The NFL considered multiple factors in scheduling its 2026 regular-season kickoff game with the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, and in picking the New England Patriots as the opponent, league executives insist the drama surrounding the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini scandal played no part in their choice.

So, yes, the league would have us believe it did not seriously weigh the sizeable elephant in the room.

“Look, we focused on the football game and the reach of the Super Bowl, and that alone is an incredible story,” NFL Executive Vice President Hans Schroeder said Friday during a league conference call.

Dianna Russini, left, and Mike Vrabel, right, are shown in a split composite image featuring Russini with an ESPN microphone and Vrabel on the Titans sideline wearing a headset. (Imagn Images)

CHARGERS TROLL PATRIOTS OVER VRABEL-RUSSINI SCANDAL IN SCHEDULE RELEASE VIDEO

Schroeder made the point that the NFL didn’t consider the enduring drama that has become a shadow over the Patriots this offseason following the publication of photos showing their head coach spending time with the former reporter for The Athletic holding hands and embracing on the roof of a private bungalow at a Sedona, Ariz., resort.

Those photos and others that followed eventually led to Russini resigning from her job, deleting all her social media accounts, Vrabel being asked about it multiple times in press conferences and missing the last day of the April draft in order to spend time with his family in Utah and get “counseling.”

“How do we deliver the best game into the best window?” Schroeder said, outlining the NFL’s thinking on setting a Super Bowl rematch as its kickoff game. “And in this case, it felt like that rematch is going to be the most exciting when you can start it out of the box.

“…We liked the idea of really celebrating the Seahawks, giving them a moment to start this year to celebrate their last year. And so we like the idea of opening on NBC on Wednesday, and really using that as a chance to celebrate the rematch, but celebrate the Seattle specifically.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stands with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after the Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Feb. 8, 2026. (Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

This, by the way, falls into line with the hands-off manner the NFL has viewed the entire Vrabel-Russini scandal. The league said early on that Vrabel was not subject to the Personal Conduct Policy as a result of the photos and the rumors they created.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said at the NFL Draft that it was a club matter for the Patriots to handle.

But while the league is declining to get involved in any way (perhaps rightly so) other clubs aren’t looking away and neither are fans.

FANS ROAST PATRIOTS FOR THEIR MOTHER’S DAY SALUTE IN LIGHT OF VRABEL-RUSSINI SCANDAL

It should be noted that both the Los Angeles Chargers and Minnesota Vikings referenced the relationship between the coach and former reporter in their schedule release videos on Thursday evening, with the Chargers getting significant attention around the league for their move.

The Patriots themselves suffered something of an embarrassing time on their own social media account when they posted a Mother’s Day salute on Sunday.

Some fans in the replies of that post pointed out, often in colorful ways, the apparent disconnect between a team lifting up moms while its coach has perhaps emotionally hurt the mother of his children.

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And this stuff is unlikely to stop.

The Patriots are past the draft and schedule release, and players being asked their opinion about their coach in press conferences. It’s also unlikely Vrabel will continue to be quizzed about the issue assuming no new photos or revelations become newsworthy.

But the Patriots will be playing preseason games and have nine regular-season away games in 2026. Those will give opposing fans the opportunity to spoof New England’s coach and the team by extension about the situation.

Unlike the NFL, those opposing fans might not be solely focused on football when thinking about the Patriots.

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Garrick Higgo was late to his tee time on Thursday morning at the PGA Championship by “one second” and received a two-shot penalty for his tardiness.

On Friday afternoon, ESPN ensured he wouldn’t make it two days in a row … with the best troll of the golf season so far.

Perhaps you saw the story from Garrick Higgo’s disaster start at the PGA Championship on Thursday, when he was assessed a two-shot penalty after arriving less than a minute late for his tee time to start the second major of the season.

Higgo’s penalty was one of the rarer feats of major championship rules inanity. It is exceedingly unusual to see a player miss his tee time, even if, as he explained on Thursday afternoon, he was only a few seconds behind his scheduled arrival time.

“I was there at 7:18 and 30 seconds, you know what I mean?” he said after. “I don’t know. I don’t want to be there 10 minutes early. I know that five minutes is fine. I thought I had time. I was obviously too casual, yeah.”

Higgo showed impressive resiliency by shooting one under despite the penalty. Without the two-shot penalty he would have been tied for the first-round lead.

