had signed QB David Garrard to a long-term deal and believed they were close to being a Super Bowl team if they could improve their pass rush. Harvey held out for 38 days, recorded 3.5 sacks as a rookie and totaled 8.0 sacks in three seasons before being cut with two years remaining on his contract. The Jaguars, by the way, wouldn't make the playoffs again until 10 years later. What makes this trade even worse for the Jaguars is the Ravens used the No. 26 pick and one of the third-round picks from the Jaguars to move up to No. 18 and take QB Joe Flacco, a move that resulted in six playoff appearances in the next seven seasons and a victory in Super Bowl XLVII. -- Michael DiRocco

Tennessee Titans

The trade: In 1997, the franchise (then the Oilers) sent two picks (No. 13 and No. 110) to the Chiefs for four selections -- Nos. 18, 81, 116 and 181.

With the No. 13 pick the Chiefs selected Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez, who went on to become one of the best tight ends in history. Although defensive end Kenny Holmes (No. 18) had a solid NFL career, tackle Scott Sanderson (No. 81) and linebacker Dennis Stallings (No. 181) didn't pan out. The Titans/Oilers traded pick No. 116 and a sixth-round pick (No. 165) to the Saints for pick No. 107, moving up to select defensive end Pratt Lyons. Losing out on a chance to select Gonzalez was a tough pill to swallow. -- Turron Davenport


AFC WEST

Denver Broncos

The trade: During the 2009 draft, the Broncos shipped their 2010 first-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks to move up in the second round to select cornerback Alphonso Smith.

The trade for future Hall of Famer John Elway will always be the franchise's most impactful deal, but it was completed several days after the 1983 draft had finished. Denver also traded up in the first round in 2016 to select quarterback Paxton Lynch, who didn't win training camp battles for the starting job in back-to-back years and then was released when he didn't win the backup job in last summer's training camp -- his third with the team. But the Smith trade is the all-time head-scratcher. He played just one season with the Broncos before he was traded to the Detroit Lions. And the Seahawks used that 2010 first-round pick to select ... safety Earl Thomas. -- Jeff Legwold

Kansas City Chiefs

play
1:52

Riddick: Mahomes the greatest NFL draft-day trade of all time

Louis Riddick and Victor Cruz evaluate the trade that netted Pat Mahomes for the Chiefs in the NFL draft.

The trade: In 2017, the Chiefs traded first- and third-round picks plus a first-rounder in 2018 to move up from No. 27 to No. 10 to select Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

This might be the most impactful trade in team history, period. Acquiring Mahomes secured Kansas City's spot near the top of the AFC for the foreseeable future. Last season he became the second quarterback in NFL history to throw 50 touchdown passes and for more than 5,000 yards. That he did so in the season in which he turned 23 suggests Mahomes will be posting big numbers for the Chiefs for years to come. -- Adam Teicher

Los Angeles Chargers

The trade: In 2004, the Chargers traded quarterback Eli Manning to the New York Giants for quarterback Philip Rivers, a 2004 third-round pick (kicker Nate Kaeding) and a 2005 first-round pick (linebacker Shawne Merriman), and a fifth-round pick (tackle Roman Oben).

Manning didn't want to play in San Diego and he got his wish, with Chargers GM A.J. Smith selecting him No. 1 overall and then shipping him to the Giants. In return, the Chargers received Rivers and part of a nucleus that led the Bolts to four straight AFC West titles from 2006 to 2009. Although Manning went on to win two Super Bowls -- and Rivers has yet to reach the NFL title game -- Rivers is 3-0 head-to-head against Manning. -- Eric D. Williams

Oakland Raiders

The trade: On Day 3 of the 2010 draft, the Raiders traded their fourth-round pick in the 2012 draft to Washington for quarterback Jason Campbell.

