Sports
Lionel Messi and the unmistakeable sense of an ending
First, he sank to the ground, grimacing. Play continued for a few seconds and then came the communal gasp.
Lionel Messi was down. And Lionel Messi is not a player who goes down for nothing.
Argentina’s playmaker and talisman clutched his right ankle. He had fallen on his own, with no obvious kick to point to as the cause of the injury that he knew meant his evening was over.
He took off his right boot and stood up gingerly. The physios asked him how he was but they must have known. He shuffled to the touchline, every step a little dagger in Argentine hearts. Then the board went up: Nicolas Gonzalez on, Messi off.
Messi walked slowly to the bench and threw his boot onto the floor. He sunk into his seat, placing his face in his hands. Leandro Paredes, his team-mate, ruffled his hair but said nothing. What was there to say?
A second or two later, the camera returned to Messi, zooming in on the most recognisable face in football. Humanity, even. And Messi, the arch stoic, was no longer able to hold back the emotion.
The crowd chanted his name. Messi was sobbing.
The tears were for the moment — Argentina needed him; they always do — but it was impossible to abstract them from the wider context. For Messi, wherever he treads in this extended career outro, is always accompanied by the unmistakable sense of an ending.
Messi is 37. He confirmed earlier in the week that this was to be his final edition of the competition. The mood music around the Argentina camp has suggested that it might be his last major tournament, period. He will be 38 when the next World Cup starts in the United States, Mexico and Canada, and will turn 39 during the tournament.
Those endless summer days spent watching Messi gambol around the football pitches of our souls? They could now be numbered.
Stopping is never an appealing prospect for any sportsperson. Athletes die twice, they say. Messi’s incredible longevity — and continued excellence — has been an effective shield against retirement talk but no one can run forever. At some stage, everything you do becomes the last time. Everything comes laced with heavy finality.
Messi, clearly, seems to have some inkling of what awaits him on the other side of the great beyond. “I am a bit scared of it all ending,” he told ESPN Argentina earlier this year. “I try not to think about it. I try to enjoy it. I do that more now because I’m aware there’s not a lot of time left.”
Here, on a stifling, charged night at the Hard Rock Stadium, he surely wasn’t banking on being denied a chunk of that remaining balance. As he sat there on the bench, an ice pack on his swollen ankle and yellow vest covering his blue and white jersey, it was tempting to wonder what was going through Messi’s mind.
(Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images)
Perhaps, in that instance, he simply became a fan. Perhaps the vision of the team playing without him — an image he will have to get used to in the decades ahead — twisted his already knotted guts into new, uncomfortable shapes.
Post-game, Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni said that Messi didn’t want to come off but his injury rendered any other option redundant.
“Leo has something that everyone should have,” said Scaloni. “He’s the best in history and, even with an ankle like that, he doesn’t want to go off.
“It’s not because he’s selfish but because he doesn’t want to let his team-mates down. He was born to be on a pitch.”
At least there was, in the end, relief. When Lautaro Martinez stroked home the winning goal four minutes before midnight in Miami, it was telling that the biggest huddle of players was not around the scorer. No, Argentina’s players flocked to Messi, their guiding light.
(Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images)
“When we talk about players who have left a mark on the history of football, we try to extend their careers when we begin to see the end,” his Inter Miami coach, Tata Martino, said recently. “I believe that Leo and his family are preparing themselves for when that ending will come. It comes for everyone.”
It has not come for Messi quite yet. He will play on in MLS when this injury heals, maybe even do his bit to get Argentina to the World Cup, but this was the final episode of Messi Does Tournaments and another staging post on the way to The End. The real end. The day this absurd, magical, laugh-out-loud-good little sprite of a footballer skips away into the past tense.
“I’m lucky I can do something I’m passionate about,” Messi said in the Apple documentary about his American adventure. “I know these are my last years and I know when I don’t have this, I’m going to miss it dearly because no matter how many things I find to do, nothing is going to be like this.”
No more big finals, potentially. No more nights like this, raw and glorious for his nation. And so, long before the celebrations, he cried. You could understand it.
(Top photos: Juan Mabromata; Buda Mendez; Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images; design: Ray Orr)
Sports
NFL fans upset as Eagles benefit from early whistle on tush push vs Giants
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The Philadelphia Eagles took the lead in the second quarter against the New York Giants on Sunday following a controversial call on the notorious tush push play.
The Eagles had the ball on 4th-and-1 with Jalen Hurts under center. He had his teammates behind him to push him across the first down marker to keep the ball. As he was getting pushed forward, Giants pass rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux ripped the ball out of Hurts’ hands.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, right, hands off to Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) who runs for a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
It appeared the Giants were going to get the ball back. But as the team was celebrating, the officials on the field blew the play dead and gave Philadelphia the first down. Head referee Brad Rodgers explained afterward the officials ruled that Hurts’ forward progress was stopped.
Giants head coach Brian Daboll was irate on the sidelines.
Two plays later, Hurts tossed the ball to Saquon Barkley for a touchdown that helped Philadelphia go up 14-7. It was Barkley’s second touchdown of the game.

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley scores a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
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NFL fans, already fed up with the tush push and how it’s being officiated, were upset with the most recent incident.
In the last meeting between the two teams, the Eagles ran the tush push four straight times in one of their touchdown drives. New York ended up winning that game earlier this month.

