data-mm-id=”_3g27gsb39″>About a month into the NBA season, the league and its broadcast partners are not bragging. The ratings for the season are off to rough start compared to last season's down year. As pointed out by Sports Media Watch, ratings for eight of the 10 TNT games have declined this season and, including ESPN's airings, nine games have already failed to reach one million viewers. That is compared to 19 all of last season. Another season with declining ratings has been my prediction ever since the discussion for this season began. The most protected and praised league by the sports media suffers from a plethora of problems that aren't going away. Most years there are only a select few teams that matter and have any national interest. This season, there are less than normal. There is little-to-no intrigue in any team not based in Los Angeles. And it's becoming increasingly hard to care for, or to watch, the Clippers. The team's star, and the NBA's best player, Kawhi Leonard, is skipping at least one game during back-to-back sets to rest. It's 50-50 if he is even going to show up, which screams to the fans that he, the team, and the NBA don't care about the regular season. Now, the fans are starting to not care, either.The regular season is an irrelevant display that is a waste of everyone's time. The outcomes don't matter. Over half of the league makes the playoffs, and many of the teams that make it in are not decent enough to compete. The players don't go full speed — if they even play — and several late games are decided on the free-throw line (Yawn). This includes the 26 or so teams that have no shot at winning a championship and are filled with players counting down the days until they can force their way to a new team. A method that is also a complication for the NBA. As much fun as the free agency madness has been over the past two seasons, it has hurt the NBA. The off-court rumors have become more fun than the games. Two seasons ago, it was about LeBron's decision. Last season, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard rumors took over the conversation. That doesn't exist this season and is not guaranteed to come back anytime soon. The troubling start of this season follows an NBA Finals that was down around 14 percent, according to Statista, in ratings, which followed a regular season that also recorded disappointing numbers. These numbers are likely a shock to the readers. It's hard for them to fathom any issues with the NBA as the coverage is 95 percent the media telling its audience how great it is, and 5 percent them defending its abundance of issues. Last season, I brought to attention how most sports shows were ignoring last season's lack of interest, the same shows and personalities that built programing around the NFL's ratings issues in 2015 and 2016. So it's no surprise this year's mess isn't getting attention despite the NBA being talked about nearly every day on nearly every single ESPN and FS1 program.The season is only a month in, and injuries to stars have made it even harder to watch, but it would be a tall task to convince anyone that bases their beliefs on facts that the league isn't in trouble. The current issues the league faces are not going away this season. Or next season when they will go up against the Presidential election. Sure, there will be defense and excuses, but like last season, none will be valid.
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Former Real Madrid and Spain goalkeeper Miguel Angel Gonzalez has died at the age of 76.
Miguel Angel played for Madrid for 18 seasons between 1968 and 1986, winning two UEFA Cups, eight Spanish league titles, five Spanish Cups and one League Cup.
He was also capped 18 times by Spain, and played in both the 1978 and 1982 World Cups.
Comunicado Oficial: fallecimiento de Miguel Ángel.
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid)
Following his playing career Miguel Angel held various roles at Real Madrid, including working as goalkeeper coach and director of the former training complex Ciudad Deportiva.
Miguel Angel was diagnosed with ALS, a form of motor neurone disease, in December 2022.
In a statement on Tuesday morning, the club said: “…
Putting in yet another worrying performance at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon, Manchester United slumped to a toothless 1-0 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace.
Set to come under even more scrutiny and crashing back down to earth here, it was Danish defender Joachim Andersen who powered home midway through the first-half following a small deflection off of a helpless Diego Dalot.
With the frustration palpable around Old Trafford, the Red Devils are set to come under even more scrutiny as they slumped to their fourth Premier League defeat from their opening seven appearances.
Failing to find any kind of fluidity on either side of the half-time break, Erik ten Hag faces another public backlash.
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A group of unnamed Chile players have been fined following a breach of the Copa America s strict coronavirus protocols, the Football Federation of Chile (FFC) announced on Sunday.
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However, Spanish news outlet Marca reported there was a further breach, with at least five players allegedly inviting several women to the team hotel.
The FFC did not confirm or address the claims in the statement released amid doubts over the future of head coach Martin Lasarte.
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Nottingham Forest are interested in signing Raphael Onyedika from Club Brugge in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that Forest are among a number of clubs who are keen on Onyedika, and that Belgian side Brugge could sell him.
Onyedika has been on the books of Club Brugge since the summer of 2022 when he joined from Midtjylland. The Nigeria international midfielder has been superb for the Belgian side and has established himself as one of the best and most important players in the team. The 22-year-old has made 17 starts and two substitute appearances in the Jupiler Pro League this season.
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Prediction: Match to end in 1-1 draw
Best Odds:
Bookmaker:
Cruzeiro Esporte Clube and CR Vasco da Gama will lock horns with each other in Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A this week. The match between Celeste and Cruzmaltino will be held at the Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto and is scheduled to kick off at 10 pm Uk time on Wednesday.
Cruzeiro Esporte Clube
Cruzeiro Esporte Clube are one of the biggest and most well-known clubs in Brazil. Now owned by Brazilian legend Ronaldo, Cruzeiro have won the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A as many as many as four times in their history and have already clinched Campeonato Mineiro 38 times.
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Here, the PA news agency takes a look at five ties to watch.
Tottenham v Manchester City
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Spurs, meanwhile, had booked their place in the fourth round with a 1-0 win over Burnley on Friday night with a fine late goal from Pedro Porro.
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“Even I, who seemed to be mentally strong. After the World Cup it seemed like it all fell apart.
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“Before I went to training, I wanted to go home, I wanted to go back to my room because, I don’t know what was going through my head. I even went and told my dad I was going to give up.
“It’s kind of sad to talk like that, you know? What I went through after the World Cup, discovering things here at home from people who had lived with me for over seven years. It is crazy.
“To go to my father, who was the guy who chased my dream with me, and say, ‘Dad, I want to give up,�…
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“You need to give time. They have a lot of players, a lot of talented players but they need to gel and that takes time. It doesn’t matter how much money you throw at it.
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Southgate´s picking from a lot of diamonds – Wright-Phillips confident England have firepower to com
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The England boss has plenty of selection headaches to contend with, especially among attack-minded midfielders, where the likes of Mason Mount, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and James Maddison all harbour realistic hopes of making the squad.
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Sadio Mane scored his 50th Premier League goal for Liverpool in Saturday s clash with Leicester City at Anfield.
The Senegal star reached the milestone on his 100th league appearance for the club, racing onto James Milner s pass and slotting beyond Kasper Schmeichel.
Mane s average of a goal every two games for the Reds underlines his impressive form in his three years since joining from Southampton.
The goal also means Liverpool now have 10 different players to reach 50 in the Premier League, which is more than any other club can boast.
So, how does Mane compare to Liverpool stars past and present in terms of how quickly he reached his half-century? Here are the 10 in full
50 Sadio Mane has scored his 50th Premier League goal for Liverpool. He s…