The spring season is fully underway.
The hockey sticks, basketballs and wrestling mats have been stored away in favor of baseball gloves, tennis rackets and lacrosse equipment.
That means it’s time for our first South Shore High School Male Athlete o… [1870 chars]
Vote for the South Shore High School Male Athlete of the Week
Greater Lansing high school girls tennis overview
Here is an overview of girls high school tennis in Greater Lansing. This reflects information provided by area programs.
CAAC BLUE
▶ Coaches’ predictions: 1. Okemos, 2. East Lansing, 3. DeWitt, 4. Holt, 5. Grand Ledge, 6. Waverly, 7. Everett
▶ Top pl… [6886 chars]
Jessica Pegula successfully defends Charleston Open title
When the last tennis ball of a long week was struck, Jessica Pegula staggered briefly on the green clay, a wry smile of relief washing over her face.
“I don’t know how many hours I spent on this court, but it was way too much,” she told a festive Eas… [3301 chars]
Carlos Alcaraz Echoes Coco Gauff Amid Growing Concerns Over Privacy on Tour
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Boys Tennis: Results and links for Monday, April 6
Check back here for the result of every boys tennis match in N.J. on Monday, April 6. This post will be updated throughout the day, so be sure to check back often.
ESSENTIAL LINKS
Can’t-miss matches
Complete season preview
WATCH LISTS: Singles | Doub… [425 chars]
Daniil Medvedev’s Ex-Coach Abruptly Leaves 20-Year-Old American’s Team Amid Ongoing Split Trend
After eight years and 20 titles, the split between Daniil Medvedev and Gilles Cervara stunned fans when it surfaced last August. The narrative briefly brightened as Cervara joined rising American Nishesh Basavareddy at the start of 2025. Yet in a sud… [4582 chars]
Alex Eala’s next test: Can her rising game translate to clay?
After turning heads with a quarterfinal finish at the Dubai Tennis Championships and back-to-back Round of 16 appearances in both the BNP Paribas Open and the Miami Open, Alex Eala wrapped up her hard-court swing with plenty of momentum.
The strong r… [2417 chars]
Leading their last ride: Gator tennis seniors reflect on team culture, bold playstyle
Tanapatt Nirundorn and Pablo Perez Ramos have had two very different college careers. But both seniors are leading the Florida men’s tennis team in their final seasons as brothers, mentors and highly ranked tennis players.
Tanapatt Nirundorn: ‘I had … [5610 chars]
Quad Cities spring sports season preview 2026
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Can’t-miss boys tennis matches for the week of April 6-12
The upcoming week of the New Jersey boys tennis season will feature numerous notable matches and tournaments.
Check out the latest list of can’t-miss matches and tournaments for the week of April 6-12 below.
If you feel there is a match that should b… [7421 chars]
Vote for the South Shore High School Male Athlete of the Week
The spring season is fully underway.
The hockey sticks, basketballs and wrestling mats have been stored away in favor of baseball gloves, tennis rackets and lacrosse equipment.
That means it’s time for our first South Shore High School Male Athlete o… [1870 chars]
Greater Lansing high school girls tennis overview
Here is an overview of girls high school tennis in Greater Lansing. This reflects information provided by area programs.
CAAC BLUE
▶ Coaches’ predictions: 1. Okemos, 2. East Lansing, 3. DeWitt, 4. Holt, 5. Grand Ledge, 6. Waverly, 7. Everett
▶ Top pl… [6886 chars]
Robert MacIntyre Says the $9.8M PGA Tour Stop Feels More Social Than Usual
When an event kicks off right before The Masters, fans expect tight competition. However, Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre found it to be a bigger social stop. And there’s a good reason for it.
The Valero Texas Open provides a rather special social life f… [1993 chars]
JJ Spaun’s Emotional Moment With Caddie After $1.7M PGA Tour Triumph Melts Hearts
Most people watching the 2026 Valero Texas Open did not know Mark Carens’ name going into Sunday. But then JJ Spaun birdied 16, eagled 17, and flipped the leaderboard by one shot to claim $1.7 million. Then came a special hug for the caddie, marking … [3757 chars]
2026 Masters odds, predictions, sleepers, date, field: PGA picks from 10,000 simulations
A trio of golfers can complete the third leg of the career grand slam with a victory at the 2026 Masters, which begins on Thursday, April 9. Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Brooks Koepka have won two of the other majors entering the Masters 20… [3615 chars]
Ludvig Aberg claimed to have pace of play issue after the final round of the Valero Texas Open
Ludvig Aberg endured yet another disappointing final round on the PGA Tour on Sunday at the Valero Texas Open.
Aberg was in a great position to win the Valero Open as he began the back nine of his third round on Sunday.
However, the Swede looked like… [2694 chars]
2026 Masters odds, predictions, fades, longshots: PGA picks from elite golf expert
The first dozen events of the 2026 PGA Tour have seen 11 different winners. That includes Scottie Scheffler, who won the American Express in January and is the favorite to win the 2026 Masters. The year’s first major begins on Thursday, April 9, from… [3651 chars]
2026 Masters odds, predictions: Top PGA One and Done picks from DFS millionaire
The first major championship of the year is rapidly approaching with the 2026 Masters starting on Thursday, April 9 at Augusta National Golf Club. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler headlines the 2026 Masters field and will try to reclaim the title. A win… [3279 chars]
Patrick Reed’s long road back: Leaving LIV, waiting out a PGA Tour return and playing in the Masters
Patrick Reed is back at the Masters, walking among the Georgia pines
Patrick Reed’s long road back: Leaving LIV, waiting out a PGA Tour return and playing in the MastersBy DAVE SKRETTAAP Sports WriterThe Associated PressAUGUSTA, Ga.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP)… [4268 chars]
Website for Frisco’s PGA Championship ticket registration goes live
The one-year countdown to the 2027 PGA Championship on PGA Frisco’s Fields East course isn’t until May, but the ramp-up for fans to purchase tickets began Monday morning.
The PGA of America announced that its ticket registration website (pgachampions… [1898 chars]
Valero Texas Open odds, predictions, props: PGA Tour picks, best prop bets from proven from golf model
Monday features a five-game NBA slate, including multiple contests crucial for Eastern Conference postseason seeding. The red-hot Atlanta Hawks host the New York Knicks and the Orlando Magic host the Detroit Pistons at 7 p.m. ET in two contests that … [3894 chars]
When is the Masters? Schedule, qualifiers and broadcast info
Another new green jacket is ready to be put on.
The Masters, considered to be golf’s signature tournament, will tee off this week at the iconic Augusta National.
Stream NBC 5 for free, 24/7, wherever you are.
WATCH HERE
Past champions, including newe… [4419 chars]
Congratulations Pour In for Daniel Suarez & Wife Julia as NASCAR Star Handed Huge Blessings on Easter
While Daniel Suarez might already be laden with responsibilities on the track, he is about to start preparing for a lot more after a major announcement he made with his wife, Julia Piquet, on social media on Easter. Congratulations poured in for the … [2650 chars]
Ryan Blaney Lets Slip His Biggest Fear as NASCAR Easter Holiday Takes a Toll on Penske Star
Ryan Blaney is many things. A racecar driver, a Jedi, a husband, a father, a friend, and a son. But one thing the Team Penske driver is not is an electrician. That was something his recent admission cleared up.
Ryan Blaney was left frozen in his own … [3220 chars]
Why Ty Gibbs could be primed to score first career win at Bristol
No NASCAR Cup Series driver has been as hot as Ty Gibbs over the last five races.
Since starting the season with finishes of 23rd and 37th at Daytona and Atlanta, Gibbs has five straight finishes of sixth or better, including four top fives. He’s ris… [1650 chars]
Calls Mount for NASCAR to Return to Dirt Racing 4 Years After Labelling Bristol a ‘Failure’
The 2022 Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway was 250 laps of pure chaos. Yet it will forever be memorable for the high-intensity drama it had from start to finish. The race was repeatedly interrupted as the dirt surface, seemingly loose and… [2874 chars]
Dale Jr’s Prodigy Backs Up Unlikely O’Reilly Star as the Savior for Brad Keselowski and Ford
Brad Keselowski has recently decided to increase his efforts to help improve the Ford program in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series. When it comes to fruition is something that we don’t know yet, but one of the contenders for a seat could be Parker Retzlaff…. [2678 chars]
Outspoken NASCAR Veteran’s Trip to Green Hell Proves That It’s Time for NASCAR to Enter the World Stage
Something about NASCAR feels hopeful this year. Be it the Chase format coming back or the Daytona 500 viewership number being at a three-year high, stock car racing seems to be on the rise towards the mainstream again, a place it hasn’t experienced s… [6363 chars]
How to Watch NASCAR at Bristol Motor Speedway 2026: Schedule, TV Coverage, and Streaming
The NASCAR season rolls into one of its most anticipated stops as Bristol Motor Speedway hosts the 2026 spring race weekend from April 10 to April 12. Often called the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile,” this 0.533-mile concrete track is characterized by st… [3127 chars]
Ryan Blaney Breaks Silence on Pit Crew Struggles and Breakthrough at Martinsville
Ryan Blaney continues to stay near the top of the NASCAR Cup Series standings in 2026, sitting second behind Tyler Reddick. The No. 12 Team Penske driver pointed to his pit crew as a key part of that strong start.
Earlier in the season, the team face… [3086 chars]
Denny Hamlin Tells Co-Host to “Shut the F**k Up” as He Joins Forces With Chase Elliott Over NASCAR Schedule
For decades, NASCAR Cup Series has treated Easter as sacred, upholding the spirit of the festival. There’s no races, no travel, just time for drivers and teams to be with family. It’s one of the few traditions the sport has held onto without much deb… [3238 chars]
NASCAR Cup Series Drivers Lead Chicagoland Speedway Comeback with Goodyear Tire Test
NASCAR will return to Chicagoland Speedway with cars back on track for the first time since 2019. The 1.5-mile oval will host a Goodyear tire test on April 21 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The session will feature Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Larson … [3150 chars]
MLB’s Biggest Story Right Now Should Be José Ramírez
José Ramírez is a seven-time Major League Baseball All-Star and yet he still doesn’t get the flowers that he deserves.
Ramírez has been one of the most consistent superstars you’re going to see on a baseball field. This is a guy who is now 33 years o… [3337 chars]
Betr Promo Code WTOP: Get a $200 Bonus for NCAAB, MLB and NBA Picks
If our initial plays miss the mark, Betr refunds those entry stakes directly in Betr Bucks. Plus, first-time users grab a complimentary free pick right at sign-up. It’s the perfect low-risk way for us to jump into tonight’s matchup in Indianapolis.
B… [3752 chars]
1,619 games and counting: Why José Ramírez’s loyalty means everything to Cleveland
CLEVELAND, Ohio — José Ramírez doesn’t just play for the Cleveland Guardians. He is the Cleveland Guardians.
And now, he owns a piece of franchise history that nobody saw coming when he first broke into the majors as a utility guy who looked destined… [3473 chars]
Five MLB teams looking to bounce back from slow starts
The MLB season is still young. Most teams have played fewer than 10 games, but there are already a few fan bases ready to hit the panic button.
There are a few teams that likely won’t be bouncing back from their slow starts. Apologies to the Colorado… [1028 chars]
Blue Jays’ Call-Up Makes History for Mexico in MLB Debut
The Toronto Blue Jays did not just fill a roster spot when they called up Brandon Valenzuela. They became part of a much larger story, one that continues to redefine Mexico’s growing footprint in Major League Baseball.
Valenzuela’s debut on Sunday ca… [3316 chars]
Pirates’ Konnor Griffin Has Shot to Surpass Yankees Legend
PITTSBURGH — The expectations for Pittsburgh Pirates’ 19-year-old phenom Konnor Griffin are already sky-high.
Would it be crazy to say that the Pirates’ rookie could one day challenge an MLB legend and Baseball Hall of Famer? 93.7 The Fan radio host… [2697 chars]
Five things to watch in MLB this week
The second full week of the Major League Baseball season is set to begin. Here are five things to look for:
World Series redux
You might call it Game 8 when the Los Angeles Dodgers visit the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night. This game opens a three-… [2872 chars]
Cleveland Guardians React to ABS Challenge System: How They’ve Fared So Far
It’s not every day that the game of baseball decides to implement new rules that affect every single game.
But with the introduction of the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge system, that’s exactly what’s happening across MLB.
While still in its e… [2507 chars]
Tony Vitello Ejection Sparks Backlash in Giants Loss vs Mets
It’s been a rough start to San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello’s MLB career. The Giants are now 3-7 and in last place in the National League West after their loss to the New York Mets on April 5.
The loss to New York was San Francisco’s third s… [3432 chars]
How Blue Jays Became MLB’s Unluckiest Team of 2026
The Toronto Blue Jays really can’t catch a break so in 2026.
The reigning American League champions have been bitten by the injury bug over and over and over and over again this season. Simply put, there isn’t a team in Major League Baseball right no… [2130 chars]
Baseball’s Business Model Is Breaking—And a Strike Won’t Fix It
Like a hurricane, the next disruption in Major League Baseball is already forming, driven by forces building beneath the surface as the Collective Bargaining Agreement approaches expiration.
By Tre Martin | Sports Media Inc | 31 March 2026
Now that Spring is here and we are one week into the new 2026 season, optimism has returned in full swing across Major League Baseball. Stadiums are filling, the crack of the bat resonates across the country, and the hope of a pennant run remains alive for thirty fanbases.
But beneath all the optimism, a different kind of storm is forming.
Hurricanes don’t develop from a single condition. They form when multiple forces align: warm water, rising air, and sustained winds. Baseball is facing a similar convergence in the form of another labor strike on the horizon. Many around the game expect one. But fans and the media are focused on the wrong issue. The real issue is why baseball continues to operate within a system that makes a labor dispute inevitable.
Although the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) expires on 1 December 2026, approximately nine months from Opening Day, tensions between players and owners are already bubbling over. This timeline is critical, as it places the entire 2027 season in jeopardy before the first pitch of the next winter meetings is even thrown. MLB has been down this road before: most notably during the 1994–95 strike, which wiped out an entire postseason and alienated a generation of fans.
But 30 years later, the difference is not the existence of player-owner disputes, but the persistence of the structural forces that create them. The truth is that labor issues are the symptoms, whereas MLB's economic structure is the problem.
The misalignment of value and power
At the core of this problem, Major League Baseball is dealing with a fundamental misalignment in how it generates and distributes value. Labor disputes are often framed as simple disagreements over contracts, salaries, or individual rules within the agreement. In reality, however, the disputes reflect deeper power struggles over who controls the game's economics.
These struggles are driven by three competing structural forces that continue to drive the league toward conflict. As the industry moves closer to the 2027 deadline, these forces are no longer just theoretical concerns; they are actively dictating how franchises operate.
The first structural force: Player compensation
The central tension between players and owners is not only about how much players are paid, but it’s also about when players are allowed to earn it. Under the current system, teams control players for the early years of their careers: years that often align with their peak physical performance.
Service time rules and arbitration delay access to free agency, pushing the largest contracts into the later stages of a player’s career. By the time many players hit the open market, they are often on the wrong side of thirty, entering a period where traditional aging curves suggest declining production.
At the same time, many owners continue to push for additional cost controls, including a league-wide salary cap. Industry experts note that the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) views salary caps as "institutionalized collusion," citing how caps in other professional leagues have historically eroded the players' total revenue share.
The result is a system that not only delays when players can earn at their highest level but also places potential limits on how much they can ultimately earn. From the player’s perspective, the system restricts both access to and the scale of earnings during a career that is often short. With the average MLB career lasting only three to four years, the window to maximize value is narrow, making any effort to delay or limit earnings particularly difficult for players to accept.
The second structural force: Revenue inequality
The second force is the staggering revenue inequality that divides the league into "haves" and "have-nots." Deep-pocketed, big-market teams like the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers enjoy enormous local revenue advantages. Massive regional sports networks (RSNs), premium sponsorship deals, and consistently high attendance allow them to spend aggressively on talent and absorb financial risk if those players don’t pan out.
The scale of this disparity is best illustrated by specific payroll data. According to MLB.com, when Shohei Ohtani signed his 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in December 2023, his $70 million average annual value (AAV) was higher than the entire 2024 opening day payrolls of the Oakland Athletics, who shelled out just $60.5 million on their entire 26-man roster.
By 2025, these gaps became even more pronounced. Reports indicate the Dodgers' active roster cost exceeded $296 million, while the Chicago White Sox operated with a roster totaling just over $17 million: a disparity exceeding 10-to-1.
On the other end of the spectrum, smaller-market clubs like the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Tampa Bay Rays operate under far tighter financial constraints. These teams rely more heavily on revenue sharing, player development, and cost control. The result is a league that does not function as a single economic system, but as two disparate economies sharing the same game schedule. While total league revenue remains healthy: approaching $13 billion annually: the concentration of wealth undermines the competitive integrity of the sport.
The third structural force: Competitive imbalance and fan engagement
When a subset of teams can consistently outspend the rest of the league, the effects extend beyond payroll by shaping fan expectations. This competitive imbalance is the third force pushing the business model to its breaking point.
Fans in smaller markets do not just experience losing seasons; they experience the long, draining cycles of "tanking," where teams intentionally strip rosters of talent to rebuild through the draft. This leads to years of player development followed by frequent "resets" just as stars become expensive. Meanwhile, higher-revenue teams are positioned to remain competitive year after year, treating the luxury tax as a mere cost of doing business rather than a deterrent.
Over time, that dynamic affects how fans engage with the league as a whole. When outcomes begin to feel structurally tilted, emotional investment declines. The issue for the fans is not just wins and losses, but belief. If the 2026 season feels like a foregone conclusion based on bank accounts rather than box scores, the product suffers.
A system under strain: The strategy of flexibility
Signs of this pressure are already visible in how teams are navigating the current season. Front offices are no longer just planning for the next game; they are planning for the next CBA.
Reports indicate that several franchises, including the Chicago Cubs, have been reportedly structuring contracts to expire after the 2026 season. This is a tactical move intended to maximize financial flexibility before a potential new economic reality emerges in 2027. Championship contenders are facing impossible calculations: do they mortgage the future for a 2026 title run when the entire economic foundation of the sport might shift within 12 months?
Just like hurricanes are formed by warm ocean water, humidity, and wind, these structural forces in baseball do not act in isolation. They reinforce each other:
- Revenue inequality drives spending gaps.
- Spending gaps influence how teams manage and compensate players.
- Both forces shape whether fans believe their team has a realistic chance to compete.
For more on how these shifts impact the broader landscape of sports media and fan engagement, you can explore our latest insights at Sportsmedia.news.
Why a strike is not the solution
The next negotiation will likely center on familiar pressure points: the possibility of a salary cap, continued debates over service time, and mechanisms intended to address competitive balance. But the agreement itself is not creating these tensions. It is exposing them.
Even a successful negotiation that avoids a work stoppage will not eliminate the underlying forces driving conflict. It may temporarily manage them, but it will not resolve the fundamental disconnect between a $13 billion industry and its fragmented distribution model.
This is why the conversation around a potential strike misses the bigger picture. Baseball is not simply negotiating a labor deal; it is being forced to confront a system that is increasingly difficult to sustain in its current form. Discussions around a potential salary floor, adjustments to revenue distribution, and expanded playoff formats all point to a league seeking to rebalance itself.
These are not solutions so much as signals that the current structure is under tremendous strain. Baseball does not just have a labor problem. It has a structural one. And, as with hurricanes, which form because of multiple conditions, MLB’s labor disputes are symptoms of the environment that makes them possible.
Until the league better aligns how money is generated, how players are compensated, and how teams compete, the next disruption won’t be a surprise. It will be the result of conditions that have been building all along.
By Tre Martin, Sports Media Inc
Sports Analytics, Data-Driven Insights, Fan Engagement
LinkedIn: Tre Martin
Baseball’s Business Model Is Breaking—And a Strike Won’t Fix It
Like a hurricane, the next disruption in Major League Baseball is already forming, driven by forces building beneath the surface as the Collective Bargaining Agreement approaches expiration.
By Tre Martin | Sports Media Inc | 31 March 2026
Now that Spring is here and we are one week into the new 2026 season, optimism has returned in full swing across Major League Baseball. Stadiums are filling, the crack of the bat resonates across the country, and the hope of a pennant run remains alive for thirty fanbases.
But beneath all the optimism, a different kind of storm is forming.
Hurricanes don’t develop from a single condition. They form when multiple forces align: warm water, rising air, and sustained winds. Baseball is facing a similar convergence in the form of another labor strike on the horizon. Many around the game expect one. But fans and the media are focused on the wrong issue. The real issue is why baseball continues to operate within a system that makes a labor dispute inevitable.
Although the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) expires on 1 December 2026, approximately nine months from Opening Day, tensions between players and owners are already bubbling over. This timeline is critical, as it places the entire 2027 season in jeopardy before the first pitch of the next winter meetings is even thrown. MLB has been down this road before: most notably during the 1994–95 strike, which wiped out an entire postseason and alienated a generation of fans.
But 30 years later, the difference is not the existence of player-owner disputes, but the persistence of the structural forces that create them. The truth is that labor issues are the symptoms, whereas MLB's economic structure is the problem.
The misalignment of value and power
At the core of this problem, Major League Baseball is dealing with a fundamental misalignment in how it generates and distributes value. Labor disputes are often framed as simple disagreements over contracts, salaries, or individual rules within the agreement. In reality, however, the disputes reflect deeper power struggles over who controls the game's economics.
These struggles are driven by three competing structural forces that continue to drive the league toward conflict. As the industry moves closer to the 2027 deadline, these forces are no longer just theoretical concerns; they are actively dictating how franchises operate.
The first structural force: Player compensation
The central tension between players and owners is not only about how much players are paid, but it’s also about when players are allowed to earn it. Under the current system, teams control players for the early years of their careers: years that often align with their peak physical performance.
Service time rules and arbitration delay access to free agency, pushing the largest contracts into the later stages of a player’s career. By the time many players hit the open market, they are often on the wrong side of thirty, entering a period where traditional aging curves suggest declining production.
At the same time, many owners continue to push for additional cost controls, including a league-wide salary cap. Industry experts note that the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) views salary caps as "institutionalized collusion," citing how caps in other professional leagues have historically eroded the players' total revenue share.
The result is a system that not only delays when players can earn at their highest level but also places potential limits on how much they can ultimately earn. From the player’s perspective, the system restricts both access to and the scale of earnings during a career that is often short. With the average MLB career lasting only three to four years, the window to maximize value is narrow, making any effort to delay or limit earnings particularly difficult for players to accept.
The second structural force: Revenue inequality
The second force is the staggering revenue inequality that divides the league into "haves" and "have-nots." Deep-pocketed, big-market teams like the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers enjoy enormous local revenue advantages. Massive regional sports networks (RSNs), premium sponsorship deals, and consistently high attendance allow them to spend aggressively on talent and absorb financial risk if those players don’t pan out.
The scale of this disparity is best illustrated by specific payroll data. According to MLB.com, when Shohei Ohtani signed his 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in December 2023, his $70 million average annual value (AAV) was higher than the entire 2024 opening day payrolls of the Oakland Athletics, who shelled out just $60.5 million on their entire 26-man roster.
By 2025, these gaps became even more pronounced. Reports indicate the Dodgers' active roster cost exceeded $296 million, while the Chicago White Sox operated with a roster totaling just over $17 million: a disparity exceeding 10-to-1.
On the other end of the spectrum, smaller-market clubs like the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Tampa Bay Rays operate under far tighter financial constraints. These teams rely more heavily on revenue sharing, player development, and cost control. The result is a league that does not function as a single economic system, but as two disparate economies sharing the same game schedule. While total league revenue remains healthy: approaching $13 billion annually: the concentration of wealth undermines the competitive integrity of the sport.
The third structural force: Competitive imbalance and fan engagement
When a subset of teams can consistently outspend the rest of the league, the effects extend beyond payroll by shaping fan expectations. This competitive imbalance is the third force pushing the business model to its breaking point.
Fans in smaller markets do not just experience losing seasons; they experience the long, draining cycles of "tanking," where teams intentionally strip rosters of talent to rebuild through the draft. This leads to years of player development followed by frequent "resets" just as stars become expensive. Meanwhile, higher-revenue teams are positioned to remain competitive year after year, treating the luxury tax as a mere cost of doing business rather than a deterrent.
Over time, that dynamic affects how fans engage with the league as a whole. When outcomes begin to feel structurally tilted, emotional investment declines. The issue for the fans is not just wins and losses, but belief. If the 2026 season feels like a foregone conclusion based on bank accounts rather than box scores, the product suffers.
A system under strain: The strategy of flexibility
Signs of this pressure are already visible in how teams are navigating the current season. Front offices are no longer just planning for the next game; they are planning for the next CBA.
Reports indicate that several franchises, including the Chicago Cubs, have been reportedly structuring contracts to expire after the 2026 season. This is a tactical move intended to maximize financial flexibility before a potential new economic reality emerges in 2027. Championship contenders are facing impossible calculations: do they mortgage the future for a 2026 title run when the entire economic foundation of the sport might shift within 12 months?
Just like hurricanes are formed by warm ocean water, humidity, and wind, these structural forces in baseball do not act in isolation. They reinforce each other:
- Revenue inequality drives spending gaps.
- Spending gaps influence how teams manage and compensate players.
- Both forces shape whether fans believe their team has a realistic chance to compete.
For more on how these shifts impact the broader landscape of sports media and fan engagement, you can explore our latest insights at Sportsmedia.news.
Why a strike is not the solution
The next negotiation will likely center on familiar pressure points: the possibility of a salary cap, continued debates over service time, and mechanisms intended to address competitive balance. But the agreement itself is not creating these tensions. It is exposing them.
Even a successful negotiation that avoids a work stoppage will not eliminate the underlying forces driving conflict. It may temporarily manage them, but it will not resolve the fundamental disconnect between a $13 billion industry and its fragmented distribution model.
This is why the conversation around a potential strike misses the bigger picture. Baseball is not simply negotiating a labor deal; it is being forced to confront a system that is increasingly difficult to sustain in its current form. Discussions around a potential salary floor, adjustments to revenue distribution, and expanded playoff formats all point to a league seeking to rebalance itself.
These are not solutions so much as signals that the current structure is under tremendous strain. Baseball does not just have a labor problem. It has a structural one. And, as with hurricanes, which form because of multiple conditions, MLB’s labor disputes are symptoms of the environment that makes them possible.
Until the league better aligns how money is generated, how players are compensated, and how teams compete, the next disruption won’t be a surprise. It will be the result of conditions that have been building all along.
By Tre Martin, Sports Media Inc
Sports Analytics, Data-Driven Insights, Fan Engagement
LinkedIn: Tre Martin
Islanders Fire Coach Patrick Roy After Losing 4 in a Row, Name Peter DeBoer His Replacement
NEW YORK (AP) — Patrick Roy was fired as coach of the New York Islanders on Sunday, another late-season change in the NHL that comes with a team in the middle of a spring tailspin that has put their playoff chances in jeopardy.
First-year general man… [1743 chars]
Islanders fire coach Patrick Roy after losing 4 in a row, name Peter DeBoer his replacement
By STEPHEN WHYNO
NEW YORK (AP) — Patrick Roy was fired as coach of the New York Islanders on Sunday, another late-season change in the NHL that comes with the team in the middle of a spring tailspin that has put its playoff chances in jeopardy.
First… [3751 chars]
Patrick Roy Fired by Islanders, Peter DeBoer Named New HC amid NHL Playoff Race
The New York Islanders are rolling the dice as they attempt to maintain their position in the Stanley Cup playoff race.
The team announced Sunday it fired coach Patrick Roy and hired Peter DeBoer.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, New York … [1879 chars]
Projected lineups, starting goalies for today
WILD (43-21-12) at RED WINGS (40-28-8)
1 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN360
Wild projected lineup
Kirill Kaprizov — Ryan Hartman — Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson — Joel Eriksson Ek — Matt Boldy
Vladimir Tarasenko — Danila Yurov — Nick Folign… [9272 chars]
The Harsh Reality Behind 49ers’ Injury Problem Exposed by NFL Execs
The San Francisco 49ers have been one of the most injury-affected teams in the NFL in recent seasons. That trend has led many observers to question why the team consistently deals with so many injuries. Some theories have even pointed to factors such… [3053 chars]
Cowboys Predicted to Make Blockbuster Trade for Elite 2026 NFL Draft Prospect
There has been some buzz of late that the Dallas Cowboys could trade up in the 2026 NFL Draft.
That makes sense because the team desperately needs elite talent on defense and is armed with two first-round picks.
NFL Draft expert Todd McShay has talke… [2813 chars]
Bengals Legend Chad Ochocinco Says Losing $5M in NFL Fines Prevented Him From Owning an MLS Team
Cincinnati Bengals legend Chad Ochocinco has always wanted to invest in soccer, but one aspect of his NFL career kept him from doing so. NFL fans still remember many of Ochocino’s celebrations, like pretending to perform CPR on the ball and doing a r… [4394 chars]
Giants Get News of 40-Game Vet’s Departure Ahead of NFL Draft
The New York Giants received a bit of free agency news on Easter weekend, as they perform their final preparations for the 2026 NFL Draft.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat reporter and Tampa Bay Times insider Rick Stroud was the first to report the news tha… [3255 chars]
Vikings Could Shock the World in 2026 NFL Draft
The Minnesota Vikings currently hold 9 selections throughout the 7 rounds of the 2026 NFL Draft, and they could pull a fast one on the NFL.
Round 1, Pick 18
Round 2, Pick 49
Round 3, Pick 82
Round 3, Pick 97 (compensatory)
Round 5, Pick 163 (via Eagl… [3087 chars]
DeMeco Ryans Pushes Back on Free Agency Affecting Texans’ Draft
The Houston Texans remained among the more active teams around the NFL during this offseason’s free agency period when it came to adding veteran talent to their roster.
Between offensive line upgrades with Wyatt Teller and Braden Smith, along with de… [3073 chars]
Jeremiyah Love & CJ Allen Go in Top Two Rounds for NY Giants
The New York Giants are a team with a lot of intrigue going into the 2026 NFL draft, but they’re also in a position where they only have two picks in the top 100, thanks to having traded away their pick in the third round last year to move up to acqu… [3045 chars]
Roundtable: Lions Players Who Could Exceed Expectations in 2026
The Detroit Lions On SI staff examines which Lions players could exceed expectations in 2026.
1. Which player could have a surprise 2026 season?
Christian Booher: I think Ennis Rakestraw has a real chance to surprise some people in 2026. Rakestraw ha… [5026 chars]
NFL Draft Buzz: Bengals’ Perfect Round 1 Scenario Is Taking Shape
The Cincinnati Bengals made some big-time additions to their roster in free agency, mainly on defense.
They signed Jonathan Allen, Bryan Cook, and Boye Mafe to bolster their defense. They also brought back Joe Flacco to work as Joe Burrow’s backup ag… [2196 chars]
One Risky Prospect Connected to the 49ers in the 2026 NFL Draft
The San Francisco 49ers have been connected to Cashius Howell in the 2026 NFL draft. Does he fit with the team, and would he be the best pick at 27th overall?
Where Cashius Howell translates to the NFL
Howell is a pass-rushing winner. He has great sn… [1595 chars]
Islanders Fire Coach Patrick Roy After Losing 4 in a Row, Name Peter DeBoer His Replacement
NEW YORK (AP) — Patrick Roy was fired as coach of the New York Islanders on Sunday, another late-season change in the NHL that comes with a team in the middle of a spring tailspin that has put their playoff chances in jeopardy.
First-year general man… [1743 chars]
Islanders fire coach Patrick Roy after losing 4 in a row, name Peter DeBoer his replacement
By STEPHEN WHYNO
NEW YORK (AP) — Patrick Roy was fired as coach of the New York Islanders on Sunday, another late-season change in the NHL that comes with the team in the middle of a spring tailspin that has put its playoff chances in jeopardy.
First… [3751 chars]
Patrick Roy Fired by Islanders, Peter DeBoer Named New HC amid NHL Playoff Race
The New York Islanders are rolling the dice as they attempt to maintain their position in the Stanley Cup playoff race.
The team announced Sunday it fired coach Patrick Roy and hired Peter DeBoer.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, New York … [1879 chars]
Projected lineups, starting goalies for today
WILD (43-21-12) at RED WINGS (40-28-8)
1 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN360
Wild projected lineup
Kirill Kaprizov — Ryan Hartman — Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson — Joel Eriksson Ek — Matt Boldy
Vladimir Tarasenko — Danila Yurov — Nick Folign… [9272 chars]
DraftKings promo code: Get $200 bonus bets for Jazz-Thunder, Warriors-Rockets, Cardinals-Tigers on Sunday
The NBA and MLB will take center stage on the first Sunday in April, and right now, you can use the latest DraftKings promo code to get $200 in bonus bets instantly after your first $5 wager. The NBA schedule will include high-profile matchups like T… [3608 chars]
Duke star Cam Boozer says he suffered fractures around eye
INDIANAPOLIS — Duke star freshman Cameron Boozer, a projected top-five pick in the 2026 NBA draft, said he suffered multiple fractures around one of his eyes during his team’s loss to UConn in the Elite Eight.
Boozer did not offer specifics about th… [2636 chars]
Villanova guard Acaden Lewis to enter the transfer portal and NBA draft
Villanova freshman point guard Acaden Lewis will enter the transfer portal and also go through the NBA draft process, he announced Sunday afternoon on social media.
Lewis, a second-team All-Big East selection, averaged 12.2 points, 5.3 assists, and t… [2552 chars]
FanDuel promo code: Get up to $3,000 in bonus bets for Lakers-Mavericks, Tigers-Cardinals, NBA, MLB on Sunday
Sports bettors will be able to choose from a loaded slate of NBA games on Sunday, making it a great opportunity to check out the latest FanDuel promo code to get up to $300 in bonus bets every day for 10 days with a maximum bonus of $3,000. There are… [3012 chars]
Jarred Vanderbilt Receives Final Injury Designation for Lakers vs. Mavericks
After the loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier this week, the Los Angeles Lakers were hit with bad news, one after the other, as the team won’t have stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for the rest of the regular season due to injuries.
Along wi… [512 chars]
NBA Power Rankings Week 24: Lakers & Celtics Surge as Pistons Hold Firm
The NBA playoff field is locked — but the order is far from settled. With less than a week left in the regular season, every game is now swinging seeding, matchups, and home-court advantage, turning the league into a nightly reshuffle.
Watch What’s T… [29077 chars]
Bet365 bonus code CBSBET365: Get $365 in bonus bets for Rockets-Warriors, Tigers-Cardinals, MLB, NBA on Sunday
The latest bet365 bonus code CBSBET365 gives new users $365 in bonus bets after placing a first wager of $10 or more, with the offer varying by state. There is a loaded slate of games in the NBA and MLB, highlighted by matchups like Warriors vs. Rock… [3022 chars]
Rockets’ Alperen Sengun Will Likely Benefit from NBA’s 65
The 2025-26 NBA season was the first season in which the league’s new participation policy took effect. The league office felt there needed to be a way to end or curtail the league’s rampant load management trend.
Players were sitting out games, even… [2365 chars]
Ex-NBA forward and former Knick dies at 60 after Louisiana crash
Gerald Paddio, a former University of Nevada, Las Vegas basketball standout who played three seasons in the NBA, died Saturday in a single-vehicle accident near Rayne, Louisiana. He was 60.
The Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office found Paddio dead at the … [1169 chars]
Ex-Sixers’ 8-Year Veteran Lands New NBA Team
A former Philadelphia 76ers center has joined the Atlanta Hawks, years after his run with the Sixers.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Hawks are picking up the 28-year-old Tony Bradley.
via Shams Charania, ESPN: The Atlanta Hawks are signing v… [1771 chars]
MLS rivals going head-to-head for Casemiro as midfielder considers Saudi alternative
Casemiro has confirmed his departure from Manchester United at the end of the current season, and Major League Soccer clubs are showing strong interest in securing the experienced Brazilian midfielder on a free transfer.
The 34-year-old former Real M… [2410 chars]
El once de estrellas de la Major League Soccer
La llegada de Antoine Griezmann a la Major League Soccer sumó una estrella más para el torneo estadounidense. El fútbol de Estados Unidos puede presumir a grandes futbolistas en cada uno de los encuentros de las jornadas. Repasa el mejor once que pod… [2518 chars]
Egypt national team director warns Salah against MLS move
March 30 (Reuters) – Egypt’s national team director Ibrahim Hassan has cautioned Mohamed Salah against moving to Major League Soccer after he leaves Liverpool at the end of the season as it would see the forward fade into obscurity.
Salah, 33, has … [1643 chars]
Delaware City FC makes soccer history with MASL3 championship
The First State has a championship professional sports team, and it’s likely one few knew existed.
Delaware City FC was the last of eight teams to qualify for the Major Arena Soccer League 3 playoffs as Atlantic Division winner but won the championsh… [2260 chars]
MLS local markets unlikely to get media rights back when Apple TV deal ends
New York City FC CEO Brad Sims doesn’t foresee the day that Major League Soccer ever returns to local market broadcast rights, even if it would benefit the club that he helps run.
MLS and Apple will break their media rights agreement early following … [1502 chars]
Austin FC Aims to Crash Miami’s Party
For the last 141 weeks, the Major League Soccer universe has revolved around South Florida. That’s because it was 141 weeks ago that Inter Miami CF officially signed the sport’s greatest living player, Lionel Messi.
All Messi has done in his time sin… [3154 chars]
Peru Health Ministry Reports 60 People Injured at Soccer Fan Event
The Peruvian Ministry of Health on Friday night reported that 60 people were injured in a structural collapse at a soccer stadium.
Newsweek reached out to Club Alianza Lima via email on Friday night for comment.
Alejandro Villanueva Stadium, in the L… [2256 chars]
Inter Miami, finally, can call Miami home as new stadium opens
MIAMI (AP) — Don Garber remembers the earliest days of David Beckham’s plans to bring Major League Soccer to Miami, the quest that started more than a dozen years ago.
There were twists. There were turns. Eventually, there was Lionel Messi, too.
But … [4817 chars]
After 13 years, David Beckham’s dream comes true. Inter Miami calls Miami home
MIAMI (AP) — Don Garber remembers the earliest days of David Beckham’s plans to bring Major League Soccer to Miami, the quest that started more than a dozen years ago.
There were twists. There were turns. Eventually, there was Lionel Messi, too.
But … [4756 chars]
Three things we saw in the Union’s record-setting loss to Charlotte FC
The Union suffered a 2-1 loss to Charlotte FC at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday night, their sixth consecutive defeat to open the Major League Soccer season.
Here’s what we saw:
The Union (0-6-0, 0 points) conceded the first goal of Saturday’s m… [3918 chars]
How LinkSports is Democratizing the Talent Pipeline by Leveraging Data-Driven Reinvention of Sports Sponsorships
LinkSports, a Canadian technology company operating across 29 countries, is building what it calls the new infrastructure of sports sponsorship. Founded by Neissan Monadjem, LinkSports is a fintech company with sports content that combines artificial… [6049 chars]
USC Star Alijah Arenas Lands With Intriguing Team in NBA Draft Projection
For USC Trojans guard Alijah Arenas, his freshman season was nothing short of unorthodox. Despite a late-season collegiate debut and a limited sample of games played, Arenas’ upside still has him firmly in the conversation as a prospect in the upcomi… [4493 chars]
UConn’s Geno Auriemma fumes over women’s double regional format, rims, basketballs
FORT WORTH, Texas — UConn coach Geno Auriemma is ripping the double-regional format being used in the women’s NCAA Tournament, saying it doesn’t make sense for the teams still playing or for efforts to grow the game.
Auriemma brought up attendance, b… [3966 chars]
Benson Boone Bakes Up ‘Wanted Man’ Arena Tour
Just two weeks after Benson Boone wrapped up his American Heart Tour, the singer has cooked up his Wanted Man Tour, hitting arenas nationwide this summer.
Boone announced the trek Sunday with a video detailing how he’d bake a cake and how “the whole … [719 chars]
Stakes Corporate Fight Over Feeding Preterm Babies
In 2013, a scientist at Abbott Laboratories saw study results with potentially big implications for the company’s profits and the lives of some of the world’s most fragile people: preterm infants.
The upshot, she wrote in an email: Babies fed rival M… [26571 chars]
Steve Kerr’s statesmanship nurtures culture of excellence
I believe that statesmanship is exceptional leadership characterized by vision, courage, compassion, civility and effectiveness.
Considered narrowly, statesmanship relates primarily to politics and government. However, when looked at more expansively… [4771 chars]
Benson Boone to hit 30+ U.S. arenas throughout new ‘Wanted Man Tour’
“Beautiful Things” singer Benson Boone just unveiled a new 2026 concert schedule in continued support of his second studio album, “American Heart.”
Following a successful “American Heart” run — which visited Detroit, Michigan’s Little Caesars Arena i… [2433 chars]
How to get cheap Daniel Caesar tickets for 2026 ‘Son of Spergy Tour’
Canadian R&B artist Daniel Caesar is embarking on a headlining arena run this year with his 2026 “Son of Spergy Tour,” a 30‑date international trek including several North American stops in support of his 2025 album “Son of Spergy.”
The tour marks a … [2430 chars]
Packing 17,000 Fans Into MSG Shows Promise of Women’s Pro Hockey
Elle Hartje grew up watching her dad play pro hockey, but even as she became a standout in the sport she doubted ever following in his footsteps and making a living on the ice.
On Saturday, the 24-year-old forward will suit up as a pro for a sold-out… [319 chars]
Sirens expecting a memorable sellout night at Madison Square Garden
For months, the Sirens had Saturday’s game at Madison Square Garden circled on their calendars.
They’ve talked about what this moment will mean for the franchise and what it’ll be like to play in front of thousands of fans in one of the world’s most … [4026 chars]
Shakira anunció las fechas de su regreso a EE. UU.
Shakira anunció esta semana una nueva extensión de su aclamada gira mundial “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour“, confirmando su regreso a los Estados Unidos para el verano de 2026. Esta nueva etapa surge tras el rotundo éxito de sus presentaciones … [1260 chars]
Race Deal With Beard Motorsports
Barring unforeseen circumstances, Casey Mears is set to accomplish his goal of 500 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series ranks. The winner of the 2007 Coca-Cola 600, who resurfaced last season after a lengthy six-year hiatus, will compete in five NA… [2935 chars]
Casey Mears Signs With Beard Motorsports With 500 Starts In Sight
Casey Mears’ unlikely NASCAR comeback will continue in 2026. The 48-year-old suddenly made his NASCAR return in 2025 after making his last start six years prior.
Now, after competing in this year’s Daytona 500 with Carl Long’s Garage 66, Mears is bac… [2844 chars]
Wisconsin NASCAR racer Parker Retzlaff stuns Viking with fast start
Parker Retzlaff has achieved a strong start to the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, sitting ninth in the standings.
The 22-year-old driver’s performance with the second-year Viking Motorsports team has exceeded the general manager’s initial … [9376 chars]
Chase Elliott Silences Fan Fury Against Crew Chief With 5-Word Emotional Confession
Between the 2023 and 2025 seasons, Chase Elliott had only won three races in total. This came after his brilliant 2022, where he won four times. This run of poor form attracted a lot of criticism from his fans towards the crew chief, Alan Gustafson. … [2918 chars]
Dale Jr. Admits Bias Towards Driver After Martinsville Incident
Dale Earnhardt Jr. came to the defense of Lee Pulliam following the driver’s mishap on a late restart in last Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Martinsville.
Pulliam, who was piloting the No. 9 JR Motorsports car, restarted second … [3135 chars]
Fans Turn On Entire NASCAR Garage in Surprising Defense for Controversial Cup Star
Carson Hocevar doesn’t have the best rapport with his fellow NASCAR drivers, but he isn’t left all alone with no defense. While he runs in a complete attack mode on the track, his fans are there to defend him on social media. It is hard to argue. Hoc… [2979 chars]
Martinsville Ringer Reveals Bizarre Trick He Used To Survive “Nauseating” NASCAR Sim Session
A bicycle in a training session would sound bizarre to a NASCAR driver, considering it doesn’t even run at a fraction of the speed of the actual cars on the track, right? But it was these two wheels that enabled Lee Pulliam to complete his preparatio… [3483 chars]
NASCAR: Daytona 500 Recognized in USA Today’s 2026 Best Motorsports Races
The Daytona 500 has been named among the best motorsports races of 2026 in the USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. The race, held at Daytona International Speedway, was selected by an expert panel as one of 20 top events nationwide. Known as NAS… [2667 chars]
Did Sway Motorsports Survive After Shark Tank? Here’s What Happened After Season 6
In Season 6 of Shark Tank, which aired in 2014, Sway Motorsports turned heads as a potential game-changer when it comes to reliable and safe urban transportation. The product was an electric three-wheel scooter. An investor on the show (one of the ti… [3737 chars]
Rick Hendrick’s Prodigy Gets His Act Straight With Surprising Run Weeks After Receiving a Warning
There seems to be a common thread between the drivers of Rick Hendrick. They don’t talk; they let their results talk. That has been the case for Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson for years. And that seems to be the case for the youngest HMS star, Corey D… [3136 chars]
As Baseball Season Starts, Artist Who Paints Games Live Worldwide Visits LI: ‘Every Stadium Tells A Story’
Artist Andy Brown, who visits baseball stadiums worldwide to paint live, capture memories says the sport is a
Giants Legend Barry Bonds’ Total MLB Walks Adds Up to Absurd Distance
Barry Bonds ended his Major League career with the San Francisco Giants in 2007. When he did so he led baseball in four career categories.
First was home runs, which is obvious to anyone who grew up in the Bay Area from 1993-2007. He slammed 762 home… [2072 chars]
Mansfield, Frisco stadiums selected as World Cup base camps
Czechia and Sweden will call North Texas home during the World Cup.
All countries participating in the tournament will need a base camp. It’s the place where the players will live and train for the duration of the tournament.
Czechia will be based at… [3073 chars]
Morocco eye 2030 World Cup final amid Spain racism controversy
This week, Spanish football has been rocked by yet another case of racist abuse coming from the stands in their stadiums. During the friendly match between Spain and Egypt, a number of supporters were heard making Islamophobic chants towards the visi… [1637 chars]
Records reveal Cleveland mayor’s $9M plan for stadium repairs, with Cavs and Guardians fans footing the bill
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Mayor Justin Bibb wants to raise up to $9 million for repairs at the Cavaliers’ and Guardians’ stadiums, aiming to shift the burden away from the public and onto stadium users through added fees on parking, tickets, nachos and brand… [6835 chars]
2026 FIFA World Cup Schedule: Bracket, matchups, dates, locations, groups, results, how to watch
The full schedule for the 2026 World Cup has been confirmed, with the kick off times, dates and venues for all 104 games sorted.
There are less than 100 days to go until the 2026 World Cup kicks off, and you can watch every single game live on Univer… [9295 chars]
When will AT&T Stadium host another Super Bowl? It’s complicated
The NFL’s announcement this week that Las Vegas will host Super Bowl LXIII in 2029 marks another year that one of the league’s best stadiums will be vacant for football in February.
When AT&T Stadium opened in 2009, then called Cowboys Stadium, it wa… [5493 chars]
Jerry Jones Uses Dak Prescott & Co.’s Financial Gains as Reason For Major Decision on Cowboys Stadium
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup coming to the U.S.A., several NFL stadiums, including the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, are undergoing mandatory changes to their playing surfaces. With the Cowboys’ home undergoing a similar renovation, reporters asked o… [3998 chars]
Buccaneers eye a $1 billion renovation to Raymond James Stadium
Plenty of teams are looking to build new stadiums or renovate their current ones. Add the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the list.
Via the Tampa Bay Times, the Buccaneers plan to meet next week with the Tampa Sports Authority to discuss a renovation of Raym… [582 chars]
Ohio’s push to seize private unclaimed funds sets it apart from other states
COLUMBUS, Ohio— Ohio has become more aggressive than any other state in seizing privately owned unclaimed funds, even as many states are moving to automatically return money to their owners, an analysis has found.
Under a controversial new Ohio law c… [5301 chars]
Seneca softball runs season-opening win streak to a dozen: The Times Saturday Roundup
Softball
Seneca 17, Hononegah 6 (5 inn.); Seneca 11, United Township 4: At the Marengo Round Robin on Saturday, the Fighting Irish ran their record to 12-0 to start the season with a pair of victories.
In the win over Hononegah, Tessa Krull (5 IP, 5 … [799 chars]
Florida avenges first half of doubleheader with win over Presbyterian College
After falling to No. 7 LSU earlier on Saturday, Florida looked to reset quickly in the second half of its doubleheader against Presbyterian College (9-8).
No. 21 Florida (14-11, 5-7 SEC) left fans with one last home victory as it cruised to a 7-0 win… [3586 chars]
SPRINGTIME IN THE OBC – Tennis, boys weightlifting titles doled out
The faces on the court may have changed but the results didn’t.
Celebration swept both the boys and girls Orange Belt Conference tennis championships Monday on their home court.
The Storm claimed 13 of the 14 lines. The boys won all five singles and … [3995 chars]
Bob Moore made career out of promoting sports
Bob Moore grew up loving sports, even if by his own admission, he was not a gifted athlete.
Oh, he played tennis, but it was with the realization that “my only chance at a career in sports was the press box or the sideline.”
When it came time to go t… [8011 chars]
Sterling boys tennis wins twice: Saturday’s Sauk Valley Roundup
Boys tennis
Sterling 3, Rockford Lutheran 1: Aron Rivera swept No. 1 singles and Xavian Prather won 6-7 (5), 7-5, 1-0 (9) at No. 2 singles. Sterling’s Micah Peterson and Gavin Staats won at No. 2 doubles.
Sterling 4, Argo 0: Jacob Prevo and Rivera sw… [750 chars]
This 25-year study finds this sport can add 10 years to your life – and no, it’s not walking or swimming
Exercise is about far more than just getting in shape; it’s about looking after your heart, brain and lungs, and adding years to your life. Yet while there is a lot of noise about strength training, walking and swimming, a recent 25-year study found … [2157 chars]
Protected ospreys likely in for a longer stay at La Jolla Tennis Club
Feathered guests have settled onto light posts at the La Jolla Tennis Club, and while their droppings are causing some disturbance, they’re likely in for a longer stay.
A few ospreys built nests at the public club at 7632 Draper Ave. last month. Thei… [3713 chars]
Where to watch Paul vs. Burruchaga US Clay Court tennis final today on free streams, TV
American Tommy Paul seeks an ATP Tour win Sunday at the U.S. Clay Court Championships with a men’s singles final against Roman Andres Burruchaga. The match is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. CT) with TV coverage on T2 and streaming on-d… [1915 chars]
Jessica Pegula’s Message on $354,000 Prize at Charleston Open
Jessica Pegula is one win away from being a back-to-back champion at the 2026 Charleston Open. After defeating Iva Jovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, she takes on Yuliia Starodubtseva in the final on April 5.
While Pegula entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed a… [2782 chars]
Tennis Legend Patrick McEnroe Claims He Can Beat Aryna Sabalenka
Tennis legend Patrick McEnroe thinks he still has what it takes to beat a World No. 1 on the court.
On the Friday, April 4, episode of his Holding Court with Patrick McEnroe radio show, the former tennis pro took a call from a listener, who asked McE… [2623 chars]
MacIntyre Leads as Storm-Delayed Texas Open Heads for Marathon Finish
Robert MacIntyre made one birdie in six holes and was leading by two shots Saturday in the Texas Open when storms halted play for just over five hours until the PGA Tour decided to suspend the third round for the rest of the day.
That sets up a marat… [836 chars]
Play suspended at Texas Open as Robert MacIntyre leads Ludvig Aberg
Robert MacIntyre made one birdie in six holes and was leading by two shots Saturday in the Texas Open when storms halted play for just over five hours until the PGA Tour decided to suspend the third round for the rest of the day.
