Sports Poets Society

THERE'S JUST NO DOUBTING THOMAS ISIAH THOMAS SPARKED THE PISTONS TO A SURPRISING 3-1 PLAYOFF LEAD OVER ATLANTA JACK MCCALLUM TABLE OF CONTENTS ORIGINAL LAYOUT By the time Atlanta and Detroit finish banging bodies, flinging elbows and talking trash in their Round 2 playoff, the survivor's Eastern Conference final versus Boston or Milwaukee will seem like two weeks of R & R. So be afraid, Celtics or Bucks. Be very afraid. Detroit's 89-88 victory at the Pontiac Silverdome on Sunday gave the Pistons a 3-1 lead in this, the best and brightest of the NBA's second-round series. To be sure, Boston and Milwaukee are not exactly coasting through their war, which Boston led 3-1 after a 138-137 double-overtime victory on Sunday. But the belief that the eventual Eastern champion will emerge from Detroit-Atlanta is not all that absurd. Or at least no more absurd than the selection of shots that were served up by one Isiah Thomas, who in the last two games has treated the Hawks li...

L’Australien Kaden Groves, largement vainqueur hier au sprint.  Derrière lui, Milan Fretin (2e, casque rouge) et Paul Magnier (à gauche). L’Allemand, qui fut l’un des meilleurs sprinteurs des années 2010, observe attentivement ses successeurs et surtout les nouvelles têtes comme Casper van Uden et Kaden Groves, l’Australien vainqueur hier. "Ce qu’ils savent mieux faire?  Passer les grandes étapes de montagne" 16 May 2025 - L'Équipe PHILIPPE LE GARS NAPLES (ITA) – Comme tous les jours, Marcel Kittel regarde chez lui les étapes du Giro et surtout les arrivées au sprint. Il est servi depuis le départ d’Albanie, car six sur sept (la 2e étape était un contre-la-montre) se sont achevées au terme d’un sprint massif. Si l’Allemand de 37 ans reconnaît que les plus forts sont absents sur ces trois semaines italiennes, il n’en admire pas moins le savoir-faire de la nouvelle génération. Comment jugez-vous vos successeurs au sprint? Il faut bien a vouer que les sprinteurs d’aujourd’h...

16 May 2025 - Hamburger Morgenpost FLORIAN REBIEN TIM MEINKE TIM MEINKE tim.meinke@mopo.de SIMON BRAASCH Klar, da ist Davie Selke, der auf der Balkonparty als Erster zu den Fans sprach, der den HSV in Hauptverantwortung in die Bundesliga schoss. Da sind Ludovit Reis, Publikumsliebling und seit Jahren Leistungsträger, sowie Jean-Luc Dompé, dessen Leistungen man wöchentlich mit A wie atemberaubend bis Z wie zauberhaft umschreiben kann. Da ist Miro Muheim, der vor zwei Jahren noch belächelt wurde, dessen Comeback im Saisonfinale jetzt aber mitentscheidend für den Aufstieg war. Sie alle haben ihre eigene Geschichte, die es nach dem Aufstieg hervorzuheben gilt. Wer aber ebenfalls große Anerkennung verdient, wenn nicht die allergrößte, ist Daniel Elfadli. Weil sein Weg einzigartig ist. Vor rund drei Jahren noch, in der Spielzeit 2021/22, da hat Elfadli als Regionalliga-Kicker beim VfR Aalen „auf Kante“gelebt. „Das war immer kurz vor knapp“, erzählte er der MOPO im Juli 2024. Jetzt, fast zehn...

16 May 2025 - Leicester Mercury By JORDAN BLACKWELL jordan.blackwell@reachplc.com @jrdnblackwell SEAN Dyche is not actively seeking a return to management but could be swayed if the right job comes up, he has said amid links to Leicester City. Reports at the weekend named Dyche as a frontrunner to succeed Ruud van Nistelrooy, whose future at the King Power Stadium is in doubt. Dyche has been out of work since being sacked by Everton in the winter , and said he turned down opportunities in the immediate aftermath of leaving Goodison Park. But even after a few months out of the game, Dyche says he’s not looking to make a comeback right now. The 53-year-old has, in the past, been highly regarded at City for the work he did at Burnley, and he was on the shortlist to replace Craig Shakespeare at the King Power Stadium in 2017. Interviewed on Gary Neville’s The Overlap podcast, Dyche was asked if he was looking to return to management. “ Not at the moment. The timing is wrong anyway ,” he s...

