NEW YORK — When Francisco Lindor led off the bottom of the seventh inning, reality reduced Citi Field’s a cappella rendition of “My Girl” to a faint mumble. It sounded appropriate, given all the fun that was had over the last handful of months juxtapositioned against what’s at stake now and how things have looked.…

Fifty is the new 30, and we’re not talking about age. NFL kickers have improved significantly in recent years. It’s felt as obvious as ever this season, but the numbers have validated the eye test. Through the first six weeks of the season, we have seen all-time highs in 50-plus-yard field-goal attempts (103), along with…

How much has the outlook for the college football season changed since the preseason? It may not feel like a lot, but The Athletic’s consensus midseason national championship pick received zero votes two months ago in the preseason, and the Heisman Trophy favorite is now a running back from a Group of 5 team. In…

When Gareth Southgate resigned the day after the Euro 2024 final, the Football Association had a huge task ahead of it: to replace England’s greatest manager of the modern era, the man who had redefined the role. It was not a position it ever wanted to be in. The hope had been that if England…

World No. 9 Danielle Collins has postponed her plan to retire from tennis at the end of the 2024 season, and will play on the WTA Tour in 2025. Collins, 30, has taken advice on her “personal fertility journey” since her last match, which was a defeat to Australian qualifier Olivia Gadecki at the Guadalajara…

Virginia coach Tony Bennett — one of the winningest college basketball coaches in the history of the ACC and the sport at large, who delivered the program’s first and only national championship in 2019 — is retiring, the school announced Thursday afternoon. Bennett’s retirement is effective immediately and he will hold a news conference Friday.…

Some people name-drop. With Rick Barry, it’s more like a name-deluge. It takes only a few questions for the former NBA and ABA star to recount conversations with his fellow basketball Hall of Famers, life-changing advice from a golf icon, a bond with a group of tennis greats and a recent encounter with a Heisman…

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Aaron Rodgers received a phone call from a close friend a little after midnight on Monday and, still irritated after a 23-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills, he ignored it. “I wasn’t in the mood,” Rodgers said. His friend called again around 1 a.m.; this time Rodgers answered it. Since last…

Tuesday should have been a triumphant night for the NWSL’s latest expansion team, but less than a day after a packed event in downtown Boston to officially launch BOS Nation’s team name and colors, the club issued an apology for the hurt the publicity campaign had caused. Five hundred fans had RSVP’d for the event…

NEW YORK — Shohei Ohtani perked up when he heard his name. “I told him,” Dodgers backup catcher Austin Barnes said after Ohtani’s three-run moonshot iced an 8-0 victory over the Mets in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, “hit the ball over the fence.” “Not bad advice,” Ohtani said. Barnes clapped his…