Seemingly every time Jerry Jones opens his mouth, Dallas Cowboys fans let out a sigh of great frustration. What did America's team outspoken owner say this time?

Notre Dame will be focused on beating Navy when the two teams travel to Dublin for Saturday's game in Ireland's capital

Hinata Miyazawa had never been prolific for club or country before the Women's World Cup -- now she is the tournament's leading scorer and...

Cade McNamara threw for 191 yards and two touchdowns in his Iowa debut as the No. 25 Hawkeyes defeated Utah State 24-14

Villarreal has fired coach Quique Setién after the team lost three of its first four matches in the Spanish league

In a country obsessed with beauty pageants, basketball and boxing, the Philippines women's team hope to ignite interest in football when they make...

If Kirk Cousins is done for the year, who should the Vikings go after to replace him?

Alabama’s first winning streak this season offers promise as it pursues offensive consistency

Opening-day results can set the tone for a season. Sometimes they don’t, however. Aston Villa’s heaviest defeat at the start of the season in almost four decades may have looked like an anomaly when they were destroyed by Newcastle. It certainly did eight days later. A game later, Villa have wiped out their goal difference. Hammered one week ago, today they inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Toffees. Everton were eviscerated. If there was a deceptive scoreline now, it was because the margin flattered Sean Dyche’s hapless team. They take the place at the bottom of the league that Villa had occupied: unlike them, they could stay there. Villa were terrific. Play like this and it is tempting to wonder how much higher a team who surged from relegation contention to seventh last season can go. Certainly, the ambition that accompanied Unai Emery’s appointment is reflected on the pitch. There was a speed of foot and thought, a sharpness and a style, an evident enthusiasm to suggest that the Spaniard’s impact will not be confined to his first few months. An eighth straight home win – the sort of statistic Everton can only dream of – came with a sense of normality. Villa Park now expects a side brimming with energy and ideas to secure this kind of result. They played with a confidence to bely three setbacks: the loss at St James’ Park and the loss of Emi Buendia and Tyrone Mings. But Emery’s rebuilding job has taken on an auspicious look. Pau Torres cruised through his home debut. Moussa Diaby almost marked his with a stunning goal – Jordan Pickford excelling to turn a thunderous volley onto the post – and was still only the second most impressive former Bayer Leverkusen winger. Youri Tielemans was limited to a cameo: Villa’s midfield options are such that he may have to wait a little longer. But much of Emery’s brilliance has been reflected by his inheritance and how he has altered perceptions and results. Bailey has been an inconsistent presence, an expert at flattering to deceive in his first two seasons in the Midlands. An assist and a goal were allied with razor-sharp running. Bailey was a catalyst in a way he had been too rarely. The merits of Emery’s narrow 4-2-2-2 formation were shown by the first goal: one of the tucked-in, attacking midfielders crossed for the other to score, Bailey picking out John McGinn to finish from four yards. It is a system that also gives Villa a surfeit of players in the centre of the pitch and they cut through Everton; too easily, too often. There was a sense that Dyche’s team were too slow to react to everything, perhaps summed up when Pickford clattered into Ollie Watkins, rendering Nathan Patterson’s goal-line clearance from the striker irrelevant. Douglas Luiz has replaced Watkins on spot-kick duty – perhaps another illustration of Emery’s attention to detail and certainly rewarding a player transformed under his tutelage – and he converted from 12 yards. And yet, well-coached as Villa are, slick as some of their moves were, two of their goals stemmed simply from Everton errors. Maybe they were frazzled by Villa’s verve and relentlessness. There could be a few other excuses for Michael Keane’s twin mistakes: first, he only redirected a throw to Bailey, who dispatched a half-volley. Then, worse, came a wild swing at thin air, allowing Jhon Duran to run on and score a first Villa goal, 50 seconds after the introduction. It may have been especially welcome. Villa are well-stocked in several positions but not for out-and-out strikers. Watkins, who did everything but score, lacks a high-class deputy. His young understudy accepted the opportunity. Another substitute was more ill-fated: Philippe Coutinho was hamstrung and in considerable pain. Injuries have been Everton’s constant companion in recent years. On a day when virtually everything that could go wrong did, it was perhaps unsurprising that Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s comeback lasted a mere 37 minutes with the striker hurt after colliding with Emi Martinez. Alex Iwobi went off, too, while Idrissa Gueye’s removal was probably to stop him being sent off. Everton could argue last week’s loss to Fulham offered encouragement, in the number of chances created. This offered none, a side devoid of organisation and fight showing no quality. Maybe there was a deceptive element to their start, too: it could be worse than being beaten by Fulham at Goodison Park implied. Read More Eddie Howe relishing selection dilemmas as Newcastle prepare for packed season Aston Villa suffer another blow as extent of Tyrone Mings knee injury revealed Ashley Young embracing challenge of turning things around for Everton

