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It’s always about the money. When anyone says any different in modern professional sports, their noses not only start to grow, but readers, viewers and listeners scoff. Instead of playing what have become farcical games in talking about the money, it’s time to make open — and correct — references to contract numbers as a part of the process, from the instant an agreement is reached … or even sooner….

(CNN)From hotheaded outbursts to excessive partying and illicit steroid use, the world of professional sports has never been short of athletes courting controversy. Here are five sports stars making headlines for their antics on and off the courts: Bernard Tomic The 22-year-old tennis star, who is currently ranked 25th in the world, was arrested on Wednesday at the W Hotel in Miami after other guests complained about the noise coming…

If the New York Yankees jettisoned Brett Gardner, Alex Rodriguez and Chase Headley from the team’s roster, fans would likely revolt. What will viewers do now that ESPN has cut ties with three of its most singular voices? It’s no secret that ESPN has been bearing down on costs recently. While the Walt Disney-owned sports-media outlet is said to have bid aggressively –and subsequently failed – to keep radio host…

facebook twitter googleplus tumblr pinterest NASCAR heads to New Hampshire for racing in the Xfinity and Sprint Cup series on Saturday and Sunday, July 18-19. The race coverage for the Xfinity Series begins Saturday, July 18, with the Lakes Region 200. The green flag drops at 4 p.m. ET. Brad Keselowski is the defending champion. Kyle Busch (Nick Laham/Nascar Media) MORE: Busch wins race | Results | Chase standings The…

When a bastion of southern weekends says a symbol of hate is no longer good ‘ol country livin’, it should be clear the Confederate flag has no redeeming cultural value. If Nascar’s suggestion that the flag isn’t welcome at its races anymore wasn’t a robust enough message, then the words of their CEO Brian France should have made the point clear. “I personally find it an offensive symbol, so there…

South Korean goalie Kye Hoon Park took up ice hockey on the advice of an elementary school teacher. His teacher used to be an ice hockey manager. And Park used to get in fights all the time. “So my teacher was like, if you’re going to get in fights, then just play hockey,” a smiling Park said through an interpreter during a recent visit by him and two teammates to…

SAN JOSE — A scrappy bunch of young soccer players from San Jose — with barely enough money for food, equipment and travel — is making big noises in the world of national competitions, where primo teams are usually flush with sponsors, footwear, trainers and even special nutritionists. But the South San Jose PAC Indios, who dine at Costco and practice in a downtown dog park, have the kind of…

FRISCO, Texas (AP) South Korean goalie Kye Hoon Park took up ice hockey on the advice of an elementary school teacher. His teacher used to be an ice hockey manager. And Park used to get in fights all the time. ”So my teacher was like, if you’re going to get in fights, then just play hockey,” a smiling Park said through an interpreter during a recent visit by him and…

With now two wins in seven races it’s almost as if Kyle Busch never missed a large chunk of the season recuperating from serious leg injuries that put his year into question. But there Busch was celebrating a dominant performance that saw him lead the most laps Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway. He looked every bit the driver who now has 31 victories to his name, and is seemingly…

NASCAR has issued written warnings to four teams on the heels of the Quaker State 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend at Kentucky Speedway. The teams of drivers Casey Mears, Greg Biffle, Alex Kennedy and Brett Moffitt were all hit with warnings for issues in inspection. According to the Sprint Cup Rule Book, a team that receives two warnings during two consecutive events faces a P1 level penalty that could…

America’s success in the Women’s World Cup has revived talk that soccer is about to take off as a big-time sport in the U.S. (as optimistically envisioned in the name Major League Soccer). Well, the game — as now played by women and men — is never going to become massively popular in this country. I realized why after watching several desultory games. Futbol is un-American. Americans like…

Listen, we know it’s tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. There are all kinds of stories, rumors, game coverage and Vines of dudes getting hit in the beans every day. Trying to find all of it while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn’t easy. It’s OK, though, we’re going to do the heavy lifting for you each…

Behold the baseball glove: Talisman and totem, tactile symbol and wearable nostalgia, proof of the human race’s occasional bursts of genius. There is nothing in the world like a baseball glove, nothing so dear and perpetually near. Take it from the 12-year-old me. As a child, I read and saved every article on sports I could find, watched every game we could pull in with the antennae on our small,…

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CINCINNATI — There is no doubt. Not after another All-Star game MVP. Not when player after player and manager after manager rained down compliments on him. Not after he took Zack Greinke deep on the fourth pitch of the game —  the pitcher who hadn’t allowed a run in over a month.  Mike Trout is the best player in baseball. He is the reigning American League Most Valuable Player. He has…

From USA Today, here’s Bob Nightengale’s latest column on the possibility — and the logic — of baseball reverting to a shorter regular season schedule: CINCINNATI — It could be baseball’s most drastic scheduling change in more than half a century. It likely would assure that no one will ever break Barry Bonds’ single-season home run record of 73 homers. The record 262 hits by Ichiro Suzuki in 2004 likely…

Baseball is full of numbers and stats, but there’s one in particular that doctors say parents of young pitchers need to pay attention to – pitch count. It’s the number of throws a pitcher can make before he has to leave a game to protect his arm. Professional baseball players live by pitch counts to prevent injury, but chances are that when a child is on the mound, no one…

i Playing sports has always been important to 31-year-old Erik Johanson, a city planner in Philadelphia. Johanson thrived in baseball and ice hockey as a kid, he says — “one of the best players on the team in high school.” Today, Johanson is married and expecting his first child but is still passionate about ice hockey — and about winning. He plays on a highly competitive team of guys who…

It is boom times for professional sports team owners as they capitalize on their greatest financial advantage: DVR-proof programming in a fractured TV environment. Sports teams are awash in cash today thanks to multibillion-dollar media deals around the globe. The undisputed TV king in the world of sports is the NFL, which kicked off new network deals last year worth more than $5 billion a year, not including its $1.5…

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