Bugaluu :: Sports

Milestones galore in extraordinary North London Derby goal flurry 😵‍💫

Time to catch your breath!

It’s safe to say Sunday’s North London Derby has exploded into life as Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur cancel each other out with two first-half goals in under two minutes.

Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze scored opened the scoring in the 32nd minute as he flicked up Bukayo Saka’s cross and finished with close-range volley.

Remarkably, it is his first Arsenal goal since his hat-trick in the reverse fixture back in November.

While Eze had gone 19 matches in all competitions without a goal, he has now only the second player to score four goals in North London derbies – all against the team he nearly signed for last summer.

But just seconds later, Randal Kolo Muani nipped the ball off of Declan Rice and scored his first goal since joining Spurs on loan.

It is also Tottenham’s first goal since Thomas Frank’s sacking, marking the beginning of the Igor Tudor era.

Will Eze provide more NLD heroics or will the Spurs interim boss pull off the upset?

​https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/milestones-galore-extraordinary-north-london-174100169.html 

Sep 13, 2025; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Old Dominion Monarchs quarterback Colton Joseph (1) warms up before the game at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

There is a bountiful bevy of new faces inside the Wisconsin Badgers locker room right now, so I’ve decided to speed up the “get to know each other” process by assigning some fun new nicknames.

Let’s get right to it, gang.

First Team All-Name

Ulysses S. Grant Dean

Darrion You, Me, and Dupree

Thomas Heiberger and Fries

Eugene Paris Hilton Jr.

Djidjou Bah Humbug

Ryan Johns Hopkins

Matthew Lion Traynor

Second Team All-Name

Johann Sebastian Cheeks

Cecil Cooper Catalano

Luke I’m Your Father Emmerich

Bryce North, South, East or West

Matt Forever Jung

Shamar Mordecai and Rigby

Abu Still The Sama, III

Third Team All-Name

Tyreese No Fearbry

Carson Jean Claude Van Dinter

Jackson McGohan Places

Emerson, Lake, Palmer and Mandell

Liam and Noel Danitz

Raphael Nowhere Near Dunn

Mason Strike a Posa

All-Name Honorable Mention

Deuce Davonte Adams

Eli Manning Adams

Cai Norman Bates

Truth and Justus Boone

Harrison Ford Bortolotti

Drew Insta Braam

Kash or Charge Brock

Blake Cherry Pie

Colin Chicago Cubberly

Nolan Winter Davenport

Carsen Daly Eloms

Eric Jamar Fletcher Jr.

Yahya Oh My Gaad

Colton Joseph, Mary, and Jesus

Austin Texas Kawecki

Zion Williamson Kearney

Mason Crosby Kelley

Gavin Rossdale Lahm

Mason Fast Lane

Peyton Manning Lange

Sam Early or Lateju

Jayden James Loftin

Will Ronald McDonald

Langdon Street Nordgaard

Logan Roy Powell

James Roe Your Boat

Taylor Swift Schaefer

King Arthur Scott, III

Jack Sieve, Sieve, Sievers

Cairo Egypt Skanes

Shawn Carter Smith

Hardy JJ Watts

Ben Franklin Wenzel

Quantavius Fatboy Wiggins

PJ Tucker Wilkins

Aaron Katarina Witt

​https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/2026-wisconsin-football-nickname-team-174054675.html 

Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images

Jessica Pegula finished off a great week by beating Elina Svitolina to win the Dubai title.

It was Pegula’s fourth WTA 1000 crown.

But Rennae Stubbs found something about the event that did not sit right with her.

Her frustration was not directed at either player or their play on the day.

Instead, it was how the post-match ceremony was handled that drew her criticism.

Rennae Stubbs unhappy with how trophy presentation was handled

Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images

Stubbs took to X to share her frustration, commenting on what she had noticed throughout the Dubai Tennis Championships.

“When are these tournaments going to just let the winner and runner-up speak at the microphone and not ask questions!! drives me crazy!! Let them thank their team, thank the sponsors, thank the crowd, etc. don’t ask questions,” she wrote.

Responding to a comment that disagreed with her point of view, the Aussie explained why she felt so strongly about it from a player’s perspective.

“As a former player in this situation I can tell you, there is not 1 player that prefers this! Because they don’t get to say what they want after busting their butts all week AND they might NOT understand the Q because of language barriers. This should always be about them, Period!” she added.