That sets up a marat… [937 chars]
‘Cancel the 4th Round’: PGA Tour Faces Heat as $9.8M Event Takes Alarming Turn
The 2026 Valero Texas Open has seen weather issues since the opening bell. On Thursday, it began with a 90-minute delay due to morning rain and thunderstorms. 24 players were unable to finish their opening rounds. Play resumed at 7:45 a.m. on Friday … [4522 chars]
Rickie Fowler Dealt Unfortunate News Days Before Masters
Tiger Woods is not the only star who will be absent from the 2026 Masters. After missing the cut at the Valero Texas Open, Rickie Fowler failed to qualify for the Masters.
Fowler last played at the Masters in 2024. It marked Fowler’s lone appearance … [2659 chars]
PGA Tour Official Outlines Suspended Round Plans as Conditions Continue to Challenge $9.8M Event
Weather delays have forced a dramatic Sunday finish at the 2026 Valero Texas Open. With a Masters spot on the line, PGA Tour officials revealed a compressed schedule to complete the event. Here is how the final day will unfold at TPC San Antonio.
Off… [2010 chars]
Valero Texas Open 2026: Prize Money Breakdown & Winner’s Payout
The Valero Texas Open is the third-oldest PGA Tour tournament. It has been in existence since 1922. It’s only next to the Western Open (since 1899) and the Canadian Open (since 1904) if we don’t consider the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship, since … [2339 chars]
2026 Masters odds, predictions, favorites, date, field: PGA picks from 10,000 simulations
A trio of golfers can complete the third leg of the career grand slam with a victory at the 2026 Masters, which begins on Thursday, April 9. Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Brooks Koepka have won two of the other majors entering the Masters 20… [3436 chars]
Robert MacIntyre WITB April 2026: PGA Tour Pro’s Golf Equipment at Valero Texas Open Explored
After making the cut in all six of his starts and posting top-10 finishes at the Sony Open and Players Championship, Robert MacIntyre is now in strong contention to win the Valero Texas Open. But the secret to his surge isn’t just his swing—it’s a fe… [4591 chars]
23-Year-Old Golfer Faces Intense Backlash Over Controversial Greens Method:
It’s one thing to be in the spotlight for leading the scoreboard at a PGA Tour event, and a whole other thing for an unwanted controversy. The 23-year-old David Ford faced the latter when the attention shifted to him at the $9.8 million Valero Texas … [4882 chars]
PGA Tour Forced to Announce Controversial Rule Change at $9.8M Event Despite Backlash
A storm is brewing at the Valero Texas Open, and it’s not just the one on the weather radar. The PGA Tour has just made a controversial ruling that has purists questioning the event’s legitimacy.
For the final round of the $9.8 million event, the int… [2589 chars]
NASCAR O’Reilly Star Banks on Positive Signs Chasing First Victory With 5-Word Message
Winning a race in NASCAR is a great feat and takes a lot of perseverance. Many great drivers take time to seal their first win, and the journey to get to that is sometimes frustrating. But for VKGNs Parker Retzlaff, the Rockingham race was certainly … [2730 chars]
NASCAR Championship Contender Lets Out Team’s Misery at Rockingham as Ford Fades Out of Racing
The NASCAR Cup Series is currently on an off weekend for Easter, but the Truck and O’Reilly’s Auto Parts Series is still active. Chandler Smith put on a spirited display in the race at Rockingham as he came from behind the field to bag a 4th-place fi… [2815 chars]
Kyle Petty Praises Cleetus McFarland After NASCAR Debut at Rockingham
Cleetus McFarland made his NASCAR debut on April 4, 2026, at Rockingham Speedway, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. The event drew attention due to McFarland’s background as a YouTube creator with limited national-series expe… [2975 chars]
NASCAR Rockingham Speedway: Rajah Caruth Apologizes After Contact With Jesse Love
Rajah Caruth took responsibility after making contact with Jesse Love during the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race on April 4, 2026, at Rockingham Speedway. The incident at NASCAR Rockingham Speedway occurred early in the race. Caruth, driving t… [3058 chars]
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Standings After Rockingham Speedway Race
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series returned to Rockingham Speedway on April 4, 2026, for Race 8 of the season. The North Carolina Education Lottery 250 Presented by Black’s Tire delivered a full night of racing on the 1.017-mile oval.
William Sawa… [3132 chars]
William Sawalich’s Father and Mark Martin React to Breakthrough Win
William Sawalich secured his first career victory in a NASCAR national series race on April 4, 2026, at Rockingham Speedway. Driving the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, the 19-year-old became the youngest driver to win at the track.
The NASCAR win al… [2580 chars]
NASCAR Cup Series Driver Ty Dillon Reacts to Cleetus McFarland Debut
Cleetus McFarland made his NASCAR debut in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Rockingham Speedway, driving for Richard Childress Racing. The event marked his first appearance in professional stock car racing. Ty Dillon, a NASCAR Cup Series driv… [2803 chars]
What streaming services carry NASCAR races in 2026?
There are 36 NASCAR races in 2026, starting with the Regular Season races which began in February. They run until the Cup Series Chase in November.
Because there are so many to watch, it can be difficult to keep track of all of them. Here is the full… [5329 chars]
NASCAR Manufacturers Handed New Demand as Fans Call Out “Stock Car” Gimmick
NASCAR has always leaned hard into one identity: stock cars. It’s what separates it from the precision-built machines of Formula 1 or the open-wheel world of IndyCar Series. The idea is simple: race cars that look like what you can buy. But lately, f… [3881 chars]
Can NASCAR Ever Go Back to Dirt Tracks After Failing Miserably at Bristol? Tony Stewart Might Be the Answer!
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Orioles vs. Pirates MLB player props & betting preview
The Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates are set to conclude their series at PNC Park on Sunday, April 5, 2026, starting at 1:35 p.m. ET.
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Yankees-Marlins game takes 3 hours, 49 minutes for 9 innings, longest in pitch clock era
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New North Dakota State QB Makes Telling Comment Before First FBS Season
North Dakota State quarterback Nathan Hayes carries an extra weight on his shoulders going into his senior season as the prorgam is set for an inaugural FBS season.
That said, Hayes couldn’t be more prepared as he has been learning from two quarterbacks who have reached the NFL or the pre-draft process thus far. Hayes played behind Miami Dolphins backup quarterback Cam Miller and NFL draft prospect Cole Payton for three years before taking the reins with the former FCS powerhouse. Miller and Payton are two of six former Bison quarterbacks since 2013 who have been in the NFL or part of the pre-draft process.
More News: North Dakota State Coach Talks 1 Major Advantage Amid FBS Move
More News: Minnesota Snags QB Recruit From North Dakota State
Jets Likely to Pass on Polarizing QB at No. 16
Will the New York Jets select a quarterback with the No. 16 pick in the first round of the 2026 National Football League Draft?
Arguably, they should not. The Jets obviously have a long-term question at quarterback. Geno Smith is the solution for the 2026 season. He’s not under contract beyond the 2026 season and he’s 35 years old. This has led to a lot of chatter about the 2026 NFL Draft class of quarterbacks, starting with Alabama’s Ty Simpson. He’s expected to be the No. 2 quarterback in the draft class and there’s a real chance that he comes off the board in the first round. Arguably, the No. 16 pick would be too high to take him with the other roster holes that the Jets have.
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic shared a similar point and fortunately said that he’s
NFL Blasts Bills for DJ Moore Deal, Bears Appear Big Trade Winner
The Chicago Bears got the better of the Buffalo Bills in an offseason trade for wide receiver DJ Moore, and the outcome wasn’t particularly close — at least not according to several high-ranking NFL executives.
Mike Sando of The Athletic spoke with multiple people around the league about every AFC team’s offseason, and what he came back with on Buffalo was a mostly competent report card, save for the second-round pick the Bills sent to Chicago in return for a fifth-rounder and Moore heading into the first season of a four-year contract extension worth a whopping $110 million.
“DJ Moore was gonna get cut, and they gave up a second-round pick to get him,” one exec said, according to Sando. “They gave up a second-round pick and $40 million [in guarantees]. What is going on?”
Another team official questioned Moore’s skill set/fit with the needs of Buffalo’s offense and quarterback Josh Allen.
“DJ Moore has two years of regression now,” he told Sando. “He is a non-traditional receiver that wins with size and yards after the catch. I still feel they needed someone that could win down the field. Moore can do that — he did it to beat Green Bay. But I feel like his strength is on the underneath catch-and-run stuff, which they already have with [Khalil] Shakir.”
Bills Inquired About Trade for DJ Moore Ahead of 2025 Mid-Season Deadline
All of that said, Bills GM Brandon Beane told the “Pat McAfee Show” on March 30 that his team has had Moore in its sites since before the mid-season trade deadline in 2025.
“[Moore] was one of the guys that we called and checked,” Beane said. “And Chicago shut it down. They were trying to make a run. But I think they at least knew there was interest, and they reached back out when we got to Indy [for the NFL combine] and said, ‘Hey, you know, maybe we’d be open if something made sense.’ And we [were] fortunate to be able to figure that out.”
Chicago needed Moore down the stretch and into the playoffs after Rome Odunze suffered a stress fracture in his foot and missed five games.
However, Moore would have been the Bears’ highest-paid player in 2026, so moving off him and kicking in a fifth-round pick for the No. 60 overall selection in Round 2 later this month was a huge victory for Chicago GM Ryan Poles.
Bears Equipped With Strong Group of Pass-Catchers Heading into Next Season
As for the Bears’ receiving corps next season, Odunze is at the top of the room heading into Year 3, while the team has announced its intention to feature slot receiver Luther Burden III considerably more in his second NFL campaign.
Tight end Colston Loveland was a breakout performer as a rookie in 2025 and, in many ways, was the true No. 1 option in the Bears’ pass game regardless of position. Cole Kmet is TE2 and remains part of an offense under head coach Ben Johnson that runs a considerable number of two-tight end sets (12 personnel).
Those four players, along with running back D’Andre Swift, make up a solid group of targets for third-year quarterback Caleb Williams. That said, Chicago may look to add a rookie wideout in the middle rounds of the upcoming draft.
Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN predicted on April 1 that the Bears will select wideout Antonio Williams of Clemson with the No. 89 pick.
Kirk Cousins gets $98.7 million for 22 starts with the Falcons
Kirk Cousins has made $321 million in 14 NFL seasons. At his most recent team, he got the best per-game rate of his career by far.
The final tally for his time in Atlanta goes like this: $98.7 million for 22 starts.
It works out to $4.49 million per start.
The total haul comes from the $90 million he received over the first two seasons, plus the $8.7 million the Falcons will pay from his guaranteed compensation of $10 million for 2026.
If not for the torn ACL suffered in November by Michael Penix Jr., Cousins would have started only 15 games. Which would have pushed the rate to $6.58 million per game.
Those final seven starts went a long way toward creating his opportunity with the Raiders. He went 5-2, with four straight wins to end the season. The final kick included upset wins over the Buccaneers and Rams in prime time.
His playing time in 2026 remains TBD. The Raiders presumably will be picking Fernando Mendoza, three weeks from tonight. The question becomes whether and to what extent Cousins will serve as a bridge quarterback until Mendoza is ready to go.
unCovering the Birds: The truths from Lurie’s annual address
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane covered the annual NFL owners meeting, and conducts an autopsy of Lurie’s recent remarks – from new stadium speculation to Lurie’s commitment to quarterback Jalen Hurts – with columnist Marcus Hayes.
The annual NFL owners meetings has become the only event of year the Philadelphia Eagles formally make owner Jeffrey Lurie available to meet with reporters. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane covered the event, and puts Lurie’s recent remarks – from new stadium speculation to Lurie’s commitment to quarterback Jalen Hurts and wide receiver AJ Brown – under the microscope with columnist Marcus Hayes.
00:00 Truths (and lies?) from Jeffrey Lurie’s owners meeting press conference
02:00 Quick comments about the possibility of a new stadium
05:07 Is Nick Sirianni as safe as Lurie suggests?
12:22 How committed is Lurie to Jalen Hurts?
18:57 What Lurie’s remarks reveal about A.J. Brown’s future?
26:09 Jeff and Marcus react to ESPN’s report about Hurts
34:38 Relitigating Hurts’ impact in the locker room
44:20 Hurts’ fit in Sean Mannion’s offense
unCovering the Birds is a production of The Philadelphia Inquirer and KYW Newsradio Original Podcasts. Look for new episodes throughout the offseason.
Eagles’ DeVonta Smith Surprises Dan Orlovsky’s Son for Autism Awareness Day
Last April, Dan Orvlosky and his son, Madden, went viral when Orvlosky broke down crying as Madden sang
Deshaun Watson Drops 4-Word Response to Browns
Deshaun Watson is locked in as he prepares for what could be the most pivotal season of his NFL career.
Watson is aiming to reclaim the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback job after missing all of last season, but the road back has been anything but smooth. Since arriving in Cleveland in 2022, he’s dealt with a string of significant injuries, including two Achilles surgeries following a rupture suffered during an October 2024 game.
In four seasons with the Browns, Watson has appeared in just 19 games, throwing for 3,365 yards with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Now healthy and at a career crossroads, Watson appears fully committed to turning things around. On Thursday, he shared a video from a throwing session in Florida alongside Jerry Jeudy, Isaiah Bond and Jamari Thrash — a clear sign he’s putting in the work ahead of a crucial offseason.
“Work mode: always on!” Watson wrote.
Watson is entering the final year of the fully guaranteed $230 million deal he signed upon arriving in Cleveland, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. If he can’t get back on the field this season or fails to produce when he does, his future in the NFL could be in serious jeopardy.
Browns Praise Shedeur Sanders for Being Present
The Browns have Watson, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel under contract for next season. Sanders and Watson are expected to battle it out for QB1 duties through the offseason program and training camp.
Sanders has already earned praise from new head coach Todd Monken for staying active around the Browns’ facility this offseason, which only makes Watson’s caption all the more intriguing.
“It’s too early to really evaluate him other than it’s been great that he’s been in the building,” Monken said. “It’s refreshing to see a player that recognizes where he’s at and where he wants to get to.”
Sanders started the final seven games last season. He went 3-4 during his rookie campaign, passing for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Brown Offer Deshaun Watson ‘Fresh Start’
No one would blame the Browns for moving on from Watson. He hasn’t delivered when available, and injuries have repeatedly derailed his time in Cleveland. Owner Jimmy Haslam even labeled the trade a “big swing and miss” last offseason.
But Haslam struck a noticeably different tone at this year’s NFL owners meetings, walking back some of that criticism and signaling renewed optimism around Watson’s outlook.
“Now Deshaun has a great chance, a fresh start, an offensive-minded coach who has, in his past, been able to work with all kinds of different quarterbacks and make them successful,” Haslam said. “So Deshaun has a great chance to do that now. We talked to him the other day. He said he weighed less than he had in several years, was in great shape. He’ll be here on April 7 when we start, and let’s see what Deshaun can do. We’re all excited.”
Steelers Legend Issues Warning to NFL Players Over Inevitable 18-Game Season
The idea of the NFL eventually moving to an 18-game regular season is no longer a distant thought. It came up again at this week’s annual league meeting, and the tone made one thing clear. It is more about when than how. As a result, a Pittsburgh Steelers legend is urging players to think twice, especially with more money being thrown around.
On his Deebo & Joe podcast, former linebacker James Harrison made it clear that the league will keep pushing for that extra game unless players are ready to push back hard. However, he didn’t just stop there. He explained what that resistance would really take. According to the Steelers great, the NFLPA would need to prepare for a long lockout, which means players must start saving now to survive without pay.
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“Now, if that’s the case and you’re willing to do that, your new NFL executive director should be telling his players from this year forward to say 30% this year,” James Harrison said. “So you can last 18 months of a lockout, that it gave you what, 120% of your yearly salary? So you should be able to do that.”
Still, he admitted he has “doubt that is happening,” which is why he offered a more practical path.
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Instead of shutting the idea down, Harrison believes the NFLPA should use it as leverage.
“I would leave the 18 as a negotiating tactic… You know how much you can get.”
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From his point of view, if the league wants more games, then players should demand more in return. That includes larger rosters, better minimum salaries, and stronger long-term healthcare. He pointed to the reality that many players face after their careers end.
“After you’ve done playing… once those five years are up… it is hard,” James Harrison concluded.
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On the other hand, the monetary advantages are obvious. More games mean more TV contracts and ticket sales, which means increased revenue. Since the players will share in the revenue, the salary cap will rise as well.
However, there are some concerns. The contracts will change in a small way. NFL players receive their paychecks every week during the season. A 17-game schedule means their salary is divided among 18 paychecks. With another game, it could lead to 19 payments unless salaries go up, which would mean each weekly paycheck would be a bit smaller.
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However, there is another perspective that can influence both the team and the players. With an extra game added to the season, it might be easier for players to reach their performance goals. Achievements like getting 1,000 rushing yards or hitting double-digit sacks could become more attainable, which might lead teams to rethink how they set up bonuses or increase targets in future contracts.
However, as Harrison mentioned, the NFLPA will play a big role in the whole situation. But right now, they have “no appetite” for the 18th game season.
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NFLPA is pushing back against the 18th game NFL season
While the NFL’s push toward an 18-game season keeps picking up pace, the NFLPA’s interim executive director, David White, made that stance clear earlier this year.
“The 18th game is not casual for us,” he said in February.
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He pointed to concerns around player health and safety while also raising questions about how longer seasons could impact careers and long-term earnings. White also emphasized that nothing will be rushed into place.
“It’s a very serious issue. It’s something that comes out of negotiation, and nothing will move forward until players have the opportunity to account for all of [the] factors, take that into consideration, and then through negotiation, agree—or not—to the 18th game. But as it stands right now, players have been very clear. They don’t have any appetite for it.”
The current agreement between the players and the league lasts until 2030, but with the buzz around adding an 18th game, it seems discussions might start sooner than planned. For that to happen, players would have to be on board with revisiting the deal earlier than they thought.
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Meanwhile, the idea of an extra game with higher pay can intrigue many players. The salary cap for 2026 is expected to be between $301.2 million and $305.7 million, showing a significant increase compared to recent years. Many think that figure could go even higher if the season gets longer.
Seahawks Predicted to Fill 2 Holes in Same NFL Draft Move
Few NFL general managers have mastered moving back to acquire more draft capital like Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider. The two-time Super Bowl-winning executive might have no choice but to orchestrate trades back in the 2026 NFL Draft. With only four selections as of April 3, the Seahawks could use more selections.
This week, Fox Sports’s Rob Rang proposed a scenario that fits that mold.
In a new 2026 NFL mock draft, Rang pitched a trade where the Seahawks moved back from No. 32 overall to 36 in the second round. At No. 36, Rang projected Seattle to grab Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price.
The draft analyst didn’t explain the full terms of the trade. But Rang did mention that former No. 7 overall pick and edge rusher Tyree Wilson would go to Seattle in the deal.
“The Seahawks are Super Bowl champions, but with a league-low four draft picks, winning this year’s draft is going to be nearly impossible,” Rang wrote. “Adding a back with a skill set well-suited to their wide zone running scheme would be a good start, however, especially if in doing so, Seattle also received veteran edge rusher Tyree Wilson.”
Essentially, the trade would help fill two potential holes for the Seahawks — edge rusher and running back.
What Tyree Wilson Could Bring to Seahawks
Wilson arrived as a raw but very talent edge rusher for the Raiders at No. 7 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. But he has yet to realize his full potential in Las Vegas.
He has just 12 sacks with 16 tackles for loss and 24 quarterback hits over 50 games in three seasons. Last season, he had four sacks with eight tackles for loss in 17 contests.
Wilson played in all 17 games for Las Vegas.
According to the Pro Football Focus player grades, Wilson regressed in 2025, particularly in run defense, where he showed improvement during 2024. In all three of his seasons, he’s struggled mightily as a tackler, and Wilson hasn’t been the elite pass rusher as expected.
But he turns just 26 years old in May. In the right system with the proper support, Wilson could still have the potential to be a starter.
“Long-limbed defender who figures to turn into a full-blown nightmare for opponents if he continues to grow into both his frame and his game,” wrote NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein during Wilson’s 2023 draft class. “Wilson’s combination of traits and athleticism should yield flashes of dominant play in both phases as he continues to get bigger and stronger.
“He might not set the world on fire in Year 1, but the talent and vaulted ceiling will be easy to see soon enough.”
He will be a reclamation project at his next stop. But he’s the type of risk the Seahawks can afford to make after winning the Super Bowl and with that the defense has coming back.
Why the Seahawks May Target Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price
The best part about Rang’s hypothetical deal is the Seahawks filled two holes with one draft pick.
After moving back four spots in the NFL Draft, the Seahawks grabbed Price at No. 36 in the Fox Sports mock draft.
Zierlein argued Price doesn’t have the same upside as his college teammate Jeremiyah Love. But Price could carve out a specific role at the NFL level quickly.
“Price is a more natural runner than his heralded teammate, Jeremiyah Love, but Price lacks Love’s pure explosiveness and pass-catching talent,” wrote Zierlein. “Price is highly instinctive, stacking moves to contour to run-lane spacing and avoid tacklers for as long as possible.
“Limited third-down value could cap his draft slotting, but his talent as a runner should make him an excellent complementary back.”
The Seahawks already have seven running backs on their offseason roster. None of them have been a workhorse NFL back, but Schneider and head coach Mike Macdonald have spoken highly of the group this offseason.
For that reason, it might make most sense for the Seahawks to simply add a rookie running back with specific traits to fill one role.
Price appears to have the tools to be a complementary back to Zach Charbonnett and/or Emanuel Wilson in Seattle.
Chiefs Predicted to Be the Envy of Teams With Key Draft Pick
The 2026 NFL is getting closer, and it’s going to be an important one for the Kansas City Chiefs. For the first time in years, the team has a top 10 pick in the draft, so all eyes will be on this franchise when they made their decision on which player to select when that early draft pick roles around.
One of the most buzzed-about position in this draft class is edge. It seems pass rushers are among the highest-paid non-quarterbacks in the NFL today, with guys such as Aidan Hutchinson and Trey Hendrickson getting plenty of bag.
The Kansas City Chiefs could sure use some pass rusher depth, and some NFL analysts and experts believe the team will score big on that position in the NFL draft.
Kansas City Chiefs Get Star Edge in NFL Draft Projection, Snagging an Up-and-Coming Talent
The NFL draft, which is celebrating its 91st year, is going to take place April 23 through 25 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. So, who will the Chiefs picks for their No. 9 selection in the draft?
In a Wednesday, April 1 feature for Yahoo Sports, NFL analysts Nate Tice and Charles McDonald name their picks for the 2026 NFL draft, and as the date approaches, these choices tend to get more accurate, because teams rosters’ start to fill up.
“With the NFL spring meetings this week in Phoenix, team owners, coaches and general managers are meeting with media to offer updates on offseason news,” they say in the feature, which looks at the entire first round. “That includes answering questions about the 2026 NFL Draft.”
These two experts believe the Chiefs will go with Rueben Bain Jr., an edge, out of Miami for their No. 9 pick.
“Kansas City takes five seconds to turn this pick in. By the luck of the draw, one of the most disruptive defensive ends in college football falls into the Chiefs’ lap as they try to re-infuse premier talent into their defense,” they state. “Bain would be a perfect fit in Steve Spagnuolo’s defense and form a productive trio alongside Chris Jones and George Karlaftis.”
Kansas City Chiefs Hopeful Is a ‘Note Taker, Grudge Holder and Block Destructor’
Bain’s NFL draft profile says that he’s a “note taker, grudge holder and block destructor with a compact frame and defensive tackle play strength. Bain is ill-tempered with his take-ons, hitting blockers with heavy hand strikes.” So, usually holding a grudge isn’t good, but it’s great here.
“He plays through tight ends and can anchor against tackles and double teams,” the profile adds. On the downside, “his lack of length can lead to him being smothered if he doesn’t land the first strike.” But, don’t let that deter you, because this player “can bend and flip his hips at the top of the rush, swipe away punches and generate a strong bull rush.”
The profile wraps up by saying, “His playoff run showed an ability to generate quick wins if tackles are passive in setting to him. He can rush off the edge or mismatch guards as a sub-package rusher. Bain’s explosive power and toughness should translate, giving him a high floor as an NFL starter.”
Gilgeous-Alexander’s 28 Points Lead Thunder’s 139-96 Rout of Lakers as Doncic Hurts Hamstring
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Los Angeles Lakers 139-96 on Thursday night in a game in which NBA leading scorer Luka Doncic left due to injury.
Only six times in their storied history have the Lakers been defeated by more points. They fell six points short of their worst margin of defeat ever — a 49-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks in 2017.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning league MVP, got the best of his matchup with Doncic — one of Gilgeous-Alexander’s top competitors for this season’s award. Doncic had scored at least 40 points in five of his previous seven games, but he finished with 12 points on 3-for-10 shooting from the field and 1-for-7 shooting from 3-point range against the Thunder’s suffocating defense.
Doncic left the game with a left hamstring injury in the middle of the third quarter. Lakers coach JJ Redick said he will have an MRI on Friday.
Austin Reaves scored 15 points and LeBron James added 13 for the Lakers.
Isaiah Joe added 20 points and made six 3-pointers as Oklahoma City shot 53.9% to turn a matchup between two of the league’s hottest teams into a blowout. The Thunder have now won 16 of 17. The Lakers had won four straight and 13 of 14.
It was a critical game for Oklahoma City. The Thunder entered the night two games ahead of San Antonio in the race for homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs with six games remaining.
In a sign of things to come in the game, it took the Lakers nearly five minutes to make their first field goal. The Thunder led 44-21 at the end of the first behind 14 points from Lu Dort.
The Lakers had another shooting drought to start the second quarter, taking a little more than four minutes to make their field goal. The Thunder reached their season high point total for a first half when they took a 76-41 lead on a layup by Gilgeous-Alexander with 3:25 left in the second quarter.
Oklahoma City led 82-51 at the break, falling a point short of the Thunder regular-season record for points in a half. They scored 83 in the first half of a game against Minnesota in 2021.
Joe hit three 3-pointers in an 85-second flurry to put the Thunder up 99-61 in the third quarter. The teams played reserves throughout the fourth quarter.
The Lakers will host a rematch on April 7.
Up next
Lakers: Visit the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
Thunder: Host the Utah Jazz on Sunday.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s 28 points lead Thunder’s 139-96 rout of Lakers as Doncic hurts hamstring
OKLAHOMA CITY – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Los Angeles Lakers 139-96 on Thursday night in a game in which NBA leading scorer Luka Doncic left due to injury.
Only six times in their storied history have the Lakers been defeated by more points. They fell six points short of their worst margin of defeat ever — a 49-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks in 2017.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning league MVP, got the best of his matchup with Doncic — one of Gilgeous-Alexander’s top competitors for this season’s award. Doncic had scored at least 40 points in five of his previous seven games, but he finished with 12 points on 3-for-10 shooting from the field and 1-for-7 shooting from 3-point range against the Thunder’s suffocating defense.
Doncic left the game with a left hamstring injury in the middle of the third quarter. Lakers coach JJ Redick said he will have an MRI on Friday.
Austin Reaves scored 15 points and LeBron James added 13 for the Lakers.
Isaiah Joe added 20 points and made six 3-pointers as Oklahoma City shot 53.9% to turn a matchup between two of the league’s hottest teams into a blowout. The Thunder have now won 16 of 17. The Lakers had won four straight and 13 of 14.
It was a critical game for Oklahoma City. The Thunder entered the night two games ahead of San Antonio in the race for homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs with six games remaining.
In a sign of things to come in the game, it took the Lakers nearly five minutes to make their first field goal. The Thunder led 44-21 at the end of the first behind 14 points from Lu Dort.
The Lakers had another shooting drought to start the second quarter, taking a little more than four minutes to make their field goal. The Thunder reached their season high point total for a first half when they took a 76-41 lead on a layup by Gilgeous-Alexander with 3:25 left in the second quarter.
Oklahoma City led 82-51 at the break, falling a point short of the Thunder regular-season record for points in a half. They scored 83 in the first half of a game against Minnesota in 2021.
Joe hit three 3-pointers in an 85-second flurry to put the Thunder up 99-61 in the third quarter. The teams played reserves throughout the fourth quarter.
The Lakers will host a rematch on April 7.
Up next
Lakers: Visit the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
Thunder: Host the Utah Jazz on Sunday.
___
NBA Playoff Picture 2026, Updated Bracket, Standings After Cavs Clinch Spot
The Cleveland Cavaliers are headed to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
Cleveland punched its postseason ticket on Thursday after defeating the Golden State Warriors 118-111 on the road.
Updated Eastern Conference Standings
Detroit Pistons (56-21)
Boston Celtics (51-25)
New York Knicks (49-28)
Cleveland Cavaliers (48-29)
Atlanta Hawks (44-33)
Philadelphia 76ers (42-34)
Toronto Raptors (42-34)
Charlotte Hornets (41-36)
Orlando Magic (40-36)
Miami Heat (40-37)
This season didn’t start in the way the Cavs were counting on after winning 64 games in 2024-25. They got off to a slow start due in part to injuries, particularly to Darius Garland and Max Strus.
Garland’s injuries, in particular, left a huge void in the offense because it forced Donovan Mitchell to take on more point guard responsibilities.
A Jan. 12 loss to the Utah Jazz dropped Cleveland’s record to 22-19, seventh in the Eastern Conference. The team did figure some things out immediately after that, winning seven of nine games, before leading up to the biggest move of its season.
President of basketball operations Koby Altman swung a blockbuster deal on Feb. 4 to acquire James Harden from the Los Angeles Clippers for Garland and a second-round draft pick.
The addition of Harden put everyone, particularly Mitchell, back in their regular roles. Cleveland’s offense has the third-best rating in the NBA since Harden’s first game on Feb. 7.
Cleveland has high-profile wins over the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons since Harden entered the fray.
Given how things ended last year in the playoffs for the Cavs after a stellar regular season, this team will have a lot to prove in the postseason. But they were able to clear the first hurdle by getting in the field.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s 28 points lead Thunder’s 139-96 rout of Lakers as Doncic hurts hamstring
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Los Angeles Lakers 139-96 on Thursday night in a game in which NBA leading scorer Luka Doncic left due to injury.
Only six times in their storied history have the Lakers been defeated by more points. They fell six points short of their worst margin of defeat ever — a 49-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks in 2017.
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Cavaliers beat Warriors, 118-111, to clinch 2026 NBA playoff spot
SAN FRANCISCO — The Cavs are headed back to the playoffs.
Officially.
Cleveland capped its three-game road trip with a 118-111 win over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night inside Chase Center. The victory solidifies a fourth consecutive playoff appearance — all coinciding with Donovan Mitchell’s arrival from Utah in the summer of 2022, a trade that altered the franchise’s trajectory and accelerated its timeline.
More Cavs coverage
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Could Donovan Mitchell’s defensive bandwidth define his playoff success rather than his offensive production?
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On Thursday night, Mitchell’s fingerprints were all over the clincher.
And he got plenty of support too, showing how far the Cavs have come since that blockbuster trade four years ago.
It didn’t come easy Thursday. Not much has during this chaotic regular season.
Despite the Cavs leading by seven at halftime, the Warriors opened the second half on a 7-0 push to pull back even — the game’s fifth tie of the night at that point.
Cleveland responded immediately with an 11-2 run that allowed it to briefly regain control and eventually build a double-digit advantage. But Golden State kept cutting into that as the third quarter came to a close
It was only a four-point Cavaliers lead going into the fourth.
In the early minutes of the closing period, Cleveland lost its nerve — a temporary mental collapse that began with a dustup between Golden State’s Draymond Green and Cavaliers reserve Dennis Schroder.
After Schroder was called for a flagrant foul 1 because of unnecessary contact with his foot on a driving layup attempt by LJ Cryer, Green shoved Schroder, causing the former teammates to go nose-to-nose.
That heated incident sparked a lively 11-1 Golden State run — a stretch in which the Warriors claimed just their second lead of the second half.
Then with 7:57 remaining, Atkinson, who had received a technical for arguing with the officials a few minutes earlier, called timeout.
The Cavs needed to regroup. They needed to settle down. Needed to regain their composure.
Out of the stoppage, Cleveland ripped off four straight points, pulling back even.
The two teams went back and forth for the final seven minutes, with the game remaining a two-possession game until there were just 15 seconds left and the Cavs finally putting pesky Golden State away for good, punching their springtime ticket.
Mitchell, who has never missed the postseason in his career, scored a team-high 25 points.
Max Strus, who made multiple back-breaking triples in the closing minutes, added 24 points on 9 of 14 shooting and 6 of 10 from 3-point range. James Harden chipped in with 19 points and five assists. Jarrett Allen, despite being on a minute limit because of an achy right knee, recorded a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Evan Mobley and Schroder finished with 12 points apiece.
The Warriors — without Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody and Al Horford — had five players in double figures. Brandon Podziemski and Gui Santos led the way with 25 points apiece.
On the heels of last year’s postseason flameout, the Cavs entered with lofty expectations. They were not only considered one of the Eastern Conference favorites, but among a select group capable of competing for an NBA championship.
The first step in that title quest is now complete. That celebration can begin.
And then there are five games left to figure out where they will be seeded and who the first-round opponent will be.
Up next
The Cavs will return home to host the Indiana Pacers on Sunday evening. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
Luka Doncic Accused of “Hurting Teammates” During Lakers-Thunder as Ex-NBA Coach Highlights Concerning Habit
March 2, 2026 was a nightmare for LakeShow to watch. The Los Angeles Lakers went up against the defending champions and very quickly the outcome was evident. The Lakers were on their way to a blowout loss with a 50-point deficit. Anyone watching, both fans and Stan Van Gundy, were pointing fingers at Luka Doncic for it. Even that devastating hamstring injury in the end was not enough to save Doncic from a critique of a very bizarre habit that was costly to the Lakers.
Thursday night was marred by more than just that ugly 139-96 visual on the board. NBA on Prime broadcaster, Stan Van Gundy put on his coaching hat to roast Doncic’s glaring problem.
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“The one that thing drives me crazy with Luka, when he thinks he doesn’t get a call, he just stops and gives up a fast break on the other end,” SVG so bluntly put it.
Now Doncic’s defensive lapses are well known. But this very specific criticism became a social media lightning rod. From the first half of this game alone, fans pulled out about five examples of Luka’s inability to switch to defense at a transition.
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The ‘evidence’ shows that Austin Reaves made very short passes and Deandre Ayton committed turnovers. But SVG shifts focus on Luka Doncic’s abrupt pauses like he’s waiting for a call from the refs. Maybe it’s Van Gundy’s coaching eye or the existing prejudice against Luka, who’s slipping in MVP odds, because of his repeating lobbying for calls. But observers didn’t really agree.
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Of the Lakers’ 18 turnovers tonight, Doncic (6) and Reaves (4) combined for half of them. They gave up 24 points in the turnovers. The most glaring stat though was not the massive score gap, but the Lakers’ 14 fastbreak points compared to OKC’s 34. That seemingly made all the difference.
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LakeShow unable to defend Luka Doncic’s habit
Doncic had those moments in the first half. He took one play right out of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s handbook. He faked a three, making SGA jump, and attempted to bait the reigning MVP into a foul. However, the referee called it fair play which Luka contested.
Everyone and SVG would’ve preferred if Doncic paid attention to the game that didn’t pause for him. While Luka was occupied, SGA had raced to the other end and scored on a fastbreak. It reinforced SVG’s commentary in that moment.
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Doncic has been playing through a hamstring injury which finally got aggravated tonight. He had to make an early exit from the game but his defensive liabilities are overshadowing it. That one viral compilation of Luka failing to get on defense to complain about non calls from last month is back again because of SVG.
His injury now creates a problematic situation. Once again his habit of prioritizing officiating complaints over transition defense has led to accusations that he is “hurting his teammates” by leaving them stranded in disadvantaged defensive rotations. In contrast, in that one game when Doncic was suspended against the Wizards, LeBron James ran the offense without a pause, including some father-son pick-and-rolls with Bronny. Some wonder that if Luka Doncic is sidelined for the foreseeable future, would the lack of stoppages fix the Lakers’ woes. That’s a slippery question the Lakers would have to answer.
Could Dallas land NBA draft’s No. 1 pick?
While the 2025-26 season hasn’t been a great one for the Dallas Mavericks, the team has a good chance of landing a premium pick in the 2026 NBA draft.
Luckily for Dallas, the team has run into some recent good luck in the draft lottery. The Mavericks won last year’s lottery despite having just a 1.8% chance of drawing the No. 1 pick. That put them in a prime position to select Cooper Flagg.
Will the Mavericks’ lottery luck carry into 2026? Below, we’ll take a look at Dallas’ chances at landing the No. 1 pick and where the squad is currently projected among lottery teams:
Fourteen ping-pong balls, numbered 1-14, are placed in a hopper, with the potential for 1,001 different four-ball draws. Each team is assigned a certain number of combinations based on their final record.
At least three four-number combinations will be drawn, slotting teams with picks Nos. 1-3 in this year’s draft.
In the event that a team has one of its combinations drawn more than once, the balls are drawn again until three different teams have been determined.
Before 2025, the Mavericks didn’t have the best luck in the NBA draft lottery. Last year marked the first time in 17 lottery appearances that Dallas drew a pick better than its odds dictated.
OKC Thunder rolls Lakers 139-96 in NBA playoff primer
Berry Tramel
Tulsa World Sports Columnist
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New North Dakota State QB Makes Telling Comment Before First FBS Season
North Dakota State quarterback Nathan Hayes carries an extra weight on his shoulders going into his senior season as the prorgam is set for an inaugural FBS season.
That said, Hayes couldn’t be more prepared as he has been learning from two quarterbacks who have reached the NFL or the pre-draft process thus far. Hayes played behind Miami Dolphins backup quarterback Cam Miller and NFL draft prospect Cole Payton for three years before taking the reins with the former FCS powerhouse. Miller and Payton are two of six former Bison quarterbacks since 2013 who have been in the NFL or part of the pre-draft process.
More News: North Dakota State Coach Talks 1 Major Advantage Amid FBS Move
More News: Minnesota Snags QB Recruit From North Dakota State
Jets Likely to Pass on Polarizing QB at No. 16
Will the New York Jets select a quarterback with the No. 16 pick in the first round of the 2026 National Football League Draft?
Arguably, they should not. The Jets obviously have a long-term question at quarterback. Geno Smith is the solution for the 2026 season. He’s not under contract beyond the 2026 season and he’s 35 years old. This has led to a lot of chatter about the 2026 NFL Draft class of quarterbacks, starting with Alabama’s Ty Simpson. He’s expected to be the No. 2 quarterback in the draft class and there’s a real chance that he comes off the board in the first round. Arguably, the No. 16 pick would be too high to take him with the other roster holes that the Jets have.
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic shared a similar point and fortunately said that he’s
NFL Blasts Bills for DJ Moore Deal, Bears Appear Big Trade Winner
The Chicago Bears got the better of the Buffalo Bills in an offseason trade for wide receiver DJ Moore, and the outcome wasn’t particularly close — at least not according to several high-ranking NFL executives.
Mike Sando of The Athletic spoke with multiple people around the league about every AFC team’s offseason, and what he came back with on Buffalo was a mostly competent report card, save for the second-round pick the Bills sent to Chicago in return for a fifth-rounder and Moore heading into the first season of a four-year contract extension worth a whopping $110 million.
“DJ Moore was gonna get cut, and they gave up a second-round pick to get him,” one exec said, according to Sando. “They gave up a second-round pick and $40 million [in guarantees]. What is going on?”
Another team official questioned Moore’s skill set/fit with the needs of Buffalo’s offense and quarterback Josh Allen.
“DJ Moore has two years of regression now,” he told Sando. “He is a non-traditional receiver that wins with size and yards after the catch. I still feel they needed someone that could win down the field. Moore can do that — he did it to beat Green Bay. But I feel like his strength is on the underneath catch-and-run stuff, which they already have with [Khalil] Shakir.”
Bills Inquired About Trade for DJ Moore Ahead of 2025 Mid-Season Deadline
All of that said, Bills GM Brandon Beane told the “Pat McAfee Show” on March 30 that his team has had Moore in its sites since before the mid-season trade deadline in 2025.
“[Moore] was one of the guys that we called and checked,” Beane said. “And Chicago shut it down. They were trying to make a run. But I think they at least knew there was interest, and they reached back out when we got to Indy [for the NFL combine] and said, ‘Hey, you know, maybe we’d be open if something made sense.’ And we [were] fortunate to be able to figure that out.”
Chicago needed Moore down the stretch and into the playoffs after Rome Odunze suffered a stress fracture in his foot and missed five games.
However, Moore would have been the Bears’ highest-paid player in 2026, so moving off him and kicking in a fifth-round pick for the No. 60 overall selection in Round 2 later this month was a huge victory for Chicago GM Ryan Poles.
Bears Equipped With Strong Group of Pass-Catchers Heading into Next Season
As for the Bears’ receiving corps next season, Odunze is at the top of the room heading into Year 3, while the team has announced its intention to feature slot receiver Luther Burden III considerably more in his second NFL campaign.
Tight end Colston Loveland was a breakout performer as a rookie in 2025 and, in many ways, was the true No. 1 option in the Bears’ pass game regardless of position. Cole Kmet is TE2 and remains part of an offense under head coach Ben Johnson that runs a considerable number of two-tight end sets (12 personnel).
Those four players, along with running back D’Andre Swift, make up a solid group of targets for third-year quarterback Caleb Williams. That said, Chicago may look to add a rookie wideout in the middle rounds of the upcoming draft.
Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN predicted on April 1 that the Bears will select wideout Antonio Williams of Clemson with the No. 89 pick.
Kirk Cousins gets $98.7 million for 22 starts with the Falcons
Kirk Cousins has made $321 million in 14 NFL seasons. At his most recent team, he got the best per-game rate of his career by far.
The final tally for his time in Atlanta goes like this: $98.7 million for 22 starts.
It works out to $4.49 million per start.
The total haul comes from the $90 million he received over the first two seasons, plus the $8.7 million the Falcons will pay from his guaranteed compensation of $10 million for 2026.
If not for the torn ACL suffered in November by Michael Penix Jr., Cousins would have started only 15 games. Which would have pushed the rate to $6.58 million per game.
Those final seven starts went a long way toward creating his opportunity with the Raiders. He went 5-2, with four straight wins to end the season. The final kick included upset wins over the Buccaneers and Rams in prime time.
His playing time in 2026 remains TBD. The Raiders presumably will be picking Fernando Mendoza, three weeks from tonight. The question becomes whether and to what extent Cousins will serve as a bridge quarterback until Mendoza is ready to go.
unCovering the Birds: The truths from Lurie’s annual address
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane covered the annual NFL owners meeting, and conducts an autopsy of Lurie’s recent remarks – from new stadium speculation to Lurie’s commitment to quarterback Jalen Hurts – with columnist Marcus Hayes.
The annual NFL owners meetings has become the only event of year the Philadelphia Eagles formally make owner Jeffrey Lurie available to meet with reporters. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane covered the event, and puts Lurie’s recent remarks – from new stadium speculation to Lurie’s commitment to quarterback Jalen Hurts and wide receiver AJ Brown – under the microscope with columnist Marcus Hayes.
00:00 Truths (and lies?) from Jeffrey Lurie’s owners meeting press conference
02:00 Quick comments about the possibility of a new stadium
05:07 Is Nick Sirianni as safe as Lurie suggests?
12:22 How committed is Lurie to Jalen Hurts?
18:57 What Lurie’s remarks reveal about A.J. Brown’s future?
26:09 Jeff and Marcus react to ESPN’s report about Hurts
34:38 Relitigating Hurts’ impact in the locker room
44:20 Hurts’ fit in Sean Mannion’s offense
unCovering the Birds is a production of The Philadelphia Inquirer and KYW Newsradio Original Podcasts. Look for new episodes throughout the offseason.
Eagles’ DeVonta Smith Surprises Dan Orlovsky’s Son for Autism Awareness Day
Last April, Dan Orvlosky and his son, Madden, went viral when Orvlosky broke down crying as Madden sang
Deshaun Watson Drops 4-Word Response to Browns
Deshaun Watson is locked in as he prepares for what could be the most pivotal season of his NFL career.
Watson is aiming to reclaim the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback job after missing all of last season, but the road back has been anything but smooth. Since arriving in Cleveland in 2022, he’s dealt with a string of significant injuries, including two Achilles surgeries following a rupture suffered during an October 2024 game.
In four seasons with the Browns, Watson has appeared in just 19 games, throwing for 3,365 yards with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Now healthy and at a career crossroads, Watson appears fully committed to turning things around. On Thursday, he shared a video from a throwing session in Florida alongside Jerry Jeudy, Isaiah Bond and Jamari Thrash — a clear sign he’s putting in the work ahead of a crucial offseason.
“Work mode: always on!” Watson wrote.
Watson is entering the final year of the fully guaranteed $230 million deal he signed upon arriving in Cleveland, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. If he can’t get back on the field this season or fails to produce when he does, his future in the NFL could be in serious jeopardy.
Browns Praise Shedeur Sanders for Being Present
The Browns have Watson, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel under contract for next season. Sanders and Watson are expected to battle it out for QB1 duties through the offseason program and training camp.
Sanders has already earned praise from new head coach Todd Monken for staying active around the Browns’ facility this offseason, which only makes Watson’s caption all the more intriguing.
“It’s too early to really evaluate him other than it’s been great that he’s been in the building,” Monken said. “It’s refreshing to see a player that recognizes where he’s at and where he wants to get to.”
Sanders started the final seven games last season. He went 3-4 during his rookie campaign, passing for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Brown Offer Deshaun Watson ‘Fresh Start’
No one would blame the Browns for moving on from Watson. He hasn’t delivered when available, and injuries have repeatedly derailed his time in Cleveland. Owner Jimmy Haslam even labeled the trade a “big swing and miss” last offseason.
But Haslam struck a noticeably different tone at this year’s NFL owners meetings, walking back some of that criticism and signaling renewed optimism around Watson’s outlook.
“Now Deshaun has a great chance, a fresh start, an offensive-minded coach who has, in his past, been able to work with all kinds of different quarterbacks and make them successful,” Haslam said. “So Deshaun has a great chance to do that now. We talked to him the other day. He said he weighed less than he had in several years, was in great shape. He’ll be here on April 7 when we start, and let’s see what Deshaun can do. We’re all excited.”
Steelers Legend Issues Warning to NFL Players Over Inevitable 18-Game Season
The idea of the NFL eventually moving to an 18-game regular season is no longer a distant thought. It came up again at this week’s annual league meeting, and the tone made one thing clear. It is more about when than how. As a result, a Pittsburgh Steelers legend is urging players to think twice, especially with more money being thrown around.
On his Deebo & Joe podcast, former linebacker James Harrison made it clear that the league will keep pushing for that extra game unless players are ready to push back hard. However, he didn’t just stop there. He explained what that resistance would really take. According to the Steelers great, the NFLPA would need to prepare for a long lockout, which means players must start saving now to survive without pay.
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“Now, if that’s the case and you’re willing to do that, your new NFL executive director should be telling his players from this year forward to say 30% this year,” James Harrison said. “So you can last 18 months of a lockout, that it gave you what, 120% of your yearly salary? So you should be able to do that.”
Still, he admitted he has “doubt that is happening,” which is why he offered a more practical path.
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Instead of shutting the idea down, Harrison believes the NFLPA should use it as leverage.
“I would leave the 18 as a negotiating tactic… You know how much you can get.”
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From his point of view, if the league wants more games, then players should demand more in return. That includes larger rosters, better minimum salaries, and stronger long-term healthcare. He pointed to the reality that many players face after their careers end.
“After you’ve done playing… once those five years are up… it is hard,” James Harrison concluded.
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On the other hand, the monetary advantages are obvious. More games mean more TV contracts and ticket sales, which means increased revenue. Since the players will share in the revenue, the salary cap will rise as well.
However, there are some concerns. The contracts will change in a small way. NFL players receive their paychecks every week during the season. A 17-game schedule means their salary is divided among 18 paychecks. With another game, it could lead to 19 payments unless salaries go up, which would mean each weekly paycheck would be a bit smaller.
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However, there is another perspective that can influence both the team and the players. With an extra game added to the season, it might be easier for players to reach their performance goals. Achievements like getting 1,000 rushing yards or hitting double-digit sacks could become more attainable, which might lead teams to rethink how they set up bonuses or increase targets in future contracts.
However, as Harrison mentioned, the NFLPA will play a big role in the whole situation. But right now, they have “no appetite” for the 18th game season.
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NFLPA is pushing back against the 18th game NFL season
While the NFL’s push toward an 18-game season keeps picking up pace, the NFLPA’s interim executive director, David White, made that stance clear earlier this year.
“The 18th game is not casual for us,” he said in February.
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He pointed to concerns around player health and safety while also raising questions about how longer seasons could impact careers and long-term earnings. White also emphasized that nothing will be rushed into place.
“It’s a very serious issue. It’s something that comes out of negotiation, and nothing will move forward until players have the opportunity to account for all of [the] factors, take that into consideration, and then through negotiation, agree—or not—to the 18th game. But as it stands right now, players have been very clear. They don’t have any appetite for it.”
The current agreement between the players and the league lasts until 2030, but with the buzz around adding an 18th game, it seems discussions might start sooner than planned. For that to happen, players would have to be on board with revisiting the deal earlier than they thought.
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Meanwhile, the idea of an extra game with higher pay can intrigue many players. The salary cap for 2026 is expected to be between $301.2 million and $305.7 million, showing a significant increase compared to recent years. Many think that figure could go even higher if the season gets longer.
Seahawks Predicted to Fill 2 Holes in Same NFL Draft Move
Few NFL general managers have mastered moving back to acquire more draft capital like Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider. The two-time Super Bowl-winning executive might have no choice but to orchestrate trades back in the 2026 NFL Draft. With only four selections as of April 3, the Seahawks could use more selections.
This week, Fox Sports’s Rob Rang proposed a scenario that fits that mold.
In a new 2026 NFL mock draft, Rang pitched a trade where the Seahawks moved back from No. 32 overall to 36 in the second round. At No. 36, Rang projected Seattle to grab Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price.
The draft analyst didn’t explain the full terms of the trade. But Rang did mention that former No. 7 overall pick and edge rusher Tyree Wilson would go to Seattle in the deal.
“The Seahawks are Super Bowl champions, but with a league-low four draft picks, winning this year’s draft is going to be nearly impossible,” Rang wrote. “Adding a back with a skill set well-suited to their wide zone running scheme would be a good start, however, especially if in doing so, Seattle also received veteran edge rusher Tyree Wilson.”
Essentially, the trade would help fill two potential holes for the Seahawks — edge rusher and running back.
What Tyree Wilson Could Bring to Seahawks
Wilson arrived as a raw but very talent edge rusher for the Raiders at No. 7 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. But he has yet to realize his full potential in Las Vegas.
He has just 12 sacks with 16 tackles for loss and 24 quarterback hits over 50 games in three seasons. Last season, he had four sacks with eight tackles for loss in 17 contests.
Wilson played in all 17 games for Las Vegas.
According to the Pro Football Focus player grades, Wilson regressed in 2025, particularly in run defense, where he showed improvement during 2024. In all three of his seasons, he’s struggled mightily as a tackler, and Wilson hasn’t been the elite pass rusher as expected.
But he turns just 26 years old in May. In the right system with the proper support, Wilson could still have the potential to be a starter.
“Long-limbed defender who figures to turn into a full-blown nightmare for opponents if he continues to grow into both his frame and his game,” wrote NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein during Wilson’s 2023 draft class. “Wilson’s combination of traits and athleticism should yield flashes of dominant play in both phases as he continues to get bigger and stronger.
“He might not set the world on fire in Year 1, but the talent and vaulted ceiling will be easy to see soon enough.”