The Nevada Supreme Court plans to soon hear the NFL’s appeal of a crucial ruling denying a request to move former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden’s lawsuit against the league into closed-door arbitration

Many in the Muhammad Ali business believe that the boxer never fully recovered from his comedy fight with a wrestler in Tokyo. It was the summer of 1976; Ali was the world heavyweight champion, and some men in Japan came up with a financial package for Ali to meet renowned wrestler, Antonio Inoki. It was scheduled for 15 rounds of three minutes, and it was for the ‘heavyweight martial arts championship of the world’ belt. Sound familiar? It was, trust me, not the joke you thought it was. For a start, it was meant to be a fix, a rigged encounter with blood, comedy, action and a classic wrestling twist. Ali got wind of the fix and refused to attend rehearsals. The plan was simple: Ali would beat Inoki senseless for six or seven rounds, the wrestler was prepared to cut himself with razor blades and then, because of all the blood, it would be stopped in Ali’s favour. At that point, with Ali’s hand raised and 20,000 Japanese fans howling, Inoki was meant to jump on Ali’s back and pin him. Glorious stuff – Ali rejected it. It came at a crucial time in Ali’s career. He had just stopped Richard Dunn in Munich to retain his heavyweight title; Dunn was dropped repeatedly, and they were the last knockdowns Ali ever scored. He fought seven more times, in six world title fights, but never dropped another man. He met men like Ken Norton, Leon Spinks, Larry Holmes and Earnie Shavers in that period; everybody in the Ali business came to regret each awful fight during that time. The hidden injuries from the Inoki farce added to the decline. The Inoki circus was conceived and sold as a safe way to make $6million and not get hurt; neither thing happened. At a ‘contract-signing’ event the night before, which was available to fans at a price, they agreed it would be winner-takes-all. Ali also had four suites and 31 rooms at the best hotel in Tokyo; this was not a joke. “I can’t let boxing down,” Ali said before the fight. “He’s not used to taking hard shots to the head. The moment I go upside his head, it’s over.” Ali’s assessment is true, but the rules were not made clear. Inoki dropped to his back and chased Ali for 15 rounds from that position on the canvas. In total, Ali threw six punches and connected twice; it was repetitive and dull, with Inoki on his back kicking out at Ali. At the end, it was declared a draw. There was no grandstand wrestling moment and there had certainly not been a single quality moment of boxing. Ali’s legs were cut, bleeding and damaged from Inoki’s hard wrestling boots and the dozens of kicks he had sustained. It was the eyelets on the boots that caused the superficial damage; the real damage was hidden as ruptured blood vessels formed. Ali was told to rest the leg and get it treated before leaving Tokyo, but he had commitments in Korea and Malaysia; when he got back to America, he was hospitalised with blood clots and muscle damage. His left leg remained damaged until the end of his boxing career. Ali finished with about $2.2m dollars for the event; Inoki had been guaranteed $2m, but was paid just a fraction of that total. In Tokyo, in that ring, nobody won. It would be funny if the martial arts championship of the world belt was found and given to Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia in October. That would be cool. Incidentally, the fight was being shown all over the world on closed-circuit screens. In New York, outdoors at Shea Stadium, it was part of the night when Chuck Wepner, the inspiration for Rocky, met Andre the Giant in a wrestling ring. The Ali and Inoki fight was shown on big screens. What a time to be a fan. Anyway, back in 1976, Ali limped on, fighting from memory for too many people and for far too long, and Inoki, well, he became a genuine mixed martial arts pioneer and icon. The big lad was in front of all curves. Inoki died last year and fought for the last time in 1998 when he was close to 60. The man who busted Ali’s legs was far more than just a novelty act on the wrestling circuit. Read More Why Fury vs Ngannou may tarnish the Gypsy King’s legacy forever ‘Nonsense’: Anthony Joshua reacts to Fury vs Ngannou fight announcement Francis Ngannou to earn more in Tyson Fury fight than entire UFC career, says rep Why Fury vs Ngannou may tarnish the Gypsy King’s legacy forever The Independent’s pound-for-pound boxing rankings Don’t be fooled by Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte’s calm reunion

Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher tried to troll TCU for getting blown out by Georgia, apparently forgetting the Aggies didn't even make a bowl.The TCU Horned Frogs were the kings of Texas in the 2022 college football season, coming just one game away from being kings of the sport, ...