The men’s USA national soccer team will face off against Costa Rica’s national team on Friday in the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, the first major soccer game of consequence to be played in the New York metropolitan area.

USA vs costa Rica preview

Tomorrow’s match is the one of four remaining World Cup qualifier games the USA team has left to play. If victorious against Costa Rica, the US has a 96 percent chance of reaching the World Cup, which takes place in Russia during the summer of 2018. If the team loses, their chance of making the soccer tournament drop to about 80 percent, according to ESPN.

US coach, Bruce Arena, was hired after the national team lost the first two games of the Hex Round of the qualifying tournament.

“We’ve worked real hard to position ourselves to be in a position to qualify for the 2018 World Cup,” Arena told reporters during a press conference on Tuesday.

The US and Costa Rica have proven to be pretty evenly matched opponents in the past. This match will be the 37th time the two teams have played each other. The all-time series is tied, 15-15-6. Nonetheless, the US holds a 15-5-4 record when playing Costa Rica at home. Most recently, the US team beat their rivals in last month’s Gold Cup semifinals.

Here’s everything you need to know about Friday’s match up:

Game: USA vs. Costa Rica

Stadium: Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey

Date: Sep. 1, 2017

Time: 6:00 pm EST

Channel: ESPN, Univision

The National Basketball Association has fined the Los Angeles Lakers organization and their general manager Rob Pelinka $500,000 for violating the league’s anti-tampering rule after Pelinka made contact with Paul George‘s agent after being told not to.

In an investigation conducted by independent law firm, Watchell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, found that Pelinka’s contact with George’s agent “constituted a prohibited expression of interest in the player while he was under contract” with the Indiana Pacers. The investigation started after the Pacers filed tampering charges.

By league rules, teams are not allowed to publicly express interest in a player if that player is under contract with another team. Expressing interest to the player’s agent is not allowed either.

The Laker’s had previously toed the line when their president of basketball operations Magic Johnson made televised comments about acquiring George in April.

Pelinka and the Laker’s organization both made statements regarding the fine.

“We respect and accept the NBA’s decision regarding this matter,” Pelinka said. “On behalf of the Los Angeles Lakers, I want to express our regret over this unfortunate incident to both our fans and the NBA.”

Per team representative Adam Streisand, the organization expressed a similar regret. “The Lakers organization is pleased that his thorough investigation has been brought to a close – and we can assure the fans that the Lakers will be hyper-vigilant going forward to make sure this is never an issue again”

All in all, the Laker’s punishment was on the low side of what could have been exorbitant fine of up to $5 million. Additionally, they could have lost draft picks, or had restrictions put on any future attempts to sign George.

George expressed interest in going to Los Angeles earlier this year while with the Pacers. Soon after, he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the 2017-2018 season. He will become a free agent by the end of next season.

Cleveland Indians outfielder Jay Bruce made a pledge on Wednesday to match up to $100,000 in donations made towards relief efforts for his hometown of Beaumont, Texas, which, like neighboring Houston, has been ravaged by Hurricane Harvey this past week.

With the help of the Indians, Bruce set up a donation page on the baseball team’s website and promised that he and his wife, Hannah Bruce, whom is also from Beaumont, will match every donation up to $100,000.

“Hannah and I have teamed up with the Indians in an effort to support the community that has supported me my whole life,” Bruce began a message on Twitter.

“Beaumont, TX means everything to me and we feel like this is the least we can do to help in such a tough time for everyone. With your help, we can make a huge difference for hundreds of thousands of people affected by Harvey.”

“We look forwards to helping make our community whole again, and with the help of so many great people behind us, it’ll be that much easier,” said Bruce.

The website will be active through September 10.

Bruce, who was just recently traded to Cleveland by the New York Mets, spoke to reporters before Wednesday’s game against the Yankees about his hometown.

““It’s a fairly large city in terms of population, but it feels like a small town. It’s middle-class, blue-collar, hard-working people that I feel like kind of made me who I am. It’s people that care for each other, full Southern hospitality — that’s obviously showing with the rescue efforts going on down there — and most of all, it’s home. It’s home. That’s why it’s so important to me.”

Bruce also mentioned that while his home and the homes of his family members haven’t been damaged beyond repair, he knows of many friends who’s homes have.

Hurricane Harvey – now considered a tropical storm – stalled over East Texas and Louisiana last weekend, bringing with it an historic amount of rainfall and flooding. As of Wednesday, 38 deaths have been reported as a result of the Harvey, according to The New York Times.

Veteran Tigers outfielder Justin Upton is most likely on his way to the Los Angeles Angels as the two teams come close to finalizing a deal Thursday afternoon. Thursday is the last day in which a traded player can play in the post-season, so the Angels most likely feel it’s imperative the deal be completed by the end of the day.

