`We're done': A&M's Fisher fires back at `narcissist' Saban
The Southeastern Conference spring meetings will be held in person for the time since 2019 in a little less than two weeks.
It is unlikely two of the SEC's superstar coaches will be chumming around Destin, Florida, together.
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher called Nick Saban a “narcissist” on Thursday after the Alabama coach accused the rival Aggies of using name, image and likeness deals to land their top-ranked recruiting classes.
Less than 24 hours after Saban said Texas A&M was essentially “buying” players, Fisher called an impromptu news conference to blast college football's most accomplished coach and his former boss at LSU.
“It's despicable that a reputable head coach can come out and say this when he doesn't get his way or things don't go his way,” Fisher said in College Station, Texas. “The narcissist in him doesn't allow those things to happen —- it's ridiculous — when he's not on top. And the parity in college football he's been talking about? Go talk to coaches who have coached for him. You'll find out all the parity. Go dig into wherever he's been.”
Texas A&M had the consensus No. 1 recruiting class in the country for 2022 after beating Alabama during the regular season. The Tide's class was No. 2. In his session which lasted about 10 minutes, Fisher declared: “We never bought anybody, no rules are broken. Nothing was done wrong.”
The Crimson Tide lost to the Aggies in 2021, but went on to win the SEC championship and play for the national title. The Ag- gies finished 8-4 in their fourth season under Fisher, who, like Saban, is among the highest-paid coaches in the game at more than $9 million per season.
The public spat is perhaps the ugliest display of the growing angst and concerns among college coaches who are wrestling with two big changes: The compensation era, launched last July, and its impact on recruiting, and the ease with which players can now transfer.
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Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown each had 24 and the Boston Celtics dominated the first half to roll past the Miami Heat 127-102 and tie the Eastern Conference finals at a game apiece.
Smart was a rebound shy of a triple-double, after adding 12 assists and nine rebounds.
Jimmy Butler had 29 points in 32 minutes for Miami, which fell to 7-1 at home in these playoffs.
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Mets pitcher Max Scherzer is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks with a strained *oblique muscle in his left side, the latest blow to a New York pitching staff already missing ace Jacob deGrom.
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New York said the scan detected a moderate-tohigh grade strain.
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Ramírez collapsed in pain after fouling a ball off his shin in the eighth inning.
After going down, he rolled onto his back in the dirt near home plate, and the 29-year-old Ramírez needed several minutes to recover. He then hobbled back into the batter's box and promptly hit a single for his 34th RBI.
Ramírez was pulled for a pinch-runner after the hit.
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Ross Colton scored with 3.8 seconds remaining, giving the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning a victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The stunning finish put the Lightning up 2-0 in the best-of-seven series that heads to Tampa for Game 3 on Sunday.
The game appeared headed for overtime before Colton scored from right in front of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky off a backhand pass from Nikita Kucherov, who chased down a loose puck behind the Florida net.
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Naomi Osaka's return to the French Open will be a tough test against the player who beat her at the Australian Open, Amanda Anisimova.
They were paired in the bracket during the draw at Roland Garros for the claycourt major tennis tournament.
Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam champion who used to be No. 1 in the rankings but has slipped to No. 38 in part because of a lack of activity. That included time off for a mental health break after she withdrew from Roland Garros ahead of her second-round match last year, revealing that she has dealt with anxiety and depression.