Campbell was compared to Jim Plunkett by Al Davis after the deal. Yes, a mere three years after Oakland used the top overall pick on JaMarcus Russell, who would be waived 12 days later. In Campbell's first season in Oakland, the Raiders went 8-8 (6-0 in the AFC West) for their first non-losing season in eight years, and he was humming in 2011 as the Raiders got off to a 4-2 start before his season ended with a broken collarbone in Week 6. That set the stage for Hue Jackson's power grab with the "greatest trade in football" for Carson Palmer, and it took years for the franchise to recover. Though he never played for the Raiders again, Campbell, at 11-7, is still the only Raiders quarterback since Rich Gannon played his last game in 2004 to have a winning record for Oakland. -- Paul Gutierrez


NFC EAST

Dallas Cowboys

The trade: In 1990, Dallas traded its first- and third-round picks to the Pittsburgh Steelers to move up four spots to No. 17 to take Emmitt Smith.

The Cowboys had hoped to select linebacker James Francis in the first round when the draft began, but he went to Cincinnati with the No. 12 pick. Smith kept dropping, so the Cowboys made a move for the player who formed the "Triplets" with Michael Irvin and Troy Aikman and helped the team to three Super Bowl wins in a four-year span. All Smith did was become the NFL's all-time leading rusher, league MVP, Super Bowl MVP, an eight-time Pro Bowler and a Hall of Famer. The Smith deal can be traced back to the Herschel Walker trade in 1989, but the draft-day move for Smith made the Cowboys the team of the 1990s. -- Todd Archer

New York Giants

The trade: In 2004, the Giants traded Philip Rivers, a third-round pick in 2004, and first- and fifth-round picks in 2005 to the San Diego Chargers for Eli Manning.

The Chargers took Manning against his will and the Giants selected Rivers at No. 4 overall with the hope that it would net them Manning. It eventually did in a trade that turned into a win-win. The Chargers received Rivers and turned their picks into kicker Nate Kaeding, pass-rusher Shawne Merriman and tackle Roman Oben. The Giants did even better. They won two Super Bowls with Manning, considered by most the best quarterback in franchise history and a potential Hall of Famer. -- Jordan Raanan

Philadelphia Eagles

The trade: In 1995, Philly gave up the No. 12 pick and a pair of second-rounders to Tampa Bay, moving up to No. 7 to select Mike Mamula.

The deal for Mamula, a defensive end out of Boston College whose stock got a significant bump because of his combine performance, still haunts Eagles fans. He wasn't a total bust (31.5 career sacks) but played only five seasons because of injury. The Bucs, meanwhile, used the No. 12 pick to select Warren Sapp and then dealt one of the two second-round picks to move up and select linebacker Derrick Brooks. Both ended up in the Hall of Fame and were centerpieces of a championship team. -- Tim McManus

Washington Redskins

play
1:58

Bill Barnwell cooks up absurd draft trade

After an offseason in which Odell Beckham Jr. and Antonio Brown were traded, it now seems like no NFL news could surprise us -- even a four-team draft-day trade that has the Cardinals selecting Kyler Murray with the first overall pick.

The trade: In 1999, the Redskins traded the No. 12 overall pick and four other picks to Chicago to move up to No. 7, where they selected future Hall of Fame cornerback Champ Bailey.

Before that move, the Redskins had traded the fifth overall pick to New Orleans in exchange for eight draft picks, with two coming in 2000. That gave the Redskins the ammunition to move up for Bailey -- the player they wanted all along. Despite the haul from New Orleans, the Redskins drafted only six players in 1999 and four didn't provide any help. After moving up in the first round, they did it again in the second, selecting tackle Jon Jansen, a solid seven-year starter. Washington did keep the Saints' first-round pick in 2000, which ended up being No. 2, and selected linebacker LaVar Arrington. -- John Keim


NFC NORTH

Chicago Bears

The trade: In 2017, the Bears traded picks Nos. 3, 67 and 111 and a 2018 third-round selection to the San Francisco 49ers to move up one spot and take North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky second overall.

