Conor McGregor's UFC 329 octagon return on July 11 went off the rails almost immediately. The former two-division champion headlined the fight card in a rematch with former featherweight champion and BMF titleholder Max Holloway.
At the sound of the bell to start the bout, McGregor rushed across the cage and leaped into the air with a jumping switch kick. He landed awkwardly on his right leg and fell to the canvas. He fell twice more, once while throwing a kick and later a punch. The referee stepped in once it was obvious McGregor had suffered an injury. It's unknown what specific injury the Irishman fell victim to or the severity of it. But that will change on Thursday.
McGregor expects the results from scans to come back tomorrow. He also thinks the bout should be rules a no contest and all wagers place on the bout returned.
"A few notes
"1. I will have the results of the scan on my leg tomorrow. 2. The fight should be a no contest and all bets returned," he wrote on Instagram.
McGregor (22-7) returned after a five-year hiatus in a welterweight
booking against Max
Holloway at
UFC 329 in Las Vegas. His highly anticipated return ended
anticlimactically as he injured his knee on the first kick he
threw. “Notorious” was barely able to plant both feet firmly after
the injury, leading to a stoppage loss just 69 seconds into the
first round.
Conor McGregor reflects on UFC 329 loss
McGregor now wants his defeat to Holloway to be overturned to a no
contest. The former UFC double champ also revealed that he’ll soon
have the results of the scan of his injury. Notably, McGregor wants
all bets on the fight to be returned.
“A few notes 1. I will have the results of the scan on my leg
tomorrow. 2. The fight should be a no contest and all bets
returned,” McGregor wrote on Instagram.
There’s growing discourse regarding whether McGregor entered the
bout with a pre-existing injury. He momentarily stumbled and winced
while removing his shoes before stepping into the Octagon,
prompting many to speculate that the Irishman knew his right leg
was compromised. However, his coach, John
Kavanagh and UFC CEO Dana
White have both reiterated that there was no injury going into
the fight.
Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson (22) and guard Jackie Young (0) high-five one another during a WNBA game between the Las Vegas Aces and the Seattle Storm, Monday June 8, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nev.
When the All-Star Game arrives, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young will both be placed in a strange situation: against one another.
The All-Star Game rosters have officially dropped, placing Wilson on Team Spoon for general manager Teresa Weatherspoon, while Young joins Team Coop for general manager Cynthia Cooper.
Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon was also tabbed to represent Team Coop, opposite Team Spoon and Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve.
Wilson was the second pick of Team Spoon behind second-leading vote-getter Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever, while Young was the second-to-last selection for Team Coop, which features leading vote-getter Paige Bueckers of the Dallas Wings.
The All-Star Game this season is designed to commemorate 30 years of the WNBA, paying homage to the past while showcasing the stars of the present and future.
Wilson and Young will be set to square off when the game tips off on July 25 at United Center in Chicago.
They collide in a bantamweight Muay Thai bout, which headlines the Asia primetime spectacle from Bangkok’s legendary Lumpinee Stadium on Friday, July 17. The card follows immediately after The Inner Circle 22, which streams exclusively to members at live.onefc.com.
A win rebuilds Kongklai’s momentum after a recent setback, while a statement victory for Benwarwar would silence a veteran with serious finishing pedigree. For either man, the outcome could also mean a significant step closer to a coveted US$100,000 main roster contract.
Here is what both knockout artists had to say ahead of their main event showdown at Lumpinee this week.
Kongklai Determined To Bounce Back In Style
Kongklai Sor Sommai returns to the weekly series unshaken despite a recent setback.
The Sor Sommai and PK Saenchai Muaythaigym representative saw his three-fight winning streak in the organization come to an end against Julio Lobo in the main event of ONE Friday Fights 152. It was a decision loss he views as nothing more than a minor setback, however.
The Thai shared:
“I messed up [in that fight against Lobo]. Once I got [handed] the eight-count, the fight was actually really close and fun. But it was already late in the third round too, so I couldn’t win.
“But it didn’t affect my confidence because I know I did my best. Confidence-wise, I’m not at a disadvantage because I’ve been fighting Muay Thai my whole life.”
Across a career that has produced an 83-23 record, wins and losses have both come and gone. One thing has remained a constant throughout: his ability to put opponents to sleep.
Inside the ring, Kongklai has finished Paedsanlek PK Saenchai with knees to the head. Deniz “Bad Boy” Demirkapu and Ferrari Fairtex, meanwhile, were knocked out cold courtesy of his missile-like left hand. In fact, all but one of his promotional triumphs arrived inside the distance.
The 27-year-old is not going to be chasing one this time around, however. He is simply focused on doing his job and letting the finish come naturally.
He said:
“Lately, I haven’t been able to finish fights or get a bonus. So, I don’t want to hope for that anymore. I figured it’s better not to expect it.
“It’s better to just do my job to the fullest. If I’m meant to get it, it will come on its own. But if my opponent comes to trade punches, it’s going to be absolute fire. I guarantee it’ll be a war just like the last fight.”
Above all, Kongklai is not walking into this matchup taking Benwarwar lightly.
The Thai has extensively studied his dance partner and has broken down exactly where he believes they stack up against one another. He did not hold back when sharing his findings.
Kongklai said:
“Adam is big, and he hits hard. He’s fast with his punches. However, [his Muay Thai] is pretty much the same as anyone else. He has great hand speed and heavy shots, but when opponents hit him back, he backs off too.
“His other weapons aren’t on my level. [But] we have a complete set of other Muay Thai weapons.”
Kongklai Sor Sommai may believe the gap in weaponry between the two men is significant, but Adam “El Capitano” Benwarwar’s most recent performance made a strong case against that theory.
The 23-year-old bounced back from a unanimous decision defeat in his promotional debut by scoring a 52-second knockout of Kendu Irving this past May, securing his 24th career win in the process.
Notably, Irving remains the only fighter to have taken Kongklai the distance across his ONE Championship victories, a detail that has not been lost on Benwarwar heading into fight night.
The Moroccan dynamo said:
“This is an important fight for me. I’ve also heard that Kongklai said that I have nothing except size and speed. So I want to prove that I have more than size.
“I want to show all the Muay Thai elements [from my arsenal] to everyone who watches this fight. I’m very, very prepared and ready for this fight.”
Every ounce of that message has been backed up by his preparation at Petchsaman Gym in Pattaya, Thailand.
Alongside sharpening his own tools, “El Capitano” has also studied his opponent closely, and the Thai veteran’s knockout reputation has done little to shake his confidence.
Benwarwar said:
“After watching some of his fights, I think his rhythms [of attacks] are very slow. Sometimes, he spends too much time trying to figure out what to do.
“As for his strengths, I don’t see many dangerous weapons from Kongklai other than his work in the clinch. He’s good there, but I’m prepared for his calf kicks, his punches, and hard hooks.”
Should everything go to plan, Benwarwar is eager to make it back-to-back highlight-reel triumphs in the weekly series, with a US$100,000 main roster contract potentially awaiting whoever comes out on top.
For the Moroccan, a finish would not just settle the argument over who owns the sharper tools, it would also make the loudest possible case for why that life-changing deal belongs to him.
He concluded:
“I’m going to find a way to knock him out. It could probably be in the first, second, or third round. It doesn’t matter.
“I’m very confident with my right hook, though. If I connect with my right hand, there is probably like a 90 percent chance that it will be a knockdown.”
Two late goals by Argentina sealed the comeback victory to punch their second ticket in a row to the World Cup Finals this Sunday. They’ll face off against Spain Sunday at 3 pm in New Jersey.
“Gutted,” said one England fan. “Absolutely gutted... It’s heartbreaking. We waited 60 years for this.”
Another added, “I’m still in shock. I’m still trying to comprehend everything... I don’t even know what to say really.”
He continued, “You go so far again. You believe, as we talked in the beginning, we thought it was coming home.”
While England fans mourned the loss on the first floor of The Greatest Bar, Argentina fans rushed downstairs from the top floors to celebrate in the streets outside.
“It’s coming home,” one Argentina fan yelled.
Another said, “I just wanted to say I never doubted it for one minute and look where we are now.”
Most England fans at The Greatest Bar Thursday told Boston 25 they’ll be rooting for Spain in the finals Sunday.
The Philadelphia Flyers re-signed RFA Trevor Zegras to a four-year contract on Wednesday.
The deal is worth $9.125 million annually and keeps Zegras signed through 2029-30.
One week after the Anaheim Ducks matched the Flyers' offer sheet for Zegras' former teammate, center Leo Carlsson, Philadelphia has taken care of one of its current RFAs who was scheduled for arbitration.
Zegras avoided arbitration on July 22, according to PuckPedia.
"We're thrilled to have Trevor committed to our organization for the next four years," Flyers GM Daniel Briere said in a statement. "The growth he showed this past season, proving that he is the skilled player he entered the league as, reinforced our belief that he will be an impact player for the Flyers for the years to come. He's the type of player who can help take our team to the next level, and we're excited to continue building alongside him."
The 25-year-old had a bounce-back campaign with the Flyers after they acquired him from the Ducks in June 2025. Zegras had a career-high 26 goals and 41 assists for a career-best 67 points in 81 games, up from 32 points in 57 games the season prior.
In 349 career NHL games, Zegras has 93 goals and 160 assists for 253 points. He added two goals and six points in his first 10 career playoff games this past spring with Philadelphia.
While Zegras played much of last season as a left winger on a line with Christian Dvorak and Travis Konecny, he has plenty of experience as a center.
Flyers coach Rick Tocchet could try to stick with that line this upcoming season, or he could move Zegras back to center in the hope he is the No. 1 pivot the team tried to acquire when it tendered an offer sheet to Carlsson for $18 million annually for five years on July 2.
With Zegras signed, Philadelphia still has about $20.44 million in cap space and three RFAs remaining.
Defenseman Jamie Drysdale, 24, is scheduled for arbitration on Monday, July 20. He had 32 points in 78 games this past season.
Right winger Nikita Grebenkin, 23, had four goals and 14 points in 55 games in 2025-26. He's not eligible for arbitration or an offer sheet.
Defenseman Hunter McDonald, 24, spent most of this past campaign with the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He had six assists in 65 games.
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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver confirmed Tuesday that a bidding war is underway to bring the Sonics back to Seattle.
The league is targeting the 2028-2029 NBA season for the team’s potential return.
Samantha Holloway, the majority owner of the Seattle Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena, is the only known group to have publicly expressed interest in a Sonics bid. While a growing number of groups are now involved in the bidding process, fans in Seattle are reportedly experiencing some fatigue over the ongoing wait for official news regarding an NBA team’s return.
“I’ve seen [Detlef] Schrimpf play. I’ve seen Tom Chambers play,” longtime fan Jack Gerke said. “Broke my heart when DJ left. I’m going to start crying. Don’t get me started guys!”
Danny Ball of Iconic Sonics noted the prolonged discussions, saying, “It feels like I’ve been having the same conversations since March. We are more or less in the same standing...holding pattern of waiting for these guys to take a real vote on expansion.”
Holloway’s known interest, particularly given her ownership of the Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena, has been viewed by many fans as a logical fit for a potential NBA return.
However, when reached for comment regarding Commissioner Silver’s statements about the bidding war, Holloway’s spokesperson declined to comment at this time.
Despite the exhaustion from the protracted wait, fans maintain a degree of optimism.
“But there is a part of me that’s tired for sure. I would love to be talking about who we are hiring as a GM, whose going to be the head of basketball operations,” Ball said. “There’s an excitement there and we are almost in the home stretch. Get’em back by 28-29. That’ll be 20 years and pretty poetic.”
Commissioner Silver affirmed that the league should have answers regarding the expansion by the end of the year.
Does a viral image prove that Argentina-England referee Ismail Elfath "asked for a photo" with Argentina's captain Lionel Messi? No, that's not true: The photo was cropped to remove the captain of the opposing team, who was posing with Messi and the referees for a standard pre-match shot. The image was produced in 2022, before a different match played by Argentina and France.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X where it was published by @TheFootyFeed on July 14, 2026. It opened:
So only one referee at this World Cup has asked for a photo with Lionel Messi at the end of a game, And that referee is the one that the FIFA chose to appoint for a World Cup semifinal... You could not make this shit up 🤦♂️
This is what the image attached to the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
Image source: post by @TheFootyFeed on X.
Paired with the caption, the image could be misread as evidence that Argentina-England referee Ismail Elfath -- standing to Messi's left -- was actually "asking for a photo" with him during a Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup game.
In 2026, when the post reviewed in this fact check was published, Elfath was selected to officiate (archived here) the FIFA World Cup Argentina-England match (archived here) on July 15, 2026. However, the image did not show what the viral post claimed it did. The photo predated the game by roughly four years and was digitally cropped to remove additional context.
The full-size photo (archived here) could be found on Getty Images where it was published under the title:
Argentina v France: Final - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
The description of the image continued:
LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - DECEMBER 18: referees and team captains from L-R: Tomasz Listkiewicz, Lionel Messi, Ismail Elfath, Szymon Marciniak, Hugo Lloris, Pawe Sokolnicki [sic] before the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Final match between Argentina and France at Lusail Stadium on December 18, 2022 in Lusail City, Qatar.
(Image source: Screenshot of Getty Images website.)
A search across the same stock image database for similar pictures featuring captains of two competing teams with soccer officials showed that such pre-game photos are a standard part of documenting matches, as seen, for example, here (archived here) and here (archived here).
Bill Simmons has joked that he’d require medical attention if a Boston team lost in the way that England did to Argentina in the World Cup semi-final.
Not many onlookers regardless of just how much they are into soccer would have seen Argentina winning after England scored first in their huge game.
They may be world champions but they were not creating many chances, with Lionel Messi unusually quiet by his own high standards.
Still, England ceded control in Atlanta and allowed Argentina back into the game. They played too defensive too early and that meant perhaps their greatest footballing rival found a way to progress into the biggest game the sport has to offer.
Simmons jokes he’d be upset if a Boston team lost like England
Taking to social media platform X, Simmons wrote: “If a Boston team lost in the way England just did, I’d honestly need medical attention.”
That was certainly a painful defeat from an English perspective, so it’s easy to see what Simmons is getting at.
To be so close to reaching the World Cup final against a huge rival, only to throw it all away will take some getting over.
Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images
Fans are rightly asking questions as to what happened. Though Argentina are clearly a brilliant team, the way in which the momentum turned all too quickly will live long in the memory.
The fact that Argentina keep finding a way would suggest it’s not down to luck. Yet, it’s difficult not to feel as if England threw their chance of reaching a second World Cup final away themselves.
No matter what sport one follows, to see your own team prove architects of their downfall is a painful experience.
Simmons certainly isn’t wrong here. Medical attention might be a touch dramatic but there will clearly be an awful lot of soul searching going on within English football over the next few days and weeks.
Los Angeles Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike (30) scores a layup during a WNBA game against the Chicago Sky, Friday July 10th, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
When the lights come on in Chicago for WNBA All-Star Weekend, the Los Angeles Sparks will have representation on both sidelines.
Kelsey Plum and Nneka Ogwumike, who were both named All-Star reserves earlier this month, learned their teams during Wednesday's WNBA All-Star Draft. Plum was selected by WNBA legend Cynthia Cooper with the ninth overall reserve pick and will suit up for Team Coop, while Ogwumike was taken two picks later by Teresa Weatherspoon as the 11th reserve selection to join Team Spoon.
🌟 TEAM COOP IS SET 🌟
Introducing the official Team Cooper roster for the 2026 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game!
While they'll be opponents for one night, it's another reminder of how important both veterans have been to the Sparks this season.
For Plum, it's another All-Star appearance in a season that hasn't been in her favor injury-wise. Injuries have sidelined the veteran guard for almost a month so far, but before going down, she was having a career season. Her ability to score from anywhere on the floor and create for teammates made her an easy choice when Cooper began filling out her roster. It is not confirmed whether she will be playing yet, as she has not returned to the court in a couple of weeks.
Ogwumike's selection felt just as fitting.
The longtime Sparks star has continued adding to an already remarkable resume in her 15th WNBA season. Over the past week alone, she became one of only five players in league history to reach 3,000 career field goals, moved into the top five in career assists, and tied Lisa Leslie for the most points in Sparks franchise history. Even as Los Angeles has battled injuries throughout the season, Ogwumike has remained the steady presence the organization has leaned on night after night.
Those accomplishments made her an easy fit for Weatherspoon's squad, where she'll join a roster headlined by some of the league's biggest stars.
The split also adds a little extra intrigue for Sparks fans. Rather than rooting for one All-Star team, they'll have a reason to watch both, with Plum and Ogwumike competing against one another instead of alongside each other. Being selected as All-Stars was the recognition that reflected the impact each has had despite the Sparks navigating a rocky first half of the season.
Now, they'll head to Chicago wearing different jerseys but representing the same franchise. Plum will look to help Team Coop come away with a win, while Ogwumike will do the same for Team Spoon. Once All-Star Weekend wraps up, the two veterans will reunite in Los Angeles as the Sparks turn their attention back to the second half of the season and a push for the playoffs.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Expanded playoffs make it harder to predict whether Tarik Skubal and other choice acquisitions will be dealt before the Aug, 3 trade deadline.
Twenty-three of the 30 teams are within four games of a playoff position heading into the season's second half, which opens Thursday with the back-in-contention Philadelphia Phillies hosting the woeful New York Mets.
“You’ve got a lot of really good teams that were on the bubble that have gotten in and kind of made it,” Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper said. “Anybody that has an opportunity to get in, anything can happen and that’s what makes our sport great.”
Skubal, a two-time Cy Young Award winner who can become a free agent after the World Series, is the most prominent possible trade bait. The 29-year-old left-hander is 2-3 with a 3.62 ERA in six starts for the Detroit Tigers since surgery on May 6 to remove a loose body from his pitching elbow.
Detroit was 22-38 at the start of June — at 16 games under matching the 1914 Braves (12-28) as the most under .500 of a team that rebounded to reach the postseason, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Tigers are 22-14 since and trail by 3 1/2 games for the last AL wild card, needing to overcome six teams. Their performance in 16 games before the deadline will help determine whether they are buyers or sellers.
Minnesota's Joe Ryan and the Mets' Freddy Peralta also could become available. The Mets also could deal left-handed relievers Brooks Raley and A.J. Minter to contenders and San Francisco may try to jettison second baseman Luis Arraez.
Baseball’s only division leads of more than three games are held by the Los Angeles Dodgers (11 1/2) and Milwaukee (five).
“There are some middling teams that are potentially going to finish stronger and some teams that are front-running right now that might fall back to the pack,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s what the fans wanted. It keeps everyone involved through September, as many teams as possible.”
Just seven teams of the 30 teams are more than four games out of a wild-card berth: the Athletics (6 1/2), Cincinnati (eight), Kansas City and the Los Angeles Angels (10 each), the Giants (10 1/2), the Mets (12) and Colorado (13 1/2).
“I think having more teams involved and more fan bases feeling like there’s something to play for later in the season is always good,” said Toronto pitcher Dylan Cease, the All-Star Game winner.
Phillies rebound after Mattingly becomes manager
Philadelphia fell to 9-19 when Rob Thomson was fired on April 28 and replaced by Don Mattingly. The Phillies are 44-24 since and trail NL East-leading Atlanta (55-40) by two games.
“Once we got Wheels back, I think everybody kind of took a deep breath,” Harper said. “That helped a lot of our other starting pitching kind of just fall into place.”
Despite a 46-48 record, the Red Sox trail by just a half-game for the last wild card in an AL that has just five teams with winning records.
“We've done a much better job overall with our approach,” Tracy said. “We’re taking more pitches. We’re seeing more pitches against starters. We are getting starters deep in counts earlier in games. We're scoring runs in the first five innings of the game and letting our starting rotation pitch with a lead.”
If the Red Sox struggle in the next few weeks, closer Aroldis Chapman and starter Sonny Gray could get dealt.
First-round byes at stake
Three of the four teams that had first-round byes last year advanced to League Championship Series: Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Seattle and Toronto. Among the teams emerging from Wild Card Series, only the Dodgers won their Division Series.
Having the bye allows teams to reset their rotations and assure opening the Division Series with their best starters.
Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler thought back to New York losing the AL East title and the bye to Toronto on a tiebreaker last year.
Credit: The Dan Patrick Show / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Dan Patrick isn’t fully on board with the swings Netflix took to dress up Monday’s Home Run Derby.
Discussing the broadcast on Tuesday’s episode of his eponymous show, Patrick said Netflix could stand to do a better job getting the word out about the star power it brought to the event, noting he had no idea names like Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols were involved until the broadcast was already underway.
“I’d like to think I’m at least socially aware of sporting events, but I had no idea,” Patrick said. “And then all of a sudden, it’s like Netflix, and then you had Will Ferrell show up, you had Bonds and Pujols, and I’m like, OK. They’re trying. Netflix is trying, trying different things. Now, sometimes you can try too hard. Sometimes you can try to dress something up, and you really don’t need to.”
That tracks with the broader reaction to Monday’s broadcast, which got the Derby’s new swing-based format right while stumbling on execution elsewhere, including a Will Ferrell-led intro segment that landed with viewers about as well as it did with Patrick.
“I didn’t need Will Ferrell on the broadcast. I think they tried too hard in what they were trying to do there,” he said. “But, still, you’re trying to do new things. Sometimes, it’s just good the way it is.”
Patrick has been down this road with Netflix before. Back in March, he tore into the streamer’s Opening Night broadcast, an hour-long pregame slog padded with celebrity cameos that pushed first pitch to 8:25 p.m. and left him feeling like he’d “tuned into a PowerPoint on Netflix” with a baseball game buried somewhere inside it.
He wasn’t uniformly critical of Monday’s broadcast, though. Patrick praised Bonds’ ability to pick out small, specific details in hitters’ swings, after previously knocking him for spending too much time rambling about his own playing days a few months prior.
Netflix gets another shot Aug. 13, when the Phillies and Twins play at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa. Two broadcasts into the deal, Patrick has made a habit of grading its work. There’s little reason to think he sits this one out.
Lionel Messi celebrates Argentina's win against England to reach the World Cup final, Lamine Yamal in action for Spain against France Credit: Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto/Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal will meet in a master vs apprentice scenario in the World Cup final on Sunday.
Messi has been regarded as the greatest player of all time but is coming towards the end of his career at 39 whereas Yamal, who recently turned 19, is being tipped to become the next global superstar.
As the two prepare to do battle and carry their nation on their shoulders in the World Cup final, there is a mutual respect from one Barcelona academy graduate to another.
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Lionel Messi said Lamine Yamal is ‘one of the best’
Things have changed since then and now they are both key players for their nations.
Greatness recognises greatness though and in May, Messi told Diario Sport: “There is a new generation of footballers who are very good and who have many years ahead of them, but if I have to choose one because of age, for what he has done so far and for the future he may have, it is Lamine.
“There’s no doubt, for me, he’s the best.”
Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Getty Images
Meanwhile, Yamal has previously admitted that Neymar was his hero growing up but realises that Messi is the best to do it.
“I think that in every match he shows that he is the best player in history,” Yamal said to RTVE. “If someone has doubts, it is because they are looking for them; there is nothing more to say there. For me, he is the best.”
Have Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal ever played against each other?
The World Cup final will be the first time that Messi and Yamal have ever come up against each other on the pitch.
Even when Messi was playing for Paris Saint-Germain, the two never crossed paths in the Champions League and the 39-year-old was long gone from the Camp Nou before Yamal made his debut at the age of 15.
This game won’t determine who is better out of the two, but it could be the perfect stage for one great to bow out and another to step into his shoes.
The New England Revolution are back on the pitch after the World Cup break.
The mid-season layoff is over for MLS teams, so the club resumed practice with a newly extended player on the training grounds.
The Revolution re-signed homegrown defender Peyton Miller to a multi-year contract extension that runs through the 2028-29 MLS season, with a club option for the following season.
Miller is from Unionville, Connecticut and is 18 years old.
“I grew up watching this club,” Miller said. “For me to re-sign another contract, it means everything to me.”
He boasts five goals and three assists in 48 games played, 39 of them starts. This season, he has scored a career-high three goals with plenty more matches to go as the Revs gear up for the second half of the schedule.
“There’s plenty of interest from around the globe on Peyton Miller,” Chris Tierney, Revolution General Manager & Chief Soccer Officer, said. “He is a really elite profile that we need to continue to develop to get him to the spot that we think he’s capable of.”
Miller has been a member of the Revolution Pro Pathway program since age 13. The club has developed him into a contributing teenager for the top side. He has seen minutes at both left back and left wing in 2026.
“He’s making great steps going forward, and with his age, he has a great amount of maturity in his game and he’s impacting our team in a really positive way,” Revolution head coach Marko Mitrovic said. “So I’m really, really happy to see the progress that Peyton is making.”
Miller was the twelfth homegrown player in Revolution history, and the first from Connecticut. He was also the youngest player in club history to sign an MLS contract.
“There’s a lot that I think I need to work on and I have so much belief in Marko (Mitrovic),” Miller said. “He holds me to high standards and expectations, so I just think that there’s a lot more for me to accomplish here and there’s stuff that I need to do.
The Revs are back in action Wednesday, July 22 when they host Toronto FC at 7:30 p.m. at Gillette Stadium.
That said, the first half was full of ups and downs for the Boys in Blue, but they hit the break with an MLB-best record of 61-36.
We here at Dodgers Nation asked fans to help us put together our list of the best moments.
Check out some of our favorite responses below, and let us know if we missed anything!
1. Miguel Rojas’ epic throw
Let’s start with an electric defensive highlight that Lysa Stone summed up nicely: “Miggy throw, Freddie split.”
On June 5 in the Freeway Series, a hard-hit ground ball ricocheted off of Roki Sasaki’s glove.
Fortunately, Miggy Ro was there to barehand the ball and get it to first baseman Freddie Freeman, who was in a full split, narrowly beating the runner.
The Angels runner was initially called safe, though Rojas’ incredible play was confirmed to be an out upon review.
Fortunately, with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, Teo Hernandez stepped up and homered to left center field, flipping the game on its head and leading to a Dodgers win.
As Brent Schneider noted, that’s just one of several come-from-behind wins against the Padres this season, providing several results for Dodgers fans to savor.
3. Vesia’s save in front of the nurses
Shoutout to Joe Collins for bringing up this emotional moment.
Vesia and his wife, Kayla, lost their daughter during the 2025 World Series run, and for this game, the Vesias invited a few dozen healthcare workers who’d cared for their family to take in Dodger Stadium.
After the game, SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson pointed out the caregivers’ suite to Vesia.
That wave he shared with them was a moment not to be forgotten.
4. Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s nearly perfect game
This one was nominated by X user @yestosehunn: On June 13, Yoshinobu Yamamoto took a perfect game into the eighth inning and a no-hitter into the ninth.
A bobbled ball by Mookie Betts with two outs in the eighth inning and a solo homer in the ninth were all that stood between Yama and history, though the game was well in hand by that point.
With the near-miss performance, it seems like it could be a matter of time until Yamamoto earns that no-hitter.
As an honorable mention, we have to include Yama’s dominant performance against the Toronto Blue Jays after his World Series MVP performance last year, an achievement noted by both Daniel Schneider and Damien Garrett.
5. Dalton Rushing responds to controversy with walkoff hit
In the Dodgers first extra-innings game of the year, Rushing was the hero with an 11th inning RBI single.
“Rush getting that walk off after all the controversy. Feels good,” Jose Ortega said.
Apr 15, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Dalton Rushing celebrates after hitting a grand slam home run in the eighth inning against the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
And an honorable mention here: Rushing’s first MLB grand slam against the New York Mets on April 15.
What did we miss?
There’s so much we didn’t even get to with this list, moments like Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts each hitting their 300th home runs, Max Muncy’s greatness and more.
Let us know what you wish we had included and perhaps we’ll have to put together a Part 2 before the regular season resumes.
ATLANTA (AP) — England desperately wanted to protect its lead as time was winding down in the World Cup semifinals. Coach Thomas Tuchel made lineup and strategy changes to build a wall in front of goal.
England led 1-0 late in the second half before Messi assisted on goals by Enzo Fernandez in the 85th minute and Lautaro Martinez in the second minute of injury time to give Argentina a wild 2-1 victory Wednesday and a spot in the World Cup final against Spain.
Tuchel's tactical choices in one of the biggest matchups in one of soccer's biggest rivalries will likely be scrutinized and criticized for years. England missed it chance to return to the World Cup final for the first time since 1966.
“We played a good game for the large majority of it. Once we went 1-0 up, we seemed to just try and hold on, which at this level is not enough," England striker Harry Kane said. "Just gutted, gutted. Because we’ve worked so hard to get here.”
England's loss marked only the second time this century that the team that scored first in a World Cup semifinal match did not reach the final, according to Opta. The other team was also England in 2018 against Croatia.
England took the lead on Anthony Gordon's goal in the 55th minute. But Argentina quickly switched the momentum with furious pressure on England's defense.
To protect the lead, England drew closer and closer to its own goal, hoping to build the sort of impenetrable wall it had when it held on to beat Mexico in the round of 16 despite being down to 10 players.
Tuchel swapped defender Reece James for Dan Burn, and midfielder Declan Rice for defender Nico O’Reilly in the 82nd minute.
Fernandez struck barely three minutes later, with a precision right-footed strike from just outside the penalty area. Messi set up the play with a pass to his teammate's feet and England defenders failed to close him down before he ripped the shot that curled past diving goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Argentina kept coming and England's wall kept crumbling. The defending champions hit the crossbar and missed another header across the mouth of the goal before Martinez finally sealed it with a powerful close-range header when England defenders lost him on a cross from Messi.
“They got tired,” Martinez said. "They pressed for 60 minutes and then just ran out of steam. They got their goal and then sat back. That gave us more composure to move the ball around and stretch the pitch.”
Harry Kane couldn't find the back of the net against Argentina as Thomas Tuchel's side was beaten by Argentina -Credit:DeFodi Images, DeFodi Images via Getty Images
England captain Harry Kane has disclosed that head coach Thomas Tuchel sent him a confidential message from the sideline before they endured a devastating late 2-1 loss to Argentina in their FIFA World Cup semifinal. The 32-year-old appeared reflective as he addressed the media following the crushing late setback, with Anthony Gordon's opening goal neutralized by Enzo Fernandez.
Substitute Lautaro Martinez then emerged in the second minute of added time to nod home the decisive goal for Argentina, who had controlled the closing stages of the match. Kane, who had an understated performance spearheading the attack for Tuchel's side, revealed what his manager communicated to him following Gordon's strike.
"The boys are always ready for any moment in the game. When we went ahead, the message was to go ahead and get another goal," Kane told BBC Sport.
-Credit:Michael Regan - FIFA, FIFA via Getty Images
"Then obviously once they scored their two goals it was to try and find something [another goal]. But we couldn't quite get the momentum back in the game."
England have now advanced to the semifinal in three of their past four major competitions, in addition to reaching the UEFA Euro 2024 final before falling to Spain. When questioned about what the squad can take away, Kane acknowledged they were lacking something when it comes to the advanced stages of tournaments, via The Mirror.
"We had a lot of good moments in this tournament, a lot of good games, another semi-final," he added. "We talk about knocking on the door, we're close, but we just need to find that missing piece in the final stages of the tournament.
"These tournaments take it out of you, so much effort, pressure and mentality. We've shown a lot of that out of the six or seven weeks we've been together. We're just missing that final piece."
Tuchel had switched to a 5-4-1 formation for the last 25 minutes of the game, sending on Dan Burn and Nico O'Reilly to defend the slender lead. As Argentina pushed further forward, the Three Lions retreated onto the edge of their own box.
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When reflecting on England's downfall, Kane declined to point the finger at Tuchel's tactical approach, instead crediting Argentina's relentless pressure as the decisive factor in their victory.
"We struggled to get pressure on the ball. Especially first half and start of the second half, we pressed them well, we put them under loads of pressure high up the pitch which then allowed us to win balls and control the game a bit better," he added.
"After the goal, whether it was them putting more men forward or us not being able to match them man for man, it was just wave after wave. Lads were putting blocks in but, in the end, it just wasn't enough."
With England now eliminated, Argentina will set their sights on becoming just the third nation ever to claim back-to-back World Cup titles, following in the footsteps of Italy and Brazil. Scaloni's squad will square off against Spain in Sunday's final, after Luis de la Fuente's side dispatched France 2-0 on Tuesday.
IHRA Cancels the Rest of Its 2026 Stock Car Season After Running Exactly One Race
The International Hot Rod Association pulled the plug on the rest of its 2026 Stock Car Series this week, and the box score tells you more than the press release does. The circuit had run exactly one points race all year, on March 21 at Pulaski County Motorsports Park in Fairlawn, Virginia, before IHRA decided the smarter move was to stop scheduling races altogether.
This isn't just a Facebook statement fading quietly into the algorithm, either. IHRA's own website now carries a banner marking the previously scheduled July 25 return to that same Fairlawn track as cancelled, which means the decision is baked into the sanctioning body's official calendar and not just its social feed.
IHRA framed the move as a reset rather than a retreat, saying it wants the series to return in 2027 with a stronger and more sustainable program. The organization was candid that this is about more than trimming a couple of dates off the schedule, telling racers and fans it's about the series' long-term health and "not just a couple events in 2026." IHRA also said it plans to spend the coming months working with racers, track owners, promoters, and industry partners to build a long-term plan, and it thanked competitors, sponsors, officials, and fans for their patience during the pause.
Read between the lines and the math isn't hard to guess. Regional stock car touring series live and die on car counts, sponsor dollars, and promoter guarantees, and when any one of those legs wobbles, the whole schedule gets shaky fast. A sanctioning body still has to cover purses, insurance, and officiating whether ten cars show up or forty do, and if a date can't pencil out, canceling before the tow bills start piling up is the financially sound call, even if it's a rough look for a series trying to build momentum.
It's also the second time in 2026 that IHRA's stability has become a talking point among racers, following months of unverified chatter about the organization's plans for Atlanta Dragway. That situation remains murky, but stacked next to a stock car season that produced one race before folding, it's fair for competitors to want hard specifics before committing entry fees to whatever IHRA rolls out for 2027.
For racers who'd already budgeted a season around this series, the smart move is to hold off on non-refundable costs until IHRA actually publishes a 2027 schedule with confirmed dates and purses. That same caution applies across grassroots stock car and drag racing right now, and it echoes a lesson playing out in the small-tire world, where car values and race economics have been shifting fast enough that nobody should assume next season looks like this one.
IHRA governs drag racing, pulling, powerboating, and stock car competition under one roof, and none of those other disciplines are named in this announcement, so this reads like a targeted correction rather than an organization-wide crisis. Still, a promise to come back stronger next year is worth exactly nothing until there's an actual schedule, a real purse structure, and cars sitting in the pits to prove it.
Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith has missed more than a month of the season so far, with what was thought to be a minor neck issue turning into a lingering problem.
Naturally, many Dodgers fans are worried about the World Series hero and are hoping for a quick return from injury, which has been diagnosed as disc inflammation.
Jul 22, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith (16) in the dugout during the game against the Minnesota Twins at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
For some, though, that hope is turning to despair, with some online baselessly speculating that Smith is going to miss the rest of the season.
Smith is making some progress, with Jack Harris of the California Post noting that as of July 3, he had begun hitting in the batting cages adn throwing a bit as well.
That said, those activities are a far cry from a return to action.
Once Smith recovers enough to face live pitching and resume catching again, he’ll still have to go on a rehab assignment.
Jun 3, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The longer this injury takes to heal, the longer the rehab assignment.
“It happened in Arizona, played on it a couple days, played on it at home (last Friday), and then just that third or fourth day, I kind of felt it was just getting a lot worse. Couldn’t play that day.
“It’s one of those things we thought was going to get a little better in a couple days. It’s just taking a little bit longer.”
Exactly how much longer that will be remains to be seen.
Thomas Tuchel and Lionel Scaloni shared a touching moment ahead of the FIFA World Cup semifinal between England and Argentina -Credit:JUAN MABROMATA, AFP via Getty Images
Thomas Tuchel and Lionel Scaloni made their mutual admiration abundantly clear ahead of their nations' monumental showdown.
England's semifinal against Argentina at the FIFA World Cup in Atlanta Stadium got off to a feisty start, with both sides trading fouls and engaging in an intensely physical battle, reflecting the deeply complicated relationship between the two countries.
Despite the storied rivalry between the two nations — with both national anthems being drowned out by the crowd as a show of disrespect — it was evident that the animosity did not extend to the two head coaches, as they prepared for one of the most significant matches of their careers, as per The Mirror US.
Prior to kickoff, cameras caught both Tuchel and Scaloni taking a moment to seek each other out before retreating to their respective benches. Spotting Scaloni, Tuchel broke into a broad grin and pulled the Argentine coach into a warm embrace, which was enthusiastically reciprocated.
The pair then exchanged a few words, smiles spread across their faces, as they walked together with Tuchel draping his arm around his counterpart's shoulder. Scaloni rested his hand on Tuchel's midsection as the two continued their conversation ahead of the enormous contest.
For England and Argentina, their mutual animosity has been well-documented over decades. In 1966, the year England lifted the World Cup, Argentine captain Antonio Rattin was dismissed and refused to leave the field, later sitting on a red carpet reserved for the Queen.
Some 16 years later, the Falklands War saw England and Argentina clash with weapons. Four years on, Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal eliminated England from that year's tournament, with the Argentinians knocking out the David Beckham-led England squad 12 years after that.
Speaking ahead of the game, Tuchel stated that the history between the two nations is "irrelevant" and acknowledged that the squad is solely focused on what they can control and doesn't "speak about iconic moments."
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"It's, in itself, iconic enough and the tension is big enough so we try exactly the opposite and try to influence the players and what we want them to do, how to behave in different situations," he told reporters in English. "We try to reduce the information.
"The bigger the stage gets, the bigger the tension grows so hopefully we can simplify the messages enough that they can execute it. We try exactly what is maybe not possible but the magnitude of the match is just what it is. I think it does not help if we engage emotionally in that."
Scaloni similarly emphasized that the game is precisely that - a showdown between two of the strongest remaining sides in the World Cup.
"The coach never thinks about what we have been given, what we were, but what we are, what we are given in the present," he told reporters. "That is what we have always done, and that is what we will do. We will see tomorrow."
Through the opening 45 minutes, the two sides combined for 19 fouls, yet the referee brandished just two yellow cards.
And as it turns out, it wasn't some carefully planned act of gamesmanship. "Honestly, I just am a little sassy sometimes," Cunningham joked during an appearance on James Corden's Fox Sports World Cup show. "I've mastered getting in people's heads. It's kind of like a game within the game."
That "game within the game" produced one of the most recognizable sports memes of 2026.
Cunningham's now-iconic point came during Indiana's heated showdown with the Phoenix Mercury, a game that was already boiling over after teammate Caitlin Clark and Bonner exchanged words late in the fourth quarter. Clark was hit with a technical foul, but Cunningham believed Bonner deserved one as well.
She initially pointed to Bonner to make her case to the officials. Then Bonner fired back.
According to Cunningham, Bonner told her not to point at her. Cunningham's response was simple: she kept pointing. And pointing. And pointing.
For roughly 22 seconds, Cunningham never broke eye contact, holding the pose until a Fever staff member finally nudged her toward the bench. Both players were assessed technical fouls, but by then the damage—or, depending on your perspective, the comedy—was done.
Since that night, the image has taken on a life of its own. WWE legend John Cena has referenced it. Major brands have recreated it in social media posts. Even the White House joined the trend on social media. During Cunningham's interview, comedian Ian Karmel jokingly suggested the pose should replace the WNBA's league logo, drawing laughter from everyone on set.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, following a good deal of fan demand, finally announced a bobblehead honoring Andy Pages’ iconic World Series Game 7 catch.
The Dodgers have one of the best, if not the best, bobblehead promotions every year, but this one holds special meaning for fans who took in the World Series.
Coined “The Catch” bobblehead, it will be given to fans on September 6th against the Washington National.
The bobblehead captures the moment where Andy Pages rises up for a catch on a fly ball in between left and center field, while Kike Hernandez ducks under and lets him make the catch.
Both players had a big collision, but Hernandez took the brunt of it. Hernandez got up happy after finding out Pages made the catch.
In the collectible, Hernandez looks quite funny as he seemingly accepts getting run over by Pages, and honestly, it is not too dissimilar from how the moment actually happened.
The play is already incredible from Pages in any context, but with the context of it being Game 7 of a World Series, with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, the moment takes on its own legend.
Nov 1, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages (44) makes a catch against the Toronto Blue Jays in the ninth inning for game seven of the 2025 MLB World Series at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
It was all the more special since Pages had been in an awful slump, failing to hit any pitch that came his way. He came in as a defensive substitute late in the game and pulled out a gutsy, iconic, and terrifying catch all in one go.
How much will “The Catch” bobblehead be worth?
Based on recent bobbleheads, this collectible should end up going past $100. Kike Hernandez’s pitching bobblehead, which came out very recently, resells for around $75.
“The Catch,” considering everything about the moment and what it means in modern Dodgers history, should blow well past that.
It does not have the mainstream appeal of Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s Yoshi bobblehead, which goes for $170, but for any hardcore Dodgers fan, “The Catch” bobblehead is a must-have and will be in demand.
The get-in price is around $165 as of Wednesday, July 15th.
US President Donald Trump has invoked the ire of leading radio host Chris Russo as the dust refuses to settle after the USMNT’s World Cup exit.
Though Mauricio Pochettino’s team were eliminated in relatively tame fashion against Belgium in Seattle during the last 16, the build-up to the game was shrouded in controversy.
Indeed, Trump claimed to have intervened before a FIFA disciplinary committee made the almost unprecedented decision to suspend Folarin Balogun’s red card.
To say that proved controversial would be an understatement. In fact, Balogun even admitted that the drama had a negative impact on his teammates.
Russo comments on Trump involvement in the World Cup
Asked about the saga on First Take, Russo said he was of the belief that Trump had upset the “soccer gods” by getting involved.
He said: “Leave the politics out of it. If you’re the president of the United States, stay out of it.”
Before adding: “You upset the soccer gods. If you’re a sports fan, you know you leave well enough alone. The United States, as you just said, were a fun little team.
“People were completely into them, they had Belgium on the run a little bit. Then, all of a sudden, they gave Belgium a cause because FIFA listens to the president?
Photo by Maja Hitij – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
Russo then said: “That’s not the way the sports pantheon works. Leave it alone, the kid you put in there [as Balogun’s replacement] might score three goals and you win the freaking game.
“Instead, you butt in and you cause all sorts of problems.”
Belgium clearly rallied after FIFA’s decision. Though it’s impossible to say what would have happened had Balogun been suspended as initially expected, it obviously lit a fire under the Belgian players.
A lot of neutrals would also have turned against Pochettino’s team as a result, even if the players themselves did nothing wrong. Changing the very fabric of the sport will do that, no matter the level of involvement those actually competing on the field actually had.
So much so, in fact, that the Belgium players mocked Trump in their locker room after beating the USMNT 4-1.
It should be said, of course, that Belgium did beat the USMNT 5-2 in a friendly as recently as March.
As such, perhaps it was no surprise that they won relatively easily again. Still, there’s little doubt that the Balogun saga did not help anyone involved with the USMNT during their World Cup campaign.
July 15 (Reuters) - The International Olympic Committee (IOC) defended its decision to provisionally lift the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) after nine European Union member states called on Brussels to stop funding sports bodies that have re-admitted Russian and Belarusian athletes.
In a letter to European sports commissioner Glenn Micallef, the countries urged the European Union to stop funding sporting bodies, including the IOC, World Aquatics and the International Fencing Federation, that had allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes back into competition.
The nine countries are Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Sweden.
An IOC spokesperson told Reuters that the ROC's suspension, which had been in place since October 2023, was lifted earlier this month after the organisation removed regional sports bodies from occupied Ukrainian territories from its membership, the reason it was originally sanctioned.
The IOC said the decision was provisional and did not signal a broader change in its position towards Russia.
"The IOC has to navigate the complex realities and consequences of the current geopolitical context," the IOC spokesperson said on Wednesday.
"The IOC must uphold its mission to preserve a values-based and truly global sporting platform that provides hope to the world."
The spokesperson added that the IOC would continue not to hold events in Russia or invite Russian government officials to its events. No decision has been taken on the use of Russian flags, colours or the national anthem at future Olympics.
The IOC also noted that competitions outside the Olympics fall under the authority of the relevant international federations.
The Olympic body said it had also strengthened the Olympic Charter, requiring National Olympic Committees to ensure athletes selected for the Games are chosen not only on sporting merit but also on their ability to act as role models who promote a peaceful society through sport.
The nine EU countries said allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to international competition overlooked the difficulties faced by Ukrainian athletes, many of whom have been displaced, lost access to training facilities or joined the military.
"Respect for human rights, the rule of law, and peaceful relations between nations are among the core principles underpinning international sport," the countries wrote.
They added that arguments that sport can be separated from politics were difficult to sustain given the human toll of the war in Ukraine.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk and Karolos Grohmann, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
In a move rarely seen in the middle of a season, the Texas Rangers are changing streaming partners effective immediately.
According to a report by Dallas Morning News reporter Evan Grant, the Rangers will be dropping their streaming partnership with Victory+, which has offered a full-season streaming subscription for in-market Rangers fans since last season for a price of $100, and will switch to a startup platform called BZZR beginning with this Friday’s game against the Atlanta Braves. The move was reportedly made out of concern for Victory+’s ability to fulfill its financial obligations to the team.
Per Grant, all subscribers that had bought packages on Victory+ will have their accounts transferred over to BZZR. The move will not impact the linear distribution of Rangers Sports Network on cable and satellite services like DirecTV.
“It is unfortunate that this switch in direct-to-consumer distributors was necessary, but the decision was made in the best interest of both the Rangers and our fans,” Rangers Sports Media and Entertainment Company chairman Neil Leibman said in a statement.
The Rangers’ decision paints a grim picture for Victory+, a nascent streaming service that has staked its claim in an all-out effort to court MLB, NBA, and NHL teams to place local broadcasts on the platform. In most markets, Victory+ has introduced a free streaming model in which games are broadcast in front of a paywall and revenue is generated through advertising. The Rangers, with their $100 per season subscription, were an exception. The Dallas Stars, however, chose the free model. Per Grant, no changes have been made regarding the Stars’ local broadcast plans for next season.
Victory+ has reportedly been in the mix to secure local broadcast rights to some of the 13 NBA teams that were previously under contract with Main Street Sports Group, owner of the now-defunct FanDuel Sports Networks. So far, the streamer has not struck deals with any of those teams. Per Sports Business Journal, potential deals with the Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets, and Minnesota Timberwolves all fell through after Victory+ failed to secure new financing. The three former Main Street clubs that have already announced local broadcast arrangements for next season have all chosen to partner with over-the-air broadcast networks.
If Victory+’s finances are as dire as the Rangers seem to believe, it’s difficult to envision any of the 10 remaining NBA teams looking for local broadcast solutions to choose to partner with the platform.
LONDON (AP) — Helped by some mid-match drama, the Wimbledon final between Linda Noskova and Karolina Muchova over the weekend was ESPN’s most-watched women’s championship match at the grass-court Grand Slam.
The all-Czech final, during which Noskova wasted five match points and a 5-2 lead in the second set before eventually winning 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 on Saturday, averaged 1.9 million viewers. That was an increase of 48% compared to last year’s women’s final: Iga Swiatek’s 6-0, 6-0 rout of Amanda Anisimova in 57 minutes.
ESPN began its coverage of Wimbledon in 2003 and has had exclusive rights since 2012.
Jannik Sinner’s four-set victory over Alexander Zverev in the men’s final on Sunday averaged 2.4 million viewers, down 16% from 2025, when Sinner defeated Carlos Alcaraz in four sets.
Overall, it ranked as ESPN’s second most-viewed Wimbledon, with an 18% year-over-year increase, averaging 853,000 viewers per day, the network said. This year’s numbers trailed only the 2019 edition – when Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer in a memorable five-set final and Simona Halep beat Serena Williams for the women’s trophy.
Also this year, William’s return to Grand Slam tennis after nearly four years away earned ESPN its biggest audience for a Day 2 at Wimbledon, with an average of 1.8 million viewers — despite being played on a Tuesday afternoon in the U.S.
Italian TV
In Italy, where Sinner has become the country’s most popular athlete, the final in which he earned his fifth Grand Slam title was watched by an average of 4.2 million viewers and earned a 33.8% share, Sky Italia said.
Sinner’s victory over Alcaraz last year had an average viewership in Italy of 5.7 million.
The finals started at 11 a.m. ET in the U.S. and 5 p.m. in Italy.
Argentina's Vice President Victoria Villaruel called England 'usurping pirates' ahead of Wednesday's FIFA World Cup semifinal -Credit:Tomas Cuesta, Getty Images
Argentina's vice president launched a scathing attack on England on the eve of the two nations' monumental FIFA World Cup semifinal, deploying the phrase 'usurping pirates' in a social media post referencing the history surrounding the Falklands War.
The turbulent history between the two countries and the Falklands War has featured prominently in the build-up to Wednesday's game in Georgia, with Victoria Villaruel, the country's VP and daughter of a Falklands veteran, firmly in the spotlight.
Her broadside on social media has sparked considerable controversy, particularly in light of comments from Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni, who stated it would be 'quite wrong' to make the game about the war, via The Mirror.
Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni has attempted to distance the game from any Falklands-based hostilities -Credit:Erick W. Rasco, Sports Illustrated via Getty Images
Villaruel posted on her X account: "Tomorrow we play against the usurping pirates. This isn't just another match. I'm not going to be politically correct or cold-hearted; against the English, it's always something more. It's the Malvinas, it's Diego, it's Leo's [Messi] last one, go Argentina! Because until our last breath, we're going to claim what's ours!"
More than 900 lives were lost during the 1982 conflict, and Argentina supporters have sung about the Falklands throughout the tournament.
However, Scaloni has sought to defuse tensions by maintaining that mixing the conflict with the match would be disrespectful. He stated: "It's a football match; I can't mix things up, out of respect for what happened so many years ago.
"It was a very sad time in our history, and there isn't much we can do about it. Mixing the two would be madness. We criticize that there was war.
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"Of course, people remember history and what happened. It is a game of football, we need to keep things separate.
"Yes, we remember Argentinian people and people that were lost in the war, but let's not conflate things.
