Indian Wells, California – for a tournament that’s often known as tennis paradise, the Indian Wells tends to bring some Old Testamal elements into sport within the California desert.

The sun that brings down throughout the day is replaced by temperatures that could be cold at night. In a part of the world, which sees about 14 days of 365 rain, some all the time appear to find yourself in the primary fourteen days of March and to interrupt the sport. Bien was flooded with the major stadium last yr. This yr the jury is the tennis player in any respect levels – this rarely stops playing, but his rhythm greater than every other weather conditions – the small yellow ball that you wish to hit the white lines and drive it to distract.

“Bloody Windy out there,” said Rinky Hijikata, the 24-year-old Australian, who attributed his childhood in a windy suburb of Sydney for his game with Alexander Shevchenko from Kazakhstan 6: 1, 6: 3. On the complex, 40 -km / h floors, palm trees and broadcast the sending of channels like a free football free kick through the air.

Hijikata said the wind on Thursday was not only powerful: it appeared to come from all directions. In view of this, there was just one option to survive, and it didn’t include the dead goal on the lines to quickly attempt to end quickly.

“You have to give yourself big margins,” he said. “You have to hit the ball in the square and put on your running shoes.”

Belinda Bencic, who followed her usual strategy, when she enforced 6-1, 6-1 over Tatjana Maria, had an identical approach. “I attempt to play, not attempt to take dangerous recordings and easily play a giant goal and work your legs hard.

“Respect the wind,” she warned.

---

Heat could be exhausting and rain can delay the sport, however the wind is probably the most moody. Similar to a mighty first servant or floor prank, his power over tennis means little without knowing his direction. If it hunted up in a dish, parallel to the side lines, the results are more predictable. At one end, the players should overlap with the breeze within the back. On the opposite hand, you have got to concentrate on how much your shots shall be. The player who receives a ball with wind has to react faster. If it slows down a ball, your footwork must get you to do that and adjust to sudden changes in direction.

It doesn't often work so clean. The breeze can cry the Flushing Bay on the US Open in New York on a couple of days. The Arthur Ashe Stadium, the major tariff, was known for its vertebrae before installing a partial roof in 2015. At the ATP Tour event in Estoril, Portugal, north of Lisbon, the wind could get a multitude from the Atlantic.

The winds in Indian fountains are of a special kind, something that the majority players by some means slips after they grow to be poetic for lots of their favorite stops within the tennis calendar. The place is largely a wind machine between two mountains, the San Jacintos and the San Bernardinos, within the coachella Valley about 120 miles east of Los Angeles. The mountains act like a funnel; The hot air rises from the desert floor and the cool air rushes in from above to take its place. On the outer courts it should go within the direction chosen for the day. On the major tariff, stadium 1, the bowl structure and its doors and openings create currents and vertebrae, to which the players should adapt to one another.

You can literally see that the wind takes over the ball with the air pic.twitter.com/0umjtavd8k

– Owen (@kosketekcan) March 6, 2025

A desert wind may create others. Bencic said she left the practice court last Friday with a sip of one of the best within the desert.

“It was like a sandstorm,” she said.

The wind provided a problematic first match for Joao Fonseca, the 18-year-old aspiring star from Brazil, who plays the tournament for the primary time. In the third set of Jacob Fearnley Britain from Break Down needed to rummage back within the third set of Break Down to win his Indian Wells debut.

Fonseca dominated Fearnley in the primary sentence when the Brit was set to the wind and came upon how you can play aggressively in it. Fearnley would have expected that he would have a bonus. He played college tennis at Texas Christian University, which could be loads of gusty, especially on the TCU home spaces which can be built right into a form of bowl.

“A lot of it is mental,” said Fearnley. “You can't really control what the weather will do, so just accept it and try to use it to the best of our strength.”

He appeared to master it and master the Brazilian until a double mistake made it possible to attract Fonseca to attract on the crucial set. Fonseca lost within the windest match that he could remember, not one other game to which his kick, who jumped out of the promoting space, was captivated in Fearnley's backhand and his opponent. His hat blew sooner or later; One towel rolled on the square and interrupted the sport during one other.

Players who fight for each the wind and against one another

The towel had enough of this point #Tennisparadise pic.twitter.com/rp6elrk4oz

– Tennis television (@Tennistv) March 6, 2025

“If it is windy, it's just a small mistake, and at this level it is only a point you won the match,” he said.

Nevertheless, the Wind Fonseca made it so uncomfortable that after the 2 -hour match, he went on the option to the sensible areas to fulfill one other half an hour and check out to get a sense for the ball.

After Fonseca and Fearnley were finished within the major stadium, it was within the series of Emma Raducanu to seek out out the weather. Raducanu played her first match since a spectator was faraway from one in every of her games for her in Dubai in Dubai last month. The one that appeared of their game within the second round against Karolina Muchová had “called to her, left her a note, took her photo and deal with a behavior that caused her burden,” said Dubai's authorities.

