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College football coach famed for Netflix show fired after calling officials ‘idiots’

1 September 2026 at 18:51

Buddy Stephens, who was featured on Last Chance U, publicly criticized his school and league hierarchy

A college football coach who rose to prominence in a Netflix documentary series about student athletes trying to make the big time on their final opportunity has been fired after publicly calling officials “idiots” for changing the structure of the league in which his team competed.

Buddy Stephens, the coach in question, starred in the first two seasons of the gritty reality show Last Chance U that chronicled the struggles endured by football players at East Mississippi Community College (EMCC) as they juggled academics, challenging home lives and their full-contact sport in their efforts to reach the NFL.

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© Photograph: Eric Charbonneau/Invision for Netflix/AP

© Photograph: Eric Charbonneau/Invision for Netflix/AP

© Photograph: Eric Charbonneau/Invision for Netflix/AP

US Open 2026: Fery, Rybakina, Fritz and Keys in action on day three – live

Nothing’s going Cobolli’s way at the moment, as he thwacks his own leg with his racket while trying to hit the ball, as he’s taken to deuce once more on his serve. He recovers to get to his advantage, but then balloons another errant forehand well long, before finally getting on the board to reduce his deficit to 3-1.

It was also a day when Stan Wawrinka played his final grand slam match, Carlos Alcaraz made his return from injury and Aryna Sabalenka, after a shaky summer, started her title defence with a comfortable victory.

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© Photograph: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images

Janine Sonis: ‘63,000 fans in Denver proves a women’s team was way overdue’

1 September 2026 at 14:29

The Canada and Denver Summit full-back on playing at a packed Mile Stadium and the impact of Lindsey Heaps

In the 13th minute of a 6-1 win against Chicago, Janine Sonis ran into the penalty area and stealthily positioned herself behind a line of defenders, before striking a crisp shot into the right corner. It was her ninth goal of the season, the most of any player Denver Summit player, and joint-seventh in the NWSL.

Now playing for her hometown team in its debut season, the NWSL and Canada veteran feels her happiness is translating on to the field. “I think it’s been a season that I’ve enjoyed myself more than any other season in my career, and I think that that’s showing in the way that I’m playing,” she said.

This is an extract from our free email about women’s football, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts is delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday.

On Friday 4 September at 1pm Suzanne Wrack will be answering readers’ questions about the new WSL season for Guardian Conversations.

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© Photograph: Andrew Wevers/NWSL/Getty Images

© Photograph: Andrew Wevers/NWSL/Getty Images

© Photograph: Andrew Wevers/NWSL/Getty Images

Alex Eala has one career main-draw win at the US Open. She’s already a global star

1 September 2026 at 12:00

Alex Eala has become the Philippines’ biggest sporting star since Manny Pacquiao. Now the 21-year-old’s traveling army of fans have descended on Flushing Meadows

The crowd began to swell in Louis Armstrong Stadium a half hour before 2pm. A fair number of fans were probably there to see Taylor Fritz and Terence Atmane practice, but it was the session after theirs that was the headline attraction on the Friday of the US Open’s fan week. The blue, red and white throughout the stands, spotted on bucket hats and posters and basketball jerseys and flags, signaled who these people were here to see.

This has been the year of Alex Eala, the 21-year-old sensation who has taken the tennis world by storm. At No 18, she is the Philippines’ highest-ranked player ever, its biggest sports celebrity since Manny Pacquiao. The country’s president hosted a reception to celebrate her success, and called for a national celebration after she won her first tour-level title last month at the DC Open. Forbes estimates Eala’s off-court earnings for the past year to exceed $5m, plus $1.7m in prize money, and her agent predicts she will be the world’s second-highest-paid female athlete by 2027.

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© Photograph: John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock

© Photograph: John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock

© Photograph: John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock

Colin Kaepernick knelt 10 years ago. America responded with a clear warning to Black people | Howard Bryant

1 September 2026 at 10:30

A decade after Kaepernick’s quiet protest shook the NFL, his exile looks less like an aberration than a blueprint for the culture war that followed

America likes nice round numbers, perfect for anniversaries and reflections, and it has, suddenly, been 10 years since Colin Kaepernick first protested police killings – more accurately, police killings of Black people that went unpunished either internally or by the courts – by taking a knee during the national anthem for the entirety of the 2016 NFL regular season. He never played in the league again.

Ten years covers a lot of ground, especially in these years of American darkness, and many of the important details surrounding Kaepernick, his banishment and significance have disappeared, time replaced by more time and more darkness – time moving faster than ever, at internet speed, where nothing matters, where nothing sticks. We consume by clip, by click, by meme, and knowledge by meme is not knowledge at all.

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© Composite: Guardian Design

© Composite: Guardian Design

© Composite: Guardian Design

Stefanos Tsitsipas says Nick Kyrgios’s cocaine ban was ‘pretty much expected’

1 September 2026 at 04:27
  • Australian tested positive at event in June

  • Kyrgios and Tsitsipas have clashed in the past

Stefanos Tsitsipas says he is not surprised that Nick Kyrgios was suspended from tennis for taking cocaine.

“Pretty much expected, to be honest,” Tsitsipas said. “I am surprised it came so late, though.”

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© Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

© Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

© Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Tennessee to wear Dolly Parton tribute on helmets during 2026 college football season

31 August 2026 at 23:19

The Tennessee Volunteers will be honoring Dolly Parton with a helmet sticker this season, the college football team’s head coach, Josh Heupel, announced on Monday.

Parton, a Tennessee native, died last week at the age of 80 from cancer.

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© Photograph: Wade Payne/AP

© Photograph: Wade Payne/AP

© Photograph: Wade Payne/AP

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