After 36 years at ESPN, announcer Mark Jones took the mic on Sunday for his final broadcast with the network, calling a season-finale matchup between the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic.

Before tipoff, Jones was the subject of multiple tributes.

Advertisement

Jones joined the “Inside the NBA” pregame show, where he received a standing ovation from hosts Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal.

The Premier League could boast seven clubs in next season’s Champions League if all the right pieces fall into place – but now we know five will be guaranteed.

The extra place was sealed after Arsenal emerged 1-0 victors at Sporting in their quarter-final first leg, with Kai Havertz snatching a late winner in Lisbon.

It is the second consecutive year that the Premier League has earned an additional spot, with the English top flight at the pinnacle of the European Performance Standings.

Last term saw an unprecedented six English clubs qualify for Europe’s premier competition; five by their league position, while Tottenham earned their place in the league phase after winning the Europa League.

Yet that inflated contingent could grow even more this year, with the Premier League appearing as one of the more prominent beneficiaries to the competition’s expansion to 36 teams that came into effect at the beginning of 2024/25.

As with every season, the top four clubs in the Premier League table are guaranteed a spot in the 2026/27 edition – but like last year, England have earned an additional place.

Newcastle were the team that benefited from this last term, whose final-day loss didn’t mean as much as it might have after the Magpies were leapfrogged by Chelsea into fourth.

That elusive fifth spot is earned by being one of the best-performing two nations in each season’s European club competitions. English teams performed particularly well in the Champions League league phase, which boosted their points tally in Uefa’s standings, and while last-16 exits of Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham threatened their ranking, Arsenal’s success has eased any fears of the Premier League being limited to four berths next term.

The Premier League will therefore definitely have a quintet of Champions League teams by the end of the campaign. Spots six and seven, however, require some optimistic hypothetical thinking to come true.

The Premier League will earn an extra spot at Europe’s top table if an English club outside the top five wins this season’s tournament.

The winner of the Champions League would guarantee themselves a spot in the next campaign, as is always the case – but if that club has already qualified for the following edition via league position, that country will not get an extra spot.

That means Liverpool – who need to perform a comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in their quarter-final second leg on Tuesday – would need to win the Champions League but drop out of the top five for the Premier League to gain an additional place, as Arsenal will finish in the top five. Liverpool are currently fifth in the league, four points above Chelsea.

On top of that, the winner of the Europa League is also awarded a place in the Champions League, which assuming all of the above takes shape would bring the Premier League’s tally of qualified teams to the magic seven.

Aston Villa, who finished second in the league phase, are currently favourites to lift the title and will continue their European charge in the second leg of their quarter-final tie with Bologna, which they lead 3-1.

However, Villa are currently fourth in the Premier League so would need Europa League glory to come at the expense of their top-five finish to the deliver a seventh qualification spot to England.

But the burden is not just on the Villans.

Nottingham Forest, who are languishing at the other end of the Premier League table, also find themselves in the last-eight and face Porto in their return leg at the City Ground on Thursday, with their tie finely poised at 1-1.

Should Forest win the Europa League, they would ensure that English teams take another one of the 36 spots in next season’s Champions League.

Plan B turned into a golden opportunity for Cherry Bomshell’s owners and team, as the filly dominated the Group 2 $1 million Percy Sykes Stakes (1200m) at Royal Randwick this Saturday.

In just shy of 70 seconds, she banked $580,000 while elevating her broodmare potential to new heights commercially.

Trainers Rob and Annabel Archibald were bummed initially when Cherry Bomshell couldn’t secure a spot in the Golden Slipper from last month.

They pivoted to the Percy Sykes Stakes, and the decision proved masterstroke with Cherry Bomshell’s explosive closing effort securing the Group 2 prize.

“Cherry Bomshell has always been so progressive and we actually half-hoped we’d get her into a (Golden) Slipper,” Annabel Archibad said.”But we weren’t going to chase, we would’ve had to go through the Magic Night so we left it alone and came here.

“We had a chat with the Australian Bloodstock crew and they were keen with that plan. It worked out well and I’m glad we decided to fly (jockey) Ben Thompson down.”

Cherry Bomshell built a winning streak with two Brisbane victories, insufficient however for Golden Slipper qualification on prizemoney.

Yet Cherry Bomshell, at $17 odds, showed peak freshness, storming home to win the Percy Sykes Stakes by a lengthening near-length verdict over Medicinal ($3.90 favourite) and Ciaron’s Star ($21), who nabbed third half a length away after a wide trip.

“She had a tricky draw and ultimately we left it (tactics) up to Ben,” Archibald said.”We weren’t sure there was a whole lot of speed but we were just adamant we didn’t want her caught wide.

“So, Ben just bided his time and she’s just a beautiful, straight forward filly.

“She’s had a long time in between runs, it was her first time at the 1200m but she trialled very well and she’s now a very valuable Percy Stakes winner.”

