«Always exciting to see innovative ideas like the proposed Dugout Loop to @Dodgers Stadium that could help ease congestion on our roads and make our most iconic destinations more accessible to everyone.» - Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles mayor, via Twitter On Wednesday, The Boring Company, Elon Musk's infrastructure and tunnel-digging outfit, announced via Twitter its proposal to build a 3.6-mile tunnel that would connect Dodger Stadium to the L.A. neighborhoods of Los Feliz and East Hollywood. According to the company's site, the proposed «high-speed, zero emissions, underground public transportation system,» dubbed Dugout Loop, would connect to the city's Red Line and transport a maximum of 16 people at a time to and from the historic ballpark in under four minutes. Musk & Co. can already count Eric Garcetti as a fan. The L.A. mayor tweeted his support (seen above) and expounded on it further in an interview with ESPN. "This not only will solve traffic issues to and from the stadium, but it will give an econ

Discounting the one-week damage two September losses (2014 and 2017) to the Chiefs did to the Patriots’ invincibility aura, their infallible perception hasn’t been tested like it has been so far in 2018.For the first time, a looming expiration date on New England’s dominance is materializing.The not exactly far-fetched ESPN story, the still-unexplained Malcolm Butler fiasco, Tom Brady staying away from team headquarters for as long as possible and an underpaid Rob Gronkowski’s justifiable resentment toward the franchise’s M.O. represent unusual hiccups for the NFL's gold-standard operation. This still may not matter.The AFC is as weak as it’s been since the mid-1990s, and there doesn't appear to be a slew of potential obstacles impeding a third straight Patriots Super Bowl appearance. Bovada lists six NFC teams among its top eight title favorites. It's a good time to be the most reliable AFC contender.A confluence of circumstances — Antonio Brown’s ill-timed injury, the Jesse James «catch» reversal, Marcus Ma

On August 19, the WWE Network presents the 31st annual SummerSlam, “the biggest event of the summer.” There are 13 matches on this card, truly reminding us all that SummerSlam is basically “WrestleMania, but in the summer.” Emanating from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY for the fourth year in a row, SummerSlam will see every championship on the WWE main roster defended. Let’s look at the match-ups...  Cedric Alexander (c) vs. Drew Gulak, for the Cruiserweight Championship, on the SummerSlam Kickoff Show (205 Live)The story: Since winning the Cruiserweight Championship for the first time at WrestleMania 34, Cedric Alexander has been a hungry champion, always looking for competition. And who could be more competitive for the Cruiserweight Championship than the man who seemingly fights for the opposite of everything the Cruiserweight Division is supposed to be? High-octane, fast-paced, and high-flying? Not in Gulak’s 205 Live. And after defeating TJP, Hideo Itami, and the other 205 Live favorite, Mustafa Ali, in

On Aug. 18, the WWE Network presents NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4. This will be the fourth installment in the SummerSlam weekend version of NXT’s TakeOver series, with the previous TakeOver: Brooklyn shows featuring moments such as a once in a lifetime in-ring performance by a wrestling legend, the crowning of a new NXT Champion (more than once), the first match in a series of unbelievable tag team matches, and arguably the greatest women’s wrestling match in the history of WWE.The road to Brooklyn was of course not without its twists and turns, and while not as packed with matches as the following night’s SummerSlam pay-per-view, NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 is bound to be the talk of this particular wrestling weekend. Just look at the matchups.  Adam Cole (c) vs. Ricochet, for the NXT North American ChampionshipThe story: According to “The One and Only” Ricochet, during a six-man tag team match between himself and Moustache Mountain against The Undisputed Era, he almost had Adam Cole (BAYBAY!) beat. However, when i

With almost two full WNBA seasons under her belt, Washington Mystics guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough has had an up-close and personal look at just how difficult it is to make it as a WNBA player. In her second season, she's played in fewer games and played fewer minutes per game than she did her rookie year, and yet she's undoubtedly a better player than she was in 2017; it's just the Mystics have a much deeper roster this year than they did last year, and they're particularly loaded at the guard spot.Still, when Walker-Kimbrough has been on the floor, she's been incredibly effective. She's more assertive, more disruptive and more engaged than she's ever been. Yardbarker caught up with the former Maryland Terrapin to talk about her development on the court, the Mystics' playoff hopes and how she keeps things fun, on and off the court.This season, I’ve noticed you’re much more engaged on the sidelines and assertive when you’re on the court. Did playing overseas — both in Turkey and Slovakia — help you develop y

