Sports
Penalty shootout defeats are still defeats. It’s time to count them as such
Manchester City are a brilliant football team.
Since Pep Guardiola took charge in 2016, his side have collected more Premier League titles (six), points (736), wins (231) and goals (774) than any other team in the country.
They have conceded fewer goals (258) than any side that has spent all nine seasons in the top flight and played some exhilarating football along the way.
Yes, there is a cloud cast by their ongoing legal case with the Premier League — but add in two FA Cups, four Carabao Cups and a Champions League, and it paints a clear picture of Guardiola’s side as one of the greatest to grace the English game.
They are so good that they do not need spurious records to prove their greatness.
So, let’s be clear, Manchester City did not break a Manchester United record in Europe this week. Manchester City are not “unbeaten” in 26 Champions League games.
City lost in last season’s quarter-finals to Real Madrid. You know that because Madrid progressed to the semi-finals (and ultimately won the trophy against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley) while City bowed out, free to focus on their relentless and successful pursuit of a fourth successive domestic title.
It is hard to think of a clearer definition of defeat than that: one team continues, the other exits.
The fact that City’s loss to Carlo Ancelotti’s team was sealed by a penalty shootout after an absorbing 4-4 draw on aggregate is irrelevant. A defeat is a defeat, no matter how it comes.
Real Madrid celebrate their win — and it was a win — at City (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
But IFAB — the law-makers of the world game — do not agree. In law 10.2, penalties are simply one of three “permitted procedures to determine the winning team”, along with away goals and extra-time. Which means a team that are beaten in a shootout after drawing when the final whistle sounds are still able to claim they have not ‘lost’.
It’s a strange state of affairs. While away goal ‘wins’ are a grey area according to the record books, nobody disputes that the team which emerges triumphant at the end of extra-time has won the game. So why not apply the same thought process to penalties?
We have come a long way since the pre-shootout days when drawn ties were sometimes settled by entirely arbitrary coin tosses. Penalty shootouts, which were introduced in the early 1970s, are far from that kind of “lottery” — the cliche that attached itself to them for so long — or just a convenient and relatively quick way of settling a game between two evenly-matched teams, as the IFAB law suggests.
They are supreme tests of nerve and skill, and the best teams practise them as assiduously as they do their tactical shape and set-piece routines.
“There’s more to it (than luck),” former Croatia goalkeeper Joey Didulica told Omnisport in 2018. “The mental game, you’ve got to be confident. A lot of it comes down to research as well.
”You’ve got to know who’s kicking the penalty, the way they’ve approached the penalties before, where they slow down, if they’re going to slow down, which corner.
“As much as people think it’s 50-50, amateurs say that. I think at the highest level, a good goalkeeper definitely can have a better chance than 50-50 in a shootout. Your best keeper normally can win it for you.”
There are now reams of analysis that help inform penalty shootout methodology.
In 2022, the Barca Innovation Hub compiled data on how to increase chances of success, suggesting that taking the first penalty, celebrating successful kicks enthusiastically, delaying run-ups after the referee’s whistle and putting a team’s best penalty takers on the first and fifth kicks enhanced the possibility of winning.
Penalties are a serious test of skill and nerve (Luciano Bisbal/Getty Images)
None of that suggests penalties are a game of chance. On the contrary, while they might require different disciplines to the free-flowing action during a game, penalties still act as an ultimate stress test for a player’s ability to think clearly and execute their skill under the most intense pressure. We’re not talking about settling a game by rock, paper, scissors, here.
They also feel part of, or an extension of, the game we have just witnessed in a way that other random deciding factors — like the coin toss — could never be. And generally speaking, the better team wins because they are also better at taking penalties.
That was perhaps more arguable in the City-Madrid game last season, when two superb sets of players went head to head and there was barely anything to choose between them. But there is no disputing that Real Madrid won that game, and City lost it.
