Sep 25, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Detailed view of the Built to Last alternate rivalries edition helmets of the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Offensive tackle Oli Udoh has been removed from the Minnesota Vikings’ roster orbit for three years, bouncing around the NFL since, and now landing with the Arizona Cardinals.
Udoh is headed to Arizona after spending most of his career in Minnesota.
Udoh experienced a quiet free agency out of the gate, but he’s in the house with Mike LaFleur’s team, probably on tap for OT3 or OT4 in 2026.
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Udoh originally played for the Vikings for five years, believe it or not.
Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Olisaemeka Udoh blocks during second-half action against the Los Angeles Rams at Nissan Stadium, Sep 14, 2025, in Nashville. Udoh works along the edge to protect the quarterback and create rushing lanes as Tennessee battles a physical Rams defensive front. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
Udoh to ARI
It’s official. Udoh is a member of Kyler Murray’s old team. Cardinals reporter Darren Urban wrote Friday, “The Cardinals still may use the No. 3 pick overall on an offensive lineman, but they continue to add depth to the roster for the unit and give themselves leeway for their first pick in April’s draft. On Friday, that came in the form of a one-year contract with veteran Olisaemeka’ Oli’ Udoh.”
“Udoh, 6-foot-6 and 320 pounds, has played 74 games in his NFL career since becoming a sixth-round pick of the Vikings in 2019. The Cardinals are expected to draft a tackle at some point, and there remains the possibility that it would come at No. 3; Miami’s Francis Mauigoa is mocked most often as the probable pick if that were to happen.”
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Vikings fans, for the most part, remember Udoh in a positive light — and as an effective depth lineman.
The Cardinals’ OTs before the Draft
With Udoh in the house, the Cardinals’ OT group now looks like this:
Paris Johnson Jr.
Elijah Wilkinson
Josh Fryer
Oli Udoh
Demontrey Jacobs
Christian Jones
Wilkinson, the man on tap for starting RT duty, is a serviceable-to-decent OT. He can hold the job if needed in September. However, he’s not a dazzling solution, so the Cardinals are widely expected to draft a tackle with the third overall pick — probably the aforementioned Francis Mauigoa from Miami. The pick would put Odoh in line as OT4 or so.
Udoh’s Resume
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Udoh served as a backup tackle throughout his rookie contract with the Vikings, playing in 43 games and starting 18 when injuries arose. Minnesota also tried Udoh at guard in 2021 and 2022, but penalties hampered his progress, preventing him from securing a consistent role.
Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Olisaemeka Udoh walks off the field following a game against the New England Patriots at Nissan Stadium, Oct 19, 2025, in Nashville. Udoh exits after another outing in a rotational role, contributing depth along the offensive line during the regular season. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
Udoh started at guard full-time in 2021, holding the position for the entire season. His most productive period came in 2022 when he returned to a backup role and earned a 74.7 Pro Football Focus grade in 189 snaps.
His career stops through six seasons:
Minnesota Vikings (2019–2023)
New Orleans Saints (2024)
Tennessee Titans (2025)
Arizona Cardinals (2026-now)
Udoh played 341 snaps for the 2025 Titans, or about one-third of the time.
Our Janik Eckardt on Udoh: “It’s unlikely that Udoh is more than depth, but he has made a career out of providing an alternative as an injury replacement at offensive tackle. At 6’6″ and 323 lbs, Udoh had the size and the movement skills to be an intriguing tackle prospect, which is why Rick Spielman took a shot when he drafted the Elon project.”
“In his rookie year, Udoh made the 53-man roster and avoided any practice squad stints. His only rookie appearance came against all-world defender Khalil Mack and he looked surprisingly good against him. After another season of depth duties, Udoh’s breakthrough came in 2021 when Mike Zimmer’s squad deployed him as a starting guard, with inconsistent results, especially in the penalty category.”
