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Lenny Dykstra facing drug charges after latest arrest

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Former MLB All-Star Lenny Dykstra could be facing drug charges to start the new year.

Dykstra, 62, was sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle that got pulled over on New Year’s Day by a state trooper in Pike County, Penn. According to a police report obtained by TMZ Sports, Dykstra was found in possession of “narcotics and narcotic-related equipment/paraphernalia,” with Dykstra being listed as the “arrestee” on the report.

The Pennsylvania State Police said in a statement that it plans to file charges against Dykstra. However, it remains unclear what the charges are going to be and what kind of drugs were allegedly on Dykstra’s person.

Dykstra’s attorney, Matthew Blit, argued that the driver was the one who ended up being taken into custody for suspected driving under the influence, with any charges against Dykstra expected to be “swiftly absolved.”

“Lenny Dykstra was merely a passenger in a vehicle that did not belong to him,” Blit told TMZ. “Undeniably, the actual driver and owner was taken into custody at the scene under the suspicion of driving under the influence. Lenny was not accused of being under the influence of any substance at the scene, nor was he arrested or taken into custody at the scene. To the extent charges are brought against him, they will be swiftly absolved.”

It’s not the first time Dykstra has been accused of being in possession of illegal drugs while in a motor vehicle. In 2018, Dykstra was charged with possession of cocaine, possession of meth, and making terroristic threats after an altercation with an Uber driver.

A few years ago, Dykstra jokingly celebrated that he had not had trouble with the authorities for over three years. That streak came to an end on the first day of 2026.

Matas Buzelis destroys Jalen Suggs with the craziest poster dunk of the year

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Jalen Suggs may have to announce his retirement from professional sports after what went down during Friday night’s game.

Suggs and the Orlando Magic played on Friday against Matas Buzelis and the Chicago Bulls at United Center in Chicago, Ill. Unfortunately though, the basketball game quickly turned into a murder scene in the second quarter.

Off a blocked shot by his Bulls teammate Jalen Smith, Buzelis collected the loose ball with only the Magic guard Suggs standing in between him and the basket on the other end of the floor. Buzelis proceeded to attack the rim with bloodthirsty intentions and promptly dunked Suggs into an entirely different realm of consciousness altogether.

Take a look at the unreal video.

As far as poster dunks go, it does not get much purer than that. Buzelis took off a good distance away from the rim, had Suggs meet him directly and at the apex of his jump, and then violently threw down the poster slam anyway right on top of Suggs’ head.

These kinds of high-flying theatrics are not all that surprising for the 21-year-old Buzelis, who already competed in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest last season. But after the Bulls big man Smith (who ignited that entire sequence with the blocked shot) took Joel Embiid’s soul with a poster dunk of his own a few days ago, it was Buzelis’ turn on Friday to add to the Bulls’ growing list of basketball slaughters.

Bo Bichette linked to 3 new contenders in free agency

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Bo Bichette has some of Major League Baseball’s elite knocking on his doorstep.

Three new teams have checked in on the former All-Star shortstop Bichette in free agency, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported this week. They are the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Chicago Cubs.

All three teams are obviously among the cream of the crop in MLB. The Dodgers are the reigning back-to-back champions, the Yankees made it to the World Series in 2024, and the Cubs were a 92-win team last season that narrowly lost in the NLDS.

Bichette, the 27-year-old righty hitter, had a superb year in 2025 for the Toronto Blue Jays, batting .311 with 18 home runs and 94 RBIs over 139 games played. We also recently heard that Bichette was willing to make a major positional change for any interested suitors.

Up to this point, it had seemed like Bichette was most likely to return to the Blue Jays, the team he has spent his entire MLB career with since its inception in 2019, on a new deal. But now it looks like Toronto has some other big priorities in free agency ahead of Bichette’s situation.

Several weeks ago, Bichette was also linked to a different Blue Jays rival on the free agent market. Now it appears that Bichette’s list of outside suitors has expanded even further to include some of the game’s top teams.

Quinn Ewers sends strong message to college stars abusing transfer portal

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Quinn Ewers opened up this week about his decision to leave college early to make the leap to the NFL. His reasoning sounded like a wake-up call to college athletes who enter the transfer portal year after year.

