The LIV Golf League’s team championship is moving from Trump National Doral in Miami to Saudi Arabia in November, LIV Golf sources confirmed to ESPN on Monday.
The $50 million team championship will be played at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in Jeddah on Nov. 3-5, according to a schedule that will soon be announced by LIV Golf.
LIV Golf is funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
The 2022 event was held at Trump National Doral in October during LIV Golf’s inaugural season. The course is owned by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who attended the event and participated in the pro-am tournament.
LIV Golf said its players would compete for $405 million in 14 tournaments this season, which is $150 million more than they won in eight events in 2022.
Three Trump-owned courses are part of LIV Golf’s 2023 schedule, including Trump National Golf Club outside Washington, D.C. (May 26-28), Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey (Aug. 11-13), and Trump National Doral (Oct. 20-22).
The full 2023 schedule includes a new tournament at Orange County National in Orlando, Florida (March 31-April 2). Orange County National has hosted Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Q-school events in the past. The tournament will be held the week before the Masters, the first major championship of the season.
LIV Golf is also returning to Centurion Club outside London (July 7-9), the site of its inaugural event last June, and Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois (Sept. 22-24). The circuit is not hosting events in Portland, Oregon, and Boston like it did in 2022.
LIV Golf had previously announced the dates and sites of seven of its tournaments for the 2023 schedule, which begins at El Camaleon Golf Club in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, on Feb. 24-26. It also announced tournaments in Tucson, Arizona (March 17-19), Australia (April 21-23), Singapore (April 28-30), Oklahoma (May 12-14), Spain (June 30-July 2) and West Virginia (Aug. 4-6).
Sports Illustrated first reported details of LIV’s full 2023 schedule.
All the top stories and transfer rumours from Tuesday’s newspapers…
DAILY EXPRESS
Arsenal could enact the perfect revenge on Chelsea for signing Mykhailo Mudryk earlier this month by beating them in the race to sign Everton midfielder Amadou Onana. Both clubs hold an interest in the playmaker and could feel that there is no better time to acquire his services.
Image: Everton’s Amadou Onana only joined the club last summer
Lionel Messi has reportedly changed his mind about his future and will not pen a new deal at Paris Saint-Germain. The forward was expected to sign a new contract at the Parc des Princes before the end of the season, but he will now become a free agent in the summer.
Imola circuit officials were fined after Max Verstappen’s filming day with Red Bull led to noise complaints. The Italian track’s operators were forced to stump up €500 [£440] after the F1 champion activated local noise pollution detectors nearby in one of Red Bull’s most iconic cars.
DAILY MAIL
UEFA is set to close the loophole which has enabled Chelsea to spread the cost of their record transfer spending over up to eight years after receiving complaints from other Premier League clubs.
Chelsea are rivalling Newcastle United in the chase for Everton’s Anthony Gordon.
Abdoulaye Doucoure was banned from training with Everton’s first team last week following the fallout of the Goodison Park defeat to Southampton.
The Professional Cricketers’ Association has joined Russell Slade’s fight for data rights.
Chelsea are set to offer Thiago Silva a contract extension to extend his impressive stay at Stamford Bridge.
Image: Chelsea’s Thiago Silva could remain at Stamford Bridge until three months off his 40th birthday
Anthony Joshua has agreed a deal to face American heavyweight Jermaine Franklin at the O2 Arena on April 1.
Sporting Lisbon are weighing up an offer for Heerenveen full-back Milan van Ewijk as a potential replacement for Tottenham target Pedro Porro.
Marseille defender Sead Kolasinac’s house was burgled on Friday while he played in a French Cup tie, according to a report.
THE GUARDIAN
Tottenham have concerns that their managing director of football, Fabio Paratici, could face a worldwide ban should a punishment laid down by the Italian Football Federation not be overturned on appeal.
Chelsea are planning a fresh move for Enzo Fernandez after previously failing to agree a deal for the Benfica midfielder.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Saudi Arabia failed in a bid to buy Formula 1 from Liberty Media last year amid the Netflix Drive to Survive boom, sources close to talks claim.
BBC executives desperately pleaded with Gary Lineker to apologise amid a tense studio stand-off over the pornographic noises prank during live FA Cup coverage last week.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell believes the Rugby Football Union’s decision to lower the tackle height across the amateur game will leave players “even more vulnerable” to “accidents waiting to happen”.
Former Australian tennis player Jelena Dokic’s heart-warming exchange with Novak Djokovic went viral at the weekend, but she has since hit back at horrendous “fat shaming” directed at her online.
DAILY MIRROR
Barcelona could be about to sign a Real Madrid player for the first time in 27 years as they are holding talks with Marco Asensio, according to reports in Spain.
Image: Real Madrid’s Marco Asensio would be the first player in years to cross the divide to join Barcelona
Gareth Bale has confirmed he will be involved in a PGA Tour competition just two weeks after retiring from football.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is ready to sell the Washington Post newspaper in order to raise enough funds to bid for the Washington Commanders of the NFL.
THE SUN
Newcastle have reportedly held talks with Manchester United over a shock January move for Scott McTominay.
Conor Benn could make his boxing return in an Abu Dhabi spectacular against ring legend Manny Pacquiao.
DAILY RECORD
Jim Goodwin has vowed to fight on as Aberdeen boss after an “embarrassing” and “humiliating” Scottish Cup shocker. But the beleaguered manager admits there are no assurances over his future following the disaster in Darvel.
Ryan Porteous could yet see out the season as a Hibs player and leave on a free transfer.
SCOTTISH SUN
Hibs could turn to Scotland cap Stuart Findlay to replace departing Ryan Porteous and the injured Rocky Bushiri.
{{ timeAgo(‘2023-01-23 17:17:22 -0600’) }} football Edit
Clint Cosgrove
• Rivals.com
National Recruiting Analyst
Andre Lovett has quickly become one of the most intriguing 2025 recruits in the state of Illinois due to his incredible frame, impressive level of athleticism and unlimited upside. These traits led to early offers from Tennessee, Missouri and Akron and have also made Blue Island (Ill.) Eisenhower a destination spot for coaches on the recruiting trail. Louisville and Syracuse were two of the latest schools to make the trip to Eisenhower and both Power Five programs extended scholarship offers to Lovett prior to leaving the school today.
Following today’s pair of ACC offers, Lovett caught up with Rivals to discuss his new opportunities and give the latest on his recruitment.
{{ timeAgo(‘2023-01-23 17:13:25 -0600’) }} football Edit
Nick Harris
• Rivals.com
National Recruiting Analyst
The 2024 class is set to take centerstage following National Signing Day next Wednesday, as the upcoming senior class is already embarking on junior day visits and getting official visits in order …
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He has hired Daniel Pohl, the German fitness trainer who has worked with Naomi Osaka. Shelton was smart on Monday: toning down his natural exuberance early against Wolf to save fuel; dominating the fourth-set tiebreaker; jumping out to a quick lead in the fifth set; and then building on it to win, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-2.
The 2023 Australian Open
The year’s first Grand Slam event runs from Jan. 16 to Jan. 29 in Melbourne.
