Jul 31, 2021; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets offensive tackle Mekhi Becton (77) runs during training camp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Former New York Jets offensive lineman Mekhi Becton is returning to MetLife Stadium as a visitor on Sunday when his Philadelphia Eagles face the New York Giants. It is safe to say he is very much not looking forward to it.
Becton had some extremely harsh comments about the MetLife turf, which has been widely criticized around the league. That was not the offensive lineman’s only complaint, however, as he failed to name a single thing he liked about the stadium.
“I don’t wanna play in that s—ty stadium,” Becton said Wednesday, via Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports. “It’s bad. Everything is just bad about that stadium. I don’t really like it. I’m just glad I only gotta do it one time a year. Just gotta go in there, do my 1-11 and go home.
“You can just tell the difference like if you was to get on that turf and (then) go on a different turf. You can tell. It’s a night and day difference in turf. It just feels lifted. There’s a lot of things that doesn’t feel right about that turf.”
Becton is one of many to vent frustration with the turf at MetLife, which seems to be universally regarded as worse than the norm. Becton was with the Jets for four years and suffered a number of injuries, including a series of knee problems that started in the 2021 season opener in Carolina.
Becton is not shy about settling some scores from his past.
He may not have played for the Giants, but he’ll still want to conquer MetLife.
The shocking news was announced on Thursday that Tony Bennett would be retiring, leaving his Virginia Cavaliers in a tough spot just a few weeks away from their opener. Bennett’s retirement is effective immediately, and the 55-year-old coach will speak with the media on Friday about his decision.
But some may have seen Bennett’s retirement coming.
ESPN college basketball reporter Jeff Borzello had asked Bennett last week why so many people thought the Cavs coach could be the next big-name coach to suddenly retire, much like Jay Wright did in 2022.
“I gotta call Jay Wright and see what he says, right? I always have said, when you’re doing this, you’re in this profession, whether you agree how it’s going or not, you have to be true to yourself and really look at it and say, who am I? Can I operate how I want and can it be successful enough? And you get to choose if you wanna be a part of it or not,” Bennett said.
“And when you feel it’s time, like Jay did, like Coach K, maybe Saban, it’s their choice. And you can sit here and complain and gripe. Or you have a decision to make. Either you try to do it in your way or you get to make that decision. So I think Jay Wright probably foresaw the where this is going … It’ll be better whenever there’s regulations. Is that three to five years away? Who knows? But if it’s not — those are decisions that every man has to make when it’s his time.”
Bennett also referenced former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski and former Alabama football coach Nick Saban in his comments. Bennett seemed to have been giving a lot of thought at the time about whether or not he wanted to be a part of college basketball with the way the sport has become. He has obviously made his decision.
Just last week, Bennett had talked during ACC Media Days about all the changes in college sports due to the legalization of students making money through NIL deals.
“It’s a new time,” Bennnett said succintly.
Bennett said that building a roster is difficult and that coaches can really only build in 2-year increments rather than recruit a player and expect to have him for five years. Bennett also talked about how much college sports will be like pro sports soon, with collective bargaining imminent. He also thinks regulations surrounding matters like tampering, salary caps and transfers need to be implemented.
Bennett seems to believe college sports will be in a better position once those regulations are determined and implemented. Until then, he doesn’t want to be a head coach.
Oct 20, 2023; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard (0) warms up before the game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Damian Lillard’s old Portland pal is coming aboard in Milwaukee.
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported on Thursday that the Milwaukee Bucks are signing veteran wing Justise Winslow. Still only 28, Winslow is getting an Exhibit 10 contract from the Bucks (one year for the league-minimum salary).
Winslow, a former national champion at Duke, was the No. 10 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. He has played for four different teams in his NBA career, including the Portland Trail Blazers. Winslow was on the Blazers during the 2022-23 season and was teammates there with the current Milwaukee star guard Lillard.
After spending all of last season in the NBA G League with Raptors 905 (averaging 15.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game), the versatile 6-foot-6 Winslow is getting another chance in the NBA. He now becomes the second former Lillard teammate that the Bucks have signed this offseason.
