MS Dhoni arrived in Chennai to a rousing reception from fans on Saturday, February 28. The veteran wicketkeeper landed in the city ahead of the upcoming 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL).
The 44-year-old is all set to play yet another season for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). A big crowd gathered at the Chennai airport to catch a glimpse of the star cricketer.
The Chennai-based franchise posted a video on Instagram, announcing Dhoni’s arrival. The former CSK skipper signed an autograph for a fan before stepping into a car amid heavy security.
CSK captioned the post:
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“The helicopter has landed in Chennai!”
It is worth mentioning that MS Dhoni’s association with CSK started in the inaugural IPL edition in 2008. The forthcoming edition will be his 17th season with the team. The new retention rules allowed the five-time champions to retain him as an uncapped player for ₹4 crore prior to the mega auction in 2025.
Dhoni recently visited the Deori Maa Temple near Ranchi to seek blessings. He continued his tradition of praying at the ancient temple before major tournaments.
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MS Dhoni will be part of CSK’s pre-season camp for IPL 2026
CSK will kickstart their preparation for IPL 2026 with a pre-season camp in Chennai from Sunday, March 1. According to Cricbuzz, a total of 15 Indian players, including MS Dhoni, will take part in the camp at the team’s high-performance centre.
The team’s T20 World Cup 2026-bound Team India stars Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson will join the squad following the ICC event. Ruturaj Gaikwad will continue leading the side, while Stephen Fleming will remain their head coach.
Meanwhile, Chennai roped in nine players at the IPL 2026 mini-auction. They invested heavily in uncapped Indian players, signing Kartik Sharma and Prashant Veer at ₹14.20 crore each. Some of their other notable buys included West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein (₹2 crore), New Zealand pacer Matt Henry (₹2 crore), and Indian batter Sarfaraz Khan (₹75 lakh).
Stony Brook men’s basketball star Erik Pratt was suspended by the school for spitting on a fan during the team’s 82-69 loss to Monmouth Thursday.
Pratt was being heckled by fans with 2:30 left in the game with Stony Brook down 79-63. Instead of ignoring the fans, Pratt turned and spit at them and walked away.
“In light of his actions in last night’s game at Monmouth, I have made the decision in consultation with the CAA to suspend Erik Pratt for Saturday’s game at Hofstra,” Stony Brook director of athletics Shawn Heilbron said in a statement.
UW-Milwaukee guard Erik Pratt, who now plays for Stony Brook, looks to drive to the basket against Northern Kentucky in the second half of a game at the UWM Panther Arena in Milwaukee Feb. 17, 2024.(Dave Kallmann/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/USA Today Network)
“I met with Erik earlier, and he acknowledged his mistake while accepting full responsibility for his actions. While emotions were high in the moment, he understands that his behavior was inappropriate and did not meet the standards we expect of our student-athletes nor those set forth by our department, institution and the CAA. Erik has expressed his commitment to learning from this experience and moving forward in a positive manner.”
At the time of his ejection, Pratt led the team with 14 points and had eight assists. Pratt is Stony Brook’s leading scorer, averaging 19.4 points per game, and his absence for the team’s game against Hofstra on Saturday is a big one.
Milwaukee Panthers guard Erik Pratt, who now plays for Stony Brook, dribbles during the Horizon League championship against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis March 12, 2024.(Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Stony Brook is tied for the No. 5 seed in the CAA tournament, and a loss to Hofstra could drop them in the seedings.
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Pratt played at Milwaukee and Texas A&M before joining Stony Brook.
Texas A&M Aggies guard Erik Pratt, who now plays for Stony Brook, leads a fast break against the Georgia Bulldogs at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas, Feb. 4, 2023.(Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Pratt is not the only athlete to be embroiled in a spitting controversy over the last year. Philadelphia Eagles star Jalen Carter spit on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in the first game of the 2025 NFL season.
For all that Igor Tudor has tried to get the Tottenham squad to look forward, and look at themselves “in the mirror”, there are figures around the club who can’t get certain images from Sunday out of their heads.
The players naturally looked beaten. The hierarchy, however, were said by those present to appear “haunted”.
It was the realisation that the change of manager wasn’t going to change that much, certainly as regards the negative atmosphere around the club. It was the realisation that there was evidently no quick fix. It was that Tudor has a huge job on his hands, and maybe the most difficult in the history of the club.
