The only surprising thing about Mike Mayock being hired as the team’s GM is that anyone is surprised.
Sports Columns
Minnesota, which simply needed to beat Chicago at home to make the playoffs, closed as a 5½-point favorite but played dead in a 24-10 loss.
Raiders star played better than a 4-12 record, becoming just the third quarterback in franchise history to throw for 4,000 yards in a season.
A look back at the people, places and things that made for a memorable sports year in Las Vegas.
Raiders coach Jon Gruden told his team after Monday’s victory over Denver: “Fellas, we’ve got one game left. It’s against the team we hate the most — the Kansas City Chiefs. They hate us, too, so it should be a heckuva game.”
A Caesars Entertainment sports book bettor placed a $140,000 money-line parlay to win $64,000 on Alabama and Clemson in Saturday’s College Football Playoff.
The Raiders and Broncos engaged in a Monday Night Football contest between AFC West sides with no playoff plans, but there was a far more significant narrative inside the rickety structure known as the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
The Eagles, Browns and Patriots covered their opening lines but didn’t cover the closing lines Sunday.
There is one thing I believe in down the stretch: NFL teams that have a chance to make the playoffs are far more attractive to me than teams that are jockeying for home-field advantage.
Pain shared is pain lessened. Maybe that’s why most sports bettors will readily share their bad beat stories. We’ve put together a list of 10 of the worst bad beats of the year with less than two weeks remaining.
An MGM Resorts bettor in Las Vegas lost a $500,000 money-line wager on Seattle while an MGM bettor in New Jersey hit an $8,000 six-team parlay for $330,000.
Fresno State’s defense initially was ignored for the part it played in the Bulldogs’ 31-20 victory over Arizona State before an announced crowd of 37,146 in Saturday’s Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium.
Few thought Herm Edwards belonged as coach of a college team, including me. But he proved us wrong and restored the pride at Arizona State, which won four of its final five games.
Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy recently reimbursed an Oklahoma City radio host who bet the Cowboys (6-6) would win eight games this season.
The all-Gruden train isn’t stopping for anyone but slowed enough Monday to kick off the one passenger you knew was destined for a tumble, with GM Reggie McKenzie being fired from a position he held since 2012 and essentially lost in January.
