Sports
A year before Ryder Cup, captains talk building teams, Bethpage test
Oct 8, 2024; New York, New York, USA; US team captain Keegan Bradley, left, and Europe team captain Luke Donald speak during a press conference at Times Center. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Boland-Imagn Images Keegan Bradley envisions possibly making a lineup for Ryder Cup matches next fall that includes himself as a player-captain when the United States and Europe square off in the 2025 event at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y.
That’s just one of many scenarios Bradley has to ponder, however, before the next Ryder Cup is held Sept. 26-28. The U.S. captain and Team Europe’s captain, Luke Donald, discussed the preparations that will go into the event at a news conference held Tuesday in New York.
It was a friendly question-and-answer session a year before the teams meet in front of what Donald expects will be a raucous, pro-American crowd. And the captains discussed a wide range of topics, including how they’ll construct their teams, whether LIV Golf players will be welcome and if Bradley expects to call his own name for the team.
Bradley is ranked 14th in the world, eighth among Americans. Since being named Ryder Cup captain last July, he won the BMW Championship in August and secured the winning point for the Americans at the Presidents Cup last month.
“Right now, my focus is on being a captain but I’m still a full-time player,” Bradley, 38, said. “I’m still playing in all the majors and all the big events next year. So I have a real shot at doing this.
“For now, I’m focusing on my guys and getting them ready to go.”
So is Donald, who has the advantage of being the Team Europe captain a second time. He led the team to a 16 1/2-11 1/2 win last year at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club near Rome.
“It’s great to be here in New York. Just an amazing city, amazing energy, and to have this opportunity to be captain again for Europe is really special,” Donald said.
“It’s really a great honor, a blessing. I’ve said it many times that that moment when we won in Rome was the best and the highlight of my career, and to hear those 12 guys shout two more years was certainly, for me, a personal moment of joy and honor that they would want me to come back and represent them again as captain.”
Donald, at 46, said he’s closer to playing on the Champions Tour than in the Ryder Cup, which he won four times as a player. So he is planning on filling out his team with 12 players who give Europe the best chance to win, including those on the LIV circuit.
That includes Spaniards Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia, as well as his fellow Englishman, Tyrrell Hatton. He said he has talked with them about doing what they need to do to potentially qualify either on points or through a captain’s pick.
“I’ve spoken to everyone that is a possibility for being on that team,” Donald said. “It was great to see Jon do what he needed to do to remain eligible and to see him in Spain, and last week he played very well at the Dunhill. We’re in constant communication.
“Again, I’m talking to all the players, to him, to Tyrrell. It was great to see Tyrrell win last week at the Dunhill.
“You know, again, good communication between myself and all these players is vital, and I’ve certainly been keeping up with that.”
Donald said Rory McIlroy has emerged as a team leader, and he’s going to count on the influence of the Northern Irishman on Team Europe.
“He understands the importance of the Ryder Cup. He understands that he wants to prepare as best as he can just like he would a major to be ready for that Ryder Cup,” Donald said. “You know, he’s always a very strong leader, a strong voice in the team room, and he’s great to have on your team because of that.”
Bradley also is asking the U.S. veterans to work with younger players to help prepare them, the way Phil Mickelson did when Bradley was just a youngster playing in his first Ryder Cup in 2012 at Medinah in Illinois.
“What Phil did for me is he created a relaxed atmosphere, and he told me, ‘Don’t worry about putting it four or five feet by. I’ll make them coming back.’ Little stuff like that, really, it helped me.
“He mentored me before the event. Took me to dinner. Talked to me nonstop throughout the year about the pressures and what’s going to come and I really learned a lot, and it hasn’t been until now that I’ve really realized what an incredible thing it was that he did for me.
“So it’s important that I communicate to the veterans of the team to do that for these rookies and for these younger players on our team.”
Bradley and Donald also talked about the challenges of playing at Bethpage Black, a public course on Long Island that is known for its length and difficulty. Bradley, as U.S. captain, will have the advantage of setting up the course to his team’s liking.
“When you go play the Black, you know it’s going to be a tough test,” Bradley said. “That’s just Bethpage. Big holes. A lot of drivers. I expect it to play tough like it always does.”
And it will be a tough crowd, too, the Europeans expect.
“The advantage we had in Rome and being at home, you feel that energy from the crowd and you can feed off it, obviously when we come to New York, it’s going to be very pro- American,” Donald said.
“The good thing about New York is that it is a melting pot. There’s lots of different cultures here. I see it as a semblance of what our team represents, as well.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
A'ja Wilson has no shortage of motivation after Aces' early exit in '24
Oct 1, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson (22) and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) during game two of the 2024 WNBA Semi-finals at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images LAS VEGAS — Entering her eighth season in the WNBA, Las Vegas Aces superstar A’ja Wilson is poised to build on what was arguably the most dominant individual campaign in league history.