That does not change the fact that Guardiola’s City are among the finest sides the English game has produced. But it does mean that their latest “record” is a false one.
They are a team for the ages with a glittering array of trophies and records. They can manage just fine without fake ones.
(Top photo: Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
Sports
ESPN’s Stephen A Smith hears boos from WrestleMania 42 crowd
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LAS VEGAS – Danhausen’s curse may be real after all – just ask Stephen A. Smith and the New York Mets.
While the latter dropped their 10th game in a row, Smith got his share of the curse on Saturday night during Night 1 of WrestleMania 42. Smith was in attendance for WWE’s premier event of the year and heard massive boos from the crowd.
Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)
Smith was sitting ringside to watch the action. The ESPN star appeared on the videoboard above the ring at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. He appeared to embrace the reaction and smiled through it.
The boos came after Danhausen appeared on “First Take” on Friday – much to the chagrin of the sports pundit. Smith appeared perplexed by Danhausen’s appearance. Smith said he heard about Danhausen and called him a “bad luck charm.”
Danhausen said Smith had been “rude” to him and put the dreaded “curse” on the commentator.
WWE STAR DANHAUSEN SAYS METS ‘CURSE’ ISN’T EXACTLY LIFTED AS TEAM DROPS NINTH STRAIGHT GAME
Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)
Smith is far from the only one dealing with the effects of the “curse.”
Danhausen agreed to “un-curse” the Mets during their losing streak. However, he told Fox News Digital earlier this week that there was a reason why the curse’s removal didn’t take full effect.
“I did un-curse the Mets. But it didn’t work because, I believe it was Brian Gewirtz who did not pay Danhausen. He did not send me my money so it did not take full effect,” Danhausen said. “Once I have the money, perhaps it will actually work because right now it’s probably about a half of an un-cursing. It’s like a layaway situation.”
Danhausen enters the arena before his match against Kit Wilson during SmackDown at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on April 10, 2026. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
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On “Friday Night SmackDown,” WWE stars like The Miz and Kit Wilson were also targets of Danhausen’s curse.
Sports
After 55 years as a broadcaster in L.A., Randy Rosenbloom is leaving town
It’s time to reveal memories, laughs and crazy times from Randy Rosenbloom’s 55 years as a TV/radio broadcaster in Los Angeles. He’s hopping in a car next Sunday with his wife, saying goodbye to a North Hollywood house that’s been in his family since 1952 and driving 3,300 miles to his new home in Greenville, S.C.
“When I walk out, I’ll probably break down,” he said.
He graduated from North Hollywood High in 1969. He got his first paid job in 1971 calling Hart basketball games for NBC Cable Newhall for $10 a game. It began an adventure of a lifetime.
“I never knew if I overachieved or underachieved. I just did what I loved,” he said.
Randy Rosenbloom (left) used to work with former UCLA coach John Wooden for TV games.
(Randy Rosenbloom)
John Wooden, Jerry Tarkanian and Jim Harrick were among his expert commentators when he did play by play for college basketball games. He called volleyball at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games for NBC and rowing in 2004. He’s worked more than 100 championship high school events. He did play by play for the first and only Reebok Bowl at Angel Stadium in 1994 won by Bishop Amat over Sylmar, 35-14.
“There were about 5,000, 6,000 people there and I remember thinking nobody watched the game. We ended up with a 5.7 TV rating on Channel 13 in Los Angeles, which is higher than most Lakers games.”
He conducted interviews with NFL Hall of Famers Gale Sayers and Johnny Unitas and boxing greats Robert Duran, Thomas Hearn and Sugar Ray Leonard. He’s worked with baseball greats Steve Garvey and Doug DeCinces. He called games with former USC coach Rod Dedeaux. He was in the radio booth for Bret Saberhagen’s 1982 no-hitter in the City Section championship game at Dodger Stadium. He was a nightly sportscaster for KADY in Ventura.
Randy Rosenbloom, left, with his volleyball broadcast partners, Kirk Kilgour and Bill Walton.