Fulham vs Tottenham Hotspur may well be the biggest game this weekend, in how it will tell us the most – much more than a north London derby – about what Tudor can actually do with this team.
If Spurs win, the mood will immediately lift. They’ll finally have breathing space, and just the positive feeling that would come from a first win of the year. A draw would at least show some progress, even if it’s not quite what they need.
Any kind of defeat, however, and it really is alarms blaring.
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Defeat at Fulham and alarm bells are seriously blaring for Tottenham (Getty)
The tension will be suffocating. The pressure immense.
And for all that people are rightly saying that a Spurs relegation would be the biggest of the Premier League – and probably the biggest in English football since Manchester United in 1973-74 – more relevant might be how the reasons for that reflect frankly astonishing underperformance. If they really do go down, it will be one of the most remarkable feats of reverse alchemy in football history; a shocking waste.
People point to Leeds United in 2003-04, but the manner in which they had financially overextended themselves made their decline inevitable.
Tottenham have had the opposite problem. This should have been the opposite of inevitable. It should have been impossible.
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It shouldn’t have been possible for Tottenham, the ninth-wealthiest club in the world, to face relegation (Getty)
They’re the ninth-wealthiest club in the world on revenue. The ownership now actively want to spend, and raise a relatively high wage bill even higher.
This comes in an era in which most of the sport has never been more geared towards those who are already wealthy. As has been stated on these pages many times in the past, it’s not like 1974 when there was relative parity in the old First Division. There’s a 90 per cent correlation between wage bill and league finish, and the gaps have never been greater.
So, in a skewed modern parallel of how United were relegated a mere six years after becoming European champions, Spurs could get relegated a mere five years after joining the Super League.
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Tottenham could get relegated five years after joining the Super League (Getty)
That, in its own way, says a lot about the modern game.
That should instead now be the great regret, the ghost of what might have been.
The moment is now just a peak from which they have fallen a very long way.
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Tottenham were supposed to push on from their Champions League final near miss in 2019 (PA Archive)
A greater frustration – especially for the supporters – is that there’s been no sudden drop, no hinge date from which you can trace everything. Instead, the fans have long been complaining that the very ownership approach made this more and more likely.
Questions have persisted as to what the aim of the hierarchy is. Representatives of the Lewis family would, of course, insist it is about eventually making the club a success.
Fans would counter that by pointing to limited investment over 25 years, and question whether this has just been about having a football asset there, or something you can eventually flip in a sale.
The view among some other Premier League owners and executives is that they need a sale, for a refresh. There is too much “baggage”.
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Some other Premier League owners feel the Lewis family need to sell Tottenham to give the club a fresh start (AFP/Getty)
As one senior figure argues, any club can succeed in spite of the ownership, but their outlook still dictates so much. It tends to show when they are fully immersed in victory, usually in structure and appointments.
It can also go both ways. To once again draw a contrast with the other side of north London, the Kroenke ownership are said to have really come alive once Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal started winning.
The discussion is nevertheless complicated by the fact that the Lewis family imbued Daniel Levy with so much power for so long.
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Ironically, it was the former chairman’s departure – something long desired by much of the fanbase – that has brought this greater collapse.
Daniel Levy’s much-desired departure has been followed by greater collapse (PA Archive)
That isn’t necessarily to defend or criticise Levy. His abrupt departure nevertheless prevented a transition of responsibility, so now everything has plummeted through the cracks.
The lack of football expertise has been exposed. The lack of a football idea has been exposed. The mismatched nature of the squad has been exposed, one long conditioned by the Levy-led decision to keep the player wage bill to such a low percentage of revenue when they could have afforded much more. It’s now also a squad with considerable “scar tissue” – to quote one insider – despite last season’s Europa League success. Speculation now mounts about “cliques” in the dressing room.
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Some sources would point out how Spurs employed potentially transformative figures in their recent past, such as Michael Edwards, only for them to leave.
Michael Edwards was chief analyst at Tottenham before becoming integral to Liverpool’s rise as sporting director (PA)
All of which leaves Tudor in this unenviable situation, trying to make sense of something that sees confusion at all levels.
This is what is said to have “haunted” the hierarchy on Sunday, the manner in which every issue has suddenly combined to significantly escalate; the lack of time; the pressure.
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It isn’t terminal, of course. There is still talent in the squad. Tudor is said to feel that the squad can also fit his formation.