Indian Wells brought security and a variety of support for her. “I didn't have what happened in Dubai in my head today,” she said.

Unfortunately, for Raducanu, who lives after rhythm and located its groove, it also brought the form of conditions that no player would want for a primary match after a break. The wind and the difficult challenges of Moyuka Uchijima, which dominated the conditions by various its shots, proved an excessive amount of with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat.

“Very cumbersome in the wind here,” said Raducanu, who played her first game along with her recent test trainer Vladimir Plateik. Plateik previously trained Lulu Sun, who defeated Raducanu in last yr's Wimbledon and the highest 15 Mainstay Daria Kasatkina.

“Many balls that were very, very weak in the day and in the wind in these dishes,” said Raducanu. “So it just jumped up after which briefly like a little bit little bit of grievances.

“I didn't really know what would come.”

When the night fell and the temperature sank, the wind died. Of course, the rain, a chilly, constant drizzle, who heard the sport at around 8:30 p.m. at 9:25 p.m., got here to the sport for the night.

Before the tournament, the choice of the BNP Paribas Open to alter their court provider dominated the discussion among the many players in regards to the conditions. In the primary evidence, the brand new Laykold surface continues to be hopping, with the desert sand and the grit turn balls from strike zones in the colour and roughen the felt. It is the swings within the sun and cloud, cold and warm, and above all windy and calm that outline the conditions that Andrey Rublev compared with 4 tournaments in a single.

If the prediction is true – all the time a giant one, when within the desert – the gusts shall be easier in the approaching days, which is simpler to administer life on the tennis courts. Unless the bees rave again.

A big a part of the NHL can be within the winch for a rare 10-day break within the season-a likelihood to charge and heal before the playoff printing.

But while they’re at home in Europe or hanging within the states with the family or lazing on a beach within the Caribbean, the Piña Coladas sips, most of them will control the primary best hockey tournament for the reason that 2016 World Cup from 2016 .

“I think it's sick,” said one player. “Best best. Everyone desires to see that. I'll watch. “

The face of the 4 nations may not have the history of the Olympic Games or the depth of the field of a World Cup, but it will still be that Connor McDavid against Auston Matthews, Aleksander Barkov against Elias Pettersson and countless other tantalizing matchups sprays.

The best players from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States will compete in a round-robin tournament in Boston and Montreal. The two teams with the best round-robin record (three points for a regulatory win, two points for an overtime or shooting iron, one point for a loss or a loss of shootout and no points for a loss of regulation) will meet on February in Boston. 20 for the championship.

asked 110 active players – who was granted anonymity so that they could be brutally honest if necessary – if they are interested in the tournament, and the vast majority of them said … of course with some exceptions.

Those who play in the event are interested. Well, 15 of the 16 that we at least asked. But some of them live in both the present and in the future and see the 4 nations as an audition for the 2026 Olympics in Italy.

“The last time we had a full international, best best tournament was the World Cup, and that was every week until I did the NHL,” said a team of Canada's player. “We didn't have that in my entire career. … With the Olympic Games next year you want to do well – to obviously win the 4 nations and hopefully be part of these events in the next seasons. “

“Just because it is a forerunner of the Olympic Games,” said one other player who was right. “As a fan of hockey, I have a look at it. I keep in mind that I grew up. These are only so big hockey moments. It is great for hockey basically.

“I'm there, so I will certainly take care of it,” said a Swedish player of the team. I show who I’m and it’s a team of coaches that I actually have not had an excessive amount of to do up to now.

And the participating player who was not interested?

“I prefer to go home (my home country),” he said. “I would rather have a two -week break. It is shit that you miss the two -week break, but it's cool that you are playing against the best players. Apart from the Russians, there must be no in there. That's stupid. You are currently the best players. “

Understandably, he was not the just one who exit apathy over countries from the tournament.

“If our nation is not part of it, I don't worry,” said a Czech player.

“(My country) is not in it, so not really (interested),” said a player whose country doesn’t compete. However, I feel it was too long that the fans need to see the best-on-best hockey, so it's exciting for them.

“I, a guy whose country does not participate, I don't care,” said one other Czech player.

“There should also be Russia there,” said a Russian player.

Interestingly, one other Russian player said: “I will watch US Canada, but that's it.”

A Canadian player who was not chosen for participation said he was on surpassing his country.

“Every time there is an international stage with the best players, there is a feeling of Canadian pride.”

In fact, Canadian players generally gave a greater probability than Americans.

Some players said they may take it or leave it. You won’t strive to follow the motion, but you won't change the channel when it occurs.

“I am interested in it? No,” said one player. “I think it's a cool concept? Yes.”

“This is our break,” said one player.

You hear loads in regards to the “growth of the game” within the international game, and although this is usually the realm of ​​responsibility of the league agency, players also understand the worth of getting a highlight during considered one of the quietest months of the sports calendar.