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All the Cardinals FA Moves
Arizona has been one of the busier teams in the NFL this offseason, adding these newcomers and re-signing these men:
Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Oli Udoh stretches during pregame warmups before facing the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Aug 27, 2021, in Kansas City. Udoh prepares for action as part of Minnesota’s offensive line rotation during a preseason matchup. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
In the wake of star hoop James McDonald etching his name into Australian racing legendry mere hours prior, promising 22-year-old Zac Lloyd burst onto the scene as a top emerging force courtesy of a dazzling success aboard Great House in the $5 million Golden Slipper.
With rivals forming a blockade halfway into the straight, the young pilot on Great House kept his composure to weave through and propel the colt to dominance in a powerful finish.
This marked the first Victorian-bred triumph since Crystal Lily’s 2010 achievement, as Great House ($11) edged clear by 1-1/2 lengths over Blue Diamond Stakes champ Streisand ($7.50), followed by gallant Canberra runner Music Time ($1) in third, another half-length behind.
When Lloyd tailed McDonald’s Fireball mid-race, he recognized his prime positioning.
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“I got on the back of the best jockey in the world, and I thought, here we go,” Lloyd said.
“I was just waiting for a run but geez, he let down so well. I’m so pleased for the big ownership group, and for (trainers) Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr, and Ben Elam who works here in Sydney.”
Last year’s inaugural Golden Slipper ride ended without placing on King Of Pop, rendering him “speechless” for this second crack at the richest juvenile race globally.
Having dominated Sydney apprenticeships in 2022-23 and 2023-24, Lloyd thanked his family, particularly father Jeff Lloyd, the ex-jockey, for his development.
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“My dad is probably balling his eyes out. He is quite an emotional man,” Lloyd said.
“But I wouldn’t be half the rider I am without him, and I wouldn’t be a quarter of the person I am without my mum and my dad. And to my brother (fellow jockey) Jaden, he’s going to be the happiest person on planet earth.”
Dubai Honour’s playful behaviour on the training track typically foreshadows a stellar race effort, and Isabella Paul detects all positive cues before the British horse’s Tancred Stakes challenge.
For this year’s autumn in Sydney, it’s the eight-year-old’s third appearance, with Paul, who joins William Haggas’ Dubai Honour on all journeys, assured of his current top condition.
This is evidenced by his fresh form: Group 1 third to Goliath in German racing last September, Listed victory in England soon after, and UK second carrying 64kg in December.
“I’m really happy with where he is. He is being a bit of a pain on the track, and that generally means he is in pretty good order,” Paul said.
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“He’s in great form. He actually came down here a little bit heavy, and he has tightened up nicely in the last week or so.
“They did a good bit of work last week, and they will have a little stretch tomorrow (Wednesday).”
Tuesday morning saw Dubai Honour and stable companion Caviar Heights gallop at Canterbury, marking the end of quarantine protocols.
The eight-year-old Dubai Honour pursues back-to-back Group 1 Tancred Stakes (2400m) wins on Saturday, replicating his defeat of Duke De Sessa and Vauban from last year, while stablemate Caviar Heights bows in Australia in Group 3 Neville Sellwood Stakes (2000m).
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According to Paul, Tom Marquand, Dubai Honour’s rider for three of four Aussie runs, lands Thursday but passes on mounting the Haggas duo before Saturday.
“Probably not, to be honest,” Paul said.
“He came and had a sit on Caviar Heights when we were in quarantine in the UK. They galloped together, and he rode Caviar and was very happy with him that day.
“Obviously, he knows Dubai Honour inside out, so we will leave Tom to recover from his flight, and we’ll see him on Saturday.”
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Dubai Honour excels in Sydney over four starts, losing just once to Via Sistina during last season’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m).
Plans call for him to contest The Championships race post-Rosehill if fit, with Caviar Heights also Queen Elizabeth-bound, holding a Sydney Cup (3200m) option.
Chris Waller nominates Aeliana for Tancred Stakes, to confirm Tuesday on backing up from Ranvet Stakes (2000m) success at Rosehill recently via Ranvet Stakes.