MLB insider Ken Rosenthal was the first to note that a move was in the works.

Currently, Upton, 30, had the option to opt-out of his contract with Detroit at the end of the year and, according to Rosenthal, the option will remain as part of the contract with the Angels. In exchange for Upton, the Tigers will reportedly receive minor league pitcher Grayson Long and a player to be named.

The Angels are 11 games behind the Astros in the AL West and only one game behind the Twins for the second place wild card spot in the American League. Additionally, they only sit two games behind the Yankees for the first place wild card spot. Unfortuanley for Los Angeles, they don’t play either team at any point in the remaining month of the 2017 season.

The trade does come at an opportune time for the Angels though. The Twins’ Byron Buxton was injured recently with a bone contusion in his left hand. By taking Upton off the market, the Angels ensure that their competition can’t improve their line-up in the meantime.

The Angels are also in need of an outfielder after they traded Cameron Maybin to the Astros early Thursday.

Upton has hit for a .279 average this year with the Tigers with a .362 OBP and a .527 slugging percentage. Those numbers would make him the second most productive hitter on the Angels, only behind the ever-spectacualr Mike Trout, who currently touts a .327 average, a .459 OBP, and a .667 slugging percentage.

Former right-back with Paris Saint-Germain Serge Aurier completed a deal with the Tottenham Hotspurs on Wednesday after signing a six-year contract worth £23 million, or about $27 million.

The deal went through after the 24-year-old was cleared by the French courts to submit a normal work permit application, according to ESPN. Aurier had to go through the courts because of a criminal conviction he received after assaulting a police officer outside of a Paris nightclub in May 2016. The conviction was downgraded on Wednesday.

“This is a huge and exciting opportunity at a massive football club and I am determined to prove myself as a professional both on and off the pitch,” Aurier said in a statement released by the club.

The assault on the police officer wasn’t the only time the player from the Ivory Coast has found himself in hot water in recent years.

During a live stream online, Aurier insulted several players and used a gay-slur against his coach Laurent Blanc. The club forced him to apologize, which he promptly did.

Continuing in his statement about signing with Tottenham, Aurier said, “This is a fresh start for me and I will do everything to make the Spurs fan base, which is huge and diverse, proud of me. The fans are the most important people at any club and I am looking forward to showing them and everyone at Spurs the real Serge Aurier.”

The official Tottenham LGBT supporters’ association, the Proud Lilywhites, released a statement on Aurier concerning his former use of gay slurs.

“We were initially unhappy with the signing, but given our positive dialogue with the Club we would like to use this as an opportunity to build bridges and make lasting change,” the group wrote.

They continued, “We all love this game and we want to win matches and trophies, but not at any cost. Homophobic language, when unchallenged, can have consequences: we have to be the change we want to see. Making change, player by player, even fan by fan if necessary, is why we’re here and we won’t rest until we’ve don’t it.”

“Welcome to the famous Tottenham Hotspur Serge, we look forward to you getting to know us,” the group concluded.

Tottenham’s next match comes on September 9, when the Hotspurs play Everton.

NFL cornerback Joe Haden was a free agent for only a few hours on Wednesday before the Pittsburgh Steelers signed the six-year veteran to a three-year, $27 million contract.

Haden, who was cut by the Cleveland Browns early on Wednesday morning, has been guaranteed $7 million in the first year of his contract with Pittsburgh, which is exactly the same amount Cleveland had poised to pay him before cutting him, according to the NFL Network.

The two-time Pro-Bowler was the Brown’s first round draft pick in 2010. He signed a $74.678 million deal with Cleveland in 2014 but was hampered by injury through out most of the contract, playing only 18 games since the year he signed. In those 18 games, Haden racked up three interceptions and broke up 13 passes.

Several teams including the Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts were interested in signing Haden before he landed the deal with Pittsburgh, according to the NFL Network.

Haden’s future teammate, Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell, reached out to the cornerback via Twitter, writing, “what’s good Joe?!!!!!!!!!”

The 28-year-old’s departure was still met with love and appreciation by Cleveland’s biggest sports star, LeBron James, who also reached out to Haden on Twitter.

“S/O the homie @joehaden23!! Best of luck bro with your new squad and appreciate the loyalty you showed #TheLand 23to23. See you soon,” wrote the four-time NBA MVP.

Haden responded by tweeting, “Appreciate it family! We will link soon! 23 to 23!”

James and Haden won’t have to wait long until the two are back in the same state. Haden’s first game as a Steeler will be against the Browns on September 10.

Nick Kyrgios, the hot-headed and uber-talented 22-year-old tennis player, had another spectacular meltdown in the middle of a match on Wednesday in the first round of the U.S. Open.