It is actually a progress from one other vigorous all-star weekend that many players have for fear.

“I think everything that such public is so big is great for the league if you only have a look at it,” said one player. For the league.

“I think it's cool,” said one other player. “I think the game will definitely expand. This best competition is great as a fan. If I can see it, I will definitely be inserted into myself. I think it's really cool to have things like that. It obviously makes the schedule a little more difficult, but I think it is still cool and pleasant to see. “

“It will really be a good hockey,” said one other player. “And that's what you want. It is not the case that there is a meaning behind it like the Olympic Games or Worlds or World Juniors. That doesn't have that. But it is an spin -off of it, but they also create a crazy, great tournament that is really fun to see hockey. And I will be interested to see how it works. “

As for the 20 players, they said that they aren’t really interested? Leave them alone. Can't you read the extraordinary answer?

“I will enjoy my beach time to be honest,” said one.

The first #4Nations The face-off will go to Montreal and Boston from February 12 to 2025. pic.twitter.com/u2qrhy6FLD

– NHL (@NHL) June 8, 2024

The athlete

Florian Wirtz is a gem of German football and played a central role in Bayer Leverkusen's unbeaten double last season, winning the Bundesliga Player of the Year award. Alongside FC Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala, he can be the good hope of Julian Nagelsmann's national team and can be crucial to Germany's challenge on the 2026 World Cup.

His contract runs until 2027, so there isn’t a obligation to sell, but given his close relationship with in-demand head coach Xabi Alonso, there’ll come some extent when Wirtz, who joined Leverkusen from Cologne in 2020, could look elsewhere.

He belongs at the highest of the sport, but his path is determined by which club is willing to pay Leverkusen's €150 million (£125 million; $159 million) price tag. They won't get that, however the number shows how highly Wirtz is valued.

Fernando Carro, the club's CEO, believes he could stay beyond this season.

What else do I want to learn about him?

There is a mysterious silence inside him. He is understandably laconic given the eye he receives within the German media, but can be very talked-about within the Leverkusen dressing room and is fashion-conscious off the pitch, too, looking like someone on the best way back from a Stone Roses gig .

Wirtz has been a star for a very long time. In his early teens, there have been stories about somewhat boy in Cologne who is likely to be the country's biggest talent for years. The hype was justified. What happened next, nonetheless, sparked a dispute that continues to this present day.

When he got here through Cologne's youth teams, there was a “gentlemen's agreement” between several clubs within the region – including Cologne, Leverkusen, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Fortuna Düsseldorf – stipulating that they might not poach one another's youth players for the good thing about the region would .

After turning 17, Wirtz's youth contract with Cologne expired. The player's parents wanted him to finish his education and stay near home, so he moved to Leverkusen for €300,000. His latest club felt he was a good player – a senior relatively than a youth player. Cologne disagreed, claiming its local rivals had violated the agreement.

Max Eberl, Gladbach's sports director on the time (and now Bayern's sports director), criticized Leverkusen's behavior, but Carro, who stays Leverkusen's chairman, defended his club.

This could also be old news, but Bayern's transfer targets will – inevitably – include Wirtz, which might involve delicate negotiations.

Will he go there? Most likely not. Musiala's contract extension is a priority for FC Bayern. Given the strength of his relationship with Alonso and the nice form he has had under him, the smart money may very well be on them taking their next steps together.

Tell me how he plays…

On the pitch, his control, dribbling ability and inventive abilities make him one of the exciting players on the earth. He can push past defenders but additionally find teammates with one-twos, precise passes and thru balls, while his movement and positioning off the ball commonly takes him into areas where he can rating and create opportunities.

During his short senior profession he played on the front line and was number 10. This versatility allowed Nagelsmann to successfully play him and Musiala together at Euro 2024.

Wirtz's defensive work has also improved under Alonso and he was ready to present his all to steer Leverkusen's pressing. Wirtz was over the cap because he played behind the striker, but arguably hasn't reached his cap yet – greater than the rest, that's a scary prospect.

Many of us have quit a job sooner or later in our lives – but what number of have questioned whether or not they had a “legitimate reason” to achieve this? Did you act on a whim? Did your departure make life difficult on your employer? And was your desire to maneuver on really greater than the loss it meant to your boss?

For skilled footballers who want to alter teams, the mere reason could be a real problem. Under the Football transfer system Created and operated by FIFA, the game's world governing body, players who quit without a superb reason – that’s, who cannot prove that their employer has demonstrably treated them unfairly – may be subject to significant financial and disciplinary penalties .

But that might soon change. On October 4, 2024, the European Court of Justice has taken a significant step towards dismantling an employment system that placed undue burdens on employees and, fortunately for the remaining of us, was abolished way back.

As Sports economistI even have been writing about this topic for several years and know of no system outside of sport that restricts the rights of employees to a comparable extent.