He will be a reclamation project at his next stop. But he’s the type of risk the Seahawks can afford to make after winning the Super Bowl and with that the defense has coming back.
Why the Seahawks May Target Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price
The best part about Rang’s hypothetical deal is the Seahawks filled two holes with one draft pick.
After moving back four spots in the NFL Draft, the Seahawks grabbed Price at No. 36 in the Fox Sports mock draft.
Zierlein argued Price doesn’t have the same upside as his college teammate Jeremiyah Love. But Price could carve out a specific role at the NFL level quickly.
“Price is a more natural runner than his heralded teammate, Jeremiyah Love, but Price lacks Love’s pure explosiveness and pass-catching talent,” wrote Zierlein. “Price is highly instinctive, stacking moves to contour to run-lane spacing and avoid tacklers for as long as possible.
“Limited third-down value could cap his draft slotting, but his talent as a runner should make him an excellent complementary back.”
The Seahawks already have seven running backs on their offseason roster. None of them have been a workhorse NFL back, but Schneider and head coach Mike Macdonald have spoken highly of the group this offseason.
For that reason, it might make most sense for the Seahawks to simply add a rookie running back with specific traits to fill one role.
Price appears to have the tools to be a complementary back to Zach Charbonnett and/or Emanuel Wilson in Seattle.
Chiefs Predicted to Be the Envy of Teams With Key Draft Pick
The 2026 NFL is getting closer, and it’s going to be an important one for the Kansas City Chiefs. For the first time in years, the team has a top 10 pick in the draft, so all eyes will be on this franchise when they made their decision on which player to select when that early draft pick roles around.
One of the most buzzed-about position in this draft class is edge. It seems pass rushers are among the highest-paid non-quarterbacks in the NFL today, with guys such as Aidan Hutchinson and Trey Hendrickson getting plenty of bag.
The Kansas City Chiefs could sure use some pass rusher depth, and some NFL analysts and experts believe the team will score big on that position in the NFL draft.
Kansas City Chiefs Get Star Edge in NFL Draft Projection, Snagging an Up-and-Coming Talent
The NFL draft, which is celebrating its 91st year, is going to take place April 23 through 25 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. So, who will the Chiefs picks for their No. 9 selection in the draft?
In a Wednesday, April 1 feature for Yahoo Sports, NFL analysts Nate Tice and Charles McDonald name their picks for the 2026 NFL draft, and as the date approaches, these choices tend to get more accurate, because teams rosters’ start to fill up.
“With the NFL spring meetings this week in Phoenix, team owners, coaches and general managers are meeting with media to offer updates on offseason news,” they say in the feature, which looks at the entire first round. “That includes answering questions about the 2026 NFL Draft.”
These two experts believe the Chiefs will go with Rueben Bain Jr., an edge, out of Miami for their No. 9 pick.
“Kansas City takes five seconds to turn this pick in. By the luck of the draw, one of the most disruptive defensive ends in college football falls into the Chiefs’ lap as they try to re-infuse premier talent into their defense,” they state. “Bain would be a perfect fit in Steve Spagnuolo’s defense and form a productive trio alongside Chris Jones and George Karlaftis.”
Kansas City Chiefs Hopeful Is a ‘Note Taker, Grudge Holder and Block Destructor’
Bain’s NFL draft profile says that he’s a “note taker, grudge holder and block destructor with a compact frame and defensive tackle play strength. Bain is ill-tempered with his take-ons, hitting blockers with heavy hand strikes.” So, usually holding a grudge isn’t good, but it’s great here.
“He plays through tight ends and can anchor against tackles and double teams,” the profile adds. On the downside, “his lack of length can lead to him being smothered if he doesn’t land the first strike.” But, don’t let that deter you, because this player “can bend and flip his hips at the top of the rush, swipe away punches and generate a strong bull rush.”
The profile wraps up by saying, “His playoff run showed an ability to generate quick wins if tackles are passive in setting to him. He can rush off the edge or mismatch guards as a sub-package rusher. Bain’s explosive power and toughness should translate, giving him a high floor as an NFL starter.”
New North Dakota State QB Makes Telling Comment Before First FBS Season
North Dakota State quarterback Nathan Hayes carries an extra weight on his shoulders going into his senior season as the prorgam is set for an inaugural FBS season.
That said, Hayes couldn’t be more prepared as he has been learning from two quarterbacks who have reached the NFL or the pre-draft process thus far. Hayes played behind Miami Dolphins backup quarterback Cam Miller and NFL draft prospect Cole Payton for three years before taking the reins with the former FCS powerhouse. Miller and Payton are two of six former Bison quarterbacks since 2013 who have been in the NFL or part of the pre-draft process.
More News: North Dakota State Coach Talks 1 Major Advantage Amid FBS Move
More News: Minnesota Snags QB Recruit From North Dakota State
Jets Likely to Pass on Polarizing QB at No. 16
Will the New York Jets select a quarterback with the No. 16 pick in the first round of the 2026 National Football League Draft?
Arguably, they should not. The Jets obviously have a long-term question at quarterback. Geno Smith is the solution for the 2026 season. He’s not under contract beyond the 2026 season and he’s 35 years old. This has led to a lot of chatter about the 2026 NFL Draft class of quarterbacks, starting with Alabama’s Ty Simpson. He’s expected to be the No. 2 quarterback in the draft class and there’s a real chance that he comes off the board in the first round. Arguably, the No. 16 pick would be too high to take him with the other roster holes that the Jets have.
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic shared a similar point and fortunately said that he’s
NFL Blasts Bills for DJ Moore Deal, Bears Appear Big Trade Winner
The Chicago Bears got the better of the Buffalo Bills in an offseason trade for wide receiver DJ Moore, and the outcome wasn’t particularly close — at least not according to several high-ranking NFL executives.
Mike Sando of The Athletic spoke with multiple people around the league about every AFC team’s offseason, and what he came back with on Buffalo was a mostly competent report card, save for the second-round pick the Bills sent to Chicago in return for a fifth-rounder and Moore heading into the first season of a four-year contract extension worth a whopping $110 million.
“DJ Moore was gonna get cut, and they gave up a second-round pick to get him,” one exec said, according to Sando. “They gave up a second-round pick and $40 million [in guarantees]. What is going on?”
Another team official questioned Moore’s skill set/fit with the needs of Buffalo’s offense and quarterback Josh Allen.
“DJ Moore has two years of regression now,” he told Sando. “He is a non-traditional receiver that wins with size and yards after the catch. I still feel they needed someone that could win down the field. Moore can do that — he did it to beat Green Bay. But I feel like his strength is on the underneath catch-and-run stuff, which they already have with [Khalil] Shakir.”
Bills Inquired About Trade for DJ Moore Ahead of 2025 Mid-Season Deadline
All of that said, Bills GM Brandon Beane told the “Pat McAfee Show” on March 30 that his team has had Moore in its sites since before the mid-season trade deadline in 2025.
“[Moore] was one of the guys that we called and checked,” Beane said. “And Chicago shut it down. They were trying to make a run. But I think they at least knew there was interest, and they reached back out when we got to Indy [for the NFL combine] and said, ‘Hey, you know, maybe we’d be open if something made sense.’ And we [were] fortunate to be able to figure that out.”
Chicago needed Moore down the stretch and into the playoffs after Rome Odunze suffered a stress fracture in his foot and missed five games.
However, Moore would have been the Bears’ highest-paid player in 2026, so moving off him and kicking in a fifth-round pick for the No. 60 overall selection in Round 2 later this month was a huge victory for Chicago GM Ryan Poles.
Bears Equipped With Strong Group of Pass-Catchers Heading into Next Season
As for the Bears’ receiving corps next season, Odunze is at the top of the room heading into Year 3, while the team has announced its intention to feature slot receiver Luther Burden III considerably more in his second NFL campaign.
Tight end Colston Loveland was a breakout performer as a rookie in 2025 and, in many ways, was the true No. 1 option in the Bears’ pass game regardless of position. Cole Kmet is TE2 and remains part of an offense under head coach Ben Johnson that runs a considerable number of two-tight end sets (12 personnel).
Those four players, along with running back D’Andre Swift, make up a solid group of targets for third-year quarterback Caleb Williams. That said, Chicago may look to add a rookie wideout in the middle rounds of the upcoming draft.
Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN predicted on April 1 that the Bears will select wideout Antonio Williams of Clemson with the No. 89 pick.
Kirk Cousins gets $98.7 million for 22 starts with the Falcons
Kirk Cousins has made $321 million in 14 NFL seasons. At his most recent team, he got the best per-game rate of his career by far.
The final tally for his time in Atlanta goes like this: $98.7 million for 22 starts.
It works out to $4.49 million per start.
The total haul comes from the $90 million he received over the first two seasons, plus the $8.7 million the Falcons will pay from his guaranteed compensation of $10 million for 2026.
If not for the torn ACL suffered in November by Michael Penix Jr., Cousins would have started only 15 games. Which would have pushed the rate to $6.58 million per game.
Those final seven starts went a long way toward creating his opportunity with the Raiders. He went 5-2, with four straight wins to end the season. The final kick included upset wins over the Buccaneers and Rams in prime time.
His playing time in 2026 remains TBD. The Raiders presumably will be picking Fernando Mendoza, three weeks from tonight. The question becomes whether and to what extent Cousins will serve as a bridge quarterback until Mendoza is ready to go.
unCovering the Birds: The truths from Lurie’s annual address
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane covered the annual NFL owners meeting, and conducts an autopsy of Lurie’s recent remarks – from new stadium speculation to Lurie’s commitment to quarterback Jalen Hurts – with columnist Marcus Hayes.
The annual NFL owners meetings has become the only event of year the Philadelphia Eagles formally make owner Jeffrey Lurie available to meet with reporters. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane covered the event, and puts Lurie’s recent remarks – from new stadium speculation to Lurie’s commitment to quarterback Jalen Hurts and wide receiver AJ Brown – under the microscope with columnist Marcus Hayes.
00:00 Truths (and lies?) from Jeffrey Lurie’s owners meeting press conference
02:00 Quick comments about the possibility of a new stadium
05:07 Is Nick Sirianni as safe as Lurie suggests?
12:22 How committed is Lurie to Jalen Hurts?
18:57 What Lurie’s remarks reveal about A.J. Brown’s future?
26:09 Jeff and Marcus react to ESPN’s report about Hurts
34:38 Relitigating Hurts’ impact in the locker room
44:20 Hurts’ fit in Sean Mannion’s offense
unCovering the Birds is a production of The Philadelphia Inquirer and KYW Newsradio Original Podcasts. Look for new episodes throughout the offseason.
Eagles’ DeVonta Smith Surprises Dan Orlovsky’s Son for Autism Awareness Day
Last April, Dan Orvlosky and his son, Madden, went viral when Orvlosky broke down crying as Madden sang
Deshaun Watson Drops 4-Word Response to Browns
Deshaun Watson is locked in as he prepares for what could be the most pivotal season of his NFL career.
Watson is aiming to reclaim the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback job after missing all of last season, but the road back has been anything but smooth. Since arriving in Cleveland in 2022, he’s dealt with a string of significant injuries, including two Achilles surgeries following a rupture suffered during an October 2024 game.
In four seasons with the Browns, Watson has appeared in just 19 games, throwing for 3,365 yards with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Now healthy and at a career crossroads, Watson appears fully committed to turning things around. On Thursday, he shared a video from a throwing session in Florida alongside Jerry Jeudy, Isaiah Bond and Jamari Thrash — a clear sign he’s putting in the work ahead of a crucial offseason.
“Work mode: always on!” Watson wrote.
Watson is entering the final year of the fully guaranteed $230 million deal he signed upon arriving in Cleveland, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. If he can’t get back on the field this season or fails to produce when he does, his future in the NFL could be in serious jeopardy.
Browns Praise Shedeur Sanders for Being Present
The Browns have Watson, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel under contract for next season. Sanders and Watson are expected to battle it out for QB1 duties through the offseason program and training camp.
Sanders has already earned praise from new head coach Todd Monken for staying active around the Browns’ facility this offseason, which only makes Watson’s caption all the more intriguing.
“It’s too early to really evaluate him other than it’s been great that he’s been in the building,” Monken said. “It’s refreshing to see a player that recognizes where he’s at and where he wants to get to.”
Sanders started the final seven games last season. He went 3-4 during his rookie campaign, passing for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Brown Offer Deshaun Watson ‘Fresh Start’
No one would blame the Browns for moving on from Watson. He hasn’t delivered when available, and injuries have repeatedly derailed his time in Cleveland. Owner Jimmy Haslam even labeled the trade a “big swing and miss” last offseason.
But Haslam struck a noticeably different tone at this year’s NFL owners meetings, walking back some of that criticism and signaling renewed optimism around Watson’s outlook.
“Now Deshaun has a great chance, a fresh start, an offensive-minded coach who has, in his past, been able to work with all kinds of different quarterbacks and make them successful,” Haslam said. “So Deshaun has a great chance to do that now. We talked to him the other day. He said he weighed less than he had in several years, was in great shape. He’ll be here on April 7 when we start, and let’s see what Deshaun can do. We’re all excited.”
Steelers Legend Issues Warning to NFL Players Over Inevitable 18-Game Season
The idea of the NFL eventually moving to an 18-game regular season is no longer a distant thought. It came up again at this week’s annual league meeting, and the tone made one thing clear. It is more about when than how. As a result, a Pittsburgh Steelers legend is urging players to think twice, especially with more money being thrown around.
On his Deebo & Joe podcast, former linebacker James Harrison made it clear that the league will keep pushing for that extra game unless players are ready to push back hard. However, he didn’t just stop there. He explained what that resistance would really take. According to the Steelers great, the NFLPA would need to prepare for a long lockout, which means players must start saving now to survive without pay.
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“Now, if that’s the case and you’re willing to do that, your new NFL executive director should be telling his players from this year forward to say 30% this year,” James Harrison said. “So you can last 18 months of a lockout, that it gave you what, 120% of your yearly salary? So you should be able to do that.”
Still, he admitted he has “doubt that is happening,” which is why he offered a more practical path.
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Instead of shutting the idea down, Harrison believes the NFLPA should use it as leverage.
“I would leave the 18 as a negotiating tactic… You know how much you can get.”
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From his point of view, if the league wants more games, then players should demand more in return. That includes larger rosters, better minimum salaries, and stronger long-term healthcare. He pointed to the reality that many players face after their careers end.
“After you’ve done playing… once those five years are up… it is hard,” James Harrison concluded.
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On the other hand, the monetary advantages are obvious. More games mean more TV contracts and ticket sales, which means increased revenue. Since the players will share in the revenue, the salary cap will rise as well.
However, there are some concerns. The contracts will change in a small way. NFL players receive their paychecks every week during the season. A 17-game schedule means their salary is divided among 18 paychecks. With another game, it could lead to 19 payments unless salaries go up, which would mean each weekly paycheck would be a bit smaller.
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However, there is another perspective that can influence both the team and the players. With an extra game added to the season, it might be easier for players to reach their performance goals. Achievements like getting 1,000 rushing yards or hitting double-digit sacks could become more attainable, which might lead teams to rethink how they set up bonuses or increase targets in future contracts.
However, as Harrison mentioned, the NFLPA will play a big role in the whole situation. But right now, they have “no appetite” for the 18th game season.
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NFLPA is pushing back against the 18th game NFL season
While the NFL’s push toward an 18-game season keeps picking up pace, the NFLPA’s interim executive director, David White, made that stance clear earlier this year.
“The 18th game is not casual for us,” he said in February.
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He pointed to concerns around player health and safety while also raising questions about how longer seasons could impact careers and long-term earnings. White also emphasized that nothing will be rushed into place.
“It’s a very serious issue. It’s something that comes out of negotiation, and nothing will move forward until players have the opportunity to account for all of [the] factors, take that into consideration, and then through negotiation, agree—or not—to the 18th game. But as it stands right now, players have been very clear. They don’t have any appetite for it.”
The current agreement between the players and the league lasts until 2030, but with the buzz around adding an 18th game, it seems discussions might start sooner than planned. For that to happen, players would have to be on board with revisiting the deal earlier than they thought.
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Meanwhile, the idea of an extra game with higher pay can intrigue many players. The salary cap for 2026 is expected to be between $301.2 million and $305.7 million, showing a significant increase compared to recent years. Many think that figure could go even higher if the season gets longer.
Seahawks Predicted to Fill 2 Holes in Same NFL Draft Move
Few NFL general managers have mastered moving back to acquire more draft capital like Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider. The two-time Super Bowl-winning executive might have no choice but to orchestrate trades back in the 2026 NFL Draft. With only four selections as of April 3, the Seahawks could use more selections.
This week, Fox Sports’s Rob Rang proposed a scenario that fits that mold.
In a new 2026 NFL mock draft, Rang pitched a trade where the Seahawks moved back from No. 32 overall to 36 in the second round. At No. 36, Rang projected Seattle to grab Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price.
The draft analyst didn’t explain the full terms of the trade. But Rang did mention that former No. 7 overall pick and edge rusher Tyree Wilson would go to Seattle in the deal.
“The Seahawks are Super Bowl champions, but with a league-low four draft picks, winning this year’s draft is going to be nearly impossible,” Rang wrote. “Adding a back with a skill set well-suited to their wide zone running scheme would be a good start, however, especially if in doing so, Seattle also received veteran edge rusher Tyree Wilson.”
Essentially, the trade would help fill two potential holes for the Seahawks — edge rusher and running back.
What Tyree Wilson Could Bring to Seahawks
Wilson arrived as a raw but very talent edge rusher for the Raiders at No. 7 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. But he has yet to realize his full potential in Las Vegas.
He has just 12 sacks with 16 tackles for loss and 24 quarterback hits over 50 games in three seasons. Last season, he had four sacks with eight tackles for loss in 17 contests.
Wilson played in all 17 games for Las Vegas.
According to the Pro Football Focus player grades, Wilson regressed in 2025, particularly in run defense, where he showed improvement during 2024. In all three of his seasons, he’s struggled mightily as a tackler, and Wilson hasn’t been the elite pass rusher as expected.
But he turns just 26 years old in May. In the right system with the proper support, Wilson could still have the potential to be a starter.
“Long-limbed defender who figures to turn into a full-blown nightmare for opponents if he continues to grow into both his frame and his game,” wrote NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein during Wilson’s 2023 draft class. “Wilson’s combination of traits and athleticism should yield flashes of dominant play in both phases as he continues to get bigger and stronger.
“He might not set the world on fire in Year 1, but the talent and vaulted ceiling will be easy to see soon enough.”
He will be a reclamation project at his next stop. But he’s the type of risk the Seahawks can afford to make after winning the Super Bowl and with that the defense has coming back.
Why the Seahawks May Target Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price
The best part about Rang’s hypothetical deal is the Seahawks filled two holes with one draft pick.
After moving back four spots in the NFL Draft, the Seahawks grabbed Price at No. 36 in the Fox Sports mock draft.
Zierlein argued Price doesn’t have the same upside as his college teammate Jeremiyah Love. But Price could carve out a specific role at the NFL level quickly.
“Price is a more natural runner than his heralded teammate, Jeremiyah Love, but Price lacks Love’s pure explosiveness and pass-catching talent,” wrote Zierlein. “Price is highly instinctive, stacking moves to contour to run-lane spacing and avoid tacklers for as long as possible.
“Limited third-down value could cap his draft slotting, but his talent as a runner should make him an excellent complementary back.”
The Seahawks already have seven running backs on their offseason roster. None of them have been a workhorse NFL back, but Schneider and head coach Mike Macdonald have spoken highly of the group this offseason.
For that reason, it might make most sense for the Seahawks to simply add a rookie running back with specific traits to fill one role.
Price appears to have the tools to be a complementary back to Zach Charbonnett and/or Emanuel Wilson in Seattle.
Chiefs Predicted to Be the Envy of Teams With Key Draft Pick
The 2026 NFL is getting closer, and it’s going to be an important one for the Kansas City Chiefs. For the first time in years, the team has a top 10 pick in the draft, so all eyes will be on this franchise when they made their decision on which player to select when that early draft pick roles around.
One of the most buzzed-about position in this draft class is edge. It seems pass rushers are among the highest-paid non-quarterbacks in the NFL today, with guys such as Aidan Hutchinson and Trey Hendrickson getting plenty of bag.
The Kansas City Chiefs could sure use some pass rusher depth, and some NFL analysts and experts believe the team will score big on that position in the NFL draft.
Kansas City Chiefs Get Star Edge in NFL Draft Projection, Snagging an Up-and-Coming Talent
The NFL draft, which is celebrating its 91st year, is going to take place April 23 through 25 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. So, who will the Chiefs picks for their No. 9 selection in the draft?
In a Wednesday, April 1 feature for Yahoo Sports, NFL analysts Nate Tice and Charles McDonald name their picks for the 2026 NFL draft, and as the date approaches, these choices tend to get more accurate, because teams rosters’ start to fill up.
“With the NFL spring meetings this week in Phoenix, team owners, coaches and general managers are meeting with media to offer updates on offseason news,” they say in the feature, which looks at the entire first round. “That includes answering questions about the 2026 NFL Draft.”
These two experts believe the Chiefs will go with Rueben Bain Jr., an edge, out of Miami for their No. 9 pick.
“Kansas City takes five seconds to turn this pick in. By the luck of the draw, one of the most disruptive defensive ends in college football falls into the Chiefs’ lap as they try to re-infuse premier talent into their defense,” they state. “Bain would be a perfect fit in Steve Spagnuolo’s defense and form a productive trio alongside Chris Jones and George Karlaftis.”
Kansas City Chiefs Hopeful Is a ‘Note Taker, Grudge Holder and Block Destructor’
Bain’s NFL draft profile says that he’s a “note taker, grudge holder and block destructor with a compact frame and defensive tackle play strength. Bain is ill-tempered with his take-ons, hitting blockers with heavy hand strikes.” So, usually holding a grudge isn’t good, but it’s great here.
“He plays through tight ends and can anchor against tackles and double teams,” the profile adds. On the downside, “his lack of length can lead to him being smothered if he doesn’t land the first strike.” But, don’t let that deter you, because this player “can bend and flip his hips at the top of the rush, swipe away punches and generate a strong bull rush.”
The profile wraps up by saying, “His playoff run showed an ability to generate quick wins if tackles are passive in setting to him. He can rush off the edge or mismatch guards as a sub-package rusher. Bain’s explosive power and toughness should translate, giving him a high floor as an NFL starter.”
Wild clinch spot in NHL playoffs with another chance to advance for 1st time since 2015
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Wild have clinched a spot in the NHL playoffs, giving them another chance to advance in the postseason for the first time since 2015.
The Wild earned a bid 75 games in after clinching last year in the 82nd and final game of the regular season. They beat league-worst Vancouver 5-2 on Thursday night to get in.
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Minnesota was eliminated by the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round last year, ending coach John Hynes’ debut season.
The Wild failed to advance in seven postseason appearances between 2016 and 2023. Their deepest run in the playoffs was a trip to the conference finals in 2003 in the franchise’s third year of existence.
The Minnesota North Stars lost in the 1981 and 1991 Stanley Cup Final. They relocated to Dallas in 1993, becoming the Stars, and hoisted the Cup in 1999.
The Wild proved their commitment to contending this season by signing Kirill Kaprizov to an eight-year, $136 million contract extension — the richest deal in league history. The star winger has a team-high 83 points.
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Goaltender Filip Gustavsson has won twice as many games as he’s lost while giving up a little more than 2 1/2 goals per game.
Minnesota has the league’s longest active streak of consecutive winning seasons at 14.
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Wild clinch spot in NHL playoffs
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Wild have clinched a spot in the NHL playoffs, giving them another chance to advance in the postseason for the first time since 2015.
The Wild earned a bid 75 games in after clinching last year in the 82nd and final game of the regular season. They beat league-worst Vancouver 5-2 on Thursday night to get in.
Minnesota was eliminated by the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round last year, ending coach John Hynes’ debut season.
The Wild failed to advance in seven postseason appearances between 2016 and 2023. Their deepest run in the playoffs was a trip to the conference finals in 2003 in the franchise’s third year of existence.
The Minnesota North Stars lost in the 1981 and 1991 Stanley Cup Final. They relocated to Dallas in 1993, becoming the Stars, and hoisted the Cup in 1999.
The Wild proved their commitment to contending this season by signing Kirill Kaprizov to an eight-year, $136 million contract extension — the richest deal in league history. The star winger has a team-high 83 points.
Goaltender Filip Gustavsson has won twice as many games as he’s lost while giving up a little more than 2 1/2 goals per game.
Minnesota has the league’s longest active streak of consecutive winning seasons at 14.
___
Wild clinch spot in NHL playoffs with another chance to advance for 1st time since 2015
The Minnesota Wild have clinched a spot in the NHL playoffs, giving them another chance to advance in the postseason for the first time since 2015
April 2, 2026 at 11:10 p.m. EDT13 minutes ago
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild have clinched a spot in the NHL playoffs, giving them another chance to advance in the postseason for the first time since 2015.
The Wild earned a bid 75 games in after clinching last year in the 82nd and final game of the regular season. They beat league-worst Vancouver 5-2 on Thursday night to get in.
Rangers’ Will Cuylle: Now third in NHL in hits
Cuylle scored a goal in a 3-2 loss to the Canadiens on Thursday. He fired six shots and delivered six hits.
It was Cuylle’s first goal in 14 games (one assist; 24 shots). Overall, he has 17 goals, 17 assists, 146 shots and 271 hits in 76 games this season. Cuylle isn’t likely to offer much by way of offense for the rest of the season, but he does have 29 hits in his last eight games. His six Thursday moved him past Jack McBain into third in the NHL in hits. Cuylle could be a category booster if you need help until year end.
Wild clinch NHL playoff berth, seek to advance for 1st time since 2015
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild have clinched a spot in the NHL playoffs, giving them another chance to advance in the postseason for the first time since 2015.
The Wild earned a bid 75 games in after clinching last year in the 82nd and final game of the regular season. They beat league-worst Vancouver 5-2 on Thursday night to get in.
Minnesota was eliminated by the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round last year, ending coach John Hynes’ debut season.
The Wild failed to advance in seven postseason appearances between 2016 and 2023. Their deepest run in the playoffs was a trip to the conference finals in 2003 in the franchise’s third year of existence.
The Minnesota North Stars lost in the 1981 and 1991 Stanley Cup Final. They relocated to Dallas in 1993, becoming the Stars, and hoisted the Cup in 1999.
The Wild proved their commitment to contending this season by signing Kirill Kaprizov to an eight-year, $136 million contract extension — the richest deal in league history. The star winger has a team-high 83 points.
Goaltender Filip Gustavsson has won twice as many games as he’s lost while giving up a little more than 2½ goals per game.
Minnesota has the league’s longest active streak of consecutive winning seasons at 14.
Patrick Kane becomes NHL’s all-time leading American scorer
Detroit Red Wings forward Patrick Kane became the leading American scorer in NHL history with three points in Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Kane, 37, surpassed Brett Hull with the eventual game-winning goal in the third period on Thursday. He added a pair of assists in the game to finish at 1,393 points, two ahead of the 1,391 that Hull collected in his career.
Previously in the 2025-26 season, Kane became the top-scoring American-born player in NHL history, surpassing Mike Modano (who scored 1,374 points in his career) to set that record. Hull also represented the United States throughout his career, although he was born in Belleville, Ontario.
Andrew Copp recorded the lone assist on Kane’s milestone marker, which put the Red Wings up 3-1 at the 9:37 mark of the third period. The Red Wings ultimately won the game by a 4-2 final score.
The Red Wings kept pace in the tight Eastern Conference playoff race with their win in Philadelphia, improving to 40-27-8 with 88 points in 75 games this season.
Kane is currently in his third season as a member of the Red Wings after signing with the club in 2023 following a successful recovery from hip resurfacing surgery. The 5-foot-10 winger has collected 14 goals and 50 points in 60 games with the Red Wings this season.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NHL Draft, Kane spent the first 16 seasons of his career with the Chicago Blackhawks, winning the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013, and 2015. He also played 19 games with the New York Rangers in the 2022-23 season.
The Red Wings have not qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Kane’s three seasons with the club, and their current 10-year playoff drought is the second-longest in the NHL. After Thursday’s action, Detroit is tied with the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets, each of whom has 88 points.
Longtime NHL player agent Grossman remembered as friend to clients
Brian Leetch was just a teenager when he met Jay Grossman in the mid-1980s.
Leetch was a budding star defenseman playing at Avon Old Farms School in Avon, Connecticut, and Grossman was beginning his career as a player agent, scouting for potential clients.
“He was doing kind of those runner jobs like a couple of those agents,” Leetch said this week. “They were just building relationships with the players and the families.”
That was the beginning of a relationship that lasted 40 years, including Grossman representing Leetch throughout his 18 seasons in the NHL with the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins before the defenseman retired in 2006. So, when Grossman died on March 17 at age 60 after a more than two-year battle with lung cancer, Leetch lost more than his former agent.
He lost his friend.
“I had a hard time with it,” said Leetch, who attended the service for Grossman on Martha’s Vineyard on March 20. “It just hits you sometimes. He was my buddy. He was taking care of me. I looked up to him even though I knew we’re basically the same age. And I’m like, ‘He’s freaking gone.’”
Leetch, a two-time winner of the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman (1991-92, 1996-97) and a 2009 inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame, was among a host of star players Grossman represented during his more than 40 years as a player agent. His index of retired clients also included defenseman Sergei Zubov, goalies Pekka Rinne and Nikolai Khabibulin, and forwards Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexei Zhamnov.
In recent years, his PuckAgency teamed with the OT Sports Group to represent young players such as Carolina Hurricanes goalie Brandon Bussi, Calgary Flames forward Matt Coronato, Seattle Kraken forward Eeli Tolvanen, Vegas Golden Knights forward prospect Trevor Connelly and Boston Bruins forward prospect James Hagens.
Although Grossman cut back on his work last summer to begin more aggressive treatments, OT Sports Group co-founder John Kofi Osei-Tutu said he remained an important resource, including while negotiating the three-year, $5.7 million contract Bussi signed with Carolina on Feb. 16.
“When he started those treatments, he started to cognitively decline a bit, and that was expected, and he slowed down,” Osei-Tutu said. “But I could tell you every time I was getting on the phone with Jay thinking, ‘Let’s talk about whatever just to spend time with him,’ he’d be like, ‘Before anything, where are we at with Bussi? Did you call (Hurricanes general manager Eric) Tulsky? What’s Tulsky saying?’ This guy to his last hour was still willing to fight for his players.”
Grossman, who is survived by his wife, Nancy; son, Justin; and daughter, Avery, remained positive throughout his battle after being diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic lung cancer in December 2023. He initially kept his diagnosis within a tight private circle, not even telling his father, who died of lung cancer last April, because he didn’t want to worry him. Grossman’s sister also died of lung cancer three days after his father died.
Leetch didn’t learn Grossman had cancer until attending Grossman’s father’s funeral. Rinne said he found out about eight months ago.
“He never wanted to make it about him,” Rinne said. “Obviously, I would have loved to know before that and try to support him, but since I learned about it, we started talking way more regularly, and the one thing that was constant, I have a 5-year-old son and another son who is 10 months old, and he would ask every couple weeks for pictures of my kids and things like that. It was really, really touching.
“But even towards the end, he was really hopeful. He had found this treatment plan that seemed to be working a little better. He knew that it was an uphill battle, but the way he approached it, he was the one who was still carrying the spirit. He wasn’t sulking or anything like that.”
Rinne, who played 15 seasons in the NHL with the Nashville Predators (2005-2021) and won the Vezina Trophy as the League’s top goalie in 2017-18, said Grossman was instrumental in helping him get comfortable living and playing in the United States after he arrived from Finland in 2005.
An eighth-round pick (No. 258) by Nashville in the 2004 NHL Draft, Rinne had an agent in Finland who worked for PuckAgency, and the goalie spoke with Grossman on the phone a few times but never met him in person before being sent to Milwaukee of the American Hockey League following his first NHL training camp.
“He was really crucial at the time just to help me settle into U.S. with whatever it might be, getting my first phone,” Rinne said. “I didn’t have any credit, so I needed a lot of help even with getting a rental apartment and everything like that. As a European player, you almost have to be lucky a little bit. I wasn’t like a super top prospect. I didn’t have agents lining up, calling me or my family or anything like that.
“I didn’t really get to choose, and I was so fortunate that Jay was my agent and ended up working with him my whole career.”
Rinne described Grossman as “a steady person in the background” who was always there when he needed him. Leetch’s experience with him was similar.
Grossman, whose office was located only a few blocks from Madison Square Garden, the Rangers’ home arena, got his start as an agent working for Art Kaminsky’s Athletes and Artists (which eventually evolved into PuckAgency) in 1985. After Kaminsky negotiated Leetch’s initial contract with New York, which he signed after playing for the United States at the 1988 Calgary Olympics, Grossman took over as Leetch’s lead agent and guided him throughout the remainder of his career, including his final one-year contract with the Bruins in 2005-06.
“Never once did I ever think of changing agents or seeing if someone else could do something better for me or get me more money,” said Leetch, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 1994, when the Rangers won their first championship in 54 years. “I was just really, really happy to have him, and to have the relationship and proximity with him was great. I was lucky.”
While Grossman made it easier for Leetch, former Rangers GM Neil Smith remembers butting heads with him a few times during his tenure in New York (1989-2000). In addition to Leetch and Zubov, Grossman represented a handful of other Rangers players, including forwards Darren Turcotte and Kris King.
“In hindsight, which is better now, I think he was excellent for his players,” Smith said. “I think he really cared. He worked hard for them. He really cared about his craft, and I think he was a really hard worker that took it seriously.”
Although Grossman preferred to stay in the background, he was a firm advocate for the players he represented. With Grossman’s support, Khabibulin did not play in the NHL for the entire 1999-2000 season and most of 2000-01 as a restricted free agent during a contract dispute with the Phoenix Coyotes before being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Khabibulin went on to help the Lightning win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 2004.
Grossman negotiated a 17-year, $102 million contract for Kovalchuk with the New Jersey Devils in 2010 that was rejected by the NHL for salary cap circumvention. After an arbitrator backed the NHL’s decision, Grossman and the Devils worked out a restructured 15-year, $100 million contract that was eventually approved by the League. Kovalchuk helped the Devils reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2012 before returning to Russia to play in 2013.
“If you could find another agent that that was willing to sit out with a player for almost two full seasons and stand there with them to fight to get that player’s value, I’d love to meet them,” Osei-Tutu said. “Nikolai Khabibulin wasn’t going to settle for less than his worth, and Jay was right there with him. The Kovalchuk deal, he was always looking for ways to get creative to fit what his clients wanted to accomplish into the framework of the CBA.
“Even when the League didn’t agree and when the League pushed back, he was willing to fight.”
Rinne laughs now remembering how he initially tried to negotiate his final contract with then-Predators GM David Poile on his own in 2018. Grossman tried to talk Rinne out of representing himself, telling him, “It’s not that easy.”
Rinne realized after two or three meetings with Poile that Grossman was right. Grossman retook the lead and negotiated a two-year, $10 million contract with the Predators.
“I didn’t really know everything that goes into being an agent and me trying to represent myself I was way out of my water,” Rinne said. “That was an eye-opener for me too, to just the work they do and the knowledge they have the preparation that goes into negotiating and everything like that. I think I took it for granted a little bit. So, he was a crucial part of getting that deal done.”
Osei-Tutu said Grossman was an important mentor for him and his partner, Bobby Gauthier, in not only teaching them the business of hockey but also how to identify young prospects and help them become NHL players educated in the rules of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
“So, I owe so much to this man,” Osei-Tutu said. “I don’t want to trivialize it and say he was a friend because he was more than a friend. He got upset with me once when I told him, ‘We kind of look at you like a father figure’ because he didn’t see himself as somebody that was that much older than us. I am 37.
“He just died at 60, but particularly his last few months, for me, this has felt like losing a parent.”
European notebook: NHL prospects making impact in playoffs
Noah Dower-Nilsson, Frolunda HC (SHL), Sweden
The 20-year-old right wing, selected in the third round (No. 73) in the 2023 NHL Draft by the Detroit Red Wings, had a productive playoff run for Frolunda in the SHL, Sweden’s top men’s league. After scoring 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 48 regular-season games, he had four points (two goals, two assists) in six playoff games.
Dower-Nilsson’s season came to an end Thursday, however, as Frolunda lost 4-2 in their best-of-seven quarterfinal series against Lulea and was eliminated from postseason play.
Ondrej Kos, Ilves (U20 SM-sarja), Finland
The 20-year-old forward has made up for a lot of lost time in a quick fashion. He was limited to just seven regular-season games total, including four at the Liiga level and three at the junior level, because of injury.
Kos, selected in the third round (No. 81) of the 2024 NHL Draft by the St. Louis Blues, has seven points (three goals, four assists) in four playoff games in U20 SM-sarja, helping Ilves advance to the final after sweeping their best-of-5 semifinal against HPK.
Kasper Kulonummi, Kiekko-Espoo (Liiga), Finland
The 22-year-old defenseman had 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) in 42 regular-season games in Liiga, the top men’s league in Finland, and proved to be productive in his brief playoff action prior to Kiekko-Espoo’s elimination in the first round by Assat.
Kulonummi, picked in the third round (No. 84) of the 2022 NHL Draft by the Nashville Predators, had four points (two goals, two assists) to help push the series to a fifth and deciding game in the opening round.
Love Harenstam, Sodertalje SK (HockeyAllsvenskan), Sweden
The 19-year-old goaltender, who helped Sweden to gold at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship where he was named the tournament’s top goaltender, has continued in the playoffs where he left off in the regular season for Sodertalje. He had a 1.81 goals-against average and .920 save percentage in 32 games played in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second-highest men’s league in Sweden, and has helped his side into semifinal action against Bjorkloven.
Harenstam, selected in the sixth round (No. 179) in the 2025 NHL Draft by the St. Louis Blues, has a 2.34 GAA and .918 save percentage in eight playoff starts as Sodertalje trails Bjorkloven 2-0 in the best-of-7 semifinal.
Leo Sahlin Wallenius, Vaxjo Lakers HC (SHL), Sweden
The 19-year-old defenseman had 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 32 games for Vaxjo in his first full season in the SHL after playing 16 games in the league with five points (one goal, four assists) in 2024-25. He’s become even more productive in the playoffs, where he’s helped Vaxjo advance to the semifinal with a 4-1 series win in their best-of-7 quarterfinal set against Brynas IF.
Sahlin Wallenius, who was selected in the second round (No. 53) of the 2024 draft by the San Jose Sharks and helped Sweden to gold at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, has four points (one goal, three assists) in five playoff games.
Kim Saarinen, HPK (Liiga), Finland
The 19-year-old goalie has been one of the hottest goaltenders in postseason play in Liiga, the top men’s league in Finland. He is 4-3-0 with a 1.46 GAA and .952 save percentage in seven appearances for HPK, who currently trails Tappara 2-1 in their best-of-7 quarterfinal series.
Saarinen, selected in the third round (No. 88) of the 2024 draft by the Seattle Kraken, had a 2.11 GAA and .916 save percentage in 38 regular-season games played.
Theo Stockselius, Djurgardens IF (U20 Nationell), Sweden
The 18-year-old forward split his regular season between the SHL and U20 Nationell with Djurgarden, amassing 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 11 games at the junior level and adding an assist in 16 games at the men’s senior level. His playoff season was similarly divided, too. Stockselius, selected in the second round (No. 54) of the 2025 draft by the Calgary Flames, has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in five games with Djurgarden’s U20 program after being held without a point for the organization in their shortened SHL playoff bid.
He and Djurgarden begin a semifinal series against Leksands IF on Saturday.
Max Westergard, Frolunda HC (U20 Nationell), Sweden
The 18-year-old, currently up with Frolunda’s SHL group, has been one of U20 Nationell’s most productive skaters in postseason play with seven goals and 12 points in eight games for the team’s junior program, who will begin a semifinal series against Orebro HK on Saturday.
Westergard, picked in the fifth round (No. 132) of the 2025 draft by the Philadelphia Flyers, had 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists) in 20 regular-season games with Frolunda’s U20 team, skated in 18 games with Frolunda’s SHL team, and played an additional five games on loan to IF Bjorkloven in HockeyAllsvenskan.
2026 NHL Draft Diary: Tynan Lawrence
Tynan Lawrence of Boston University in Hockey East will file a draft diary for NHL.com this season leading up to the 2026 NHL Draft, which will be held June 26 and 27 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. The 17-year-old center (6-foot, 185 pounds), who was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, is No. 7 in NHL Central Scouting’s midterm ranking of North American skaters eligible for the 2026 draft. He had 17 points (10 goals, seven assists) in 13 games with Muskegon of the United States Hockey League to begin the season, and seven points (two goals, five assists) and 35 shots on goal in 18 games after joining BU on Jan. 8.
Hi, hockey fans.
Our season ended (on March 14) with a loss against Connecticut in the quarterfinal round of the Hockey East Tournament. It was disappointing, but I certainly learned a lot in my 18 games with the Terriers this season.
There were a lot of adjustments and changes after making the jump from junior hockey to college. Having the opportunity to spend every day with guys who were already drafted, already signed and now playing in the NHL was kind of unique. Seeing their experiences and kind of how they went about their day, I was able to take away a lot of little things.
I feel college hockey is a lot closer to pro than the junior level. At the end of the day, you don’t play as many games, but you work out a lot more. There’s more opportunity to develop on those off days and I thought that was one of the things a lot of teams focus on … getting bigger, stronger. It’s kind of a different experience but it’s a fun one, being able to develop off the ice just as much as on the ice.
I wouldn’t say there’s one moment that stood out at BU. There are probably a couple moments with the team where we were in a tough spot but were able to come out on top. I feel like having those experiences and being able to get those games under your belt will only make it easier when you go through those experiences next year.
I feel like I became more comfortable with my teammates down the stretch. We knew we could build something and it took some time, but I feel like in the end, we had a lot of good chemistry. You kind of saw that on the ice with how we were clicking and understanding how each other played, and that helped a lot.
I learned a lot from the leadership group, too. It’s a really talented and highly skilled group. You learn just by talking to them, watching them practice. There aren’t a lot of games in college, so you’ve got to give it your all every time you do play. I feel like they just want to keep driving the team, wanted all of us to get better. That was a great thing.
I enjoyed my time with the BU coaching staff. They just wanted me to go out there and play, and not worry about things I couldn’t control. They know I’m a good player. They’re confident in my ability and know what I can do on the ice to help the team. I was able to play with confidence down the stretch, and I want to take those moments and build on it for next year.
Speaking of next year … my goal this offseason is just getting bigger, getting stronger, getting faster, working out more. I just want to keep developing on and off the ice. Improve the little details on the ice since I can always get better at those. Off the ice, I want to put on muscle, put on weight, and just get stronger.
Next up is a possible chance to represent Canada at the IIHF Under-18 World Championship (in Slovakia from April 22-May 2). It’s always a lot of fun to play for Canada, and it should be a great opportunity to go overseas and once again play against the other countries. It’ll hopefully be a great experience, so I’m excited for the opportunity.
Well, that’s it for this month. Thank you for reading!
Oilers win season-high 5th straight, beating Chicago 3-1 to end Blackhawks’ playoff hopes
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid set up Matt Savoie’s power-play goal to pad his NHL-leading points total and help the Edmonton Oilers win their season-high fifth straight game, 3-1 over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.
Chicago lost its fifth straight to drop out of playoff contention, extending its postseason drought to six seasons. Edmonton matched Pacific Division-leading Anaheim with 87 points, but has played one more game than the Ducks.
Adam Henrique and Vasily Podkolzin also scored for the Oilers, and Tristan Jarry made 17 saves. They have won seven of their last nine, surging with star forward Leon Draisaitl out for the rest of the regular season because of a lower-body injury.
Nick Lardis scored for Chicago. Spencer Knight stopped 31 shots for Chicago, and Arvid Soderblom made four saves and allowed a goal while Knight dealt with an equipment issue.
McDavid’s goals streak ended at five games. He has 43 goals and 83 assists for 126 points, two more than Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov for the NHL lead.
Up next
Blackhawks: At Seattle on Saturday night.
Oilers: Host Vegas on Saturday night.
___
Gilgeous-Alexander’s 28 Points Lead Thunder’s 139-96 Rout of Lakers as Doncic Hurts Hamstring
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Los Angeles Lakers 139-96 on Thursday night in a game in which NBA leading scorer Luka Doncic left due to injury.
Only six times in their storied history have the Lakers been defeated by more points. They fell six points short of their worst margin of defeat ever — a 49-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks in 2017.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning league MVP, got the best of his matchup with Doncic — one of Gilgeous-Alexander’s top competitors for this season’s award. Doncic had scored at least 40 points in five of his previous seven games, but he finished with 12 points on 3-for-10 shooting from the field and 1-for-7 shooting from 3-point range against the Thunder’s suffocating defense.
Doncic left the game with a left hamstring injury in the middle of the third quarter. Lakers coach JJ Redick said he will have an MRI on Friday.
Austin Reaves scored 15 points and LeBron James added 13 for the Lakers.
Isaiah Joe added 20 points and made six 3-pointers as Oklahoma City shot 53.9% to turn a matchup between two of the league’s hottest teams into a blowout. The Thunder have now won 16 of 17. The Lakers had won four straight and 13 of 14.
It was a critical game for Oklahoma City. The Thunder entered the night two games ahead of San Antonio in the race for homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs with six games remaining.
In a sign of things to come in the game, it took the Lakers nearly five minutes to make their first field goal. The Thunder led 44-21 at the end of the first behind 14 points from Lu Dort.
The Lakers had another shooting drought to start the second quarter, taking a little more than four minutes to make their field goal. The Thunder reached their season high point total for a first half when they took a 76-41 lead on a layup by Gilgeous-Alexander with 3:25 left in the second quarter.
Oklahoma City led 82-51 at the break, falling a point short of the Thunder regular-season record for points in a half. They scored 83 in the first half of a game against Minnesota in 2021.
Joe hit three 3-pointers in an 85-second flurry to put the Thunder up 99-61 in the third quarter. The teams played reserves throughout the fourth quarter.
The Lakers will host a rematch on April 7.
Up next
Lakers: Visit the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
Thunder: Host the Utah Jazz on Sunday.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s 28 points lead Thunder’s 139-96 rout of Lakers as Doncic hurts hamstring
OKLAHOMA CITY – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Los Angeles Lakers 139-96 on Thursday night in a game in which NBA leading scorer Luka Doncic left due to injury.
Only six times in their storied history have the Lakers been defeated by more points. They fell six points short of their worst margin of defeat ever — a 49-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks in 2017.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning league MVP, got the best of his matchup with Doncic — one of Gilgeous-Alexander’s top competitors for this season’s award. Doncic had scored at least 40 points in five of his previous seven games, but he finished with 12 points on 3-for-10 shooting from the field and 1-for-7 shooting from 3-point range against the Thunder’s suffocating defense.
Doncic left the game with a left hamstring injury in the middle of the third quarter. Lakers coach JJ Redick said he will have an MRI on Friday.
Austin Reaves scored 15 points and LeBron James added 13 for the Lakers.
Isaiah Joe added 20 points and made six 3-pointers as Oklahoma City shot 53.9% to turn a matchup between two of the league’s hottest teams into a blowout. The Thunder have now won 16 of 17. The Lakers had won four straight and 13 of 14.
It was a critical game for Oklahoma City. The Thunder entered the night two games ahead of San Antonio in the race for homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs with six games remaining.
In a sign of things to come in the game, it took the Lakers nearly five minutes to make their first field goal. The Thunder led 44-21 at the end of the first behind 14 points from Lu Dort.
The Lakers had another shooting drought to start the second quarter, taking a little more than four minutes to make their field goal. The Thunder reached their season high point total for a first half when they took a 76-41 lead on a layup by Gilgeous-Alexander with 3:25 left in the second quarter.
Oklahoma City led 82-51 at the break, falling a point short of the Thunder regular-season record for points in a half. They scored 83 in the first half of a game against Minnesota in 2021.
Joe hit three 3-pointers in an 85-second flurry to put the Thunder up 99-61 in the third quarter. The teams played reserves throughout the fourth quarter.
The Lakers will host a rematch on April 7.
Up next
Lakers: Visit the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
Thunder: Host the Utah Jazz on Sunday.
___
NBA Playoff Picture 2026, Updated Bracket, Standings After Cavs Clinch Spot
The Cleveland Cavaliers are headed to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
Cleveland punched its postseason ticket on Thursday after defeating the Golden State Warriors 118-111 on the road.
Updated Eastern Conference Standings
Detroit Pistons (56-21)
Boston Celtics (51-25)
New York Knicks (49-28)
Cleveland Cavaliers (48-29)
Atlanta Hawks (44-33)
Philadelphia 76ers (42-34)
Toronto Raptors (42-34)
Charlotte Hornets (41-36)
Orlando Magic (40-36)
Miami Heat (40-37)
This season didn’t start in the way the Cavs were counting on after winning 64 games in 2024-25. They got off to a slow start due in part to injuries, particularly to Darius Garland and Max Strus.
Garland’s injuries, in particular, left a huge void in the offense because it forced Donovan Mitchell to take on more point guard responsibilities.
A Jan. 12 loss to the Utah Jazz dropped Cleveland’s record to 22-19, seventh in the Eastern Conference. The team did figure some things out immediately after that, winning seven of nine games, before leading up to the biggest move of its season.
President of basketball operations Koby Altman swung a blockbuster deal on Feb. 4 to acquire James Harden from the Los Angeles Clippers for Garland and a second-round draft pick.
The addition of Harden put everyone, particularly Mitchell, back in their regular roles. Cleveland’s offense has the third-best rating in the NBA since Harden’s first game on Feb. 7.
Cleveland has high-profile wins over the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons since Harden entered the fray.
Given how things ended last year in the playoffs for the Cavs after a stellar regular season, this team will have a lot to prove in the postseason. But they were able to clear the first hurdle by getting in the field.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s 28 points lead Thunder’s 139-96 rout of Lakers as Doncic hurts hamstring
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Los Angeles Lakers 139-96 on Thursday night in a game in which NBA leading scorer Luka Doncic left due to injury.
Only six times in their storied history have the Lakers been defeated by more points. They fell six points short of their worst margin of defeat ever — a 49-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks in 2017.
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Cavaliers beat Warriors, 118-111, to clinch 2026 NBA playoff spot
SAN FRANCISCO — The Cavs are headed back to the playoffs.
Officially.
Cleveland capped its three-game road trip with a 118-111 win over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night inside Chase Center. The victory solidifies a fourth consecutive playoff appearance — all coinciding with Donovan Mitchell’s arrival from Utah in the summer of 2022, a trade that altered the franchise’s trajectory and accelerated its timeline.
More Cavs coverage
Will the Harden trade propel the Cavs to a title? Here’s why history, and time, are not on their side — Jimmy Watkins
Could Donovan Mitchell’s defensive bandwidth define his playoff success rather than his offensive production?
Guardians Opening Day, Polish Boys, Dyngus Day and Superman: 27 totally CLE things to do this Easter weekend
On Thursday night, Mitchell’s fingerprints were all over the clincher.
And he got plenty of support too, showing how far the Cavs have come since that blockbuster trade four years ago.
It didn’t come easy Thursday. Not much has during this chaotic regular season.
Despite the Cavs leading by seven at halftime, the Warriors opened the second half on a 7-0 push to pull back even — the game’s fifth tie of the night at that point.
Cleveland responded immediately with an 11-2 run that allowed it to briefly regain control and eventually build a double-digit advantage. But Golden State kept cutting into that as the third quarter came to a close
It was only a four-point Cavaliers lead going into the fourth.
In the early minutes of the closing period, Cleveland lost its nerve — a temporary mental collapse that began with a dustup between Golden State’s Draymond Green and Cavaliers reserve Dennis Schroder.