Chicago had a glaring need at quarterback, but few expected Bears general manager Ryan Pace to go all-in on Trubisky, who started just one full season for the Tar Heels. Trubisky led Chicago to the playoffs last season, passing for 3,223 yards and 24 touchdowns with 12 interceptions (95.4 passer rating). He might never be mentioned in the same breath as the league's elite passers, but Chicago appears to have stabilized its quarterback position for years to come, courtesy of its draft-day deal with San Francisco. -- Jeff Dickerson

Detroit Lions

The trade: In 1993, the Lions sent the No. 8 pick in that draft and a fourth-rounder (No. 89) to the Saints for linebacker Pat Swilling.

The Lions really wanted Swilling -- they had tried to sign him before but failed -- but the deal didn't work out for them. The No. 8 pick became Hall of Fame offensive tackle Willie Roaf. Including Roaf, four of the next six picks were Pro Bowlers. The fourth-rounder turned into Pro Bowl fullback Lorenzo Neal. Swilling was a Pro Bowler in 1993, but he never truly matched his New Orleans production with the Lions, registering 10 sacks before heading to Oakland, where he had 21 sacks in his last three years. -- Michael Rothstein

Green Bay Packers

The trade: In 1991, the Packers traded back with the Eagles from No. 8 to No. 19 in the first round and picked up a first-round pick in the 1992 draft.

Neither one of those picks directly resulted in a player worth noting -- the Packers picked Ohio State cornerback Vinny Clark at No. 19 in 1991 and they traded away the 1992 first-round pick. However, it was that extra first-rounder in 1992 that first-year GM Ron Wolf traded to the Falcons the following offseason for Brett Favre. Without a second first-round pick that year, maybe Wolf wouldn't have made the Favre trade -- a deal that began the turnaround from decades of losing. -- Rob Demovsky

Minnesota Vikings

The trade: In 2012, the Vikings traded back into the first round to select safety Harrison Smith.

The Vikings had already made one splash move during this draft, trading back one spot from No. 3 to No. 4 to get Matt Kalil (the player they wanted all along) and three other draft picks in fleecing the Browns by convincing them that another team was going to trade with the Vikings to get Trent Richardson, the player Cleveland really wanted. But Minnesota's biggest and longest-lasting impact came when general manager Rick Spielman decided he wasn't done on the first night of the draft. Minnesota had been eyeing Notre Dame's Smith but wasn't convinced he'd be there when the Vikings were set to pick again at No. 35 in the second round. To avoid missing out on a future Pro Bowler, Spielman sent a fourth-round pick to Baltimore to move up to No. 29 to draft Smith. Since that day, Smith has become an irreplaceable staple in the Vikings' defense and is routinely regarded as the most versatile safety in the NFL. -- Courtney Cronin


NFC SOUTH

Atlanta Falcons

The trade: In 2011, the Falcons traded five draft picks -- No. 27, their second-round pick (No. 59) and fourth-round pick (No. 124), along with their first- and fourth-round picks in 2012 -- to move up to No. 6 and select wide receiver Julio Jones.

Maybe it sounded like a crazy idea at the time, but general manager Thomas Dimitroff's gamble paid off when Jones developed into arguably the best wide receiver in the game. Meanwhile, none of the players the Browns acquired as a result of those draft picks -- Phil Taylor, Greg Little, Brandon Weeden, Owen Marecic and Trent Richardson -- is currently in the league. Safe to say the Falcons won the trade. -- Vaughn McClure

Carolina Panthers

The trade: In 2008, the Panthers traded picks in the second round (No. 43) and fourth round (No. 109), plus a first-round pick in 2009, to Philadelphia to get back into the first round (No. 19) for offensive tackle Jeff Otah.

The Panthers, who had selected running back Jonathan Stewart at No. 13, felt they were on the verge of a Super Bowl, so they moved up for Otah. He started 25 games his first two seasons, then developed knee issues that basically ended his career. The Eagles turned the 2009 pick (No. 28) into a trade with Buffalo to get tackle Jason Peters, who went on to become an eight-time Pro Bowl selection. The Panthers already had 2006 first-round pick DeAngelo Williams at running back when they took Stewart. They could have taken a tackle at No. 13, and had the option of Jamaal Charles or even Ray Rice in the second round without losing a pick. The domino effect after a 12-4 2008 season was four straight non-winning seasons. -- David Newton

New Orleans Saints

play
1:55

Riddick: Ricky Williams draft trade wouldn't happen today

Adam Schefter could see a team trading its entire draft for Trevor Lawrence, like the Saints did for Ricky Williams in 1999, but Louis Riddick disagrees.