"What do the players of today have to do with many, many years ago?
"It was a sad time, we remember this, of course, but it would be quite wrong to put this into the game."
After a dominant run through the 2026 FIFA World Cup, defending champion France was denied a third consecutive trip to the final with a 2-0 loss to Spain in Tuesday’s semifinal match. It was a rather stunning end to the team’s run given the way it played throughout the tournament, but none of the players were particularly interested in talking about it.
France entered the 2026 FIFA World Cup as the betting favorite to lift the trophy, and it certainly looked the part through the group stage and the first three matches of the knockout round, winning every match it played by more than two goals per match on average.
The team was a perfect 6-0 in the tournament entering Tuesday’s match and had not so much as surrendered a goal through the first three matches of the knockout round, all while its high-powered offense, led by the tournament’s leading scorer Kylian Mbappé, made scoring feel inevitable.
But all that changed in Tuesday’s match. Not only did France surrender its first two goals of the knockout round, but Mbappé and company had no answers on the offensive side as they were held scoreless for the first time all tournament.
Needless to say, it was a surprising result, but France did not seem all that willing to answer for it after the match.
According to Michael J. Duarte of The California Post, no French player went through the media mix zone after the match. While not every player is required to speak to the media after matches, teams are required to designate some players to speak in the media mix zone. According to Duarte, that didn’t happen.
All of the French players refused to come through the media mix zone after the match.
FIFA will hopefully fine them.
None of the French players wanted to talk about the loss to Spain that ended their World Cup.
“All of the French players refused to come through the media mix zone after the match. FIFA will hopefully fine them. None of the French players wanted to talk about the loss to Spain that ended their World Cup,” he wrote in a post on X.
It is worth noting that Mbappé appears to have spoken to at least some members of the media in some capacity, as he is quoted in a Reuters article where he called the team’s performance “sloppy.” He also interviewed with Fox Sports reporter Jenny Taft following the match. So it’s probably not fair to say that all of the French players were entirely unwilling to speak on the loss. Whether Duarte and others got the chance to talk to French players, however, is obviously a different story. But based on FIFA’s rules, players are supposed to be made available in the mixed zone, and teams can be fined if that doesn’t happen.
After the loss, France will now take on the loser of Wednesday’s match between England and Argentina in the third-place match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Saturday afternoon.
Los Angeles Dodgers southpaw Justin Wrobleski pitched two innings in the All-Star game, raising some eyebrows with his performance.
Wrobleski had five strikeouts, but he made one mistake, leading to his only run allowed, which came on a home run to former Dodgers Miguel Vargas.
However, his five punch-outs were good for the most since 1999, when Pedro Martinez got six of his own.
The record, since there are so many pitchers that need a turn, is six, but Wrobleski fell just short. He also tied for the most among Dodgers pitchers at the ASG, alongside two legends, Fernando Valenzuela (1986) and Don Drysdale (1959).
Jul 14, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; National League Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski (70) reacts after giving up a home run during the eighth inning against the American League at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Wrobleski was notably down since he gave up a home run, understandably so since he is a hyper-competitive pitcher, but he did not fail to take it all in, making an unlikely All-Star appearance on his birthday.
“I’m super blessed and lucky to have the chance to do this,” Wrobleski said. “There’s not many guys in history that have had that chance. So pretty cool to play on my birthday. My family’s here. Got to talk to them all day. And yeah, it was super fun.”
Jul 14, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; National League Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski (70) throws out a pitch at the top of the seventh inning during the All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Justin Wrobleski’s underdog story
Wrobleski was a journeyman college pitcher, playing at three different schools and undergoing Tommy John surgery months before getting drafted, which dinged him in the pre-draft evaluation.
Additionally, in 2021, he went through a car accident so tragic that it nearly ended his baseball career.
Despite it all, Wrobleski never lost faith.
“For whatever reason, I’ve always believed I could do it,” Wrobleski said.
“Even when it doesn’t look like it’s been something that’s possible, or hasn’t looked like this dream is going to work out, I’ve always had the belief that God’s given me the talent, and I have the ability to be able to do all this stuff. And it’s great to –– not fulfill that –– but prove that I can be really good at the major league level.”
For many fans, the biggest question today isn't who will win the World Cup. It's much simpler: What time is Argentina vs. England today and how do I watch it?
The answer is 3 p.m. ET, but the matchup carries far more significance than a spot on the schedule. Lionel Messi and defending champion Argentina are trying to move one step closer to another World Cup title, while England hopes to reach its first World Cup final since its championship run in 1966.
The semifinal is one of the tournament's most anticipated matches and features two of soccer's most recognizable national teams. By day's end, the World Cup final matchup will be set, as Spain already clinched their spot after yesterday's 2-0 win over France.
World Cup games today: Who plays on Wednesday, July 15?
Only one match remains before the World Cup final is set:
England vs. Argentina
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Round: Semifinal
TV: FOX
Winner advances to the World Cup final against Spain
Spain became the first finalist after defeating France 2-0 in the other semifinal.
What time is Argentina vs. England today?
England and Argentina kick off at 3 p.m. ET Wednesday, July 15 in Atlanta
The match will be broadcast nationally on FOX and streamed through available FOX platforms.
How to watch Argentina vs England in the World Cup semifinals today
Fans searching for today's World Cup game will be looking for television and streaming information as two of soccer's biggest nations battle for a spot in the final. The matchup is expected to draw one of the largest global audiences of the tournament so far.
Watching the World Cup in the U.S. remains straightforward:
Spain secured a place in Sunday's championship match by eliminating France in the first semifinal. Now England and Argentina will battle for the other spot.
A Spain-Argentina final would feature Messi attempting to defend Argentina's World Cup crown. A Spain-England final would give England a chance to end a decades-long title drought.
Can Lionel Messi reach another World Cup final?
Messi remains one of the biggest storylines of the tournament.
Argentina has survived several tense knockout matches to reach the final four, and every appearance adds another chapter to Messi's legendary international career. Argentina defeated Switzerland in the quarterfinals and now stands one victory away from a return trip to the World Cup final.
For many casual fans, today's match is as much about Messi's pursuit of another title as it is about the semifinal itself.
How did England and Argentina reach the semifinals?
England advanced after a dramatic extra-time victory over Norway in the quarterfinals, helped by another standout performance from Jude Bellingham. The Three Lions have continued to find ways to win in pressure-packed moments throughout the knockout stage.
Argentina reached the semifinals with a 3-1 extra-time victory over Switzerland. The defending champions have repeatedly survived close tests and remain alive in their pursuit of back-to-back World Cup titles.
Who is favored to win England vs. Argentina?
The betting markets have viewed England as a slight favorite entering the semifinal, though the margins are narrow given Argentina's experience and championship pedigree.
England enters with one of the tournament's most balanced squads, while Argentina brings experience, confidence and the presence of Messi in what could be another defining World Cup moment.
Who will win the World Cup 2026?
With France eliminated, the tournament is down to three contenders: Spain, England and Argentina. Spain has already booked its spot in the final, while England and Argentina will decide the remaining berth Wednesday.
Streaming services such as YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo and DirecTV Stream carry the same channels that will be airing the World Cup games, letting you follow the FIFA tournament in real time. FOX’s own platforms, including its app and direct-to-consumer options, also provide access to live matches.
The winner of today's semifinal advances to face Spain in Sunday's World Cup final at MetLife Stadium. With three former champions remaining, the tournament is guaranteed to crown a finalist with a rich World Cup history.
World Cup bracket: What's next after today's game?
After Argentina and England meet today, attention will shift to the third-place match on Saturday and the World Cup final on Sunday, By the end of the week, the field of 48 teams will be down to just two nations competing for soccer's biggest prize.
When is the FIFA men's World Cup 2026 final? World Cup schedule
The 2026 FIFA World Cup features a 48-team field across the United States, Canada and Mexico, running from June 11 through July 19 with 104 matches scheduled over several rounds as follows:
Group stage: June 11-June 27
Round of 32: June 28-July 3
Round of 16: July 4-7
Quarterfinals: July 9-11
Semifinals: July 14 and 15
Third-place match: July 18
World Cup final: July 19
Maria Francis is a Pennsylvania-based journalist covering trending and breaking topics across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions for USA Today Network. Reach her at mfrancis@usatodayco.com.
Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game was loaded with Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies had six representatives on the National League team, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the most in the game.
All of them played, too, thanks to some skillful managing by Dave Roberts, who did his best to satisfy the Philadelphia fans at Citizens Bank Park.
Unfortunately for the NL, the Phillies players didn't perform very well in the Midsummer Classic, doing more harm than good in the NL's 4-0 defeat.
Cristopher Sanchez started for the NL and took the loss, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks in the first inning. The NL never recovered.
Jesus Luzardo and Jhoan Duran both pitched well in relief, combining for 1 2/3 scoreless innings. However, it was already too late.
The NL didn't get any run support as its lineup was stifled by the American League. Bryce Harper, Brandon Marsh and Home Run Derby runner-up Kyle Schwarber went a combined 0-for-5 with four strikeouts.
In the end, it just wasn't the NL's night, especially for Philadelphia's stars.
With the final for the 2026 FIFA World Cup set to be played on Sunday, July 19 at MetLife Stadium, the international soccer organization announced a few more festivities to mark the occasion.
Gates will open at 11 a.m. and the transportation options have been adjusted accordingly.
When will train and bus service to the FIFA World Cup final start?
NJ Transit confirmed train service will begin at 10:30 a.m., half an hour earlier than prior matches.
Natalie Hamilton, a spokesperson for the region host committee, said their shuttle buses will run from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Who's appearing in FIFA World Cup closing ceremony?
A closing ceremony featuring Laura Pausini, Nicole Scherzinger, Robbie Williams and IShowSpeed, as well as a special appearance by Tom Cruise will start at 1:30 p.m., ahead of the 3 p.m. match kickoff time.
Grammy winner Jennifer Hudson was also be on hand to sing “The Star Spangled Banner” ahead of match.
With EA Sports’ predicted pick Spain reaching the FIFA World Cup final, fans believe history is set to repeat itself.
Since the 2010 FIFA World Cup, EA Sports have run simulations on their FIFA (now FC) game franchise to make a prediction of who would win the tournament.
In 2010, they predicted Spain to win the tournament, followed by Germany in 2014, France in 2018, and Argentina in 2022 – and they were proven right each time.
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Fans are certain Spain will win the FIFA World Cup after EA FC prediction resurfaces
After Spain confirmed their place in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final with a 2-0 win over France, EA FC’s X account shared a post they made before the tournament where they predicted La Roja to win it all.
Given EA Sports’ history of correctly predicting the winner of the FIFA World Cup for the last four instalments, many believe this is proof that Spain are going to win the tournament.
One fan simply wrote, “EA needs to be investigated for scripting immediately.”
Another fan didn’t have a positive reaction, noting, “Y’all need to be investigated. You know a thing or two about scripting.”
“I’m putting my life savings on them winning. You better not disappoint,” Wrote a third fan who bought into EA Sports’ prediction skills.
A fourth fan called for an investigation into EA Sports, writing, “You need to be investigated for real.”
A fifth fan wondered what would happen if they were proven right, “Honestly, I wasn’t familiar with you when you predicted 4 in a row, but if this should come through?”
And lastly, one final fan wrote, “It might just come to Spain to make it 6 times in a row, it would definitely be remarkable.”
Spain aiming to add a second star to their crest with FIFA World Cup win
With a place in the final secured, Spain now await the result of tonight’s semi-final fixture between England and Argentina.
Fans could witness a star-studded clash between Barcelona’s past superstar in Lionel Messi and their current sensation, Lamine Yamal.
However, England are hoping to play spoiler and reach their first FIFA World Cup final since 1966, thus completing their 60-year quest to win the tournament.
Regardless of who wins, Spain will be confident in their chances to win, given that they just knocked off the team many considered the front-runners to win the tournament.
With the college football season only a few weeks away, single-game tickets for Georgia Tech officially go on sale Wednesday.
The Yellow Jackets will open up their 2026 slate with three home games against Colorado, Tennessee and Mercer. The rest of the home schedule includes Duke, Boston College, Louisville and Wake Forest.
Tickets for all home games will go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Georgia Tech says tickets will be as low as $30.
Fans will also have the option of purchasing $150 tickets for the new Wreck Deck premium seats. The new area is part of an ongoing renovation at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Families in the Hagerstown area can now register girls ages 4-9 for a free introduction to hockey when DMV Girls Hockey Weekend comes to Hagerstown Ice & Sports Complex as part of a regional event scheduled for Sept. 12-13.
Registration is open for the program, which will take place at 18 rinks across Maryland and Virginia, according to a community announcement. The event is organized through a partnership involving the Washington Capitals, Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation, the Potomac Valley Amateur Hockey Association and youth hockey organizations throughout the region.
The weekend, previously known as DMV Girls Try Hockey for Free Day, is designed to introduce girls to the sport at no cost. A $32,991 grant from the MSE Foundation supports the program, and participants can borrow hockey equipment for one- to two-hour ice sessions.
Residents can register through capsyouthhockey.com. Participating locations and equipment requirements could change, and registrants should watch for instructions from their host rink before the event, according to the announcement.
Some locations also are expected to host girls hockey games before or after the free sessions.
Hagerstown among Maryland host sites
Hagerstown Ice & Sports Complex is one of nine Maryland locations participating in the regional effort.
Other Maryland sites include Reisterstown Sportsplex in Reisterstown, Bowie Ice Arena in Bowie, Columbia Ice Rink in Columbia, Rockville Ice Arena in Rockville, Brigade Sports Center in Annapolis, Capital Clubhouse in Waldorf, The Gardens Ice House in Laurel and Tucker Road Ice Rink in Fort Washington.
Virginia locations include Ashburn Ice House, MedStar Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Iceland of Hampton Roads in Virginia Beach, Mount Vernon RECenter in Alexandria, Prince William Ice Center in Woodbridge, SkateQuest in Reston, Richmond Ice Zone in Chesterfield, Lancerlot Sports Complex in Vinton and The St. James in Springfield.
Program seeks to grow girls hockey
DMV Girls Hockey Weekend aligns with USA Hockey's Try Hockey for Free initiative. According to the announcement, the program gives local youth an opportunity to experience hockey during a free introductory session while providing youth hockey organizations a chance to connect with interested families.
Organizers launched the regional girls-only event in partnership with PVAHA in 2023 with 16 participating rinks and clubs. Last year, 18 locations took part and more than 630 girls ages 4-9 tried hockey for the first time.
According to the announcement, participation by girls in the Future Caps Learn to Play program increased by more than 8% less than seven days after last year's event.
USA Hockey data cited in the announcement also points to continued growth in hockey participation across the Washington region since Alex Ovechkin was drafted. The number of registered girls and women players in Washington, Maryland and Virginia has increased by 225% from the 2005-06 season through the 2025-26 season.
Additional information about Capitals youth hockey programs is available at capsyouthhockey.com.
This story was created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at https://cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct/.
ONE Championship has completed the bracket for its blockbuster eight-man ONE SAMURAI Featherweight Kickboxing Tournament, revealing the final two matchups that will determine who earns a shot at gold.
Three-time Glory Kickboxing World Champion Marat Grigorian will square off against Russian standout Mamuka Usubyan at The Inner Circle 25 on Friday, August 7. The bout streams live in Asia primetime via live.onefc.com from Bangkok’s iconic Lumpinee Stadium.
The very next night, Japan’s Kosuke “Unstoppable Phoenix” Takagi collides with China’s Luo Chao at ONE SAMURAI 2 on Saturday, August 8, live from the iconic EBARA WAVE Arena Ota. The winner of the tournament will earn a guaranteed shot at reigning ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Champion Superbon.
Grigorian Aims To Make ONE World Title Shot Undeniable
Marat Grigorian appeared to place himself at the front of the featherweight kickboxing queue with his most recent performance. The Armenian icon needed less than two minutes to knock out Kaito at ONE SAMURAI 1 on April 29, ending their heated rivalry with a decisive statement inside Tokyo’s Ariake Arena.
The victory improved his record to 70-14 and delivered the fastest knockout of his ONE Championship tenure. It also extended Grigorian’s winning streak to three.
The decorated veteran will now enter a tournament filled with the division’s finest talent and attempt to make his next title opportunity undeniable.
Grigorian has already shared the ring with Superbon three times across their careers. He famously knocked out the Thai superstar in only 29 seconds outside ONE in 2018. But their two meetings inside the promotion both ended with Superbon earning decision victories.
The ONE SAMURAI tournament now offers Grigorian a definitive path toward another chapter in that rivalry and another chance to claim the major prize still missing from his decorated resume. But his opening assignment is far from a formality.
Mamuka Usubyan has built a flawless promotional record and now receives the biggest opportunity of his ONE run. The Armenia-born Russian most recently defeated Enzo Kartoum via unanimous decision in the co-main event of ONE Friday Fights 158 on June 12.
His volume and precision earned him the victory on all three scorecards, extending his perfect ONE record to 4-0 and improving his professional slate to 24-2.
That unbeaten run has also demonstrated Usubyan’s versatility across different rule sets.
He opened his ONE tenure by edging future ONE Interim Featherweight Muay Thai World Title challenger Shadow Mavinn in a competitive three-round battle. Usubyan then stopped Khunsuek Superbon Training Camp in the second round before switching to kickboxing and earning consecutive unanimous decisions over Yassin Airad and Kartoum.
Those four victories have earned the 32-year-old a place in the prestigious tournament, but Grigorian represents a dramatic increase in danger. A victory would keep Grigorian’s march toward Superbon and ONE gold firmly on course.
For Usubyan, defeating one of the greatest kickboxers of his generation would extend his perfect promotional record, eliminate a tournament favorite, and instantly transform him into a genuine World Title threat.
The 28-year-old Kosuke Takagi arrives with a professional record of 8-2, including four knockouts. Training out of Capital Raise Fighting GlaNz, the orthodox striker built his name as a Shoot Boxing Champion before turning his attention to the global stage.
Now he steps into ONE for the first time, and there’s no bigger opportunity to announce himself than an eight-man featherweight kickboxing tournament with a title shot on the line.
A debut of this magnitude is rare — most fighters spend years working toward contention, while Takagi finds himself thrust straight into the mix against a hardened Chinese kickboxer.
He faces Luo Chao, a 25-year-old Chinese fighter from Shengli Fight Club with a 43-11 career record and 18 knockouts who has already navigated the transition from the organization’s developmental league, ONE Hero Series, to the main roster.
Luo made his main roster debut in May 2026 against Brazil’s Denis Souza Jr. and earned a hard-fought split-decision victory to open his account. Now he faces another promotional newcomer, but one whose karate pedigree and finishing instincts make him anything but a comfortable assignment.
With four intriguing matchups now locked in, the road to a title shot against Superbon promises fireworks at every turn.
One England fan has spent the last month in the United States of America for the World Cup and has loved his experience.
The 2026 World Cup has not been without its critics, with the hydration breaks and the extended half-time show that is taking place at the final on Sunday among the decisions drawing criticism.
But the USA itself has received much praise throughout the tournament, including from England supporter Oliver Henry, who has now summed up his journey in a social media post, in which he thanked the American people.
Photo by Eddie Keogh – The FA/The FA via Getty Images
England fan having the greatest experience of his life in USA during World Cup
Henry has documented his journey following England this summer and has gained a decent following on social media as a result.
His trip is now taking him to Atlanta to watch the Three Lions face off with Argentina in the semi-finals of the competition.
Amid revealing he has managed to secure a ticket for the game, Henry admitted his experience over the last month has only been possible ‘thanks to the great American people’.
Taking to his X/Twitter account, he wrote: “Today marks one entire month in the USA. I only came for 1 World Cup match, started documenting my journey and ended up:
“Going to 3 total World Cup games, including a knockout game.
“Meeting Donald Trump, the President of the United States.
“Going on live morning TV with FOX.
“Exploring 6 different states.
“I have just got a ticket to the England vs Argentina game, and it’s all possible thanks to the great American people who supported my journey and donated to my GoFundMe. I never want this trip to end, it will never ever be topped. The greatest experience of my life.”
Henry’s trip may well come to an end on Wednesday if England lose to Argentina in the semi-final.
But even if Thomas Tuchel’s side don’t win the clash, he might end up staying in America for the final to watch Spain and Argentina face off for the trophy anyway.
Photo by Dustin Satloff - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
FIFA are struggling to sell their hospitality packages ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final in New Jersey.
Spain booked their spot in the final on Tuesday after defeating France, with England and Argentina set to battle it out for their spot on Wednesday.
Ticket prices have been a huge talking point during this summer’s World Cup, as many supporters feel FIFA have priced normal soccer fans out of attending the games.
Hospitality options in sports events always come at a premium, but FIFA’s offering for the World Cup final takes things to another level.
For the price of $57,500 per person, fans can secure themselves a spot in the pitch side lounge at MetLife Stadium.
Naturally the tickets have not sold out ahead of Sunday’s game and fans have not held back with their thoughts over FIFA’s money-earning attempts.
Photo by Zhizhao Wu/Getty Images
Fans left stunned by FIFA’s World Cup final ticket prices
Although no one does hospitality like the United States, a $57,500 ticket is always going to prove difficult to sell.
Taking to X, a number of World Cup fans have shared their reactions to the news of FIFA being unable to sell these tickets.
‘I would’ve bought the remaining but unfortunately they’re only limited to 6,” one fan sarcastically replied.
‘Maybe perhaps the interest in the sport in the US has been massively overstated from the beginning?’ added another fan.
However, there was one supporter who thought Wednesday’s result may see these tickets finally bought up: ‘Perhaps when the two final teams are determined the suites will sell.’
‘What on God’s green earth is a gourmet live-action cooking station?’ replied one confused fan.
Another fan shared their own sarcastic take on the price: ‘Not too steep.’
The theme of sarcastic replies continued, with one fan saying: ‘Bargain! Can’t believe it hasn’t sold out!!’
Large parts of this summer’s tournament have proven a roaring success, but it is clear that the pricing strategy has blown a lot of people out of contention to attend some of the games.
Argentina won all three of its group stage matches to take Group J. In the knockout rounds, La Albiceleste survived scares from Cabo Verde and Egypt and defeated Switzerland in the quarterfinals.
England won two of its three group stage matches to take Group L. The Three Lions knocked out Democratic Republic of Congo and co-host Mexico before outlasting Norway in the quarterfinals.
Both teams have already won matches at Atlanta Stadium.
If Argentina advances, it will have the chance to become only the third country to win back-to-back World Cup titles. For England, making it to final would give it a shot of the World Cup “coming home” for first time since 1966.
FIFA FAN FEST ATLANTA
The FIFA Fan Fest will be open on Wednesday for the semifinal match. The gates open at 12 p.m. and the celebration will last throughout the night with a special closing ceremony.
A limited number of general admission, general admission plus and VIP passes remain here.
Decatur Watch Fest will also open for the semifinal. Fans do not need a ticket to attend. You can also find other watch parties at the Battery Atlanta in Cobb County and Mega Watchfest at Arena at Southlake in Clayton County.
ATLANTA STADIUM TICKETS AND GATES
The stadium gates will open three hours before kickoff. FIFA encourages fans to give themselves enough time to get through security and in case any ticket issues come up at the gate.
Here are the Atlanta Stadium entrances that fans can use.
Entrance A: Postell Street, closest to the Vine City Station
Entrance B: Northside Drive
Entrance C: Magnolia Street
Entrance D: Just off Andrew Young International Boulevard and Magnolia Street
Entrance E: Andrew Young International Boulevard
Entrance F: Centennial Olympic Park Drive (Not accessible)
Entrance G: On the other side of the Silver Deck and entrance F (Not accessible)
Atlanta Stadium will have rideshare areas on Broad Street between Trinity Avenue and Mitchell Street. There will also be accessible pickup and drop-off areas at GWCC Bus Lane C (Entrances B & C) and the Transportation Terminal (Entrance E).
If you’re heading to the match or Fan Fest at Centennial Olympic Park, you can also take MARTA.
There are two MARTA stations next to the stadium: SEC District (formerly known as CNN Center/GWCC station) and Vine City. Fans can also walk from Peachtree Center or Five Points stations to Fan Fest.
Kai Asakura seeks back-to-back UFC wins against Qileng Aori in
Shanghai
After a stellar run in Rizin, Kai Asakura
suffered back-to-back defeats at flyweight upon joining the UFC. He
then moved up to bantamweight and picked up his first win in the
promotion. Asakura will now look to compile a win streak when he
takes on Qileng Aori
at
UFC Shanghai on Aug. 29.
Aori enters the bout with a 4-5-1 UFC record. He has struggled for
consistency, with just two wins in his last six outings. The
33-year-old is coming off a TKO defeat to Cody Haddon
in May.
Meanwhile, Asakura will look to build momentum after recording his
maiden UFC win in May. He knocked out Cameron
Smotherman at
UFC Macau, marking his 17th finish in 22 career wins. Flyweight
is firmly in the rear-view mirror for the Japanese star after he
was submitted by former champion Alexandre
Pantoja and Tim Elliott
at 125 pounds.
This isn’t the only bantamweight bout confirmed for UFC Shanghai,
as the Fight Night headliner features Umar
Nurmagomedov against Yadong
Song. Other Chinese fighters confirmed for the card include
former title challenger Xiaonan Yan,
veteran flyweight Su Mudaerji
and UFC newcomer Ce Liu.
There's absolutely nothing boring about Pitt football in style, seasons, and wild mood swings.
That's why it's among the ACC's biggest wild cards.
Head coach Pat Narduzzi proved that Pitt can win an ACC Championship, but lately, just when it seems like something fun is about to happen ... nope.
Can the Panthers Put It All Together and Win an ACC Championship?
Nov 15, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback Mason Heintschel (6) throws a shuffle pass against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first quarter at Acrisure Stadium.
It wasn't all that long ago when the Panthers won the 2021 ACC Championship, and that's why it always seems like they're this close to pulling off something big.
Coming off a 3-9 clunker, the 2024 Pitt team started 7-0 and looked like a true championship contender - and then lost its last six games.
The Panthers started 2-2 last season with heartbreaking close losses to West Virginia and Louisville.
They found their quarterback in Mason Heintschel during a five-game winning streak, and everyone started to get on board. And then they closed losing three of their last four.
This season's team has enough talent back to be terrific at times, but it's Pitt. It's going to be an interesting ride.
Best Case / Worst Case: Win the ACC Championship/Struggle to stay in the ACC race
Key Player: Mason Heintschel, QB Soph.
2025 Record: 8-5
Biggest Question: Can Pitt do all the little things right and win all of the games they're supposed to?
Pitt Key 2025 Stats
Average Yards Per Carry: Pitt 3.5, Opponents 2.7
Sacks: Opponents 44 for 325 yards, Pitt 31 for 274 yards
1st Quarter Scoring: Pitt 100, Opponents 48
Offense
Offensive coordinator Kade Bell has found his stride.
There are plenty of things to work on, but he's got the quarterback, the style, and the pop to make Pitt a threat to crank up the production every time out.
Now the Panthers have to be more consistent, and they have to be stronger against the better teams. They have the personnel to do it.
What’s Working
Mason Heintschel. The 6-2, 215-pounder isn't all that big, and he doesn't run, but the guy can spin it.
With a big-time arm and a maturity to his game, the sophomore came up large last season with 2,354 yards and 16 touchdowns, even though he didn't fully take over the job until mid-October.
He's the franchise, and Texas State transfer Holden Geriner is coming in to be the emergency option.
The ground game will take off. Heintschel will get the spotlight and the press, but the Panther rushing attack has the potential to carry its weight after a rough season.
The 1-2 rushing punch of Ja'Kyrian Turner and Western Kentucky transfer La'Vell Wright should combine to push for 1,500 yards.
When Pitt scores, Pitt wins. It was a true feast-or-famine team, going 8-0 when scoring 30 or more, and 0-5 when scoring fewer.
Over the last four years, Pitt is 22-1 when coming up with 30 or more, and that one loss was in the six-overtime insanity against Toledo in the GameAbove Sports Bowl.
What Needs Work
Third down conversions. The Panthers were explosive, and scoring wasn't much of an issue, but they were the worst in the ACC in third down conversion, hitting them just 33% of the time.
The offensive front should be better, but it still has a long way to go. Three starters are back, with 6-7, 325-pound tackle Ryan Bare the best of the bunch, and with help coming in from the transfer portal.
However, it's still going to take some work after the Panthers were among the worst in the nation in sacks and tackles for loss allowed.
Avoid the mega-turnover games. The Panthers were tied with Syracuse with the most turnovers - 23 - giving it up five times against Louisville, and five more times in the Military Bowl against East Carolina. They lost both by one score.
Player to Watch
Ja'Kyrian Turner, RB Soph. He's only 5-9 and 180 pounds, but he's tough, lightning quick, and he'll be used even more after leading the team with 745 yards and seven touchdowns, and catching 25 passes for 150 yards.
Nov 22, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi on the sideline against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the first quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field.
It's always bringing the heat as one of the best pass rushing and attacking defenses in America, and it's always giving up a ton of passing yards, and it's always coming up with takeaways.
The aggressive style doesn't stop now, especially with a relatively loaded group of veterans who should keep the production going.
What’s Working
The pass rush. Every year under Pat Narduzzi - seriously, every year.
The Panthers find the right players for the system - the statistical stars don't really translate to the next level - and they keep coming in waves.
Be stunned if Pitt isn't first or second in the ACC in tackles for loss per game again.
The defensive front will be a plus. The production comes from all sides, with ends Isaiah Neal and Jimmy Scott combining for eight sacks and 15 tackles for loss, and the defensive tackles can move, too.
Nick James and Sean FitzSimmons are veterans who should combine for way over ten tackles for loss.
The takeaways allow for the offense to take more chances. No one likes turning it over, but Pitt is almost always able to let the offense go full throttle thanks to a defensive style that takes it away every game.
The Panthers only failed to come up with a turnover in one game last year - the 61-9 win over Duquesne from the FCS.
What Needs Work
The linebacking corps. The combination of Kyle Louis and Rasheem Biles was dominant, and now Louis is a Miami Dolphin and Biles is a Texas Longhorn.
Alex Sanford Jr. is a ready-made outside linebacker from Purdue, and the return of Braylon Lovelace in the middle - coming off an 80-tackle season with two sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss - will be a steadying force.
Giving up yards is part of the cost of doing business for the Pitt corners, and it'll be trial by fire for the new starters.
Shadarian Harrison got his feet wet on one side with 30 tackles and an interception, and in comes big transfer Raion Strader from Auburn along with Kanye Thompson from Syracuse.
The amazing run defense has to keep holding up. Thanks to all the tackles for loss, Pitt usually has a strong statistical run defense.
When opposing ground games are working, they keep handing it off. Pitt went 6-0 when teams ran it fewer than 34 times, and was 2-5 when offenses ran it more.
Player to Watch
Alex Sanford Jr., LB Sr. How ridiculous was Rasheem Biles last year in Pitt's Money position?
101 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 17 tackles for loss, two interceptions - both for touchdowns - four broken up passes, and two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery for a score.
Just do that, Alex, in that same Money spot - he came up with 46 tackles last year for Purdue.
Keys to the Season
Keep quarterback Mason Heintschel from getting popped.
The offense has to keep up the pressure - the scoring has to be consistent.
Be sharper - fewer penalties, fewer turnovers, more third down conversions.
Player Who Needs To Shine
Mason Heintschel, QB Soph. Pitt usually has a few quarterback options, but with all due respect to Texas State transfer Holden Geriner, the entire season is about Heintschel.
He had problems against Notre Dame and Miami, and his production fell off late, but when he was on - he lit up NC State for 423 yards, and cranked out 300 yards in four of his first five starts - he was special.
Biggest Concern
Running through the tape - have a good November.
Over the last three years, Pitt is 3-10 in the final month of the regular season.
Pitt lost a few early games, found their groove, got to 7-2, and then it all fell apart, losing three of the final four.
To be fair, two of those losses were to Notre Dame and Miami, but the Panthers weren't even close.
The 2024 team started 7-0 and finished 7-6.
What does this November look like? Florida State, at Louisville, at Cal.
Biggest Game
at Virginia Tech, October 2 As long as Pitt doesn’t biff the home games against UCF and Syracuse, it has a serious shot at starting 6-0 if it can get by the Hokies.
With the next road game at Boston College, 7-0 isn’t a crazy dream before going to Miami.
Transfer Portal
Pitt got better this offseason.
It brought in several players who fit the style - lots of help for Mason Heintschel - and went heavy with bulk talent over star power.
There were a few massive losses - there's no replacing Francis Brewu or Rasheem Biles on the defensive side - but overall it was a good run in the portal.
Best Signing
Raion Strader, CB (Auburn) The Pittsburgh native started out his career at Miami University and was fantastic with 110 tackles and a ridiculous 31 broken up passes in two years.
He left for Auburn, but didn't do much last year. Now he's back home as a perfect fit for the Panther secondary.
Biggest Loss
Francis Brewu, DT (Notre Dame) Losing Rasheem Biles to Texas is every bit as big, but it's a bit easier to find playmaking linebackers than disruptive forces at tackle.
Brewu isn't massive, but the 6-1, 280-pounder can move, with 51 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and ten tackles for loss over the last two years. He'll be great for Notre Dame.
Other Names to Know
Alex Sanford Jr., LB (Purdue)
Jeremiah Warren, DT (Illinois)
DeMarco Ward, LB (Memphis)
CFN Season Prediction
It's interesting with Pitt, because in some ways, it's among the most predictable of ACC teams.
You know what it's going to do on both sides of the ball. It's just a question of execution.
But on the flip side, it's nasty to figure out this bunch over the last few years, because it will lose to mediocre teams like 2025 West Virginia and 2024 Virginia, and Cincinnati and Wake Forest in 2023 (all of them finished with losing seasons).
CFN Prediction: 7-5
Here's the massive plus - and remember that Duke and Virginia played in the ACC Championship last year. Who do the Panthers miss?
Clemson, Duke, NC State, SMU, Virginia, and a great-looking Wake Forest team. (And Stanford, too, by the way.)
And the biggest miss this year is Notre Dame, who was on last year's schedule.
The problem is the ACC road slate - at Virginia Tech, Boston College (both should be far, far better), Miami, Louisville, and Cal.
That doesn't even include home dates against UCF, Syracuse, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, and Florida State.
So like the last two years when Pitt hovered around the seven-to-eight win mark, expect that again.
Pau Cubarsi has been one of the best young players at the tournament, and has just surpassed the legendary Paolo Maldini in a huge statistic.
Cubarsi put in yet another stellar performance to help Spain advance to the FIFA World Cup final, managing to shut down a lethal France attack.
The FC Barcelona starlet has been fantastic this tournament, conceding just one goal. And with his latest shutout, Cubarsi has now beaten a record last set by Paolo Maldini.
Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images
Pau Cubarsi becomes fastest player to earn six clean sheets in FIFA World Cup
With their 2-0 win against France, Spain managed to keep their sixth clean sheet of the tournament. Pau Cubarsi has started every game for Spain, playing a huge role in their defensive dominance.
With his sixth clean sheet in seven World Cup games, Cubarsi has become the fastest player to reach six clean sheets in FIFA World Cup games.
The previous record was held by the legendary Italian defender Paolo Maldini, who managed to earn five clean sheets in his first seven FIFA World Cup games.
He did this in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, where he and Italy reached the semi-final of the tournament, only to lose to Diego Maradona and Argentina.
At the time, Maldini and Italy set a record for five consecutive clean sheets. In this tournament, Spain matched this record, only to have their chance to set a new record with six clean sheets spoiled by Belgium.
So far, Belgium are the only team to have broken this Spanish defence, with Charles De Ketelaere bagging the equaliser in their quarter-final tie.
Pau Cubarsi cementing himself as one of the world’s best defenders
For fans who don’t regularly keep up with FC Barcelona’s exploits in the Spanish league, Cubarsi is showing them just how talented he is.
The La Masia graduate broke into the team during the 2023-24 season under the stewardship of manager Xavi Hernandez.
Since then, Cubarsi has become a central figure in current Barcelona manager Hansi Flick’s defence. However, Flick’s signature high line leaves the young Spaniard exposed to counter-attacks, which explains why he and Barcelona often look defensively vulnerable.
Under the more conservative and composed system of Luis de la Fuente, Cubarsi has shown why he isn’t just one of the best young defenders in the world, but one of the outright best in the world.
Aug 16, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; The Thomas & Mack Center is pictured before the start of an NBA Summer League game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns.
LAS VEGAS – A battle of Los Angeles served as the nightcap of Tuesday’s NBA Summer League slate at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center.
In the main event — with plenty of star power courtside — the Lakers remained perfect in Sin City (3-0) with a dominant 99-85 victory over the Clippers.
Paced by their 24th overall pick of this year’s Draft, the Purple-and-Gold danced to the tune of 23 points from rookie guard Cameron Carr. The Lakers boasted five players in double figures. Chris Manon added 17 points and 11 rebounds. Adou Thiero chipped in with 13 points — on 5-6 FG — and AK Okereke posted 11, including three triples.
The Clippers, now 1-2, tried to fight back after falling behind early, but had not much success. They trailed the Lakers by 16 at the half and by 23 going into the fourth quarter.
In the end, the first quarter proved to be decisive. The Lakers found their groove early, going 6-for-11 from beyond the arc in the frame — including two apiece from Manon and Arthur Kaluma. The latter finished with 15 points and shot 3-6 from range.
The Clippers made just one of seven three-point attempts and shot 29 percent from the field in the opening period.
Kobe Sanders provided an offensive spark with 18 points to go along with six rebounds. No. 5 pick of this year’s Draft, Keaton Wagler, posted 16 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Nick Martinelli added a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds).
Wagler had a game of two halves. He had two points on 1-for-7 from the field at the interval. He went 5-for-8 and poured in 14 points after the break.
Cam Carr Special
The Lakers’ first-rounder out of Baylor stole the show in the win — with his solo 8-0 run in the third quarter, flashing his brilliant offensive potential.
The dynamic 21-year-old kicked things off with a strong and-one finish at the rim. His burst of speed allowed him to leave his defender in the rearview. Carr followed that up with a pretty mid-range jumper from just beyond the free-throw line. It was butter. Nothing but string music as his long 6-foot-5 frame rose over an onlooking Clipper.
The encore was a 28-foot three-pointer — a heat check that confirmed Carr had it going, forcing those watching to rise out of their seats.
It was a small sample of Carr’s talents. A teaser. But over the course of the summer thus far, he has shown Laker faithful enough poise to believe that he will be an immediate contributor on JJ Redick’s roster. Star guard Austin Reaves and new center Walker Kessler were amongst the witnesses on Tuesday.
Around the league
There were highlights aplenty between T&M and the Cox Pavilion on Day 6 of Vegas Summer League.
In the 3 p.m. tip-off, the Brooklyn Nets swept aside the Sacramento Kings 115-83 behind several standout performances from their first- and second-year players.
2025 No. 8 Draft selection Egor Demin led the way with 22 points, four rebounds, eight assists, and four steals. Last year’s No. 22 pick, Drake Powell, added 18 points (4-7 3PT). This year’s No. 6 pick, Mikel Brown Jr., posted 16 points and five dimes.
On the Kings’ side, No. 7 pick out of Arkansas, Darius Acuff Jr., shot 9-for-18 en route to a game-high 26 points. He added five assists. No. 45 pick Emanuel Sharp erupted for six triples (6-11 3PT) as he scored 23 points.
At Cox, Javon Small’s 26 points (5-8 3PT), seven assists, and four rebounds helped the Memphis Grizzlies to a 106-85 win over the Golden State Warriors. Small was the No. 48 pick last year.
2026 No. 3 pick Cameron Boozer posted 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals. For the Warriors, No. 11 pick Yaxel Lendeborg was one rebound shy of a double-double (15 points, 9 boards).
With No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa shut down for the remainder of Summer League, the Washington Wizards fell to the Chicago Bulls 99-87. Undrafted rookie Jaylin Sellers (24) and this year’s No. 4 overall pick, Caleb Wilson (19), combined for 43 points for the Bulls. Wilson added eight rebounds.
In the day’s biggest nailbiter, No. 35 pick Trevon Brazile led the Denver Nuggets to a 106-103 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Brazile erupted for 32 points and six rebounds on 11-for-19 shooting (6-12 3PT).
Dana White’s Contender Series will return for its 10th season
on Aug. 11, with all episodes set to stream exclusively on
Paramount+.
The long-running talent showcase will once again give aspiring
mixed martial artists the opportunity to earn an
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract by impressing the UFC
President and CEO, as well as the promotion's matchmakers.
Dana White's Contender Series returns for Season 10
Season 10 will consist of 10 Tuesday night episodes beginning on
Aug. 11 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Each episode will feature five
bouts, with every episode streaming exclusively on Paramount+.
Since its debut in 2017, DWCS has become one of the UFC's primary
talent pipelines. Across its first nine seasons, along with Dana
White's Contender Series: Brazil, the series has awarded more than
300 UFC contracts.
He insisted he was only joking with Redknapp and that he always thought England had the players and manager to reach the final four.
“No, I’m not surprised,” Mac Allister said this week. “I understand what you’re saying because it was an interview with Jamie at Liverpool, and it was a bit of a joke.
“At the same time that I said they were not going to be in this situation, I said they have amazing players and a really good coach.”
Even if he was joking, Mac Allister may have given the English players even more motivation to beat Argentina.
Photo by Jean-Yves Ruszniewski/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
England vs Argentina at the World Cup is a fixture any football fan should be excited for.
Meetings between the two footballing giants tend to be anything but boring, and Wednesday’s semi-final promises to be the latest instalment in one of international football’s fiercest rivalries.
There is also the added bonus that it will be Lionel Messi’s first time facing England — he will be raring to go.
But before that box-office clash, let’s look back on why the rivalry with Argentina is so heated. It all starts back in 1966. It was England’s year.
1966: “Animals”, Rattin and shade to the queen
During England’s 1-0 World Cup quarter-final win over Argentina at Wembley, captain Antonio Rattín was sent off for dissent by German referee Rudolf Kreitlein, despite claiming he couldn’t understand why.
Refusing to leave, Rattín had to be escorted off by police before sitting defiantly on the red carpet reserved for Queen Elizabeth II.
After the match, England manager Alf Ramsey famously branded Argentina’s players “animals” and stopped his team exchanging shirts.
1986: The Hand of God
Twenty years later came the rivalry’s most infamous chapter. Just four years after the Falklands War, Diego Maradona admitted emotions ran high.
And it materialized on the pitch. Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” goal — punched past Peter Shilton but missed by officials — gave Argentina the lead before he produced the “Goal of the Century”, weaving past five England players and the keeper.
Photo by Allsport/Getty Images
Argentina won 2-1, he later described the opener as “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.” It remains one of the tournament’s most controversial moments ever.
1998: Beckham’s red mist
England’s World Cup meeting with Argentina in Saint-Étienne produced another tense encounter. Shortly after half-time, David Beckham reacted to a foul by Diego Simeone with a petulant kick from the ground.
The minimal contact was enough for Simeone to ensure referee Kim Milton Nielsen noticed, and Beckham was sent off.
England held on for penalties before losing the shootout, while Beckham became a national villain overnight, enduring months of abuse that defined the early part of his career.
Photo credit should read Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images
2002: Beckham’s redemption
Four years later Beckham got his chance to rewrite the story. When England were awarded a penalty against Argentina in the World Cup group stage, there was little doubt who would take it.
Beckham calmly converted the decisive spot-kick in a 1-0 victory, later saying he knew “that was my moment to step up.”
His emotional celebration reflected more than just three points — it marked redemption after the trauma of 1998, with Beckham admitting it felt like the moment England fans had finally forgiven him.
2026: Messi’s first England meeting
Remarkably, despite a career spanning two decades, Lionel Messi has never faced England at senior international level.
Wednesday’s semi-final will see the 39-year-old look to continue a frankly incredible World Cup campaign. With Kylian Mbappe out of the picture, a goal should be enough to secure him a first-ever Golden Boot.
From a footballing perspective, this promises to be a gripping tie. But the wider context of these two nations’ bitter rivalry makes this one all the more enticing. What will the next chapter read like?
The current
Professional Fighters League champion claims Rousey had every
opportunity to accept a super-fight during her prime but chose not
to.
The history behind the UFC superfight fans wanted between Cris
Cyborg and Ronda Rousey
Cyborg reflected on her rivalry with Rousey in a new interview with
Sherdog’s Marcelo Alonso ahead of her retirement bout against
Ketlen
Vieira at
PFL Tampa. The Brazilian legend also noted that if "Rowdy"
wouldn’t fight her when they were both active and winning, she
definitely wouldn’t accept a fight now.
“That was something the fans put together. Ronda had the
opportunity to fight me when she was at her peak, and she didn't
want to,” Cyborg explained of a fan-made poster that was rumored to
be genuine. “If she didn't want it in her prime, imagine now.”
She also emphasized that their rivalry was based on Rousey’s fear
instead of mutual animosity.
“I think fear eventually turned into rivalry,” she added. “I never
did anything to her. In fact, Dana himself used to say that once
Ronda beat Holly, her next fight would be against Cyborg. But then
she lost, got really upset, decided to retire, and now she's back
alongside Gina.”
Rousey put together a stellar 12-0 record and compiled seven title
defenses in the UFC before getting finished in back-to-back bouts
against Holly Holm
and Amanda
Nunes, which marked the beginning of a 10-year hiatus from MMA.
The former UFC champion returned to winning ways against Gina Carano
earlier this year under the
Most Valuable Promotions banner.
The New York Yankees were front and center during the MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday.
Despite entering the Midsummer Classic as slight road underdogs, the American League pulled off the upset with a 4-0 victory at Citizens Bank Park.
Three of those runs came in the top of the first inning off Philadelphia Phillies ace Cristopher Sanchez. With the bases loaded and two outs, Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger ripped a two-run single up the middle, giving the AL a 2-0 lead.
Cody Bellinger comes through and drives in two runs to give the American League the lead in the 1st! pic.twitter.com/gZVlMkEcGa
Bellinger's teammate, Ben Rice, immediately followed with another single to nearly the exact same spot, driving in the AL's third run. It was the first time since 1962 that multiple Yankees players had an RBI in the All-Star Game.
That proved to be more than enough run support for the AL pitching staff, which twirled the first All-Star Game shutout since 2013. The AL tacked on an insurance run in the eighth inning for good measure on Miguel Vargas' solo homer.
While Bellinger was retired in his next two at-bats and finished 1-for-3, he was named All-Star Game MVP, becoming just the fourth Yankee to win the award along with Giancarlo Stanton, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter.
This was the third All-Star Game for Bellinger and his first since 2019. While he already has an NL MVP trophy and an NLCS MVP award, now he has some more MVP hardware to add to his collection.
Topuria put his lightweight title on the line against interim
champion Gaethje at
UFC Freedom 250. While "El Matador" was a massive favorite
going into the bout and nearly finished it in the second round,
Gaethje piled on the damage in the subsequent frames, leading to a
corner stoppage before the final round. It marked the first defeat
of Topuria’s professional career.
Some of Topuria’s pre-fight antics and the eventual result of the
recent UFC lightweight championship fight have resonated with
Joshua.
Anthony Joshua explains how Ilia Topuria’s loss to Justin
Gaethje changed his approach to boxing
Joshua notes that Topuria had celebrated the night before the fight
and had done so before previous bouts. While "AJ" doesn’t want to
criticize the former two-division champion, the Brit had a massive
realization. Joshua has cut all unnecessary contact with people,
making himself inaccessible, since Topuria’s first professional
loss. The Englishman notes that the fight business isn’t all fun
and games.
“I think you've got to be in the fight game to truly know; it’s not
lit,” Joshua told Combat Evolved. “It’s not what people think it
is. It’s not all fun and games. It's a serious, serious job. Stay
away from people who just want to get lit and get upset when you
don’t return calls and stuff. It’s not personal. When I watched the
Ilia Topuria fight, I stopped replying to people after that.
Because I said, ‘Yo, it’s not a joke.’”
Dissecting Topuria’s loss to Gaethje, Joshua further claimed that
nothing can be taken for granted in combat sports.
“I saw someone in Ilia who was destined to win,” he added. “The
stars were aligned for him to be victorious. I think Ilia had
beaten people that Justin had lost against; the odds were in his
favor. Not a bad thing, but I saw him celebrating before. He’s
entitled to do what he wants, but I just took something from it and
I said, ‘Get back to being uncontactable, less accessible, because
the fight game is so serious.’ You saw his face, what he went
through. It’s not a joke.”
Joshua (29-4) is set to return to action against Kristian Prenga
(20-1) on July 25 at Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver answered questions Tuesday regarding expansion and other topics at his Las Vegas news conference following the league's Board of Governors meeting.
LAS VEGAS — Like the process itself, news on the NBA's updated plans for expansion doesn't come rushing out like water from a fire hose. More like measured amounts from a faucet, somewhat slow and steady, making sure it doesn't overflow the glass.
Commissioner Adam Silver did address expansion during his meeting with reporters Tuesday evening at the Thomas & Mack Center following the Board of Governors meeting in Las Vegas. And while Silver acknowledged the process remains ongoing, he gave no timetable or real update on those who are bidding for both the Las Vegas and Seattle expansion franchises, where things stand at the moment or a specific timetable as to when an announcement can be expected.
In other words, let the guessing game continue.
What Silver did say was he was optimistic the process could reach its conclusion sometime in December and that there is a deadline approaching for those interested to submit their bids with their financials to the league where its bankers will go over the individual bids before reporting back to the owners.
“I’m still hopeful this process will be wrapped up by year’s end,” Silver said, though he didn’t say when the deadline specifically was for submitting bids.
There are at least six known groups interested in obtaining the expansion rights for the Las Vegas franchise and there could be more by the time the deadline for bidding passes. Among them are some familiar names — Jerry Colangelo, Bill Foley, Magic Johnson, Bob Iger, Marc Lasry — that intend to vie for the rights to bring the NBA here. All claim they have the funding to meet the NBA’s price tag, which at minimum is expected to be $8 billion. All except Foley have plans to construct an arena to house the Las Vegas team while Foley is prepared to invest $300 million in upgrades to T-Mobile Arena, home to his NHL Vegas Golden Knights and a facility he owns 15 percent of.