After Schroder was called for a flagrant foul 1 because of unnecessary contact with his foot on a driving layup attempt by LJ Cryer, Green shoved Schroder, causing the former teammates to go nose-to-nose.
That heated incident sparked a lively 11-1 Golden State run — a stretch in which the Warriors claimed just their second lead of the second half.
Then with 7:57 remaining, Atkinson, who had received a technical for arguing with the officials a few minutes earlier, called timeout.
The Cavs needed to regroup. They needed to settle down. Needed to regain their composure.
Out of the stoppage, Cleveland ripped off four straight points, pulling back even.
The two teams went back and forth for the final seven minutes, with the game remaining a two-possession game until there were just 15 seconds left and the Cavs finally putting pesky Golden State away for good, punching their springtime ticket.
Mitchell, who has never missed the postseason in his career, scored a team-high 25 points.
Max Strus, who made multiple back-breaking triples in the closing minutes, added 24 points on 9 of 14 shooting and 6 of 10 from 3-point range. James Harden chipped in with 19 points and five assists. Jarrett Allen, despite being on a minute limit because of an achy right knee, recorded a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Evan Mobley and Schroder finished with 12 points apiece.
The Warriors — without Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody and Al Horford — had five players in double figures. Brandon Podziemski and Gui Santos led the way with 25 points apiece.
On the heels of last year’s postseason flameout, the Cavs entered with lofty expectations. They were not only considered one of the Eastern Conference favorites, but among a select group capable of competing for an NBA championship.
The first step in that title quest is now complete. That celebration can begin.
And then there are five games left to figure out where they will be seeded and who the first-round opponent will be.
Up next
The Cavs will return home to host the Indiana Pacers on Sunday evening. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
Luka Doncic Accused of “Hurting Teammates” During Lakers-Thunder as Ex-NBA Coach Highlights Concerning Habit
March 2, 2026 was a nightmare for LakeShow to watch. The Los Angeles Lakers went up against the defending champions and very quickly the outcome was evident. The Lakers were on their way to a blowout loss with a 50-point deficit. Anyone watching, both fans and Stan Van Gundy, were pointing fingers at Luka Doncic for it. Even that devastating hamstring injury in the end was not enough to save Doncic from a critique of a very bizarre habit that was costly to the Lakers.
Thursday night was marred by more than just that ugly 139-96 visual on the board. NBA on Prime broadcaster, Stan Van Gundy put on his coaching hat to roast Doncic’s glaring problem.
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“The one that thing drives me crazy with Luka, when he thinks he doesn’t get a call, he just stops and gives up a fast break on the other end,” SVG so bluntly put it.
Now Doncic’s defensive lapses are well known. But this very specific criticism became a social media lightning rod. From the first half of this game alone, fans pulled out about five examples of Luka’s inability to switch to defense at a transition.
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The ‘evidence’ shows that Austin Reaves made very short passes and Deandre Ayton committed turnovers. But SVG shifts focus on Luka Doncic’s abrupt pauses like he’s waiting for a call from the refs. Maybe it’s Van Gundy’s coaching eye or the existing prejudice against Luka, who’s slipping in MVP odds, because of his repeating lobbying for calls. But observers didn’t really agree.
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Of the Lakers’ 18 turnovers tonight, Doncic (6) and Reaves (4) combined for half of them. They gave up 24 points in the turnovers. The most glaring stat though was not the massive score gap, but the Lakers’ 14 fastbreak points compared to OKC’s 34. That seemingly made all the difference.
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LakeShow unable to defend Luka Doncic’s habit
Doncic had those moments in the first half. He took one play right out of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s handbook. He faked a three, making SGA jump, and attempted to bait the reigning MVP into a foul. However, the referee called it fair play which Luka contested.
Everyone and SVG would’ve preferred if Doncic paid attention to the game that didn’t pause for him. While Luka was occupied, SGA had raced to the other end and scored on a fastbreak. It reinforced SVG’s commentary in that moment.
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Doncic has been playing through a hamstring injury which finally got aggravated tonight. He had to make an early exit from the game but his defensive liabilities are overshadowing it. That one viral compilation of Luka failing to get on defense to complain about non calls from last month is back again because of SVG.
His injury now creates a problematic situation. Once again his habit of prioritizing officiating complaints over transition defense has led to accusations that he is “hurting his teammates” by leaving them stranded in disadvantaged defensive rotations. In contrast, in that one game when Doncic was suspended against the Wizards, LeBron James ran the offense without a pause, including some father-son pick-and-rolls with Bronny. Some wonder that if Luka Doncic is sidelined for the foreseeable future, would the lack of stoppages fix the Lakers’ woes. That’s a slippery question the Lakers would have to answer.
Could Dallas land NBA draft’s No. 1 pick?
While the 2025-26 season hasn’t been a great one for the Dallas Mavericks, the team has a good chance of landing a premium pick in the 2026 NBA draft.
Luckily for Dallas, the team has run into some recent good luck in the draft lottery. The Mavericks won last year’s lottery despite having just a 1.8% chance of drawing the No. 1 pick. That put them in a prime position to select Cooper Flagg.
Will the Mavericks’ lottery luck carry into 2026? Below, we’ll take a look at Dallas’ chances at landing the No. 1 pick and where the squad is currently projected among lottery teams:
Fourteen ping-pong balls, numbered 1-14, are placed in a hopper, with the potential for 1,001 different four-ball draws. Each team is assigned a certain number of combinations based on their final record.
At least three four-number combinations will be drawn, slotting teams with picks Nos. 1-3 in this year’s draft.
In the event that a team has one of its combinations drawn more than once, the balls are drawn again until three different teams have been determined.
Before 2025, the Mavericks didn’t have the best luck in the NBA draft lottery. Last year marked the first time in 17 lottery appearances that Dallas drew a pick better than its odds dictated.
OKC Thunder rolls Lakers 139-96 in NBA playoff primer
Berry Tramel
Tulsa World Sports Columnist
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Berry Tramel
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Antoine Griezmann joining MLS club Orlando City from July on a 2
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann is moving to Orlando City in Major League Soccer this summer.
The 35-year-old World Cup winner from France signed with Orlando City on Tuesday. The deal lasts from July through the 2027-28 season with an option for an extra year.
“From my first conversations with the club I could feel a strong ambition and a clear vision for the future, and that really spoke to me,” Griezmann said in a statement provided by Orlando City.
He helped France win the 2018 World Cup, reach the 2022 World Cup final, and retired from internationals in 2024 with 44 goals in 137 caps.
Griezmann is Atletico’s all-time leading scorer with 211 goals but his minutes have been managed by coach Diego Simeone this season. Even so, Griezmann has 13 goals this campaign in all competitions.
Griezmann, who also played for Real Sociedad and Barcelona, has spent 10 seasons at Atletico. His 488 games are the fourth-most in Atletico’s history.
He’s won three trophies with Atletico: 2014 Spanish Super Cup, 2018 Europa League and 2018 UEFA Super Cup. Atletico has the Copa del Rey final next month and is up against Barcelona in the Champions League quarterfinals.
“Let’s leave the future in the future because I’m not leaving yet,” Griezmann said in comments provided by Atletico. “I still have months left in this shirt, months to give my life on the pitch, both at our stadium and away, to lift that Copa del Rey and to dream of going as far as possible in the Champions League.”
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
Antoine Griezmann joining MLS club Orlando City on 2-year deal
Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann is moving to Orlando City in Major League Soccer this summer.
The 35-year-old World Cup winner from France signed with Orlando City on Tuesday. The deal lasts from July through the 2027-28 season with an option for an extra year.
“From my first conversations with the club I could feel a strong ambition and a clear vision for the future, and that really spoke to me,
Mohamed Salah to MLS? The Latest on the Liverpool Legend’s Potential Next Move
Mohamed Salah is reportedly unlikely to move to Major League Soccer at the end of the 2025-26 season, despite repeated links to various clubs. Both Chicago Fire and San Diego FC had been floated as destinations for the Egyptian, but both seem unlikely at this point, according to the Athletic. Salah announced he will depart Liverpool at the end of the season on Tuesday.
Leaving Liverpool after becoming an icon
Salah revealed in a video Tuesday afternoon that he will depart Liverpool at the end of the season. That came as something of a surprise, given the Egyptian had penned a two-year contract at the end of the 2024-25 campaign – his most successful individual season to date with the Reds. Since then, a number of clubs around the world have been linked with bringing in the winger at the end of the year.
Why MLS clubs have been ruled out
MLS clubs, though, are not among them. According to
Still, there could be other clubs in the mix. New York City FC reportedly ‘won’t rule out’ an attempt.
Meanwhile, MLS Commissioner vouched for his signature at the SBJ Business of Soccer event in Atlanta:
Inter Miami names stand in new stadium after Messi
March 27 (Reuters) – Lionel Messi will become part of a rare sporting phenomenon when he plays in Inter Miami’s new stadium, with the Major League Soccer club announcing that they will have a stand bearing the Argentine’s name.
The
MLS rivals going head-to-head for Casemiro as midfielder considers Saudi alternative
Casemiro has confirmed his departure from Manchester United at the end of the current season, and Major League Soccer clubs are showing strong interest in securing the experienced Brazilian midfielder on a free transfer.
The 34-year-old former Real Madrid star announced in January that he would be leaving Old Trafford when his contract expires in June 2026.
Man Utd have since reached an agreement to waive a clause that could have triggered a one-year extension, allowing Casemiro, who has enjoyed a late resurgence in form, to depart as planned at the end of the campaign.
Two of MLS’s most ambitious sides are leading the pursuit. Inter Miami and the LA Galaxy – the last two MLS Cup champions – have both expressed concrete interest and have made initial contact with the player.
For Inter Miami, who boast Lionel Messi in their ranks, Casemiro could provide the defensive midfield steel to replace the retired Sergio Busquets. The Florida club, backed by David Beckham, views the Brazilian as an ideal anchor to support their attacking talents and bolster their midfield struggles.
LA Galaxy are equally keen, seeing Casemiro as a high-profile addition capable of strengthening their squad in a competitive Western Conference.
Both clubs represent major markets in the United States, offering Casemiro the chance to compete at a high level while enjoying the lifestyle and family-friendly environment of American football.
Casemiro has been spotted in Miami recently, and sources suggest he has told close associates that he likes the idea of a move Stateside.
While Saudi Arabian clubs, including Al Ittihad, are also monitoring the situation, the MLS option appears particularly appealing, given the competitive nature of the league and the opportunity to join title-contending teams.
At 34, Casemiro brings a wealth of experience, including multiple Champions League titles and international caps with Brazil. A move to MLS would mark a new chapter in a decorated career.
Want more breaking transfer lines from original sources? Add TEAMtalk as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.
More Man Utd news: Barcelona star offered on a plate; Tonali swoop latest
TEAMtalk understands that Man Utd have been offered the chance to sign a top Barcelona talent, as the Catalan giants explore creative solutions to ease their ongoing financial constraints.
Elsewhere, United have been given real hope of securing the signing of Sandro Tonali this summer after a respected journalist named the Newcastle star as the Red Devils’ top target and confirmed their confidence that a deal can be done amid a gentleman’s agreement.
El once de estrellas de la Major League Soccer
La llegada de Antoine Griezmann a la Major League Soccer sumó una estrella más para el torneo estadounidense. El fútbol de Estados Unidos puede presumir a grandes futbolistas en cada uno de los encuentros de las jornadas. Repasa el mejor once que podría tener la MLS.
El torneo estadounidense se ha armado blindado principalmente con jugadores de ataque, pero en la defensa también hay futbolistas de renombre. El arquero de mayor prestigio en la MLS es Dayne St. Clair. El guardameta del Inter Miami es el titular en la selección de Canadá. Ha jugado Mundiales y Copa Oro.
Los centrales de mayor prestigio podrían ser Matt Miazga, futbolista con experiencia en Inglaterra, Francia y Portugal, y Tim Ream, jugador con más de 200 partidos disputados con el Fulham de la Premier League.
Los laterales de mejor carrera son del Inter Miami. El lateral derecho le pertenece a Facundo Mura, futbolista campeón en Argentina con el Racing Club. El lateral izquierdo titular sería Sergio Reguilón, jugador formado en el Real Madrid con amplia experiencia en Inglaterra.
En el medio del campo comienzan a sonar las leyendas. El primero de ellos es Thomas Muller. El mediocampista alemán conquistó 12 Bundesligas y 2 Champions con el Bayern Munich. Muller también ganó un Mundial con Alemania.
Otro de los nombres de prestigio es el de Rodrigo De Paul. El exjugador del Atlético Madrid ganó un Mundial y una Copa América con Argentina. el trio me mediocampistas lo cierra James Rodríguez, ganador de una liga de España y una Champions con el Real Madrid.
En la delantera figuran otros nombres de la categoría de Son Heung-min (leyenda del Tottenham), Lionel Messi (uno de los mejores futbolistas de la historia) y Luis Suárez (exjugador del Liverpool, Ajax, Barcelona y Atlético Madrid).
En este once ideal se pueden dar el lujo de dejar fuera a Antoine Griezmann. El futbolista del Atlético Madrid se incorporará al torneo después del Mundial de 2026. Griezmann es otro campeón del mundo que se suma al torneo.
Once ideal de la Major League Soccer
Dayne St. Clair – Inter Miami CF – Portero
Facundo Mura – Inter Miami CF – Lateral derecho
Matt Miazga – FC Cincinnati – Central
Tim Ream – Charlotte FC – Central
Sergio Reguilón – Inter Miami CF – Lateral izquierdo
Thomas Müller – Vancouver Whitecaps – Mediocampista
Rodrigo De Paul – Inter Miami CF – Mediocampista
James Rodríguez – Minnesota United – Mediocampista
Son Heung-min – LAFC – Delantero izquierdo
Lionel Messi – Inter Miami CF – Delantero (derecho / falso 9)
Luis Suárez – Inter Miami CF – Delantero centro
Suplentes
Antoine Griezmann – Orlando City – Delantero (se incorpora en julio 2026)
Timo Werner – San Jose Earthquakes – Delantero
Germán Berterame – Inter Miami CF – Delantero
Denis Bouanga – LAFC – Delantero
Egypt national team director warns Salah against MLS move
March 30 (Reuters) – Egypt’s national team director Ibrahim Hassan has cautioned Mohamed Salah against moving to Major League Soccer after he leaves Liverpool at the end of the season as it would see the forward fade into obscurity.
Salah, 33, has yet to decide his next move after he ends a hugely successful nine‑year spell at Liverpool, where he won two Premier League titles and the Champions League.
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MLS Commissioner Don Garber has said he would love to see Salah in the league, though it is unclear whether any MLS teams will attempt to sign him.
Delaware City FC makes soccer history with MASL3 championship
The First State has a championship professional sports team, and it’s likely one few knew existed.
Delaware City FC was the last of eight teams to qualify for the Major Arena Soccer League 3 playoffs as Atlantic Division winner but won the championship March 29 at the Fredericksburg Fieldhouse in Virginia.
Adding to the stunning nature of Delaware City FC’s triumph is that it is a first-year franchise.
Delaware City FC started its championship run by beating the Cincinnati Swerve 9-3 behind Henry Gamez’s six goals, one fewer than he scored all season.
The First State side then needed overtime to prevail 10-9 on Sebastian Renteria’s goal against the Rio Grande Valley Barracudas.
That set the stage for a championship showdown against the Muskegon Riders in which Delaware City FC prevailed 10-6 keyed by Gamez, who scored six goals and was named tournament MVP. Gamez is from Nicaragua and previously played professionally for its outdoor Club Deportivo Walter Ferreti side in the country’s premier division before moving to the Philadelphia area.
Delaware City FC plays at the Kirkwood Soccer’s indoor facility at its complex on Route 9 south of New Castle. Majority owner and team founder Steven Matalavage is a Milton native who graduated from Cape Henlopen in 2016 and played soccer there and at Neumann University in Aston Township, Pennsylvania.
“It was awesome,” Matalavage said. “We were really excited for the moment, to say the least. Once we won the division, we really believed in the group and, when we went down there, we were really confident.”
Marlon Trejo, his former Neumann teammate, is the Delaware City FC coach.
The victory could mean promotion to MASL2, which would require Delaware City FC to find a larger playing site, with Wilmington’s Chase Fieldhouse the nearest prospective location. MASL3 is the third tier in the U.S. indoor soccer pyramid.
Delaware City FC joins a list of championship-winning Delaware pro teams that includes the NBA G-League’s Delaware Blue Coats (2023); the Wilmington Blue Bombers’ 1942 and 1944 American Basketball League and 1966 and 1967 Eastern Basketball League titles; and Carolina League baseball’s Wilmington Blue Rocks (1994, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2019).
“Obviously, the first year, you never know what to expect going into it,” Matalavage said. “We had a little group of fans so we always had a small group of supporters. But it definitely grew when people started hearing about us.
“I think now people will pay attention to us even more.”
MLS local markets unlikely to get media rights back when Apple TV deal ends
New York City FC CEO Brad Sims doesn’t foresee the day that Major League Soccer ever returns to local market broadcast rights, even if it would benefit the club that he helps run.
MLS and Apple will break their media rights agreement early following the 2028-29 season, but Sims does not anticipate the league looking to return to the old ways where clubs reached local agreements with regional media partners.
“I don’t see that ever happening again,” Sims said during last week’s SBJ Business of Soccer conference in Atlanta, where the U.S. Men’s National Team has set up camp during the international break.
NYCFC previously aired games locally on YES Network from the club’s first season in 2015 through 2022. In the following campaign, MLS moved all its teams’ broadcasts to Apple TV as part of the original package dubbed MLS Season Pass that paid the league $250 million per year.
The success of the streaming-only option to watch MLS games is up for debate, but Sims admitted that a local rights TV “would be better” for a club like NYCFC.
“We were better off financially in a model where we could have local rights,” he said. “I don’t know that that’s best for the league as a whole, as an enterprise. I think that what was done, and how it was built, is probably the best path. We have a ways to go in terms of where the owners and where the league thinks the broadcast rates should be. … You got to have a product that people want to watch in the U.S. and globally and so that you have broadcasters willing to pay for those rights.”
The MLS will be watching closely to see if there is a soccer boom in the United States following this summer’s World Cup and how it can leverage that in its favor when it negotiates its next media rights deal.
Austin FC Aims to Crash Miami’s Party
For the last 141 weeks, the Major League Soccer universe has revolved around South Florida. That’s because it was 141 weeks ago that Inter Miami CF officially signed the sport’s greatest living player, Lionel Messi.
All Messi has done in his time since joining MLS is win back-to-back MVPs and lead Miami to a Leagues Cup, Supporters’ Shield, and the 2025 MLS Cup, while serving as the league’s central protagonist. His club, however, due to perceived special treatment by the league and a documented history of cheating the salary cap, has taken on an antagonistic role for many MLS fans.
So far Austin FC, playing in the opposite conference, has kept a safe distance from Messi’s Miami circus. That changes this weekend, in a big way. Saturday night, the Verde and Black will take on Inter Miami for the first time since the Argentine legend’s arrival, in a match of some historical significance.
That’s because Saturday’s match marks the opening of Inter Miami’s new stadium – appropriately named Nu Stadium. After six full seasons (and part of the seventh) hosting its home matches inside a temporary stadium in Fort Lauderdale, the Herons have now officially relocated into Miami proper and will christen the building against Austin FC.
This, by the way, was no sure thing. ATX head coach Nico Estévez said following his club’s last match on March 21 he had not yet been given confirmation that Nu Stadium would be operational in time for the April 4 date.
“We’ll just wait to see if we play there, or not,” Estévez said.
They will, despite the stadium being surrounded almost entirely by an active construction site in Miami Freedom Park, in the shadow of Miami International Airport. If you’re making the trip for this one, don’t expect much more than the essentials.
“The first game will happen on April 4,” Inter Miami president of business operations Xavier Asensi confirmed to the Miami Herald. “There will be seats. There will be grass. There will be concessions, lights, speakers, two goals, four corner flags. Don’t worry.”
And really, what more do you need for a soccer game? Assuming the lights stay on and the grass – grown entirely on a farm near Palm Beach and only just installed in the past few days – is playable, it should make for a memorable scene fueled as much by curiosity as excitement.
For Austin FC’s part, the assignment is clear: Tune out the off-pitch distractions as much as possible and find a way to spoil the party. Of course, that’s much easier said than done, especially considering the opposition.
The defending MLS Cup champions are off to another strong start in 2026, having lost just once through five league matches to Western Conference leaders LAFC, which came in the season opener.
The Verde and Black, meanwhile, should be able to take some confidence into the weekend after holding LAFC to a scoreless draw last time out.
“We’re going to go to Miami with the same mentality,” goalkeeper Brad Stuver said. “We know that they have really good individual players, but we also know that they have vulnerabilities.”
It’s one thing to spot a team’s weaknesses in a film session, though. It’s another thing entirely when the GOAT of the sport has the ball at his feet and his eye on your net. Stuver, and the entire Austin FC squad, will have to be at their very best to come home from Florida with more than just a tan.
This article appears in April 3 • 2026.
‘I Almost Cried’: Jay-Z Breaks Silence on His ‘Darkest Moment’
Before 2024, Jay-Z had weathered sold-out arenas, his “Ether” battle with Nas in 2001, and the hard lessons of growing up in Bedford-Stuyvesant and building an empire with his Roc Nation label and conglomerate.
Now, for the first time, the Grammy winner is opening up about how his eldest daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, stood firmly in what he calls his “darkest moment.”
At 14 years old, Blue Ivy showed the world exactly what that kind of loyalty looks like during one of the most difficult stretches of her dad’s life and what should have been her big debut.
‘You Need to be Disbarred’: Fans Call for ‘Scum’ Lawyer’s Head After Jay-Z Rape Accuser Found to Be Autistic Woman with Several ‘Mistakes’ In Her Story
In a rare and deeply personal GQ interview, the Brooklyn mogul opened up about the last two years after being rattled by an assault scandal that made headlines around the world and Blue’s first major film role, which was overshadowed by the loud conversation about her father.
Days after his 55th birthday, Jay-Z publicly denied the claims in a civil lawsuit alleging a sexual assault by a woman while in the company of Sean “Diddy” Combs and an unnamed woman at a party after the 2000 Video Music Awards.
The Brooklyn native then showed up the next day beside his eldest daughter, his wife Beyoncé, and their family on the red carpet for Blue’s debut in the “Mufasa: The Lion King” premiere. Fans watched closely, reading body language and analyzing every move. Yet the family walked the carpet together, signaling unity and confidence during a moment filled with scrutiny.
As an act of solidarity, Blue wore a jersey in support of her father — a quiet but unmistakable display that carried weight far beyond fashion and a decision that needed no explanation.
“I almost cried,” Jay-Z admitted in a video interview, reflecting on the moment. “Seeing her wear that jersey and show that kind of love — that meant everything to me. As a father, you try to be strong all the time, but when your child shows up for you like that, it hits you in a different place. That was one of those moments I’ll never forget.”
The “Reasonable Doubt” rapper said it was “really hard” to contain his “anger” around the moment that helped him discover how those around him truly feel.
When asked about Blue’s big night and why he didn’t stay home, he said he considered it but wanted to support her big moment like she supported him wearing a jersey with her father’s rap name on the back.
“I was just in the corner, like tears coming down. Seriously,” said the proud dad of three. “To have that, it’s priceless. People can say that [they’ll always be there for you], but it’s very rare that you’re going to have to exercise it. And in the darkest moment for me, I got to see those sorts of things.”
Online, the reaction was swift, emotional, and in many cases deeply personal, with fans recognizing the power of a daughter showing up for her father when the spotlight felt unforgiving. Some saw the gesture as a reminder that family loyalty still matters, even in the glare of celebrity scrutiny.
One commenter wrote, “The way I got teary reading this.” Another added that the moment felt bigger than celebrity drama, posting, “Hearing this is powerful. In the middle of chaos and false accusations, seeing his daughter stand by him like that proves the strength of their bond. Truly touching.”
Giving praise directly to her, one person shared, “Blue Ivy got more emotional intelligence than the average online hater,” while another person predicted, “She’s going to be one amazing woman.”
Another commenter summed up the sentiment: “Her father’s princess right there.”
Behind the scenes, her mother, Beyoncé, took a noticeably protective approach at the time. Rather than flooding social media with pictures from the night, she focused her posts squarely on her daughter’s accomplishment and carefully avoided images that might shift attention away from the young star.
In the end, both Carter and Combs rejected the allegations, and the case came to an end in February 2025 when the plaintiff, through her attorney, Tony Buzbee, moved to dismiss it with prejudice.
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The North American leg of Lily Allen‘s West End Girl tour kicks off next month with a run of shows at intimate concert halls, but she’s expanding the tour for the acclaimed album to arenas, including New York’s Madison Square Garden, the United Center in Chicago, and Chase Center in San Francisco.
The original North American dates, announced in December, kick off in April and run through the end of the month. At those shows, she’ll perform her latest album in its entirety. She’ll then head to the U.K. and Europe through the summer, including two dates at the O2 Arena in London plus a festival appearance at Bern, Switzerland’s Gurtenfestival.
Allen will return to North America in September for the arena shows, starting in New York and wrapping up in Los Angeles at the end of the month.
Last week, Allen also paid a visit to the National Portrait Gallery in London, where the West End Girl album art was unveiled as part of the museum’s collection through the next year. The painting by Nieves González is owned by Allen herself, who loaned the painting to the gallery. The portrait isn’t the only one of Allen’s high-art ambitions — she also revealed last year that she wants to turn West End Girl into a play (on London’s West End, naturally).
How to Get Lily Allen Tickets
Presale for the arena dates starts on April 1 at 10:00 a.m. local time, which you can sign up for on Ticketmaster. If you’d prefer to catch the dates at the more intimate venues, most of those have sold out on the primary marketplace Ticketmaster, but you can still find resale options on sites like StubHub and VividSeats. Here’s what you need to know.
You can see the North American dates for Lily Allen’s 2026 North American shows below.
USC Star Alijah Arenas Lands With Intriguing Team in NBA Draft Projection
For USC Trojans guard Alijah Arenas, his freshman season was nothing short of unorthodox. Despite a late-season collegiate debut and a limited sample of games played, Arenas’ upside still has him firmly in the conversation as a prospect in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft. He may not have the same lottery buzz that he had before the season, but he has quietly become a potential second round steal for a team looking for a scorer with high upside.
In Bleacher Report’s latest two-round 2026 NBA Mock Draft, Arenas is projected to stay home in California, landing with the Los Angeles Clippers at No. 37 overall. The projection is banking more on potential over proven production, but it also raises the question of whether the former 13th ranked high school player in the country could return to USC to re-establish his draft momentum and vault himself back into the lottery pick conversation with a strong sophomore campaign.
Rough Season With Flashes of Stardom
Unlike most highly-touted freshman, Arenas did not hit the ground running. His debut was delayed after a serious offseason car accident and a torn meniscus forced him to miss the first 18 games of the season.
After missing over half the year, Arenas eventually made his collegiate debut on Jan. 21 against the Northwestern Wildcats. He had a solid outing with eight points, two assists and two steals but it was obvious that it would take time to shake the rust off. Over his first four games, Arenas averaged just 7.5 points in 23.3 minutes while struggling with efficiency while trying to find his rhythm.
Over his next stretch of games, Arenas looked like the five-star prospect who once carried top-10 expectations in his class. He exploded for a career-high 29 points against the Indiana Hoosiers, followed it with 24 points at Penn State Nittany Lions, and earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors. In that span, his scoring jumped to 21.5 points per game in over 30 minutes.
That stretch is what scouts are holding onto. The combination of shot creation, confidence off the dribble, and a 6-foot-6 frame with a near 7-foot wingspan still projects cleanly to the next level. The inconsistency is real, but so is the upside.
Why the Clippers Could Be a Developmental Fit
On the surface, Arenas doesn’t solve an immediate need for the Clippers. But this version of the Clippers isn’t operating like a traditional contender anymore. After moving on from star guard James Harden and veteran center Ivica Zubac, Los Angeles reshaped its core around younger pieces like Darius Garland, Bennedict Mathurin, and Isaiah Jackson. That signals a clear pivot toward flexibility and long-term development. Arenas fits that timeline.
He wouldn’t be asked to run the offense with Garland in place. He wouldn’t be forced into high-pressure scoring with Mathurin already established. Instead, he’d slot into a more controlled role as a secondary shot creator, likely leading or contributing heavily to second-unit scoring. That’s where his game translates best early.
If Kawhi Leonard remains on the team beyond this offseason, Arenas benefits from a low-pressure environment with veteran structure. If Leonard is gone, the runway only expands. Either way, the Clippers would be betting on growth, not immediate production. And for a player that is still pretty unrefined, it would be a strong environment where he would be given the time to simply focus on polishing his game.
Could Arenas Return to USC?
Being projected in the early second round creates an interesting decision point for Arenas. Entering the year, he carried lottery-level expectations. Now, the evaluation is more complicated. That’s where the possibility of a return to USC becomes real. On an episode of the Hoopin’ n Hollerin’ podcast, his father, former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas, revealed that Alijah returning for his sophomore season isn’t completely out of the question.
“I said, ‘If you want to come back again, why would you?’ He said, ‘I want to lead college in scoring. I don’t think these people know what I could do.’ I said, ‘Fair, fair.’”
“I said, ‘If you’re top five in either one, which one would you rather do? He was like, ‘I would rather come back again and be number five so I can lead the league in scoring.’ He puts too much into his craft that he doesn’t think he got evaluated correctly.”
With Chad Baker-Mazara and multiple seniors departing, the Trojans are heading toward a younger core. Arenas would likely step into a featured role alongside five-star forward Christian Collins and the Ratliff twins, Adonis and Darius. A full offseason of development could position him as the clear No. 1 option.
That’s the real decision: bet on upside now, or maximize it with a full season as the guy.
UConn’s Geno Auriemma fumes over women’s double regional format, rims, basketballs
FORT WORTH, Texas — UConn coach Geno Auriemma is ripping the double-regional format being used in the women’s NCAA Tournament, saying it doesn’t make sense for the teams still playing or for efforts to grow the game.
Auriemma brought up attendance, bad shooting percentages and teams having to come to the arena early and late on the same day when taking aim at the format that’s in place for the fourth year, and set to continue for at least five more.
“Well, I think the first question you’d have to ask is why did they go from four (sites) to two. What was the rationale?” the 12-time national champion coach said Saturday. “If they can explain it legitimately and then prove that it works, then great. So what was the reason?”
NCAA officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
The defending national champion Huskies (37-0), the overall No. 1 seed, play Notre Dame (25-10) in the Fort Worth Regional 1 final Sunday.
The Huskies held their required media availability Saturday morning, after the Fighting Irish had already completed their session and before two Sweet 16 games in the Fort Worth Regional 3 were played at Dickies Arena. UConn and Notre Dame both had scheduled practice times there later in the evening.
“So we had to get our kids up, come over here. You already knew who we were playing last night, but we can’t get on the court, and neither can the other teams,” Auriemma said. “Does anybody who makes these decisions ever ask the coaches and the players, hey, does this work?”
AP All-America teammates Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong agreed with their coach’s strong sentiment.
“It’s not ideal. Like the schedule waking up early to do media and then can’t come back to this arena until later, just little things like that. But everyone’s trying to figure that out right now. Every team is going through that,” Fudd said. “There’s no excuse in that. So we’ll figure it out. We’re making it work, but it definitely isn’t the most ideal setup.”
Auriemma, the winningest men’s or women’s NCAA basketball coach with 1,287 victories, didn’t wait for a question from reporters to share his thoughts on the format, opening his session by listing the following numbers: 4 for 20, 4 for 22, 1 for 17, 5 for 17, 4 for 16, 7 for 26.
“That’s the 3-point shooting yesterday across the country. How many arenas are we going to sell out with that (expletive)?” he said. “Now, maybe it was just a bad day shooting by everybody. These are all teams that average probably 30 (percent), over 30, for the season. Know what time our shootaround was yesterday? Six in the morning, 6:20, I think, for half an hour.”
He also mentioned the total combined attendance (18,821 announced) at the two venues Friday, in Fort Worth and Sacramento, California.
Auriemma said there is a lack of input from coaches, and that nothing changes even when the NCAA sends representatives to schools every year after the tournament.
“Hopefully I’m speaking for the other coaches. Some coaches might think I’m full of it. And this is not about UConn. I hope everybody understands that,” he said. ”This is not about us, because you know, we’ve managed to go to the Final Four and win national championships no matter where they’re played, when they’re played, what time they’re played, whatever.
“I think there is a level of frustration right now among the coaches that’s higher than any time I’ve ever seen it.”
For the second day in a row, Auriemma mentioned new rims and new basketballs being used during NCAA Tournament games, and the impact those have on shooting.
“It’s hard to make shots in the postseason. They just break out these new baskets, new rims, and then it gets in the kids’ heads,” Auriemma said Friday after UConn’s 63-42 win over North Carolina, in which the teams were a combined 8 of 42 on 3-pointers.
The coach on Saturday again brought up “new basketballs right out of the box” and the rims.
“Got people dribbling the ball off their feet. You got people missing layups all over the place. You bounce the ball, and it goes up to the ceiling. There’s just no concept of how basketball is played,” he said. “Not that I have any of the answers. Believe me, I just have questions.”
Benson Boone Bakes Up ‘Wanted Man’ Arena Tour
Just two weeks after Benson Boone wrapped up his American Heart Tour, the singer has cooked up his Wanted Man Tour, hitting arenas nationwide this summer.
Boone announced the trek Sunday with a video detailing how he’d bake a cake and how “the whole internet” considers him “The One-Hit Wonder”:
The tour, which promises “backflips and magic,” kicks off July 7 in Pittsburgh and touches all corners of the continental U.S., concluding September 3 in Casper, Wyoming. Along the way, Boone has scheduled two nights at both Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena.
Check out Boone’s tour page for full ticket information. Supporting acts for the Wanted Man Tour have not yet been revealed.
Boone finished his 50-show American Heart Tour on March 15 in Birmingham, England. The trek was in support of his 2025 LP American Heart, while the Wanted Man tour takes its name from a track off that album.
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Benson Boone’s Wanted Man Tour Dates
Stakes Corporate Fight Over Feeding Preterm Babies
In 2013, a scientist at Abbott Laboratories saw study results with potentially big implications for the company’s profits and the lives of some of the world’s most fragile people: preterm infants.
The upshot, she wrote in an email: Babies fed rival Mead Johnson Nutrition’s acidified liquid human milk fortifier — a nutritional supplement used in neonatal intensive care units — developed certain complications at higher rates than those given an Abbott fortifier, a researcher at the University of Nebraska had found.
At least one of those complications can be deadly.
The Abbott scientist, Bridget Barrett-Reis, described the results in the email to colleagues, using two exclamation points. Then she proposed that Abbott test the Mead Johnson fortifier, acidified for sterilization, against another Abbott product.
The clinical trial among preterm infants that Abbott subsequently sponsored, known as AL16, is a case study of corporate warfare in the high-stakes business of infant nutrition, wherein preemies have been coveted like commodities; their anxious, vulnerable parents have been — whether they know it or not — targets of calculated commercial pursuit; and scientific research has been used as a marketing tool.
In hospitals around the country, dozens of babies born an average of 11 weeks early were fed Mead Johnson’s fortifier. Dozens of others were fed an Abbott fortifier that wasn’t acidified.
The clinical trial became a boon for Abbott, which publicized the results to wrest market share from Mead Johnson. But for some of the babies enrolled, it didn’t turn out so well, a KFF Health News investigation found.
Far more infants given Mead Johnson’s product developed a buildup of acid in the blood called metabolic acidosis than those fed Abbott’s product — 19 versus four, according to results published in the journal PharmacoEconomics.
Two outside doctors monitoring infants in the study became so alarmed that they refused to enroll any more babies, according to an April 2016 email one of them sent to Abbott.
In a related email to Abbott, neonatologist Robert White of Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana, and Pediatrix Medical Group — an investigator in the study — explained his concerns.
“We had another SAE” — serious adverse event — “today in which a child developed profound metabolic acidosis while on the study fortifier,” White wrote. The severity was “unlike what we would see in most children with these issues.”
A manager at Abbott replied that the company was “taking your concerns very seriously.”
The study continued for almost a year.
At least some of the consent forms used to inform parents about risks did not mention metabolic acidosis or the often-fatal necrotizing enterocolitis, another condition identified in the 2013 email that led to the study.
In a November response to questions for this article, Abbott spokesperson Scott Stoffel said the clinical trial “was safe and ethical” and that the fortifiers it compared were “on the market and widely used.”
The study was “led by 20 non-Abbott investigators,” Stoffel said.
According to a federal website, Abbott’s Barrett-Reis chaired the study.
Stoffel added that the study was approved “by 14 independent safety review boards at hospitals” and “published in a leading peer-reviewed scientific journal.”
“It is reckless and not credible to suggest that these doctors and institutions conducted and then published the results of an unsafe or unethical study,” Stoffel said.
A spokesperson for Mead Johnson, Jennifer O’Neill, did not comment on Abbott’s clinical trial but said in a November statement to KFF Health News that existing studies “cannot responsibly support” any connection between the acidified fortifier and conditions such as necrotizing enterocolitis or metabolic acidosis.
Mead Johnson executive Cindy Hasseberg argued in a deposition that Abbott waged a “smear campaign” against the acidified fortifier that was “very hard to come back from.”
In 2024, Mead Johnson discontinued the product.
Winning the ‘Hospital War’
Behind their warm-and-fuzzy marketing, industry giants Abbott, maker of Similac products, and Mead Johnson, maker of the Enfamil line, have turned neonatal intensive care units into arenas of brutal competition.
This article quotes from and is based largely on records from three lawsuits against formula manufacturers that went to trial in 2024 and are now on appeal. The cases are Watson v. Mead Johnson, Gill v. Abbott Laboratories, and Whitfield v. St. Louis Children’s Hospital. The records include emails, internal presentations, and other company documents used as exhibits in litigation, as well as court transcripts and witness testimony from depositions.
The records provide an inside view of the business of infant formula and fortifier, a nutritional supplement added to a mother’s milk. For example, a Mead Johnson slide deck for a 2020 national sales meeting — later used in the Whitfield trial — outlined a plan for “Branding NICU Babies.”
Urging employees to win more sales from neonatal intensive care units, the document said: “It is time to open up a can of ‘Whoop Ass.’”
In internal documents and other material from litigation reviewed by KFF Health News, formula makers described hospitals as gateways to the much larger retail market because parents are likely to stick with the brand their babies started on. Products used in the NICU help win hospital contracts, and hospital contracts help establish brand loyalty, according to court records.
Manufacturers vie for contracts that can be “exclusive” or nearly so, according to records from the litigation, including company documents and testimony by people who have worked in management for the companies.
An undated Abbott presentation used in the Gill case, apparently referring to inroads with hospitals in its rivalry with Mead Johnson, boasted of “MJ Strongholds Broken!”
It saluted two employees who “Own 27K Babies Exclusively,” and said another “Stole 600 formula feeders from MJ.”
Still others were praised for “Playing in Mom’s mailbox” or “kicking … and ‘taking names.’”
In July 2024, Abbott CEO Robert Ford said in a conference call for investors that formula and fortifier for preterm infants generated total annual revenue of about $9 million — a small portion of Abbott’s total sales of $42 billion in 2024 and its $2.2 billion of sales in the United States from pediatric nutritional products.
Industry documents cited in litigation provide a different perspective.
“‘First Bottle Fed’ drives our business,” stated an Abbott training presentation from about a decade ago used in the Gill and Whitfield trials.
That described a baby’s first formula feeding in the hospital, the document said. Over 74% of the time, an infant fed formula in the hospital stays on that brand at home, the document said.
Abbott’s goal was that the first-bottle-fed strategy would help generate more than $1.5 billion in sales, the document showed. A staff training slide displayed during the Whitfield trial showed how that momentum could pay off in bonuses for Abbott sales representatives, leading to a “Happy Rep.”
Mead Johnson has espoused a similar strategy.
The company rolled out a “Flip & Win” incentive plan with cash rewards for flipping hospitals from Abbott, according to a 2019 document marked for internal use by Mead Johnson and its parent company, England-based Reckitt Benckiser Group, and admitted into evidence in the Watson case.
“Winning in the NICU is critical to contract gains and acquisition,” stated a company plan for 2022 that was cited in the Whitfield case.
One Abbott document shown in the Whitfield trial said more than half of first feedings happen at night, adding, “Nighttime is the right time to drive your business.”
A “Mead Johnson University” training document described a scenario in which a sales rep overhears patient information in a NICU and encouraged the rep to promote the company’s products. The document, titled “Advanced NICU Skills,” was admitted as evidence in the Watson case.
“[Y]ou are walking back into your most important NICU,” it said. “You overhear the HCP’s” — health care providers, apparently — “stating all of the notes,” it said. “There may be some information that may help you to position your products as a resource for this patient and to handle any objections that the HCP may present you with.”
To win parents’ business, companies have supplied formula to hospitals free or at a loss, court records show. That has resulted in such curiosities as a Mead Johnson “purchasing agreement” cited in the Watson case, listing the price for product after product as “no charge.”
In a 2017 strategy document prepared for Mead Johnson, a consulting firm laid out a plan “to win hospital war.”
Why focus on hospitals? “INFLECTION POINT FOR VULNERABLE MOMS,” it explained.
The document was displayed in the Whitfield case.
In the market for preterm nutrition, Abbott and Mead Johnson compete with each other, not against the use of human milk, the companies told KFF Health News.
“Thus, references in documents about wanting to ‘win’ or ‘own’ the NICU refer to out-performing Mead Johnson by offering the highest-quality products,” Abbott’s Stoffel said in February.
Asked specific questions about business strategies and internal documents, Mead Johnson’s O’Neill said the company was “concerned that you are presenting a misleading and incomplete picture.”
Mead Johnson’s products “are safe, effective, and recommended by neonatologists when clinically appropriate,” O’Neill added.
On the Defensive
In courthouses around the country, Abbott and Mead Johnson are on the defensive — and have been for years.
In hundreds of lawsuits, parents of sickened or deceased preterm infants have alleged that formula designed for preemies has caused necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC, a devastating condition in which immature intestinal tissue can become infected and die, spreading infection through the body.
Lawsuits also accuse the manufacturers of failing to warn parents of the risk.
One of the cases on which this article is based, Watson v. Mead Johnson, resulted in a $60 million judgment against Mead Johnson. Another, Gill v. Abbott Laboratories, et al., resulted in a $495 million judgment against Abbott. The third, Whitfield v. St. Louis Children’s Hospital, et al., resulted in a jury verdict in favor of Abbott and Mead Johnson, but the judge found errors and misconduct on the part of defense counsel, faulted his own performance, and granted the plaintiff a new trial.
The cases have involved children like Robynn Davis, who was born at 26 weeks, lost 75% to 80% of her intestine to NEC, suffered brain damage — and, at almost 3 years old, couldn’t walk, couldn’t really talk, and was eating through a tube, as Jacob Plattenberger, an attorney representing her, described in court in 2024.
An attorney for Abbott, James Hurst, said in court that Robynn suffered a catastrophic brain injury at birth, 10 days before she received any Abbott formula, and that her NEC resulted not from formula but from many health problems.
In at least three cases, a federal judge has granted summary judgment in favor of Abbott — ruling for the company before the lawsuits even reached trial.
The formula makers have repeatedly denied fault.
Addressing stock analysts in 2024, Abbott’s chief executive denounced as “without merit or scientific support” the theory that preterm infant formula or milk fortifier caused NEC.
In a joint statement issued in 2024, the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health said there was “no conclusive evidence that preterm infant formula causes NEC.”
Mead Johnson’s O’Neill said the scientific consensus is that there is no established causal link between the use of specialized preterm hospital nutrition products and NEC.
Neonatologists use the products routinely, O’Neill said.
O’Neill cited a statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics saying the causes of NEC “are multifaceted and not completely understood.”
In a legal brief filed with an Illinois appeals court in the Watson case, the company said “the NEC-related risks” of a formula for preterm infants “are the subject of medical debate,” adding that trial evidence “demonstrated, at a minimum, uncertainty as to the magnitude of the risk, as well as the causal role of various feeding options in the development of NEC.”
Manufacturers say formula is needed when mother’s milk or human donor milk isn’t an option. Fortifier, a product tailored to preemies, is meant to augment mother’s milk when babies are born prematurely and a mother’s milk alone doesn’t deliver enough nutrition. The Mead Johnson fortifier used in the head-to-head clinical trial sponsored by Abbott was acidified to prevent bacterial contamination.
In March 2025, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that his department, which encompasses the FDA, was undertaking a review of infant formula, dubbed “Operation Stork Speed.” It includes reassessing nutrient requirements and increasing testing for heavy metals and other contaminants, HHS said.
However, FDA oversight of infant formula is limited. The agency doesn’t approve the products or their labeling. Whether to report adverse events — illnesses or deaths potentially related to the products — to the FDA is largely at manufacturers’ discretion.
The business of infant formula further spotlights a central contradiction in the Trump administration’s health policies. When it comes to food and medical products, the administration has criticized industry-funded research as unworthy of trust. Yet under Kennedy, it has disrupted, defunded, or sought to cut government-funded research, which could leave industry-funded research with a larger and more influential role.
It “is entirely appropriate for the Department to scrutinize research design, conflicts of interest, and funding sources, particularly when research is used to inform public policy,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said.
‘At the Table’
Company emails cited in litigation shed light on the industry’s approach to research.
In a 2015 email, when Mead Johnson was considering supplying some of its formula to a researcher for a study, a company neonatologist expressed concern that the results could be spun to make the preemie product look unsafe.
“However, we are more likely to have control over final language if we provide the small support and are ‘at the table’ with him,” Mead Johnson’s Timothy Cooper added in the email, which was cited in the Watson trial.
In 2017, Abbott exchanged a series of messages with researchers at Johns Hopkins University about a study on how the composition of infant formula might affect NEC in mice. The email thread became an exhibit in the Whitfield case.
Abbott was both funding and collaborating on the work, a later publication in a scientific journal shows.
Forwarding a draft of the resulting paper to Abbott, David Hackam, chief of pediatric surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in one of the emails, “We hope you like it.” He also requested help from Abbott in filling in information.
“The manuscript looks great!” Abbott’s Tapas Das wrote in May 2017, after a back-and-forth.
But Abbott had some changes, the email thread shows.
“We (VM & DT) made some edits in the text especially to soften a bit with the statement ‘infant formula seems responsible for developing NEC,’” Das wrote.
“Instead, we thought if we could state as ‘infant formula is linked to severity of NEC’. So we made changes throughout the text emphasizing on severity of NEC by infant formula rather than development of NEC by infant formula,” Das wrote.
Das wrote that “other factors are involved for NEC development as described in the text.”
Hackam did not respond to questions KFF Health News sent by email.
Efforts to reach Das and Cooper — including by phoning numbers and sending letters to addresses that appeared to be associated with them — were unsuccessful.
When Mead Johnson provided support to scientific researchers, the company would want to make sure they reported the results “in an honest way,” Cooper said in a deposition played in the Watson trial.
The Abbott co-authors “proposed routine edits to the article for scientific accuracy and for the consideration of the other authors, some of the most well-respected NEC researchers in the world,” Abbott’s Stoffel said.
“Abbott regularly collaborates with and publishes studies with leading NEC scientists for the benefit of both premature infants and the entire scientific community,” Stoffel said.
“The research studies Mead Johnson supports are conducted independently and appropriately, with full transparency,” said O’Neill, the Mead Johnson spokesperson.
‘In the Wrong Direction’
Transparency can be subjective.
More than a decade ago, Mead Johnson sponsored a clinical trial testing what was then a new acidified liquid fortifier against a powdered fortifier already on the market.
In the study, which enrolled 150 babies, 5% of infants fed the acidified liquid developed NEC compared with 1% of infants fed the powder, according to deposition testimony and a record of the clinical trial used in the Watson case.
That information was not included in a 2012 medical journal article that reported the study results.
The article, in the journal Pediatrics, whose authors included two Mead Johnson employees, concluded it was safe to use the new liquid fortifier instead of the powdered one. The article also said that, comparing babies fed the liquid with those fed the powder, the study observed no difference in the incidence of NEC.
The unpublished finding of 5% to 1% represented so few babies that it was not statistically significant.
Nonetheless, retired neonatologist Victor Herson, who ran a NICU in Connecticut and has studied fortifiers, said in an interview he would have wanted to see those numbers.
“The trend was in the wrong direction,” Herson said, “and would have, I think, alerted the typical neonatologist that, well, maybe not to rush in and adopt” the new fortifier.
It’s common for study publications to include tables showing complications even if they aren’t statistically significant so that readers can draw their own conclusions, Herson said.
Neonatologist Fernando Moya, a co-author of the Pediatrics article, had a different perspective.
“You may not be very familiar with medical literature but when there are no ‘statistically significant’ differences, we do not comment on whether something was increased or decreased,” Moya said by email. He referred questions to Mead Johnson.
Mead Johnson’s O’Neill gave several reasons why “the data you cite was not included in the publication.” She said the study was designed to examine infant nutrition and growth, NEC was a “secondary outcome,” the NEC numbers weren’t statistically significant, and the size of the study, “while appropriate, was not powered to draw any conclusions with respect to any potential differences in NEC.”
In a deposition used in the Watson trial, Carol Lynn Berseth — a co-author of the paper and Mead Johnson’s director of medical affairs for North America when the study was completed — testified that the article was peer-reviewed and that no reviewer asked for additional data.
“Had they asked for it, we would have shown it,” Berseth testified.
Berseth did not respond to a phone message or to an email or letter sent to addresses apparently associated with her.
‘It Should Not Be in a NICU’
The Abbott scientist who flagged research on Mead Johnson’s acidified fortifier in 2013, Bridget Barrett-Reis, was later listed as chair of AL16, the follow-up clinical trial Abbott sponsored, and as a co-author of resulting publications.
In a deposition, she was asked why she conducted the study.
“I conducted that study because I thought [the acidified fortifier] could be dangerous,” she said, “and I thought it would be a good idea to find out if it really was because nobody was doing anything about it.”
Elaborating on the thinking behind the study, she testified: “It should not be in a NICU in the United States. That product should not be anywhere for preterm infants.”
In her 2013 email recommending that Abbott conduct a study, Barrett-Reis cited findings by “an independent investigator,” Ann Anderson-Berry, that showed, compared with preterm infants fed an Abbott powder, those on Mead Johnson’s acidified liquid “had slower growth, higher incidence of metabolic acidosis and NEC!!”
Asked about the exclamation points, Barrett-Reis testified in a January 2024 deposition used in the Gill case that she wasn’t excited about the findings. “I am known to put exclamation points instead of question marks and everything anywhere, so I have no idea at the time what those meant,” she testified.
The research that caught her eye in 2013 reviewed patient records from the Nebraska Medical Center. The institution had switched to the acidified fortifier with high hopes but stopped using it after four months because it was concerned about patient outcomes, Anderson-Berry and Nebraska co-authors reported in January 2014.
In an interview, Anderson-Berry said she set out to analyze why, during those four months, babies’ growth “fell apart in our hands.”
Abbott was “very pleased” with Anderson-Berry’s findings and paid her to go around the country discussing them, she said.
Metabolic acidosis can be fatal, Anderson-Berry said. But typically it can be managed, she said, adding that she didn’t know of deaths from metabolic acidosis caused by the acidified fortifier.
Research has found that metabolic acidosis “is associated with poor developmental and neurologic outcomes in very low birth weight infants,” according to a paper Barrett-Reis co-authored. In addition, it is “a risk factor for neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis,” the paper said.
Barrett-Reis did not respond to inquiries for this article, including a message sent via LinkedIn and a letter sent to an address that appeared to be associated with her.