Playing fellow Australian, John Millman, Kyrgios, who was ranked 14th, injured his shoulder, was penalized for cursing, and smashed his racket in a match that went 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 in Millman’s favor. As has been the case throughout his roller-coaster career, Kyrgios was uninterested in play once it seemed he was going to lose.

“There goes the racquet. Emphatically.” #kyrgios #usopen pic.twitter.com/ST214T2zOA

— Lynn Bee ? (@lynnlovestennis) August 30, 2017

Kyrgios has become a fascination of the tennis world’s because of his temper and his infinite talent. Many, including Kyrgios, seem too believe that because of his personality, he is wasting the gift he has spent most of his life refining.

When asked after the match on Wednesday whether or not he wants his coach, Sebastien Grosjean, to continue coaching him, Kyrgios said, “I don’t know, honestly. I’m not good enough for him.”

He continued, “You know, he’s very dedicated. He’s an unbelievable coach. you know, he probably deserves a player that is probably more dedicated to the game than I am. He deserves better than me.”

“I’m not dedicated to the game at all,” he later told reporters. He also added, “I keep letting people down.”

Kyrgios and Millman seemed poised for a competitive match after the second set yesterday but by the third, Kyrgios began rubbing his shoulder, an indication that the injury that his plagued him through out the year was back. He then asked the ball boy to help him stretch the injury out. Shortly after, he was heard cursing and was given a code violation by the chair umpire, who he promptly began to argue with.

By the end of the match, he appeared to be hitting the ball out of bounds so as to end the match as soon as possible.

Kyrgios eliminated himself from Wimbledon earlier this year, when a hip injury prevented him from playing his best.

“I’ve had a diabolical year at these Slams,” he said after the match on Wednesday. “It doesn’t surprise me. It’s just the story of my career, really. I will have good weeks, I’ll have bad weeks. It’s just a roller-coaster.”

The win against Kyrgios on Wednesday is the first ever U.S. Open victory of Millman’s career. Millman is currently ranked 235th world-wide.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones again came to the defense of his suspended running back Ezekiel Elliott on Tuesday, saying that there is “no evidence” in the case against him.

“Unfortunately you get confused in this conversation,” Jones said while speaking with the hosts of 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. “Every person that has any sense at all understands domestic violence and abhors it.”

Jones then expanded on his experience with the matter. “For 10 years before I bought the Cowboys I was the head of [a] battered women [organization] of Arkansas. I raised more money and been in more safe houses than a lot of people that talk about it, and so it’s a terrible problem.”

But then the influential owner came to his star’s defense. “On the other hand with what we are today and what we’re trying to be relative to addressing in the league, has all kinds of issues – and it should. It’s a very complicated issue because you have no evidence here.”

“That’s all I want to say about it. But it creates quite a convoluted approach by Zeke’s representatives and by the league that I really hate is a focus of all of our attention. I do. Even though others would say that the issue needs this kind of focus and you’re using the NFL for visibility.

Elliott is currently facing a six-game suspension for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy after his ex-girlfriend Tiffany Thompson told police that the football player hit her while the two were parked in a car in July 2016.

The break-out star became a league sensation last year when he rushed for over 1,600 yards and 15 touchdowns during his rookie season.

Elliott and his representatives from the NFL Players Association have appealed the suspension. Their case, which began Tuesday and will wrap up Thursday, has been centered around the idea that the league change its procedure to determine the six-game suspension, according to ESPN.

Many expect Elliott’s suspension to be reduced, primarily because he was never formally charged by law enforcement.

Major League Baseball has had a hard time adapting to the 21st century. The game prides itself on its traditionalist’s approach to change even when the sport seems to be left further and further behind. And even when MLB has tried to take steps into the future, they seemingly always met with serious opposition (i.e., instant replay, various rule changes) from fans and pundits.

But this weekend, MLB can put a huge check in the win column after the first-ever Players Weekend was a rousing success, seemingly celebrated by all.

Players Weekend was billed as an event for the players who slog through 162 games a season but the weekend was truly for the fans and for baseball as an organization.

What made the weekend special doesn’t sound like much when broken down: colorful pull-over jerseys that scream Little League, nicknames on players’ backs, colorful socks, bats, and gloves. But all of it plays in perfectly to the one thing baseball needs in order to transition smoothly and honestly into the 21st century: character.

Now, don’t get me wrong, baseball has always had characters that make the game far more exciting. But MLB as an organization has rarely embraced those characters and has, in fact, often done the opposite, encouraging uniformity and dryness.

But this weekend saw a shift that stands to benefit baseball for decades to come.