Wolf, 24, never broke Shelton’s serve in five sets, getting only two break points. Now Shelton will play in another all-American match against Tommy Paul, 25, in the first Grand Slam quarterfinal for both. Paul, already an established threat on the tour with victories over Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, advanced with a victory, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, over the No. 24 seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain.
With Sebastian Korda already in the quarterfinals, there are three American men among the final eight in Australia for the first time since 2000 when Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and the much lesser-known Chris Woodruff reached that stage.
Shelton, who won the 2022 Division I men’s singles championship at the University of Florida and then turned professional that August, has had a fine draw here, facing no opponents ranked in the top 50. His returns need lots of work but after saving a match point in the first round against Zhang Zhizhen of China, he has continued to rise to the occasion, embracing the matches and the post-match interviews with the same enthusiasm.
In only his second major tournament, Shelton has gone one round farther than his father and coach, Bryan Shelton, whose best Grand Slam run was to the fourth round at Wimbledon in 1994. He will also pass his father’s best career ranking of 55, breaking into the top 50 next week.
“I try not to think about that at all,” Ben Shelton said of the comparison. “My dad’s the reason I’m here. I wouldn’t be here without him. They say you do better on your second try, and I think the way he coaches and explains the game to me and all the life experiences he’s given me, and my mom as well, are pretty much the sole reason I’m in the position I’m in.”
But coach Andy Reid said Monday the Chiefs aren’t certain whether they will be able to go with Mahomes or have to use veteran backup Chad Henne at quarterback on Sunday.
“He mentioned it to you that he’s going to play. That’s his mindset, and then we’ll just take it day by day and see how he does.”
The Chiefs’ first practice this week is on Wednesday. Reid said he wasn’t sure whether Mahomes would be available to work then.
“I’ve got to see how he feels when we get ready to practice,” he said.
As for whether Mahomes could play against the Bengals without practicing all week, Reid said, “Yeah, I think so. He’s never done that, so I don’t know. I don’t have the answer for you on that.”
Mahomes’ mobility was limited and his style of play changed dramatically after he returned to the game in the second half on Saturday. He threw no passes outside of the pocket, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, marking only his second half this season in which he made all of his throws from the pocket.
He led the NFL during the regular season with 113 throws from outside the pocket.
Reid said he was expecting the Bengals to put pressure on Mahomes beyond what they normally might because of his limited mobility.
“I’m sure they’ll do something, yeah,” Reid said. “But I’m not going to chase a bunch of different things. We should have things covered in our protections no matter what.”
Starting with the trade sending 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones from the Connecticut Sun to the New York Liberty with a third team (the Dallas Wings) involved, we’re seeing blockbuster moves that alter the balance of power in the WNBA.
For the first time, ESPN grades the biggest deals, breaking down the implications in terms of the league’s hard salary cap and teams building out their 2023 rosters.
Which teams got the best deals to set themselves up for success? And which others might have missed out on better opportunities? Check out our analysis.
Dealing for Gray is an aggressive move for the Dream as they build back toward the playoffs after four seasons spent in the lottery. The most recent of those, the first year for new Atlanta leadership in GM Dan Padover and coach Tanisha Wright, saw dramatic improvement. The Dream won the equivalent of five more games, accounting for the schedule increase to 36 games, and missed the playoffs by just one win.
In the long term, returning to the lottery might not have been so bad for Atlanta. It gave the Dream the No. 3 pick, two spots higher than they would have selected had they reached the postseason. That’s the centerpiece of this deal, which also takes advantage of a WNBA rule change allowing teams to trade picks two years into the future. Previously, they were limited to dealing picks from this year and the next.
Adding Gray, who could easily have been an All-Star last season while averaging a career-high 13.3 PPG, accelerates Atlanta’s building process. Because Gray is capable of creating with the ball in her hands and is a dangerous spot-up threat (a career-high 41% from 3 last season; 38% over the last four years), she’ll fit well on the wing alongside 2022 Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard.
Add in point guard Aari McDonald, who improved dramatically in her second season under Wright’s tutelage, and the Dream hope they have their perimeter trio for years to come. Cheyenne Parker was a solid starting center for Atlanta, leaving only power forward as a key need the Dream will look to fill in free agency. Add in the No. 8 pick, which Atlanta still has, and some veteran additions, and the bench should be playoff-caliber as well.
Gray’s modest salary ($169,600 salary, per HerHoopStats.com) will help the Dream continue shopping. Even after adding Gray and veteran guard Danielle Robinson via trade, Atlanta still has nearly $700,000 in remaining cap space.
At the same time, Gray’s salary affects the risk of giving up a top pick for a player heading into a contract year. Gray is eligible for an extension, but because the maximum possible 20% raise off her salary is still a few thousand below next year’s standard maximum salary, she might be better off waiting for free agency next offseason.
Dealing the No. 3 pick for a rental would be a tough pill to swallow, especially with an additional pick headed to the Wings in 2025. Atlanta is surely hoping that Gray will still be part of the core by then, while McDonald and Howard will be entering their prime, making the Dream contenders — and that pick a late one in the first round.
From a value standpoint, this deal looks pretty good for the Wings. The No. 3 pick should yield one of the prospects in this year’s top tier, a player who will be on a bargain rookie contract for the next four seasons. I’d consider this far more of a premium pick than when Dallas acquired the No. 1 overall selection in the weak 2021 class.
With Aliyah Boston certain to be the No. 1 pick if she enters the draft as expected, the Wings are probably looking at one of Maryland’s Diamond Miller, Stanford’s Haley Jones or Tennessee’s Rickea Jackson, projected in the top four in M.A. Voepel’s post-lottery mock draft. Any of the three would address the void at forward left by Dallas trading both Gray and Kayla Thornton in the past week.
Cycling in another rookie contract will help the Wings as their recent draft picks graduate off them and earn higher salaries. Arike Ogunbowale begins a supermax extension this season, while Satou Sabally will be eligible to sign an extension prior to the last year of her rookie deal. An extra first-rounder will also be helpful in 2025.
Still, dealing away another player in her prime has to be frustrating for Dallas fans. Gray follows Liz Cambage and Skylar Diggins-Smith away from the Wings, and the timing is especially tough after the franchise’s first .500 finish since 2015. Adding Natasha Howard in last week’s three-team deal eases the blow a bit, and adding Howard’s salary is easier without Gray on the books, but Howard is three years older.
Following those deals, Dallas still has work to do. Guard Marina Mabrey and center Teaira McCowan will be in demand as restricted free agents this offseason. If the Wings intend to roster both of this year’s first-round picks (No. 3 and No. 11), that leaves about $350,000 in cap space to re-sign Mabrey and McCowan or replace them in free agency.
Although the Sun didn’t get another All-Star player in return, completing the deal now will allow Connecticut to use the core spot — previously occupied by Jones — to keep unrestricted free agent Brionna Jones, as ESPN’s Alexa Philippou reported they plan to do.
