If you're old enough, you remember when the belligerent relationship between major league players and owners led to a strike or lockout every four or five years, culminating in the depressing cancellation of the 1994 World Series. We've had labor peace since then, but that streak is about to end at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday night, when the current collective bargaining agreement expires and owners are expected to lock out players. That means no trades involving major leaguers, no free-agent signings, no major league portion of the winter meetings, nothing but hope it all gets resolved before spring training.

The new CBA talks come at a delicate time for the sport. Total league revenue has been down the past two seasons due to COVID-19 and commissioner Rob Manfred claimed the sport suffered a $3 billion operating loss in 2020. It also hit an all-time revenue high in 2019 at more than $10 billion, however, and a new seven-year national TV deal that kicks in for 2022 will pay an average of $1.84 billion per season, up from $1.55 billion. According to Forbes estimates, franchise values continue to escalate. In 2020, Steve Cohen purchased the Mets for $2.475 billion and John Sherman purchased the Royals for $1 billion. Only one other team has been sold since 2012, suggesting that not many owners are trying to get out of the baseball business.

Meanwhile, the league would like to spice up the entertainment value of the on-field product, while the players see themselves receiving a declining percentage of league revenue and fewer franchises trying to field competitive teams. Frankly, it's hard to feel any sympathy for anybody here. Aaron Loup, a 10-year veteran reliever with six career saves and no seasons with 60 innings pitched since 2014, just signed a two-year, $17 million contract. Neither side is exactly suffering.

As we stare at the lockout and the winter of negotiations ahead, it's important to learn how we got here -- there have been eight previous lockouts or player strikes -- and how that history will influence what happens this winter.

Manchester United fans are planning a tribute to sacked manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, sources have told ESPN.

Supporters are planning to unveil a huge flag dedicated to Solskjaer in the Stretford End ahead of Arsenal's visit to Old Trafford on Thursday, the first home game since the Norwegian's dismissal on Nov. 21.

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Sources have told ESPN that fans have approached United about the gesture and it is set to go ahead with the club's blessing.

The Premier League clash with Arsenal is also the first game since Ralf Rangnick's appointment as interim manager until the end of the season.

It is unclear whether Rangnick will be in the dugout or even in the stadium as United wait on a work permit for the German.

The 63-year-old will also need a PCR test before entering the UK in line with government COVID-19 guidelines. Michael Carrick will continue to lead the team in the meantime.

Solskjaer was sacked following the 4-1 defeat to Watford after nearly three years in charge. He led United to a second place finish in the Premier League last season and reached the Europa League final but his reign ended with a run of seven defeats from his last 13 matches.

The 48-year-old, however, remains a club legend after spending 11 years as a player at Old Trafford between 1996 and 2007. He won six Premier League titles and scored the goal which clinched the Champions League in 1999 and with it an unprecedented Treble.

Meanwhile, United are waiting on clarification from UEFA about the status of their final Champions League group game against Young Boys.

The game is scheduled to be held at Old Trafford on Dec. 8 but there have been suggestions that concerns over the new Omicron variant of coronavirus could see the fixture moved to a neutral venue.

Sources have told ESPN that United expect to be able to play the match at their home ground -- possibly without fans travelling from Switzerland -- but are waiting on further communication from Europe's governing body.

Lionel Messi has said that Robert Lewandowski deserved to win the 2020 Ballon d'Or award after the Paris Saint-Germain forward picked up the trophy for a record seventh time on Monday.

Lewandowski played a key role in helping Bayern Munich complete the Quadruple in 2020 but last year's Ballon d'Or ceremony wasn't held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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France Football, who organises the Ballon d'Or, created a new Striker of the Year award for the 2021 edition which they gave to Lewandowski.

"Robert, you deserve your Ballon D'Or. Last year, everyone was in agreement to say that you were the big winner of this award," Messi said in his speech.

"Hopefully France Football will give you the 2020 Ballon d'Or. We all believe you deserved it and I hope you can have it at home."

Messi earned 613 points in the voting for the trophy while Lewandowski scored 580.

Messi, who led Argentina to Copa America success in Brazil in July for their first major trophy since 1993, spent the majority of 2020 at Barcelona before his 21-year stay at the club ended when he left on a free in August and joined PSG soon after. However, some were unimpressed that Messi received the award.