With all the expression on the field in the form of nicknames and colors and dedications on the sleeves of the jerseys, fans were able to connect with the players on a more personal level. This connection was designed to resonate strongest with younger fans and there is no reason to suggest it didn’t.

Photos of player’s in the nickname jerseys circulated throughout social media, a market that baseball has tapped into slower than other major sports organizations. Players themselves were extremely active sharing online their own stylistic choices and reasons behind why they play the game, which, again, helps to make connections with fans.

Having a Players Weekend once a year won’t be the one the thing that saves baseball but it is a vital first step into helping MLB realize that adding a little character to the sport goes along way.

The US Open, the final of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments played around the world, will begin this Monday, August 28 in Flushing, Queens.

US OPEN TV SCHEDULE NEWS

This year, both the men’s and women’s tournament are harder to predict, as usual powerhouses on both sides are not competing.

Serena Williams, one of the most dominant athletes in tennis, will not be participating in this year’s Open. On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic, widely considered one of the best male tennis players of his time, will also be absent from the tournament as he recovers from an elbow injury.

Still, the men’s side will feature usual powerhouse players Rafael Nadal, currently the number one ranked player, and Roger Federer, who is ranked at number 3.

The two-week tournament, which is shaping up to be an exciting one, begins on Monday at 11 a.m. EST. Find below an explanation of the TV schedule below.

ARTHUR ASHE KID’s day Tickets here

ESPN 3 will be the first to broadcast the tournament starting at 11 a.m. EST. That broadcast will go until 1 p.m., when the broadcast will be switched over to ESPN, where it will remain until 11 p.m. This will be the normal broadcast schedule until Tuesday, September 5, the first day of the quarterfinals.

For the two-day quarterfinals, both men’s and women’s coverage will run from noon until 11 p.m. on ESPN.

The women’s semifinals will be broadcast on Thursday, September 7 from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m., with the men’s semifinals airing the following day at 4 p.m. on ESPN.

A similar schedule be run for the final with the women’s match airing at 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 9, and the men’s airing at 4 p.m. on Sunday, September 10, the final match of the tournament.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney will be returning to his revamped football program with a fresh new contract this fall after it was announced Friday that Swinney and Clemson agreed to an eight-year contract worth $54 million in total.

Swinney is being rewarded handsomely for getting the ACC football team back into an era of glory, having brought the team to a national championship game in both 2015 and 2016, winning the trophy last year. It was the first time the football program had won such a game since 1981.

The university released a breakdown of Swinney’s pay from 2017-2024. While he will average $6.75 million each year, he stands to make $7.5 million in 2017 because of a $1.5 million signing bonus.

The deal also stipulates bonuses for ACC championship titles, Coach of the Year awards, and national championship wins, which would land him an extra $2.5 million.

“Dabo’s impact on our football program, our university and our community is immeasurable and goes well beyond the on-field success and national championship,” Dan Radakovich, Clemson’s Director of Athletics said in a statement. “This new agreement demonstrates our strong commitment to Dabo and our confidence in his leadership now – and in the future – and his long-term commitment to Clemson. We are thrilled that he and his family will be a part of the Clemson family for years to come.”

Swinney, who began his head coaching job at Clemson in 2008, has brought the Clemson program back to prominence. In eight full seasons, he maintains a 89-28 overall win-loss record. In the ACC, the Clemson Tigers have posted a 54-15 record under Swinney’s leadership. In the past six years, Swinney’s team has only lost 13 games.

Because of his success, many speculate that Swinney has become the de facto replacement for Nick Saban at Swinney’s alma matter, Alabama, Clemson’s main competitor in recent years. But this eight-year contract may quell talk of a Swinney defection.

“My family and I have been extremely blessed to be a part of such an incredible university and community for the past 14 years,” Swinney said in a statement. “This contract makes a strong statement. It is a mutual commitment reflective of the program we have built and continue to build at Clemson. The Clemson family does so much to support our program and I couldn’t be more proud to be your head coach.”

The new contract puts Swinney much closer to the top of the list of highest paid college football coaches. In 2016, only two coaches made more than $6.75 million – Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, who made $9 million, and Saban, who made $6.9 million.

In the past year, Clemson has committed to spend over $100 million on their football program – a $55 million football facility was just completed earlier this year.

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski shared his opinion on the racial tensions and political issues plaguing the United States on Thursday.

Appearing on Moose.TV, Gronkowski equated the country’s struggle to a sports team, and encouraged people to come together, like a team does, in pursuit of a common goal: to win.

“In sports, a team is surrounded with people with different backgrounds, with different races, and with different religions,” Gronkowski began after being asked by the show’s host to comment on the events that unfolded two weeks ago in Charlottesville, Virginia, when a neo-Nazi and white supremacist rally violently clashed with counter-protesters.

