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Winning the Heisman not a certainty in ’21

By Ralph D. Russo The Associated Press The last three Heisman Trophy winners include the first receiver to win the award in nearly three decades, a quarterback who was the 52nd-rated passer in the country the season before and a first-year starting QB. The days of the Heisman winner being a well-established star and/or preseason favorite are long gone. Heisman voters embrace the breakout player more than ever before, and in 2021 there is a good chance the winner again will be someone who enters the season without much of track record. The only player to finish in the top 10 of ...

Even without fans, LLWS is special

By Paul Lilly For the Mirror Trivia question: Where is the “Field of Dreams?” A gold star if you answered Dyersville, Iowa. But Dyersville, Iowa, isn’t the “Field of Dreams” for everyone. Millions of kids around the world would give a different answer. The “Field of Dreams” for every kid who ever put on a Little League uniform is located in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, home of the Little League World Series. Williamsport, which reigns as capital of youth baseball for 10 days in August, has hosted the LLWS since 1947. Little League started in Williamsport in ...

Pro, college need to follow how Raiders deal with COVID

By Paul Newberry The Associated Press The Raiders have always prided themselves on being a maverick franchise, so maybe it wasn’t too surprising that they were the first NFL team to take such a bold — yet obvious — step. Now every other sports team — both college and pro — should follow the lead of the Silver & Black and require spectators to get vaccinated. Amid a surge of coronavirus cases as the highly contagious delta variant spreads across the United States, Las Vegas’ football team announced this week that all fans must show proof of a jab to attend ...

Bears tampering with tradition

By Jim Caltagirone For the Mirror It’s unlikely that the official hometown designation of the Chicago Bears will ever change to Arlington Heights, even if the organization instigates the construction of a new stadium in the suburb which is approximately 25 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. But it’s not inconceivable that the Bears will change their address, especially if the financial rewards of playing home games in a new stadium are viewed more favorably by ownership than the 100 years of nostalgia that accumulated at Wrigley Field and Soldier Field. Ted Phillips, ...

Learning the power of the name … Ali

By Timi Dahlberg The Associated Press No one disputes that boxing is hard, really hard. For Nico Ali Walsh, living up his grandfather’s name might be even harder. He was, after all, The Greatest. “He’s just my grandfather and it’s as simple as that,” Ali Walsh said. “So it’s hard for me to see him as anything else.” The grandfather, if you haven’t figured it out already, is Muhammad Ali. And the grandson is about to set off a journey bordering on the impossible — making a name for himself in the ring while carrying the name of his legendary grandfather. The ...

Baseball losing (too) many heroes

By Bob Trumpbour For the Mirror When I was 11 years old, my mom took me to a New Jersey mall to meet Tom Seaver, then a star pitcher for the New York Mets. I still have the autographed ball that he signed on that day, and I still vividly remember the very brief conversation I had with him. He became a hero to me as a youngster. Unfortunately, Seaver is one of many outstanding ballplayers who passed away in the last 18 months. A friend told me that more Hall of Famers have died during that period than in any similar span before. I suspect that he is accurate. Hank ...