Sports
Olympic legend Kaillie Humphries rips SJSU’s lawsuit vs Trump admin
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Kaillie Humphries is a tax-paying Californian, and she doesn’t approve of the California State University (CSU) system’s latest lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education.
As a veteran women’s Olympian, now with a toddler son, she morally objects to it.
“I love California. I don’t agree with its politics. I don’t agree with the lawsuit at all,” Humphries told Fox News Digital.
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USA’s Kaillie Humphries holds an USA flag after competing to win bronze in the bobsleigh women’s monobob heat 4 at Cortina Sliding Centre during the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo on Feb. 16, 2026. (Marco BERTORELLO / AFP)
CSU and San Jose State University (SJSU) are taking on President Donald Trump’s administration in a high-stakes legal challenge. The U.S. Department of Education investigated the school’s transgender volleyball player scandal, and determined SJSU violated Title IX due to its handling of the situation.
Some of the female players were allegedly not aware the trans athlete, Blaire Fleming, was a biological male, according to court documents.
“For me, to hear or understand there was ever a female athlete that was unaware of their situation, it just speaks to why Trump stepping forward and keeping women’s sports protected is so important. Because it’s about not just physical safety, but the mental and the sexual side of everything,” Humphries said. “I don’t see a world where there should be any male in a female sport at all.”
At the center of the conflict is 23-year-old Brooke Slusser. The former SJSU volleyball co-captain shared a court, locker rooms, hotel rooms and an apartment with Fleming before ever learning the athlete’s biological sex.
Slusser fought back and spoke up, waging legal battles against the NCAA, Mountain West and CSU over her experience.
“I support her,” Humphries said of Slusser. “I would say she did the right thing, and she has a community of people who believe in what she’s fighting for.”
Liberals across X and TikTok have launched a hate campaign against Slusser after a recent interview with Fox News Digital, where she revealed she shared secrets and, at times, beds with Fleming when they lived together in the same apartment.
Humphries called the attacks on Slusser “atrocious.”
“I think it’s atrocious to see somebody be attacked for feeling unsafe in their environment and speaking up about it,” Humphries said. “I can only fathom what that feeling of unknown would be like when you find yourself in an unfamiliar situation, and to know that it affects her safety and will now moving forward affect her mental state. It’s a hard situation to be in.
“I really hope, regardless of people’s thoughts and feelings and beliefs, that sport needs to be a safe place. And attacking someone online for simply stating that they were unaware and that they feel unsafe in that environment, it’s a shame… She can call me anytime if she needs help.”
The person Slusser holds responsible for ending up in the situation with Fleming is SJSU head volleyball coach Todd Kress, who recruited her while allegedly withholding knowledge of the trans athlete’s birth sex from her. Slusser also alleged Kress encouraged her to move into the apartment with Fleming, when there was another group of teammates looking for a tenant as well.
“Todd Kress, knowing this person was a man, and saying that I’m going to ‘fit in better’ with these girls on my volleyball team, couldn’t have been further from the truth,” Slusser previously told Fox News Digital.
Humphries has her own experience with an allegedly abusive coach, and a program that didn’t support her, when she competed for Team Canada.
“I went through a big issue with Bobsled Canada and the head coach that they had hired. And I was physically and mentally abused by the head coach. I physically feared for my safety,” Humphries previously told Fox News Digital.
“When I brought it up to our administration at Bobsled Canada, they decided to back him as their choice as the coach that they hired in that Olympic year, and not back me… They cut my funding, they cut my support, they removed me from the team, and there was no way back on. And because I was living in the U.S. and engaged to an American at the time, I phoned up USA Bobsled.”
Humphries had to start from square one, and earn her place on Team USA while undergoing a rigorous legal immigration process. But she made it, won gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics, won bronze in the 2026 Milan Cortina Games, en route to becoming the most accomplished women’s bobsledder in history.
She made even more history on Thursday when she gave her Order of Ikkos medal, which is granted to those who make a big impact on an Olympic medalist’s journey, to Trump. It made Trump the first U.S. president to receive such a medal.