An illustrative example for FIFA

The legal dispute is complicated, but at its core is that Lassana Diarra, a star player for Lokomotiv Moscow in 2014, got it get into an argument During his contract period, he joined the Russian club and resigned. He then received a job offer from a Belgian club, but was unable to simply accept it as a result of FIFA transfer regulations.

According to the umbrella organization's rules, Diarra was not only expected to pay compensation to Lokomotiv of $11.5 million plus interest, but was unable to simply accept a job with any club until the dispute was resolved. A proper suspension was not enforced as Diarra had already been unable to work for 11 months.

But Diarra countered, claiming FIFA regulations had unreasonably restricted his employment rights. The case went through many stages until it finally ended up before the best court in Europe announced his decision.

The court struck down two specific parts of FIFA's regulations: the rule that a global transfer certificate required by a player to maneuver from one country to a different can’t be issued until the dispute is resolved; and the requirement that any latest employer be the player jointly and severally liable for any claims for damages against the player which are as a result of the old club, no matter whether that employer played a job within the dispute.

The dish that was seen historically Respect for sports associations and their regulationsHe was extremely critical of FIFA's transfer system. It said the principles were anti-competitive “by design,” not only “in effect.” According to the court, the principles not only aimed to make sure an orderly market in services for football players, but constituted an “anti-poaching agreement” as they aimed to limit competition for players for the advantage of clubs.

No more transfer fees?

The decision means FIFA must rewrite its transfer rules in a way that makes it clear the system has a transparent and legal purpose. The court said the regulations were considered legitimate to make sure “contractual stability” and be sure that clubs were entitled to compensation for breaches of contract.

A player who quits through the term of the contract will still should prove good cause – unfair treatment by the club – or else face a high quality or penalty. But the brand new system will look very different and it’s difficult to see how transfer fee payments will survive.

Last summer alone, clubs in The top five European leagues spent around $5 billion on player transfers. There are sometimes movements in each directions between clubs, which is why the cash transfers are smaller than the massive money movements that make headlines.

The system deprives some star players of serious potential revenue.

Take, for instance, the captain of the England national team, Harry Kane. In 2023 German club Bayern Munich paid London's Tottenham around $100 million Buying Kane out of the ultimate 12 months of his contract. Kane got paid about $13 million per 12 months at Tottenham, and he got a four-year contract at FC Bayern, paid him around $27 million a 12 months.

While his salary doubled, because of FIFA regulations, Kane only received half of what Bayern were willing to pay for his services. The rest went to his former club.

Here's what you can expect any further: Kane would unilaterally announce that he wanted to depart, after which a club like Bayern could make a suggestion. Tottenham would now not have an enforceable claim against Bayern and subsequently wouldn’t pay a transfer fee, and Bayern would offer to pay Kane around $52 million a 12 months.

Kane would should pay damages to Tottenham for breach of contract, and the court considered that those damages could reasonably be equal to the salary the club would have paid him for the rest of his contract – in Kane's case, $13 million.

Kane would clearly have been significantly better off if the decision had come down a 12 months or two ago.

Don't fall for the trickle-down myth

Football fans will fear this can mean financial disaster for his or her club and increase inequality as the massive clubs poach the massive stars.

But I see no reason to consider the sky will fall. As current research As has been shown, the transfer system has a negligible impact on the distribution of resources between clubs. Rather, spending on transfer fees is the reason behind financial instability reasonably than the treatment, with some clubs spending lavishly as a result of unrealistic expectations.

While it’s true that club owners who wish to get wealthy by developing young players and selling them in the marketplace consider they now have fewer options, for many clubs this has all the time been an illusion.

Big clubs are inclined to lock up potential teenage stars, leaving small clubs with few opportunities to seek out diamonds within the rough.

For example, Major League Soccer, the US skilled league, has the ambition to in the future rival the main European leagues and has committed significant resources to development Player talent.

But current numbers suggest that the league continues to be a net importer of players – and not only superstars like Lionel Messi.

In fact, MLS could actually profit from the tip of the transfer system. There are many talented players who could be curious about spending a 12 months or two within the US in the event that they weren't overly tied down by transfer restrictions.

Denounce unfair practices

But perhaps the choice could have the most important impact on the masses of skilled players who remain out of the highlight.

According to FIFA estimates there are around 130,000 skilled players worldwideand most of them earn little in comparison with the overpaid stars of the world's biggest clubs.

Yet these players are sure by the identical restrictive system and are sometimes denied the chance to alter teams – not because they’re being offered great riches, but because they need a change of scenery or to be closer to their families.

FIFPro, the players' union, has documented quite a few cases of stressful employment conditionsthat were possible under the repressive transfer system.

Thanks to the European Court of Justice, lately could soon be over.

San Jose State University volleyball coach Todd Kress didn't know what to anticipate when he and his team arrived for his or her game at Colorado State on Thursday.