In Seattle, the lone bidder to go public so far is Samantha Holloway, chairperson of the ownership group of the Seattle Kraken and has Bill Gates’ former wife Melinda as an investor. The Kraken ownership group also owns the majority interest in Climate Pledge Arena, where the basketball team would likely play. Silver did caution that there is additional interest in both Seattle and Las Vegas from parties which have not yet made their intentions public.
But it’s here in Las Vegas where the intrigue is. The NBA owners are well versed in knowing Colangelo from his days with the Phoenix Suns, Lasry from his time owning the Milwaukee Bucks, Magic Johnson from his prior connection to the Lakers (he also is part of the current ownership of the WNBA’s L.A. Sparks) and some of the owners know Foley through the NHL. So there are few surprises when it comes to vetting these potential ownership groups.
“It gives me a lot of confidence to see first-hand the amount of interest in the game in Las Vegas,” Silver said. “In terms of the process for potential expansion here, multiple groups are in the process of presenting plans to our bankers and those plans not only include who the owners would be but what their vision for basketball in Las Vegas would look like, where they would play, what it would look like and it’s music to my ears.”
Still, expect the process to be laborious. There shouldn’t be a rush for a decision this monumental. In fact, if it doesn’t get announced until next year, it wouldn’t be a surprise despite Silver’s hope to have an announcement by the end of the year.
In addition to the financing questions, the owners are going to want to know about a potential arena. Where will it be built? How long will it take to construct? Will the Las Vegas team own all the basketball related revenue streams (naming rights, suites, club seats, tickets, parking, concessions, regional TV) and how big a building will it be?
The Clippers are the best example of why this is important. They went from paying rent to AEG, which owns the Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center) as the third tenant behind the NHL Kings and NBA’s Lakers, to owning 100 percent of the BRR at the $2 billion Intuit Dome. They reportedly showed a profit of $569 million last year according to statistia.com.
And if any of the prospective ownership groups need to know anything about such a venture, they should pick up the phone and call Steve Ballmer, the Clippers’ owner. He can clue them in on the process.
So as the process continues, Silver, like everyone, remains in a wait-and-see mode. But the fact there is competition among those bidding to get the NBA expansion team in Las Vegas and likely Seattle as well, it confirms Silver’s and the league’s decision to not rush into it and now that it’s underway, see where it ultimately winds up.
“No votes have been taken so far,” he said. “We have a ways to go still as far as discussions with the interested parties but I’m optimistic about the future here (in Las Vegas).”
Photo by Maddie Meyer - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
Lamine Yamal has already become a phenom for Spain at just 19 years old.
The Barcelona superstar recently celebrated his 19th birthday, and he got the perfect present during Spain vs. France 2026 FIFA World Cup semifinal clash.
The star winger helped his nation reach the finals of the World Cup for just the second time after registering a 2-0 win over Kylian Mbappe’s France.
Photo by Pablo Morano/BSR Agency/Getty Images
Lamine Yamal keeps a phenomenal personal record intact
So far, Yamal has been kept rather quiet by opponents at the 2026 FIFA World Cup as he has just one goal and no assists in the tournament.
Despite that, Yamal’s one stat, pointed out by OptaJoe on X, shows how important he is to the current Spanish team.
“Lamine Yamal has started 12 games at the FIFA World Cup and UEFA EUROs combined ending on the winning side in all 12 – the best 100%-win rate of any European player across the two competitions when starting,” OptaJoe revealed.
Considering Yamal is still nowhere near the prime of his career, and still has such an impact on Spain’s winning percentage, shows that he’s a special player.
He has already won the Euros in 2024, but can he lead Spain to lifting the World Cup trophy? Only time will tell.
For now, Spanish fans will hope Yamal can end his goal drought ahead of the most important game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Lamine Yamal and Spain are through to the finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
In a highly anticipated semifinal matchup between Spain and France, it was Lamine Yamal’s side who ended up victorious.
Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro netted two goals to give the Spaniards a memorable 2-0 win over the World Cup favorites as the French were unable to find a way to beat Spain’s defense.
Photo by Maddie Meyer – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
Spain equal Italy’s unbelievable unbeaten record
The 2-0 win over France marked Spain’s 37th consecutive game where the team either won or drew the game in all competitions.
According to OptaJoe on X, this win has helped the 2010 World Cup champs equal Italy’s unbeaten record from 2018 to 2021.
“Spain have now gone 37 games without defeat in all competitions (W28 D9) equalling the longest ever unbeaten streak by a European nation in history (Italy also 37 matches between October 2018 and September 2021),” OptaJoe revealed on X.
While Italy’s unbeaten streak ended in 2021, Spain have a shot to further increase it to 38 games at the biggest stage in the world: the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final.
Spain have confirmed their berth in the finals as they now wait for the result of the Argentina vs. England semifinal clash to find out their opponent.
National League manager Dave Roberts removes the pitcher San Diego Padres pitcher Mason Miller (19) during the eighth inning at Citizens Bank Park.
After answering a host of questions on media day, many of them asking his thoughts about a possible trade, San Diego Padres closer Mason Miller and representative at the 2026 All-Star Game went out and did what he has done all season for the Brown and Gold.
The National League’s saves leader was called upon to face just one batter to start the ninth inning and got a strikeout, as the America League All-Stars rode a three-run first inning to a 4-0 win over the National League All-Stars on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park.
Pitching was the standout for the evening, as the National League was limited to just three hits — one more than the fewest in All-Star Game history set by the NL in 1990. The AL set a new All-Star Game record with 15 strikeouts, and the sides broke the combined strikeouts record with 27 punch-outs.
The lone batter Miller faced was Chicago White Sox rookie Munetaka Murakami, whom he pumped four consecutive fastballs against — all of them over 100 MPH. All three swings failed to make contact, as Miller overpowered the Majors’ second-highest first-year home run hitter. It was the first time he and Murakami faced off.
Miller extended his career All-Star numbers to 1 1/3 innings with three strikeouts and 11 of his 16 offerings going for strikes after having earned the win as a member of the Athletics in 2024. His appearance was the shortest appearance by a Padres representative since Kirby Yates did not appear despite being selected in 2019.
The only other run for the American League came in the eighth inning when Chicago White Sox third baseman hit a second deck solo home run off LA Dodger pitcher Justin Wrobleski.
American League starter Dylan Cease, coming off his first return series to San Diego as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, struck out Kyle Schwarber and Juan Soto before Freddie Freeman drew a nine-pitch walk in the bottom of the first. Cease closed it out with a third K, getting CJ Abrams to whiff on a low slider.
The two selections for the Padres opponents in their first series out of the break, Kansas City, played important roles in the with for the AL.
Starting shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. got the second plate appearance with a runner in scoring position in the opening inning against NL starter Cristopher Sánchez. After falling behind in the count 1-2, he was able to work a walk to load the bases.
Witt tops the AL in stolen bases (30). For the Royals, he’s team-high in hits (103, fourth in the AL), doubles (22 tied for third in AL), walks (39), runs (51) and batting average (.286, ninth in the AL), while slotting second on KC with in RBI (39) and tied for second-most in home runs (13).
Back-to-back hits by representatives from the Yankees opened the scoring, as first Cody Bellinger hit a two-RBI single back up the middle and then Ben Rice followed with another knock up the middle. Rice’s stroke plated Witt, as the AL scored three runs and sent eight to the plate to open the game. Bellinger was awarded the Ted Williams MVP award.
Michael Wacha, the righty pitcher and second representative for the Royals, was called upon in the third inning. He struck out Andy Pages, getting a whiff on an inside changeup, and then Drake Baldwin with a fastball painting the black on the outside. Wacha completed his one-two-three effort by getting Schwarber to ground out.
Witt joined the FOX broadcast on field, praising Wacha’s changeup and his fastball with good verticality, as well as a cutter and slider to mix everything up, praising the veteran as a teammate.
The last start by Wacha (5-7, 3.77 ERA) was on July 9, giving up six runs on six hits with five strikeouts and three walks in 4 2/3 innings in a loss at the New York Mets. He projects to be the starter for the third game of the Padres’ series at the Royals according to FanGraphs.
San Diego comes out of the break with a three-series and 10-day road trip. After opening with three against the Royals it’ll be a four-game set in Atlanta before closing the trip out with three games in Miami.
Aug 22, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Quentin Skinner (39) warms up before the preseason against the Philadelphia Eagles game at MetLife Stadium. Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
The Buffalo Bills claimed a player previously on a division rival, and though a roster longshot, he has some traits worth betting on.
Buffalo Bills rookies report to training camp July 21, with veterans following one week later. So it isn’t a surprise the front office is making moves in the final stretch of the offseason’s dead period.
On Tuesday, the Bills claimed a player from the division rival New York Jets to add depth on offense.
Bills claim former Jets player
Per Tuesday’s NFL wire, the Bills claimed wide receiver Quentin Skinner, who was recently waived by the Jets. The Bills terminated Deven Thompkins to make room for Skinner.
Skinner is an intriguing addition to a Bills wide receiver group dealing with its usual uncertainty. Though Skinner is unlikely to play a big role on offense, a strong training camp could make Buffalo consider using a 53-man roster spot on him. It will be an uphill battle, but he has some noteworthy traits. That starts with his size.
Skinner, 24 years old, is 6-foot-5. He could provide the Bills with some size in the red zone. However, his experience is very limited. As an undrafted rookie, he recorded one catch while playing for the Jets. Ironically, that ten-yard catch happened against the Bills in Week 18 (perhaps it’s an explanation of the Bills’ interest).
Before that, he led the Jets with 114 receiving yards in three preseason games.
At Kansas, Skinner recorded 80 catches for 1,584 yards and 11 touchdowns throughout three seasons. In 2024, his senior year, he even led the Big 12 in yards per reception at 22.3. That and his size will earn him a chance to prove himself with the Bills.
Bills WR room as of today
Following Tuesday’s moves, here’s an updated look at the Bills’ WR room:
Submission grappling’s pound-for-pound queen Helena Crevar dazzled the world in her global stage debut, and she is already plotting an even more commanding encore.
The 19-year-old phenom squares off against American debutant Paige Ivette Clymer in a 10-minute openweight submission grappling contest at The Inner Circle 22, streaming exclusively for members on live.onefc.com from Bangkok’s historic Lumpinee Stadium on Friday, July 17.
Crevar’s inaugural ONE appearance left absolutely no room for debate. The Las Vegas native needed just 100 seconds to dismantle Teshya Noelani Alo with a slick Estima lock at ONE Fight Night 39 last January, setting an impossibly high bar for her sophomore outing.
However, her upcoming adversary brings serious credentials and an imposing physical presence. A 2026 ADCC West Coast Trials winner and black belt under Keenan Cornelius at Legion American Jiu-Jitsu, Clymer is an all-action force with a game built specifically to break people.
Crevar has never shied away from a physical challenge, and Clymer’s stature adds an entirely new dimension to what is already a fascinating stylistic matchup.
She said:
“She’s a super accomplished athlete. I believe she medaled at No-Gi Worlds, and she also won the recent ADCC trials. So I know that she’s a super tough athlete. Her game might be a little similar to Teshya’s, playing top and everything.
“Last time, I was the heavier athlete. This time, she will probably be heavier. But I’ll still focus on playing my game and looking for the submission wherever I can get it, because my game is very submission-oriented.”
Despite Clymer’s physical attributes, Crevar greets the challenge without a trace of concern. Under the tutelage of legendary coach John Danaher, the Texas-based athlete has built the technical foundation and unshakeable confidence to handle whatever is thrown at her.
Surrounded daily by some of the finest grapplers on the planet at Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu, including submission grappling icon Gordon Ryan, Crevar has continued adding dangerous new layers to an already formidable game.
Crevar said:
“The preparation hasn’t been much different. I’ve competed against bigger people in the past. It’s really just about trying to improve my techniques and using them to work with bigger and stronger people.
“I’m lucky that I have a lot of bigger training partners at the gym, so I’ve been going with as many bigger people as I can. People that can challenge me with both the strength and the technical aspects.”
Grinding out points has never been Crevar’s style, making ONE’s submission-focused format a natural fit.
Now, the grappling world watches intently to see if she can raise that bar once more against a considerably stiffer test.
She declared:
“It’s always a submission from me. In any position we end up in, I’ll try to get the submission and win that way. I’m going to keep looking to get my second submission at ONE.”
Crevar Eyes ONE World Title Shot, Embraces Pound-For-Pound Crown
At an age when most competitors are still finding their footing, Helena Crevar already occupies a position in the sport that veterans spend entire careers chasing.
As the youngest podium placer in ADCC history, a 2025 IBJJF No-Gi World Champion, and the owner of an astonishing 355-7 career record, her accolades read like a lifetime retrospective.
What makes the generational talent truly remarkable is how effortlessly she carries those expectations without ever flinching under the weight.
She shared:
“To be the youngest #1 pound-for-pound female grappler right now is really big for me. I want to maintain that spot, and ONE Championship motivates me to get my name out there and prove that even at such a young age, I can be the best female grappler there is.
“For me, it’s not pressure. It’s motivation. I’m so young, so I have a lot of time to accomplish so many things, but if I can do it earlier, it’s better.”
The ONE Women’s Submission Grappling World Title sits firmly at the top of Crevar’s ambitions. A second dominant finish against Paige IvetteClymer on July 17 would make her case for 26 pounds of gold absolutely impossible to ignore.
Yet the teenage sensation approaches the climb to the summit with a patience and maturity that completely belies her age.
Crevar concluded:
“I still definitely want that opportunity for a title. We’ll see after this match and talk about whether I’ll have an opportunity to go for the ONE [World] Title, or maybe do one more match and then a title after that. But that is definitely the goal: to get the title at ONE.
“I don’t feel the pressure. I just feel motivated to keep going and keep getting as many wins as possible.”
Boston’s City Hall Plaza is back open to World Cup watch parties.
Hundreds packed the plaza to watch Spain beat France in the semi-final on Tuesday.
“I just love this big area, great game, so I’m just happy that Boston’s just letting up like a city should be you know, I’m having a great time,” said Sam Neal.
Many were disappointed when the city shut down the FIFA fan festival after only 16 days of the World Cup, but the mayor says it was because of funding constraints.
“There was a lot more food and stuff but honestly I’m here for the game, so I enjoy myself so honestly this was just great,” said Neal.
Some argue this more casual watch party may be better since you don’t need to register to get in or walk through any lines for security.
“It was very restrictive the whole system was like very over capacity, just being able to get in sounds like an impossible task for any of the games, so just them having this feels very unrestrictive with a lot of freedom,” said Manny Debettencourt.
This week, Mayor Michelle Wu announced the city will host these new watch parties for the last few matches of the World Cup with a big screen and some food trucks set up on City Hall Plaza.
There are also many other watch parties across the city.
“This whole World Cup has been really exciting,” said Debettencourt. “I can’t believe it’s just gone so fast.”
Fans say it’s nice to have a place to come together with other fans to celebrate these big moments.
Many of them plan to come back for the next match on Wednesday.
“Get my work done a little early just to come see the energy out here it’s going to be fantastic tomorrow,” said Debettencourt.
City leaders say this new watch party set up is sponsored by State Street.
It’s free and open to the public.
The next match to watch will be when Argentina takes on England at 3PM Wednesday.
In 2025, there was plenty of buzz out there about former Boston Red Sox star Rafael Devers and all of the drama that happened between him and the club's front office.
Eventually, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants, despite the fact that he was expected to be the face of the franchise. Now, he's no longer in the organization and he's gotten a lot of heat over the last year. While this is the case, Red Sox All-Star outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela was asked who his favorite former teammate and he made it clear that it's Devers.
For as much heat as Devers has gotten over the last year, it's a bit surprising to see a member of the organization to speak of him highly. It just goes to show that the media's perception of Devers doesn't necessarily match who he is in the clubhouse. There may have been issues with the front office, but that doesn't mean that Devers had issues with his teammates, to say the least.
If you're a fan of the Tampa Bay Rays, there's some real fear right now.
On Tuesday night, Rays superstar slugger Junior Caminero was forced to leave the All-Star Game early after being hit on the hand by a 98 miles per hour fastball in the third inning by St. Louis Cardinals closer Riley O'Brien.
Junior Caminero exits the MLB All-Star Game after taking a 98 fastball from Riley O'Brien on the hand.
"Everybody's worst nightmare in an exhibition is that anything like this happens." - Joe Davis on the Fox broadcast pic.twitter.com/6rCPVZaAYJ
Caminero came out of the contest and Matt Gelb of The Athleticreported that the slugger went get X-Rays at Citizens Bank Park with a Philadelphia Phillies doctor.
"Junior Caminero is headed to get X-rays at Citizens Bank Park with a Phillies doctor," Gelb wrote.
Junior Caminero is headed to get X-rays at Citizens Bank Park with a Phillies doctor.
At this moment, we know that Caminero was forced to exit and that X-Rays were unsurprisingly necessary. Fortunately, Fox's Tom Verducci said on the broadcast that the X-Rays came back negative.
LeBron James has yet to decide where he will play next season following his departure from the Los Angeles Lakers.
James reportedly has three Eastern Conference teams on his shortlist: the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Miami Heat, and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Meanwhile, the 41-year-old is also considering the Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference.
The Cavaliers, where he has already spent 11 years across two spells, are the favourites to sign him in free agency.
However, several NBA executives expect him to stay in the West with a controversial move to Golden State.
Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images
Why NBA executives believe LeBron James will sign for Golden State Warriors
Despite his rivalry with the Warriors during his second stint with the Cavaliers, James is reportedly open to joining Golden State.
He would enjoy playing alongside Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, and he has a good relationship with head coach Steve Kerr.
With Jimmy Butler (once he returns from injury), Brandin Podziemski, and Kristaps Porzingis also on the roster, the Warriors would be contenders with James.
Regardless of the team’s success, Golden State would be an entertaining final chapter of James’s legendary NBA career.
The move suddenly appears more realistic, as several NBA executives are “skeptical” of reports that James is returning to Cleveland.
“Multiple Western Conference executives told Front Office Sports they expect James to sign with the Warriors over the Cavaliers.”
This suggests that Draymond Green’s rejection of his $27.7 million player option was part of the bigger picture.
Perhaps James really is going to spend the final season or two with the team that he had his greatest battle against.
University of Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel, left, and basketball coach Rick Barnes, right, speak during the Big Orange Caravan event at Marathon Music Works in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK
Tennessee’s highest earners do not appear to be coming from the football program.
The NIL landscape has completely reshaped college athletics over the last six years, but it’s done so in a bit of a wild west, behind the scenes way. Thousands of players each year flock to the transfer portal and come out on the other side in new uniforms, and with new NIL deals.
What are the dollars signs associated with these new NIL deals? That’s remained a mystery for a long time because they’ve not been made public nor have they been required to be.
🚨 MASSIVE CHANGE 🚨 Launched NIL Valuation in 2021 when the market was figuring itself out. Today, we are proud to announce that we have moved to a "market and deal-based model."
All NIL Valuations with a green check are confirmed deals, and no check means market value and… https://t.co/d5XMv0cAnM
And so, who are Tennessee’s top NIL earning athletes, per On3? As it turns out, the biggest money for individual athletes is not on the football side, but on the basketball team.
On3 Sports lists 3 of top 4 Tennessee NIL earnings among Vols basketball program, not football
On3 lists men’s basketball transfer addition Juke Harris as the university’s top earner with a listed NIL valuation of $4 million. Two more new basketball transfer portal additions are tied for second: former Notre Dame F Jalen Haralson and former Cal G Dai Dai Ames. Both men have a listed valuation of $3 million each.
Tennessee football’s top two players are Chaz Coleman and David Sanders, Jr.. But with Tennessee already having parted ways with Coleman, that puts Sanders as the top NIL earner on the football team, according to On3. George MacIntyre’s name is next on the list at $1.6 million, but it should be noted that On3 hasn’t confirmed that total.
That certainly puts into perspective to a degree the claims by those who argue Tennessee is money whipping players above and beyond others to get players to come to Knoxville, as has been the case in the competing fans’ social media squabbles surrounding the recruitment of David Gabriel Georges. Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith and Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss both have valuations of $5 million each.
It’s the age we live in nowadays, and the skyrocketing money doesn’t show any sign of changing direction any time soon.
“Still to this day, he swears it just got away from him,” Duncan said after Bonds reflected on the incident, which was the only time he charged the mound in his MLB career.
“No it didn’t, it did not get away,” Bonds insisted. “He’s a good pitcher and he’s a good man. In that situation, it was part of the game of baseball during that time, and I accepted it.”
There was maybe one day where Bottalico swore it got away from him. But in just about every other day since, Bottalico has been open about the fact that he plunked Bonds on purpose.
“Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong,” Bottalico responded to Elle Duncan and Netflix during his Tuesday afternoon show with co-host Bill Colarulo on 97.5 The Fanatic. “That is a bald-faced lie.
“I’ve told the story on this show, I’ve told the story on NBC Sports Philadelphia, I have told the story. I was told to go in and hit Barry Bonds. It’s that simple. When it happens, in the newspapers in the next day and all that back then, I had to say I didn’t do it on purpose or else I’m suspended for a month. It’s that simple. Yes, we had to lie back then!”
Bottalico explained that Bonds attempted to steal a base while the San Francisco Giants were already up by around seven runs on the Phillies. Shortly after that happened, manager Terry Francona phoned the bullpen and summoned an unnamed reliever to throw a pitch at Bonds. When that reliever allegedly declined, Bottalico was next man up, and he obliged with one pitch that garnered the only mound charge of Bonds’ career. Nearly three decades later, the story appeared to be news to Netflix.
May 28, 2026; Henderson, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby (98) looks on during organized team activities at Intermountain Health Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Las Vegas Raiders have always been a part of some sort of drama, but there aren’t many crazier moments than when they got Antonio Brown.
The Las Vegas Raiders are not immune to drama. In fact, you can argue they often have more drama than any other team. That has been a huge part of what the Raiders have been known for the last few years. Once upon a time, they were even part of one of the wilder sagas in the NFL.
When Jon Gruden was head coach, he brought on Antonio Brown, who’s one of the best wide receivers of all time. It was worth a shot, but there were some wild moments. It lasted only a short time before Brown went on to play for the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and then retired from the NFL. But now we know some of the wilder stories from training camp with the Raiders, as Maxx Crosby did a tell-all on a recent stream.
Maxx Crosby tells a few Antonio Brown stories in little detail
“He was my teammate for about four months. He came to training camp in a hot air balloon. He burned his feet in a cryotherapy chamber. He just had so much going on. But he was so cold. He did whatever the f**k he wanted,” Crosby said on popular stream Neon’s stream.
Maxx Crosby told N3on his WILDEST NFL stories came from when he was teammates with Antonio Brown for four months..😲🏈
• Flew into training camp in a hot air balloon • Burned his feet in a cryotherapy chamber • Played with his kids in the middle of practice
As we stated earlier, Brown is still one of the greatest wide receivers to play the game. He finished his NFL career with 12,291 receiving yards, 928 catches, and 83 touchdowns. He’s top-30 all-time in the three major receiving categories. So, he deserves his flowers for sure.
The Raiders have been a part of some pretty notable drama-filled moments since, like the whole Davante Adams situation. Now, that one wasn’t nearly as wild, but the trade demand was kind of weird. Then there was even the Maxx Crosby situation this offseason that was a bit weird. This is just something the Raiders have been a part of.
In the first big soccer broadcasting move coming off the North American World Cup, Versant has reportedly acquired rights to air Bundesliga games in the U.S.
The top German soccer league, home to European powers Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund and several USMNT stars, will receive $100 million across five years on the new deal, according to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand. Games will be split between USA Network and Fandango, the online platform most known for publishing movie information and selling movie theater tickets.
For the past six years, Bundesliga matches have aired primarily on ESPN+ in the U.S., with a limited number set aside for ESPN linear networks. That deal earned the German league $30 million per year, according to reports from when the deal was signed.
Despite the slight downtick in revenue in moving from ESPN platforms to Versant’s, Bundesliga figures to reach a greater audience with Versant, with USA Network airing at least 30 matches and the rest airing free on Fandango, according to The Athletic and Sports Business Journal.
“The key headline for us is that we are expanding our accessibility in the U.S. while simultaneously delivering strong financial results,” Robin Austermann, an executive at Bundesliga Americas, told SBJ.
For Versant, the deal expands USA Network’s growing live sports portfolio, which includes the WNBA, college sports, and golf, in addition to international soccer with the English Premier League.
The most fascinating element of the partnership, though, is the introduction of Fandango’s advertising-based video on-demand service as a player in live sports programming. The 250-plus Bundesliga matches that USA Network does not air will go to Fandango, moving out from behind the ESPN+ paywall. Media companies and sports leagues are increasingly looking to digital platforms like Fandango as potential live sports broadcasters. Versant told SBJ it has aimed to put live sports onto Fandango since Comcast spun off Versant earlier this year. Comcast originally purchased Fandango in 2007 for $200 million, with plans to turn it into an on-demand video service.
Still, Bundesliga ultimately took about a 33 percent hit on this deal, signaling a challenging market for overseas soccer leagues even amid a record summer for World Cup viewership.
Soon, Premier League rights will hit the market, as NBC Universal’s $450 million-per-year contract for the popular English league expires after the 2027-28 season.
The Atlanta Dream announced a multi-year partnership with Emory Healthcare, naming it the Official Team Healthcare Provider and Official Sports Medicine Provider.
The partnership includes a vision to establish Atlanta as the nation’s leading Center of Excellence for Women’s Sports.
This center will integrate various medical fields, featuring a year-round “Built for Her” athlete performance model designed specifically around female physiology.
Emory Healthcare will provide a network of physicians, orthopedic specialists, athletic trainers, rehabilitation experts and performance professionals, collaborating with the Dream’s Sports Medicine team.
“We are proud to team up with the Atlanta Dream to provide comprehensive, evidence-based care that directly supports female athletes, while helping to translate that expertise into meaningful health education for women throughout metro Atlanta,” Joon S. Lee, MD, executive vice president for Woodruff Health Sciences at Emory University and CEO of Emory Healthcare said.
As part of the partnership, the Atlanta Dream and Emory Healthcare will launch “The Science Behind Her,” a new social content series to explore research and insights surrounding women’s health and athletic performance, featuring Emory physicians and experts.
Topics for will include performance, recovery, nutrition, hormonal health, mental wellness, injury prevention and emerging sports medicine research.
“As an organization built around empowering women, we believe caring for our athletes extends far beyond game day,” said Morgan Shaw Parker, president and COO of the Atlanta Dream. ”This partnership with Emory Health care ensures our players receive world-class care every day while allowing us to make meaningful investments in the health and well-being of women and girls throughout our community."
The two organizations are also planning a series of community health initiatives like wellness clinics, mobile health screenings, educational programming and community resources.
Wellness Night presented by Emory Health care is scheduled for August 16 at State Farm Arena. The Unstoppable Her Wellness Clinic presented by Emory Healthcare is scheduled for September 2026.
The FIFA World Cup semi-final clash between England and Argentina has been classed as the “highest risk” match of the tournament after the FBI and local police held a meeting this week.
The FBI, FIFA officials and the Atlanta Police Department held a meeting on Monday to discuss concerns over potential issues between the rival supporters who have a long-standing rivalry that transcends soccer.
England vs Argentina is one of soccer’s fiercest rivalries and has provided some of the World Cup’s most iconic ties over the years and it seems officials fear this rivalry could spill into the stands.
There will be separate gates of entry for each set of supporters. While efforts have been made to keep fans apart, once supporters are in the ground, fans will likely mix thanks to FIFA’s ticket resale system.
Atlanta PD issues statement ahead of England vs Argentina
In preparation for the game, Atlanta PD said: “As Atlanta prepares to host an upcoming FIFA World Cup semi-final match and welcomes increased numbers of residents and visitors, the Atlanta Police Department has enhanced its citywide public safety and security posture.
“Additional personnel and resources are already deployed and will continue to be strategically assigned in and around the event venues, entertainment districts, and other high-traffic areas to help ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone.
“These proactive measures are designed to protect the public, deter criminal activity, and ensure residents and visitors can safely enjoy this historic event.”
Photo by FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
In 1982, British forces and Argentina fought for control of the Falklands. Just this week, Argentina’s foreign minister stated their claim over the territory, which was swiftly rejected by British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
As the semi-final clash reignites this rivalry, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has stressed that this is just a soccer match and nothing more.
He said: “The message to the Argentine people is that this is a soccer match. We’re going to face a great team with a great coach, but it is just a soccer match, nothing more than that.”
Each team hotel has seen a heavy police presence with increased security around the Mercedes-Benz Stadium where the match will be played.
England‘s World Cup semi-final against Argentina is scheduled to kick off at 3pm local time.
Unfortunately for Dodgers fans who want to cheer on the next generation of Kemps, though, the younger player — also an outfielder — was taken by the San Francisco Giants in the 12th round.
Josiah Kemp was drafted out of Choctaw High School in Oklahoma, and Matt Kemp highlighted the accomplishment on social media with a pair of celebratory emojis.
What has Josiah Kemp’s baseball career been like?
Josiah Kemp had previously signaled that he’d play college baseball at the University of Oklahoma, though a recent check of his social media showed the Giants’ handle in his bio.
Choctaw’s Josiah Kemp runs home to score during a baseball game between Piedmont and Choctaw at Piedmont, Okla., Tuesday, April 28, 2026. Credit: BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
“Simple, contact-oriented swing, athletic CF with good defensive instincts,” Badler wrote.
Matt Kemp waits for his nephew, Choctaw’s Josiah Kemp, to sign with the University of Oklahoma baseball during signing day at Choctaw High School in Choctaw, Okla., Wednesday Nov. 12, 2025. Credit: SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The three-time MLB All-Star had clearly been following his nephew’s burgeoning baseball career, as he was pictured alongside the youngster at a signing ceremony for the Sooners.
What was Matt Kemp like as a Dodger?
Kemp played 15 years in the big leagues, including those three All-Star campaigns in 2011, 2012 and 2018, all with the Dodgers.
In his first All-Star year in 2011, he came in second in MVP voting and had an 8.0 bWAR, which led the National League.
VERO BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 27: Outfielder Matt Kemp #27 of the Los Angeles Dodgers poses during Photo Day on February 27, 2007 at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida. (Photo by: Doug Benc/Getty Images)
He also was named a Silver Slugger twice and won the Golden Glove twice, each time with the Boys in Blue.
In his career, he also played for the San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies.
For his career, he slashed .284/.337/.484/.821 and recorded 1,808 hits, 287 home runs and 1,031 RBIs.
FS1 has seen one of its most successful months in recent memory on the back of World Cup viewership. The week of June 15 was the cable network’s most-watched in its history by total-day audience, averaging 885,000 viewers across its dayparts. But it appears as if that success did not rub off on the network’s new morning show, Wake Up Barstool.
According to a report by Austin Karp in Sports Business Journal, Wake Up Barstool averaged just 19,000 viewers on FS1 in the month of June, keeping in line with the show’s soft television ratings that began last September when it debuted. Get Up, the show that airs in the same hours on ESPN, averaged 426,000 viewers, a staggering 2,142% better than Wake Up Barstool, per SBJ.
The underwhelming viewership is particularly notable given FS1’s success throughout the rest of the month. Historically, major live sporting events, like World Cup matches, can have a halo effect on a network’s other programming, even lasting through the overnight hours and into the next day. No such momentum appeared to hold for the 8 a.m. ET episodes of Wake Up Barstool.
The show has failed to capture any sort of loyal audience on linear television since its debut at the beginning of last football season. In its first week on the air, Wake Up Barstoolaveraged 16,500 viewers on FS1. Of course, Wake Up Barstool is unique in the sense that it is also available in full on YouTube, where episodes generally earn between 5,000 and 20,000 additional views.
To be abundantly fair to the show, it did technically earn 2,500 more viewers on average in the month of June than it did in its inaugural week last September. But it’d be quite the stretch to call that improvement a success, especially considering the potential viewership windfall live World Cup matches could’ve provided.
WORCESTER – With some of the world's greatest soccer players playing above them on the big screen, the next generation took the field at Worcester Common during the city's World Cup watch party Tuesday afternoon, July 14.
Well, it wasn't exactly a field as much as a makeshift training ground, complete with drill areas, practice stations and a tiny pitch, as Worcester Common was transformed into the Massachusetts Youth Soccer Festival. The festival has been traveling to watch parties across the state to offer free games and instruction to youth players as a way to tie into the excitement of the World Cup with development of the world's most popular sport in Massachusetts.
"We want to bring awareness to youth soccer across the state," Tamie Endow, a Worcester resident and director of community engagement for Massachusetts Youth Soccer that produced the festival, said. "This summer we are getting out and doing a lot of traveling across the state."
The festival was in Pittsfield June 12 and will be in Leominster July 15 and July 19. Tuesday, July 14, local children were encouraged to participate in games set up by the organization including a small pitch that had been set up on the common.
"Showing up and getting kids together to have fun is the best way. We are so lucky to have such a great community that supports the youth in a way," Natalie Dellecese, a Holden mother who had two children playing on the pitch on Tuesday afternoon, July 14, said. "Soccer is probably the most accessible sport in terms of what you actually need. My boys play in the backyard barefoot with just a ball and making goals out of frisbees."
Jorge Landeo, a Worcester native who lives in Rutland, brought his son and nephews to the festivities Tuesday, July 14.
"We went to the watch part at Rockefeller Center in New York and that was really cool, but this is more of our hometown event. My son and my nephews love soccer. I've kind of brainwashed them," Landeo said. "When they get to be this age, they need to be moving. Sitting for even an hour is difficult, so something like this is perfect where they can watch the game but also move around."
The watch party took place during the semi-final game of the World Cup between Spain and France. The streets around Worcester Common were closed off, with police monitoring the perimeter and Department of Public Works vehicles used to block access on Front Street.
Alongside Massachusetts Youth Soccer, several local sports groups were also part of the event including Worcester Youth Soccer, Worcester Fuel Football Club, that sold refreshments, the Worcester Railers and the Worcester Revolution.
The crowd that gathered saw Spain defeat France to advance to the World Cup final, 2-0. The crowd cheered for both sides as star players, such as France's Kylian Mbappe, raced around the field. Spain's Lamine Yamal, a day after his 19th birthday and thus not much older than the kids on the mini-pitch, drew a critical penalty kick in the first half to lead to Spain's first goal.
Endow said that while Massachusetts Youth Soccer offers numerous organized programs, such as the GOALS program which promotes organized youth soccer in urban communities like Worcester, being able to promote free, accessible soccer like the games on the mini-pitch on Worcester Common were her favorite way to bring the game of soccer to people in Massachusetts.
"The best part is seeing families and kids get involved, getting them on the pitch and start playing. That is the way soccer is like around the world. Here in the United States, soccer is very organized and what we are trying to promote is pick-up soccer. Kids just going out and having fun," Endow said.
The Jacksonville Jaguars announced the team will open 10 training camp sessions to fans in 2026, beginning with a practice at the Miller Electric Center on July 29.
Because of limited seating, the team requires fans to log into jaguars.com beginning July 15 to secure free tickets and parking passes. Season ticket members can secure tickets beginning at noon and others at 1 p.m. New this year, fans also can sign up on the site for priority access, receive a notification, and get tickets beginning at 12:30 p.m.
Other available dates that are open to the public are Thursday, July 30; Friday, July 31; Sunday, August 2; Monday, August 3; a Teal & White Game on Friday, August 7; Sunday, August 9; a joint practice with the Carolina on Wednesday, August 19; Sunday, August 23; and a joint practice with Tampa Bay on Tuesday, August 25.
Each open camp day will feature giveaways, offers, or programming. The center’s pro shop and concessions will be open.
For the first seven dates and on Aug. 9, parking lots open at 7 a.m., gates open at 7:45 a.m., and these regular practice sessions start at about 8:30 a.m.
For a Teal and White game on August 7, parking and gates open 15 minutes earlier. Warmups begin at 8:30 a.m., and the game gets underway at 10:30 a.m.
For joint practices on August 19 and 25, parking lots open at 8 a.m., gates open at 8:8:45 a.m., and the joint practices begin at 9:30 a.m.
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The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2026, honoring three legendary players and three iconic coaches whose collegiate careers represent the highest levels of achievement in the history of the game.
The inductees include coaches Jay Wright, Orlando “Tubby” Smith and Ted Owens, alongside players Danny Ainge, Glen Rice and the late Walt Hazzard.
“The Class of 2026 represents the very best of college basketball—individuals whose performance, leadership and impact helped shape the game at the highest level,” NACB Hall of Fame CEO Kevin Henderson said. “Their legacies will forever be preserved as part of the sport’s rich history.”
Over his more than 30-year career, Smith led seven Division I programs, including Tulsa, the University of Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota, Texas Tech, Memphis and High Point. Smith’s career included leading Kentucky to the 1998 national championship during his first season with the Wildcats.
Across decades of coaching, Smith also guided five different programs to the NCAA Tournament, including the Georgia Bulldogs, earning himself national and conference coaching honors and nearly 650 victories.
Smith finished his 31-year career as a collegiate head coach with a final win-loss record of 642-370.
While coaching at UGA, the bulldogs climbed as high as No. 14 in the AP poll after racing to a 10-1 start, only losing at North Carolina.
Georgia earned the No. 8 seed in the West Regional of the 1996 NCAA Tournament, with Smith at the helm.
During his tenure, the Bulldogs defeated Clemson 81-74 and upset top-seeded Purdue 76-69 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Georgia then dropped an 83-81 overtime decision to Syracuse, the eventual NCAA runner-up, in the “Sweet 16” in Denver.
In an announcement praising Smith’s career and the honor he is set to receive, UGA said Smith is one of just four coaches who have led five teams to the NCAA.
The Class of 2026 will be formally enshrined on Oct. 22 during the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Celebration at the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City, Mo.
FS1 earned a rare month-long victory over ESPN in primetime viewership during the month of June thanks to the strength of this year’s World Cup audience.
Fox Sports 1 averaged 1.31 million viewers in primetime throughout the month of June, good for the second most-watched cable network of the month behind only sister channel Fox News which averaged 2.26 million viewers in primetime. ESPN finished in third place, averaging 1.08 million viewers for the month in primetime.
Top Cable Channels for the month of June. Live+SD, Primetime. Viewers P2+.
1. FOX News Channel: 2.26M
2. Fox Sports 1: 1.31M
3. ESPN: 1.078M
4. MSNOW: 1.015M
5. Home and Garden TV: 703K
6. CNN: 610K
7. TBS: 537K
8. Hallmark Channel: 516K
9. USA Network: 500K
10. History: 491K
In total, FS1 aired 32 World Cup matches in the month of June, though not all of those matches aired in primetime. Of those 32 matches, just 15 overlapped with the primetime hours, generally measured as between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET. Several also aired simultaneously to matches on Fox during the final day of group play, with FS1 typically getting the less desirable matchup.
Nevertheless, all FS1’s World Cup programming seemed to lift most of the network’s other programming. Per Sports Business Journal, the week of June 15 was the most-watched week in FS1 history by total-day audience. The network averaged 885,000 viewers for the week, 90% better than ESPN’s total-day audience in the same week. As a company, Fox swept the three major ratings categories — broadcast, cable, and news — for both the week of June 15 and June 22.
A World Cup is one of the rare sporting events that commands both a high level of interest and has the volume of inventory to genuinely lift a cable network like FS1 despite the secular decline of the medium over many years. While streamers and tech companies seem to be the favorites to land the tournament come 2030, there’s still clear value to be derived from legacy broadcasters airing the World Cup. Whether that value can justify the expected doubling or tripling of media rights fees for the next tournament, however, remains to be seen.
College Park, Georgia, USA; Los Angeles Sparks guard Erica Wheeler (17) drives on Atlanta Dream guard Jordin Canada (3) in the third quarter at Gateway Center Arena at College Park
The final result wasn't what the Sparks wanted, but Erica Wheeler gave Los Angeles every opportunity to come away with a win.
The veteran guard finished with a team-high 20 points to go along with three rebounds and four assists in Monday's 101-92 loss to the Atlanta Dream. It marked another strong performance for Wheeler, who has embraced a larger offensive role as the Sparks continue to navigate injuries and search for consistency heading into the second half of the season.
From the opening tip, Wheeler played with confidence. She attacked the basket, knocked down threes, and consistently pushed the pace of the offense, helping the Sparks briefly regain control in the second half.
Head coach Lynne Roberts has encouraged Wheeler to be aggressive, not only as a facilitator but as a scorer.
"I think she understands that we need her to not just facilitate, but also look for those shots," Roberts said. "She's doing a good job of that. She led us tonight in scoring."
Wheeler also took on one of the game's toughest defensive assignments, matching up for much of the afternoon against Atlanta point guard Jordin Canada.
"Canada's fast and has the ability to really generate speed for their team," Roberts said. "It's a tough matchup. I thought Edub played her guts out and hit some big shots. I thought those two battled really well."
Despite Wheeler's efforts, Atlanta closed the game on a late run that was triggered by Angel Reese’s big three. Nneka Ogwumike also reflected on the game.
"It was basically what coach was saying," Ogwumike said. "We were trying to make something happen, but we had some key turnovers, including myself. We were playing hard, but I think we could have dialed up the execution a little bit more. That's something that's been a point of emphasis for us."
While Monday's loss was another frustrating finish for Los Angeles, Rae Burrell made it clear the team isn't dwelling on missed opportunities.
"We've just got to stay together," she said. "That's the thing about this league. You play every other night, so we don't really have time to focus on what's already happened. We have to focus on what we can do better."
The Sparks remain just one game out of a playoff spot, and as injuries continue to reshape the rotation, Wheeler's steady veteran presence has become even more valuable. Whether she's setting up teammates or leading the offense herself, she's continued to provide exactly what Los Angeles has needed during one of the most challenging stretches of its season.
The work stoppage looming over the baseball world doesn’t seem to be dissipating anytime soon.
Speaking before Tuesday’s All-Star Game, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred was asked about the MLB Players Association’s explicit refusal to accept a salary cap.
Oct 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred before game three of the 2025 MLB World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Despite that staunch opposition, Manfred said team owners are undeterred.
“I have an ownership group that is more united than any group in my entire time in baseball,” he said, as reported by Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
Manfred supports salary cap despite union opposition
As detailed by Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Manfred made the case that the union has previously opposed changes that many believe drastically improved the sport, including the pitch clock and ABS.
“We got that momentum by listening to our fans and making changes that you know candidly, the MLBPA was not interested in,’’ Manfred said. “Those changes have paid off in terms of creating that momentum, and the best way to lose momentum is to stand still. We’re doing exactly the same thing that we did with the rule changes, we’re listening to our fans.”
MLBPA interim executive director Bruce Meyer, however, believes owners want a salary cap not for competitive reasons, but instead to increase their profits and limit their costs.
“The owners, many of them, want a system that not only guarantees their profits, not only increases their franchise values,’’ Meyer said, “but essentially is a former of subsidized mediocrity, owner protection, protection from competition.
“Salary cap is the ultimate excuse not to compete. It’s the ultimate excuse for an owner to say, “Gee, I would like to make the team better, but you know I can’t.’
“Salary caps are bad for fans. Salary caps present teams from doing the things that they believe are in their interest to make the team better.’’
Is there a chance to avoid a work stoppage?
The union and the league continue making their cases, but neither seems willing to budge on the salary cap, meaning a potential lockout ahead of the 2027 season is more and more likely.
Can a deal be reached? Of course, anything is possible, but it seems this will be the defining battle of the offseason.
If neither side wants to compromise, enjoy the rest of this season, because it could be a while before MLB returns.
Love or loathe him, Gianni Infantino has already secured his place as one of the most impactful FIFA presidents in history.
Since he was elected in 2016, the Swiss-born career administrator has pursued a mandate of relentless expansionism.
This summer’s World Cup, spread out across an entire hemisphere in Canada, the US and Mexico and featuring 48 teams for the first time ever, is the clearest example.
But the Club World Cup, traditionally a minimalist affair featuring a single team from each FIFA confederation, is perhaps just as significant a focus for Infantino. At Infantino’s behest, financed by Saudi sovereign wealth, the Club World Cup is now a 32-team affair with a prize money pot of nearly $1bn.
There is an ideological element to Infantino’s expansionism, yes. Time and time again, the FIFA president’s sales pitch is that football belongs to the world. And there is some nobility in that.
Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images
But equally, it is no coincidence that FIFA operates a one country, one vote system which, when Infantino is giving more and more nations and club sides the chance to participate in the biggest FIFA competitions, means his chances of being deposed as the organisation’s boss are slim.
That said, the 2026 World Cup, now reaching its dramatic climax, has been turbulent for Infantino, to say the least. And according to the latest reports, there is a growing contingent who would like to see the back of the FIFA president.
At least four officials want Gianni Infantino’s job ahead of 2027 elections
UEFA, the body which oversees the game in Europe, said FIFA had “crossed a red line” and a number of national associations are said to be cooling on Infantino’s request to endorse him for re-election in 2027.
And according to UK journalist Ben Jacobs writing for talkSPORT, there are at least three would-be challengers who could potentially be persuaded to run against Infantino.
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Dariusz Mioduski, the owner of Polish club Legia Warsaw, has supposedly been touted as an alternative by federations including Bosnia, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Spain.
Victor Montagliani, the president of Concacaf, is also said to have aspirations to head up FIFA, though the party line for now is that he is concentrating on his current role. Similarly, Patrice Motsepe, who leads CAF, is viewed as a future contender.
Meanwhile, UEFA president Alexander Ceferin and Nasser Al-Khelaifi, president of Paris Saint-Germain and the European Football Clubs institution, are both reluctant to stand. But the tone of Jacobs’ pieces suggests that neither is a hard ‘no’.
Sunday's World Cup final match might be delayed or postponed because of possible thunderstorms, according to weather forecasters. While the amount of rain expected is light, there is a chance for thunderstorms.
The World Cup final is scheduled for Sunday, July 19 at 3 p.m. Here's what to know:
What's the World Cup final weather forecast for New York New Jersey Stadium?
For the World Cup final game, there is a significant chance for thunderstorms in East Rutherford, NJ, where the the NYNJ Stadium sits.
AccuWeather's forecast calls for partly cloudy day with a 88% chance of rain and a 53% chance of precipitation. "Rain gear may be needed for the soccer match; nearby lightning may delay the match," its forecast says. Chance for rain is higher in the morning than in the afternoon and evening.
The culprit is a low pressure system moving into the region from the Great Lakes area, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), Upton office.
The NWS anticipates a slight chance for thunderstorms on Sunday. Its forecast calls for higher chances of thunderstorms on Saturday, rather than Sunday.
"There is a lower chance, but it's still a chance," said NWS meteorologist Bryan Ramsey. If thunderstorms develop on Sunday, chances are likely in the late afternoon into the evening, he said.
When it comes to temperatures, the high is expected near 87 degrees, according to the NWS. High humidity levels are expected given the partially sunny skies, high temperature and damp conditions in forecast.
Do soccer games get canceled because of rain? What are FIFA rules?
Seeing soaking wet players on the pitch is normal in soccer. Rain is not a cause for cancellation unless the field is so waterlogged that it makes it hard for the ball to roll.
Lightning, on the other hand, would delay or cancel a game immediately.
FIFA's 2026 protocol establishes that any game will be immediately halted if lightning is detected within an 8-mile radius of the stadium. If that happens, the game would be delayed for 30 minutes. If another lightning strike is detected within that period, the 30-minute timer resets.
Juan Carlos Castillo is a New Jersey-based trending reporter for the USA Today network. He covers weather, and national events focusing on how they affect New Jersey
Alex Rodriguez had a rough go of it interviewing Justin Verlander ahead of the Home Run Derby.
Rodriguez appeared to be setting up some kind of underdog redemption angle for Verlander, asking him, “How do you explain being a late draft pick, being designated for assignment a couple of times with two different teams?”
Awkward moment for A-Rod, interviewing Justin Verlander saying we was designated for assignment by two different teams.
Neither half of that sentence is true. Verlander went second overall in the 2004 draft, one pick after Matt Bush, and was in the majors within a year. He’s also never been designated for assignment, not once, across 20 seasons and stops with the Tigers, Astros, Mets, and Giants. Being DFA’d is a process reserved for players a team is trying to get off its 40-man roster. It has never once applied to a 10-time All-Star and three-time Cy Young winner.
Verlander, understandably, did not know what to do with this.
“Me? No, you’ve got the wrong notes,” he said.
Rodriguez laughed it off and pivoted to asking how Verlander has pitched at a high level for so long, which, fine, is actually a reasonable question. It’s just not the one he’d spent the last thirty seconds building up to.
SOUTHPORT, England (AP) — Patrick Reed was on the range at the Scottish Open, surrounded by PGA Tour players at a tournament co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour. The last time that happened was more than four years ago, and it's soon to change.
LIV Golf had a shotgun start, meaning all 54 players were warming up at the same time before each went off to their assigned hole to begin the round.
“Being the last guy out, having the range full and then it slowly empties, walking to the tee with the lead ... having that feeling again, those emotions, the adrenaline, I felt like I wanted to get back to that,” Reed said. “That Saturday night was huge for me.”
He lost in a playoff the next week in Bahrain. The week LIV Golf began its fifth season, Reed was winning again in the Qatar Masters. That put him atop the Race to Dubai on the European tour, and he's still leading the season race over Rory McIlroy.
The leading 10 players from the European tour not already exempt earn PGA Tour cards for 2027, and Reed is virtually a lock. He already has started the countdown, knowing when his one-year ban from playing LIV Golf will end — the week of the Tour Championship in late August.
He also would be eligible to be a pick for the Presidents Cup team — he last played for a U.S. team, his favorite events, in Australia in 2019 during darker times. Royal Melbourne was a week after Reed was penalized for improving his lie in the sand, and Aussies heckled him endlessly. His caddie was suspended for the final match after shoving a spectator who had been cursing Reed.
U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker also was at the Scottish Open. Reed said he never saw him and doubts he would be a serious candidate for the Presidents Cup team in Chicago in September unless he were to win the British Open this week.
“It's not really on my mind,” Reed said. “My biggest thing right now is continuing to play solid golf and let things take care of themselves. I know it would be hard to make that team since I haven't played anything in the United States. But hey, try to get yourself in the discussion.”
He is not in that big of a hurry.
Reed won the Masters in 2018 and received honorary life membership on the European tour, a courtesy once offered major champions. Reed took it seriously, playing seven regular European tour events in 2019 and he has kept a presence since then.
