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Colin Cowherd actually mentioned the late Dwayne Haskins as a former first-round quarterback who cannot win a Super Bowl...Where Colin was wrong...It is only Tuesday, Aug. 8, and we have just come across the worst segment national sports punditry will bequeath to us for the entire month. FS1...

NFL Rumors: Baker Mayfield "or" Kyle Trask will be Bucs starter this seasonLeave it to a conjunction to take down Baker Mayfield in Tampa Bay.The Bucs released their depth chart for the 2023 season, and one curious little word stood out to NFL fans and pundits: "Or."At ...

Bans for discriminatory abuse should at least match the sanctions imposed for betting offences, Anton Ferdinand has said. The former QPR and West Ham defender, who was racially abused by Chelsea captain John Terry during a Premier League match in 2011, challenged the game’s authorities to act tougher on discrimination, not just talk tougher. He also said the game’s executives should be the ones to instigate player walk-offs where there are instances of racism, rather than leave it to the players themselves. Ferdinand, who was speaking at an event at Wembley to mark the 30th anniversary since the launch of anti-discrimination group Kick It Out, said: “Football as a whole is very good at saying ‘all forms of discrimination are top of our list to eradicate’. But the actions don’t match the words. “How can it be at the top of the list to eradicate, but you can get an 18-month ban for betting and a four-match ban for racism or other forms of discrimination?” Four matches was the length of the ban Terry served in 2012 after the Football Association found he had abused Ferdinand, even though a criminal court had cleared Terry of the same offence. In contrast, Brentford forward Ivan Toney was banned for eight months in May for breaches of FA betting rules. Asked whether racism bans should be at least that long, Ferdinand said: “It should be around that. On the simple basis that if it’s the number one thing to eradicate, how do you eradicate things? There has to be a strong deterrent. “Right now there’s no accountability. A fan got banned for a long time (referring to a three-year ban issued to a Chelsea supporter for racially abusing Tottenham forward Son Heung-min). Is three years going to stop someone doing it? It might make them think, but is it going to stop them? No, I don’t think it will. If all of a sudden they can’t go and watch their beloved team again, they’re going to do more than think.” Asked if he meant life bans for fans, Ferdinand added: “If it’s the top of your list (to eradicate), why wouldn’t it be?” He also called for greater leadership from football authority executives when it comes to taking a stand against discrimination. Ferdinand said he had met with FA chief executive Mark Bullingham to discuss the issue. “As a player, if someone racially abuses us we’re not walking off the pitch. It’s not in us to do that,” he said. “We’re paid competitors. The thought process is: ‘If I walk off, they’ve won. This is what they want. They want me to walk off’. “I’m not saying it’s right, I’m just saying it’s the way we’re wired as footballers. To take that away, it can’t be just the player’s decision to walk off the pitch. “You can’t abuse the frameworks of an organisation, but you can abuse a player. I’m telling you now, if I’m in that changing room here at Wembley and Gareth Southgate’s going ‘Who wants to walk off?’ I’m not putting my hand up because I know what’s coming. “(The media) are going to find out who said they didn’t want to go out on the pitch, and what’s going to happen to that person? They’re going to get abused. Fact. “Whereas if Mark Bullingham goes in the dressing room and goes ‘Gareth, the players aren’t going on and we as the FA are going to make a statement that says we drew the players off, it was nothing to do with the players’ – that’s when we’ll start to see change.” Kick It Out published an Impact Report to mark its anniversary, which highlighted both the improvements over the last three decades and the challenges that still lie ahead. While 73 per cent of the more than 2,500 football fans surveyed for the report felt football was now more inclusive, even higher numbers remain concerned about the impact of online abuse on inclusivity and say more needs to be done to tackle discriminatory abuse in stadiums towards players and fans. Kick It Out chief executive Tony Burnett said the organisation is determined to tackle under-representation issues in the game, which first requires football to commit to providing transparent workforce data. Burnett said it was a “comforting lie” that society and football told itself that it was a meritocracy. Burnett and Kick It Out chair Sanjay Bhandari both spoke too about the importance of simplifying the process for reporting discrimination. Bhandari said there are currently more than 200 ways in which an incident of discrimination could be reported, and the Impact Report found only 18 per cent of fans who witnessed discrimination reported it. Despite the positive findings on inclusivity, Burnett said far more needs to be done to improve the culture. “It means having robust systems in place within football so that victims of discrimination are able to speak up and to feel supported appropriately,” he told delegates at Wembley. “It means having robust processes in place to ensure perpetrators are dealt with and not simply moved aside to continue spreading hate, no matter their status or their track record of success. A bully is a bully. A homophobe is a homophobe. And they should have no place in our game.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live We are sleepwalking into a disaster – PFA chief worried about demands on players Arsenal agree deal to sign Brentford goalkeeper David Raya Jack Conan remains injury concern before World Cup after missing Portugal camp

