Category: Sports

BOSTON —

The New England Patriots have not played a game in two months. The Boston Red Sox are locked out of spring training. The Celtics are in season, but 10 NBA teams have better records.

On the most popular show on the most popular sports radio station in America, there is plenty to talk about. It is cold and gray in Boston on this first Monday in March, but there is fire and fury on the air.

It is the day after Kyrie Irving, who defected from the Celtics in free agency three years ago after suggesting he wanted to stay, compared the relentlessly jeering Boston fans to a “scorned girlfriend.” The booing had been so harsh that Celtics star Jayson Tatum tried to hush the fans.

The Celtics won the game, mind you, but the afternoon hosts on WBZ-FM had Irving on their minds.

“How badly do you

You may have heard that Major League Baseball’s trade deadline passed on Tuesday night. (If not, you can use our handy trade tracker to catch up on all of the moves from the past several weeks.) As such, this edition of Prospect Watch is, predictably, all about ranking and analyzing the five best youngsters who were included in deals.

Keep in mind that these exercises are always more of an art than a science and that there were more than five worthwhile prospects traded at the deadline. Now, forward.

There’s a lot to like about Marte’s game. He’s a left-side infielder with well-above-average raw power who walks and who has kept his strikeout rate in check despite playing against competition that is several years older than him. The one big unknown facing Marte is his defensive position. He’s been awfully error-prone at short over the last two seasons, and he

It is very apparent that Chelsea are looking to bolster their youth ranks this summer, with recent reports stating they have met with the agent of another target.

In addition to strengthening their starting eleven and general depth, the Blues have also replenished their youth sides this summer. This combined with their academy is a huge positive for the club and they are looking to add another talent to this pool: Cesare Casadei.

Aged just 19, the Italian has played a starring role for Inter Milan’s youth sides, having joined the club in 2018. Many clubs have vied for his signature, with recent reports heavily linking Chelsea to the young midfielder.

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Calcio Mercato’s Pasquale Guarro detailed the Blues’ pursuit of Casadei. Having been linked to him in the past, they seem to be stepping up their interest based on this report.

For years, summer has been known as Talking Season in college football—the July conference media days produce a river of rhetoric from coaches and administrators that prime the pump for the blocking and tackling to come. But the past two summers have become Plundering Season as well, with the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten making blockbuster expansions at the expense of the Big 12 and Pac-12. That has, in turn, affected the nature of Talking Season.

Lately, the speeches from conference commissioners have been more anticipated, scrutinized and second-guessed than anything the coaches have to say. With revenue at an all-time high and collegiality at an all-time low, the boardroom drama is more fascinating than the actual games. The direction of the entire college athletics enterprise hangs in the balance, which is of greater gravity than which teams had the best offseason in the weight room.

We’ve now reached a

Arsenal justified the pre-season buzz about their potential improvement with a deserved 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Two new signings and one long-awaited Premier League debut will only add to the excitement.

Arsenal’s summer seems to have been an exercise in increasing pressure. A late-season slip that allowed their rivals to secure Champions League football ahead of them was followed by a documentary recording in detail how those events played out.

Throw in transfer spending in excess of £100m that appears to have addressed the main weaknesses. Add some impressive pre-season form that includes thrashings of Chelsea and Sevilla. That concoction had Arsenal supporters hoping for much, much more.

On this evidence, that optimism is vindicated. Arsenal started strongly, proving too quick and