Bayern Munich are hoping the arrival of Nathaniel Brown will motivate Alphonso Davies to return to his best form, according to Sport1.
A club source told the outlet: "Thankfully, the competition for places here is brutal."
The Bayern hierarchy reportedly expects Davies to respond positively to the increased competition and consistently improve his performances, provided he can stay injury-free.
Although the Bundesliga champions would be prepared to listen to exceptional offers for the Canadian this summer, Sport1 reports that a departure currently appears unlikely.
Instead, Bayern expect Davies to remain at the club and use the added competition from Brown as an opportunity to prove his critics wrong with consistent displays throughout the season.

#davies #sport1 #munich #nathaniel

Real Madrid summer signing Marc Cucurella has on Tuesday unveiled a new tattoo, of none other than Spanish national team head coach Luis de la Fuente.
This marks a promise kept on the part of the defender from earlier this summer.
Cucurella is of course fresh off playing a starring role, en route to his native Spain beating out the competition to clinch glory at the 2026 World Cup.
Whilst the competition was in full flow, the former Chelsea man was asked by the media if he had any plans to commemorate the achievement, in the case of La Roja going all the way in North America.
And Cucurella went on to turn heads upon revealing his intention to have a fresh tattoo inked, of his manager on the international stage.

#summer #fresh #spanish

Just before the Chicago Bears opened training camp this week, big news came out that could grab the attention of the front office with a position player they could use having requested a trade. According to several NFL insiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Vita Vea, a former first-round pick in 2018, has requested a trade due to stalled contract negotiations.
While it could just be a ploy to get the franchise to bite into his favor during contract talks, Vea's trade request should immediately perk the ears of Bears general manager Ryan Poles. Coming into this season, the Bears really only have Gervon Dexter Sr. and Grady Jarrett as their production leaders at the defensive tackle but severely lack depth behind him, and Jarrett underperformed in his first season with Chicago last year.
The question now becomes if the Bears should entertain a trade for Vea, and if they do, what would that look like to acquire him, as there's no doubt he'd be a big upgrade to the defensive line as a whole. Here's our examination of a potential Bears pursuit of acquiring the two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle.
A trade for Vea, at the very minimum, is going to likely start with a second-round pick, and another Day 3 pick going back to Tampa Bay, but the Bears may also want to consider dangling Gervon Dexter in return. The issue with potentially including Dexter is that he would be the youngest of the three between Vea, Jarrett, and himself, and he's a free agent after the 2026 season, so a contract is going to be on the table for both players. For Chicago, there would need to be a contract extension on the table for Vea, which could be very difficult with limited cap ******* e, especially with the veteran defensive tackle likely looking to get paid among the top players at his position, approximately over $20 million a season.
The Bears were one of the worst run defenses in the NFL last year, allowing 134.5 yards per game to opponents, as well as a 5.0 yard per carry average to opposing running backs. Over the last several seasons, Vea has been among the best run stoppers in the league, and in 2024 he had the best season of his career with 7.0 sacks and 10 tackles for loss on the year. If Chicago believes that Vea could lead the defensive tackle position, and improve their run defense, they should swing big if they can make it work from a financial fit, because he would most certainly be a big upgrade on the field.

#defensive #dexter

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — LaMonte Wade Jr. drew a bases-loaded walk that forced home the go-ahead run in a four-run ninth inning, and the Houston Astros came back to beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-4 on Monday night.
The Astros rallied in their final at-bat on a hit, two walks, two errors and two hit batters to hand the Angels their ninth loss this season when leading after eight innings.
Houston trailed 4-0 after three, but Taylor Trammell homered for a second straight game and the fifth time this season to cut it to 4-1 in the fourth.
Jeremy Peña doubled leading off the eighth against Ryan Zeferjahn, extending his hitting streak to nine games. Yordan Alvarez hit an RBI single to make it 4-2.
José Fermin (3-2) hit Trammell with a pitch leading off the ninth. Christian Walker singled and Trammell scored to make it 4-3 when second baseman Vaughn Grissom let Lucas Spence's potential double-play grounder go through his legs for a costly error.