A WWE and ECW legend has revealed that he is open to working with AEW. The veteran in question, Shane Douglas, has one condition for doing so, however, revolving around the company’s motivation to improve its position in the industry.
Over the past six years, AEW has grown tremendously as a major budding US-based wrestling promotion. The promotion’s success has positioned it as a legitimate rival brand to WWE, a fact that cannot be denied in light of the Stamford-based company’s recent counter-programming attempts against All Elite Wrestling, among other related business moves.
AEW’s success also owes itself in part to the knowledge and experience that its veterans bring to the table, including older in-ring competitors like The Hurt Syndicate, Adam Copeland, Christian Cage, Dustin Rhodes and Billy Gunn, as well as backstage personnel such as Dean Malenko and Chris Hero, to name only a few. Now, another wrestling legend, Shane Douglas, has discussed his interest in bringing his talents to All Elite Wrestling.
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Speaking on his YouTube channel, The “Franchise” explained that he would be willing to work for the Tony Khan-led company, but only if the promotion refuses to get complacent with its place in the industry, and is willing to make use of his experience and expertise to develop its position even further.
“So AEW has to ask itself a question: do they want to become a major player in this business, or are they comfortable being the smaller alternative on the side? I know where I stand. I’ve never been content being second best at anything. So to answer the question — yes, I could work with [All Elite Wrestling]. I can work with just about anyone, as long as they truly want what I have to offer. And only they can decide that.” [H/T- Ringside News]
Shane Douglas’ critique of AEW’s product
Elsewhere in the same video, Shane Douglas talked about how in his view, AEW’s booking and presentation strategies have not evolved over the past few years. This is why things have not improved drastically for the company, the 61-year-old implied, stating:
“I’ve been around long enough to see that old saying about insanity play out — doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If [All Elite Wrestling] keeps doing the same thing year after year and expects things to suddenly change, why would they?””
Whether All Elite Wrestling might ever hire Douglas in any capacity remains to be seen.
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NEW DELHI: Rebel groups in Pakistan have warned international cricketers to immediately withdraw from the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL), placing the 11th edition of the tournament in a security crisis days ahead of its start on March 26.The statement, issued by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson Asad Mansoor, frames the T20 league as a “cruel mockery” of the suffering in regions such as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
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The “advisory” from the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) faction, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, warns international cricketers to withdraw from the PSL, claiming the safety of international players cannot be guaranteed given the current volatile and precarious security landscape.The group asserted they would not permit the “dignity of the people to be compromised for the sake of political optics” or allow the “blood of the oppressed to be overshadowed by the lights of a stadium”.“In a climate where military operations and civil unrest dominate significant portions of the territory, the safety of international athletes cannot be guaranteed. Given these dire circumstances, we strongly advise you to prioritise your personal security and withdraw. The organised spectacle of the PSL serves as a cruel mockery of our suffering,” it said.This threat comes at a sensitive time as Pakistan has been embroiled in escalation in rebel activity, leading the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to restrict the tournament to just two venues, Karachi and Lahore, and also keep spectators out.Despite the ultimatum, the PCB has claimed that the tournament would proceed as scheduled.
Ben Stokes reckons the past three months have been the “hardest period” of his time as England captain but is determined the current leadership group can oversee a revival in the Test team’s fortunes. Earlier on Monday, the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, Richard Gould, confirmed Stokes, managing director Rob Key and coach Brendon McCullum would all stay in their posts despite the team’s 4-1 loss on their five-Test tour of Australia, which ended in January.
Key denied suggestions Stokes and McCullum had fallen out in Australia, despite the pair offering contrasting messages during a desperately disappointing series loss.
Stokes, in an emotional Instagram post, said he was determined to learn from his mistakes following the lowest period of his near four-year spell as England captain, with Key and McCullum still the right men to be alongside him.