Humphries thanked Trump for his executive actions in protecting women’s sports and making IVF more accessible for hopeful mothers. Despite her historic Olympic success, Humphries calls her son her crowning achievement. But as she navigates raising her son in California, she says she will have to keep her guard up.
“I’ve thought about homeschooling,” Humphries admitted.
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Bronze medalist USA’s Kaillie Armbruster Humphries kisses her son on the podium of the bobsleigh women’s monobob at Cortina Sliding Centre during the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo on Feb. 16, 2026. (Marco BERTORELLO / AFP)
“As a mom, raising a son, he will grow up to believe that women’s sports are for women… I will make sure he is a true advocate not only for sports itself, but for women’s sports…
“Who knows what the state of California and or the United States will be in when we get that time even five years from now when he starts school.”
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A unification fight between Rolando Romero and Devin Haney appears to be on the verge of confirmation.
‘Rolly’ Romero is the reigning WBA welterweight champion, having won the Regular belt with a unanimous decision victory over Ryan Garcia at Times Square in New York last May before he was later upgraded to full champion.
He began his career at 135lbs, winning the WBA interim lightweight title, before moving up to super-lightweight and becoming WBA champion there, prior to his current campaign at 147lbs.
Another fighter that has reigned in multiple divisions is Haney, who was undisputed lightweight champion and WBC super-lightweight champion over the years.
He moved to welterweight last year, dethroning Brian Norman Jr to become WBO welterweight champion, with a number of possible next opponents listed ever since.
Keyshawn Davis was mentioned, along with former foe and newly-crowned WBC champion Ryan Garcia, but it appears that Romero has won the race to be the next man standing opposite Haney.
Romero and Haney have gone back and forth on social media in recent weeks to publicise their potential fight, and now Romero has told Fight Hub TV the expected details surrounding the clash.
“It’s looking like it might get done for May 30 here in Las Vegas. MGM [Grand].”
The victor of the bout would have his hands on two titles at 147, and would likely look to target the other world champions in the division, with the aforementioned Garcia holding the WBC belt, and Lewis Crocker the current IBF champion.
Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 128 runs via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern (DLS) method in the rain-affected second ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Friday. Maaz Sadaqat was the stand-out performer of the game, blasting a rapid 75 for Pakistan before picking up three wickets. Chasing a revised target of 243 in 32 overs after a two-hour rain and hailstorm delay, Bangladesh collapsed for 114 in 23.3 overs despite a brief counterattack from Litton Das. Bangladesh had already been in trouble before the weather halted play.
Tanzid Hasan fell early for one, caught at backward square leg off Shaheen Shah Afridi, while Saif Hassan departed for 12 after offering a catch to short mid-off off Mohammad Wasim Jr.
Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto was bowled by Afridi for a duck, leaving the hosts reeling at 27 for 3 in 6.3 overs when a sudden thunderstorm accompanied by hail forced the players off the field.
When play resumed, Litton attempted to revive the chase with a series of boundaries including two sixes. He was eventually trapped lbw for 41 by part-time spinner Maaz Sadaqat.
Tawhid Hridoy made 28 off 38 balls before falling lbw to Haris Rauf, while Afif Hossain added 14 before becoming Sadaqat’s second victim.
Captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz managed just one run as Bangladesh’s innings folded quickly.
Rauf and Sadaqat claimed three wickets each to complete a dominant bowling performance for Pakistan.
Earlier, Bangladesh had fought back with the ball to bowl Pakistan out for 274 in 47.3 overs after a blistering start by the visitors.
Pakistan raced to 103 for the opening wicket inside 13 overs through an aggressive partnership between Sahibzada Farhan and Sadaqat.
Sadaqat struck 75 off 46 balls with six fours and five sixes, while Farhan scored 31 before falling to Taskin Ahmed.
Salman Agha later top-scored with 64 from 62 balls and shared a 109-run stand with Mohammad Rizwan (44), though Agha’s innings ended in a dramatic run-out by Mehidy Hasan Miraz at the non-striker’s end that sparked animated reactions on the field.
Leg-spinner Rishad Hossain finished as the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 56 as Pakistan were eventually bowled out for 274, a total that proved more than enough on a rain-shortened night in Mirpur.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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After a legendary NFL coaching career that produced eight Super Bowl rings as both an assistant and head coach, Bill Belichick made the jump to the college ranks last year.