#houston

Chris Haynes: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Memphis Grizzlies are negotiating a buyout and the veteran 3-&-D specialist intends to team back up with LeBron James and sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, league sources tell me.
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope negotiating Grizzlies buyout to join Sixers

#chris

This week, the UFC travels across the globe to Abu Dhabi for a Fight Night event.
At UFC Fight Night 282, former light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev takes on short-notice opponent Bogdan Guskov.
Elsewhere, veterans of the promotion are competing in various combat sports. Scroll below to see how last week's UFC vets fared on the regional scene, and check out the names and details of the upcoming weekend's competitors.
Upcoming event information from Tapology.
Elias Silverio: Unanimous decision loss vs. Khalid Satuev at ACA 205

#dhabi #bogdan #elsewhere

If behind-the-scenes dirt on the skeletons in people's closets is your thing, get ready for Season 2 of VICE TV's "Dark Side of the Cage."
VICE Studios on Thursday announced a new seven-episode season of the show with a premiere set for Sept. 1 at 9 p.m. ET on VICE TV. The season premiere episode features UFC Hall of Famer Don Frye, "whose willingness to absorb brutality in the cage led to the fight of his life against pain and addiction."
Of particular interest to many, most likely, later in the season will be an episode featuring longtime fighter Phil Baroni, who remains in prison in Mexico on a charge of murder. A teaser video for the season shows a clip of a phone interview with Baroni and him saying his lawyers won't be happy he did the interview.
"From house-fire heroism to SWAT stand-offs to full-blown arena riots, season two of Dark Side of the Cage pulls back the curtain on MMA's most extreme highs and devastating lows," the official show pitch says. "'Dark Side of the Cage' cuts through the glamour and glory of the MMA spectacle to reveal the never-before-told stories behind the sport's most iconic competitors, told by the fighters themselves."
Other episodes, according to VICE TV, will feature ****** o Ortiz, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Chael Sonnen and Mark Coleman. Additionally, the season "will shed new light on one of the most heated feuds in UFC history: Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov."

#vice #dark #episode #show

The Kansas City Royals find themselves on the outside looking into the American League playoff race, facing a myriad of concerns amid a lackluster 43-60 campaign, despite the efforts of Bobby Witt Jr. The superstar shortstop has emerged as one of the top players in MLB over recent years, with production that has translated to the fantasy baseball diamond.
The third-time All-Star has finished inside the top four among AL MVP candidates in each of the last two seasons, and has been on track to maintain such a trend this season. Through 94 games, he's slashing .279/.350/.450 from the plate, with 103 hits, 51 runs, 13 homers and 39 RBIs, leading the AL in both WAR (4.9) and stolen bases (39).
Throughout his five-year career in the big leagues, he's been one of baseball's most consistent players, suiting up in at least 150 games in each of the last four seasons. Now in year five, Witt is slated to hit the Injured List for the first time in his career, hampering his fantasy output over the short term.
Witt has dealt with back tightness and was ultimately deemed unable to maintain his level of play, forcing the team to rest him on the 10-day IL. He'll work to return to the diamond sooner than later, but his absence will certainly have an immense impact on fantasy baseball over the next few weeks.
He's cemented his case as one of fantasy's most sought after ****** ets, but with his absence, fantasy baseball players will be forced to fill the void of his production. Players could look for outside options in the trade market to supplement this output, but his absence will be felt regardless of the replacement player.

#four

The MLB trade deadline is now under two weeks away. While everybody is focused on the big names who could be moved, like Tarik Skubal or Mason Miller, it can often be most beneficial to think about the players who remain and still wind up benefiting from the trade. In this article, I'm going to look at players who could see their fantasy value improve actionably at the deadline, whether they are the ones traded away or the ones who find themselves filling a vacated role.
For this article, I'm only going to focus on trades that seem likely. So I know that Shea Langeliers and Hunter Goodman are being floated in trade rumors, but I don't think either one of them is going to be moved, so we're not going to discuss which catchers could step into starting roles in two offensive-friendly environments. I will admit that left us with a list that doesn't include a lot of "league winners," but that's also the nature of the expanded playoff format. There are a lot of teams that still find themselves in contention, so we may not see as many impact hitters be traded away, which means there might be fewer openings in lineups.
With that preamble out of the way, let's get to the names.
Cole Carrigg - OF, Rockies: Carrigg has hit well in his rookie season, slashing .287/.367/.519 in 34 games with four home runs, 27 runs scored, and 23 RBI. He has slightly below-average barrel rates and hard-hit rates, so he's not tearing the cover off of the ball, but he has good bat speed and is making better-than-league-average zone contact, which is a nice profile in Coors Field. Yet, despite being a switch hitter, Carrigg seems to be splitting playing time with Tyler Freeman. A trade of one or both of Jake McCarthy and Mickey Moniak would open up an everyday role for Carrigg, who wouldn't be a MUST ADD, but would be a nice depth outfield piece in a great home park.
Victor Bericoto - OF, Giants: Bericoto is currently on the injured list with a strained oblique, but by the time the trade deadline rolls around, he will have already missed a month, which means he could be returning shortly thereafter. The rookie has slashed .293/.305/.552 in 59 plate appearances with four home runs, nine RBI, and one steal. He has a 46.5% hard-hit rate and also posted a 50.4% hard-hit rate in Triple-A while posting elite bat speed numbers, so the power production could be very real. He does have some swing and miss in his game because he is an aggressive hitter, but he also has league-average zone contact rates in the minors and a 91.5% rate in his limited MLB sample, so he might make enough contact to make the power work. The Giants are currently shopping Jung Hoo Lee, which could open up a regular outfield spot for Bericoto when he's back from injury.

