If you believe in sports as a civic trust then there’s no more essential relationship than the one between a team’s general manger/president/director of operations and the fan base.
Napoli's sporting director Giovanni Manna spoke about the prospect of signing Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho ahead of his team's win over Juventus on Saturday, emphasising that the Serie A leaders won't over-extend themselves financially.
Enzo Maresca has said Chelsea continue to "trust" error-prone goalkeeper Robert Sánchez after his latest mistake in Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Manchester City.
Mohamed Salah moved up to seventh in the Premier League's all-time goalscoring charts with his 35th-minute strike during Liverpool's clash with Ipswich Town.
The Post spoke to three notable Johnnie about the current state of the program, which is off to its best start through 20 games at 17-3 since the 1989-90 season.
Darren Mougey, a longtime Broncos scout and executive who became their assistant GM in 2022, is the new general manager of the Jets, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky says his team is not as financially "constrained" as it was last season, expressing his desire to sign newly acquired Mikko Rantanen to a long-term contract extension.
Here’s something New York Mets fans might not have seen coming this offseason: Pete Alonso's contract talks are "worse" than Juan Soto’s, according to owner Steven Cohen.
During an appearance at the Mets’ Amazin’ Day Saturday afternoon at Citi Field, Cohen was on a panel with his general manager, David Stearns, and manager Carlos Mendoza, while legendary broadcaster Gary Cohen (no relation) moderated the group.
Before questions could be asked, though, the Mets’ faithful in the crowd burst into a "We want Pete!" chant, referring to Alonso, the free agent first baseman who has been a Met his entire career.
"Hold that for the end, OK?" Cohen told the crowd, smiling.
The Mets and Alonso have had negotiations, but have not reached a deal after they signed Soto to his $765 million deal. New York has landed other players in free agency, but Alonso remains one of the top players on the market.
Alonso was the team’s second-round pick out of the Florida Gators’ program in 2016, and he’s spent his first six seasons hitting home runs (226), including a rookie record 53 that aided his Rookie of the Year resume in 2019. He's also made four All-Star teams, including each of the last three, and has a career .854 OPS.
As a fan favorite, it’s easy to see why Mets fans are chanting for their first baseman to be back for a hopeful World Series run in 2025 with Soto added to a roster that also includes Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo and Mark Vientos.
But Cohen, as he has been many times in the past, was transparent with the fan base about what’s been going on in negotiations with Alonso's agent, Scott Boras, who also represents Soto.
"We’ve made a significant offer to Pete, and, you know, what David said is correct. He’s entitled to go out and explore his market," Cohen said. "That’s what he’s doing. Personally, this has been an exhausting conversation and negotiation. I mean, Soto was tough. This is worse."
The Soto sweepstakes were a roller coaster, and it seemed like he was going to stay with the New York Yankees until Cohen came swooping in at the eleventh hour with an offer of a lifetime, crushing Shohei Ohtani’s record contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
So, with a record-breaking deal done, how could Alonso’s negotiations possibly be worse?
"I don’t like the structures that are being presented back to us," Cohen explained. "I think it’s highly asymmetric against us, and I feel strongly about it. I will never say no. There’s always the possibility. But the reality is we’re moving forward, and we continue to bring in players. As we continue to bring in players, the reality is it becomes harder to fit Pete into what is a very expensive group of players that we already have. That’s where we are.
"I’m being brutally honest. I don’t like the negotiations, I don’t like what’s been presented to us, and maybe that changes. Certainly, I’ll always stay flexible. If it stays this way, I think we’re going to have to get used to the fact that we may have to go forward with the existing players that we have."
Mets fans appreciated the honesty from their owner, giving him a round of applause at the end.
Stearns added, "We all love Pete. And we've said that many times. I think as we've gone through this process, we've continued to express that."
SNY reported this week the Mets have a $68-70 million offer in "present day money" on the table. Alonso turned down a deal for more than $70 million when taking deferred money into account.
The Toronto Blue Jays have also been linked to Alonso, but no deal appears imminent.
