Month: September 2025

Unlike the NHL, which is played on an arena sized for one team, Olympic hockey games are played in smaller arenas that accommodate two teams. The games are also played on a smaller surface, measuring 197 feet by 98.5 feet. This is the third time the Olympics have featured men’s and women’s ice hockey, having first appeared at the 1924 and 1928 Olympics in Chamonix and Lake Placid respectively.

Traditionally, the tournament has featured a round-robin series of games leading up to the medal round. Medals are awarded based on the total number of points earned during that period. In 1998, the format was adjusted in order to better align with the NHL schedule. Until then, only top six teams (Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and United States) were allowed to use NHL players during the preliminary round. In the final round, all teams were allowed to use NHL players.

The 1988 Calgary Winter Games were the first in which the Olympic gold medal would be decided by a shootout. Unlike the NHL, which requires a full 20-minute overtime period at five-on-five, Olympic games feature a modified sudden death shoot out where each team will take turns sending a player in to rush the goalie for a shot until they are successful.

With ten minutes left in the game, the Americans trailed 3-3 against the Soviets. But, on a night known as the “Miracle on Ice,” U.S. captain Mike Eruzione picked up the puck in the Soviet zone, used a defenseman as a screen and scored. The crowd exploded in cheers as the buzzer sounded.

With the Premier League putting its break on hold for international qualifiers, all eyes are on the next round of fixtures. England impressed in Belgrade, while Northern Ireland and Wales both played important group games.

The race to the 2026 World Cup is underway around the globe with a host of countries looking to secure one of six direct qualifying spots and two intercontinental play-off berths allocated to their respective regions. Here’s how the competition is shaping up in each of the confederations.

In Europe, qualifying officially kicked off on March 21 when the 55 European nations not involved in UEFA’s Nations League entered the initial phase of their campaign. The 12 groups of four or five teams will play home-and-away round-robin matches until November, when the top two finishers in each group qualify for the finals. The two runners-up advance to a two-legged playoff in November to determine the other direct qualifier.

The lowest-ranked countries in Concacaf entered a new format for this round, with the four lowest nations competing in a two-legged tie to decide which will be placed in Round 2. The winner and runner-up from this round will join the winners of the other three groups at the finals.

South Korea’s 2-0 win in Iraq on Thursday was enough to see them qualify from this group, ensuring they will be the fifth team from this stage of the competition. Uzbekistan’s 1-0 victory over Qatar also booked their first-ever World Cup appearance, while Iran and the UAE will move on to Round 4. The remaining six teams will enter a two-legged playoff in October to determine the last of the four direct qualifiers from this region.

The World Athletics Championship is a biennial international outdoor track and field competition organized by the sport’s governing body, World Athletics (formerly International Association of Athletics Federations). Held alongside the Olympic Games, it is the highest level of senior world outdoor athletics competition. It is the most important international competition in track and field athletics. The best athletes from around the world come to compete in this event. Besides individual medals in each event, the top three finishers receive gold, silver and bronze medals. Originally named the IAAF World Cup, it was first held in 1983 in Helsinki, Finland.

A day of shocks and surprise winners at the World Championships in Tokyo on Sunday (21 July). Melissa Jefferson-Wooden clinched a sprint treble, and joined her idol Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce as the only woman to do so, while Leo Neugebauer won the decathlon after a dramatic race of twists and turns, Daniel Stahl became a four-time champion in the discus and Cole Hocker rebounded from a difficult Olympics to win the 5000m gold.

But the biggest crowd pleaser was the American men’s 4x100m team, who pipped Botswana to take victory in the final. This was the third consecutive victory at this event for the US squad, and their performance is a massive boost ahead of next year’s Olympic Games in LA. They won with a new world record, and topped the all-time list of men’s world records set at the championships.