In court, Abbott representative Robyn Spilker testified that metabolic acidosis can be a very serious condition and that nobody should knowingly put kids at risk for getting NEC in an effort to make money.
Before infants were enrolled in the AL16 study, their parents or guardians had to sign consent forms disclosing, among other things, the risks that clinical trial subjects would face.
International ethical principles for medical research on humans, known as the Declaration of Helsinki, say each participant must be adequately informed of the “potential risks.”
Questioning Abbott’s Spilker in litigation, plaintiff’s attorney Timothy Cronin said, “Ma’am, despite the hypothesis going in, are you aware Abbott did not put metabolic acidosis on the informed consent form given to parents that signed their kids up for that study?” Spilker, who identified herself in court as a senior brand manager, said she didn’t know what was on the consent forms.
Through a request under a Kentucky open-records law, KFF Health News obtained an informed consent form for the AL16 study used at a public institution, the University of Louisville. The form mentioned risks such as diarrhea, constipation, gas, and fussiness. It did not mention metabolic acidosis or NEC.
KFF Health News also reviewed an informed consent form for the AL16 study used at Memorial Hospital of South Bend. It was largely identical to the one used in Louisville and did not mention metabolic acidosis or NEC.
Cronin, the plaintiff’s attorney, said in an interview that Abbott showed disregard for the health and safety of premature babies participating in the AL16 clinical trial.
“I think it’s unethical to do a study if you know you are subjecting participants in the study to an increased risk of a potentially deadly disease and you don’t at least tell them that,” Cronin said.
Anderson-Berry told KFF Health News that Abbott was “ethically well positioned” to conduct the AL16 clinical trial because her paper was not definitive.
Yet she said she was unwilling to enroll any of her patients in the Abbott clinical trial because she didn’t want to take the chance that they would be given the acidified liquid.
White, the neonatologist who stopped enrolling patients in the study, defended the decision to conduct it. In an interview, he said it was appropriate to conduct a large, properly controlled clinical trial to see whether concerns raised in earlier research were borne out. The two babies whose serious adverse events he reported to Abbott ended up doing fine, he said.
But White, who went on to be listed as a co-author of the study, told KFF Health News that parents should have been informed that the risks included metabolic acidosis and NEC.
“In retrospect, obviously, that is something that we, I think, should have informed parents of,” he said.
Abbott did not directly answer questions about the consent forms.
The results of AL16 were published in the Journal of Pediatrics in 2018. The conclusion: Infants fed the acidified product — in other words, the Mead Johnson fortifier — had higher rates of metabolic acidosis and poorer feeding tolerance. Plus, poorer “initial weight gain.”
The title of the article trumpeted “Improved Outcomes in Preterm Infants Fed a Nonacidified Liquid Human Milk Fortifier” — in other words, the Abbott product.
Eight of the 78 infants receiving the Mead Johnson fortifier were treated for metabolic acidosis, compared with none of the 82 receiving the Abbott product, the article said. Four infants on Mead Johnson’s product experienced serious adverse events, compared with one on the Abbott product, the article reported.
One infant receiving the Mead Johnson product died — from sepsis, the article said. One had a case of NEC, and infants on Mead Johnson’s fortifier “had significantly more vomiting,” the article said.
However, in a pair of letters to the editor published in the Journal of Pediatrics, doctors criticized the article as hyped. Writers said the article emphasized findings that were subjective and susceptible to bias.
In its business battle with Mead Johnson, Abbott deployed the study. It produced an annotated copy for its sales force, which was shown in the Whitfield trial.
Abbott’s use of AL16 as a marketing tool worked.
In 2019, when Barrett-Reis applied for a promotion at Abbott, she wrote that the results of the study had been “leveraged to secure whole hospital contracts which have increased hospital share to > 70%.”
Her letter was displayed in a deposition video filed in the Gill litigation.
Internally, Mead Johnson conceded it had been beaten in the fight over fortifiers. In the slide deck for a 2020 national sales meeting, the company said, “Abbott won the narrative.”
Steve Kerr’s statesmanship nurtures culture of excellence
I believe that statesmanship is exceptional leadership characterized by vision, courage, compassion, civility and effectiveness.
Considered narrowly, statesmanship relates primarily to politics and government. However, when looked at more expansively, it is equally relevant to business, law, academia, philanthropy and religion. We need statesmanship in all aspects of American society and from the leaders and institutions who influence our lives.
We even need it in sports, which is, as we know, an important feature of American economic, social and even political life.
Steve Kerr, the coach of the Golden State Warriors, would resist the designation of statesman. However, his impressive work to create a culture of excellence for the Warriors has had an outsize impact that far transcends basketball arenas. Kerr’s system of sustained excellence has captured the notice, admiration, and even attempts at emulation in business and politics.
Earlier this year, The Athletic, the sports unit of The New York Times, conducted a survey of the 40 most admired leaders in sports. Kerr took the top spot.
Kerr has been devoted to basketball since he was a teenager. He played at the University of Arizona and then spent 15 years in the NBA as a player. He was a member of three Bulls championship teams and two with the San Antonio Spurs. After retiring as a player, he was the general manager of the Phoenix Suns and a broadcaster for TNT, and, since 2014, he has been the head coach of the Warriors.
Under his leadership, the Warriors reached the NBA Finals six times and won four championships. His 2015-16 Warriors team won 73 games, the most in a single season in the league’s history. He has been voted as one of the 15 best coaches in NBA history. He was the head coach of the USA men’s basketball team that won the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Kerr’s nine combined championships as a player and coach are deeply impressive. So is the way in which he has won. He’s created a culture of innovation and quality that has been widely lauded. It is as common to see Kerr speak at a graduate business school or corporate conference as it is on a sports podcast.
He has said that the Warriors culture is based on four values: joy, competition, mindfulness and compassion. These values infuse the Warriors organization not only during championship years. They are also apparent during years when the team has struggled, often due to player injuries.
Kerr encourages players, coaches and others in the Warriors organization to be kind and tough-minded, compassionate and competitive, rigorous and creative, consistent and innovative. He celebrates and models collaboration, preparation and transparency and urges lifelong learning. He has invited luminaries from various professions to describe their work. Author Michael Lewis, Ambassador Michael McFaul and performer Alicia Keys are among those who have shared their insights with the Warriors.
Speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival last summer, Kerr described the challenge of creating a culture of excellence and also talked about using his public platform to weigh in on matters on which he is both passionate and knowledgeable.
One is gun violence prevention. His father, Malcolm Kerr, was a respected University of California, Los Angeles professor who was assassinated in 1984 while serving as the president of the American University in Beirut. Kerr is determined to help find solutions to the epidemic of gun violence, focusing on background checks and gun safety.
“There is plenty we can do. There is so much we can do,” he said.
Kerr brushes aside questions about a future political career. “That’s not what I do. I’m a basketball coach,” he said at the Aspen event. “We can lead from our own sphere, from our own place in the world.”
However, his speech at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago made it clear that he understands the essence of leadership — and of statesmanship.
“I believe in a certain kind of leadership,” he told the DNC delegates gathered at the United Center. “I believe that leaders must display dignity. I believe that leaders must tell the truth. I believe that leaders must be able to laugh at themselves. I believe that leaders must care for and love the people they are leading. I believe leaders must possess knowledge and expertise, but with the full awareness that none of us has all the answers.”
Kerr ended his remarks with an uplifting message for all of us.
“Now imagine what we could do with all 330 million of us playing on the same team. Not as Democrats, not as Republicans, not as libertarians, but as Americans who know the greatness of our nation doesn’t come from any one of us, but from each of us doing our part to build a more perfect union.”
John T. Shaw is director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. Shaw’s columns, exclusive to the Tribune, appear the last Monday of each month. His most recent book is “The Education of a Statesman: How Global Leaders Can Repair a Fractured World.”
Benson Boone to hit 30+ U.S. arenas throughout new ‘Wanted Man Tour’
“Beautiful Things” singer Benson Boone just unveiled a new 2026 concert schedule in continued support of his second studio album, “American Heart.”
Following a successful “American Heart” run — which visited Detroit, Michigan’s Little Caesars Arena in August 2025 — Grammy-nominated pop artist Benson Boone is embarking on another U.S. trek set to begin Tuesday, July 7 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The “Wanted Man Tour” includes notable Midwest stops at Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, Ohio; Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis; the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee; and Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois; with the finale date slated for Thursday, September 3 at the Ford Center in Casper, Wyoming.
Tickets to the new U.S. dates officially go on sale this Friday, April 3 at 11 a.m. local venue time on Ticketmaster and bensonboonelive.com. Artist Presale opens at the same time on Wednesday, April 1. Following the general on-sale and leading up to each concert date, fans may also be able find ticket listings on Vivid Seats, SeatGeek, and StubHub.
Benson Boone “Wanted Man Tour”
Tue, Jul 7 — PPG Paints Arena; Pittsburgh, PA
Wed, Jul 8 — CFG Bank Arena; Baltimore, MD
Fri, Jul 10 — Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY
Sat, Jul 11 — Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY
Mon, Jul 13 — Prudential Center; Newark, NJ
Wed, Jul 15 — TD Garden; Boston, MA
Thu, Jul 16 — MVP Arena; Albany, NY
Sat, Jul 18 — Heritage Bank Center; Cincinnati, OH
Sun, Jul 19 — Gainbridge Fieldhouse; Indianapolis, IN
Wed, Jul 22 — Fiserv Forum; Milwaukee, WI
Fri, Jul 24 — Allstate Arena; Rosemont, IL
Mon, Jul 27 — Enterprise Center; St. Louis, MO
Tue, Jul 28 — BOK Center; Tulsa, OK
Thu, Jul 30 — Ball Arena; Denver, CO
Sun, Aug 2 — Numerica Veterans Arena; Spokane, WA
Tue, Aug 4 — Climate Pledge Arena; Seattle, WA
Wed, Aug 5 — Moda Center; Portland, OR
Fri, Aug 7 — SAP Center at San Jose; San Jose, CA
Sat, Aug 8 — Golden 1 Center; Sacramento, CA
Mon, Aug 10 — Crypto.com Arena; Los Angeles, CA
Tue, Aug 11 — Crypto.com Arena; Los Angeles, CA
Fri, Aug 14 — T-Mobile Arena; Las Vegas, NV
Sat, Aug 15 — Pechenga Arena; San Diego, CA
Mon, Aug 17 — Mortgage Matchup Center; Phoenix, AZ
Thu, Aug 20 — Frost Bank Center; San Antonio, TX
Fri, Aug 21 — American Airlines Center; Dallas, TX
Sun, Aug 23 — Smoothie King Center; New Orleans, LA
Tue, Aug 25 — VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena; Jacksonville, FL
Wed, Aug 26 — Spectrum Center; Charlotte, NC
Fri, Aug 28 — Legacy Arena at the BJCC; Birmingham, AL
Sat, Aug 29 — Simmons Bank Arena; North Little Rock, AR
Mon, Aug 31 — T-Mobile Center; Kansas City, MO
Tue, Sep 1 — CHI Health Center Omaha; Omaha, NE
Thu, Sep 3 — Ford Wyoming Center; Casper, WY
How to get cheap Daniel Caesar tickets for 2026 ‘Son of Spergy Tour’
Canadian R&B artist Daniel Caesar is embarking on a headlining arena run this year with his 2026 “Son of Spergy Tour,” a 30‑date international trek including several North American stops in support of his 2025 album “Son of Spergy.”
The tour marks a milestone in the singer’s career following a standout showing at the 2026 JUNO Awards, where he won Best Contemporary R&B Recording of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, and the International Achievement Award.
Where to get “Daniel Caesar” ticket deals
If you’re looking for early savings on tickets to one of Caesar’s North American shows, check out major retailer platforms such as Vivid Seats, SeatGeek and TicketNetwork, all of which are currently offering discount codes:
Vivid Seats: take $20 off orders over $200 using code CLEVELAND20
SeatGeek: get $5 off orders over $300 using code TAKE5
TicketNetwork: take 15% off using code TIXDEAL15
Here’s a list of all upcoming “Son of Spergy Tour” concert dates:
U.S.
July 14 — Denver, Colo. — Ball Arena: Get tickets
July 16 — Phoenix, Ariz. — Mortgage Matchup Center: Get tickets
July 19 — Austin, Texas — Moody Center: Get tickets
July 20 — Dallas, Texas — American Airlines Center: Get tickets
July 23 — Tampa, Fla. — Benchmark International Arena: Get tickets
July 24 — Atlanta, Ga. — State Farm Arena: Get tickets
July 25 — Eau Claire, Wis. — Eaux Claires Festival (Carson Park): Get tickets
July 26 — Chicago, Ill. — United Center: Get tickets
July 28 — Baltimore, Md. — CFG Bank Arena: Get tickets
July 30 — Brooklyn, N.Y. — Barclays Center: Get tickets
July 31 — Boston, Mass. — TD Garden: Get tickets
Canada
Aug. 2 — Toronto, Ontario — Scotiabank Arena: Get tickets
Aug. 5 — Ottawa, Ontario — Canadian Tire Centre: Get tickets
Aug. 6 — Montreal, Quebec — Bell Centre: Get tickets
Aug. 10 — Winnipeg, Manitoba — Canada Life Centre: Get tickets
Aug. 13 — Edmonton, Alberta — Rogers Place: Get tickets
Aug. 14 — Calgary, Alberta — Scotiabank Saddledome: Get tickets
Aug. 16 — Vancouver, British Columbia — Rogers Arena: Get tickets
U.S.
Aug. 18 — Portland, Ore. — Moda Center: Get tickets
Aug. 20 — San Francisco, Calif. — Chase Center: Get tickets
Aug. 23 — Anaheim, Calif. — Honda Center: Get tickets
Faye Webster and 070 Shake join select shows
Caesar is bringing along two artists whose emotional depth complements his style perfectly:
Faye Webster will support select U.S. dates, adding her signature blend of indie‑folk and R&B melancholy.
070 Shake will join the Canadian and West Coast shows, bringing a moody, atmospheric texture to the lineup.
For longtime fans, these pairings feel just right with a curated experience rather than a traditional opening‑act setup.
Packing 17,000 Fans Into MSG Shows Promise of Women’s Pro Hockey
Elle Hartje grew up watching her dad play pro hockey, but even as she became a standout in the sport she doubted ever following in his footsteps and making a living on the ice.
On Saturday, the 24-year-old forward will suit up as a pro for a sold-out game at Madison Square Garden in front of more than 17,000 fans when her New York Sirens take on the Seattle Torrent. The matchup and the buzz it’s generating shows how far the Professional Women’s Hockey League has come a little more than three years after being co-founded by billionaire Mark Walter and wife Kimbra.
Jeff Gordon Publicly Reveals Tom Cruise’s 5-Word Claim on NASCAR’s Cult Classic Movie
Days of Thunder significantly shaped NASCAR’s local brand into a global one. Thanks to Tom Cruise and the team’s efforts, the cult classic released in 1990 played a big role in making the stock car racing competition reach the nooks and crannies of the world. And as things stand, there is a possibility of a sequel in the near future, on which Jeff Gordon shared his exciting verdict.
Gordon’s update could delight Days of Thunder fans
In a recent interview with Cup Scene, Gordon shared an update on the Days of Thunder sequel. While he did not explicitly mention anything about the movie or add anything new, the HMS boss was hopeful, nonetheless.
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“I don’t have any new updates or insight. I mean, I just assume that whatever was taking place, was building a storyline or some characters, something to do maybe some sort of a pitch,” Gordon said. “To go to some studios or or whoever. I don’t really know a whole lot more than that, but I’m certainly optimistic and hopeful.”
Following this, Gordon assured NASCAR fans with a positive update from Tom Cruise, the lead star of the first movie. Here’s what he said further:
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“And I saw Tom what one or two years ago, and he actually brought it up then, and we were just laughing about it, and then he’s like, ‘No, I’m serious. Like this is going to happen.’ So when Tom Cruise says that you take it seriously, but yeah, we’ll see. But yeah, that’d be exciting to see the sport be able to be a part of that. We’ll go to the TV right here.”
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Notably, Gordon’s update about the Days of Thunder sequel comes amid the recent talks about making the second installment of the movie. As per multiple reports, a Hollywood film writer has met multiple NASCAR teams and drivers to develop a script for the movie.
The film is expected to center on Tom Cruise’s character, Cole Trickle, and will continue the story from where the original movie ended. The first edition of the movie was made on a modest $60 million, and grossed $157.9 million worldwide.
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With that said, it will be interesting to see if Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports drivers play a significant role in the upcoming movie. Keeping aside the Days of Thunder sequel, Gordon is now a happy man, especially after Chase Elliott’s recent win at Martinsville.
Gordon hailed Elliott after an important Martinsville victory
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Chase Elliott emerged victorious at Martinsville on Sunday’s Cup Series race, and with this, he secured Hendrick Motorsports’ first win of the 2026 season. Following the victory, Gordon, the Vice Chairman of the organization, said about the driver:
“I love this guy. I love the work and the effort he puts in, how smart he is, the team he builds. Nobody’s a tougher critic than he is of the team and their performance.”
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Following this, Gordon emphasized how Elliott has always been under pressure ever since he became the most popular driver in NASCAR. By giving the example of Dale Earnhardt Jr, he said:
“You’ve always seen this. Whether it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Chase, whoever is the popular driver in the series, there’s a lot of critics that want to sit on the sidelines and evaluate it.”
Elliott started his race from 10th on the grid, but moved down to 12th by the end of Stage 1. In Stage 2, he went down further to 14th place, but in the end, he recovered brilliantly to finish the race on top. Thanks to the victory, he moved up to fourth place in the Drivers’ Standings with 249 points.
Rick Hendrick and his team made all the right calls in earning first NASCAR victory of the season
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Alan Gustafson ignored the phone call while packing a suitcase for the morning drive to Martinsville Speedway. Then he saw whom he’d missed — NASCAR Cup Series team owner Rick Hendrick.
“I better get on it,” Gustafson said with a chuckle. “As soon as I got in the car, I called him right back.”
The founder of Hendrick Motorsports had a message that he wanted the crew chief for Chase Elliott to deliver to his team, and it set the tone for their first victory of the season.
“He just basically was super positive,” Gustafson said. “The quote from him was: ‘This is a marathon, not a 10K race. We’re in it for the long run. Regardless of the way it starts, it’s about the way it finishes.’”
That certainly was the case at Martinsville, where Elliott started 10th and was hardly a factor as Denny Hamlin led the first 292 of 317 laps from the pole.
But Gustafson made the critical call for an early pit stop that vaulted the No. 9 Chevrolet to the front, and Elliott led the final 69 laps for his 22nd career win despite having the sixth-fastest car, according to Racing Insights, a NASCAR analytics firm.
His victory in the seventh race is the earliest in a season for the 2020 Cup champion, who now enters an off week with some peace of mind.
“That was one of the first things I thought about,” Elliott said of winning early. “Man, this is awesome. We’ve never done that. Going into the off week with the win is really cool. I know we still have a lot of room for improvement, don’t get me wrong, but a great way to cap off this first stretch. A lot of good momentum for the whole organization.”
After a rough start of four top-five finishes among its four cars through the first six races, it’s fitting that Hendrick Motorsports earned its first victory of 2026 at Martinsville Speedway.
The team has a record 31 wins at the short track, which typifies the performance and resilience of NASCAR’s winningest outfit and its redoubtable founder.
Rick Hendrick lost his son, a brother, two nieces and two key executives when a Hendrick plane crashed en route to Martinsville on Oct. 24, 2004. The team pushed through the tragedy, and Sunday marked its record 321st victory in NASCAR’s premier series (along with 15 championships, most recently last season with Kyle Larson ).
This year’s struggles pale by comparison. With a new Camaro body necessitating setup adjustments, Hendrick also wasn’t alone in being behind — Chevy teams were winless through six races for the first time since 2019.
“I hate it when we go through stuff like this, but we’ve been through this before,” said Hendrick vice chairman Jeff Gordon, who had four championships and 93 wins in a Hall of Fame driving career for the team. “You lean on your tools more. You get back to the basics.”
Part of the team’s foundation is an actively engaged owner offering a constant source of encouragement behind the scenes.
Before calling Gustafson, Hendrick rang Elliott. The driver said he “shot the breeze” with Hendrick about his car dealerships and the performance of Elliott’s car. Hendrick, who juggles racing with running an automotive empire, also revealed he’d miss the race.
Though there was no discussion of his season, Elliott knew Hendrick had his back.
“I feel that all the time from him,” Elliott said. “He’s always done a great job of just showing support to me, whether things are going good or bad. Always cool to hear from him.”
Gordon said the conversations aren’t always pleasant. In fact, Hendrick’s “kick in the butt” sessions are legendary.
There was the “pork chop meeting” at a race in the early 2000s when Hendrick destroyed the dinner he was holding in his hand while railing about an issue (the meat allegedly flew off the bone he angrily waved and struck a crew chief).
Hendrick held the famous “milk and cookies meeting” with Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus when the pair wanted to split after the 2005 season. With milk and cookies as props, Hendrick underscored that his star driver and crew chief were acting like petulant children.
The message was heeded. Johnson and Knaus won the next five Cup championships and seven overall, and they entered the NASCAR Hall of Fame together in 2024.
“This is what I love about his style is that he mixes it up,” Gordon said about Hendrick. “He’ll surprise you. Some days, he will just get fired up. Then there’s the days where you think you’re going to get that, and he is calm and just positive and supportive. His experience of being in business, he knows how to read a room, how to read people and how to motivate them when they need it most.”
In this case, Gustafson said the check-in by the boss helped remove any prerace pressure.
“Ultimately, go out and have some fun,” Gustafson said. “Don’t focus on any of the noise, focus on what we can control. It was just nice to hear from him. He’s the master of knowing what to say at the right time.”
Race Deal With Beard Motorsports
Barring unforeseen circumstances, Casey Mears is set to accomplish his goal of 500 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series ranks. The winner of the 2007 Coca-Cola 600, who resurfaced last season after a lengthy six-year hiatus, will compete in five NASCAR Cup Series events this year behind the wheel of the No. 62 Chevrolet for Beard Motorsports.
Mears’ first start with the Beard team will come at Talladega Superspeedway on April 26. Heading into his five-race stint with Beard Motorsports, Mears sits at 495 career NASCAR Cup Series starts.
In addition to Talladega in April, Mears will compete for Beard Motorsports in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, the YellaWood 500 at Talladega in the fall, and the season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Mears will have sponsorship backing from a plethora of longtime partners, including the Gracie Foundation, a foundation honoring the late Gracie Germain.
The Beard Motorsports team is honored to provide the opportunity to Mears for the veteran racer to accomplish the 500 starts milestone.
“We’re thrilled with the opportunity to partner with Casey Mears for these five races in 2026,” said Amie Beard-Deja, executive vice president, Beard Motorsports, in a press release. “It has been well documented that Beard Motorsports is a passion project for my family, and we’ve been committed to carrying on what my dad started. To take the No. 62 Chevrolet to new venues is beyond anything we could’ve imagined when we started in 2017.
“After hearing about Casey’s desire to get to his 500th Cup Series start, we started talking. His experience in the NASCAR Cup Series and at the tracks we’ll visit with him this year makes us very excited for the rest of the season.”
Mears just feels that it’s right that he’ll check off his 500th career start driving for a family-owned Beard Motorsports team, which always does its best to come to the track prepared to compete any time they show up, and he couldn’t be more thankful to the Germain family for always supporting him through the journey.
“Partnering with Beard Motorsports, a team founded by the late Mark Beard Sr., and operated by his wife and daughter, means a lot to me. We have a feel-good story that connects with race fans,” Mears said. “One thing I’ve learned during the last year is how much I still love racing and competing. I’m incredibly appreciative of Bob Germain and his continued support as I close in on 500 Cup starts. His generosity is moving, and I’m thankful for his friendship.
Casey Mears Signs With Beard Motorsports With 500 Starts In Sight
Casey Mears’ unlikely NASCAR comeback will continue in 2026. The 48-year-old suddenly made his NASCAR return in 2025 after making his last start six years prior.
Now, after competing in this year’s Daytona 500 with Carl Long’s Garage 66, Mears is back in another surprise deal. He just inked a five-race ride with Beard Motorsports, a team with a Richard Childress Racing alliance, in an attempt to make his 500th NASCAR Cup Series start.
Mears’ unlikely comeback has been highlighted by qualifying for the Daytona 500 after narrowly escaping a crash in the Duel qualifier.
“Partnering with Beard Motorsports, a team founded by the late Mark Beard Sr., and operated by his wife and daughter, means a lot to me. We have a feel-good story that connects with race fans,” Mears said. “One thing I’ve learned during the last year is how much I still love racing and competing. I’m incredibly appreciative of Bob Germain and his continued support as I close in on 500 Cup starts. His generosity is moving and I’m thankful for his friendship.
“I’ve watched Beard Motorsports race over the years, and it’s a team that doesn’t just show up for superspeedway races – they make races and are competitive. As a racer, that’s really appealing.”
Where Will Casey Mears Race In 2026?
Mears currently sits at 495 Cup Series starts. The deal with Beard Motorsports, a part-time Chevrolet entry, should get him to 500 starts unless more than 40 cars show up to an event and he does not qualify.
Mears will compete in the No. 62 entry at Talladega on April 26, July 26’s Brickyard 400, Aug. 29’s race at Daytona, the second Talladega race on Oct. 25, and the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 8.
“We’re thrilled with the opportunity to partner with Casey Mears for these five races in 2026,” said Amie Beard-Deja, executive vice president, Beard Motorsports. “It has been well documented that Beard Motorsports is a passion project for my family and we’ve been committed to carrying on what my dad started. To take the No. 62 Chevrolet to new venues is beyond anything we could’ve imagined when we started in 2017.
“After hearing about Casey’s desire to get to his 500th Cup Series start, we started talking. His experience in the NASCAR Cup Series and at the tracks we’ll visit with him this year makes us very excited for the rest of the season.”
Mears has one Cup Series win in his career, coming in the 2007 Coca-Cola 600.
Who Will Casey Mears Be Driving For?
Beard Motorsports is a family-owned, single-car operation that usually only competes at drafting tracks, also known as superspeedways.
The team qualified for the Daytona 500 in 2026 with Anthony Alfredo. However, NASCAR deemed the No. 62 car illegal and they were disqualified. Beard Motorsports has a single top five (2022 with Noah Gragson) and seven top 10s in 34 Cup Series races. Last year, Alfredo led a combined 21 laps at both Talladega races, which gives Mears hope going into this year’s events.
Mears’ effort will be supported by his longtime Cup Series owner, Bob Germain, who retired and sold his team several years ago.
Wisconsin NASCAR racer Parker Retzlaff stuns Viking with fast start
Parker Retzlaff has achieved a strong start to the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, sitting ninth in the standings.
The 22-year-old driver’s performance with the second-year Viking Motorsports team has exceeded the general manager’s initial expectations.
An alliance with Richard Childress Racing has provided Viking Motorsports with crucial data and resources, contributing to its early success.
Retzlaff is praised for his leadership skills and for building camaraderie by regularly interacting with his crew.
Seven weeks into the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Parker Retzlaff has matched his best finish, completed every lap and planted himself in the company of some of the biggest teams in the sport.
This comes in the well-traveled, 22-year-old Rhinelander native’s first season with a second-year team.
“I don’t think we’re overperforming at all,” said Retzlaff, who sits ninth in the standings.
“It’s definitely sustainable for the whole year, and I think that there’s just more little stuff we can work on as we get cars built. And as we get a little bit farther ahead of everything, we have got to work on the little stuff that all these really big teams do. That’s where these guys get you, with all the little details.”
This driven, matter-of-fact, won’t-back-down attitude is one of the characteristics Viking Motorsports general manager Jeremy Lange loves about the driver of the team’s No. 99 Chevrolet.
But, here’s where they differ.
“If you were to tell me in December, that we would be 11th in owner points and he’d be ninth in driver points, I’d tell you you’re crazy,” Lange said.
Oh, they both knew this sort of performance was within reach when Lange sat down with Retzlaff last October. That’s why they got together.
But Lange considered contending for a playoff spot by the end of this season “a strech goal.” It wasn’t in his wildest dreams that Retzlaff, crew chief Danny Efland and their crew could have reached this far, this nimbly, this quickly.
“As a competitor, I’d be shocked if he didn’t think he could do what he’s doing,” Lange said. “Parker and any driver that you have in your race cars, they think they’re the best driver on that track at any given day. And Parker thinks he can win every race, which is what we want.
“It’s hard. These are the best drivers. And we’re competing against some teams who’ve been doing this for a long time. I’m excited where we are, and I thought we were gonna be 15th to 20th right now, not 11th. But equally, if we were 25th or 30, I’d be disappointed.”
Parker Retzlaff arrived in NASCAR with a splash despite no fanfare
This is not the first time Retzlaff has turned heads in NASCAR.
He arrived in 2022 with just three ARCA national starts and 13 regional races on his résumé, joining RSS Racing in what was known as the Xfinity Series for what would be the start of a nine-race run. Retzlaff qualified sixth for his debut and finished 12th or better three times in his first five races that abbreviated season with RSS and Our Motorsports.
The buzz was short-lived though, and with minimal sponsorship and no big team behind him, Retzlaff was fighting just to stay in the game.
With emerging Jordan Anderson Racing in 2023, Retzlaff managed seven top-10 finishes and placed an impressive 16th in points. The three-car team’s performance dropped off in ’24, and he ended up 21st and was on the move again.
Retzlaff ended up at Alpha Prime, for which he recorded the team’s best finish, second at Rockingham, but he managed just two other top-10 results in 2025 and dropped one more spot in the points.
In October, though, Retzlaff’s agent, Austin Craven, connected him with Lange at Talladega. Before the season was out they had a deal in place for 2026, and Retzlaff had the earliest jump on a season he’d ever enjoyed.
“You have to go where you have opportunity, but I also think sometimes stuff doesn’t work out, it’s not a good fit, and you’ve kind of got to make the change even though if it is a little bit hard,” Retzlaff said.
“And then just trying to put yourself in the best position. I feel like Viking overall has been the best position I’ve ever been in, the most put-together and professional place I’ve ever been.”
RCR has helped Viking Motorsports make strides quickly
Viking owner Don Sackett, who built and sold two businesses in the portable chemical analysis industry, got his team off the ground in 2024 as a partnership with RSS. That allowed Viking to gain owner points to stand on its own in 2025. Although Sackett and Retzlaff coincidentally both gained entrée with Rod Sieg’s team, that had nothing to do with their subsequent connection, Lange said.
Viking went with veteran Matt DeBenedetto in ’25 but let him go three races before the season ended, eventually hired Retzlaff and then later added a second team with driver Anthony Alfredo.
The team is still relatively small, with 18 employees. But an alliance with Richard Childress Racing helped Viking take a huge step forward. The opportunity opened up when Kaulig Racing left to enter the Craftsman Truck Series with Ram.
“I think I 100% expected to be this strong because we came into the year knowing what we had, the people we had,” Retzlaff said. “The car and stuff matters and all that, but I think with us having the ECR [Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines] and RCR alliance, we’re in the ballpark pretty well. So … it just then comes down to the guys and the people you have and how hard they work and all that stuff.
“The team’s in the second year of ever running, first year with all of us and basically everyone was brand new at the beginning of this year. They had a big refresh in the offseason of new stuff, new people … and it’s just all the experience and knowledge coming in the building and everyone putting their heads together and having the same goal and focusing on the same things.”
The alliance with RCR gives Viking access to the data that helped Austin Hill win the opener at Daytona and put two cars in the top four in the standings. In turn, RCR benefits from the knowledge gained by Retzlaff and Alfredo and their crew chiefs and engineers.
“We’re still drinking from a fire hose of sorts,” Lange said. “We feel that these next four or five will allow us to catch our breath and kind of get our feet underneath us.”
Parker Retzlaff shows impressive leadership at age 22
JR Motorsports veteran Justin Allgaier leads the standings heading into Rockingham April 4 with Jesse Love of RCR, Sheldon Creed of Haas Factory Team and Hill of RCR in tow. Retzlaff ranks ninth, ahead of Rajah Caruth of JRM and Jordan Andreson Racing (10th), Sam Mayer of Haas (11th) and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Taylor Gray (12th) and William Sawalich (14th) among others.
While crediting RCR, Lange also is quick to tip his cap to Retzlaff, who has exceeded expectations on and, perhaps more impressively, off the track.
“I can’t speak enough for him about his leadership skills as a 22-year-old young man, his ability, desire to do the best he can, is unique at that age. It just is,” Lange said.
“I’ll give a perfect example. He drove to Darlington in the van with the guys vs. drive himself. He’s one of the guys. I can’t say why he does it, except for the fact that he does do it, and it’s impressive. And it speaks volumes to the camaraderie that we’re building at Viking.
“He brings Chick-fil-A to the shop for the guys. After Vegas, he left the track early after the race and got In-N-Out Burger for all the guys. It’s just what he does.”
Retzlaff recorded the team’s best finish Feb. 21 when he sneaked through a last lap crash at Atlanta and finished second to Creed.
It’s not so much the finish that has been the biggest highlight for Retzlaff, it’s the consistency he has developed over three full seasons and parts of two others. For someone who arrived at NASCAR’s second-highest level with minimal experience in full-sized stock cars, he’s being noticed – in a positive way – every week.
“In 2024 … I had two poles and I think we showed a lot of speed, but I think that I was still a little young, still put myself in some not very good positions,” he said, “and I ended up getting damage or wrecked because of putting myself in bad positions.
“So it’s been good this year to see the speed still be there but also be able to just be a little bit smarter and not try and push too hard and put [myself] in a bad spot.”
Could Parker Retzlaff’s first win be around the next corner?
In Retzlaff’s mind there’s nothing really keeping him from winning this weekend or next or the one after that. It’s a matter of how and when, not if.
“If you put yourself in that top five or even top seven area every week, at some point stuff has to fall in line for you to become a little bit lucky in the situation or just do everything right enough and have other people make mistakes enough to where you are in that position,” he said.
“You see people who have a lot less speed who end up winning races just because at some point you’re in a good enough spot and you fall into the position of it. … There’s just a lot of stuff that we can do better to try and put ourselves in a better position.”
Retzlaff was more frustrated than happy when he finished second at Atlanta. Lange reminded him that in terms of development, the team was still between the crawling and walking stages even if it “might sniff moments of running.”
“We want to chase checkered flags and race for wins, but we also know who we are,” Lange said. “I don’t think we ever envisioned it happening this fast or people talking about us this fast.”
But fast is what the sport’s all about.
Chase Elliott Silences Fan Fury Against Crew Chief With 5-Word Emotional Confession
Between the 2023 and 2025 seasons, Chase Elliott had only won three races in total. This came after his brilliant 2022, where he won four times. This run of poor form attracted a lot of criticism from his fans towards the crew chief, Alan Gustafson. Even recently, this trend continued, but the duo put a temporary pause to that with their win at Martinsville.
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Chase Elliott is unaffected by criticism against his crew chief online
Chase Elliott’s fans, who are some of the most passionate and loyal fans in all of NASCAR. They have time and again demanded their favorite driver get a new crew chief. However, Elliott has also made it clear that he and Gustafson share a wonderful relationship in which both have complete faith in each other and want to continue working together.
Following his win at Martinsville, which largely came because of a crucial call made by Gustafson to pit early in the final stage, Chase Elliott opened up on his relationship with his crew chief. Elliott said on the Dale Jr. Download that despite the online outrage and criticism against Gustafson, his belief in him doesn’t waver.
“I think it all kind of started with just a lot of respect. When you come into the sport, and you’re a young guy, and you don’t know nothing and you don’t deserve any respect,” said Elliott. “Somebody that has been there for a long time in a lot of different cases would very easily look down on someone who doesn’t have any experience, that doesn’t have all the answers, or doesn’t have any idea what they’re getting themselves into. And I think for me it was the exact opposite from him. It was a lot of respect.”
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It’s worth mentioning that before Gustafson was paired up with Elliott, he was the crew chief of Jeff Gordon. In fact, he has been a crew chief at HMS since 2005, for 22 years.
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Elliott claimed the mutual respect right from the get-go set their relationship up to be a successful one right from the beginning. He emphasized that when a young driver receives that type of respect, he also feels obliged to give it back.
Jeff Gordon has a theory on the intense scrutiny on NASCAR’s most popular driver
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Jeff Gordon, who knows a thing or two about success in the face of criticism from fans, addressed the Alan Gustafson criticism after the win at Martinsville. During a post-race media availability session, Gordon, the vice-president of the team, claimed that it is only natural for the most popular drivers and the brightest stars to get the most scrutiny from the outside.
“Whether it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Chase Elliott, whoever is the popular driver in the series, there are a lot of critics that want to sit on the sidelines and evaluate it,” he said.
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The 4x Cup champion, who was criticised and disliked in the early stages of his career by a lot of Dale Earnhardt fans, emphasized the need to stay strong internally and have strong belief.
Gordon claimed that same was the case and foundation for Chase Elliott and Alan Gustafson, as they continue to carry their driver-crew chief relationship forward in the 11th year, the longest one in the garage at present.
Dale Jr. Admits Bias Towards Driver After Martinsville Incident
Dale Earnhardt Jr. came to the defense of Lee Pulliam following the driver’s mishap on a late restart in last Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Martinsville.
Pulliam, who was piloting the No. 9 JR Motorsports car, restarted second with 17 laps to go. As the field took the green, Pulliam missed a shift, which triggered a massive multi-car crash behind him.
The incident took out a number of drivers, including fellow JR Motorsports driver Carson Kvapil. While there were critics of Pulliam’s mistake, Earnhardt Jr. took up for his driver in the most recent episode of “The Dale Jr. Download.”
While defending Pulliam, however, the JR Motorsports owner conceded that he’s biased towards his driver.
Dale Jr. on Lee Pulliam incident: ‘I must be biased’
On his podcast, Earnhardt Jr. said Pulliam attempted to go from second to third gear, but made a mistake.
That error was crucial for the drivers behind him as it caused an accordion effect and destroyed multiple racecars.
Austin Green was one who criticized Pulliam for the mistake. Green, who was taken out of the race and finished 29th, said that if a driver cannot shift, they “don’t know what we’re doing here” in the O’Reilly Series.
Earnhardt Jr. was straightforward about the incident, saying that Pulliam knew it was a mistake, therefore making it pointless to harp on the driver.
However, he acknowledges he is speaking on the matter while being the owner of JR Motorsports.
“I must be biased. … He knows he [expletive] up. It’s all right there in front of us. There’s no denying it. There’s no hiding from it,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
Earnhardt Jr., who competed in the Cup Series from 2000-2017, might have had a conversation with a driver who missed a shift. Yet, the 51-year-old said he would not publicly shame them for it.
“If I’m a driver and a guy misses a shift, I go over to his car and say, ‘Hey bud, what was that?’ Maybe I offer him some advice about what I do to try and not miss shifts. I’m not going to go out and publicly go, ‘Damn, that dummy missed a shift,’ because I might be the dummy next week that misses a shift,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
Dale Jr. on Austin Green: ‘Don’t have any business talking’
Earnhardt Jr. took exception to Green’s comments about Pulliam following Saturday’s race.
While the 26-time Cup Series race winner praised Green for his talent, he does not believe the 25-year-old should be speaking on a driver the caliber of Pulliam.
“Austin Green is a hell of a racecar driver. He’s doing a lot in this car, he’s impressing people — I would walk that back just a little bit, because I think Austin Green don’t have any business talking about Lee Pulliam when you line the statistics up and the accomplishments. Like, what are we doing?”
Earnhardt Jr. circled back to knowing he favoritizes Pulliam, given that he was piloting a JR Motorsports driver.
While saying he “hates” being biased, Earnhardt Jr. conceded he could have made similar comments to Green’s if he were in the same scenario.
“I’m absolutely biased. I’m biased. I get it, I’m biased. If I’m Austin Green, I probably say the [expletive] same thing. I probably do. … I hate being biased. I hate it, because I try really hard not to be,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
Pulliam finished Saturday’s race fifth and led 40 laps in the event. As of now, the 37-year-old has no upcoming starts in the O’Reilly Series in 2026.
Fans Turn On Entire NASCAR Garage in Surprising Defense for Controversial Cup Star
Carson Hocevar doesn’t have the best rapport with his fellow NASCAR drivers, but he isn’t left all alone with no defense. While he runs in a complete attack mode on the track, his fans are there to defend him on social media. It is hard to argue. Hocevar has been the center of quite a few wrecks in the past year and a half. But is he the only driver on the field who has been causing wrecks?
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Carson Hocevar and his aggressive driving
NASCAR drivers were recently questioned on who wrecks the most on the track. Many, including the likes of Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Larson, took Hocevar’s name in almost unison.
If there is one thing that defines Hocevar, it is his aggressive driving. He is the last driver on the field to wait for the opening of a potential gap to overtake. If there isn’t one, he creates it, running bumper-to-bumper. Just this year in Atlanta, he was responsible for the final stage wrecks, a story that has been on repeat for a long time.
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But Hocevar has a strong response to his critics: “Well, just get the f*ck out of the way! And there wouldn’t be a wreck. You know what I mean? Just move. Just move out of the way.”
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Fellow driver Ryan Blaney also appreciated him earlier this year, claiming that Hocevar could start winning races once he finds out the thin line between aggressive driving and wrecking.
For now, however, it seems that Hocevar will have to stick to his fans for all the defense that he needs. While he has been outspoken about his aggressive driving, the fans have some other points, too.
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Fans point out other NASCAR drivers’ irregularities
“80% of the hypocrites in the video who said Hocevar have already caused twice as many wrecks as Hocevar himself,” claimed a fan. This comment, more or less, carried the sentiment of most fans, as there were some drivers in the video that NASCAR posted who don’t have the cleanest of records when it comes to clean racing. “Wrecky calling someone out for wrecking people is golden,” read another comment.
Some also pointed out the recent race at the Martinsville Speedway, where the only major wreck was caused by another driver, and not Carson Hocevar, calling this an “interesting” time to post the video.
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“Interesting timing for you to post this, considering what happened at Martinsville. Hocevar does spin a lot of people, but most of those are typically done off being a chaotic neutral rather than with negative intent like the driver in the 23 does when he wrecks others.”
Some of the other comments mentioned this, too: “They better start looking at their garage pull buddy, Bubba Wallace.”
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This has been the trend around NASCAR for quite a while now. Hocevar’s driving may be questionable, but he’s not the only driver who does that (as another comment mentioned: “Stenhouse and Ty Dillon answering this question is incredibly ironic.”)
But again, that is the one quality through which Hocevar manages to outperform his competition. While he is yet to win a race in the Cup Series, he has proved to be promising, and if Spire were to fix their pace issues, he might as well start contending for the title in the future.
Martinsville Ringer Reveals Bizarre Trick He Used To Survive “Nauseating” NASCAR Sim Session
A bicycle in a training session would sound bizarre to a NASCAR driver, considering it doesn’t even run at a fraction of the speed of the actual cars on the track, right? But it was these two wheels that enabled Lee Pulliam to complete his preparations for the O’Reilly Auto Parts debut with JR Motorsports earlier at Martinsville. His 5th-place finish came through extreme hard work in training, which even ended up making him nauseous.
Racing sims have become a large part of driver training now. Most of the young drivers on the Cup Series field spend hours practicing on these sims; however, the motion sickness can be rather unforgiving.
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“When I first went there and did it that first session, I threw up four times at Pratt and Miller. I’d run outside and throw up, and it was all I could do to drive a car,” said Pulliam in his recent appearance on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s podcast.
Training on a simulator was difficult, but he used his experience and figured out a solution to solve his nausea problem.
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“I brought my bike with me because I had heard that, whenever you throw up, you jump on a bike, it’ll help you [regain your] equilibrium,” said the 37-year-old.
Seemingly, that worked for him. At the same time, he started using virtual reality glasses even while playing video games, to help him get used to the motion sickness in the racing simulator, and it ended up helping him.
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“The next time I got an emotion rig, I was perfectly fine. I had zero issues. I never got out of the car, did the full session. And then I was like, that’s amazing,” Pulliam told Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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This was essential for Pulliam. While he is 37 and has been involved in racing for a long time, he has never had the perfect opportunity to run NASCAR in a competitive position. However, Dale Jr. gave him the opportunity to run the NOAPS for the first time, and he delivered an impressive 5th-place finish.
It was quite apparent that his training, including his time in the simulator, helped him run the race in such a competitive manner. These simulators have been helping drivers for quite a long time now, but some still don’t seem to be spending enough time behind the virtual wheel, and a former driver is not happy with it.
Former NASCAR driver disappointed with lack of racing sim use
Kevin Harvick expressed his disappointment at drivers for missing out on simulator sessions in a recent episode of his podcast. He revealed it helped understand the car better, and the lack of practice on the simulator would be evident on Sunday.
“How are you going to fix it, fellas? Tell me how you’re going to fix your car if you don’t go to the simulator,” he questioned. “Being in there week after week allows things to be developed around you, especially when you’re in a new scenario where you have new aero packages [..] And if you’re not in there scaling those tires and you’re just leaving it to the sim guys to be able to do that, in my opinion, it’s going to take you longer to catch up.”
These simulators have become so accurate now that the drivers can figure out possible car setups, race pace, and even strategies by modifying the weather and track temperatures. While the new drivers, including the likes of Tyler Reddick, have been spending quite some time practicing on these simulators, it is apparent that the older drivers find it a little unorthodox.
As NASCAR progresses, simulators will also advance and will be able to help drivers more than they have previously. It will be interesting to see if drivers still put off practising on them, as results could be defined by their work on simulators.
NASCAR: Daytona 500 Recognized in USA Today’s 2026 Best Motorsports Races
The Daytona 500 has been named among the best motorsports races of 2026 in the USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. The race, held at Daytona International Speedway, was selected by an expert panel as one of 20 top events nationwide. Known as NASCAR’s biggest race, it opens the NASCAR Cup Series season each year.
The recognition highlights the race’s strong competition, large crowds, and long history. The 2026 edition added another close finish, with drivers battling to the final lap. The Daytona 500 remains one of the most-watched events in the NASCAR Cup Series and continues to draw attention from fans across motorsports.
Daytona 500 earns recognition
The Daytona 500 is held every February and signals the beginning of the NASCAR Cup Series season. It is part of Speedweeks, which includes practice sessions, qualifying races, and other events leading up to the main race at Daytona International Speedway.
The race is held on the 2.5-mile oval at Daytona International Speedway, known for high speeds and close pack racing. Drivers compete side by side, which increases the event’s intensity. The Daytona 500 also features pre-race activities such as flyovers and concerts, adding to the atmosphere.
The USA Today recognition places the Daytona 500 among the top motorsports events in the country. The selection reflects both expert opinion and fan input. Over the years, the Daytona 500 has remained a key event in the NASCAR Cup Series calendar.
Daytona International Speedway Finish
The 2026 Daytona 500 produced a tight finish at Daytona International Speedway. Tyler Reddick won the race driving for 23XI Racing.
Reddick led only one lap but made his move at the right time. He passed Chase Elliott on the final lap of the Daytona 500 and secured the win.
A multi-car crash happened behind the leaders, which helped decide the outcome. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished second, with a margin of 0.308 seconds.
The victory marked Reddick’s first Daytona 500 win and the first for 23XI Racing. The team is co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin.
Daytona 500 History Remains Key in the NASCAR Cup Series
The Daytona 500 has played a major role in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series. Drivers such as Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt have achieved important wins at Daytona International Speedway.
The race uses a 200-lap format, where strategy and drafting are key factors. Drivers must manage their speed and position while avoiding major crashes, often referred to as large crashes, during pack racing.
The USA Today recognition shows the ongoing importance of the Daytona 500. It continues to be one of the most followed races in the NASCAR Cup Series and remains a central event at Daytona International Speedway.
The 2026 race showed how the Daytona 500 continues to deliver competitive finishes. It remains a major part of the NASCAR Cup Series and continues to attract attention each season.
Baseball stadiums debut home-run foods for MLB Opening Day across US
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Major League Baseball is back — and with it, a new lineup of over-the-top ballpark eats are set to knock it out of the park.
Stadiums across the country this year are rolling out creative new menu items that go far beyond the traditional hot dog and peanuts, from seafood-loaded fries in Boston to massive, shareable street-food creations in Miami.
Food service giants Aramark and Levy, which operate concessions at stadiums across the league, are introducing new dishes, drinks and fan experiences designed to elevate the game-day atmosphere in 2026 with offerings that echo the over-the-top, Instagram-ready eats seen at this year’s Super Bowl, including a $180 burger and loaded crab nachos.
SECRET COUNTRY GETAWAY SEES BIG AMERICAN DEMAND FOR NOSTALGIC COMFORT FOODS
Aramark said it’s rolling out new food items, limited-time menu specials and souvenir cups across eight MLB stadiums this season.
The 10 Best Premier League Stadiums-Ranked
The Premier League isn’t just home to some of the world’s best soccer teams—it can also lay claim to some of the most iconic and unique stadiums in the game.
From cutting-edge, state-of-the-art grounds that make watching a match feel more like a trip to the cinema, to classic, old-school arenas that capture the spirit and history of the beautiful game, England’s top division offers a stadium for every taste.
Here, Sports Illustrated has ranked the best stadiums the Premier League has to offer.
10. Elland Road (Leeds United)
Capacity: 37,890
Few teams relish a trip to Elland Road.
Its traditional, non-bowl design, with stands tight to the pitch, creates an intense, in-your-face atmosphere. Add in the ground’s rich history—Leeds United have played there since the club’s formation in 1919—and a fiercely passionate fanbase, and it becomes one of the most intimidating venues in the game.
The concourses may feel a little outdated, but that only adds to the charm. It’s a stadium that wears its history proudly—and visiting teams feel every bit of it.
9. Stamford Bridge (Chelsea)
Capacity: 41,631
For a club of Chelsea’s stature—two-time European champions and five-time Premier League winners—Stamford Bridge is relatively modest in size. But what it lacks in scale, it more than makes up for in intensity.
When the stadium is rocking (and admittedly, it’s not always), it becomes a cauldron of noise. The steep stands and tight, enclosed design trap the sound, creating a charged, almost claustrophobic atmosphere that can feel like a true fortress. Add in the rhythmic clatter of fans banging metal in the stands after a goal, and it gives the place a raw, unmistakable edge that few grounds can replicate.
8. Stadium of Light (Sunderland)
Capacity: 48,707
The Stadium of Light is simply too good a venue to have spent years outside the top flight—but now that Sunderland are back in the Premier League, it feels like it’s finally where it belongs.
Relatively modern, having been Sunderland’s home since 1997, the ground strikes a rare balance between spaciousness and intimacy. The concourses are wide and comfortable, the seating is tidy with excellent sightlines and no obstructions and the overall layout makes for a smooth, enjoyable matchday experience.
Add in a lively fan zone and the potential for future expansion, and it’s a stadium built not just for the present—but for the long term.
7. Craven Cottage (Fulham)
Capacity: 29,589
Though relatively small compared to many others on this list, Craven Cottage is one of the most unique and charming stadiums in the game—and boasts arguably the best location in the league, perched right on the banks of the Thames, surrounded by pubs and bars.
Famous for its iconic 1905 red-brick pavilion, the ground blends old-world character with modern upgrades, including a state-of-the-art new stand. It’s a rare example of tradition and luxury coexisting seamlessly—giving it a feel that few stadiums can match.
6. Villa Park (Aston Villa)
Capacity: 42,918
Aston Villa’s Villa Park holds just over 42,000 people, but thanks to its structure—and especially the famous Holt End, with its depth and proximity to the pitch—it often feels much bigger.
The steep stands and tight sightlines create a wall of noise, giving the stadium a constant sense of intensity. Add in strong views, fair pricing and a proper old-school soccer feel, and it’s easy to see why Villa Park remains one of the best matchday experiences in England.