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“Being England captain is the greatest honour a player can be given and I do not take it for granted,” Stokes wrote.
“It has its highs and it has its lows, it makes you want to smile, it makes you want to cry. It completely and utterly consumes you and feels like it’s the only thing in your life at times.
“The last 3 months has without a doubt been the hardest period of my captaincy journey, it’s tested me in so many different ways and I’m sure every other captain has gone through this as well.
“Baz (McCullum), Rob and myself have the passion and desire to take this team forward, we are going to give you everything we have, we know we made mistakes along the way and we have learnt from those mistakes, you learn more from failure than success.”
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In addition to England’s poor performances on the field, there were reports of excessive drinking by players on a break, raising concerns about the dressing-room culture.
Revelations followed that vice-captain Harry Brook had been involved in an altercation with a nightclub bouncer on the pre-Ashes visit to New Zealand.
A midnight curfew has since been enforced, while the ECB are trying to recruit a new national selector after Luke Wright resigned for family reasons.
Stokes has not played since suffering a groin injury in the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney in January, but is set to feature for Durham in the County Championship ahead of this season’s home Test programme.
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England have three Tests against McCullum’s native New Zealand in June before a trio of matches against Pakistan in August and September.
Stokes added: “I have learnt a lot about myself but the most important thing that I want the fans to know is that….
“I F*****G love cricket, I F*****G love this team, I F*****G love being England captain and I have got so much more to give to this role and I’m so happy that I get to do it with Baz and Rob.
“We all appreciate every single person who supports us. We do what we do for many reasons but one of those reasons is to bring our supporters and fans happiness and a sense of pride and we will aim to do those things as much as we can in the future.
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“See you all in June for the start of the Test Match summer.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
One was ruing what might have been one of his last best shots. The other was hopeful a defeat could be the key to what comes next.
There was Presidents Cup captain Brandt Snedeker, who went off in the final group alongside 54-hole leader Sungjae Im. Snedeker, 45, is a nine-time winner on the PGA Tour, but his last victory came at the 2018 Wyndham Championship, when he opened with a 59. Since then, Snedeker has been through the wringer. In 2022, he underwent experimental surgery to fix a joint in his sternum that was separating. It took him eight months to return to competition. While his health is “the best” it has been in a decade, Snedeker has struggled on the course, posting just three top-10s in 62 events over the last three years.
But at the Valspar, Snedeker rode a hot putter and tidy short game into contention, giving him a chance to get back into the winner’s circle for the first time in almost eight years.
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“Nobody expects me to be here,” Snedeker said Saturday.
He entered Sunday with a chance. By the time Snedeker made the turn, Im had fired a front-nine 40 and Snedeker found himself in a five-way tie for first.
It was all there for Snedeker. And then, suddenly, it wasn’t.
Snedeker missed makable birdie tries on 10 and 11, and then made a messy double bogey on the par-4 12th. Bogeys at 13, 16 and 17 followed as Snedeker came unravelled to finish in a tie for 18th.
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“Stood on the 10th tee tied for the lead, which is all you can do,” Snedeker said after the round. “My swing left me on the back nine. I really struggled. I couldn’t really find anything to go to put the ball where I wanted to. This golf course — it’s a perfectly designed golf course — if you get out of position, it’s going to punish you. All those putts I’ve been making all week dried up today.
“It’s frustrating, it sucks, and all the good stuff this week kind of feels like I threw it away today. But that’s part of golf. That’s why I love this challenge, and I’ll come back next week and try to figure out what I did wrong and try to fix it.”
Snedeker began the year with conditional status and opened with four straight missed cuts. For 63 holes at the Valspar, he had a chance to author an improbable story. Instead, he limped to the finish and left the Copperhead Course hopeful that this was a sign of what’s to come and not an isolated flash of good play.
