List of All Articles with Tag 'eppersons'

Dutch rider Lorena Wiebes sprinted to victory in Tuesday's third stage of the women's Tour de France with Belgian teammate Lotte Kopecky holding...

Zach Johnson says having tough decisions in filling out a 12-man Ryder Cup team is a good thing

Boxing in the morning.

Damar Hamlin has sent out a message of support to the family of LeBron James, after his son Bronny suffered a cardiac arrest during a basketball workout. James was taken to hospital from his session at the University of Southern California (USC), where he has since been released from intensive care and is in a reportedly stable condition. Buffalo Bills safety Hamlin suffered a similar incident in January when he suffered a cardiac arrest following a tackle in an NFL match against the Cincinnati Bengals. On that occasion he needed CPR on the field and was hospitalised for over a week before his release, while support was shown to him and his family from all sides of any sporting divides including from fans and fellow athletes. Now Hamlin has turned to the supporting role to offer strength to the James family, as they deal with Bronny’s scare. “Prayers to Bronny [and] The James family as well,” he sent on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. “Here for you guys just like you have been for me my entire process.” Following up a response to his initial post, Hamlin added he had been “on that mission” to ensure defibrillators were available at every practice session at schools throughout the country. Hamlin was cleared to resume sporting duties in April and has stated his intention to return to the field. For 18-year-old James, being confirmed in a stable condition will be the first step towards his own recovery. LeBron James became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer earlier this year, when he overtook Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s tally of 38,387 career points. Bronny is set to star for USC Trojans next year, with an expectation he could be drafted into the NBA in future - with father LeBron having expressed his desire to appear on the same court together, be it on the same team or as opponents. Bronny’s younger brother Bryce, 16, is also touted as a potential future NBA prospect.

Jaylen Brown has agreed to a five-year $304 million supermax contract extension with the Boston Celtics that will

Friends and colleagues of Craig Brown said their goodbyes to the late former Scotland manager in Ayr on Tuesday. Brown died at the age of 82 in hospital last month after a short illness and the remembrance service took place at Ayr Racecourse, following a private family funeral. Brown was the last man to lead Scotland to a World Cup finals, taking charge of the team in France 25 years ago. Some of the Scotland players who played under him such as Jim Leighton, Tom Boyd, Gary McAllister, Murdo MacLeod, Tosh McKinlay, John Collins, Colin Hendry and Darren Jackson were in attendance along with former national team managers Andy Roxburgh and Alex McLeish. SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster and chairman Murdoch MacLennan were joined by SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell. Derek McInnes of Kilmarnock, Aberdeen’s Barry Robson and Tony Docherty of Dundee were among current Scottish club managers present along with West Ham manager David Moyes. Other well-known figures from Scottish football such as Willie Miller, James McFadden, Archie Knox, Jim Jefferies, Billy Stark, Jimmy Bone, Jocky Scott and Dick Campbell attended the service. Brown is survived by his two sons, Hugh and John, and his daughter, Val, all of whom spoke eloquently about their father. In an emotional eulogy, Val catalogued her father’s life and football career and his love of quoting statistics. She also recalled his brief foray into the world of pop music when he was a player at Dundee in the 1960s. With tongue in cheek, she said: “Strangely, dad was very proud of having a hit single as one of five Dundee FC players who formed the famous pop group Hammy and the Hamsters. With their hits ‘She Was Mine’ and ‘My Dream Came True’ I am told they were the best boy band this side of Broughty Ferry.” Son Hugh thanked the audience for “the incredible love and support, it is overwhelming and heart-warming” before he spoke with some humour about his father’s “tough love”. He said: “I think it would be fair to say we endured old-school discipline at home so in all honesty we were absolutely delighted when he decanted to his beloved Largs for the summer (for SFA coaching courses) leaving mum and the three of us to get on with it. “We didn’t have fancy holidays as kids but we had good manners drummed into us – John has forgot some. “Good grammar was very important but we had the best sports equipment. He was a football fanatic who couldn’t cook, wash, iron or do anything domestically and he struggled to relax really until later in life – but a wonderful man. We were all so proud of him.” Son John spoke about his father’s love of entertaining an audience: “Dad didn’t let the truth stand in the way of a good story. He would far rather tell a beautiful lie than a boring truth.” Brown, a former schoolteacher, also led Scotland to the European Championship in 1996 and was involved in a coaching capacity at three other major tournaments. The Glasgow-born former Rangers and Dundee player managed Clyde before his international coaching career, which also included leading Scotland Under-16s to a World Cup final and the under-21s to a European semi-final. Brown was manager of Scotland from 1993 until 2001. He later managed Preston, Motherwell and Aberdeen before becoming a director at Pittodrie.