After deciding to leave LIV — and still banned by the PGA Tour — it became his best option. Now he has a chance to join Collin Morikawa as the only Americans to win the Race to Dubai.
Reed officially won't get a PGA Tour card until the European tour season ends Nov. 15. He would be eligible for sponsor exemptions in the fall, but Reed has a job to finish.
The first PGA Tour event where he can earn an exemption is Sept. 17-20 at a new event in Asheville, North Carolina. Reed will be in England that week for the European tour's flagship event at Wentworth. The French Open, Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, all of them are opportunities to win the Race to Dubai — and deny McIlroy a record-tying eighth title.
A case can be made for Reed being the most global player in golf.
McIlroy has been brilliant in taking his Masters green jacket around the world to the Indian Open and Australian Open. He has sparked a renewed interest in national opens. But his appearances come with a hefty appearance fee said to be in the neighborhood of $2 million. It's been that way for top players dating to the era of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, accounting for inflation.
Reed said he occasionally gets appearance money but often plays “because I just want to play.”
He shot 59 in the Hong Kong Open when he won at the end of 2024 on the Asian Tour. He has two European tour titles this year, along with two World Golf Championships titles, the Masters for his lone major and six victories in regular PGA Tour events, the last won at Torrey Pines the year before he defected to LIV, where he won once.
He doesn't plan to stop his global travels. He wants to keep supporting the European tour. But there is a part of him that looks forward to coming home.
“Last year playing 32 events, 23 were overseas,” he said. “I always saw myself wanting to start and finish my career on the PGA Tour.”
In some ways, it will be like starting over. He played the third round of the Scottish Open with Kevin Roy, a 36-year-old whose rookie season was the year Reed left for LIV Golf.
“Nice guy, and he's waxing me right now,” Reed said during a fog delay. “That's why I'm excited, to see guys I'm used to playing with but seeing the new guys playing. It's crazy. The game keeps getting deeper and the fields are stronger. It's going to be awesome to see.”
Nothing to see here, folks. That's what Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton is saying when asked about the MLB rumor mill ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
The 32-year-old Buxton is a popular name these days. And with good reason. The three-time All-Star is fourth in the American League with 25 home runs and well on his way to surpassing the career-high 35 long balls he drilled last season.
His resume also includes a Silver Slugger Award, Gold Glove Award and Platinum Glove Award. He easily would be one of the best players on the trade market, except for one tiny detail: his seven-year, $100 million contract which runs through 2028 and carries with it a full no-trade clause, according to Spotrac.
Just last week, The Athletic's Jim Bowden noted some of the top contenders could consider making a run at Buxton if he is willing to waive the no-trade clause, including the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees.
Also last week, ESPN's Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel listed Buxton as the No. 2 trade deadline target. Among their best fits for the outfielder are the Yankees, Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, Tampa Bay Rays, St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers.
But Buxton's reluctance to consider a trade is about more than just baseball.
“I got family,” Buxton said, per Heyman. “My family loves Minnesota. It’s a special place, not only for me but for my family. You’re not just moving me. You’re moving my family. And you’re moving what we have built in Minnesota.”
Honestly, though, this could be much ado about nothing. The Twins hit the All-Star break as winners in seven of their last 10 games. Despite their 48-49 record, Minnesota sits in third place in the American League Central, three games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians. And the Twins are tied with the Seattle Mariners for the third and final AL wild card.
The World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico has, in commercial terms, been a riotous success.
Yes, FIFA is facing scrutiny over the integrity of the tournament, some tickets are selling for several times the GDP per capita of some participating nations, and hydration breaks have been roundly booed at every opportunity.
But for FIFA and its head honcho, Gianni Infantino, the tournament has been extraordinarily lucrative. It is also, they say in response to its critics, a once-in-a-generation opportunity to harness the fanbase in America, which is considered commercial mecca for a sport whose primary markets are still Europe and South America.
Photo by Dustin Satloff – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
Turnover is rising in every category, from traditional income streams broadcast rights to the kind of bizarre commercial innovation one could only find in the States, such as selling tiny squares of the pitch on which the World Cup final in New Jersey will be played.
The final – which will be contested by two of France, Spain, Argentina or England – could be among the most lucrative events in the history of sports. And the latest detail illustrates just how much money FIFA is expecting to make from the event.
World Cup final expected to rival Super Bowl financial record at MetLife Stadium
The Super Bowl might be the biggest event in the United States, but its audience is dwarfed by the World Cup final.
An average of just under 126 million people tuned in for Super Bowl LX, while the 2022 World Cup final – where Lionel Messi’s Argentina beat France in all-time classic – drew in an average of 571 million, with highs of 1.4 billion.
But soccer is yet to commercialise itself as well as the NFL – until now, perhaps.
A report from Sports Business Journal suggests that chiefs at the MetLife Stadium are forecasting food, drink and retail sales of around $11m for the final, rivalling the total sales from the 2014 Super Bowl.
It is a quite astonishing total, and one which surely signposts the incredible sums that FIFA is projecting to make from matchdays across the tournament.
Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images
MetLife Stadium, which has been temporarily renamed as New Jersey New Jersey Stadium for FIFA sponsorship reasons, will have staged eight matches out of 104 in total throughout the World Cup this summer.
Believe it or not, NFL training camps start next week, with the rookies for the defending champion Seattle Seahawks arriving on July 17. From there, it’s a gradual buildup to Week One of the regular season, which kicks off with the Super Bowl rematch between the Seahawks and the New England Patriots in Seattle.
To learn more about what to expect this fall, we recently caught up with analyst Warren Sharp.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
If there’s a reason the Rams won’t make the Super Bowl, what do you think it is?
Warren Sharp: “They entered last season using more two-tight-end sets. When they suffered some injuries at the receiver position, they started using even more three-tight-end sets. Now the rest of the league knows what’s coming to a degree. The rest of the league knows that Sean McVay has made a pivot from the highest rate of 11 personnel to the highest rate of three-tight-end sets. That is kind of a card he’s already played. He’s not going to be able to play again this year. So all the other teams, like your Seattle Seahawks, from teams that he’s going to play on the schedule outside his division, know what’s coming. So that’s mainly the prime thing. Defensively, they added people in the secondary. They obviously added Myles Garrett. It’s hard to replicate what he did last season.”
What’s your boldest prediction?
“I’m bigger on the Houston Texans than I think a lot of people are. The Texans are like plus-900 to win the AFC. They sit behind the Ravens, Bills, Chiefs, Chargers, and Patriots, so they’re not even a top-five team to win the AFC. I think the Houston Texans have a chance to replicate what they did defensively and, on offense, get a lot better for a couple of reasons. Most people’s opinion of C.J. Stroud right now is very negative. They saw what C.J. Stroud did, barely beating Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh in a road playoff game. And then they saw him play terribly in inclement weather against the New England Patriots, a very good defense.
“C.J. Stroud did not have the best year last year. …But if you look at C.J. Stroud over 80 yards of the field outside of the red zone, the first 80 yards of the field, he actually was 13th in EPA per attempt, 17th in yards per attempt, 22nd in success rate. That is out of 45 qualifying quarterbacks. He was just 40th or worse in several of those statistics inside of the red zone. That, to me, tends to regress. I think they had a first-year play caller in Nick Caley last year. He came from the Rams coaching tree, and I think they’re going to call better plays inside of the red zone this year.”
Why do you think David Montgomery can make a difference?
“David Montgomery is actually the No. 1 rusher in EPA and first-down rate on man-blocking runs over the last two years. And so that’s a sneaky upside. Everybody’s (saying): ‘Jahmyr Gibbs is so much better than David Montgomery. David Montgomery is over the hill.’ He might be over the hill, and yes, he’s not as good as Jahmyr Gibbs, but he’s still good in this system. And so I think with a better offensive line, a better run game, and what I view as C.J. Stroud regressing more to the mean in red-zone efficiency when he’s passing the football, this Houston Texans team is led by the outstanding job their head coach does and a great defense; I think they have a very high floor. I think their ceiling is definitely in the conversation of potentially winning the AFC.”
Is there a win total under/over that you like?
“I like the Carolina Panthers under 7.5 half wins. This is a team that really had to come from behind extensively last year to win games. The only thing that’s going good for the Carolina Panthers, in my opinion, is that they play in a very weak NFC South division. But other than that, this team really struggled. This stat is just one of the more mind-blowing stats that I researched in the book because Carolina went to the playoffs. Across all 17 games combined, they trailed by 92 points entering the fourth quarter of their games. That ranked 27th in the NFL. How a team wins eight games and makes the playoffs but trails by 92 points entering the fourth quarter is a massive contradiction.”
Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson all missed the playoffs last year. Who has the best chance of reaching the Super Bowl?
“Joe Burrow, in my opinion. Now, I think Patrick Mahomes is the easiest answer here…
“But I will go with the Cincinnati Bengals. …You look around the landscape of that AFC North, and here’s one of the more interesting things about Joe Burrow that I don’t think a lot of people know. Joe Burrow, when he starts for the Bengals because he’s been in our lineup a little bit, is eight wins and 11 losses against the AFC North. That’s a 42% win rate, but he is 23-9 against everybody else. That’s a 72% win rate. I think the AFC North is down a little bit this year.”
Which rookie do you think is best positioned to succeed?
“I do like Sonny Styles in Washington. They need a playmaker there. They’ve got a playmaker there, and I think he’s going to have an instant impact. He’s exactly what Dan Quinn needs. He fills a void for them, and I think he’s going to splash a ton. So I think the coaching he’s going to get from Quinn and the staff is really going to help him shine. And this is a team that had a terrible defense last year. The defense was historic.”
Will the Mike McCarthy-Aaron Rodgers reunion win a playoff game?
“I don’t think they’re going to make it to the playoffs, so I would say no. Now, could they? Yes, they could make it to the playoffs. It obviously depends who they play. But I just think this team is lacking in a lot of areas. Steelers fans are bigger on their receiving core, potentially, than I am. But I’ve got some interesting statistics. I won’t go through all of them, but if you compare Justin Fields, Russell Wilson, and Aaron Rodgers—the quarterbacks they had in 2024 and then in 2025—Aaron Rodgers was worse than those guys. He did not lead the team in completion rate, accuracy, yards per attempt, success rate, or passer rating. In pretty much every single critical metric, Rodgers was not better than Russell Wilson or Justin Fields, which is pretty shocking to people.”
Which team will be the worst?
“The Miami Dolphins’ defense might be one of the worst in the NFL. They have very poor personnel. Their secondary is abysmal. It’s easy to look at their receiving core and say it’s terrible, but the defense might be even worse. As a result, all these really good offenses they’re going to play are going to score points. And when those teams are scoring points, it’s going to be hard to outscore them with Malik Willis and those wide receivers. So I just think there’s a very good chance they’re going to win two or three or four games next season and be in contention for the worst team in the league.”
“Let’s stick with the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC. And in the NFC, let’s go back to the well on the Philadelphia Eagles. I think the Philadelphia Eagles were massively impacted by a terrible offensive coordinator last year who was promoted from within. They brought in a new offensive coordinator this year. I know they lost A.J. Brown, but I think overall this offense will be better. I think the defense is still elite…
“If I had to pick a second favorite in the NFC, I would probably go with the Rams. If I had to pick a second favorite in the AFC, I would probably go with the Texans.”
Do random people approach you to ask for gambling or fantasy football advice?
“I was out at the fireworks, and my mustache is just recognizable. People come up and ask me, ‘Are you Warren Sharp?’ And then they want to introduce themselves. So, I did get met there, but that was by a person who wasn’t asking for gambling advice. He was just wanting to meet me. Almost every single interaction I’ve had has been excellent with people.
“I try not to be overly negative on social media. I just try to stick to the facts and data and share my opinion. But inevitably it riles up fan bases. But, in person, when they see you are genuinely decent people. So I’ve been fortunate in that regard.”
Warren Sharp’s 2026 Football Preview is now available for purchase. Readers using the coupon code FOOTBALL will receive 50% off.
There’s a new Home Run Derby champion and he’s from metro Atlanta.
St. Louis Cardinals star Jordan Walker crushed six straight home runs to end the final round and defeat Philadelphia Phillies star Kyle Schwarber in the 2026 T-Mobile Home Run Derby on Monday.
Walker grew up in Stone Mountain and graduated from Decatur High School in 2020. He was even named WSB-TV‘s Montlick Injury Attorneys 2020 Athlete of the Year. The Cardinals selected him in the first round of the MLB Draft that same year.
Walker’s family attended Monday’s Home Run Derby to see him add his name of the long list of champions.
“I’ve been following him since he started, when they couldn’t find cleats small enough for him. And he was truly engrossed. And I do think this is his life’s calling. I believe that,” Walker’s grandmother, Normarene Merritt, said during the Netflix post-derby show.
Walker will be on the reserves roster for the National League in Tuesday night’s 2026 MLB All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park. His hometown Atlanta Braves have five players on the NL All-Star Game roster, including Drake Baldwin and Ozzie Albies in the starting lineup.
The buzz surrounding Erling Haaland is not dying down, even if his World Cup is over.
Norway may have been defeated 2-1 by England in the quarter finals on Saturday, but all anyone online can talk about is Haaland’s goal scoring, his celebratory rowing with his Norwegian teammates, or even a resurfaced rap song that’s gone viral.
Now, the internet has a new Haaland obsession...
Having flown back home, a photo of Haaland disembarking the airplane at Oslo airport has gone viral due to a rather unique souvenir everyone’s favourite player brought back to Norway.
Check it out:
Haaland's new friend
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Jan Langhaug/NTB Scanpix via AP
Yes, it’s a taxidermy raccoon.
Not just any taxidermy raccoon, mind you. His new furry friend is holding a bottle of whiskey.
According to The Sun, Haaland bought the delightful trash panda at a shop called Wild Bills in Dallas. It's apparently worth $750 (€658) and is known as a Whiskey Raccoon H-MT-F.
Further reports indicate that the player also purchased several cowboy hats, boots, and a t-shirt that says: “Y’all can kiss my Dallas”.
Unsurprisingly, the internet has made Haaland's raccoon its new obsession.
Check out some of the reactions below:
He'll be missed for the rest of the tournament...
England, who beat Norway to the semi finals, face off against Argentina on Wednesday 15 July.
Authorities have said there will be increased security measures in place for the game, considering the historical rivalry and tensions between the two countries.
In a statement, Atlanta Police said: "As Atlanta prepares to host an upcoming Fifa World Cup semi-final match and welcomes increased numbers of residents and visitors, the Atlanta Police Department has enhanced its citywide public safety and security posture. Additional personnel and resources are already deployed and will continue to be strategically assigned in and around the event venues, entertainment districts, and other high-traffic areas to help ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone.”
The statement added: "These proactive measures are designed to protect the public, deter criminal activity, and ensure residents and visitors can safely enjoy this historic event."
The game will be played between either Spain or France and either England or Argentina, pending semifinal results, on Sunday, July 19. No, there won't be any OSU alumni playing, coaching or refereeing the game. The school's presence will be in the form of the warm-season bermudagrass developed by OSU Agriculture researchers, Tahoma 31, which is used in sports complexes worldwide.
Three of the tournament's 16 venues used Tahoma 31 for a total of 18 games -- four at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, Mexico, six at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara and eight, including the final, at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Tahoma 31's predecessor, NorthBridge, also developed at OSU, was used at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City and Estadio Akron in Guadalajara.
“Seeing OSU-developed Tahoma 31 bermudagrass being used for the world’s biggest stage in soccer reflects years of research, innovation and dedication by our faculty and scientists to develop turfgrass that delivers exceptional performance, resilience and sustainability,” said Jayson Lusk, vice president and dean of OSU Agriculture, per a university release. “This achievement showcases how land-grant university research can make a global impact, and it underscores OSU’s commitment to developing solutions that serve communities far beyond our campus.”
Tahoma 31 is also used in other major events or locations, including the White House, the Olympics, the PGA Tour and Central Park in New York City.
A statement from the university said an important feature of Tahoma 31 is its benefits for player safety. Yanqi Wu, a professor in the OSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, explained that as players run and pivot quickly, its dense and solid stands provide the needed surface to prevent slipping and injuries.
Other key features include its fine texture, dark color, drought and shade tolerance, high density and cold hardiness, the university said.
“Tahoma 31 has been used in many sports and golf facilities in many countries on six continents in the world,” Wu said in the statement. “Billions of people have watched this grass perform well on sports fields, especially in the 2026 FIFA Soccer World Cup matches. This is because Tahoma 31 combines fine turfgrass qualities with desirable resistance to some important environmental and biological stresses. It is exciting that it is used for multiple cultural landmarks.”
In the 2026 NFL Players Association report card, Tahoma 31 was most NFL players' favorite grass to play on. Of the 10 highest-graded fields, six use OSU-developed grass.
The development of Tahoma 31, NorthBridge and the upcoming Endarra 81, set to be available for homeowners next year, is part of OSU Extension, Oklahoma's statewide system for translating university research into practical guidance for residents, farmers, businesses, and communities.
“Once a high-visibility, top-notch stadium that gets a lot of traffic has success with something, things can spread like wildfire,” said Dennis Martin, OSU Extension and research turfgrass specialist. “That’s what we’ve seen with Tahoma 31. The grass is performing, and as long as it continues to perform, I think we’ll continue to see it in those facilities.”
Leo Carlsson #91 of the Anaheim Ducks celebrates after scoring a goal during an NHL Playoffs game against the Edmonton Oilers on April 24, 2026 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
From the Flyers’ announcement of the offer sheet on July 3, there had been criticisms thrown towards Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek here at The Sporting Tribune, other outlets and around social media on his perceived handling of the situation.
How had Verbeek allowed his franchise player to reach July 1 and the start of free agency without a contract? Why had the Ducks mishandled another core restricted free agent?
It wasn’t until the Ducks matched the offer and signed Carlsson last Thursday and Verbeek addressed the media that some clarity could be found.
“I made serious and fair offers (last September in training camp) as you saw that I was able to get Jackson LaCombe signed at that particular time,” Verbeek said. “When the season ended, I immediately picked up discussions with Matt Keator, who's Leo's agent, and continued to talk all the way until July 1. I think it was probably three or four days before July 1, I felt that I was getting slow-walked to July 1, and from that point, I informed ownership that there could be a possible offer sheet coming our way.”
Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli said it was an “easy decision” to match the signing bonus-laden deal, and to Verbeek and Carlsson’s credit, they both called it business and water under the bridge.
But was Verbeek’s statement simply saving face and shifting blame to Carlsson’s agent? Was it still not Verbeek’s fault that a deal did not get done before July 1, which opened Carlsson to those predatory offer sheets?
According to Carlsson’s agent, no, not in the slightest.
“This whole process was basically our decision in terms of going this direction,” Matt Keator said. “I know Anaheim did everything they could to get them signed.”
Keator, and his son Ryan, went through the entire season-long negotiation timeline with Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman on his 32 Thoughts Podcast and offered continual praise for Anaheim’s role in this, while the father-son duo essentially fell on their sword for allowing outside narratives to grow as they did.
“The Ducks were aggressively trying to sign Leo all the way along. That’s their job,” Matt Keator said. “If anything, we didn’t allow them to do their job because we weren’t engaging (during the season) because we wanted to get to after the season and have our postseason meeting with Leo.”
From their side of Verbeek’s training camp negotiations and a desire to gauge the soon-to-be rising marketplace, to the tabling of contract talks midseason to the offer sheet that left Carlsson “speechless,” the Keators filled in gaps and corroborated the established timeline from Verbeek.
Here is a walkthrough of the 10 month-long saga that brought Carlsson to staying in Anaheim as the highest-paid player in the NHL:
September 2025: Ducks make first offer
Just as Verbeek had wrapped up another long and arduous restricted free agent negotiation with Mason McTavish, the Ducks looked ahead to a critical RFA crop in the next offseason with Carlsson, Jackson LaCombe, Cutter Gauthier and Pavel Mintyukov among those needing to be locked in.
Over the negotiations with McTavish along with Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale before him, Verbeek and assistant GM Jeff Solomon had garnered a reputation for grinding down their RFAs with these dragged-out affairs into training camp.
With so many high-profile RFAs on the docket, Anaheim couldn’t afford to take those kind of talks into the summer, and they didn’t. Five days after McTavish’s deal, LaCombe signed an eight-year, $9 million-per-season contract–the largest total value contract in Ducks history at $72 million.
“Jackson's the first domino to fall,” Verbeek said then. “We're working on other stuff as well, so we'll see what happens. As last week (with McTavish), things can change pretty quickly, so we'll just keep getting after it.”
In his conversation with Carlsson’s agent on Monday, Friedman reported that Verbeek’s ensuing offer to Carlsson was “in the range” of eight years, $10.5 million per season, which would set the record again for largest total value contract in Ducks history at $80 million.
While the Ducks looked to work fast, it wasn’t time yet for Carlsson’s camp.
“It’s an offer we’re quick to turn down right away,” Matt Keator said. “It’s not for their lack of trying.”
Ryan Keator said they wanted to do more research, particularly into comparable players in respect to percentage of the salary cap. With over $9.5 million increases to the salary cap projected for the next two seasons, a team-friendly number in the preseason is not (and would not be) what the marketplace could produce later on.
Plus, beyond just the Ducks crop of RFAs, there were more specifically in Carlsson’s draft class with 2023 No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard of Chicago and 2023 No. 3 overall pick Adam Fantilli of Columbus.
“Now listen, $80 million is a lot of money. We understand that,” Matt Keator said. “We get that, but we’re living in a marketplace… and every contract that a player signs affects others around him.”
November 2025: Ducks continue pursuit, but agents hold off
Verbeek continued to pursue talks with Carlsson’s camp, but the Keators continued to put up a stop sign, as the Keators presentations to Leo and his family about what the market could look like.
“That was our decision, not the Ducks,” Matt Keator said about stalling talks. “They were definitely very tenacious on us and talking to us.”
The Ducks knew that Carlsson’s stock could continue to rise, which meant an earlier and longer deal would be better for their purposes. On the other side, the Keators knew the same and tried to maximize what Leo could be worth.
“We are still trying to figure out what Leo was as a player,” Ryan Keator said. “He was 20 at the time, then had turned 21. So, still seeing that growth from him throughout the year too had us a little bit hesitant to do a longer-term deal at that time.”
January 2026: Talks tabled
Just 10 days removed from surgery for Carlsson to repair a thigh lesion that forced him out of the Winter Olympics for Sweden and 12 regular-season games for the Ducks, Verbeek was interviewed at intermission on Victory+ and was asked where talks stood with Carlsson and Gauthier midway through the season.
“Not anywhere really,” Verbeek said. “We’ve kind of tabled all that stuff. We want their focus to be on the playoffs.”
It was a sentiment that was echoed by Carlsson and Gauthier at various points going forward and Keator when looking back on Monday.
“We made the decision to table it ‘till after the season,” Matt Keator said. “Leo didn’t look back. He said, okay, I’m going to play hockey.”
All sides were seemingly on the same page, but again, Keator reiterated most of the resistance was coming from his side of the desk.
“The Ducks were aggressively trying to sign Leo all the way along. That’s their job,” Keator said. “If anything, we didn’t allow them to do their job because we weren’t engaging because we wanted to get to after the season and have our postseason meeting with Leo.”
May 2026: Ducks season ends, but talks still on hold
Less than 24 hours after Anaheim was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs, the Ducks went through their exit interviews with assembled media. Verbeek wanted to get right to work, but in retrospect, it sounded like he knew what was ahead of him.
“In a perfect scenario, I’d like to get them done in a week here,” Verbeek said of Carlsson and Gauthier. “I’d like to get it done as soon as possible, but we all have to cooperate with one another.”
As neither had really gotten in the headspace of thinking about what was to come in their summer negotiations between losing to Vegas the night before, sleeping and arriving to Great Park Ice the next morning, Carlsson and Gauthier both said, “We’ll see what happens.”
When Carlsson signed last week, Verbeek said that he immediately picked up discussions with Keator when the season ended.
On Monday, Keator said they were still in a holding pattern at that moment, as they waited to see how Carlsson’s peers fared in the market, specifically Bedard.
“Our plan was to wait and see where Bedard ended up,” Keator said. “We’ll let Bedard set the market, and then we’ll negotiate from there.”
Carlsson’s camp was saying no to Verbeek’s negotiation attempts.
June 30-July 3, 2026: The lead-up to the offer sheet
The key point to Verbeek’s defense was the idea that Carlsson’s agent was holding out to July 1, which opened up the opportunity to be signed to offer sheets.
“(Keator and I) continued to talk all the way until July 1,” Verbeek said, “and I think it was probably three or four days before July 1, I felt that I was getting slow walked to July 1, and from that point, I informed ownership that there could be a possible offer sheet coming our way.”
Keator was slow-playing Verbeek, but as noted, it wasn’t for offer sheets. It was waiting to see where Bedard landed with Chicago. (Bedard remains unsigned with the Blackhawks, and is out four months following shoulder surgery.)
According to Keator, offer sheets didn’t enter the picture until June 30, when teams could begin to contact restricted free agents ahead of the July 1 free agency date. Keator said seven or eight teams immediately inquired with four ready to make offers.
Carlsson’s camp narrowed it down to two, but it was the Flyers’ offer that grabbed the attention.“We did have discussions with the Ducks that day, and said this could be coming into play,” Keator said. “On July 1, we sent Leo the contract offer in writing, and he was speechless.”
Carlsson and his family were overwhelmed by the deal, with the NHL-high $18 million annual value and the front-loaded signing bonus structure. Over $85 million of the total $90 million of the contract comes from signing bonuses, including an immediate $19.95 million signing bonus.
Verbeek knew an offer sheet was in the cards–Friedman reported on July 2 that Verbeek would match any offer sheet to Carlsson–but he too was initially blown away by Philadelphia’s offer. It was a far cry from the $10.5 million per season he had reportedly offered in September.
“Did we expect the offer sheet to be this high? No,” Verbeek said. “No, we did not see that one coming.”
Verbeek said he spoke with Keator the morning of July 2 and later that afternoon there was the offer sheet. Friedman had reported that Verbeek offered $12.5 million and Keator countered with $15 million. The Ducks reportedly said no, and Carlsson’s camp accepted that $18 million offer sheet.
“It was kind of like an offer that I think 99 (percent) of everybody would sign too,” Carlsson said last week. “Changed my family and all that, too. It's a pretty simple answer there, but I always want to be here too. So, I just really hope they would match.”
It would be a long six days for Carlsson to see if he would be swapping out Ducks orange for Flyers orange, but it truly was–yes, here comes the Godfather reference–an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“It's more like when you see that number, it's hard to say no,” Carlsson said.
July 9, 2026: Carlsson is a Duck
At that point, the decision was no longer in Carlsson’s hands, and the Ducks had seven days to decide whether to match the Flyers’ offer sheet or receive Philadelphia’s next four first-round picks as compensation.
Keator said that talks and emails were exchanged with Anaheim over the course of the week, but unlike the rest of the timeline, he kept that private on Monday.
After discussing the potential compensation, calling around the league and going over the bonus structure with ownership, Verbeek made the decision to match the deal on the sixth day, and Carlsson was officially remaining a Duck.
“We went through our due diligence,” Verbeek said. “The more discussions that we had, it became an easier decision. It was speaking to us that we need to match the offer sheet.”
It was the resolution to “probably the weirdest week” in Carlsson’s life.
“Just super relieved,” Carlsson said. “My mom is relieved too. Obviously, she's been stressing for a while now, this week too. It’s super nice to get done. Super happy.”
Moving Forward
Ultimately, this has demonstrated in full each side of the negotiation process that, most of the time, the public doesn’t get to hear about.
“There's a lot of business in hockey,” Carlsson said. “I knew it, obviously, but it was just a lot more business that I thought, too… I think (Verbeek) understands my decision too, when he saw the number. No hard feelings between us right now.”
Verbeek said he doesn’t begrudge Carlsson’s camp for taking the offer sheet route. He acknowledged it’s their collectively bargained right, and as a former player, he understands the “excitement to have a chance to determine your destiny.”
“I think that this whole thing has been worked through,” Verbeek said. “My feelings for Leo haven't changed since the day that we drafted him. The business at hand is taken care of, and now, the both of us are looking forward to building off the season that we had last year, and towards winning a Stanley Cup.”
Keator said that everyone is moving forward, especially as he could have more work with Verbeek this summer. (Keator’s other clients including Chris Kreider and Alex Killorn, both of whom Keator said know their situations can change following Carlsson’s contract.)
“We think a lot of the Ducks and how they’ve handled (the Carlsson talks),” Keator said.
Verbeek has plenty of business left to handle this summer now that this saga is behind him.
Lamine Yamal was asked about the iconic picture of him as a baby with Lionel Messi, and how he feels about possibly facing his idol in the FIFA World Cup final.
In 2007, Lionel Messi partnered with UNICEF for a photoshoot that saw him giving a young baby a bath. 20 years later, that baby is eyeing a World Cup final showdown with Messi.
Lamine Yamal is considered by many to be the heir apparent to Lionel Messi at FC Barcelona. But that doesn’t mean he’s afraid to face his idol on the biggest stage in world football.
Photo by INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images
Lamine Yamal wants to face Lionel Messi in the FIFA World Cup final
Speaking to DAZN Spain ahead of Spain’s semi-final fixture against France, Lamine Yamal was asked about the famous picture of him as a baby with Lionel Messi.
Yamal, who was celebrating his 19th birthday yesterday, joked both he and Messi have grown since then, and wants to see his idol in the FIFA World Cup final.
“Yes, I’ve grown a little, and I think Leo has too. I hope it happens. I’d love to face Messi in a World Cup final.”
Yamal, much like Messi, is a left-footed right winger for FC Barcelona who wore both #19 and #10 for the team. So the comparisons between the two are natural.
The chance to see two of the best players in their team’s history facing off in the biggest game in world football would be a dream for FC Barcelona fans.
Lamine Yamal knows he must step up against France
Speaking in his pre-game press conference ahead of tomorrow’s game, Lamine Yamal admitted that he hasn’t been playing at his best at the FIFA World Cup.
The reigning Kopa trophy winner admitted that his recent injury has left him short of his usual level, but that is no excuse for him to deliver.
For Lamine Yamal, delivering his best performance of the tournament in the team’s biggest game so far would be a massive achievement.
Of course, the youngster is no stranger to big-game scenarios against France, having put on stellar performances against them in the semi-finals of the 2024 Euros and 2025 Nations League.
So one cannot possibly rule out him stepping up and delivering for Spain against France yet again, especially with the stakes at hand.
With anticipation building ahead of the World Cup semi-final, South American media outlets have offered a revealing insight into the referee appointed to oversee the clash.
Both England and Argentina reached the semi-finals via intense extra-time victories, setting up a historic clash.
However, controversy overshadows the tournament; critics claim referees are favoring Argentina following a bizarre VAR red card for Switzerland and an incident against Egypt, while FIFA’s geopolitical ban on English officials has further intensified the pre-match drama.
That’s not all, as FIFA has confirmed American referee Ismail Elfath will officiate the World Cup semi-final between England and Argentina in Atlanta. Assisted by Corey Parker and Kyle Atkins, the experienced MLS official has been the subject of plenty of talk heading into Wednesday’s game.
Argentina media on the referee for the England semi-final
To add to all the drama around the World Cup and its referees, La Nacion have shared what they’ve been told about Ismail Elfath and his refereeing history.
A referee who knows him well and follows his work closely said this:
“Ismail Elfath is the best referee in MLS. He has a lot of experience, with good driving and correct detection of faults. And he is supported by two assistants also of experience, constituting one of the strongest trios in Concacaf. I think he is at the end of his career, which is why I would dare to tell you that this World Cup semifinal is a great challenge for him, because of the moment in which it comes to him and because he also represents one of the organizing countries. I think they will be very motivated to run this game. He speaks perfect English, so he will have no problems in dialogue with the English and he also understands Spanish: in addition, he knows Messi, De Paul and Thiago Almada.”
Lionel Messi shares a unique history with Ismail Elfath. The American referee served as the fourth official during Messi’s crowning moment in the 2022 World Cup Final. Having also crossed paths in Major League Soccer, Messi holds an undefeated 3-0 record in MLS matches where Elfath has been the head official.
A panel discussion in Springfield will highlight the history and legacy of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and the women connected to it as part of a broader local exhibit.
The event, organized through a partnership between Visit Springfield’s History Comes Alive program and the Sangamon Valley Collection at Lincoln Library, is scheduled for July 28 at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, according to a community announcement.
The discussion will begin at 6:30 p.m. and feature former AAGPBL players Jeneane Lesko and Dolly Ozburn, along with league historian Merrie Fidler. Organizers said the panel will include individuals directly connected to the league, including former players, historians and collaborators, who will share personal experiences and discuss the league’s impact and ongoing preservation efforts.
The program supports the Sangamon Valley Collection’s exhibit, “100 Years of Women's Baseball and Softball in Sangamon County: 1875-1975,” which is on display at the Sangamon County Building through Nov. 2. The exhibit, curated by Anna Sielaff, includes photographs, archival materials and information on local connections to women who played professional baseball during and after World War II, according to the announcement.
“This year’s History Comes Alive programming is all about Celebrating America and the stories that have built our nation. This incredible evening will shine a spotlight on a unique and extraordinary chapter of our local and national story. The women of the AAGPBL were pioneers and continue to inspire athletes and fans of all ages,” said Darrin Thurman, tourism manager for Visit Springfield.
The event is free and open to the public. Attendees will have opportunities for autographs and merchandise purchases before and after the discussion, according to the announcement.
This story was created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.
The World Cup being hosted in North America has given fans from around the world a chance to experience the United States for themselves.
The majority of games have been held in the US, with the last three matches, including the final, also set to take place in the country.
During this time, many supporters who have visited America have had nothing but positive things to say, with one now admitting he was previously worried about his trip due to what he was seeing in the media.
Photo by Aric Becker / AFP via Getty Images
Media coverage of America worried World Cup fan
Bastiand Matti, a German fan, has decided to stay in the United States long after his country were knocked out of the tournament in the Round of 32.
He stayed because of his positive experience, but has now spoken of his initial scepticism at travelling across the pond due to the media coverage of the country.
Taking to X/Twitter, he stated in the caption of his post: “As a German, I was scared to visit America. I’d mostly heard negative things in the media and from others.
“I came for the World Cup. I stayed because of the people. My biggest lesson: experience a country for yourself, not just through headlines. Thank You America.”
In the video itself, the fan urged people to visit the US and experience it for themselves, saying: “I had such a great time here in America.
“Please visit America and make yourself a picture of this beautiful country.
“The people are so lovely and helpful. The hospitality is great. I recommend visiting the United States and checking it out; it’s so beautiful. Thank you so much for your great hospitality.”
The World Cup is now set to come to a close on Sunday, July 19, with Spain, France, England and Argentina currently vying for a place in the final.
While the tournament is nearly over and the USMNT did not get as far as some fans may have hoped, the World Cup does seem to have been a positive PR move for America, and may open the door for a longer-term tourist boom.
Photo by Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is aware of the threat Lionel Messi brings on the field, but he is wary of the entire Argentinian attack.
The World Cup rivalry between Argentina and England will be put to the test after 24 years in the 2026 FIFA World Cup semi-finals.
It’ll also be Messi’s first-ever game against the English national team, but it doesn’t look like the England squad will fall into the trap of overpreparing for Messi.
Jordan Pickford makes sure England’s focus isn’t directed at Lionel Messi
In an interview before their semi-final clash against Argentina, England starting goalkeeper Jordan Pickford made it clear that their team needs to be focused on the entire 11-man Argentinian squad rather than their 39-year-old star.
“He’s scored so many goals and contributed to so many over his career; it’s great to finally come up against him after watching him so long. We all know how good Messi is, and we know how good Argentina is. We can’t just solely focus on Messi, we’ve got to focus on the others as well, and take advantage of the weaknesses they have.”
This is a fantastic approach by Pickford, as Argentina scored three goals in their A.E.T. quarter-final win over Switzerland, and Messi wasn’t the scorer behind any of the three.
He did create the opening goal in that clash, so his creativity isn’t something Pickford can control. But England’s entire defensive and midfield unit will be wary of the deadly offensive chances Lionel Scaloni’s system can create in the final half.
Messi has eight goals in the 2026 World Cup, tied for the Golden Boot with Kylian Mbappe at the moment. England’s Harry Kane isn’t far behind with six goals in the tournament.
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Argentina have scored 16 goals this tournament, the most of any nation, with scorers like Lautaro Martinez, Alexis Mac Allister, Lisandro Martinez, and Julian Alvarez, among others, also registering goals.
England will have their work cut out for them, with Pickford as their final line of defense. They have conceded six goals in the tournament so far, with five coming in their last three knockout games.
It won’t be easy to contain Argentina, so this might just be a high-scoring affair where Pickford is brought into action a lot.
Kelsey Pfendler, born in Lee Center and raised in Boonville, where she graduated from Adirondack Central School in 2012, became only the third woman, the first American – and youngest - woman to row the mid-Pacific solo course across a swath of the Pacific Ocean from the coast of California to the shores of Hawaii.
According to Governor of the State of Colorado Jared Polis, the 32-year-old rower, now a resident of Colorado, began her voyage from Monterey, CA on May 21, then rowed 2,300 miles to Honolulu, HI, arriving at Magic Island and Ala Wai Boat Harbor just after 9 p.m. on July 3. After traveling for 43 days, 17 hours, 55 minutes, she was welcomed by the cheers of throngs of locals as she rowed toward the Hawaiian shore.
Her time not only smashed the women’s solo speed record for the feat, reported by the Ocean Rowing Society International to be 86 days, 10 hours, 5 minutes, set by British rower Lia Ditton in 2020, but also the men’s solo speed record for the feat of 52 days, 13 hours, 17 minutes set by Rob Eustace, also from the U.K. who set the current men’s record in the summer of 2014.
“What an accomplishment!” effused Polis in a Facebook post celebrating the feat. “Colorado is proud to call you one of our own!”
Journey memorialized
Pfendler memorialized her journey in a video-journal, where entries were posted to Facebook and Instagram pages, further to a website tracking the voyage, dubbed YOU ROW KELSEY. The daring rower accumulated an enormous social media following over the course of the row and beyond, where – as of July 13 – 795,000 fans followed the YOU ROW KELSEY insta, while 1.9 million followers tracked her adventure on the brand’s Facebook page.
In a July 3 video journal entry, when Pfendler knew she was less than 100 miles from the shores of Oahu, she convened testimony to her thoughts and fears along the way before concluding the reel to say...
“It’s going to happen. I’m going to get to Oahu and I'm going to be the fastest person to have ever rowed the mid-Pacific solo,” marveled the Oneida County native, still trying to convince herself. “It’s a crazy feeling ... to have this moment.”
For the past 10 years, Pfendler has worked as a Grand Canyon River Guide.
Her record-breaking row was dedicated to raising awareness through a non-profit organization committed to their cause, The Whale Foundation, which provides mental health support, emergency assistance, wellness programs, and educational scholarships for the Grand Canyon river guide community.
A link to the SpotFund titled 'Kelsey's Solo Pacific Row' can be found on the You Row Kelsey website, where part of the proceeds will support The Whale Fund, for those who wish to make a gift to the cause. To date, over $200,000 has been donated to the fund.
“The Whale Foundation has played a deeply meaningful role in my life, both as a river guide and as a person,” Pfendler is quoted on the non-profit's website. “Their mission – to support, restore, and celebrate the health and well being of the Grand Canyon river guiding community is something I’ve experienced first hand.”
More about Pfendler’s craft Lily
As shared in an insta-reel on the Instagram page for “The Powherful” podcast, Pfendler navigated the Pacific Ocean course in a 23-foot long, approximately 132 square-foot custom-made, fiberglass ocean rowing boat, “Lily,” a vessel with no propulsion engine designed to accommodate a single rower.
The boat had both a bow and stern cabin, with the rowing seat and apparatus between and exterior to them.
The two small cabins, which Pfendler referred to in her video journal entries as the “Bow Cabin” and “Stern Cabin” provided interior space for sleeping, food storage and prep, bathing, and secure storage.
Solar panels powered Pfendler’s communication devices, navigation equipment, and a water maker that converted salt seawater into drinkable water.
Pfendler used a para-anchor, described as an underwater parachute, to slow the drift of the boat when she was sleeping.
“I don’t really spend that much time in here,” Pfendler joked during a video journal entry shot inside the “stern cabin” to escape the sound of strong winds on deck.”
Pfendler navigated the entire course solo, with no accompaniment.
Except, that is, for Hugo and Morey, her stuffies, a crab and octopus respectively.
Pfendler shares in that video that “wanted some friends” to join her, so it wouldn’t get too lonely. She referred to Hugo and Morey as her “companions” and credited them with “Keeping me company.”
In a video posted by Pfendler on July 3 - part of a video diary she shared in real time over the course of her journey – when she was under100 miles from Oahu, she announced publicly, as she convinces herself, that she knew she would be breaking not only the Women’s mid-Pacific Solo record, but also the men’s record, making her the fastest human to ever row the course, a route that only a total of nine people have ever completed, where most averaged about 70 days to do so.
Pfendler shared that, when she set sail, her goal was to be first American – and youngest – woman to navigate the “mid-Pacific solo,” with the woman’s record in sight.
“I was coming for the women’s record,” Pfendler said in that video. “Really, no part of me thought it was within my ability to break the men’s record.”
Pfendler shared with raw, authentic honesty her human, but especially female tendency to self-talk herself out of the possibility that she could have achieved what she did.
“It’s been really hard for me to even absorb that this is happening,” Pfendler said, “it took me a really long time to allow myself to even believe it.”
Pfendler confesses that, despite training her “butt off ... preparing in every way” she could, she spent most of her time telling herself, ‘you’re going to fail.’
“Most of the time of this row I spent my time just kind of talking myself out of the fact that I was ahead of the record,” confessed Pfendler in her July 3 video journal entry. “It’s a pretty human thing, but it’s also a ‘female’ thing to discredit your abilities, even as you’re doing them.”
Pfendler recalled beginning to believe it was possible to break both speed records just over the final week and a half of endeavor.
“At this point, it’s gonna happen. I’m gonna get to Oahu and I'm going to be the fastest person to have ever rowed the mid-Pacific solo.”
Said an emotional Pfendler, “I’m so grateful for this moment.”
After their FIFA World Cup run came to an end, officials of the Senegalese Football Federation learned some new information.
Senegal managed to make it to the Round of 32 in the FIFA World Cup, losing in heartbreaking fashion to Colombia in a very close game.
The AFCON runners-up were considered one of the dark horses entering the tournament. But the team seem to have far bigger problems, given the new information that has come to light.
Photo by SEYLLOU / AFP via Getty Images
Senegal FA learned their team doctor is a gynaecologist, not a sports medicine expert
Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Dakar, the president of the Senegalese Football Federation, Abodulaye Fall, made a shocking revelation.
He revealed that he only learned recently that the team’s doctor was not an expert in sports medicine, but rather, a gynaecologist by practice, which led to the players losing faith in their ability.
“The other aspect is that, in fact, our regular doctor doesn’t have the academic background to support our athletes. And that’s something I only discovered late, because the doctor is a gynaecologist by training.
“I think, based on the feedback I received, the players weren’t convinced enough to be accompanied often. So, we needed to find a convincing expert to reassure them, because health comes first.”
If this is the case, then it cannot be considered anything other than a major misstep from the Senegalese FA, as they should have done their due diligence
Senegalese FA situation shows significant problem in African football’s growth
This incident has pointed out something that is a huge flaw, not just for the Senegalese FA, but for African football as a whole.
For years, there have been questions about the growth of football in Africa, especially considering the vast depth of talent that has come out of the region.
But even with that talent, Africa has struggled to make a huge mark on the global football stage over the last century.
Morocco’s miraculous run to the FIFA World Cup semi-final in 2022 was the first time an African nation reached that stage in history.
One has to imagine issues like Senegal had with their medical staff are not isolated incidents in African football, and things like this have played a part in their lack of success on the world stage.
England are preparing for their World Cup semi-final against historic rivals Argentina on Wednesday night in Atlanta.
It is a game where there will be tension both on the pitch and in the stands given the two nations’ battles over the years.
Tensions spilled over in a small section of the stadium during the Three Lions’ quarter-final against Norway, with England and Argentina fans clashing in the stands.
This is something that has not necessarily been seen during this summer’s World Cup.
Ahead of the game on Wednesday, extra precautions are being put in place for Atlanta to put on a successful final game of the 2026 World Cup.
Photo by FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
What the Atlanta Police Department have warned England and Argentina fans
England and Argentina tensions run high following the Falklands War back in 1982.
Ahead of the game, the Atlanta Police Department have shared a statement on the extra precautions being put in place to ensure a safe and peaceful environment for supporters.
“As Atlanta prepares to host an upcoming FIFA World Cup semi-final match and welcomes increased numbers of residents and visitors, the Atlanta Police Department has enhanced its citywide public safety and security posture,” the APD told The Athletic.
“Additional personnel and resources are already deployed and will continue to be strategically assigned in and around the event venues, entertainment districts, and other high-traffic areas to help ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone.
“These proactive measures are designed to protect the public, deter criminal activity, and ensure residents and visitors can safely enjoy this historic event.”
Safety has to be at the very top of the priorities for the organizers and this game in Atlanta brings unique circumstances.
Phumi
Nkuta's bid to overturn the lone loss of his professional
career did not go in his favor.
The California State Athletic Commission on Monday denied Nkuta's
appeal to overturn his technical submission defeat against Adriano
Moraes at
MVP: Ronda
Rousey vs. Gina Carano.
Nkuta argued that Moraes held a fight-ending choke beyond the final
horn and that referee Herb Dean
mishandled the sequence.
However, the commission ruled there was insufficient evidence to
change the official result.
California State Athletic Commission denies Phumi Nkuta appeal
after Adriano Moraes fight
On May 16, Nkuta and Moraes clashed in a flyweight bout on the main
card of MVP’s Rousey vs. Carano-headlined event.
Near the end of the fight, Moraes had Nkuta in a choke. As the
final bell rang, the former held on to the choke for what Nkuta
claims was around 2.15 seconds after the horn. The official result
was a technical submission victory for the former One
Championship titleholder.
Nkuta then filed an appeal to overturn the loss, claiming that he
was still conscious when the final bell rang, but went out after
time had expired because Moraes held the choke. He further argued
that the fight should have gone to the judges’ scorecards, where
Nkuta believes he did enough to secure a decision victory.
CSAC executive director Andy Foster
did not deny that the choke was held for longer than it was
necessary, but said that there was no definitive evidence that
Nkuta was not unconscious at the bell.
“I bet I've watched it 80 times now. We've watched it over and
over. I'm still unsure when he went unconscious. When we're not
sure about something, it needs to be clear and convincing evidence
if this commission is going to flip a fight, just to be very
clear,” Foster said of the judgement (via MMA Junkie).
Nkuta, who traveled from Las Vegas to Sacramento to attend Monday's
hearing in person, said that he remembers hearing the final horn.
The commission did not respond directly to these arguments from
Nkuta and his attorney, Lance Spaude, apart from a brief comment by
commissioner Dr. AnnaMaria De Mars, a former judo champion and the
mother of Ronda Rousey.
“We ask the officials to make a judgement call under very difficult
circumstances,” Dr. De Mars said. “You're there. There are millions
of people watching you. To change somebody's decision, it has to be
very egregious. I'm sitting here thinking about choking people and
how fast your reaction time is. Is holding something for two
seconds, when he's under just as much pressure as you, a real
egregious, deliberate foul? I just don't see it that way.”
Norway had an amazing run at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and it’s because of Erling Haaland.
The Manchester City superstar bagged seven goals in his first-ever FIFA World Cup and carried the nation on his back.
Moreover, Erling Haaland’s goofy personality made him an instant fan favorite in the US. Norway may have been knocked out of the World Cup, but it has brought immense fame to Haaland.
Photo by ANP via Getty Images
Peru sees a surge in Erling Haaland baby names
The US isn’t the only country where Haaland has become a beloved superstar. In fact, Peru has seen an unexpected growth in the name ‘Erling Haaland’ since the World Cup.
“Peru is now the country with the most babies named after Erling Haaland in the world,” Pubity revealed on X.
They added, “Over 500 newborn babies in Peru have been named after the Norwegian player – at least 468 with Haaland and 91 with the full name Erling Haaland.”
Geographically, Peru is more than 6,500 miles away from Norway, but Haaland’s performance has impacted recent newborn baby names in the South American country.
As far as Haaland’s World Cup run is concerned, Norway were knocked out in the quarterfinals following a 2-1 defeat against England, but not before knocking out a heavyweight in Brazil earlier in the tournament.
RAF Crossover Championship creates new path for combat sports
athletes
RAF has introduced the RAF Crossover Championship, developed
exclusively for high-profile crossover athletes from combat sports.
The first cruiserweight match will take place at RAF 11 in
Milwaukee, featuring Tsarukyan and Covington.
The crossover will blend elite freestyle wrestling with MMA talent,
offering marquee crossover matchups.
“A new championship arrives at RAF,” RAF Wrestling’s official X
account posted. “Introducing the RAF Crossover Championship.
Created exclusively for crossover wrestlers from across the world
of combat sports.”
“The first chapter begins in Milwaukee with Arman Tsarukyan vs.
Colby Covington. The inaugural Cruiserweight Crossover
Championship,” the post further read.
Tsarukyan enters the matchup with a perfect 6-0 record under the
RAF banner, having most recently dominated Kuat
Khamitov at RAF Georgia. Covington, meanwhile, is unbeaten
through three RAF appearances, building on an accomplished amateur
wrestling background that includes an NJCAA national championship
and NCAA Division I All-American honors. The former interim UFC
welterweight champion last edged Chris
Weidman at RAF 9.
The event is set for July 18 at 8 p.m. ET in Milwaukee.
A new championship arrives at
RAF.
Introducing the RAF Crossover Championship.
Created exclusively for crossover wrestlers from across the world
of combat sports.
The abrupt ending of the UFC 329 main event between Conor McGregor and Max Holloway sent online sleuths into a frenzy. Some accuse the Irishman of having the injury prior to the rematch with "Blessed" last Saturday. Others allege McGregor faked the injury and showed up to collect a payday.
McGregor seemingly suffered the injury in the opening seconds of the first round. He landed awkwardly after leaping into the air with a kick at the sound of the first-round bell. He fell to the canvas. Moments later he fell again while throwing a kick. Following falling a third time after throwing a punch, the fight was eventually waived off.