Football is “sleepwalking into a disaster” by adding ever more demands on players and forcing them to make drastic decisions about their careers, Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Maheta Molango has said. Premier League matches are set to last comfortably longer than 100 minutes on average in the season ahead after referees in competitions worldwide were instructed by the game’s lawmakers to more accurately measure time lost to stoppages. The approach was first adopted at the World Cup in Qatar last year where it was largely positively received, but Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and Manchester United defender Raphael Varane have already highlighted the impact of such a move across a long domestic season. Varane retired from international football at the age of 29 earlier this year, likening the demands of the top-level game to being in a washing machine, and said the new measure was “damaging” alongside an already-packed schedule of matches. Molango believes other players will feel they have no option but to follow Varane’s lead, and fears matters will get even worse when European club competitions expand from 2024-25 and the 32-team FIFA Club World Cup kicks off at the end of the same campaign. “What (Varane) is saying is, ‘this is not sustainable’. And it’s only the start of the problem because by next year, when we open the new cycle, it’s going to be absolutely crazy. We are sleepwalking into a disaster,” he said. “It’s getting to a stage where it’s not about us telling them to take action. It is that they want to take it themselves. So what we’re saying to the authorities is that you’re bringing this to an extreme. “It’s not going to be a question of the union saying, ‘do this or that’. It’s players themselves who are saying to us, ‘let’s do something’. “It’s not sustainable, it’s not manageable and if you don’t do something we’re going to be in trouble.” Figures released on Twitter by the EFL indicated that the average ball-in-play time for the weekend’s matches was 58 minutes, up from 50 last season, while added time signalled by the fourth official increased by 5.9 minutes on average. Molango was asked whether he thought the length of matches would gradually return to normal as players became used to the new approach. “We need to reflect on how we got to this point,” he said. “That’s why we said we need to have these discussions with the authorities. “Until you see how certain changes play out, then it’s difficult to assess. I don’t think a measure that was applied for a tournament that lasts for a month can just be extrapolated immediately to an entire season.” It's not sustainable, it's not manageable and if you don't do something we’re going to be in trouble PFA chief executive Maheta Molango Molango said a “significant number” of players had raised concerns over the change in approach on added time when taken together with the congested calendar, and added: “After this weekend’s Shield (I had players) contacting me within hours of the end of the game. “And again, not about, ‘we’ve lost the game because of this’ and finding excuses. It was about the issue. That’s how smart they are. They’re seeing the bigger picture. They are saying, ‘if we, as two teams who love playing and don’t want interruption, don’t waste time, have eight minutes added at the end of the game, I don’t want to think what will happen to the teams that actually do waste time’. “And if you add those minutes, then by Christmas you have played five more games on top of the 70 you already play.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Bans for racism should match those for betting offences – Anton Ferdinand Arsenal agree deal to sign Brentford goalkeeper David Raya Jack Conan remains injury concern before World Cup after missing Portugal camp

Arsenal have agreed a deal to sign Brentford goalkeeper David Raya. The PA news agency understands a fee of £30million has been agreed for the 27-year-old Spaniard, who is reported to be signing a five-year contract. Raya will provide competition for established number one Aaron Ramsdale and the England international welcomes it. “Bring it on. Nothing comes easy in football. At the same time you need to move along and adapt as well,” Ramsdale told ITV Sport. “I’ve done it to other people when I’ve moved clubs so I’m not going to be thinking that it’s never going to happen to me. “If it happens, it happens and then we’ll fight and we’ll make each other the best version of ourselves because that’s what the manager is telling us as well. “And I’m sure whoever plays, me or whoever comes in, the goalkeeping union – people laugh at it but it’s a real thing – (means) your individual disappointment will go away. “You will put the team first and you’ll put that goalkeeper first as well.” Raya’s arrival will also signal the departure of United States goalkeeper Matt Turner to Nottingham Forest in a deal which could be worth up to £10m.

Dan Lanning's Oregon Ducks were able to flip former four-star USC commit Dakoda Fields away from Lincoln Riley's Trojans on Monday night.With Oregon heading to the Big Ten as well, the Ducks' budding rivalry with the USC Trojans is only just getting started.Oregon and Washingt...

Colin Cowherd listed Dwayne Haskins among quarterbacks who can't win a Super Bowl.

