While Bill Belichick is notoriously — for lack of a better term — quiet around the media, there’s this idea that the New England Patriots head coach is more fun-loving when he’s around his team. If that’s the case, it appears he has yet to show that side of himself to his new starting quarterback. Following New England’s 21-18 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday Night Football, the Patriots’ official website shared footage from inside the winning locker room. Included in the footage was New England quarterback Bailey Zappe slapping hands with and hugging Patriots offensive coordi ..read more

‘ESPN College GameDay’ was on hand Saturday for the 124th Army-Navy football game, which is taking place right outside of Boston, MA for the first time in series history. You don’t have to tell college football fans how storied and important that series history is. Along with the fact that most of the players involved go on to serve their country afterward, the game itself used to have national championship implications and regularly feature Heisman Trophy candidates. While Army vs. Navy is less about championships these days, it remains a critical bridge to the sport’s history and traditions ..read more

The 2023 college football season isn’t even over yet, but ESPN’s College GameDay already knows where it will be to open the 2024 campaign. On Saturday’s show, which aired live from Foxborough ahead of the annual Army-Navy game, the GameDay crew announced that it will be in Dublin, Ireland, for next year’s Week Zero matchup between Florida State and Georgia Tech on Aug. 24. GameDay had originally planned to be in Dublin in 2020 for the scheduled game between Notre Dame and Navy before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the 2024 Aer Lingus College Football Classic betwee ..read more

All things considered, CM Punk’s second promo following his return to WWE went better than his first. Whereas his first promo — which came on WWE Raw two nights after his return at Survivor Series — didn’t provide much substance aside from him telling the audience that he loved them while referring to WWE as his “home,” his promo on WWE Friday Night SmackDown felt more like an “authentic” version of Punk. While he still used WWE-speak — to the point that it seemed sarcastic — he also teased several future feuds, including with Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens. In true P ..read more

Jason Benetti has previously described Bill Walton’s tenderness as “like being friends with the woods.” When Benetti left ESPN, he also left Walton. But he has fond memories of their times together. The new play-by-play voice for the Tigers found himself working with an NBA Hall of Famer with a unique and charming personality, and that’s putting it mildly. Benetti never thought he would be able to work with someone like him. Appearing on the most recent episode of the Awful Announcing podcast, Benetti told host Brandon Contes, “Dude, it’s the best.” “It is such an enlivening experience becaus ..read more

Stephen A. Smith’s public persona has him as the face of sports debate. However, his journey to being the focal point of such popular shows wasn’t an easy one. Smith spoke candidly to Outkick’s Clay Travis this week about his upbringing and what his mother taught him and his siblings leading up to her death in 2017. “We struggled tremendously,” Smith told Travis, via Fox News. “We knew how to do without. We knew how to survive but we certainly knew that we were poor … No question about it, we were deprived of a lot of things because of our circumstances. But the respect and admiration for her ..read more

If you follow professional wrestling long enough, you’ll inevitably learn to expect the unexpected. Friday night on WWE Smackdown was yet another example of that, as CBS Sports’ Brad Nessler appeared on the show on FOX and promoted Saturday’s Army/Navy game. Nessler even stayed with the commentary team to call a match between wrestlers Bobby Lashley and Karrion Kross. WWE ran its annual ‘Tribute to the Troops’ event Friday night in Providence, leading to Nessler, who was in the area already for Saturday’s Army/Navy football game in Foxboro to make the cross=network guest appearance. Well…did ..read more

This year saw a lot of change for ESPN College GameDay, particularly with the addition of Pat McAfee. McAfee’s presence on the show drew a lot of criticism from many of its ongoing fans, and that led to him saying at times he wasn’t sure if he would return. But on Friday’s show, he indicated he’ll be back for 2024: Pat McAfee Shares Major Announcement On His Future With College GameDay https://t.co/xDKEquOGit — Athlon Sports (@AthlonSports) December 8, 2023 Here are more comments from McAfee, via that Athlon Sports piece from Joe Vitale: “I pride myself on being a good locker room guy ..read more

Former tennis star and current ESPN analyst Chris Evert will not be a part of the network’s coverage of the 2024 Australian Open next month due to a recent cancer recurrence that will require treatment. Evert was originally diagnosed with stage one ovarian cancer in January of 2022. Just over a year later in January of 2023, Evert was officially cancer-free. Unfortunately, Evert shared a statement stating that a recent diagnosis last week showed that the cancer had returned in her pelvic region, the same region it was previously found in. “Since I was first diagnosed with cancer two years ago ..read more

All Times Eastern BoxingU.S. Olympic Boxing Trials Men’s and Women’s, Cajundome, University of Louisiana-Lafayette, Lafayette, LA Announcers: David Austin/Mikaela Mayer Finals — Peacock, 1 p.m. Matchroom Boxing WBC Junior Welterweight Title, Chase Center, San Francisco, CA Regis Prograis vs. Devin Haney — DAZN, 8 p.m. Showtime Championship Boxing WBA World Welterweight Title, MGM Grand Garden Arena, MGM Grand Las Vegas, Paradise, NV Keith Thurman vs. Eimantas Stanionis — Showtime pay per view, 8 p.m. Top Rank Boxing WBO World Featherweight Title, Charles F. Dodge Center, Pembroke Pines, FL Rob ..read more