One win could change everything, settle everyone down, set things right.
Nevertheless, it shouldn’t be overlooked that this is an incredible situation to be in. One of the wealthiest clubs in the world, a hierarchy once arrogant enough to think they should be in a breakaway league, are dependent on a Hail Mary appointment and the intangible of good feeling in order to escape a historic nightmare.
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Igor Tudor is charged with saving Tottenham from a historically humiliating relegation (PA Wire)
Naturally, discussion is already building about what relegation would bring. Spurs have a lot of very high fixed costs and partners, amid a situation where they wouldn’t have the same TV money, sponsors would change, and match-day income would dive. At the same time, some investors would see relegation as a huge opportunity to do a deal on the cheap. Spurs are seen as “set up on the business side”, which perhaps makes some difference from the rest of the club.
More interesting, if they get out of this, might be how they turn this situation around. Some football figures see it as a grand opportunity in that regard, due to the myriad advantages Spurs have.
That only sums up the situation.
To manage that, though, they need that one win to change everything back.
South Africa vs Zimbabwe Live Score: Zimbabwe will need to fix their bowling woes against a skillful South Africa as they aim to end their spirited T20 World Cup campaign on a high in their final Super 8 fixture here on Sunday.
Reaching the Super 8 as group toppers was part of the success story for Zimbabwe, and inspired by their leader Sikandar Raza, they will be determined to push South Africa to the limit.
Bowling Discipline Key Against Proteas
South Africa are the team to beat in the ICC showpiece, and if Zimbabwe are to challenge them, they must improve their bowling performance after conceding more than 250 runs in the previous two Super 8 games against West Indies and India.
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Raza knows his side can only compete with the bigger teams if all three departments click.
“At the World Cup against the best teams, you need all your three departments to be working hand in hand. And unfortunately, if one lacks, then the game runs away from you.
“So hopefully in the last game, leave everything on the park and we try and sort out all our three departments and hopefully that gives us the best chance to win the game,” Raza said after the India defeat.
Errors to Correct
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Zimbabwe have been guilty of bowling too many loose balls in the Super 8 stage. They need to bowl with the discipline they displayed against Australia and Sri Lanka in the group stage.
Their unbeaten run in the group stage came on slow pitches in Sri Lanka, but the margin for error drops drastically in batting-friendly Indian conditions, as they experienced in Mumbai and Chennai.
Batting Strategy: Maximising the Powerplay
On the batting front, the opening duo of Brian Bennett and Tadiwanashe Marumani need to make the most of the powerplay.
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Bennett, who is yet to be dismissed in the tournament, showed against India that he can also clear the ropes. He will need to find a way to tackle a wily South African attack.
South Africa’s Strengths
Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi, with 11 wickets each, have been the standout bowlers for the Proteas, complemented well by pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada, Corbin Bosch, and frontline spinner Keshav Maharaj.
The top three — skipper Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock, and Ryan Rickelton — are in top form, and it would take a special bowling effort from Raza and his team to stop them.
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The middle order, including David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, and Dewald Brevis, has also made an impact in the Super 8 stage.
Venue and Context
South Africa, who have only played in Ahmedabad and Delhi so far in the tournament, return to the national capital for their final Super 8 fixture.
In the five games played here, 200 has only been breached once, with India posting 209 against Namibia.
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It is effectively a dead rubber, with South Africa already through to the semifinals and Zimbabwe eliminated from the race following back-to-back losses.
Teams
Zimbabwe: Sikandar Raza (captain), Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Graeme Cremer, Bradley Evans, Clive Madande, Tinotenda Maposa, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava, Ben Curran.
South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Quinton de Kock, Marco Jansen, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Jason Smith, Tristan Stubbs.
It’s March, which means there are real stakes for almost every possession. Even though Michigan State can’t earn a share of the Big Ten regular-season crown after Michigan’s impressive Friday win over No. 10 Illinois, the Spartans still have plenty to play for in the chase for a top-four seed and a triple-bye in the Big Ten Tournament.
Jeremy Fears Jr.’s chase for Big Ten Player of the Year: The Big Ten Player of the Year race is still very much a question entering the final week of the regular season. Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg, Illinois’ Keaton Wagler and Fears look like the top frontrunners for now. Sunday provides Fears with another massive stage to make his case to punctuate a breakout season. Fears torched Indiana in the first matchup for 23 points and 10 dimes. Another gem like that could tilt the scales.
