Sports Perspectives

There’s only one sensible end to the Earl Thomas saga, and it’s with the Cowboys

Seattle Seahawks free safety Earl Thomas ntercepts a Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson pass and runs it back for a first quarter touchdown on Sunday, Oct. 29, 2017 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Wash. <br>Mike Siegel/Seattle Times/TNS

Of all the great mysteries you may come across in your summer reading the next couple of months, the Curious Case of Earl Thomas won’t test your faculties much.

Egypt fans hold poster of striker Mohammed Salah during the team's final training session in Cairo on June 9, 2018, ahead of the World Cup. <br>Amr Nabil/AP

COLUMN

Russia, Egypt match at World Cup could test close ties

Not since the Cold War days of the 1950s and 1960s has Egypt been as close to Russia as it is now.

Argentina's Lionel Messi walks on the pith at the end of the group D match between Argentina and Iceland at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Spartak Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, June 16, 2018. The match finished 1-1.<br>Antonio Calanni/AP

Column

Tiny Iceland neutralizes Messi and Argentina

When the final whistle blew, Lionel Messi angrily kicked away the ball like it was poison and tore off his captain's armband as though it was cursed. A superstar of football knocked off his pedestal at the World Cup. By a bunch of guys from Iceland.

Visitors walk around the perimeter of the soccer pitch during preparations ahead of the World Cup in Moscow. <br>Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

Sports Perspectives

The US is missing, so here's one reason to watch every World Cup team

With the U.S. sidelined for the 2018 World Cup, there have been plenty of suggestions about which teams Americans should instead pull for. But that list could rightly be 32 teams long. Here is one reason to watch every team in the field.

ANALYSIS

Can Russia, with its history of racist attacks and hooligans, put on a World Cup welcome?

Russian soccer history has been marred by discrimination against non-white people, and incidents of racist and homophobic chants shot up over the last year, according to a study released last month. FIFA, the global soccer federation, has adopted new measures at this tournament.

The Cleveland Cavaliers' JR Smith fouls the Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green during a layup in the first quarter of Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on Wednesday, June 6, 2018. <br>Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group/TNS

COLUMN

Warriors' reign atop the NBA is far from a guarantee

There have been plenty of pronouncements that the burgeoning Warriors dynasty has ruined the NBA, after Golden State completed a sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals last week to win its second straight championship and third in four years.

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, right, and Barcelona's Lionel Messi walk side by side at the end of a Spanish La Liga match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain.<br>Juan Carlos Rojas/Xinhua/Zuma Press/TNS

Sports Perspectives

Who’s better, Ronaldo or Messi? World Cup could end the debate

Neither has held soccer’s biggest prize, and this summer’s tournament could be the last chance at capturing a World Cup title for both: Cristiano Ronaldo will be 37 when the next World Cup kicks off in Qatar while Lionel Messi, his longtime rival in Spain’s La Liga, will be 35.