Belichick led North Carolina to a 4-8 record in his first season in Chapel Hill, but a string of off-field headlines largely overshadowed the program.
UNC general manager Michael Lombardi recently addressed the scrutiny and outside criticism that surrounded the program last season, defending the team’s response amid what he characterized as inaccurate accounts.
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North Carolina football general manager Michael Lombardi (L) talks with head coach Bill Belichick prior to the game against the Richmond Spiders at Kenan Memorial Stadium on Sept. 13, 2025, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Lance King/Getty Images)
“All during those stormy times, all during when the boat was getting capsized, when people were attacking us with fake rumors and fake stories all over — nobody’s corrected them yet, but that’s OK, we understand — our players hung together,” Lombardi told the “Pat McAfee Show” last week.
Lombardi also suggested the program’s high profile made it a target but argued the scrutiny ultimately reinforced the team’s resolve, especially on the recruiting trail.
BILL BELICHICK, JORDON HUDSON HOT MIC MOMENT LEAKED AMID UNC DRAMA-FILLED SEASON
“We did not lose one single recruit to another team. Now, they tried. A lot of that, to me, was the dedication of our recruiting class, and that’s what I think gives all of everybody in this program the lift that we need. Because those players have bought into our messaging, and they stood firm in a time of trouble.”
“Look, let’s face it. If you’re not worth a darn, they’re not going to attack you. Some programs are not worth attacking. They’re going to attack us. We expect it. It’s all good. We’ve been in the arena before. We don’t listen to the noise. We focus on what we have to focus on and we move forward.”
General manager Michael Lombardi of the North Carolina Tar Heels looks on prior to the game against the Virginia Cavaliers at Kenan Memorial Stadium on Oct. 25, 2025, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Lance King/Getty Images)
During last year’s widely discussed “CBS News Sunday Morning” interview, Hudson faced accusations that she attempted to exert control during the former NFL coach’s sit-down. The interview was part of a promotional tour for Belichick’s new book, “The Art of Winning — Lessons from My Life in Football.”
The viral moment sparked questions about Hudson’s involvement in both his personal and professional life and whether it could affect football operations.
However, in the months leading up to the start of Belichick’s debut season, multiple Tar Heels football players spoke out and insisted the coach’s personal life hadn’t disrupted the team in any way.
Wide receiver Jordan Shipp made it clear that any outside “noise” has not negatively affected the team. From Shipp’s point of view, Hudson has not been overly involved in Belichick’s coaching process.
“Social media can promote some narrative, but that was not a distraction to us at all,” Shipp said in July 2025. “There was never a problem, like people saying she was running practice. We’d never really see her in the building. That was never a problem.”
Head coach Bill Belichick of the North Carolina Tar Heels and Jordon Hudson look on prior to the game against the Richmond Spiders at Kenan Memorial Stadium on Sept. 13, 2025, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Lance King/Getty Images)
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Then-UNC quarterback Gio Lopez also weighed in, saying Hudson was more visible online than at the team complex and describing Belichick as a “normal coach.”
“I log on my phone and see something about coach Belichick, so it is different, of course,” Lopez said. “But you’d never think that about him. He’s a normal guy, a normal coach. That’s how he carries himself. He’s very personable, not worried about the spotlight. He just does his job.”
Lopez threw for 1,747 yards at UNC in 2025 before transferring to Wake Forest in January.
In October, Belichick addressed speculation that he and school officials had discussed a “potential exit strategy” during his tumultuous first season. “I’m fully committed to UNC football and the program we’re building here,” Belichick said in a statement at the time.
Belichick dismissed the increased attention on his personal life. “Sometimes it’s noisy, and sometimes it isn’t,” he told ESPN last summer. “Sometimes with the Patriots it was noisy, too.”
UNC opens spring camp on March 24.
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NBA official Sha’Rae Mitchell went down hard during Thursday night’s game between the Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets after she ran into a camera operator and appeared to injure her head in the collision.