“In order to win, everybody comes together. I feel like that’s what the USA represents. Everyone just has to come together in order to win.”

The host, who goes by Moose, smiled through out Gronk’s words of wisdom. “That’s one hundred percent an incredible answer, bro,” the host said.

“It’s easy!” Gronkowski reiterated.

While Gronkowski hasn’t expressed many political opinions in the past, prominent members of his team have. His team’s owner, Robert Kraft, his head coach, Bill Belichick, and his quarterback, Tom Brady, have all spoken about their friendship with President Donald Trump and have given him their political support in the past.

Trump, who admonished violent actors “on many sides” of the Charlottesville rally, reportedly received a potentially illegal gift earlier this year when Kraft gifted the embattled leader with a Super Bowl championship ring. Presidents are prohibited from receiving gifts worth over $350. Both the White House and the Patriots have said the ring is for Trump’s future Presidential Library and is not a personal gift.

The corner-stone of the New York Giant’s offense, Odell Beckham Jr. was sidelined earlier this week after being hit in his lower left leg by Browns cornerback Briean Boddy-Calhoun during a pre-season game. Beckham was diagnosed with an ankle sprain.

Now, eyeing a week one return, Beckham has opted for a novel treatment that involves no drugs or surgery. The 24-year-old wide receiver will undergo Phoenix Thera-Lase cell treatment beginning on Friday.

The treatment is described as “a non-invasive, drug free laser therapy treatment which provides relief and healing for both chronic and acute pain, accelerates wound healing and reduces inflammation related to soft tissue injuries,” by the treatment’s website.

The Carolina Panthers’ Jared Allen received the same treatment after breaking his foot in the second round of the playoffs two years ago. Miraculously, he was able to play, three weeks later, in the Super Bowl.

“I trust ur process, I kno U don’t make mistakes,” Beckham tweeted on Thursday.

Some have speculated that the tweet may refer to the treatment, while others believe the Giant’s super star as referencing his faith.

Regardless, Beckham and the Giants are eyeing a week one return for their touchdown maker, which comes on September 10 against the Dallas Cowboys in Texas.

Ben McAdoo, the Giants’ second year head coach, has downplayed Beckham’s injury even more so now that a treatment is in order.

“He’s got an ankle. He is working through some treatment,” McAdoo told reporters after a team practice on Friday. “We will see how he responds to it tomorrow.”

He also spoke about what Beckham is missing. “Just practice. An opportunity to get better, prepare for an opponent, a tremendous defense that we are going to see in a couple of days.”

The Giants have two remaining pre-season games before the start of the regular season. They play the New Jersey Jets on Saturday, August 26 and the New England Patriots on Thursday, August 31.

Thursday night’s match up between the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers saw team benches clear three times, four batters hit by pitches, eight ejections, and a whole lot of cheers from the stands.

While tensions between the two American League teams have been brewing over the course of the 2017 baseball season, they came to a head on Thursday night after the Yankee’s Tommy Kahnle tossed a pitch behind Miguel Cabrera with two outs in the sixth inning.

Kahnle was promptly thrown out of the game but while his replacement, Aroldis Chapman, was warming up, Cabrera and Yankee’s catcher Austine Romine got into a shouting match. The words stop being exchanged when the Tiger shoved Romine and the two went squabbling into the ground.

Benches cleared quickly and pitches and catchers from each team’s respective bull-pen came sprinting towards home plate.

In one of the more jarring moments from the brawl, the young Yankee Gary Sanchez can be seen throwing punches directly into Cabrera’s side while the 34-year-old veteran gets crushed by a pile of players. For his actions, Sanchez, who is hitting .278 with 27 home runs and 74 RBI this year, will likely be suspended.

Gary Sanchez cheapshoting someone. This game deteriorated quickly. pic.twitter.com/wCqrBKoFP2

— Jared Kobe (@SCviaDC) August 24, 2017

While conflicts between the team occurred before Thursday’s match up, the first spark in Detroit yesterday came when Sanchez, who homered earlier in the game, was drilled by Detroit pitcher Michael Fulmer.

“If you can’t see that Fulmer clearly hit Sanchez on purpose, there’s something wrong,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reporters after the game. Kahnle threw at Cabrera in retaliation for the pitch thrown at Sanchez.

Both Romine and Cabrera gave accounts of the beginning of the brawl to reporters after the game.

“[Cabrera] said, ‘You have a problem with me?’ And I said, ‘This isn’t about you,'” Romine said. “And then he pushed me. It felt like he wanted a confrontation there and I just tried to defend myself the best I could.”