(Randy Rosenbloom)
He was the voice of Fresno State football and basketball. He also did Nevada Las Vegas football and basketball games. He called bowl games and Little League games. He was a public address announcer for basketball at the 1984 Olympic Games with Michael Jordan the star and did the P.A. for Toluca Little League.
Nothing was too small or too big for him.
“I loved everything,” he said.
He called at least 10 East L.A. Classic football games between Garfield and Roosevelt. He was there when Narbonne and San Pedro tied 21-21 in the 2008 City championship game at the Coliseum on a San Pedro touchdown with one second left.
Probably his most notable tale came when he was doing radio play-by-play at a 1998 college bowl game in Montgomery, Ala.
“I look down and a giant tarantula is crawling up my pants,” he said. “My color man took all the press notes, wadded them up and hit the tarantula like swinging a bat.”
Did Rosenbloom tell the audience what was happening?
“I stayed calm,” he said.
Then there was the time he was in the press box at Sam Boyd Stadium and a bat flew in and attached itself to the wooden press box right next to him before flying away after he said, “UNLV wins.”
Recently, he’s been putting together high school TV packages for LA36 and calling travel ball basketball games. He’ll still keep doing a radio gambling show from his new home, but he’s cutting ties to Los Angeles to move closer to grandchildren.
“I’m retiring from Los Angeles. I’m leaving the market,” he said.
Hopefully he’ll continue via Zoom to do a weekly podcast with me for The Times.
He’s a true professional who’s versatility and work ethic made him a reliable hire from the age of 18 through his current age of 74.
He’s a member of the City Section Hall of Fame and the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. He once threw the shot put 51 feet, 7 1/2 inches, which is his claim to fame at North Hollywood High.
One time an ESPN graphic before a show spelled his name “Rosenbloom” then changed it to “Rosenblum” for postgame. It was worth a good laugh.
He always adjusts, improvises and ad-libs. He expects to enjoy his time in South Carolina, but he better watch out for tarantulas. They seem to like him.
Sports
Becky Lynch enters exclusive WWE club with Women’s Intercontinental Championship win at WrestleMania 42
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LAS VEGAS – Becky Lynch entered an atmosphere no other WWE women’s superstar has ever reached as she won the Women’s Intercontinental Championship over AJ Lee on Saturday night at WrestleMania 42.
Lynch became the first person to hold the Women’s Intercontinental Championship three times after she pinned Lee. She first won the title against Lyra Valkyria in June 2025 and then again against Maxxine Dupri in November.
Becky Lynch celebrates with the belt after defeating AJ Lee during their women’s Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 18, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
She dropped the belt to Lee at the Elimination Chamber, sparking a monthslong feud with her.
Lee gave Lynch the chance at the title in the weeks prior to WrestleMania 42. But it appeared Lee played right into Lynch’s plans. Despite arguing with referee Jessica Carr for most of the match, Lynch was able to tactfully tear down a rope buckle and use it to her advantage.
Lynch hit Lee with a Manhandle Slam and pinned her for the win.
WWE STARS REVEAL WHAT MAKES WRESTLEMANIA SO SPECIAL: ‘IT’S THE SUPER BOWL OF PRO WRESTLING’
AJ Lee reacts after losing to Becky Lynch in their Women’s Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 18, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
It’s the second straight year Lynch will leave Las Vegas as champion. She returned to WWE at WrestleMania 41, teaming with Valkyria, to win the women’s tag titles. She will now leave Allegiant Stadium as the women’s intercontinental champion.
Lynch is now a seven-time women’s champion, three-time women’s intercontinental champion and two-time tag team champion.
Becky Lynch withstands AJ Lee during their Women’s Intercontinental Championship match on night one of WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 18, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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Lee’s reign as champion ended really before it could really begin. WrestleMania 42 was her first appearance at the event in 11 years. It’s unclear where Lee will go from here.
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