Brock on sports · June 24th

FIFA president Gianni Infantino isn’t exactly known for his ability to be forthcoming, and he did himself no favors on Tuesday evening when discussing the highly criticized decision to include hydration breaks in each match of this World Cup. Infantino has long claimed the decision to introduce hydration breaks was done for player welfare as a means of combating the summer heat in North America.

No driver has won more grands prix in Formula 1 than Lewis Hamilton, while no team has won more often than Ferrari, but the combination's long-awaited first success together at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix acted as a historic moment in the sport.

Hong Myung-bo’s squad has had to deal with issues off the pitch but a point against South Africa is enough to progress The tacos that Son Heung-min ate were reportedly of the Al Pastor and Arrachera variety. The former Tottenham forward was mobbed after taking an Uber from South Korea’s training camp, perhaps the most-talked about base at this World Cup tournament, to downtown Guadalajara.

As anybody who’s ever encountered Mexican traffic jams will know, there are times when it feels you’ll never get through the impasse. Colombia must have felt the same about the DR Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi, who made an outrageous string of saves that looked like earning his side an unlikely point.

The on-air interactions between Alexi Lalas and his cohosts on the Fox Sports coverage of the men’s World Cup have quickly become one of the top storylines from the tournament. The polarizing American talking head, a star of the USMNT the last time the U.S. hosted a World Cup, has clashed with his fellow studio commentators and drawn criticism for provocative takes. But fellow Fox veteran Stu Holden, the network’s No. 1 match analyst, came to Lalas’ defense this week. In an appearance on The Sports Media Podcast, Holden argued “too much is being made” of Lalas’ on-air statements and role on the studio show alongside Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. “Off-camera, these guys are all great professionals. They all get along. And I think they understand, again, that this is TV,” Holden said. “And I think honestly, too much is being made of the Alexi thing. But probably, secretly, I haven’t even talked to Alexi about it, I’m sure he’s enjoying this an element because it is a role and a character that he plays, and we’re just seeing it in a way with two people he’s never really had that interaction with.” Holden added that he considers Lalas a friend, and that the former USMNT defender is a far more supportive and uplifting teammate away from the studio than his sniping during broadcasts might indicate. “He’s a completely different person off-camera than he is on-camera. He would be the first to admit that,” Holden said. “He understands there’s an entertainment, a performative element to a studio show. And I think what you’re seeing for the first time, really, with Alexi and Thierry and Zlatan with Rebecca (Lowe), the four of them have never worked together. But it’s not that they don’t have good chemistry, it’s that people haven’t seen the way that they have interacted and become a pairing.” Among the various controversies Lalas has generated in the first 10 days of the tournament include defending FIFA’s hydration breaks, teeing off on Americans who call soccer “football,” calling Fox late-night host James Corden a “wanker,” picking the USMNT to win the World Cup, and taking regular shots at his cohosts (who, to be fair, dish it right back). Holden acknowledged Lalas isn’t for everyone, but offered a reminder of the former ESPNer’s longevity as a testament to his effectiveness in his role. “Nobody works harder in this business. There’s a reason that I always say Alexi is still relevant in today’s sports media, for a guy that really came to fame in 1994,” Holden said. “And it’s something that I have a great appreciation for as a broadcaster for 12 or 13 years, and imagining if I can still be relevant the way that Alexi is, that I’ve done something right.” Holden added that he has heard from people behind the scenes at Fox Sports that the studio team has begun to revel in the curiosity about their relationships, and looks forward to the audience’s reactions to their latest clashes. Holden is the second Fox colleague to defend Lalas and his fellow panelists after Lowe did so last week. While Lalas may revel in playing the villain and turning up the dial on his takes, it may become a distraction if it continues to this degree with more than a month to go in the tournament. The post Fox’s Stu Holden: ‘Too much is being made’ of Alexi Lalas controversies during World Cup appeared first on Awful Announcing.