As he approached the opposing coach, I asked him, “Do you want me to thank you for playing against us tonight?” And I meant it,” Kress told reporters.

In recent weeks, 4 college teams in Idaho, Wyoming and Utah have forfeited games against San Jose State, protesting the participation of a transgender athlete who has been on the team for 3 years but was only recently outed by critics who said that claim players don't belong in women's sports.

When the player's own teammate, Brooke Slusser, joined a class-action lawsuit against the NCAA on Sept. 23, alleging that the school athletics association was violating Title IX by allowing transgender athletes to compete at San Jose State and elsewhere, the Controversy has taken the national debate stage and has develop into a subject of debate for conservative politicians, as have women's equality forums.

Governors of two states intervened. Tennis legend and LGBTQ activist Martina Navratilova, who spoke out against transgender athletes on the Paris Olympics last summer, tweeted praise for Slusser. And anonymous online trolls have spewed what Coach Kress calls “disgusting” comments toward his players.

All of this has thrown San Jose State's 19 volleyball players into the vortex, positioning them between friendship, teamwork and their very own sense of fairness as drama rages around them. They are watched over by armed guards, their track record is questioned and the season ahead evaporates with each game.

Coach Kress has began sending them day by day affirmations.

“This season,” he said, “we are more parents than coaches.”

It's unclear what number of teammates support Slusser or the transgender player, or whether their concerns center totally on the controversy's impact on the sport and their lives. Most players, discouraged by San Jose State officials, were reluctant to debate it, the lawsuit says.

“These girls all love one another and take care of one another. All of them. But they're type of like, 'What should we do?'” said the mother of one player, who didn't want to be named for fear her daughter would lose her standing with the team. “This was supposed to be their best season ever and now teams aren't even playing us. It just destroys everyone’s efforts.”

Because the player has not publicly come out as transgender, San Jose State has not confirmed that there is a transgender athlete on the team. The Bay Area News Group also does not identify her and the story has not been refuted.

​​In an interview Saturday, Spartan athletic director Jeffrey Konya and Peter Lim, interim vice president of San Jose State's Title IX and Equal Opportunity Office, said the athletic teams are abiding by the university's nondiscrimination policy and specifically that everyone on The volleyball team meets NCAA eligibility requirements.

“We believe in promoting equality and gender equity in athletics,” Lim said, “and we want to ensure that every eligible player plays.”

The two also said SJSU complies with NCAA rules, which adhere to USA volleyball requirements. These rules state that all athletes must provide appropriate documentation “upon request” and that testosterone levels must not exceed “the upper limit of the normal female reference range” for their age group. However, transgender athletes often inject testosterone blockers to qualify as part of their medical treatment Studies are unclear about whether this appropriately mitigates a natural male physical advantage.

Tom Temprano of Equality California, a statewide LGBTQ civil rights group, said the controversy surrounding the San Jose State player was “rooted in transphobia and never reality.” Only about 1.6% of all college athletes identify as transgender or non-binary, he said, and rules — including limiting testosterone levels — are in place to level the playing field.

“A very vocal group of extremists has really succeeded in stoking an unreasonable level of hatred and concern,” Temprano said. “But the reality is that this is simply not a widespread problem.”

In 2016, there was little backlash from the transfer student Chloe Anderson was one of the first transgender athletes to join a Division III volleyball team at UC Santa Cruz. The university even sent out a press release about it.

Times have changed.

High school in North Carolina Volleyball player Payton McNabb was knocked unconscious by a spike by a high school opponent who identified as transgender in 2022 and has since spoken out against transgender athletes in women's sports Macy Petty, a volleyball player at Lee University in Tennessee, who claims she faces unfair competition.

San Jose State's Saturday game against the University of Wyoming was canceled after the group supporting the class-action lawsuit against the NCAA – the Independent Council on Women's Sports – sent a letter to all presidents of the NCAA Mountain West Conference on Sept. 24 , which said the student-athletes were “distraught.” ” at the thought of playing San Jose State, and a Wyoming state lawmaker distributed a letter saying the Cowboy State “should not participate in the extremist Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) agenda or spread the lie that biological sex can be changed.”

The transgender Spartan player is not the tallest on the team and is not considered the best athlete. Last season, when the player was on the court, San Jose State lost to two of the teams – Utah State and Boise State – who are now forfeiting, reportedly due to an unfair advantage and risk to their players.

“She packs a powerful punch. But you know what? “Honestly, I believe among the other teammates are only as strong,” said the mother of another Spartan volleyball player, who also did not want to be named because she was concerned about her daughter's standing on the team.

A growing number of athletes and their parents have expressed fears that the NCAA rules will result in more coveted scholarships going to transgender players and more on-field injuries. As another Spartan parent put it, “What if the next transgender player who wants in is 6-foot-1 and 250 pounds?”

