Sports
Ducks dominate after Gundy ‘pours gas on fire’
EUGENE, Ore. — A week that began with coaches Mike Gundy and Dan Lanning trading barbs about each program’s budget ended with Oregon handing Oklahoma State a 69-3 loss — the worst of the Gundy era and the worst the program has seen since 1907.
“It never requires extra motivation for an opportunity to go out and kick ass,” Lanning said postgame regarding the message he sent his team. “But it never hurts when somebody pours gasoline on the fire.”
On Monday while speaking on his radio show, Gundy said Oregon is “paying a lot of money for their team,” citing $40 million as the amount he believed the Ducks spent on their roster last year. Gundy made several other comments about Oregon’s resources, saying “it’ll cost a lot of money to keep” quarterback Dante Moore and that he believes Oregon’s budget should determine the programs it schedules outside of the Big Ten.
“If you want to be a top-10 team in college football, you better be invested in winning. We spend to win,” Lanning said Monday in response. “Some people save to have an excuse for why they don’t. … I can’t speak on their situation. I have no idea what they got in their pockets over there.”
After Saturday’s win, Moore said Gundy’s comments hit “close to home” for him and the rest of the team and that the Ducks used them as motivation heading into the matchup.
“For him to attack Phil [Knight], Coach Lanning and our team was personal,” said Moore, who threw for 266 yards and three touchdowns. “We were going to keep the foot on the neck and make sure we score these points and try to break the scoreboard.”
Break the scoreboard, they did. The Ducks had a 59-yard touchdown run on their second offensive play and a 65-yard touchdown pass on their third offensive play. Explosive plays were everywhere at Autzen Stadium as Oklahoma State’s defense provided little to no resistance. Oregon’s offense did not punt until the fourth quarter and totaled 631 yards to Oklahoma State’s 211 yards.
“It was a lot of fire going into this game,” Moore said.
The way Oregon came out of the gates, stepped on the gas pedal and didn’t relent until it was up 48-3 halfway through the third quarter, when it brought in the offensive backups, seemed very purposeful. The two pick-sixes that pushed the Ducks’ score into the 60s added insult to injury.
“It’s still about us,” Lanning said. “Our ability to ignore the noise is the thing that’s going to make us go.”
Lanning, as he did on Monday, said postgame that he has a lot of respect for Gundy and even noted that the result probably had the Oklahoma State coach saying “I told you so” regarding his comments about the disparity in resources between the schools.
“When I made that comment, I was complimenting Oregon for what they had done,” Gundy said. “Second thing, which I said later in the week is, we’ve made commitments also, but we have to be better and fundamentally sound and execute.”
Gundy is now 4-10 over his past 14 games, and two of those losses — Saturday’s at Oregon and last year’s 52-0 loss to Colorado — are the worst of his career.
“Sometimes you’re going to play people that have the ability to run away from you,” Gundy said. “We gotta look at that and see where we’re at. We didn’t play good enough, in the systems that we had, to put ourselves in that position.”
As the heat rises around the coach who has helmed the Oklahoma State program since 2005, Gundy’s son, Gavin, took to X to defend his father.
“Mike Gundy IS Oklahoma State football,” Gavin said as part of a long thread of posts. “Period. As QB, he set records in the Barry Sanders era. As coach, he stacked 160+ wins, 19 straight bowls, a Big 12 title, two Fiesta Bowls, multiple Top-10 finishes, & sent dudes to the NFL year after year. He’s the winningest coach in OSU history & the most important name this program has EVER had. Without him, you’d have nothing to brag about, nothing to watch, nothing to cry about.”
Soon after, Gavin’s thread was deleted from the site.
Sports
Pakistan Shaheens announce squad for T20’s, ODI’s – SUCH TV
Pakistan Shaheens have announced their squad for the upcoming T20 and ODI series against England Lions to be played in the United Arab Emirates, with Shamil Hussain named captain for both formats.
All matches of the series will be held at the Oval Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
The three-match T20 series will begin on February 20, followed by a five-match ODI series from February 27 to March 9.
Abdul Samad, Hassan Nawaz, Moaz Sadaqat and Saad Khan have been included in the squad, along with Sameer Minhas and Arafat Minhas.
Rohail Nazir and Saad Baig will share wicketkeeping duties.
Spin bowlers Saad Masood and Sufyan Muqim are also part of the team, while the fast bowling unit includes Ali Raza, Ahmed Daniyal, Akif Javed, Muhammad Salman and Shahid Aziz.
Pakistan Shaheens will hold a seven-day training camp in Karachi from February 11 to February 17.
Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has been appointed mentor and manager of the Shaheens.
Ijaz Ahmed will serve as head coach, with Mansoor Amjad named fielding coach and Aizaz Cheema as bowling coach.
Sports
NHL outdoor game sees its 1st goalie fight between Vasilevskiy, Swayman
TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning credited the first goalie fight in an NHL outdoor game for helping to spark their historic Stadium Series comeback win over the Boston Bruins on Sunday.