On Friday, he arrived not only with a chance to make the cut but with a chance to vault himself into an unlikely spot near the top of a crowded Aronimink leaderboard. Of course, he also arrived with a chance to show he’d learned a thing a two from his mistake on Thursday.

The latter seemed to attract the attention of ESPN’s golf broadcast team, which handles one of its lone events of the year annually at the PGA. As Higgo arrived on screen about 40 minutes into the network’s coverage of Friday’s second round, ESPN flashed a graphic on the screen that showed the fans at home they were paying attention to Higgo’s time management, too.

The two-time defending NJSIAA state champion Winslow Eagles’ football program has a new leader.

The Winslow board approved Jamal White as its next coach at its monthly meeting this week. White is known as an offensive guru, having served as an offensive coordinator at Timber Creek and, most recently, at Woodbury.

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“Oh man, this it’s amazing,” White said. “This is definitely something I have been looking forward to for a long time now. For it to come up now and be in this position, especially at this place, is truly amazing. It is truly exciting. I mean, it is a lot, but it is great right now.”

White is a Triton High School graduate who went on to have a Towson University Hall-of-Fame career as a wide receiver. As an offensive coordinator, White contributed to three sectional titles at Timber Creek and three more, plus a true state title, in the same role at Woodbury.

White is a middle school special education teacher in Williamstown.

“I’ve been blessed to coach under some really good coaches like Rob Hinson and Anthony Reagan,” White said. “Continuing in the craft that those guys excelled at, learning the establishment of the same discipline and the culture and the love that they’ve shown for their players. Getting them into college and really showing them just true mentorship and true manly love. I’m excited about being able to now take some of the things they’ve taught me and implementing some of their ways and some of my own ways as well.”

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The two-time Group 4 state champion Eagles finished 12-2 last season after an undefeated run in 2024. Former coach Bill Belton has since stepped down and accepted the same position at St., Augustine.

“I look forward to having an opportunity to address all the members of the team,” White said. “A lot of guys are doing other sports, which I completely encourage, and hope they continue to do. I got a chance to address a good nucleus of the team. We are still in the process of setting up one evening where I can meet with all the parents and address the guys that are thinking about coming out and be a part of this program that we want to continue to take to the next level.”

In White’s first head coaching position, he will be charged with maintaining a culture that builds winning football teams and productive members of the community.

“The biggest thing I’m looking forward to producing young men,” White said. “Getting them into college, and having them become valuable people in the community, not just football players. I look forward to developing like boys to become young men, and develop a good foundation with that.”

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Tom Rimback grew up reading the Burlington County Times and Courier Post sports sections and began writing for the BCT in 1996. He has covered everything from Super Bowls and Final Fours to Tri-County Swimming but he’s happiest on a sideline interviewing South Jersey scholastic athletes. Follow him on twitter @Rimbacksports. Email him with story ideas at tomrimback@gmail.com and, most importantly, support local journalism with a subscription to the Courier-Post.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: White embarks on new post as Winslow football coach

The NFL is increasingly moving games off Sundays to play them on other days of the week, when TV networks and streaming platforms will pay more money for them. And no team epitomizes the NFL’s changing approach more than the Seahawks.

The Seahawks’ 2026 schedule features games on every day except Tuesday.

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Seattle will host the first game of the 2026 NFL season, as is customary for the defending Super Bowl champions. But the major changes this year is that the game will be on Wednesday, September 9, rather than being played in the normal Thursday night opening slot.

The rest of the Seahawks’ schedule features 10 games on Sundays, a Thursday night game, two Monday night games, a Saturday game in Week 15, and the Christmas night game, which falls on a Friday this year. The Seahawks’ 17th and final game will be on either a Saturday or a Sunday.

The only other team in NFL history to play on six different days of the week was the 2024 Chiefs, who also were the defending Super Bowl champions and also played every day but Tuesday. No team has ever played on all seven days of the week, but with the way the NFL is changing its schedule, that will probably happen soon.

Brio Northgate has reopened following a £12 million refurbishment

The upgraded facility includes a new gym, studios, sauna and steamroom

Energy-saving upgrades include LED lighting and additional solar panels

More than 3,000 members continued using the centre during the refurbishment

Brio Northgate – formerly Northgate Arena in Chester – has officially reopened following a £12 million refurbishment. When built in the 1970s, it was the largest leisure centre in Europe.