An NFL season always works itself out to be a war of attrition. With that in mind, it shouldn’t necessarily be shocking that preseason and training camp are also minefields of serious injuries.Because August presents the first signs of life in football following months of latency, many fans seem to forget that injuries are an everyday, or at least an every week, part of the sport. For football fanatics, so much of the early summer is spent on the purely speculative — Who is going to be a breakout force in fantasy? Who is going to shine on a new team? — that the more grim realities are easily forgotten in the run-up to a new season.That’s just one of the reasons why the season-ending ACL injury suffered by Washington running Derrius Guice was keenly felt around NFL fandom. A 2018 second-round pick out of LSU, Guice was pegged by many analysts to be the starting running back for the 'Skins by Week 1. As any fantasy football regular knows, pinpointing sleepers is one of the most important tasks before a draft. B

Ah, August: that glorious time of year when every FBS 1-A team has an unblemished record and the highest of hopes for the season ahead. By the time the calendar flips a few days into September, all too many of those hopes will have been dashed — but here’s a week-by-week look at the games that should make for great TV, regardless of what happens early in the season. Week 1 Washington vs. Auburn: No first-week “cupcake” matchup for the Huskies or the Tigers. I hate to say a Week 1 game could have playoff implications, but this Week 1 game could have playoff implications. Two experienced, well-rounded defenses and a pair of buzz-worthy quarterbacks facing off at a neutral site easily make this the game of the week.Michigan at Notre Dame: Another early contest between teams that hope to be in the end-of-season playoff discussion. Both of these squads have some question marks entering the season, not the least of which is: How hot are Jim Harbaugh's and Brian Kelly’s respective seats? Week 1 may not provide all t

“That rhetoric is all based in some longstanding racism in terms of black men with a voice in power. Unfortunately, that’s being revealed more and more as the days go on.” - Steph Curry, Golden State WarriorsLast week, LeBron James unveiled his I Promise School, a new, state-of-the-art public school for at-risk youth in his native Akron. In the process of publicizing his good deed, James criticized President Donald Trump, whom he accused of using sports to create discord and division. Last Friday night, Trump struck back in a tweet where he questioned the athlete's intelligence, as well as that of Don Lemon and Rep. Maxine Waters (notably, all three of them are black). The president of the United States then weighed in on the LeBron vs. Michael Jordan, saying that he «liked Mike.»The backlash to Trump was immediate. Fellow basketballers like Donovan Mitchell and Elena Delle Donne (speaking of which, no other league has been more vocal about using its platform than the WNBA, gaining fans in the process) were q

It's time again for the Little League World Series — another opportunity for us middle-aged, former 12-year-old All-Stars to live vicariously through today's youth.Hope Major League Baseball is watching, too.Why? Because it might learn something from the little league game to perhaps spice things up a bit and even keep fans in the stands.Sure, the major league arms are stronger and uniforms fancier, but there is still something pure about this little league showcase. There remain elements of fun and common sense that continue to be lacking at the ultimate level of America's Pastime.While we don't see Bryce Harper trading pins with Shohei Otani, there are some aspects of little league baseball that Rob Manfred and MLB might think about adopting — even if only for a moment.Here are five things the Little League World Series does that would be interesting to see on the major league level.Metal batsWhen beginning my little league career at age 6, wood bats were the preferred option. That lasted about a year as th

The PGA Championship, golf's final major of the year — at least for one more season — usually brings with it plenty of intrigue and ramifications for the final stretch run of the season.Results this week from the tournament's 100th installment at Bellerive Country Club outside St. Louis will help determine roster spots for next month's Ryder Cup and will continue to have an impact on the FedEx Cup standings. It also could go a long way in determining the PGA Player of the Year.The Player of the Year is awarded by the PGA of America and determined through a points system based on victories, official money standings and scoring averages. Defending PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas took the honors in 2017 and is very much in the hunt to repeat.Let's take a look at 10 golfers who could put themselves in prime position for the PGA Player of the Year Award with a win at Bellerive (in ascending order):Bryson DeChambeau The California native has five top-five finishes this year, highlighted by his win at the Memo