ESPN has decided to keep Big Perk right where he is.
The network announced on Thursday that they have officially signed Kendrick Perkins to a contract extension. Perkins’ new deal is said to be a “multi-year” one.
In addition to Perkins, ESPN has agreed to multi-year contract extensions with three other basketball analysts — Tim Legler (a longtime ESPN host), Monica McNutt (who covers the NBA and the WNBA and also does sideline reporting work), and Chiney Ogwumike (who does studio analyst work on ESPN’s NBA, WNBA, and women’s college basketball programming).
The 39-year-old Perkins, a former NBA champion big man with the Boston Celtics, joined ESPN in 2019. Since then, he has become a regular part of their NBA programming, including on their studio shows like “NBA Today.” Perkins also appears on “ESPN NBA Countdown” and will now feature on ABC editions of “NBA Countdown” starting this year too, the release adds.
While Perkins’ takes can sometimes be hollow or even downright bad, he is a very entertaining personality overall who has had more than his fair share of classic moments on the air. But fans may still have very mixed feelings about Perkins getting a contract extension from ESPN while some of the network’s much more analytical hosts got laid off instead.
Many fans were wondering what happened during one of Shohei Ohtani’s at-bats in Game 3 of his Los Angeles Dodgers’ NLCS against the New York Mets at Citi Field on Wednesday night.
Ohtani went 1-for-4 with a walk, strikeout and 3-run home run in his Dodgers’ 8-0 win that gave the team a 2-1 series lead. The Dodgers designated hitter was batting in the top of the sixth with his team leading 4-0 and struck out to end the half-inning.
After his strikeout, Ohtani looked toward the Dodgers’ dugout with a confused look on his face. He even put his hands in a position as if to say, “what happened?”
There are two theories about what happened.
One is that Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez had tapped his mask to signal to pitcher Reed Garrett that he needed to speed things up to avoid a pitch clock violation. Some thought that maybe Ohtani was looking to the dugout to ask why a pitch clock violation had not been called.
The other interpretation is that someone from the Dodgers’ dugout may have seen Alvarez wave his hand by his mask and told Ohtani that a high pitch was coming. In that case, Ohtani may have been looking toward the dugout to ask why the pitch went low if he was told something high was coming.
Ohtani wound up clubbing his huge 3-run home run in his following at-bat, so the at-bat from the sixth turned out to not matter much.
What do you think happened in that situation?
Jan 20, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Bennett after a victory against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the second half at McCamish Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Virginia coach Tony Bennett has made a stunning decision about his future.
Bennett has decided to retire from coaching, the school said on Thursday. Bennett’s decision is effective immediately, and he will hold a press conference Friday morning to speak about the decision.
The University of Virginia officially announced the news via their X account on Thursday.
The decision is a shocker for several reasons. Bennett is still only 55 and seemingly had plenty left to give. Perhaps most relevant, however, is that the Cavaliers open their season on Nov. 6, fewer than three weeks from now. The school will have to sort out the coaching situation in a very short period of time.
Bennett took over as Virginia’s coach in 2009 and turned a moribund program into a national contender. Guided by his unique defensive philosophy, the Cavaliers own or shared six ACC regular season titles during his tenure and made the NCAA Tournament ten times.
Though they were often criticized for their underperformance in March, including becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed, they won a national title in 2019 after a dramatic run through the tournament.
In 15 seasons at Virginia, Bennett posted a record of 364-136. He retires with a lifetime record of 433-169.
Jan 2, 2022; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; The New Orleans Saints logo on the field before their game against the Carolina Panthers at the Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
The New Orleans Saints will be without one of their best playmakers for the remainder of the 2024 season.
Wide receiver Rashid Shaheed suffered a knee injury during the Saints’ 51-27 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 6. Head coach Dennis Allen then revealed on Wednesday that Shaheed would need meniscus surgery. It was unknown if doctors would perform a trim or full repair, the latter of which requires a longer recovery.
Shaheed had the surgery on Thursday, and doctors opted for a full meniscus repair. That means Shaheed will be out for 4-6 months, according to multiple reports.