The Liberty have landed a superstar interior player to pair with budding star guard Sabrina Ionescu. Remarkably, this deal not only gives New York at least two rotation players but also additional cap space, meaning it’s still possible for the Liberty to pursue fellow MVP Breanna Stewart in unrestricted free agency.
Two years after Natasha Howard went to New York in a sign-and-trade deal as the Seattle Storm‘s core player, she’s on the move again, headed to Dallas. Just how Howard fits in with the Wings remains to be seen based on their other offseason moves, but for now this looks like an opportunistic move for Dallas.
From the Liberty’s perspective, we can sort of think of this as two separate trades. First, New York dealt Howard, Crystal Dangerfield and the No. 6 pick in this year’s WNBA draft for Jones. Second, the Liberty also swapped Rebecca Allen for Kayla Thornton.
The Howard-Jones swap is unambiguously an enormous win for New York. After she was limited to 13 games in her first season with the Liberty, Howard was an All-Star last year. But she has scored with average efficiency during her three seasons as a go-to scorer, including a .551 true shooting percentage (TS%) in 2022, when the league average was .541.
By contrast, Jones has proved capable of combining efficiency with high-volume scoring. During her 2021 MVP campaign, Jones posted a .614 TS% while finishing 27% of Connecticut’s plays with a shot, trip to the free throw line or turnover. That stayed at .615 last season, when Jones’ usage rate dipped to 24% with the return of Alyssa Thomas to the Sun’s lineup.
An All-Defensive first team pick in 2021 and second team last season, Jones is, at worst, in the same ballpark as Howard, who was voted Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 but wasn’t able to lift the Liberty’s defense above seventh last season. (Connecticut, by contrast, had the WNBA’s second-best defensive rating.)
Looking forward, Jones — who turned 29 earlier this month — is more than two years younger than Howard, making her a better long-term option. Add it up, and any team would happily make that swap.
The undercard is interesting in its own right. Allen has been a good role player in New York, combining above-average 3-point shooting (37% career despite last season’s 31% accuracy) with solid perimeter defense. At 32% career shooting beyond the arc, Thornton offers a slight shooting downgrade in favor of more toughness.
Perhaps most importantly, Thornton’s $109,716 salary (all salaries per HerHoopStats.com) is about $27,000 less than what Allen will make in 2023. Since Jones took less than the supermax to re-sign with the Sun as a core player last offseason, New York also saves more than $16,000 on that swap. So the Liberty’s cap space has increased to more than $300,000 with this deal.
With a minimum of three roster spots to fill, the Liberty could sign a player for the max and still have about $160,000 to offer another free agent. New York doesn’t yet qualify as a superteam with Ionescu and Jones, but stay tuned on that front.
The moves did cost the Liberty Dangerfield, whose arrival helped turn around their 2022 season by moving Ionescu to an off-ball role. Still, Dangerfield’s own performance in New York was unspectacular. Her .490 TS% was poor for a player with a small 13% usage rate. The Liberty could look to find another point guard in free agency or hope Ionescu is more comfortable handling that role with more talent around her.
Trading star players for equivalent value is always a challenge in the WNBA because teams need them much more than stars need the league. We’ve already seen Jones opt out of the 2020 Wubble season, so sitting out if she was dealt to an undesirable destination was a credible threat. Rachel Galligan reported Connecticut allowed Jones to meet with teams and she picked New York.
Additionally, the Sun needed to save money in this deal to create cap room if they wanted to use the core designation on Brionna Jones — who assuredly would have drawn max offers elsewhere as the No. 2 free agent after Stewart by my projections.
Those caveats noted, this return still seems disappointing in contrast to past star trades. Connecticut doesn’t end up with either of the two best players in this trade — those being Howard and Jonquel Jones. And the Sun end up with only one draft pick in the middle of the first round.
On the plus side, Connecticut should be deeper than in years past. The Sun previously had just one first-round pick on a rookie contract (2022 selection Nia Clouden) and can now add two first-rounders to the mix, having already held the No. 10 pick.
How well Tyasha Harris fits in Connecticut is a key wild card. The No. 7 overall pick in 2020, Harris never emerged as a starter in Dallas and showed little statistical improvement after a solid rookie campaign. On a Sun team that was starved for playmaking from the point after Jasmine Thomas‘ ACL tear, Harris’ 6.5 assists per 36 minutes could be helpful. Alyssa Thomas was the only Connecticut player to average more.
Ultimately, this looks like a step back for Connecticut. Granting Brionna Jones has improved since then, we saw how a team starting her, DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas looked in the bubble. The Sun went 10-12 in that regular season before pulling a pair of upsets to reach the semifinals. Connecticut might be a deeper and more modern WNBA team in 2023 with Allen supplying more shooting. Yet, it’s still unlikely the Sun will be better in the short or long term without Jonquel Jones.
Amusingly, this is the second time the Wings have jumped into a multiteam trade involving Natasha Howard and the Liberty. Two years ago, they got the No. 1 pick from New York via Seattle. This time, Dallas is landing Howard in exchange for role players.
Kayla Thornton will be missed, particularly if the Wings ultimately trade starting small forward Allisha Gray. But going from Thornton to Howard is an upgrade, possibly a big one if Dallas sees moving Tyasha Harris‘ $83,194 guaranteed salary as a positive.
Given new Wings head coach Latricia Trammell’s preference for versatile defenders, Howard looks like a fit. The interesting question is where Howard, who has played both power forward and center, slides into the Dallas lineup. Both Wings centers, Isabelle Harrison and Teaira McCowan, are free agents. (McCowan is restricted, meaning Dallas can match any offer to her.)
At 6-foot-2, Howard is undersized for a center, but that’s where she started in Seattle when Stewart was healthy, and the Wings could similarly put size next to her with 6-4 Satou Sabally. So we’ll see whether Dallas brings back either of its incumbent centers, who are less capable of defending on the perimeter than Howard.
There’s still plenty more to shake out from the Wings’ offseason, including another key restricted free agent (starting guard Marina Mabrey) and the possible Gray trade. For now, Dallas seems to be starting free agency in a more favorable position with Howard’s addition.
Ostapenko, who blasted Gauff off the court in straight sets Sunday, knows something about that. After she came out of nowhere to win the French Open in 2017, her life turned upside down. She felt like everyone expected her to win every tournament, “which is crazy, because you are still a human and you cannot feel great every day,” she said. “A lot of attention from everywhere outside the court, like photo shoots and all those kinds of things. You became more popular in your country. Everybody is watching you.”
Currently ranked 17th, Ostapenko said she came to Australia hoping to begin a climb back into the top 10.
It’s worth noting that inside the locker room, no one is under the radar. Every player knows every other player’s strengths and weaknesses, who’s hot, who’s nursing an injury or having a crisis of confidence.
Both Gauff and Pegula said that they were not at all surprised that Rybakina, who played her first two matches on outer courts, just as she had for much of the summer and fall, had taken out Swiatek with her flat, thumping power that is ideally suited to the court conditions here.
“It’s a motivation to win even more,” Rybakina said last week of her court assignments.
Likewise, everyone in the locker room knows Pegula, who beat Swiatek earlier this month, has been playing the best tennis of her life, moving fast across the court, giving away so few points, forcing opponents to take whatever they can get from her, which hasn’t been much.
