The group is still there for El Tri to win, and while Thursday’s scoreless draw against Jamaica was hardly exciting or inspiring, the 2015 draw with Guatemala comes to mind. Mexico came out flat in the next game against Trinidad and Tobago as well but still got out of the group and ended up winning the trophy. Mexico’s lack of playmaker exposed With no reason to panic but several opportunities for improvement, Mexico will likely look very different Sunday against Curacao....

Joc Pederson came through on Wednesday afternoon with his first hit of the 2021 season, a home run, his first in a Cubs uniform. Pretty humdrum stuff, altogether, for the start of a baseball season. But Pederson returned to the dugout to some celebratory high fives, butt pats and, most importantly, a waffle maker: MORE: April 7 — the nexus of baseball movie releases That’s right, a full-on waffle maker....

During his campaign in February, Trump was upset with the fact the Ricketts family was spending money (nearly $3 million worth) on negative ads, voter guides and mailers ahead of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries. MORE: Sports figures who supported Donald Trump Trump tweeted the family “better be careful” and later told The Washington Post he would run ads saying they are doing a “rotten job” running the Cubs....

Expanded sports betting is part of a gambling bill that Gov. J.B. Pritzker is expected to sign into law. In anticipation of that expansion, the Cubs are exploring putting betting windows, automated kiosks and even a full-blown sportsbook venue inside Wrigley Field, among other options. MLB currently prohibits sportsbooks in its stadiums, the Chicago Sun-Times noted, pointing out the irony of the Cubs’ interest in opening one in a city where the so-called “Black Sox” gambling scandal took root a century ago: “A sport that has a commissioner’s office only because of a gambling scandal that rocked it 100 years ago might soon have sports-betting windows at a major-league ballpark in the very city that scandal took place....

Eligible for free agency after this season, the 28-year-old Fowler will provide a veteran presence on a very young, but talented, Cubs roster. MORE: New faces in new places | Rizzo predicts division crown for Cubs | SN says Cubbies will win it all Fowler hit .276/.375/.399 with eight homers and 35 RBIs in 116 games last season, but does sport a career OBP of .366 and provides a fair bit of speed (19 steals in 2013)....

The video, which was filmed from inside a Jack in the Box, was posted to TikTok on Monday by King Avi (@k1ngavi). It has garnered more than 407,000 views and over 52,000 likes while highlighting one of the many problems experienced by fast-food workers in the past year. At the beginning of the video, a woman—who is barefoot and wearing sweatpants—can be seen standing inside the Jack in the Box kitchen, arguing with employees....

MORE: Best NFL player in each state | Offseason report cards The shipment of rings, which originated on a flight from China, had 136 counterfeit championship rings with logos from the Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, Oakland Raiders, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Judging from the pictures and comparing the fake rings to their real counterparts, it would have been tough to sell the cheap imitations even if they hit the market....

Residents aged 65 or over will be eligible for the batch of doses and appointments will become available via the CVS website from Wednesday, DeSantis said during a press conference held inside a pharmacy in Hialeah city, Miami-Dade County. In the county, vaccines will be available at all of the 31 Navarro Discount Pharmacies, which are owned by CVS Health, and every single one of the 35 CVS y más stores, which are primarily focused on serving the Hispanic community....

Wiggins — winner of the 2012 Tour de France — and Froome, who won cycling's most iconic event one year later, rarely raced together in 2013. That led to reports of a falling out between the pair, but the alleged feud was said to be patched up in a Mallorca training camp in December. Wiggins is still in the Spanish city, preparing for his first race of the year, and says he is looking forward to racing more with Froome in 2014....

When I last left our heroes, and by heroes I mean the world’s greatest professional cyclists, they had just finished 10 laps around the Champs-Élysées, the final kilometers of the three-week 2015 Tour de France this past July. I was traveling in the company of NBC Sports as a volunteer/intern and, while I made nothing close to the demanding sacrifice the riders did, I was emotionally and physically exhausted, a fitting end to my first bike race....

The Czech and Slovakia governments approved the new COVID restrictions on Thursday and will put them into place on Monday. According to Czech Health Minister Adam Vojtech, unvaccinated people will no longer be able to rely on negative coronavirus tests to attend public events or go into restaurants, bars, museums and other public facilities. The restrictions are planned to stay in place until the end of February. The stricter regulations came after Czech’s daily COVID case count increased to 22,511 new cases on Tuesday, and the country’s infection rate has risen to 819 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past week, up from 558 a week earlier....

Antonio Russell was pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt in his white Maserati in Louisville, his son’s hometown, and an officer found a water bottle filled with a red codeine. MORE: NBA Draft grades for every team | Coaches recall Russell’s rise Russell also admitted to having marijuana in the car. He was charged with possession of a controlled substance, tampering with physical evidence and marijuana possession. Russell could not be reached for comment and does not have an attorney, according to WHAS-TV....

“We’re getting ready to start what we like to call ‘primetime,’ and that’s the favorite part of our journey,” Swinney told reporters at ACC Kickoff. “I really have enjoyed the first two phases with getting ready and our transformation phase and all that goes into that. It’s still ongoing. We’ve got a lot to do.” MORE: Clemson ‘urgency’ translating to rest of ACC in 2019 The Tigers are going primetime in more ways than one....

Robin Middleton, 43, decided to purchase the £600 classic Mini chairman van after seeing it on eBay and made it his mission to convert it so his son Charlie, 14, could have it as his first car. Charlie has used a wheelchair all of his life after he was deprived of oxygen for several minutes at birth. He also has cerebral palsy and epilepsy and has to depend on his dad and mom Cheryl....

In a viral Reddit post published on r/AmITheA**hole, Redditor u/throwaway4eggs (otherwise referred to as the original poster, or OP) said she noticed her husband acting erratically about money recently and detailed the heated aftermath of her fateful decision to cook as many eggs as there are mouths to feed. Titled, “[Am I the a**hole] for scrambling 4 eggs instead of 2 like my husband wanted?” the post has received nearly 8,500 upvotes and 2,500 comments in the last nine hours....

WHAT WE’RE READING The articles you’ll want to save and share with your friends 1. Jon Bois' season-ending edition of BREAKING MADDEN is amazing. And the season wrapup video is up to the task, too. [READ MORE] 2. Staying in the same hotel as the Denver Broncos: Not a blast. [READ MORE] 3. The shoe habits of NBA players, as told by the New York Times. [READ MORE] 4. John Fox's wife discusses the Broncos coach's heart scare with MMQB....

Oh, now the Browns are worried about Johnny Manziel? [ READ MORE ] Harry Cheadle makes the case of training camp holdouts, like Marshawn Lynch’s, for Vice Sports. [ READ MORE ] Be a better educated football fan this season and take some time this weekend to read Matt Bowen’s piece on man pressure for Bleacher Report. [ READ MORE ] TWEET OF THE DAY PICTURE OF THE DAY Mississippi State players dressed up for their annual “midnight lift....

WHAT WE’RE READING The articles you’ll want to save and share with your friends 1. How does money get circulated in college football recruiting? Youll want to read this story with a recruiting "bag man" from Steve Godfrey. [READ MORE] 2. Could the NBA subsidize players staying in college? [READ MORE] 3. The Lakers aren't going to the playoffs, but Jordan Hill has a great story, which is told by Jeff Weiss....