Author: PlayActionNews

Years later, the memory remains unsettling.The Cactus League game between the Kansas City Royals and Cincinnati Reds carried virtually no meaning. But anyone who saw the line drive off Salvador Perez’s bat strike Aroldis Chapman above the left eye will never forget the terrifying sight.“March 20, 2014. Sixth inning, bases loaded. It was a 2-1 count, I believe,” Reds assistant athletic trainer Tomas Vera said, rattling off the details as if they occurred yesterday.“I felt so guilty,” said Brayan Peña, Chapman’s catcher that night. “So guilty, you can’t even imagine.”Chapman, then 26, already was a two-time All-Star reliever. He wanted…

Facing allegations that he and his team circumvented the salary cap with star player Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is doubling down on his denial. In an interview with “SportsCenter,” Ballmer disputed the accusation that he arranged a “no-show” endorsement deal for Leonard.Investigative journalist Pablo Torre recently reported that Ballmer used a $50 million investment in a company, Aspiration, to facilitate a $28 million “no-show” deal for Leonard. Such an arrangement would violate the NBA’s cap circumvention rules, and the league has launched an investigation into the matter.However, Ballmer refutes Torre’s reporting, saying he and the Clippers…

“Listen, Jack’s a good fighter,” Conlan said. “I’ve known Jack for a long time. I’ve done rounds with Jack over the years. I know him from the amateurs and stuff, he’s a good boxer, a good technical boxer. A lot of respect for him, and this is his opportunity, because, listen, I’m still a name, no matter what anybody says. I know he’s going to come to try and get his career back on track and take my head off, so I’ve got to be very prepared, and I am, so I’m looking forward to it.

Liz LozaSep 4, 2025, 09:35 AM ETCloseLiz Loza is a writer for fantasy football, women’s basketball and betting at ESPN. Liz also appears on “Fantasy Football Now” and contributes to the Fantasy Focus Football podcast.”Time is a thief.”I learned this phrase in elementary school. It was regularly uttered by an administrator who, on the first day of school, would wistfully greet the student body, marveling at how much each child had grown over the summer. As a 10-year-old kid, I didn’t put much stock into the musings of a middle-aged vice principal. Decades later, however, I better understand and appreciate…

Let me start the 2025 NFL picks column with a factual statement:My picks stunk last year.It was not my best season when it came to NFL picks. I wasn’t the worst of my CBSSports.com experts picks crew, but it wasn’t very good. None of us really were.That changes now.It’s a new season, which means like every fan base and every team, optimism is a part of my equation. I will be better. I have to be better.Week 1 picks are always a challenge, but I feel pretty good about these. The record is 0-0 right now, so the slate is clean.New season.…

Rambolek Chor Ajalaboon enters his rescheduled showdown with supreme confidence in his ability to expose his opponent’s weaknesses. The #4-ranked bantamweight believes Dmitrii Kovtun’s conditioning issues will be his downfall when they finally clash. Rambolek faces Dmitrii Kovtun in pivotal bantamweight Muay Thai action at ONE Fight Night 35 on Friday, September 5, inside Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. The Thai striker seeks to defend his top-five ranking against the surging Russian contender. Illness forced Rambolek to withdraw from their original bout, but the extra preparation time proved beneficial. The 22-year-old pressure fighter moved to Superbon Training Camp and studied…

Jalen Carter apologised to his teammates while Dak Prescott pleaded his innocence after the Philadelphia Eagles star was ejected for spitting on the Dallas Cowboys quarterback in Thursday night’s NFL season opener.Eagles defensive tackle Carter was ejected just six seconds into his side’s 24-20 victory when he spat on Prescott in front of an official during a verbal exchange between the pair. Footage later appeared to show Prescott spitting in the direction of Carter from a distance first, though he later denied he was intending to spit at his opponent. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player…

The Yankees didn't allow frustrations from Wednesday's meltdown to fester, as they outlasted the rival Astros, 8-4, on a chaotic Thursday night at Daikin Park.Here are the takeaways…– Astros starter Christian Javier entered Friday with a stellar 1.99 ERA in six career appearances against the Yankees, but it didn't take long for that mark to rise a tad. With two on and two outs in the second inning, Ryan McMahon drew first blood with an RBI single to shallow right that gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead. The two-out rally began with a walk to Austin Wells and a single…

Right about the time the initial reaction to the Kawhi Leonard story was finally dying down on Wednesday, with Pablo Torre’s podcast making a case that the richest owner in all of professional sports — the LA Clippers’ Steve Ballmer — might have circumvented the salary cap and the NBA announcing its investigation as a result, the team that was already in the worst kind of spotlight decided to hop into the headlines yet again.They sent a second statement.Following on the 82-word, initial response from the day before, in which the Clippers denied any wrongdoing in Torre’s report while claiming…

World Boxing has rejected the criticism, saying it “made it clear that testing will be the responsibility of national federations as they have the closest links and most access to their boxers and are best placed to manage the testing process”.It said all federations had been warned on 21 August that the processing of results for sex-testing can take 48 hours and that any tests completed later than 1 September “would jeopardise your athlete’s entry into the official draw and competition”.Teams were told to consider their arrival time if they required testing once in the UK.Nigerian officials said Oraekwe and…