In general, Shields casts himself as an alienated, covetous nerd who’s wondering why we’re all such alienated, covetous nerds, why we’re so obsessed with celebrities when they make us even more depressed about “our unamplified little lives.” Roving far and wide in the pop-culture universe, Shields weighs in on the erotic power of women who wear glasses (“The arrogance implied in believing that one’s beauty can afford to be concealed is entrancing”), and on his quest to obtain a genuine Boy Scout belt: “I go so far as to schedule an interview for a troop leader position, until, fearing accusations of pedophilia, I end the charade....

Wide receiver Keenan Allen will miss “some time” after suffering a kidney injury in Sunday’s loss to the Ravens, coach Mike McCoy said Monday. FANTASY: Top waiver wire pickups after Week 8 | Week 9 WR rankings Although McCoy didn’t specify a timetable for Allen’s return, he is expected to miss next Monday’s game against the Bears at the least. San Diego will turn to Stevie Johnson, the second-most targeted receiver on the team with 24 catches for 283 yards, to fill in as Allen recovers....

“The Clippers and the team from Southern California,” Barkley said on “Inside the NBA” following Thursday’s showdown between the two LA teams, refusing to say the Lakers by name. “I’m not talking about these damn losers. Between the nitwits at TNT and the nitwits at ESPN, we talk about these losers more than any people in the world.” NBA LEAGUE PASS: Sign up to unlock live out-of-market games (7-day free trial)...

During TNT’s pregame show, Barkley heckled the network and apologized to viewers incessantly for airing the Knicks-Cavaliers matchup over the Pelicans-Rockets game that was in the same time slot. DeMarcus Cousins made his debut with New Orleans, and New York was trounced by Cleveland, 119-104. After the game, Barkley didn’t ease off the gas in his dislike for the New York franchise. MORE: Charles Oakley sits with Dan Gilbert for Knicks-Cavs...

Appearing on ESPN’s Mike & Mike radio show Thursday, Barkley was asked how he was going to “dominate Christmas." Instead, he went on a rant about how much he doesn’t enjoy the holiday. MORE: NBA’s Top 10 2015 moments | Grant Hill recalls Kobe’s Christmas greatness “So I’m not a big Christmas fan. I’m a firm believer that Santa Claus should only bring kids gifts. I think Santa Claus should bring everybody gifts until the get out of high school, and then that’s it....

Barkley made the remarks during an NBA on TNT broadcast on Tuesday, the opening night of the NBA regular season. The Nets last week banned Irving from participating in all games and practices until he becomes vaccinated. Irving is ineligible for home games due to a New York City vaccine mandate but away games might have still been a possibility since the league does not have its own mandate. However, the Nets chose to fully suspend Irving....

Barkley claimed he took the jacket out of co-host Shaquille O’Neal’s closet, but Shaq wasn’t having it. MORE: Charles Barkley doesn’t want Warriors’ ‘girl basketball’ style to catch on No matter what, Sir Charles always keeps us entertained. 

Barkley and video game publisher 2K Sports have not been able to agree on a financial agreement over the past few years to make the Hall of Famer a fixture in the game as both an analyst and a playable athlete. The money, however, is not for him — it’s for retired players. MORE: LeBron James reacts to “NBA 2K19” rating “Unless they give the retired players X amount of money, they cannot use my likeness,” Barkley said on the Scoop B Radio Podcast....

He called them "big ol' women" and the city a "gold mine for Weight Watchers." Barkley's comments clearly angered a few, and it appeared that he would issue an apology on Sunday night's episode. But when the camera zoomed in for a solo shot, Barkley did the exact opposite - he told fans who didn't like his commentary to "turn (the TV) off." So about that apology, Chuck? "If y'all waiting on me to apologize, hell gon' freeze over," he said....

Oakley, who maintains he did nothing wrong to get arrested at Madison Square Garden last week, made the comparison during an interview on SI Now. MORE: Draymond Green says James Dolan has ‘slave master mentality’ When Oakley was asked by host Maggie Gray whether he believed Dolan to be on the same level as Sterling, Oakley said he did. “He’s definitely a control freak,” Oakley said about Dolan. “He has everybody in the Garden on pins and needles....

