LAS VEGAS – Down a couple of bigs, the Portland Fire had an opportunity to test the Aces' size and depth at the Michelob ULTRA Arena Tuesday night.
However, despite missing NaLyssa Smith and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus, the defending WNBA champions did not let that faze them.
Coming off the All-Star break — wounded by a 100-99 road defeat to Washington on July 22 — the Aces showed no signs of rust, particularly on offense, brushing aside the Fire, 98-83, on their first visit to Sin City.
The win clinched a season sweep of Portland for Las Vegas (19-8). It was the Aces' fourth victory in their last six games. Head coach Becky Hammon's group never trailed and led by as many as 18 points.
"Pretty good," Hammon said when asked to grade her team's return to action. "Except for that third quarter (Fire outscored the Aces 27-26), we gave up too much there, [but] pretty good. Good job; everybody is just trying to get into a flow. It's hard to replicate game flow in one day of practice, but it was a good game to kind of get back into our groove a little bit."

#good #FIRE #game

Virtually all German footballing media sources are currently reporting that Jesper Lindstrøm's transfer to newly promoted Bundesliga outfit FC Schalke 04 is close to being finalized. Reports from Italy and Germany now suggest that negotiations are at an advanced stage, with Lindstrøm already having reached a basic agreement with die Königsblauen.
Schalke have been working to bring the 26-year-old back to the Bundesliga following his disappointing season with relegated Wolfsburg. Napoli initially hoped to sell the Denmark international and recover part of the approximately €30 million invested in his 2023 transfer from Frankfurt.
What price Schalke will pay for the 18-times-capped international should prove interesting.
Lindstrøm's estimated market value in the Transfermarkt listings has collapsed since his successful Frankfurt spell. Valued at €28 million before leaving the Bundesliga, the winger arrived at Wolfsburg last summer with an €18 million valuation.
Following an injury-plagued campaign in which he made only four starts, Lindstrøm is now valued at €4 million—a decline of almost 78 percent in one year. The Dane made another 11 appearances off the bench, including both relegation-playoff fixtures against Paderborn.

#lindstr #schalke #valued

The clock is ticking on the Detroit Tigers, who have just six days to decide if they will trade ace left-hander Tarik Skubal.
Here are the latest rumors as Monday's trade deadline approaches.
"The Detroit Tigers are starting to make it a much easier decision for the front office to unload ace Tarik Skubal at the trade deadline," USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported Monday. "The Tigers drop their third consecutive game, 8-5 to the Baltimore Orioles, and are now 50-57."
Clearly, the Tigers have entered the trade deadline no-man's land.
"Rival executives remain uncertain about what the Tigers will do before the deadline, and they can see the logic behind either path," ESPN's Buster Olney reported Monday.

#trade #detroit #skubal #nightengale

Texas A&M is closer than ever to securing the No. 1-ranked 2027 recruiting class after securing four-star linebacker Mikahi Allen's commitment earlier this month, bringing the total number of commits to 27 heading into the 2026 college football season.
While third-year coach Mike Elko and his staff will be in the running to flip multiple 2027 commits, which could include five-star CB and South Carolina commit Joshua Dobson, five-star running back Landen Williams-Callis will announce his commitment on August 1, but is currently trending to land with the Texas Longhorns.
As soon as the 2026 season begins, the Aggies will use every home game as a hosting opportunity for the 2028 cycle, which will include two priority prospects who are Texas A&M legacies. This spring, Elko officially offered four-star running back Ian Thomas, son of former Aggie star running back Rodney Thomas, who, according to Rivals insider Sam Spiegelman, is heavily favored to land at his Father's alma mater.
Texas A&M AHC and RB coach Trooper Taylor has led Thomas's recruitment, and while some believe Texas A&M is the leader due to his Aggie lineage, that's far from the truth.
"Coach was clear that it was me and how I play that got me the offer," Thomas stated to Rivals. "I appreciated him saying that."

#rivals #securing

Islam Dulatov and Wellington Turman meet on the UFC Fight Night 282 main card Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie ***** yst Dan Tom.
Last event's results: 3-2
UFC main cards, 2026: 75-41-1
Dulatov (12-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) shined as a massive favorite in his debut against Adam Fugitt last July. After ending that fight in the first round, Dulatov enters his second UFC bout as a huge favorite again.
Turman (18-8 MMA, 3-6 UFC) returns to action for the first time since December 2023. He looks to shake off the dust and get back in the win column to end a three-fight skid.

#turman #wellington

Salvador Perez makes heartfelt plea after fan arrested retrieving historic home run originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
A Royals fan jumped into the Kauffman Stadium fountains to recover Salvador Perez’s record-tying home run ball, leading to an arrest and a personal request from the Kansas City captain.
Salvador Perez understood why one Kansas City Royals fan was willing to risk a trip to jail for a piece of franchise history.
Perez blasted the 317th home run of his career Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants, tying Hall of Famer George Brett for the most in Royals history. The 437-foot drive landed in the famous fountains beyond the right-center-field wall at Kauffman Stadium.
One fan decided that history was worth getting wet for. The fan jumped into the fountain in an attempt to retrieve Perez’s home run ball. Security quickly intervened, escorting the fan out of the stadium before police placed him in handcuffs and took him into custody.