Slusser alleges in the lawsuit that her transgender teammate hits harder and jumps higher than the rest of the team and at a recent tournament “slammed the ball into the face of a lady on the University of Delaware team's defensive position, knocking the opposing player to the bottom.” “threw it to the ground.”

In the lawsuit, which she joined with a dozen other athletes, Slusser said she didn't know her teammate was transgender for months, even though they were housemates and shared a room on road trips. Slusser had heard rumors on campus, but it wasn't until a conservative news story broke last April that her teammate invited her for a sandwich and revealed that she was transgender.

Slusser didn't want the player to be “bullied,” she replied, but “questioned whether it was secure or fair for the opposite women on the team and for the opposing teams” to compete against a transgender athlete.

Soon after, San Jose State officials called a meeting with the players, the lawsuit says, at which they were told not to discuss the issue outside of the team because it was solely about the “player's information.” NCAA rules prevented the school from treating the player differently than any other woman on the team, the lawsuit says, and Slusser said she feared she could be disciplined or removed from the squad if she spoke out reported.

Lim, who oversees the university's Title IX operations, rejected the lawsuit's allegations that players were told to remain silent or that they were threatened with disciplinary action. Instead, he said, after Southern Utah's cancellation in mid-September, school communications officials “suggested strategies for a way players could respond,” keeping teammates' privacy and safety in mind.

The Spartans lost their game Thursday against Colorado State in three straight sets, dropping their undefeated record to 9-1. With ESPN, The AP and the Denver Post within the hallway outside the Moby Arena locker rooms, Slusser tried to remain on the subject of volleyball.

“When we walk into that gym, it doesn’t matter what’s going on in your personal life, what’s happening with a teammate,” she said. “You go in there and work each other’s butts off.”

Still, she said, “At the end of the day, everyone has their own personal morals, their own personal opinions.”

Coach Kress called the losses “unfortunate” and said he was dissatisfied that volleyball had develop into politicized. He said he is concentrated on supporting his players and weathering the firestorm.

“We really try not to let the outside noise affect us as much,” Kress said. “That’s easier said than done.”

Taylor Swift has drawn loads of comments from NFL fans – including each praise and ire – since she began dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce last 12 months and have become a fixture within the stands became. But fans aren't the one ones who’ve their opinions on Swift's presence at games.

The overwhelming majority of players involved within the anonymous 2024 NFL Player Survey — 72.5 percent, to be exact — said they viewed the pop star's interest in the sport (and the resulting coverage) as a positive for the league. Only 4.9 percent of the players surveyed saw it negatively and 22.5 percent saw it neither negatively nor positively.

The Swift-NFL partnership was one in every of the numerous topics that 's Beat Writers asked players about that they wanted to incorporate on this 12 months's survey, with 102 votes forged on the subject. Players were granted anonymity to talk freely about matters impacting the league.

“I think it was positive for the league,” one player said. “I think at the end of the day it's a business and you need to keep as many eyes on it as possible. And she brings a lot of eyes with her, so if that increases the salary cap, I don’t think anyone will be that mad about it.”

Another player who voted “positive” noted that “a lot of Swifties who don't watch football are watching it now.”

“It’s always good to bring more people to the football game,” said this player.

“More fans, broader horizons,” said one other player within the “positive” voter camp. “She has a worldwide fan base. Non-soccer fans are becoming fans, or at least spectators, in the United States.”

Conversely, players who highlighted the “negative” elements felt that it distracted viewers from the game.

“I feel like she’s getting unnecessary coverage,” said one player who voted for the “negative” side. “There was the entire NFL inaugural season video on Twitter and she was featured five times, but our quarterback wasn't. That's not even correct. It’s not the NFL.”

FOOTBALL IS BACK THIS WEEK pic.twitter.com/YVR8kbZnfm

– NFL (@NFL) September 2, 2024

Another player who voted “negative” said this was because, in his opinion, “a lot of people talk about it more than the football game in progress.”

Others viewed Swift's presence on the games as each positive and negative.

“It brings more attention to the game,” said one player, “but I feel like they used her face.” When she's at a game, they probably show it to her six, seven times. People get…bored in the event that they do it over and once again. So I believe they need to seek out a balance.”

“It’s positive and negative,” one other player said. “The reason I say that is because it's great the influence she has on the younger female generation and getting them to learn about the sport. …The negative is all the true football fans who are tired of watching it. We're happy that it increases engagement, but if I'm a Chiefs fan, I don't try to watch Taylor Swift at every commercial break or every timeout. We know she’s there.”

Like some fans, other players didn't care, with one saying: “I'll jam to a Taylor Swift, but I don't give a fuck whether she's at the game or not.”

Required reading

With the autumn, the football season begins within the USA and with it the parade of distinctively decorated helmets worn by the players.

Over time, the form and size of those helmets have progressively modified, from the Leather headgear of the early Twentieth century to the Plastic domes within the space age we’re used to seeing today.

