Browsing: longer

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Despite AEW WrestleDream impressing from an in-ring standpoint this past weekend, the show received criticism from fans regarding its runtime, with the event ending at 12:30 AM EST and being over five and a half hours long. On the other hand, the promotion also received praise for delivering a solid product despite the amount of injuries on the roster as of late, with top stars like Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay currently being out of action. Following WrestleDream, AEW President Tony Khan defended the show’s runtime on “Z100 New York” due to the event taking place from St. Louis Missouri, and stated that AEW Full Gear will not conclude after midnight on the east coast.

“In the local time, I thought it made sense and here in the local time, we’ll definitely be out well before midnight and be out in Eastern time here. So, it’s different time zones, but I absolutely loved the WrestleDream show start to finish … especially with some injuries and some top stars away, I thought this was the absolute best show we were capable of putting on.”Â

Khan stated that WrestleDream is the AEW pay-per-view that he’s the most proud of since the pandemic and explained that the lengthy injury list allowed him to be more creative with the card for the show.

“Some of the top wrestling stars were away and I said, I’m going to make this the best possible show and everyone’s going to say WrestleDream was the greatest event AEW could put on and it’s going to be about the people who are here and they’re going to love this event. And that’s how I felt at times in the lockdown in the pandemic. If anybody wasn’t available, we would be creative. We would come up with the very best shows we could possibly put on.”

Tony Khan claims that AEW is ushering in a ‘new era’ with Tailgate Brawl

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In addition to being satisfied with WrestleDream this past weekend, Khan also commented on the new format of the promotion’s pre-shows, which have now become episode of “AEW Collision” that feature the highly anticipated Tailgate Brawl.Â

“I don’t consider it a typical pre-show anymore because now it’s ‘AEW Collision,’ the Tailgate Brawl on TNT,” Khan explained. “There’s a huge emphasis now on the Tailgate Brawl internally in AEW because that’s an episode of ‘Collision’ and it’s a super important piece of real estate. Not only a chance to sell the upcoming pay-per-view, but ‘Collision’ and ‘Dynamite’ are massively important to AEW … So, I wanted to do something very different and unique and tell people you have to watch these Tailgate Brawls leading in. They are a huge part of the event. This isn’t a ‘pre-show.’ This is a new era.”

Khan also touched on one of the only other occasions where a major cable network show led into a wrestling pay-per-view, as he reflected on “WCW Main Event” airing ahead of many high profile programs. He also believes that the Tailgate Brawl is a better way to lead-in to AEW’s biggest shows with the match being an effective strategy to build fan intrigue for the pay-per-view that follows it.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Z100 New York” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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Make no mistake, however, England got away with one.

Their spinners were superb again – claiming 9-116 in 37.4 overs – but familiar frailties emerged with the bat and the sight of coach Charlotte Edwards laughing and celebrating Knight’s third reprieve with a double fist pump in the changing room was a curious one.

Had England lost, it is likely we would have seen quite a few more replays of it, particularly considering the gulf between these two teams and the sticky situation that her side were in.

England’s batting weakness against spin has been well documented, but in ODIs they had started to make promising progress since the Alana King-dominated Ashes.

They are averaging a fraction under 35 per wicket against spin in the format this year, an improvement from 31.19 in 2024 and 25.59 the year before.

Other important factors include that this particular game saw the most deliveries of spin bowled in a Women’s World Cup match, and the pitch offered the most turn of any game in the tournament so far. Batting was difficult, but it is a 50-over World Cup in India – it was always going to be tough, and England will need to adapt quickly.

Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont were exposed by Marufa’s swing, both trapped lbw playing across the line. Nat Sciver-Brunt miscued a full toss, Sophia Dunkley got a marginal lbw decision but was trapped on the crease and Emma Lamb – batting outside of the top three for the first time in her professional 50-over career – chipped to mid-on.

But again Knight led the way, putting her favoured sweeps away as she scratched around to begin with, but with confidence came a little more flair, a use of the feet and the ball started to find the middle of the bat.

“We’ll learn a lot from the experience. It was really tough conditions out there and they bowled brilliantly,” Knight said.

“I haven’t had a huge amount of time in the middle with the injury, so I am just finding my feet.