Esports tournament news covers the world of high-stakes multiplayer video game competitions where teams compete for huge prize pools sponsored by mainstream brands. These high-profile events feature a wide variety of popular games, some with dedicated fanbases that can rival those for traditional sports. Some tournaments are focused on specific genres, such as the popular League of Legends, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike games or fighting and card games like Street Fighter and Super Smash Bros.

These tournaments are often televised and livestreamed, and their success has spurred many other major companies to invest in the industry. Major media networks ESPN and TBS broadcast esports, traditional sports leagues have launched their own tournaments, and the owners of NBA and NFL teams now have ownership stakes in esports teams. More than 600 colleges have added varsity esports programs and even offer scholarships to their players.

But while the esports industry continues to grow exponentially, it’s important to remember that it’s still just a video game. Just like football and ballet dancing, esports can be intense, and it’s not unusual for professional esport athletes to spend hours each day practicing and playing for the chance to win big money. They’re also not immune to the same controversies that plague traditional sports, including accusations of cheating and the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Fan protest stories are powerful illustrations of the way that fans may be motivated to act as agents of social change by their deep investment in media content worlds. In this issue, scholars explore how fans use the stories they love to rally support for causes that are important to them. This work demonstrates that fan activism can be an effective model for social advocacy, even as it may face some of the same critiques that other forms of civic participation often do-including the perception that these activities are too “soft” or “unserious.”

For example, when a television series is threatened with cancellation, fans respond strongly, whether through organized boycotts on college campuses or letter-writing campaigns to the network. The same pattern held true during the civil rights movement, with Black sports fans turning their devotion to their favorite teams into nonviolent protests that pushed professional sports leagues to desegregate stadium seating. The boycotts ultimately changed the makeup of sports franchises in major Southern cities that wanted to appear modern while attempting to hide their racist roots.

Scholars exploring fan activism use a variety of frames, from the traditional to the intersectional, as they examine the ways that fans engage in and mobilize their social action. Melissa M. Brough and Sangita Shresthova explore the power of fan activism to inspire new activists, while Tom Phillips delves into the failed attempt by Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma) to motivate his fans to write letters to Southwest Airlines over the filmmaker’s removal from a flight for being deemed “too fat to fly.” These examples illustrate some of the core debates in this cluster: the tension between resistance and participation as competing models, the value of affective engagement and embodied experience, and the way that the shape of a content world can influence its ability to generate social change.

Ahead of the 2019 World Series, take a look back at some of the most memorable highlights from the Fall Classic’s rich history.

The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, and it’s considered one of the most prestigious events in all of sports. The Series has been held since 1905, with the exception of 1994 (due to a players’ strike). Since that time, the Series has featured numerous high-stakes, nail-biting games, including several walk-off homers and many dramatic late-inning rallies. It’s a series that has come to symbolize the very best of American baseball.

One of the most iconic World Series moments came in Game 6 of the 1975 Series between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds, which was infamously called “The Scandal at Fenway.” It’s known for its exciting lead changes and nail-biting turns of events that resulted in a 7-6 Red Sox win and a 13-year curse that had been hanging over the team ever since the 1919 Black Sox scandal.

Today, the Series has a much more international flavor, as talented ballplayers from around the globe compete for a chance to make their mark in North America’s high-salary major leagues. That’s a good thing, as the World Series showcases some of the most skillful players in all of sports.

Gender equality in sports has always been a challenge. Despite the many benefits of sport for both men and women, gender stereotypes in the media have created an image of sports as a world of male dominance, physical strength, and power. These stereotypes can create an environment that makes female athletes feel as if they are not welcome in the sport, and can lead to misogyny and sexism. It is time to put a stop to this.

It will take both men and women to stamp out misogyny in sports. Male allies who understand that sexism in sports is not just a problem for women, but a problem for all people, will be vital in changing attitudes and behaviour. The goal is to ensure that all women and girls have equal access to sport.

A recent study by UNESCO, based on a series of focus groups with women athletes and coaches, managers, and physical education teachers, highlighted that gender inequality in sports is rooted in the structure of society. The participants described challenges, obstacles, and needs in relation to the implementation of gender equality practices, such as: financial support for women athletes; psychological support; political support; visibility in the media; dual careers; and adaptations of training to physiological characteristics.