“That locker room is the most educated place in the world,” said Pam Shriver, the Grand Slam doubles champion who recently started coaching Vekic part-time.
Like everyone else here, Shriver, who was courtside Monday as Vekic beat Linda Fruhvirtova, a gifted 17-year-old from the Czech Republic, is pondering the so-called Netflix curse. No player featured prominently in “Break Point,” which was released 10 days ago, made it past the fourth round. Three withdrew with injuries just days before the tournament. Shriver wondered whether the players who had decided to participate in the series had taken the time to think through the effects that being part of a high-profile series might have on their psyches on the eve of the year’s first Grand Slam.
For the first time in seven years, one of the world’s most prestigious and hard-to-schedule surfing competitions returned to the North Shore of Oahu.
It was worth the wait.
Forty invitees — a mix of the world’s top professional surfers and local legends — took on wave faces that exceeded 50 feet as an estimated 60,000 spectators watched from the beach and surrounding cliffs. The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational, known as the Eddie, is held only when wave faces are consistently larger than 40 feet at Waimea Bay, a rarity.
In the end, it was the 27-year-old Luke Shepardson, a surfer and lifeguard from the North Shore of Oahu, who defeated the biggest names in the sport, including the 2016 defending titleholder John John Florence, a two-time world champion.
Shepardson competed during breaks from his lifeguard job, returning to the tower between heats. He accepted his award wearing his uniform: a yellow lifeguard T-shirt and red board shorts.
“I can’t believe it, it’s surreal, it’s a dream come true,” he said.
The beach and the surrounding area had been packed since Saturday evening, when many drove to the North Shore to set up camp. Others walked miles to get a glimpse of the action. Anticipation was especially high after the event was set for Jan. 11 and then canceled because of a swell change.
More than a surf contest, the Eddie is a cultural event to honor and celebrate Eddie Aikau, a surfer from Hawaii and the first lifeguard on the North Shore of Oahu.
Aikau saved more than 500 people as a lifeguard, and his final act was one of service. He was part of a canoe voyage retracing the ancient Polynesian migration route between Hawaii and Tahiti in 1978. The vessel capsized off the coast of Lanai and after waiting for rescue, Aikau took his surfboard and paddled toward shore to get help. The rest of the crew was rescued, but Aikau was never seen again.
The talk on the beach and on the livestream reflected the unique nature of the event. While the announcers shared accolades of competitors and the ever-changing conditions in the ocean, they also spoke extensively about Hawaiian culture, history and Aikau himself. No scores were shown on the livestream, and at one point during the second round of heats, it was announced that Clyde Aikau, Eddie’s brother and the contest director, would keep the leaderboard “under wraps” until everyone was safely on shore. The winner would be crowned eventually. Who won was beside the point.
The focus was on the three words on the back of every competitor’s jersey: “Eddie Would Go.”
And go they did.
Makua Rothman, who suffered an injury at a surf competition a week ago, paddled out with a heavy knee brace. Michael Ho, 65, competed alongside his son, Mason, 34. Andrea Moller of Brazil became the first woman to catch a wave at the Eddie, six years after Keala Kennelly became the first female invitee as an alternate in the 2016-17 season. Moller and Kennelly were two of the six women invited to compete, along with six alternates.
There are many ways to wipe out on a 50-foot wave, none of them good. Some surfers immediately went airborne, trying to stand but instead plummeting from the height of a fourth-floor balcony. Others successfully navigated a steep vertical drop only to be consumed by a wall of white water that sucked them into the world’s most turbulent washing machine. Then there were the surfers who skipped down the face of a wave like stones on a pond, and others who somersaulted over the lip.
Multiple surfers deployed their safety vests underwater, pulling a tab that inflated the vests and lifted them above the white water. The North Shore lifeguards were quick to swoop in on water scooters and bring them back to shore, helping them deflate their vests on land so they could head back into the whirling ocean.
As heats ended, surfers returned to shore to booming cheers. Once safely on land, many quietly stood at the edge of the water, reflecting on the stadium, one that rarely produces these conditions.
“It felt incredible to surf in this event,” Kai Lenny, a top big-wave surfer, said before the awards ceremony. “I know we’ve all had the Eddie Aikau posters in our rooms growing up, so to have the opportunity to actually go out there for Eddie and his ohana, the Aikaus, was a dream come true for me,” he said, using a Hawaiian word for family.
Clyde Aikau praised the surfers for their willingness to brave the fearsome waves. “Just paddling out today was a feat in itself,” he said.
He then announced the second-place finisher, Florence, and the winner, Shepardson. Of a possible 90 points, Shepardson scored 89.1, enough to collect the $10,000 prize.
It was a poetic ending, a North Shore surfer and lifeguard winning an event honoring a Hawaiian surfer and lifeguard.
“I’ve got to get back to the tower,” Shepardson said after a brief celebration. “I got to get back to the tower to make sure everyone is OK until the end of the day.”
It’s safe to say that’s what Eddie would have done, too.
Arsenal have completed the signing of Poland defender Jakub Kiwior from Spezia in a deal worth £20m.
The 22-year-old, who has signed a four-and-a-half deal with the option of a further year at the Emirates Stadium, becomes the Premier League leaders’ second signing this January after the arrival of Leandro Trossard from Brighton for £27m.
Kiwior has been capped nine times by Poland and started all four of their games at the World Cup in Qatar.
Arsenal were looking for a left-sided central defender, with Kiwior expected to provide competition for Gabriel.
Gunners sporting director Edu said: “We’re delighted to have completed the signing of Jakub Kiwior. He’s a young talent who we’ve been monitoring for a while now. We are now all looking forward to working with Jakub and seeing his continued development with us. We welcome Jakub to Arsenal.”
Manager Mikel Arteta added: “It’s great that Jakub is joining us. He’s a young versatile defender who has shown huge potential and qualities with Spezia in Serie A, and also at international level with Poland.
“Jakub is a player who will give us strength and quality to our defensive unit. We welcome Jakub and his family to Arsenal and look forward to working with him.”
Kiwior was present at the Emirates Stadium for Arsenal’s 3-2 victory over Manchester United on Super Sunday, even though his arrival at the club was not yet announced.
Analysis: Arsenal’s good window continues
Sky Sports News’ chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol:
“Arsenal have had a very good window, they’ve got exactly what Mikel Arteta has asked for, and it’s always a good sign when you feel a deal is not right to walk away from it.
“I believe that’s what happened as far as (Mykhailo) Mudryk was concerned, they weren’t willing to structure the deal exactly how Shakhtar wanted, and then Chelsea agreed to do so. Arsenal didn’t lick their wounds, a couple of days later they moved onto one of their other targets, and they saved a lot of money getting Leandro Trossard.
“Maybe that money can go towards signing someone like Declan Rice in the summer as well. Yes, in the long term Mudryk may be one who got away, but I don’t think missing out on him will define their season.”
Who will be on the move this winter? The January transfer window opened on Sunday January 1, 2023 and closes at 11pm in England and midnight in Scotland on Tuesday January 31, 2023.