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Will Indiana hold serve on the glass? Michigan State’s duo of Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler form one of the most intimidating frontcourts in the Big Ten. If you cannot hold your own on the glass, you are dead on arrival against Michigan State. Indiana has been one of the worst rebounding teams in Big Ten play. IU just got worked on the boards by Northwestern. Will that elicit a different sort of toughness and grit? The Hoosiers will need every ounce of it.
All eyes on Tucker DeVries: Indiana has no chance to win this one without Tucker DeVries. He’s eclipsed double figures in five straight games, but Indiana needs his best effort of the season. He has to rebound. He has to win his one-on-one matchup with Kohler. He has to make treys. Seniors tend to die hard in March. Can Indiana get a heater from the guy many presumed would be this team’s best player?
This is Indiana’s last stand. It’s hard to envision the Hoosiers landing on the right side of the cut-line without holding serve at home. Michigan State’s 3-point defense has been a little leaky at times this year, and Indiana will need to make double-digit treys to have a shot. Lamar Wilkerson and Tucker DeVries are entirely capable. Sam Alexis has also started to become someone that IU can trust to win one-on-one matchups inside. If Alexis can keep it rolling, there’s a path for Indiana to hang in this one, especially if Michigan State’s halfcourt offense comes back to earth a tad. Pick: Indiana +3.5
Mexico’s Emanuel Navarrete stopped compatriot Eduardo Nunez in a dominant display to unify the IBF and WBO super-featherweight titles.
After outclassing Nunez for much of the contest, Navarrete, 31, added the IBF title to his WBO crown when the ringside doctor stopped the action before the 11th round.
The victory at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona was the 40th of Navarrete’s 43-fight career, while Nunez’s 19-bout win streak came to an end.
“It’s difficult to see your opponent hurting in there, but it’s also really difficult to not continue and go on to win the fight,” said Navarrete.
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“You never know what might happen in those last rounds. He could catch you with a shot and it could be over. So I needed to continue doing my work.”
Navarrete controlled the action in the early rounds before landing some damaging shots in round nine, forcing the doctor to take a look at Nunez for the first time.
Following another dominant display from three-weight world champion Navarette in round 10, Nunez was deemed unable to continue after sporting a bloodied face and a severely swollen right eye.
WBC super-featherweight champion O’Shaquie Foster and WBA title holder Lamont Roach are potential options for Navarrete to face next.
Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst reports an ‘incredibly powerful explosion’ as Iran continues its ballistic fire against Israel, saying an Israeli official confirmed 40 top Iranian leaders were also killed.
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Former NCAA and Team USA women’s basketball player Destiny Littleton shared footage Saturday of her experience fleeing Iranian counterstrikes in Israel.
Her documentation concluded with a panicked scene of her and other civilians shouting in fear as drones flew overhead. Littleton, who won a national championship at South Carolina under coach Dawn Staley in 2022, and a gold medal for the U.S. in the 2017 FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cup, currently plays for Hapoel Jerusalem in Israel’s top division.
She posted footage on her Instagram Saturday updating followers as she fled to a local bomb shelter when Iranian counterattacks began to strike Israel.
After the U.S. and Israel carried out a round of military strikes on Iran, the country responded with ballistic missiles and drones targeting cities including Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem.
Former South Carolina guard Destiny Littleton was in Israel when Iran launched a counterattack against the country, sending her scrambling for shelter.(John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Littleton was nearly caught in the crossfire.
Sirens could be heard in her video as she fled the shelter, and at one point she even aimed her camera at what appeared to be missiles flying through the air.
In one video, she struggled to find the shelter as sirens blared in the background.
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“Trying to find the saferoom, but I can’t find it,” she said, in a panicked voice as she scrambled through an empty alleyway. “Jesus Christ, I don’t think this is the right… I don’t think this is the right way.”
As she walked down an outdoor stone staircase, bombs exploding in the distance could be heard in the background, as she yelled, “Oh s—!”
Shortly after that, she posted a video announcing she had left the shelter and was going to a teammate’s house after feeling “uncomfortable” in the shelter she had just found.
“That B-O-M-B shelter I was just in, couldn’t fit five people, and that was it, I was like, ‘no, no, no, no,’” she said.
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Littleton eventually reached her teammate’s high-rise apartment building, where she revealed she had heard several recent explosions.
