After the Patriots' preseason opener against the Texans, here are three potential players New England could cut.The New England Patriots suffered a 20-9 loss to the Houston Texans in their first preseason game of the year.Gillette Stadium was brimming with fans waiting to see which rook...

LONDON (AP) — Every summer, British royals and thousands of others get dressed to the nines for Royal Ascot, a glamorous annual horse racing event that dates back to 1711, when Queen Anne founded Ascot Racecourse in southern England.

Bryson Stott crushed the second grand slam in Philadelphia Phillies postseason history and Aaron Nola tossed seven shutout innings in a performance worthy of a postseason ace that led to a 7-1 win and a two-game sweep over the Miami Marlins in their NL Wild Card Series

Defender Lucy Bronze revealed England would have failed to live up to their own expectations had they not reached the World Cup semi-finals. Alessia Russo guaranteed the Lionesses would finish no lower than fourth in the 2023 tournament when her second-half goal completed a 2-1 comeback against Colombia in Saturday’s quarter-final to set up Wednesday’s meeting with co-hosts Australia. Third place would see England equal their best-ever finish from eight years ago in Canada, but Bronze insisted reaching this stage for the third time in the European champions’ history was the bare minimum. “If we hadn’t have gotten to the semi-final, I would have said that we would have underperformed,” said Bronze. “A lot of people said that England were the team that were going to flop a little bit. Our performances haven’t been our best, granted, but the results have been there and we’ve got to the semi-final, which is what this England team is known for doing. “This very much reminds me of 2015, having to fight in every single game. “I think the difference with this team is we have won trophies, we have won tournaments, so we do know what to do. “We knew coming into the tournament that it wasn’t going to be easy. There was a lot of outside noise about whether England was going to be able to cope well with everything thrown at us…and the semi-final is what is expected of us as the England team.” Bronze, alongside Alex Greenwood, is one of just two members of the 2023 squad to have featured in three consecutive World Cups and is second only to Jill Scott in World Cup appearances for the Lionesses, with 18 to the retired midfielder’s 21. The 31-year-old made history during her first global showpiece in 2015, when her 76th-minute effort made it 2-1 against Norway in their last-16 encounter and secured England Women’s first-ever victory in a World Cup knockout stage. Four years later, again against Norway, Bronze unleashed another stunning strike, capping off the Lionesses’ 3-0 quarter-final victory in France to book a second trip to the semi-finals. To say the Matildas have captured Australia’s imagination en route to their first-ever final-four encounter would be selling short the fervour taking hold Down Under. Saturday’s dramatic penalty shootout victory over France was watched by over 7.2 million people in Australia, over a quarter of the country’s population. Co-host broadcaster Seven said the audience was the “highest rating TV sport program of the past decade”, while “the 472,000 viewers on 7plus makes the Matildas v France game the biggest streaming event ever seen in Australia”. England had a taste of the environment they are likely to face on Wednesday when they lined up across from a Colombia side that enjoyed the overwhelming majority in the Stadium Australia stands, a sea of yellow who booed when England touched the ball and unleashed an almighty roar when Leicy Santos scored the opener. Lauren Hemp cancelled it out by half-time, while Russo provided the lethal blow after the break to eliminate the only side from the Americas left in the tournament. While being the home side does have its advantages, as Bronze knows from last summer’s Euro 2022 triumph, she was quick to point out the potential pitfalls facing the Matildas come Wednesday night’s historic encounter. She said: “(There are) positives and negatives for being the home nation and for being the team against. “It can be a lot of pressure to put on teams. I remember playing Canada in 2015 in that World Cup and there was a lot of pressure put on that team and it gave them a lot of fight. “It was the same thing for us in the Euros last year. The ’12th man’ as they say, it really helped us. “It was a key part to us winning and I think that’s been a key part for Australia when their backs have been against the wall this tournament. (For us) it wasn’t hostile but the Colombians were very loud, so that’s something we’re used to now.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Adrian Lam: Sky is the limit for Challenge Cup winning Leigh Leopards Kylian Mbappe set to return to PSG squad after ‘positive discussions’ – reports Eddie Howe relishing selection dilemmas as Newcastle prepare for packed season

According to Bill Simmons, it seems like Zion Williamson may have played his last game in New Orleans. There have been tons of rumors saying that Williamson will end up being traded this off-season. What does this mean for the Pelicans? How likely is this situation?Appearing on his podcast, he s...