The trade: In 1999, the Saints traded eight picks for Ricky Williams.

Twenty years later, this still reigns as perhaps the most ridiculed trade in NFL history. Saints coach Mike Ditka was so enamored with the Heisman Trophy-winning running back that he sent all of New Orleans' 1999 draft picks, plus a first- and third-rounder in 2000, just to move up from No. 12 to No. 5. In truth, the deal didn't set the franchise back that far (the Saints won their first-ever playoff game in 2000 and wound up trading Williams to Miami for two first-round picks in 2002). But it was a flop in the immediate aftermath, when the Saints went 3-13 in 1999 and Ditka was fired. And those pictures of Ditka in dreadlocks and Williams in a wedding dress will forever live in infamy. -- Mike Triplett

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The trade: In 1995, the Bucs traded from No. 7 to No. 12 and selected Miami defensive tackle Warren Sapp.

Tampa Bay also received the No. 43 and No. 63 picks, and sent No. 72 to Philly. The Bucs then traded No. 63 and their own second-round pick to the Cowboys to get back into the first round to select Florida State linebacker Derrick Brooks at No. 28. Sapp and Brooks became first-ballot Hall of Famers, marking just the third time in NFL history that two Hall of Famers were selected by the same team in the same round. Tampa Bay transformed into one of the most vaunted defenses in the league for a decade and won Super Bowl XXXVII. Prior to Sapp and Brooks, the Bucs had just one Hall of Famer (Lee Roy Selmon). -- Jenna Laine


NFC WEST

Arizona Cardinals

The trade: In 2017, Arizona traded up with Chicago, from No. 45 to No. 36, to select safety Budda Baker.

It was a major move by the Cardinals for the University of Washington product -- a player who could have a long-lasting impact on their defense. Arizona gave up a lot -- its fourth- and sixth-round picks and a fourth-round pick in 2018 -- for Baker and Chicago's seventh-round pick, but the move has worked. Baker already has established himself as an elite defender on the field, was named to the Pro Bowl as a rookie, and he's also a fan favorite -- a role once occupied by the departed Tyrann Mathieu. -- Josh Weinfuss

Los Angeles Rams

The trade: In 1996, the Rams traded running back Jerome Bettis and a third-round pick to the Steelers in exchange for a second-round pick in 1996 and a fourth-round pick in 1997.

With the second-round pick, the Rams selected tight end Ernie Conwell, and in 1997 the fourth-round pick was bundled in a trade. The Rams deemed Bettis expendable after they selected Nebraska running back Lawrence Phillips with the No. 6 pick in 1996. Bettis went on to win a Super Bowl in his Hall of Fame career. Phillips, who had extraordinary talent but known character issues, was released during his second season. -- Lindsey Thiry

San Francisco 49ers

The trade: In 1985, San Francisco traded its first-, second- and third-round picks (Nos. 28, 56 and 84) to the New England Patriots for their first- and third-round picks (Nos. 16 and 75).

Forget the most impactful draft-day trade in franchise history -- this move has a strong case for the biggest draft-day deal in the history of the league. The defending Super Bowl champion 49ers used the pick to select Jerry Rice at No. 16, helping to elevate the two-time champions into a full-fledged dynasty. Rice went on to set every major receiving record and stake his claim as one of the greatest players in NFL history. The players the Patriots got with their picks -- center Trevor Matich, defensive end Ben Thomas and defensive back Audray McMillian -- combined to play less than five full seasons for the Patriots. -- Nick Wagoner

Seattle Seahawks

The trade: In 1997, the Seahawks traded with Tampa Bay to go from No. 12 to No. 6, where they took future Hall of Famer Walter Jones.

