As Inter Miami closed in on a record-setting 74-point season and a Supporters’ Shield trophy, much of the credit was given to Lionel Messi. When healthy, the 37-year-old Argentina national team captain was dominant.  Messi played in just 19 of Miami’s 36 league matches but was still performing at MVP level, even if this was…

LAS VEGAS — The start of Formula One’s Las Vegas residency last November was a major moment in the 73-year history of the sport. F1 spent over half a billion dollars to put on one of the most-hyped races in its history, taking over the reins of promoting and organizing the entire grand prix. Despite…

FAU football, which rose to national relevance under Lane Kiffin, has backslid over the last five seasons under Willie Taggart and the recently fired Tom Herman. The Owls’ new coaching search, though, might be the most interesting one of this year’s coaching carousel. And it got a little more interesting this week, as Miami great…

The New York Jets fired general manager Joe Douglas on Tuesday, six weeks after the team fired coach Robert Saleh. According to multiple team sources who spoke to The Athletic about the team’s inner workings, Woody Johnson suggested a more drastic move earlier in the season. According to those sources, the day after the Jets’ loss…

Boise State moved up one spot to No. 12 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday night and into position to receive a first-round bye, while Georgia re-entered the field of 12. The Bulldogs jumped to No. 10 after defeating Tennessee on Saturday, knocking the Volunteers back to No. 11 and making them the…

For two decades, whatever outrageous fortune controls tennis injuries kept slinging arrows at Rafael Nadal. When the Spaniard finally raised his white flag last month, he admitted defeat to an opponent he had vanquished not just in his later years but for two decades, until he couldn’t win the battle any more. Nadal described being…

His brother was Johnny Hockey. He had the Matty Dance. Ask any of Matthew Gaudreau’s childhood buddies about his moves, and they’ll chuckle knowingly. Gaudreau and his group of friends, which included his older brother, John, loved country music, especially Kenny Chesney. They regularly tailgated before concerts in college and in the years that followed.…

STORRS, Conn. — A few years ago, UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma returned to his hometown of Montella, Italy, for the first time in years. He was on vacation elsewhere in the country, but a cousin reached out and invited him to a relative’s wedding. The ceremony, he discovered, would be in the same…

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — During a late-September game between two south Charlotte high schools, Myers Park cornerback Orlando Brown broke up a deep pass against Ardrey Kell and celebrated with a seat belt gesture after “locking down” the wide receiver. Watch a football game at any level and you’re likely to see a defensive back punctuating…

Tobi Haastrup had no idea what to do. The 17-year-old had never lined up in a defensive stance before. He wasn’t sure what it meant to jump offsides and had never heard of a tackle for loss. Come to think of it, he didn’t exactly know what downs were, either, or how they worked. But…