Mitchell, who is in her first season as an NBA staff official, was jogging full speed along the court with just over eight minutes left in the game when she took a hard fall to the ground after running into a camera operator, who appeared to be filming the crowd courtside during play.
Referee Sha’Rae Mitchell (98) signals during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 12, 2026. (Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
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The game was stopped as Mitchell appeared to grab the back of her head, bent over in obvious pain.
She walked off the court and sat down, continuing to grab at her head.
Referee Sha’Rae Mitchell holds her head after a collision during the fourth quarter of the Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks game at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 12, 2026. (Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
Mitchell reportedly returned to the game as Jalen Johnson recorded 21 points, nine rebounds and nine assists to help the Hawks extend the NBA’s longest current winning streak to eight games with a 108-97 victory over the Nets.
The 40-year-old referee joined the league officially this season after previously officiating 11 regular-season games as a non-staff official during the 2022-23 NBA season and four games during the 2021-22 season.
Rapper and entertainer Boosie Badazz reacts after watching referee Sha’Rae Mitchell (98) fall to the floor following a collision during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 12, 2026. (Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
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Mitchell was a standout women’s college basketball player at UC Santa Barbara before she served on coaching staffs at Stanford University, UCLA and Coastal Carolina University. She then moved to officiating college basketball for several years before making her debut at the pro level.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Mar 12, 2026; Kansas City, MO, USA; Houston Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp (21) rebounds during the second half against the BYU Cougars at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images Championship Week rolls on Friday with several semifinal games on the schedule featuring some of the best teams in the country. It’s definitely more fun to make picks for semifinal games with the stakes elevated even higher.
Today’s NCAA Basketball Best Bets will feature three conference semifinal contests.
Let’s get started by talking about the Big Easy Tournament Semifinal featuring the Georgetown Hoyas and No. 6 Connecticut Huskies before moving on to ACC and Big 12 Semifinal games.
Big East Tournament – Semifinal: Georgetown vs. No. 6 UConn
Georgetown ended the regular season with a 14-17 record after going 1-7 down the stretch. They should have been an early out in the Big East Tournament, but instead, they upset Villanova to earn a spot in the semifinals. Cinderellas win all the time; could they do it again?
If the regular season is any indication, maybe. The Hoyas and Huskies played twice, UConn won both, but by a two-point margin in one (64-62) and a four-point margin in the other (79-75). But on paper, these games shouldn’t have even been close.
My Pick: UConn -13.5 at -106
I’m a little nervous about this one because of the regular-season games being so close. But after watching the beatdown they gave Xavier, the dominant version of UConn appears to be back. The Huskies will cover this large spread.
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ACC Tournament – Semifinal: Clemson vs. No. 1 Duke
If the Clemson Tigers were wondering how to beat Duke, the Florida State Seminoles were kind enough to give them a blueprint Thursday night: hit 52% of your shots, including 10+ three-pointers, force turnovers, and generate points from those turnovers.
In Clemson’s regular-season matchup with Duke, they shot 35% from the floor, hit 6 of 24 three-pointers, and scored eight points off nine turnovers (Duke scored 13 off ten).
The Tigers are certainly competitive on the defensive end (No. 23 in the country, 66.2 points per game allowed). But not so much on the offensive end (No. 223, 77.4 points per game). They are a decent three-point shooting team (34%) and are capable of generating turnovers (11.59 per game).
My Pick: Duke -11.5
Clemson’s defense will keep them from getting blown out, but their offense is going to struggle against the Duke defense (No. 2 in the country, 62.5 points per game allowed).
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Big 12 Tournament – Semifinal: No. 14 Kansas vs. No. 5 Houston
Kansas was the third loss in Houston’s three-game losing streak late in the season and essentially beat the Cougars at their own game: they played better defense. Houston shot a dreadful 32% in that game, while Kansas made one more shot (22 to 21) and took 16 fewer shots (50 to 66).
The Jayhawks also won the three-point line, going 7-17 while holding Houston to 5-24.
The Cougars rebounded with three strong wins to close the regular season and had a solid outing against BYU in their tournament opener. Kansas came out on top of a battle with TCU in the quarterfinals Thursday night.