It took only a third-round pick to move up six spots and land one of the best left tackles in NFL history. What's more, the future of the Seahawks was up in the air at the time, with Paul Allen having agreed to buy the team and keep it in Seattle on the condition that the public approve an initiative in June to help fund a new stadium. Then-owner Ken Behring wanted to trade both of the team's first-round picks because he didn't want to pay the hefty signing bonuses, so when Allen stepped up to foot the bill even though he had no assurance that he would eventually buy the team from Behring, it sent a strong message to voters about the type of owner he would be. -- Brady Henderson

Harden starts 0-for-15, carries Rockets in clutch

Published in Basketball
Sunday, 21 April 2019 01:58

SALT LAKE CITY -- James Harden claimed he had no clue that he missed his first 15 field goal attempts in Saturday's Game 3, the most consecutive misses from the floor in any game of his career. It certainly didn't impact the reigning MVP's confidence.

Harden scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, hitting three of his last five field goal attempts, to help put the Houston Rockets on the brink of sweeping the Utah Jazz with a not-so-pretty 104-101 win.

"Keep shooting, keep being aggressive," said Harden, who finished 3-of-20 from the floor, 2-of-13 from 3-point range and 14-of-16 from the free throw line. "0-of-15, 14-of-15, 15-of-15, my job is to go out there and produce and be aggressive and in attack mode. Nothing changes."

Harden's 15 missed field goal attempts to begin the game were the most in the playoffs in the past 20 seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. His first bucket didn't come until there was 7:34 remaining in the fourth quarter, and then Harden threw down a breakaway dunk.

On the next possession, Harden swished a step-back 3 from the "U" in the half-court logo, with his swagger certainly not sagging after he bricked his first nine 3-point attempts.

With the Rockets' lead down to one, Harden hit another step-back 3 with 1:11 remaining, providing a critical counterpunch during the Jazz's attempt to rally. Harden, who had 10 assists, was 4-for-4 from the line in the final two minutes to help Houston hold off Utah.

"Regardless of how you play during a game, you know that at the end of the game, that's James Harden," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "He's that good at the end. You give yourself a very small margin. With that said, I thought we laid it out there. I'm proud of how we played and how we competed. We just didn't get a win tonight to reflect that."

Harden, who won his second consecutive scoring title by averaging a career-best 36.1 points per game during the regular season, averaged 30.5 points during the Rockets' routs in the first two games of the series.

The Jazz, the second-ranked defense during the regular season, were humiliated by how Harden picked them apart in Houston and vowed to be more aggressive and competitive when the series shifted to Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City.

"The way we started the game, we were tough," Jazz center Rudy Gobert said. "I don't think they felt us in the first two games. We should play that way every night. I think that's who we are, and we've got to play the same way every night."

Harden, however, declined to credit Utah's defense for his off shooting night. That's pretty much Harden's policy, as he prides himself on being a historically elite offensive force who consistently hits tough shots.

play
1:08

Harden shocked to hear he was 0-for-15 before first basket

James Harden "didn't know" he shot 0-for-15 from the field until his postgame interview with Cassidy Hubbarth.

Asked if he noticed a higher level of intensity from the Jazz's defense, Harden smirked and said, "Nope, just missed a couple of shots. Two or three, I think."

Seated next to Harden at the podium, teammate Chris Paul cracked: "Gobert threw a couple of 'em, too."

Indeed, two of Gobert's seven blocks came at Harden's expense, and the reigning Defensive Player of the Year's presence was felt on some of Harden's other misses. The Jazz guards, primarily Ricky Rubio and Royce O'Neale, also did a better job of contesting Harden's shots than they did the previous two games.

"They played him tough, there's no doubt about it," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "They got into him, and they did what they were supposed to do, but James normally figures that stuff out anyway. So he just didn't have a great night -- and it happens."

Fortunately for the Rockets, Jazz star Donovan Mitchell also had an extended shooting drought, despite getting off to a spectacular start, and that allowed Houston to hang around even with Harden's off night.