This is not the first time Stubbs has been outspoken recently. Just over a month ago, she suggested Taylor Fritz needed a new coach if he wanted to compete with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

Jessica Pegula’s path to the Dubai title

While Stubbs was not pleased with how the post-match presentation was handled, Pegula would have been far more focused on her result than anything that followed.

And given the form she showed throughout the week, it was a title she fully deserved.

Pegula opened her tournament with a solid win over Varvara Gracheva and then followed it up by easing past rising star Iva Jovic.

Clara Tauson pushed her to three sets, but the 31-year-old American came through that test before overcoming Amanda Anisimova in another hard-fought contest.

By the time she reached the final, Pegula looked in complete control. She dominated Svitolina to wrap up a very impressive week.

Read more:

​https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/dubai-trophy-ceremony-sparks-backlash-174027025.html 

​https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/don-t-think-pcb-chief-173800378.html 

Surprise, AZ – February 21: Matt Waldron #61 of the San Diego Padres throws during a spring training game against the Kansas City Royals on February 21, 2026 in Surprise, AZ. (Photo by K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)

The San Diego Padres have played two Cactus League games with many more to go before Opening Day in late March. Even with only two games played, the Friars have given fans plenty to think about.

As Spring Training continues the next few weeks, certain players have more to prove than others in order to make it onto the major league roster. Among these there are few with as much on the line as Matt Waldron. 

The last of the knuckleballers

Apart from Waldron, there are no active pitchers using the knuckleball in MLB. After R.A. Dickey retired in 2017, as well as Tim Wakefield in 2011, no one apart from Waldron has had any legitimate success with the pitch.

Part of this is due to the fact that the pitch, as unhittable as it is, is incredibly difficult for catchers to get their gloves on and for umpires to correctly call. Umps simply don’t know how to call the pitch well because of how much movement it has, and the catching situation is even more dire.

In 2024, Kyle Higashioka did most of the work behind the plate and managed to do a decent job of catching Waldron, but others have not done as well.

In his lone start of the 2025 season against the Philadelphia Phillies, Martín Maldonado caught for Waldron and allowed a passed ball and three wild pitches, leading to the Phillies scoring a run in the fourth inning.

Waldron used his knuckleball 74.0% of the time in his outing against Philly, much higher than the 38.2% average across the 2024 season.

The problem with the pitch is that if it’s not executed perfectly, batters will destroy it. And even if it is executed correctly there’s no guarantee the pitch will be called a strike, with umpires having difficulty calling the pitch accurately for Waldron throughout his career.

Struggles with settling in

Waldron has spent most of his career in the minors, but he spent significant time shuttling between the major and minor league clubs from 2023-25. His largest stint in the majors came in ‘24, making 26 starts for the Padres and helping them reach the postseason in October. 

In those starts, he finished with a 4.91 ERA across 146 2/3 innings. While most pitchers struggle their second and third times through the lineup, Waldron had his biggest problems his first time through. His ERA through the first three innings was much higher than it was in innings four through six (4.62 compared to 3.36). In fact, he ended the season with a 7.88 ERA in the first inning alone. 

Waldron’s problems settling in have hurt his resumé deeply, leading to a 6.48 ERA during the 2025 season spent in the San Diego minor league system. If Waldron can find a way to warm up sooner and settle in, he’ll be absolutely dominant with his unhittable knuckleball. 

Saturday’s start

In the Padres 10-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday, Waldron allowed only one walk and one single across two innings of work. In those innings, Waldron decreased his typical knuckleball usage from 46.3% (major league career average) to 33.0%, opting to use a more balanced pitch mix.

In the first inning, he faced four batters who all start for Kansas City’s major league ball club, getting Jonathan India and Bobby Witt Jr. to groundout before walking Vinnie Pasquantino. He ended the inning by striking out Salvador Perez.

In the second, he got Kyle Isbel to lineout and then gave up a single to Dairon Blanco. Waldron then caught Blanco stealing second base before striking out John Rave, ending his first game of the year.

If he can capitalize on this start to Cactus League play over the next few weeks, it would earn Waldron consideration for a backend spot in the Padres’ rotation and possibly revive his career.

Maybe he learns how to settle in sooner and is used in a swingman role who can take over the brunt of a game’s middle innings. 

