The Las Vegas Raiders and the thin line between tanking and incompetence

The Las Vegas Raiders made waves this week by putting its two, and only, stars on injured reserve ahead of the final two games that will decide the 2026 NFL draft order. Tight end Brock Bowers and edge rusher Maxx Crosby were shut down from a consequential battle for the top draft pick against the Giants and a Week 18 game against Kansas City due to nagging knee injuries. Bowers had scored four touchdowns over the past five weeks for a team that doesn’t score many points. Crosby is a human wrecking ball who has amassed 28 tackles for loss this season. He’s the player that causes opponents to lose sleep

The Ashes inspiration, overpreparation and bold tactics: a history of Australia v England two-day Tests | Geoff Lemon

To put in context the surprise that greeted the two-day Boxing Day Test, consider the rarity by arithmetic. The match in Melbourne was Test No 2,615 and the 27th to finish inside two days. You probably don’t need a calculator to see that is roughly 1%.Yet we have had two such matches in this Ashes series, plus another in Australia three years ago. We’ve had half a dozen two-day Tests since 2021

Piastri intrigue, Picklum magic and Gout goes global: reflections on a year of Australian sport | Jack Snape

Australians shone on the global stage in 2025, while there was more myth-making and dynasties born closer to homeAbove it all, the thwack stands out. Over an extraordinary year of Australian sport: of world-beaters and champions of tomorrow; of myth-making performances at the summit of codes; of comebacks, and dynasties come and gone.When all that noise subsides, the sound of Gout Gout’s footfall stays with you. Watch him on television, or on one of his viral highlights, and his thin frame appears to glide across the track. But in person, the audible slap as his spikes meet the track is as loud as his arrival has been in Australian sport

‘I like No 3’: Bethell always looks the part and now has chance to shine in Ashes

Until his ice-cool 40 helped England dodge an Ashes whitewash in front of 90,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday, the most clippable aspect of Jacob Bethell’s tour was probably his performance of YMCA on a dancefloor in Noosa during the team’s much-discussed break.It is a bit poor when sports people have their down time filmed by members of the public and posted online. But at least Bethell, born 25 years after the Village People’s seminal hit was first released, had the wherewithal to get the tricky “C” the right way round. Rob Key’s Gareth Keenan‑like investigation into Noosa can rule out inebriation here.Technique is Bethell’s thing, the reason why this particular 22-year‑old has always played above his age

I was there: Europe’s dramatic Ryder Cup win signed off a strange week

I was out by the practice green late afternoon on the Monday of the Ryder Cup and so was Bryson DeChambeau. He was on his own, signing autographs for the handful of people on the other side of the railings, and there was this one woman leaning over towards him, a bottle blonde, late middle-aged, in a tight white dress.She was only a couple of feet away from him, but she was screaming in his ear like she was trying to reach someone across the far side of the course. “We love you Bryson! Bryson! We love you! We love you for everything you’ve done for the Donald! We love you for everything you’ve done for the Donald!”It was a long, strange week and when I think back on it the golf is entirely overwhelmed by technicolour memories of the weird scenes on the grounds of Bethpage Black and in the surrounding town of Farmingdale.I wish I could say the things I remember best are that approach shot Scottie Scheffler hit from 180 yards at the 10th, the 40ft putt Rory McIlroy made on the 6th or Jon Rahm’s chip-in from the rough at the 8th

Matthew Potts poised to play in fifth Ashes Test after England rule out Gus Atkinson

Matthew Potts is poised to play his first Ashes Test in Sydney after England confirmed that Gus Atkinson has been ruled out of the series finale.Atkinson limped off with a hamstring issue on the second and final day of England’s rollercoaster four-wicket victory in Melbourne and scans undertaken in the past 24 hours have ruled out his further participation.With Jofra Archer and Mark Wood having similarly seen their tours end early, it leaves Potts as the last unused seamer from the original squad of 16. Wood’s knee injury saw Surrey’s Matthew Fisher moved across from the shadow Lions tour after the second Test in Brisbane as cover.Provided Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue recover sufficiently during the seven-day break between Tests – and England continue with Will Jacks as the spin option at No 8 – then the fast-medium Potts in for Atkinson may well be the only change from the XI that prevented the whitewash