If you asked the average person to name their favourite day of the week, they would not name Tuesday. Monday, while generally considered to be loathed, is actually enjoyed by many for the buzz it brings; Wednesday is ‘hump day’; Thursday is the new Friday; and Friday ushers in the weekend. But Tuesday? What does it actually offer? Fifty times out of 52, not very much – I’ll grant you that. But twice a year, Tuesdays are transformed. And they are transformed by Naoya Inoue. Sometimes, the best boxer in the world fights in Tokyo, as he did this week and in December. Sometimes, he fights in Saitama, as he did last June. He has also fought in Yokohama, and even Las Vegas and Glasgow. But nowadays, the constant is that Naoya Inoue fights on Tuesdays. It is not a day on which we are accustomed to seeing the pageantry and ceremony of world title fights, but if you haven’t joined the club already, you will need to start navigating that foreign feeling and turning on your TV, opening that fresh tab on your laptop, or turning your phone horizontally. You need to tune in. You need to tune in because, twice a year on Tuesdays, Inoue produces the closest thing to boxing mastery that you will see. You might have had that same thought while watching Tyson Fury in recent years (on a Saturday), Oleksandr Usyk (also on a Saturday), or Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (always on Saturdays), but the reality is that those modern greats are being eclipsed in the ring. Across the Pacific Ocean, for our US friends, and around the Arctic for those in the UK, Inoue is consistently delivering masterclasses. Inoue is a former light-flyweight, unified super-flyweight, and undisputed bantamweight champion. The Japanese is a magpie, however, and the glint of each piece of gold has quickly given away to an obsession with a new trophy. On this particular Tuesday, the 30-year-old – aptly nicknamed the “Monster” – fixed his gaze on the WBC and WBO super-bantamweight titles. It was a flight into new territory, to a higher branch on the tree than Inoue had yet landed. Yet, despite fighting at such a high weight class for the first time in his career, Inoue took Stephen Fulton to pieces. In the process, he took everything from the American – his world titles and his unbeaten record. Against a man accustomed to this weight, Inoue bullied Fulton, beating him to nearly every punch, matching the 29-year-old’s power while exceeding his speed and becoming a four-weight world champion. Fulton, a talented, accomplished, unbeaten boxer fighting a smaller man, frankly looked scared. The risk of entering Inoue’s range, of inviting the challenger to unload his offence, seemed too great, even to a man who has beaten every boxer to have stood across from him. The thing is, Fulton was right to be scared. Despite Inoue’s natural weight disadvantage, the home fighter absorbed Fulton’s best shots – on the rare occasions that they landed – and fired back with faster, more spiteful strikes. In Tokyo on Tuesday, there was a strong argument that Fulton did not win a single round. And after seven of them, it became a moot point anyway. Inoue jabbed the champion in the gut, then speared him with a right cross to the face – seemingly before his left fist had even been retracted. Fulton, fighting outside his native US for the first time, might as well have been back home; it did not matter, because he did not know where he was. As he stumbled back in a disorientating daze, Inoue showed no mercy. The very moment that Inoue realised he had Fulton hurt, he pulverised the champion with a left hook. To call it clinical would be fair, if such a word did not ignore the ugliness of the blow. Fulton, to his credit, went some way to regaining his senses, climbing from the canvas, beating the referee’s count, and answering his call. Perhaps he should not have. Within seconds, he was cornered, overwhelmed by a swarm of hooks, his legs giving out beneath him. As Fulton slumped towards the canvas, the referee saved him. Inoue had already climbed the corner after the first knockdown, celebrating the inevitable. And Inoue is inevitable. Even as he made his walk in the Ariake Arena, he exuded the air of a boxer who may just retire unbeaten – just moments before facing what should have been his toughest test yet. The Japanese has been No 1 on Indy Sport’s pound-for-pound list for some time now, with the best knockout percentage (22 from 25 unanswered wins) of any fighter in those rankings, and he does not look like he will be displaced. If he is not at the top of your list, or near that summit, or even in your rankings at all, then chances are you haven’t tuned in to Tuesdays With Naoya Inoue. This is as good as boxing gets, and that is written with the knowledge that one of the fights of this generation – Errol Spence Jr vs Terence Crawford – awaits this weekend. In future, don’t wait for Saturdays. The best boxer in the world fights on Tuesdays. Read More Spence vs Crawford time: When does fight start in UK and US this weekend? Another boxing robbery: Maxi Hughes deserves justice for heist that shames the sport George Kambosos reacts to ‘robbery’ claims after controversial win over Maxi Hughes

The Boston Celtics and Jaylen Brown finally agreed to terms on a supermax contract extension, which is officially the richest contract in NBA history.The Boston Celtics fell just short of a miraculous comeback in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat. From there, it was onto the o...

Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown has agreed to terms on a five-year supermax contract that will pay him up to $304 million

A federal judge says she's not changing her decision to let NFL Coach Brian Flores put the league on trial over claims that he and other Black coaches face discrimination

Bronny James, son of NBA superstar LeBron James, was hospitalized after going into cardiac arrest while participating in a practice at Southern California on Monday

For edge-of-the-seat drama in golf's four majors, pick another year