Sports
2 Quotes Illustrate Kevin O’Connell’s Shifting Confidence in J.J. McCarthy
What a difference a pair of years can make.
Kevin O’Connell was riding high going into 2024. Kirk Cousins had walked for a gigantic payday in Atlanta but Minnesota was set up with Sam Darnold alongside J.J. McCarthy. The Vikings were therefore working with the best of both worlds due to the upside veteran and raw but developing young fella. O’Connell was pleased.
Of course, the great issue with that plan was the upcoming injury for J.J. McCarthy. The Michigan alumnus would need to spend his rookie season in the infirmary. O’Connell, though, was quite brash and bullish in public praise, declaring the kid as the Vikings’ long-awaited franchise quarterback.
No longer, it would seem.
Kevin O’Connell Has Lost Confidence in J.J. McCarthy
Earlier in the week, Coach O’Connell sidestepped a question about whether McCarthy would remain in the QB2 spot.
“I think to me,” O’Connell began, “it’s making an assessment on what we think is best for the team.” Afterwards, O’Connell ventured into various thoughts about other roster battles and how Max Brosmer is still around. None of that chatter, though, can mask how far McCarthy has fallen over these past two years in O’Connell’s assessment. Not a declared franchise quarterback, McCarthy isn’t even a locked-in QB2.
In August of 2024, O’Connell felt so good about McCarthy that he was willing to proclaim the kid as Minnesota’s franchise quarterback to the media. Doing so came after seeing him lose his debut season to his knee injury. Still, though, O’Connell was confident.
Will Ragatz sent along the quote in a piece for Sports Illustrated: “As excited as I was to draft him, he’s confirmed everything that I hoped to see. Our fan base and everyone should be excited about the fact that we’ve got our young franchise quarterback in the building.”
Football publications covered the quote. All of the NFL’s website, Pro Football Talk, CBS Sports, and even the Vikings’ website covered that comment. Many others did, as well. And why not? It was a bold, brash claim that gained instant credibility due to who was saying it: the quarterback whisperer.
Fast forward into August of 2026 and things are quite a bit different. Already, McCarthy has been the backup for a couple of weeks. He appears to be hanging on by a thread to remain as the main backup rather than sinking down to being the QB3.
These past several weeks and months have involved Kevin O’Connell repeating himself. Over and over again, Minnesota’s skipper has insisted that the Vikings were conducting a true passer battle. Most didn’t believe what he had to say; seeing things go to Kyler Murray so early in training camp didn’t help the coach to retroactively persuade people.
Going into the Vikings’ final preseason game, many think the Carson Wentz is going to become the Vikings’ main backup. Based purely on the on-field play in the preseason, Wentz should be the QB2. The issue, though, is that he’s a 33-year-old journeyman who is well respected but not viewed as a world beater. How high is his ceiling?
At this point in time, Wentz could have more upside for 2026 alone even if the long-term edge goes to the young fella.
The thorn in the Vikings’ side: McCarthy hasn’t progressed nearly as much as desired. My theory is that the kid’s confidence is shot, meaning he reverts to old habits and struggles to scan the field.
For a long time, I argued that Kyler Murray would start in Week 1 but that J.J. McCarthy would start more games overall in 2026. That thesis was always unpopular but is now on life support.
Kevin O’Connell is entering his fifth season as the Vikings’ head coach. He’s 43-25 in the regular season since taking over, working out to a sizzling .632 winning percentage. He has won the NFC North title a single time (2022), was honored as NFL Coach of the Year (2024), and been to the playoffs twice.
He is 0-2 in the playoffs.
Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.
Also, since starting to use the Widener, I recorded my first-ever competitive round where I was 100% in scrambling (5-for-5).
Having that structure locked in, but not in a forceful way, lets me just focus on turning and using my body while not getting handsy.
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The Widener has already proven to be a very effective tool for my chipping, and in just a month it’s turned me from a player who thought he had a good short game into one who knows he has a good short game.
While I still have one more tournament left on the schedule this year, I’m excited to start working on my full swing with the Widener afterward to see if the benefits I’ve found in my short game can show up in the long game as well.
The bad news keeps getting worse for Good Good. In the aftermath of a widely criticized ad for a Good Good x Callaway driver that depicted Good Good’s Garrett Clark knocking over his colleague Alexis Miestowski, the company has lost many of its most high-profile partnerships.
On Thursday evening, Good Good lost perhaps the biggest of them all, the company’s sponsorship of the PGA Tour’s 2026 Good Good Championship.
In dueling statements on social media, Good Good announced it was stepping away from sponsorship of the PGA Tour event scheduled for November in Austin, and the PGA Tour confirmed the news.