5. Old Trafford (Manchester United)
Capacity: 74,879
Old Trafford is, in many ways, a stadium in decline. The roof leaks, parts of the structure are showing their age and its layout can feel like a cramped, confusing maze of corridors.
So why does it still rank so highly? Because Manchester United’s iconic home—despite its flaws—has something intangible. It’s steeped in history, a place that carries decades of triumph, drama and unforgettable moments within its walls.
The fanbase, of course, plays a huge role, but there’s a deeper aura to Old Trafford that’s hard to replicate. And when it is eventually replaced, even if supporters welcome a modern upgrade, recreating that same sense of history and atmosphere will be no easy task.
4. Hill Dickinson Stadium (Everton)
Capacity: 52,769
Everton fans bid an emotional farewell to Goodison Park at the end of the 2024–25 season, closing the chapter on 131 years at one of England’s most iconic grounds. But while that goodbye was difficult, their new home more than rises to the occasion as a worthy successor.
Beautifully located on the waterfront at Bramley-Moore Dock, the stadium delivers everything you’d expect from a modern venue—and then some.
There’s a wide range of social spaces, from traditional pubs and bars to high-street-style restaurants and premium dining experiences, along with self-service “eBars” and top-tier seating. Some areas even feature cinema-style chairs and private screens for instant replays.
3. St. James’ Park (Newcastle United)
Capacity: 52,258
Not so much for away fans—who are perched high up in the gods—but if you can get a ticket in the home end, St. James’ Park offers one of the best matchday experiences in the Premier League.
A towering cathedral of a stadium, it dominates the city skyline, while its steep stands create an intense, close-to-the-action feel despite its size. The result is a unique sense of drama that makes it one of the most special grounds in England.
2. Anfield (Liverpool)
Capacity: 61,276
Thanks to recent redevelopment, Anfield has been brought firmly into the 21st century—transforming what was already an iconic ground into a home truly worthy of giants. The new stands blend seamlessly with the original structure, preserving that classic, old-school aesthetic while modernizing the experience.
When it comes to individual stands, few in world soccer can match the Kop. The sight—and sound—of Liverpool fans belting out You’ll Never Walk Alone, scarves held high, is enough to give anyone goosebumps, regardless of who they support.
1. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (Tottenham)
Capacity: 74,879
Tottenham Hotspur may be a club in crisis at times, but their stadium is anything but.
The newly built ground is a state-of-the-art facility, boasting exceptional sightlines—almost every seat offers a superb view of the pitch—along with outstanding comfort. Off the field, it’s just as impressive, featuring modern amenities such as its own in-house brewery, spacious concourses, a wide range of bars and restaurants, and even bottom-up pouring pints.
The only real drawback is access, as getting in and out can be a challenge. But when it comes to the stadium experience itself, few—if any—in England can match it.
READ THE LATEST PREMIER LEAGUE NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS & GOSSIP
As Baseball Season Starts, Artist Who Paints Games Live Worldwide Visits LI: ‘Every Stadium Tells A Story’
Artist Andy Brown, who visits baseball stadiums worldwide to paint live, capture memories says the sport is a
Giants Legend Barry Bonds’ Total MLB Walks Adds Up to Absurd Distance
Barry Bonds ended his Major League career with the San Francisco Giants in 2007. When he did so he led baseball in four career categories.
First was home runs, which is obvious to anyone who grew up in the Bay Area from 1993-2007. He slammed 762 home runs. He also holds the record for most single-season home runs with 73. He leads all players in bWAR, or wins above replacement, at 162.8. That’s a data point that allows baseball historians to compare players across eras.
He also led the Majors in walks (2558) and intentional walks (688). There were some days when pitchers just didn’t want to deal with the slugger. In 2004 he was intentionally walked an incredible 120 times.
A walk in baseball gets you 90 feet, whether it’s drawn by the batter or intentional. Add them up and, well, you get one of the most absurd distances in sports.
Barry Bonds, Walking Distance
Baseball History Nut, a well-followed account on X (formerly Twitter) calculated Bonds’ career walks by distance and found that combined it led to 43.6 miles. That’s 3,264 combined walks multiplied by 90 feet. The total is 292,140 feet. Divide that by a mile in feet, which is 5,280 feet, and you get 55.32 miles.
Clearly, Baseball History Nut only counted Bonds’ non-intentional walks. That’s 2,558 walks multiplied by 90 feet for 230,220 feet. Divided by 5,280 feet and it comes to 43.6 miles.
That’s all fun and games until people get creative and try to apply that distance to reality. That’s what Giants flagship radio station KNBR did recently.
It took that 43.6 miles and found that, incredibly, Bonds — or anyone else that fancies the notion — could walk from Oracle Park in San Francisco to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara at essentially that same distance.
Per Google Maps, that drive might take someone 50 minutes (probably longer with Bay Area traffic). It would take about one hour and 41 minutes by bus and four hours and 40 minutes by bicycle. If someone walked to walk it, well get hydrated. It would likely take a normal person more than 16 hours.
So, yes, Bonds — the most productive power hitter in Major League history — took more than 16 hours’ worth of walks to first base during his 22 Major League seasons. No wonder he’s taking it easy during retirement. That walk from home to first must have gotten exhausting after a while.
2026 FIFA World Cup Schedule: Bracket, matchups, dates, locations, groups, results, how to watch
The full schedule for the 2026 World Cup has been confirmed, with the kick off times, dates and venues for all 104 games sorted.
There are less than 100 days to go until the 2026 World Cup kicks off, and you can watch every single game live on Universo, Telemundo and Peacock en Espanol, here. Check out the latest on the superstars and how they’re shaping up ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
We now know where you can watch each team play across the USA, Canada and Mexico in the summer so you can make your plans.
MORE — World Cup base camps for every team | 2026 World Cup hub | 2026 World Cup venues
This is what it is all about, as we’ve been waiting years for the schedule for this 48-team tournament to be revealed.
Below are all of the details you need.
How to watch 2026 World Cup live, stream links, TV channel, dates, times
Dates: June 11 to July 19, 2026
Where: 16 stadiums across Canada, Mexico and the USA — Details
Streaming: All 104 games available to watch on Peacock (en Espanol)
TV channel: Telemundo (92 games) and Universo (12 games)
2026 World Cup schedule, dates, times, stadiums, full details
All game shown on Telemundo and Peacock, unless otherwise stated
Group A schedule
June 11: Mexico vs South Africa – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 3pm ET
June 11: South Korea vs Czechia – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 10pm
June 18: Czechia vs South Africa – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 18: Mexico vs South Korea – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 9pm ET
June 24: Czechia vs Mexico – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 9pm ET
June 24: South Africa vs South Korea – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 9pm ET – Universo
Group B schedule
June 12: Canada vs Bosnia and Herzegovina – BMO Field, Toronto – 3pm ET
June 13: Qatar vs Switzerland – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 3pm ET
June 18: Switzerland vs Bosnia and Herzegovina – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 18: Canada vs Qatar – BC Place, Vancouver – 6pm ET
June 24: Switzerland vs Canada – BC Place, Vancouver – 3pm ET
June 24: Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Qatar – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
Group C schedule
June 13: Brazil vs Morocco – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 6pm ET
June 13: Haiti vs Scotland – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 9pm ET
June 19: Scotland vs Morocco – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 6pm ET
June 19: Brazil vs Haiti – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 9pm ET
June 24: Scotland vs Brazil – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 24: Morocco vs Haiti – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 6pm ET – Universo
Group D schedule
June 12: USA vs Paraguay – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 9pm ET
June 13: Australia vs Turkiye – BC Place, Vancouver – Midnight ET
June 19: USA vs Australia – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
June 19: Turkiye vs Paraguay – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – Midnight ET
June 25: Turkiye vs USA – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 10pm ET
June 25: Paraguay vs Australia – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 10pm ET – Universo
Group E schedule
June 14: Germany vs Curacao – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 14: Ivory Coast vs Ecuador – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 7pm ET
June 20: Germany vs Ivory Coast – BMO Field, Toronto – 4pm ET
June 20: Ecuador vs Curacao – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 8pm ET
June 25: Ecuador vs Germany – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 4pm ET
June 25: Curacao vs Ivory Coast – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 4pm ET
Group F schedule
June 14: Netherlands vs Japan – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 4pm ET
June 14: Sweden vs Tunisia – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 10pm ET
June 20: Netherlands vs Sweden- NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 20: Tunisia vs Japan – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – Midnight ET
June 25: Japan vs Sweden- AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 7pm ET
June 25: Tunisia vs Netherlands – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 7pm ET
Group G schedule
June 15: Iran vs New Zealand – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 9pm ET
June 15: Belgium vs Egypt – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
June 21: Belgium vs Iran – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 21: New Zealand vs Egypt – BC Place, Vancouver – 9pm ET
June 26: Egypt vs Iran – Lumen Field, Seattle – 11pm ET – Universo
June 26: New Zealand vs Belgium – BC Place, Vancouver – 11pm ET
Group H schedule
June 15: Spain vs Cape Verde – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 15: Saudi Arabia vs Uruguay – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 21: Spain vs Saudi Arabia – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 21: Uruguay vs Cape Verde – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 26: Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia – NRG Stadium, Houston – 8pm ET – Universo
June 26: Uruguay vs Spain – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 8pm ET
Group I schedule
June 16: France vs Senegal – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 3pm ET
June 16: Iraq vs Norway – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 6pm ET
June 22: France vs Iraq – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET
June 22: Norway vs Senegal – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 8pm ET
June 26: Norway vs France – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 3pm ET
June 26: Senegal vs Iraq – BMO Field, Toronto – 3pm ET – Universo
Group J schedule
June 16: Argentina vs Algeria – Arrowhead Stadium – Kansas City – 9pm ET
June 16: Austria vs Jordan – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – Midnight ET
June 22: Argentina vs Austria – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 1pm ET
June 22: Jordan vs Algeria – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 11pm ET
June 27: Algeria vs Austria – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 10pm ET – Universo
June 27: Jordan vs Argentina – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 10pm ET
Group K schedule
June 17: Portugal vs Democratic Republic of Congo – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 17: Uzbekistan vs Colombia – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 10pm ET
June 23: Portugal vs Uzbekistan – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 23: Colombia vs Democratic Republic of Congo – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 10pm ET
June 27: Colombia vs Portugal – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 7:30pm ET
June 27: Democratic Republic of Congo vs Uzbekistan – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 7:30pm ET – Universo
Group L schedule
June 17: England vs Croatia – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 4pm ET
June 17: Ghana vs Panama – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
June 23: England vs Ghana – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4pm ET
June 23: Panama vs Croatia – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
June 27: Panama vs England – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 5pm ET
June 27: Croatia vs Ghana – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET – Universo
Round of 32 schedule
June 28: Match 73 – Runner up Group A vs Runner up Group B – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 29: Match 76 – Winner Group C vs Runner up Group F – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 29: Match 74 – Winner Group E vs 3rd Group A/B/C/D/F – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4:30pm ET
June 29: Match 75 – Winner Group F vs Runner up Group C – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 9pm ET
June 30: Match 78 – Runner up Group E vs Runner up Group I – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 1pm ET
June 30: Match 77 – Winner Group I vs 3rd Group C/D/F/G/H – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 5pm ET
June 30: Match 79 – Winner Group A vs 3rd Group C/E/F/H/I – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 9pm ET
July 1: Match 80 – Winner Group L vs 3rd Group E/H/I/J/K – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
July 1: Match 82 – Winner Group G vs 3rd Group A/E/H/I/J – Lumen Field, Seattle – 4pm ET
July 1: Match 81 – Winner Group D vs 3rd Group B/E/F/I/J – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 8pm ET
July 2: Match 84 – Winner Group H vs Runner up Group J – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
July 2: Match 83 – Runner up Group K vs Runner up Group L – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
July 2: Match 85 – Winner Group B vs 3rd Group E/F/G/I/J – BC Place, Vancouver – 11pm ET
July 3: Match 88 – Runner up Group D vs Runner up Group G – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 2pm ET
July 3: Match 86 – Winner Group J vs Runner up Group H – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
July 3: Match 87 – Winner Group K vs 3rd Group D/E/I/J/L – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 9:30pm ET
Round of 16 schedule
July 4: Match 90 – Winner Match 73 vs Winner Match 75 – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
July 4: Match 89 – Winner Match 74 vs Winner Match 77 – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET
July 5: Match 91 – Winner Match 76 vs Winner Match 78 – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 4pm ET
July 5: Match 92 – Winner Match 79 vs Winner Match 80 – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 8pm ET
July 6: Match 93 – Winner Match 83 vs Winner Match 84 – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 3pm ET
July 6: Match 94 – Winner Match 81 vs Winner Match 82 – Lumen Field, Seattle – 8pm ET
July 7: Match 95 – Winner Match 86 vs Winner Match 88 – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
July 7: Match 96 – Winner Match 85 vs Winner Match 87 – BC Place, Vancouver – 4pm ET
Quarterfinal schedule
July 9: Match 97 – Winner Match 89 vs Winner Match 90 – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4pm ET
July 10: Match 98 – Winner Match 93 vs Winner Match 94 – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
July 11: Match 99 – Winner Match 91 vs Winner Match 92 – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 5pm ET
July 11: Match 100 – Winner Match 95 vs Winner Match 96 – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 9pm ET
Semifinal schedule
July 14: Match 101 – Winner Match 97 vs Winner Match 98 – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 3pm ET
July 15: Match 102 – Winner Match 99 vs Winner Match 100 – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 3pm ET
Third-place game
July 18: Match 103 – Loser Match 101 vs Loser Match 102 – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 5pm ET
Final
July 19: Match 104 – Winner Match 101 vs Winner Match 102 – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 3pm ET
Mansfield, Frisco stadiums selected as World Cup base camps
Czechia and Sweden will call North Texas home during the World Cup.
All countries participating in the tournament will need a base camp. It’s the place where the players will live and train for the duration of the tournament.
Czechia will be based at the new Mansfield Stadium, and Sweden will be at Toyota Stadium in Frisco.
Czcheia in Mansfield
The Czech Republic, which FIFA calls Czechia, will be stationed at Texas Health Mansfield Stadium in Mansfield.
The brand new $85 million facility still needs a fair amount of work. But local officials promised it will be ready by the time the team arrives in North Texas in the days leading up to the start of the tournament.
Czechia was one of the final teams to qualify for the World Cup after defeating Denmark on a penalty kick in one of the final qualifying matches on Tuesday.
This will be Czechia’s first World Cup appearance in 20 years.
What they’re saying:
The City of Mansfield says it’s going to make the city feel like Little Czechia
Tim Roberts, the Tourism Manager for the City of Mansfield, said he’s already sent out digital ads to Czechia now that the team is confirmed to hold their base camp there.
Morocco eye 2030 World Cup final amid Spain racism controversy
This week, Spanish football has been rocked by yet another case of racist abuse coming from the stands in their stadiums. During the friendly match between Spain and Egypt, a number of supporters were heard making Islamophobic chants towards the visiting side, which have since been rightly condemned.
Lamine Yamal, who himself is a Muslim, called out those that were involved in the racist chanting, which he was appalled by. Action is already being taken by those in the relevant positions, but there is a chance that there is now a knock-on effect for the 2030 World Cup, which Spain are co-hosts for.
It has been expected that the 2030 World Cup final will be held in Spain, with Real Madrid’s Bernabeu and Barcelona’s Spotify Camp Nou among the leading contenders. However, Moroccan publication Goud (via Cadena SER) believe that the North African nation now has an increased chance to win the rights.
“Numerous racist incidents have been witnessed in Spanish stadiums. Fears have been inability of Spanish institutions to combat this phenomenon during matches. Muslims in Spain are suffering racism in the stadiums. Curiously, the main star of the Spanish national team is a Muslim of Moroccan origin (Lamine Yamal).”
FIFA “aware of everything” going on with Spain
Goud have also stating that FIFA are “aware of everything” going on with Spain and their issues with racism in football, and they believe that this gives Morocco an edge in their hopes of becoming the first African nation to host the World Cup final since South Africa in 2010, as they note that “in Morocco’s stadiums there are no racist incidents of this type or of this intensity”.
It remains to be seen whether there are any repercussions for Spain regarding he 2030 World Cup on the back of this week’s events, but it is clear that serious action needs to be taken to stamp these incidents out once and for all.
Records reveal Cleveland mayor’s $9M plan for stadium repairs, with Cavs and Guardians fans footing the bill
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Mayor Justin Bibb wants to raise up to $9 million for repairs at the Cavaliers’ and Guardians’ stadiums, aiming to shift the burden away from the public and onto stadium users through added fees on parking, tickets, nachos and branded T-shirts, records reveal.
That initial estimate reflects only a starting point, with fees tied to the Guardians’ and Cavaliers’ venues. Records show the city’s broader vision for a New Community Authority would extend well beyond the two stadiums, potentially tapping nearby businesses, parking and property owners across a large swath of downtown — significantly expanding how much revenue the district could generate.
So far, the plan hasn’t moved forward, and the teams haven’t publicly supported the idea. The Cavaliers and Guardians again did not respond to requests for comment.
Documents obtained through a records request show that the mayor’s team had envisioned a taxing district covering most of downtown, starting at the Cuyahoga River, stretching east to past Public Square and south to include the Gateway District. It excludes the lakefront, which is already part of another district.
Records show City Hall researched potential fees, calculated revenues and even identified city properties that would charge additional fees to fund repairs.
That plan could initially raise anywhere from $1.8 to $8.8 million, depending on what fees are charged and how high they become.
How much would the NCA raise?
Bibb’s plan revolves around the creation of a New Community Authority, or NCA, an entity that can levy taxes within a defined area.
Cleveland created a similar NCA to collect fees and fund lakefront development; the Browns also plan to use one in Brook Park, and the concept is used in Columbus and Cincinnati.
Property owners must agree to join. At most, it can charge up to 5% on retail, food, beverages and tickets, plus parking, hotel fees and property taxes.
Money from NCAs typically fund infrastructure for the businesses that join them, like sidewalks and lighting or funding marketing and special events. In this case, however, dollars would go toward stadium maintenance; a tradeoff business owners might welcome since the Cavs and Guardians drive the foot traffic that keeps the Gateway District alive.
Records show City Hall believes it can raise millions through 1%, 3% or 5% fees at publicly owned properties, starting with:
•Tickets, concessions and merchandise at Cavs games: $1 million to $4.9 million
•Similar fees at Guardians games: $700,000 to $3.5 million
•Parking at the Gateway East Garage: $28,000 to $141,000
• Charge (NBA G League) basketball games and other events at Public Auditorium: $30,000 to $149,000
For a fan, that could mean up to 25 cents extra on a $5 hotdog or 40 cents on an $8 beer.
The biggest expense might be on tickets, which at face value range from $32 in the upper bowl to hundreds of dollars closer to the court for an upcoming Cavs game, according to SeatGeek. At the Cavs team shop a jersey retails for $125. Both could see added fees.
Those fees alone, according to City Hall’s analysis, would generate between $52.5 million and $262.7 million over 30 years.
The potential for revenue generation doesn’t stop there.
Records show the city also considered capping the admissions tax revenue it collects at today’s levels and steering any growth above that cap to the NCA. As of 2024, Cleveland collected $5.4 million from Rocket Arena and $3.9 million from Progressive Field. The city could earmark half, or even all of the additional revenue generated in future years to the NCA.
Cleveland also considered special event parking districts that charge up to $8 an hour for street parking near the stadiums during games and events. Between 50 cents and $2 an hour would flow to the NCA, raising $47,000 to $374,000, depending on pricing and occupancy.
Downtown businesses surrounding the Gateway District could also contribute. With 30 businesses opting in and a 2% fee on food and beverages, the NCA could raise another $600,000 annually, a figure that would grow over time.
Lastly, City Hall considered what additional property taxes in the downtown district could generate. With $3.1 billion of property in the district, Cleveland estimated it could raise anywhere from $155,000 to $7.75 million annually — depending on the tax rate and how many property owners agree to participate.
A map of the potential NCA also includes other city properties, Public Square, Mall A and Perk Plaza as well as parking lots at Canal Basin, the Fire Museum and surface lots near Playhouse Square. The records don’t estimate how these properties might generate revenue.
City Spokesperson Jorge Ramos Pantoja said the downtown NCA concept is largely developed and ready to move forward with but is currently paused as the city explores additional funding options.
He said the city had preliminary discussions with the Cavaliers and Guardians, and the teams “indicated they recognize its value as one tool to support sustained investment in the Gateway District, while understanding it is not a standalone solution.”
Ramos Pantoja said they have yet to work with other downtown property owners, since the NCA has not been established.
Why an NCA
Bibb’s push for new revenue sources comes as existing funding for stadium repairs has fallen short, and as repairs for the three-decade old facilities are expected to grow more expensive.
The latest assessment calls for at least $150 million in spending at the arena and stadium over the next few years, and $411 million in combined repair and replacement needs before either the Cavs’ and Guardians’ leases end in 2034 and 2036 — an average of $17.4 million per team, per year.
Countywide sin taxes on alcohol and cigarettes — long the primary source of stadium repair money — haven’t kept pace with the bills at Rocket Mortgage Arena and Progressive Field.
Cleveland and Cuyahoga County approved a $40 million bailout at the end of 2024 to keep Gateway, the joint city-county authority that owns and manages both venues, afloat.
State legislators have authorized doubling the sin tax, but only with voter approval. County Executive Chris Ronayne has since said he won’t put it on the ballot, arguing it wouldn’t raise enough. He has sought permission to quadruple the tax rates instead.
A presentation shown to Cleveland City Council in 2025 frames Bibb’s financing district not as a silver bullet, but as one piece of the funding puzzle — though both the Cavs and Guardians would need to agree to add fees to tickets and concessions for it to work.
Without the teams’ participation, much of the potential revenue from the NCA disappears. The fees on tickets, concessions and merchandise are where City Hall projects the bulk of the NCA’s income.
Bibb has said previously he won’t bailout Rocket Arena or Progressive Field again until the teams start considering other concepts to generate revenue for repairs.
“I made it clear to the teams,” Bibb said. “I’m not tapping the general revenue fund until we look at these other concepts.”
When will AT&T Stadium host another Super Bowl? It’s complicated
The NFL’s announcement this week that Las Vegas will host Super Bowl LXIII in 2029 marks another year that one of the league’s best stadiums will be vacant for football in February.
When AT&T Stadium opened in 2009, then called Cowboys Stadium, it was billed as a venue that would enter into the Super Bowl site business.
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But the Arlington location has hosted just one Super Bowl in 2011.
The big question is why hasn’t Arlington hosted another one?
Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, opened in 2020, will host at least two Super Bowls by the time Arlington hosts another game. SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., home of the two Los Angeles NFL teams, also opened in 2020. It hosted a Super Bowl in 2022 and is scheduled to host Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14, 2027.
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The desire from the Dallas Cowboys to bid for another Super Bowl hasn’t waned but hosting other major events, such as the FIFA World Cup this summer, the NCAA men’s Final Four in 2030 and the the NHL Stadium Series on Feb. 20, 2027, has taken over.
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While those events don’t conflict with the Super Bowl in early February, preparing the area for the NFL’s final game takes a tremendous commitment from multiple cities around North Texas.
Jerry Jones Uses Dak Prescott & Co.’s Financial Gains as Reason For Major Decision on Cowboys Stadium
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup coming to the U.S.A., several NFL stadiums, including the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, are undergoing mandatory changes to their playing surfaces. With the Cowboys’ home undergoing a similar renovation, reporters asked owner Jerry Jones about his opinions on the grass. Jones had a straightforward answer, sending a direct message to the roster on the changes being made to the stadium.
“No, we have more flexibility with the way we handle our surface at the stadium,” said Jerry Jones, via Todd Archer on X. “We have no belief that it’s any safer to play on grass (field) or turf. We are ambiguous as to the safety of it. The turf, actually, like many things, improves the economics of being able to play this game, and our players are the biggest benefactors of all. They get the best benefit when we do good things financially; the players are benefiting. So I’m working for you, baby, OK, if you’re a player.”
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As AT&T Stadium prepares to host nine World Cup matches, the complex process of replacing its turf field is already underway. In early June, natural grass sod from Colorado will arrive in refrigerated trucks to create the new playing surface, which will then be torn out and replaced with the original turf as soon as the tournament concludes.
“I’m very comfortable putting some grass down for soccer under regulations and proud to be able to do it, but quickly getting the turf back there to get back to the other business of the stadium and the team,” Jones said.
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According to Jones, the turf provides more flexibility in hosting events, which brings economic benefit to the franchise. Grass is probably more expensive to maintain compared to artificial turf, which is cheaper in cost, more durable, and isn’t easily damaged by changes in weather conditions.
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The bottom line is that the turf is beneficial to the Cowboys, because turf helps save Jerry Jones a major financial sum. This also boosts team revenue, which in turn benefits players through the league’s salary cap and revenue-sharing rules.
Moreover, the Cowboys’ owner also doesn’t believe that grass is a safer playing surface for the players compared to artificial turf, despite research claiming the same. While the owner has shared his views, it is not just AT&T Stadium that will have to sack the turf for a few months.
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Nine NFL stadiums to replace the artificial turf with grass
In addition to the AT&T Stadium, there will be eight other stadiums where natural grass will be installed for the FIFA World Cup. Out of these, Arrowhead (Kansas City Chiefs) and Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Dolphins) have natural fields.
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The other nine, which include AT&T Stadium, Gillette Stadium, MetLife Stadium, NRG Stadium, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, SoFi Stadium, Lucas Oil Stadium, Lumen Field, and Lincoln Financial Field, will follow the same methods as Jerry Jones.
The Lincoln Financial Field temporarily shifted to grass during the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. But later changed to turf again. The NFL has relied on turf for years, as half of the stadiums use turf. But what do the players think of it?
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A few months back, All-Pro left tackle Dion Dawkins did an interview with USA TODAY Sports where he revealed the difference between turf and grass from a player’s perspective.
“Grass is the natural thing,” said Dion Dawkins. “Turf is the unnatural thing. If you’re playing on grass, there’s a give. It’s a softer bottom. Like there’s dirt, there’s soil, there’s bugs. It’s just a real, live thing. Turf, you can scrape yourself, and the turf burn is like rubbing your arm on sandpaper. Us big guys, we can plant in the turf to hold defenders back, but sometimes your feet get caught in a little seam. Grass doesn’t do that. Grass will rip up.”
It is not just Dawkins; an NFLPA survey showed that 92% of players preferred grass over turf. However, the owners do not feel the same. Most likely, they speak of things from a business perspective.
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While the World Cup provides a temporary glimpse of grass fields across the league, the ultimate decision will pit the players’ overwhelming preference against the owners’ unwavering focus on the bottom line.
Trump backs ‘powerful caps’ on college athlete pay
WASHINGTON — President Trump wants “very powerful caps” to limit college athlete salaries so that universities won’t “go out of business.”
Trump told ESPN host Pat McAfee that he fears that “lesser” sports also are being scrapped due to the newly allowed practice of directly paying athletes, which has been allowed since July on top of name, image and likeness (NIL) sponsorships by companies and booster clubs permitted since 2021.
“It is a very serious problem because even football, when they give quarterbacks $12 million, $13 million, $14 million — I read a couple of them — and all of a sudden you’re going to see it’s going to be out of control, and even rich colleges are going to go bust,” Trump said in a Tuesday interview.
“They had the old way. They gave scholarships, and they did lots of good things. But there could be some form of payments, but… look, the NFL, and all of you know, all teams, they have caps. You don’t really have that in college sports,” the president said.
“When the guard comes along that weighs 350 pounds and he’s phenomenal, and they say, ‘That’s going to make the difference between having a great team and a lousy team’, and they give him $10 million — that’s going to start happening pretty soon — all of a sudden you’re going to have NFL-type payrolls.”
The reform allowing for direct payment of players by universities came through a court-approved settlement involving the NCAA, with an estimated initial annual cap of $20.5 million per player. Without changes, the salary cap is expected to rise to $33 million over the next decade, CBS Sports reported.
Trump, whose administration this year paused federal grants to prominent universities to force policy changes, added, “colleges don’t make that much money, even the most successful, so they’re not going to be able to do this. Bad things are going to happen unless they figure this out…
“And frankly, the college football, it’s very big. But as big as it is, if they don’t do some very powerful caps, these colleges are all going to go out of business no matter how rich they are.”
Trump floated Nick Saban, the retired longtime football coach at the University of Alabama, as a potential point person to lead a group to devise new salary caps.
“I don’t want to use any particular sport, because it’s, you know, degrading. But they are really terminating a lot of sports… you would call them lesser sports, but big sports, good sports, and sports where they have tremendous interest, they’re getting rid of them,” Trump added.
“A lot of the lesser sports are being totally terminated. You know that? It’s a shame. It was almost like a training ground for the Olympics, and a lot of those training grounds are being lost.”
Mavs honoring VP of corporate sponsorships Billy Phillips as he retires after 33 years
A wave of emotion overcame Billy Phillips as he went through a list of acknowledgements that included his Dallas Mavericks colleagues, corporate sponsorship partners and immediate family.
Phillips, the Mavericks’ longtime vice president of corporate sponsorships, was the final voice to speak on Saturday to commemorate his retirement after 33 years of tenure with the franchise. It was a celebration inside the Executive Lounge at American Airlines Center to honor one of the most respected employees in the team’s 45-year history.
“Many of you know his Dallas Mavericks legacy and what he’s done for this community, but what he’s done for the overall sports business community in North Texas is unparalleled,” said Gina Miller, the Mavericks’ new chief communications officer.
Phillips’ storied sports legacy in the Dallas-Fort Worth area didn’t start in basketball. The Long Island, N.Y., native played soccer as a goalkeeper from 1980 to 1981 for the Dallas Tornado in the North American Soccer League. He played an instrumental role with the Dallas Sidekicks, both as a player from 1984 to 1987 and manager from 1987 to 1996.
Phillips helped establish soccer in North Texas in the 1970s and 1980s, and the momentum led to Dallas being the host city for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The quadrennial international men’s soccer tournament will return in 2026, with AT&T Stadium hosting nine matches in Arlington, including a semi-final game. FC Dallas president Dan Hunt said Phillips played a role in the Cup’s return.
Phillips joined the Mavericks in 1992 as a senior director of corporate sponsorship. He was promoted to vice president in 2018, the role he serves in currently until his final day on Dec. 23. As an athlete, he can’t help but reflect on the team’s lone championship in 2011 as a standout moment, but the people he worked with is what he’ll cherish the most.
“At the end of the day, it’s relationships,” Phillips said. “I have so many amazing relationships from people who work for the Mavericks and partners that I’ve worked with now…It’s always the people who’s the most important part of my job.”
Several influential people around the Mavericks spoke during Phillips’ retirement ceremony, including minority shareholder Mark Cuban and CEO Rick Welts. Co-interim general manager Michael Finley was also in attendance.
“This man can sell,” Cuban said. “Billy has been a rock, not just for the young salespeople, but for the whole organization. When things were up, when things were down, Billy was steady. Billy has this calming influence that he brings to anybody that he’s met, but he also can sell. What’s the rule, Billy?”
“If you’re talking to someone, you better have a check,” Phillips said.
The celebration didn’t stop during the pregame. Phillips was honored during halftime of Saturday’s game with a tribute video, which included cameos by Dirk Nowitzki and former Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. Mavericks coach Jason Kidd began his pregame news conference with a congratulatory message for Phillips.
“I want to congratulate Billy Phillips,” Kidd said. “He’s retiring after 33 years with the Mavs. He’s a big influence in sports here in Dallas. Goalkeeper for the Dallas Sidekicks. He did everything and he’s a big reason why soccer is coming to Dallas for the Cup.”
Twitter/X: @MikeACurtis2
TKO Stock Slides despite Receiving a New Street-High Price Target
TKO Group Holdings (TKO) had a standout year in 2025, thanks to major media rights deals and a surge in sponsorships. In fact, the sports and entertainment company signed agreements to broadcast UFC and Zuffa Boxing with Paramount (PSKY) and licensed WWE content through Endeavor Group. These deals were big enough that TKO raised its outlook for the year, and the stock climbed by more than 50%, thereby making it one of the top performers in its sector.
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Importantly, analysts believe there’s more room to grow, even after this big run. For instance, BTIG analyst Tyler DiMatteo noted that 2026 looks promising for both the sports and entertainment industry and TKO specifically. While he does expect some short-term ups and downs due to the stock’s recent surge, he’s comfortable giving TKO a higher valuation. He points to strong consumer interest in live events and what many call the “experience economy” as key reasons why the company should keep performing well.
TKO is also betting on newer trends, such as prediction markets. It signed a multi-year deal with Polymarket that will apply to UFC and Zuffa Boxing in an attempt to increase fan engagement. Interestingly, that market was worth $1.4 billion in 2024 and could grow to $95.5 billion by 2035. As a result, DiMatteo gave TKO a Buy rating and raised his price target to a street high of $250 per share.
Is TKO Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on TKO stock based on 14 Buys, one Hold, and zero Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average TKO price target of $225.73 per share implies 7.9% upside potential.
See more TKO analyst ratings
How shared values drove Ferrari’s first crypto partnership: Interview with BingX
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Disclaimer. This content is part of a paid partnership. The text below is a sponsored article that is not part of Cointelegraph.com editorial content. The material is written by our advertorial team and has undergone editorial review to ensure clarity and relevance, it may not reflect the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.com. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research before taking any actions related to the company. Disclosure.
The multi-year agreement between Formula One racing team Scuderia Ferrari and crypto exchange BingX represents the Italian team’s first partnership with a crypto exchange.
For Vivien Lin, Chief Product Officer at BingX, the connection is built on performance rather than just visibility. She notes that Ferrari’s “engineering excellence and uncompromising standards” mirror the platform’s own approach, stating that the goal is to demonstrate that a crypto exchange can operate with the “same discipline, transparency and ambition” as the iconic automotive brand.
In this interview, Lin sheds light on the strategic vision behind the collaboration, the maturity of the crypto landscape and how shared values with Ferrari are influencing BingX’s global roadmap.
Cointelegraph: How is the convergence of high-performance sports and financial technology reshaping global marketing strategies?
Vivien Lin: High-performance sports attract fans who are deeply committed and loyal, much like the community we’ve built at BingX with our 40 million users. In Formula 1, this engagement is clear. Recent research shows that 94% of fans plan to follow the sport five years from now, and 86% watch at least 16 races each season.
This kind of loyalty gives us a unique chance for us to build lasting relationships, not just short-term awareness. In my experience, it’s rare to find a partnership that fits so well. I also believe that sponsorship shapes how fans experience the sport.
The same research found that about three-quarters of fans think sponsors make Formula 1 better, and one in three are more likely to buy from F1 partners. For Gen Z, that number rises to 40%. For BingX, this trend means our marketing is now more focused on values, performance and long-term relevance, not just visibility.
CT: Why are elite sporting institutions increasingly looking toward the cryptocurrency sector for strategic alliances?
VL: In our experience, elite sports organizations have always focused on progress and winning. To stay ahead, they keep evolving, adopt new technologies and look to the future. The crypto sector and BingX share this forward-thinking approach, so there is a unique purpose behind these partnerships.
Furthermore, 2026 marks a change. As the industry grows, crypto is now about infrastructure, security and global access — not just experimentation. Sports organizations see this obvious shift and want to work with partners who are leading the way. These partnerships show a shared belief that responsible innovation can create lasting value for people around the world.
CT: What does the evolving relationship between Formula 1 and digital assets signal about the maturity of the crypto industry?
VL: The growing relationship between Formula 1 and digital assets is a strong signal that the crypto industry is entering a more mature phase. One that is defined less by speculation and more by credibility, infrastructure and long-term brand building.
Both Formula 1 and crypto are built on resilience. Progress is never linear. There are moments of rapid innovation, periods of pressure and times when patience matters more than speed. After seven years in this industry, I’ve seen crypto evolve through multiple cycles, shaped by both breakthroughs and hard lessons. Formula 1 understands this reality deeply.
From BingX’s perspective, Formula 1 represents the highest standards of performance, precision and trust. It is a global sport governed by rigorous regulation and scrutiny. The fact that teams and stakeholders are increasingly selective about their partners reflects how the crypto industry itself is changing.
Partnerships today are about values, governance and the ability to perform at scale. As the industry matures, we are seeing leading crypto platforms focus on compliance, security and user protection, foundational elements that are essential for long-term adoption.
The presence of digital asset companies in Formula 1 signals that these platforms are now capable of meeting the expectations of world-class institutions and global audiences. It also reflects a move away from short-term hype toward sustainable engagement and education.
CT: How does becoming a cryptocurrency partner for Ferrari differentiate BingX from its competitors?
VL: This partnership is significant not only because of Ferrari’s global brand and history, but also because it marks their first collaboration with a cryptocurrency exchange, which we do not take lightly. For BingX, it reinforces our position as a top-of-mind brand in crypto and reflects how far we’ve come as a platform.
For example, we were the first major exchange to introduce copy trading, which helped us become recognized as a top 5 derivatives platform, and today we are the first all-in-AI crypto exchange, with a $300 million commitment to implementing AI across our platform. It shows that we are seen as a long-term partner capable of meeting the standards of one of motorsport’s most iconic teams.
CT: What specific shared values between BingX and Scuderia Ferrari form the foundation of this multi-year collaboration?
VL: At the heart of this collaboration is a shared mindset of pioneering breakthroughs and redefining what’s possible. Both BingX and Scuderia Ferrari operate in environments where precision, performance and continuous innovation matter deeply.
Ferrari’s culture of constant innovation, race after race and season after season, closely mirrors how BingX approaches product innovation and platform evolution. We also share a long-term view that goes beyond short-term wins. There is a strong mutual respect for data, technology and discipline, as well as a belief that innovation should always be purposeful.
On the product side, this philosophy translates directly into action. Just as Ferrari continuously refines performance to push limits on the track, BingX is committed to helping traders go beyond their current potential through continuous platform upgrades, BingX Academy and AI-driven innovation.
CT: How do you plan to turn this partnership into tangible benefits for the BingX trading community?
VL: For us, partnerships like this are about delivering a more premium experience for our users. We are intentional about who we align with because those relationships reflect how we build our platform and our community.
Our partnerships with globally respected teams like Chelsea Football Club and Ferrari are not coincidences. They represent excellence, discipline and a commitment to performing at the highest level.
For our trading community, this translates into elevated experiences, stronger engagement and a brand they can trust and feel proud to be part of. Whether markets are moving fast or slowing down, our focus remains on quality, reliability and long-term value. These partnerships, along with racing-inspired campaigns, race-week activations and limited-edition experiences, reinforce that we are building BingX to operate at a global, premium standard.
CT: How does aligning with the most iconic team in motorsport reinforce BingX’s commitment to security and technological excellence?
VL: Ferrari’s reputation is built on precision, reliability and performance under pressure. Partnering with a team of that caliber reinforces how we think about building BingX and our own commitment to building secure, resilient and high-performing systems.
For years, we’ve focused on creating a resilient, AI-native platform, with intelligence embedded directly into the trading experience and a long-term $300 million commitment to AI.
In crypto, trust is built through infrastructure, not promises. We treat security as a foundation, supported by proof-based protections such as a $150 million Shield Fund and 100% proof-of-reserves.
This partnership reflects confidence in our technology and governance, and it sends a clear message that innovation and security are not trade-offs. They must work together to create a platform that can perform at a global, world-class standard.
CT: How will this alliance influence BingX’s strategic roadmap and expansion plans over the next few years?
VL: This partnership builds on a foundation we’ve already established. With over 40 million users globally and a position among the top five derivatives trading platforms, BingX has reached a scale where brand trust, consistency and global relevance matter more than ever.
Our multi-year partnership with Chelsea Football Club reflects that same thinking. Whether on the pitch or in the market, we align with teams that operate at the highest level of performance.
Working with Ferrari represents the next stage of that journey. It opens new opportunities for global storytelling, deeper regional engagement and innovation across markets. More importantly, it aligns with our long-term view of crypto as part of global finance and culture, not a niche industry.
CT: What role will this partnership play in BingX’s long-term goal to redefine standards within the cryptocurrency landscape?
Partnerships like this help set a new benchmark for what crypto brands can represent. They show that it’s possible to combine innovation with discipline, and ambition with responsibility.
Our goal is to help move the industry forward by building trust, raising standards and focusing on long-term value. If crypto wants to be part of global culture, it must meet the standards of the world’s most demanding institutions. This partnership is our commitment to that future.
NCAA D1 Cabinet Approves Jersey Patch Sponsorships in College Sports
If you felt that the influx of NIL and other cash influences had already thoroughly corrupted college sports, you may want to brace yourself.
The NCAA Division I Cabinet voted to approve jersey patch sponsorships in college sports. The new ruling will take effect on August 1, allowing patches to be placed on uniforms just in time for the start of the 2026 college football season.
“College sports are in an exciting new era of increased financial benefits for student-athletes, and the Cabinet’s vote today reflects the ongoing commitment of Division I members to drive additional revenues and fully fund those benefits,” said Illinois Athletics Director and D-I Cabinet chair, Josh Whitman, in a statement.
“This also continues the NCAA’s efforts to expand flexibility in areas of NCAA rules, thereby allowing schools and conferences to set standards that reflect their values and serve their unique needs. This important policy change is another step forward in advancing that philosophy and providing members with increased flexibility.”
As On3 reports, “Under the new legislation, schools will be able to place up to two additional commercial logos on uniforms and one additional logo on equipment during both the preseason and postseason. They can also add another logo on uniforms and apparel during conference championships.
“Patches are limited to a maximum of 4 square inches per logo, according to the NCAA. The legislation is in effect for non-NCAA championship competition.”
In anticipation of the rule’s passing, several schools, most notably LSU and UNLV, have already inked sponsorship deals.
The move will undoubtedly accelerate the commercialization of the game-day experience. In the last two years, fans in the stands and those watching at home have seen the emergence of company logos on the field and on the court, resulting from the House v. NCAA settlement approval.
Adding sponsorship patches to jerseys will create yet another revenue stream for college athletics, likely adding tens of millions of dollars annually.
Watch Brands Increasingly Turn to Sports for Spark
Could sports be the tonic that revives the luxury watch market?
Over the past few months, Swiss watch brands have lined up to announce multimillion-dollar deals with elite professional sports leagues and athletes, hoping to leverage their star power and the emotions of sports fandom to fire up a cooling market.
Last week, Breitling became the latest high-end brand to hitch its wagon to Formula 1, signing a deal with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team, adding to a deal it announced in August to be the official timepiece partner of the National Football League (N.F.L.).
In November, Norqain became what it called the Official Luxury Sports Watch of the National Hockey League (N.H.L.), and in January Frederique Constant introduced its first sports sponsorship, connecting with the nascent Pro Padel League, in which athletes compete in padel, a game often described as a cross between squash and tennis.
Brands such as Rolex, Omega and TAG Heuer have built their profiles on ties with sports, but in today’s saturated market, can sports sponsorships really help brands achieve their goals?
Fears of foreign influence spark bipartisan crackdown on college sports funding
Student-athletes are increasingly exploring name, image and likeness contracts to benefit from their emerging stardoms. But lawmakers want to make sure those deals don’t provide loopholes for foreign adversaries to exert their influence in the United States.
Utah Rep. Blake Moore introduced the No Foreign NIL Funds Act on Tuesday that would implement a number of restrictions banning foreign governments and adversarial entities from investing in U.S. college sports. The bill would mostly apply to NIL contracts, but it would also extend to sponsorships, media rights deals, hosting amateur athletic conferences, and other joint ventures.
“College sports are woven into American campus life, local communities, and family traditions. But allowing foreign entities to funnel money and sponsorships into college athletics through NIL deals risks undermining the integrity of the game and exposing universities to unintended foreign influence or national security concerns,” Moore, a former student-athlete himself, said in a statement. “NIL should be used to support college athletes, not as a backdoor for moving foreign money into American institutions.”
Since NIL contracts have been accepted in recent years, lawmakers have struggled to adopt comprehensive laws regulating those deals. As a result, there are no federal restrictions banning foreign governments from funding those contracts so long as the agreements are cleared through a list of requirements settled in the House vs. NCAA lawsuit in 2024.
That settlement now allows each school to pay its athletes up to $20.5 million per year, which works out to about 22% of the average athletic department revenue at Power Four schools.
However, many of the organizations that coordinate NIL contracts operate as limited liability companies, or LLCs, that do not require donor lists to be made public. That has raised national security concerns among some lawmakers who said adversarial countries could quietly pour money into a university’s sports program and try to build political influence or gain leverage.
The bill would go beyond those NIL contracts to also block foreign countries from investing in collegiate athletic streams, and it would prohibit entering into contracts with individual universities, media rights distributors, bowl games or postseason football organizations.
Bill would have exceptions for foreign NIL donations
The legislation would carve out some exceptions to allow members of NATO, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland to still participate in those contracts.
Moore pointed to recent incidents in which college football coaches have engaged in foreign trips for lobbying or fundraising as well as some athletic conferences who are finalizing plans to organize tournaments in foreign countries.
The bill has garnered the support of bipartisan lawmakers, and even has the backing of Utah State University’s athletic director, who said it’s crucial “to create a safe and sustainable future.”
“Utah State Athletics firmly supports our student-athletes and their ability to seek name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities through the appropriate channels,” USU athletic director Cameron Walker said. “However, the origin of these sources is critical for NIL to function effectively and operate in the best interest of our university, state, and student-athletes. We are thankful for Congressman Moore’s work in this area and support his efforts to create a safe and sustainable future.”
Arkansas Razorback athletics announces its jersey sponsor
Recently, the Tyson Foods logo has shown up on the field at Razorback Stadium.
Now, the iconic food brand will be on the Razorback uniforms for all varsity sports beginning in 2026-27. Under the new multi-year agreement, Tyson Foods will also serve as the official protein of the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Expect to see the Tyson Foods brand on things such as backdrops for press conferences, stadium branding with on field/court placements.
“This historic sponsorship is transformative for Razorback Athletics. For decades, Tyson Foods has been more than a corporate partner—they are an integral part of the Arkansas story,
How LinkSports is Democratizing the Talent Pipeline by Leveraging Data-Driven Reinvention of Sports Sponsorships
LinkSports, a Canadian technology company operating across 29 countries, is building what it calls the new infrastructure of sports sponsorship. Founded by Neissan Monadjem, LinkSports is a fintech company with sports content that combines artificial intelligence, standardized athletic challenges, and micro-sponsorship funding into a single platform designed to connect amateur athletes with corporate capital. The greater objective, however, lies in eliminating the problem of gatekeeping in sports sponsorship.
According to Monadjem, corporate budgets in sports often concentrate on elite professionals, while grassroots athletes, who may be equally driven, compete for limited visibility and even scarcer funding. The global sports sponsorship market exceeds $100 billion annually, yet he believes that the vast majority of that capital flows to a narrow section of top-tier talent.
Wildcats’ Sonnenberg remains in 1st, Saugus boys’ tennis wins first league match since 2012
For the first time since 2012, the Saugus boys’ tennis team won a Foothill League match on Tuesday in the third round of the boys’ golf season at the Oaks Club after the Centurions posted a total team score of 397.
“I’ve been doing this for four years now and I was pretty excited as a coach that we finally got a chance to win a league match,” Saugus coach Kevin Miner said in an interview with The Signal. “But it’s all the boys. They put in the work, they put in the time, and they put in the effort.”
In the third round, Miner said the achievement was a total team effort as the Centurions defeated the second-place West Ranch Wildcats by seven strokes.
The Centurions were led by sophomore Ben Momary, who ended the day with a total score of 75 (+3).
“They would probably agree that they’re capable of shooting better scores, but they’re still pleased,” Miner said. “Ben Momary, who’s a sophomore, and Aiden Lee, who’s a junior, those were the guys that kind of propped us into winning.”
Aiden Lee ended the day with a score of 76 (+4) and was one stroke behind Momary.
As for the rest of the Foothill League, the Wildcats’ Tyler Sonnenberg ended the day as the medalist with a total score of 72 and remains in first place in the individual Foothill League standings.
Sonnenberg holds a nine-stroke lead ahead of Valencia’s Namo Thoontakhob, who ended the third round with a score of 76 (+4).
Thoontakhob is tied in the individual standings with teammate Lucas Buendia, who shot a 74 (+2) in the third round.
In the Foothill League team standings, Valencia remains in first place with a total score of 777 and holds a 16-stroke lead over the second place Saugus Centurions after the Vikings posted a 404-team score on Tuesday.
The Centurions jumped the West Ranch Wildcats, who dropped to third place, and hold an 18-stroke difference after the third round.
The Wildcats ended the third round with a score of 419.
The Hawks remain in fourth place in the team standings and were led by Cole Ardenas, who scored a 77 (+5) as the team ended the third round with a 417.
Behind the Hawks in fifth place are the Canyon Cowboys, who were in seventh going into Tuesday’s third round.
Canyon’s Aydan Huang ended the third round with a score of 80 (+8) as the team ended with a score of 430.
As for Golden Valley, the Grizzlies ended the day in sixth after the team posted a score of 438 with the Coyotes ending the day with a score of 470.
For Saugus, the jump into second place in the standings has provided a much-need boost of momentum for the team and as the boys’ golf season takes a week off for spring break, Miner said the team will be ready to tackle the fourth round and continue to make history.
“I think [the team] is looking to get some practice over spring break and try to get a lay of the land and have a plan for league match number four,” he said. “And I told them, ‘Golf is different than any other sport, you can’t play defense, you can’t stop them from making a putt. So, you just have to worry about yourself.’ So, that’s the mentality into the next couple of league matches.”
The Foothill League will return for its fourth round of play on Tuesday, April 14, with teams set to play at the Sand Canyon Country Club with tee time scheduled for noon.
Former New Orleans teacher arrested for child pornography charges now faces deepfake charges
NEW ORLEANS — A former Isidore Newman School teacher and tennis coach who had been arrested three times previously on child pornography-related charges has been arrested again, this time on 60 deepfake charges.
Attorney General Liz Murrill’s Office says Benoit G. Cransac, 49, a French national authorized to live in the U.S., was arrested on April 1 on 60 counts of creating unlawful deepfakes.
Before his first arrest on Jan. 8 for 22 counts of child sexual abuse material, Benoit taught French to first- through fifth-grade students and coached middle school tennis at Newman.
He was fired and then arrested again on Jan. 21 for three more counts of child sexual abuse material.
On March 23, he was arrested for a third time on 17 counts of video voyeurism of a child under 17. These charges stem from accusations that he took photos of students in his classroom, according to the AG’s Office.
Cransac is currently being held at the Orleans Justice Center on a $3.57 million bond for his previous charges.
Ukrainian Pro Declines Handshake Despite Rival’s Nationality Switch From Russia
Remember the Australian Open moment when boos rained down on Mirra Andreeva as she rushed off court after losing to Elina Svitolina? That flashpoint now defines a deeper fracture in tennis, where the handshake, once a quiet symbol of respect, has become a line drawn amid ongoing geopolitical tensions. The divide resurfaced in the Charleston Open as Oleksandra Oliynykova refused acknowledgment against Russian-born Uzbekistan Polina Kudermetova, proving the conflict still echoes across courts.
Polina Kudermetova produced a strong comeback to defeat Oleksandra Oliynykova at the Charleston Open opening round. The qualifier won the match 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-4 after a tough battle. As the match ended, a message appeared on the scoreboards at the Althea Gibson Club Court.
“The players will not shake hands at the conclusion of this match. We appreciate your respect for both athletes after the match.”
Kudermetova was already aware of Oliynykova’s stance before the match ended. She did not approach the net to attempt a handshake. Instead, both players followed a different routine. They walked separately to shake hands with the umpire and then returned to their benches to pack their belongings.
And to be honest, Oliynykova has taken this position before in her career. She has consistently refused to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian players. This stance also applies to players who have changed their nationality. Kudermetova, who was born in Russia, recently switched to represent Uzbekistan during the off-season.