Former two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya believes McGregor entered the UFC 329 octagon already injured.
"I have eyes. When they did the replay and he took the Crocs off, he didn't put weight on that right leg. He didn't," Adesanya said on Precision with Mighty & Izzy. "I know he was throwing it in the locker room."
"The Last Stylebender" mentioned a rumor that someone placed a $900,000 wager on Holloway 'right before the fight.' He also pointed to lip reading a conversation between Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn before the bout.
"I have eyes. When Conor took off the Crocs, as much as much as he said afterwards, you know, 'I wasn't injured before the fight,' I saw he didn't put weight on the right leg. And that tells me something."
As McGregor warmed up in the back before making the walk to the octagon inside T-Mobile Arena, he was shown throwing kicks and the same kick that he did moments later to start the fight. He didn't appear to be injured and Adesanya admitted that there's a possibility that McGregor injured himself while warming up.
"For me, I will say I don't know. That's possible. That's plausible. He could have hurt himself in the warm-up," Adesanya said. "Who knows? But all I know is when he go to the prep point and he took his Crocs off, he wasn't standing on that leg well. And again, that could have been between that warm-up and that point."
McGregor’s return following a five-year hiatus ended in
disappointment as he suffered a knee injury seconds into his
rematch with Max
Holloway at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While the former
two-division champion is set for another stint on the sidelines as
he recovers from the injury, Chandler sees McGregor eventually
returning to the Octagon, potentially against him.
Michael Chandler explains why he believes Conor McGregor wanted
to compete at UFC 329
After McGregor’s return to the UFC ended in anticlimactic fashion,
Chandler came to his defense. The former Bellator
MMA champion dismissed the claim that McGregor had an injury
going into UFC 329.
“I would be absolutely surprised, like the most surprised on the
planet, if Conor just showed up for a paycheck, limped in there and
said, ‘I don’t care, I’ll give you guys one minute, shave my head
into a mohawk, show up, do the intros and then just bow out a
minute later,’” Chandler said in an Instagram post. “You can say
what you want about Conor, but one thing he is not, is a quitter,
one thing he is not, is a bamboozler. The body is unpredictable and
every fight is unpredictable and if you look at Conor, (he always
comes out with a kick),” he added.
Chandler, who is yet to face McGregor despite starring opposite the
Irishman on “The Ultimate Fighter” and being booked against him
previously, still believes that “Notorious” wants to fight him
after their 2024 bout was canceled.
“I believe he wants to fight me; I believe he tried to fight me; I
believe that’s how the negotiations went, other plans were made,
but the honor and the integrity of wanting to stick to and be a man
of his word since he pulled out of that fight back in 2024,” he
explained. “I know everyone is disappointed, but keep on watching;
this ain’t the last you’re gonna see of Conor McGregor and I’m
excited to see how it plays out.”
McGregor has one fight left in his UFC contract. He has confirmed
that he will undergo surgery for his knee injury, insisting that he
will return to fight out his contract.
St. Denis was the betting favorite going into his lightweight
matchup against Pimblett in the co-main event of
UFC 329 in Las Vegas, as he was coming off a four-fight finish
streak while his English counterpart was fresh off his first defeat
in the UFC. However, "The Baddy" took just 52 seconds to put the
Frenchman to sleep and end his win streak.
Benoit St. Denis reflects on his UFC 329 loss and promises a
stronger return
St. Denis apologized to his fans for letting them down after UFC
329. While he admits that the loss is hard to digest, "God of War"
vows to bounce back stronger. He also hopes to avenge his loss to
Pimblett someday.
“Thank you all for your support. I’m sorry for letting you down and
for not delivering the victory we had hoped for,” St. Denis wrote
on X. “This defeat is brutal and hard to swallow, but it’s part of
the journey. I learn through trials, I’ll draw every lesson from
it, I’ll keep working hard, and I’ll come back stronger.
Congratulations to Paddy for his performance. I’m convinced that
one day, our paths will cross again. See you soon, BSD.”
Pimblett (24-4) even accurately predicted that he would choke out
St. Denis (17-4) if the latter shot in for a takedown. Furthermore,
fans and pundits have criticized the latter’s game plan, especially
considering how dry fighters are in the very first frame in
contrast to later rounds, when perspiration makes submission
escapes easier.
Merci à toutes et à tous pour
votre soutien. Je suis désolé de vous avoir déçus et de ne pas vous
avoir offert la victoire que nous espérions.
Cette défaite est brutale et difficile à encaisser, mais elle fait
partie du chemin. J'apprends dans l'épreuve, j'en tirerai toutes
les… pic.twitter.com/Ne1v2QdpEE— Benoît"God of War" Saint Denis (@BenoitSt_Denis)
July 13, 2026
St. Denis was the betting favorite going into his lightweight
matchup against Pimblett in the co-main event of
UFC 329 in Las Vegas, as he was coming off a four-fight finish
streak while his English counterpart was fresh off his first defeat
in the UFC. However, "The Baddy" took just 52 seconds to put the
Frenchman to sleep and end his win streak.
Benoit St. Denis apologizes to fans after ‘brutal’ loss to
Paddy Pimblett
St. Denis apologized to his fans for letting them down after UFC
329. While he admits that the loss is hard to digest, "God of War"
vows to bounce back stronger. He also hopes to avenge his loss to
Pimblett someday.
“Thank you all for your support. I’m sorry for letting you down and
for not delivering the victory we had hoped for,” St. Denis wrote
on X. “This defeat is brutal and hard to swallow, but it’s part of
the journey. I learn through trials, I’ll draw every lesson from
it, I’ll keep working hard, and I’ll come back stronger.
Congratulations to Paddy for his performance. I’m convinced that
one day, our paths will cross again. See you soon, BSD.”
Pimblett (24-4) even accurately predicted that he would choke out
St. Denis (17-4) if the latter shot in for a takedown. Furthermore,
fans and pundits have criticized the latter’s game plan, especially
considering how dry fighters are in the very first frame in
contrast to later rounds, when perspiration makes submission
escapes easier.
Merci à toutes et à tous pour
votre soutien. Je suis désolé de vous avoir déçus et de ne pas vous
avoir offert la victoire que nous espérions.
Cette défaite est brutale et difficile à encaisser, mais elle fait
partie du chemin. J'apprends dans l'épreuve, j'en tirerai toutes
les… pic.twitter.com/Ne1v2QdpEE— Benoît"God of War" Saint Denis (@BenoitSt_Denis)
July 13, 2026
Philadelphia Phillies slugger gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about at Citizens Bank Park on Monday, advancing to the final round. He appeared poised to win after smashing 11 homers in the championship round, only to watch St. Louis Cardinals star Jordan Walker one-up him with 12 and win the trophy.
Walker's furious comeback, which included homers on his final six swings despite heavy boos from Phillies fans, made him the first Cardinals player to win the event. He also earned one million dollars in prize money.
JORDAN WALKER, ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!??!
WHAT A COME FROM BEHIND PERFORMANCE TO WIN THE 2026 T-MOBILE HOME RUN DERBY! 🔥
Schwarber's teammate, Bryce Harper, went down in the first round along with Ben Rice, Jac Caglianone and Munetaka Murakami. Junior Caminero and Willson Contreras lost in the semifinals to Walker and Schwarber, respectively.
Now that they're all warmed up, time will tell if any of them go deep during Tuesday's Midsummer Classic.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Utah Jazz guard Trey Alexander was taken from the court on stretcher Monday night after appearing to injure his side on a drive to the basket in an NBA Summer League game against the Chicago Bulls.
Alexander, who signed a two-way deal with Utah last week, made contact with the Bulls' Caleb Wilson while driving toward the basket and, after tossing the ball toward the hoop, went behind the basket clutching his side or abdomen. He then dropped to the ground, seemingly in great pain.
The 23-year-old Alexander was taken from the Thomas & Mack Center court on a stretcher. The incident occurred with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter.
There was no immediate word from the Jazz on Alexander's injury.
Alexander played three seasons at Creighton and skipped his final year of eligibility to turn pro. The G League rookie of the year for the 2024-25 season played 24 games for the Denver Nuggets the same season and nine game for the New Orleans Pelicans last season.
General Manager Raegan Pebley of the Los Angeles Sparks speaks with the media during a introductory press conference on February 12, 2025 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA.
LOS ANGELES––Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
That's the Los Angeles Sparks' organizational mantra now.
Wash away the general manager.
Rinse out the front office.
Repeat the same hollow promises.
Sunday's parting with Raegan Pebley—a dismissal that landed with all the shock of a Tuesday—was supposed to be a cleansing.
A fresh start.
Another spin cycle for a franchise that hasn't made the playoffs since 2020.
But a stain that has set is a stain almost impossible to wash away. And the Sparks? They've got a stain that has baked for half a decade.
Pebley's tenure was 39 wins, 66 losses.
Three seasons.
Three chances.
Three strikes.
Los Angeles Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts on the organization parting ways with general manager Raegan Pebley and the fact that Nneka Ogwumike is about to pass Lisa Leslie’s all-time franchise scoring record.
The Sparks hired Pebley in January 2024 without a single day of professional executive experience—a college coach handed the keys to a Porsche and told to drive it through rush-hour traffic blindfolded.
She hired Lynne Roberts, a Utah college coach with zero WNBA head-coaching experience.
Pebley traded away draft capital like it was Monopoly money. She preached patience while practicing panic.
And now she's gone.
Assistant GMs Zach Knowlton and Nate Nielsen will steer the ship for now. But here's the uncomfortable truth that nobody in that front office wants to say out loud: No general manager can turn this franchise around in two years.
Not Pebley.
Not Knowlton.
Not Nielsen.
Not even the ghost of Jerry West.
The problem isn't the driver.
The problem is the car is on fire, the wheels are falling off, and someone who has never been to Los Angeles is drawing the road map.
Pebley's defining move—the one that will stain her legacy forever—was trading Rickea Jackson for Ariel Atkins.
Straight up.
No draft compensation. No picks. No protections.
Just a one-for-one swap of a 23-year-old rising star for a 29-year-old veteran.
Jackson was the No. 4 overall pick in 2024. She averaged 14.7 points and 3.2 rebounds. She was electrifying. She was the future. She was everything this franchise had been starving for.
And Pebley shipped her out for a player averaging 8.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 19 appearances for the Sparks this season.
Let that sink in.
"Loved having her here … she'll be successful wherever she goes," Pebley said of Jackson after the trade. "But we're focused on winning a championship."
A championship?
The Sparks are 10-12.
They're ninth in the standings.
They're one spot out of the playoffs with a defense ranked dead last in the league, allowing 94.3 points per game.
They've lost five games to playoff teams by double digits.
They've alternated winning streaks and losing streaks like a washing machine stuck on the wrong cycle.
Jackson, meanwhile, tore her ACL and is out for the season. So the trade looks even worse in retrospect—a gamble that backfired before the chips even hit the table.
But Jackson wasn't the only misstep.
Pebley traded the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 draft—which became Seattle's Dominique Malonga, now an All-Star averaging 15.8 points and 7.5 rebounds—for Kelsey Plum.
She traded the Sparks' first-round pick this year, which became third overall selection Awa Fam, for Kia Nurse and the No. 4 pick in 2024, which the Sparks used to select Jackson.
She traded the No. 8 pick in a historic draft for Julie Allemand and Li Yueru—Allemand was left unprotected in the expansion draft, and Yueru was a throw-in.
Win-now moves—all of them.
Aggressive.
Expensive.
And disastrous.
Pebley traded away the Sparks' future for players who made a nominal impact. She bet the farm on a championship window that doesn't exist. And now the cupboard is bare—only one lottery pick, Cameron Brink, who looks to be overdrafted, remains from that stretch.
The Sparks are one of the WNBA's bedrock franchises.
Three championships.
A legacy of legends—Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson, Candace Parker, Nneka Ogwumike.
The Sparks are the league's royal family, reduced to squabbling over table scraps while the rest of the WNBA feasts.
And as the Sparks flounder, the league suffers.
When Los Angeles—the entertainment capital of the world, the city of champions, the market that should be the WNBA's crown jewel—can't get out of its own way, it casts a shadow over everything.
The Sparks' decline isn't just a Los Angeles problem. It's a WNBA problem. It's a women's basketball problem. When one of your flagship franchises is a laughingstock, everyone pays the price.
The seats at Crypto.com Arena are often empty at Sparks' games.
The atmosphere is dead. Opposing fans take over entire sections. The Sparks have become an afterthought in a city that once celebrated them like royalty.
And the ownership? Invisible. Absent. Indifferent.
So what's the way forward? What does a complete reset actually look like?
Realistic Option No. 1: Bring in Swin Cash as general manager.
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and and former WNBA player and New Orleans Pelicans vice president of basketball operations & team development Swin Cash speaks during a press conference at Caesars Superdome.
Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and and former WNBA player and New Orleans Pelicans vice president of basketball operations & team development Swin Cash speaks during a press conference at Caesars Superdome.
Nick Hamilton of NiteCast Media has already floated the idea, and he's absolutely right. Cash is the only candidate who makes sense. The only one with the pedigree, the experience, and the vision to drag this franchise out of the mud.
Cash's accolades speak for themselves: three WNBA championships (2003, 2006, 2010).
Four All-Star selections.
Two All-Star MVP awards.
Two Olympic gold medals.
Two NCAA championships at UConn.
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Class of 2022.
Named to the WNBA's 20th and 25th Anniversary Teams.
But her front-office credentials are even more impressive.
Chicago Sky forward Swin Cash coaches at the NBA FIT All Star Youth Celebration at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Chicago Sky forward Swin Cash coaches at the NBA FIT All Star Youth Celebration at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
Cash joined the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019 as Vice President of Basketball Operations and Team Development.
The Pelicans promoted her to Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations in June 2024—making her one of the highest-ranking women in an NBA front office.
Cash spearheaded scouting, player relations, and team development. She brought structure, standard and a relentless corporate mindset.
Cash knows how to build. She knows how to win. She knows how to command a room and earn the trust of players and coaches.
She's a culture-shifter, not a caretaker.
And she knows Los Angeles. She knows the Sparks' history. She knows what this franchise is supposed to be.
Realistic Option No. 2: Conduct a thorough head coaching search.
Lynne Roberts is 31-35 as the Sparks head coach. She was a college coach thrust into a professional firestorm.
Maybe she deserves another chance under competent leadership. Maybe she doesn't.
If Cash comes in and decides to make a change, the candidates are: Lisa Leslie, Teresa Weatherspoon, Brianna January and Lindsey Harding.
Los Angeles Sparks Celebrate 30 years of WNBA and Sparks basketball during halftime during a WNBA game against the New York Liberty, Sunday June 21st, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
Robert Talamantes - The Sporting Tribune
Los Angeles Sparks Celebrate 30 years of WNBA and Sparks basketball during halftime during a WNBA game against the New York Liberty, Sunday June 21st, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
The point isn't who gets the job. The point is that Sparks' ownership must make Los Angeles' decision with foresight, not desperation. Not recency bias. Not panic.
Foresight.
Realistic Option No. 3: Commit to the long game.
The Sparks have a state-of-the-art practice facility scheduled to open in 2027.
That's a start.
But a building doesn't win championships.
Culture does.
The next general manager needs a five-year plan, not a two-year miracle.
Los Angeles needs to stockpile draft picks, develop young talent and build a sustainable pipeline. They need to stop trading away the future for the illusion of contention.
The Sparks need to accept where they are before they can figure out where they're going. And right now, where they are is a mess.
Pebley told The Times on Friday she was confident in the direction of the franchise. She said there was a united vision from ownership to leadership. She preached discipline and warned against recency bias and reactionary decision-making.
Forty-eight hours later, she was unemployed.
That's not a failure of vision. That's a failure of execution.
That's a failure of judgment. That's a failure that cascades from the top down—from an ownership group that can't commit, to a front office that can't evaluate, to a roster that can't compete.
The Sparks are stuck in a spin cycle.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Wash away the GM.
Rinse out the front office.
Repeat the same mistakes.
The only way out is to burn the whole dirty load.
Start over. From scratch.
With people at the helm who have foresight—not just hope. With a general manager who has actually done this before. With a commitment to the long game, not the quick fix.
Swin Cash is the answer; she's the only answer.
The Sparks have been chasing their first postseason berth since 2020.
They've been chasing relevance since Candace Parker left. They've been chasing an identity since Parker last hoisted a championship banner in 2016.
Stop chasing. Start building.
Los Angeles deserves better. The WNBA deserves better. The players—past, present, and future—deserve better.
Netflix’s second crack at live baseball came with a built-in advantage: the Home Run Derby doesn’t need much help to be entertaining. Strip away the ceremony, and it’s just batting practice with stakes, and this year, MLB handed the streamer a genuine upgrade by scrapping the countdown clock in favor of a format that lets hitters keep swinging as long as they’re producing. It’s the best change the event has seen in years, and it deserved a broadcast that didn’t get in its own way.
For long stretches, Netflix delivered that. For other stretches, it seemed determined not to.
Start with the good, because there’s a lot of it. Untethering the Derby from a timer was an easy, obvious improvement, and it’s the rare format tweak that generated no real pushback. Well, besides maybe Jeff Passan. The new setup rewards hot streaks instead of racing a clock, and it made for a night with a noticeably different rhythm than derbies past. Whatever else went wrong Monday night, the league deserves full credit for finally fixing this.
The picture itself, in the moments the broadcast let you see it clearly, backed that up. The image was sharp, the graphics package was clean and legible — almost to a fault — and this was a clear step forward from Netflix’s Opening Night broadcast back in March, if only because the network mostly resisted the urge to remind viewers every few minutes that they were watching Netflix.
Mostly.
But before the swinging started, Netflix leaned on Will Ferrell, Jimmy Tatro, and Luke Wilson to open the broadcast, and the segment landed with a thud. The audio made it hard to hear what anyone was saying, the comedy felt manufactured rather than spontaneous, and the whole bit doubled as an ad for a Netflix original. It’s the same instinct that dragged down the network’s Opening Night pregame in March — a reflexive need to cross-promote the platform’s other content — just in a smaller dose this time.
Oh my God, the three guys doing supposed comedic commentary on the Home Run Derby player intros are the least funny people to be given such a national stage, without question. They. Are. Brutal. Who wrote these godawful lines for them? Embarrassing, Netflix. Utterly embarrassing.
Elle Duncan’s aside about the 1996 Derby being a topic of enduring conversation in Philadelphia, which Philadelphia sports fans were quick to note isn’t actually true, was a minor unforced error in the same vein.
Elle Duncan on Netflix’s Derby broadcast: The 1996 Home Run Derby is something “Philadelphians talk about to this day.”
But the pregame, promos, and all were never going to be the story of the night. Once the players stepped in and the swings started counting, the broadcast had to stand on its own, and that’s where the real test began.
The lounge pairing of Duncan, Barry Bonds, and Albert Pujols had the makings of the better booth, and the set itself worked. But calling live swings wasn’t where Bonds and Pujols were comfortable, and the commentary came out vanilla and subdued — pleasant, but not adding much to what was already on screen. Duncan held her own despite not being the one expected to call the action, and the read on her was fair: this wasn’t a knock on her so much as a format that didn’t play to the group’s strengths.
There’s an easy fix sitting right there, too, as The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand noted. Instead of parking the lounge as a standalone set, Netflix could use it as a between-batters destination, where they bring a hitter over for a quick conversation with Bonds and Pujols once his round wraps, rather than sending Lauren Shehadi or CC Sabathia to chase an interview down mid-swing. It would give the lounge a job beyond commentary and solve the in-game interview problem in the same move.
The preference, when the ball was actually in the air, ran toward the crew of Matt Vasgersian, Anthony Rizzo, and Hunter Pence. Rizzo was the standout of the group, sharp and insightful whenever the conversation turned to mechanics, which is exactly the kind of expertise a Derby booth should lean on. Hunter Pence brought real energy too — he was clearly locked in and into the moment, and that enthusiasm read as one of the booth’s better qualities. Where the group as a whole stumbled was in occasionally tipping past that energy into over-the-top territory during routine swings, something that applied to Rizzo, Pence, and Vasgersian alike at various points.
Chris Berman spent decades hollering his way through this exact event and never once sounded like he was performing enthusiasm rather than feeling it; the swings earned the volume. Monday’s booth hadn’t figured out that distinction yet, and by the third round of manufactured hysteria, the excitement had started to cancel itself out.
Neither booth had a poor showing. One added insight and energy but occasionally ran hot; the other was pleasant and composed but rarely had much to say. A happy medium between the two was exactly what was missing.
If there’s one throughline in how this broadcast will be remembered, it’s the camera work, and not in a good way.
I like this new format for watching on TV, I just need them to stop switching the camera angles so many times.
The Home Run Derby has one job: show the ball leaving the bat and show where it lands. Netflix, with its cinematic ambitions, treated that job as optional. Tight close-ups on hitters’ faces during their swings repeatedly cost viewers the actual moment of contact, and the broadcast leaned on those close-ups instead of following the ball in flight. On at least one stretch, the camera stayed locked on the pitcher through consecutive swings from Jordan Walker, which is about as far as you can get from what anyone tuned in to see.
they literally had the camera on the PITCHER for two straight swings by Walker
It wasn’t a matter of a broadcast finding its footing over the course of the night, either, as the same complaint kept surfacing swing after swing. The frustration turned into something close to a consensus among viewers: a Home Run Derby doesn’t need much more than a shot behind the pitcher and a shot on the ball’s landing spot, and Netflix kept finding ways to use neither. There was no shortage of suggestions for a fix, either, with multiple viewers noting that simply holding the camera on the hitter through contact and then following the ball would solve the entire problem. It’s a two-camera fix for a production with far more cameras than that at its disposal.
Dear @netflix production team and director: for the love of God, leave the camera on the batter until he hits the ball then just follow the ball. You only need two cameras for this. #homerunderby#mlb
The absence of exit velocity data compounded the issue. Between the missing numbers and the wrong camera angles, a broadcast built around a single visceral moment — bat meets ball — kept finding ways to obscure that exact moment.
Alright I’ve been silent about the @netflix Home Run Derby experience, but not having exit velocity and launch angle in a literal home run derby is akin to an attack on my life.
Then there was the non-call. Junior Caminero’s final swing of the round sent a ball down the left field line, and by the look on his face, he thought it was fair — which would have kept his turn going. Netflix never showed a replay, so nobody watching ever got to find out if he was right. A broadcast that spent the night favoring close-ups over the ball’s flight ran into the one moment where that habit actually cost something.
So Netflix, you have a just down the line fair or foul ball that Caminero clearly thinks was fair on his last swing (where if he gets a HR he keeps swinging).
This was a broadcast pulling in two directions. The format Netflix inherited from MLB was close to perfect, the picture was frequently excellent, and the network mostly avoided the self-promotional bloat that weighed down its Opening Night debut. But the actual job of a Home Run Derby broadcast — showing the swing, showing the flight, showing where the ball lands — kept getting lost to close-ups, ill-timed interviews, and a director seemingly more interested in mood than information. Netflix has the format and the infrastructure. What it still needs is the discipline to point the camera at the baseball.
McGregor (22-7) returned to action for the first time since 2021 in
a rematch against Max
Holloway at
UFC 329 in Las Vegas. His much-awaited return ended in massive
disappointment as “Notorious” injured his knee with the first kick
he threw. McGregor was barely able to stay upright after the
injury, prompting the referee to call a stop to the contest in just
69 seconds.
Conor McGregor says surgery comes first before he attempts one
last fight under his current UFC deal
With his Octagon return ending in such anticlimactic and
devastating fashion, many believe McGregor won’t return to the
Octagon again, especially considering his vast wealth. However, the
former two-division champion seemingly hasn’t given up yet. He
recently reiterated his faith in God while revealing his plans.
“My faith is unconditional and I am thankful I get to prove it! My
lifestyle changes are permanent and not just until. I am thankful I
get to prove it,” McGregor wrote on Instagram. “I am in sin city
and remain completely devoid of all sin. I will not open that door
nor crack its seal! I am already back to collecting wins! In Jesus
name I pray! Church was intense today, my heart is heavy but
through Christ my mind is STRONG! I am so grateful to see my family
fall more in love with God each day! I am a child of God. I am a
friend of God. God makes a way for me where there seems to be no
way. I am not a victim of my circumstances, I overcome them. God is
at work in me to will and to work his good pleasure! My youth is
being renewed like the eagles! In Jesus I am thoroughly loved,
cherished, adored. I walk in divine health. I live under
supernatural protection. All things work out for my good! All
things are possible for me because I am a believer!"
The Dubliner claims he wants to undergo surgery before returning to
finish the last remaining fight on his current UFC contract.
“Surgery. Prehab. Return to martial arts practice. Go again. Final
fight of the contract. Please God! I trust in You Lord! Show me
Your way. Thank You God 🙏”
Watch above for an in-depth preview with the Crestview Rebels 2026 team!
“It’s just grit and be more powerful than the guy lined up against you,” said senior lineman Shane Bacon. “It’s just manpower, I don’t know, it just gets me going.”
Bacon will anchor the defense with 3 total lineman returning. Overall the Rebels bring back 10 seniors for this fall.
“That should help us out immensely this year, we’re going to lean on those guys on both sides of the ball and hopefully the younger guys that are stepping in get the chance to mature,” said head coach Dom Perry.
Coach Perry is in his fourth season as head coach and will have a new quarterback this season in junior Braydon Meier.
“They’re all ready to get out there and play on Friday nights,” said senior linebacker Josh Smith. “I think we have a really big D-line. Our D-ends are real nice, its going to be exciting to watch them all play.”
Coach Perry said his players at skill positions are younger as 9 total kids graduated last school year.
Last season the Rebels had a unbeaten regular season with a double-digit win total. 2025 was the first time Crestview has double-digit wins in 10 years.
“Last year we won the league, but that was more of our senior class leading us, so I think this grade that we have now hasn’t really earned anything,” said Smith. “We want to go out and get something for ourselves.”
The Rebels have not won a playoff game since 2020 and are 0-3 in the postseason in Coach Perry’s tenure.
“That would mean everything, Coach Perry turned this program around, he’s just done everything in his power, brought in a great coaching staff,” said Bacon. “If we can get a win for him, that would mean the world.”
Rebels were 10-1 in 2025 and a perfect 7-0 in the MVAC Grey Tier.
Crestview starts 2026 against Beaver Local on Aug. 21.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kyle Schwarber kept his bid for a Home Run Derby title in his home park alive when the Phillies' slugger and major league home run leader hit 10 in the first round and advanced with Boston's Willson Contreras, St. Louis' Jordan Walker and Tampa Bay's Junior Caminero to the next round Monday night.
Bryce Harper hit only eight home runs and was the final slugger of the round to try and advance. He provided a late jolt with Phillies fans at Citizens Bank Park going wild trying to will Harper into one more round.
Harper won in 2018 in Washington when he played for the Nationals.
Kansas City's Jac Caglianone and New York Yankees slugger Ben Rice also failed to advance.
Contreras and Walker each hit 13, and Caminero had 12.
Schwarber failed to launch one of his famed Schwarbombs until his sixth swing, then connected on his seventh, eighth and ninth in a four-homer stretch that harkened back to his four-homer game last season again Atlanta.
He could only watch as Harper failed to join him. Schwarber, then with the Chicago Cubs, made the finals in 2018 at Nationals Park before losing to Harper.
“Bittersweet,” Schwarber said after the first round Monday. “I wanted both of us to move on.”
MLB ditched the timed clock this season and returned to a swing format, with each hitter continuing to swing if he went deep on his final one.
Each player had 20 swings in the first round and the top four advanced. Hitters were seeded for the second round, where No. 1 faces 4 and 2 meets 3.
Each player takes 15 swings in the second round, with batters homering on their final swings continuing until not homering.
Schwarber and Harper — the first pair of teammates to participate in the Derby since 2018 — received roaring ovations when famed ring announcer Michael Buffer introduced them ahead of the competition.
As for the other six sluggers in the field, all wearing their home jerseys with red, white and blue uniform numbers?
Yeah, they were about booed out of the ballpark, with the loudest jeers saved for Rice. He gamely laughed as he walked out of his Liberty Bell entrance.
Harper — who said earlier Monday this would be his last Derby — waved his arms and exhorted the crowd to get louder as he walked to the home plate platform placed at second base. Harper about broke the ring ropes as he shook them like a pro wrestler, and the Philly crowd went bonkers for the star known as The Showman.
The ball-shagging kids in the outfield were even booed.
The Derby's public address announcer implored the fans to cheer during some quiet stretches when homers — non-Phillies edition — were hit.
The fans did get a rise when Caglianone smoked one into Ryan Howard territory into the third deck in right field. Contreras socked 'em into the rarified air of the left field upper deck. One homered cleared the last row of stands in that section and bounced off the concourse in front of a bar. His 490-footer was the longest of the first round.
Caminero — last year's runner-up to Seattle's Cal Raleigh — watched stunned as his final swing just hooked foul in left field and stuck his homer total at 12.
The longest Derby homer since Statcast started tracking in 2016 was 520 feet by Juan Soto in the mile-high air of Denver’s Coors Field in 2021.
This was the first Home Run Derby and All-Star Game held at Citizens Bank Park since it opened in 2004 and the first derby in Philadelphia since Barry Bonds outslugged Mark McGwire in 1996 to win an afternoon event in front of thousands of empty seats at Veterans Stadium.
This derby was sold out and aired on Netflix for the first time, with the streamer getting into the game this season with a three-event package. Netflix already aired the opening night game, and the third attraction is the Field of Dreams game between the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 13.
Can Jordan Spieth find his best self this week at Royal Birkdale?Getty Images
The last time Jordan Spieth was on top of the golf world was nine years ago when he strolled down the 18th fairway at Royal Birkdale with the Claret Jug in hand. That Sunday, Spieth joined Jack Nicklaus as the only player to win three different majors at age 23 or younger. Everything was in front of him.
Things have been different for Spieth since that day at the 2017 Open when he painted his masterpiece. He has won only twice on the PGA Tour since and no majors. No longer golf’s wunderkind, Spieth arrives back at Birkdale changed by time and life.
“Both [on course and off] I’m very different; I’ve changed a lot,” Spieth told GOLF at the PGA Championship at Aronimink when asked about morphing from golf’s young hero to a star trying to find an ember to re-spark the flame.
That day outside Philadelphia, Spieth was adamant his game was in the best place it has been since his prime. Everything hadn’t clicked at the same time, but the game is all there, back at a level close to where he was that day in Southport. Something was just missing. Find it, and perhaps the dominoes would start to fall.
So, of course, when Spieth arrived back at Royal Birkdale, he went back to the place where he last was that Jordan Spieth.
“Walking up the 18th and remembering what it was like to walk up that 18th hole nine years ago, [I putted] to the pins that I putted to [that Sunday],” Spieth told the media on Monday.
There’s something to be said for returning to a place where you achieved your dreams and letting those memories fill your soul, pointing you to the path back. But you can also never be what you once were. Perhaps in that sense it’s perfect that a different Jordan Spieth arrives at a different Royal Birkdale.
When Spieth triumphed in Southport, he famously made an improbable bogey 5 on the 13th hole after he blew his tee shot right, hit a fan in the head and had to take an unplayable, eventually playing his third shot from the driving range. That won’t be an option this week. In the years since his victory, Royal Birkdale has made some changes. The area right of the 13th will be considered out of bounds this week; it’s now a fan village and the OB will start at the cart path right of the dunes.
That’s not the only change at the host of this year’s Open. The par-3 14th, where Spieth hit a brilliant 6-iron to 5 feet to kick off his winning birdie run, is no longer. The hole was removed during the renovation and the par-5 15th, where Spieth made a 50-foot eagle putt and shouted “Go get that!” to caddie Michael Greller, is now the 14th hole and that green has been moved to a more elevated position.
“Obviously, some of those holes coming in have changed,” Spieth said. “That [6-iron at 14] was maybe the best shot and [the eagle at 15 was the] best putt I’ve ever hit. They don’t exist anymore, which is a little unusual. Hope to create some more great memories here.
“In some regard, it’s kind of nice because I’ll never hit a shot that — this last time, it was like a walk-off. I go back and try to do it again and I don’t hit as good of a shot, then it’s not as cool.” Spieth said.
Time only moves forward. Living in the past can be a prison. Trying to get back to who you used to be is a maze with no exit, a poison that only dooms.
Nine years have passed for Jordan Spieth. Nine years that didn’t go how anyone thought they would, most of all him. But Spieth returns to Birkdale not in search of the past but filled with unfettered hope that the future holds something greater.
“I’ll never believe that until I’m at a point in my career where my health or whatever would be that because, I mean, if you give up on reaching your ceiling, then I don’t see a point in playing anymore,” Spieth said. “For me it’s always about I’ll do everything I can to be trying to be at the very best in the world because I know that I can be. I have been. It’s nice to have the blueprint.”
Spieth’s play has been consistently erratic this season. He has made 16 of 18 cuts and has eight top 25s but has zero tops 10s. When the ball striking has been there, the putter has abandoned him. When the flatstick is rolling, a few big numbers have derailed a promising week.
“I feel like I have a lot of great golf in front of me,” Spieth said. “I feel like I’m way more optimistic than I’ve been at a lot of different points in my career. I’m quite frustrated with the results considering I know where my game is at. It’s better than it was four or five years ago when I got back to top 10 in the world. It’s without a doubt better than it was then; it’s just not quite showing up in results.”
Spieth, now 32, knows that there is still much runway ahead of him. Time is of the essence, major championships only come around four times a year and opportunities to further etch your name into history can’t be wasted. But he’s not trying to outrun the fading sun just yet.
He can still be everything he wants to be — everything many thought he could be.
“How old was [Phil Mickelson] when he won his first major?” Spieth asked. The answer is 34.
“There’s plenty of examples where guys have played their best golf from there on,” Spieth said. “Now, I’m always comparing myself a bit to myself at my best, but not to try to be the exact player. Just more so that I know that I can do it. I know my ceiling is where that level was, and so I’m going to strive for it with the type of player that I am now.”
The canvas from Spieth’s Mona Lisa might be gone, but the belief and confidence that allowed him to paint it still remain. All that let’s left is to find what’s missing at the place he last had it.
Joe Dean and his caddie/fiancee, Emily Lyle, at the Open Championship on Monday.getty images
Mondays at major championships are sleepy affairs: players milling about on the practice green, trading gossip and tinkering with their strokes; caddies pacing out yardages and scouting the pitches on the putting surfaces; fans aimlessly wandering, welcome to their pick of seats (or napping perches) in mostly empty grandstands.
But this Monday at the 154th Open Championship offered something different: not just meaningful golf but also golf that could, if the stars align above England’s wind-battered northwest coast, change the trajectory of a player’s career.
The opening morning of this 11th of Royal Birkdale’s Opens marked the inaugural playing of the so-called Last-Chance Qualifier, a clever Royal & Ancient concoction that gave a dozen players who narrowly came up short in Final Qualifying one final shot at nabbing a spot on this week’s tee sheet — and fans onsite a rooting interest on an otherwise uneventful day.
The participants came by way of a handful of exemption categories, including but not limited to players who were barely boxed out from the Official World Golf Ranking cutoff; the 2026 British Amateur runner-up (Matt Moloney); and players who finished one position behind those who advanced via Final Qualifying (which is how YouTuber Wesley Bryan punched his ticket to LCQ). Eighteen holes of stroke play for a chance to play, beginning Thursday, for the Claret Jug, her good self. Cool stuff.
But enough lede-burying!
The champion of this grand golfing experiment’s debut was exactly the kind of player you’d like to see win the Hail Mary Invitational, a pro with such a regular-Joe past that they call him … well, “Joe.” That would be Joe Dean, a 32-year-old from Sheffield who got up and down from a pot bunker on 18 to post a two-under 68 and edge his countryman, Andrew Wilson, for LCQ bragging rights.
If Dean’s name rings even the faintest of bells, that might be because he made headlines at the 2024 Open at Royal Troon for working himself into early contention just a few months removed from driving a delivery truck for a British grocery-store chain. “I had a great time doing it,” Dean said Monday. “Met some really good friends and grounded me really well.”
Dean took the job in early 2020, when he was struggling to find his way in the pro game and largely playing one-day tournaments and mini-tour events. Making ends meet as a competitive golfer isn’t easy in most corners of the pro game, so Dean did what needed to do, picking up a delivery job in the early days of COVID after some urging from his girlfriend, Emily Lyle. He stuck with the gig for the next four years.
In the fall of 2023, a pack of Dean’s friends pitched in to cover his costs for DP World Tour Q-school. Dean advanced through every stage and earned his card for the 2024 season. But with few winnings to his name, he was still scraping by. That changed in February 2024, when Dean broke through with a runner-up finish at the Kenya Open, worth about $225,000. “Life-changing,” he said at the time. His fine play continued that season with his star turn at the Open (while bunking in a motor home) and, at season’s end, a 37th-place finish in the Race to Dubai standings.
This year, Dean is 67th in the race, but his best form has come in recent weeks, with two top-10s in his last three starts and now his win at the maiden LCQ. “One-day events, I seem to play better,” Dean said after his two-birdie, one-eagle round Monday. “I don’t quite know why, the mentality of trying to keep the same [aggressive play] throughout any round and every round.”
Unlikely as it may be, Dean has an even bigger event next week. He’s getting married to Lyle, who also happens to be his caddie. Lyle first picked up Dean’s bag when he turned pro in 2016. The partnership didn’t last (professionally!) with another of Dean’s friends looping for him in recent years. But Lyle, who is an accomplished amateur golfer, rejoined her fiancée at the KLM Open last month (where they tied for third) and has been with him for his last three starts.
“It is a very hard dynamic,” Dean said Monday. “Even when things are going well out there, it’s still not a nice walk in the park. It’s very stressful. It’s demanding. … I will say that the good thing is I’m self-sustainable. So I have the yardage book. I just literally need Em to carry the bag in, probably just to talk rubbish to.”
Come next Tuesday, that rubbish will be replaced with solemn vows and sweet nothings, on the occasion of the couple’s nuptials.
The 2026 MLB Home Run Derby is on Netflix, and quite predictably, that’s led to Netflix going all in to promote its additional current and future content offerings. And with The Hawk — a Netflix comedy series starring Will Ferrell as Lonnie “The Hawk” Hawkins — set to premiere on July 16, Netflix even had the show’s stars on hand to provide commentary during the Home Run Derby player introductions.
Ferrell, Luke Wilson, and Jimmy Tatro sat at a desk on the field offering random commentary as Home Run Derby participants were introduced on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park. And for much of this time, legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer was introducing players at the same time, so the commentary clashed.
It was hard to even understand what Ferrell, Wilson, and Tatro were saying at times, with the commentary basically just serving as racket for Netflix viewers.
Even for fans of Ferrell and friends, this was a hard listen that felt very forced as an obvious promotional tactic for an upcoming Netflix series.
Here’s a look at how Netflix viewers reacted to the commentary from Ferrell, Wilson, and Tatro to open the Home Run Derby:
Maybe I’m way off, but I don’t think the Will Ferrell-Luke Wilson thing is working at all. (Honestly, I get the sense that *they* also know it isn’t working.)
This is the first Home Run Derby broadcast for Netflix (in year one of a three-year media rights agreement with MLB), and it didn’t get off to a great start.
Derek Jeter may never let Colin Cowherd off the hook.
After Jeter’s first appearance on The Herd around the All-Star Game in 2024, the veteran radio host went viral after misremembering the timeline of Jeter’s legendary career. During the interview, Cowherd asked Jeter what it was like to face Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan on the mound, only for Jeter to hilariously correct him in real time that their careers did not overlap.
“I never faced Nolan, slow down,” Jeter laughed. “No, I was way after Nolan.”
In fairness to Cowherd, Jeter’s rookie season came just two years after Ryan’s retirement.
But Jeter got another opportunity to rib Cowherd about the mistake on Monday, as the former New York Yankees star once again joined The Herd to promote Fox’s coverage of the All-Star game. And he did not pass it up.
“Before we get started, I just want to remind you … you just said, ‘Smart people make mistakes,'” Jeter said. “Last time I was on your show, you asked me about facing Nolan Ryan, so let’s just hope you got your facts straight this time.”
“Last time I was on your show, you asked me about facing Nolan Ryan. Let’s just hope you got your facts straight this time.” – Derek Jeter sets some ground rules before his appearance with Colin Cowherd https://t.co/CqKJgftqZepic.twitter.com/ERwA1TdqHH
Ducati has made history during its centenary year by securing a record-breaking 22nd Manufacturers' title in the WorldSBK Championship at Donington Park. Powered by the Panigale V4 R - which has now claimed its fifth consecutive title - and the riding of Nicolò Bulega and Iker Lecuona, Team Aruba.it Racing – Ducati amassed 24 victories and 44 podiums so far this season. This performance also mathematically guaranteed Ducati its fifth consecutive Team title, cementing another dominant year for the Borgo Panigale manufacturer. Read more from the full press release below.
Begin press release:
Ducati makes history: a record-breaking 22nd WorldSBK Manufacturers' title
At Donington Park, Ducati achieves a new record, celebrating the conquest of the 22nd Manufacturers' title in the WorldSBK World Championship and confirming once again the Ducati Panigale V4 R as the absolute benchmark of the category.
With this result, precisely in the year of its centenary foundation, Ducati strengthens its extraordinary palmarès in WorldSBK, adding a further chapter to a winning history that speaks of innovation, technology, and racing. The Panigale V4 R has proven once again to be the bike to beat, thanks to constant development and top-level performances.
A truly record-breaking season, characterized by the extraordinary performances of Nicolò Bulega and the consistency and competitiveness of Iker Lecuona. The two riders of Team Aruba.it Racing – Ducati secured a total of 24 victories and 44 podiums.
Finally, a day to remember for Team Aruba.it Racing – Ducati which, with the points scored this morning at the SuperPole Race, mathematically secures the Team title as well, the fifth in the team's history and the fifth consecutive one.
Ducati's palmarès in the Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) speaks for itself:
"We are truly proud to have once again conquered the Manufacturers' title in the WorldSBK Championship. This result is concrete proof of the excellent work carried out by Ducati Corse together with all our Teams and riders. The Panigale V4 R continues to be an extraordinary bike, capable of combining performance, reliability, and competitiveness at the highest levels. This title confirms the strength of our technical project. The streak of victories and podiums achieved by Nicolò Bulega and Iker Lecuona is truly something incredible that would have been difficult to imagine at the beginning of the season. I would especially like to thank Stefano Cecconi for the sporting management of this group and Marco Zambenedetti for the technical contribution, not only during this season but also for the extraordinary results achieved over the last five years. A heartfelt thank you also goes to everyone involved in the project for the work, passion, and dedication shown, which today allow us to celebrate our fifth consecutive Manufacturers' title. We will continue to work with the same determination and commitment to remain key players in future challenges as well".
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The Major League Baseball season is approaching the All-Star Break, and baseball is seeing strong viewership midway through the season.
NBC is leading the way in terms of baseball viewership, as it replaces ESPN for the rights to Opening Day and Sunday Night Baseball. Games on NBC are averaging 2.25 million viewers according to Nielsen through 11 games, rising to 2.51 million when including additional Peacock streaming measured by Adobe Analytics. That is up 51% from games on ESPN in the same period last year, which averaged 1.66 million through the All-Star Break.
However, there are some factors tilting the scale in NBC’s favor. Switching the package from ESPN, a cable network, to NBC, a broadcast network, will naturally increase viewership. Not to mention, NBC has aired fewer games to this point than ESPN did last season. Nielsen’s updated methodology likely also contributes to higher measured audiences.
The New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game on Sunday, June 28, leads the way so far for both NBC and baseball at large. The game averaged 3.27 million viewers according to Nielsen, rising to 4 million when including streaming. The game went into extra innings, but coverage joined the game in progress in the fourth inning due to a golf overrun.
Fox is averaging 2.24 million viewers according to Nielsen with 13 Baseball Night in America windows so far this season. A regional window on the 4th of July featuring the New York Mets against the Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals against the Chicago Cubs, leads the way with 3.34 million viewers for Fox. That is up 7% from 2.09 million for the same period last year. That is within the range that could be explained entirely by Nielsen’s new Big Data methodology, which has generally increased sports viewership numbers, in extreme cases by as much as 15%.
ESPN’s games, including two games on ABC, have combined to average 1.12 million viewers. On ABC, Yankees-Red Sox on June 27 leads the slate with 1.99 million viewers. ABC did not air any regular-season games last year. Yankees-Kansas City Royals on the afternoon of Memorial Day is ESPN’s top game so far this season, averaging 1.63 million viewers.
ESPN’s lower viewership average this season, 1.12 million compared to 1.66 million at the same point last year, comes as a result of the shift of ESPN’s games from weekends to weeknights. ESPN aired three weekday games last year, which combined to average 1.23 million viewers, much more in line with this season’s average.
Finally, MLB Tuesday on TBS and truTV is averaging 466,000 viewers before the All-Star Break. Unlike games on the other platforms, games on TBS are generally blacked out in local markets, forcing in-market fans to watch via their regional sports network (though TBS is allowed one “co-exist” with local broadcasts). Los Angeles Dodgers-Toronto Blue Jays on April 7 leads the way for TBS, with a 708,000 viewership average. That was good enough to be the most-watched MLB Tuesday game since a Yankees-Blue Jays game during Aaron Judge’s home run chase in 2022.
TBS viewership in 2026 is up 21% from 2025, when the network averaged 385,000 viewers. Notably, according to TNT Sports, viewership among women is up 41% versus 2025.
With the 2026 NBA Finals and FIFA World Cup hitting recent viewership highs during the MLB season, it seems especially impressive that baseball is still seeing such strong viewership so far. With much of July and August not facing such competition, it will be interesting to see if MLB can build more on its viewership success.
Ben “The Problem” Woolliss returns to the global stage at The Inner Circle 22 carrying a renewed, highly dangerous edge — sharpened by a setback he has absolutely no intention of experiencing again.
The resilient Englishman collides with former K-1 Champion Yuki Yoza in a high-stakes bantamweight kickboxing showdown at Bangkok’s historic Lumpinee Stadium on Friday, July 17. The blockbuster Asia primetime card will stream live exclusively to subscribers at live.onefc.com.
After instantly announcing himself to millions with a shocking, first-round destruction of former MMA king John “Hands of Stone” Lineker in his promotional debut this past March, the 32-year-old dropped a hard-fought unanimous decision to former ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion Petchtanong Petchfergus in May.
That defeat has done absolutely nothing to dim his competitive fire. If anything, it has allowed him to channel his energy heading into another monumental battle.
“Looking back, I think there were more positives for me to take from that fight. I pushed him to three rounds. There were some things I could have done better, but there were also things I did that were pretty impressive.
“But I’m not losing sleep over it. I’m just focused on fixing the shortcomings from that fight, tightening up my defense, and working on my attacks against Yoza.”
As such, Woolliss has left no stone unturned throughout his rigorous preparation camp at Soma Fight Club in Bali, Indonesia. In fact, he knows full well the level of danger he is walking into.
Yoza enters the ring on the back of a spectacular three-fight winning streak against world-class opposition — a brilliant run only recently halted by reigning ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion Jonathan “The General” Haggerty at ONE SAMURAI 1 in Tokyo this past April.
Woolliss intimately understands exactly what a victory over an opponent of that elite caliber would mean for his own World Title ambitions.
He said:
“Yoza is another top opponent. And I’m glad ONE Championship came through and gave me an amazing fight. I’ve studied what he does best. I’ve read his patterns. But I’m prepared for everything that he brings.
“Being at Soma is like a 24/7, 365-day fight camp. I have everything I need, whether it’s recovery or physios or my nutritionist. So, I’m perfectly dialed in to be able to put my best foot forward and compete.”
Given the grueling work he has put in over the past five weeks, Woolliss has every intention of making his return to “The Madison Square Garden of the East” count.
Though he refuses to boastfully call his shot, he is fired up to leave a lasting impression — one that could ultimately push him toward an unprecedented all-Brit World Title showdown in ONE Championship.
“The Problem” continued:
“I’m not big on predictions, really. But I’m ready to battle hard through a three-round fight or go for the finish if the chance is there. Either scenario works for me.
“Above all, I hope that the performance is strong enough to put me into that World Title conversation. I feel like this is almost an unofficial number one [contender’s] fight. So, beating someone like Yoza puts me straight back into the mix.”
Woolliss Breaks Down Yoza, Promises New Tricks Of His Own
While one eye is undeniably fixed on Jonathan Haggerty’s 26 pounds of gold, Ben Woolliss remains fully locked in on the immediate, dangerous task directly in front of him.
Getting past Yuki Yoza first means understanding exactly how the former ONE World Title challenger likes to operate, and the 32-year-old Brit has spent his entire camp meticulously doing just that.
He has completely dissected the Team Vasileus representative’s aggressive strengths and striking arsenal.
The Englishman said:
“From what I’ve seen, I can say that he does not give room for any of his opponents to operate. He loves to close the distance behind those calf kicks of his, and immediately try to swarm you with follow-up shots.
“But he doesn’t really do much of a great job with his hands. He does hit you, but it doesn’t seem like anything that will entirely rock me. That said, I cannot get careless against someone who has just as much explosiveness as I do inside the pocket.”
Respect for the immense threat Yoza poses has certainly not stopped Woolliss from plotting his own violent surprises.
Spending seven grueling years on the sidelines battling chronic Crohn’s disease taught him supreme patience, and he insists the version of himself stepping through the ropes at The Inner Circle 22 is significantly sharper and far more dangerous than the one fans saw in his first two promotional outings.
The Grimsby native revealed:
“Fans can expect a lot more new weapons from me in this fight. Throughout the seven years that I was away due to Crohn’s disease, I have leveled up every single day behind the scenes.
“The discipline and intensity are the same here. I’ve worked my socks off to improve. Whether it’s the right hand or the calf kicks that helped me knock out Lineker, everything will be far more dangerous and sharper.”
Jun 2, 2026; Woodland Hills, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams defensive end Myles Garrett at press conference at Rams Practice Facility. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The Dallas Cowboys’ Week 15 showdown against the Los Angeles Rams is seemingly about to get much scarier based on the latest news surrounding the NFC rival and… Aaron Donald.