“I was really happy with my process today,” Snedeker said. “Never felt nervous, never felt like I was uncomfortable with the situations I was in. Feel like my swing was a little bit off. This golf course can really make you pay. It’s not like I hit any wild, awful shots, just constantly a slow drain. Miss a fairway here, miss a green there, and put the ball in the wrong spot and you’re going to make bogeys. That’s what I did on the back nine. Hung in there on the front nine. Just wish I could go back and tee off on 10 one more time.”
As Snedker was finishing up a slow back-nine bleed, David Lipsky was up ahead pushing Fitzpatrick to the limit.
The 37-year-old Lipsky has never won on the PGA Tour and is currently playing on conditional status after finishing 107th in the FedEx Cup Fall standings. He arrived at the Valspar with one top-20 in four starts this season, but Lipsky opened with rounds of 69-65-70 to start the final round tied with Snedeker, just two off Im’s lead.
Lipsky went out in even and then birdied 14 to join Fitzpatrick atop the leaderboard at 10 under. He missed a birdie putt at No. 15 and then watched his 15-foot birdie attempt at 17 come up short. When Fitzpatrick birdied 18 ahead of him, Lipsky needed to answer on the final hole to force a playoff. But his tee shot landed in the right rough, and his approach left him 32 feet for birdie. Lipsky gave it a run, but his playoff-forcing effort just missed, leaving him with a runner-up finish.
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Sunday at the Valspar could have changed everything for David Lipsky. But the near-miss didn’t leave him with regret or frustration; all that was there on Sunday was excitement about what was to come. That solo second finish vaults him to the top of the AON Swing Five, which means he is on track to get into the RBC Heritage, the next Signature Event. That can open up everything for a journeyman still grinding for playing opportunities on the PGA Tour and hoping to get out of the conditional land where he currently resides.
“Massive,” Lipsky said of his week. “It’s going to probably get me into a few of the Signature Events or whatnot. It’s a great week. I have no notes on that.
“It gets you into so many more events. You don’t feel like you’re behind the 8-ball, especially going into the summer. So this week was an awesome week and I’m really looking forward to seeing what events I get into the rest of the year and trying to play my way into those playoffs.”
Lipsky will head to Houston this week, looking to bolster his chances of kicking down the door to a Signature Event. Snedeker, meanwhile, will continue to “split” his focus between his duties as Presidents Cup captain and as a nine-time PGA Tour winner in search of a late-career resurgence.
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His Valspar could very well be the start of that. But there’s one thing it won’t be: the start of a conversation that mirrors what Keegan Bradley lived last year as he tried to play himself onto his own Ryder Cup team. Snedeker will be at Medinah in September as a captain, and captain only. His golf will be secondary until the final putt drops this fall.
“There’s no chance,” Snedeker said on Thursday about the possibility of being a playing captain. “Let’s not even talk crazy here. There’s no chance, no chance.
“I want to make sure I play some good golf out here,” Snedeker said on Sunday after he stumbled home. “But more importantly, I want to make sure I do a good job being Presidents Cup captain.”
After Syracuse got demolished by UConn in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, 98-45, on Monday, Orange head coach Felisha Legette-Jack used her opening statement in the postgame press conference to send a message to the NCAA selection committee.
“For us to do what we’ve done, to continuously have to come to UConn … it’s unfair to the young people,” she said, later adding that it was “unacceptable,” “wrong” and a “personal attack.”
Legette-Jack became the Orange head coach in 2022. Her team has made the NCAA Tournament twice in the last four years; both times, it faced UConn in the second round. Syracuse, a No. 9 seed this year, took down Iowa State in the first round on Saturday. The Orange were crushed by the unbeaten reigning champs on Monday, however. UConn was up 65-12 at halftime before cruising to the 53-point win. Legette-Jack’s team kept it much closer in 2024, losing to UConn 72-64.
Prior to coming to Syracuse, Legette-Jack was the head coach at Buffalo, where she led her team to four NCAA Tournaments. In 2019, Buffalo was a No. 10 seed and had to face UConn in the second round, where it lost 84-72. Syracuse also drew UConn in the second round before Legette-Jack was at the helm, in 2021 and 2017.