#trade

NIL has greatly increased the gap between programs that have a lot of spending power and programs that have little to none. Unfortunately for Penn State basketball, it seems to be a part of the latter.
Fourth-year head coach Mike Rhoades, who spoke to the media during a virtual summer availability, was asked about where he feels the program stands with NIL funding in relation to his Big Ten counterparts, and he didn't mince words.
"We're at the bottom," Rhoades said. "It is what it is. You get what you're given, you try to do the best that you can. What teams are doing in our league and what we're doing are totally different. When your back's against the wall compared to what others are doing, no excuses. You got to figure it out."
More: Penn State basketball to compete in 2026 Battle 4 Atlantis
It's difficult to ignore the signs of how much NIL is impacting the on-court product. According to On3's Pete Nakos, every Final Four team spent at least $8 million on the roster. Two of those teams were from the Big Ten: Illinois and eventual champion Michigan. Of the Sweet 16 teams, which also included Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan State and Purdue, the minimum cost was $4.5 million.

#rhoades

Richard Hughes has been given the green light for the perfect parting gift for Liverpool.
Richard Hughes will, by all accounts, not oversee another transfer window with Liverpool. The sporting director is expected to join Al-Hilal before long, linking back up with former **** istant Steve Francis, who's already working at the Saudi Pro League side.
But he certainly has some work to do. In fact, he has quite a lot of work to do if he's to avoid leaving Liverpool as a genuine flop.
The massive issue that needs immediate work is what to do on the right flank. Mohamed Salah's exit has left a massive void there and there really isn't much of a market to pick from.
Salah's six goals and six **** ists last season are actually standout numbers on the right across Europe's top five leagues last season. Very, very few players beat them and those who did are unobtainable.

#last

PHILADELPHIA — We can summarize Tuesday night's All-Star Game in a few blunt thoughts: It was anticlimactic, dulled by super-human pitching, helpless hitters and too many made-for-TV gimmicks.
Cody Bellinger deserves credit for being named the MVP, but let's not get breathless about it. The Yankees' slugger lashed a two-run single in the first inning — and that was all the American League needed to win a 4-0 game that droned on and on and on.
What I liked more was the Philly crowd. They were as savage (and interesting) as ever, booing anyone not wearing a hometown uniform.
The Yankees, naturally, were roasted, even though Bellinger and Ben Rice, two of their representatives, are the nicest guys in pinstripes.
No matter: The mere mention of their names over the public-address system evoked a primal reaction from the stands:

Bruno Guimarães’ future at Newcastle United is the story dominating headlines this summer.
Newcastle regard the midfielder as an indispensable leader and are unwilling to sanction a sale in this transfer window.
But their position has seemingly weakened after the 28-year-old informed the club of his wish to leave St James’ Park and join **** nal.
Latest reports claim Newcastle are aiming to secure a fee around £85 million for their captain.
No club-to-club talks have taken place except a phone call from the Magpies asking **** nal about their stance.

The half-time break in Sunday's World Cup final is expected to last between 20 and 25 minutes.
An 11-minute Super Bowl-style show, co-headlined by Madonna, Shakira and K-pop boy band BTS, will take place during the interval at New York New Jersey Stadium.
While sources within World Cup organisers Fifa suggest the break will be around 20 minutes, it is understood that one option is for the normal 15-minute half-time break and then the planned 11-minute show.
The laws of the game, governed by Ifab (the International Football **** ociation Board), state that players are entitled to a half-time break "not exceeding 15 minutes".
Half-time of last year's Club World Cup final, also organised by Fifa and held in New Jersey, lasted a total of 24 minutes due to a performance featuring Coldplay, J Balvin, Doja Cat, Tems and Emmanuel Kelly.

Team: Xavier Musketeers
2025-26 Record: 11-19, 4-16 Big East
2025-26 Big East Finish: 11th, which is last, one game behind DePaul.
Final 2025-26 Rankings
NET: #201
Her Hoop Stats: #250
BartTorvik.com: #151