Sports

10:16 PM GMT World Rugby will encourage elite competitions to have a shot clock for penalties and conversions from Jan. 1, with sanctions to be issued for time wasting as part of plans to speed up the game in 2023 – a World Cup year. The guidelines have been designed by the global governing body

7:52 AM ET The sport of mixed martial arts is never dull, and 2022 was a perfect example of that. In the span of four months, three of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world weren’t just beaten, but finished. The year started with Francis Ngannou, the hardest puncher in UFC history, using wrestling and

7:58 AM ET Naoya Inoue became the undisputed bantamweight champion after earning an 11th-round KO victory on Dec. 13 in Tokyo. The win also earned him eight first-place votes from our ESPN’s pound-for pound 21-member panel, moving him closer to Terence Crawford at No. 1. In his other fight this year, Inoue scored a second-round

1:50 AM ET PHOENIX — With the Phoenix Suns‘ lead already ballooning to begin the second half, Los Angeles Lakers guard Patrick Beverley scored a layup while being fouled by Chris Paul early in the third quarter on Monday. After the whistle, Beverley placed his right hand a few inches from the floor, suggesting Paul

Dec 20, 2022 Augusta National Golf Club announced Tuesday that any golfer who qualified for the Masters tournament based on its previous criteria will be invited to play in 2023, including 16 players who are currently competing in the LIV Golf League. Six past Masters champions are part of the group that defected from the

11:25 PM ET Sarah Barshop Close ESPN Staff Writer Covered the Packers for ESPN Milwaukee Marquette University graduate Rob Demovsky Close ESPN Staff Writer Covered Packers for Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1997-2013 Two-time Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year as selected by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association GREEN BAY — Los Angeles Rams quarterback Baker

7:00 AM ET Every December, we celebrate the best sound bites in college football and a collection of quotes, tweets and memories that exemplify the arc of the season. Except for the ones by Mike Leach. They always seemed to be about anything but football. Leach, who died last week at 61, was the most

Dec 18, 2022 ESPN News Services MELBOURNE, Australia — Venus Williams has been awarded a wild-card entry to play at the Australian Open next month, 25 years after she played the Grand Slam tournament for the first time. The 42-year-old Williams has reached the final twice in Australia, including a loss to her younger sister,

Dec 16, 2022 The NHL trade market has been gummed up by a lack of salary-cap room this season. It also doesn’t help that so many teams are within a reasonable distance of playoff seeds, unable to determine their position in the market. When the NHL trade deadline arrives on March 3, the contenders and

5:40 PM ET Bradford Doolittle Close ESPN Staff Writer Sports reporter, Kansas City Star, 2002-09 Writer, Baseball, Baseball Prospectus Co-author, Pro Basketball Prospectus Member, Baseball Writers Association of America Member, Professional Basketball Writers Association David Schoenfield Close ESPN Senior Writer Covers MLB for ESPN.com Former deputy editor of Page 2 Been with ESPN.com since 1995

10:00 AM ET The 2022 World Cup in Qatar has flown by. Wedged into the middle of the European club season, it has had to. It’s hard to believe that the tournament began 26 days ago, yet so much has transpired in that time, including whittling down a field of 32 to just France and

3:44 PM GMT England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) on Friday approved the application by a bidder for the planned takeover of Wasps but rejected another for Worcester Warriors after an assessment by the governing body’s Club Financial Viability Group. Financially-hit Wasps and Worcester have both been suspended for going into administration and will drop from

Dec 15, 2022 Associated Press SANDUSKY, Ohio — Hailie Deegan will drive full time in the NASCAR Truck series next season with ThorSport Racing. ThorSport formally added Deegan to its driver lineup Thursday as it announced a manufacturer move from Toyota to Ford. Deegan, a 21-year-old California native, will race in the Truck series for

9:15 AM ET The UFC will end its year with a main event highlighting one of the promotion’s most interesting divisions. Sean Strickland will take on Jared Cannonier in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in a critical middleweight battle. Both men are coming off losses against elite fighters, and the winner

Dec 15, 2022 Associated Press LONDON — Iga Swiatek and Rafael Nadal were honored by the International Tennis Federation as its 2022 ITF World Champions on Thursday after each claimed two Grand Slam titles this season. The ITF determines its awards based on criteria that include all events and give special weight to the four

Dec 14, 2022 December 14, 1947 was a Sunday afternoon. Yes, most of the men who gathered in Daytona Beach, Fla. on that chilly, gray day were dressed in suits. But no, it was not a church service. Far from it. There was entirely too much brown liquor on the table and cigar smoke in

10:22 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN WHEN WILL HARDY first saw Boston Celtics center Luke Kornet‘s weird trick to contest 3-pointers, he was bemused. “I thought it was absolutely f—ing hilarious,” Hardy, who spent last season as an assistant with the Celtics before becoming head coach of the Utah Jazz this summer, told ESPN. “‘You’re 20

Dec 13, 2022 Mike CoppingerESPN Naoya Inoue, ESPN’s No. 2 pound-for-pound boxer, has proved peerless through 24 fights as he cruised to another inside-the-distance victory on Tuesday in Tokyo. Paul Butler was no match. He really wasn’t ever expected to be. The Englishman was simply there to hand over his WBO belt to Inoue, who

6:35 AM ET NFL Nation reporters Welcome to Week 15 of the NFL regular season. Our power panel — a group of more than 80 writers, editors and TV personalities — has evaluated how teams are stacking up through 14 weeks. While we are at the point of the season where the rankings stay largely

11:57 AM ET Mississippi State football coach Mike Leach remains hospitalized and in critical condition, the university said in a statement Monday morning. Leach suffered what was called Sunday a “personal health issue” that occurred at home. According to a report by the Clarion Ledger, Leach had a massive heart attack. Leach, who is in