“I heard the booms all over,” she said while showing an overview of the Jerusalem skyline.
An explosion caused by a projectile impact after Iran launched missiles into Israel following Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday.(Reuters/Gideon Markowicz)
Then, in her final video of the night, Littleton appeared frantic and sweaty, as she revealed explosions nearby.
“There’s no siren going on right now, and yet there’s these things in the sky blowing up! I’m pretty sure they’re either missiles or drones! Either way, we’ve seen them blow up in the sky, multiple of them, very very close to us actually!” she exclaimed.
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“I’m not really sure what it is… Jesus Christ.”
Littleton and those around her then became more frantic as another apparent drones appeared nearby.
“Over there! Over there! Over there! Over there! Over there!” she shouted, before turning her camera around to show what appeared to be a drone flying nearby the building she was in. “I’m pretty sure that’s not a star.”
Just then, five other drones came into frame, and an explosion was seen going off in the distance.
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“I think those are freaking drones bro!”
The entire room then erupted into a loud panic as a drone flew over the building they were in, as she turned the camera upwards to reveal the weapons.
“Oh s—!” Littleton shouted.
Another civilian nearby screamed, “Guys! Guys! What the f—!”
Israeli firefighters work to put out a fire on a car at the site of a projectile impact after Iran launched missiles into Israel, following Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday.(Reuters/Tomer Appelbaum)
The drone went on to land and exploded a far distance from her location, as seen in her footage.
Littleton and the group were later seen in the footage leaving the apartment and heading to a bunker, as she appeared visibly rattled, sweaty and overwhelmed, massaging her head, sighing.
Littleton has not posted a follow-up post at the time of publication.
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Staley said Saturday that the university is working to bring Littleton and two other players home amid the chaos, alongside WNBA veteran Tiffany Mitchell and former Phoenix Mercury forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan.
“Please pray for our @GamecockWBB @TiffMitch25 @2121Mikiah @dstnylttltn24 who are in a war zone in Israel,” her post said. “We are working on a plan to get home. Let us pray for our loved ones to return home safely asap! Thank you in advance.”
The U.S. joined Israel in launching strikes against Iran on Saturday morning. In video remarks posted to Truth Social, Trump encouraged the Iranian people to take over their government once the United States and Israel finished “major combat operations” in Iran.
Iran launched retaliatory missile strikes targeting U.S. sites throughout the Middle East. Fox News reported that approximately 40 missiles had landed in Israel.
Fox News Digital’s Paulina Dedaj, Michael Sinkewicz and Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.
We all want to hit low, spinny wedge shots and wrap skip once and rip back on a putting green. Callaway’s new Opus SP+ wedge is built to do exactly that.
So should everyone be seeking out Callaway’s newest short game option?
As Wunder explained, modern wedge design was primarily influenced by the Cleveland 588 wedge, which didn’t really have a super high CG. But in order to generate those low launch and high spin shots, a player could adjust their technique to play the ball back in their stance and trap it to produce the trajectory they wanted.
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Callaway Opus SP+ Custom Wedge
Introducing the all-new Opus SP+ with Spin Pocket™ Construction + Tungsten, a new extension of our Opus SP family. Tour-preferred shaping with an even higher center of gravity for more spin and precision.
“It kind of relied on the player to, if you needed to get it up, you get it up. If you need to hit it down, technique was going to allow you to do that,” Wunder said. So, SP+ is kind of baking that in for you. So, if you’re a player, if you’re a good player with good hands that wants to hit it even lower and doesn’t really want to have to play it off your right foot and just kind of hit a stock shot and bring the launch down, then that’s a great wedge to have.”
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This wedge instantly becomes a great option for players who like to drive the CG as high as they can with lead tape on the top of the club, like Akshay Bhatia.
The interesting thing is the Opus SP platform already had a high CG with the hollowed out sole of the club to remove weight low in the head. SP+ takes that concept a step further by making that cavity larger and adding tungsten in the topline.
It’s not a huge difference in launch and spin, maybe a degree, Wunder said for his testing, but it gives you the option. It’s also not a replacement for the Opus SP, just another option in the family.
“It’s kind of like the comparison I would draw between if you are a [Qunatum] TD Max player and you like how that flies but you need slightly less spin, then you would go to the TD head,” Wunder said. “It just gives you that little silo over there that you can go to if you want to drive it, drive the launch down even more.”