PLUMB IMAGES/LCFC/GETTY IMAGES  16 May 2025 - Leicester Mercury TEEN STRIKER TIPPED AS A LEICESTER City’s number nine shirt will bear JamieVardy’s name for the final time this weekend, and the search for his successor should already be under way, writes Jordan Blackwell. Beyond ensuring they have the right manager in place, the biggest task City face this summer is finding a new striker who can deliver goals. It does not seem that Patson Daka , for all his effort, will be able to deliver the consistency and level of finishing quality that City need up front. He may leave this summer too. Jordan Ayew may stay, and he could play at the top of the pitch, but he would be a target man to build off, not a goal-getter. But what about Jake Evans ? If there’s an heir to Vardy’s throne inside the club, the 16-year-old, left, feels the most worthy of such a grand title. But it would also feel unfair to put that weight on the shoulders of someone so young. Certainly, Evans is not yet in a pos...

PLUMB IMAGES/LCFC/GETTY IMAGES TERRORISING THE NEIGHBOURS:  Jamie Vardy in action against Nottingham Forest last weekend STRIKER APPEARS TO RULE OUT JOINING WREXHAM IN CHAMPIONSHIP 16 May 2025 - Leicester Mercury By JORDAN BLACKWELL  jordan.blackwell@reachplc.com  @jrdnblackwell  JAMIE Vardy does not know where his future will take him – but the Leicester City icon has implied he won’t be joining a Championship rival next season. Vardy plays his last City match on Sunday at home to Ipswich, with no plans for him to feature against Bournemouth on the Premier League’s final weekend. But while it’s the end of his time at City, it’s not the end of his career. Vardy, now 38, has no intention of retiring. He says where he goes next cannot be predicted, but it seems he won’t be playing against City next term, as he is setting his sights on playing in a top-tier division. That would rule out a move to Hollywood-backed Wrexham, who return to the Championship next term and are...

https://thegruelingtruth.com/basketball/nba/connie-hawkins-the-hawk-who-soared-despite-the-chains/?fbclid=IwY2xjawKVIiNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFuZ0RTa1lsdlU2ZEdxeFZZAR76GlzdU8xmqtCDR7Pc0gjAyf85ozZndoHXiZZd6H6UFGY1fxUHVYpTFBDbww_aem_hLJGwMkx8tWskWsgZqKpWA Mike Goodpaster -  The Grueling Truth Chief Editor Publish Date: 05/16/2025 Fact checked by: Mark Lewis Connie Hawkins, known as “The Hawk,” was one of basketball’s most transcendent and tragic figures. A playground legend who became an icon in the ABA and a brief but brilliant NBA star, Hawkins’ career was derailed before it began by a scandal he had nothing to do with. This is the story of a man whose potential was stifled by injustice, and who still soared high enough to earn a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Early Life and Rise to Stardom Born on July 17, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York, Cornelius “Connie” Hawkins was raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. From an early age, it was clear that Hawkins was no ordinary ath...

SPOTIFY https://open.spotify.com/episode/5fX4fvEBpkDPFZi45Si0nC?si=ac9c1bd968c84046 Altro che sole, solo pioggia mia a Napoli, mai così caput mundi sportiva fra lotta-scudetto, Giro e storica prima Coppa America di vela in Italia nel 2027. È successo di tutto - pure troppo - nella sesta tappa, la più lunga nel Giro #108: 227 km da Potenza al tradizionale arrivo sul lungomare Caracciolo. Ai -72 km (subito fuori Baiano, nell'avellinese) km la prima maxi-caduta - innescata da Jai Hindley, a cui pinzando il freno è andata via l'anteriore, ndr - sull'asfalto viscido. Vanno già in trenta-quaranta, tra cui la maglia rosa Pedersen, Dani Martinez, Carapaz, Adam Yates, Gee, Perez e Magnier, poi incredibilmente terzo allo sprint. Leggera commozione cerebrale, «frattura della terza vertebra lombare» e Giro finito per il 26enne australiano vincitore nel 2022, ma qui come seconda punta per Primož Roglič, che poi va da Marco Velo - neo-Ct della strada donne ma qui in ammiraglia di condir...