Miggy told a slightly different story. “When they throw at me, it was OK. I was cool with that,” he said. “When they started arguing with the umpire, I said to Romine, ‘Calm down.'”

Among others, Cabrera, Romine, Girardi, and Kahnle were all ejected in the sixth.

An inning later, Dellin Betances hit the Tigers’ James McCann in the head, claiming the pitch to be an accident. Betances was ejected. The benches also cleared at this point.

The benches cleared a third time when Tiger’s pitcher Alex Wilson hit Todd Frazier in the leg with an intentional wild pitch.

Said Wilson after the game, “With me, hitting a guy in the leg, it’s what I have to do and that’s what I did. Fortunately for me, I know where my pitches are going, and I hit a guy in the leg today to take of my teammates and protect them.”

Wilson was ejected.

While the Yankees hold a tight lead over the Wild Card standings, the Tigers had less to lose on Thursday with a record of 55-71, good enough for fourth place in the AL Central. Despite the 10-6 loss, the Yankees took the three game series two games to one.

The Yankees head back to the Bronx on Friday night for the first of three against the Seattle Mariners and the Tigers start a three game set against the White Sox in Chicago.

No player has been suspended yet by Major League Baseball although suspensions are likely to come.

Watch the brawl in full below.

The Seattle Seahawks outspoken cornerback Richard Sherman took some time out of his busy week preparing for the 2017/2018 football season to name a list of quarterbacks whom, despite being worse than Colin Kaepernick, are starting on a team while Kaepernick waits without an employer.

Among those players Sherman named were Ryan Mallet, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Jared Geoff.

“You’re telling me fans would rather you lose and put a worse player out there because a guy took a stand?” Sherman wondered to USA Today. “That’s where it is so troublesome to me.”

Sherman’s remarks came immediately after Baltimore Ravens’ owner Steve Bisciotti was asked during a fan forum about the potential image damaging qualities Kaepernick might bring if the team signed him – the Ravens, with their star quarterback Joe Flacco out with an injury, desperately need a quarterback.

In a rambling answer, Bisciotti said things like, “I care about the fan base but I have to absorb the opinions of the layers that have been there,” and “I don’t know, I’m Catholic, we spend a lot of time kneeling. So you know when I saw him develop last year and he went from siting to kneeling next to his teammates – I liked that.”

Although he had done it several times before hand, Kaepernick was first noticed for sitting during the National Anthem – “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” he told NFL.com – in August 2016. The movement grew quickly but not as fast as its opposition. Kaepernick was labeled a cop-hater, anti-Military, and anti-American. And soon, he was without a job.

The Kaepernick debate is still contentious but despite some people’s claim that it has nothing to do with race, the conflict has everything to do with race – Kaepernick said it did right from the get-go.

Leaving a decent quarterback in free agency – and he is decent, if not a little more than decent – because of his political beliefs, these political beliefs, begs the question, “Do NFL owners think their fan base is racist?”

They must. During Bisciotti’s rambling answer, he mentioned that it is dangerous to listen to a vocal minority when making a team decision but he failed to mention who the vocal minority was. Is it the group of people who think that Kaepernick is one step away from becoming some black militant terrorist? Or is it the group of people who are tired of police aggression, brutality, and murder against black citizens?

I would assume that winning football games is more important to a fan base than agreeing with your quarterback’s views on social injustice but the owners don’t seem to concur. By black-balling Kaepernick, the owners – the vast majority of whom, are older, white males – are telling the world that they believe that their fan base is filled with racists who would protest the team and put financial interests at stake if Kaepernick were to be signed.

There’s another aspect of race that plays into this situation that people have seemed to forgotten about. In 2017, out of all 32 projected quarterbacks to start on opening day, only five are black.

Kaepernick was already an outsider when he took his first snap under center in the NFL. His protest against social injustice only exacerbated this fact by a little.

There is a line that black quarterbacks – who have already been afforded a rare opportunity by the owners – cannot cross if they want to keep their job because, as has been made clear, the men in charge are afraid that their racist fans will turn on their profits.

In the words of Biscotti, “You gotta be careful about the vocal minority, they have a tendency to sound like a bigger group than they are.”

The vocal minority is a group of racists, mixed in with a group of people unable to even briefly empathize with a black American’s fight against social injustice. Don’t listen to them, they have a tendency to sound like a bigger group than they are.

Today wraps up the week long promotion of the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor fight set to take place on August 26 in Paradise, Nevada and on pay-per-view screens all across the world. The promotion tour, which consisted of the MMA fighter and the retired boxer trading verbal jabs with each other, made stops in Los Angeles, Toronto, New York, and London. The tour, which is thankfully over, was offensive on just about every level possible.

