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As the youngest of the kids who sneaked water from the well to create a hockey rink on the Vachon family’s dairy farm in tiny Palmarolle, Canada, Rogatien Vachon was destined to become a goaltender. Using homemade sticks, with a couple of lights illuminating the ice and cows as their audience, they’d play from morning until night. It was glorious: just them and the elements, no coaches to criticize them….

Justin Simmons produced a 126-inch broad jump and 40-inch vertical at the 2016 NFL draft. The analysis of such numbers tends to be overblown, but teams will tell you that they matter. And lest you doubt it, look no further than Simmons’s incredible play to help Denver swipe a win in New Orleans on Sunday. Seconds after Drew Brees threw a brilliant touchdown pass in traffic to Brandin…

Gregg Popovich began with an apology. “I don’t think my voice is that important,” replied the San Antonio Spurs coach when asked his views on the US election. But then, over the course of six impassioned minutes, one of the greatest coaches in the NBA history sank the verbal equivalent of multiple three-pointers from mid-court. “I’m sick to my stomach,” he sighed, his voice now quivering with anger and a…

“Fondue, you’re a half-orc too,” says Jeff Davis to Dan Harmon on the animated, live improvisational Dungeons & Dragons show “Harmonquest.” “We’re like buddies from Brooklyn,” says Harmon, whose character name is Fondue Zoobag, a half-orc ranger. “It’s like ‘Entourage,” says guest star Paul F. Tompkins. His character name is Teflonto. And so on. Yes, the experience of playing D&D invites silly, non-stop banter. Thankfully, shows like “Harmonquest,” which debuted this summer,…

Joey Logano won the drama-filled Can-Am 500 Chase elimination race at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday, keeping his 2016 Sprint Cup title hopes alive. Logano held off a bevy of challengers on second green-white-checkered overtime finish to win the race at PIR in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. Kyle Busch finished second to secure the only other available berth in the Championship 4 group that will race for the…

There was no shortage of star power on display Sunday in Pittsburgh. And the fans came out in record numbers to see the 7-1 Dallas Cowboys take on the Steelers at Heinz Field. The crowd of 67,737 was the largest in Pittsburgh history to watch an NFL game. With Cowboys rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott on one side and Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown on the other, the draw…

NEW YORK — A five-round battle that was later awarded ‘Fight of the Night’ at UFC 205 still had a slightly disappointing ending after Tyron Woodley and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson was declared a majority draw. One judge gave Woodley the fight 48-47, but the other two judges scored it 47-47, which means the fight was a draw. Woodley retains his welterweight title, but obviously he doesn’t get any real resolution with…

NEW YORK — Conor McGregor made history on Saturday night when he became the first simultaneous two-division champion in UFC history by knocking out Eddie Alvarez in the second round of their fight at UFC 205. All week long, leading up to the historic event at Madison Square Garden, McGregor had been asked numerous times about a huge announcement that he had teased, but he failed to address in his…

According to a report by Motorsport.com’s Jim Utter, Monster Energy is one of the finalists to replace Sprint as NASCAR’s Premier Series title sponsor next year and beyond. Yesterday morning, I asked a NASCAR official about Monster and got a polite “no comment,” which is normal when negotiations are ongoing and a number of companies could potentially be in the mix. There have been plenty of companies rumored to be…

At the conclusion of the Can-Am 500 at Phoenix International Raceway today, we will be one race away from the retirement of Tony Stewart from the Sprint Cup Series. As the season has progressed and the news of Stewart’s retirement has been known throughout, his teammate Kevin Harvick doesn’t feel that the tracks and people around NASCAR have done enough to properly honor the three-time Premier Series champion. “It’s not…

The legend of Shohei Otani continues to grow. Otani, the best baseball player in the world outside MLB, managed to crush a baseball that got lodged in the panels of the Tokyo Dome roof Sunday. Japan was playing the Netherlands in a World Baseball Classic exhibition game. To the action footage: Alas, the ball was not ruled a home run. It was deemed a ground-rule double. It surely would have…

NEW YORK – UFC 205 will be remembered mostly for what happened in the cage. Conor McGregor made history with a brilliant performance against Eddie Alvarez, winning the lightweight title with a second-round knockout before a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden. That made McGregor, who entered the bout holding the featherweight title, the first man in UFC history to hold two belts simultaneously. But it should be remembered for…

RELATED: Race results | Chase Grid   AVONDALE, Ariz. — It was just another routine Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway for Kyle Busch. But nothing else in the Ticket Galaxy 200 was at all ordinary.   All the drama unfolded behind Busch, as eight drivers scrambled for four positions in the NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase’s Championship 4 Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway.   Busch led 190 of 200 laps on the…

When you get right down to it, sports is pretty terrific. OK, maybe that isn’t much of a bombshell to drop here, in the middle of reams of pages of sports stories. If you’ve come this far in the section, or on our website, it probably is because you already think sports is pretty terrific. But here’s the thing: We can do better. Sports can do better. Every once in…

What we too often expect from people we wouldn’t — couldn’t — expect from ourselves. Take the running back on a sweep toward either sideline (now called “the edges”) late in a game, his team winning and eager to keep the clock moving. A force of defenders forces him out of bounds, stopping the clock. Almost invariably, the TV and radio commentators then scold him for “not staying inbounds.” Really?…

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor tries to make UFC history Saturday against lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez when he tries to become the promotion’s first ever simultaneous two-weight champion. McGregor is coming off a majority decision win over Nate Diaz at UFC 196 and is eager to add yet another record to his long list of accomplishments in the UFC. He’ll take on lightweight Eddie Alvarez, who won the belt from…

RELATED: Chase Grid | Chase Bubble Watch Practice 3 recap | Results | Best consecutive 10-lap average Kyle Busch led final practice in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway. Busch turned a fast lap of 136.358 mph in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on the 1-mile track where Sunday’s Can-Am 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will determine the final two…

Gunmen attacked a bus carrying players and officials of one of South Sudan’s top-flight soccer clubs, killing the driver and injuring six others. The Confederation of African Football says the Young Stars team was traveling from the capital Juba back to their hometown of Torit when the attack happened. CAF says the club chairman was among the injured. It says the gunmen were unidentified. The Young Stars…

Olympic legend Usain Bolt is considering a post-running career in soccer, according to The Guardian. The 30-year-old Jamaican is a big Manchester United fan and said he has been talking with people about playing soccer, also saying that he will train with Borussia Dortmund. He is set to spend two days training with the Bundesliga club in the coming weeks, and will “see what happens.” Bolt is one of the…