data-mm-id=”_jasx0fh2r”>This has been, without a doubt, the weirdest baseball season ESPN's Jeff Passan has seen in his nearly two decades of covering the sport. In wasn't all that long ago that fans tuned in for his early-morning updates on the labor talks and vacillated between hope for a season and guarded pessimism that one would never materialize. Yet here we are, on the first day of expanded playoffs after a 60-game sprint, made staccato by positive tests and daunting logistics. To borrow from a high schooler's yearbook quote, it's been a long, strange trip. One now entering a new leg. Passan, who told The Big Lead that he's learned he could survive without baseball, but that his life is exponentially richer with baseball in it, is part of the ESPN famili…

data-mm-id=”_2txbwz9yv”>The Buffalo Bills were on the cusp of their first playoff win since 1995. The Indianapolis Colts were trying to ruin their party. The Colts were driving down the field trailing by three, with the score at 27-24. Indy converted two straight fourth downs when Philip Rivers completed a pass to wideout Zach Pascal to put them nearly within field goal range. Paschal caught the pass, then got up and appeared to fumble while being tackled by Bills safety Jordan Poyer. But the officials called him down by contact. For some reason, an automatic review was not triggered and Sean McDermott had to sprint up the sideline to call a timeout. He did so barely before Indianapolis got the snap off, and the review was under way. It was clear as day that Pascal had gotten up and fu…

data-mm-id=”_lw1j5w4mr”>Juan Soto could be in a different uniform before the trade deadline. It seems impossible that we've come to this moment, but here we are. On Saturday, Ken Rosenthal reported for The Athletic that Soto rejected the Washington Nationals' latest gigantic extension offer worth $440 million over 15 seasons. It's an unholy amount of money even for a 23-year-old superstar/Scott Boras client, and Rosenthal said the Nationals figure he'll never sign in Washington for the long-term if he didn't sign that contract. Which is an understandable train of thought. With that in mind, the Nats are going to see if they can trade Soto for significant assets by this year's deadline. Per Rosenthal: Juan Soto is available. The All-Star outfielder recently…

data-mm-id=”_js7iuas63″>Threads, Meta's so-called Twitter Killer, opened up its doors to the unwashed public last night, making a strong first impression and — according to Mark Zuckerberg — surpassed the 10-million user mark in just a few hours. There are certainly some issues to be ironed out but it feels very safe to say that, of all the Twitter-inspired clones, this one has the most momentum and could accomplish its goal of making the bird app even more unappealing. Obviously, allowing users to only see posts from those they follow and establishing some sort of real-time connectivity so it can be used as a news service will improve the experience. One figures a halfway conscious company would understand this and implement these changes once everyone gets preferences so it&…

data-mm-id=”_1laznxjc9″>Atlanta Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia has found himself at the center of some on- and off-field drama during the division series against the Philadelphia Phillies. He made some relatively benign comments about about Bryce Harper following the Braves' Game 2 victory while the locker room was packed with reporters and was frustrated that they got out. Then in Game 3 he could only watch as Harper homered twice and stared him down while rounding the bases. As expected, Phillies fans are giving him the business as Game 4 plays out and Arcia tries to stave off elimination. And it's far from a one-sided conversation as the crowd's main target is giving it right back to them with great animation. Orlando Arcia giving it back to Phillies fans pic.twitter.…

data-mm-id=”_5oycmmuye”>Tommy DeVito has been starting at quarterback for the New York Giants and sort of Tim Tebow-ing his way to victories. But did you know that he's also Italian? It's a storyline that's gone mysteriously uncovered during his little run and we hope to learn more about this in the future. DeVito has continued to use his arm and legs with some measure of success in one of the Monday Night Football games against the Green Bay Packers and this impressive scramble set up a go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter. And wouldn't you know — ESPN found his friends in the family in the stands for a reaction shot. They did not disappoint. The Devitos and Tommy's agent 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/QShGkcKWxH— CJ Fogler accoun…

data-mm-id=”_ahgiugs2d”>There are some things that can only happen in Florida. Usually, they require a Florida Man or Florida Woman to be the main character, but sometimes you just need a good old fashioned Florida gator, which is exactly who is the star of this video. This alligator was determined not to let anything get in its way, not even a speeding golf cart! pic.twitter.com/jcDQTP7Qli— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 27, 2024According to TMZ, this took place on February 16 in Maria, Florida. A woman was recording video of an alligator walking between her and her neighbor's fenced in pools when two golf carts drove by. The first one was blissfully unaware that there was a gator headed to a pond. The second cart sped by and got a shocking surprised as the gator took off, caus…

data-mm-id=”_f97fn9csq”>Imagine, if you will, that the Boston Celtics are like the eye of a hurricane. Then imagine the storm surrounding them is made up of takes rather than rain, thunder, and lightning. Takes flying at high speeds about Jayson Tatum's clutch factor and the team's inability to get their act together when the game is close in the final minutes and whether Kristaps Porzingis is built for playoff basketball and the functionality of Jaylen Brown's left hand against locked-in defenses . No matter what the Celtics do, whereever the eye wanders, they bring the storm with them. It's been that way all year. The 2023-24 Boston Celtics are the perfect lightning rod for the hot take industry. And that has become even more apparent in recent days after they ble…

data-mm-id=”_l5zm0qkwl”>Winners of three of the last five Super Bowls, the Kansas City Chiefs have set the NFL's championship standard in the post-New England Patriots dynasty era. Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid have replaced Tom Brady and Bill Belichick as the league's new power duo.Where the Chiefs have fallen woefully short is off the field with their workplace conditions and offerings. In the NFL Players Association's 2024 survey, Kansas City's own players were so critical of the franchise that it ranked 31st among the league's 32 teams. They gave the team an "F" grade in four of the 11 categories, including training staff.RELATED: Tom Brady's NFL broadcast debut reviews are in with a mixed bag of bad and goodLinebacker Kyle Van Noy discovered…

Transfer journalist Rudy Galetti believes Bruno Guimaraes is expected to leave Newcastle United in the summer transfer window.

Guimaraes has been outstanding for the Magpies since joining them for around £35million in January 2022.

Bruno Guimaraes expected to leave Newcastle this summer

He is now worth £73m, as per Transfermarkt, , which expires in 2028.

Despite Eddie Howe s reliance on the Brazilian international, the Newcastle boss may lose him this summer.

The Premier League club have billions at their disposal but cannot spend as freely as they would like due to the financial fair play rules.

This means they may be forced to sell one of their star players, which will most likely be Guimaraes or striker Alexander Isak.

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