Daniels’ last “Benghazi ain’t going away!!” tweet was published on Sunday. But the sentiment didn’t recur on Monday, July 6, the day that Daniels—who is best known for his 1979 hit “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”—died of a hemorrhagic stroke at Summit Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 83. Now, a day after his death, a person or people close to Daniels are continuing the tradition, tweeting under the signature TeamCDB/BW, likely for Team Charlies Daniels Band / Beau Weevils....

In five years with the Irish, Weis posted a 35-27 record. But he doesn’t attribute the relative lack of success to the job being his first as a head coach; he instead says his assistants and their selfish agendas doomed Notre Dame. MORE: SN Power Poll | AP Top 25 | Coaches Poll “I hired too many people that wanted to use the school as a steppingstone for a head coaching job,” Weis told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette....

For the last couple of weeks, it’s been down to two: Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson. And that’s OK. As rumors circulated of potential Chase format changes a few years ago, there was a lot of talk about eliminating drivers and possibly resetting points during the Chase. For instance, maybe NASCAR would cut the number of drivers to five or six and reset the points midway through the Chase. Or maybe NASCAR would do the reset even later, with one, two or three races to go, narrowing the contenders down to three or four....

Costa missed last weekend’s 3-0 win at Leicester City with a back injury amid intense speculation of a falling-out with head coach Antonio Conte, but the Italian clearly held no grudge, with his star striker immediately back in the team to make his 100th Chelsea appearance. And the Spain international proved pivotal, scoring in the seventh minute of first-half injury time - brought on by a nasty-looking head injury to Ryan Mason - prompting a typically fiery celebration in which he intimated that much of the talk doubting his future at Stamford Bridge was just that....

Hazard has not played competitively since suffering a broken ankle in training with Belgium in June, although he did return to action for Chelsea’s development side against Everton on Friday. The playmaker looked on as the respective senior teams met at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, where Cesc Fabregas and Alvaro Morata sealed a 2-0 win. Belgium boss Roberto Martinez has named the 26-year-old in his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Gibraltar and Greece - something that was greeted quizzically by Conte pre-match but he has now softened his stance...

Both have been linked with moves to Real Madrid in the summer, and the ex-France international centre-back believes that the club may simply have to accept that the two regular starters want to try their luck elsewhere. Indeed, he feels neither is indispensable. “To be honest, you have got so many great players in the world that if Hazard or Courtois has to leave, you can find a good goalkeeper to replace Courtois,” he told Goal ....

The 19-year-old will join Brighton for the rest of the 2016-17 season, with the Seagulls currently just one point behind Championship leaders Newcastle United. Drogba snubs Australia for Brazil move Tomori won Chelsea’s Academy Player of the Year last season after helping the Blues retain both the UEFA Youth League and the FA Youth Cup. The defender can play at centre-back or right-back, and made his full debut for Chelsea on the last day of the 2015-16 season, coming on for Branislav Ivanovic for the last 30 minutes against Leicester City....

An announcement by the Blues has confirmed that their long-serving captain will bring his 22-year association with the club to a close at the end of his current contract. Terry has expressed a desire to find a new challenge before hanging up his boots, but he is also being backed to forge a successful coaching career when that day does come. Terry’s best and worst Chelsea moments Chelsea legend Nevin told Radio Five Live: “In all my years watching, playing, commentating on football, I have never met another individual who is so clearly cut out to be a manager....

The England international has handed in a transfer request in an attempt to secure his move away from Leicester before the transfer window closes. Chelsea 11/2 to win Premier League Chelsea have been trying to finalise a deal for Drinkwater for the past month as they hope to add another English player to their squad after two Premier League games of fielding none in their starting line-up. Leicester’s original asking price for the 27-year-old was £40m but Chelsea are expecting to bring that down a little with the transfer window closing at 23:00 BST....