The refurbishment was carried out by Read Construction and supported by Cheshire West and Chester Council and operator Brio Leisure, a local authority trading company established in 2011.

Improvements include a fully refurbished gym with state-of-the-art equipment and versatile studio spaces, including a cycling studio. Sauna and steamroom facilities have been added and the changing areas refurbished.

The swimming pool has also been overhauled, with the addition of a new flume, while improvements have been made to the squash courts.

A library is now part of the offering.

LED lighting will help save more than 90 per cent in energy usage, while the pool plant systems have been upgraded with higher-efficiency circulation pumps. An additional 125kWp of solar panels added to the existing scheme will save around £34,000 annually.

The centre remained partially open during the refurbishment, with a temporary gym and racquet sports operating in the sports hall, alongside more than 74 fitness classes each week. More than 3,000 members continued to engage in regular activity.

“We’re really excited about the new site and look forward to getting back to full member capacity,” Matt Parker, managing director of Brio, told HCM. “We really want to make a shift and have a greater impact across the community as a whole. We want more people to be moving more and think we’ve got a vital role to lead within that.”

Home-game victories are the foundation of a college football program’s success and often correlate with teams at the top of the standings.

The tables below show the wins, losses, and win percentages for the region’s top programs over the last 10 seasons.

Oregon leads the way, followed by Boise State, Washington, Utah, and USC.

Home Winning % and Records by Program from 2016-2025

Dave Allen has delivered on his promise to come into his clash with Filip Hrgovic in decent shape.

The fan favourite Brit has blown hot and cold throughout his career, often revealing after defeats that he could have trained harder and prepared better.

This weekend, he looks to claim the biggest scalp of his campaign in Hrgovic, the world-level, well-schooled and durable Croatian, whose only defeat has come against new world champion Daniel Dubois.

Despite still viewing a headline slot at London’s O2 Arena against Lucas Browne as the greatest achievement of his career, Allen will fight in front of 10,000 home fans at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, and the significance of that has not passed him by.

He has clearly trainer hard, tipping the scales at 248.8lbs. It is an impressive drop from the 271 he weighed in his last outing – a first round blowout of Karim Berredjem in February. In fact, it is the lowest weight Allen has registered since his 2019 loss to David Price.

Speaking on the transformation, ‘Dazzling’ Dave said:

“I’ve just ate less chocolate, less sweets … People talk about sacrifice but I’m very fortunate really. I spend a lot of time with my family, my kids and I box for a living. Everyone in here doing 9-5, that’s a sacrifice. It would be unfair to me to talk about sacrifice, I live my dream every day. Sometimes in the gym it’s hard, sometimes I want to eat stuff, but I’m gonna walk out to 10,000 people in Doncaster against one of the best heavyweights in the world. That was my dream and I’m about to live it.”

Regardless of his shape, most see Hrgovic as too big a mountain to climb for Allen. He is aware of that, but believes he can produce one of the biggest upsets ever seen on UK shores.

“He’s a great fighter, but I’ve got no fear of him. All week he’s trying to tell me I don’t want to look at him. I couldn’t care less about Filip Hrgovic. It’s a boxing match.

“On paper I shouldn’t even be in the ring with him, but I just feel like tomorrow, in Donny, it’ll be a special night and I’m gonna get one of the biggest upsets in British boxing history.”

Should Allen fail to upset the odds, and Hrgovic comes out with the win unscathed, he is widely expected to face Moses Itauma in August.

The second leg of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown takes place on Saturday afternoon in Maryland. The 2026 Preakness Stakes sees a nearly brand new field from the set of horses that competed for the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago with only Incredibolt a holdover. That means Golden Tempo, the 2026 Kentucky Derby winner, will not race and there will be no Triple Crown winner this year.

The 2026 Preakness will be contended at Laurel Park once again as the traditional home of Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore continues renovations. The 14 horses in the field at the Preakness will be running for the coveted Woodlawn Vase and the winner’s share of the $2 million purse — the same prize pool the Preakness has had since 2024. 

The winner of Saturday’s race will take home $1.2 million, while the rest of the top five will split the remainder of the purse. 

2026 Preakness Stakes purse, payouts

1st: $1,200,000
2nd: $400,000 
3rd: $220,000
4th: $120,000
5th: $60,000

Traditionally, 80% of that goes to the horse’s owner (or owners), while 10% goes to the trainer and the final 10% goes to the jockey. 