Sep 27, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung (6) celebrates after hitting an RBI double during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung will be sidelined at least 10 days and possibly longer after being diagnosed with an adductor strain.
The ailment was detected via an MRI exam. Jung was scratched from the lineup prior to a game on Thursday.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker is hoping the injury doesn’t keep Jung away from baseball activities for a longer duration.
“The thing about Josh is that he’s such a hard worker,” Schumaker told reporters on Saturday. “I think he’s going to get back quicker than that 14-day mark. His process has been so good. I felt like his work in the cages, in the backfield and the lives were about to translate on the field.
“In the first couple games, he hit the ball as hard as anybody. I thought he was just trending in the right direction. Honestly, if there’s stuff happening, I’d rather it happen now.”
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Jung, 28, batted .251 with 14 homers and 61 RBIs in 131 games in 2025 in his second straight disappointing season.
Jung was an All-Star as a rookie in 2023 when the Rangers won the World Series. He had 23 homers and 70 RBIs to go with a .266 average in 122 regular-season games and finished fourth in American League Rookie of the Year balloting.
Jung batted .308 with three homers and eight RBIs in 17 games in the 2023 postseason. He hit .350 in five World Series games.
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Infielder Justin Foscue (strained right hamstring) also will miss at least 10 days, but Schumaker said it won’t affect his bid to make the team. Foscue, a first-round pick in 2020, is 3-for-51 (.059) in 19 games over the past two seasons.
“It doesn’t change anything as far as his chances,” Schumaker said of Foscue, who turns 27 on Monday. “He’s just gonna lose at-bats, which sucks for him. But I think as far as him breaking camp or anything, there’s still four weeks left. He’ll still have two weeks left of camp, really, to try to build up. He should get more at-bats.”
It’s now or never for Ohio State. The Buckeyes enter Sunday on the First Four Out, according to CBS Sports bracketology. Chances like this one, with No. 9 Purdue coming to Columbus, do not come around often, and Ohio State has to take advantage of getting a resume-boosting opportunity on its home floor.
For all intents and purposes, Jake Diebler could very well be coaching for his job. Ohio State has a chance to be the No. 1 job in this spring’s coaching carousel. If the Buckeyes do not make the NCAA Tournament, Diebler’s time could very well be up.
This game means everything.
Purdue vs. Ohio State: Need to know
Wins Above Bubble outlook: Ohio State sits 46th in Wins Above Bubble. That’s right on the border for an at-large resume. Beating Purdue at home gives Ohio State a chance for approximately +0.70 Wins Above Bubble, since the average bubble team is given a 30% chance to beat Purdue at home. With a win, Ohio State would vault up to around 39th or 40th in Wins Above Bubble. This would easily be Ohio State’s best win of the season.
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Will Purdue go out like this? Purdue feels a bit more wobbly after suffering its fourth home loss of the season, this time at the hands of No. 13 Michigan State on Thursday. Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn simply have to be better on both ends of the floor to help All-American point guard Braden Smith. Matt Painter has preached that all of Purdue’s goals are still on the table. Will these seniors die hard in March?
The Bruce Thornton bounce-back spot: Thornton is carrying a remarkably heavy burden for the Buckeyes. The senior guard has scored at least 16 points in seven of his last eight games and eclipsed 2,000 career points earlier this season. Devin Royal is back healthy. Juni Mobley is back in the lineup. Ohio State could also get big man Christoph Tilly (calf) back in the mix for this one, too. But Thornton is the head of the snake, and Iowa took him out of the game earlier this week. Purdue is going to get Thornton’s very best effort in his second-to-last home game.
Ohio State has a +12 net rating with Tilly on the floor this year. It drops down to just +4.9 when Tilly sits. If the 7-footer can get back into the lineup, Ohio State matches up much better with Purdue across the board. Thornton can take Smith. Mobley can handle the Loyer assignment. Royal or Bynum can rotate onto Trey Kaufman-Renn. Tilly should be just fine against Oscar Cluff. I think Ohio State keeps this within a possession at home in an enormous spot. Outside of Michigan and Iowa, Ohio State just doesn’t get blown out very often. They’ll hang around for awhile in this one. Pick: Ohio State +6.5
Watch the trailer for new BBC documentary Ben Youngs Investigates: How Safe Is Rugby?
In the programme, England’s most-capped men’s player sets out to re-examine the game that has defined his life. Is there a link between concussion and long-term brain health?