Ewers opted to forego his final year of eligibility to declare for the 2025 NFL Draft. Once touted as a potential top pick in the draft, the 22-year-old fell all the way to the seventh round, where he was selected 231st overall by the Miami Dolphins.

The San Antonio, Texas, native reportedly turned down a gargantuan NIL offer to go pro. Ewers was asked about the decision earlier this week. He said that he didn’t want to tarnish the legacy and relationships he had built at Texas to chase money elsewhere.

“To me, it’s not about the materialistic things of this world because it comes and goes,” Ewers told reporters. “What’s important to me is the relationships that are built along the way. And I didn’t want to disrupt or rub anybody the wrong way, being selfish and trying to go get money from another team, because I was a lifelong Longhorn.

“Growing up, I wanted to play there. Ended up being the quarterback there, living out my dreams. My 10-year-old self wouldn’t transfer away and go somewhere else. So, at the end of the day, that was the right decision for me.

“And I think that’s important for these younger kids to take into account. Stop being so focused on the materialistic things, whether it’s NIL or whatever, and start building relationships that matter that’ll last you a lifetime.”

Ewers knew the writing was on the wall for him at Texas, with fans clamoring for Arch Manning to get the starting job after two years of serving as a high-profile backup. Despite his draft stock being at an all-time low, Ewers chose the NFL over donning a different college football uniform.

After serving as the Dolphins’ third-string quarterback for most of the season, Ewers finally got the opportunity to start in Week 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals. He went 20/30 for 260 yards with 2 interceptions in a 45-21 loss.

Ewers started for the second time last Sunday and notched his first NFL win in a 20-17 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He had a 14/22 passing clip for 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns, much to the delight of benched QB Tua Tagovailoa.

MLB teams have doubts about Tatsuya Imai

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Tatsuya Imai was a big free agent pitcher on the market who ended up signing this week. Though the Houston Astros decided to give it a go with the Japanese pitcher, apparently other teams had some concerns.

ESPN’s Buster Olney reported on Thursday that there are “some doubts” among MLB teams about whether Imai will find success in MLB. Olney says that is the reason why Imai structured his contract with Houston to have opt-outs after each season.

Imai’s contract is for three years and totals $54 million, though it can be worth up to $63 million. Imai will have the option to terminate his contract after the first and second seasons, which means he can turn it into a 1-year deal if he has a big season and decides he wants to retest free agency.

Imai, 27, was a three-time NPB All-Star for the Saitama Seibu Lions. Last season for Seibu, Imai went 10-5 with a glowing 1.92 ERA, a 0.89 WHIP, and 172 strikeouts over 24 total appearances (spanning 163.2 innings pitched).

Teams apparently have some concerns about how his fastball will fare in MLB.

Imai averaged just under 95 mph on his fastball in Japan last season.

Report: Blue Jays have made biggest offer for Kyle Tucker

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Kyle Tucker is one of the best free agent players remaining on the market, and it sounds like the Toronto Blue Jays are a top contender to land him this offseason.

ESPN MLB reporter Buster Olney was a guest on “First Up with Korolnek & Colaiacovo” on TSN 1050 Toronto on Friday. He talked about some of the top free agents, including Tucker. Olney said that he thought the Blue Jays have (perhaps unofficially) made the biggest offer to Tucker.

“I think that the Blue Jays have the most money offered to Kyle Tucker, or they’ve indicated that,” Olney said on the show.

Olney said he thinks the Blue Jays will end up having offered Tucker the greatest amount of money in free agency. He feels Toronto will end up signing either Bo Bichette or Kyle Tucker.

“They’re going to get one of these two guys — either Bichette or Tucker — at a price that they’re comfortable with. One of the two,” Olney said.

Bichette was drafted by the Blue Jays in 2016 and has been in the majors since 2019. Toronto would love to have him back, but that depends on how much he will cost. He has been linked to one of their AL East rivals.

The Blue Jays met with Tucker in early December. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is hoping the team will end up signing the outfielder. Tucker played for the Chicago Cubs last year and batted .266 with 25 doubles, 22 home runs and an .841 OPS in 136 games. He is a four-time All-Star.

