World Sports

“ESPN is about sports.” It is “not a political organization.” That’s what ESPN president John Skipper said in a memo to staffers on Friday afternoon, after a bruising week for the sports network. Skipper’s memo came in the wake of anchor Jemele Hill’s calling President Trump a “white supremacist” in a series of tweets on Monday that triggered days of news coverage, criticism, and a presidential broadside against the network….

“Wait, did you just say you believe in the First Amendment and … wait, hold on, hold on,” she said. “I just want to make sure I heard you correctly as a woman anchoring this show. Did you say — what’d you just say? You believe in the First Amendment and B-O-O-B-S?”

ESPN’s Jemele Hill, center. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post) Americans have often identified sports as iconic and patriotic symbols of Americana. That’s especially true for America’s pastimes of baseball, NASCAR and football. And it’s why some sports fans don’t appreciate it when people within the sports world get political — particularly if their politics are viewed as liberal or anti-American. This week, sports, race and politics clashed in a way that attracted the attention…

x Embed x Share CLOSE Our Big Ten football power rankings for Week 3. With Ohio State losing to Oklahoma, who’s the class of the conference? By Brian Manzullo, DFP. Wochit Michael Fletcher of Carman-Ainsworth (Flint).(Photo: Rivals) One of the top two-sport athletes in the Midwest for the class of 2019 is Michael Fletcher of Carman-Ainsworth (Flint). The 6-foot-6, 235-pound defensive end already has multiple scholarships in football and basketball, and is…

In the 40 weeks we’ve been running this column, this was the jerkiest week of them all. Since last Saturday, the world of sports has been steamrolled by a circus train of freaks and imbeciles who have soiled the landscape with their despicable actions and deplorable behavior. A steady stream of clowns continues to emerge from the cesspool that runs beneath the world of sports, and this week…

A CNN segment about the White House call for ESPN to fire achor Jemele Hill after she called President Donald Trump a “white supremacist” on Twitter went off the rails this afternoon when Fox Sports Radio host Clay Travis was given the floor. “ESPN is not in the business of commenting randomly on political-related issues,” he began. So far so good. “They established about 18 months ago that their people…

My name is Dave Zirin. I’m a sportswriter. And I think Donald Trump is a white supremacist. The evidence for this hasn’t exactly been faint to the eye. It’s not just the president’s reticence to criticize torch-wielding Nazis wearing MAGA hats. It’s the man’s public life, a 40-year stretch that has spanned from being sued over racial discrimination, to creating a political base by denying the first black president’s citizenship…

Professional sports teams are becoming increasingly involved in technology and innovation. So much so that some franchises go as far as launching hubs dedicated to the investment and incubation of startups, in the hope that it will positively impact athletic and business performance. The list of professional sports teams with innovation labs includes FC Barçelona, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia 76ers—and now, English Premier League team, Arsenal F.C. LONDON,…

Jemele Hill, left, is the latest target of Trump’s tyrannical war on his critics. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post) My name is Dave Zirin. I’m a sportswriter. And I think Donald Trump is a white supremacist. The evidence for this hasn’t exactly been faint to the eye. It’s not just the president’s reticence to criticize torch-wielding Nazis wearing MAGA hats. It’s the man’s public life, a 40-year stretch that has spanned from…

Mara Abbott on her way to a solo stage victory in Stage 9 of the 2015 Giro Rosa. If I had known as a college freshman — entering into adulthood of honing pure excellence in my tiny sphere, with errors and triumphs and struggles all rolled in — if I had known this fate lay ahead, would I have traded my cycling career for a stronger hip? In August 2016,…

The Crossover is proud to offer our list of the Top 100 NBA players of 2018, an exhaustive exercise that seeks to define who will be the league’s best players in the 2017-18 season. Given the wide variety of candidates involved and the deep analytical resources available, no single, definitive criterion was used to form this list. Instead, rankings were assigned based on a fluid combination of subjective assessment and objective data….

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer comes out of Wednesday’s game after walking the bases loaded in the seventh. (Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post) The Los Angeles Dodgers’ recent swoon has put a few things back in play for the Washington Nationals: the top overall seed, the chance to become a World Series front-runner, home-field advantage in the playoffs. A three-game sweep this weekend, and the rest of this season would…

Caption Close The Warriors are heavy favorites to repeat as NBA champs for a simple reason: No team in the league can rival their stockpile of superstars. It was no surprise Thursday, when Sports Illustrated published the final part of its annual ranking of the Top 100 NBA players, that Golden State was well represented. Five Warriors players cracked the top 50, including four in the top 20, three in…

MPs on two parliamentary select committees have challenged Sports Direct over claims it is deliberately under-paying couriers by mislabeling heavy items, including bicycles, as lightweight packets to avoid paying the fair delivery cost. Frank Field, Labour MP and chair of the Commons work and pensions select committee, said he had written to Mike Ashley, the billionaire Sports Direct founder, to demand answers following concerns raised by a whistleblower at delivery…

Six years later, when Dr. Wadler testified at a House Government Reform Committee hearing about steroid abuse in Major League Baseball, he said that early drug testing by the sport had exposed an unacceptably high number of positive results. He excoriated M.L.B.’s testing policy as one “designed to silence its critics” but not strict enough to detect all possible drug abuse. “Why should we care?” he asked. “We should care…

Coverage of women’s sports is peppered with “disguised” sexism, according to new research. The 25-year study suggests dull, lackluster coverage makes female sports events seem less exciting than men’s – harming everything from women athletes’ salaries to ticket sales. Researchers found new segments on women’s sport are shorter, include fewer interviews and less entertaining commentary. And coverage of womens’ sports features matter-of-fact reactions which make female athletes seem less exciting,…

BASEBALL CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians won their 21st straight game on Wednesday, 5-3 over the Detroit Tigers, to set a AL winning-streak record and join only two other teams in the past 101 years to win that many consecutive games. Jay Bruce hit a three-run homer off Buck Farmer (4-3) and Mike Clevinger (10-5) won his fourth straight start as the Indians matched the 1935 Chicago Cubs for the…

Journalist Jemele Hill attends ESPN The Party on February 5, 2016 in San Francisco, California. ESPN had a great idea when it started The Undefeated, a strong daily foray into sports, race, culture and politics. Alas, that nexus is now rancorously exemplified by ESPN’s own Jemele Hill, an engaging show host who leaves no doubt what she thinks of President Trump. In a twitter storm, she wrote, “Donald Trump is a white…

SI.com’s Week in Wrestling is published every Wednesday and provides beneath the surface coverage of the business of pro wrestling. News of the Week WWE superstar Bayley is currently recovering from a separated right shoulder, but she has designs on re-entering the Raw women’s title picture as soon as she is cleared to compete. Yet she has grander plans than simply retaining the women’s championship. “I plan on headlining WrestleMania by…

Six years later, when Dr. Wadler testified at a House Government Reform Committee hearing about steroid abuse in Major League Baseball, he said that early drug testing by the sport had exposed an unacceptably high number of positive results. He excoriated M.L.B.’s testing policy as one “designed to silence its critics” but not strict enough to detect all possible drug abuse. “Why should we care?” he asked. “We should care…