"Each time I find it harder to believe in football awards," former Spain and Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas wrote on Twitter.

"For me, Messi is one of the top five players in history, but they have to start to know how to list those that have stood out the most at the end of a season. It's not that hard! Others make it difficult!"

Toni Kroos also said on his podcast that Madrid teammate Karim Benzema should have been handed the award over Messi.

"First of all I have to say that I am not interested in individual awards at all," he said. "But if they already exist, then they should also be fair. In my opinion that isn't the case at all this time.

"For me, Benzema should have been number one if you were really looking for the best individual player of the last year, because I can see from close quarters how outstanding he is.

"There is no doubt that Messi, next to [Cristiano] Ronaldo, is the player of the decade and has qualities that others will never have. What is wrong with the choice above all is the first place."

Olympic 1500m champion will race in the continental championships in Ireland on December 12

Organisers of the Spar European Cross Country Championships in Dublin next week received a boost when Jakob Ingebrigtsen was named in the Norway team for the event.

Ingebrigtsen, who recently turned 21, has won four European cross-country titles in the under-20 age group but will be racing in the senior men’s event on December 12.

He will be joined in that team by his older brother Filip, 28, who won the European cross-country senior men’s title in 2018 and the European 1500m crown in 2016.

Jakob of course took Olympic gold earlier this year in Tokyo when he beat Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot and Britain’s Josh Kerr to the title in a European and Olympic record of 3:28.32.

After winning under-20 Euro Cross titles in from 2016 to 2019, he is bypassing the under-23 age group in Dublin and going for the senior men’s crown instead.

Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen has been selected to compete for Norway at the European Cross Country Championships ??

Ingebrigtsen won the U20 singles title four times between 2016-19. pic.twitter.com/Bw60VSd6HV

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) November 29, 2021

The Norway team also includes Karoline Grøvdal in the senior women’s race, whereas the host nation have named a team that includes former European women’s gold medallist Fionnuala McCormack and under-20 talents Nick Griggs and Cian McPhillips.

Frenchman Jimmy Gressier, who won three medals in the under-23 age group at the Euro Cross from 2017 to 2019, will take on the Ingebrigtsens in the senior men’s race.

In addition, the German team has been bolstered by the inclusion of Konstanze Klosterhalfen in the senior women’s event.

The trial for the British team, meanwhile, took place in Liverpool on Saturday – CLICK HERE to read more.

Tickets for the event are only €8 for adults and free for under-16s.

Strong squad for next month’s Dublin event includes top athletes from Liverpool Cross Challenge plus US-based Charles Hicks

With twice as many medals as any other nation and three times as many golds in the history of the European Cross Country Championships, the Great Britain & Northern Ireland team will hope to continue its fine record in this event at the 2021 edition on the outskirts of Dublin on December 12.

In the senior women’s race five of the six women who struck team gold for Britain at the last European Championships in Lisbon in 2019 (main image above) will race again next week in Ireland. Only Amy Griffiths is missing from that victorious squad two years ago as last weekend’s trials winner Jess Judd is joined by Jenny Nesbitt, Abbie Donnelly, Kate Avery, Charlotte Arter (subject to fitness) and newcomer Jess Gibbon.

The senior men’s team face a tough test against a line-up in Dublin that will include Norwegian brothers Jakob and Filip Ingebrigtsen plus Frenchman Jimmy Gressier. They will be led by trials winner Jack Rowe and Olympic 5000m runner Andy Butchart – with the latter having led Britain to team gold in Lisbon in 2019.

Judd and Butchart both raced in Tokyo and they are not the only Olympians in the team. The 800m runner Alex Bell is part of a mixed relay team after winning the trial in Liverpool. She will be hoping to retain the title in this relatively new event although she has different team-mates compared to Lisbon 2019.

The most intriguing addition to the GB team is Charles Hicks. The US-based Briton is a student at Stanford University and has been in terrific form on the collegiate circuit recently. He was fifth in the Euro Cross under-20 race two years ago and led Britain to team gold on that occasion and will be hoping to make the podium this time in the under-23 event in a race that also includes trials winner Tom Mortimer.

Elsewhere Amelia Quirk leads the GB team in the under-23 women’s event. Megan Keith will be aiming to improve a lot on her 27th place from two years ago in the under-20 women’s event. Trials winner Henry McLuckie leads the under-20 men’s hopes.