For starters, the tour went far beyond promotion and anticipation for a fight and instead, quickly became a reality TV show. Mayweather, in his “Money Team” garb with back-packs full of cash, was one character, and McGregor, sporting floral print pants, no shirt, and a fur coat with a snake embroidered on its back on the last day of the tour, was the other. Both of them were similar to WWE characters.

Boxers can have personalities, in fact, having a personality should be encouraged. But what boxers shouldn’t be, and what these two fighters appear to be, are cartoon characters that everyone is laughing at – and will laugh at still while one, or both of them, are getting their faces beaten in.

Boxing and promotion go hand-in-hand. The two have a long and storied history together and good promotion makes for some of the sport’s best stories. And while promotion of the past and promotors of the past (think Don King) would never be described as subtle, compared to the recent promotion of Mayweather and McGregor, King might as well be described as a butterfly.

The biggest difference between the “classic” promotions and the current state of reality TV promotion is any semblance of wit and self-awareness. Boxers of the past appeared to have an acute sense of self-awareness while promoting that made their trash-talk lovable. But the four days of talk between McGregor and Mayweather was tasteless and most of the time, the fighters appeared to believe what they were saying down to their very core.

Unfortunately, but predictably, this tour has also brought about some ugly racial sentiments. Both McGregor and Mayweather have spouted unintelligent blabber at each other over the past several days but still, Mayweather is described in less flattering terms. Fans have unexpectedly flocked to McGregor’s side, who has harped on Mayweather’s illiteracy – both of the written word and financially. The other day, he was in hot water for using a phrase about “monkeys” that some took to be slightly racist. McGregor, who may not have meant anything by it, dug himself into a deep hole.

“Let’s address the race. A lot of media seem to be saying that I’m against black people. That’s absolutely f–ing ridiculous. Do thy not know I’m half black? Yeah! I’m half black from the belly button down,” the Irish fighter said during one of the events.

While McGregor is not racist for saying what he did – he is certainly insensitive to racial issues though – the promotional tour as a whole is completely ignorant of any racial connotations that may and have arisen as a result of it.

The most offensive aspect of this entire show, though, is the money it stands to make. The promotional tour did its job and this writer is admittedly jealous. Some estimates put the expected earnings of the August fight at over $600 million and the offensive, tasteless promotional tour is part of that equation. While we won’t know for sure until the final figures roll in after the fight, the promotional tour, by all appearances, did its job and there is nothing more offensive than that.

Monday night marks the return of baseball’s most marketable event: the Home Run Derby. Among the mix for the night’s clobbering is Miami’s monster Giancarlo Stanton, whom many expect to face off against one of the two Baby Bombers, Aaron Judge or Gary Sanchez, in the competition’s final. All three players are expected to launch at least fifty balls each into the seats of Marlins Park, one of the most hitter friendly stadiums in all of baseball. But the barrage of balls into the stands won’t feel at all unfamiliar to baseball fans this year because the 2017 season is on pace to have more home runs than any other season before it.

The 2017 baseball season has been one long series of home run after home run. Currently, as a league, players are on pace to hit 6,117 home runs, 424 more home runs than were hit in the 2000 season, the height of the steroid era and the current record-breaking year.

There are several accepted factors contributing to this swath of homers. One, the widespread usage of advanced analytics allows batters to know exactly where and what they should swing at in order to send a ball out. Two, players have changed their off-season and weight lifting habits in a way that has made them stronger than previous eras of baseball players – some also credit these training regimens to the rise in injury. Three, because of the increase in the velocity of pitches balls are simply being hit harder.

In addition to those three widely accepted factors, many are also starting to support the notion that the hitter’s approach at the plate has fundamentally changed. Rather than swinging down at the ball or pushing the barrel of the bat even through the strike zone, hitters are now swinging up on the ball, trying their damnedest to send it into the air.

“Hit it hard, hit it in the air,” the Cubs’ young star Kris Bryant‘s father Mike Bryant told The New York Times recently. “We want them to swing aggressively, we want them to make a big move forward into the ball, transfer their weight forward. Swing up, don’t chop down. Barrel below the hands at contact, not above. ‘Don’t hit the top of the ball, don’t throw your hands, don’t stay back’ – all the phrases that you’ve heard for years and years are totally the wrong things to teach.”

If a home run is the goal, than Bryant is right – his son has 83 through 388 career games. But should it be?

This approach to hitting is one that endorses an all-or-nothing approach. In addition to the increase in home runs, strikeouts are also on the rise. This means that while runs may come in bunches, the runs needed to win ballgames, get pushed to the back burner.