Jaylen Brown throws shade at Jalen Brunson in a social media post

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Jaylen Brown continues to be a generational hater.

New York Knicks star point guard Jalen Brunson was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for December by the NBA. The league made the announcement on Friday with Brunson winning in the East and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander winning the award in the Western Conference.

The Boston Celtics star Brown apparently did not agree with Brunson’s victory however. He took to his X page to complain about the news.

“Smh,” Brown wrote.

It appears that Brown thinks he deserved to win the award instead. In the month of December, Brunson averaged 30.6 points and 7.1 assists per game as the Knicks went 10-4 (including a big victory in the NBA Cup). Meanwhile, Brown averaged 31.7 points and 5.4 assists per game as the Celtics went 9-3 (though Brown missed two games due to injury in December compared to Brunson’s one).

Brown might have a fair argument that he had a better December, especially given that he produced those results with far less of a supporting cast in Boston. But it is also probably true that Brown was hating on Brunson there considering that he took a profane shot at the division rival Knicks on a video game stream a few days ago.

Antonio Pierce emerges as a candidate for 1 NFL head coaching job

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Antonio Pierce has come sprinting out of the tunnel once again.

The former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pierce is set to interview for the New York Giants head coaching job, Jordan Raanan of ESPN reported on Friday. Ranaan also notes that ex-Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy and Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula are among the other names on the Giants’ interview list.

Pierce, 47, has plenty of familiarity with the Giants franchise. He played as a linebacker for the Giants from 2005-09, making a Pro Bowl team in 2006 and winning Super Bowl XLII with the Giants in the 2007 season.

However, Pierce’s run as an NFL head coach has been far less successful. Pierce served as head coach of the Raiders for one-and-a-half seasons from 2023-24, going 9-17 overall (.346) and failing to secure a single playoff berth. He ended up getting fired by Las Vegas in Jan. 2025 after seemingly having trouble co-existing with some of the team’s star players.

The Giants, meanwhile, are 3-13 heading into the final week of the season and have been led by interim head coach Mike Kafka ever since Brian Daboll was fired back in November. They have been particularly rough defensively as well, ranking 29th in the NFL this season with an ugly 364.1 yards allowed per game.

Pierce obviously has a defensive background as a former linebacker who has also worked as both a linebackers coach and a defensive coordinator over the course of his coaching career. But if the Giants want to base their head coach hire around developing 22-year-old franchise quarterback Jaxson Dart instead, another candidate (such as this big name who has been linked to the Giants in recent months) might make more sense.

Ole Miss player took a shot at Lane Kiffin

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Ole Miss players are not letting the Lane Kiffin story distract them during the College Football Playoff. In fact, they seem to be making the most of it.

Few references were made to Kiffin in the locker room following the Rebels’ 37-34 win over Georgia in the College Football Playoff, with most preferring to focus on the players who stuck around to get it done. Defensive tackle Zxavian Harris, however, was willing to make a few comments about his former coach.

Harris said Kiffin had been trying to “steal our shine,” but it didn’t work.

“He’s been trying to steal our shine,” Harris said, via Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports. “All of our coaches could leave now and we’d still operate as a close team. We are our own team. Coaches can only do so much.

“I heard [Kiffin] was trying to get [on TV] with the announcers [at the game]. We’re not worried about Kiffin. Kiffin gone.”

Harris may have been joking, as Kiffin was elsewhere on Thursday night. Either way, there appears to be no love lost between the players and their former coach. Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU on the eve of the playoff, and tried to publicly save face after doing so, at least according to one player.

Ole Miss will now face Miami in the semifinal. Kiffin clearly will not be on their minds whether they win or lose.

Rice safety Daveon Hook suffers frightening injury

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Rice safety Daveon Hook suffered a frightening injury during Friday’s Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl against Texas State at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Tex.

Hook was going for a tackle late in the third quarter of Friday’s game when a Texas State player accidentally struck him in the neck area. The safety went down on the turf and remained down for at least ten minutes as medical personnel tended to him.

The game stopped for an extended period of time, and both teams were clearly shaken up by the injury.