The Atlanta Braves were relatively quiet at the trade deadline, but as rosters expand at the beginning of September, they should consider some minor-league additions.With Atlanta general manager Alex Anthopoulos holding onto the majority of his MLB-ready prospects at the MLB trade deadline, it w...

In an interview, NBA Jam creator Mark Turmell explained how anytime the Chicago Bulls played the Detroit Pistons, the game was rigged.Turmell, the man behind "He's on fire!" and "Boomshakalaka!, revealed a bias against the Chicago Bulls that was so powerful that it actually m...

Day two of the 2023 Leagues Cup, Round of 16 saw two more teams punch their tickets into the Round of 8. I hate to disappoint you if you were expecting high-scoring games like the Inter Miami and FC Dallas match.There were only two matches for this portion of the 2023 Leagues Cup, Round of 16 du...

New Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk understands why some sections of the fanbase are heading into the season apprehensive about what it may bring but he does not share their concerns. There is growing unease over the club’s failure to recruit a defensive midfielder following the sale of Fabinho to Al-Ittihad and manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted he will have to find a quick fix from within the squad for this weekend’s opener at Chelsea. After the departures of Jordan Henderson, also to Saudi Arabia, James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain there is little left of the core midfield which helped win the Champions League and Premier League in recent years. It means forward Cody Gakpo could be asked to drop back while £35million summer signing Alexis Mac Allister is likely to be deployed in the deep-lying role – which does not play to the Argentinian World Cup winner’s strengths – with fellow new arrival Dominik Szobozslai expected to make his Premier League debut. The club’s stuttering pursuit of Southampton’s Romeo Lavia, who could fill the Fabinho role despite being only 19 and having made just 29 appearances in one top-flight season, has led to criticism from the likes of former Reds defender Jamie Carragher. But as Van Dijk embarks on his maiden campaign as captain, having inherited the armband from Henderson, he remains confident they can find the improvements necessary to get back into the top four and challenge Manchester City and Arsenal. “I can definitely understand it (fans’ negativity) in some ways but I’m not a very negative person, so obviously it’s not in my mind to think like that,” he said. “But obviously when a lot of players are leaving, when your captain is leaving, your vice-captain is leaving, and at the moment there are only two incomings… “And the way we have been playing, in possession really good but defensively when you concede goals it’s not as good I can understand some people having doubts. I can understand some people having doubts... but I’m not a very negative person so obviously it’s not in my mind to think like that Virgil van Dijk “Let’s see if more players are coming in and then we have to be ready again for a long season. It will be very tough if we look at the teams around us, but we want to be up there again, we want to be challenging again.” The loss of the majority of their midfield has not only left Liverpool short on numbers but also on experience, with 1,318 appearances in the middle of the park disappearing over the summer. While Mac Allister, 24, has made 98 Premier League appearances for Brighton, the 22-year-old Szobozslai has just 62 Bundesliga games to his name in two seasons with RB Leipzig, although his consistently high numbers were one of the reasons Liverpool made their move. Other realistic midfield options currently available are Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic, who have not featured in pre-season as they continue to recover from injuries sustained last season. There is the 24-year-old Gakpo, with 21 league appearances in four months after joining in January, and academy graduate Curtis Jones, aged 22 with 63 league outings. Van Dijk sees the loss of senior players as an opportunity for others to take up the mantle. “We have to be confident, we should be confident and we should still be learning each and every day,” he added. “There have been characters leaving, players who have played a big part in the success, but others have to step up. “That’s a nice challenge in my opinion. We should be excited. I’m very excited, so let’s give it a go.” Van Dijk himself is typically relaxed about his promotion to captain but knows he is following on from the ultra-successful Henderson, who lifted the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Club World Cup. “Obviously we won everything together, and I was very sad to see him leave to be honest but that’s football, that’s life, and he has the right to do that in this case,” said the Dutchman. “He made that decision but if I can be as successful as he was as a captain then I would sign (up) for that immediately. “It’s step by step. I’m looking for consistency from our side, winning games, winning them the hard way at times, finding a way and creating a positive atmosphere where we all do it together. “That’s how I want to attack the season and give everyone the assurance that we give everything for one another. Hopefully we will be successful.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Joe Roberts could make Wales debut in next World Cup warm-up clash with England Hull KR captain Shaun Kenny-Dowall hoping to top off career with Wembley win Key questions answered as Robert Helenius steps in to take on Anthony Joshua

Pittsburgh Steelers fans better hope Kenny Pickett becomes more efficient in the red zone.Kenny Pickett is a promising quarterback, but the Pittsburgh Steelers will need him to execute at a higher level in the red zone to help get this middle-of-the-pack AFC team over the top here soon.Mark ...