Ten months after the trade that sent him from Carolina to Buffalo, Kelvin Benjamin decided to unload some shots at his former quarterback, Cam Newton.In an interview with The Athletic, Benjamin said he wished that Carolina wasn’t the team to draft him and that he would have preferred to be paired with a quarterback he considers accurate and knowledgeable. The comments drew essentially a shrug from Newton on social media. They did, however, elicit a impassioned response from Panthers tight end Greg Olsen, who said that Cam has been the best thing that has happened to his career, and no one currently on the team has anything negative to say about the starting quarterback. Benjamin’s rookie season in 2014 with Newton at the helm had the receiver looking poised for stardom. The 6-5 wideout hauled in nine touchdowns and put up 1,008 yards receiving. Unfortunately for all parties involved, Benjamin missed all of the following year with a torn ACL in his left knee suffered during preseason. It just so happens the se

«Know no matter if I’m playing in Los Angeles or not, Akron, Ohio, is always home for me. Always.” - LeBron JamesWhen LeBron James first left Cleveland in 2010 to take his talents to South Beach, he was bashed for it. Lost in the hoopla over whether it was wise to publicly break up with the region that made him was the fact that »The Decision" actually ended up raising millions for the Boys & Girls Club. Eight years later, King James is once again leaving Cleveland for a sunnier destination, and he's giving the region a parting gift: a state-of-the-art public school for at-risk youth.Dubbed the I Promise School, the educational facility will provide a certified STEM program, free meals and supplies — including a Chromebook and a bike, and all kinds of support to 240 third- and fourth-grade students behind on their reading levels randomly selected from the Akron Public School District (the I Promise School is not a charter school). Additionally, the school has a food bank onsite, will provide GED classes a

In the college football world, summer means one thing: preview time. Whether it’s an examination of your favorite player, a sneak peek at your preferred team or an in-depth guide to the conference of your choice, the months before kickoff are flooded with first looks. We decided to go a different route. We want to lift up your literary game with a faux summer reading list, breaking down the college football conferences by team, assigning each one a title and summary to aid you in your quest for culture and college football knowledge. Here’s our must reads for Notre Dame and the Group of Five.To read our ACC summer reading list, click here. To read our Pac-12 summer reading list, click here. To read our Big Ten summer reading list, click here.To read our Big 12 summer reading list, click here. To read our SEC summer reading list, click here. “Team Esteem” by Brian KellyConfidence will be key this year for the Fighting Irish, particularly when it comes to quarterback Brandon Wimbush. Luckily the senior’s arm is

When Brian Urlacher arrived at Chicago Bears headquarters hours after being selected ninth overall in the 2000 draft, he seemed a bit surprised by his surroundings.«I didn’t realize there was this much water (around here),» Urlacher said, in reference to Lake Michigan’s proximity to the Windy City.Perhaps geography wasn’t Urlacher’s best subject in school, but there was a hint of simplicity and naivete about him at the time that was actually refreshing. Urlacher was humble, excited and eager to learn more about the game he loved and better his own life and that of his family.He would do just that, blossoming into a superstar who shed his small-town demeanor for one of confidence that’s usually associated with a leader, without being arrogant or pompous.«I hate talking about myself, but just look at the way I changed the position,» Urlacher told the Chicago Tribune in February. “I changed what was asked of middle linebackers … .”Growing up in the small New Mexico town of Lovington, located a Hail Mary pass awa

Ray Lewis, first-ballot Hall-of-Famer. As a lifelong Pittsburgh resident and Steelers fan, typing that phrase makes me queasy and stokes a sort of involuntary rage tic.But Lewis is a deserving first-ballot choice: a man who transcended arguably the most macho position in the most macho sport for the better part of two decades. Framing Lewis strictly in terms of what he did between the lines would not be an appropriate reflection on his career, however, because for many fans, what happened outside of them defines him just as much, if not more.No reflection on Lewis’ career is comprehensive unless it includes his association with a double homicide in Atlanta during the 2000 Super Bowl week.Lewis was convicted only of misdemeanor obstruction of justice in connection with the murders of Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar, even though Baker’s blood was found in Lewis’ limousine, and the infamous white suit Lewis had on that night was never found. Two of Lewis’ associates were acquitted of the murders, and to this da