My Pick: Houston -5.5
Kansas deserved to win their first meeting with Houston, but the Cougars defense is too good not to have a better performance this time around. Houston’s balanced offense will get the job done this time against the Jayhawks defense.
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PAK vs BAN, 2nd ODI: Maaz Sadaqat’s heroics help Pakistan thump Bangladesh, level series 1-1 | Cricket News
NEW DELHI: The Pakistan national cricket team beat the Bangladesh national cricket team by 128 runs via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern (DLS) method in the rain-hit second ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Friday, levelling the three-match series 1-1 with a dominant performance.The star of the match was Maaz Sadaqat, who shone with both bat and ball. He first smashed a quick 75 off 46 balls and later returned to pick up three wickets to help Pakistan seal the victory.
Pakistan were bowled out for 274 in 47.3 overs after strong contributions from several batters. Sadaqat and Sahibzada Farhan gave the visitors a flying start, putting together a 103-run opening partnership inside 13 overs. Farhan made 31, while Salman Agha later added 64 and shared a 109-run stand with Mohammad Rizwan, who scored 44.Chasing the target, Bangladesh’s innings got off to a poor start. Tanzid Hasan fell for 1, Saif Hassan scored 12, and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto was dismissed for a duck by Shaheen Shah Afridi, leaving the hosts at 27 for 3 in 6.3 overs. At that stage, a sudden thunderstorm with rain and hail forced the players off the field for about two hours.When play resumed, the target was revised to 243 in 32 overs under the DLS method. Litton Das tried to fight back with an attacking 41, hitting a few boundaries and two sixes, while Towhid Hridoy made 28.However, once Litton was dismissed lbw by Sadaqat, Bangladesh quickly collapsed. Haris Rauf and Sadaqat picked up three wickets each, bowling Bangladesh out for 114 in 23.3 overs and sealing a comprehensive win for Pakistan.
Akwa United Head Coach, Paul Offor, has been named the Nigeria National League (NNL) Best Coach for three consecutive months, winning the award for December 2025, January 2026 and February 2026.
The NNL announced the winners of the Prostar/Sportlight Hub Monthly Awards, which recognise outstanding performances by players, coaches, teams and referees across the league.
Under Offor’s leadership, Akwa United currently top NNL Conference B with 25 points from 13 matches, reflecting the team’s strong form this season.
In December 2025, Offor was named Best Coach, while Daniel Gothom of Akwa United won Goal of the Month. Other winners included Ajibola Joel (Stormers FC) as Highest Goal Scorer, Emmanuel S. Daniel (Ranchers Bees FC) as Best Goalkeeper, Yaro Zakari (Yobe Desert Stars FC) as MVP, Akporogene Ajigeye (Delta State Referees Council) as Best Referee, and Kada Warriors FC as Best Behaved Team.
In January 2026, Offor retained the Best Coach award. Tony Ayang (Rovers FC) was Highest Goal Scorer, Aloysius Thankgod (Akwa United) won Best Goalkeeper, Victor Samuel (Sporting Lagos FC) was MVP, Babarinde Taofeek (Gateway FC) won Goal of the Month, Eke Henry N. (Imo Referees Council) was Best Referee, and Rovers FC were Best Behaved Team.
In February 2026, Offor completed the three-month run by winning Best Coach again. The other winners were Innocent Idi (City FC) as Highest Goal Scorer, Alo Chukwu Pascal (Abakaliki FC) as Best Goalkeeper, Obisesan Sodiq (Osun United FC) as MVP, Jaffar Ojo (Smart City FC) as Goal of the Month, Mudashir Shehu (Kaduna State Referee Council) as Best Referee, and Lobi Stars FC as Best Behaved Team.
The awards ceremony will hold on March 30, 2026.
“Our captain’s laying there on the ice. It’s nothing more than that…. I don’t think it’s malicious, but our captain’s laying on the ice. Our captain. You don’t want to see that.” —Nick Foligno, Toronto Maple Leafs, 2021
TORONTO — As Auston Matthews writhes and crumples into a ball on home ice, his left knee just smashed into by a dirty Radko Gudas play, the other four Toronto Maple Leafs on the ice turn a blind eye.
