TNS Sports Budget for Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022

Updated at 8 a.m. ET (1300 UTC).

TOP STORIES

How four rule changes will impact Major League Baseball in 2023

BBO-2023-RULECHANGES-SPORTSPLUS:LA — LOS ANGELES — Major League Baseball's hot stove has been all the way turned up over the last two weeks, melting expectations as free agents enjoy the richest market in history. But roster construction is far from complete for most clubs. Two months remain before pitchers and catchers report for spring training. There's plenty of time for more moves.

Hovering in the backdrop as front offices allocate their resources is an unknown awaiting them until the games start. The 2023 season will introduce perhaps the biggest non-COVID-season wave of rules changes the league has seen. There are four major changes: a pitch timer, a pickoff limit, defensive shift restrictions and bigger bases.

1886 words by Jorge Castillo, Los Angeles Times. MOVED

PHOTOS

NFL

Kevin Sherrington: Nothing wrong with being system QB, in fact, it might be what Cowboys’ Dak Prescott needs

FBN-SHERRINGTON-COLUMN:DA — DALLAS — Another day, another Mike Leach story: Back in the day, whenever scouts sneered that the Pirate’s quarterbacks were merely products of a “system,” and thus not to be entrusted with a franchise’s fortunes, he argued that no one should take the NFL seriously on the subject. All you needed to know is that JaMarcus Russell, one of the biggest busts ever, once led a draft, and Tom Brady nearly fell out of the back of the 2000 class.

The reason for bringing this up is because Micah Parsons sounded a lot like the Pirate’s old nemeses on Von Miller’s podcast.

953 words by Kevin Sherrington, The Dallas Morning News. MOVED

PHOTOS

David Murphy: Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts are inseparable as NFL coach of the year and MVP

FBN-MURPHY-COLUMN:PH — PHILADELPHIA — It has happened six times in 40 years.

Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts should make it a seventh.

992 words by David Murphy, The Philadelphia Inquirer. MOVED

PHOTOS

Saturday's games

TNS expects coverage from the following games:

Indianapolis at Minnesota, 1 p.m. ET

Baltimore at Cleveland, 4:30 p.m.

Miami at Buffalo, 8:15 p.m.

NBA

Saturday's games

TNS expects coverage from the following games:

Washington at LA Clippers, 4 p.m. ET

Miami at San Antonio, 5 p.m.

Dallas at Cleveland, 8 p.m.

NHL

Saturday's games

TNS expects coverage from the following games:

Columbus at Boston, 1 p.m. ET

Ottawa at Detroit, 1 p.m.

Dallas at Carolina, 7 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Montreal, 7 p.m.

Florida at New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.

NY Rangers at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

Nashville at Colorado, 9 p.m.

NY Islanders at Vegas, 10 p.m.

San Jose at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Bill Plaschke: Clay Helton, in his happy place at Georgia Southern, is still rooting for USC

FBC-PLASCHKE-COLUMN:LA — LOS ANGELES — Fifteen months ago, the following words appeared in this column:

"USC needs to remove Clay Helton right here, right now."

1341 words by Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times. MOVED

PHOTOS

Dom Amore: As UConn makes its football history, Marshall is chasing its own

FBC-AMORE-COLUMN:HC — MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Mention Marshall football, and certain things come immediately to mind. It’s the place where Hall of Famer Randy Moss played college ball before his long and consequential NFL career; it’s the football program that lost most of its coaches and players in a 1970 plane crash and it’s the subject of the 2006 film, “We Are Marshall.”

“The story of Marshall affects all of college football,” coach Charles Huff said. “I tell recruits when they come to Marshall, ‘Marshall affected your progress in college before you even knew it.’”

859 words by Dom Amore, Hartford Courant. MOVED

PHOTOS

Saturday's game

TNS expects coverage from the following game featuring teams in the CFP top 25:

Florida vs. No. 14 Oregon State, 2:30 p.m. ET

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Saturday's games

TNS expects coverage from the following games featuring teams in the AP top 25:

No. 14 Indiana at No. 8 Kansas, noon ET

St. Francis at No. 25 Miami, noon

North Carolina vs. No. 23 Ohio State, 3 p.m.

No. 16 UCLA vs. No. 13 Kentucky, 5:15 p.m.

No. 3 UConn at Butler, 7 p.m.

SOCCER

Mark Bradley: After the doings in Qatar, the World Cup is headed here

SOC-BRADLEY-COLUMN:AT — ATLANTA — The World Cup final will be played Sunday. France is a slight favorite over Argentina. Argentina is the massive — though not the universal — sentimental favorite. In the eyes of many, Sunday will be the day of Lionel Messi’s coronation as the greatest player ever, which is weird since the past decade has been devoted to hailing Little Leo as the GOAT of GOATs.

The next World Cup game after this will be staged in North America. The 2026 edition will be held over most of a continent, as opposed to this one, which has been confined to Qatar. (Area: 4,483 square miles.) The next time around, the hosts — note the plural — will be Canada, Mexico and these United States. (Area: 8.5 million square miles.)

772 words by Mark Bradley, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. MOVED

PHOTOS

Vahe Gregorian: Abiding spirit of World Cup will translate in Kansas City in 2026

SOC-GREGORIAN-COLUMN:KC — KANSAS CITY, Mo. — To a certain degree, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 experience is so insular and singular that it doesn’t lend itself well to extrapolating what we can expect in Kansas City in 2026.

Consider the radical cultural differences there.

1436 words by Vahe Gregorian, The Kansas City Star. MOVED

PHOTOS

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