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In the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, the top four seeds host games on their campuses. It is not uncommon for the selection committee to make bracket-placement decisions based on geography, and Legette-Jack noted that she believed Syracuse has “earned the right to go anywhere outside of a four-hour radius.” She also mentioned that she would have been OK being a No. 10 seed instead of a No. 9 seed if it helped avoid this placement.
Per NCAA rules, “Any team that has to travel at least 400 miles during the opening weekend is eligible to take a flight chartered by the NCAA. That drops to 350 miles for the regional finals and the Final Four.” So, the NCAA saves money on travel if it is able to reasonably place teams in brackets closer to their campuses.
You can read the full transcript of Legette-Jack’s opening statement below:
I asked God to touch my heart and help me speak kindly about this opportunity, but also have a responsibility. And when I tell my players the need to ‘woman up,’ I think I have to do the same thing.
And for us to be coming from a [12-18 season] last year, OK, let’s judge it on this season.
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For us to do what we’ve done, to continuously have to come to UConn, and every single school that I go to, from Buffalo to — it’s unfair to the young people.
I don’t know what it is. Somebody said, is there something that they might have against me? If that’s the case, then we need to communicate about that.
But for us to be — what we’ve done and our body of work, to have to come and play the best team in the country, I mean, Geno has this thing going, and I love what he’s done. But we, I thought, deserved a little more respect.
After being in this business for 37 years, and to have to come and be in this particular bracket every fricking year is unacceptable. It’s wrong. It’s — somebody — and if you’re on the committee and you’ve been around for more than a year or two or five to 10, 15 years, you understand what that looks like.
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I have been on those committees to see how it’s done, how you can put people on different lines. Put us on a 10 line, whatever. But for us to continue to come to Connecticut year after year after year is, to me, it’s a personal attack, because I just think that we are way better than what we performed today.
But I think what you’re going to notice, that everybody that comes through Geno and UConn is going to get the wrath of what they can bring.
I just know that this team right here had a strong chance of getting beyond this particular level, and I am hoping that I’m not disrespecting anyone. I’m hoping that I’m not bringing shame to Syracuse by crying spilled milk, but after a while — I’ve never said anything in this kind of light before.
A lot of people talk about rev share. I just want the young people that’s in my locker room to have a fighting chance, and I am grateful to be in an NCAA Tournament, from where we’ve come from, but I think that we’ve earned the right to go anywhere outside of a four-hour radius. That’s all I have.
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Legette-Jack has been open about the challenge UConn presents since the draw came out.
“I gave a directive to my manager. She said she’s good at kidnapping people. I asked her to kidnap [UConn head coach Geno Auriemma] and [UConn forward Sarah Strong]. And I looked at her and I said, did you follow through with the directive I gave you? And she said, no. So they’re going to be there,” she joked in the press conference on Sunday, the day after Syracuse’s first-round win over Iowa State.
At the end of her press conference on Monday night, Legette-Jack made it clear how much she respects UConn’s program.
“Just before I go, I just want to say thank you, UConn, for growing women’s basketball to newfound heights every year. You just make it great,” Legette-Jack said. “And our hope is that we can grow our program so that we can be competitive enough so when they bring us back here next year, we’ll be more prepared. Thank you. God bless.”
Former U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe spoke out in support of the Iranian women’s soccer team amid the players’ trials and tribulations over the last few weeks while competing in Australia.
The Iranian women’s soccer team was in Australia earlier this month to compete in the Women’s Asian Cup. Players were seen refusing to sing their country’s national anthem as the U.S. and Israel launched a joint military campaign on the Iranian regime. The players were dubbed “wartime traitors” by an Iranian broadcaster for their decisions during the tournament.
Retired United States soccer player Megan Rapinoe looks on before a SheBelieves Cup match against Colombia at Sports Illustrated Stadium on March 7, 2026, in Harrison, New Jersey.(Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)
Australian officials then raced to try to get the players asylum in the country. At least two players stayed in Australia while the rest of the team made it back to Iran.