“But I know playing spin is a real strength of mine, I know I’ve got different options based on the conditions, and for me it was about being really precise on what ball I was going to attack and which I would defend.

“When I did get into that rhythm, I was just really precise with my footwork and had a really clear gameplan, trying to sweep on line and use my feet to different bowlers to hit hard down the ground.”

This time, England did overcome the pressure, with Knight’s luck and heroics to thank.

Back in the ranks, and back in the runs. No longer the captain, but always a leader.

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Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.

One key for hitting longer drives is getting an optimal angle of attack with the big stick. While your angle of attack will be negative for most clubs, when it comes to the driver, you want to be hitting more up on the ball.

Now, how much you swing up on the ball will differ from person to person and swing to swing. And the faster you swing, the less you’ll need to swing up on the ball to generate distance.

According to GOLF Top 100 Teacher Dave Phillips in the video below, PGA Tour pros have an average angle of attack of about +1 with the driver, while for LPGA pros that number is closer to +4. The reason for this discrepancy is that the LPGA pros are swinging slower, so they need to hit up on the ball more to generate the distance they need.

Hitting up on the ball isn’t always as easy as it sounds. For lots of recreational golfers, thinking about swinging up on the ball causes them to hang back and fail to transfer their weight properly, which leads to some serious issues.

To guard against this, you need to copy the key move that pros use to hit up on the ball properly. Phillips explains the move below starting at the 5:00 mark.

The key move for positive AoA

To practice this key move, make a backswing to the top and then stop. From here, you want to slightly “bump” your hips forward and then begin to rotate to initiate the downswing.

As the downswing begins, push into the ground with your lead foot. This will start the chain reaction that helps you properly hit up on the ball.

“You’ll see this lead shoulder move away from the chin, which gets the club down in front of [the body], and then as they push, you’ll see the lead shoulder work up and back,” Phillips says. “And the grip end of the club works up and in, which gets the clubhead to work around. This is the correct way to hit up on the ball.”

When you use the lead leg correct to push into the ground, you’ll be forced to pull your lead shoulder up and away from the ball. And in doing this, you not only will properly shift your weight forward, you’ll also create a positive angle of attack when coming into impact.

“You’ve gotta get your force into that lead foot early,” Phillips says. “Then once you feel like you can push yourself backwards because you’ve got enough force in that lead foot, you want to feel like you push and get the lead shoulder working more up and around you.”

If you can implement this key move into your swing, you’ll create a higher angle of attack in the correct manner, which will lead to longer drives.

Quentin Grimes and the Philadelphia 76ers would both love to work out a four-year contract that would lock in the 25-year-old guard who was one of the few bright spots for the team after the trade deadline. The problem is that the sides view the money side of the deal very differently.

Which means Grimes could end up taking the $8.7 million qualifying offer and becoming a free agent next summer. The sides are talking, but that doesnâ€t mean they are close to a deal, reports Tony Jones of The Athletic.

Grimes has two offers on the table, according to sources. One is the qualifying offer, which is worth one year and $8.7 million. The other is a one-year balloon payment, which is designed for Grimes to waive the no-trade clause that would be attached to him accepting the qualifying offer.

The 76ers, league sources say, want to work out a long-term, four-year deal with Grimes, which is something that Grimes would actually be amenable to. The issue is what the money would be, and right now, the two sides are far apart on that.

Grimes reportedly was seeking something in the $20 million a season range from Philly, which wanted something less, considering it is currently just $1.7 million below the luxury tax line and may not want to cross that threshold without a sign this team can stay healthy and live up to its potential.

In 28 games with Philly last season, Grimes averaged 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists a game. 76ers fans were dreaming of a guard rotation featuring Tyrese Maxey, Grimes, a healthy Jared McCain and just-drafted VJ Edgecombe. The problem is that you have to pay all those guys, and right now, the Sixers have Joel Embiid and Paul George making more than $50 million each, Maxey making $38 million, and in a couple of years, McCain and Edgecombe will be up for extensions.

Grimes has made a total of $11.1 million across four NBA seasons. This is a big opportunity to more than double his career earnings in one season. That is hard to walk away from, but it feels like this negotiation could go down to the Oct. 1 deadline when Grimes has to take the qualifying offer (as Cam Thomas has done in a similar situation), or sign something else.

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