DETROIT -- A month ago, David Blough was an inactive quarterback behind Matthew Stafford and Jeff Driskel. Now, on Thanksgiving against the Chicago Bears, the undrafted rookie from Purdue is the Detroit Lions' starting quarterback because of injuries to the other two quarterbacks.

And on his first career completion, he threw his first career touchdown -- unleashing a 75-yard TD pass to Kenny Golladay. Golladay was wide open on the play because of an apparent busted coverage between Chicago's Prince Amukamara and safeties Eddie Jackson and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, leading to an easy throw-and-catch for the former third-string quarterback.

.@david_blough10 with a SHOT to @kgxix ‼️ pic.twitter.com/9iwOBRBiPy

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) November 28, 2019

Executive moves from boxing to fight for squash
By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad International Correspondent

The World Squash Federation has appointed William Louis-Marie as its new Chief Executive Officer. The 53-year-old will take up his position at the Federation’s HQ in Hastings, England, on 9th December.

The WSF has been seeking to fill the post since Andrew Shelley stood down in June after nine years in the role.

William Louis-Marie boasts a successful track record in heading up sports companies: Following his position as Communications Director of the European Games in Baku in 2014 and 2015, he joined the International Boxing Association (AIBA) – firstly as Communications Director before being appointed Executive Director, managing and organising the general administration of the Association and its 202 affiliated National Federations.

“It has taken us longer than we hoped to fill this important post but we are delighted that we have found William Louis-Marie, and that he has agreed to take up the challenge,” said WSF President Jacques Fontaine.

“He comes to us with a respected pedigree in world sport and will undoubtedly bring a fresh new vision to our Federation and our global game.”

William Louis-Marie added: “I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the World Squash Federation as its CEO and to work closely with its Board Members to contribute to the continuous development of Squash.

“The popularity of squash keeps growing as more and more people enjoy playing it on all continents. I’m extremely convinced squash can become one of the most entertaining racket sports in the world with the support of all our National Federations.

“I look forward to working with all squash stakeholders to expand the global reach of our sport and make WSF a leading organisation in the sporting world.”

One of William Louis-Marie’s first WSF duties will be to attend the WSF Men’s World Team Championship from 15-21 December in Washington DC, USA, where he will meet all the officials and teams participating.

WSF was founded in 1967 and has just under 150 member nations. The International Federation is a member of the Global Association of International Sports Federation (GAISF) and the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federation (ARISF). Squash is played by over 20 million players worldwide and is included in the major International multisports events. 

Picture courtesy of  WSF

Hillary Watson, wife of eight-time major champion Tom Watson, lost her battle with pancreatic cancer and passed away Wednesday night at the age of 63, according to a report from Golfweek.

Hillary was diagnosed in October 2017 and went through numerous rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. In May 2018, Hillary went through an extensive surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, according to Golf Digest, and was soon deemed cancer-free. However, the cancer returned shortly after, as did the rigorous treatment process. 

According to Golf Digest, the Watsons flew back to their home in Stillwell, Kansas to put Hillary in hospice, where she remained until she passed just before midnight Thanksgiving Day.

The family will hold a memorial service Dec. 4 in Leawood, Kansas at United Methodist Church of the Resurrection. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to be given to the Children's Bereavement Camp of Crossroads Hospice Kansas or to United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, according to Golfweek.

The Tottenham ball boy who was praised by Jose Mourinho for his heads-up thinking during Spurs' thrilling 4-2 Champions League victory over Olympiakos on Tuesday has said the Portuguese coach's high-five following the goal he helped create not only made his day, but his "life."

Fifteen-year-old Callum Hynes started a Spurs move that led to the side's 50th-minute equaliser against the Greek side by quickly supplying Serge Aurier with a ball to put back into play. Aurier then found a streaking Lucas Moura who eventually cut back for Harry Kane to pull Spurs even at 2-2.

Mourinho congratulated Hynes with a high-five for the assist while the team celebrated the goal. And on Wednesday, Hynes expressed his appreciation for the public acknowledgement.

"It's all a bit surreal," Hynes told Tottenham's website on Wednesday. "I was just doing my job and I still can't quite believe what happened.

"I didn't even see the goal! I was busy getting the ball that had come off and then I heard the cheer. I turned around and Harry was celebrating.

"I looked at the replay on the screen and watched exactly what happened. You can see from my smile it was just unbelievable. Jose didn't have to do that. It was really nice of him to come over to me. It's made my day, my life, really! I love Spurs and it was an amazing moment I'll never forget."

Jose Mourinho at Tottenham is a new man ?pic.twitter.com/rwR8dMAPyo

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 26, 2019

After the match, Mourinho singled out Hynes for his part in the move. But his in-game gesture was more than enough, said Callum's mum, Keeley Hynes.

"We were in the stadium and saw Jose go over to Callum. We just thought it was going to be a high-five and didn't expect any more than that but then both of our phones started pinging!" she told the website.