Australian Bloodstock’s Luke Murell and Jamie Lovett own Cherry Bomshell, who thrived in Brisbane under Thompson, a connection that paid dividends at Randwick.

“She was a bit keen early, even going to the gates,” Thompson said.

“I had ridden her in both her wins and she was more casual, but I felt once we joined them at the course proper she was going as I wanted her to and it just panned out perfect.

“She’s a lovely filly. It’s so hard to line these horses up in the same state let alone crossing states. I just thought this was always her race.

“The Golden Slipper was a dream, well it became a dream after her second win at start three but it wasn’t to be.

“Here was always the plan. She was coming here six weeks between runs, it was calculated and she nailed it.”

Cherry Bomshell’s achievement, per Rob Archibald, readies her for spring’s top three-year-old filly showdowns.

The filly suits the Princess Series perfectly, a quartet of races for her age group: Silver Shadow Stakes, Furious Stakes, Tea Rose Stakes and Flight Stakes.

“This win will set her up well for the spring,” Rob Archibald said.

“She will go out for a well-deserved spell now and we will look at the good fillies races next season.”

Visit betting sites to find racing odds for the Percy Sykes Stakes.

NEW DELHI: After a batting onslaught led by Phil Salt, Virat Kohli and skipper Rajat Patidar lit up the Wankhede Stadium, defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru piled up a daunting 240/4 against Mumbai Indians. With the target set, all eyes turned to Rohit Sharma, known for his ability to dismantle any bowling attack.

Rohit began cautiously in the steep chase before shifting gears, but his innings was cut short by injury. At the end of the fifth over, bowled by Krunal Pandya, Rohit appeared to be struggling with his hamstring. He signalled for the physio and received treatment on the field, but with the discomfort worsening, he eventually walked off retired hurt after scoring 19 off 13 balls. Cameras soon captured a dejected reaction from his wife Ritika Sajdeh in the stands.

Earlier, RCB’s top order had delivered a batting masterclass. Salt smashed 78 off 36 balls, stitching a 120-run opening stand with Kohli, who made 50 off 38 balls. Patidar then continued the carnage with a blistering 53 off just 20 deliveries, adding 65 runs with Kohli. A late cameo from Tim David (34* off 16) ensured RCB finished with a massive total.

After being put in to bat, Kohli set the tone early by taking down Trent Boult, while Salt soon joined the assault. The duo dominated both Boult and Jasprit Bumrah, racing to 71/0 in the powerplay.

Salt was particularly severe on Mitchell Santner and Mayank Markande, reaching his fifty in just 25 balls. Kohli soon followed suit, bringing up RCB’s 100 in 8.4 overs.

The breakthrough came via Shardul Thakur, who ended the opening stand at 120. Patidar then took charge, launching a brutal counterattack, including three successive sixes off Markande. He raced to a 17-ball fifty before falling to Santner.

Despite wickets at intervals, RCB’s momentum never dipped. Contributions from Jitesh Sharma and the finishing flourish from Tim David pushed the total to 240/4.

For Mumbai Indians, Shardul, Hardik Pandya, Santner and Boult picked up a wicket each, but the bowlers were largely at the receiving end of a relentless RCB batting display.

Adam Pearce made several announcements for tomorrow night’s episode of WWE RAW. Tomorrow’s show is the final edition of the red brand before WrestleMania 42 next weekend.

The RAW General Manager shared a video today on social media and revealed some of the plans for tomorrow night’s show. Pearce shared that both Roman Reigns and World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk will be on RAW ahead of their World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 42.

The former NWA star also noted that Gunther and Seth Rollins are scheduled to be on WWE RAW ahead of their clash at The Show of Shows. Oba Femi and Brock Lesnar are also set to appear on RAW tomorrow night, and you can check out Pearce’s announcements in the video below.

Tomorrow’s episode of RAW will air live from the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. CM Punk mocked Roman Reigns last week on the red brand before suggesting that the company lower the ticket prices for WrestleMania 42 in response to Pat McAfee.

Jim Cornette criticizes WWE’s booking on the road to WrestleMania

Wrestling icon Jim Cornette took WWE to task for their booking ahead of WrestleMania.

Speaking on the Jim Cornette Experience podcast, the legend criticized the promotion for having too many celebrities involved on the road to WrestleMania. He also noted that WrestleMania is in Las Vegas for the second year in a row, and fans do not want to pay the outrageous prices again.

“It’s in the middle of the f*cking desert, and you just were there last year. You combine that with people having to mortgage their children and their gold fillings to buy a ticket to see this cr*p, and then you combine that with, I don’t know that the wrestling fans want to see 18 godd*mn celebrities in the ring and on the TV shows on a daily basis. You combine that with what the f*ck are they thinking just on the entire booking of the blah, blah, blah. And then you add that they’re snake-bit on people being injured and or out of commission in the key building periods. And so now they’re doing everything they can do to sell these tickets.”

It will be interesting to see if the company has any surprises planned for tomorrow night’s edition of WWE RAW.