Sports Break:

 

National sports stories & blog updates EARLY LEAD Lionel Messi beats out Cristiano Ronaldo to win best player in Europe award By Marissa Payne Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen also took home top honors for best save at the Champions League draw.   Read full article » Russell Wilson’s ‘Recovery Water’? Here are 9 other bogus athlete endorsements By Clinton Yates Financial advice from Ric Flair? Karl Malone endorsing a hair-growth product? These things actually happened.  Read full article » Champions League draw: Why Barcelona has an easy path to the knockout round By Matt Bonesteel Defending champions should not be troubled early.  Read full article » Ex-L.A. Kings player Mike Richards charged with possession of controlled substance By Marissa Payne The Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed the charges on Thursday.  Read full article » Heisman Trophy 2015: Meet TCU’s Trevone Boykin, animal-rights activist By Matt Bonesteel A trip to McDonald's spurred the Horned Frogs' star QB down a new path.  Read full article » Barcelona explains why it made a mother buy a $61 ticket for her 10-month-old baby By Marissa Payne An upset mother's story trended on social media after she paid over $60 for a seat she said her child didn't use.   Read full article » Holy Cross football coaches fire up the team by putting on their very own WWE SummerSlam By Marissa Payne Choke slam! He did a choke slam!  Read full article » Australian rugby team to train with the Notre Dame before test match against the U.S. By Marissa Payne Notre Dame will use the Wallabies' visit to develop new methods of training its own team.  Read full article » Welp, Shaq and Kobe’s feud was fun while it lasted By Des Bieler Shaq: 'A lot of stuff was said out of the heat of the moment.' Kobe: 'I was an idiot when I was a kid.'  Read full article » Bill Simmons doesn’t like Roger Goodell. Turns out, he doesn’t care for Steve Ballmer either. By Matt Bonesteel It makes sense why the former ESPN personality has beef with the NFL commissioner. But the Clippers owner?  Read full article »   The Post recommends: Lean & Fit Stay on top of the hottest fitness and healthy eating trends with this weekly newsletter. Sign me up   FANCY STATS It’s time for Nats to look toward next year By Neil Greenberg Per Fangraphs, the Nats have a 15.5 percent chance at reaching the postseason  Read full article » Expect the pass-happy Pac-12 to score a lot of points in 2015 By Josh Planos Since 2011, the conference has consistently ranked above the national average in pass yards per game as well as completion percentage.  Read full article » With Bryce Harper out as NL MVP front-runner, Clayton Kershaw could make history By Neil Greenberg Kershaw has a 1.00 ERA since the all-star break   Read full article » Fantasy Football 2015: The five riskiest players in the draft By Neil Greenberg These early selections have too much downside risk.  Read full article » Pouncey injury makes Le’Veon Bell, Antonio Brown and Big Ben big fantasy risks By Neil Greenberg Pouncey isn't a key fantasy pick, but his teammates' statistics figure to suffer in his absence.  Read full article »               You received this e-mail because you signed up for the Sports Break newsletter. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this e-mail has been sent to you in error, or you no longer wish to receive e-mail from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2015 The Washington Post  |  1150 15th St NW, Washington, DC 20071