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll responds to questions after an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
NFL owners have been under pressure to ban the play. It survived a vote that would have prohibited the call during the offseason. It’s expected to be revisited next year.
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Sports
Would MLB make Arte Moreno sell Angels in wake of Tyler Skaggs trial?
As the trial about whether the Angels should be held at least partially liable for the death of Tyler Skaggs enters its third week, major league officials are closely monitoring the proceedings.
The trial is scheduled to last several more weeks, and it would be premature for the league to determine what action it might take against the Angels — if any — until all evidence is revealed in court and a verdict or a settlement is reached.
However, it is considered highly unlikely that the league would compel Angels owner Arte Moreno to sell the team.
Consideration of any action probably would be deferred until the league could conduct its own investigation and until a jury verdict, if there is one, is fully reviewed by an appeals court.
The Skaggs family is seeking $785 million in damages, as first reported by the Athletic, based on the allegation the Angels knew or should have known that former staffer Eric Kay was using illegal drugs, including the pills he provided to Skaggs on the night the pitcher died in 2019. The Angels deny the allegations.
The jury would not have to decide whether to award all of that money or none of it. The jury first would have to determine who was liable: the Angels, Kay, Skaggs and any other parties. Then the jury would decide what percentage of liability each of those parties should assume and what the financial compensation should be.
As an example, a jury could decide the damages should be $210 million — the amount the family listed as a minimum in a court filing — and the Angels should be held one-third responsible. Under that example, they would be assessed $70 million.
In 1943, Philadelphia Phillies owner William Cox was banned for life for betting on baseball.
If history is any indication, if the league believes an owner merits discipline, an owner would be more likely to be suspended than banned. In 1993, Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott was suspended one year for racist and insensitive comments.
New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was suspended three times: two years for illegal contributions to President Nixon’s 1972 campaign; one week after publicly criticizing umpires; and two years and five months for paying a gambler to dig up disparaging information on All-Star outfielder Dave Winfield. That last suspension originally was announced as a lifetime ban; Steinbrenner was later reinstated.
Kay, who provided Skaggs with counterfeit oxycodone pills that were laced with fentanyl, is serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison. Skaggs died in his hotel room in Texas of asphyxiation, according to an autopsy, choking on his own vomit while under the influence of oxycodone, fentanyl and alcohol.
Sports
Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell defends choice to keep Carson Wentz in blowout loss for prolonged period
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The Los Angeles Chargers dominated the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night. The 37-10 defeat dropped the Vikings’ record to 3-4.
But much of the postgame chatter focused on coach Kevin O’Connell’s decision not to pull quarterback Carson Wentz from the blowout.
Wentz was dealing with some discomfort in his non-throwing shoulder. He was sacked five times on Thursday, which appeared to further aggravate the shoulder he was already nursing. The shoulder issue, coupled with the scoreboard, raised concerns about keeping the veteran quarterback on the field longer than many perceived as necessary.
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell interacts with Carson Wentz (11) on the sideline during the first half of a game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on Oct. 23, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Brooke Sutton/Getty Images)
Wentz was noticeably grimacing throughout the majority of the game.
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After the game, O’Connell explained his decision to stick with Wentz for most of the game.
“We kept on checking in [with Wentz],” the coach told reporters. “Maybe getting Max [Brosmer] ready to go. Tyler [vice president of player health and performance, Tyler Williams] was coming to me a lot tonight, but every time he seemed to update me on that. Carson was sore going into it. He took obviously quite a few hits—but he was able to—I asked him multiple times where he was at and he said he was good and wanted to keep going.”

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz (11) drops back to pass against the Los Angeles Chargers during the second half at SoFi Stadium on Oct. 23, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Gary A. Vasquez/Imagn Images)
“It did seem like he was in pain there a couple times.”
J.J. McCarthy was inactive Thursday. The second-year quarterback started the first two games of the season but has been sidelined since then with an ankle injury.

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell during the second half at SoFi Stadium on Oct. 23, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Gary A. Vasquez/Imagn Images)
O’Connell did note that McCarthy would return to the starting lineup against the Detroit Lions in Week 9 if he is fully recovered, the NFL Network reported.
Game cameras showed Wentz slamming his helmet on the Vikings’ sideline out of apparent frustration. Wentz later made it clear that the injury ultimately did not hamper his throwing ability.
“I don’t think so,” Wentz said. “I don’t think throwing wise. That’s honestly why I felt confident to go. I felt I could do my job. I thought I could throw the ball. Thankfully, you don’t need your left shoulder all that much to throw the football. So mechanically, throwing wise, I felt like I could do everything I needed to do.”
Reserve quarterback Max Brosmer briefly entered Thursday’s contest, completing three of his four pass attempts in the fourth quarter.
O’Connell acknowledged that he had considered inserting the rookie signal-caller earlier in the game.
“Yeah we did,” O’Connell said. “Carson’s a veteran player. He understands, kind of, some of our circumstances tonight. I think it’s very difficult to ask a rookie to go in there for his first performance and have to be kind of weathering it a little bit for the group.
“I did think about that at different times in the game but at the same time, the confidence we have in Max and the upside we see in Max is real. You also don’t want to send him out there and force a level of figure-it-outness that’s probably beyond a guy playing for the first time.”
The Vikings have now dropped back-to-back games.
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