The Washington Commanders ruled out defensive tackle Daron Payne on Saturday, costing them a key part of their defense heading into the NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
During a trip to Montreal in Canada, Lee showed off her failed skiing attempt with photo and video of her laying down on her front in skis after falling down right in front of the slope entrance. She claims it will be the last time she tries to ski.
"First time skiing," she wrote. "Omg never again."
A video of her laying on the snow, which was taken by her friend Samira Ahmed and re-shared to Lee's own story, showed the gymnast laughing as she squirmed on the snow. A caption on that video read, "This is why I stay off the slopes."
While fans can certainly expect not to see Lee compete in the upcoming 2026 Milan Olympics, her struggles in skiing certainly isn't for lack of athleticism or coordination.
Lee is the 2020 Olympic all-around gold medalist and uneven bars bronze medalist and the 2024 Olympic all-around and uneven bars bronze medalist. She also helped contribute to the U.S.'s team gold medal in 2024 and silver in 2020.
She has also received many prominent sports honors and awards, including in 2021, when she was named Female Athlete of the Year by Sports Illustrated and Sportswoman of the Year by the Women's Sports Foundation. She was even included in Time Magazine 100, which is the publication's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
ESPN host Stephen A. Smith admitted that he and others who voted for Kamala Harris in November's election feel like "d--- fools," during an appearance on Real Time With Bill Maher on Friday.
Smith made this declaration when discussing comparisons between Harris' campaign and Barack Obama's campaign in 2008. The sports pundit argued that the fact that Harris was not nominated via a legitimate primary, and the fact that she performed so poorly during her short stint in the 2020 Democratic primary, made her undesirable to voters.
Harris dropped out of the 2020 primary in 2019, before even reaching the Iowa caucus. She never received a single primary vote before being anointed the nominee in 2024.
"Kamala Harris, who didn't resonate during the primaries in 2020, couldn't even get to Iowa, suddenly is the Democratic nominee, then you roll up to the convention in Chicago and everybody is like ‘She’s a rockstar!' So it's like ‘How’d that happen?" Smith said.
"Yes I voted for her, a lot of people voted for her, but in the end, we end up feeling like d--- fools, because we supported it, we fell for the okiedoke as they say. If you had a primary, the likelihood is she would not have been the Democratic nominee."
Smith has been a harsh internal critic of the Democratic Party during and after the 2020 election.
During Friday's appearance on Maher's show, he scolded liberals for choosing not to campaign on issues that the American people were most concerned about, while admitting that Trump did, and was the closer candidate to the center of the political spectrum.
"Here’s the deal: the man was impeached twice, he was convicted on 34 felony counts, and the American people still said, ‘He’s closer to normal than what we see on the left,’" Smith said.
During an interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity days after Election Day, Smith insisted that the results were a referendum of the Democratic Party.
"I think that in light of those results we have to look at this election as a referendum on the Democratic Party. And America’s saying we’re not feeling where you are, we’re not feeling where you tried to go, we want no part of it, we’re not having it – and they made their choice and we all have to accept it," he said.
During an interview on "The Will Cain Show" on the Thursday after the election, Smith delivered a scathing critique of the Democratic National Committee and its message ahead of Election Day and pointed to transgender issues as one of its weak points.
"It’s such a strong tilt to the progressive left where we are talking about transgender issues and culture wars and identity politics and all of this stuff. We are sick of all of that. That makes total, total sense to me, and I’m good with it, even though I didn’t vote for [Trump]. I’m not as taken aback and feeling like nothing but gloom and doom and the world is coming to an end because the person I voted for didn’t win," Smith said.
Smith has said multiple times that he would consider running for public office. After the results of the election, he has been one of the few figures in the liberal media to embrace the outcome of Trump's victory and has been heavily critical of left-wing figures like Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Jimmy Kimmel in their portrayal of Trump.
Smith also did not rule out a possible presidential run for himself during an interview on "The View" the week after the election.
"I have no desire to be a congressional figure or a senator. But if you came to me and you told me I had a legitimate shot to win the presidency of the United States of America, I would definitely consider it," he said.
Latest Sports News, Scores, Stats & Videos
Latest Sports News Today on Fox News