The fallout after several San Francisco Giants pitchers wrote a Bible verse to protest Pride Night hats continues after Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey refused to answer questions about the incident during a press conference. Three pitchers — Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker, and Ryan Walker — wrote a Bible verse on their Pride Night hats during a game last week. Major League Baseball responded to the incident by noting that “writing of any kind, with any message, is prohibited per Major League Baseball’s Uniform Regulations.” The issue has become a major culture-war conversation. Conservative politicians and commentators, including Vice President J.D. Vance, have chimed in in support of the players, to the anger of many members of San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community. A press conference on Tuesday was the first opportunity for reporters to ask Giants president of baseball operations, and longtime catcher, Buster Posey about the incident. “I’d like to recognize that the organization has shared its response to Pride Night and I understand there’s strong feelings on this topic. There’s differing perspectives,” Posey began. “Out of respect to everybody involved, it’s not something that I’m going to revisit. I understand that some fans are upset and frustrated and I can promise you that this is something that we have talked about a lot internally and will continue to do so.” Posey repeatedly told reporters that he would only answer “baseball questions” in response to questions about the incident. You can watch the full press conference here. That did not stop the questions, prompting Giants spokesperson Matt Chisholm to reiterate that the club would only answer “baseball-related” questions. “You guys have made this baseball related because you had Pride Night,” a reporter pushed back. “You guys allowed players on to the field that MLB said should not have had writing on their caps, violating MLB rules. Then MLB said you did not communicate with the players properly that they did not have to wear the hat. So there has been no response about that.” “We get it. Buster made his statement. If you guys have any baseball questions, we can answer those. Otherwise, we are going to be done,” responded Chisholm. The non-answers did not go over well with many fans and Giants reporters, who voiced their frustration on social media. That was the statement of a cooked president of baseball operations on behalf of a cooked front office about a cooked team with a cooked manager. Everyone is cooked, a slow braise that's been smelling the house up all Sunday afternoon (it smells awful in there). — Grant Brisbee (@grantbrisbee.bsky.social) 2026-06-23T21:27:47.707Z Tense moment during Buster Posey’s press conference where he would not answer questions relating to the Giants pride caps — Matt Lively (@mattblively) June 23, 2026 A pretty pointless press conference from Buster Posey -No comment on pride night -Has not spoken to Devers, will play tonight -not open to trading Webb -has not discussed waiving the NTC with Adames or Chapman -admits its been a rough seasonPar for the course.… — Giant Hot Takes (@GiantHotTakes) June 23, 2026 Just listened to the Posey media scrum and wow man, I can’t remember the last time SF media was that contentious. Good shit. Incredibly disappointing performance by Posey though. Was given a golden opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to Pride Night and refused to do so. — alex (@bantheshift) June 23, 2026 Posey’s non-statements on the Pride Night controversy certainly won’t go over well with most Giants fans. But I’m not a big “statement right now there must be a statement!” guy. Posey isn’t either. He’s got to build a winning team with winning traits. There’s a LONG way to go. — Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) June 23, 2026 To be fair to Posey, there may be several reasons why he refused to answer questions. With letters sent by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley threatening to remove Major League Baseball’s antitrust exemption in response to the Pride Night situation, there are reasons why Posey avoiding further comment may be a good idea. On the other hand, asking for “baseball-related” questions only is a bad look for Posey and the Giants. For better or worse, this scandal is clearly intertwined with baseball. The post Buster Posey refuses questions about Giants’ Pride Night hat controversy appeared first on Awful Announcing.