Rapinoe praised the “bravery and courage” of the women.
“I’m just thinking about this in the context of, like, the immense pressure that these young adults and these young women are under to make a decision like this,” she said on the “A Touch More” podcast. “Like, the incredible courage and bravery it would take knowing what that could potentially mean for their family back home. The bravery and courage to protest the national anthem, basically in protest of the Iranian regime and not singing the national anthem during a match. The stress and uncertainty they’re facing – their family, their loved ones. What does that all mean for back home?
“I, of course, fully support their decisions to seek asylum and seek a better life and to try to escape an incredibly oppressive regime in that situation. I don’t know what’s going on with them and why some of them left and however that is. I hope the ones that returned home have done so under their own free will and choice and that their families are safe, that they’re safe, and their friends are safe. I hope the ones that have chosen to stay feel a sense of peace and hope about a potential for a new life in Australia or otherwise.”
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Iran players react during their national anthem ahead of the Women’s Asian Cup soccer match between Iran and the Philippines in Robina, Australia, Sunday, March 8, 2026.(Dave Hunt/AAP Image via AP)
Rapinoe added that she was “in awe of their courage.”
The former U.S. soccer star faced scrutiny for not speaking out as the saga was unfolding in the country. Piers Morgan was among those who labeled Rapinoe as “hypocritical.”
“The silence over this from Rapinoe, and so many supposed ‘feminists’ like her, is so telling, damning, and hypocritical,” he wrote in a social media post. “They’d rather campaign for biological men to wreck women’s sport than campaign for these heroic young sportswomen to help save their lives.”
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She didn’t address her critics in her latest podcast episode with Sue Bird.
Initially, seven of the Iranian women’s soccer players accepted asylum but turned around and declined the opportunity at the last minute. Two players who stayed were seen training with one of the country’s premier clubs last week.
The Australian government faced criticism for not working fast enough to get to the players.
“We ended up with an outcome that is certainly far from ideal,” Graham Thom, an advocacy coordinator for the Refugee Council of Australia, told The Associated Press.
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Iran players pose for a team photo ahead of the Women’s Asian Cup soccer match between Iran and the Philippines in Robina, Australia on Sunday, March 8, 2026.(Dave Hunt/AAPImage via AP)
Mar 22, 2026; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (86) during the face off against the Calgary Flames during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
The Minnesota Wild and Tampa Bay Lightning, two powerhouses preparing for the playoffs in their respective conferences, will complete their two-game season series in Tuesday night’s matchup in the Sunshine State.
Minnesota (40-19-12, 92 points) won the first meeting with a 5-1 home thumping of the Lightning (43-21-5, 91 points) on March 3.
Wild star winger Kirill Kaprizov set the franchise record with the final tally, an empty-netter, for his 220th marker to surpass Marian Gaborik for the all-time lead in goals.
Since that victory, the Central Division’s third-place club has posted a 4-3-2 record, not enough to catch the Dallas Stars but leaving a 12-point advantage over the Utah Mammoth, who hold the Western Conference’s top wild-card spot.
Kaprizov is tied for the team lead in goals with 38, matched by Matt Boldy. The electrifying Russian scorer paces the squad with 80 points.
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Third in goals scored, winger Vladimir Tarasenko made his 20th count in Saturday’s 2-1 overtime winner against Dallas. The victory closed out a seven-game stretch with a 3-3-1 mark, with all but one of the games on home ice.
Tarasenko recorded his 324th career goal and 54th game-winner, hitting the net from the slot after taking a swift cross-ice pass from Bobby Brink, who put up the game-tying tally in the second period.
Wild coach John Hynes said Brink brings a scrappiness to the team, which opens a three-game road swing that visits Tampa, Florida and Boston.