Considering the Dallas Cowboys threw their hat into the ring during the Maxx Crosby sweepstakes, many assumed getting involved in the race for Myles Garrett made sense. Of course, no we know they didn’t.
But the latest NFL news has us thinking about it again because well, not trading for Garrett may turn out to be more expensive than previously thought.
Cowboys may face two-headed monster no NFL quarterback wants to face
You see, Garrett ended up going to the Los Angeles Rams, which are scheduled to play the Cowboys in Week 15. From the start, facing the consensus top defender in the NFL wasn’t ideal. But now, one of the all-time greats may be invited to the party, too.
That’s because Aaron Donald, who retired in 2024 after eight first-team All-Pro seasons in a ten-year career, is closer than ever to making a comeback. And that’s mostly because of the Garrett trade.
Donald recently practiced at the Rams’ facilities. ESPN’s Adam Schefter described the outing as a way of seeing how he felt as Donald mulls a comeback.
“(Donald) told the team that he wanted to go there, work out, see how he felt, see how he reacted,” Schefter said on The Pat McAfee Show. “I don’t know what he told them about that after he went through those workouts at the facility. But I know the thinking was just a trial method to see how his body reacted, how his mind reacted to being back out there.”
Schefter added his guess is Donald will indeed come back to the NFL and play this year.
"Aaron Donald told the [Rams] he wanted to go [to the facility], work out see how he felt, see how he reacted."@AdamSchefter on Aaron Donald working out at the Rams' facility 👀
When the Rams acquired Garrett, NFL fans immediately entered speculation mode. Donald making a return to a dream scenario made plenty of sense. After all, Donald didn’t retire because of age nor play decline. He pretty much got bored.
With the Super Bowl taking place at SoFi Stadium next year, it’s a near-perfect situation. Donald can join his old team, which already looks like the favorite to win it all, play with the best pass rusher there in football, all while potentially taking on a limited workload.
Rams matchup will likely be key for Cowboys
I know it’s not like Garrett will join the NFC East. But a late season showdown against a Top NFC opponent will likely be huge for the Cowboys, whose win total is projected at 9.5. Making the playoffs will come down to the wire with this team. Games like this will be incredibly important.
It will also be quite the measuring stick game in late December. It’s looking like to win, the offensive line will have a major challenge ahead: Blocking the league’s best defender today and one of the league’s greatest defenders ever.
Even though they’re only five-years-old, the Sexton twins already know what they want to be when they grow up.
“All my kids love watching it. One of my daughters keeps saying, ‘Mom, can I go to the World Cup?’ I’m like, yeah! Of course you can,” Allison Sexton, their mother, told Channel 2’s Berndt Petersen.
The Sexton twins were among 20 five-year-olds gathered at the Georgia Impact soccer camp in Canton on Monday, continuing a 50-year tradition in Cherokee County.
Director John Murnan says World Cup matches in Atlanta today, lead to crowded soccer camps tomorrow.
“The fall season. We’ll get increased interest and registration. That happened in 2015 when the women won the cup. It happened again in ’19,” Murnan said.
Back when the camp’s coaches were little girls.
“That World Cup thing made me kick of my start in soccer,” Sarah Courchene said.
“You too?” Petersen asked.
“Yes. Very similar to Sarah. I was already playing by then, but it made me want to play more,” Sophie Naliwajka said.
Soccer is not new to Cherokee County, but it is new to these kindergarteners, and the World Cup has them hooked.
Petersen asked if they liked soccer and, naturally, the answer was yes.
“Yes! I’m a soccer star!” “I am too!” Harper and Emmy Sexton, the twins, said.
No one is better at indirectly calling Stephen A. Smith out for something he said than Jalen Rose, and he appears to be at it again.
Smith might be on summer vacation from First Take, but that hasn’t stopped him from picking fights. Last week, Smith ignited a feud with Draymond Green and Jemele Hill after they questioned whether he should still be able to call himself an active journalist even though he no longer appears in locker rooms regularly. Smith went off on a rant where he mocked Hill’s laugh and accused her of implying that she spent more time in locker rooms than he did, even though she never made that implication.
During his rebuttal, Smith threw out that he’d be willing to debate the topic with Hill or Green on one of their various podcast platforms. And shortly after the proposal, Jalen Rose went on social media to post a vague gripe about media members sparking feuds and then offering to hash it out on a podcast.
The most phony thing amongst “media” members is “beefing” then saying I’ll go on your show or vice versa to discuss it. (see chasing clicks). LAME.
— Dr. Jalen Anthony Rose (@JalenRose) July 9, 2026
“The most phony thing amongst ‘media’ members is ‘beefing’ then saying I’ll go on your show or vice versa to discuss it. (see chasing clicks). LAME,” Rose wrote on X.
To be clear, Rose never named Stephen A. Smith, Jemele Hill, or any other media member in the post, but the timing was more than curious. And even if Rose wasn’t talking about Smith, the feud with Hill and Green must have prompted him to call it out as “phony.”
This also wasn’t the first time Rose appeared to take an indirect shot at Smith. Two years ago, Rose ripped the media for trashing athletes on the heels of Stephen A. Smith fat shaming Zion Williamson. And one year before that, Rose notably posted, “So glad I didn’t make a career of content pretending to fake troll the Cowboys.” The post came after Smith spent the morning on First Take drinking from a mug that read, “Cowboys fan tears.”
Rose later claimed he was referring to Skip Bayless, not Smith. The defense was strange considering Bayless is a Cowboys fan, while Smith relishes every opportunity to troll the franchise and its fanbase. Maybe Rose wasn’t talking about Smith this time either. But even if media beefs that lead to podcast invites are just “phony” attempts at chasing clicks, at least Smith leaves no doubt when he calls someone out.
Last week, Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler made a big stink about not being chosen for the MLB All-Star Game, and rightfully so. He absolutely deserves a spot based on his numbers and reputation, and his snub was nothing short of historic.
MLB tried to rectify the situation by inviting him to join the National League roster as an injury replacement last Friday. However, Wheeler shockingly declined the invitation, as his pride had already been damaged.
"They disrespected me, so I'm just not going to participate in that thing," Wheeler said Saturday via NBC Sports Philadelphia, not wanting to be "the fifth option."
Phillies ace Zack Wheeler said he declined an invitation to be added to the NL All-Star roster, adding that he felt "disrespected" by being snubbed multiple times.
Wheeler said he was invited to join the roster on Friday, but said he was "not gonna be the fifth option."…
The 36-year-old right-hander has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season, going 10-1 with a 2.13 ERA, a 0.89 WHIP and 108 strikeouts in 93 innings. However, the three-time All-Star was inexplicably passed over for the Midsummer Classic.
Accordingly, he will not participate in Tuesday's game, which is being hosted by the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
The New York Yankees have gotten very little offensive production out of the catcher position this season.
Austin Wells is batting .155 at the All-Star break in 66 games played. The Yankees need better and are making it "no secret" that they reportedly want Hunter Goodman of the Colorado Rockies or Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers, per USA Today's Bob Nightengale.
"The Yankees are making it no secret that they want to acquire catcher Hunter Goodman of the Rockies or Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers. Yet, the Rockies plan to keep Goodman, who has the second-most homers in the NL behind Kyle Schwarber, and the Twins have no interest in trading Jeffers unless they fall out of the mediocre AL Central race, hanging just 2 games back," Nightengale wrote.
Of the two, Hunter Goodman would be the better fit. He has 27 homers this season to go along with 51 RBIs in 90 games played. He's been an All-Star in back-to-back years and is 26 years old.
Either him or Jeffers would be good additions and the Yankees need to make a move in general. The Yankees' offense has been brutal over the last few weeks, to say the least. It's unknown when Aaron Judge is going to be back. They need some sort of bat to help make up for him.
The world’s largest martial arts organization will return to Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, this Friday, July 17, and fans will witness something rare — a card where the thread connecting the two biggest fights of the night runs straight through one of Muay Thai’s most beloved figures.
ONE Friday Fights 162 will broadcast live in Asia primetime, and the show features nine bouts across Muay Thai, kickboxing, and MMA. What’s more, each athlete scheduled for action is on the hunt for the life-changing US$100,000 contract and coveted spot on ONE Championship’s global roster.
In the main event, southpaw powerhouse Kongklai Sor Sommai will square off against Moroccan war machine Adam Benwarwar in a bantamweight Muay Thai showdown.
Kongklai’s story is the kind that Muay Thai was built to tell. He lost his first 10 professional fights and chose to keep going. What followed was an 18-bout winning streak featuring 15 knockouts, a 2020 Sports Authority of Thailand Fighter of the Year award, and one of the most jaw-dropping achievements on this roster: he is the only man ever to knock out Seksan Or Kwanmuang wearing the big gloves.
The 27-year-old carries that legacy and the lethal left hand that created it into the ring on Friday, looking to get back on track after a tough loss to Julio Lobo at ONE Friday Fights 152.
Benwarwar needs no motivation. The 23-year-old comes for action and delivers on that promise. Nicknamed “El Capitano,” he announced himself with a first-round KO at ONE Friday Fights 153 and brings an explosive straight right and left hook that have put opponents away at every level of competition.
In the co-main event, Khunponnoi Sor Sommai takes on Scotland’s Gregor Thom in a flyweight Muay Thai matchup — and this is where the Seksan connection comes full circle.
Khunponnoi is the younger brother of “The Man Who Yields To No One.” On the same night the man who knocked Seksan out headlines the card, the Thai veteran’s sibling fights for the right to build his own legend.
The 33-year-old Sor Sommai product has 127 professional wins, including 28 knockout victories, and he has spent years working to step out of the most beloved shadow in ONE Championship.
Khunponnoi has followed his brother’s style religiously, most recently earning a body shot KO bonus at ONE Friday Fights 153, and he arrives on Friday fresh, dangerous, and determined.
Thom’s journey from Aberdeen is one of the great origin stories at ONE Friday Fights. The 26-year-old started training during the COVID lockdown out of pure boredom, moved to Thailand, and has forged himself into a legitimate threat with a powerful low-kick game, razor-sharp elbows, and a relentlessness that belies his relatively short time in the sport.
The Scot authored his greatest performance at ONE Friday Fights 147, knocking Suriyanlek Por Yenying to the canvas with calf kicks in round two and forcing the previously unbeatable Thai to fight on one leg for the remainder of the night. To this day, it is one of the most memorable sequences in the series’ recent history.
Erling Haland was unable to find the back of the net for Norway against England -Credit:VCG, VCG via Getty Images
Norway team doctor Ola Sand has dismissed claims that Erling Haaland was unwell ahead of their game against England. The two nations squared off in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday, with the Three Lions punching their ticket to the semifinals via a 2-1 win after extra time.
The matchup was hyped as a Harry Kane vs. Haaland showdown, yet neither forward managed to find the back of the net. It was Jude Bellingham who commanded the spotlight, his brace across the first half of normal time and extra time proving decisive in overcoming a first-half opener from Andreas Schjelderup.
Throughout the contest, Haaland was effectively neutralized by the England backline, and was notably hauled off at the break of extra time with Norway desperately chasing an equalizer. This prompted widespread speculation that an underlying issue may have been at play, via The Mirror.
TalkSPORT analyst Tony Cascarino revealed a message he received at halftime, alleging that Haaland had been unwell. "I was told last night, I got a message at half-time that apparently Erling Haaland wasn't well," he said on the radio station's 'World Cup Weekender' show on Sunday.
"He was another one who was suffering from a sickness. So, obviously the manager has alluded to it saying fitness issues, and he clearly didn't look right. He's come off, and he didn't say an injury. So I presume it was exactly what I just said. He suffered from not being well.
"He was unwell, yeah. He was unwell prior to the game," Cascarino added. "He doesn't touch the ball a lot anyway but I was surprised about how much energy he lacked as well. Him and [Alexander] Sorloth both looked like they didn't have the sort of drive and he looked absolutely... I just looked at him afterwards and thought, well, what I'd heard in half-time - I'm saying I know it from somebody who would know that - he was meant to be [sick], he wasn't well."
However, when questioned by Norwegian outlet Dagbladet regarding the allegations, team doctor Sand simply answered: "No."
Ahead of the match, concerns had emerged over illness within the Norway team, with Jorgen Strand Larsen and Marcus Holmgren Pedersen among those experiencing a mild cough and fever, though this was attributed to the air conditioning.
To listen to the latest episode of 'All Out Soccer' - CLICK HERE
Within the England camp, it emerged that key midfielder Declan Rice had been battling a sickness bug during the team's preparations. Named in the starting lineup, he featured for the opening 45 minutes before being substituted at the break.
Speaking post-match, Thomas Tuchel disclosed that the Arsenal midfielder had spent the days leading up to the fixture confined to bed.
Addressing the half-time substitutions that brought on Eberechi Eze for Rice and Bukayo Saka for Noni Madueke, he said: "It's about being closer to your opponent's box, so we put in Ebs and Bukayo [Saka], and that meant we had to take Dec or Elliot [Anderson] out.
"Knowing that Declan struggles after the last three days, he was most of the time in bed, I knew he could not survive the 90 minutes. I also knew there was the possibility of 120 so I didn't want to waste another change so I made the decision to take Declan out to avoid another change further on."
England will be hoping Rice has recovered sufficiently to feature from the start in Wednesday's semifinal against Argentina. The match is scheduled for 3pm ET on Wednesday at Atlanta's air-conditioned stadium.
Pau Cubarsi has slammed allegedly racist comments aimed at the French team from ex-Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy -Credit:Alex Pantling - FIFA, FIFA via Getty Images
Spain defender Pau Cubarsi fired back at former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy after his assertion that France does not "have any French players."
Spain and France are set to battle it out in the opening FIFA World Cup semifinal this week, pitting arguably the two best men's national teams against one other for a final spot. La Roja secured their place in the last four as Mikel Merino continued his late-game heroics to seal a 2-1 victory over Belgium, while France dispatched Morocco to advance.
The showdown in Dallas will pit the tournament's most explosive attack, France, against Spain's resolute defensive unit. However, the match has been somewhat overshadowed by Rajoy's remarks, published in a column for Spanish newspaper El Debate ahead of the semifinal, as per The Mirror US.
-Credit:Europa Press Entertainment, Europa Press via Getty Images
The comments by Rajoy, who served as Spanish Prime Minister between 2011 and 2018, were widely condemned as racist attacks on France's players. He wrote: "They are currently ranked number one in the FIFA rankings. They also have a top-level squad. That said, they don't have any French players, and they are playing very well."
When pressed on the column by Catalan radio station RAC1, Cubarsi pushed back firmly on Rajoy's remarks. The Barcelona defender stated: "If they play for the French national team, then at the end of the day, they are French, regardless of the color of their skin, because ultimately we have to be tolerant with everyone.
"The color of their skin doesn't matter because we are all people and we all deserve respect."
The remarks triggered intense condemnation from government officials throughout France and Spain. The French embassy in Spain issued a firm rebuttal on social media: "All the players on the French national team are French. Of the 26 players, 23 were born in France. The 3 who were born abroad are French as well."
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party described the comments as "racist and xenophobic," while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X: "Spain belongs to those who love it and work for it. Not to those who shame it with xenophobic statements."
To listen to the latest episode of 'All Out Soccer' - CLICK HERE
This controversy represents the latest incident threatening to eclipse France's remarkable World Cup push.
After Didier Deschamps' squad's victory over Paraguay in the Round of 16, Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla published a string of allegedly racist comments targeting French superstar forward Kylian Mbappé.
The 61-year-old unleashed a barrage of allegedly racist insults toward Mbappé, including branding him a "Colonized Cameroonian, pretending hard to be French, resentful, newly rich, arrogant, and ugly." The Real Madrid star refused to remain silent, hitting back as he branded Amarilla a "despicable woman, unworthy of her office."
In the wake of the incident, French President Emmanuel Macron praised Mbappé for "scoring another goal against racism." On the field, Mbappé and Lionel Messi are tied at the top of the Golden Boot standings with eight goals apiece heading into the semifinals.
France faces Spain in the World Cup semifinal in Dallas on Tuesday, July 14.
A pioneering catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers has died at the age of 85.
Puerto Rican journalist Hector Marrero broke the news in a Facebook post in Spanish that Héctor Valle had passed away.
Jul 30, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; A general view of a Los Angeles Dodgers hat and glove during the second inning in the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images
Valle played only one season with the Boys in Blue in 1965, but it was an eventful one, as the team took the World Series that year over the Minnesota Twins.
Héctor Valle’s career with the Dodgers
Valle’s role was limited — he appeared in nine games, batting .308/.400/.308/.708 with two RBIs and one run scored. Six of those games he played at catcher, while the other three he served as a pinch hitter.
The bulk of his career was spent in the minors and in Mexico.
His impact was larger than just numbers, though, as he was one of the first Puerto Rican catchers to play in the majors.
“Baseball in Puerto Rico is mourning the passing of Puerto Rican catcher Hector Valle… one of the most beloved, admired, and accessible ballplayers to his fans,” Marrero wrote, as detailed by Matt Connolly of Mass Live. “I had the privilege of interviewing him and visiting him on several occasions at his residence in Joyuda. He showed me newspaper clippings, photos, and awards, including the silver glove. I still have photos of everything and recordings of the interviews.
“Hector was very friendly, humble, and accessible to all his fans. During the interview, he spoke about his memory for remembering pitches and knowing what the opponents couldn’t hit. He even told me about various players and what made them strike out or miss. We spent a wonderful, unforgettable time laughing together.”
Puerto Rico’s impact on the current Dodgers dynasty
It’s quite possible this current golden era of the Dodgers wouldn’t have happened without Valle blazing the trail.
One of the most impactful players during this run is utility player Kiké Hernández. Among his playoff moments is the double play that ended Game 6 of the 2025 World Series.
And he was instrumental in bringing over star closer Edwin Diaz. Once he returns from injury, Diaz could be key to the three-peat.
No pressure, Morgan Scalley, but win the Big 12, go to the College Football Playoff, and be legendary along the way.
Try this for a coaching run at Utah.
Ron McBride won 88 games in 13 years before being replaced by some Urban Meyer guy who went 22-2.
Meyer didn't coach in the Fiesta Bowl at the end of the 2004 season, but Kyle Whittingham did - he did okay for himself over 21 years before moving on to Michigan.
Sep 6, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley watches the team warm up before a game against the Cal Poly Mustangs at Rice-Eccles Stadium
As good as he was, it's been forgotten that Whittingham needed a few years to get up to speed, going 15-10 in his first two full seasons.
Scalley will be expected to make Utah amazing immediately, with a relatively favorable schedule and ton of young talents ready to show what they can do.
For all of the discussion about Texas Tech last season, and BYU just missing out on the playoff, Utah went 10-2, was a dominant force by the end of the season, and the only losses were to the Red Raiders and Cougars.
Best Case / Worst Case: Win the Big 12 Championship/Be realistically out of the College Football Playoff hunt before October.
Key Player: Zereoue Williams, OT Sr.
2025 Record: 11-2
Biggest Question: Can the new coaches and players keep the elite production going?
Utah Key 2025 Stats
1st Quarter Scoring: Utah 113, Opponents 41
Sacks: Utah 34 for 252 yards, Opponents 14 for 80 yards
Rushing Touchdowns: Utah 41, Opponents 18
Offense
Utah didn't go far to get its new offensive coordinator.
Kevin McGiven made Bronco Mendenhall's offense crank out the numbers at Utah State last season.
The Aggies finished third in the Mountain West in total offense with 410 yards per game, and were second in scoring, averaging 31 points per outing.
No, he wasn't with Mendenhall at New Mexico in 2024, but it's the same sort of style that made a superstar out of ...
What’s Working
Devon Dampier. When he's on, he's among the most dynamic quarterbacks in college football.
He ran for almost 1,500 yards and 23 touchdowns at New Mexico, and last season he ran for 835 yards and two scores, and threw for close to 2,500 yards and 24 scores, with the Utes.
The running game should be even more amazing. The Utes averaged six yards per carry thanks to Dampier, and leading rusher Wayshawn Parker, a quick back who led the Big 12 averaging 6.6 yards per carry on his 981 yards.
Backup quarterback Byrd Ficklin averaged 8.4 yards per carry with 513 yards and ten scores.
The Utes landed a few wonderful receivers from the portal. JJ Buchanan took off to Michigan, but Utah State star Braden Pegan followed McGiven over to Salt Lake City.
Getting Kyri Shoels from San Jose State and Ricky Johnson from Mississippi State might not be an upgrade overall from last year's Ute receiving corps, but these guys catch passes.
What Needs Work
The offensive line. Yeah, okay, it's Utah. It's got a big front five, and it'll be just fine with upperclassmen about to step into big roles, but losing NFL blockers Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu is a problem.
Cedric Jefferson is a ready-made starting tackle from Montana State, and there has to be a spot somewhere for guard Isaiah Kema from Ohio State, but true freshman Kelvin Obot might be the new star at one of the tackle gigs.
Always dominate on third downs. This means Dampier has to be consistently accurate, and the running game has to turn in good plays early to set up easy third down chances.
Utah led the Big 12 and was third in the nation converting 53% of its third down tries, but Texas Tech allowed the Ute attack to convert 29% of the time.
That was one loss, and the other loss came to BYU when the offense had its second-worst third down day when Dampier was under center.
Be mistake-free. That's asking for way too much, and turnovers certainly weren't a problem, but again with the losses to Texas Tech and BYU, those were two of the three days the Utes gave the ball away multiple times.
The season-high 12 penalties against the Cougars didn't help.
Player to Watch
Braden Pegan, WR Sr. The 6-3, 210-pound veteran led the Utah State offense with 60 catches for 926 yards and five scores. He's a matchup nightmare with his size - Dampier will keep pushing the deep shots to him.
Dec 31, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Utah Utes quarterback Devon Dampier (4) and offensive lineman Roger Alderman (75) celebrate after a touchdown against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the first half during the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl at Allegiant Stadium.
Colton Swan moves up from coaching up the linebackers to being Morgan Scalley's defensive coordinator.
He has to make this group better with a whole slew of new players.
The transfer portal isn't helping as much as it is for the offensive side. It's mostly up to in-house players to take over and improve a defense that finished a pedestrian eighth last year after ending up third in 2024.
What’s Working
The linebackers are good. Leading tackler Johnathan Hall is back after making 67 stops with six tackles for loss, and while Cyrus Polu, Trey Reynolds, and Elijah Elliss were backups, there's great upside with this group.
Utah, as always, has the beef up front. It might not be experienced, and there might need to be a decent rotation, but the tackles are full of plenty of 300-pounders to work with.
6-6, 305-pound Karson Kaufusi, 6-2, 298-pound Pupu Sepulona and transfers Jireh Moe (San Jose State) and Lucas Samsula (Wyoming) are all young, and they'll all grow into the gigs.
Scoring defense. Yes, this is a new group with a ton of new parts and lots of work to do on the depth, but for all of the flaws and yards allowed, it gave up 14 points or fewer seven times, and the team was 9-0 when allowing fewer than 24.
What Needs Work
The Utah secondary lost a ton of talent. No, the Utes didn't lose a ton of talent to Michigan, but they took a hit here.
Smith Snowden was a whale of a corner for the Utes, and Salesi Moa was an elite recruit who never saw the field.
Veteran safety Tao Johnson left for UCLA, and backup corners Don Saunders (Purdue) and Jason Stokes Jr. (Colorado) also left.
The run defense has to be far, far better. Utah was third in the Big 12 against the run, allowing 1,559 yards, and last year it was 14th, giving up 2,355 yards.
The Utes allowed over 200 rushing yards five times last season. It gave up over 200 once in 2024, and in 2023, the defense didn't let anyone get past 150 yards.
How fast can the pass rushers step up? John Henry-Daley made 11.5 sacks last year - he's off to Michigan.
Ethan Day is coming in from North Texas, and Kash Dillon was third on the team with 3.5 sacks, but there's not a lot experience-wise to count on from the other side.
Player to Watch
Johnathan Hall, LB Sr. A bulked up safety, the 6-1, 226-pound Hall has gotten better and better over the last three seasons. He has the quickness to make 16 tackles for loss, and the upside is there to be more of a pass rusher, but no matter what, he'll be the all-around statistical star in the middle of the linebacking corps.
Keys to the Season
Get the offensive line up to the 2025 level as soon as possible - if it's possible.
Be better overall against the run, and be consistent about it.
Don't get too crazy about changing up the style with the coaching changes. All the new assistants have to fit in right away.
Player Who Needs To Shine
Zereoue Williams, OT Sr. There's a chance this is Kelvin Obot's left tackle job after fall camp, but no matter who takes this spot, it'll be asking a lot to replace Caleb Lomu.
One of them might take over for Spencer Fano at right tackle if it's not Cedric Jefferson.
Williams is a 6-8, 305-pound mountain who served last year as Lomu's understudy. He might be tall and rangy, but he can run block.
Biggest Concern
Bring back the nasty on defense. There were times when the Utah defense was a brick wall, and the other side had no chance whatsoever.
UCLA couldn't move a lick, Arizona State couldn't go anywhere, and to be nice about it, Utah's defense made Colorado look like it wanted to go do something else with its life.
And that needs to be more of the norm.
Utah gave up over 420 yards five times last season. It gave up more than that a grand total of zero times in 2024, and twice in 2023.
Biggest Game
BYU, November 7 You can make a case for either one of the back-to-back road games against Arizona or TCU, and the date against Arkansas in Week 2 is big, but ...
Come on. Utah needs to win the home game against the hated rival before going to Tucson and Fort Worth.
Transfer Portal
The loss of players to Michigan and Kyle Whittingham was minimal - just five players at last count. It wasn't nearly as bad as, say, Matt Campbell taking 24 Iowa State players with him to Penn State.
Overall, the portal experience was a net negative, but only slightly. The star power isn't there, but there's depth.
Best Signing
Ethan Day, EDGE (North Texas) There was a little bit of production in his two years at Wyoming, and then he turned into a star last season at North Texas with 53 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and seven tackles for loss.
Biggest Loss
Tao Johnson, S (UCLA) A key part of the Utah defense over the last three years, he leaves after making 154 tackles with six tackles for loss, three picks, and 13 broken up passes.
Other Names to Know
James Chenault, CB (USF)
Lucas Samsula, DT (Wyoming)
Steve Chavez-Soto, RB (San Jose State)
CFN Season Prediction
This isn't the Utah team of last year, and the Big 12 is dangerous from top to bottom, but the chip on everyone's shoulder is for real.
Yes, there are a whole slew of backups needing to play key roles now, but they're going to bring the energy to go along with the great production from the backfield.
But, like it is for everyone, it's all about the schedule. Utah doesn't have to deal with Texas Tech.
Not playing Kansas State this season will be huge as the season goes on, and missing Arizona State is a plus, too.
CFN Prediction: 10-2
Arkansas will be a terrific early test, and dealing with a trip to Iowa State for the Big 12 opener will be tricky. But BYU and Houston are home games, and Colorado and Cincinnati aren't bad to deal with on the road.
There will be slip-ups, and they'll likely come late at Arizona and TCU.
But the schedule progresses well enough that the team should be jelled by the time the Big 12 season starts, and there's no reason to shoot for anything less than last year's 10-2 regular season record.
By the way, do that, and it'll almost certainly be a better season record-wise than what Whittingham is about to have at Michigan.
Former England youth international Nedum Onuoha has criticised FIFA for a decision that favoured the Three Lions.
England beat Norway 2-1 after extra time in the quarter-final, but many believe their first goal should have been disallowed.
The ball appeared to hit a camera wire in the build-up to Jude Bellingham’s goal, meaning the referee should have stopped play.
Instead, the referee did not notice the deflection off the wire and allowed play to continue until Bellingham scored.
The balls at the World Cup have sensors that should detect any touches, but they did not detect anything from the wire.
Therefore, Bellingham’s goal stood, and the Norway players, coaches, and supporters were furious at the harsh decision.
Photo by Eddie Keogh – The FA/The FA via Getty Images
FIFA’s response to the controversial World Cup moment sparks backlash
Nedum Onuoha insists that the players’ reactions prove that the ball hit a camera wire overhanging the pitch in Miami.
The England defenders were preparing to deal with Orjan Nyland’s goal-kick before the ball dropped to Elliot Anderson.
The referee missed the incident, but the VAR probably should have taken a closer look and disallowed the goal.
Onuoha cannot believe that football has found itself in a situation where the officials’ eyes are ignored in favour of technology.
“They’re saying there’s no proof, but what is the video then? Does the video not exist? The only way to see if it’s hit a wire is the snickometer,” Onuoha said.
“Elliot Anderson has had the ball drop down to him in the middle of the field when he was not expecting it. There were people behind jostling for a header, and then it went 15 yards short.
“It’s either touched something, or it’s the biggest gust of wind you’ve seen in all your life. For the players who saw it, it’s going to be very hard to say it didn’t matter.
“So many people have the point: FIFA is telling you not to believe what you’ve seen because they’ve got something else instead. That is an insane position to be in. Are we stupid now?”
Although Norway can feel hard done by, they still had more than enough time to prevent Bellingham’s goal.
England did just enough to deserve the victory, reaching their second World Cup semi-final in eight years.
The University of Michigan's athletic director's future has been in the spotlight since the Board of Regents widened an investigation into former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore in December to include the culture of the scandal-ridden athletic department — something Warde Manuel told The Detroit News on Monday shouldn't impact his employment at the school.
As the regents prepare to meet Thursday in Traverse City, national media reports are circling about Manuel's future, including speculation on a buyout or firing and a board discussion of the investigation. The regents might discuss on Thursday the findings of the $12 million investigation into the athletic department.
When asked by text Monday morning whether he is staying as athletic director, Manuel told The News, "Yes, I am."
National outlets, including ESPN and Yahoo! Sports, are reporting that a decision on the future of AD Warde Manuel could be discussed as part of the review of the investigation's findings. However, Manuel told Yahoo! Sports reporter Ross Dellenger via text, "The president and I have had several great conversations over the past couple of days. There are no plans for me not to continue to be the athletic director for the near future."
Paul Corliss, Michigan's assistant vice president for Public Affairs and Internal Communications, disputed the reports. Corliss said, to his knowledge, no physical investigative report existed, and there were no plans to discuss Manuel or the investigation at the meeting.
What led to the Athletic Department investigation
Manuel, who has led the department since 2016, oversaw four national championships and a litany of scandals and questionable behavior by coaches and athletic department staff for which he was responsible. The most recent scrutiny of his leadership came after former head football coach Sherrone Moore was fired for lying about having an affair with his assistant, Paige Shiver.
In April, Moore pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors — trespassing and malicious use of a telecommunications device, with the malicious use of a telecommunications device the more serious of the misdemeanors. He was sentenced to 18 months of probation.
“I felt betrayed,” Manuel told The Detroit News in April when asked his reaction to what transpired with Moore. “It’s the best word that I can use. I felt hurt for all the staff and the student-athletes and the university, because it's something that I had talked about as it related to the expectations of our employees in athletics and for the university.”
This incident, along with the way Moore's firing was handled, sparked the university to retain attorneys with the Chicago-based law firm Jenner & Block, who were originally hired to investigate Moore's relationship with Shiver. The university authorized the attorneys to expand their investigation to look at the "culture" of the athletic department.
In a December video posted online in a message to the university community, Grasso outlined that the university had expanded its Moore probe to “assess whether there may be related misconduct by others.”
Among the controversies was Michigan football's sign-stealing scandal orchestrated by staffer Connor Stalions, which was investigated by the NCAA. Former coach Jim Harbaugh was given a 10-year show-cause order that would have banned him from coaching in college sports until 2038. Harbaugh “refused” to participate in a hearing before the infractions committee, the NCAA said in a release. Moore also served a two-game suspension this past season as part of self-imposed sanctions related to the sign-stealing investigation.
A member of Harbaugh's staff, Matt Weiss, who was promoted to co-offensive coordinator under Moore, is facing criminal charges that allege he infiltrated the personal accounts of thousands of college athletes and stole intimate photographs and videos from 2015-23.
Former basketball coach Juwan Howard struck a University of Wisconsin basketball assistant coach in the face after a February 2022 game. The Big Ten suspended Howard for the final five games of the regular season and fined him $40,000 — a punishment that was widely regarded as lenient but one that was endorsed by Manuel. Two years later, Manuel fired Howard after an 8-24 season.
Manuel also failed to take action against former hockey coach Mel Pearson after a report found various examples of misconduct by Pearson and "cultural issues" within the hockey program. Three months after he received the 70-page report by WilmerHale, a Washington D.C.-based law firm, the athletic director decided to fire Pearson in August 2022.
Other issues include his son, Evan Manuel, loaning his mom's car to players, ending in basketball player Zavier Simpson wrecking a 2011 Toyota RAV4 while driving in downtown Ann Arbor in the early morning of Jan. 26, 2020. Police dash- and body-camera footage obtained by The News through a public records request showed Simpson providing a fake name, changing his story and eventually admitting the SUV was loaned out to student-athletes.
What will happen with the results of the Michigan investigation?
The university may not be required to release the results of the Jenner & Block investigation into its athletic department, and it's not clear how the findings were disseminated to the regents.
Attorney-client privilege could be used to shield the findings, although the university could waive the privilege at any time.
Shiver, Moore's former assistant, recently sued the university for withholding records related to its investigation into Moore and "wrongfully denied" six requests for records. She is alleging that among these records are emails between Manuel and Moore regarding an abortion Shiver said she had when she was pregnant with Moore's baby.
Athletics not planned to be discussed at meeting
Corliss said athletics wasn't expected to be discussed at Thursday's board meeting in any capacity based on the agenda, which is expected to be released Monday afternoon. However, the regents and Grasso are able to speak on any issue during their comment period.
At June's meeting, Regent Denise Ilitch alluded to "the future of athletics" being discussed at the July meeting, but this appeared to be related to her wish for the university to start a women's hockey program.
The board plans to meet at the Delmar Hotel in Traverse City at 8:30 a.m. Thursday. A livestream of the meeting is expected to be available.
What would a potential buyout for Manuel entail?
Local blogs and independent journalists reported Manuel is negotiating a buyout with the university. John Bacon, a longtime journalist and author on Michigan sports, reported on X that the university is preparing a buyout for Manuel.
Under his contract extension, approved in 2024, Manuel is eligible for severance pay in monthly installments for the period equal to either the remainder of the entire scheduled term of his appointment, ending in 2030, or 36 months, whichever is shorter. Manuel would be eligible for his full annual salary, over $2 million including additional compensation, for the next three years.
However, if Manuel were terminated for cause, Michigan would not need to pay Manuel the remainder of his owed salary.
Manuel and the university could also agree to a settlement amount that is different than the $2 million salary.
Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
2027 five-star running back David Gabriel Georges will be choosing between the Tennessee Vols and the Ohio State Buckeyes on July 22.
Earlier this month, the uncle of 2027 five-star running back David Gabriel Georges created a media firestorm when he told On3 that his nephew has already made his decision.
Gabriel Georges is one of the most coveted recruits in the nation, and he’ll be choosing between the Tennessee Vols and the Ohio State Buckeyes on July 22.
Gabriel Georges seemingly responded to that interview later that night by tweeting, “I didn’t say anything”.
I didn't say anything.
— David Gabriel Georges 🇭🇹🇨🇦 (@DavidGG27) July 7, 2026
Gabriel Georges cleared the air this week, less than two weeks before his commitment ceremony, by telling On3’s Chris Low that he actually hasn’t made a final decision yet.
"It's complicated," said Gabriel Georges of the looming decision. "It's hard. You feel this way, like you know, and then it's sort of 50-50. People will say the 22nd of July is far off, but honestly, for me, it's pretty close. So, yes, you feel like you know, and then I will call my mom and dad, and they're like, ‘We love both. It's your decision.' I'm like, ‘Oh my God, I need something (laughing) because I'm going to be playing there for the next three years and live there.’ So you just want to make sure you get it right."
“For the record, Gabriel Georges said nothing is written in stone and that everybody will have to wait until July 22 when he makes his 5:30 p.m. ET announcement at Baylor School,” added Low. “He said his family is flying in to be there with him on his big day and a big day for either Ohio State or Tennessee.”
Both school were already approaching the final days of Gabriel Georges’ recruitment — at least the final days before a decision is made (this won’t truly be over until he signs in December) — as if a decision hadn’t been made, so this revelation won’t really change anything.
Still, it’s evidence that this battle is extremely close.
I recently laid out a big reason why Tennessee makes much more sense than Ohio State for Gabriel Georges, but only the five-star running back knows if he sees it the same way.
Referee Rob Dieperink has died aged 38 -Credit:DeFodi Images, DeFodi Images via Getty Images
Referee Rob Dieperink has died at the age of 38. The Eredivisie official, who had been removed from officiating duties at this summer's FIFA World Cup and dropped from their roster of officials, was taken into custody in April by the Metropolitan Police following allegations of sexual assault against an underage boy in London – a case which was subsequently dropped.
Dutch authorities are investigating Dieperink's death, with the cause yet to be determined.
The Dutch Football Association has expressed being "shocked and deeply saddened" by Dieperink's passing. In an official statement, they said, via The Mirror: "We are shocked and deeply saddened by the passing of referee Rob Dieperink.
"With Rob, the refereeing community loses a highly valued referee with international experience, but above all, a fine and dedicated colleague. Our thoughts go out to his family, friends, and everyone who held him dear. We wish them much strength and support in coping with this great loss."
Dieperink had been selected to participate at the 2026 World Cup as part of the Netherlands' contingent, serving as a video assistant referee alongside Danny Makkelie. However, following news of his arrest in connection with the allegation in England, he was removed from his duties by the governing body.
The 38-year-old was detained after an alleged incident at a London hotel following Crystal Palace's 3-0 victory over ACF Fiorentina, on suspicion of sexually assaulting a teenage boy.
The Met Police confirmed to The Athletic in May that the case had been dropped as "the evidential threshold had not been met" and "no further action" would be taken.
The Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB), who employed Dieperink, supported the match official. Meanwhile, in a statement to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, the 38-year-old expressed disappointment in FIFA's decision.
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He said: "It makes me very sad that I have been wrongly accused. I fully cooperated with the police investigation and also immediately gave full openness to FIFA, UEFA and the KNVB. The allegations were refuted and the case was dismissed within two weeks after an adequate and thorough investigation by the police.
"I am grateful for the support I have received from the KNVB and the way they have dealt with this case. It is a pity that FIFA has decided not to appoint me for the World Cup, I am of course disappointed about that."
The KNVB said in a statement, published by The Athletic: "We stand for a safe and honest football culture at all levels and always take reports of unwanted behaviour seriously. Obviously, we think that a Dutch referee should be of unquestionable behavior, but we also think it is important that he gets the chance to tell his story and not be wrongly accused.
"In this specific case, the police in the United Kingdom have investigated and closed the case. Rob Dieperink has cooperated fully and given openness to the KNVB from the very beginning, and based on all available information, we see no reason not to appoint him for matches in the Dutch league."
Dieperink started officiating in Holland's top division in 2017 and progressed to the international level as a video assistant, working several matches during the UEFA European Championships in Germany in 2024. He took charge of 84 Eredivisie fixtures with his last match occurring during PEC Zwolle's 1-0 victory over Heracles Almelo on May 3, 2026.
It’s been a rough few years to be Tony Romo, and the last several months haven’t done much to reverse the tide.
The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback arrived at CBS in 2017 as a genuine revelation, predicting plays before they happened, injecting a jolt of life into a booth that had grown stale under Phil Simms, while making watching football feel like hanging out with the smartest guy in your fantasy league. The network rewarded him with a 10-year, $180 million deal in 2020, making him the highest-paid analyst in television history. In the years since, the play predictions have dried up, the analysis has grown shallower, the criticism has become impossible to ignore, and the musings that he has stopped doing the film study that once defined his preparation have become increasingly difficult to dismiss.
Romo himself has admitted the criticism is “warranted” in the past, though during a recent appearance on Pardon My Take, he was asked whether he pays attention to any of it.
“You’re live on air for three, three and a half hours every week,” he said. “It’s like you’re probably going to do something right. I mean, we do more right than wrong; otherwise, you wouldn’t be in the position you’re in. But I think, like anything, you’re going to do something wrong. I just always want — in the back of your brain you’re literally thinking about you guys watching at home, and it’s like, what would I want?”
It’s a fair point as far as it goes. Calling live football for three hours every Sunday is really hard, and no analyst goes mistake-free. But the criticism leveled at Romo in recent years isn’t about occasional miscues as much as it’s about a sustained, visible decline in the quality and depth of his analysis, which has made his good moments harder to find.
“Sometimes they don’t talk about something, and I’m like, ‘Tell me. Tell me about that thing. Was that a catch? Was that not? Was he in bounds? What do you think?’ And then deeper than that, it goes to I want to teach, and I think that’s one of the biggest things is I want people to understand why, because there’s so much of that that goes into it,” he continued.
That instinct — to explain the decision-making behind what viewers are watching rather than just describe the action — was what made Romo revelatory when he first arrived in the booth. The deeper issue, as Awful Announcing wrote last fall, is whether that instinct is still being backed up by the preparation required to execute it on a weekly basis.
“Why did they make that decision? Why did they run the ball on fourth-and-2? Well, because of the numbers in the box and blah, blah, blah, or because of this,” Romo said. “I just feel like that’s what people want. And the more people I talk to, they love it and everything. It’s been a rewarding experience.”
The PMT hosts also asked how Romo has had to adjust to being out of the league for nearly a decade and what that process looks like from the booth. Romo said the foundation he built over a lifetime in football makes that adjustment more manageable than it might appear from the outside, and that the fundamentals don’t change enough to render nine years of distance from the field disqualifying.
“Once you’ve done it your whole life and studied it the way I have, I don’t think you’re going to see anything new,” he said. “The game is not rocket science. There’s not like a bunch of new brand-new stuff coming out.”
There’s some irony in Romo delivering these answers to the same two guys who spent January calling him out after he called Josh Allen “Mahomes” during the Bills-Broncos divisional round game, with Dan “Big Cat” Katz saying it felt like watching someone having a stroke and Eric “PFT Commenter” Sollenberger declaring that Romo “does not give a f*ck anymore,” while also conceding that he “did make up for a little” with some good insight later in the broadcast.
But that’s the paradox of Tony Romo in 2026, even as he insists the years away from the NFL haven’t diminished his ability to explain it.
Wrexham’s commercial growth in the years since Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac’s takeover is extraordinary. In the history of the EFL, there is no real equivalent.
In 2020-21, the Welsh club’s entire turnover was less than £1.5m. In 2024-25, the most recent published financial year, it exceeded £33m.
And remember, that was before Wrexham were promoted to the Championship, where they are expected to have earned at least an extra £8m in TV money and record further increases through sponsorship, retail, ticketing and hospitality.
The club’s latest commercial deal is with Mozilla, whose Firefox internet browser’s logo will adorn Wrexham’s now-famous red jerseys in a multi-year agreement beginning in 2026-27.
Sponsorship and advertising accounted for £17m of Wrexham’s annual revenue at the last count, and the new front-of-shirt deal, which replaces the previous relationship with United Airlines, is going to supercharge that figure.
Wrexham can double money from new front-of-shirt sponsorship deal, says Kieran Maguire
Speaking exclusively to HITC, University of Liverpool football finance lecturer Professor Kieran Maguire has estimated how much the new deal with Mozilla is worth, as well as giving his verdict on how much the value might swell if Wrexham are promoted to the Premier League.
“There will be a significant uptick should Wrexham be promoted,” said the Price of Football author and host of the eponymous podcast,
“If you look at Wrexham’s accounts, they do an analysis of revenue by geography. Of the £33m revenue they generated in 2024-25 – for which, remember, they were in League One – £17m came from sponsorship and advertising. And £20m out of the £33m comes from outside of the UK.
Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images
“That comes from the strength of the documentary. It’s an excellent production because it’s not about the football, it’s about people. They have created characters. They are a global brand as a result.
“That global appeal translates into merchandise sales and eyeballs on the club. United Airlines wanted eyes on their product, just as Firefox do.
“I expect it to be at least £10m. If Wrexham are promoted, there’s no reason that they can’t get £20m.”
Editor's note: Cheryl Smith attributes all reporting in this series to exhaustive research on newspapers.com, archives.com, fold3.com; Indian River County records; historical societies, museums and Facebook groups in Sebastian, St. Lucie County and Wisconsin; Green Bay Packers team historian Cliff Christl; Sebastian resident Judith Swingle; and Vero Beach attorney Eugene J. O'Neill's book, "Raising the Bar: In and Before Indian River County — A History." Contact her at cheryl.smith@tcpalm.com if you have any photos, records or information that corrects or adds to this account.
Samuel Richard Powers Sr. was the first tackle and guard on the inaugural Green Bay Packers football team, playing alongside founder Capt. Earl "Curly" Lambeau for three seasons, from 1919-21.
"Sammy" — a 5-foot-10, 130-pound, blue-eyed, blond-haired Irish scrapper — launched his football career playing for the Marinette (Wisconsin) High School Marines from 1916-18, which were his freshman through junior years.
With WWI disrupting life in 1918, he took over coaching midseason, then quit high school before his 1919 senior year.
Sammy Powers was Green Bay Packers' first tackle in 1919
His ages throughout life aren't precise because while his obituary and gravestone say he was born in 1896, many other earlier records say 1897, and that makes more sense when it comes to his high school years.
As a 19-year-old freshman guard, Sammy's rough play got him ejected from a game when officials finally caught him “slugging” opponents. A year later, he was a celebrated 20-year-old sophomore tackle who helped the Marines win an undefeated season and the Wisconsin state championship in 1917.
“Easily the best tackle in the state,” one newspaper proclaimed.
In 1919, he was a Whales baseball catcher in spring and a Packers football tackle in fall. Sammy started at right tackle in all 11 of the sandlot team's games in 1919 and 1920, when they were sponsored by Indian Packing Co., later Acme.
In 1921, the Green Bay Packers joined the American Professional Football Association, soon renamed the National Football League. Sammy started at right guard in the No. 7 jersey in their first game on Oct. 23, 1921, against the Minneapolis Marines at Hagemeister Park, but he got benched at some point.
Sam Powers played in four NFL games for Green Bay Packers
In his other three NFL games, Sammy was a substitute lineman for the starting tackle and guard. His NFL career ended in a game on Nov. 13, 1921, against the Hammond Pros.
But he went on to become team captain for the Lauerman Twins of Marinette-Menominee in 1922, and tackle for the Iron Mountaineers in Michigan circa 1924-26.
The Marinette High School Athletic Hall of Fame, founded in 2012, inducted him in 2021.
Born in Koss, Michigan; family moved to Marinette, Wisconsin
Sammy was born into a family with Irish (paternal) and German (maternal) grandparents on May 26 (1986-97) in Koss, Michigan. He was the last of 11 children, including two who died before 1900.
It was both of his parents' second marriage. Here’s a family snapshot:
Father: John Henry Powers, born circa 1849 in Boston, Massachusetts; was 78-79 when he died June 19, 1928; buried with family in Forest Home Cemetery in Marinette
Mother: Mary C. Bergman, born circa 1860 in Manitowoc Rapids, Wisconsin; was 72-73 when she died March 2, 1933; buried with family in Forest Home Cemetery in Marinette
Step-siblings: John's first wife was Elizabeth Garrity; they married Feb. 27, 1873, in Outagamie, Wisconsin; and had three children: Alice Mattilda (1875-1962), John Delbert (1876-1903) and Mary Harriet (1878-1962). Elizabeth died in 1883. Mary's first husband was William Hallfrisch; they married June 23, 1877; and had three children: John Frederick (1878), Wright Frank (1879) and Carrie S. (1885). William died in 1886.
Siblings: John and Mary married May 4, 1887, in Wrightstown, Wisconsin, a year after her first husband died and four years after his first wife died. They had five children: Mary "Mamie/Mammie" Ellen (1888), Thomas "Tommie/Tommy" Henry (1890), Emma A. (1892), Geneva C. (1894) and Samuel "Sammie/Sammy" (1896-97).
Sammy was still a high school student, but also “clerking” and working "on lakes" when he registered for WWI on June 5, 1918, exactly three months before his wedding day. He apparently didn't serve like his brother did.
Tommy was 27, worked as a clerk and lived with his family when he registered for WWI on June 5, 1917. He was a private first class in the Army's Battery E 11th Field Artillery when he died Sept. 27, 1918. He initially was buried in France, but his body was returned to the United States and buried in Forest Home Cemetery in 1921. His grave is beside his mother's, which is beside her husband's. Sam and his 7-year-old son are buried nearby.
Sammy and his family moved around Marinette, and over the years, he lived at:
1900: 328 Hattie St. with his brother, three sisters and one stepsister
1910: Mininita Avenue with his family
1918: 836 Wells St. with his family
1920: Renting at 1920 Crooks St. with wife Grace and her two stepsisters: Lillian, 8, and Margaret, 11. Their mother had died in 1916 and their father had remarried and moved to Princeton, Rhode Island.
1930: 1875 Liberty with Grace and their four children
1940: 806 Wells St. He was 43, divorced and a lodger with daughter Jeanne Dorothy; her husband, Robert Braley; and their three children: Barbara, 2; Katherine 7½; and Jack, 13.
1945: 3405 W. North Ave. in Milwaukee with 18-year-old son, John Daniel
Sammy Powers married Grace Martin and had 4 children
Sammy, 21, and Grace Marie Dixon, 20, were married by a Lutheran pastor in Menominee, Michigan, on Sept. 5, 1918, but they lived their early lives in Marinette, Wisconsin — where Sammy’s father was a “pioneer.”
They had four children: Jeanne Dorothy (1919), Thomas Henry (1922), Samuel Jr. (1924) and John Daniel (1927). After they divorced sometime before 1935, Grace remarried once, then moved to Florida circa 1942 with life partner Earl Roberts. With him, she co-founded and then solely owned the infamous Earl's Hideaway biker bar in Sebastian.
Two years into their marriage, Sam was 23 and working as meat packing company cost clerk. TCPalm couldn’t confirm, but it's likely he worked at Indian Packing Co., where Packers founder Lambeau was a shipping clerk who convinced President Frank Peck to spend $500 on the inaugural team’s first uniforms and equipment.
Here’s a snapshot of their four children:
Jeanne Dorothy Powers Braley Kelly Johnson ran Earl's Hideaway
Grace took their baby girl Jeanne to Green Bay football games, where she received publicity as the “youngest Packer backer.” In 1958, Sam would become the Packer family’s first great-grandfather when Jeanne’s daughter had a son.