Shaheed had been enjoying a breakout season with the Saints. After largely being a deep threat last year, the 26-year-old led the team through six games in targets with 41. He had 20 catches for 349 yards and 3 touchdowns.
The Saints are now dealing with numerous injuries heading into Thursday night’s game against the Denver Broncos. Derek Carr has been sidelined with an oblique injury, and Chris Olave will not play due to a concussion. Rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler will be facing an uphill climb in his second career NFL start.
Aug 9, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson (3) warms up before playing the Houston Texans at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
The Pittsburgh Steelers have yet to publicly name a starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets, but it sounds like Russell Wilson has been told he will be under center.
Wilson told reporters on Thursday that he is confident heading into his “first game of the year.”
Wilson was active for last week’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders, so technically that was his first game back from his calf injury. Since he is viewing this Sunday’s game as his first, that is a good indicator that he has been told he will be Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback.
The Steelers have gone 4-2 with Fields as their starting quarterback. Fields has completed 66.3% of his passes for 1,106 yards, 5 touchdowns and just 1 interception. He has 231 rushing yards and another 5 scores on the ground.
It is somewhat of a surprise that Tomlin is making a quarterback change given the success the Steelers have had. Fields offered a very honest take when discussing the situation on Thursday.
Wilson beat out Fields for the starting QB job during training camp before the 35-year-old suffered a setback with his calf injury. Tomlin never named Fields the full-time starter while Wilson was sidelined, and it appears Wilson is now going to get his opportunity.
Jan 1, 2022; New Orleans, LA, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin reacts during warm ups before the 2022 Sugar Bowl against the Baylor Bears at the Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin thinks there is a double standard regarding how people are talking about Oregon exploiting a rules loophole compared with the comments about his own program.
Kiffin had some pointed remarks about the situation during the SEC teleconference on Wednesday, as he contrasted the reaction to Oregon’s intentional penalty in the late stages of its win against Ohio State with the accusations Ole Miss hears about faking injuries. In Kiffin’s mind, Oregon was viewed as clever and inventive for what they did, while the Rebels are criticized for something he sees as a similar exploit.
“It’s interesting, though, I find that all this national talk about someone faking an injury, and people shouldn’t do that,” Kiffin said, via Mark Heim of AL.com. “I’m not saying I don’t agree with. But I just found it interesting that everybody thinks this is awesome that you went against the rules and put more people on the field but then everybody’s (up in arms) when faking an injury. So just found it interesting.”
Kiffin’s point is pretty clear. Oregon exploited a rules loophole by putting an extra defender on the field in a crucial play against Ohio State, knowing that the move would draw a manageable flag while also draining time from the clock and preventing a big play. Many media figures lauded them for their cleverness, and it actually forced the NCAA to close the loophole almost immediately.
Ole Miss, meanwhile, has been accused of faking injuries to slow down games. The accusations are so frequent that the school had to issue a statement about them recently, and there have been calls for a new rule to address that issue as well.
June 25, 2018; Santa Monica, CA, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jamal Crawford poses for photos with his teammate of the year award during the NBA Award Show at Barker Hanger. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Knicks are having a reunion with J-Crossover.
Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reported Wednesday that retired former NBA guard Jamal Crawford is joining the Knicks as a broadcaster on MSG Network. Crawford will be calling about 10 games this season alongside play-by-play analyst Mike Breen, filling in for Knicks icon Walt “Clyde” Frazier (who no longer travels as much for road games at 79 years old).
The 44-year-old Crawford played in the NBA from 2000-20 and won the Sixth Man of the Year Award three different times. He is also familiar with the Knicks, having played for them from 2004-08.
After retiring, Crawford joined TNT as both a studio analyst and a game broadcaster, drawing glowing reviews with his knowledge, his energy, and his impressive on-air prognostications. But Crawford announced after the 2023-24 season that he was no longer under contract with TNT.
It did not take long for Crawford to find a new gig though. He will be hoping that he can use the local airtime in New York as a springboard back into the national television scene (just like this former NBA rival of his recently did).