#perez #Royals #kauffman

The UFC Fight Night 282 main event is locked in after Magomed Ankalaev and Bogdan Guskov did their jobs on the scale at Friday's official weigh-in.
Former light heavyweight champion Ankalaev (21-2-1 MMA, 12-2-1 UFC) will attempt to rebound from losing the belt to Alex Pereira in October when he clashes with surging contender Guskov (18-3-1 MMA, 4-1-1 UFC), who stepped into the fight on short notice after Khalil Rountree Jr. withdrew.
Despite serving as a replacement, Guskov had no issues on the scale as he hit 205.5 pounds. There was no drama for Ankalaev, either, because he registered at 205.5 pounds.
The stage is now set for Saturday's five-round headliner, which takes place at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, and streams on Paramount+ beginning at 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT.
Check out complete results from UFC Fight Night 282 official weigh-ins here.

#night #scale #magomed

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. The Oklahoma City Thunder have experienced that firsthand over the last year. Thanks to a two-season run that has seen them put up historic numbers and win one NBA championship, other sports organizations are hoping to copy their blueprint.
One SEC football powerhouse wants to remain at the top of the college football mountain. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart recently said at 2026 SEC Media Day that he's studied up on the Thunder. He's turning over every stone to figure out ways to get fresh ideas on how the Bulldogs can remain in the national championship conversation.
"This season, like many others, we chose to study a successful brand or team or follow someone. This year, the reigning NBA champions at the time when we studied them was the OKC Thunder," Smart said. "They talked about being uncommon and how you can be uncommon in today's world."
Smart is the longest-tenured SEC football head coach. He's called the shots at George for a decade now. In that time, he's gone an impressive 117-21 (.848 win percentage) and won two national championships in 2021 and 2022. They're always smack-dab in the middle of the conversation for best team in the country.
Meanwhile, the Thunder have had back-to-back 60-plus win seasons with point differentials north of double-digit points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has won two consecutive MVP awards. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams have earned All-NBA honors. On top of that, OKC has put up historic defensive numbers.

#historic #remain

Ex-Red Sox Ace Joins Pedro Martinez with Rare MLB Record originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Very few pitchers have ever been as good at their peak as Pedro Martinez was.
The Boston Red Sox all-time great was dynamic pretty much from the moment he arrived in MLB, and then he held that level of performance for most of his career.
Another former Red Sox ace can make an intriguing case to be in the conversation when discussing consistent dominance: Chris Sale.
Sale has now made 330 career starts at the MLB level, and he has 2,581 strikeouts and a 2.99 ERA.

#record

Miles Bridges was impressed by Phoenix's surprise postseason appearance in 2026 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
After trading Kevin Durant in the 2025 offseason, most people thought the Phoenix Suns would struggle. Many fans and **** ysts thought the Suns would not even make the Playoffs, but they did, playing the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round.
Of course, they were swept by the then-defending champions, but that was not something people expected. With Devin Booker playing as the superstar, his supporting cast was quite impressive, as Dillon Brooks played borderline All-Star hoops and Jalen Green showed out when he was healthy.
Now that Miles Bridges is on the Suns, he has an interesting outside perspective. Like most people before the 2025-26 season, he also thought the Suns would struggle after making the Durant trade for both Brooks and Green.
However, that panned out well for the Suns because it showed that having a more cohesive team alongside Booker was a good decision. Head coach Jordan Ott was also a big deal for Phoenix because he was an upgrade from Mike Budenholzer.

#bridges

Throughout his tenure with Iowa State, Matt Campbell never seemed like he could be tempted away from the Cyclones to take on a bigger job with a more prestigious program. That is, until Penn State came calling last year.
Still, even though Campbell left for new pastures, there were expectations of how Iowa State would transition. It was said that Taylor Mouser, Campbell's longtime ****** istant and offensive coordinator, would be set to ****** ume head-coaching duties. However, that did not become the case.
Instead of sticking with familiarity for the role, Iowa State went into complete reset mode with the hiring of Jimmy Rogers. While Rogers proved to have a solid year at Washington State, he is a clear step behind Mouser when it comes to experience with Iowa State's roster. It didn't even matter all that much, as 55 members of Iowa State's squad left this past transfer portal cycle. A total of 23 of them followed Campbell and Mouser to Happy Valley.
Mouser brings with him tons of experience along with an understanding of how Penn State's new-look offense will operate. He worked his way up in Ames, starting out as a grad ****** istant and working his way up to offensive coordinator over 10 years with the Cyclones program. Now, he gets a chance to run an offense competing in perhaps the best conference in college football. He has a built-in connection with new Penn State QB Rocco Becht that could flourish against better competition.
The bottom line is that Iowa State seemed too willing to take a risk, and Penn State was able to be the ultimate beneficiaries. While Year 1 of the Campbell/ Mouser regime is a huge question mark, many expect it to be much better than what Iowa State can muster up.

#mouser #campbell #cyclones #take