Maybe this was a glimpse of the future.On Saturday night, Paris Saint-Germain took on Nantes without Kylian Mbappe in their starting XI. After playing 90 minutes against visitors Real Sociedad in the Champions League in midweek, and then privately revealing his intention to leave PSG at the end of the season, Mbappe was dropped by coach Luis Enrique.The striker had sat on the bench against Lille the Saturday before that Champions League last-16 first leg — a precaution due to an ankle knock — but, other than that, the occasions he has been relegated among the replacements have been few and far between over the past seven years.In the context of what has happened this past week, it felt symbolic of a power shift.Had his confession over his impending exit ended his untouchable status and mad...

WACO, Texas — At halftime of Baylor’s game against Texas Tech on Sunday, fans took part in a dunk contest. In the final round, one contestant asked Brittney Griner to pass him the ball off the backboard, which she immediately agreed to without any practice reps. Her first attempt missed the contestant altogether. Her second pass was a little too soft, and the fan was already on his way down when he caught the ball, so he was forced to lay it in instead of being able to dunk.As the crowd cheered the effort despite the result, Griner decided that the fans were owed a slam anyway. In her bulky Baylor letterman jacket and Chucks on her feet, Griner took the ball and jammed it in with one hand, making up for her miss in the assist department. They were doing a halftime dunk contest… AND THEN BR...

Once upon a time, there was a screenplay for a hockey movie that was so absurd, so over the top, that even the studio executives who wanted to make it wondered if it was too unrealistic.Almost every page of the script featured profanity. There were wild brawls on the ice, fights with fans in the stands and a trio of bespectacled brothers who raced toy cars at home and pummeled opponents at night. It was so outrageous that one day Ned Dowd, a minor-league hockey player, received a call from his sister, Nancy, who wrote the screenplay and was trying to get the movie made.She asked for Ned’s help.Nancy Dowd had shadowed Ned’s team, the Johnstown Jets, for a month during the 1974-75 season of the North American Hockey League (NAHL), about the lowest rung of the minors, a place for long shots, ...

NFL free agency is fast approaching, offering the first window for teams to improve this offseason, provided they sign the right players.These are my rankings and scouting reports of the top 150 free agents available, shaped by a ton of film work and perspective from many years leading NFL personnel departments. This might not be exactly how you see it, but that’s why Baskin-Robbins has 31 flavors.A few notes:• While these rankings factor in age (as of Sept. 5, the scheduled date of the 2024 season opener) and known injury history, they do not consider medical or character information, as teams know much more about those subjects behind closed doors.• At each position, I’ve included some stats I find valuable. At some positions, I’ve estimated play speed from what I can see on tape (not ti...