Mitchell made five of his first six shots from the floor, including a spectacular alley-oop finish and an and-1 3-pointer during the Jazz's 8-0 run to open the game. But Mitchell, the only Utah player capable of creating his own shot on a consistent basis, missed 11 shots in a row at one point and finished with 34 points on 9-of-27 shooting.

"That's just my role, and I can't miss that many shots," said Mitchell, who is shooting 32.8 percent from the floor in the series. "I've got to be able to hit those, and we've got to capitalize."

Mitchell's final miss was an open 3-pointer behind a Gobert screen on the right wing that would have tied the game with 8.7 seconds remaining. The Jazz are 27-of-106 from 3-point range in the series.

Rockets power forward PJ Tucker grabbed the rebound of Mitchell's final miss and swished the dagger free throws. It was a fitting finish after Tucker grabbed a crucial offensive rebound in traffic on the Rockets' previous possession.

For much of the Rockets' season, Harden carried his team with his historic scoring feats. This victory served as proof that Houston can find a way to win even when its superstar has a rough night.

"I didn't shoot the ball well, and we still won," Harden said. "Guys stepped up major tonight, and that's what we're going to need."

Hayward returns home with 20 in Celtics' win

Published in Basketball
Sunday, 21 April 2019 16:10

INDIANAPOLIS -- It's hard to imagine how Easter Sunday could've gone much better for Gordon Hayward.

The Boston Celtics forward missed last year's playoff run because of the gruesome, season-ending leg and ankle injuries he suffered six minutes into the season opener in Cleveland, but this time, he was healthy. He was playing in the playoffs about 20 miles from his hometown of Brownsburg, Indiana, and he had his wife and three daughters on hand for the game.

He also had 20 points on 7-for-9 shooting -- including 3-for-3 from 3-point range -- to go with three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block to help propel the Celtics to a 110-106 victory over the Indiana Pacers. The win completed a four-game sweep for Boston, sending it into an all but certain and highly anticipated matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals beginning next weekend.

"Yeah, there's nothing worse than sitting there and not be able to play in the playoffs especially," Hayward said. "So to be able to be with my teammates, be a part of something like this where we got a chance to sweep the Pacers, after everything that happened last year, it makes it all worth it -- no doubt.

"And it's just the beginning for us. We still got a lot of work to do."

All season, as the Celtics have waxed and waned, their fate has always been tied to Hayward's play and his progress back from the injuries and subsequent surgeries that cost him a year of his basketball life. Sunday's performance was the latest example of that -- and it offered hope, from Boston's perspective, that what the Celtics hoped to accomplish when this season began is still in front of them.

The irony of this Celtics season is that while the team was largely (and fairly) criticized throughout the regular season for its failure to make significant steps forward as the season progressed, Hayward quietly did so in the background. He became gradually more aggressive as the season went on, and some of the explosiveness of his game before the injuries has returned.

That was certainly on display in this one, particularly when Hayward brought the ball up the court, took off and threw down a vicious slam dunk, even though it was waived off thanks to an offensive foul on Aron Baynes. Two or three months ago, such a play wouldn't have been in Hayward's arsenal.

When the Celtics needed to close the Pacers out, there was Hayward scoring all nine of his points to help push Boston's lead from four points with five minutes to go to 10 points with a minute left, ensuring that there would be no need for this series to go back to Boston for a fifth game.

It also meant that the Celtics improved to 7-0 this season when Hayward scores at least 20 points -- another indicator of how much it matters to Boston to get him going.

"I was just very happy for Gordon," center Al Horford said. "[With] all the adversity that he's faced, to be able to come over here in such an important game and give us such a big lift, big shot after big shot, here in Indiana ... I was so hyped for him and glad that we were able to close it out.

"He's one of the main reasons why."

Game 4, like the rest of this rock fight of a series, was a confusing one to decipher. That the Celtics won a game in which Kyrie Irving and Horford went a combined 8-for-32 from the field, including 1-for-10 from 3-point range, is a testament to both Boston's bench -- Hayward, Marcus Morris and Terry Rozier combined to go 18-for-26 from the field, including 7-for-11 from 3-point range, and scored 49 points -- and Indiana's ongoing offensive ineptitude.