OK, the All-Star break is done, and for most teams in the WNBA, the playoffs essentially start now. Yes, there are still 19 days left in the regular season, but considering there's only a 3.5-game difference between the No. 2 team in the standings, the Atlanta Dream, and the No. 9 team, the Las Vegas Aces, every single game matters. A lot. Remember: In the WNBA playoffs, the top eight teams in the league get in. The playoffs are four rounds in total, but the first two rounds are sudden-death, winner-takes-all games. The top two seeds get a bye to the semifinals, which are best-of-five like the finals. The third and fourth seeds get a bye to the second round, and the teams are reseeded after every round. So there's no time to take a game off these next 19 days.Still, we've pinpointed five games that you're going to want to schedule around in the next few weeks. Here are the games you simply can't miss:1. Minnesota Lynx (15-10) vs. Los Angeles Sparks (15-11) — Aug. 2, 10 p.m. ET, ESPN2Does it get any better tha

Philadelphia is a notoriously tough, obnoxious and controversial sports city; one where it takes a special kind of athlete to earn universal praise from fans — something that is extremely rare. Yet, ask any Philadelphia Eagles fan from damn near any generation who her or his favorite player ever is, and chances are you'll get the same two-word response over and over again: «Brian Dawkins.»This is no accident. For starters, Dawkins presided over the most successful decade in franchise history. From the time he was drafted out of Clemson in the second round of the 1996 NFL Draft until his final season in Philadelphia in 2008, the Eagles won the NFC East five times, appeared in five NFC Championship Games and made it to the Super Bowl once with fellow 2018 inductee Terrell Owens in tow. He along with quarterback Donovan McNabb and coach Andy Reid were the headlining constants, yet unlike McNabb and Reid, Dawkins was the one who almost never drew fans' ire. It wasn't only because he was a hard hitter who made big

There is a small handful of generational talents who arrive in a professional sport over the course of a few decades. Some of them live up to the hype. Some occasionally show flashes but never quite realize their full potential. Then there are others who wash out entirely.In the case of Randy Moss, you knew he was the absolute, undisputed real deal a dozen games into his rookie season. Thanksgiving 1998 in Dallas surely meant something to Moss. By all accounts, Dallas was the destination he coveted for his pro career. The Cowboys were one of the 20 teams to pass him over that spring in the draft due to the sort of character concerns that fans have learned to scoff at in the years since. If anything, Moss has become one of the cautionary tales that easily rebuffs such thinking from executives and scouts. Moss decimated Dallas on the biggest stage of the NFL regular season, with the assassin stat line of three catches for three touchdowns, all from over 50 yards. He added another catch for a two-point conversio

Viewed entirely through the prism of on-field accomplishments, Terrell Owens’ career resides as one of the NFL’s greatest success stories.Not even a varsity starter until his senior year of high school in Alexander City, Ala., Owens morphed from a Division I-FCS Tennessee-Chattanooga recruit — on a partial scholarship — to the heir apparent to the NFL’s wide receiver kingpin.Only Jerry Rice's total sits ahead of Owens' on the all-time NFL receiving yardage list, with the one-time 49ers third-round draft choice managing to maintain his perch as an elite NFL wide receiver into his mid-30s. And even at age 37 with the 2010 Bengals, Owens amassed nearly 1,000 yards and added nine final touchdowns to his NFL resume.Owens-Randy Moss was a debate during these superstars' primes, and T.O. finished his career with five first-team All-Pro honors compared to Moss’ four. For the criticisms levied at Moss for being a boundary wide receiver (albeit the best ever at that part of the game) disinterested with refinements insi

“It just seems to be a French cultural thing." -  David Brailsford, Team Sky general manager We're mere days away from the conclusion of the 2018 Tour de France, and you better believe the race has been fraught with calamities. Aside from crashes and injuries, the biggest storyline to emerge from the famed race has been the tear gassing of protesting farmers — and inadvertently, the tear gassing of several cyclists — and whether police crossed a line in their approach. The general consensus appears to be yes. That the farmers were protesting itself is not unusual. In fact, demonstrations are considered to be as much part of the Tour de France as the yellow jersey. As the Washington Post notes, the visibility of the race gives would-be demonstrators a big audience. In this case, the farmers were protesting a reduction of funding for farm subsidies by the European Union as a result of Brexit by placing bails of hay on the road. The police's decision to use tear gas did not go over well. At least one journalist