Here’s what you need to know.
The fallout from Good Good’s controversial driver ad has snowballed quickly.
Good Good apparel was removed from store shelves at Dick’s Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy and PGA TOUR Superstore. Callaway ended its relationship with Good Good, sending the co-branded driver featured in the questionable ad to the dustbin of history.
Golf Channel decided to postpone the premiere of the brand-new Big Break x Good Good television show, then cancelled the first season altogether. The winner of that show was supposed to earn a sponsor’s exemption into what was arguably Good Good’s boldest foray into the mainstream yet: the 2026 Good Good Championship.
But on Thursday night, Good Good announced its decision to step away from the upcoming PGA Tour event, writing that the company’s focus is now on “ensuring we learn from this situation,” and that it is “committed to earning back trust.”
“After thoughtful discussions with the PGA Tour and careful reflection, we have decided to step away as sponsor of the tour event in Austin this fall. We recognize that we have work to do as an organization, and our focus right now is on our team, our culture and ensuring we learn from this situation,” Good Good’s statement read. “We are grateful for our relationship with the PGA Tour and appreciate their partnership over the years. We remain committed to earning back trust, and we hope to work together again in the future.”
Earlier this week at Tour Championship, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp admitted that Good Good’s sponsorship of the Austin tournament was a “fluid situation.”
Following Good Good’s announcement, the PGA Tour released a statement of their own, writing that they “agree with [Good Good’s] decision” to back out as tournament sponsors.
“The PGA Tour has been informed of Good Good Golf’s decision to step away as sponsor of the event in Austin, Texas, this fall,” the PGA Tour’s statement read. “We agree with their decision to use this time to focus on their organization and the work ahead. The PGA Tour believes in golf’s ability to bring people together and create a welcoming environment for all.”
The Tour also noted that the Austin Tour event, scheduled for November 12-15 at Omni Barton Creek, will go on as planned, and the Tour will “provide an update on sponsorship plans at a later date.”
For now, the tournament has been renamed the “Austin Championship” on the PGA Tour’s website.
The tension cracked at the weigh-in for Moses Itauma’s fight with Filip Hrgovic, with the young Briton pushing his rival off the stage before receiving a slap in return.
Itauma, 21, will puts his unbeaten record on the line when he fights Hrgovic for the vacant IBF heavyweight belt, as the pair headline at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday.
And Itauma had been typically stoic until Friday’s weigh-in, refusing to rise to the Croatian’s taunts that he is “delusional” and just a “kid”.
But the face-off saw each man bark at the other, with Itauma insisting he will “f*** up” Hrgovic on Saturday, before he pushed the 34-year-old off the stage as Hrgovic flexed in front of the fans.
Hrgovic then took to the stage again, slapping Itauma before the heavyweights were held apart.
“I just told him what’s gonna happen; I’ll smash him,” Hrgovic told DAZN moments later. “He pushed me first, so I just give him [something] back, you know? He started [it].”
“I was ready to go,” Itauma admitted. “I don’t know, I just lost it a little bit […] I had a little itch, and I just had to scratch it.”
The Briton’s promoter Frank Warren soon added: “I’m a bit surprised myself at what happened. He’s not normally like this, Moses, but he’s up for this, as you can see.
“I think that’s what he was trying to do there: stamp his authority before he even gets into the ring. He’s showing he’s not fazed by what Filip brings.”
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Itauma will enter the fight on the back of a stoppage of Jermaine Franklin in March, when he became the first boxer to knock out the American. In his previous bout, Itauma stopped compatriot and veteran Dillian Whyte inside two minutes.
Meanwhile, Hrgovic’s last four fights have all come against British opposition. In the first of those contests, in 2024, he suffered his sole professional loss when he was stopped by Daniel Dubois after sustaining a nasty cut.
But the Croatian bounced back with points wins over David Adeleye and Joe Joyce, and a stoppage of Dave Allen in May.
Sports
England v Pakistan Second Test: Jofra Archer and Ollie Robinson take two wickets each as Pakistan bowled out
Ollie Robinson and Jofra Archer make light work of Pakistan’s lower order as they combine to take five wickets for just 19 runs in seven overs as England bowl Pakistan out for 110 in their first innings, giving England a 180-run lead on day two of the second Test at Lord’s.
FOLLOW LIVE: England v Pakistan – Second Test, day two
Available to UK users only.