Of the teams hitting the most home runs, four of the top ten teams currently have a record below .500, suggesting that hitting the ball out doesn’t mean much for a win. Ten years ago, in 2007, only one team finished in the top ten for home runs with a sub .500 record.

Home runs, as fun as they are – and they are fun! – have seemingly become a distraction, diverting attention from the larger, and largest goal: winning.

Although I know it will never happen, let’s hope that tonight all these players get their big swings out of their system and return to the field after the All-Star break with a more balanced approach at the plate.

Despite the team’s average age of 23, the German soccer team defeated Chile 1-0 on Sunday at the Confederations Cup. The win gives the European country its first ever Confederations Cup trophy.

The group won the game in a fashion one might only expect from a group of storied veterans. Nonetheless, the German team, who has only played together as a group for three and a half weeks, won the tight game against a surging Chile.

The one goal of the game came quickly after a Chile mistake, on which, Germany capitalized.

Chile’s Marcelo Diaz, made a turn into Germany’s Timo Werner who was waiting patiently for him. Werner kicked the ball away and knocked it into an empty space where his teammate Lars Stindl intercepted it and tapped it into an empty net for the first and only score of the game.

In the last minutes of the game, Chile came close to tying it up, but was ultimately turned away at the goal by Germany’s keeper.

Joachim Low, Germany’s head coach was highly criticized for bringing such a young team to St. Petersburg, Russia, the host of the tournament. Several of his players could qualify to participate in the junior circuit. Even before winning the trophy, Low said to reporters, “I feel vindicated.”

His spoke more on the feeling after winning the match.

“We had to fight for every single meter of the pitch to defend our lead,” Low told reporters. “They are an outstanding tea. But we were single-minded about this victory. And I am so, so impressed with that. We’re talking about a team with so little international experience dealing so well with the pressure, with the nerves, with a talented, experienced opponent. I am mega-proud of them.”

The victory came two days after Germany’s under-21 team won the European Championship, making the country the most dominant in international soccer at the moment.

NFL running back DeAngelo Williams made his professional wrestling debut on Sunday at Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary XV. He won in his first match.

The story laid out by Impact Wrestling, one of WWE’s main competitors, was that Quinn Ojinnaka, a former NFL player who now wrestles under the name ‘Moose’, had a problem with wrestlers Eli Drake and Chris Adonis and recruited Williams, a former Pittsburgh Steeler and Carolina Panther to help him out in the ring.

Having never wrestled in a professional match before, Williams looked decent. While the majority of his moves were limited to headlocks and arm drags he also enlisted a corner cannonball and frog splash.

Williams used the frog splash on Adonis, a former WWE wrestler, to win the match after Moose did most of the groundwork. The move was performed from the top rope and through a table.

Williams spent the 2016 NFL season as the primary back-up running back on Pittsburgh. He spent several weeks as the starter after Le’Veon Bell was suspended. For the first two weeks of the season, he led the league in rushing yards.

His contract expired in the offseason and many see his foray into wrestling as risky, when considering the potential for injury. His 2015 contract with the Steelers was worth $4 million but with his age and his wrestling career, it is unlikely many teams will be willing to sign him this offseason. Whether or not his appearance at Slammeversary was a one time thing is unknown.

The event, the first pay-per-view event in the 2017 Impact Wrestling schedule, lasted around two hours and consisted of nine total matches. In the main event, Alberto El Patron defeated Lashley and King Mo in the unification match for the Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight and GFW Global championships.

NBA star Kyle Lowry has reportedly agreed to a 3-year, $100 million contract with the Toronto Raptors, the team he has played for since 2012. While neither side has confirmed the details of the deal, USA Today Sports has verified the numbers and Lowry has confirmed that he has in fact signed a contract with the team in a post on The Player’s Tribune.

In an article titled “Home,” Lowry writes, “For me, at the end of the day, this was an easy decision. And all of those roads … they all led me back to the same place: home. They all led me back to Toronto.”

Lowry, 31, has lead the Raptors to four-consecutive playoffs, including a trip to the conference finals in 2016. Two years ago, the Raptors had their best season in franchise history, winning 56 games. At that point in his career, the 2016 season was also Lowry’s best, statistically speaking. When the franchise began to rebuild in the early 2010s, Lowry was in the center of the equation.

“We ended our season this past year with some disappointment. And that’s a couple of years, now, where — as exciting as it’s been around here — I don’t think we’ve reached our true potential,” Lowry wrote. “And you’d hear the whispers, you know, those same experts that were telling us to blow this up in 2013, there they are again with that same talk in 2017.”

Lowry finished his announcement with a promise and a thank you to the fans of Toronto that have embraced him and given him and his family a home.

“If you’re looking for people to believe in – choose the people who believed in you first. And if you start something? Man, you finish it.”