Hook was immobilized on a stretcher and taken off the field. He did have visible movement in his arms while being stretchered off.

Hook, a senior from New York, had 19 total tackles and a sack on the season entering Friday’s bowl game. He was named an American Conference All-Academic in 2024 and 2025. He had not played since Oct. 31 against Memphis due to a separate injury, but managed to make it back and take the field for one final game before graduating.

Beloved ex-UCLA coach Jerry Neuheisel lands an interesting new job

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Jerry Neuheisel is reuniting with a well-known former colleague.

The beloved former UCLA coach Neuheisel is joining Northwestern as their new quarterbacks coach, Adam Rittenberg of ESPN reported this week. The move reunites Neuheisel with Chip Kelly, who recently signed on with Northwestern as their new offensive coordinator.

Neuheisel, 33, is the son of ex-UCLA quarterback and head coach Rick Neuheisel. The younger Neuheisel himself served as a backup QB for UCLA and once even led the Bruins to a dramatic victory over Texas back in 2014.

Then in 2018, Neuheisel returned to UCLA’s football team as a graduate assistant before slowly rising up the coaching ranks to wide receivers coach and then to tight ends coach. After UCLA fired offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri in the middle of the 2025 season, Neuheisel then took over playcalling duties for the Bruins as the interim O.C. That culminated with an incredible scene in which UCLA upset Penn State for their first win of the season, leading to a triumphant Neuheisel getting carried off the field by the team.

While many believed that the beloved Neuheisel was positioning himself to become UCLA’s new head coach, the Bruins (after winning three straight to kick off Neuheisel’s tenure as interim O.C.) ended up losing their last five games of the season. They instead decided to hire James Madison’s Bob Chesney as their new head coach, and Chesney cleaned house with the entire staff including Neuheisel in order to bring in his own hires.

Now though, Neuheisel is getting to stay in the Big Ten with Northwestern, who went 7-6 this year and defeated Central Michigan in the GameAbove Sports Bowl. Neuheisel will once again be working with Kelly, the former UCLA head coach whom he served under from 2018-23.

Mike McDaniel addresses Troy Aikman’s past criticism of him

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Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel faced questions Friday about whether he has any concerns about Troy Aikman helping with the team’s general manager search.

McDaniel was asked if he had cleared the air with Aikman over the broadcaster’s comments during Miami’s Week 15 loss to Pittsburgh. At the time, Aikman was highly critical of how McDaniel managed the fourth quarter of that defeat, calling it “ridiculous.”

On Friday, McDaniel did not sweat the comments.

“So you’re telling me he didn’t like us not scoring points and taking up too much time? Neither did I,” McDaniel quipped. “That was not the intent. He’s doing his job. When I signed up for this job, it was inherent that results would dictate all narratives regardless of if something was good, bad, or whatever. It doesn’t bother me in the least. It would be funny if it did.”

Aikman’s new role with the Dolphins seems temporary and does not necessarily mean he and McDaniel will really be working together. Considering McDaniel’s job might not be completely secure, however, some wondered if this might wind up being bad news for the head coach.

McDaniel is 35-34 in his time as Miami’s head coach. The team made the playoffs under him for his first two seasons, but are missing out for the second consecutive year.

Buster Olney predicts Alex Bregman will sign with 1 team

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Buster Olney has a feeling that Alex Bregman will be running it back.

ESPN MLB reporter Buster Olney was a guest on “First Up with Korolnek & Colaiacovo” on TSN 1050 Toronto on Friday. During the episode, Olney made a big prediction about the sweepstakes for the three-time All-Star Bregman in free agency — Olney thinks that Bregman will be going back to the Boston Red Sox.

“I think Alex Bregman is gonna go back to the Red Sox. From what I understand, the Red Sox have made an aggressive offer on him,” Olney said.

The 31-year-old Bregman remains an unsigned free agent into the new year. He already spent the 2025 season with the Red Sox, batting .273 with 18 home runs and 62 RBIs over 114 games before exercising the opt-out clause in his contract to become a free agent again.

