After Saturday’s first 45-minute practice session was cancelled due to heavy rain hitting Riyadh shortly after sunrise, a one-hour-long combined session was due to get underway at 8.35 local time. But just as the start time for FP2 approached it was announced that the session had been delayed. Attempts were made to clear the 1.5-mile track, with course cars scrubbing the surface to clear ... Keep reading

Sabres will try to cool off Capitals' red-hot Ovechkin

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It’s safe to say Clemson coach Dabo Swinney doesn’t want to see the College Football Playoff get any bigger. Swinney said Friday that he hates the idea of an expanded playoff. In fact, he’d rather go back down to two than expand to eight. “I’d be more back to two, to be honest with you. I’m not a ‘More is better’ guy,” Swinney said, via Matt Connolly of The State. “I know there’s a huge crowd out there for that, but I think college football is unique, and now all of a sudden it just becomes like everything else when you do that.” One of the big reasons Swinney is opposed is that he feels the playoff has cheapened other bowl games to the point that players are comfortable skipping them to avoid hindering their NFL Draft prospects. “I hate the fact that all of a sudden now it’s not cool to go to the Gator Bowl. Are you kidding me? I don’t like that mindset,” Swinney said. “I think the more you expand the more that becomes (the norm). I know that falls on a lot of deaf ears. It doesn’t mean I’m right. That’s ju

Nick Saban’s “school for college football coaches needing their image rehabbed” took in its most controversial figure yet, which led to the Alabama head coach issuing a statement. On Thursday, word emerged that former Maryland head coach DJ Durkin had been serving as a consultant for Alabama. Durkin was placed on administrative leave in August over an investigation into the death of one of his football players during an offseason workout. Durkin was initially cleared to return to work following an investigation, but he was later fired by the school due to public outcry. Saban working with Durkin led to plenty of public backlash. Prominent SEC figure Paul Finebaum of ESPN said the move was an “absolutely terrible, embarrassing look” for Saban. USA Today’s Dan Wolken said Saban was sending the wrong message with the move. The backlash led Saban to issue a statement on Friday about Durkin’s role with the team. Saban and Alabama are trying to straddle the fence here by saying “we’re taking Durkin’s help, but hey

Chicago Bulls coach Jim Boylen, under siege from his players, has leaned on mentor Gregg Popovich for support. Boylen served as an assistant under Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs from 2013 to 2015 and has clearly used him as a coaching influence. The two apparently still speak, as Boylen said Popovich has privately offered him support as he clashes with his players. Boylen has actually used some of the tactics Popovich has used on his Bulls players. That has clearly backfired, and Boylen was told he has a long way to go before he can consider himself in the same league as the Spurs’ coach. Regardless, Popovich is apparently supporting him, for whatever it’s worth.

The opening slate of college football bowl season features five matchups, and we’ll be keeping a watchful eye on a specific group of players. Fresno State’s clash with Arizona State in the Las Vegas Bowl is the most intriguing, given the chance for a top Group of Five school to upset a Pac-12 program. The quarterbacks will be on display for very different reasons. While a focus on quarterbacks is the overarching theme, a couple of running backs will also provide major impacts. You might not be familiar with most of these talents, but their performances are set to shape Saturday’s results. Andre Nunez, QB, Louisiana The story of Louisiana’s season is  quite simple: Did Andre Nunez have a productive game? Part of the good news is he guided the Ragin’ Cajuns to the Sun Belt Championship Game. But there’s some bad news, too. While the number itself is arbitrary, Louisiana posted a 7-1 record when Nunez threw for at least 140 yards but went 0-5 otherwise. Cresting the mark doesn’t guarantee a win over Tulane in t

With the calendar having turned to December 15, Suns forward Trevor Ariza is now officially eligible to be traded. However, the veteran forward won’t be going to the Wizards in a three-team trade that included the Grizzlies and was seemingly on the verge of completion on Friday night. As we explained in updates to our story on those Ariza trade talks, a deal sending the Suns forward to D.C. was about to cross the finish line when Memphis and Phoenix realized they weren’t on the same page on one of the players involved in the proposal — the Suns thought they were receiving promising young forward Dillon Brooks from the Grizzlies, while Memphis believed journeyman guard MarShon Brooks was the player involved in the deal. With the Grizzlies unwilling to include Dillon and the Suns unwilling to trade for MarShon, the potential swap fell apart. How exactly does something like this happen?  Well, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Grizzlies and Suns never spoke directly during the negotiations, using the

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The first 45-minute session had been due to start at 7am local time, but after overnight rain hit the Riyadh area, the wet weather returned just before the action was about to get underway. The FIA announced that the session start would be delayed, but as conditions did not improve, FP1 was cancelled 20 minutes after it should have started. Track workers had attempted to sweep and pump the ... Keep reading

A Trevor Ariza to the Washington Wizards trade reportedly has fallen apart over confusion about which Brooks player the Phoenix Suns were receiving in the deal. The Suns, Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies were all working on a three-way trade involving five players. Here’s what the trade looked like: – Wizards getting Trevor Ariza from Phoenix – Grizzlies getting Kelly Oubre from Washington – Suns getting Austin Rivers from Washington and two players from Memphis The hangup has to do with the two players the Suns were getting from Memphis. One of the players was Wayne Selden.  The other was “Brooks.”  The problem is Memphis has two players with the same last name, and there was a confusion about whether MarShon Brooks or Dillon Brooks was in the deal. Memphis thought they were trading MarShon Brooks, while the Suns only were going to make the trade if they were getting Dillon, according to information from Suns reporter John Gambadoro and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Woj says the deal is dead unless the Wizards an

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