They give the villain a pass and their captain plenty of space to realize his pain.
William Nylander, who has ridden the highs and lows alongside Matthews for 10 seasons, tries to help the referees by raising a penalty arm. He sees the knee-on-knee unfold but later says he didn’t really understand the severity and sheepishly admits he “should’ve jumped in there.”
Morgan Reilly, the longest-serving Leaf, is a zone or two away. He says he didn’t have a good view of the collision, how badly Matthews was hurt in the moment. My fault, Rielly says: “Myself and the other people on the ice have to take responsibility for not being in there earlier. I certainly do. I take it all.”
Brandon Carlo was on the ice, too. He’s a nice man who helped Matthews to the room. But the big D-man, too, doesn’t so much as throw an insult in the direction of the Anaheim Ducks captain, apparently on a mission to eliminate the knees of anyone wearing a Maple Leaf and a captain’s ‘C’ this winter.
So was 20-year-old Easton Cowan, who gives chase to the puck and not Gudas, skating right by his centreman. (We’ll grant the rookie grace; he later attacked the bigger Jackson LaCombe. But we are concerned about the examples being set for the kid.)
In the time between Matthews getting helped off the ice, bound for imaging and possibly an early end to a disappointing campaign all around, and the announcement of a Friday phone hearing for Gudas that, at most, can result in a five-game suspension, a host of thoughts flood the mind.
To be fair, the Maple Leafs did make the Ducks pay on Gudas’s major, rallied to win the game and played with previously dormant passion and physicality in an excellent third period.
They showed up. Good. However, it was only after being shamed into action.
Nag the teenager enough times, threaten to take away screen time, and he will eventually clean his bedroom. But no one would interpret delayed, reluctant action as proof that he’s all grown up and about that tidy life.
Making up the bed just ain’t in his makeup.
“We should’ve had four guys in there, doing something about it,” head coach and PIM legend Craig Berube lamented to reporters post-game.
“We all would’ve liked everybody to get in there right away.”
A similar sentiment was echoed early this season, when No. 1 goaltender Anthony Stolarz was getting run over by Mason Marchment in front of bystanders in matching uniforms and feeling like he had to fight his own battles. Yet much of the discourse switched to how Stolarz was out of line for questioning the veterans’ on-ice investment.
“I mean, a lot of guys have been here for a while,” a fed-up and prescient Stolarz said in October. “We do have some time to gel. But at the end of the day, too, it’s more or less just about working hard. And when we work hard, the results come.”
At its core, this era of Maple Leaf hockey has long been criticized for its lack of grit and compete and connectedness.
When the mood strikes, they’re try-curious.
But it’s not instinctual or consistent enough.
Seeing Matthews down and no one willing to throw down — until what must’ve been one doozy of a Berube intermission rant later — had us remembering poor Timothy Liljegren getting injured by then-Bruin Brad Marchand, another longtime Leafs foe who got away with catching any Blue and White smoke.
Then-coach Sheldon Keefe was so livid and embarrassed, he called a meeting and showed the Leafs highlights of the Lightning sticking up for one another in such instances. Wrong one of us, wrong us all.
Seeing Matthews down reminded us of brief Leaf Nick Foligno in the 2021 playoff bubble. Foligno didn’t see even how teammate John Tavares got concussed in a double crash with Montreal’s Corey Perry and Ben Chiarot — an incident less deliberate than Gudas’s knee on Matthews.
“Our captain’s laying there on the ice. It’s nothing more than that,” Foligno explained of his instant decision to fight Perry. “I think it’s the right response.”
The Gudas incident had us thinking about Connor McDavid’s response Thursday, too, and how the most skilled player on the planet jumped Justin Hryckowian for shooting a (harmless) puck at Leon Draisaitl.
We thought about Berube, just a few losses ago, saying he can give his players X’s and O’s and rah-rah pep talks, but he can’t give them this. And he’s tapping his heart.
We even thought about the old “our power play is our enforcer” tactic. And we wondered about the ripple effect of trading away Nazem Kadri way back in 2019 for his overzealousness.
No doubt Kadri got carried away with the whole defending-my-teammates thing. But some franchises would rather tame tigers.
