World Sports

5:23 PM ET Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email print comment What made Bill James, the father of modern sabermetrics, so effective as a writer? There are plenty of plausible answers, from the revolutionary nature of the way James interpreted statistics in the 1980s to his way with words and biting wit. In the last edition of his “Baseball Abstract” series, however, James offered a different explanation. “The secret of the success…

Media playback is not supported on this device England manager: Wenger, Pochettino, Howe and Pardew on vacant position Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and Tottenham counterpart Mauricio Pochettino say they are open to managing England in the future. The Football Association is searching for a new England boss following Sam Allardyce’s departure after 67 days. Asked about taking the job, Wenger, 66, said: “One day, if I’m free, why not?” Pochettino,…

x Embed x Share When Toyota killed its Scion division, it brought aboard the FR-S and renamed it the 86. USA TODAY”s Chris Woodyard talks about the fun sports car. The Scion FR-S is now the Toyota 86. Same car — with improvements(Photo: David Dewhurst Photography) OJAI, Calif. — The what? The Toyota 86 will be instantly recognizable to anyone who keeps tabs on fun sports coupes as the Scion…

PRO FOOTBALL HOUSTON (AP) A person familiar with J.J. Watt’s condition said the Houston Texans’ star defensive lineman had back surgery and is expected to miss the rest of the season. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team hasn’t announced the surgery. Watt was placed on injured reserve Wednesday with a back injury. It’s his second back surgery in two months after he…

Jose Aldo’s decision to request his release from the UFC and essentially walk away from his mixed martial arts career was years in the making and resulted from what he believes was a repeated pattern of disrespect. Globo revealed the news Monday that Aldo was unhappy that he hadn’t gotten a rematch with featherweight champion Conor McGregor and planned to walk away from the sport that had made him rich…

Arsene Wenger is the longest-serving – and most successful – overseas manager in England Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says he would be open to managing England in the future, but his current focus is with the Gunners. “One day, if I’m free, why not?” said Wenger, 66, when asked about the role. The Frenchman celebrates 20 years at Arsenal on 1 October and his contract expires at the end of…

PRO FOOTBALL HOUSTON (AP) A person familiar with J.J. Watt’s condition said the Houston Texans’ star defensive lineman had back surgery and is expected to miss the rest of the season. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team hasn’t announced the surgery. Watt was placed on injured reserve Wednesday with a back injury. It’s his second back surgery in two months after he…

Some of the sports stories The Associated Press is covering Thursday. A full Sports Digest will be sent by about 3 p.m. All times EDT: – CHASKA, Minn. – Dustin Johnson says it’s best to have a short memory at the Ryder Cup. The U.S. meltdown at Medinah four years ago has not been discussed, nor has the two decades of futility against Europe. – CHASKA, Minn. – Lee Westwood…

Out athletes, sports icons and allies gathered this week in New York City to support LGBTQ representation in sports and to honor those making unprecedented strides for inclusion. The third annual Athlete Ally Action Awards arrived at a transitional time for LGBTQ people in the sports world. The NBA’s first openly gay player, Jason Collins, has retired, and while the collegiate sports world has seen its fair share of newly…

Ellie Downie won the Young Sports Personality of the Year award in 2015 After an incredible year of sport, you now have the chance to nominate your Young Sports Personality of the Year. The winner of the award will be announced during this year’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year, which will come live from the Genting Arena, Birmingham, on Sunday, 18 December. Nominations will form a shortlist, with a…

On Sept 7 he met the reporter and Mr McGarvey – who was not aware of the reporter’s true identity – at The Botanist bar in Sloane Square, west London. After a discussion about how many days he would need to be away from the UK on each trip to Singapore, he said: “It depends what the cheque says, you know? It just depends what has to be done, but…

Where there’s brass there’s muck, and where there’s muck there is usually a rake. The Daily Telegraph’s exposure of England’s football boss, Sam Allardyce, was just about fair within journalism’s code of conduct. There was prima facie suspicion of wrongdoing and no other way of securing evidence. The former Football Association chairman David Bernstein when asked about corruption in football this morning kept saying that “nothing is proven”. But that…

IF THE summer of 2016 was one of British sporting triumph, the autumn is becoming one of scandal and suspicion. Britons barely had time to celebrate Team GB’s performance in Rio de Janeiro, where it finished second in the medal table in both the Olympic and Paralympic games, before receiving embarrassing news. On September 27th “Big Sam” Allardyce, the recently appointed manager of the mediocre but beloved England football team,…

Now, if that draws a blank for you, as it did for me, then don’t worry. But my guess is you may be older than 35 and not into your gaming. COD stands for Call of Duty, the big daddy of shoot-’em-up video games. And this year’s world championships took place in Inglewood, California. Turns out Dave was leaving a party full of real live people on a sunny afternoon…

The two images were overpowering and beautiful for vastly different reasons. They were two separate home runs in separate games a continent apart. They were two magical moments that signified vastly different endings: One of a career, and a life that goes on after 67 stunning years calling America’s game; the other a farewell to an entire life, over suddenly and too soon, a moment of love and sorrow and…

Media playback is not supported on this device Sam Allardyce: Ex-England boss says ‘entrapment has won’ Ex-England boss Sam Allardyce has said “entrapment has won” after newspaper allegations led to him stepping down as manager of the national side. Allardyce left in disgrace after just 67 days after The Daily Telegraph said he advised undercover reporters posing as businessmen how to “get around” player transfer rules. He said it was…

The skateboarding community worships Brian Anderson as a god, but for many years kept his sexuality a secret from nearly everyone in his life. Our guy Reda sat down with Brian and some of his closest friends to talk about being gay in the professional skateboarding industry and why he chose now to come out.

Looking to surf the mobile web privately, but generally prefer the Google Search app over standalone browsers like Safari or Chrome? Then you’ll appreciate the latest update to the Google Search app for iOS, which now introduces an “incognito mode” that you can further protect using Touch ID, along with a host of other changes. While private browsing has long been an option in most browsers, Google’s search app has been…

BASEBALL MIAMI (AP) Investigators are trying to determine whether Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez was at the wheel of his sportfishing boat when it slammed into a jetty in the early-morning darkness, killing him and two others on board. The three men died when the 32-foot SeaVee slammed into rocks jutting off the southern tip of South Beach at about 3:15 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s…

BASEBALL MIAMI (AP) Investigators are trying to determine whether Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez was at the wheel of his sportfishing boat when it slammed into a jetty in the early-morning darkness, killing him and two others on board. The three men died when the 32-foot SeaVee slammed into rocks jutting off the southern tip of South Beach at about 3:15 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s…