Sports
India vs Belgium LIVE Score, Hockey World Cup 2026: India Face Belgium In 7th-Place Match, Aim To End ‘Curse’
The bronze medalists from the 2020 and 2024 Olympics began their Hockey World Cup campaign with a lot of promise, outclassing Wales in their opening group game. However, since then, apart from a win over Pakistan, India have lost every single match.
In fact, India have not beaten a single team in this World Cup that is ranked above them in the FIH Outdoor Hockey Rankings. Will they be able to end that curse today?
Arsenal got its title defense off to a perfect start Friday with a 3-0 win over newly promoted Coventry City in the opening match of the Premier League.
In France, a second-half double from Amine Gouiri set Marseille on its way to a 4-0 victory over Strasbourg on the first night of this season’s Ligue 1 action.
Elsewhere in Europe, Real Betis beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in the Spanish league while fan trouble overshadowed the first round of the German Cup.
Arsenal sweeps Coventry aside in Premier League opener
Newcomer Christos Tzolis helped set up two goals as defending champion Arsenal opened the Premier League season by dismantling promoted Coventry 3-0 to spoil the visitor’s long-awaited return to the top flight.
After ending a 22-year wait for the Premier League title, Arsenal showed why it’s favored to repeat as champion by completely dominating Frank Lampard’s side in a game that was one-sided from start to finish.
Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard scored for the Gunners, who spurned chances to pad the scoreline even further.
For Coventry, it was a rude welcome back to the Premier League after a 25-year absence. Having won the second-tier Championship last season by a wide margin, Lampard’s side simply looked outmatched as it was repeatedly taken apart by the marauding Gunners.
Gouiri leads Marseille to dominant win over Strasbourg
Gouiri, who scored eight goals in 22 league matches last season, has been linked with a move to Everton in recent days, but the speculation clearly did not hinder his concentration in the Ligue 1 opener.
He slotted home from close range a minute after the break and then doubled his tally from the penalty spot midway through the second half, just minutes after Strasbourg was reduced to 10 men following Samir El Mourabet’s dismissal for a bad tackle.
Keyliane Abdallah added a third in the 89th minute before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg completed the scoring in stoppage time to give new Marseille coach Bruno Genesio the perfect start to the season.
Rodrigo Riquelme gives Real Betis a winning start in SpainBetis kicked off its La Liga campaign with a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad in Seville.
Riquelme’s volleyed goal after 63 minutes separated two evenly matched teams and extended Betis’ unbeaten home run in Friday night games to 18.
The win takes the Seville club into joint second place in La Liga, one of four teams on three points, behind Alaves, which has four.
It’s a stuttering start to the league season in Spain, with some teams having played twice before others have even kicked off their campaign.
Rowdy fans and startling scoreline in the German Cup
Police had to intervene in the German Cup match between Waldhof Mannheim and Kaiserslautern as fans threw flares and other objects and some Mannheim supporters invaded the pitch. The trouble started as the game was heading into extra time with the score tied at 0-0.
The match was halted for nearly 30 minutes as officers in riot gear and mounted police pushed fans back into the stands before the players could return.
Ibrahim Kanate scored in the last minute of extra time, giving second-division Kaiserslautern a 1-0 win to advance to the second round.
Eintracht Frankfurt cruised into the second round of the competition with a staggering 11-0 win away at fifth-tier St. Tonis. Ten of the goals came before half time, three of them from Jonathan Burkardt.
Karlsruhe beat Munster 2-1 and Dzenan Pejcinovic scored a hattrick as VfB Stuttgart beat Hansa Rostock 4-0 away from home.
Ayyoub Bouaddi is set to go straight into the City squad for the trip to Crystal Palace.
“Yeah, he’s ready,” said Maresca of Bouaddi. He was working with his former club so he is fit. We will see how long it is in terms of adaptation but for sure he is ready to go.
City remain without Doku but Anderson is fit having come off against Bournemouth with cramp. Nunes is still not 100 per cent fit and may have to settle for a place among the substitutes.
Connacht Rugby play their first pre-season fixture of the new campaign this evening when they take on RC Vannes in France.
The game kicks off at 6pm Irish time (7pm local time) at Stade de la Rabine and supporters in Ireland will be able to watch the match live and free on the Rugby Vannes YouTube channel.
How to watch Vannes v Connacht Rugby
- Fixture: RC Vannes v Connacht Rugby
- Date: Friday, August 28
- Kick-off: 6pm Irish time / 7pm local time
- Venue: Stade de la Rabine, Vannes
- Live stream: Rugby Vannes YouTube channel
The game offers Connacht supporters their first look at Stuart Lancaster’s side in match action ahead of the new season, with a 28-man squad travelling to France.
