Second-ranked Michigan goes on the road for the first time when it visits Nebraska on Saturday

The Iceman became the Ironman of IndyCar

The Chicago Bears have a glaring need at running back. Enter disgruntled Colts RB Jonathan Taylor, who could be acquired for below normal market value.In what is quickly becoming standard practice, the Indianapolis Colts are refusing to pay their star running back. Jonathan Taylor is 24 years ol...

Stephen Kenny has brushed off speculation over his future as Republic of Ireland manager amid a tide of criticism in the wake of a disastrous start to the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign. Kenny woke on Sunday morning to reports he could be replaced following Friday night’s 2-1 defeat in Greece, which left his side without a point from the first two fixtures and with their hopes of making it to the finals fast receding. However, despite seeing England Under-21s manager and former Ireland international Lee Carsley, Ghana boss Chris Hughton and Sam Allardyce linked with his job, Kenny remained bullish ahead of Monday night’s must-win fixture against lowly Gibraltar. Asked if he expected to be in charge for the remainder of the campaign, he said: “Yes, I definitely do. My contract is up to the end of the campaign and whether it’s renewed will depend on how people feel the campaign went overall, but certainly I fully expect to be. “We want a positive result tomorrow and that’s firmly what I’m focused on.” Anything other than a win over Gibraltar, ranked 201st by world governing body FIFA, some 152 places below Ireland, would simply fuel the fires of those who want a change of manager. Asked if anything less was unthinkable, Kenny replied: “In terms of European Championship qualification, yes, it is, yes.” It is not the first time during the three years since he replaced Mick McCarthy at the helm that Kenny has found himself in the firing line, and that clamour would increase significantly if his team did not come out on top – and handsomely so – on Monday evening. His background, unlike recent predecessors Giovanni Trapattoni, Martin O’Neill and McCarthy, is largely in the League of Ireland, and the success or otherwise of his attempts to play an enterprising brand of football has been a topic for debate throughout. Asked how he maintains his optimism in the face of such a backlash, Kenny said: “It’s irrelevant, to be honest, it’s irrelevant, I just really focus on developing the team and preparing the team for tomorrow. “There is a lot of criticism, some of it justified, and I have to accept that. Likewise some of it inaccurate, that’s the nature of it. From my point of view, I’m not fixated with it. I’m just firmly focused on what we have to do and just focused on the task at hand, which is managing this group of players. “We’re not perfect, but I really believe in the players. I know people have other viewpoints, but I believe in the players. “We wanted to win against Greece, we didn’t win. That’s a reality. If we had won the other night against Greece, everything would have been on track, we’d have been going into the Gibraltar game with everything great. “Now because we didn’t, it’s a catastrophe, and I do get that, but we’ve got to focus on tomorrow and Gibraltar, make sure we are ready.” Kenny has no fresh injuries, but has indicated he will make changes, one of which will see Wigan midfielder James McClean wear the captain’s armband as he wins his 100th cap.

Shohei Ohtani made more history, becoming the first starting pitcher since 1964 to reach base five times in a game as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-5