Keep up to date with all the latest transfer news and rumours in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog on Sky Sports’ digital platforms. You can also catch up with the ins, outs and analysis on Sky Sports News.
Players up for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame have their cases discussed in a private meeting in the week leading up to the Super Bowl, with the discourse, and voting totals, never publicly revealed. The Basketball Hall of Fame keeps things under wraps to the point where most average fans do not even know how players are nominated, let alone elected.
In that sense, baseball, which is often viewed as the most antiquated of major American sports, could be seen as progressive. The main ballot every year is decided by veteran baseball writers, many of whom openly discuss their votes in advance and nearly all of whom allow their ballots to be revealed after the election. (No, we still don’t know the identity of the one writer who did not vote for Derek Jeter.)
With so many ballots available to be studied before Tuesday’s announcement of the class of 2023, Ryan Thibodaux and a group of volunteers have taken much of the guessing out of who stands a chance of getting the required 75 percent of the vote with their Hall of Fame Ballot Tracker. The no-frills online spreadsheet produced by Thibodaux’s team plainly states that 21 of this year’s candidates, including Alex Rodriguez, have already been left off so many ballots that they are mathematically eliminated.
In slightly better position are Carlos Beltrán, the former Mets and Yankees center fielder, who is this year’s most prominent first-year candidate, and Jeff Kent, the San Francisco Giants star who has more career home runs than any other second baseman. Those two have yet to be mathematically eliminated, but each would need to be chosen on more than 90 percent of the remaining ballots to be elected.
That leaves the following five candidates as the ones most likely to have their names called on Tuesday. But considering players tend to have their percentages go down once nonpublic ballots are counted, there is a real chance of no one being elected for the second time in three years, which would leave Fred McGriff, who was elected in December by the Contemporary Eras Committee, as the lone inductee this summer.
Scott Rolen
Third Base Career WAR: 70.1 | Sixth Ballot Tracker Percentage: 79.3 percent
Momentum has been building for Rolen, a slick-fielding third baseman who slugged 316 home runs. He got only 10.2 percent of the vote in his first year on the ballot, in 2018, but that number has risen each year, and he reached 63.2 percent last year, a number that typically indicates a player will eventually be elected. There are only 15 players who were primarily third basemen in the Hall of Fame, and Rolen has more career wins above replacement than seven of them. If he does not make it this year, he is likely to make it next year.
Todd Helton
First Base Career WAR: 61.8 | Fifth Ballot Tracker Percentage: 79.3 percent
Was Helton a Coors Field creation? A single-franchise star known for his steady production, he hit .345 with a .441 on-base percentage and .607 slugging percentage at home, while dropping to .287/.386/.469 on the road. He also hit 227 home runs at home and only 142 away from Denver’s high altitude. It is fair to consider those numbers when deciding his fate, but voters did not seem to mind that Jim Rice, Ryne Sandberg, Mel Ott and others had similar disparities between their statistics at home and on the road.
Wagner was one of the most dominant relievers in major league history. He struck out 11.9 batters per nine innings over a 16-year career, much of which came before the recent steep rise in strikeouts. He had only one season in which his E.R.A. was higher than 2.85 (and he missed much of that season because of injury). And his 422 saves are more than all but three of the eight closers currently in the Hall. A general reluctance to elect relievers not named Mariano Rivera is Wagner’s biggest obstacle. But with two more chances on the writers’ ballot, he has a good chance of eventually getting in.
Andruw Jones
Center Fielder Career WAR: 62.7 | Sixth Ballot Tracker Percentage: 67.6 percent
How can a player who has more defensive wins above replacement than any other center fielder, and also hit 434 home runs, be considered by some to have been disappointing in his 17-season career? Well, hitting two home runs in a World Series game as a 19-year-old and drawing numerous comparisons early in his career to Willie Mays created an unwinnable situation for Jones. Having his career fall off a cliff after his age-30 season did not help. Already halfway through his eligibility, he may never get 75 percent from the writers, but his defensive reputation alone may be enough to get him elected by one of the Hall’s eras committees.
Personality and postseason success play outsize roles in voting by the writers, and there is potentially no better proof of that than David Ortiz sailing in on his first ballot while Sheffield is on his penultimate try and will fall short yet again. Both have connections to performance-enhancing drugs, but Sheffield had a higher career batting average, a higher career on-base percentage and similar home run and R.B.I. totals. He also had 80.7 offensive WAR compared with Ortiz’s 56.7. That their overall WAR is relatively close (60.5 for Sheffield, 55.3 for Ortiz) is entirely a result of Sheffield’s regularly playing the field (very poorly) while Ortiz was essentially a designated hitter for his career.
Hall of Famer Tracker results are as of Monday morning. Wins above replacement totals are based on Baseball Reference’s formulation.
Previously a college football writer for The Dallas Morning News
University of North Texas graduate
Alaina Getzenberg
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Cincinnati Bengals are headed back to the AFC Championship Game.
The defending conference champions showed why they might be the best team in the AFC for the second straight year, defeating the Buffalo Bills27-10 in the divisional round to set up another title tilt against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Cincinnati Bengals
Sunday’s game in Buffalo was Cincinnati’s most commanding playoff performance over the past two years, including its run to the Super Bowl last season. It was a further indicator this season’s Bengals team is better than the one that lost 23-20 to the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI last February.
Cincinnati never had a chance to stake its claim as the AFC’s top seed in the regular season. But the Bengals underscored their merits in Buffalo.
Troubling trend: Cincinnati has to be concerned about the future of its offensive line. Bengals center Ted Karras appeared to play through an undisclosed injury during the game. The television broadcast indicated Karras had a right knee issue, but he fought through it to finish the game. The Bengals can’t afford to lose any more offensive linemen. Cincinnati began Sunday’s divisional game with three reserves starting. If Karras goes down, too, that leaves rookie left guard Cordell Volson as the only Week 1 starter on the unit. There is some solace for Cincinnati’s offensive line, however. Even with the backups in the fold, the Bengals ran the ball effectively and did a good job of protecting Joe Burrow throughout the game.
QB breakdown: This was one of the best playoff performances of Burrow’s young career. He was 23-of-36 for 242 yards and two touchdowns and completed his first nine passes of the game. Even some of the incompletions, including a would-be touchdown throw to Ja’Marr Chase that was nullified, were impressive. Burrow took the underneath throws when available and scrambled to get yards if needed. He also passed Ken Anderson for the most postseason passing yards in franchise history and helped Cincinnati maintain a comfortable lead over Buffalo for nearly the entire game.
Describe the game in two words: Dominating performance. Cincinnati went on the road, in snowy conditions, with reserves along the offensive line and never looked troubled against the Bills. The Bengals were six-point underdogs in the hours leading up to kickoff, according to Caesars Sportsbook. In one of the NFL’s most raucous environments, the defending AFC champions showed why they are one game from returning to the Super Bowl.