READ MORE: Euro Cross Lisbon 2019 coverage

“Following very competitive trial races in Liverpool, we are delighted to select these strong teams for Fingal-Dublin next month,” said British Athletics team leader Chris Jones. “We have several athletes who have competed in senior and junior teams at international level before, combined with nine debutants, so I am sure they will all support one another to deliver good team and individual performances at the European Cross Country Championships.”

Senior women: Jess Judd, Abbie Donnelly; Jess Gibbon; Jenny Nesbitt; Kate Avery; Charlotte Arter (subject to fitness)

Senior men: Jack Rowe, Andy Butchart, William Battershill; Jamie Crowe; Stuart McCallum; Jake Smith

Under-23 women: Amelia Quirk, Eleanor Bolton, Jemima Elgood, Izzy Fry, Cari Hughes, Eloise Walker

Under-23 men: Charles Hicks, Tom Mortimer, Rory Leonard, Sam Charlton, Zak Mahamed, Matthew Stonier

Under-20 women: Megan Keith, Phoebe Anderson, Alice Garner, Ella Greenway, Ellen Wear, Bea Wood

Under-20 men: Henry McLuckie, Will Barnicoat, Hamish Armitt, Lewis Hannigan, Osian Perrin, Liam Rawlings

Mixed relay: Alex Bell, Hannah Nuttall, Luke Duffy, Ben West

Olympic high jumper says she’s heartbroken after Connor Borthwick dies in industrial accident

Jonas Valanciunas wasn't exactly a marksman when he entered the NBA in 2012. In fact, in his first five seasons in the league, he went 1-of-4 from 3-point range.

But those days are long gone.

Valanciunas hit his first seven 3-pointers on Monday night -- all in the first half -- as he helped lead the New Orleans Pelicans to a 123-104 win over the LA Clippers.

The 6-foot-11, 265-pound bruiser has slowly started to add the three-point shot to his game since 2017, but he's never had a night like Tuesday when he scored a career-high 39 points to go along with 15 rebounds.

"Guys were calling him Dirk Valanciunas," Pelicans coach Willie Green said, referencing Dallas Mavericks great Dirk Nowitzki. "But we want him shooting the ball when he's open and mixing it in. He still wants to go to the post, which I love about him. He's a physical guy. But just explaining to him how it's going to open our offense up with his ability to shoot the ball the way he can, it was amazing to see tonight."

Valanciunas joined Stephen Curry as the only players this season to record at least 35 points, 10 rebounds and 7 3-pointers in a game -- and both did it against the Clippers. Valanciunas also became the first player in NBA history to have seven 3-pointers and seven offensive rebounds in the same game.

He is just the sixth player since play-by-play tracking began in 1996 to go at least 7-of-7 from 3-point range in a half, joining Trevor Ariza (2014), Curry (2013), Ben Gordon (2012), Shawne Williams (2011) and Raef LaFrentz, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

In his first 18 games, Valanciunas was shooting 56.4% from deep. But he went 1-for-11 in his three games prior to Tuesday and it appeared that his percentages were coming back down to Earth.

But when the first two shots went in, Valanciunas kept letting them fly. He went on a personal 14-4 run in the second quarter, including a stretch during which he made back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers that sent the Pelicans bench into a frenzy.

By the time the night was finished, Valanciunas had improved to 30-for-58 on 3-pointers this season -- a league-leading 51.7%. He's two away from tying his career high for 3 in a season, which he set two seasons ago in Memphis.

But he knows he has a long way to go before he can live up to his new nickname.

"Well, I'm still Jonas Valanciunas," the 10-year veteran said with a chuckle. "Everybody wants to be [Dirk]. He's one of the greatest big guys in the game. But I still gotta work a lot to be like him.

"I'm just taking what's out there. If I have an open shot, I'll take it. If I'm making it, I'll keep taking it. It's as simple as that."

Valanciunas' career-high 7 3s comes just 10 days after he set his previous career high when he went 5-of-9 on Nov. 19 against the same Clippers team, although that game was played in New Orleans.

"We just couldn't stop him," Clippers coach Ty Lue said Monday night. "We were due for a bad defensive game, but Valanciunas made 7 3s."

ESPN's Baxter Holmes contributed to this report.