Sports

11:34 PM ET ATLANTA — The narrative shape of the 2021 Atlanta Braves, the newly crowned champions of baseball, was not an arc, as fantastical tales tend to be. It was more like a wave chart, with ebbs and flows leading to one final tidal wave that began gathering momentum in early August and crashed

9:24 PM ET Associated Press Knicks Go is the early 5-2 favorite for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic this weekend at Del Mar. The two-day world championships drew 169 horses from eight countries, including 46 foreign horses to the seaside track north of San Diego. Del Mar is hosting for the second time in

8:00 AM ET Thomas Tuchel has been a game-changer in more ways than one since he took charge of Chelsea, turning them into Champions League winners within four months and taking them to the top of the Premier League after 10 games of this season. The former Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain coach has not

7:31 PM BST Beauden Barrett marked his 100th test with two intercepted tries to lead New Zealand to a convincing 54-16 win over Wales in Cardiff on Saturday. The All Blacks outscored their hosts by seven tries to one at a capacity Principality Stadium in another ominous reminder of their power as they went back

7:15 PM ET Associated Press MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Alex Bowman was the only driver celebrating after NASCAR set its championship four — and he’s not even racing for the title. Bowman picked up the victory Sunday at Martinsville Speedway in the final elimination race ahead of the winner-take-all season finale. Bowman wasn’t eligible to make

3:35 PM ET Glover Teixeira finally did it. At 42, the perennial light heavyweight contender defeated Jan Blachowicz by second round submission via rear naked choke in the main event of UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Saturday. Teixeira became the 14th undisputed UFC champion in the division and the oldest first-time

6:53 PM ET Associated Press SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — Taylor Pendrith of Canada got married two weeks ago and wasn’t sure what to expect out of his game. Once the weather cooperated, it proved to be better than ever Friday in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. Pendrith ran off five straight birdies at the turn and flirted

11:51 PM ET Associated Press WASHINGTON — Trae Young paused in the middle of his postgame comments, perhaps wondering if he was going too far — or sensing that he already had. “I don’t want to get fined too much, but it’s frustrating,” the Atlanta star said. There’s no telling how the league will receive

11:36 PM ET NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made a total of nearly $128 million via a combination of salary, bonuses and other benefits over the past two fiscal years, The New York Times reported Thursday night. According to the newspaper, the total was divulged at the just-concluded owners meetings this week in New York City.

7:49 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN When COVID took hold of the world in March 2020, it also greatly hampered sports, but perhaps none more so than boxing. After all, the fight game hinges on major live gates to deliver its truly marquee events. While the other major sports leagues experienced plenty of pauses and cancellations,

7:00 AM ET GROWING UP, Jordan Davis was obsessed with mythology. He devoured books about ancient Greece and studied the Egyptians. He still downloads TED Talks on everything from ancient civilizations to modern religion. His favorite stories were the Percy Jackson novels, about a boy who discovers he’s part god then goes on mystical quests,

7:00 AM ET We’re two weeks into the 2021-22 NHL season, and there have been many surprises in the early going — both positive and negative. Here is our updated ranking of all 32 clubs, plus the key takeaways that stand out most for each. How we rank: A panel of ESPN hockey commentators, analysts,

2:35 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” HOUSTON — Inside the training room of the visiting clubhouse at Minute Maid Park during Game 1 of the World Series, friends kept dropping by to apologize to Atlanta Braves pitcher Charlie

8:21 AM ET The soccer world was focused on a “Super Sunday” that saw Barcelona host Real Madrid (and lose) before Manchester United hosted Liverpool (and lost), with grudge matches between Inter Milan and Juventus as well as Marseille vs. Paris Saint-Germain. But the entire weekend delivered drama and talking points for Bayern Munich, Manchester

James Slipper described it as clunky; Dave Rennie said the performance was rusty and frustrating. Yet the Wallabies still made it five straight wins as they defeated Japan 32-23 to get their spring tour off on the right foot on Saturday afternoon. But no one should be reaching for the celebratory sake, particularly when far

7:14 PM ET Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kyle Larson drove to yet another victory, his ninth of the year and most meaningful to date in his new job with Hendrick Motorsports. Larson drove the No. 5 Chevrolet to victory lane at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, the 17th anniversary of a Hendrick plane crash

1:41 AM ET Shakur Stevenson talked up his intentions for weeks ahead of his title opportunity against Jamel Herring. He spoke about his goals to showcase his ability to be aggressive and do more than offer a second consecutive lackluster performance. On Saturday night, Stevenson backed up all of his talk and won the WBO

1:34 PM ET LAS VEGAS — One of the most interesting fight weeks of 2021 will come to its conclusion tonight, as Paulo Costa takes on Marvin Vettori in a light heavyweight bout at UFC Fight Night inside the Apex. This fight, of course, was supposed to take place at 185 pounds and have a

8:59 PM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — UCLA coach Mick Cronin is a winner even before the college basketball season starts next month. A 3-year-old filly co-owned by Cronin won the $63,000 feature at Santa Anita by three-quarters of a length on Friday. Sent off at 6-1 odds, So Very Smart paid $14.40, $6.40

11:07 AM ET Philadelphia 76ers All-Star guard Ben Simmons plans to meet with medical professionals for an evaluation after telling the team Friday that he wasn’t mentally ready to play to his expectations and needed time to step away, sources told ESPN. Simmons met separately with coach Doc Rivers, medical staff and teammates Friday morning