With 8:59 left in the second period and the Bruins leading 5-2, Lightning forward Brandon Hagel tried to poke the puck from under Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman after a save. Swayman then jumped on top of Hagel next to his crease, leading to a melee between the teams while the Lightning were on a power play. Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy skated from his crease to the opposite blue line during the chaos.
“I just saw Sway was swinging the blocker on [Hagel] a bit, so it was just a reflex to go to the red line and challenge him. He accepted,” Vasilevskiy said.
Swayman spotted the Tampa Bay goalie, dropped his stick and skated out to meet Vasilevskiy as the two engaged near center ice. Swayman took off his gloves and mask and signaled to Vasilevskiy to remember to remove his mask before the fists flew.
“I don’t want to hit his helmet, so I’m glad we didn’t do that,” Swayman said.
The Lightning goalie nicknamed “The Big Cat” grabbed Swayman’s collar and started throwing left hands. The Boston goalie wasn’t able to get much offense in before Vasilevskiy wrestled him to the ice.
Did Swayman know that Vasilevskiy was a lefty before their fight?
“No,” the Bruins goalie said curtly, with a laugh. “Glad we both had our first gig against each other. Really worthy opponent.”
Vasilevskiy gave him a tap on the back and then tapped the back of Swayman’s head in appreciation of the moment, grinning widely as the fans roared inside Raymond James Stadium.
“When we both fell, we just kind of said to each other nice words. It was super nice. It’s one of the biggest moments for me, because I never fought in the NHL,” Vasilevskiy said. “Big thanks to him. He was great in the net all game and great in the fight as well.”
Swayman was also appreciative.
“He wanted to win, which is good. So did I. So that’s game respecting game,” he said. “I’m fighting the biggest, toughest goalie in the league. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but glad we got the first one out of the way. Probably retire after that.”
The crowd of nearly 65,000 fans stood and cheered during the confrontation, and then again when the referee announced the goalies had both received five-minute majors for fighting. Players on both benches were on their feet, too, slapping their sticks against the boards in appreciation and respect for their netminders.
“He was throwing lefts. I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ I didn’t want to be the other guy,” Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov said. “I was so happy. I was so fired up. I think the bench felt it. Everyone in the building felt it. Ever since that fight, the game was turned. Vasy had to do it, I guess. He had to wake us up.”
The Lightning would score twice on 5-on-3 power plays over the next 5:12, cutting the Bruins’ lead to 5-4 heading into the third period. Kucherov tied the score in the third period, and the Lightning eventually won 6-5 in a shootout.
Tampa Bay’s rally from a four-goal deficit to win marked the largest comeback victory in franchise history and the largest in an NHL outdoor game.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper said he could feel the momentum starting to swing before the fight, but the goalie throwdown was an emotional high the Lightning needed at that moment.
“I was like, ‘Thank goodness something positive was going to happen to our game,'” he said. “I give Boston a lot of credit. They took it to us and we weren’t prepared for it. Vasy was pissed.”
Hagel said he felt the fight was “a big turning point in the game.”
So did Kucherov, who was also convinced that his goalie would win the fight.
“I knew he was going to beat the wheels off of Swayman right away,” Kucherov said. “We call him ‘White Tyson’ now.”
Sports
Inter Milan extend Serie A lead | The Express Tribune
MILAN:
Inter Milan moved eight points clear at the top of Serie A after a comfortable 2-0 victory over hosts Cremonese on Sunday, but the victory was marred by a flare thrown on to the pitch from the away end that narrowly missed home goalkeeper Emil Audero.
The win takes Inter to 55 points from 23 games, eight ahead of city rivals AC Milan, who have a game in hand. Cremonese lie in 16th with 23 points from the same number of games.
Lautaro Martinez and Piotr Zielinski scored first-half goals as the visitors took control of the contest and despite not finding the back of the net again, they never looked unduly troubled by their hosts.
“There’s a long way to go,” Martinez told DAZN. “We made mistakes, especially in the first half, but there’s also a lot to enjoy because the championship is very balanced.”
Early in the second half a flare was thrown from the stands and landed near Audero, who dropped to the floor but did not appear to be injured. The match continued following a short delay.
“These things must not happen, there’s a risk to a person,” Martinez said. “We’re putting on a show that can be seen all over the world. I apologise to Audero and all the Cremonese fans.”
Inter have won 10 of their last 11 Serie A games since losing to AC Milan in November, their only blemish in that run a 2-2 home draw with Napoli.
By contrast, Cremonese are winless in eight, with five defeats in that sequence, which leaves them six points above the relegation zone.
The visitors might have won by a greater margin given their dominance of possession and chances, but did more than enough to secure another three points.
Inter hit the front on 16 minutes thanks to a header from Martinez, who steered Federico Dimarco’s corner into the net. It was just reward for a bright start.
Cremonese had an excellent chance to equalise when Jamie Vardy was sent through on goal. However, a heavy touch allowed Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer to get to the ball ahead of him.
The ball swerved past Audero, who will feel he should have made the save, but the power and the movement through the air left him floundering.
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