How Conor McGregor Beat Donald Cerrone at U.F.C. 246

19 Jan

LAS VEGAS — The first punch Conor McGregor landed bloodied Donald Cerrone’s nose. The former two-division champion, in his first bout since October 2018, landed a sharp right jab that sneaked between Cerrone’s gloves. Seconds later came the left-footed kick to the jaw that sent Cerrone, a fearless 36-year-old veteran, reeling. And then the punches rained down from McGregor as …

Naomi Osaka Is The First Asian Tennis Player To Be World No. 1

18 Jan

Naomi Osaka will become the world’s No. 1 ranked female tennis player after she won the Australian Open on Saturday, making her the first Asian to hold the top spot in either men’s or women’s tennis. Osaka, who represents Japan, beat Czech Petra Kvitová in Melbourne 7–6 (7–2), 5–7, 6–4. “Thank you, everyone,” she said after her win. “I am …

A Grieving Young Tennis Star Finds Solace on the Court

18 Jan

“When I see girls close to my age doing well, like Bianca or Coco, it’s motivating in a way that if they can do it at that age then I can I do it, too,” said Anisimova, who defeated Gauff and Andreescu in junior competition. At a practice session with Rodríguez at IMG Academy in December, Anisimova worked on tweaking …

When Titles Are Tarnished by Cheating but Not Taken Away

17 Jan

In years to come, this might be the week this age of sports came to be known as the “asterisk era.” During a decade that brought eye-in-the-sky cameras, rogue chemists, executives with malleable morals and Soviet-era spy craft, those two-fisted disrupters — science and technology — have given cheaters seemingly limitless tools to secure victory on playing fields as diverse …

N.H.L. Draft Pick Inspires Dreams as Big as the Yukon

16 Jan

WHITEHORSE, Yukon Territory — Canada’s largest city north of the 60th parallel, about 30,000 residents strong, sits between the emerald blue Yukon River and the evergreen-flecked hills on Whitehorse’s eastern and southern edges. At the top of Two Mile Hill Road, just past the Alaska Highway, dozens of young hockey players — some wearing new Buffalo Sabres hats — came …

Astros Fire Two, but That Won’t Clean Out Baseball’s Den of Thieves

15 Jan

First, though, let’s note countervailing facts. Stealing signs is an ancient art. A New York Giant named Bobby Thomson hit a famous home run to give the Giants a win over the Brooklyn Dodgers in the third game of a three-game playoff in 1951, a shot that broke hearts and lifted spirits and that lives on in music and literature. …