7:47 AM ET United States youth international Konrad de la Fuente has been handed his first call up to Barcelona‘s matchday squad for Saturday’s Champions League match against Napoli. Barca have been forced to turn to youth for the crunch European tie with six first team players ruled out of the clash. – Stream FC
5:57 AM ET Chelsea‘s Christian Pulisic and Manchester United‘s Marcus Rashford are both up for the Premier League’s Young Player of the Year award with just one of Liverpool‘s title-winning contingent making the shortlist. Trent Alexander-Arnold makes the eight-player list alongside United’s Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood, Chelsea‘s Mason Mount, Aston Villa‘s Jack Grealish and
3:24 PM ET In the best of times, the top-level FBS athletic director has a difficult job. He or she is not only the CEO of a business with a nine-figure budget, but also the person who oversees the dreams of hundreds of student-athletes, 18-to-22-year-olds who aspire to a college diploma and/or a professional career.
8:00 AM ET Multiple Contributors Athletic directors Scott Stricklin and David Coburn had discussed for months their intentions to keep the Florida-Florida State rivalry game on the schedule. No matter what. Then, on July 29, Coburn’s phone rang. It was Stricklin, the Florida AD, calling from Gainesville. There would be no Florida-Florida State game in
6:00 AM ET PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger grinned and laughed as the reporter listed off elements of the Pittsburgh Steelers that should put them in contention for a title this season. An elite defense. A veteran, All-Pro line. Playmakers all over the place. A franchise quarterback. And yet, as the reporter noted, the Steelers are
7:30 AM ET Which players are opting out of the 2020 NFL season because of concerns over the coronavirus pandemic? Now that the deadline has passed for players to notify their teams whether or not they are playing, we know that there are some significant players who won’t be taking the field this season. There
8:03 AM ET ESPN News Services Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has joined a movement in petitioning the governor of Oklahoma to overturn the conviction and release Julius Jones, a Black man on death row for murder. In a letter sent Thursday to the office of Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and the state’s parole board,
7:00 AM ET ESPN Betting Insiders The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Brooklyn, Michigan, for a double-dip of races Saturday and Sunday. Racing begins Saturday with the FireKeepers Casino 400 (4 p.m. ET) and continues with the Consumers Energy 400 on Sunday (4:30 p.m. ET). Brad Keselowski won the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 in New
7:45 AM ET Friday’s NHL slate features the highest stakes we’ve seen yet, with six teams facing elimination. Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby could all potentially go home. Oh, and the teams ranked 22nd (Arizona Coyotes), 23rd (Chicago Blackhawks) and 24th (Montreal Canadiens) in regular-season points percentage can all clinch a playoff spot.
7:00 AM ET Under the NHL’s CBA, players are required to wear a suit, dress shirt and tie to the arena on game days “unless otherwise specified by the head coach or manager.” It’s the only major professional sports league in North America with such a strict dress code. “Once you get onto the plane,