Whatever the case, Waldron is running out of time to prove his usefulness at the major league level. He’s out of options and, although it’s unlikely another club claims him off waivers, it’s always possible the Padres lose him for good. 

​https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/become-baseball-last-knuckleballer-173724648.html 

MILAN — In a world where pro athletes are coached to be as deliberately dull as possible in their public statements, the Olympics are a refreshing throwback to an era when athletes spoke their minds, damn the consequences. NFL and NBA players will spiral out cliches like “keeping the main thing the main thing” and “going 1-0 every week,” as easy as breathing … and then a Norwegian Olympic biathlete will just go right on camera and confess to cheating on his girlfriend. Just a bit of a different energy there. 

Here are a few of the hundreds of classic quotes from this year’s Winter Olympics: 

“I know what my chances were before the crash, and I know my chances aren’t the same as it stands today, but I know there’s still a chance and as long as there’s a chance, I will try.” 

— Lindsey Vonn, three days before the start of the Olympics, on skiing with a torn ACL suffered the prior weekend

“That’s what I’m f***ing talking about!” 

—Team USA figure skater Alysa Liu, after skating the triumphant routine that won her the gold 

“I am greatness, and this is my moment.”

— Team USA halfpipe skier Alex Ferreira’s words to himself before winning gold

“Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.” 

— Team USA freestyle skier Hunter Hess, who  was later called a “loser” by President Trump

“I am tired of fourth-place finishes. Finishing fourth place three times this Olympics is heartbreaking.”

— Team USA speed skater Brittany Bowe, after her third fourth-place finish in her final Olympics

Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych takes part in the skeleton men’s training session at Cortina Sliding Centre. (Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images)

“I still believe that we didn’t violate any rules. From the beginning, I truly believed that it’s just the wrong interpretation by some IOC representatives.”

— Ukrainian skeleton pilot Vladyslav Heraskevych after being disqualified for wearing a helmet showing images of Ukraine’s war dead

“I think that in some ways he understood that but was very committed to his beliefs, which I can respect. But sadly it doesn’t change the rules. And the rules were that for certain spaces — the field of play, the ceremonies, the Olympic Village — should be spaces where athletes are safe from both sides and where there is no messaging of any kind.”

— IOC President Kirsty Coventry, on Heraskevych’s protest

“Six months ago, I met the love of my life, the most beautiful, kindest person in the world. And three months ago, I made the biggest mistake of my life and cheated on her, and I told her about it a week ago.”

— Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Lægreid after winning bronze 

“There’s something so unique and beautiful about skating … it’s the best sport. But don’t tell the other sports.”

— Madison Chock, Team USA ice dancer

“I don’t want to be in life without my dad, and today was maybe the first time I could actually accept this.”

— Team USA skier and gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin, immediately after winning her first Olympic medal since 2018, on her father, who passed away in 2020,

“Every day training is exhausting because everyone’s so good. I’m getting my ass handed to me every day.”

— AJ Hurt, Team USA slalom/giant slalom skier

“F*** off.”

— Canadian curler Marc Kennedy to Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson after accusations that Canada cheated during their curling match. 

“I really want to enjoy this with my family and friends. It’s my last Games and my final season, and you always just want to hug your mum after the finish, no matter how it goes.”

— Team USA cross-country skier Jessie Diggins 

“It’s a fight between the slope and you. Who is stronger?”

— Italian downhill skier Dominik Paris

Ilia Malinin reacts aftrer finishing his free skate, where he fell from the top of the leaderboard to completely off the podium. (Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“I blew it.”

— Team USA figure skater Ilia Malinin after falling during his free skate and plummeting from first place all the way to eighth

“We’re going all the way to 2034. I would love to end in the States. Is that possible? I don’t know. Are we going to find out? Damn straight.”

— Team USA snowboarder Nick Baumgarter, age 44 

“If anything was to come to the surface, we would look at anything if it is actually doping related.”

— Oliver Niggli, director general of WADA, on ski jumping’s “Crotch-gate”

Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller’s son, River Walter Schwaller, reaches for curling stones after Switzerland won the curling men’s round robin bronze medal game. (Photo by Stefano RELLANDINI / AFP via Getty Images)

“For us this was just enjoying family time. We didn’t realize that the cameras were there and that it would go viral. Things happened, and I guess he’s the ‘curling baby’ now.”