Stan Van Gundy picked up where his brother, Jeff Van Gundy, left off as one of the top NBA broadcasters in the industry. Given the way things ended at ESPN for Jeff, who was unceremoniously laid off alongside his fellow game analyst Mark Jackson in 2023, it was fair to wonder whether Jeff could seek to return to the media, especially with multiple new NBA broadcast partners in place. But in an interview on the Sports Media with Richard Deitsch podcast released this week, Van Gundy revealed his brother is not looking to return to the broadcast booth any time soon. “It’s not on his radar now. I think he’s focused on coaching. I’ve asked him about broadcasting things a couple of times, and no, it’s not on his radar now,” Van Gundy said. “But he was great at it … so you never say never. And you never know, another year or two, people’s priorities change and certainly, I think he could have an opportunity pretty much with anybody, if he wanted one.” When Jeff Van Gundy left the Worldwide Leader after serving as its top game analyst for nearly two decades, he worked as an advisor for the Boston Celtics before joining the Los Angeles Clippers as an assistant coach the past two seasons. Van Gundy seems to be doing well in his return to coaching, as he was reportedly a top candidate for head coaching jobs in both Portland and Orlando this offseason. Because Jeff Van Gundy, 64, became a head coach very young and, later, a top television game analyst in his mid-40s, he could have plenty of time left in his basketball career. As of now, it seems more likely that he will finish as a head coach than a commentator. The post Stan Van Gundy gives update on brother Jeff Van Gundy’s potential return to broadcasting appeared first on Awful Announcing.

After an anonymous performance in Portugal’s World Cup opener against DR Congo last week, Cristiano Ronaldo reintroduced himself to the world stage after scoring a brace against Uzbekistan on Tuesday. In doing so, Ronaldo joined a number of other global superstars like Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Erling Haaland in putting up multi-goal performances. For fans of the beautiful game, there’s been no lack of big names scoring big goals. The 41-year-old Ronaldo just needed a bit more time to rev the engine. That star power has been a storyline through the first two weeks of the tournament, as evidenced by the race for the golden boot. But Portugal’s legendary striker didn’t want to hear anything of it when asked about his chief rival, Messi, after finding the back of the net twice against Uzbekistan. Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t want to hear any of this reporter’s question about Messi pic.twitter.com/uJRXMXmBNa — FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 23, 2026 “Yesterday, Lionel Messi scored two goals,” a reporter said, beginning to ask Ronaldo a question. But the second the name “Messi” left the reporter’s lips, Ronaldo turned away, encouraging another reporter to begin asking a new question. “Go ahead,” Ronaldo could be heard repeating a few times, completely ignoring the question about Messi coming from the first reporter. The rivalry between the Portuguese and Argentine stars is well-documented at this point in their careers, but there’s clearly still some sensitivity about the topic, at least from Ronaldo’s side of things. The two’s post-European club careers could not have tracked more different, with Ronaldo choosing to join Saudi side Al-Nassr where few pay attention, and Messi joining Inter Miami of MLS where he’s grown his brand for an American audience. The reporter is well within his rights to ask a question about Messi, particularly given how both he and Ronaldo are performing well despite their advanced age. But Ronaldo certainly isn’t winning any fans over by refusing to address the reporter’s question, simply because Messi was mentioned. The post Cristiano Ronaldo blows off reporter asking about Messi appeared first on Awful Announcing.

Scots in Miami have turned Ocean Drive into a lively World Cup hub. The city’s usual buzz feels fresh, as the Tartan Army brings its own brand of celebration to the Auld Dubliner.

Heat waves dominate the streets, and a fan from Dalkeith jokes that a half‑hour of Arctic air would do wonders. Despite the scorching temps, the crowd stays upbeat, clinking glasses and cheering the England match.

Locals drift in, drawn by the infectious vibe. They mingle with the Scots, sharing drinks and stories, and the party shows no signs of slowing down.

The scene feels like a summer festival, a rare burst of energy that keeps the downtown buzz alive well into the night.

On the night when a 40-year-old Luka Modric became the fourth member of the sport’s ultra-exclusive 200-cap club on the men’s side for Croatia, Ante Budimir rescued their World Cup campaign with the only goal of a tight match. It was the solitary goal scored all day in Group L and puts Zlatko Dalic’s side a point behind England and Ghana. Panama, meanwhile, are eliminated and have yet to secure a point in five World Cup matches between the 2018 edition and this one. Continue reading...