Author: Shekari Philemon

Max Verstappen will race 100 drivers simultaneously at Silverstone on Sept. 16, starting from the back of the grid in a go-kart challenge and attempting to overtake as many competitors as possible, with the event airing live on Disney+. The four-time Formula 1 world champion will be returning to the karting roots that defined his path to the top, taking on a field of content creators and athletes rather than professional racing drivers. Verstappen said when asked what he is most looking forward to that he just wants to see the carnage unfold in front of him. His rivals offered…

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur warned Sunday that the first-lap collision between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at the Italian Grand Prix was not good for the team, as the aftermath of a costly incident at Ferrari’s home race left Hamilton’s championship hopes all but extinguished. They clashed at the opening corner at Monza, with Hamilton accusing his teammate of pushing him off the track and losing six positions as a result. The stewards took no action. Leclerc crashed out on the following lap. Hamilton finished sixth. He disputed Leclerc’s characterization that both drivers shared fault, saying there was no…

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has agreed to a four-season NFL contract extension that will keep him through the 2030 season, with the contract expiring on March 31, 2031, the league announced Sunday. This is his fifth extension since taking over for Paul Tagliabue on Sept. 1, 2006. His previous extensions came in 2009, 2012, 2017 and 2023. At the end of the new deal, he will be nearly 72 and will have served as commissioner for 24 years. Financial terms were not immediately disclosed. He reportedly earned $63.9 million across the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. The league is no longer…

Tua Tagovailoa will start at quarterback for Atlanta in Sunday’s season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team announced Monday, ending a months-long competition with Michael Penix Jr. and giving the Falcons their sixth different Week 1 starter in as many seasons. Atlanta signed Tagovailoa to a one-year, $1.3 million contract in the offseason after the Miami Dolphins released him in March. Miami absorbed a record $99.2 million in dead cap to part ways with the six-year veteran. Penix tore his ACL last November and underwent surgery. He was not cleared for 11-on-11 team periods until the final week of…

Five U.S. men reached the round of 16 at the US Open for the first time since 1995, and three are now in the quarterfinals, setting up a genuine opportunity to end a drought that has lasted more than two decades since Andy Roddick won the last U.S. men’s Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows in 2003. Frances Tiafoe and Alex Michelsen will meet in one quarterfinal. Ben Shelton will face defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the other quarterfinal, a matchup Shelton said he has been looking forward to. Learner Tien has a chance to add a fourth American to…

Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the US Open quarterfinals Sunday, beating Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 at Arthur Ashe Stadium, extending his Grand Slam winning streak to 18 matches and dropping just one set through four rounds of his title defense. He said he was happy with the performance, that he played his game and his style, and that Paul is a talented player whose shots can be difficult to handle. He said he just tried to stay ready. The 23-year-old Spaniard is playing his first tournament since a right wrist injury. He said before the tournament that he would not…

Gael Monfils played his last Grand Slam match Thursday night at Louis Armstrong Stadium, losing to No. 14 seed Learner Tien 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of the US Open, ending a career in the majors that stretched across 201 matches and 131 wins, the most by any Frenchman in Grand Slam history. The 40-year-old Frenchman was presented with a framed photograph of himself after the match and watched a video montage of his best US Open moments before addressing the crowd. He said it had been a long ride, that he had been coming to New York…

Alexander Zverev advanced to the third round of the US Open on Thursday night but needed five sets and more than four and a half hours to beat Quentin Halys 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 6-3, a match that concluded at 2.15 a.m. in the second-latest second-round finish in US Open history. The No. 1 seed had hoped for a smoother outing after needing five sets to edge Lorenzo Sonego on Tuesday. Instead, Zverev became the first top-seeded man to play back-to-back five-set matches to start a major in the Open Era, which dates to 1968. He has spent…

Alphonso Smith, a two-time All-America defensive back at Wake Forest who played four seasons in the NFL, has died at 40. Wake Forest announced his death Thursday afternoon after being notified by his family. The school’s release did not include a cause of death. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, contacted Thursday by the Associated Press, said sheriff’s deputies responded to a Pahokee address on Wednesday afternoon in reference to a suicide attempt. The office said an adult male was transported to a hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. Smith appeared to post on his Facebook account Wednesday, writing…

Former Fox Sports analyst Mark Sanchez plans to enter a guilty plea stemming from an October 2025 altercation with a truck driver outside an Indianapolis hotel, according to court records filed Thursday in Marion County Superior Court. The motion asks the court to schedule a hearing for the plea and sentencing. Online records did not specify which charges he will resolve. His jury trial had been set to begin Tuesday and had been rescheduled five times since December. His brother and legal adviser, Nick Sanchez Jr., said in a statement that the development is positive and that they are finalizing…