Indiana barely crept over 40 percent from the field in this one, thanks to a few meaningless baskets in the final minute, and it struggled to score for long stretches of the game. All-Star Victor Oladipo was in the building for the first time since he ruptured his quad tendon on Jan. 26, and it was easy to wonder how different things might have been for the Pacers had he been healthy. While Indiana deserves credit for playing hard every moment of this series, ultimately it couldn't score enough to win even one of what turned out to be three toss-up games in the final three contests.

"You can play all the defense you want," Pacers center Myles Turner said. "You've got to put the ball in the hoop at the end of the day."

That the Pacers couldn't for long stretches of this series meant they became the first team eliminated from these playoffs, which means the Celtics can begin to look ahead to their likely matchup with Milwaukee.

Barring a truly historic collapse, the Celtics and Bucks will kick off their series next weekend in Milwaukee in a rematch of the first-round series the two teams went through last season. But while many of the players from last year's showdown remain on both sides, the differences in both teams are profound.

Milwaukee, of course, changed coaches, hiring Mike Budenholzer, who implemented a system that has brought out the best in Giannis Antetokounmpo, this season's likely Most Valuable Player. The team also signed Brook Lopez and Ersan Ilyasova in free agency and traded for Nikola Mirotic prior to February's trade deadline, all of which helped the team earn the NBA's best record.

The Celtics, on the other hand, have both Irving and Hayward at their disposal after both had to watch last year's playoffs in street clothes due to injuries. They were supposed to be the ones driving Boston forward last year and making the Celtics into a championship contender. Instead, their injuries opened doors for the likes of Rozier, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum to take significant steps forward earlier than anticipated.

One of the major themes of this season has been the Celtics' difficulty in getting the depth they have at their disposal working in harmonious fashion on the court. But ultimately, for Boston to get where it wants to go, Hayward needs to have more performances like the one he had Sunday.

"It's been a long process to get back to where he probably feels as good as he does now," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "We knew that going in. We said all year [that] every 20 games he's going to be a little bit better, and he was big at the end of the game tonight for sure."

Soccer

Free agent Ebobisse signs 3-year deal with LAFC

Free agent Ebobisse signs 3-year deal with LAFC

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsLAFC signed striker Jeremy Ebobisse to a three-year contract with a...

Five sentenced after Ajax, Maccabi fan clash

Five sentenced after Ajax, Maccabi fan clash

EmailPrintAn Amsterdam District Court Tuesday sentenced five men to up to six months in prison on Tu...

Pep: City must use struggling Haaland better

Pep: City must use struggling Haaland better

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsManchester City manager Pep Guardiola has defended star striker Erl...

2026 FIFA


2028 LOS ANGELES OLYMPIC

UEFA

2024 PARIS OLYMPIC


Basketball

Sources: Heat's Smith has torn Achilles tendon

Sources: Heat's Smith has torn Achilles tendon

EmailPrintMiami Heat guard Dru Smith has suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon, sources told...

Zion eyeing return to full practice next week

Zion eyeing return to full practice next week

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsZion Williamson has begun the conditioning phase of his rehab from...

Baseball

Trading for a superstar -- and then dealing away an MVP? What to make of Cubs' confusing offseason

Trading for a superstar -- and then dealing away an MVP? What to make of Cubs' confusing offseason

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsCHICAGO -- For consecutive offseasons, the Chicago Cubs have given...

MLB, umpires reach tentative deal for new CBA

MLB, umpires reach tentative deal for new CBA

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsMajor League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Umpires Associa...

Sports Leagues

  • FIFA

    Fédération Internationale de Football Association
  • NBA

    National Basketball Association
  • ATP

    Association of Tennis Professionals
  • MLB

    Major League Baseball
  • ITTF

    International Table Tennis Federation
  • NFL

    Nactional Football Leagues
  • FISB

    Federation Internationale de Speedball

About Us

I Dig® is a leading global brand that makes it more enjoyable to surf the internet, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information.  Today I Dig® attracts millions of users every month.r

 

Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: www.idig.com
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Affiliated