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“He’s a tenacious competitor, we knew that coming in,” Hynes said. “That’s what you love about him. He’s fast and quick. … Because of his speed and hockey sense — that combination of his competitiveness makes him an effective guy for us.”
Tampa Bay was on the brink of sweeping its four-game road trip Sunday after rallying from a two-goal deficit, getting goals from Darren Raddysh and Pontus Holmberg, and forcing overtime against the Calgary Flames.
However, Ryan Strome netted the game-winner just 26 seconds into three-on-three to prevent the visitors from winning the finale on a swing that took them to Seattle, Vancouver and Edmonton.
Coach Jon Cooper said leaving Alberta with three points in two nights after topping the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Saturday night was needed.
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“The final leg after playing back-to-back in 22 hours and we’re down 3-1 halfway through the game and we get a point out of it, so there’s a lot of good to take out of this especially with the way the Eastern Conference is going,” said Cooper.
The result was a noticeable shift for Ryan McDonagh, who scored the first goal.
“Coming out of the Olympic break here, we’ve been down in games and haven’t been able to crawl back and get points out of it,” said the defenseman, who has six markers. “It stinks to lose, but we showed signs of sticking with our structure, being patient, not going rogue and being rewarded with a goal late to give ourselves a chance in overtime.”
With the primary assist on Raddysh’s goal, Nikita Kucherov moved his point streak to four games (six goals, seven assists) and leads the NHL with 119 points, three ahead of the Oilers’ Connor McDavid.
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The Lightning, who did not commit a penalty in a match for the first time this season, are 20-12-0 on home ice.
Ben Stokes has admitted the past three months have been the “hardest period” of his time as England captain but he is adamant the current leadership group can take the Test team forward.
England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould affirmed hours earlier the positions of Stokes, managing director Rob Key and head coach Brendon McCullum were safe despite the Ashes debacle.
Key rejected out of hand suggestions Stokes and McCullum had a falling out in Australia, despite the pair offering conflicting messages during a turbulent campaign in which they were soundly beaten 4-1.
But in an impassioned Instagram post, Stokes insisted he does not take his role as Test skipper, which he has held for nearly four years, lightly as he endorsed himself, Key and McCullum to learn from their mistakes.
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Addressing England supporters, he wrote: “Being England captain is the greatest honour a player can be given and I do not take it for granted.
“It has its highs and it has its lows, it makes you want to smile, it makes you want to cry. It completely and utterly consumes you and feels like it’s the only thing in your life at times.
“The last 3 months has without a doubt been the hardest period of my captaincy journey, it’s tested me in so many different ways and I’m sure every other captain has gone through this as well.
“Baz, Rob and myself have the passion and desire to take this team forward, we are going to give you everything we have, we know we made mistakes along the way and we have learnt from those mistakes, you learn more from failure than success.”
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England’s decision to have just one warm-up before taking on Australia was fiercely criticised, as was a break in Noosa between the second and third Tests, with reports of excessive drinking by players.
The revelation that white-ball captain Harry Brook was punched by a bouncer the night before he led England in a pre-series assignment to New Zealand led to questions over the culture under McCullum.
A midnight curfew has since been enforced, while the ECB are in the process of searching for a new national selector following Luke Wright’s resignation for family reasons.
Stokes has not played since suffering a groin injury in the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney in January, but is set to turn out for Durham in the County Championship ahead of this summer’s Test programme.
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England play three Tests against McCullum’s native New Zealand in June before another trio of matches against Pakistan in August and September.
Stokes added: “I have learnt a lot about myself but the most important thing that I want the fans to know is that….
“I F*****G love cricket, I F*****G love this team, I F*****G love being England captain and I have got so much more to give to this role and I’m so happy that I get to do it with Baz and Rob.
“We all appreciate every single person who supports us. We do what we do for many reasons but one of those reasons is to bring our supporters and fans happiness and a sense of pride and we will aim to do those things as much as we can in the future.
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“See you all in June for the start of the Test Match summer.”
;)
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