The 25-year-old Argentina international has not played since October last year and underwent surgery in April. “Good news that Erik has stepped up and is in contention for tomorrow,” manager Mauricio Pochettino told reporters on Monday. “After more than one year it’s so important to start to feel again the emotion to play and compete, and of course (I’m) so happy because he’s going to help the team a lot....
He was given a lifetime ban in 2012 after admitting to doping offences following years of denial. Armstrong last year revealed he was “struggling with the consequences” of his public confession of doping. MORE: Paquiao has strange question for Miss USA | Serena survives | Sharapova, Bouchard set for Aussie showdown The 43-year-old, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles by cycling’s governing body, the UCI, told the BBC he would not use performance-enhancing drugs if he was competing now, but would most likely cheat again if he could go back 20 years....
The trio accepted bans – Smith and Warner for 12 months and Bancroft nine – for their roles in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in March. While Smith also lost the captaincy, Warner raised doubts over his own future with the national team, while coach Darren Lehmann stepped down. However, Langer – appointed on a four-year deal on Thursday – said the trio could return, if they were ready to meet his standards....
Police sources say detectives in the Organized Crime Intelligence Division conducted an unauthorized investigation of the chief, including surveillance of his trips to Las Vegas, then leaked their findings to discredit him. “This was a rogue operation to get rid of Williams,” says a police source. The source says that OCID detectives compiled a “dossier” on Williams’s Vegas activities, then passed the information to Stephen Downing, a retired LAPD deputy chief and dose associate of ousted chief Daryl Gates....
Protests sprang up around the U.S. in May after the death of George Floyd, who died while in the custody of Minneapolis police officers. Taking the spotlight in the protest was the Black Lives Matter movement which called for a defunding of police departments across the country. In July, the Los Angeles City Council voted to cut the LAPD’s budget by $150 million. Garcetti said the creation of the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) bureau represents a “big step forward” in the arena of police reform....
SB Nation, in an in-depth article surrounding the fiasco, reports that neither Tunsil nor Ole Miss want to take action against the hacker, for fear of future reprisal. Tunsil and Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze have the same agent in Jimmy Sexton. MORE: SEC preview 2017: Reason to be excited, skeptical for each team SB Nation reported that Tunsil and Ole Miss could easily report the hacker to the FBI or other law enforcement for extortion or black mail....
The offensive tackle was drafted No. 13 overall by the Dolphins after an all-time embarrassing slide, which, according to ESPN, cost him about $7 million. ESPN on Saturday confirmed loose reports from Thursday; the Ravens would have selected Tunsil at No. 6 had a video of the Ole Miss product smoking out of a mask bong not surfaced minutes before the draft began. Baltimore instead drafted Notre Dame tackle Ronnie Stanley....
Those U.S. Olympic jersey cans, Labatt told Peters, are available in Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, New Hampsire, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Indiana, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin. Those 16 states should get their own flag. Someone needs to figure out a way to drink one of those bad boys while wearing Ryan Miller's mask.
Labuschagne’s 215 helped Australia reach 454 against New Zealand on the second day in Sydney, and it made him the highest-scoring Australia batsman in a five-match home Test campaign. Harvey totted up 834 runs against South Africa in 1952-53, with Labuschagne going to 837 after his efforts in the matches against Pakistan and New Zealand. The feat earned Labuschagne praise from Harvey himself, with the 91-year-old telling the Sydney Morning Herald: “What he’s done has been very good....
After suffering a humbling 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Arrows in their first meeting, the Reds will be heading into the game with renewed determination after their goalless draw against Chennai City FC on Friday. Having beaten Shillong Lajong in their previous encounter, it will be interesting to see how Arrows handle themselves against Lajong after two back to back losses against Kingfisher East Bengal and NEROCA FC....
The reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River has water levels standing at 1,045.99 feet as of January 24. That’s a slight rise from the 1044.69 feet recorded at the beginning of January. The increase is likely due to the weeks of heavy rainfall that swept across California and Nevada in recent weeks. The storms came during one of the severest droughts the region has ever seen, and since 2000, most of the western United States has suffered as a result....
Coach Luke Walton characterized the soreness Russell has been dealing with as “day-to-day.” “Obviously, the more time you miss, the more serious it seems to be, but I’m not going to try to guess on that,” Walton told reporters before Tuesday night’s game (via the Los Angeles Times). “When the training staff and doctors and D’Angelo let us know he’s good to go, he’ll be back in there. Until they give us more information or we know more for certain, it’s day to day....
The NBA is reportedly planning for a 72-game regular-season schedule, which would begin prior to Christmas Day. James, 35, helped the Lakers to their first championship in 10 years after topping the Heat in the NBA Finals inside the Orlando bubble amid the coronavirus pandemic earlier this month. Lakers guard Green, 33, commented on the league’s plans for the upcoming campaign. “If we start in December, I think most guys [are like], ‘I’m not going to be there,’” Green told “The Ringer NBA Show” podcast....
The Lakers general manager made his third and, so far, biggest offseason acquisition on Friday when he signed free-agent big man Montrezl Harrell, the reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year, away from the rival Clippers. NBA FREE AGENCY: Signings, best available players Harrell, a client of Rich Paul’s Klutch Sports (which also represents LeBron James and Anthony Davis), reportedly agreed to a two-year deal worth $19 million with the 2019-20 NBA champs, turning down an offer from the Hornets for more money in the process....
Summer wins and losses matter little. There is a long list of current stars who were utter flops in summer appearances, when the games are a bit scattered, the refs are not NBA quality and the competition uneven. But for the Lakers, who have much at stake in the development and production of young players that made up their summer roster, the bunch was decidedly underwhelming. MORE: Classic photos of Kobe Bryant | Settling the Lakers vs....
Both teams have regularly contested for the league title in recent years and there was evidence of this growing rivalry, as the two sides went all out for the jugular and produced an exhilarating end-to-end encounter. Real Madrid had moved posted a hard-fought 2-1 victory away at Alaves on Saturday to move temporarily top of the table, while Sevilla’s 1-0 win over Leganes earlier on Sunday meant that Barcelona entered the clash with Atletico in third place and needed a victory to get back on track....
Chinese club confirm Rooney approach Discussions progressed smoothly over an extended and improved contract for the attacking midfielder, which contains the option of a further 12 months. An official announcement is expected within the next 24 hours. The proposal reflects the importance and influence of England’s Player of the Year to Jurgen Klopp’s objectives at Anfield, with Lallana long being one of the manager’s most trusted leaders within the squad....
But as great as he has been through 2 1/2 seasons, the Ravens quarterback has not found postseason success. He failed to throw a touchdown pass until the final 12 minutes of lopsided losses to the Chargers and Titans, and between those defeats he tossed three interceptions and lost two fumbles through the first three quarters. SN’s WEEK 11 PICKS: Straight up | Against the spread Jackson’s subpar performance against Los Angeles two years ago established an unfortunate narrative about his big-game play....
Linemen Bradley Bozeman and Ronnie Stanley shared videos of their watches on social media. The 22-year-old quarterback, who is the frontrunner to win NFL MVP this season, knows they have played a pivotal role in helping him lead the league with 36 touchdown passes through 15 games. MORE: Ravens will rest Lamar Jackson vs. Steelers in Week 17 From Ravens.com: “Jackson has taken just 23 sacks, which is the third-fewest of any quarterback who has started every game this year....
Now, they might be down to their backup quarterback for “days or weeks” as well, after Lamar Jackson suffered a knee injury during the final play of the first quarter. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that Jackson suffered a knee sprain on Sunday, leaving his status in doubt for “days or weeks” as head coach John Harbaugh said on Sunday. Jackson is scheduled to undergo more tests on Monday to determine the severity of the injury....