— Swiss curler Briar Schwaller-Huerlimann after son River caught social media’s eye after a match

“Norway taught me how to be an athlete, how to brave the cold. Brazil taught me how to be myself.”

— Brazilian gold medal skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen after changing nationality from Norway to Brazil. 

“After those five seconds of running, you’re some combination of an F1 driver, a boxer and a Buddhist monk trying to stay calm while everything is processing at 140 kilometers an hour.” 

— Israeli skeleton athlete Jared Firestone on the challenges of his sport

“We have a tendency to want to film it all, but put the phone down and really absorb it in, emotionally. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

— Team USA freestyle skier Nick Goepper on the Olympic experience

“I had it.”

— Team USA figure skater Amber Glenn after missing a triple-loop jump that ultimately cost her a medal

“I’m looking at my team and maybe someone needs to be dismissed because I’m not aware of that.” 

— IOC President Kirsty Coventry, in a press conference, when asked about a report that the head of Russia’s 2014 anti-doping agency was in fact involved in that country’s widespread doping scheme 

“He had his arm around my mom. Like, get out of here. This is wild. I think Coach Mom was helping Snoop out, telling him all about curling.”

— Team USA curler Korey Dropkin on Snoop Dogg hanging with his mother

“He sent me a very long and well-written email [wishing me good luck]. His text messages are better than my high school and college papers.”

— Team USA freestyle skier Birk Irving on his grandfather, novelist John Irving.

“I don’t know how it is to be in third place here, because I’m normally either out or first.”

— Italian skier Dominik Paris after winning bronze in men’s downhill 

“This was now my seventh summer owning and operating a window-cleaning business in Steamboat [Colorado]. It’s the perfect place for it. There’s tons of rich people that don’t want to clean their windows.”

— Team USA’s Cody Winters on how he funded his snowboarding 

“I should tattoo the whole track and then put a red cross over it. I’ll put it on my back or something. Me and Milano Cortina, we just don’t speak the same language, and we don’t like each other.”

— Polish luge athlete Mateusz Sochowicz 

“The Olympics is a beast stronger than me, I just don’t have it.”

— Italian snowboarder Roland Fischnaller, who has appeared in seven Winter Games without medaling 

“If you’re going through hell, you keep walking, because you don’t want to just sit around in hell. And sometimes when you keep going, maybe you’ll make it back to the top.”

— Team USA’s gold medal-winning skier Breezy Johnson

“It was the most intense one minute of my life, just watching and wondering if I’m third or fourth.”

— Bulgarian bronze medallist snowboarder Tervel Zamfirov, awaiting the results of a photo finish to determine the men’s parallel giant slalom. 

Gold medalist Benjamin Karl of Team Austria celebrates after winning the men’s parallel giant slalom. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

“You saw me with my naked body. I think you can be super good in shape until maybe 50.

— Australian snowboarder Benjamin Karl, age 40, who celebrated winning snowboarding’s men’s parallel giant slalom by tearing off his shirt. 

“At the third turn I thought, ‘Oh s**t, what am I doing? Come on, Emma’.”

— German alpine skier Emma Aicher on her thoughts to herself during a downhill race where she would go on to win silver. 

“Push hard, drive fast, see what happens at the bottom. It’s pretty basic.”

— Team USA bobsledder Kaillie Armbruster Humphries on her strategy. 

“What I yearn for most is a worthy opponent … then I have a reason to be better every day. There’s no better feeling than being a better person today than you were yesterday.”

— American-born, Chinese-competing Eileen Gu after winning silver in women’s freeski slopestyle

“I have so much anxiety but thankfully, I have matcha.”

— Team USA snowboarder Chloe Kim

“Honestly, it bores me. I try to concentrate on skiing or something else just to avoid getting lost in the woods.”

— Italian biathlete Michela Carrara on focus during competition

“If I’m competing in the Salt Lake Games, it might be a medical miracle.”

— Team USA bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor on her Olympic future.

“Just to throw one rock would be the greatest. It would be the greatest moment in my life. My kids know it and my wife knows it, so they’re not going to be mad at me for saying it wasn’t my wedding day.”

— Team USA curler Richard Ruohonen on making his Olympic debut at 54, becoming the oldest American Winter Olympian ever. (He would indeed make an appearance.) 