Bregman did already pick Boston over all other suitors in free agency last season. With the Red Sox coming off an 89-win campaign and also making some aggressive win-now trades on both sides of the ball this winter, they can make a very convincing argument to Bregman for another run together.

In recent weeks, we heard that a few interesting MLB teams (including some Boston rivals) had joined the mix for Bregman, the two-time World Series champion. But Olney thinks the ultimate winner of the Bregman sweepstakes will simply be the incumbent Red Sox.

Myles Garrett sends a clear warning to the Browns

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One year after signing a contract extension with the Cleveland Browns, Myles Garrett is once again laying down his expectations.

Garrett said he was happy to remain with Cleveland despite the team’s 4-12 record this season. However, he also made it clear that he has no appetite for a teardown or rebuild.

“I’m committed to winning,” Garrett told reporters. “As long as the team and organization are about doing so, I’m all on board. Anything other than winning — tanking or rebuilding — it’s not me.”

If this sounds familiar, it should. Last offseason, Garrett demanded a trade, citing a desire to play for a winning franchise. A $40 million annual deal seemingly changed his mind, though he still talks about wanting to win as much as ever.

The Browns’ status right now is hard to discern. Shedeur Sanders may or may not be their quarterback of the future, but the offense was far away from a playoff unit this year. For now, Garrett seems convinced that he and the franchise are on the same page. The question is whether it will remain that way, especially once Garrett no longer has his potential sack record to focus on.

Cam Newton got roasted for his take on the SEC

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This has not exactly been a great College Football Playoff for the SEC, but you will not get Cam Newton to admit that.

Newton appeared on ESPN’s “First Take” Friday and was asked if the days of the SEC dominating college football are over. The former Auburn quarterback said no, because the league still gets the best television ratings.

“If you want to go and get put on, you still go to the SEC,” Newton argued. “However great Coach (Curt) Cignetti is, you still know, I’m not about to go watch Indiana football. I prefer to go watch LSU, Ole Miss, the great Auburn, Alabama, UGA, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi State, way before I watch a Penn State. Way before I watch a Michigan State, an Iowa State — man, come on now.”

To many, Newton’s argument rang hollow. Few people would argue that TV ratings determine the biggest conference in the country, after all.

Newton being an SEC homer is perhaps expected, but it is a tough time to make the argument. Indiana beat Alabama 38-3 on Thursday, and Ole Miss is the only SEC team still standing in college football’s last four. They got there by beating Tulane before knocking off Georgia in an all-SEC quarterfinal.

A lot of hardcore SEC fans still stick to this argument, particularly in relation to the Big Ten. That did not work out well for one SEC quarterback this week, but it is not stopping Newton from doubling down.

UFL team has interest in Diego Pavia

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Diego Pavia’s football career may not be completely over.

The UFL’s Birmingham Stallions strongly hinted that they would be interested in signing Pavia. On Thursday, the team’s social media account reposted a comment about what Pavia’s future might entail, and added the eyes emoji to suggest that they will be watching closely.

Pavia is a fringe NFL prospect who has used up all his college eligibility. The UFL might not be an ideal landing spot, but it would provide an opportunity to continue playing football and capitalize off the public persona he has been able to build up.

Pavia’s brash public persona has certainly earned him some detractors. However, it is likely to ensure that there will be eyes on him if he keeps playing. Even from a marketing standpoint, he could be great for a UFL team.

The Vanderbilt quarterback threw for 3,539 yards with 29 touchdowns and eight interceptions this season. He led the Commodores to a 10-win season and even had them in playoff contention for a while. That was enough to make him runner-up in Heisman Trophy voting, losing out to Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza.

LSU-bound Ole Miss coaches may not remain with team for CFP Semifinal

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Ole Miss advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinal on Thursday with the aid of six assistant coaches that are bound for LSU. Whether those six assistants remain for the semifinal, however, remains to be seen.

It is unclear if the six assistants will coach the semifinal for Ole Miss, according to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports. There is some thought around the program that some or all may permanently join LSU and end their time with the Rebels.

Whether that is their decision is also up in the air. ESPN’s Mark Schlabach wrote that there has been some pushback from those assistants on being forced to leave Ole Miss now. At minimum, however, offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. is expected to stay for the Fiesta Bowl against Miami.

