New York Giants fire head coach Brian Daboll after another lost season
The New York Giants have fired head coach Brian Daboll after Sunday’s defeat left the team with a 2-8 record and staring at another lost season.“The past few seasons have been nothing short of disappointing, and we have not met our expectations for this franchise,” Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch said Monday in a joint statement.“We understand the frustrations of our fans, and we will work to deliver a significantly improved product.”Assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka will take control on an interim bases as the Giants search for Daboll’s permanent replacement.The Giants fired Daboll the day after the Giants blew a double-digit lead in their defeat to the Chicago Bears.
It was the second time this season the team had lost a game in which they were leading by at least 10 points with fewer than four minutes remaining.Daboll was asked about his job security after Sunday’s game and replied: “I’m just focused on these guys in the locker room.”Daboll, who had previously helped Josh Allen develop into one of the league’s best players at the Buffalo Bills, had an excellent start to his Giants career in the 2022 season.He was named the NFL coach of the year after leading the team to an unexpected playoff berth before they lost to their fierce rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, in the divisional round.However, the team’s fortunes have declined since.
They finished 6-11 in 2023, 3-14 in 2024 and will almost certainly miss the playoffs again this season,Daboll is known for his hot temper, and at times clashed with his coaching staff and his players,His job, alongside that of general manager Joe Schoen, was under question at the start of the season but Mara said he would keep them place as long as results improved,“I’m aware of how many games we’ve won, and obviously the results are not even close to what we want them to be,” Mara said before this season,“They’re going to have to get better if we’re going to move on.
”The Giants said Schoen will remain in place.“We feel like Joe has assembled a good young nucleus of talent, and we look forward to its development,” Mara said on Monday.“Unfortunately, the results over the past three years have not been what any of us want.We take full responsibility for those results and look forward to the kind of success our fans expect.”
‘Focus on driving and talk less’: Ferrari president hits back at Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton has been told to “focus on driving and talk less” in a rebuke from the Ferrari president, John Elkann, which was almost certainly a reaction to Hamilton’s outspoken description of his first season with the team as a “nightmare”.Hamilton has endured a difficult debut year with Ferrari, with the team underperforming and the seven‑time champion having a trying time adapting to a new environment and practices.After another disappointing race at the São Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday, when forced to retire the car on lap 37, Hamilton was unusually blunt, stating: “This is a nightmare and I’ve been living it for a while. The flip between the dream of driving for this amazing team and then the nightmare of the results that we’ve had.”Elkann, who was instrumental in persuading Hamilton to join Ferrari and with whom the British driver is friends, gave an equally forthright response, speaking in Milan
Chessum and Freeman serious doubts to face All Blacks in blow to England
Ollie Chessum and Tommy Freeman are serious injury doubts for England’s game with New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday. The two British & Irish Lions players sat out training on Monday and their participation against the All Blacks is in jeopardy.Chessum is struggling with a foot injury and was seen on crutches at England’s training base in Bagshot. He was replaced after 70 minutes of the 38-18 win against Fiji on Saturday and in the likely event he is ruled out Maro Itoje’s expected second‑row partner would be Alex Coles.Freeman was also replaced in the later stages of the victory and it is understood he is nursing a hamstring injury
US anti-doping accuses Wada of trying to ‘smear America’ amid Enhanced Games row
The war of words between anti‑doping bodies over the Enhanced Games has intensified after Usada accused Wada of attempting “to smear America”.Travis Tygart, president of the US Anti-Doping Agency, made the claim as he hit back at the World Anti-Doping Agency suggestion that it should do more to stop the pro‑doping event scheduled to take place in Las Vegas next year. Tygart said that Wada’s intervention was a “desperate attempt to divert attention” from its role in the Chinese swimming scandal of 2021.“For an organisation reportedly part of a criminal investigation by US law enforcement, the continued and blatantly false attacks from Wada president [Witold] Banka are a telling smokescreen,” Tygart said. “His attempts to smear America and our US Olympic and professional athletes is a desperate attempt to divert attention away from his failure in allowing China to sweep 23 positive tests under the carpet
Erasmus’s coaching scholarship takes South Africa to a higher plain | Robert Kitson
Some wins count double in terms of the message they send. And amid the blizzard of weekend Test matches it was Saturday night’s result in Paris that will resonate the longest in both hemispheres. Not only the outcome, either, but the manner of it. To say South Africa exploded a few cosy theories would be the understatement of the rugby year.So much for the idea, for example, that France would avenge the injustice of their World Cup quarter-final defeat to the Springboks
Trump booed at Commanders NFL game before calling plays from Fox broadcast booth
Donald Trump became the first sitting US president in nearly 50 years to attend a regular-season NFL game when he dropped in on the Detroit Lions’ win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday.There were boos from large sections of fans, as well as scattered cheers, at the Commanders’ Northwest Stadium when Trump was shown on the screens late in the first half – and again when the president was introduced by the stadium announcer at halftime. The Washington DC area has strong Democratic support, while Trump’s cuts to the government have affected many workers in the vicinity of the Commanders’ stadium. Sunday was not the first time Trump has received a hostile reception from a Washington sports crowd: he was greeted with ‘lock him up’ chants at the Washington Nationals’ home stadium during the 2019 World Series.The jeering continued while Trump read an oath for members of the military to recite as part of an on-field ceremony during a break in the game
Wales humbled by Argentina as Steve Tandy witnesses scale of task ahead
The start of a new Welsh rugby chapter left fans reading the same old story, Argentina claiming their biggest victory against the host side and consigning Wales to their 19th defeat in 20 Tests.Welsh supporters had hoped the team had turned a page in the summer after they ended their losing run with a win against Japan and had since given the reins to their new head coach, Steve Tandy. But it is clear there is still a lot of work to do to get this once formidable Wales side back to its glory days.Alongside their torrid form, discussions will be focused on the Wales centre Ben Thomas after he escaped a red card. Thomas was being held in a ruck and kicked a leg towards Pablo Matera’s head, for which he was shown a yellow card
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Why doesn’t Lammy just bring in a new policy of accidentally jailing people? | John Crace