The research identifies geographical, social and cultural differences across Europe on attitudes towards gender equality in sports. It uses the Special Eurobarometer 525 (2022) to construct a synthetic indicator of Europeans’ attitudes towards gender equality in sport (ATGEQS), applies Latent Profile Analysis and Multinomial Logistic Regression to cluster the data, and identifies the main determinants of those attitudes.

The World Test Championship is a two-year league and final tournament that launched in 2019 to give additional context to the longest format of cricket. The competition features nine full member teams: Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and West Indies.

The finalists play a series of home and away matches, with each match contributing points towards the overall standings. A win is worth 12 points, a draw is worth 4 points and a tie is worth 6 points. Each team’s over rate is also taken into account, with points deducted for each slow over rate.

A team must earn a minimum of four points from its first three games to qualify for the final, with a maximum of nine points from five matches. The top two teams in the overall standings will compete for the trophy.

Defending champions Australia and first-time finalists South Africa will face off in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s on Wednesday 11 June. If you are interested in attending this exciting event, click here to find out how to get tickets for the match at the Home of Cricket. Hospitality tickets are also available.

The tournament was designed to provide a more structured path for the top tier of international cricket, while still leaving plenty of room for traditional bilateral rivalries between the Big Three and the other ranked teams. But the championship is far from perfect. Its complex league system, which spans two years and passes almost entirely unnoticed, is an inefficient and cumbersome way to structure the game of test cricket, especially as compared to the more succinct and structured world cup cycle.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen a flurry of athlete retirement news from Super Bowl hero Nick Foles to Olympic gold medalist Alex Morgan. In addition to the physical toll of retirement, it can be a tough mental transition as athletes find their new self-identity outside of their sport. Athletes often spend their entire lives preparing for one moment, and when that day comes, it can be difficult to let go.

The average professional athlete retires much earlier than most Americans, and for some it can be a difficult adjustment from training around the clock to living on a minimum wage salary with little support. In fact, some former Olympians have reported relying on food stamps and credit card debt in their early post-athletic years.

Fortunately, there are steps that can be taken to make the transition easier. The first is to remember that retiring isn’t a sudden act. Instead, athletes should think of it as a process, and implement methods like competing less frequently, training less or giving themselves days off from their sport to slowly adjust to the new lifestyle.

Another way to ease the transition is to stay connected with peers, teammates and coaches after retiring from their sport. It can help athletes maintain a sense of identity and purpose in life, and also ensure that they continue to keep fit outside of their sport community. Lastly, it’s important for athletes to understand the risks of retiring too soon and consider taking out a policy such as permanent total disability insurance to protect their financial future.

The US Open schedule for 2025 includes two weeks of action in Queens, starting on August 24 and running through September 7. This year the tournament features a 15-day schedule that gives fans more matches to attend and players more rest between rounds. Defending men’s champion Jannik Sinner and women’s winner Aryna Sabalenka will be among those seeking to defend their titles.

With a host of rising stars like Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, and Carlos Alcaraz, this tournament could be one of the most competitive in recent memory. The expanded 15-day format also means more chances to see top seeds practicing and competing against each other (check the practice schedule here and on the app).

Ticket availability for the tournament’s show courts is always tight, with the official Ticketmaster site and reseller sites offering the best chance of scoring tickets for major match-ups. It’s important to note that ticket prices are dynamic and will change over time, as the tournament releases more of its face-value “standard” tickets in response to demand and supply (this can be frustrating, but it is a common ticketing practice).

Another helpful tip is to track the schedule closely as the event approaches, as tickets often go on sale the day prior to a session or even a couple days before. Additionally, it’s not uncommon for the resale market to have some of the best deals on the final weekend of the tournament. Check the resale market frequently, as these discounts are usually gone within hours.