Underrated statistic to know: With Buffalo’s defense determined not to allow Cincinnati any big plays, sustaining offensive drives was imperative to the Bengals’ success. Cincinnati converted five of its first eight third downs, which played a massive role in the team’s ability to play with a lead. The Bengals had 30 first downs in the game. — Ben Baby
Next game: at Chiefs (6:30 p.m. ET, Jan. 29)
Buffalo Bills
There wasn’t one moment or one play that ended the Bills’ season. Instead, the Bills were outplayed from start to finish in all three phases, finishing a season that started with such promise — as the Super Bowl favorites — in blowout fashion.
The team’s first home playoff loss under coach Sean McDermott put the weaknesses the Bills have been dealing with all season on full display.
The defense was unable to take advantage of an injured offensive line, while the Bills’ offense failed to put together drives consistently, looking out of sync and overwhelmed with frequent mistakes. Quarterback Josh Allen didn’t turn the ball over until the end of the game, as has been an issue for Buffalo as of late, but didn’t seem comfortable all game behind an offensive line that has struggled. Once again, wide receiver Stefon Diggs was not able to consistently become part of the game plan, finishing with four receptions on 10 targets.
While the defense was dealing with injuries, the unit had no answer for slowing Burrow, and the Bengals went up and down the field with ease.
On the biggest of stages, a team that has set the Super Bowl as the clear end goal looked far from it, almost looking unprepared for the moment.
The Bills now go into the offseason with a variety of questions to answer, including key free agent decisions to be made on defense, help needed on the offensive line and at wide receiver, and question marks about the team’s approach at defensive end.
Troubling trend: Struggles of the Bills’ defensive line. Against an offensive line missing two starters, the Bills’ defensive line struggled to control the line of scrimmage. In the first half, the Bengals gained 275 yards, the most yards the Bills have allowed in either half this season, with 90 of those coming on the ground. It was the second-most rushing yards the Bengals had before the half this season and more than they had in the first half in any of their previous four games combined. Burrow was sacked only once and pressured on seven dropbacks. While the Bills were missing starting defensive tackle DaQuan Jones, the inability to generate a pass rush or stop the running game is concerning for a group the Bills have invested so much in over the past couple of years.
Biggest hole in the game plan: The entire offensive game plan. There’s no excuse for how a healthy Bills offense performed against the Bengals. An early 14-0 deficit didn’t help, but the Bills were plagued by poor play all over, from the playcalling to the offensive line not giving Allen enough time to drops by wide receivers. The Bills were not able to take advantage of Allen’s ability to scramble; he was limited to one pass outside of the pocket on three attempts through the first three quarters. The weakness of the Bills’ offensive line was on full display, and the unit just looked out of sync. — Alaina Getzenberg
Underrated statistic to know: The Bills are 1-6 (lone win: Jan. 9, 2021, against the Colts) in their playoff history when their opponent does not commit a turnover, which the Bengals did not. The Chiefs did not turn the ball over in last year’s divisional playoff matchup.
Only twice in the Super Bowl era have the two conference championship games featured point spreads smaller than a field goal. We’re set up for a third this weekend, but the lines have been on the move.
On Sunday afternoon, with the Cincinnati Bengals in command over the Buffalo Bills in the fourth quarter, oddsmakers for the SuperBook put up an early line on the AFC Championship Game. The SuperBook installed the Kansas City Chiefs as 3-point favorites over the Bengals. According to the SuperBook’s executive director John Murray, it was a “bad opener,” and within 30 minutes, the Bengals went from 3-point dogs to 1-point favorites.
“We’ve taken only one bet on Kansas City so far,” Murray said approximately two hours after posting the opening line. “It’s been all Bengals money.”
The point spread eventually ticked back toward the Chiefs slightly at the SuperBook, which had the line listed at pick ’em Sunday night. On Monday morning, the consensus line was Chiefs -1.
Caesars Sportsbook, which opened with Kansas City -2.5, also took early money on the Bengals, including an influential bettor on Cincinnati that contributed to the line dropping.
“That 2½ was taken right away,” Adam Pullen, assistant director of Caesars Sportsbook, said of the early action on the Bengals. “You’re not going to be taking necessarily huge bets right off the bat, but it was a respected player that took [Cincinnati] +2.5 pretty early.”
“But such is the impact of the soon-to-be MVP”
Kevin Lawler of Pointsbet on Patrick Mahomes’ ankle injury
Murray said the early action on the Bengals at the SuperBook was not necessarily from professional bettors, but more from customers who were paying attention when the line went up and had been following the reports of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes‘ injured ankle. Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain in Kansas City’s win over Jacksonville on Saturday. Bookmakers said the early point spread reflected Mahomes playing but not being 100 percent.
Kevin Lawler, head of trading for PointsBet, said he believed the line would be around Chiefs -5.5, if Mahomes were at full strength. “But such is the impact of the soon-to-be MVP,” Lawler told ESPN on Sunday.
In the NFC Championship Game, the Philadelphia Eagles opened as 2-point favorites over the San Francisco 49ers at Caesars Sportsbook. The line had ticked up to a consensus Eagles -2.5 by Monday morning, with the majority of bets at Caesars being on favored Philadelphia.
“Both games are just mouthwatering clashes,” Pullen said. “The lines tell you these games should be close.”
Betting on another Maher miss
Dallas Cowboys kicker Brett Maher trotted out in the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the 49ers for what likely was one of the most heavily bet extra points ever.
After Maher missed all four of his extra point attempts last week, sportsbooks, in jurisdictions where allowed, offered odds on whether he’d miss another on Sunday.
The SuperBook opened the “yes” on the prop at 5-1 and attracted enough money to drive the price down to 3-1. The largest bet at 5-1 was $1,000, according to Murray, who said “all we took is ‘yes’ money.”
Sure enough, Maher’s first extra point against the 49ers was blocked, and bettors who took the “yes” cashed.
NFL notables
Someone who didn’t cash was Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, the Houston furniture store owner known to tie big sports bets to promotional giveaways. McIngvale had $2 million riding on the Cowboys to beat the 49ers straight-up Sunday. He placed the big bets with Caesars Sportsbook in Louisiana and offered customers who spent $3,000 or more at his store Gallery Furniture their money back if Dallas won. The Cowboys lost 19-12.
Someone who did cash was a bettor with FanDuel in Indiana, who nailed each of the players to score the first touchdown in the divisional round playoff games this weekend in a $5 four-leg parlay that paid $72,795. The bettor captured the moment Cowboys tight end Dalton Schultz scored the first touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers to culminate his bet on Twitter.
Life changing money!! Can’t believe that just happened!! Here’s my reaction live. pic.twitter.com/DGS9hNhonx
Odds to win the Super Bowl (via Caesars Sportsbook) Chiefs +260 Eagles +270 Bengals +280 49ers +300
According to sports betting archive SportsOddsHistory.com, this is the first time in the last 45 seasons that the Super Bowl favorite has had odds longer than +200.
If the Chiefs close as the favorites against the Bengals, it will be the 15th consecutive playoff game that Kansas City has been favored, which is the longest such streak in the Super Bowl era.
The Bengals have covered the spread in nine straight games as an underdog.