There is particular interest in the return of Mack Hansen and Byron Ralston, who are both named in the starting XV following lengthy injury layoffs.
Hansen starts on the left wing, with Ralston at inside centre. Sam Gilbert starts at full-back, while Shane Jennings and John Devine complete the outside backs.
Josh Ioane and Colm Reilly form the half-back partnership.
New signings Jerry Cahir and Thomas Connolly are among the extended replacements, while a number of Connacht Academy players will also get an opportunity to impress.
David Walsh, Max Flynn, Bobby Power, Sean Walsh, Daniel Ryan and Albert Lindner are all included among the replacements.
Connacht have been based on the French west coast since Monday as Stuart Lancaster and his coaching team continue preparations for the start of the competitive season against the Stormers on September 25.
Connacht Rugby team v RC Vannes
15. Sam Gilbert
14. Shane Jennings
13. John Devine
12. Byron Ralston
11. Mack Hansen
10. Josh Ioane
9. Colm Reilly
1. Jordan Duggan
2. Eoin de Buitléar
3. Fiachna Barrett
4. Niall Murray
5. David O’Connor
6. Sean O’Brien
7. Shamus Hurley-Langton
8. Paul Boyle
Replacements from
Dylan Tierney-Martin
Jerry Cahir
Thomas Connolly
David Walsh
Max Flynn
Bobby Power
Ben Murphy
Sean Naughton
Sean Walsh
Harry West
Finn Treacy
Daniel Ryan
Albert Lindner
Connacht back at Dexcom Stadium next Saturday
Connacht return home next weekend for a double-header at Dexcom Stadium.
The Connacht Eagles get underway at 2pm, before the senior side face Ealing Trailfinders at 5pm in their next pre-season fixture.
Tonight, however, attention turns to France and the first opportunity to see Lancaster’s Connacht in action, with kick-off against Vannes at 6pm Irish time.
Aug 21, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale (51) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images Atlanta Braves veteran pitcher Chris Sale tossing a complete game shutout against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night was pretty cool.
But the 37-year-old’s son stole the show, as he was animatedly fired up to see his dad coming back out to pitch the ninth inning.
It was a highlight worthy outing for Sale, who topped the Dodgers 1-0 in a pitching duel against LA’s Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Sale struck out superstar slugger Shohei Ohtani on a 100 mile per hour fastball, proving that even in his later years, he still has some of the most unhittable stuff in the entire sport. Thursday night was his first time touching triple digits on the radar gun in eight seasons, and was the seventh-fastest pitch of his career.
So, how did he do it? “With my arm,” Sale joked on the broadcast after the game.
Sometimes in sports, guys are just feeling it. And that’s the groove that Sale found himself in on Thursday evening. His kid’s raw emotion watching his dad come back out in the ninth to attempt the full game shutout proves just how much this means to the veteran, even though he was a man of few words after the performance.
The Braves will need this version of Sale – or something close to it – if they want to keep this up throughout the month of September and into the postseason. At the deadline, the Braves gambled on their own starting pitching, including Sale, by not aggressively buying starting pieces, only adding right-hander Tyler Mahle from the San Francisco Giants.
Atlanta’s next four games are against the Colorado Rockies and a makeup game against the Giants. After that, they have two games against the struggling Washington Nationals. If they can add some cushion to their five-game lead in the National League East, the first week of September’s series against the Philadelphia Phillies might not matter much. That’s what made Atlanta’s victory against the Dodgers on Thursday night so cool.
Sale did that against baseball’s most vaunted juggernaut. Even though the Dodgers have been struggling, this has to be a massive feel-good victory for the Braves.
Months ago, they bet on a starting rotation headlined by an aging Sale. While putting the finishing touches on a postseason push, Sale rewarded the Braves, and saved their offense on a day where Yamamoto was really good, too.
Gilas Pilipinas celebrates after beating Jordan in the Fiba World Cup 2027 Asian qualifiers at Mall of Asia Arena. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines–Gilas Pilipinas escaped Jordan, 82-81, in overtime to open its second round campaign with a much-needed win in the Fiba World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers on Friday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Kevin Quiambao nailed a go-ahead three with 13 seconds left in overtime and Kai Sotto came up with a huge block on Abdullah Olajuwon’s game-winning attempt for Jordan as the Philippines got back on the winning track in these qualifiers.
Sotto, who played for the Nationals for the first time since 2024, led with 18 points and 14 rebounds while CJ Perez, who scored crucial baskets that helped Gilas Pilipinas force overtime, added 16 points.
Gilas Pilipinas ended a four-game losing skid dating back to February and breathed life into its World Cup hopes.
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