Track and field is introducing new rules and a “short track” format for races run on 200-meter tracks which have traditionally been in enclosed arenas and referred to as “indoor” events

VIDEO: Toilets on fire at the Dallas Cowboys stadium.

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Gareth Southgate believes the fight against racism in football may have reached a defining moment as the fall-out from the abuse levelled against Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior in Valencia last weekend continues. The England boss has led calls for stricter punishment since his side came close to walking off the field after some players were subjected to racial abuse during a match in Bulgaria in 2019. Vinicius threatened to leave the pitch in the second half of Sunday’s LaLiga match at the Mestalla after being subjected to alleged monkey chants from the crowd and Real Madrid, who said the incident constituted a “hate crime”, filed a complaint with the Spanish State Attorney General’s Office. In response, Valencia were given a partial stadium ban for five matches plus a fine of 45,000 euros (£39,000) – a punishment the club called “totally disproportionate”, while Valencia head coach Ruben Baraja vowed to lead the fight back against what he described as “smears”. Southgate said: “It is a disgusting situation. I think it is so bad that it looks like it is going to force change. I am hoping there will be something positive to come from it. “If anyone suggests to me we don’t have a problem in society with racism then there is another example of what we are dealing with, and more examples of people burying their heads in the sand, quite frankly. “Hopefully it is a story that doesn’t just disappear in 24-48 hours without there being some significant change.” The action by the Spanish football federation (RFEF), who order that Valencia shut the Mario Kempes south stand, where the alleged abuse happened, for five matches, was strongly criticised by the club, who vowed to appeal. That criticism was echoed by Baraja in a prepared statement prior to a press conference on Wednesday, in which he stressed he was “absolutely against racism”, but added: “I am not going to allow the Valencia CF fans and Mestalla to be smeared with labels that do not represent us. “Just as a player rightly fights back against insults and I support that with all my might, we as a club and a fanbase rebel against those who, during the days since the game, have accused us of being what we are not.” Earlier, Valencia had issued a robust statement against the ruling, saying: “Valencia CF wishes to show its total disagreement and indignation at the unfair and disproportionate penalty imposed by the competition committee on the club with the closure of the stand for five games. “Valencia CF wants to publicly denounce that in this resolution of the RFEF competition committee they show evidence that contradicts what the national police and LaLiga say. “In addition, this sanction is based on evidence that the club has not been able to see and without giving us a hearing. Valencia CF will appeal to the last instance the closure of the stand, a sanction that it considers totally unfair and one more offense in the latest disciplinary decisions that have been taken against the club Valencia official statement “Valencia CF has condemned, condemns and will condemn in the most energetic way any act of racism or violence. These behaviours have no place in football or in society and we will continue to act in the most forceful way to eradicate this scourge. “For this reason, Valencia CF is collaborating from the first minute with the police and all relevant authorities to clarify the events that occurred last Sunday. “In addition, it has applied the maximum possible sanction with the expulsion for life from our stadium to the fans that the police have identified for their racist behaviour. “For this reason we consider that penalising and depriving all the fans who were not involved in these unfortunate incidents from seeing their team is a totally disproportionate, unfair and unprecedented measure against which we will fight. “The fight against racism requires the real commitment of all the parties involved without using it as a pretext to incur serious injustices. “Valencia CF will appeal to the last instance the closure of the stand, a sanction that it considers totally unfair and one more offence in the latest disciplinary decisions that have been taken against the club. Valencia CF asks for the utmost respect and rigour for our institution and fans.” In announcing the punishment against Valencia, the RFEF said in a statement: “The competition committee has sanctioned Valencia CF with the partial closure of the Mestalla stadium for five matches, more specifically the Mario Kempes south stand, following the events that occurred during the league match between the local team and Real Madrid CF. “It is considered proven that, as reflected by the referee in his minutes, there were racist shouts at Vinicius, a Real Madrid CF player, during the aforementioned match, altering the normal course of the match and considering the infractions very serious.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Jos Buttler excited to be part of Lancashire’s Vitality Blast campaign No regrets for Eddie Jones as he relishes Twickenham return with Barbarians LTA’s fine for banning players contributes to operating losses of £9.5million