The final rankings for the 2023 class are being released this week and today we begin as always with the five-star countdown. There are 32 five-stars and we will be unveiling them one at a time in reverse order throughout the day, until we finish with the player who will go down in Rivals’ history as the No. 1 prospect in the 2023 class. Rivals recruiting director AdamGorney will give his thoughts on each five-star, as well.
Tuesday: Final Rivals250 for 2023 revealed | Gorney’s thoughts
Wednesday: Final offensive position rankings for 2023
Thursday: Final defensive position rankings for 2023
Friday: Final state rankings for 2023
Saturday: Final JUCO rankings for 2023
Sunday: Initial 2023 transfer portal team rankings
*****
28. OL SAMSON OKUNLOLA (Miami)
Gorney’s Take: Samson Okunlola was a little anonymous at the All-American Bowl and did not dominate as much as other offensive linemen at the major all-star events, but his catalog of work over the years keeps him as a five-star prospect and someone who is still one of the best players at his position in this class. The Miami signee has the size and the power, and he’s continuing to develop the footwork to be elite. As a projection, in three or four years down the road, we think he could be one of the best offensive tackles in the class.
Gorney’s Take: Nyckoles Harbor is still developing as a football player and he has some work to do if he’s going to stay on the offensive side of the ball as a pass catcher. But he’s such an incredibly rare athlete that he has first-round projection written all over him. He’s one of the best-looking players in this class and a world-class track star. As he continues to learn the intricacies at tight end or as a big receiver, Harbor has plenty of upside to blossom into a superstar. Michigan, South Carolina, Maryland, Oregon and others are involved.
*****
30. CB DESMOND RICKS (Alabama)
Gorney’s Take: The Alabama signee remains a five-star because of his incredible physical tools and his competitiveness that we’ve seen over the years, even as Desmond Ricks reclassified from the 2024 to the 2023 class. With his speed and ability to cover plus play on an island, Ricks has the potential to be really special even though some elite receivers got the best of him at the Under Armour Game. As he develops under coach NickSaban, Ricks has the length, the want-to and the ability to be special in Tuscaloosa.
Gorney’sTake: Yhonzae Pierre’s reputation as a potential five-star really started in his junior season, then he dominated at Alabama’s summer camp, then he was outstanding as a senior and then finally turned in an incredible performance all week at the All-American Bowl. Not only is the Crimson Tide signee a high-level athlete and physical force but he’s so fast off the snap that he was winning some one-on-one reps by hardly being touched. He can get to the edge, he can spin, he can go inside and his productivity is simply off the charts.
Gorney’sTake: If you go to a lab and draw up what an outside linebacker is supposed to look and play like, it would be Suntarine Perkins. The Ole Miss signee, who was pushed hard by Alabama until the end, is all of 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds. He has length and covers ground so incredibly well. Not only was Perkins an excellent linebacker at Raleigh, Miss., but he was also a phenomenal running back, maybe one of the best in the country.
Harry Kane is approaching the final year of his contract at Tottenham and a critical stage when it comes to his future. Here, Sky Sports News explains the situation from all angles…
Kane was the subject of a £100m bid from Manchester City two summers ago, but Spurs resisted Kane’s attempts to leave the club and kept hold of their star striker.
But after another 18 months, Spurs find themselves in a familiar situation. Still, they haven’t won a trophy and finishing in the top four again looks like an uphill battle with the future of head coach Antonio Conte far from certain.
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Sky Sports News’ Melissa Reddy reports that Harry Kane is one of a number of strikers that Manchester United are considering moving for in the summer.
To complicate matters further for the north London club, Manchester United are looking for a striker this summer and have long admired Kane, adding fuel to the fire regarding speculation about his future.
Here, Sky Sports News reporters Melissa Reddy and Paul Gilmour take a look at Kane’s future from 360 degrees…
Harry Kane
Sky Sports News reporter Paul Gilmour:
This is a crucial period for Kane’s Tottenham future. He’ll have one year remaining on his contract this summer and, with no sign of an agreement, it will give Daniel Levy a decision to make. Cash in or risk losing the England captain for free in 2024.
Kane loves Tottenham and he’ll certainly listen when it comes to the planned contract talks later this year, but he also wants to win trophies. His unrest when Manchester City came calling was from a perceived lack of ambition at the club and when Antonio Conte arrived Spurs were convinced this would help settle things.
Soon Kane wasn’t alone as Conte vocally advocated the need to improve the squad. Following the Norwich game on the final day of last season, when they qualified for the Champions League, captain Hugo Lloris also weighed in, telling Sky Sports News the club must show ambition to build on the progress.
Suddenly, they were being urged to act from multiple sides, including the fanbase, and it played a part in Levy finding a cash injection to help the team sign the likes of Richarlison.
Champions League knockout football awaits but the top-four bid is faltering as rivals Arsenal move clear in the title race. Spurs, though, are just three points shy of their tally at this stage last season.
There is uncertainty over Conte’s future and no movement yet on the Kane contract situation but in the meantime, he’s committed to scoring goals and continuing to help his team.
A lot can happen in six months and if further investment is found it could make things interesting. Either way, it’s certain to be an eventful few months for one of the most lethal strikers in Europe.
Tottenham
Image: Daniel Levy must convince Kane that Tottenham is the place for him to be
Sky Sports News reporter Paul Gilmour:
Spurs are naturally keen to keep hold of their soon-to-be record goalscorer, but they’ll have to convince him to sign that new deal when talks recommence.
Levy was in a strong position when Manchester City came calling but from a business perspective that power is shifting towards Kane with every passing transfer window.
Tottenham would still insist on big money if it comes to cashing in this summer and would no doubt prefer him to move abroad if selling becomes a last resort. Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have shown interest.
Manchester United
Image: Manchester United’s head coach Erik ten Hag is looking for a striker
Sky Sports News senior reporter Melissa Reddy:
Harry Kane has long been of interest to Manchester United and a striker is the club’s priority position to address this summer. His contract situation at Spurs – he’ll only have a year left at the end of the season – aligned with his goalscoring record means he’s an avenue worth exploring.
If you look at United’s transfer business, you’ll see a dual policy at play of bringing in pedigreed, experienced players – think Raphael Varane, Casmeiro, Christian Eriksen – alongside gifted younger players with high ceilings like Antony and Jadon Sancho. They are trying to balance being hugely competitive right now and in the long-term.
There’s obvious reasons for the Kane attraction – not least rekindling the offensive chemistry between him and Eriksen – but my understanding is that ideally, United would like a younger, dynamic profile there as first prize like Napoli’s Victor Osimehn.
They’ve looked at Benjamin Sesko and Mohamed Kudus and there’s also a feeling that Kane is trying to get the best possible contract offer on the table from Spurs.
Tottenham would still want in the region of £100m for him. There’s other factors at play: if Conte leaves this summer and Mauricio Pochettino returns, would Kane really give up that reunion?
Sky Sports News reporter Paul Gilmour:
It’s thought a key priority for Manchester United this summer is to sign a No 9 and Kane is among those options. Before Manchester City bid for Kane, United and Chelsea were the other two clubs to show strong interest.