But the visual profile of some NFL football helmets could change dramatically in 2024. The league has approved using padded helmet accessories called Guardian Caps during play, which the NFL says can “reduce the force from head contact.” by as much as 20%.

A backlash has already begun. Some players have complained concerning the unwieldiness of the devices. And each fans and players have turned pale after they saw how the clunky accessory makes the players' heads appear disproportionately large.

Because I’m working on a cultural history of the football helmetI'm excited to see what happens.

In a multi-billion dollar sport where The helmet is the outstanding trademark and symbol of the sportWhat happens when player safety conflicts with the visual appeal of the sport?

We'll discover soon.

From the practice field to the playing field

Attaches with snaps and velcro straps to the surface of players' existing helmets. Guardian Caps consist of a series of soppy, linear cushions connected by fabric.

After the caps were introduced in 2010, some college and skilled teams progressively adopted them during training. In 2022 The NFL now requires their use in preseason trainingInitially, only linemen and linebackers needed to wear them. By 2024, the league has made it mandatory all players except quarterbacks and kickers wear them during training. In April 2024, the league announced that players could wear them in regular season games at their discretion.

There appears to be good reason to encourage their use. Based on data collected from all 32 teams, the league found that the devices Reduce the impact force in frontal collisions by 20% if each players involved wear the device, and by 10% if one among the players wears one.

Some scientists expressed skepticism towards the NFL's top secret research data. Nevertheless, the league claims that there’s a Stunning 52% drop in concussion reports during preseason training because the equipment became mandatory.

Touting the protection advantages of Guardian Caps is clearly a PR success for the NFL. Ongoing research into chronic traumatic encephalopathyor CTE, and other traumatic brain injuries proceed to exhibit the damage that repeated blows to the pinnacle can do to the brain, with football players being particularly in danger.

Many players have supported the League’s efforts Putting safety first, including running back of the Indianapolis Colts Jonathan Taylorwho became the primary top-class skill position player wear a guard's cap during a warm-up match on August 11, 2024.

Players protest

But the story of the launch of Guardian Caps just isn’t an unqualified success – no less than not yet.

Although the usual edition of the Guardian Caps weigh lower than 7 ounces (0.2 kilograms), many players find them heavy and hot.

“I hate them,” Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Jarran Reed told the Seattle Times“I understand the safety concerns, but I've been playing for a long time. To me, it just looks crazy. I don't like them. I'm ready to take them off.”

“I can’t stand them. It affects my swag,” Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay told CBS Sports“My game is part of my prey. If I don't look like it, I can't feel like it.”

Obviously, in such a quick and brutal game, the smallest differences – each physical and mental – could make a difference in performance. And players like Reed, Slay and no less than a dozen Miscellaneous seem unwilling to sacrifice their ability to maximise performance on the sector for incremental safety gains.

As vital as such players' objections to the appear and feel of the Guardian Caps could also be, it might not be the largest problem the NFL faces in introducing these caps.

Tarnishing the brand

Simply put, many fans think that the Guardian Caps Are uglyeven in the event that they covered with fabric which mimics the look of the logos on the plastic shell underneath.

But why should the fans' response matter? After all, they are usually not those risking their health.

In addition, through the first 75 years of football history, most helmets were unremarkable. According to football historian Timothy P. Brown, early helmets were made from plain leather in “various shades of brown or black,” in order that they all looked kind of the identicalin addition to many team uniforms.” Only within the Nineteen Forties and 50s as the primary plastic models of the sporting goods manufacturer Riddell began to achieve popularity that the potential of the helmet as a canvas for adornment began to be realized.

And yet, much of the NFL's incredible success is resulting from its visual appeal.

In the early Sixties, then NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle noticed that television, not ticket sales, would drive the longer term financial success of football. Helmet branding was a vital way to advertise and have fun the identity of an NFL teamFor television viewers, the helmet logos became clearer and more colourful as broadcast technology improved.

Today, the logos that first appeared on helmets within the mid-Twentieth century have grow to be icons Multi-billion dollar brands with Hundreds of hundreds of thousands of fans around the globe.

The negative impact of the Guardian Caps on the look of the sport and the importance of that look to the sport's continued popularity haven’t gone unnoticed.

“Football is a very visual sport,” Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote“The success of The New York is based in large part on its appearance on television.”

“With smooth helmets covered with lumpy coatings that look like soundproofing panels, the atmosphere is compromised,” he added.

Fortunately for Florio and others who don’t just like the look of the Guardian Cap, the NFL has already approved and promoted using six latest helmet models which supposedly offer the identical protection as those equipped with the Guardian Cap.

These models don't look quite like regular helmets either. But they don't appear to be Guardian Caps, and that might make all of the difference.

The 2024 Major League Baseball Draft continued on Monday with rounds 3 through 10 and a number of other Bay Area talents were chosen.