Maxim Naumov with a picture of his parents as he awaits his score after performing his routine during the figure skating men’s singles. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Getty Images)

“I wanted them to sit in the kiss and cry with me and experience the moment, look up at the scores. They deserve to be sat right next to me, like they always have been.”

— Team USA figure skater Maxim Naumov on his parents, lost last year in a plane crash

“Sometimes you just need a reminder. You’re so focused on where you want to go that you forget how far you’ve already come.”

— Canadian skier Riley Seger on falling short in the men’s super G

“[I was] dying. I had pain everywhere in my body. My stomach was hurting so much, and my legs too. It was difficult to ski because it was getting icy. And also my vision was getting darker and more narrow. It was hell.”

— French biathlete and silver medallist Lou Jeanmonnot, describing her final lap of the 15km individual

“For 10 months everybody was asking, ‘Are you racing in Milano Cortina?’ I didn’t know. I was not able to walk and didn’t know if I was going to ski ever again.”

— Italy’s Federica Brignone, who overcame catastrophic injury to win gold in the women’s super G. 

“The Olympics are huge and I was nervous. I can usually sleep before a game and I could not sleep. We are good at what we do, but we feel like kids at this tournament.”

— Team Canada’s Nathan MacKinnon

“I think his honest opinion is to pick Johannes on the first leg, Johannes on the second leg, Johannes on the third leg and Johannes on the fourth leg.”

— Norway cross-country skier Einar Hedegart on teammate (and six-time gold-medal winner) Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo’s fantasy Norway’s men’s 4 x 7.5km relay team

“It was the hardest 45 minutes. I ate my fingers, I think.”

— Polish speed skater Vladimir Semirunniy on the long wait to see how his time in the men’s 10000m would stand up; he won silver

“The emotion I’m feeling right now is an internal sun inside of me that is shining so bright and towards so many people. It is the very light that brought me the power to be the fastest in the world today and to become an Olympic champion.” 

— Brazilian giant slalom gold medallist Lucas Pinheiro Braathen after winning the country’s first-ever Olympic Winter Games medal

“You have to get to this mental state where you’re basically a racehorse. You need to have horse blinders on and be calm because you’re trying to do the most ballistic, violent running anyone’s ever done, and, yet, it’s very technical.”

— Canadian bobsledder Mike Evelyn on how to push start a bobsled 

“Probably the pub.”

— Great Britain’s Matt Weston on plans after winning mixed team skeleton gold

“If you get intimidated, you shouldn’t be playing pro hockey.”

— Czechia’s Radko Gudas on playing Canada in men’s ice hockey

“Having a medal at the Olympic Games is completely different from not having one.”

— Japanese speed skater Ayano Sato after a bronze medal in the women’s team pursuit

“I told myself I did not want to buy one, I wanted to earn one.”

— Chinese speed skater Zhongyan Ning on obtaining sold-out stuffed Milano-Cortina mascot; he got one by winning bronze in the men’s team pursuit 

“I had to show up today and believe I could do it, look at [Johannes Hoesflot] Klaebo’s butt and lock in and follow that to the finish line.”

— Team USA cross-country skier Gus Schumacher on how he won silver in the men’s team sprint free event

“I became famous with a dog that came across the finish line and everyone wants to interview me now. It is the first time I have given any interviews.” 

— Greek cross-country skier Konstantina Charalampidou after meeting a dog named Nazgul at the finish line during team sprint qualifying.  

A dog wanders on the ski trail during the women’s team cross country free sprint qualification event. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP via Getty Images)

[No comment.] 

— Nazgul the Dog

“We are really proud of what we did, because we knew that, on paper, we would be able to reach the medal, but then on snow it’s not exactly like on paper.”

— Italian cross-country skier Federico Pellegrino after winning bronze in team sprint 

“That’s what we’re going to remember when we get old. It’s not necessarily the physical gold medal, but it’s the gold medal of memories. And we had thousands and thousands of them these past weeks and months.”

— Norwegian biathlete Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen  

“I tried. I dreamt. I jumped.”

— Lindsey Vonn, in an Instagram posting following her catastrophic downhill injury

​https://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/article/best-quotes-of-winter-olympics-2026-i-tried-i-dreamt-i-jumped-173646062.html