"The smile on Callum's face! It was such a lovely thing that Jose did to say thanks like that. Callum always says that by sitting on the touchline watching these players he learns so much and takes it all away with him for his own football. I'm so proud of him."

Two goals in seven minutes gifted Astana an unlikely 2-1 victory against Manchester United in the Europa League. Jesse Lingard had spearheaded United's youngest-ever side in a European match and scored as United raced to an early lead.

However, the Reds were left to rue a glaring miss from Tahith Chong that would have doubled their advantage. Two quickfire efforts followed from the home side, the second an unfortunate own goal, and gifted the Kazakh champions their first win in Group L.

Positives

Despite the result, there was plenty to please Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, particularly the performances of Ethan Laird at right-back and Mason Greenwood in attack. His young side dominated the ball at times and looked dangerous when going forward, but ultimately a seven-minute spell undid all the good work.

Negatives

Solskjaer will have felt uneasy with the way Astana dominated the opening exchanges of the second half. He will feel particularly aggrieved with the way the hosts equalised, their leveller coming just 38 seconds after Chong's glaring miss.

Manager rating out of 10

5 - Solskjaer made a brave decision to blood so many youngsters, though his decision seemed justified for much of the game. Ultimately, though, they buckled when put under pressure, but the Norwegian may still feel the experience will have long-term benefits for his young squad.

Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Lee Grant 5 -- A comfortable first half turned into a testing second for the former Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday and Burnley shot-stopper. Dealt with any tests thrown at him before half-time but could do little about either goal.

DF Ethan Laird 7 -- The youngster impressed with a series of attacking runs down the right, often overlapping and driving into the box or towards the byline and offering United's greatest attacking outlet. Looked assured when on defensive duty, too.

DF Di'Shon Bernard 5 -- The centre-back was comfortable in the first half but was unlucky twice after the break, first when Dmitri Shomko struck the ball through his legs for the equaliser and again when he deflected Antonio Rukavina's cross into his own goal.

DF Axel Tuanzebe 5 -- Looked a strong presence at the back and won his aerial battles. His central pairing with Bernard was tested in a critical spell of 15 minutes in the second half and the duo struggled to deal with the pressure. Looked comfortable with the ball at his feet.

DF Luke Shaw 6 -- The experienced left-back needed to impress but he switched off early on to lose Dorin Rotariu as Astana came close to scoring. He redeemed himself with a key defensive clearance when under pressure on the hour mark.

MF James Garner 6 -- Both Garner and Levitt looked comfortable in the middle of the park, dominating possession and attempting to take risks in and around the opposition area, though their influence wilted after Astana's double strike. Made way for Largie Ramazani.

MF Dylan Levitt 6 -- A mature performance in the centre of the park and, until the goals, was rarely put under pressure when he had the ball at his feet. Looked confident and was constantly starting attacks from deep positions. Unlucky to receive a yellow card in the second half.

MF Tahith Chong 4 -- Looked lively on the right flank with his quick feet and looked comfortable when drifting into central areas, though at times looked overreliant on his left foot. Missed a golden opportunity to score his first United goal but missed an open goal. A pivotal moment in the game.

MF Jesse Lingard 6 -- The attacking midfielder, captaining United for the first time, ended a run of 28 games without a goal to open the scoring. His fine strike, with the outside of his boot to the goalkeeper's left, was one of several chances in the first half.

FW Angel Gomes 6 -- A good run inside the first 10 minutes was a glimpse of things to come, though he often found his route to goal blocked. When United needed someone to take risks in the second half, Gomes was the one to try to make things happen. Saw a free-kick saved with 15 minutes left on the clock.

FW Mason Greenwood 7 -- Greenwood came into the game with three goals in his last four starts and he came close to making it four in five on numerous occasions. He showed good movement throughout and tested the goalkeeper with a series of shots in and around the area, particularly a stinging effort 12 minutes from time.

Substitutes

D'Mani Bughail-Mellor 5 -- Came into the game at a testing point with United having gone two goals down, and subsequently struggled to stamp his authority on the game. Showed signs of his speed and aggression with the ball.

Largie Ramazani N/A -- Came on late and had little time to influence proceedings.

Ethan Galbraith N/A -- Replaced Gomes as stoppage time approached.

Paul Collingwood has backed Zak Crawley to succeed if he wins his chance in the second Test in Hamilton. Kent batsman Crawley was taken on tour largely to gain experience and so the England management could take a closer look at him, but an injury to Jos Buttler the day before the second Test might well have created an early opportunity for an unexpected debut against New Zealand.

"Technically he looks very strong," Collingwood, who is one of England's assistant coaches, said of Crawley. "He's willing to learn all the time. He's been brilliant in the conversations that we've had in the nets. He's always questioning things and that's what you want.

"He's good fun, he's a good athlete in the field as well, so he ticks a lot of the right boxes. He looks very good. But you never know until you get in the pressure of a Test match situation. The signs are really good, though."

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Crawley has impressed the England management on this tour. As well as scoring a century in his one opportunity to bat in a match situation, he has also looked comfortable in the nets and impressed with his agility and fitness in fielding sessions.