One night after the Oakland Athletics chosen Nick Kurtz from Wake Forest No. 4 overall, The A's have signed two promising local talents to bolster their farm system.

The San Francisco Giants signed a school player from the South Bay and overall several players with ties to the Bay Area were taken off the board.

Here is a breakdown of the local candidates chosen on day two:

Rodney Green Jr., OF, Oakland Athletics (4th round): Green, a Richmond native, played three seasons at Cal, where he hit .283/.398/.549 as a Golden Bear. He was a four-year starter at El Cerrito High, where he was an outfielder and pitcher.

“It was great to see an East Bay native stay home and have so much success at the college level in his hometown,” Cal head coach Mike Neu said in a press release. “He had a great three-year career at Cal, but he has only just begun to scratch the surface of what kind of baseball player he can become.”

He is a strong, left-handed outfielder with above-average speed. Although his power impressed scouts, his nearly 30% strikeout rate raised concerns on the draft.

Still, Green's skills were enough for the A's to pick him within the fourth round (No. 104). He was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team and is eighth on Cal with 34 home runs.

“A lot of people in the area are rooting for him,” El Cerrito baseball coach Kenny Paysinger told the Bay Area News Group. “He's a very hard-working, humble kid who deserves all the good that comes his way. I think it's great for the area. … It's great for the city of Berkeley, the city of El Cerrito, the city of Richmond and for anyone who follows this kid.”

Matt Ager, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates (sixth round): Ager, a native of Pleasanton, was a pitcher at UC Santa Barbara for 3 seasons, posting a 4.02 ERA in 62.2 innings pitched with the Gauchos in 2024.

The Foothill High graduate was named to the All-Big West Second Team last season. He played pitcher and first baseman for the Falcons under coach Angelo Scavone and helped Foothill win the East Bay Athletic League championship his senior 12 months.

Ager was chosen within the sixth round as number 174. His nickname is “Eggman.”

Robert Hipwell, 3B, San Francisco Giants (sixth round): Hipwell, a native of Scotts Valley, posted a batting average of .273/.442/.515 during his junior season at Santa Clara.

“He was obviously suspended and missed a lot of time this year because of that, but I had the opportunity to talk to him and really get to know him as a person,” said Michael Holmes, the Giants' senior director of amateur scouting. “I was really impressed with his personality and feel good about what he has accomplished and what he plans to do in the future. It's important for us to recruit talent, but we also want to bring the right people into our organization and we believe Robert is that kind of person and player.”

He emerged as a promising talent in his sophomore season in 2023, hitting .329/.500/.706, but that season was cut short after he tested positive for an undisclosed performance-enhancing drug.

Hipwell was chosen within the sixth round as number 178.

Aaron Parker, C, Toronto Blue Jays (sixth round): The Los Altos High School graduate was named to the 2021 All-Bay Area News Group Fab 40 selection and was an All-Big West selection for UC Santa Barbara last season.

Parker was a two-sport athlete in highschool: football and baseball. As a freshman, he helped Los Altos to its second Central Coast Section championship in 2018. As a senior in 2021, he batted .562 (41 for 73) with 12 home runs and 41 RBIs.

During his junior 12 months at Santa Barbara, he was among the many top five hitters within the Big West in batting average, slugging, OPS, RBI, home runs and runners caught stealing.

The Blue Jays chosen him with the 187th pick within the sixth round.

Brock Moore, P, Seattle Mariners (seventh round): Spent two seasons at Division III Menlo College before transferring to the University of Oregon, where he was a key player within the Ducks' bullpen.

Moore had a 5.81 ERA with 52 strikeouts last season.

He was chosen within the seventh round (No. 213 overall)

Davis Diaz, C, Oakland Athletics (eighth round): Diaz is a Pittsburgh native who graduated from Acalanes High School. Although he played infield at Vanderbilt, he was drafted by Oakland as a catcher.

In his junior season with the Commodores, he posted a batting average of .248/.350/.385 with seven home runs and 39 RBIs. He struck out 44 times and walked 39. Oakland chosen him first (No. 226 overall) within the eighth round.

Diaz was previously drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks within the twelfth round out of Acalanes in 2021. He won gold medals with the United States national baseball team in 2015, 2017 and 2018.

“Davis is the reason people want to coach and stay coach,” Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said on the Commodores' team website. “His willingness to learn is incredible.”

Matt Halbach, 3B, Chicago Cubs (tenth round): Halbach, a 2021 graduate of Archbishop Mitty High School, was named to the Fab 40 by the Bay Area News Group during his senior 12 months.

The Los Gatos native posted a .408 batting average with 18 RBIs and three home runs at UC San Diego last season, but missed 19 games as a consequence of an oblique abdominal muscle injury.

Halbach was chosen within the tenth round with pick No. 302.

Originally published: July 15, 2024 at 3:06 pm