The great irony here in Toronto is that the roster has not been moulded in the image of its makers.
Ex-president Brendan Shanahan was a walking Gordie Howe hat trick in his heyday.
Coach Berube — he of 3,149 career penalty minutes, he who doesn’t miss a day of work after nearly having his frontal lobe sliced out by heavy gym equipment — still views the game through the eyes of a Broadstreet Bully.
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And current GM Brad Treliving prefers his rosters snottier than an Ontario daycare in February. Heck, one of his first moves was to (over)pay for Ryan Reaves simply to crank up the volume and toughness in the room.
Alas, we’re learning, that same executive is still seeking to alter the DNA that may be too entrenched. No wonder he’s reportedly entertaining the idea of trading Nylander.
Passivity doesn’t win championships, let alone a regular-season meeting against the Ducks.
Not until the Leafs felt guilty enough to bother engaging did they win one for their injured captain.
“It shows we need passion, emotion in the game to be successful,” Berube said.
But he didn’t say it with pride.
Sunderland fan and BBC Sport commentator Steve Cram charts the highs and lows of supporting the Black Cats – from the depths of League One to the dizzy heights of the Premier League.
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To start our story headlined “2026 Players Championship cut: Who’s in danger of missing the weekend,” we turn to Sahith Theegala, who, on Thursday, summed up well what awaits the field for Friday’s second round at TPC Sawgrass.
Chaos.
“Honestly, I don’t think this is a course that really necessarily fully fits anyone’s game,” Theegala said. “It’s such a volatile golf course, which I love. I’m always a proponent of chaos. Not silly chaos, but good shots are really rewarded here and bad shots are really punished here. …
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“There’s a bunch of birdie opportunities out here, which is also nice, but it’s just, there’s a double bogey waiting on every hole. So the winning score never gets too low, which I love that, starting the week knowing that you don’t need to shoot 27-under. I’m sure 20-under has won here a few times, but I feel like the typical winning score is somewhere around 15. … I really like this golf course.”
With that, here’s a look at the Players Championship cutline and who’s in danger of missing the weekend.
2026 Players Championship cutline
The Players Championship cutline is set at the top 65 players and ties.
Who’s in danger of missing the weekend?
2 p.m. ET update
At 2 p.m. ET, the PGA Tour estimated the cutline to be +2, while Data Golf put a +1 cutline at 61.5 percent of happening and a +2 cutline at 35.5 percent.
Below is a look at notable players at even, +1, +2 and worse:
Even: Adam Scott, Daniel Berger, Brooks Koepka, Scottie Scheffler, Robert MacIntyre
+1: Nicolai Hojgaard, Rory McIlroy, Daniel Berger, Patrick Cantlay, Harris English
+2: Chris Gotterup
Worse: Rasmus Hojgaard, Brian Harman, Ben Griffin, Shane Lowry, Joel Dahmen
1 p.m. ET update
At 1 p.m. ET, the PGA Tour estimated the cutline to be +1, while Data Golf put a +1 cutline at 58.3 percent of happening and a +2 cutline at 37.9 percent.
Below is a look at notable players at even, +1, +2 and worse:
Even: Keegan Bradley, Chris Gotterup, Min Woo Lee, Daniel Berger, Brooks Koepka, Scottie Scheffler, Robert MacIntyre
+1: Nicolai Hojgaard, Adam Scott, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Harris English
+2: Rory McIlroy
Worse: Brian Harman, Rasmus Hojgaard, Ben Griffin, Joel Dahmen, Shane Lowry
Noon ET Update
At noon ET, the PGA Tour estimated the cutline to be +1, while Data Golf put a +1 cutline at 48.5 percent of happening and a +2 cutline at 44 percent.
Below is a look at notable players at even, +1, +2 and worse:
Even: Nicolai Hojgaard, Wyndham Clark, Brooks Koepka, Scottie Scheffler, Robert MacIntyre
+1: Ben Griffin, Keegan Bradley, Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Harris English
+2: Min Woo Lee
Worse: Brian Harman, Joel Dahmen, Shane Lowry
This story will continue to update.
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