Notably, the two centuries Crawley scored during the 2019 County Championship season were against attacks containing fast bowlers. He made 111 against a Nottinghamshire side which included James Pattinson - nobody else in Kent's top six made it to double-figures - and 108 against a Warwickshire side containing Ryan Sidebottom and Henry Brookes. And it is ability to play the short ball which is one of the areas that has impressed Collingwood.

"Certainly, anything from waist height upwards he looks to be able to handle," Collingwood said. "And playing short pitched bowling is crucial in these conditions. He times the ball really well, too; he hits the ball hard for a big lad."

By a "big lad" Collingwood certainly does not mean that Crawley is carrying an excess weight. Far from it. Instead he stands at 6ft 5in and looks as fit as anyone in the squad, with the possible exception of Ben Stokes. At training on Wednesday, it appeared as if he deliberately slowed down not to embarrass his captain, Joe Root, who had joined him on multiple circuits of the boundary.

Crawley is still very much at the developmental stage of his career, though. He is just 21 and, as his first-class batting average of 31.27 illustrates, he is still learning his game. Having played a great deal on the seamer-friendly surfaces at Canterbury, however, those figures are not, perhaps, quite as modest as they seem.

Collingwood is equally optimistic about the prospects for the rest of this side's batsmen. As a member of the team that won the Ashes in Australia in 2010-11, he thinks he knows what it would take to repeat that result, saying that scoreboard pressure is a vital ingredient.

"I'm very confident that this batting unit, over time, is going to score a lot of runs," Collingwood said. "I think the mentality of it, the way the guys are working, it feels as though we've got the right kind of personnel to score big runs.

"We know what Australia are going to do to us. They're going to batter us with 90mph bowlers and make us feel uncomfortable with a spinner at the other end who will dry us up. But when we won there in 2010-11, we scored a lot of runs and then you've got scoreboard pressure.

"The other challenge is to get those 20 wickets. And that seems to be increasingly difficult. Sides now generally have longer batting orders and the Kookaburra ball can prove difficult to take wickets with. The old school top-of-off with a Dukes ball back in the England doesn't necessarily work over here. We've found ways at times but if you look at history we haven't really consistently found a formula or a solution.

"But we have to find a way. You can see that New Zealand have a strategy that has worked over time: you're going to get swing bowlers up front, then Colin de Grandhomme and then Wagner to bounce the living daylights out of you. It's a system that works for them and it's our challenge to produce the skills out of our bowlers that work on in these conditions with this ball.

"You look back and see what we were doing well [in 2010-11], and everyone refers back to pace, but we didn't have much pace actually. It was more down to accuracy - 'bowling dry' as we called it - and it was almost playing on their ego, because they wanted to score runs, because it was the Australian way.

"But teams, even Australia, don't really play with ego any more. They're very patient. Steve Smith shows that. So you might need a different type of bowler with some extra pace."

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indianapolis Colts will be without leading receiver T.Y. Hilton for Sunday's key AFC South game against the Tennessee Titans, general manager Chris Ballard announced Thursday.

Hilton, according to Ballard, suffered a setback in practice Wednesday with the same calf injury that caused him to miss three games earlier this month.

"I just can't seem to get a regular injury," Hilton said Tuesday while discussing his ongoing calf issues. "I always get something crazy. It is what it is. I'll deal with it."

Hilton returned from his three-game absence and was on a snap limit against the Houston Texans on Nov. 21. He had three catches for 18 yards in 25 snaps while suffering some tightness in his calf against the Texans.

Hilton entered the season having missed just four games in his career since entering the NFL in 2012. Sunday will be the fifth game that he has missed this season. Hilton leads the Colts in receptions (35), yards (378) and touchdowns (five) this season. The Colts are 1-7 without Hilton in the lineup.

Indianapolis (6-5), losers of three of its past four games, will also be without Eric Ebron, who was placed on injured reserve earlier this week due to an ankle injury.

The Colts could be getting some help back at receiver against the Titans (6-5), as rookie Parris Campbell has practiced twice this week after having surgery on his right hand nearly three weeks ago.

"We've got to see what he can do if he has to wear anything on his hand," coach Frank Reich said. "If he does have to wear something on his hand, can he catch with it? How much protection does he need? I know they have been tweaking and experimenting with some things. We will just see how that goes and how he can practice. I know this, he'll just have to show us that he can do it out there on the field if he has to wear something on the hand."

Former Wimbledon doubles champion Sania Mirza will return to competitive tennis in January, two years after taking a break to have a baby.

The Indian will play at the Hobart International in Australia alongside Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine.

Mirza, 33, gave birth to her first child with former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik in October 2018.

In 2015 she won Wimbledon with Swiss player Martina Hingis, then went on to win the US and Australian Opens.

Mirza became the first Indian to win a WTA singles title in in 2005, before injury forced her to concentrate on doubles.

A former world number one in doubles, Mirza also won three Grand Slams in mixed. She plans to partner American Rajeev Ram at the Australian Open in Melbourne.