Go to Source Author: Dan Gartland NXT has a loaded card for its 30th “TakeOver” special.WWE’s 30th “NXT TakeOver” special won’t be the kind of spectacle the company expected it would be when it booked Boston’s TD Garden to hold the event but the show still has the potential to deliver. The main card for NXT TakeOver XXX checks in a taut five matches, which fans have come to expect from TakeOver events. (A sixth match, a Triple Threat tag team affair to crown the No. 1 contender for the NXT tag titles, will air on the pre-show.) Of those, three are title matches. One match garnering all sorts of hype is the ladder match for the NXT North American Championship. Keith Lee relinquished that

Go to Source Author: Justin Barrasso SmackDown highlighted how the ThunderDome can enhance wrestlers’ entrances in the empty arena/virtual fan eraThe debut of the ThunderDome infused immediate energy into the WWE product during its SmackDown premiere.For the past five months, WWE had been performing almost exclusively from the Performance Center, but that bandbox was never designed for weekly television. The move to Orlando’s Amway Center, where WWE now has residency for the foreseeable future, led to the creation of the ThunderDome, bringing virtual fans, pyro techniques and a new atmosphere to kick off SummerSlam weekend.SmackDown highlighted how the ThunderDome can enhance wrestlers’ entrances in the empty arena/virtual fan era, which was immediately visible during The Fiend’s walk to the ring in the opening segment

Go to Source Author: Andrew Doughty In this weekend's Hot Clicks: Earl Thomas gets sent home after fight at practice, Jerry Jones things his stadium is a vacuum cleaner and more.Earl ThomasThree weeks before the Ravens are scheduled to open the season at home against the Browns, Baltimore is facing a major personnel crisis after a practice dust-up on Friday.Earl Thomas, a seven-time All-Pro safety entering his second season with the Ravens, was “sent home from the facility Friday following a fight with teammate Chuck Clark,” Tom Pelissero Happy 78th, BillMoe BergIf you haven’t heard of Moe Berg: He was an MLB catcher (for several teams, including the White Sox and Red Sox) in the 1920s and ‘30s who spied for the

Go to Source Author: Jenna West Ionescu suffered a grade 3 left ankle sprain during the New York Liberty's July 31 game against the Atlanta Dream.New York Liberty rookie Sabrina Ionescu will not need surgery for her grade 3 left ankle sprain that she suffered in late July, the team announced Saturday.The Liberty said Ionescu "received a positive prognosis for a full recovery" after being evaluated by physicians. The Oregon product will continue rehab on her ankle.Ionescu suffered the injury in only her third WNBA game when she rolled her ankle in the second quarter of the July 31 game against the Atlanta Dream. She needed to be helped off the court and could not put enough weight on her ankle to walk.The

Go to Source Author: Jenna West American Gio Reyna opened the scoring for Dortmund in its 5–1 win over Duisburg.American Giovanni Reyna kept up his amazing opening act by scoring Borussia Dortmund's first goal Saturday in its preseason friendly against Duisburg.The 17-year-old Reyna needed only 13 minutes to score before Thorgan Hazard doubled Dortmund's lead two minutes later. Lucien Favre's side went on to beat Duisburg 5–1.Reyna has dominated this preseason, and Saturday marked the third game in a row where the young phenom has opened the scoring for Dortmund. He netted the club's first preseason goal against Austrian side Rheindorf Altach on Aug. 12 and then scored twice in Dortmund's 11–2 win over Austria Vienna Sunday.Reyna is among Dortmund's latest potential rising stars as the club also has

Go to Source Author: Stephanie Apstein Led by Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon, the Rockies are defying expectations that 2020 would be a lost season in Colorado.Standing alone in the expanse of right field these past few weeks, surrounded by rows and rows of empty seats, the Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon has come to appreciate the quirks of sports in 2020. “It’s kind of a really intimate baseball game,” Blackmon says. “If Nolan makes a great barehanded play, I can be like, ‘Great job, Nolan!’ and he can hear you. There’s nobody else there, so you’re just playing for your teammates and we are having a great time doing that.”Crouched at third base, within earshot of guests at home and teammates on the

Go to Source Author: AP News When the Padres defeated the visiting Houston Astros 4-3 Friday night at Petco Park in San Diego, the identity of the "hottest" team in the major leagues might have changed.The Astros had won eight straight games before the loss. And now the Padres have won five in a row while climbing back into second place in the National League West."These two teams are overcoming some problems and playing good baseball," Astros manager Dusty Baker said.For the Astros, the problem is injuries. They were without four regulars Friday night, although center fielder Michael Brantley (calf) is eligible to come off the injured list Saturday before the Padres and Astros meet in the second game of a three-game

Go to Source Author: AP News It seems all Seattle Mariners pitcher Justus Sheffield needed was a little confidence.Sheffield (1-2, 4.12 ERA), winless in his first nine major-league starts, finally got untracked with a victory against Colorado on Aug. 9, pitching six scoreless innings without walking a batter and striking out seven. He followed that with a no-decision in Houston despite allowing just two runs (one earned) on six hits in six innings, with one walk and four strikeouts.The 24-year-old left-hander is scheduled to start again Saturday night when the Mariners host the Texas Rangers. He's 0-0 with a 6.00 ERA in one career relief appearance against the Rangers."He's throwing strikes and he's getting his fastball to the glove side, which

Go to Source Author: AP News Another key assessment as to whether Kyle Freeland has returned to his 2018 form comes Saturday when the Colorado Rockies left-hander faces the Dodgers in Los Angeles.Freeland (2-1, 2.56 ERA) has five quality starts in five tries this season and looks much more like the pitcher who finished fourth in National League Cy Young Award voting two seasons ago as opposed to the one who stumbled to a 3-11 record last season with a 6.73 ERA and was demoted to Triple-A for a stretch.Losers of eight of their past nine games, including five in a row, the Rockies could use a strong outing from a starter. The Dodgers have won nine of their past 10 and

Go to Source Author: AP News Friday night was about as good as it has gotten for the San Francisco Giants in this shortened baseball season.Young right-hander Logan Webb pitched seven strong innings and struck out eight on his way to a win. Evan Longoria homered for the 300th time in his major league career. Wilmer Flores homered for the third straight game -- against his former team, no less -- and the Giants ran their season-best winning streak to four straight games.The Giants will try to make it five in a row Saturday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have yet to win a game in the Bay Area since arriving to play two games with the Oakland Athletics followed by