Cherie DeVaux, who became the first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby, will not have a horse in the Preakness, but Golden Tempo jockey Jose Ortiz will be back in the saddle in Maryland. Two weeks after he took home $310,000 for his efforts riding Golden Tempo to the win at the Kentucky Derby, he will be on one of the favorites at Laurel Park with Chip Honcho and hopes to add another six-figure payday this weekend. 

2026 Preakness Stakes post positions, odds, jockeys and trainers

1. Taj Mahal (5-1): Sheldon Russell; Brittany Russell
2. Ocelli (6-1): Tyler Gaffalione; Whit Beckman
3. Crupper (30-1): Junior Alvarado; Donnie Von Hemel
4. Robusta (30-1): Rafael Bejarano; Doug O’Neill
5. Talkin (20-1): Irad Ortiz, Jr.; Danny Gargan
6. Chip Honcho (5-1): Jose Ortiz; Steven Asmussen
7. The Hell We Did (15-1): Luis Saez; Todd Fincher
8. Bull by the Horns (30-1): Micah Husbands; Saffie Joseph, Jr. 
9. Iron Honor (9/2): Flavien Prat; Chad Brown
10. Napoleon Solo (8-1): Joel Rosario; Chad Summers
11. Corono de Oro (30-1): John Velazquez; Dallas Stewart
12. Incredibolt (5-1): Jaime Torre; Riley Mott
13. Great White (15-1): Alex Achard; John Ennis
14. Pretty Boy Miah (15-1): Ricardo Santana, Jr.; Jeremiah Englehart

Which horse wins the Preakness Stakes 2026, and which stunning longshot is a must-back?  Visit SportsLine to see Jody Demling’s picks for the Preakness Stakes, all from the expert who has nailed the last three winners.

Katie Taylor at Croke Park: A Milestone for Irish Women’s Sports

Having anything but Gaelic games at Croke Park can cause a bit of a stir. Consider that there has been an outcry over the decision to have Leeds United and Manchester United play a friendly game at Croker this summer. It’s not that everyone is annoyed when “foreign” sports are played on the hallowed turf; it’s more that the exception to the rule should be an exceptional one.

Which brings us to Katie Taylor and the push to hold the boxer’s final fight at the stadium. It’s not confirmed yet – we are still at the “advanced talks” stage – but there is a feeling we should get confirmation soon. It all sounds positive coming out of Taylor’s camp, and you get the sense that only a technicality could hold it up. The will is there to put it on.

And what a fitting way to go out for Taylor. She has already done so much to raise the profile of women’s boxing globally. Her Olympic gold, her almost unblemished professional record, her venerated trilogy series with Amanda Serrano, and her partnership with Netflix all served to put women’s boxing on the map in Ireland and abroad.

A big moment for women’s sports

Yet, the date at Croke Park – if it were to go ahead – feels like an important milestone for women in sport. There’s been plenty of great work done to elevate women’s sport in Ireland, especially in sports like rugby union. Yet, there is a consensus that more must be done. Having Taylor fight in front of 82,000+ fans won’t fix everything, but it will be emblematic of the extent to which Taylor has elevated women’s boxing. She’s probably the most famous boxer – of any gender – in Ireland right now.

An important aspect of driving interest in women’s sports is arguably giving it a separate identity from the men’s. The WNBA, for instance, has done a very good job of this, separating itself from the men’s league, driving engagement through everything from social media to WNBA betting to having separate arenas. The patient approach to building the league as a separate “product” is starting to pay off, though the league is taking a multi-decade approach as it expands.

Taylor has helped separate women’s boxing from men’s

Arguably, Taylor’s ascendancy was much the same, taking her to a position where women’s boxing was a distinct draw. The Netflix deal was a prime example of that. The streaming giant made a huge deal of the Irish star, releasing documentaries, publishing blogs, hype packages and, of course, showing the Serrano fight live. There was no sense of women’s boxing being in any way secondary.

And that’s what is so alluring about the potential Croke Park date. It will tell a generation of young girls that “this is a big deal”. Perhaps more importantly, it will showcase women’s sports to the decision-makers and the money-people who can make elite women’s sports events happen. The fight will be about Taylor – one of the greatest boxers in Irish history, and perhaps the best women’s boxer in history – but the event will be about building the distinct identity of elite-level women’s sports in general. Hopefully, they can pull it off.