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All seriousness aside, the accused will have no trial, no last words, no blindfold, no last cigarette. And certainly no last-wish meal — “What are you out of?” is just a stall. They’re guilty; summary lifetime banishments for all of the below: • Courtside announcers who scream as if they have been electrocuted — and as if we’re equally thrilled — to see any slam dunk. • The fine folks…

CHICAGO – When the conversation about sports agents comes up, it starts with this man. He’s represented athletes in major sports for four decades and was the inspiration for the hit move “Jerry Maguire” starting Tom Cruise back in 1996. Leigh Steinberg is an icon in the sports agent business and he is in town for an event featuring former Bears’ defensive end and Super Bowl XX MVP Richard Dent….

11:45 PM ET print DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Thursday night’s Can-Am Duel qualifying races, the Artists Formerly Known as the Duel 150s, were destined to be a letdown. NASCAR’s new charter ownership system, documents that are still fresh off the lawyer’s printer, meant that 36 of the 40 starting spots for Sunday’s Daytona 500 were already locked up. Pole qualifying had locked up two more slots on the grid. So,…

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print Our experts weigh in on four of the biggest questions in NASCAR: Turn 1: Lots of chatter about the Sprint Unlimited being less exciting than in the past. Was it? And what, if anything, would you do to revamp it? Ricky Craven, ESPN NASCAR analyst: I don’t see how anyone can complain about the action, other than the car owners. With that said, from the drivers’ perspective, the race…

In the past few weeks, the Chinese Football Association Super League — the country’s premier professional soccer league — has been on a shopping spree. By the close of the January transfer window, the Chinese Super League had outspent England’s Premier League in the transfer market; the CSL made five of the six largest transfer signings in the 2015-16 window. The biggest splash came when the Jiangsu Suning shelled out…

NASCAR and Comcast (CMCSA), a second-year title sponsor, are going at full-speed to energize the XFINITY Series. Continue Reading Below Comcast’s XFINITY brand replaced Nationwide to headline NASCAR’s second-tier series. In its first NASCAR season, the cable TV provider focused on introducing itself to fans, said Matt Lederer, Comcast senior director of sports brand strategy. Now Comcast and NASCAR are teaming up to create a fresh look for the…

Rico Abreu crashed a Dale Earnhardt Jr. interview to snap a selfie with NASCAR’s most popular driver. His caption on Snapchat: “YES!!!!!! OMG Dale Earnhardt Jr.!!!!!” Abreu was a bustling burst of energy this week at Daytona 500 media day, crashing Q&As, and pulling up seats to chat up writers. On the red carpet, Abreu was a favorite — even as journalists had to take a knee to talk to…

Is NASCAR more fan-friendly to Christians than the National Football League? Yes, says a new study from a North Carolina organization. Raleigh-based Faith Driven Consumer publishes what it calls the Faith Equality Index, a scale of 0 to 100 that rates “how well brands acknowledge Faith Driven Consumers by welcoming, embracing, and celebrating them, and is the benchmark FDCs use to make consumer choices — €”through the lens of their…

The NASCAR season gets the green flag with Sunday’s Daytona 500. Here are a few predictions for what should be an extremely interesting season: Sprint Cup champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. was near the top of the standings for much of the 2015 season and might have advanced to the third round of the Chase but for an untimely caution that cost him a chance at winning at Talladega. He has…

Preparation is one of the most obvious yet most misunderstood aspects of learning soft skills. Imagine you’re heading off to lead a meeting, make an important pitch for your company, or have a difficult conversation. It’s obvious in these situations that you want to prepare yourself for what you’re going to do or say. But what we often miss when learning soft skills is preparing to manage ourselves – especially when we start to…

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Sebastian Coe is ready to ban Kenya’s track and field team from the Olympic Games in Rio if the country’s athletics federation is declared non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Agency code. Kenya last week missed a deadline to prove to Wada it was doing enough to combat doping and the IAAF president has confirmed he will impose serious sanctions on any nation guilty of attempting to cover up drug-taking. Related:…

You’ll probably be rubbing your eyes in amazement after watching this gravity-defying free kick from Malaysian soccer player Mohd Faiz Subri. The goal, which took place during a Malaysian Super League encounter between Faiz’s side Penang FA and rivals Pahang FA, resulted from a stinging shot the 28-year-old midfielder unleashed about 40 yd. from the net on the field’s left side. The ball somehow ended up in the top right…

<!– For a list of all the complete deals, check out the transfers page. Paris St-Germain forward Zlatan Ibramimovic, 34, could be heading to England. Asked about his future, he said: “I have another three months here and then what will happen? Big things will happen. Is the Premier League something I fancy. Let’s just say I’m in shape.” (Daily Mirror) Jose Mourinho, 53, has turned down offers from Italy…

To save articles or get newsletters, alerts or recommendations – all free. Don’t have an account yet?Create an account » Subscribed through iTunes and need an NYTimes.com account?Learn more » Need to connect your Home Delivery subscription to NYTimes.com?Link your subscription »

To save articles or get newsletters, alerts or recommendations – all free. Don’t have an account yet?Create an account » Subscribed through iTunes and need an NYTimes.com account?Learn more » Need to connect your Home Delivery subscription to NYTimes.com?Link your subscription »