Northern Ireland saved their best until last as they ended a miserable Euro 2024 qualifying campaign on a high note with a 2-0 win over Group H winners Denmark. Second-half goals from Isaac Price and Dion Charles got Windsor Park roaring again as Northern Ireland recorded only their third win of the year, and the first against anyone other than San Marino. The match was effectively a dead rubber – Northern Ireland’s hopes of progressing to next summer’s finals were over by the summer while Denmark booked their ticket with a 2-1 win over Slovenia on Friday night – but this was a much-needed win for Michael O’Neill’s men after a testing few months. The injury problems that have plagued them from the very start continued to the bitter end with Daniel Ballard ruled out of this one, but the young players O’Neill has had to lean on so heavily should take great encouragement from a win over the top-ranked nation in Group H. Victory came thanks to two fine goals. On the hour, Jamal Lewis spun away from his man and ran down the left, playing the ball inside to Dion Charles who shuffled it on to Shea Charles. The Southampton man then saw the run of Price, whose shot beat Kasper Schmeichel at his near post. Then with nine minutes left Conor McMenamin, just on as a substitute, burst down the left, beat Crystal Palace’s Joachim Andersen and played a low ball across goal for Dion Charles to sweep home. At the other end, it was a good night too for Conor Hazard. O’Neill had been unhappy with how the Plymouth goalkeeper had conceded the second goal in Friday’s 4-0 loss to Finland, but the stand-in stopper came up with two big saves in the first half here, then another in stoppage time. O’Neill had made three changes from Friday’s heavy defeat. Ciaron Brown replaced the injured Ballard, Dale Taylor came in for Ross McCausland and Shea Charles returned from suspension at the expense of Jordan Thompson. As they did in Helsinki, Northern Ireland began well, and they were gifted a golden opportunity eight minutes in when Rasmus Kristensen’s poor header fell into the path of Dion Charles only for the Bolton striker to see his shot rattle the far post. Eoin Toal then headed wide from a deep cross, but gradually Denmark, sporting seven changes from Friday’s win as Kasper Hjulmand assessed some of his squad players, began to exert control and the spark went out of Northern Ireland’s performance. Hazard watched Morten Hjulmand’s half-volley fly over the crossbar before Mohamed Daramy cut in from the left to hit a shot which perhaps struck Paddy McNair on the arm although the Middlesbrough man, wearing the captain’s armband, had his hands across his chest. Hazard made a reaction save to deny Andersen from a corner, and then used less orthodox methods to keep out a long-range effort from ex-Chelsea man Andreas Christiansen, diving to his right and then kicking it clear after it took a deflection off Toal. The crowd had gone quiet as Denmark bossed play, but it all changed in the second half. Toal had headed narrowly wide from a Lewis cross just before Price finished off Northern Ireland’s best move of the night, perhaps of the entire campaign, to wake Windsor Park from its slumbers. Denmark substitute Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg blasted a shot wide soon after, but McMenamin then came off the bench to tee up the decisive second. After Hazard made another good save to deny Jonas Wind, the match-winner in Copenhagen back in June, in stoppage time the final whistle was greeted with a huge cheer as the frustrations of a long campaign were expunged. Read More Northern Ireland keen to go out on high note against Denmark – 5 talking points England continue unbeaten Euro 2024 qualifying run with victory over Malta Michael O’Neill urges Northern Ireland to stick to plan Finland put Northern Ireland to the sword in Helsinki Jarell Quansah keen to become ‘top centre-back’ after Liverpool breakthrough On this day in 2004: John Toshack becomes Wales boss on five-year deal

Paris Saint-Germain's Japan tour started with a whimper on Tuesday as they played out a 0-0 draw with Cristiano Ronaldo's...

How much does it cost to attend the NBA Draft?

Bahrain's Kemi Adekoya, who was stripped of the 2018 title for doping, won Asian Games 400m hurdles gold on Tuesday while Olympic champion Liu Shiyang crashed...

11 players with the highest xG in the 2023/24 Champions League prior to the November international break.

Charles Oliveira has admitted that he ‘bluffed’ about having an injury in a bid to change the time and place of his title fight with Islam Makhachev. Oliveira will challenge Makhachev for the UFC lightweight belt in Abu Dhabi in October, 12 months after the pair clashed for the title in the same venue: the Etihad Arena. In their first fight, Makhachev submitted former champion Oliveira to win the vacant gold, and now the Brazilian will try to avenge that loss to the Russian. However, it looked at one point like Oliveira might not be fit to compete in October, leading some fans to wonder whether Makhachev would defend his title in Abu Dhabi at all. But now Oliveira has revealed that he was not injured – or, at least, not as badly as he had suggested. “What changed is that I just learned how to play. Now I’m playing,” the 33-year-old said on The MMA Hour on Monday (7 August). “What I knew was that the UFC was planning to maybe have a fight in Brazil in November, so I was trying to push it to November. “I was just playing with them. Obviously it didn’t work, so now I’m fighting in October, but that’s what I was doing: I was bluffing.” Oliveira bounced back from his loss to Makhachev by knocking out Beneil Dariush this June. “Do Bronx” previously held the lightweight title from May 2021 until May 2022, before being stripped of the gold. Oliveira was stripped of the title after narrowly missing weight, the day before his scheduled defence against Justin Gaethje. The Brazilian went on to submit Gaethje and set up his first fight with Makhachev. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Don’t sneer at the boxing crossovers – they’re lucrative, successful and here to stay ‘Boo if you’re a virgin’: Jake Paul mocks crowd after beating Nate Diaz Dillian Whyte vows to prove his innocence after doping test ‘adverse finding’

With the Wild Card beginning today and matching two AL powerhouses, here are 3 things I'm watching at Tropicana Field.