The World No. 71 had already faced a similar situation earlier. When the two players met at a WTA 125 event in Turkey a few weeks ago, they also did not shake hands.
The same situation repeated in Charleston. Knowing this in advance, tournament organisers informed the spectators about the decision. In February, Oliynykova also refused to shake hands with Anna Bondar. This decision was linked to Bondar’s participation in the North Palmyra Trophies event.
That exhibition tournament was backed by Gazprom and held in Russia. It took place despite international sanctions and restrictions. Oliynykova also chose not to pose for a photo with Bondar at the net during their match in Cluj. She later explained her reasons clearly.
“Anna Bondar participated in the North Palmyra Trophies tournament in December 2022 – an event held in Russia in open disregard of international sanctions and restrictions imposed on the aggressor state.”
Later quoted, “This is about humanity, human dignity, and basic human values. I cannot ignore this. The global tennis community should not ignore it. Fans should not forget about it. That is why I cannot bring myself to take photos or shake hands with a person who has received money from sources directly linked to the war against my country.”
Meanwhile, Kudermetova’s nationality switch created tension within her own family. Her older sister, Veronika Kudermetova, openly disagreed with the decision. The former World No. 9 shared her thoughts in an interview. “Frankly, it’s a bit of a sore subject for me.”
She added further criticism of the move. “I don’t approve of her choice; she didn’t consult with anyone; it’s her personal choice. I believe her motivation for changing her athletic citizenship is both financial and a desire to qualify for the Olympics. After all, as a Russian athlete, it was difficult for her to achieve high rankings. But as part of Uzbekistan, she’ll be third or even second in the rankings.”
Despite the off-court discussions, Kudermetova delivered a strong performance. She was serving to stay in the match at 4-5 in the second set and came within two points of defeat.
She managed to turn the match around and complete the comeback. It was an important win for the Uzbek qualifier. Kudermetova will now face Leylah Fernandez, the No. 9 seed, for a place in the last 16.
As for Oliynykova, she continues to stand firm on her position.
Oleksandra Oliynykova calls for a ban on Russian and Belarusian players from tennis
Oleksandra Oliynykova made her Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open this year. She faced Madison Keys in a challenging first-round match. Oliynykova pushed the defending champion early in the contest. She took the first set to a tight tiebreak before losing 7-6(6), 6-1.
After the match, she made a strong statement during her press conference. She wore a t-shirt that read: “I need your help to protect Ukrainian women and children, but I can’t talk about it here.”
Oliynykova comes from Kyiv and shared a personal update. She revealed that there had been an explosion near her home, which left her apartment “shaking”. Players are not allowed to make political statements at tournament venues. Because of this, she addressed the media carefully.
“I would like to share the way people can help Ukrainians, but we will need – if you want to ask me about this, we will need to do it outside of the tournament press. It’s very important part,” she told reporters.
Later, she expanded on her views in an interview with The Age. She openly stated that Russian and Belarusian players should not be allowed to compete.
“It’s very wrong that they are not disqualified in tennis like in other sports. I know that here is the picture that we are all tennis girls playing, but the people don’t see the things behind it,” she said.
The World No. 71 also spoke about Aryna Sabalenka. She referred to claims that Sabalenka signed a letter supporting Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko in 2020.
Two years later, Lukashenko and the Belarusian military supported Vladimir Putin and Russia during the invasion of Ukraine. This context has shaped Oliynykova’s strong stance.
Now, the handshake issue continues to draw attention across tennis events. With tensions rising to the point where officials must intervene, questions remain about when normal post-match gestures will return.
Boys Tennis: Results & links for Thursday, April 2
Check back here for the result of every boys tennis match in N.J. on Thursday, April 2. This post will be updated throughout the day, so be sure to check back often.
ESSENTIAL LINKS
Complete season preview (4:30 p.m.)
WATCH LISTS: Singles | Doubles
Bold predictions (10:30 a.m.)
Key storylines
Top 20 | Dates to keep
Teams to watch
TOP 20 SCOREBOARD
No. 3 Delbarton vs. Mendham, 4
No. 4 West Windsor-Plainsboro South vs. Hightstown, 4
No. 8 East Brunswick at Edison Magnet, 4
No. 14 Summit at Cranford, 4
No. 15 Livingston vs. Montclair, 4
No. 17 Westfield at Gov. Livingston, 4
No. 20 Moorestown at Lenape, 3:45
STATEWIDE SCHEDULE
Charlottesville boys tennis navigating lineup shift
“Last year was great. We had an awesome ride, but we won last year as a team, and now we have a new team.”
Chris Gionta
cgionta@dailyprogress.com
@Chris_Gionta on X
C’ville Varsity
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Andy Murray Takes On the Billion-Dollar Sneaker Game To Rival Roger Federer
Andy Murray gave just about everything a human being can give to the sport of tennis. He sacrificed his energy, his youth, and famously, his hip to win three Grand Slam titles and carry the weight of British tennis expectations for over a decade. When he officially hung up his racket after the 2024 Olympics, fans wondered what the famously dry-witted, gritty competitor would do next. Would he coach? Would he broadcast?
As it turns out, Murray is getting into the shoe business. But not just any shoe business. On April 1, 2026, the Scottish legend stepped up to the microphone in a deadpan, mock press conference to announce his latest venture: running trainers made out of castor beans, corn, and seaweed.
Yes, you read that correctly. The man who conquered Wimbledon is now trying to conquer your feet with the same ingredients you might find in a trendy vegan salad.
Murray Enters the Sneaker Wars
The sportswear market is an absolute juggernaut. It is dominated by massive corporate giants like Nike and Adidas. But the landscape is shifting. Consumers actually care about what they are putting on their bodies, and sustainability has become the ultimate industry buzzword. Enter Hylo, a UK-based brand focused on sustainable performance footwear.
Murray did not just sign up to be a pretty face for the brand. He is putting his weight behind a company that claims to have created the environmentally “cleanest” running shoes on the market. To put the numbers in perspective, the average running shoe leaves a carbon footprint of about 14kg. Hylo claims their seaweed-and-corn concoction drops that footprint down to just 9kg.
The Ghost Of Federer’s Billion-Dollar Footprint
You cannot talk about this move without bringing up the incredibly wealthy, Swiss elephant in the room. Roger Federer, the man who routinely blocked Murray from major titles, invested in a little-known Swiss running brand called On back in 2019. Fast forward to today, and On is a global powerhouse valued at nearly £15 billion, trailing only the titans of Nike and Adidas in the footwear market.
Naturally, the moment Murray announced his partnership with Hylo, the sports world collectively raised an eyebrow. Is this round two of the rivalry? Is Murray trying to chase down Federer in the boardroom the way he used to chase down his drop shots on the baseline?
Murray, true to form, quickly swatted away the narrative. “This has nothing to do with Roger’s success in the running industry,” he stated during the rollout. “It’s about my belief in joining a world-class company like Hylo.”
Life After Center Court For Murray
The Hylo investment is just the latest move in what has been a calculated, quiet business evolution for the former world number one. Since stepping away from the professional tour, Murray has been quietly building a diverse portfolio of sports and lifestyle ventures. He has put money into Game4Padel to ride the wave of the fastest-growing racket sport on the planet, and he previously backed the booming apparel brand Castore.
This is not a retired athlete just slapping his name on a billboard. This reflects a broader, modern trend of sports stars taking real equity in companies they believe in, especially those leaning into eco-conscious missions. Fellow athletes like footballer Patrick Bamford have also thrown their support behind Hylo, signaling that the locker room is starting to care deeply about climate impact.
FAQ SECTION
Q: What happened in Andy Murray’s announcement?
A: He launched eco-friendly trainers with Hylo, made from corn, beans, and seaweed.
Q: Who is involved?
A: Andy Murray, Hylo, and comparisons to Roger Federer’s On brand.
Q: Why is this news important?
A: It highlights sustainability in sportswear and reignites interest in Murray vs. Federer’s rivalry.
Q: What are the next steps?
A: Hylo aims to grow its market presence and prove its eco-friendly shoes can compete with global giants.
What Happens Next For the Hylo Brand?
So, what is the endgame here? Industry analysts are quick to point out that Hylo faces an incredibly steep, uphill battle. Going toe-to-toe with Nike, Adidas, and Federer’s On brand is like trying to win the French Open against Rafael Nadal in 2010. It is a monumental task.
However, Murray brings an undeniable level of global visibility. His star power alone forces retailers and runners to at least look at what Hylo is offering. The real test will be whether the company can scale its production to meet the global demand required to actually challenge the big dogs. They have to prove that a shoe made of seaweed and corn can hold up on the pavement just as well as synthetic rubber.
For now, the sneaker game just got a massive injection of British grit. If there is anyone who knows how to survive a grueling, five-set marathon against the greatest players in the world, it is Andy Murray. Do not count him out.
Jada Lynch brings global hoops perspective from Belgium to her game
In the debate of nature vs. nurture, Jada Lynch is a prime example of both.
Growing up in Belgium as the daughter of former professional tennis player Kim Clijsters and former professional basketball player Brian Lynch, Jada wasn’t just a product of her parents, but also of her environment.
Jada and Brian followed Clijsters during her return to tennis after having Jada. That included the 2009 and 2010 U.S. Open and 2011 Australian Open titles, all before Jada turned 4.
Initially, Jada followed her mother onto the court, picking up a racket before she could remember.
It seemed to make the most sense to Brian, who said Jada was “going to win on the gene side of her mother [more] than her father.” Clijsters won four Grand Slams and was the world No. 1 in women’s singles and doubles simultaneously for a few weeks in 2003. Brian played basketball at Villanova for four seasons from 1996 to 2000. The Point Pleasant native then played nine seasons overseas in Europe during his professional career, retiring in 2009.
But unlike Clijsters, Jada never had the same passion for tennis, which was clear to her parents early on.
So instead, at about 7 years old, Jada decided to try a new court. Not one of clay or grass, but one of hardwood.
She had tried her mother’s sport, but now it was her father’s turn.
“When I told him, ‘I want to try [basketball] out,’ he wasn’t really a fan of it,” Jada said. “He said it was really physical, but now, that’s my favorite part of the sport.”
» READ MORE: In a season of change for South Jersey’s Hannah Hidalgo, she led Notre Dame to new heights
For Brian, it felt like his daughter was “going from one end of the spectrum to the other” switching from an endurance-testing individual sport to a more physical team sport.
At almost 8 years old, Jada also was starting a few years later than most children. In Belgium, where the family lived at the time, most children began playing basketball at 5 or 6.
All of her father’s reservations were immediately forgotten after Jada’s first practice, when she returned jumping around and telling her parents how much she loved it.
“From that point on, it wasn’t a question for me,” Brian said. “It was not like, ‘Oh, you should be playing tennis.’ It was, ‘She seems to really love basketball. Let’s roll with this.’”
The other thing made clear from Jada’s first practice was that the many sets and matches of her early years weren’t in vain.
“The movement from tennis and the footwork, the split steps and things like that, were really advantageous to her, learning as a young kid, because that was really easy to pick up for her,” Brian said. “So some of the footwork and the movement became really easy for her, really the moment she stepped on the basketball court.”
» READ MORE: Westtown’s Jordyn Palmer has untapped potential
A global game
Brian began his coaching career in 2013, and it was clear that taking on Jada as a pupil wasn’t the best path for the pair, who often butted heads while running drills and working out.
The “toughness and stubbornness,” Brian said his daughter showed during some of those sessions is a big part of who she is as a player today.
But it wasn’t just Jada’s “great genes” that shaped her into a “high IQ” and “competitive” high school player at Westtown School, her coach, Fran Burbidge, said.
Jada’s first four years of playing basketball were when she lived overseas, and every summer, she goes back to play for Belgium’s national team. This summer will be her fourth year, after the team reached out to her parents, watched her in an AAU game, and invited her to play for them in the FIBA women’s EuroBasket. She’s played at the under-16 and U-18 levels. Additionally, she was selected to the World team for the Nike Hoop Summit on April 11 in Portland, Ore.
“It has done wonders for the player I am,” Jada said. “Every time I come back from there, I feel like I’ve always made steps as a player. … It grows my versatility. It gives me an advantage over some players.”
For Brian, the main advantage he sees his daughter gain from playing overseas is the ability to play a faster game.
A lot of this has to do with the 24-second shot clock in Europe which forces players to make decisions at a faster pace from a younger age.
“You cannot turn to your coach and ask, ‘What should I do now?’ Because I have all the time in the world to run my stuff,” Brian said. “You’re forced to make quick decisions, and if you can’t do that, you learn through trial and error.”
Brian added: “I’m a huge fan and advocate of the way they do things in Europe, so I’m really happy that she has that opportunity to do that.”
» READ MORE: Neumann Goretti’s Andrea Peterson is more than a girls’ basketball coach
‘No one on Westtown is selfish’
Jada said there’s always shifts that comes with playing in America and overseas, especially with getting reacclimated to rules differences. She said it also can be difficult to transition from playing high-level team-oriented basketball overseas to playing a more selfish game, which she said is more common in the United States.
But after reclassifying to the class of 2027 and transferring to Westtown from St. Rose High School ahead of the 2025-26 school year, that’s been less of an issue for Jada.
“I think Westtown actually does a great job playing as a team. I think even though we have amazing players, we all have the same goals, and we work toward the same goals,” said Jada, who averaged 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists per game last season. “No one on Westtown is selfish.”
That includes Jada, whom Burbidge said “sacrificed some individual” accolades for the sake of the team’s performance. With hopes of winning a state championship next year and the desire to go into college as prepared as possible, Burbidge said learning how to sacrifice and be selfless now is a huge lesson for Jada’s future, which she welcomed openly.
“It’s going to be her journey the rest of her career, where she’s going to be surrounded with really good kids,” Burbidge said. “She’s making a sacrifice, as they all are, a little bit earlier, with the individual accolades to prepare herself for that.”
Jada is still uncommitted to college but feels ready for wherever she ends up because of where her career has taken her.
“Me going to play overseas, definitely, I feel like, is preparing me for when basketball is almost going to be like a job,” Jada said. “It’s great that I get to go overseas every summer and develop myself and work and see based off of film what I would have to work on and just get better at those things to be the best player I can be going into college.”
West Salem softball player wins Maps girls Athlete of the Week
West Salem softball player Kali Parks is the winner of the Maps Credit Union high school girls Athlete of the Week, as voted by Statesman Journal readers.
A senior, Parks delivered two hits, six RBIs and scored twice March 24 in the Titans’ 11-0 win over McMinnville in the North Medford tournament.
Parks received 60.41% of the reader poll votes. Cascade tennis player Kate Withers (18.39%).
Here are the other nominees.
Madalynn Ehrens, Silverton softball
Ehrens, a junior, posted three hits and scored four runs March 20 in the Foxes’ 21-10 season-opening loss to Central Catholic.
Lexi Enzenberger, Silverton track and field
Enzenberger, a senior, won three individual events March 17 at the Silverton Cloud Breaker March. She won the 100-meter dash (12.56 seconds), 200 (26.9) and 400 (1:01.7).
Bailee Finegan, Sprague track and field
Finegan, a senior, won the shot put with a 32-foot throw March 17 at the Sprague vs. Dallas Icebreaker meet.
Scout Haugen, Silverton track and field
Huagen, a freshman, won the high jump March 17 at the Silverton Cloud Breaker meet. Her 5-foot, 4-inch jump is one inch off Oregon’s 5A all-time freshman record.
Maddi Jones, Dallas softball
Jones, a junior pitcher, threw all seven innings and collected 10 strikeouts March 24 in the Dragons’ 6-5 win over Barlow in the North Medford tournament.
Jocelyn Schnurbusch, McNary track and field
Schnurbusch, a senior, won the 1,500 meter (5 minutes, 9.76 seconds) and 3,000 (11:21.69) March 18 at The Breaker meet at North Salem.
Rachel Suelzle, Cascade tennis
Suelzle, a senior, is a part of the Cougars’ No. 1 doubles team that went 3-0 in dual meets March 17-19. Suelzle and teammate Kate Withers defeated the No. 1 doubles teams from South Albany, Crescent Valley and Catlin Gabel.
Kate Withers, Cascade tennis
Withers, a senior, is a part of the Cougars’ No. 1 doubles team that went 3-0 in dual meets from March 17-19. Withers and teammate Rachel Suelzle defeated the No. 1 doubles teams from South Albany, Crescent Valley and Catlin Gabel.
Landon Bartlett covers high school sports and Oregon State for the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at LBartlett@statesmanjournal.com or on X, TikTok or Instagram @bartlelo. X
N.J. Boys Tennis complete season preview for 2026
A brand-new season of high school boys tennis in New Jersey is upon us.
And while a good amount of matches have already taken place over the two weeks thanks to a new early soft start date, the full-fledged campaign starts now.
Check out our jam-packed preview for the spring of 2026 below.
Follow Chris Nalwasky on X (@ChrisNalwasky) for updates and news throughout the season and email him any tips at cnalwasky@njadvancemedia.com.
Coaches, don’t forget to please enter match results, schedules and rosters at njschoolsports.com.
PLAYER PREVIEW
Singles players to watch
Doubles tandems to watch
Returning all-state, all-group picks
PRESEASON RANKINGS
Top 20
TEAMS TO WATCH
Group 4
Group 3
Group 2
Group 1
Non-Public
OTHER PRESEASON COVERAGE
Bold predictions
Key storylines
Tourney dates to keep
Team classifications
Divisional alignments
2025 REVIEW
Prep girls tennis: Everett and Lynnwood draw in a rain-filled day
Prep girls tennis roundup for Thursday, April 2:
(Note for coaches/scorekeepers: To report results and statistics, email sports@heraldnet.com. Please report results by 10:30)
Non-league
Everett 3, Lynnwood 3 (rain)
At Everett H.S.
Singles—Taylor Simbulan (L) def. Meagan McMains 7-6(4), 6-2. Elizabeth Moiseyev (E) def. Rachel Ericson 6-4, 6-3. Grace Regan-Bone (E) def. Tien Vo 6-3, 6-1. Olivia McCullough (E) def. Tina Vo 6-1, 6-1; Doubles—Ava Barias-Adeline Tran (L) def. Alice Buchanan-Tegan Trefry 6-4, 6-1. Maggie Hesedahl-Venus Hernandez (L) def. Sophia Munro-Avery Hammer 6-4, 3-6, 10-8. Stephanie Garcia-Solia Khnor (L) vs. Lydia Hogan-Alice Nelson (rained out).
Stanwood 6, Marysville Getchell 0 (rain)
At Stanwood H.S.
Singles—Grace Ross (S) def. Hallie Peterson 6-1, 6-1. Katie Rahmn (S) def. Felicity So 6-1, 6-1. Liza Howe (S) vs. Teaghan Weller (rained out). Lindy Howe (S) def. Daniela Marmolejo 6-0, 6-2; Doubles—Abbie Carlson-Mylee LaComb (S) def. Dylan Deboer-Megan Phung 6-1, 6-1. Poppy Hanson-Teagan Swanson (S) def. Elshady Johannes-Maylic Lillard 6-2, 6-3. Eva D’Amico-Alexa Wright (S) def. Alysha Saeturn-Kathryn Hu 6-4, 7-6(5).
Kamiak 4, Monroe 1 (rain)
At Monroe H.S.
Singles—Anna Kim (K) def. Eva Heit 6-3, 6-0. Julia Amarsaihan (K) def. Eliana Horner 6-4, 6-1. Hannah Kim (K) vs. Ashtyn Wheeler (rained out). Anne Marie Madson (K) def. Madelyn Clark 6-0, 6-1; Doubles—Emersyn Hartway-Emiko Spengler (M) def. Yeji Park-Madlyn Pyun 6-1, 6-2. Julie Yi-Charlotte Lee (K) def. Rowyn Grant-Keeley Reed 6-2, 6-2. Ava Magruder-Addyson Sullivan (M) vs. Angela Madson-Jimin Hahm (rained out).
Wesco 3A/2A South
Edmonds-Woodway 5, Archbishop Murphy 0 (rain)
At Edmonds-Woodway H.S.
Singles—Simryn Gill (E) vs. Kamdyn Latta (rained out). Hannah Huong (E) def. Angelia Pedersen 6-2, 6-3. Izzy Beltran (E) def. Fernanda Lopez 6-0, 6-0. Ellie Sadler (E) def. Lizzy Robinson 6-0, 6-0; Doubles—Poppy Swenson-Ava Oliver (E) def. Rachel Reynolds-Anneliese Hallgren 6-0, 6-3. Tiffany Chang-Josephine Bahm (E) def. Ceci Mayans-Soulin Chhow 6-0, 6-0. Kate O’Connor-Pippi Lofrese (E) vs. Angela Ocana-Natalie Blackely (rained out).
— — — — — —
Shorewood vs. Mountlake Terrace, canceled
Wesco 3A/2A North
Stanwood 6, Marysville Getchell 1
At Marysville Getchell H.S.
Singles—Grace Ross (S) def. Hallie Peterson 6-1, 6-1. Katie Rahmn (S) def. Felicity So 6-1, 6-1. Teaghan Weller (MG) def. Liza Howe by forfeit. Lindy Howe (S) def. Daniela Marmolejo 6-0, 6-2; Doubles—Abbie Carlson-Mylee LaComb (S) def. Dylan Deboer-Megan Phung 6-1, 6-1. Teagan Swanson-Poppy Hanson (S) def. Elshady Yohannes-Maylie Lillard 6-2, 6-3. Eva D’Amico-Alexa Wright (S) def. Alysha Saeturn-Kathryn Hu 6-6, 7-6(7-5).
Wesco 4A
Cascade 4, Arlington 1 (rain)
At Cascade H.S.
Singles—Sophia Manabat (C) def. Grace Armes 6-2, 7-5. Yasmina Drissy (C) def. Iris Suchan 6-2, 6-0. Miley Ho (C) def. Savannah Thomas 6-0, 6-0. Dani Desimone (C) vs. Tatiana Carrillo (rained out); Doubles—Audrey Marsh-Kara Glassman (A) def. Sophia Thigpen-Lana Vu 6-2, 6-4. Inessa Dmitruk-Tashi Sherpa (C) def. Grace Farris-Mia Whobrey (rained out). Eva Wagner-Audri Everett (C) def. Andrea Hernandez-Ashlyn Huling 6-2, 6-4.
Glacier Peak 6, Mariner 0 (rain)
At Mariner H.S.
Singles—Jasmine Neph (G) def. Crystal Mendoza Cruz 6-0, 6-0. Sofia Carmona (G) def. Christina Pham 6-2, 6-0. Sara Pena (G) def. Michelle Huynh 6-0, 6-0. Kumi Jayasinghe (G) def. Mia Le 6-0, 6-0; Doubles—Tenasyn Pacini-Kaitlyn Wong (G) def. Morgan Trenh-Kayla Cahyahi 6-3, 6-1. Sophia Leuck-Olivia Ribbins (G) def. Kayla Abendroth-Rohey Saitch 6-4, 6-0. Maddy Undseth Bella Edmonds (G) vs. Emily Huynh-Malany Lai (rained out).
— — — — — —
Jackson at Lake Stevens, postponed
Glacier Peak at Mariner, score not reported
Netflix Full Swing covering PGA Tour release date announced, April 17
The PGA Tour season has been in play for a few months now, but on some level it feels like the first major championship of the year, the Masters Tournament, is when stakes really rise and the season gets more serious.
Such was true last year when Rory McIlroy won the aforementioned tournament of all tournaments. His domino led to Scottie Scheffler capturing two majors of his own in the PGA Championship and Open Championship, and who could forget J.J. Spaun’s incredible walk off at the U.S. Open? Oh, and Tommy Fleetwood finally broke through!
As exciting as the rest of the 2026 season is in the world of golf, what we saw throughout 2025 was spectacular (save for American rooting interest in the Ryder Cup). Netflix’s Full Swing has captured professional golf seasons over the last three years and they are back for a fourth season that will premiere exclusively on Netflix on April 17th.
Netflix released the trailer for season 4 of Full Swing on Thursday, the day that the Valero Texas Open began play. It shows clips from all of the moments in question and interviews with several players that will be featured throughout the season:
Keegan Bradley
Luke Donald
Tommy Fleetwood
Chris Gotterup
Ben Griffin
Shane Lowry
Maverick McNealy
Justin Rose
J.J. Spaun
Cameron Young
The world of golf is blossoming with accessibility in terms of things like documentaries, but Full Swing was one of the first and has an established track record which suggests season 4 will be incredible like the ones that came before it.
PGA betting: Valero Texas Open preview for New York bettors
Professional golf makes a return to the second-largest U.S. state for the Valero Texas Open as the PGA Tour invades Oaks Course on the grounds of TPC San Antonio this weekend. The Valero has served as a warm-up event for the Masters Tournament since 2019 with winners such as Akshay Bhatia (2024), J.J. Spaun (2022) and Corey Conners (2019) using a victory at the Valero to punch their ticket into the field at Augusta National Golf Club. Here is a preview of what to watch on the PGA Tour this weekend.
Fleetwood opens as the favorite
Tommy Fleetwood (+1425) enters as the odds-on favorite to pull out a win at the Valero. As we all know, the course doesn’t often agree with the sportsbooks giving nearly any name in the 132-player field an opportunity at glory in San Antonio, Texas. Heavy hitters, such as Jordan Spieth (+1900 outright) and Rickie Fowler (+2600), will look for solid performances to get their game in shape ahead of one of the sport’s greatest events next weekend. Brian Harman, the winner of the 2025 Valero Texas Open, begins with +6000 outright odds to win the event before the ball meets the tee on Thursday.
PGA Tour: Valero Texas Open Golfer Winner Top 5 Top 10 (incl. ties) Tommy Fleetwood +1420 +260 +132 Ludvig Aberg +1450 +300 +156 Russell Henley +1950 +360 +180 Robert MacIntyre +1900 +365 +184 Jordan Spieth +1900 +365 +186 Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook Odds subject to change
Collin Morikawa would’ve been a favorite, but he withdrew from the field due to a back injury on Tuesday morning. Several notable PGA stars, like Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, have elected to skip the tournament for an extra week of rest leading into the Masters.
Betting Tips for New York Audiences
New York sports bettors would be wise to identify the athletes consistently finding the fairways and greens in Texas this weekend. The Oaks Course heavily punishes missed fairways, while shots falling short of the green (or surrounding bunkers) can often cause golfers to scramble for a save.
It is imperative to hit smart drives while surviving the windy conditions to find success at Oaks, much like you might see at Seaview Golf Club. Strong drives and smart iron play will go a long way to teeing off high on the leaderboard heading into the weekend. Solid ball strikes, like Russell Henley (+1950), are in a good position to navigate the potentially tricky conditions this weekend in Texas.
For more on the PGA Tour, visit AMNY.com.
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Tiger Woods DUI arrest: Bodycam footage released from PGA Tour star’s car crash
The Martin County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office has released the bodycam footage from last Friday’s DUI arrest of PGA legend Tiger Woods near his home on Jupiter Island.
Check out the scene below:
Woods pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor charges of DUI and property damage on Tuesday stemming from a rollover car crash March 27 near his home in Jupiter Island, Fla. The 50-year-old Woods was reportedly found in possession of two hydrocodone pills and showed signs of impairment while appearing “lethargic, slow” with “bloodshot, glassy and ‘extremely dilated’” eyes, according to a police report reviewed by GOLF.com’s Sean Zak and TMZ. He blew a .000 on a breathalyzer at the scene, but later refused a urinalysis test, which led to the DUI arrest.
This report will be updated.
2026 Masters odds, predictions, favorites, date, field: PGA picks from 10,000 simulations
A trio of golfers can complete the third leg of the career grand slam with a victory at the 2026 Masters, which begins on Thursday, April 9. Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Brooks Koepka have won two of the other majors entering the Masters 2026. This extra incentive could up the interest in backing any of the three with PGA bets come Thursday, April 9 at Augusta National. The latest 2026 Masters odds via FanDuel Sportsbook list Scottie Scheffler as the +550 favorite (risk $100 to win $550), with Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm moving into a tie for the second spot on the odds board at +1000.
Other 2026 Masters contenders include defending champion Rory McIlroy (+1100), Schauffele at +1500 and Ludvig Aberg at +1600, with the latter seeking his first major championship. Matt Fitzpatrick and Cameron Young are at +2000, with past Master champion Patrick Reed at +2700. Before locking in any 2026 Masters picks, making any PGA DFS picks on sites like FanDuel or DraftKings, or entering any 2026 Masters one-and-done picks, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine’s proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, simulated every PGA Tour event 10,000 times and reveals golf betting picks that have a history of being extremely profitable.
This same model has also nailed a whopping 16 majors entering the weekend, including the 2025 Masters — its fourth Masters in a row — as well as this year’s PGA Championship and Open Championship. Anyone who has followed its sports betting picks could have seen massive returns on betting sites.
Now that the 2026 Masters field is locked in, the model simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.
2026 Masters predictions
One major surprise the model is calling for at the Masters 2026: Schauffele, a two-time major winner and one of the favorites, stumbles and barely cracks the top 10. He’s had a rough start to the 2026 PGA Tour, as he missed the cut in his first event before placing 41st in his second. A big reason for Schauffele’s struggles lies on the green, where he ranks 76th in total putting after being third in 2024, when he won his two majors. When you factor in that Schauffele also has more missed cuts than top-fives over his last four trips to Augusta, he’s one to steer clear of with 2026 Masters bets, considering his short PGA odds. See who else to fade here.
Another surprise: The model is high on Morikawa, even though he’s a longshot at +2700 and just withdrew from the Valero Texas Open (back) this week. He already has a PGA Championship and Open Championship on his resume, but Morikawa has been more consistent at the Masters than any other major. At no major does he have more top-fives (two), top 10s (three) or top 25s (five) than at Augusta National, which includes top-15 finishes in each of the last four years. The seven-time PGA Tour winner also enters in playing his best in years, as he prevailed at Pebble Beach in mid-February, ending a 45-start winless drought and then followed that up with a seventh place at the Genesis. See who else to pick here.
How to make 2026 Masters picks
The model is also targeting two more longshots of +3000 or greater, including one of at least +5000 that could bring strong returns. You can only see the model’s picks here.
Who will win the 2026 Masters, and which massive longshots will stun the golfing world? Check out the 2026 Masters odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that’s nailed 16 golf majors, including three in 2025.
2026 Masters odds, favorites
Get full 2026 Masters picks, best bets and predictions here.
(odds via FanDuel and subject to change)
With Tiger Woods Out, Keegan Bradley Should Run It Back As U.S. Ryder Cup Captain
Welcome back to SI Golf’s Fact or Fiction, where we are all making our way to Augusta National next week. Pass the pimento cheese sandwiches.
Once again, we’re here to debate a series of statements for writers and editors to declare as “Fact” or “Fiction” along with a brief explanation. Responses may also (occasionally) be “Neutral” since there’s a lot of gray area in golf.
Do you agree or disagree? Let us know on the SI Golf X account.
In the wake of Tiger Woods’s crash last week in Florida, he will not be the 2027 U.S. Ryder Cup captain. For the sake of continuity, Keegan Bradley should get the job again.
Bob Harig: FACT. The problem is, does Keegan want to go through this again? The PGA of America was looking for a decision by now. It was getting time to move on anyway and now this makes doing so easier.
John Pluym: FICTION. Woods shouldn’t even be a consideration for captain after what happened last Friday. As for Bradley, he should be among the potential candidates to oversee the U.S. team. However, I don’t think we’re at a point where the captain’s job should automatically go to Bradley. And as Bob said above, does he even want the job? Right now, the Europeans have to be the overwhelming favorites.
Jeff Ritter: FACT. I think the safe play, and the correct play, is to run it back with Bradley, who was by all accounts a hit in the locker room. Yes, the U.S. strategy on Day 1-2 was questionable, but the team also pulled together on Sunday to make it close. The PGA of America should just call Keegan this week.
Max Schreiber: FICTION. Why run it back with Bradley? If he continues to be a good player, are we really going to go through the whole “will he be a playing captain” again? They might not jump off the page, but what about Stewart Cink, Brandt Snedeker, or running it back with Steve Stricker?
John Schwarb: FACT. The U.S. has to start finding continuity, even if it means bringing back a losing captain. I think Bradley would make some key adjustments this time, such as hiring an analytics specialist similar to Europe’s Edoardo Molinari, and perhaps the road game will somehow take pressure off. Can’t be any worse than the last 30 years.
Gary Woodland’s win at the Houston Open is one of golf’s great comeback stories. It was also a dominant victory leading into major season, making Woodland the best candidate among players 40 and older to win a major in 2026.
Bob Harig: FICTION. Woodland’s ball speed is amazing and he should seemingly do well at Augusta National but he’s surprisingly got a poor record there. Justin Rose has lost in a playoff twice. Adam Scott is also pretty stout.
John Pluym: FICTION. The Woodland story is amazing. And if he wins the Masters, it’d be epic. But Justin Rose’s play has been off the charts. Rose is the No. 7-ranked player in the world, and he consistently plays like it. Rose will be one of the favorites at Augusta.
Jeff Ritter: FICTION. Woodland’s story is awesome and he’ll be one of the guys I’ll be pulling for in Augusta. But Rose still looks like the best bet among the 40-and-over set.
Max Schreiber: FICTION. I had been waiting to write the Woodland redemption story for over a year. And perhaps, it was one of my favorite Sunday articles I’ve ever done. But I’m not ready to say he’ll win another major. I echo Jeff’s sentiment about Justin Rose.
John Schwarb: FACT. O.K., I’ll be a prisoner of the moment. Woodland will find a sense of peace at Augusta National and be able to thrive. His history there is spotty but includes a T14 in 2023, his last Masters before the brain surgery. As for my colleagues picking Justin Rose, I’m not throwing shade on the world No. 7 but I believe it’s hard to bounce back one year after a playoff loss.
The Masters is next week and thousands will visit Augusta National for the first time, many on one-day passes won via lottery. If a first-time patron could pick one day to attend, and only one, Thursday’s opening round is the best choice.
Bob Harig: FICTION. To truly see the course, the best day is Wednesday because the players are basically done with their prep early and you can linger out there for a while without so many people. For a tournament round, Saturday seems best to me. Many who have tournament badges don’t necessarily go every day. The morning is “relatively” calm on Saturday and offers the opportunity to see the entire course.
John Pluym: FICTION. I made my first trip to Augusta in 2024. It was amazing. I spent Wednesday afternoon walking the back nine with Jeff. I wanted to walk past all of the spots where I saw famous shots growing up as a kid and an adult, including Jack Nicklaus’s curling putt on 16 to win in 1975, Larry Mize’s chip on 11 to beat Greg Norman in ’87, and Mickelson’s legendary shot out of the pine needles on 13, which propelled him to his third Green Jacket. Jeff also took numerous pictures of me on the golf course. I’m not embarrassed to say I was in awe of the experience.
Jeff Ritter: FICTION. For a first-timer, I think Wednesday is the sweet spot. You’re allowed to bring a point-and-shoot camera (but no phone, of course) and it’s also the Par 3 contest. One of the hidden benefits of the Par 3 is that it leaves the big course mostly empty in the afternoon, creating prime time for a long, quiet stroll and an opportunity to take an album full of beauty shots.
Max Schreiber: NEUTRAL. As someone who hasn’t been there yet, I really don’t have an opinion. I’ll defer this answer to my colleagues.
John Schwarb: NEUTRAL. In my fan days at tournaments, I was partial to Thursdays and Fridays in order to see everyone in the field with smaller crowds (not that you get a break at the Masters from crowds on any day). But this would depend on my company; if I could get my mother on the property I’d choose a practice round to walk the entire course in a more relaxed manner and we’d be able to take pictures.
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The PGA Championship is returning to Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, for the first time since 1962. The 2026 edition of the golf tournament, scheduled for May 11 to 17, is one of four annual majors and the second of the season after The Masters.
At a Glance: How to Get PGA Championship Tickets 2026
More than 200,000 people are expected to attend the 2026 PGA Championship. Fans can also see the pros practicing at Aronimink May 4–6 before the tournament officially starts.
As with other majors, demand is very high for PGA Championship tickets. Ahead is a quick guide on the types of tickets available to the PGA Championship and where to buy tickets online now that they’ve sold out.
PGA Championship Ticket Types
Two types of tickets are available for the PGA Championship: Championship+ Grounds Tickets and Daily Club PGA Hospitality Tickets. Championship+ tickets provide access to the grounds of the Aronimink Golf Club, food and non-alcoholic beverages, and access to public grandstand seating. Club tickets offer access to lounges above Aronimink’s 8th and 10th Greens, which deliver chef-inspired menus and an open bar.
Championship+ tickets are available for Monday through Sunday action, while Club tickets are only available for Thursday through Sunday.
How to Get PGA Championship Tickets 2026: Best Prices, Resale Sites
5 big-name PGA Tour pros chasing final Masters spot
There’s one open spot left at Augusta National.
And one chance left to snag it.
At the conclusion of last week’s Houston Open, Augusta National officially invited the winner (Gary Woodland) as well as four pros who’d cemented their spots inside the OWGR top 50 (Nicolai Hojgaard, Jake Knapp, Matt McCarty, Daniel Berger) before the final deadline. (Here’s hoping they got overnight delivery on some green envelopes from Augusta. Plus maybe an email confirmation?)
Because Augusta invites every PGA Tour winner from a full-field event since last year’s Masters, this week’s Valero Texas Open includes the last-chance exemption. Should someone already exempt win this week — Tommy Fleetwood, say, or Ludvig Aberg, two pre-tournament favorites — that spot evaporates. But there are dozens of talented pros just four great rounds from earning the chance to play four more great rounds.
Here are five of those players.
1. Rickie Fowler
Fowler bogeyed two of his first four holes at TPC San Antonio, only steepening his climb — but as I type these words has bounced back with a four-under back nine to open in two-under 70. Fowler has quietly put together a very consistent stretch of golf dating back to last summer. Before he missed last week’s cut he’d logged six top-20s in eight starts. DataGolf still has him as the world’s 25th-ranked golfer, the highest of any player not in the Masters field. But the OWGR rewards very high finishes over consistency, and despite his run of strong play, Fowler doesn’t have a top five since 2024, so he’s No. 65 in the OWGR and on the outside looking in. Fowler has somehow played just one of the last five Masters tournaments; he’s hunting his final chance to make that two in six.
2. Will Zalatoris
Zalatoris just made eight birdies in an opening round of five-under 67 and sits just a shot off the lead. We’re only a quarter of the way through, so it’s early for anything besides what-ifs and wild speculation, but the golf world would be thrilled to see Zalatoris stamp his comeback with a victory and a major berth.
Zalatoris didn’t tee it up on the PGA Tour between the PGA Championship last May to this January’s American Express, where he finished T18. He withdrew from the Cognizant shortly before his first-round tee time with an ankle injury — reportedly unrelated to his previous back procedures. He’s No. 299 in the OWGR, so this would come from left field. What a story it would be.
3. Michael Thorbjornsen
Thorbjornsen looked like he might lock up his spot in the OWGR top 50 via the Players Championship, where he played his way into the final pairing but struggled to a Sunday 77 that sent him plummeting to T22. He also stalled out with a Sunday 72 at the Houston Open, leaving him T14 — and No. 54 in the OWGR.
Nobody’s doubting Thorbjornsen’s tremendous talent; he’s ascendant, he seems like he’ll be a central figure on the PGA Tour for years to come and it seems extremely likely that he’ll be at next year’s Masters. He just might not squeak into this one.
Brandel Chamblee mocks Bryson DeChambeau’s ‘dubious’ LIV Golf achievement, ‘laughable to look at’
Brandel Chamblee is a well-known critic of LIV Golf and, indeed, Bryson DeChambeau.
DeChambeau was one of the most high-profile names to leave the PGA Tour in order to join LIV Golf back in June 2022.
The 32-year-old has enjoyed huge success since joining LIV, and he is one of only two players to have won a major since leaving the PGA Tour for the Saudi-backed outfit, alongside Brooks Koepka.
Bryson DeChambeau has won five times on LIV Golf, and he is one of the few players who have improved since leaving the PGA Tour.
However, the two-time U.S. Open champion has still managed to incur the wrath of Brandel Chamblee on numerous occasions.
Chamblee has suggested that DeChambeau has been ‘manipulated’ by LIV Golf, due to the fact that he is the face of an outfit who are trying to ‘legitimize an oppressive regime’.
However, Chamblee did recently perform a U-turn on LIV Golf receiving world ranking points, suggesting that all of their players do indeed deserve to be ranked.
Brandel Chamblee mocks Bryson DeChambeau’s LIV Golf accomplishment
It’s no surprise that Chamblee found it hard to praise DeChambeau too highly, is it?
Chamblee was speaking on his Favorite Chamblee Podcast about DeChambeau’s chances of winning The Masters next week.
However, the former PGA Tour player highlighted how it is so hard to figure out how well the golfers on LIV are actually playing, due to some of their ‘dubious’ statistics.
“Their statistics out there are just laughable to look at,“ Chamblee said.
“I’ll try to put it in perspective.
“Bryson, he’s played, like, five times this year. He’s averaging right at 77% of the greens in regulation.
“To put that into perspective. When he played the tour for five or six years, he averaged around 67% of the greens hit in regulation.
“Tour leaders every year in greens regulation is usually around 72, 73%. When Tiger had his historic year in 2000, he hit 75% of the greens.
“Nobody’s ever hit a golf ball better than Tiger in 2000, and I can promise you, Bryson’s not hitting his irons that good.
“And he’s not even leading! Jon Rahm is leading with 82.22% of the greens in regulation.
“This would be like Steph Curry shooting free throws through a hula hoop size goal and peacocking around like he’s, you know, better than he’s ever been.
“So, you know, the numbers are just, you know, they’re dubious, and you kind of look at them askance, and you’re like, you can’t make heads or tails of those.“
This is a really tricky one. It’s doubtful that LIV are actually fiddling the numbers.
The reason for the incredibly high greens in regulation numbers is probably because the majority of golf courses they play over on LIV are resort layouts and far easier than the average PGA Tour track.
LIV Golf greens in regulation stats
Interestingly, if you have hit 74% of greens in regulation on LIV Golf this season, you’re not even inside the top 10.
Conversely, greens in regulation the leader on the PGA Tour is Johnny Keefer, with an average of 73.72%.
Jon Rahm leads the way on LIV Golf, with just over 82% of greens hit in regulation so far this season.
The greens at both LIV Singapore and LIV South Africa were an average size of just over 7,000 square feet.
Meanwhile, the average size of the greens on the PGA Tour are typically between 5,000 and 6,000 square feet.
That explains why the greens in regulation stats on LIV Golf appear to be so skewed.
Despite Brandel Chamblee’s skepticism about Bryson DeChambeau’s GIR numbers on LIV, there is undoubtedly a more logical explanation than what the golf analyst is implying.
Betting odds for The Masters, future golf majors: Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy favored
The 2026 major golf season is upon us and Scottie Scheffler is, unsurprisingly, the favorite to win each one.
Scheffler’s odds to win the first major the year, The Masters, stand at +405 a week ahead of tee-off, the shortest going into the tournament of his career and the shortest since Tiger Woods in 2013 (+350), according to data from SportsOddsHistory. Scheffler started the year hot with a win and two top-four finishes but has cooled off considerably since.
After Scheffler, the tops of the majors’ odds boards are a who’s who of past major winners, with Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Xander Schauffele most frequently occupying the top five.
For the Masters, Rahm is the only other player shorter than 10-1 (+850), while reigning champion McIlroy (10-1) and DeChambeau (+1075) are not far behind.
As far as golfers looking for their first career major wins, Ludvig Åberg (20-1), reigning Players champion Cameron Young (+2350) and Tommy Fleetwood (25-1) are all hovering around the Masters odds board.
DraftKings also features a To Win a Major special market, which Scheffler leads at an astonishing -150. McIlroy (+170), DeChambeau (+260) and Rahm (+260) are the only players shorter than +500 to achieve a major win in 2026.
Multiple PGA Tour Pros Stopped from Playing at $9.8M Event as Round Is Abruptly Suspended
There’s nearly $9.8 million up for grabs at TPC San Antonio this week, but about 20 players ended Thursday night unsure of their position. A 90-minute weather delay earlier in the day pushed the afternoon rounds late, and when darkness fell over the Oaks Course at 7:56 p.m. CT, the PGA Tour had to call it for the night. Seven groups are still on the course, right in the middle of their rounds.
The reason is simple. Storms caused a 90-minute delay earlier on Thursday, pushing the afternoon tee times back and leaving late starters playing in the fading light. By the time it was nearly 8 p.m., play couldn’t continue.
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The PGA Tour announced on X that play will resume Friday at 7:45 a.m. local time, and Round 2 will start as planned.
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Among the players who finished, Mark Hubbard leads at -7. Tony Finau, Davis Thompson, Andrew Putnam, Robert MacIntyre, and Steven Fisk are just one shot behind at -6. The rest of the field will resume play at first light.
The suspension affects players differently. For Finau, his -6 is more than just a good start; it is his only realistic chance to qualify for Augusta National next week. At No. 107 in the world, his path to the 2026 Masters is clear: he must win in San Antonio. In recent years, three of the last six Valero Texas Open winners have secured a late invitation to Augusta. With Finau finished for the day and others still on the course, the leaderboard remains open going into Friday.
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Elsewhere, Pontus Nyholm, John Parry, and Jeffrey Kang are at -4 with several holes left to play. The standings are likely to change before Round 2 starts.
The Valero Texas Open is the final opportunity for players not already in the Masters field to qualify before the first major of the season. For Finau, Rickie Fowler, and others still seeking an invitation, the process is not over. Play has only been paused, not finished.
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This is not the first time TPC San Antonio has sent players back to their hotels mid-round.
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TPC San Antonio has seen this before
Thursday’s delay was not new. In 2023, the Valero Texas Open also faced over 3 hours of fog delays, leaving the afternoon group unable to finish as darkness fell. Players like Justin Lower and Patrick Rodgers had strong starts, but their scores, like those from this Thursday, remained incomplete until play resumed on Friday.
The Oaks Course is located in Texas Hill Country, where early-week weather systems are common. The tournament’s April date, set for its closeness to the Masters, does not protect it from the region’s unpredictable spring storms.
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Round 2 will begin as planned, and the tournament remains on schedule. However, about two dozen players still have to complete their first round. Until they do, only those who finished before sunset will appear on the leaderboard.
Fans Remain Unsold Over Richard Petty’s Biopic as King’s Legacy Denied of Dale Earnhardt Tribute
When it comes to the title of the NASCAR GOAT, most fans are split between Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Both are 7x Cup champions who defined eras of the sport in their careers. But when it comes to pop culture coverage, it seems one of the two gets less love. The one in the subject is the one regarded as the King of NASCAR, Richard Petty.
Richard Petty not looked at the same way as Earnhardt
Over the course of his Cup career, which saw him start well over 1,000 races, Richard Petty won 200 races. He holds the record for the most wins ever by a Cup driver, and that record appears like it will stand the test of time. Moreover, he has 7 Cup titles, the most consecutive wins in a season (10), the most overall wins in a season (27), the most wins at Daytona (10), and so many more records.
On the other hand, Dale Earnhardt Sr. had almost half as many starts (676) with half as many wins (76), and 1/10th of Petty’s Daytona 500 wins.
Comparing Petty’s career on paper to Earnhardt’s clearly shows that the former #43 driver was a better, more accomplished driver than the former #3 driver. However, the coverage both drivers have gotten on the silver screen and documentaries honoring their legacies tells a different story.
Petty notably starred as himself in the 1972 biographical film, 43: The Petty Story. He also has had cameos in Days of Thunder, the CARS movies, Stroker Ace, Red Line 7000, and Speed Zone.
On the other hand, Dale Earnhardt Sr. has had a biopic made on him called 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story, Dale, and Blink of an Eye. But more recently and more prominently, Earnhardt’s life was subject to a four-part Prime docu-series titled ‘Earnhardt.’
In fact, Richard Petty’s son, Kyle Petty, shared his appreciation for Earnhardt in the opening episode. He claimed that when he was growing up, NASCAR was going through a period of transition.
“At that time in the sport, you had a changing of the guard. You had the old guard: Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, Buddy Baker, Bobby Allison, and Richard Petty. Darrell Waltrip had seen himself as the heir apparent of the old guard. But when he turned around, there was another guy who had slid in behind him to take his crown, and it was Earnhardt,” Petty said.
The Prime title for Earnhardt not only received a lot of critical response and appreciation from the insiders but also a lot of love from the fans.
But when the idea of Richard Petty’s legacy and career was proposed among the fans, the response was less than warm towards it.
Fans not interested in seeing Richard Petty’s legacy as a biopic
Amid the recent reports by Variety of Dennis Quaid starring in a series about a NASCAR family across multiple generations, one fan wondered if a Richard Petty biopic would work. The fan even referenced the kind of biopic it would be, putting it in a similar ballpark as Ford vs. Ferrari, which was essentially a David vs. Goliath story. But the idea of a Ford vs. Ferrari-like biopic on Richard Petty’s life was one that most fans didn’t think should or could happen.
One fan straightforwardly said, “I have very little interest,” while another tried to picture a potential plot as they wrote, “Petty V Pearson could be interesting.”
The rivalry between Petty and David Pearson more or less defined the sport for over two decades as they shared 63 one-two finishes between them. While Petty’s career ended with more wins in total, between the two of them, it was Pearson who had an edge (33-30).
One fan dissected the aspect of the underdog vs. big-dog aspect of a Petty version of Ford vs. Ferrari as they wondered, “What exactly is compelling about the son of the owner of Ferrari taken over driver duties from the owner and just continuing to beat the s**t out of everyone?” To the fan’s point, Richard Petty is the son of Lee Petty, who himself was a very successful name in NASCAR as a driver and owner.
A fan questioned the whole idea of having a Richard Petty biopic to achieve a desired goal. “If the goal is to make a good biopic for race fans, yes. If the goal is to make a biopic that crosses appeal to movie watchers, I’d rather see a Hollywood budgeted Junior Johnson film,” the fan wrote. Johnson, a quirky figure in NASCAR history, was no stranger to drama in his career as a driver and owner. From moonshining to engine scandals to cheating, Johnson’s life had it all.
Having said that, there was one fan who simply wondered if Richard Petty’s life and legacy should be given the same treatment Prime gave to Dale Earnhardt. “The whole biopic genre is getting overkilled. I’d rather see a 4-part documentary on Amazon like they did with Dale Earnhardt,” the fan wrote.
Now, whether Petty gets an Earnhardt-like docu-series would be something only time will tell.
‘Big hit on our budget’: How increased fuel prices affect NASCAR teams
As gas prices rise across the United States and around the world in the wake of the Iran war, NASCAR is feeling the effects.
In order to get from race to race, teams use 18-wheelers to drive to each event. Hauler drivers are the unsung heroes of the sport, putting on hundreds, if not thousands of miles to ensure their teams’ cars are getting to the racetrack.
But as diesel prices increase — they reached $5.50 a gallon on average in the U.S. on Thursday, per AAA, while regular gasoline is at $4.08 a gallon — teams are feeling a strain on their wallets.
Kaulig Racing CEO Chris Rice detailed how rising fuel prices and other economic factors impact his organization in a Thursday interview with SirusXM NASCAR Radio and noted that upcoming race weekend in Rockingham, N.C. — close to NASCAR’s hub in Charlotte — is good from a financial perspective.
Fuel prices affecting NASCAR teams
According to AAA, diesel prices have increased by $1.73 from where they were a year ago at $3.77 a gallon.
LeBron James Name-Drops NASCAR as Key Reason Grizzlies Should Relocate to Nashville
LeBron James brought NASCAR into a wider sports conversation during a recent appearance on the YouTube show “Bob Does Sports” on April 2, 2026. The four-time NBA champion spoke about the demands of travel late in his career and pointed directly to Memphis as a stop he does not enjoy.