Negotiations between United and Tottenham historically have not been straightforward, but should they push for Kane as a key target those talks would certainly be intense.
There is another school of thought that United could opt for a younger striker but Kane would guarantee instant goals and would be fuelled by his motivation to break Alan Shearer’s Premier League scoring record.
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Rams‘ 5-12 finish was a surprise not just to the league after their Super Bowl-winning season in 2021, but within the franchise as well.
Perhaps most surprising was how much the offense struggled to consistently move the ball, even when quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Cooper Kupp were on the field. The Rams finished the season ranked 23rd in Football Outsiders’ offensive DVOA, compared to eighth in 2021.
A big reason for the regression, of course, was the offensive line. That unit dealt with so many injuries that the Rams started 12 different offensive line combinations in their first 12 games of the season. By the time L.A. finally gained stability there, Stafford (spinal cord contusion), Kupp (high ankle sprain) and wide receiver Allen Robinson II (stress fracture in foot) were on injured reserve.
Now, one of the biggest questions of the offseason for the Rams is whether their offensive struggles can be remedied by a healthy roster, or whether they need a rehaul to get back to the powerhouse that won the Super Bowl less than a year ago.
Several times during Les Snead’s end-of-season new conference on Thursday, the general manager used “remodel” to talk about making changes to the roster. Remodel is a more accurate description than rebuild, Snead said because “of the way our roster is built right now.”
“We would almost have to somewhat tear it down to rebuild,” Snead said. “Because we do have a lot of really good players in their prime on this roster.”
So if the Rams aren’t rebuilding their roster — and specifically their offense — what does that mean for the 2023 season?
Some changes have already begun, as coach Sean McVay has moved on from several members of his coaching staff, although most were on the defensive side of the ball. Offensive line coach Kevin Carberry will not return, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.
Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris is also interviewing for outside head coaching jobs and former offensive coordinator Liam Coen exited after the season.
When asked what moves, either internal or external, needed to be made this offseason to get the offense playing at the level of the 2021 season, Snead pointed out that the Rams have “been very successful on offense since Sean has taken over,” regardless of the personnel.
“We’ve been successful many different ways with more than one, let’s call it, starting-caliber, franchise-caliber QB, with different wide receivers, different running backs, even different offensive line combinations,” Snead said. “And during that time [we were] … a top-five offense in a lot of different categories. So I think it’s probably … continue evolving, continue staying ahead of the curve.”
Snead said when evaluating the offense, he likes to first look at it “from a macro level.”
“How is our offensive machine going to get yards, get first downs, score points, and then at that point, it’s how do we want to accomplish that?” Snead said. “What do we want to do to accomplish that? Who do we need on our team to accomplish that?”
One area the Rams may have found some help in — and an area that could eventually be better than that 2021 team — is the run game. Down the final stretch, Cam Akers emerged as a running back who can carry the load and create “when there isn’t anything there,” according to McVay.
Midway through the season, Snead and the Rams thought they may not have Akers as a long-term option. Akers was on the trade block and even spent time away from the team in the middle of the season. But he eventually returned and played tremendously in December — amassing 512 yards and six touchdowns — and rushing for at least 100 yards in three straight games to end the season.
He missed most of the 2021 season with an Achilles injury and his replacements — Sony Michel and Darrell Henderson Jr. — behind a strong offensive line, ranked 12th in Football Outsiders’ rush DVOA.
While it wouldn’t be unexpected for Snead and the Rams’ front office to make a big move this offseason to add on either side of the ball, Los Angeles doesn’t have any big holes it will need to fill due to free agency. Instead, the Rams may try to add depth later in the draft. Snead said Thursday that including compensatory picks, the Rams expect to have 10 selections in the 2023 NFL draft, although many of those will be on Day 3.
If the Rams’ starting lineup can stay healthy next season, Snead said, the idea is that just like in the past Los Angeles can “use those Day 3 picks as relatively competent depth players that come in to partner with those starters when necessary.”
Still, while Snead made it clear that the Rams aren’t in a rebuild, historically this hasn’t been a franchise that will sit back hoping that a healthy roster will have them back in contention.
“We didn’t meet our standards,” Snead said. “We’re definitely aware of that. It is our reality. And that’s where we stand today.”
Haaland’s match-winning hat trick at Molineux was his fourth triple in the league this season, putting him on par with Harry Kane and Alan Shearer as the only players to have ever scored four hat tricks in a single Premier League campaign. And the prolific City forward needs just one more over the course of 2022-23 to equal Shearer’s all-time record of five.
Haaland has already breezed past a whole host of notable players on the Premier League’s all-time hat-trick list, including Didier Drogba (3), Frank Lampard (3), Romelu Lukaku (3), Son (3) and even Cristiano Ronaldo, who split his three career hat tricks in England between his two stints at Manchester United.
By taking 19 games to do so, Haaland has also broken Ruud van Nistelrooy’s long-standing record after the former Manchester United poacher took 65 games to register his fourth Premier League hat trick.
What’s more, Haaland is already one third of the way to equalling Man City legend Sergio Aguero‘s overall record of 12 career Premier League hat tricks, despite having played 256 fewer games in the competition than his Argentine predecessor.
At the age of 22, Haaland has already scored 16 hat tricks for club and country during his senior career to date: Molde (1; as part of a four-goal haul against Brann), FC Salzburg (5), Borussia Dortmund (4), Man City (4) and Norway (2).
Since scoring twice on his league debut against West Ham in August, Haaland has already notched 25 goals in 19 Premier League games for City, meaning he has outscored the league’s two joint Golden Boot winners from last season: Tottenham’s Son and Liverpool‘s Mohamed Salah, who both finished the 2021-22 campaign with 23 goals each.
There have been 29 instances of a player scoring at least 25 goals in a Premier League season since the division was inaugurated in 1992-93 and Haaland has reached that mark in 19 appearances.
Just one more goal in the Premier League this season will see the City striker become one of 14 players to have scored 26 goals in a single campaign, thus rubbing shoulders with the likes of Thierry Henry, Robin van Persie, Kane, Salah, Ronaldo and Luis Suarez.
Haaland needs nine more goals during the second half of the 2022-23 season to draw level with record-holders Andy Cole and Alan Shearer, who have jointly scored more goals than any other player in a single Premier League campaign by accruing 34 apiece in 1993-94 and 1994-95 respectively (which were both 42-game seasons.)
Since the Premier League was cropped from 22 teams to 20 teams from the 1995-96 season onwards, only one player has scored more goals in their introductory campaign than Haaland, and that is Kevin Phillips of Sunderland, who bagged 30 goals in 1999-00.
Despite Man City having only played 20 games in the 2022-23 season, Haaland has already outgunned every other top-scoring division debutant on the list including Fernando Torres (24 goals for Liverpool in 2007-08), Aguero (23 goals for City in 2011-12) and Van Nistelrooy (23 goals for Manchester United in 2001-02.)
Given his searing form and rapid rate of scoring, we suspect it’s only going to be a matter of time before Haaland breaks every single one of the goal-scoring records mentioned above.
