G'day sports fans,

Classic quote: "I hate it. It looks like a stickup at 7-Eleven. Five guys standing there with their hands in the air." - NBA player Norm Sloan, when asked about zone defense 

🗞 In today's edition of Sport Journal:

💇🏻‍♂️ Did a secret hair transplant cost Shaqiri his place at Liverpool?

🇦🇺 New Hall of Fame Inductees

🏉 Storm to rest up to 10 players

🪨 Not Sports

The NFT (non-fungible token) crypto world hit dizzying new heights yesterday, when Visa bought a CryptoPunk & then someone bought a NFT rock for US$1.3m.

Full disclosure: I do own a cartoon lamb, a lion, some martians and a gorilla that plays basketball. 🤷🏻‍♂️ (here's a beginners guide, if you're interested).

🌍 World Sport

💇🏻‍♂️ Former Liverpool winger Xherdan Shaqiri reportedly didn't know, and didn't tell the club he wouldn't be able to head a ball for six weeks after having a hair transplant. The Switzerland winger was booted to Lyon on Monday.

🔁 Manchester United are eyeing Atletico Madrid star Saul Niguez ahead of the close of the summer transfer window on August 31.

🚴🏼‍♀️ Norway's Odd Christian Eiking replaced defending champion Primoz Roglic as the leader of the Vuelta a Espana after the Slovenian's crash on stage 10. 

🏉 Queensland will host Rugby Championship games in a series of double-headers played in Brisbane, Townsville and the Gold Coast. (rugby pass)

🏉 Super Rugby: The latest reports suggest that a 12-team competition has been given the green light for next season, including the current 10 Trans-Tasman sides from New Zealand and Australia as well as the two new franchises, Moana Pasifika and Fijian Drua.

😷 A worrying number of Covid cases have been linked to the Paralympics prompting New Zealand to withdraw its entire team from the opening ceremony.

💔 Australian darts star Kyle Anderson has died at the age of 33. The player, whose career highs included winning the 2017 Auckland Masters, had been ill for some time.

🇦🇺 AFL

Dual Brownlow medallist Chris Judd and female trailblazer Debbie Lee headline four 2021 inductees into the Australian Football Hall of Fame named on Tuesday night.

Along with Judd and Lee, former St Kilda captain Nathan Burke and WAFL and VFL premiership player Robert Wiley were inducted, while Merv McIntosh and Jack Oatey were elevated to Legend status for their contributions to the game. (AFL)

'My focus is on the final': Magical milestone not on Bud's mind: Lance Franklin is focusing on winning rather than his looming 1000-goal milestone. (AFL)

🏉 NRL

The Cronulla Sharks' bid for a top-eight finish just got a whole lot stronger after Melbourne Storm star Cameron Munster revealed coach Craig Bellamy intended to rest a slew of players (up to 10), for the two sides' round 25 match-up. (nine)

Parramatta winger Maika Sivo has been dealt a hammer blow with the Eels flyer set to miss the start of the 2022 season. (All Injuries)

Knights v Titans: Frizell back, Klemmer out; Peachey new No.6 (match preview)

• Newcastle has won each of its last four matches by a margin of 1 to 12 points.

• Kevin Proctor has scored a try in each of Gold Coast's last two matches against Newcastle.

🐴 Racing

Lincoln Moore's Murray Bridge Preview | Racing and Sports — www.racingandsports.com

Race by race preview by Lincoln Moore.

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📺 Live sport 👇🏼

09:00 - WNBA - Minnesota Lynx v Seattle Storm (ESPN 2) 

09:10 - MLB - Boston Red Sox v Minnesota Twins (Sky Sports 3)

10:00 - 2020 Tokyo Paralympics (7mate, 7Plus or Channel 7)

12:10 - MLB - San Diego Padres v Los Angeles Dodgers (ESPN or Sky Sports 3)

19:30 - Supercars Pro Eseries, Round 1 (Fox Sports) 

20:00 - Test Match - England v India (Fox Cricket) 

20:00 - J1 League - Consadole Sapporo v Nagoya Grampus (Optus Sport or Optus Sport App)

20:00 - J1 League - Tokushima Vortis v Kashiwa Reysol (Optus Sport or Optus Sport App)

20:00 - J1 League - Sagan Tosu v Yokohama F. Marinos (Optus Sport or Optus Sport App)

23:00 - Vuelta a Espana (SBS on Demand or SBS Viceland)

THURSDAY

09:10 - MLB New York Mets v San Francisco Giants (Sky Sports 3)

10:00 - 2020 Tokyo Paralympics (7mate, 7Plus or Channel 7)

11:30 - MLS All-Star Game - MLS All-Stars v Liga MX All-StarsBeIN Sports 3 

12:10 - MLB - San Diego Padres v Los Angeles DodgersESPN or Sky Sports 3

19:50 - NRL - Newcastle Knights v Gold Coast Titans (Fox League or Channel 9)

20:00 - Test Match - England v India (Fox Cricket) 

21:30 - European TourEuropean Masters (Fox Sports) 

23:00 - Vuelta a Espana (SBS on Demand or SBS Viceland)