At 41, James questioned the routine of playing in certain cities and used that moment to suggest a different location for the franchise. His comments quickly spread online, not only because of the relocation idea but also because of his direct reference to NASCAR in Nashville, a sport he rarely mentions in public discussions.
LeBron James Calls Out on Memphis Travel and Suggests Nashville Move
During the interview, LeBron James addressed the physical toll of constant travel in the NBA. He spoke openly about his frustration with certain trips on the schedule.
“At 41 years old, you think I want to do that shit? Being in Memphis on a random ass Thursday?” James said during the show.
He then shifted to a possible alternative and suggested moving the Memphis Grizzlies to Nashville. James pointed to the city’s sports and entertainment options as reasons it could support an NBA team.
“You’ve got Vanderbilt over there, and you’ve got the f—king NASCAR. You’ve got a stadium. Don’t they got a hockey team, too? They’ve got everything,” he said.
James also added that even if Memphis had drafted him first overall in 2003, he might not have reported to the team. “I might have pulled an Eli Manning and not shown up,” he said.
NASCAR Presence in Nashville Draws National Attention
The mention of NASCAR during the interview placed focus on the sport’s role in the region. Nashville Superspeedway has been part of the national racing calendar since its return in 2021.
The venue hosts a full race weekend each year, including events from the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Craftsman Truck Series. The 1.33-mile concrete track sits in nearby Lebanon and attracts large crowds during race weekends.
Fans attend races and also take part in activities across Nashville during the same period. The combination of racing and the city’s entertainment scene has made the event a regular stop on the NASCAR schedule.
James’ reference to “the f—king NASCAR” placed the sport alongside other major institutions in the city, including Vanderbilt University and the NHL’s Nashville Predators.
Nashville’s Sports Landscape Continues to Grow
Nashville has developed into a multi-sport market over the years. The city is home to the NFL’s Tennessee Titans and the Nashville Predators, while Vanderbilt Commodores compete at the college level.
NASCAR events at Nashville Superspeedway add to that calendar and bring national attention during race weekends. The city also attracts visitors through its music and tourism industry, which supports large-scale sporting events.
James’ comments added to existing discussions about NBA expansion or relocation, though no official move involving the Grizzlies has been announced. His remarks, delivered during a casual interview setting, gained traction across both basketball and racing audiences.
While the future of the Grizzlies remains unchanged, the moment highlighted how Nashville continues to be part of conversations involving major professional sports.
Months After $Multi-Million Success, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Announces Big Updates on NASCAR 25
Last year in October, NASCAR 25 hit the shelves, and the reception was largely positive. Yes, the game did come with its set of criticisms as well, but it managed to be a multi-million dollar success, having sold over 100,000 copies. Thanks to this, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has now brought good news for NASCAR and gaming fans.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed one detail about the NASCAR 25 soundtrack
Back in January, he sent out a tweet to fans, recruiting their help. Just like last year’s NASCAR 25 game, he wanted their suggestions for the game’s soundtrack. Fast forward to three months later, and Dale Jr has provided an update about the new game’s soundtrack.
He wrote on X, “The soundtrack for the next console @nascar game is coming together. Got 19 songs currently to get rights to. Feel like we learned a lot from last year to make this group even better. Plus, working on the options to control what you want to hear and what you dont.”
As he mentioned, it’s not easy to find songs to add to a game’s soundtrack. Each song has certain rights, and using them for anything requires permission from the artists and their labels. Those artists and labels likely earn royalties from the songs’ usage in games as well. Judging from the latter half of his comments, Dale Earnhardt Jr is promising that players can customize the soundtracks to their liking.
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This is something that was often seen in games like GTA, Burnout Revenge, Forza Motorsports and more. So this isn’t exactly a novel concept, but it is relatively uncommon in the gaming genre. Dale Jr has insisted that the development team has learned from NASCAR 25, and the subsequent title will be a step up from that.
Dale Jr made a confession about the Hall of Fame
Away from the track, one could say that he was the face of NASCAR and he did his part to give back to it. Dale Jr was hugely popular with the NASCAR fanbase, winning the Most Popular Driver 15 consecutive years. So it was surprising when he confessed on the Dale Jr Download that he was inducted too early into the Hall of Fame.
He said, “I would have preferred to have waited, and the Ray Elders, the Randy Dorton’s — all those guys that were here a long time ago — they should get in. But a guy like me pops up on the damn ballot and goes right to the front of the line. It’s like when you’re checking in to get your flight, you gotta wait your turn.”
Apparently, there is a rule about Hall of Fame eligibility in NASCAR. They are eligible to be in the Hall of Fame, at least two years after retiring from full-time racing and must have enjoyed a career spanning more than 10 years. By the time Dale Earnhardt Jr stepped away, he was a 26-time Cup Series winner and two-time Daytona 500 champion. In addition to that, he clinched back-to-back Busch Series championships, which earned him Cup Series promotion.
However, the central issue of the debate right now is whether the HoF should consider non-Cup drivers or not, the conversation that started on Junior’s podcast itself about Justin Allgaier’s eligibility discussion. Interestingly, Junior himself never won a Cup title, so by that logic, his 2021 nomination also shouldn’t have taken place. But as Junior argued, it’s “NASCAR Hall of Fame,” and not “NASCAR Cup Hall of Fame.”
UFC Boss Dana White Eyeing to Recreate His MMA Legacy in NASCAR With RAM
Ever since this year’s Cook Out 400 at Martinsville, it seems as if NASCAR is evolving into a more intense, close-combat sport. With the re-entry of Ram Trucks into the Craftsman Truck Series for the first time since 2012, partnering with Kaulig Racing, up to five full-time trucks will hit the tarmac in 2026. The fifth seat was filled through the Race for the Seat competition, a UFC-style elimination event. This marks a shift from traditional NASCAR driver pipelines.
And who better to comment on this shift than Dana White, the creator of the most popular modern televised combat sport event, the UFC?
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Dana White comments on NASCAR’s evolving approach to talent discovery
Dana White, the UFC president and the mastermind behind The Ultimate Fighter, is also an executive producer on Race for the Seat. He shared his opinion on the SpeedOnFox show with Kevin Harvick, drawing on the program’s origins.
“Well, that style of competition, you know, I did it with The Ultimate Fighter. We did it with Jujitsu. We did it with PowerSlap. And I did a surfing show.” Adding to the capacity of such competitive programs, White added, “The kid that won the surfing show actually won like the World Cup of surfing that year. That style of competition, the best always rise to the top.”
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He stresses the need for such UFC-styled NASCAR driver pipelines, stating, “That style of competition, the best always rise to the top. It’s very fascinating. And the idea is to create a pressure-filled environment where only the best can succeed.”
This new talent scouting program, whether it succeeds in the long term or not, is still unknown. Yet it has already primed its first outcome.
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Upon completion of the series, in which fifteen aspiring drivers competed to finish various track challenges held around the Virginia International Raceway and South Boston Speedway, Timothy “Mini” Tyrrell emerged victorious, earning him a full-time ride in the No. 14 Ram truck. He has now earned himself a seat to race alongside legends Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, Daniel Dye, and Justin Haley, filling the other three cars.
The “mystery” of the fourth seat
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You must have noted that adding together Timothy “Mini” Tyrrell, Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, Daniel Dye, and Justin Haley still leaves one seat vacant. Well, that seat too is filled by a limited program.
As part of Ram Trucks’ return, the new program has been designed as a rotating driver initiative for the No. 25 Ram 1500 truck, rather than what would be a traditional driver contract. Under this program, at every NASCAR Truck Series event, the car would be piloted by a different driver, with the announcement on who’s going to be the lucky driver made on Monday before the weekend’s competition.
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The driver selected for the seat again has no criterion to be selected, increasing fan engagement for the event. Because the very unpredictability of who the driver could be, either a legendary veteran, a cross-discipline racer, or even a rising star, is almost guaranteed to drive up engagement.
The very first driver to adopt this “fourth” crown this year was Tony Stewart at Daytona on the 13th of February. With subsequent races rotating between legends like Ty Dillon at Atlanta, Colin Braun in the street-course debut at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, and Corey LaJoie at Darlington and Rockingham. The inclusion of someone like Braun in a Truck Series event truly showcases that the program’s intent to reach new audiences through engagement beyond traditional stock-car specialists is already working.
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Even though these Free Agent drivers are not eligible for the Truck Series championship, they, alongside their fifth driver, this time Timothy Tyrrell, have increased the ability of novices to enter the championship, providing a stage for those who would otherwise be ignored. And after all, it may lead to the outcome that Dana White suggested: “The best will always rise to the top.”
NASCAR Stars’ Comments Backfire as Cleetus McFarland & Co. Takes Racing to Record-Breaking Heights
Has NASCAR finally found the answer to bringing back the good old days? And if the answer is getting names like Cleetus McFarland and Squirrel McNutt inside the racecars, is it worth the backlash from big names inside the sport? Irrespective of the answer, the numbers don’t lie, and the numbers favor the two YouTubers.
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Cleetus McFarland and sidekick key to NASCAR restoring its glory?
The ARCA East race at Hickory pulled the largest ever number in its history with a total of 175,000 viewers. While nothing remarkable happened in or before the race, the participation of one driver was something notable, which journalist Jeff Gluck also highlighted.
“NASCAR says this was the biggest ARCA East/K&N East audience in the last decade and traffic to the NASCAR Channel was double its usual daily average. You’d certainly have to think this was a lot due to Cleetus sidekick Squirrel McNutt (George Siciliano) making his debut,” Gluck wrote.
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McNutt is a regular character in McFarland’s YouTube videos. In fact, Cleetus McFarland is all set to make his much-anticipated O’Reilly debut this weekend at Rockingham. And many believe that McFarland could be the one who ushers in a new era of fans to bring back the old era.
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Ever since the era of Dale Earnhardt passed, NASCAR has been trying to tap into the cultural zeitgeist. Back in the 1990s, the sport was huge because of the huge personalities like Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon. Over time, the personalities lessened and so did their weight and pull. But in the last decade, the weight and the pull were nowhere close to what they once were. Since then, the sport has been trying to get back to its glory days of high ratings and high viewership.
NASCAR has tried everything, from a new car to a varied schedule, to inventive forms of marketing to going back to historic tracks, to testing grounds on new tracks. However, the key seems to be getting names like Cleetus McFarland, who is watched and loved by millions, and bringing his viewership to NASCAR.
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One of the big names who believes in that theory is none other than Dale Earnhardt Jr. The Hall of Famer claimed on his podcast that he wants McFarland racing in NASCAR and bringing his followers to the sport. It’s worth mentioning that McFarland currently has over 4 million subscribers on his YouTube channel. NASCAR has less than 2 million. He has over 900,000 followers on Instagram. Chase Elliott, NASCAR’s most popular driver, has less than 500,000.
But while many are excited about the idea of getting McFarland in NASCAR, there are many who are cautious as well. Kyle Busch was very vocal about his lack of experience as a racecar driver in a stock car with regard to NASCAR giving him the approval to race in the O’Reilly Series. The approval system was something Brad Keselowski also called out.
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Freddie Kraft was particular in his criticism of McFarland as a racecar driver, circling his Truck appearance at Daytona, and the early crash, which could’ve wiped out the whole field.
But despite all the criticism, Cleetus McFarland is unfazed.
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McFarland isn’t going anywhere for the next 2 years from NASCAR
Cleetus McFarland recently addressed the backlash he has gotten since the announcement of his RCR deal. McFarland would run three races for the organization in the O’Reilly Series, the first of which would be at Rockingham.
He claimed that being a YouTuber has prepared him enough to deal with criticism. McFarland stated that anyone who would’ve gotten a chance to drive for RCR would’ve taken it, especially when NASCAR is letting him do it.
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“I’m here, and no one can save me but myself at this point. Once I get on that track on Saturday, it’s up to me. So, they can complain as much as they’d like, but it’s happening, and it’s for two years. So they better buckle up.”
With that said, it’ll be interesting to see how McFarland fares in his O’Reilly debut and whether he brings in the same level of viewership increase as his sidekick did in the ARCA race.
NASCAR Team President Admits Major Financial “Hit” as Donald Trump’s Decisions Takes a Toll on Racing
The recent conflict in the Middle East has claimed a new victim: NASCAR. Since the onset of the war, fuel prices have increased in international markets. With the season having just started, rising fuel costs are forcing teams to adapt or risk being squeezed out due to financial constraints. Kaulig Racing’s new CEO has highlighted this pressing issue, aiming to draw nationwide attention to the critical challenges facing the sport.
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CEO’s Twitter statement: A call for nationwide attention
Kaulig Racing’s new CEO, Chris Rice, took to Twitter to highlight the issues that newer NASCAR teams are facing due to rising fuel costs.
He pointed out, “Fuel prices are killing us. The rise in diesel costs is forcing us to rethink every aspect of our strategy, from how we travel to how we race. This is all costing us a bit more than anticipated.”
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The situation in the Middle East has certainly impacted fuel prices, but other operations in racing have also taken a hit.
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“Ty Norris, our COO, always tells me that he’s never seen anyone keep track of every spoon and fork we buy, but I have to. Every dollar matters right now, especially when we’re dealing with higher costs in almost every department,” said Rice.
Combined with the racing costs, this conflict in the Middle East is now threatening to tear up America’s local circuits. Commenting on the same, Rice added, “We’ve already torn up more fenders than we anticipated this season, and now fuel is a major concern. The financial strain is real, and it’s hitting teams hard.”
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Teams have now been left with no option but to improvise with adjustments being made across the board.
“Back in January, we spent a lot of money on fuel running parts here and there, doing this and that. Now we have a group text called the ‘traveling group text’ where we plan our trips accordingly,” Rice said. “We talk to our truck drivers to figure out how to optimize our routes. For example, do we really need to fill up all the way if we’re only heading to Rockingham? We look for places where fuel might be cheaper, trying to save every dollar we can.”
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Despite Donald Trump, President of the USA, confirming that the war is set to see an end soon, nothing can be guaranteed due to the political landscape of the world right now. Novice teams such as Kaulig Racing will find it hard unless swift adjustments are made. However, this does raise a question on there being need for a potential shift in strategy.
NASCAR has publicly committed to achieving net-zero operational emissions by 2035 as a part of its NASCAR IMPACT environmental strategy. Quickly adapting to renewable resources would not only allow NASCAR to abide by the 2035 deadline but it would also help reduce dependency on non-renewable fuels.
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Finally, NASCAR partnerships with ABB and major automakers such as Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota could also be taken into account, where a 2024 agreement stipulates that all stakeholders would debut an electric race car prototype to test future racing platforms.
This is a great move, as combining it with NASCAR’s push to shift to 100 percent renewable energy sourcing would reduce the dependency on fuel.
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These changes, even though seemingly long-term, can quickly be adapted to limit the fallout of the fuel crisis. If all stakeholders, including politicians, could agree, NASCAR’s 2026 season would have a way to survive this situation.
Steve O’Donnell Receives Rare Support From Beloved NASCAR Legend Amidst Years of Fan Outcry
The fan sentiment against Steve O’Donnell and Steve Phelps reached a breaking point after the antitrust case earlier this year. Various texts were unearthed, Phelps resigned, and the distance between NASCAR leadership and its fans was greater than ever. However, Mike Helton wants to bridge that gap.
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Mike Helton candidly assesses the current NASCAR leadership
One of the most beloved and legendary figures in the history of NASCAR leadership, Helton recently appeared on Kevin Harvick’s podcast. The current Vice Chairman of NASCAR spoke about a variety of subjects, one of which was his views on the current leadership of the sport.
It’s worth mentioning that after Phelps’ resignation, Steve O’Donnell took over the position to become the President of NASCAR. Other notable executives include Ben Kennedy, the Executive Vice President and Chief Venue & Racing Innovations Officer, and Elton Sawyer, Senior Vice President of Competition. Despite all the recent controversy surrounding the leadership of NASCAR, Mike Helton believes that the reign of the sport is in great hands with this group.
“I would tell you that that in my 40-year career with the France family, 80-year history of this sport, I think personally the leadership for the next 15-20 years with through Steve O’Donnell, Ben Kennedy, the support that they have from other really qualified individuals, all of them working side by side with each other to do the right thing for the right reasons. I think today’s leadership in NASCAR is as good as it’s ever been,” Helton claimed.
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He mentioned that he is ‘the luckiest fan’ in all of NASCAR because of the nature of his work. Helton extended the same for O’Donnell, Kennedy, and others, despite the difficulties.
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“That’s priceless for a company that has all the different stakeholders and personalities and characters that it needs to be the government of, and it’s not easy,” Helton claimed.
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With the new changes being introduced, the NASCAR leadership group aims at focusing their attention on the essentials and giving the fans the best viewing experience.
Steve O’Donnell wants to focus on the essentials from now on
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In the past few years, NASCAR remained bullish on the controversial playoff format despite fans’ and insiders’ criticism of it. But for this season, they changed the format to the Chase format.
This one instance encapsulates what Steve O’Donnell envisions would be the approach and case for the future of the sport. He claimed in an interview with SBJ that in the past few years, NASCAR tried to follow suit with other sports and betrayed hardcore fans in pursuit of a new fan group.
But now, NASCAR would make decisions in favor of retaining the old fans now that they’ve put everything behind them, including the COVID hit, the antitrust lawsuit, and the outcry from fans. “Now what you’re seeing us do is … yes, we can introduce the sport to new fans, but here’s how we got here. We had a difficult 18 months. We came out of that in a good place … the opportunity now is we’re going into this season really with no contractual obligations out in front of us, no lawsuits, no COVID. We can just talk about how cool NASCAR racing is,” O’Donnell said.
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It’s worth mentioning that O’Donnell has previously spoken about the importance and intentions of a ‘reset’ for the sport.
With that said, it’ll be interesting to see how NASCAR fares in the coming years under the current set of leadership. Do you think it could thrive with O’Donnell at the helm?
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Let us know in the comments below.
Dale Jr., Lee Pulliam Discuss Emotional Martinsville Race
Lee Pulliam made good on his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Series debut last Saturday at Martinsville.
Piloting the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, the 37-year-old paced the field for 40 laps and crossed the finish line fifth at the conclusion of the 250-lap race.
Although there was controversy with Pulliam missing a shift on a late restart that triggered a multi-car crash, it was an impressive first start for the North Carolina native.
On Wednesday of this week, Pulliam appeared as a guest on “The Dale Jr. Download” to reflect on the race. As he discussed with his one-off team owner, the race meant a lot to not just him, but his family.
Lee Pulliam on his daughter: ‘She’s my biggest supporter’
Lap after lap, Earnhardt Jr. watched Pulliam pour his heart into his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut.
Yet, the moment that stuck with the JR Motorsports owner was before the race.
As discussed on the podcast, the 51-year-old recalls Pulliam sharing a moment with his young daughter on pit road, where the two shared an emotional embrace.
Earnhardt Jr. told Pulliam he knew why he was emotional, but what stood out to the car owner was that his driver’s daughter understood how much the race meant.
“It was really profound for me to see your daughter recognize in that moment how important this was for you. … That’s got to feel so good as a dad. Forget the race, forget how important this is in your life to be able to experience this one thing. You’ve got to feel so good as a dad to have a daughter that recognizes how important that was for you and how happy she was to see you get to do it,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
Holding back tears, Pulliam discussed how his daughter was old enough to understand how much the race meant to him.
“She saw that fire in me. She’s been my biggest supporter. … When we had that post-race meeting Monday morning, let me tell you how aware she is. When I left, she’s like, ‘Daddy, you’re not going to get in trouble are you?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, baby.’ I said, ‘I think they were really impressed with my racing.’”
Pulliam went on to say he would probably be “critiqued” on his restarts, but ensured his daughter it was OK. When Pulliam embraced his daughter during the pre-race, he told his daughter it is why you never give up on your dreams.
Pulliam’s O’Reilly Series future unclear
Saturday’s NFPA 250 at Martinsville was a one-off appearance for Pulliam with JR Motorsports.
As of now, there are no concrete plans for Pulliam to return to the O’Reilly Series in 2026 and beyond.
Pulliam is best known for being a four-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Division I national champion. He has two victories in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour, a series co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It was a quality day for JR Motorsports overall at Martinsville. While Pulliam posted a fifth-place finish, it was Justin Allgaier nabbing the checkered flag. It was Allgaier’s third win of the 2026 season.
Mike Helton Admits Dale Earnhardt Tragedy Brought NASCAR Face to Face With Their Demons
A lot changed in NASCAR on February 18, 2001, the day Dale Earnhardt lost his life in the final lap of the Daytona 500. The legendary driver made contact with Sterling Marlin, resulting in a head-on slam into the outside retaining wall at speeds of over 170 mph. Years later, changes continue to be implemented to ensure such an incident is never repeated. The same official who announced the death of Dale Earnhardt, Mike Helton, now Vice Chairman of NASCAR, has since reflected on how dramatically driver safety has evolved.
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Mike Helton’s Interview: The Moment NASCAR Could No Longer Look Away
In the interview on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, now airing on YouTube, Helton framed the moment it all went down at Daytona as one of sudden realisation. Instead, he felt that it was a crisis that gradually built up.
He recalls, “2001, we were kind of trying to figure things out because we’d gone through a tough stretch in 2000 with Adam and Kenny and Tony Roper and similar fatal injuries.”
In his attempts to understand the problem, he continued, “We were trying to figure out why our drivers were having those particular injuries when they hit… through Adam’s and Kenny’s in New Hampshire and Tony’s in Texas, we were turning up the wick where safety has always been important. I think what we were at that point, looking at, is saying, it needs to be a leg of our table and not just an effort. It needs to be a priority.”
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However, the incident at Daytona, he describes, is one that sent the ball rolling, forcing safety inclusion throughout the circuit. “What I think when we lost Dale, after that day, everybody wanted to say, tell us what to do to help… from the IndyCar side, from the NASCAR side, from the suppliers, the OEMs, everybody wanted to help.”
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The racing incident in Florida, combined with a coordinated effort, led to NASCAR being what it is today. Helton simplified this, stating, “We had bought a building in Kannapolis for our first R&D centre, but quickly realised it wasn’t big enough as support grew. Over the next few years, with drivers, teams, NASCAR, and outside experts involved, the geometry of the cars changed drastically, and the geometry of the racetracks changed as well. All of it came from everyone working together to advance safety in motorsports.”
This combined effort of the entire ecosystem, as rightly pointed out by Helton, is showing its effects. Even though many may ignore it, that quantitative data doesn’t lie.
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An engineering masterclass: from fatal patterns to engineered safety systems
After the rise in fatal injuries and the unfortunate death of Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR needed to find a solution to protect drivers. The solution came from an R&D centre in Concord that was opened in 2003. This became the hub for crash analysis. However, a lot of other factors, including Black box data, impact forces, speed, and angles, were all analysed at the centre.
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As the work at the centre increased, the creation of SAFER barriers (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction), initially at Indianapolis in 2002, then nationwide within NASCAR, was introduced. Even car design and geometry were fit such that crumple zones were enhanced, and chassis flex technology was developed that minimised risk for our drivers.
This, combined with NASCAR-mandated head and neck restraints systems in 2001, eliminated any differential motion between the driver’s head and torso during impact. Seat design was also refit to include full seats with containment for the head, and Snell standards were enforced for full face protection.
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Shohei Ohtani’s Comments Should Have Rest of MLB Terrified of Dodgers
Just when the baseball world thought that Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani couldn’t get any better, he found a way. Ohtani made his first start as a pitcher this week against the Cleveland Guardians, and completely shut them down.
The right-handed pitcher went six innings against the Guardians, allowing just one hit and zero runs while striking out six batters. Los Angeles went on to win the game, with Ohtani’s performance being a potential indication of how he may fare this year as a pitcher.
After the game, Ohtani commented about his outing, looking back on his goals for the season.
“That’s my intention every year – to be a better pitcher, better player,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “At the end of the year my intention is to be able to look back and say that was a really good pitching season.
Dodgers wear blue uniform as part of regular road rotation
The “boys in blue” will take on a literal meaning this year.
On Thursday, the Dodgers announced they are introducing a new blue uniform into their regular road rotation.
The new jerseys follow the team’s traditional template, featuring their iconic red numbers on the front and a cursive “Los Angeles” script across the chest.
It marks the first time in team history they will wear blue uniforms on the road.
Blue uniforms have been used at home in the past, but not since the team’s original “Los Dodgers” city connect jerseys were replaced by their new moon-colored iteration.
Previously, the Dodgers had rotated between two gray uniforms on the road — one that said “Los Angeles” and another that said “Dodgers.”
The new edition will be accented in gray, used for the sleeve piping and an outline on the numbers.
Another new feature: A “Dodgers” cursive script logo is on the sleeve, replacing the usual “LA” logo.
On the other sleeve, the Dodgers’ Guggenheim sponsor patch will also be displayed.
Rumors about a new blue uniform had been floating around in recent weeks, after pictures of the jersey were leaked online.
Now, it’s official — though the team did not announce when the jersey will make its debut.
The Dodgers begin their first road trip of the season on Friday, with a three-game series against the Washington Nationals.
Pirates to promote Konnor Griffin, MLB’s top-rated prospect, to major leagues
PITTSBURGH — The Pirates are promoting Konnor Griffin, the consensus top prospect in baseball, to the major leagues, the team announced Thursday, just in time for Friday’s home opener.
A 19-year-old shortstop, Griffin was selected ninth overall by the Pirates in the 2024 draft out of Jackson Prep High School in Jackson, Miss. Griffin was a part of four state championship teams during his high school career where he earned Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year honors his senior year. He was the top-rated prep player in his draft class.
Griffin became a nationally known name in 2025, his first year as a professional. His journey began with Low-A Bradenton and ended with Double-A Altoona, where he helped the Curve secure a berth to the Eastern League playoffs.
Over 122 games last season, Griffin slashed .333/.415/.527 while tallying 23 doubles, 21 home runs, 94 RBIs and 65 stolen bases. He was also stellar in the field, winning an MiLB Golden Glove Award. That impressive production made him the game’s consensus prospect by the end of his 2025 campaign, a title he retained heading into this season.
Despite his young age, along with having yet to play a single contest above Double-A, the Pirates gave Griffin a chance to break camp with the major league club this spring. But after seeing inconsistencies at the plate — .171/.261/.488, 4 home runs, 2 walks, 13 strikeouts over 46 plate appearances — he was reassigned to minor league camp in the final weekend of Grapefruit League play. He started this season with Triple-A Indianapolis.
Griffin started this season with Triple-A Indianapolis. where he slashed .438/.571/.625 over five games. He now joins the Pirates, who are 3-3 on the young major league season.
No teenage hitter has started on opening day since Adrian Beltre in 1999, while no teenager hitter has debuted on opening day since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1989, a trend the Pirates continued by opening Griffin in Triple-A. The last position player to make his major league debut as a teenager was Juan Soto in 2018.
Analysis
Age aside, this move shows something that was apparent early in the spring: Even as a 19-year-old who struggled some during spring training, the Pirates believe Griffin is their best available option at a very important position.
The move improves the Pirates’ defense, as they’ll have a natural shortstop playing the position (and one who won a minor league Gold Glove Award last season). And while they could keep Nick Gonzales at third after a solid start to the season, they could also use Jared Triolo and go from a left-side infield defense that had two players out of position to one with two Gold Glove candidates.
But the bigger factor in the timing is this: Because Griffin’s call-up happened so early in the season, the Pirates would be eligible for a Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) draft pick if Griffin stays with the team for the rest of the season and he either wins National League Rookie of the Year or finishes top three in MVP voting over the next three seasons. The Pirates would receive an extra draft pick after the first round.
The Pirates would not have remained PPI eligible if Griffin had signed an extension before his major league debut. The Post-Gazette reported last week the team and Griffin discussed an eight-year, $110 million contract with an option for a ninth year.
When the Pirates decided to start Griffin in Triple-A, general manager Ben Cherington said the Pirates “just ended up feeling like a little time in the minor leagues was what could be best for him to start the season.”
Thursday’s move showed that, for a special talent like Griffin, “a little time” could be as few as five games.
Cubs third-base coach Quintin Berry feels boxed in with new MLB rules
Quintin Berry says he’s thinking about bringing a glove with him when he takes his place in the Cubs’ third-base coaching box.
With Major League Baseball informing teams that base coaches can no longer stray beyond the boundaries of the box — which for years has functioned as just a general notion of where a coach should park — Berry believes he needs the protection.
Under the new rules, can he pack a leather piece? Berry said he plans to look into it. But now that he can no longer stand beyond the outer boundary of the box — which is just 90 feet from home plate — he and other base coaches fear their jobs have just become expo-nentially more dangerous.
There’s little wiggle room when a 110 mph foul ball is hurtling your way. It would seem only a matter of time that the increase in exit velocities, with all of baseball’s emphasis on launch angles, bat speed and barreling the ball, could result in injuries. There were a few close calls in spring training.
Berry, who played 13 seasons in the big leagues, including eight games with the Cubs in 2015, during which he had one plate appearance and was used primarily as a pinch runner, is in his second season as third-base coach. He came with manager Craig Counsell from Milwaukee, where he had been first-base coach for four seasons.
“It’s funny,’’ Berry said earlier this week, before the Cubs left for Cleveland and a three-game weekend set against the Guardians, “I’ve talked with a couple of third-base coaches about bringing a glove out there, have a glove on just in case, because it’s like you’re never out of harm’s way.
“There’s no rule against it, supposedly. It’s a matter of who’s going to do it first.’’
MLB announced in February it would be enforcing the boundaries in response to complaints that coaches were occupying positions that would allow them a more advantageous view of a pitcher’s grip. If a coach knew what a pitcher was about to throw, he could relay that information to the hitter. Sign-stealing and similar tactics have long been legally part of the game, as long as electronic technology is not employed.
According to The Athletic, before Game 7 of the World Series between the Blue Jays and Dodgers last fall, both teams were warned that coaches had to stay in the boxes.
The matter was discussed among big-league managers during the winter meetings. MLB’s joint competition committee then took up the topic, and the change was announced after the owners’ meetings.
“It’s probably a good thing just to regulate that,’’ Yankees manager Bret Boone told The Athletic at the time. “. . . I knew something was coming. Overall, I think it’s probably a good thing, just for the competitiveness of the game.’’
Umpires have been instructed to first give coaches who are violating the rules a warning. A second warning can result in ejection.
Berry would prefer to focus on staying in one piece. He already wears a batting helmet. He understands the concerns about sign-stealing but isn’t sure the tradeoff is worth it.
MLB has said coaches can retreat backward toward foul territory — the box is not bracketed in the back. But then a coach can’t do his job, Berry said.
“You see our foul territory — we have [the boxes] exactly,’’ he said. “You’re kind of anchored right in there, near the hitters’ box.
“It’s scary, man. I mean, every coach feels like they’re in a bad spot, but we’re trying to get used to it and see what happens.”
Ex-MLB Commissioner Peter Ueberroth’s Daughter Files Lawsuit After Ailing Parents Reportedly Exploited by Family Friend
In the last few years, the health of the former MLB Commissioner Peter Ueberroth and his wife, Virginia, has been on the decline. In their mid-80s, the Ueberroth couple is suffering from cognitive decline as well, which a family friend has reportedly taken advantage of. The former Commissioner’s daughter has filed a lawsuit alleging financial misuse on the trustee’s part.
Peter Ueberroth was reportedly diagnosed with moderate dementia, alongside strong concern for Alzheimer’s disease, in March 2024. As Peter lost his ability to handle financial transactions due to the disease, family friend and attorney Michael McKee took over as the trustee of the family’s trust. Ueberroth’s daughter, Vicki Ueberroth Booth, has filed the lawsuit against their trustee, McKee, in the California Superior Court, reported The Athletic.
Ueberroth’s Booth alleged in the lawsuit that McKee reportedly subordinated the interests of trustors and beneficiaries, which was a violation of his statutory duties. It was also alleged that the 80-year-old attorney persistently concealed material information.
They also alleged the misuse of millions of dollars of the family’s fund by McKee. Vicki Ueberroth had petitioned for the removal of McKee as the family’s trustee and to pay back the money.
McKee is also the chairman of Tiger Woods’charity, the TGR Foundation.
According to The Athletic, McKee proceeded to conceal “the use of Peter’s signature after Peter had been deemed incapacitated,” the suit claims, adding the “authorizations were executed at a time when Peter lacked capacity and could not provide informed consent.”
In a statement to The Athletic, Ueberroth Booth’s attorney, Gabrielle Vidal, highlighted how disturbing it has been for her to bring private family matters to a public forum. But she has been rendered helpless, and seeking the court’s aid was the only way.
“It has been deeply distressing for Vicki and her family to watch Mr. McKee, someone her parents once trusted, betray that trust at a time when they are most vulnerable. Filing this petition — and bringing sensitive and private family matters into a public forum — was not a decision made lightly, but a necessary one to protect their parents, safeguard what they built, and ensure that their wishes are honored. Mr. McKee’s continued breaches of his fiduciary duties and his misuse of authority have left her no choice but to seek the court’s intervention,” said Vidal in the statement.
Peter Ueberroth was the MLB’s sixth commissioner and was in charge of the first privately run Olympics held in Los Angeles in 1984. He pushed for player drug testing and focused on television revenues. Having taken charge as the Commissioner of the league in 1984, he served until 1989.
The petition also alleges that McKee did not intervene in the efforts of two other associates, who were involved in the exploitation of the Ueberroths.
Exploitation by two other associates
The suit alleges that the two associates altered the access to Ueberroth’s bank account by allegedly changing the designated email address to one they controlled.
The Athletic further reported that in 2023, the associates transferred $2 million to a Los Angeles-based charity by “falsely representing that Peter had authorized the transfer.” In reality, neither Peter nor Virginia had any association with the charity.
Ueberroth Booth redirected the money to another charity after she noticed that the transfer was “wholly inconsistent with Peter’s and Virginia’s long‑standing charitable practices,” as per the suit.
Furthermore, she also alleged that the two associates pressured Peter into dismissing caregivers and disregarding medical directives, along with isolating him. Despite knowing the situation, McKee remained inactive.
Ueberroth Booth had mentioned in the petition that an Orange County sheriff contacted her to inform her that Peter was being taken advantage of.
ABS Challenge System results, what we have learned
During the Mariners’ opening series against the Guardians, television analyst and former MLB pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith noticed something telling about the new challenge system: hitters hesitated. They often seemingly wanted to tap their helmets and challenge a borderline call, but they mostly held back.
They had good reason to pause. Players now face a real-time calculus on every pitch, challenges are a scarce resource, and many borderline calls and situations make decisions far from obvious. After two seconds, the window to challenge closes.
Baseball’s new Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge system has already won over fans. It delivers more accurate calls and adds an entertaining layer of strategy and umpire-versus-player theater. With only two incorrect challenges allowed per game, teams must decide not only when to challenge but who should do it. Often that means a player putting the team first.
How can teams optimize the challenge system? How are players stacking up through the first week of the 2026 season? Let’s explore:
For example, a full count carries a .730 swing in run expectancy as a single pitch yields either a baserunner or an out. By comparison, the difference between a ball and a strike on the first pitch is a mere .07 run value.
Batters and catchers have always understood the general value of counts. Now they must zero in on the specifics.
The highest number of challenges (27) by count have come on even, 2-2 counts through one week, which is the second most valuable count in terms of an expected run value swing (.445). This is quality real-time calculation by players.
But the 0-0 counts rank second (25), even with some front offices instructing their players never to challenge in that count.
Yes, there are far more 0-0 counts since that’s the state in which every plate appearance begins, and teams retain their challenge if it’s successful. But batters and catchers should be waiting for deeper counts before tapping a helmet.
There have been 19 challenges on full counts, which ranks fourth. There should be additional full-count challenges and perhaps there will be more.
A larger sample of past Minor League play suggests this will change, as only 1.6 percent of first pitches were challenged compared to 8 percent of full-count calls.
The single biggest factor in determining when to challenge is the expected change in win probability. A borderline pitch in a high-leverage moment – like a situation with the tying run on second with two outs in the ninth, or bases loaded and tied in the sixth – justifies an early-count challenge.
Thus far, 54 percent of challenges have come within the sixth inning or later, innings that have covered just 44 percent of game time but generally contain higher-leverage moments.
Players have challenged more often during periods of the game with greater leverage but it’s still probably not enough, as MLB.com’s Mike Petriello argued the other day. Out of curiosity, I asked Google’s Gemini about optimal challenges by innings. The AI tool suggested 70 percent of challenges should be reserved for the sixth inning and later.
Fewer challenges should be made early. Athletics catcher Austin Wynns presumably would like to have his second-inning challenge of a 1-0 ball call back from Wednesday in Atlanta. That’s not optimal.
Even though he lost it, Matt Wallner’s challenge of a two-out, full-count pitch with a runner on base in the first inning on Wednesday was more defensible.
Pitchers have the lowest success rates. They stand farther from the strike zone, and they may carry more bias toward calls that would help them escape jams or extend outings. Teams are instructing pitchers to practice restraint and let catchers decide – but that’s not always easy.
In the fourth inning on Wednesday night, Twins pitcher Joe Ryan froze with his arms in the air following a close 2-2 pitch that was called a ball just off the plate. He wanted to challenge but restrained himself. Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers opted (correctly) to not challenge.
Earlier in the day, George Kirby challenged a call, and did so successfully – though he went against some of our aforementioned rules as it was also a first-inning challenge.
During MLB’s 288-game experiment with ABS last spring, pitchers only had a 41 percent success rate overturning calls. Hitters stood at 50 percent, while catchers enjoyed a 56 percent success rate. And there’s clear logic why catchers should be the most effective: they have the best view of the zone and see the most pitches during a game and over the course of a season.
Catchers should be challenging even more often as their total challenges (180 through April 1) are 10.5 challenges below Baseball Savant’s expected challenge metric. The Yankees’ Austin Wells is a perfect 4-for-4 in challenging calls entering the weekend. Salvador Perez leads MLB with five overturns (71 percent success rate).
Entering the weekend, 55 of the 82 batters (67 percent) to challenge were above-average hitters in terms of wRC+ last season (minimum 200 plate appearances). Overall, the average hitter to challenge this season averaged a 112 wRC+ last year, meaning they were 12 percent better than the league-average hitter.
The only time to deviate is game context. A weak-hitting ninth-place batter should challenge a two-strike call with one out and a runner on in a late, close game.
It’s a lot to consider; perhaps we could all benefit from a quarterback-style wrist band informing when to (and when not to) challenge:
There are many inputs that go into the decision. Players are generally within the ballpark in making correct, team-first decisions thus far, but there is still room for improvement. Ultimately the teams and players that calibrate the fastest will have an edge – the newest edge in the game.
Reds’ Nick Lodolo exits injury rehab start early with blister on pitching finger
Reds lefty Nick Lodolo’s stellar rehab outing came to an abrupt end on Thursday.
Lodolo, who started this MLB season on the 15-day injured list because of a blister, exited his start with the Single-A Daytona Tortugas after throwing 40 pitches because of another sore on his index finger.
The 28-year-old retired the first eight batters in order with four strikeouts, but then called for a trainer in the middle of an at-bat during the third inning despite being expected to throw 60-65 pitches.
The Reds confirmed Lodolo’s blister to the Cincinnati Enquirer, though it is still unclear if the issue will delay the lefty’s return to the major league club.
Lodolo, who has dealt with blister injuries throughout his MLB career, suffered the initial injury during his final spring training start on March 22.
Cincinnati skipper Terry Francona said Monday that Lodolo was slated to make his season debut for the Reds during the team’s series against the Marlins (April 6-9) in Miami, barring any setback.
“We didn’t want to have him go somewhere and not pitch,” Francona told the Enquirer. “So we thought this was the best way to do it.”
Lodolo is coming off perhaps his best MLB season in his four-year career so far, where he posted a 3.33 ERA with 156 strikeouts and two complete games through a career-high 156⅔ innings.
This also comes as the Reds are without their ace, Hunter Greene, who is recovering from arthroscopic surgery that he underwent on March 11 to remove bone chips from his throwing elbow.
“I’d been dealing with discomfort for a while,” Greene told reporters following his surgery, according to MLB.com. “Over the course of a season and feeling certain things in an area, especially as an elbow … as a pitcher you think that it’s just, ‘Maybe I’m feeling a little inflammation or discomfort,’ and it’s to be expected because we’re pitchers. Obviously, it’s a lot on the body.
“The bone spurs came up as chronic so there’s no timestamp as to when it formed, but it’s been there. It’s still early [after the surgery], so I still feel it and it’s still uncomfortable and swollen. There’s already a lot of freedom in the elbow.”
Daniel Susac has 3 hits in first Major League start
Making his first big league start in Thursday’s 7-2 win against the Mets, the Giants catcher (and No. 21 prospect per MLB Pipeline) laced a single to right-center field in his first at-bat against lefty David Peterson, eliciting an excited roar from the Susac family sitting adjacent to the press box — a fanfare that would repeat three more times as the night progressed.
Facing Peterson leading off the bottom of the second, Susac slapped a curveball the other way, tallying his first hit in his first at-bat at the ballpark he grew up frequenting as a native of Roseville, roughly a two-hour drive from San Francisco (give or take).
Susac’s quick attack exemplified the Giants’ approach against Peterson, who faced 11 hitters through two innings but only registered 24 pitches in doing so. The lefty was ultimately driven from the game after issuing a one-out walk to Jung Hoo Lee in the fifth.
Susac added another first-pitch single in the third, drew a four-pitch walk in the fifth, issued and won an Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge in the sixth and cracked a third single in the seventh, putting a bow on a dream of a first full game.
When it was all said and done, the Giants secured manager Tony Vitello’s inaugural victory at his new home ballpark — another first in his young managerial career.
Giants left-hander Robbie Ray gutted it out for 5 1/3 innings, spotted to a quick 3-0 lead in the first on the strength of a Luis Arraez RBI triple, a Matt Chapman RBI double and the benefit of a fielding error by Peterson on an attempted 1-3 putout from first baseman Mark Vientos.
Ray wasn’t at his sharpest early, needing 59 pitches to get through his first three frames, but the 34-year-old retired his last five batters, departing with one out in the sixth on 96 pitches.
Atlanta Braves Star Is Silently Making Major MLB History
On Thursday night, the Atlanta Braves played the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix.
The Braves won by a score of 17-2.
Matt Olson finished with three hits (one home run), one walk, and three RBI’s.
Atlanta Braves Star Is Silently Making Major MLB History
Olson also continued his historic streak of games played (789).
Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote: “Matt Olson, who’s playing in his 789th consecutive game, the second-longest streak in baseball since 2000, hits his first HR of the season for Atlanta”
Olson is currently 12th on the all-time list, and will need just ten more games to pass Nellie Fox for 11th.
He streak began on May 2, 2021.
Sarah Langs wrote (on August 19, 2025): “Matt Olson is playing his 746th consecutive game today, dating to 5/2/21, passing Pete Rose for the 12th-longest streak in MLB history
1982-98 Cal Ripken Jr: 2,632 1925-39 Lou Gehrig: 2,130 1916-25 Everett Scott: 1,307 1975-83 Steve Garvey: 1,207 2000-07 Miguel Tejada: 1,152 1963-70 Billy Williams: 1,117 1922-30 Joe Sewell: 1,103 1952-57 Stan Musial: 895 1949-55 Eddie Yost: 829 1931-37 Gus Suhr: 822 1955-60 Nellie Fox: 798 2021-pres Matt Olson: 746 *active 1978-83 Pete Rose: 745″
Olson’s MLB Career
Olson was the was the 47th pick in the 2012 MLB Draft.
Before the Braves, he spent the first six years of his career with the Athletics.
Ranking 2026 Final Four teams by MLB alumni
Though the men’s and women’s Final Four tournaments will determine the NCAA basketball champs, all seven schools involved also have notable histories in baseball.
UCLA, Arizona, Texas, Michigan, Illinois, South Carolina and UConn each has produced multiple MLB All-Stars and postseason heroes, and a few of the schools have produced Hall of Famers from among their drafted and undrafted players.
But which of the schools can claim the best output of baseball talent? Though one stands well above the rest, all have plenty of reason to brag. Here’s a look at how they rank.
UCLA is an undisputed giant in terms of producing baseball talent, and it easily leads the way in terms of MLB standouts among the Final Four schools. As of April 1, 2026, there have been 76 players to attend UCLA, get drafted and later play in the Majors, including multiple All-Stars, postseason stars and Cy Young winners.
By WAR, the most notable player drafted from the program is former Phillies great and six-time All-Star Chase Utley (64.6 bWAR), followed by current Yankees righty and 2023 AL Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole (43.1 bWAR). Other notables include former Angels slugger Troy Glaus (38.1 bWAR), former Giants standout Brandon Crawford (29.4 bWAR) and 1976 ALCS hero Chris Chambliss (27.5 bWAR).
And this doesn’t even include Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, who wasn’t drafted (because the Draft didn’t exist yet) but produced 63.9 bWAR during his big league career.
Texas has had a whopping 325 players drafted by big league teams, and 77 of them have reached the Majors. The talent tally: 34 All-Star appearances, seven Cy Young Awards, an MVP and seven ERA titles. However, honesty compels us to report that almost all of that belongs to Roger Clemens.
Clemens (139.2 bWAR) was an 11-time All-Star and seven-time Cy Young winner on his way to 354 wins and 4,672 strikeouts. In 1986, the year he won his first Cy Young Award, Clemens also was named AL MVP after a 24-4 season in which he also led the league with a 2.48 ERA and helped the Red Sox win the AL pennant.
There have been other standouts to emerge from the Longhorns program, however. They include former All-Star pitcher and 1981 NLCS MVP Burt Hooton (36.4 bWAR), former All-Star lefty Greg Swindell (30.5 bWAR) and former Giants All-Star Brandon Belt (29.9 bWAR).
Michigan has produced 49 All-Stars from among its former attendees, along with two MVPs and three Hall of Famers. But only two players checked all three of those categories: Charlie Gehringer and Barry Larkin.
Gehringer (84.8 bWAR) was a six-time All-Star and the 1937 AL MVP, a season in which he also won the AL batting title with a .371 average. He was also a member of Detroit’s 1935 World Series championship team, contributing a .375 average and a .923 OPS during the Fall Classic.
Larkin (70.5 bWAR) was a 12-time All-Star, nine-time Silver Slugger, three-time Gold Glove winner and the 1995 NL MVP. Like Gehringer, he also won a World Series, the title coming in 1990 with the Reds. And, like Gehringer, he had a big Fall Classic, hitting .353 with a .950 OPS as Cincinnati swept the A’s.
Rounding out the list of Wolverines with a plaque in Cooperstown is catcher Ted Simmons (50.4 bWAR), who played 21 seasons in the Majors.
The Wildcats have produced well north of 100 MLB players over the decades, including Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman (28.0 bWAR) and six-time All-Star Kenny Lofton (68.4 bWAR).
In all, Arizona attendees have played in more than 26,000 MLB games and have a collective .711 OPS. On the mound, they’ve tossed more than 12,000 innings and have a collective 4.08 ERA — and, of course, this includes Hoffman’s NL-record 601 saves.
Other notables to attend the school include closer and four-time All-Star Mark Melancon (13.3 bWAR), former 20-game winner and 1991 World Series champ Scott Erickson (24.8 bWAR), six-time Gold Glove winner J.T. Snow (11.0 bWAR) and longtime catcher Ron Hassey (14.7 bWAR), who caught two perfect games and won a World Series with the 1989 A’s.
The Gamecocks have a rich baseball tradition, having produced at least one All-Star or World Series champion in every decade since the ’80s.
In total, former South Carolina players have combined for 175.1 career bWAR since 1975. Among those who have contributed is Astros first baseman and three-time Gold Glove winner Christian Walker, who had compiled 15.2 bWAR entering 2026.
Though dozens of MLB players have come from UConn, the school is on the baseball map mostly for two guys: George Springer and Charles Nagy. With seven All-Star appearances and 67 bWAR between them, they’re the clear standouts.
Springer (42.2 bWAR) has been a four-time All-Star, three-time Silver Slugger and World Series MVP during his 13 seasons with the Astros and Blue Jays. Nagy (24.8 bWAR), a former starter with Cleveland and San Diego, was a three-time All-Star who won 15 or more games six times.
Illinois may not match the baseball pedigree of some of the other Final Four schools, but it has produced 15 All-Stars and a Hall of Famer. All but one of those All-Star appearances came between 1940 and 1973, with the one selection since then belonging to Expos catcher Darrin Fletcher in 1994.
Among those drafted out of the school, two-time All-Star pitcher Ken Holtzman — who also tossed two no-hitters — leads the way with 27.3 bWAR, followed by utilityman and two-time World Series champ Scott Spiezio (8.8 bWAR), and Fletcher (7.7 bWAR).
But among all players to attend the school, Hall of Fame shortstop Lou Boudreau stands above everyone, with 63.1 bWAR. Boudreau was a seven-time All-Star and the 1948 AL MVP. That season, he hit .355 with 18 homers, 106 RBIs and a .987 OPS to help lead Cleveland to a World Series title.
One of NFL’s first female officials alleges gender discrimination, harassment in lawsuit
LOS ANGELES — One of the first women to officiate an NFL game is suing the league for gender discrimination, harassment and retaliation more than a year after she was fired.
Robin DeLorenzo filed a lawsuit last week in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that claims she was “subjected to gender-based scrutiny, humiliation, disparate training, unequal gear, and open hostility” while employed as an NFL official from April 2022 to February 2025.
“She was denied the support and development routinely afforded to male officials, graded through a system built and controlled by men who had fixated on her gender from day one, and punished when she reported harassment or insisted on being treated with basic respect,” the lawsuit states.
“The NFL had every chance to intervene, to support her, and to apply its policies fairly. Instead, it silenced complaints, rewarded the men who mistreated her, and ultimately terminated her using the very metrics corrupted by that discrimination.”
In a statement emailed to The Los Angeles Times, the NFL denied the allegations.
“The NFL is committed to providing a fair and supportive environment for all of its game officials,” the league said. “Ms. DeLorenzo was terminated following three seasons of documented underperformance. The allegations in this lawsuit are baseless, and we will vigorously defend against them in court.”
Walt Anderson, who was the NFL’s senior vice president of officiating during DeLorenzo’s first two seasons, and former NFL official Byron Boston, whom the lawsuit states had a supervisory role over DeLorenzo during her employment, are named as co-defendants. An NFL spokesperson said Anderson is not commenting on the matter. Attempts by The Times to reach Boston for comment were unsuccessful.
The lawsuit alleges that DeLorenzo was directed to wear her hair in a ponytail that showed through the hole in the back of her hat, “the implication being that this would make her look feminine and/or make her stand out as being a token female on the field.” She ended up wearing her hair in a visible bun as a compromise, the complaint states.
Also, according to the lawsuit, DeLorenzo often had to purchase her own gear and iron the NFL logo onto it because the gear she was issued came only in men’s sizes that were too large for her to wear.
The complaint also states that during the 2024 offseason, DeLorenzo was “forced” to take part in “a low-level college clinic, involving different rules, different mechanics, and different philosophies as compared to the NFL.”
“The Clinic had nothing to do with helping Plaintiff in her NFL career; it was a male power play that served its purpose of humiliating Plaintiff, shattering her confidence, and significantly hindering her NFL career,” the lawsuit states.
The NFL Referees Association filed a grievance over the clinic issue, according to the complaint, resulting in the league reimbursing DeLorenzo for her expenses related to the clinic and paying her for her time spent there. The NFLRA did not immediately respond on Wednesday to a request for comment from The Times.
DeLorenzo also has “identified instances of her male counterparts being treated more favorably” in the grading system used to evaluate officials during her third season, the lawsuit states, adding that she believes “her season three grades were going to be used as a pretext for her eventual termination.”
DeLorenzo spent nearly two decades as an official, working her way up through high school and various levels of college football, before becoming only the third woman to officiate NFL games. In addition to unspecified damages, DeLorenzo is seeking to be brought back as an NFL official and compensated for lost earnings.