Jeanne moved to Maryland and used her University of Maryland business administration degree to manage the exclusive Normandy Farm French restaurant in Potomac for 33 years. In charge of parties and bookkeeping, she planned weddings for several daughters of senators and congressmen.
She was a 1939 New York World’s Fair commissioner who helped plan the Maryland state restaurant and pavilion.
Jeanne had three husbands and seven children throughout her life.
Sam was visiting her, husband Chester and daughter Judith in Clarksburg, Maryland, when he died of a cerebral hemorrhage on Oct. 14, 1969. Three years later, the Johnsons moved to Sebastian.
They lived in one of the two cottages south-adjacent to Earl’s Hideaway, which Jeanne ran when Grace and Earl moved into a Melbourne nursing home in 1972.
Jeanne unsuccessfully ran for Sebastian City Council in 1975, 28 years after Earl served as mayor-judge in 1948-49.
When Grace died in 1973, Jeanne ran the bar with her son, Tim Kelly, until she sold it in 1977.
Thomas H. Powers moved to Ohio and was living in Canton in 1965 when Packers founder Lambeau died. Powers was pictured placing a flower basket in Lambeau's niche at the NFL Hall of Fame.
Samuel Powers Jr. died in St. Joseph's orphanage
Samuel Powers Jr. was a 6-year-old student living at home in 1930, but within a year, he died in the St. Joseph orphans home in Allouez, a village south of Green Bay, on April 15, 1931.
His death is a mystery and TCPalm is awaiting the orphanage records it requested.
John Daniel Powers a war hero, awarded Purple Heart
John Daniel Powers, 15, lived with his father at 3207 W. Mount Vernon in Milwaukee in 1942. He was 17 when he registered for WWII on March 5, 1945 — one day before his birthday. He was 18 when he enlisted Feb. 21, 1946, now living with his father at 3405 W. North Ave.
An Army master sergeant in WWII, Korea and Vietnam, he was awarded a Purple Heart. He was living in San Antonio, Texas, when his mother died in 1973, and he was discharged Jan. 31, 1974.
That year, he moved to Vero Beach and worked as a Piper Aircraft production lineman for 12 years. After he retired in 1986, he worked for Walgreens and Donnelly’s Irish Pub. He also was a Sebastian Moose Lodge governor.
When sister Jeanne tried to sell Earl’s Hideaway in 1977, he contested, claiming she mismanaged the bar by borrowing money without her two brothers’ consent — to their “detriment and economic loss.” TCPalm couldn’t find the outcome of his 1977 trial.
Surviving WWI, WWII, Prohibition, Great Depression
Amid WWI, WWII, Prohibition and the Great Depression, Sammy worked myriad jobs.
He reportedly ran a Hall Avenue tavern, and was 30 when he was arrested in a federal raid for "possessing and selling intoxicating liquors" without the proper revenue stamps in a Hotel Marinette basement bar in 1927. He was sentenced to a $300 fine or 90 days in jail in 1934.
He was a soap company salesman in 1930 and “with a tea concern” in 1931.
By 1935, Grace was gone and remarried. Sam, 43, was a divorced lodger with daughter Jeanne, 20; her first husband, Robert Braley Sr., 24; and their three children: Barbara, 2, Kathleen, 7½ and Jack, 13.
“Sam was a hard man to live with,” granddaughter Judith Swingle of Sebastian heard her family say.
When Sam registered for his WWII Old Man’s Draft Card in 1942, he was 44, living at 3207 W. Mount Vernon in Milwaukee with 15-year-old son John, and working at the Falk Corp., which made industrial and mechanical power transmission equipment.
He owned Sammy Powers Dinette circa 1945 and lived in Milwaukee until circa 1967.
That year, he had surgery to save his left leg from amputation in Houston, Texas. He recuperated at the Silver Dome in Marinette.
Throughout his life, Sam regularly attended Packers reunions, usually the homecoming game in fall, a tradition that began in 1928. His final appearance was in September 1969, and he was in failing health. He died a month later.
Sam was 73 and living in West De Pere, Wisconsin, when he died Oct. 14, 1969.
Cheryl Smith is a TCPalm editor who can be contacted at cheryl.smith@tcpalm.com.
LONDON (AP) — A perfectly-placed topspin lob winner that sailed beyond reach of his 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) opponent and landed on the outside of the baseline in the second game.
A delicate drop shot which made Alexander Zverev change direction so suddenly that the German player over-extended his right knee at a crucial point of the third set.
Sure, there were plenty of the usual whizzing, missile-like baseline winners from Jannik Sinner in his victory over Zverev in the Wimbledon final. He also showed off the new variety of his game, though — which came in handy when Zverev unleashed more power than he had used before against the top-ranked player.
The variety of shots were what Sinner’s two coaches, Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi, appreciated most from their player in Sunday's match.
Just like the Big Three and Big Four before them — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray — Sinner, Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz (who is out injured) are continually evolving their games, Cahill noted.
“Alexander is now playing a different style of tennis against Jannik,” Cahill said. “We know Jannik is going to have to improve in certain areas to handle that type of game. Carlos is going to come back really strong, as well — as we all hope … You need to keep adding things to his game.
“We saw a lot of the stuff he doesn’t normally like doing, even in the final today: sliced backhands, a couple lobs, couple drop shots. Really stepping up when he needed to in the big moments.”
Deficit to Alcaraz in Slams count reduced
Sinner’s second consecutive Wimbledon victory matched the two titles that Alcaraz won before him at the All England Club and raised his overall tally to five Grand Slams — narrowing the gap to Alcaraz’s seven.
Alcaraz missed the French Open and Wimbledon this year due to a right wrist injury and it remains unclear if he’ll return in time for the year’s final Grand Slam at the U.S. Open.
Zverev’s performance in London leapfrogged him ahead of Alcaraz into the No. 2 spot when the new rankings were released Monday.
“Big, big respect to Sascha, because he’s doing something amazing. His game is growing and growing,” Sinner said, using Zverev’s nickname. “You have always someone who is pushing you to the limit. We hope that Carlos is coming back, as well, because tennis needs him.
“Having Novak still around, having all the young players coming, it’s really, really nice,” added Sinner, who beat the 39-year-old Djokovic in the semifinals. “At the same time, you always need to work hard.”
Sinner's mom couldn't watch on Centre Court
Sinner twice had to come back from a set down in a five-set marathon against Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round — when he also had to deal with blood seeping through his shoe due to a toenail issue.
He didn’t lose another set until Zverev unleashed a barrage of serves at up to 139 mph (224 kph) and backed those up with huge forehands to the corners.
Sinner knew he had a challenge to face when the first-set tiebreaker was decided by an inside-out forehand winner from Zverev.
So did Sinner’s mom, Siglinde, who couldn’t bare to watch some of the more tense moments on Centre Court — which Sinner noticed.
“My mom, I see her, she left the stadium a couple of times,” Sinner said on court during his victory speech, glancing over after she had returned in time for the trophy ceremony. “It’s not easy.”
Chasing the sun
Amid stifling heat and humidity in Paris in late May, Sinner had his 30-match winning streak ended after coming within one game of a straight-set victory over Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who was ranked No. 56.
Sinner went in for medical exams in Milan after the Paris defeat and acknowledged during Wimbledon that doctors discovered what was bothering him — without revealing the details.
“His medical records are his medical records. We won’t speak about any of that,” Cahill said. “But it’s up to us to make some changes, to do some little things differently.”
Sinner now leaves the court often between sets to refresh himself, change his shirt and get a moment of air-conditioning. During another heat wave the week before Wimbledon began, he used an ice vest to cool down.
“Look, he’s a redhead that lives in the north of Italy, that grew up in the snow and the Alps. Hot weather is a little bit different for him than it is for most people,” Cahill said.
“The more time he spends in the heat, the better he’s going to be at it,” Cahill added. “We might even make some changes to the preseason, chasing the sun a little bit more, getting him more acclimatized to playing in these types of conditions.”
Oliveira was in attendance for Conor
McGregor’s (22-7) return to action after five years against
Max
Holloway (28-9) at
UFC 329 on Saturday in Las Vegas. However, the bout ended in
disappointment when McGregor injured his knee on his first kick,
forcing the referee to step in just over a minute into the opening
round.
Charles Oliveira campaigns for a UFC lightweight title shot
against Justin Gaethje after UFC 329
Holloway was plotting a lightweight title shot and a rematch
against Gaethje if he secured a victory over McGregor. Despite the
anticlimactic nature of the fight, the Hawaiian still called for
his shot against “The Highlight” at the post-fight press
conference. Meanwhile, Oliveira started spamming the comments
section of the presser broadcast, calling for his shot against the
current UFC lightweight champ.
Oliveira (37-11) previously beat Gaethje via a first-round
submission in 2022. The Brazilian is currently coming off a
dominant decision win over Holloway in a BMF title fight this past
March.
Charles
Oliveira was spamming the UFC 329 post fight presser comments
with “Charles vs Justin”
The Netflix doc series about legendary football manager Jose Mourinho will launch globally on August 11.
In a teaser trailer released today, the same day he begins a second spell as Real Madrid coach, the Portuguese star seen in typically boastful action as he looks through his personal trophy room. He throws on a contented smile as she shows the camera crew a replica Premier League trophy, signed boots from Argentina legend Diego Maradona and Cristiano Ronaldo’s first professional shirt.
“I started winning in 2003, and my last title was 2022,” he says. “So it was 20 years winning. That why you want to tell my story. You don’t do a documentary with a guy that wins nothing.”
However, he’s keen to play down the ‘Special One’ moniker he gave himself in 2004 upon joining Chelsea from European champions FC Porto. “It’s not like I come here and I think I’m special,” he tells the camera crew. “‘The Special One’ is some special shit some guys in England found for me.”
At this point, the interviewer responds, “I love that you’re saying that whilst there’s a mural of yourself behind you,” as Mourinho turns in surprise.
Filmed over two years, Mourinho will explore the manager’s rise to success, which saw him win the Champions League with Porto before upending English football by winning two Premier Leagues with Chelsea and later joining Inter Milan in Italy, where he won a second Champions League.
His spell at Spain’s Real Madrid, where his Ronaldo-led team battled Lionel Messi’s Barcelona, saw him win a league title before rejoining Chelsea and achieving another title win. He also managed Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Roma to different degrees of success and then led Turkey Fenerbahçe and Portugal’s Benfice before today being reappointed Real Madrid manager.
The doc follows on from Netflix’s Untold sports docs strand, which has covered the liked of footballer-turned-Hollywood actor Vinnie Jones and Leicester City striker Jamie vardy.
It features interviews with football stars such as André Villas-Boas, Claude Makelele, Didier Drogba, Eden Hazard, Frank Lampard, Iker Casillas, Javier Zanetti, John Terry, Luis Figo, Marcelo, Marco Materazzi, Massimo Moratti, Petr Čech, Peter Kenyon, Ricardo Carvalho, Rui Faria, Sami Khedira, Samuel Eto’o, Alex Ferguson and Zlatan Ibrahimović.
Ventureland is the producer, with John Battsek (Beckham) and Miles Coleman (99) the producers. Joe Pearlman (Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now, Bros: After The Screaming Stops) is the director.
England men’s national soccer team captain Harry Kane has sparked backlash after revealing he’s played golf with Donald Trump.
Kane, whose six goals have helped fire England into Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal against Argentina, disclosed the round with the president during a news conference on Friday ahead of England’s 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Norway.
The Bayern Munich striker was asked by The Daily Telegraph how he fared against Trump on the golf course. Watch the exchange here.
“I played all right, to be honest,” Kane said. “Yeah, we played about 18 months ago. He invited me to play when I was down in Palm Beach, so, yeah, when the president invites you somewhere. It was a pretty surreal experience just to meet him and obviously play golf with him.”
England captian Harry Kane, left, has drawn criticism after it emerged he played golf with Donald Trump, right. Etsuo Hara via Getty Images / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Kane added that Trump’s golf game is “pretty good to be honest with you” and said: “I hope I can play golf as good as him when I’m his age, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah, a unique experience,” Kane added. “But, yeah, was just grateful that he just invited me down to play, for sure.”
Trump, who turned 80 in June, has long faced accusations of cheating at golf, including from sportswriter Rick Reilly, who devoted an entire book to the subject.
Trump praised Kane on Truth Social last week, calling him “a GREAT player!!!” before later revealing the pair had played golf together.
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina’s Lionel Messi have also been criticizedin recent months following visits to the White House and photo ops with the president.
If England end up defeating Messi’s reigning champions Argentina and then go on to win the World Cup against either Spain or France, Trump will hand Kane the trophy.
There's no way @Erling would agree to meet Trump let alone play golf with him.... poor PR judgement from Harry Kane....
It’s incredibly disappointing that he said yes to Donald Trump. He’s not just the President. He’s amongst one of the most corrupt, grotesque individuals on the planet. So many crimes and so much evil yet the captain of England still wanted to spend a day with him. **** off Harry.
(KSEE/KGPE) – Fresno State Athletics is trying something new with its intellectual property and multimedia rights this year, but although the station may be changing, a familiar voice will still be calling their games on the radio.
On Bulldog Insider Sunday night, Ryan O’Rorke, the Vice President and General Manager of the newly-created Bulldog Sports Enterprises, and Paul Loeffler, the longtime voice of Fresno State Athletics, talked with Sports Director Scott Bemis about Loeffler returning to the Bulldog airwaves on the athletic department’s new flagship radio station, 1430 ESPN, and the possible benefits of Fresno State having more direct control over possible revenue streams like its radio rights.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The football teams of forty-eight countries set out with a chance of winning the World Cup on June 11, and the hopes of just four nations remain alive.
The top four teams in the FIFA rankings, with eight previous titles between them, will lock horns on Tuesday and Wednesday to try to secure a place in what is set to be the grandest of showpiece occasions in sport: the World Cup Final at New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday, July 19.
Al Jazeera ranks the contenders for the title:
Argentina’s Lionel Messi takes a break during the quarterfinal [Lee Smith/Reuters]
4. Argentina
What’s this? The defending champions as the outsiders?
Well, Algeria, Austria, Jordan, Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland must be one of the kindest ever paths to the business end of a World Cup, and La Albiceleste have not exactly been convincing along it.
They were made to sweat by Cape Verde and Egypt in the knockout stages before finding a way to prevail in dramatic circumstances, and the pattern was repeated against Switzerland in Kansas City on Saturday night, when they went almost 90 minutes without a shot on target following Alexis Mac Allister’s early opening goal.
Their ageing side eventually prevailed after 120 minutes in sweltering conditions. Had Switzerland kept 11 men on the field, things might have been very different, but, once again, in the end, the defending champions found a way to win when they were well below their best.
Surely they cannot get away with another performance like that against England? Well, England fans might well be saying the same about the Three Lions. Both Harry Kane and Lionel Messi fell well short of their best in the last-eight matchups too.
The outpouring of emotion from Messi at full-time in the comeback win over Egypt showed just how close the three-time winners came to being eliminated. In an already emotionally charged matchup with England, expect tempers to rise and tears to flow on either side come full-time.
If Argentina, and – in his first-ever appearance against the Three Lions – Messi, are able to rediscover their swagger and win, ousting their old foes from the tournament in the knockout stages for a third straight time, then the confidence and momentum they would take into the final would be huge.
However, nothing they have shown in the US this summer would suggest that is likely to happen.
And even if it did, whether it would be enough to give them the edge against European champions Spain, or a vengeful France side they vanquished on penalties in the epic final of Qatar 2022, is another matter entirely.
England’s Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane celebrate after beating Norway [Paul Childs/Reuters]
3. England
Have we seen the best of England in this tournament? Probably not. And yet, here they are, in the semifinals for just the fourth time ever.
The win over Norway was neither pretty nor convincing, and manager Thomas Tuchel admitted they were lucky to get through, thanks largely to Jude Bellingham putting the team on his shoulders at a couple of key moments once again. Could a midfielder really win the Golden Boot? He is only two behind Messi and Kylian Mbappe with six goals already.
Much to Tuchel’s frustration, bar a 20-minute purple patch in the second half of the 4-2 opening game win against Croatia, England have yet to dominate a team, and relied on counterattacking bursts to give them a 3-2 lead to defend in the epic round-of-16 victory over Mexico in the cauldron of the Azteca.
What they have shown is character, in abundance, and they will likely need plenty more of that if they are to end 60 years of longing for a second World Cup title.
The game against Argentina will be far more than 11 vs 11; the ghosts of football history will line up alongside both teams, and the hype and pressure are sure to be enormous.
A few possible positives for England will be that they have already made par for this tournament: Ranked fourth in the world, they have reached the last four. Anything else would be a bonus. Nobody really considers them a top-two team in the world, which might help to alleviate some of the burden of expectation.
After a trip to the altitude of Mexico City, and the oppressive heat and humidity of Miami, a return to the 22-Celsius (71.6F) climate-controlled confines of Atlanta, where England overcame DR Congo in the round of 32, will be welcome.
They also have no new suspensions to deal with, with Jarell Quansah left with one game of his two-match ban to serve; and there were minutes for Reece James against Norway. England will meanwhile be hoping Declan Rice recovers fully after a 45-minute cameo in which he was patently not fit following illness.
An ageing Argentina side have struggled against the pace, movement and trickery of Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland in the past three rounds, and Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon, and even Marcus Rashford will be even better placed to exploit that.
Beyond Messi, Argentina have not posed too many attacking questions themselves, though Julian Alvarez’s stunning strike against Switzerland might just be the start of his own World Cup.
All things considered, expect England to make it through to the final, but France would likely be a step too far, and even Spain would be a big ask, despite the additional motivation of revenge for their Euro 2024 final defeat.
Spain’s Mikel Merino celebrates the victory against Belgium [Jessie Alcheh/Reuters]
2. Spain
They are the third semifinalists yet to find top gear at this tournament, bar a one-sided display against Austria in the round of 32.
La Roja’s stoic defence might have been punctured for the first time this summer by Belgium in the last eight, but the 649 minutes that preceded that goal were the longest streak in World Cup history without conceding, and they have still allowed just seven shots on target in their six matches so far.
Though the goal contribution stats might not reflect it, Lamine Yamal has shown flashes of a return to top form after that season-ending hamstring injury in April, while La Roja’s carousel of tricky attackers has posed problems for defences in all six matches so far, and Mikel Merino has written himself into folklore with last-gasp winners against Portugal and Belgium.
Four-goal leading scorer Mikel Oyarzabal has gone off the boil in the past couple of games, however, and is unlikely to strike too much fear into the French backline.
While teenage defender Pau Cubarsi looks at home on the biggest stage of all, he is yet to face the kind of test that Kylian Mbappe, Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembele will pose.
If they make the final, Spain will be favourites to win it, and they have won the World Cup the only time they previously reached the last four, but despite having beaten France in their past two encounters, a third should be beyond them.
France’s forward line of Kylian Mbappe (bottom), Ousmane Dembele (top), Bradley Barcola (right), and Michael Olise (left) is considered the strongest at the tournament [Mauro Pimentel/AFP]
1. France
Before their last-eight matchup with Morocco, we asserted that France were the class of the field with a fearsome foursome in attack and a defence that, although it had not really been tested yet, had only allowed two goals in five matches.
Well, make that two in six, even if they still have not really been tested, such was the Atlas Lions’ toothless attack on the night in their 2-0 defeat.
Mbappe further enhanced his credentials for the Golden Boot and all-time World Cup scoring record with another quality goal against Morocco, and Olise, Dembele, Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola continue to threaten across the field in a way no other team on earth can.
Spain, and in particular their defence, will pose a different challenge, and the underworked French defence will likely get their own test this time, too, with the likes of Dani Olmo, Alex Baena, Ferran Torres and Fabian Ruiz getting into promising positions around Oyarzabal, and that’s not to mention super-sub Merino.
Whoever beats France will surely lift the World Cup, but none of the remaining teams can match the dynamism of Les Bleus’ forwards. Although Spain will likely be their hardest challenge, it is one you can expect Didier Deschamps’s men to overcome, not least fuelled by the additional motivation of having lost to La Roja in the Euro 2024 and Nations League semifinals over the past two years.
ALS is a hot topic this summer in the wake of Chris Johnson’s diagnosis. But what can be done besides the revival of the Ice Bucket Challenge? The answer might surprise you…
Chris Johnson’s ALS diagnosis sent shockwaves through the NFL and the Nashville community, and the outpouring of support has reintroduced the Ice Bucket Challenge to a new generation. But 12 years after the original viral sensation raised millions for medical advancement, the question remains: why is ALS research still so far behind?
I sat down with Indu Navar, founder and CEO of Everything ALS, to find out what has actually changed, what hasn’t, and what people like you and me can do right now to help.
The Ice Bucket Challenge raised awareness, but ALS treatment hasn’t kept pace
Navar, who lost her husband to the disease in 2019, didn’t mince words about the state of ALS care. The numbers are staggering and upsetting. Every 90 minutes, someone in the United States is diagnosed with ALS. Every 90 minutes, someone dies from it. And the diagnostic process hasn’t meaningfully changed since Lou Gehrig’s famous speech in 1939.
“We’ve known this for 90 years,” Navar said. “And up to today, we’re still diagnosing somebody the same way and saying every 90 minutes, ‘you have 2 to 5 years to live.' That’s what we did 70 years ago!”
She pointed to the comparable diseases that have seen breakthroughs. Multiple sclerosis now has roughly 40 different treatments available. Spinal muscular atrophy, a pediatric motor neuron disease, has seen near-cure therapies developed in the 21st century.
ALS has seen nothing close to that level of progress.
The 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge generated enormous awareness, but Navar was candid about its limitations. For most people, it was a social media moment first and a genuine charitable cause second. The deeper understanding of what ALS actually does to the body, and how woefully underfunded its research remains, never fully took root.
Why ALS research keeps starting from scratch
Funding is part of the problem, but Navar identified something more fundamental about the problem: ALS moves fast. Patients deteriorate rapidly, and families are devastated. Then they walk away from the cause, because the person they loved is gone.
“You really don’t get the staying power,” Navar explained. “The movement is a revolving door. You start a movement, everybody starts something when they’re shocked, and then it dwindles down.”
That revolving door means institutional knowledge leaves with each wave of families. New patients and caregivers enter the system with no foundation, asking the same basic questions about speech pathologists, occupational therapists, and treatment options that the previous generation already answered.
That cycle is exactly why Navar founded Everything ALS as a tech nonprofit. Her organization hosts expert talks where patients and families can ask questions. The goal is to build a permanent platform of accumulated knowledge rather than letting each new family start from zero.
How technology and AI could finally change the trajectory
Here’s where Navar’s background as a tech entrepreneur shines. She argued that ALS measurement tools are stuck in the past. The current standard asks patients to rate their own speech, walking, and breathing on a scale of 0 to 4. That subjective, rudimentary scale is the primary measurement used in clinical trials.
“How do you know what a 3, 2, 1 is?” Navar asked. “It’s not like you know the disease. Everybody’s slope is different.”
Everything ALS is building objective measurement tools using AI and machine learning. Their speech study collects voice data from both ALS patients and healthy individuals of the same age, allowing algorithms to track real changes over time rather than relying on patient guesswork. That data can then be fed back to clinicians and used to optimize clinical trials.
The organization also built an AI product called Sava AI, a generative AI chatbot that helps patients find clinical trials in their region. Navar said that roughly 78% of ALS patients who want to participate in clinical trials don’t know where to go. Her tool is designed to change that.
What you can do right now
Johnson’s decision to use his platform to revive the Ice Bucket Challenge and rally donations has been impactful already. But Navar stressed that the average person can contribute beyond dumping ice water on their head. Downloading the Everything ALS app and participating in the speech study takes as little as two minutes. You don’t need to have ALS or even know someone with it. Researchers need healthy control data just as much as patient data to build the AI models that could accelerate treatment development.
The sports world, and Nashville in particular, is fired up right now. The challenge is converting that energy into something that outlasts the news cycle. Johnson gave ALS its highest-profile moment in years. What people do with that moment beyond social media will determine whether this time is any different.
What’s the point of NFL training camp without arguing over the back end of a wide receiver depth chart? This year’s contenders in Titans land: Bryce Oliver, KJ Osborn, and Xavier Restrepo.
The Tennessee Titans wide receiver depth chart is taking shape ahead of training camp, and the competition for the final roster spots at the bottom of the room is shaping up to be a three-man race.
Titans WR depth is solid at the top, with Carnell Tate, Wan’Dale Robinson, Calvin Ridley, Elic Ayomanor, and Chimere Dike all locks to make the 53-man roster. But behind that group, the battle between Bryce Oliver, Xavier Restrepo, and KJ Osborne for the 6th and potentially 7th wide receiver spots is the position group storyline worth tracking this summer in Nashville.
What makes this competition extra compelling is that all three players represent completely different archetypes, and each arrived in Tennessee through completely different paths.
Xavier Restrepo: The summer star with a ceiling question
Restrepo, who came aboard as Cam Ward’s college connection last offseason after going undrafted, has been the kind of practice standout who makes it hard to look away. He’s a slot-only receiver who defies what you’d expect from him on paper given his physical measurements. In limited action on Sundays last season, he showed he can at least hang at the NFL level. He has somewhat usurped Mason Kinsey as the junkyard-dog, practice-squad-vibes-guy in Tennessee it seems, and his teammates and coaches get visibly fired up when he makes plays.
But physical limitations are real, and the common thread for all three of these players is that the Titans already have five receivers who will eat offensive snaps when healthy. The real question for a player like Restrepo isn’t whether he can contribute on offense in a pinch. It’s whether special teams coordinator Bones Fassel can carve out a role for him on those units. If Restrepo proves he’s a credit to special teams this summer, he has a real shot at one of these spots. If not, he’s likely headed for the Kinsey mold: first or second guy up off the practice squad, somebody the organization fights to keep around because of his value as a leader and weekly competitor.
Bryce Oliver: The special teams ace with a lingering question mark
Oliver is the guy I’d peg as having the upper hand in this competition if it weren’t for one thing: what happened last year?
He’s been with Tennessee for a handful of seasons as a former undrafted free agent and has established himself as a special teams ace. We know how much Fassel relies on him as a gunner. But he's not a special teams-only guy either! He brings something to the table as a receiver in rotation or in relief due to injuries, and he has a body type that works inside and outside, which is in shorter supply on this roster.
A lower body injury kept him out for most of last season, and the circumstances surrounding it left some unanswered questions. One of the things that stuck with me is that former coach Brian Callahan, in one of his final press conferences before being fired ahead of Week 7, mentioned Oliver as a guy who might be coming back soon. But we never saw Oliver catch a pass again.
Week after week, we’d see him at practice and in the locker room, and the vibe was simply that he was trying to get back to 100%. Whether there was a medical situation beyond what was communicated, a mental hurdle he was working through, or some calculated decision-making given the coaching instability, I genuinely don’t know. He’s back at practice now, and that injury situation is the only thing keeping me from calling him a roster lock.
KJ Osborne: The proven veteran filling a familiar role
Osborne is the newcomer NFL veteran in camp this year, filling the shoes of James Proche from a year ago. If you remember the offseason conversation around Proche, he was the guy who kept making plays in practice to the point where you just couldn’t ignore him. Osborne is already doing that same thing.
He has easily the most established NFL track record of these three. Earlier in his career with Minnesota, he had a 3-season stretch where he accumulated nearly 2000 yards and 15 touchdowns. He was a significant contributor for a real team!
What happened after he left the Vikings, I haven’t had a chance to fully investigate. But what I’m seeing in practice lines up with those Minnesota numbers.
The real question for Osborne is the same one facing the other two: how much does this coaching staff expect to lean on its 6th or 7th receiver? If there were only four locks ahead of him, his chances would look different because that 5th receiver role demands genuine offensive ability, and he has it. But with five locks already in place, the calculus shifts toward special teams value.
The bottom line
That’s what this entire competition will probably come down to. We’ll spend the summer weeks talking about what these three do in team drills on offense, when we should really be paying closer attention to how often Fassel is using them during special teams periods. The preseason games will be the real tell. How much and how often Oliver, Restrepo, and Osborne are deployed on those units may be the clearest clue to who’s making this roster and who isn’t.
Oklahoma’s John Mateer (10) lines up behind the offensive line during the University of Oklahoma Sooners Spring Game at the Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday April 18, 2026. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
The Oklahoma Sooners have a good shot at having an elite offensive line in 2026.
The Oklahoma Sooners‘ offensive line is taking its development seriously this offseason, and the latest move should catch the attention of anyone watching this group heading into 2026.
Several Sooners linemen spent time with Brian Baldinger, the former NFL offensive lineman and renowned film analyst, at the OL Masterminds summit. For a young group facing enormous expectations, the investment in outside coaching and film study could pay dividends when the season kicks off.
Before the 2026 season begins, there will be some uncomfortable conversations about which position groups on this Oklahoma team face the most pressure. The offensive line is right up there.
The Sooners didn’t necessarily underperform last season, but they could have been better at times. This year, they bring back many of their young guys who have shown flashes of potential as studs, and the expectations will follow.
Offensive line is one of those position groups in college football (and even in the NFL) where, if things aren’t working up front, nothing else works. They’re required to block in both the pass and run games. When that breaks down, the entire offense stalls.
Who is Brian Baldinger, and why does this matter?
For those unfamiliar, Baldinger is one of the best offensive line teachers in all of football. He played at Duke, went undrafted, and still carved out an 11-year NFL career. Baldy started 47 games and appeared in 143, playing tackle, center, and guard. He knows what he’s talking about when it comes to offensive line play, and he’s become one of the most respected film analysts in the sport at that position.
Baldinger’s breakdown work has earned him credibility across the football world. He’s given credit to elite pass rushers like Maxx Crosby over the years for how they attack offensive linemen, so his understanding of the position goes both ways.
What the Sooners did at the summit
There’s video circulating right now of the Oklahoma linemen sitting next to Baldinger, watching film together. He’s breaking down plays for them and asking questions about why they’re doing certain things in certain situations. He wants to understand it from their point of view. The Sooners are explaining their reasoning, and Baldinger is teaching through that dialogue.
This is exactly the type of thing you want to see from your offensive line. It’s not flashy. It won’t produce an immediate, visible change on the field. But for a group as young as Oklahoma’s, spending time with someone who has played the position at the highest level and can dissect it on film is invaluable.
Why this matters for 2026
The Sooners’ offensive line is going to be one of the most important position groups on the roster in 2026. They’re young, they’re talented, and they’re going to be asked to grow up fast against quality competition. Seeking out a resource like Baldinger and the OL Masterminds summit shows a level of initiative that bodes well for the fall.
This isn’t the kind of offseason move that generates headlines or hype. But it’s the kind of work that builds a foundation. Oklahoma’s offensive line has the talent. Now they’re putting in the extra work to match it.
Calvin Ridley, Elic Ayomanor, and Chimere Dike: The Titans WR room has some very legitimate depth. And while their individual impacts on this roster may be different, they share a common theme:
The Tennessee Titans wide receiver room has clear headliners in Carnell Tate and Wan’Dale Robinson, the two weight-bearing pieces LINK the front office spent big to acquire this offseason. The back end of the depth chart features Mason Kinsey, K.J. Osborn, and Bryce Oliver scrapping for roster spots through August.
But between those two tiers sits a group of three receivers who are certain to make the 53-man roster, certain to play on Sundays, and yet unlikely to be the primary targets in the Titans passing game. Calvin Ridley, Elic Ayomanor, and Chimere Dike are the middle class of this wide receiver room, and they might matter more than people think.
Ridley as the turbo boost button
Ridley is heading into his age-32 season, his third with Tennessee. His tenure has been an up-and-down ride. He eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards in his first year catching passes from Mason Rudolph and Will Levis during a three-win campaign.
The following season brought another three-win year, but Ridley was barely a part of it. He appeared in seven games and started six, but a soft tissue injury against the Raiders pulled him out very early. After returning from a brief rehab stint, he caught a first-down pass over the middle on his very first play back a few weeks later and broke his leg in the process.
His recovery has been ahead of the medical timeline many expected, and he was already flashing his trademark movement skills during OTAs and mandatory minicamp this spring in a way that suggests he should be 100% by the regular season.
The meaningful difference for Ridley in 2026 is that for the first time as a Titan, he is no longer a foundational piece of the offense. Tatum and Robinson sit ahead of him on the depth chart as steady, reliable options. If Ridley is less effective or unavailable, it is no longer the disaster it once was for Tennessee. That reality makes him icing on the cake rather than a load-bearing wall.
Here’s the thing about Ridley, though: he is the nitrous button for this offense. He has never been a superstar player, but he possesses star ability in flashes. His burst, his top speed, and his violence in and out of cuts still stand out in practice even alongside talented teammates.
When he has one of his takeover games, it raises the floor for the entire Titans offense. As long as Daboll avoids building the plane out of a play-in, play-out necessity for Ridley’s involvement (and I trust him not to), utilizing him when he’s available and at his best is a genuine credit to this roster construction. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the reduced pressure puts Ridley in a better mental spot than he’s been in since arriving in Nashville.
Dike and Ayomanor are properly slotted now
Chimere Dike and Elic Ayomanor can be discussed as a duo. Both were Day 3 picks from GM Mike Borgonzi’s first draft class. Both are entering Year 2 with Cam Ward, which gives them a chemistry advantage over the new additions who are still building rapport.
Last season, they were thrust into positions where they were forced to bite off more than they should have been chewing. Ayomanor finished with 515 yards on 41 receptions and four touchdowns, Dike posted 423 yards on 48 receptions with four touchdowns of his own, and they tied for the team lead in receiving scores. That production is simultaneously a mark of two overachieving fourth-round picks, and a mark of a bad team. You don’t want to be relying on Day 3 rookies as your second and third leading receivers, as it turns out!
What stands out about both players goes beyond the stat sheet. They are trusted, responsible, and process-oriented. By all accounts, they bring a steadying presence that reflects the football character Borgonzi has prioritized for this roster. I think they’re poster boys for that philosophy.
I still believe both have the potential to be No. 2-4 receivers in the NFL. I don’t see either becoming a true No. 1, but they could solidify themselves as starters in this league, whether in Tennessee or elsewhere down the road. The difference now is context. They’ve gone from being borderline emergency starters filling in for an injured Ridley, to being the fourth and fifth receivers on a properly constructed depth chart. Playing to their strengths in specific circumstances is so much better than the fire they walked into last year.
That’s the theme connecting all three of these players. Ridley, Dike, and Ayomanor feel properly slotted into a wide receiver depth chart for the first time since any of them arrived in Tennessee. Maximizing their roles rather than overextending them should lead to more efficient play from each, and I think it makes the Titans better as a whole.
Brooklyn Blaze's Lexy Denaburg dives to keep the ball in play during a match between the Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
LONG BEACH, Calif - Day 2 of the AVP Long Beach League week 5 competition wrapped up in Alamitos Beach and The Sporting Tribune's Edwin So was there to capture the following images:
Miami Mayhem's Megan Kraft receives a serve during a match between the Miami Mayhem and LA Launch at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Miami Mayhem's Megan Kraft receives a serve during a match between the Miami Mayhem and LA Launch at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Miami Mayhem's Megan Kraft and Kelly Cheng celebrate after winning a match between the Miami Mayhem and LA Launch at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Miami Mayhem's Megan Kraft and Kelly Cheng celebrate after winning a match between the Miami Mayhem and LA Launch at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
LA Launch's Hagen Smith dives to keep the ball in play during a match between the LA Launch and Brooklin Blaze at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
LA Launch's Hagen Smith dives to keep the ball in play during a match between the LA Launch and Brooklin Blaze at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
LA Launch's Hagen Smith spikes the ball during a match between the LA Launch and Brooklin Blaze at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
LA Launch's Hagen Smith spikes the ball during a match between the LA Launch and Brooklin Blaze at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Brooklyn Blaze's Derek Bradford gets down to return a serve during a match between the LA Launch and Brooklin Blaze at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Brooklyn Blaze's Derek Bradford gets down to return a serve during a match between the LA Launch and Brooklin Blaze at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
LA Launch's Hagen Smith spikes the ball during a match between the LA Launch and Brooklin Blaze at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
LA Launch's Hagen Smith spikes the ball during a match between the LA Launch and Brooklin Blaze at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Dallas Dream's Paul Lotman and Miles Partain daps up after winning a point during a match between the Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Dallas Dream's Paul Lotman and Miles Partain daps up after winning a point during a match between the Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Miami Mayhem's Taylor Crabb gets down to receive a serve during a match between the Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Miami Mayhem's Taylor Crabb gets down to receive a serve during a match between the Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Miami Mayhem's Andy Benesh spikes the ball and scores during a match between the Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Miami Mayhem's Andy Benesh spikes the ball and scores during a match between the Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Miami Mayhem's Taylor Crabb chases to keep the ball in play during a match between the Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Miami Mayhem's Taylor Crabb chases to keep the ball in play during a match between the Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Dallas Dream's Kylie DeBerg tips the ball over the net during a match between the Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Dallas Dream's Kylie DeBerg tips the ball over the net during a match between the Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Brooklyn Blaze's Julia Donlin gets to ready position during a match between the Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Brooklyn Blaze's Julia Donlin gets to ready position during a match between the Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Brooklyn Blaze's Lexy Denaburg dives to keep the ball in play during a match between the Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Brooklyn Blaze's Lexy Denaburg dives to keep the ball in play during a match between the Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Brooklyn Blaze's Julia Donlin gets her spike blocked by Dallas Dream's Kylie DeBerg during a match between the Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Brooklyn Blaze's Julia Donlin gets her spike blocked by Dallas Dream's Kylie DeBerg during a match between the Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
LA Launch's Hagen Smith recieves a serve during a match between the LA Launch and Brooklin Blaze at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
LA Launch's Hagen Smith recieves a serve during a match between the LA Launch and Brooklin Blaze at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Brooklyn Blaze's Evan Cory runs back to keep the ball in play during a match between the LA Launch and Brooklin Blaze at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Brooklyn Blaze's Evan Cory runs back to keep the ball in play during a match between the LA Launch and Brooklin Blaze at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
LA Launch's Hagen Smith and Logan Webber jump for a double block during a match between the LA Launch and Brooklin Blaze at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
LA Launch's Hagen Smith and Logan Webber jump for a double block during a match between the LA Launch and Brooklin Blaze at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
LA Launch's Hagen Smith and Logan Webber celebrate after winning a match between the LA Launch and Brooklin Blaze at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
LA Launch's Hagen Smith and Logan Webber celebrate after winning a match between the LA Launch and Brooklin Blaze at AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 12, 2026 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach Calif
ONE Championship returns to Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, July 17, with another exclusive card for members of The Inner Circle, streaming live at live.onefc.com.
A ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Title rematch four years in the making tops a card that also features the world’s top-ranked women’s no-gi grappler and one of Japan’s most dangerous kickboxers hunting a path back to another shot at gold.
In the main event, Jonathan Di Bella makes the first defense of his ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Title against Zhang Peimian in a rematch of the fight that started it all.
Di Bella, the son of Kickboxing Champion Angelo Di Bella, grew up on the mats of his family’s Montreal gym, and turned pro at 20 after going 20-0 as a junior and amateur. He has since become a four-time World Champion with one of the highest significant strike outputs in ONE kickboxing history, setting records for the most strikes landed in a single fight during his unification win over Prajanchai PongSuphan PK last October — a performance that left no doubt about who the best strawweight in the world is.
Zhang was 60 seconds away from derailing all of that at ONE 162 in 2022. The young Chinese fighter from rural Guangxi — who grew up chopping sugar cane and cutting rice on his family farm before his headteacher introduced him to martial arts — had led on all three scorecards heading into the final minute of the final round, only for Di Bella to produce a clutch head kick knockdown that snatched the title.
In the co-main event, Helena Crevar returns to the ring for her second appearance in ONE, this time against San Diego’s Paige Ivette Clymer in an openweight submission grappling contest.
Crevar is 19 years old, ranked number one pound-for-pound in women’s no-gi grappling, and holds a 355-7 record with 315 submission wins. She has submitted her last 20 opponents in a row and won the $100,000 CJI 2 tournament in September. The IBJJF No-Gi World Champion made her ONE debut in January with a 100-second estima lock finish of Teshya Noelani Alo, and has not slowed down since.
Born in Las Vegas to two Serbian parents, trained under Gordon Ryan and John Danaher in Austin, Texas, she is the kind of generational talent that comes along once in a long while.
Clymer is not a footnote. The 33-year-old Legion American Jiu Jitsu black belt under Keenan Cornelius started grappling in 2016 and spent years competing and teaching before earning her black belt in May 2024. She won the 2021 IBJJF No-Gi World Title at purple belt and reached the final of the ADCC West Coast Trials in 2022. She came back and won the same event outright in 2026 with two submissions and a decision, securing her place at the upcoming ADCC World Championships.
She is a pressure passer with sharp heel hooks who sets a punishing physical pace, and she arrives at Lumpinee with serious momentum behind her.
Woolliss is the kind of opponent who makes that rebuild uncomfortable. The Grimsby-born fighter battled a chronic illness that nearly ended his career, lost 15kg, was told he would never fight again, and refused to accept it. He is now based in Bali, where he trains at Soma Fight Club. He shocked the world with a first-round TKO of former ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion John “Hands of Stone” Lineker via calf kicks in March and nearly upset Petchtanong Petchfergus in his last outing. He is dangerous, creative, and carrying nothing to lose into one of the biggest fights of his career.
McGregor rematched Max
Holloway in the main event of UFC 329, but injured his knee in
the opening sequence. After he struggled to stay upright, the
referee stopped the bout, leading to an anticlimactic conclusion to
the fight card.
John Kavanagh details McGregor’s injury after comeback fight
ends early
Kavanagh took to Facebook to discuss McGregor’s injury following
the defeat to Holloway at UFC 329. The former two-division
champion’s longtime coach shed light on the post-fight mood and
reiterated McGregor’s claim that he wasn’t injured going into the
bout.
“Devastated,” the
SBG Ireland head coach wrote in a Facebook post (via ESPN). “That opening jump switch kick was
drilled daily for months, multiple times in warmup. Never an issue.
Knee went when he [threw] the very first kick. Doesn't get any
worse than this. Looking forward to seeing my family in a few
days.”
McGregor is yet to reveal the extent of his injury. UFC CEO
Dana White shared that he suspects a torn ACL and was also
quick to shut down claims of a pre-existing injury at the
post-fight presser.
Pimblett (24-4) secured a spectacular win by putting Benoit St.
Denis (17-4) to sleep in less than a minute in
UFC 329’s co-headliner. The main event between Conor
McGregor and Max
Holloway then ended in anticlimactic fashion, with the
returning Irish star suffering a leg injury in the opening
sequence, leading to a victory for his Hawaiian counterpart.
Pimblett remained respectful towards McGregor in the lead-up to UFC
329, seemingly taking a backseat as the Irish superstar drew most
of the attention. However, he changed his tune after watching the
former two-division champion lose.
Pimblett stole the show at UFC 329, given the unfortunate
conclusion to the main event. After his bonus-winning triumph, “The
Baddy” claimed McGregor is “finished” before proclaiming himself
the new face of the UFC.
“Oh my god, McGregor's done already? Well, he is finished,”
Pimblett said in a post-fight interview. “The new boy is in town.
The main man is here. I can become the face of the organization
now.”
Hokit has now called out Pimblett and fighters in general for being
two-faced. “The Incredible Hok” believes fighters are respectful to
each other only at their own convenience. Hokit, who has quickly
risen to stardom in the UFC with his polarizing trash talk, backed
up by spectacular performances, doesn’t think his antics deserve
any criticism, considering how other fighters behave.
“Fighters are the most two-faced people in the world,” Hokit wrote
on X. “Nothing but respect and bow downs to one another when it’s
convenient… and you wonder why I do what I do.”
Fighters are the most two faced
people in the world.. nothing but respect and bow downs to one
another when it’s convenient.. and you wonder why I do what I do
https://t.co/UExkDfZ4QR— The
Incredible Hok (@Josh_HokitUFC)
July 12, 2026
McGregor (22-7) returned to action after five years in a
welterweight matchup against Max
Holloway (28-9) at
UFC 329 on Saturday in Las Vegas. The Irishman’s highly
anticipated return ended in 69 seconds after he injured his right
knee on the first kick he threw. While there were rumblings of
McGregor vs. Prates before the Holloway rematch was confirmed, the
Brazilian believes it wouldn’t have worked out for the former
two-division champ.
Carlos Prates has a warning for Conor McGregor: ‘I would hurt
you’
Reacting to UFC 329’s headliner, Prates says he would significantly
damage the UFC legend if they were to fight. “The Nightmare”
advises McGregor to never accept a booking against him. Prates also
believes that McGregor has already cemented his legacy and should
make way for the new generation now. He further took a dig at the
Irish star’s mohawk, which he donned for his latest outing.
“If I fight against u, I would hurt you bad bro,” Prates wrote on
his Instagram stories. “[It’s] alright don’t accept the fight
against me Mc chicken. And have your legacy already, now it’s time
for the new generation. And never cut your hair like this
again.”
Prates (24-7) has finished all seven of his UFC wins so far, while
only dropping a decision against Ian Garry,
who challenges Islam
Makhachev for the title at UFC
330. There were initially rumors of McGregor returning to
action against Prates. “Notorious” even claimed that the UFC had
offered him the Brazilian 170-pounder, but the matchup ultimately
fell through in favor of the Holloway rematch.
“If I fight against you I would hurt you bad bro. Don’t accept the
fight against me McChicken. And have your legacy already, now it’s
time for the new generation.
BRISTOL, Va. (WJHL) – What started as an idea brought to the Smith family by people in the local soccer community in 2022 and led to an inaugural season in 2024 has now reached a peak in only its third season.
Matt Smith, President, and Diane Smith, General Manager, are co-owners of Bristol Rhythm AFC. The two spoke with News Channel 11 about the team, its success, and what the National Premier Soccer League (NSPL) is.
The NSPL is a Tier 1 team in the men’s professional soccer pyramid in the United States, and has been around for about 20 years. While it is an amateur league without pay, the teams are held to pro-style standards, according to Diane Smith.
“People will loosely use the term semiprofessional to describe the league,” Diane said.
Matt Smith told News Channel 11 that this year’s success was built by head coach Dave Neijenhuis, who played at Tusculum and used only his soccer connections to build the team also drew on his knowledge of the area to add local talent.
“What Dave has done is that he built a culture in a short amount of time,” Matt said. “This team has a great rapport.”
Matt believes that the success is directly connected to every one of the players being on the team.
“I firmly believe the reason for success probably has to do with the fact that they are all a team,” he added. “It’s all about the collaborative effort between the coaching staff and team.”
Diane told News Channel 11 that with a shortened season, it can be hard to build a culture so fast, but this year the focus was on building those relationships before the season. She said that this season was a direct result of that camaraderie.
“We highly attribute some of the success to that because these players want to play hard for each other because they have such and respect for each other,” she said.
Before the game on Saturday, the Rhythm played a game on Wednesday, July 8, which ended in penalty kicks around 10:30 p.m., but the late game did not deter the team from capturing the Southeastern Conference later in the week.
“They were really driven to get the hardware,” Matt said. “You can tell last night by their effort, they were not going to lose.”
Diane Smith told News Channel 11 that the impact of the fans has been massive on the team during the matches.
“One of the biggest compliments we received this season was from an international supporter and she said, ‘This is the closest experience I’ve had to European football since I’ve been in the United States’,” Diane said. “So our crowd, our fans, our supporters, they deserve this so much because they have stuck with us when we weren’t getting results that we’re getting now.”
Bristol Rhythm AFC will host a quarterfinal game in the National Playoffs, July 18, at 7 p.m. at the Gene Malcolm Stadium in Bristol, VA.
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Mar 31, 2026; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak during the 2026 NFL Annual League Meeting at the Arizona Biltmore. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Klint Kubiak and the Las Vegas Raiders seem to have one national outlet believing in them way more than others are. Bleacher Report seems to think this team could be a surprise playoff team.
The Las Vegas Raiders made Bleacher Report Gridiron’s list of five potential surprise playoff teams, and while they may be one of the few outlets willing to put that prediction into the ether, it raises a fair question about where this roster actually stands heading into the 2026 season.
Most expect Vegas to double its win total from last year, which sounds nice until you remember the Raiders won only three games. Jumping to six wins isn’t exactly a seismic leap. Making the playoffs, though? That’s a different conversation entirely.
Gridiron sees the vision. 👀 Don't be surprised when you see the #Raiders playing in January 🏴☠️
The Raiders play in one of the toughest divisions in football. If they want to win the AFC West, they have to go through the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, and Denver Broncos. Kansas City is still a dynasty until proven otherwise, with one of the best players in NFL history in quarterback Patrick Mahomes and multiple Super Bowl titles over the last few years.
The Broncos were a few plays away from a Super Bowl appearance last season. The Chargers are always a strong regular-season team, even if they never seem to translate that into postseason success. That leaves the Raiders still trying to figure out where they fit. Even making the wild card, which likely requires finishing second in the division, feels like a stretch right now. Las Vegas could just as easily finish third or fourth again.
Then there’s quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the franchise signal-caller, who might not even play this season because veteran Kirk Cousins is still performing at a high level. Vegas also improved its offensive line depth this offseason. On the defensive side, the Raiders spent heavily in free agency and used draft capital to bolster that unit as well.
Should you bet on this team? Probably not
The honest answer is no, nobody should put their money on the Raiders making the playoffs. The roster improvements are real, and the talent is undeniable in spots. But translating that into enough wins to crack the postseason field in the AFC West requires more than on-paper potential. It requires consistency, quarterback clarity, and a lot of things breaking their way.
That said, Bleacher Report thinks Vegas is a team worth watching, and that alone has to feel good for a franchise coming off a three-win season. The Raiders have built something worth monitoring, even if the playoff conversation still feels premature.
In Formula 1, the undercut is a pit stop strategy where a driver stops earlier than a direct rival, uses the pace of fresh tyres to gain time while the rival stays out on worn rubber, and emerges ahead once that rival finally pits. F1 Chronicle analysis of 766 undercut attempts from 2022 to 2026 shows the typical successful undercut gains between 0.5 and 2.5 seconds, though the effect varies enormously by circuit.
Key Takeaways
An undercut means pitting before your rival to exploit the pace advantage of fresh tyres during their slower in-lap and your faster out-lap.