LSU presumably wants its incoming assistants around as much as possible with the transfer portal opening on Friday.

Ole Miss’ situation was already awkward before they advanced. Lane Kiffin left for LSU on Nov. 30, but some of his assistants were allowed to stay for now even though they are following Kiffin to Baton Rouge. That has led to some awkwardness and concern within the building, but it obviously did not show during Thursday’s 37-34 victory.

Weis, in particular, called a great game on Thursday. In an ideal world, he and everyone else would finish what they started at Ole Miss, but Kiffin and the politics of the situation have made that quite difficult.

Scott Van Pelt reacts to ESPN showing men kissing on New Year’s Eve

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ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt seemed to be thrown for a bit of a loop when the network showed two men kissing on New Year’s Eve.

Van Pelt was talking over scenes from Times Square in New York, N.Y. which featured footage of couples kissing after the clock struck midnight and turned to 2026. He joked enthusiastically about “live makeouts on SportsCenter,” but was taken aback when cameras cut to two men.

“Oh, what are we — what do we got? We got love in the air,” Van Pelt remarked.

Van Pelt seemed more surprised than anything else. Such is what happens when taking a simulcast of ABC’s New Year’s coverage and narrating it live. He did not know what he was about to see and wound up reacting on the fly.

Perhaps Van Pelt was reminded of the awkward exchange he had with Justin Thomas at the Masters a few years ago.

Ole Miss-Georgia had the wildest ending

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Ole Miss came back to beat Georgia 39-34 to win their College Football Playoff quarterfinal game at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La., on Thursday in a game that featured a truly wild ending.

Ole Miss trailed at halftime but scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter to go up 34-24 with 9:02 left. The Bulldogs responded with a touchdown and then added a field goal with 56 seconds left to tie the game. At that point, it looked like the game might head to overtime, but Trinidad Chambliss took his team down the field and got kicker Lucas Carneiro in position for a 47-yard field goal attempt, which he nailed with six seconds left.

The game seemed to be over after that, but it got extended twice.

First, Georgia tried to use a trick play on the kickoff return and did a throw-back across the field. The ball bounced around and then went out of bounds at the goal line for a safety.

Ole Miss players began to celebrate, thinking they had won the game 39-34. But the officials reviewed the play and determined there was still one second left on the clock, so Georgia came out to try an onside kick. The Bulldogs recovered the kick, but things didn’t end there.

Next, the rules dictated that an extra play was needed because no time comes off the clock when the offensive team recovers an onside kick. Players who were celebrating, and the stage crew, had to be cleared off the field to make way for yet another play. On that one, the Bulldogs tried to do an exaggerated hook-and-ladder play that lasted a while before they were finally tackled to end the game.

Yes, Ole Miss celebrated three times, and Georgia had to go through the feeling of defeat three times before the game finally ended.

Now the Rebels will advance to the CFP semifinals to play Miami on Friday, January 9. Oregon and Indiana will have a rematch the day before in the other semifinal game.

Ole Miss got screwed by blatant missed call against Georgia

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Ole Miss got burned by a rough non-call late Thursday in their Sugar Bowl clash against Georgia.

The Rebels had 2nd-and-3 at their own 32 with just over six minutes remaining at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La. Ole Miss went to star running back Kewan Lacy to try to get the first down.

Lacy burst right after receiving the handoff from quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, but didn’t get very far. Georgia defensive lineman Joseph Jonah-Ajonye got himself a fistful of Lacy’s face mask.

The ESPN broadcast called it a “huge miss” that the referees failed to see what was a clear facemask penalty. Ole Miss should have been awarded 15 yards and an automatic first down. Instead, the Rebels settled for a punt two plays later.

In a game as tight as Thursday’s Sugar Bowl, a blown call like the one above at a critical juncture could have been the difference between which team advances to the College Football Playoff semifinals and which squad goes home.

The Rebels, however, took matters into their own hands. Ole Miss shrugged off the missed call and later scored the game-winning field goal with six seconds left to seal a 37-34 victory.

Not even a face mask grab was going to stop Ole Miss from advancing to the CFP semis.

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