Across 766 measured attempts from 2022 to 2026, the strongest undercut circuit is Las Vegas, with a median gain of 4.22 seconds.
Bahrain is the most reliable undercut venue in the sport, with a 2.38 second median gain across 82 attempts, the largest sample in the dataset.
The undercut is not universal: at Melbourne and Qatar the median attempt loses time, making those overcut circuits.
The biggest risks are rejoining in traffic, a rival covering the stop immediately, and running out of tyre life late in the race.
What Is an Undercut in F1?
The undercut exists because of two facts of modern Formula 1: fresh tyres are faster than worn ones, and overtaking on track is hard. Rather than fighting a rival wheel to wheel, a team can beat them in the pit cycle. The attacking driver stops first, gets the new-tyre pace advantage immediately, and banks time on every lap the rival delays. If the banked time exceeds the gap between the cars, the attacker comes out in front when the rival eventually stops.
The tactic became central to F1 strategy after refuelling was banned at the end of 2009. With fuel loads fixed, tyre condition became the dominant performance variable in a race, and the timing of the single act of changing tyres became the sharpest strategic weapon on the pit wall.
How the Undercut Works, Step by Step
Two rivals run in dirty air, close together, neither able to pass on track.
The attacking team pits its driver first, accepting the roughly 20 second cost of a pit stop.
The attacker pushes hard on the out-lap and the laps that follow, while the defender circulates on older, slower tyres.
Each lap the defender delays, the attacker claws back time. When the defender finally pits, the positions are decided by the stopwatch.
A live example from this season shows the mechanism with real numbers. At the 2026 Barcelona Grand Prix, Max Verstappen pitted on lap 12 while running 3.7 seconds behind Oscar Piastri. Two laps later, once both cars had stopped and completed two racing laps, Verstappen's deficit had turned into a 6.3 second swing in his favour through the pit cycle. That is the undercut working exactly as designed: the pass happened in the pits, not on the track.
How Much Time Does an Undercut Gain? The Data
Most explanations of the undercut stop at the theory. To measure it, F1 Chronicle analysed every dry-race pit stop pair from the 2022 to 2026 seasons using official F1 timing data: 766 genuine undercut attempts once safety cars, virtual safety cars, red flags and wet races were stripped out.
The headline finding: the median undercut gain at the Las Vegas Grand Prix is 4.22 seconds, the strongest effect of any circuit measured, while the Australian Grand Prix produces the weakest median at -0.79 seconds. That negative number means an undercut attempt at Albert Park has, more often than not, cost the attacking driver time.
Median undercut gain by circuit, 2022-2026. Source: F1 Chronicle analysis of official F1 timing data.
Las Vegas topping the table surprises people who expect a classic high-degradation venue, but it fits what drivers experience there: a cold, low-grip surface that grains tyres viciously, so a car on fresh rubber gains huge chunks against a rival whose tyres have hit the cliff. Bahrain, the sport's textbook undercut circuit, sits second on the largest sample in the dataset. At the other end, Qatar and Melbourne both return negative medians, statistical confirmation that those are overcut circuits. Monaco does not appear at all, and that is a finding in itself: so many Monaco pit windows are consumed by safety cars that fewer than ten clean undercut attempts survive the filters across five seasons.
Full circuit table: median and mean undercut gain, 2022-2026.
Methodology: undercut instances are pit stop pairs where two cars within 5.5 seconds of each other on track stopped one or two laps apart. The gain is the change in the time gap between them from just before the stops to two racing laps after the later car rejoined. Instances are excluded if either car pitted more than once in the window, if the session ran intermediate or wet tyres at any point, or if a safety car, virtual safety car or red flag affected the window. Circuits are grouped by physical track, not event name, and need at least 10 qualifying instances to be published. The reported figure is the median rather than the mean, since a single outlier can otherwise dominate a small sample, and results are stable across attacker-defender gap thresholds from 3.0 to 5.5 seconds.
When Does the Undercut Work Best?
Three conditions consistently produce strong undercuts. The first is high tyre degradation. The faster old tyres fall away, the bigger the pace gap fresh rubber enjoys, which is why Bahrain's abrasive surface delivers a 2.38 second median across 82 measured attempts.
The second is a hard-to-pass layout. Aston Martin Performance Director Tom McCullough calls these track-position races, where the undercut is, in his words, “the best option” because beating a rival in the pit cycle is far cheaper than beating them on the circuit.
“Working out the best option around pitstops comes down to the tyre performance and the difficulty to overtake. Normally, in what we call a ‘track-position race’ where overtaking is harder, the undercut is the best option because you get fresh tyres earlier than your competitor and you can jump ahead of them once they’ve stopped,” said McCullough.
The third is a compound offset: stopping early to move onto a faster compound amplifies the fresh-tyre advantage on the laps that decide the swing.
Strategists do not guess at any of this. Former Aston Martin strategy chief Bernadette Collins has described how teams feed more than a thousand data points per second into millions of predictive race simulations, so by the time a pit wall calls an undercut, the expected gain has already been modelled against the risk of traffic on the rejoin.
When the Undercut Backfires
The undercut fails in three recurring ways, and the data shows the failures are not rare: even at strong undercut circuits, a meaningful share of attempts lose time.
Traffic on the out-lap is the classic killer. Fresh tyres are worthless behind a slower car, and one backmarker can erase the entire theoretical gain. The second failure is the cover stop: if the defending team reacts instantly and pits its driver the very next lap, the fresh-tyre windows cancel out and the attacker has spent track position for nothing. The third is the long game. Stopping earlier means finishing the race on older tyres, and a rival who stayed out inherits exactly the fresh-rubber advantage in the final stint that the attacker enjoyed in the middle of the race.
Circuit choice is a failure mode of its own. The negative medians at Melbourne and Qatar show that at some venues the slow out-lap on cold tyres costs more than the fresh rubber returns, and the percentage play there is the opposite strategy.
Undercut vs Overcut: Which Wins Where?
The overcut is the mirror image: stay out longer than the rival who has pitted, use clean air and stable tyres to bank time while they struggle on a slow out-lap, and stop later to emerge ahead. It thrives where tyre warm-up is difficult, where degradation is low, and where clean air is worth more than fresh rubber.
The 2022-2026 data draws the map plainly. Las Vegas, Bahrain, Zandvoort and Imola are undercut territory. Melbourne and Qatar lean to the overcut, with median undercut attempts there losing 0.79 and 0.36 seconds respectively. Monaco sits in its own category, where safety cars decide most pit windows and neither tactic can be measured cleanly across a season.
Real Undercuts From Recent Seasons, Measured
These examples come straight from the same 2022-2026 timing dataset, with the gains measured through the pit cycle rather than estimated.
Monaco 2026: George Russell pitted on lap 31 half a second behind Isack Hadjar and swung the gap by 8.8 seconds through the stop cycle, proof that when a clean undercut window does appear at Monaco, it is devastating.
Austria 2026: Oscar Piastri stopped on lap 19 running 1.5 seconds behind Lando Norris and gained 6.2 seconds through the cycle on his championship rival.
Barcelona 2025: Carlos Sainz was undercut twice in the same race, losing 13.2 seconds to Oliver Bearman and 12.6 seconds to Yuki Tsunoda through stops on lap 8, the largest measured swings in the 2025 season.
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The undercut is a strategy where a driver pits before a direct rival to gain the pace advantage of fresh tyres, aiming to emerge ahead once the rival makes their own stop.
How much time does an undercut gain in F1?
Based on F1 Chronicle analysis of 766 undercut attempts from 2022 to 2026, the typical undercut gains between 0.5 and 2.5 seconds. Las Vegas shows the largest median gain at 4.22 seconds, Bahrain averages 2.38 seconds, and at Melbourne and Qatar the median attempt loses time.
When is the undercut most effective?
The undercut works best at circuits with high tyre degradation, layouts where overtaking is difficult, and situations where the attacking driver can rejoin in clean air, ideally while moving onto a faster tyre compound.
What are the risks of the undercut?
The three main risks are rejoining behind slower traffic, the rival covering the stop a lap later and cancelling the advantage, and carrying older tyres than rivals in the final stint of the race.
What is the difference between an undercut and an overcut?
The undercut attacks by pitting first and using fresh tyres to gain time; the overcut attacks by staying out longer and using clean air while the rival struggles through a slow out-lap. High-degradation circuits favour the undercut, while low-degradation and warm-up-limited circuits favour the overcut.
MONTREAL (AP) — Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was tossed from the New York Liberty's 93-91 loss to Toronto on Sunday after she threw a shoe that hit Tempo player Marina Mabrey in the back late in the fourth quarter.
Laney-Hamilton was trying to get the sneaker back to teammate Jonquel Jones after it had fallen off. The errant toss ended up hitting Mabrey. After a review, the officials gave her a technical foul — her second of the game — for throwing a “projectile on the court.”
The incident occurred with 1:48 left in the game and after Mabrey hit the free throw, Toronto had a 91-89 lead. The Liberty had rallied from 20 points down before falling short.
“I’ve never seen anything like that. We had all the momentum in the world. A shoe hit somebody. Ejected, free throws. I’ve also never seen a ref make such an atrocious call when he’s on the other side of the floor,” Liberty coach Chris DeMarco said after the game.
The pool report didn't mention intent, just that the shoe hit Mabrey in the back and Laney-Hamilton was given the technical.
DeMarco said that Laney-Hamilton wasn't trying to hit Mabrey, who agreed that's what happened.
“I had to take a couple breaths,” Mabrey said of her reaction to the shoe hitting her. “But I think she was really just trying to get the shoe back to JJ. But I’ll take the free throw.”
Mabrey and Laney-Hamilton had been jawing at each other the entire game and both were called for a technical foul in the third quarter.
Toronto coach Sandy Brondello, who used to coach the Liberty, said she thought the shoe hitting Mabrey was unintentional.
Dec 6, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart looks on during the fourth quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the 2025 SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Georgia Bulldogs are losing some recruiting battles to some pretty bad programs considering where they’re at. Now they’ve lost out on Censere Gaylord.
His decision leaves the Bulldogs without a single cornerback commitment among their 18 pledges, a glaring hole in a class that currently ranks No. 16 nationally and No. 8 in the SEC.
BREAKING: Four-Star CB Censere Gaylord has Committed to Washington, he tells me for @Rivals
The 6'0 173 CB chose the Huskies over Georgia and Georgia Tech
Gaylord holds a 91.78 composite rating on Rivals Industry, ranks as a top-112 player nationally according to 247Sports, and checks in as the No. 13 player at his position and the No. 12 prospect in the state of Florida. By every measure, he was one of the premier defensive backs available in this cycle.
Georgia appeared to be in a strong position. The Bulldogs hosted Gaylord for three visits, more than any other program in his final group. Washington and Georgia Tech each received visits as well, but Georgia logged the most face time. Despite that investment, Gaylord chose the Huskies.
Why this stings for the Bulldogs
The visit total is worth noting. When a program leads in official or unofficial visits and still loses a prospect, it can raise questions. That said, this likely comes down to factors outside Georgia’s control. We don’t know exactly what Washington offered Gaylord from an NIL standpoint, and that package could have been significantly larger than what the Bulldogs put on the table.
Location clearly wasn’t the deciding factor, either. Georgia sits much closer to Bradenton than Washington does, separated by roughly a day’s drive compared to a cross-country flight. If proximity to home mattered to Gaylord, the Bulldogs would have had a built-in advantage. They didn’t, which suggests other elements of Washington’s pitch resonated more.
Georgia’s cornerback need is real
The bigger concern here is the positional void this creates. Georgia does not have a single cornerback in its 2027 class. Zero. Out of 18 commitments, none play the position. That’s a problem for a program that expects to compete for SEC titles and College Football Playoff berths every season.
Gaylord represented the top option to fill that gap, and now the Bulldogs will have to pivot to other targets. The 2027 cycle still has time to develop, and Georgia’s brand, coaching staff, and track record of developing defensive backs into NFL stars remain powerful recruiting tools. But there’s no sugarcoating this one. Losing the top available cornerback after investing three visits is a setback, and the remaining targets on Georgia’s board just got a lot more important.
TOPEKA (KSNT) – Former Kansas men’s basketball player Lagerald Vick has been charged with attempted murder and using a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony.
This story was first reported by the Kansas City Star, as Vick was charged and booked into the Shelby County Jail in Memphis, Tenn., on July 11, according to court records obtained by KSNT.
On July 5, at approximately 2:05 a.m., Memphis Police responded to a “shooting with person struck” call at Regional One Hospital.
Police say the victim told investigators he became involved in a verbal confrontation with a man carrying a handgun tucked under his arm. The victim said he attempted to leave the confrontation, but as he turned to run, he was shot once in the back. He was later transported to Regional One Hospital in a private vehicle.
The victim was able to provide the first name of the suspect, which led investigators to develop Lagerald Vick as a potential suspect.
On July 7, the victim identified Vick as the person responsible for shooting him from a lineup.
Court records show Vick’s bond has been set at $1.5 million. He is scheduled to appear in court Monday, July 13 for an arraignment, followed by a bond review hearing Tuesday.
Vick, a Memphis native, played four seasons at Kansas from 2015-19, appearing in 94 games and making 41 starts. During his senior season, he averaged 14.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, before taking a leave of absence from the program in February 2019.
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Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) reacts at bat against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the third inning at Dodger Stadium.
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani did exactly what the Dodgers have come to expect.
On the very first pitch of Sunday's first inning, Ohtani launched a leadoff home run into the seats, giving the Dodgers an instant lead and briefly energizing a Dodger Stadium crowd hoping to avoid a sweep.
It was Ohtani's 22nd home run of the season and his ninth leadoff homer, another reminder that even while managing irritation in his left knee, Ohtani continues to be the man in the lineup.
Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Sunday's game followed the same script that haunted them all weekend.
The offense disappeared after jumping out to a 3-0 lead, the defense unraveled, and Arizona capitalized on every mistake to rally for a 5-3 victory, completing a three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium and sending the Dodgers into the All-Star break searching for answers.
At 61-36, after being outscored 23-8 by the Diamondbacks over the weekend, they head into the break with more questions than momentum.
Emmet Sheehan deserved a better outcome.
Making his final start before the break, the right-hander was outstanding through much of his outing. He struck out seven hitters over 5⅓ innings, allowing just three hits while throwing 101 pitches. One of the highlights came during a grueling 14-pitch battle with Ketel Marte that ended with a strikeout, showcasing the sharp stuff Sheehan displayed throughout the afternoon.
"It's been better the last couple of weeks," Sheehan said of his recent stretch.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Emmet Sheehan (80) pitches during the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.
William Liang-Imagn Images
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Emmet Sheehan (80) pitches during the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.
But baseball games can change in an instant, and Sunday's turned on a handful of defensive miscues.
The D-Backs finally broke through in the fifth with back-to-back doubles before Andy Pages dropped a fly ball near the warning track, opening the door for the Diamondbacks to claw back into the game.
Then came the sequence that ultimately defined the afternoon.
With runners aboard in the sixth inning, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a slow roller to Max Muncy. Rather than attempting an inning-ending double play, Muncy fired home, but his throw struck Geraldo Perdomo in the back, allowing the tying run to score on an error.
It was another costly defensive mistake for a club that has suddenly become uncharacteristically sloppy.
The Dodgers have committed nine errors over their last five games, a glaring departure from the fundamentally sound baseball that carried them through the first half.
"Anything in front of you to your right, you go home. Anything to your left, you try to turn two," Muncy explained afterward while discussing his decision on the play.
Roberts' bullpen gamble also backfired. After removing Sheehan in the sixth, Roberts turned to one of his most trusted relievers in Edgardo Henriquez. This time, however, the move didn't pay off.
Henriquez surrendered the go-ahead RBI single that gave the D-Backs its first lead of the afternoon and ultimately suffered his first loss of the season.
The Dodgers never answered.
Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Tommy Edman (25) hits an RBI double against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the third inning at Dodger Stadium.
William Liang-Imagn Images
Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Tommy Edman (25) hits an RBI double against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the third inning at Dodger Stadium.
After Tommy Edman's two-run single gave the Dodgers a 3-0 advantage early, the offense simply vanished. The Dodgers collected just two hits over the first three innings, both from Ohtani, and Edman's RBI single accounted for their final hit of the afternoon.
The Diamondbacks retired the Dodgers without another hit the rest of the way.
"We just didn't take good at-bats," Roberts said.
"When you get opportunities to cash in a run, we have to be better."
The offensive drought was only part of the story.
Arizona played cleaner baseball, executed in key situations and continued to get unlikely production from one of the hottest hitters of the weekend.
Tim Tawa entered the series without a home run this season.
He left Los Angeles with three.
Tawa capped off his remarkable weekend by launching another home run in the ninth inning off Evan Phillips, giving him three homers and seven RBIs over the three-game series while becoming an unexpected thorn in the Dodgers' side.
Sometimes baseball's biggest stars determine a series.
This weekend, it was an unlikely role player.
Roberts didn't shy away from acknowledging which team played with greater urgency.
"At the end of the day, they outplayed us," Roberts said. "They wanted it more, that's just the truth. Every game matters and we didn't play well the last five or six days. You're facing a team who is fighting for their lives and it showed in this series."
Roberts also pointed directly to the Dodgers' recent defensive struggles.
"Some mental lapses, some physical lapses," Roberts said. "Something that we've been really good at is not giving away games because of our defense. This last week it's just been below average for sure."
That's perhaps the biggest concern heading into the break.
The Dodgers remain in an excellent position atop the National League standings, and no one inside the clubhouse is going to overreact to one bad weekend.
But championship-caliber teams don't typically beat themselves.
This series was filled with defensive mistakes, missed scoring opportunities and momentum-changing errors, areas that have defined the Dodgers' success for years because they usually avoid them.
Ohtani supplied another electric start. Sheehan gave the Dodgers a quality outing. Neither was enough.
Instead, the Dodgers head into the All-Star break with an uncomfortable reminder that talent alone doesn't guarantee victories when clean baseball disappears.
The Dodgers will look to regroup during the break before opening the second half Friday, July 17, against the Yankees in the Bronx.
A young woman who trolled Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo during the last World Cup has remade her video following the team’s elimination at this year’s tournament.
After the Portuguese national team was eliminated by Morocco in the quarter finals of the 2022 World Cup, a Moroccan girl went viral for teasing Ronaldo’s emotional response to the loss.
“The Portugal airport is that way,” she said. “And where’s Ronaldo? He’s crying in his car. Poor Ronaldo.”
Fast forward to Monday (July 6), and the Portuguese soccer team, led by Ronaldo, lost to Spain. Ronaldo was emotional again, so it was the perfect opportunity for the young lady to remake her viral video using her original audio.
Moroccan girl who went viral last World Cup for her “Portugal airport is that way” “Poor Ronaldo” video has created a 2026 version after they were eliminated again. pic.twitter.com/KIjcIIvIfn
Ronaldo’s latest L in the World Cup will be his last, according to an announcement he made after Portugal’s loss to Spain. During a post-game interview with reporters, directly after wiping tears from his eyes as he applauded fans for watching the game at Dallas Stadium, Ronaldo confirmed to reporters that he wouldn’t be back at the World Cup.
"I'm sad to leave the World Cup this way," he said. "As I said yesterday, I gave it my all, and I leave with a clear conscience. That's the life of a footballer. You have to move forward. It was my last World Cup, yes. But as for the rest, there's time to think, to be with my family, and not say things in the heat of the moment."
Portugal’s coach, Roberto Martínez, also released a statement about Ronaldo’s impact on the team.
"I arrived with Portugal at a time with a lot of confusion and doubts about Cristiano, and he's been a role model, not just with goals and assists, what he does in the box, his commitment, how he experiences football. He's an example, we have to celebrate him,” Martínez.
"We're talking about an icon in football,” he added. “There aren't many Cristiano Ronaldos. We have to be thankful for what he did at this World Cup. He wanted to win it, as a player, a captain, on a human level, we'll all take it with us forever. An example as the human being who is behind the sportsman."
Dillhoff was a two-year letterwinner at Lebanon High School. He helped lead them to the school’s first district title as a senior in 2022, his college bio page said.
He threw a one-hit shutout, striking out 14, in the title game.
Dillhoff went 4-5 this past season for UNLV.
He had a 7.53 ERA in 15 starts and led the team with 94 strikeouts.
The Dodgers have looked like a shell of themselves over the last three games, seemingly suffering from a lack of focus with the All-Star break so close.
Also, LA is ahead in the division by more than 10 games, giving them a cushion to breathe and not push too hard.
On Sunday, the Dodgers took a 5-3 loss despite leading for most of the game, until two bad innings of errant pitching and defensive mistakes.
Jul 12, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) celebrates after hitting a solo home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images
The Dodgers have definitely made the most of their lead, taking their foot off the gas to lose 23-8 combined against Arizona.
What has gone wrong for the Dodgers?
Just about everything that can go wrong has for the Dodgers during their last series of the first half of the season.
The Dodgers made multiple errors during the series, and the pitching was lackluster from both the bullpen and the rotation, while the offense failed to put together sustained stretches of offense.
Andy Pages made an error that he usually never makes on a fly ball, while Max Muncy has continued a stretch where he makes the wrong read defensively.
The team had three hits on Sunday and six on Saturday, with most of the runs coming from home runs rather than the sustained pressure the team usually applies.
Among other strengths, the Dodgers have been really good at moving on from bad games — the main reason for their lack of sweep up until now — but for the first time all year, they failed to get past a rough game or two.
Jul 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (30) stands in the dugout prior to a game against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jon Endow-Imagn Images
Who played well for the Dodgers?
Shohei Ohtani, even with some knee discomfort lingering in the background, had a good series.
He hit two home runs, went four-for-11 from the plate, and looked good swinging the bat and making plate appearances.
Additionally, Emmet Sheehan had a good start, allowing just one earned run in a 5.1 innings-pitched start. He got seven strikeouts, allowed one walk, and allowed only three hits.
The Dodgers do not play a game until Friday, when they host the New York Yankees in a blockbuster series.
They will need this week to get things ironed out, reset, and get healthy for the big sprint in the second part of July.
Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is getting treatment for his left knee after a good deal of discomfort led the team to play it safe and pull him from his last scheduled start before the All-Star break.
Ohtani has a history of knee problems, having been born with a bipartite patella, which led to him having surgery back in 2019.
One of the symptoms of the condition is dealing with inflammation or irritation at times. The surgery was meant to end any issues with the left knee related to the condition, but similar symptoms have arisen.
This time, Ohtani will not undergo full-blown surgery; rather, he will undergo treatment, according to the Dodgers.
Jul 12, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) reacts at bat against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the third inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images
After Sunday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Ohtani is set to have his knee drained to remove any built-up fluid, then receive a pain-relieving injection.
“He’s been managing this quite well, the knee,” manager Dave Roberts said. “So if there’s a chance that we could kind of be proactive and get it drained and do whatever we need to do to try to manage it, along with the rest for the All-Star break, we were going to do that.”
Jun 13, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (30) in the dugout before the game against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images
What is the plan for Ohtani after the treatment?
Despite making the All-Star Game, Ohtani will not play; in fact, he won’t even travel, so he can get right back to pitching regularly following the All-Star break.
“The goal is to be able to throw according to regular schedule,” Ohtani said. “Although I could’ve started today, it would’ve still been pushing the envelope a little bit. But my every intention is to use the off days to make sure I’m in a good place to be able to be in the rotation.”
As the season progresses, fans should expect the Dodgers to be careful now that the postseason will be getting ever closer.
Memphis-born professional basketball player Lagerald Vick was charged with attempted first-degree murder on July 8, court documents show.
Vick was also charged with one count of employing a firearm with the intention to commit a felony.
According to an affidavit, Memphis Police Department officers responded to a "shooting with persons struck" call at Regional One Hospital in the early hours of July 5.
The victim, Carlos Funzie, said he was at a party on Madewell Drive in North Memphis when he was approached by a man with a handgun tucked under his armpit. Funzie said the man confronted him verbally.
According to the affidavit, Funzie tried to de-escalate the situation and turned away. The suspect allegedly fired one shot at Funzie, which struck him in the back, and pointed the handgun at Funzie before fleeing the scene.
Vick, 29, was born in Memphis and committed to play basketball at the University of Kansas in May 2015. As a senior in 2018, Vick became the first Jayhawk in the program's history to make eight threes without a miss.
In February 2019, Vick took a leave of absence from the team for "personal matters." In December 2019, he joined the Yulon Luxgen Dinos of the Super Basketball League in Taiwan and played internationally for various teams until April 2024.
Vick's bond was set at $1.5 million.
Jack Armstrong covers breaking news and the environment for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at jack.armstrong@commercialappeal.comand followed on X @jca2902.
MONTREAL (AP) — Marina Mabrey scored 30 points, Nyara Sabally made the tiebreaking basket with 52 seconds left after Toronto blew a 20-point lead, and the Tempo beat the New York Liberty 93-91 on Sunday at the Bell Centre.
Mabrey had her second consecutive 30-point game and her fifth this season, including a 53-point performance — which tied the WNBA’s single-game record — in a 125-97 win over Los Angeles on June 25.
Breanna Stewart made a layup that tied it at 91-all with 1:30 to play, but Julie Allemand, who finished with 10 assists, found Sabally for the go-ahead layup as the Tempo snapped a four-game losing streak, the longest of their expansion season.
Sabrina Ionescu scored 28 points and Stewart added 22 for the Liberty (13-11), who have lost seven of their last nine. Jonquel Jones had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Laura Juskaite had 18 points, Maria Conde scored 15 and Sabally had 13 for the Tempo (10-13), who led 74-54 late in the third quarter.
The Liberty ripped off a 16-4 run as Toronto committed five turnovers that trimmed their deficit to 84-80 when Ionescu made a layup with 5:36 to play.
The Tempo snapped a three-game skid in games which they led going into the final period. Toronto, which was outscored 27-13 in the final 10 minutes, has a minus-49 point differential in its last five fourth quarters.
The Tempo lost 108-95 against Dallas despite 34 points from Mabrey on Friday night, also at the Bell Centre in front of a WNBA regular-season record crowd of 20,996. Toronto also plays two home games at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, later this season.
New York's Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was ejected in the closing minutes for throwing a shoe at Mabrey. Laney-Hamilton and Mabrey were hit with double technical fouls after a scuffle in the third quarter.
UFC CEO Dana White got a bit defensive after accusations surfaced on Saturday night that star fighter Conor McGregor, who was making his return to the octagon after a five-year absence, had been injured prior to his fight with Max Holloway to headline UFC 329 in Las Vegas.
McGregor lost to Holloway via TKO 69 seconds into the first round of Saturday’s fight. Subsequent reports indicated that the Irishman had injured his knee on the first kick of the fight, and was unable to continue afterwards.
Following the card, White seemed to have finished up his post-event press conference with reporters, but the UFC CEO oddly returned to the microphone to offer a bizarre defense of McGregor’s health based on the number of people who had watched a clip of McGregor prior to the fight on social media.
“So, we were talking about the guy over here earlier asking about if there had been a pre-injury. Just on my accounts, the faceoff that day is at 80 million views. So if there was a preexisting injury, someone would’ve noticed it,” White claimed. “If he was limping, put his shoes on, he ran right at him. I don’t think there was [an injury]. Anything is possible, but he sure didn’t look like it. And for 80 million just on my accounts, that number’s gotta be massive, and no one’s noticed anything. So, there ya go.”
For the CEO of an MMA outfit to claim with any authority that a fighter was or was not injured based on how many people had watched a specific video clip on social media is nothing short of unconventional. But unconventional has never stopped White in the past.
BALTIMORE (AP) — Leody Taveras homered and drove in three runs, Samuel Basallo added a solo shot and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals 8-2 Sunday for a three-game sweep.
The game was interrupted in the seventh inning when several players from both teams converged around the plate after Kansas City's Lucas Erceg hit Blaze Alexander on the arm with a pitch. The off-target pitch came immediately after Erceg yielded Basallo's homer to make it 8-2.
Alexander shouted at Erceg, and Orioles manager Craig Albernaz quickly stepped in to restrain Alexander. Players from both dugouts and bullpens approached, but no punches were thrown, no one was shoved and no one was ejected.
Alexander had two hits and scored twice for the Orioles, who enter the All-Star break with their first four-game winning streak of the season.
Taveras hit a two-run homer in the second inning, a drive estimated at 448 feet. He also singled in the tiebreaking run during a five-run sixth that put Baltimore up 7-2.
Lane Thomas went 3 for 4 with an RBI for the Royals, who were swept for the eighth time this season, most in the majors. Kansas City's fifth straight defeat left the last-place team a season-high 21 games under .500 (38-59).
Baltimore's big sixth inning was fueled by a fly ball that Royals right fielder Jac Caglianone lost in the sun and a balk that forced in a run. Taveras made it 3-2 with an RBI single and Jeremiah Jackson had a pinch-hit RBI double before Taveras scored on a balk by Matt Strahm (3-3).
Orioles starter Shane Baz was lifted after throwing 104 pitches over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out nine and allowed one earned run.
Grant Wolfram (2-2), the second of five Baltimore relievers, got the win.
Up next
After the All-Star break, KC resumes play Friday night at home against San Diego. Baltimore follows the break with a matchup Friday night in Houston.
Cristopher Sánchez of the Philadelphia Phillies will start Tuesday night's All-Star Game in his home ballpark, taking the mound for the National League against Dylan Cease of the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays announced Sunday that Cease will be the American League's starter. Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who is managing the NL, said Sanchez is his starter.
“I think he deserves it. He’s the hometown ballplayer and I think the city of Philly will enjoy watching him and supporting him,” Roberts said. “I had a conversation with him this morning. ... He was very grateful. In a time when guys are not wanting to participate, this guy in the Midsummer Classic for fans, I think this is a good thing. He’s very excited about pitching.”
Also Sunday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said New York right-hander Cam Schlittler is not planning to pitch in the All-Star Game. Schlittler will still be at the game and there is no replacement planned for the AL roster.
Sanchez is 11-4 with a 2.62 ERA this season. He's third in the major leagues with 144 strikeouts. The left-hander's streak of 50 2/3 scoreless innings was a highlight of the major league season so far.
Milwaukee's Jacob Misiorowski, who leads the majors in ERA (1.62), WHIP (0.76) and strikeouts (167), was replaced on the All-Star team earlier in the week, when it appeared he would be starting for the Brewers on Sunday. Then Milwaukee scratched him from that start because of arm fatigue.
Cease is 6-4 with a 2.56 ERA for the Blue Jays. He nearly threw his second career no-hitter Wednesday against San Francisco, but it was broken up in the ninth inning.
Cease is the first Toronto pitcher to start the All-Star Game since Roy Halladay in 2009.
Schlittler was a candidate to start, boasting an AL-leading ERA of 2.05, but he pitched for the Yankees on Saturday.
“Just feels like on his recovery day to go back out there throwing 100 mph is something that I think he felt a little apprehensive about,” Boone told reporters before New York's game at Washington. “Certainly support that decision and obviously I think he understands what’s at stake here in the second half too for us and for him.”
Schlittler could start the opening game of the second half against the Dodgers on Friday at Yankee Stadium.
After the success of the first-ever 48-team World Cup this summer, FIFA will examine yet another expansion to its quadrennial tournament.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino told Swiss media outlet Bluewin that the potential for a 64-team tournament in 2030 “will be examined and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup,” according to a report in The Athletic. The 2030 World Cup is slated to be held across six nations and three continents, with Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay scheduled to host one match a piece at the start of the competition to commemorate the inaugural World Cup, hosted 100 years prior in Uruguay. The remainder of the planned 48-team tournament would take place in Morocco, Portugal, and Spain.
However, an expansion to 64 teams could chance that calculus, potentially allowing Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay to each host an entire group for the tournament, rather than just a single match.
“Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup,” Infantino said. “You can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high—and it’s getting higher and higher, all over the world.”
The FIFA president added: “If you don’t give smaller countries a chance to participate in the World Cup, they’ll lack the incentive to keep improving.”
It’s unclear whether the World Cup would permanently expand to 64 teams, or if FIFA would choose to expand the tournament just once to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup. A 64-team format would make for a neater group stage in which the top two finishers in 16 groups advance to the Round of 32. One criticism of this year’s 48-team format was that an entire group stage was played just to eliminate 16 teams, with the top eight third-place finishers advanced to the knockout rounds. A 64-team field would mark a return to how the World Cup group stage typically operated, just with more groups.
Assuming FIFA were to pick this format (16 groups of four teams with the top two finishers advancing from each), the World Cup would expand from 104 games under the 48-team field, to 128 games in a 64-team field. In other words, FIFA would be creating 24 games of additional inventory to sell to broadcast partners across the globe.
As most already know, FIFA will be going to market shortly after this World Cup ends with U.S. broadcast rights for the 2030 and 2034 tournaments. While FIFA have not yet formally approached media companies for bids, there are a laundry list of broadcast networks and streamers that will be interested in securing rights. Incumbents Fox (English) and Telemundo (Spanish) will certainly look to retain rights, though Telemundo parent NBCUniversal reportedly isn’t interested if the price per tournament approaches $2 billion. Netflix, YouTube, Apple, and Disney have all also been listed as interested suitors. FIFA, for its part, could also choose to sell English-language and Spanish-language rights together, should a company put in a compelling enough offer.
The expanded format, however, could pave the way for FIFA to split World Cup rights among multiple partners. With robust interest from both streamers and linear networks, and the likelihood that television consumption will still be substantially fragmented between those two distribution methods come 2030, FIFA may be wise to split its inventory among multiple partners that together can offer a mixed approach.
Added inventory from a 64-team format helps that cause. Prospective partners could be more amenable to sharing a larger tournament, since even a 50-50 split would grant them rights to 64 games each. For reference, the old 32-team format featured just 64 games in its entirety.
Prior reports suggest that media companies are expecting FIFA to command between $1.5 billion and $2 billion for the 2030 tournament. That’s more than triple the price Fox is paying for this year’s World Cup ($485 million), though that price is not at all indicative of the true market rate this World Cup would’ve garnered in a competitive bidding process.
Whether that $1.5 billion to $2 billion range is what media companies are genuinely expecting, or it’s simply a range FIFA would like to get out there in public, one thing is certain: adding 16 more teams and 24 more games to the tournament will definitely sweeten the pot for prospective media partners.
How likely it is that FIFA shift to 64 teams in 2030 is another question entirely. Two confederations, CONCACAF and UEFA, have already laid out full qualifying schedules for the next World Cup cycle, and those schedules are predicated on a 48-team field. 2030 World Cup qualifying in CONCACAF begins in September 2027, meaning any expansion decisions by FIFA would likely need to be made in relatively short order.
Of course, FIFA will need to know exactly what it’s selling anyway before approaching potential broadcast partners to submit bids. And if reports of FIFA’s plans to strike while the iron is hot after a successful 2026 World Cup are true, it’ll want to make a decision on 64 vs. 48 before long.
A look-alike contest celebrating Norway striker Erling Haaland drew crowds in downtown Miami ahead of the World Cup quarter-final against England.
The event was organised by content creator Emma Kate Willman after she went viral on social media over her resemblance to the football star.
Around two dozen contestants took part, showing off long blonde hair, football skills and even Haaland-inspired props.
The winner, a Norwegian holidaymaker, received two tickets to the quarter-final, while fans gathered to sing, cheer and celebrate the striker's growing popularity.
The Chicago White Sox selected UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2026 Major League Baseball Draft on Saturday in Philadelphia.
Cholowsky has been an enormously praised prospect for a few years and was viewed as the clear favorite to be the top pick of the 2026 MLB Draft before the season even began.
So, much of the baseball world has been well aware of Cholowsky for a long while, and one would think that MLB commissioner Rob Manfred would be too. Or that he would at least practice how to pronounce the name before announcing it to the world during the draft.
But Manfred mispronounced Cholowsky’s name when announcing the first pick of the draft, which was shown nationally on NBC for the first time (for the first 10 picks).
Huge blunder by the #MLB Commissoner. Can’t happen. Not a surprise Roch was the #1 pick. Manfred has to know how to say his name. https://t.co/ulzTVyKXq9
Cholowsky was even asked by the media about Manfred’s blunder and said (via the Associated Press/KTLA), “I didn’t hear it get butchered. I heard Roch and kind of lost it.”
Still, that’s pretty embarrassing stuff from the league’s commissioner on the big stage.
It's Boilermaker Sunday and the Observer-Dispatch will be with you live throughout the day as over 15,000 runners take to the streets of Utica for the 49th annual running of the road race.
Be sure to check back throughout the day, as we'll be talking with runners prerace and after, check in with the crowds cheering them on and, of course, letting you know who wins.
Race times
On race day - Sunday - the 5K run sets out first at 7:15 a.m. from the intersection of Burrstone Road and York Street. The wheelchair race starts at 7:45 a.m. with the 15K run 15 minutes later, both starting from Culver and Dwyer avenues.
All three races finish at the F.X. Matt Brewery on Columbia Street, home of the post-race party.
Raceday parking
5K runners can use the west lot at ConMed on Chenango Road and catch a shuttle to the start. Shuttles, running 5:30-7 a.m., are for registered runners only, and are not open to spectators or race volunteers.
Shuttle service to the 15K start line is available from 5:30 to 7:45 a.m. Birnie Bus will pick up runners at the corner of Columbia and State streets near the finish line, and near the rear of the post-race party at 409 Court Street and 802 Whitesboro Street.
Boilermaker draws runners
The annual event reached its entry caps at the end of June with 4,500 runners signed up for the 5K run through the city presented by Utica National and 11,000 for the featured 15K which is presented by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.
The 11,000 entries are the most for the 15K since 2019. The record field was 14,445 in 2017 before entries were capped. As many as 11,895 runners have completed the course in 2014. Approximately 80% of the entered runners complete the race in a given year; 8,472 of 10,687 entrants finished in 2025, matching the highest percentage (79%) since before the 2020 race was limited by the coronavirus pandemic.
"It looks like it will be mostly sunny through the day, with cloud cover only being about five to ten percent," Gill explained, adding that Sunday is looking dry with winds of about three miles per hour.
Currently, Gill said there looked to be no signs of precipitation on race day. "The humidity will be on the lower end, but definitely drink water and wear sunscreen."
Air Force flyover planned
Weather permitting, an element from the US Air Force is scheduled to conduct a flyover for the 49th annual running of the Boilermaker Road Race.
Should skies stay clear, a KC-135 refueling tanker jet from the 914th Air Refueling Wing out of the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station will grace the skies above the post-race party, held just outside of F.X. Matt Brewery.
“The Boilermaker is honored to be in a position where our country’s Air Force is prepared to participate in a flyover to help us celebrate the achievements of our over 15,500 participants on Sunday,” said Boilermaker President Mark Donovan in a statement. “In addition to our gratitude to the military and its personnel involved, we are also grateful for the work done by Senator Joseph Griffo and his staff to secure this exciting development for the benefit of Boilermaker Nation.”
Miami Mayhem's Megan Kraft and Kelly Cheng (L-R) pose after winning a match against Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
LONG BEACH Calif. - Day 1 of the AVP Long Beach tounament kicked off at Alamitos Beach. The Sporting Tribune's Edwin So was there to capture the following images>
Miami Mayhem’s Megan Kraft pops the ball over the outstretched arms of Dallas Dream's Kylie Deberg during a match between Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Miami Mayhem’s Megan Kraft pops the ball over the outstretched arms of Dallas Dream's Kylie Deberg during a match between Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Brooklyn Blaze's Evan Cory goes up for a jump serve during a match between Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Brooklyn Blaze's Evan Cory goes up for a jump serve during a match between Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Miami Mayhem's Kelly Cheng receives a serve during a match between Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Miami Mayhem's Kelly Cheng receives a serve during a match between Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Dallas Dream's Miles Partain dives to save the ball during a match between Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Dallas Dream's Miles Partain dives to save the ball during a match between Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Brooklyn Blaze's Derek Bradford poses for the crowd during player introductions before a match between Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Brooklyn Blaze's Derek Bradford poses for the crowd during player introductions before a match between Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Miami Mayhem's Kelly Cheng makes contact with Dallas Dream's Kylie Deberg's wrist during a match between Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Miami Mayhem's Kelly Cheng makes contact with Dallas Dream's Kylie Deberg's wrist during a match between Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Dallas Dream's Paul Lotman jumps for a spike during a match between Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Dallas Dream's Paul Lotman jumps for a spike during a match between Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Brooklyn Blaze's Derek Bradford enters the sand court during player introductions before a match between Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Brooklyn Blaze's Derek Bradford enters the sand court during player introductions before a match between Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Brooklyn Blaze's Evan Cory goes up for a jump serve during a match between Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Brooklyn Blaze's Evan Cory goes up for a jump serve during a match between Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Brooklyn Blaze's Evan Cory and Derek Bradford hustles to keep the ball in play during a match between Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Brooklyn Blaze's Evan Cory and Derek Bradford hustles to keep the ball in play during a match between Brooklyn Blaze and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Miami Mayhem's Megan Kraft celebrate after scoring a point during a match between Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Miami Mayhem's Megan Kraft celebrate after scoring a point during a match between Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Miami Mayhem's Kelly Cheng jumps to strike the ball during a match between Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Miami Mayhem's Kelly Cheng jumps to strike the ball during a match between Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Dallas Dream's Betsi Flint recieves a serve during a match between Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Dallas Dream's Betsi Flint recieves a serve during a match between Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Dallas Dream's Betsi Flint jumps for a spike during a match between Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Dallas Dream's Betsi Flint jumps for a spike during a match between Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Miami Mayhem's Megan Kraft hits the ball over the net during a matche between Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Miami Mayhem's Megan Kraft hits the ball over the net during a matche between Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Miami Mayhem's Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft pose after winning a match against Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Edwin So - The Sporting Tribune
Miami Mayhem's Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft pose after winning a match against Dallas Dream at the AVP Long Beach on Saturday, July 11, at Alamitos Beach, Long Beach Calif,
Lionel Messi is establishing himself as the greatest player in FIFA World Cup history, but one of his ongoing records came to an end against Switzerland.
Argentina picked up a 3-1 A.E.T win to advance to the semi-finals, but the World Cup Golden Boot leader Messi didn’t find himself on the scoresheet.
While he did provide an assist to increase his all-time lead in that category, one of his most impressive World Cup streaks came to an end with him not scoring.
Lionel Messi’s streak of goals in consecutive World Cup matches ends at 10
In an incredible streak stretching back to Argentina’s Round of 16 clash against Australia at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Messi had scored in every single World Cup match for his country since.
This streak of 10 consecutive games with a goal scored is the longest in history, with Messi making the record his own at match No. 7 by breaking a tie between France’s Just Fontaine and Brazil’s Jairzinho, with both scoring in six consecutive matches.
Photo by Tullio Puglia – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
Messi scored 14 goals over this stretch, starting with Australia before scoring one each in the 2022 quarters and semis against the Netherlands and Croatia, before scoring a brace against France in the Final.
He started his 2026 campaign with a hat-trick against Algeria before scoring two more against Austria and one against Jordan in the group stages. He scored a goal apiece in the RO32 and RO16 against Cape Verde and Egypt to bring his tally to 10 consecutive matches, where it now ends.
Messi’s streak of goal contributions lives on with his assists to Alexis Mac Allister to open the scoring in the quarters, but he’ll face a tougher challenge in the semi-finals against England.
Dec 19, 2025; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer (10) in the huddle with wide receiver Javonnie Gibson (11), Isaiah Sategna III (5) and tight end Jaren Kanak (12) against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the CFP National Playoff First Round at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Oklahoma Sooners are extremely grateful to have wide receiver Isaiah Sategna back for 2026.
Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Isaiah Sategna had options this offseason. He could have entered the NFL Draft. He could have transferred. Instead, he chose to return to Norman, and he recently explained why in a video produced by the program.
Given what Sategna did last season, it’s easy to see why Oklahoma wanted him back so badly. He finished 2025 with 67 catches, 965 receiving yards, and eight receiving touchdowns, averaging 14.4 yards per catch.
The jump from his 2024 season at Arkansas, where he had 491 receiving yards, to nearly 1,000 yards in his first year with the Sooners was massive. Now the question becomes whether he can take an even bigger leap in 2026.
Sategna is the engine of this Oklahoma passing attack
There’s no sugarcoating it. Without Sategna, the Sooners will struggle offensively. He was the passing offense last season. He made the plays when it mattered most, including the game-winning touchdown against LSU. He contributed to special teams with several significant punt returns, too. He was the guy Oklahoma leaned on deep into the year, and he delivered over and over again.
The Sooners do have depth at the position. Trell Harris plays a similar style and could step up if needed, and McKenzie Alleyne provides another option in the room. But Sategna is the centerpiece. Replacing his production and his big-play ability would be a tall order for anyone on the roster.
Why 2026 could unlock another level for Sategna
The good news for Sategna is that he won’t have to carry the same burden alone this fall. Playing alongside Parker Livingstone and Harris could take pressure off him and free him up in ways he wasn’t last season. If opposing defenses have to account for multiple threats, Sategna should see fewer double teams and more favorable matchups downfield.
If John Mateer is healthy this year and improved from 2025, that only adds another dimension to the offense that benefits Sategna. With more weapons around him, a 1,200-yard season is within reach. That kind of production would make him one of the top wide receiver prospects in the 2027 NFL Draft. Oklahoma is glad to have him back. And if everything breaks right, this could be the year Sategna turns himself from a breakout player into a household name.
“The Baddy” took less than a minute to find the submission in the
co-main event of UFC 329, which also earned him a $100,000
Performance of the Night bonus. He has now commented on his
victory, grappling prowess and potential future matchups.
How Paddy Pimblett submitted Benoit St. Denis in 52
seconds
It took Pimblett only 52 seconds to defeat St. Denis, who put
himself directly in harm’s way by going for an early takedown.
After his dominant win, the Brit explained how he secured the
finish. He claimed that he hadn’t performed the move in a very long
time but was able to improvise because of his jiu-jitsu skills.
“Oh, I have never done that before,” Pimblett said at the
post-fight presser. “I just did that on the fly. That’s how good my
jiu-jitsu is. My jiu-jitsu is the best in the world.”
Who Paddy Pimblett wants next in the UFC lightweight
division
When asked about what's next, Pimblett revealed that he isn’t
targeting one specific matchup. Rather, he wants whatever moves him
closer to another title shot.
“I wanna be world champion,” he added. “I wanna be champion of the
world. I wanna be the best…. And I am gonna do that. I know that’s
in my destiny… Whether it's the next fight or the next 10 fights. I
am gonna be a world champion.”
Pimblett fought for the interim lightweight title earlier this
year, losing to Justin
Gaethje. He claims he’s open to rematching Gaethje for the
undisputed title next, but is also open to fighting Arman
Tsarukyan, Ilia
Topuria or former champion Charles
Oliveira.
Jul 11, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Angel City FC players celebrate after midfielder Ary Borges (8) scored during the first half against San Diego Wave FC at Snapdragon Stadium.
SAN DIEGO -- For the second straight match under interim head coach Leif Smerud, Angel City FC looked like a team playing with a much clearer idea of who it wants to be.
That identity was on full display Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium, where Angel City weathered long stretches of pressure from first-place San Diego Wave FC before coming away with a 2-0 victory. The result not only extended the club's unbeaten run away to San Diego to five matches, but also made Smerud a perfect 2-for-2 since taking over during the league break.
"Over the break, we just tried to simplify everything," said captain Sarah Gorden. "And [we've been] bringing this mentality of presence over perfection and trusting ourselves."
Rather than sitting back against a San Diego side that entered the night atop the NWSL standings and had scored eight goals across its previous five matches, Angel City pressed high from the opening whistle. Ally Sentnor, who has quietly become one of the club's most important chance creators, set the tone with relentless pressure that repeatedly forced uncomfortable touches from the Wave back line. That hard work paid off in the 17th minute.
Sentnor won possession just outside the penalty area before Jun Endo floated a cross toward goal. Goalkeeper Luisa Agudelo managed to get a hand to it, but only as far as Maiara Niehues, who reacted quickest and headed home the rebound for her first-half breakthrough.
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 12, 2026
Nine minutes later, Angel City struck again through another well-executed set-piece sequence.
Sveindís Jónsdóttir launched a long throw into the six-yard box, where Evelyn Shores flicked the ball onward. Ary Borges calmly brought it under control before driving a right-footed finish past Agudelo to double the lead. The assist gave Shores her team-leading third of the season and rewarded another aggressive attacking sequence that consistently put San Diego under pressure during the opening half.
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 12, 2026
"I think in the first half, we managed to press well and create some transitions with our high press," Smerud said.
That opening 45 minutes probably reflected the version of Angel City Smerud wants to see most often. The visitors created quality chances through pressure rather than prolonged possession, limiting one of the league's most dangerous attacking teams to very little while building a deserved two-goal cushion.
San Diego finished with 63 percent possession, earned 10 corner kicks and generated wave after wave of attacks as it searched for a way back into the match. Smerud admitted that shift was expected.
"San Diego is a really good, really good team – top of the league – and have some class players, so it was a given that we would have to defend a bit deeper in the second half," he said.
The defensive performance started with organization in front of goal. Shores helped clear dangerous service into the box, Gorden anchored a back line that successfully defended each Wave corner, and whenever San Diego managed to break through, Angelina Anderson consistently had the answer.
The goalkeeper made six saves, several of them coming during San Diego's most dangerous spell midway through the second half. She denied Mimi Van Zanten from close range in the 64th minute, smothered a bouncing ball before Trinity Byars could reach it moments later, then dove to push away another Byars effort four minutes afterward.
Her biggest moment arrived in the 85th minute. After San Diego earned a penalty, Lia Godfrey's attempt struck the left post before glancing off Anderson and away from goal. The fortunate bounce preserved the clean sheet, though Smerud felt his goalkeeper had earned a little luck.
"[Anderson] played a really good game, and she also got the bit of luck she needed on the penalty," Smerud said. "But I think she dominated the box well."
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 12, 2026
Angel City looked dangerous when opportunities to attack presented themselves. When momentum shifted after halftime, the visitors showed the discipline to protect their lead instead of forcing the match back into an open game. Against a San Diego team that entered leading the league in shots on target, those defensive adjustments mattered every bit as much as the two first-half goals.
"I feel like a win — and a win in San Diego — is amazing, but a shutout is really important for us," Gorden said.
Two matches into Smerud's tenure, Angel City has produced two victories, two clean sheets and, perhaps most importantly, a performance that suggested the club's renewed confidence extends well beyond the final score.
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