Wilson joined Cynthia Cooper (1997) as the second player in league history to win a unanimous MVP award and joined an exclusive club as the fourth player to win the award three times. She averaged 26.9 points and 11.9 rebounds per game last season and set the all-time single-season mark for points (1,021) and rebounds (451).
Unfortunately for Las Vegas, injuries and fatigue from their two previous championship runs mounted and resulted in the team’s worst regular-season record (27-13) since 2019. The Aces’ three-peat hopes ended with a 76-62 home loss to the New York Liberty to drop their semifinal series 3-1.
It’s that loss on her home floor that served as Wilson’s motivation this offseason.
“Losing sucks, especially on your home court,” Wilson said “It still kind of burns a little bit, but I’ve used that as fuel to help my teammates understand how hard it is to win in this league. Yes, we can celebrate the two championships. They were great. But for us to move forward, we have to understand how hard this league is and value the basketball and the little things. I think that’s what we lacked last season, so we’re going to make sure that we can show up better than we did.”
While the Aces appeared to be on top of the world heading into their potential three-peat campaign in 2024, the reality inside the locker room was that both the internal and external pressure to win another championship had become suffocating. A common theme across media day was the fact that the team feels less pressure entering the 2025 season, a sentiment Wilson shared as the unquestioned leader of the team.
“(Three-peat talks) obviously impacted us, because it’s like, y’all think we don’t want to win? We’re trying as well,” Wilson said.
“I would definitely say it’s refreshing this year. I feel like this is one of my only years where it feels like there’s no weight. There’s a lot of weight to be defending champs. It’s a lot of weight to be trying to win one. We don’t have that. We actually have a clean slate to really dial into getting back to who we are culturally, like, in our system and everything.”
Leading the Aces back to the top of the mountain for a third time in four years is one of a few historically significant achievements Wilson can collect this upcoming season. Wilson could also become the first four-time MVP in league history, though the meaning of that is something she hasn’t quite allowed herself to ponder yet.
“I haven’t given it much thought, but it would be a blessing to have my name in that conversation,” Wilson said. “Every year, I try to be better than I was the year before just to give myself a chance in this league. Because the league is getting better. We’re growing. At this point, you just want to maintain your stamina. You want to maintain your mental, all of that, because the season gets hard. I can’t think too much about that just yet, but I’m definitely going to try to be better than I was last year.”
As Aces coach Becky Hammon put it, fans can expect to see an even better version of Wilson this season.
“What I see is, she went and got better,” Hammon said. “Which is hard to do when you’re already the best, but it speaks to her work ethic, her desire and her mindset this whole offseason. We talked a lot this offseason. She’s a busy lady, but I can tell you what she always does is her workouts. She’s always getting her workouts in. That comes first and foremost, she never gets her priorities jumbled up.”
When Hammon was asked what a player like Wilson would possibly need to improve after last season’s campaign, the coach did not feel like revealing too much.
“There was (something for Wilson to improve), and she did,” Hammon said. “I’m not going to tell you what it was. Actually, there were two things.”
–Will Despart, Field Level Media
Sports
Jacob Wilson joins Aaron Judge in spotlight for Yankees-A's series
May 5, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson (5) throws to first for an out against the Seattle Mariners during the seventh inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images The top two hitters in the majors square off Friday night when the New York Yankees face the Athletics in the opener of a three-game series in Sacramento, Calif.
It’s no surprise to see Yankees star Aaron Judge off to a superb start after winning American League MVP honors last season. He has a major league-best .400 batting average and entered Thursday’s play tied for the big-league lead with 12 homers and 34 RBIs.
But who had Athletics rookie Jacob Wilson ranking second in the majors at .357 as the season nears the quarter pole? Wilson has played in just 64 career games and quickly has solidified himself as a future All-Star, perhaps even this season.
Sharing the marquee board with Judge seems quite surreal for the 23-year-old shortstop who was the No. 6 overall pick of the 2023 draft.
“It’s a great feeling, for sure,” Wilson said of his name being mentioned with Judge. “Obviously, everybody has seen what he is doing. It’s pretty incredible watching him do his thing on a daily basis. To be up there with him is pretty cool for me.
“I’m excited to play against him this week and see what it looks like in person.”
Wilson had his first career four-hit game during Wednesday’s 6-5 home loss against the Seattle Mariners and has six multi-hit outings in the past eight games. He went 8-for-14 with one game-winning hit in the three-game series against the Mariners and is 16-for-34 (.471) with four walks during the eight-game stretch.
The hot hitting led to Athletics manager Mark Kotsay moving Wilson to the leadoff spot on Wednesday. Kotsay indicated Wilson may be sticking at the top of the lineup.
“I think you’ll see Jacob up there now,” Kotsay said. “Jacob’s earned it. … Jacob has shown enough over the last week. He’s walking and taking pitches, and, obviously, swinging the bat really well.”
Judge arrives in Sacramento in the midst of a four-game funk in which he is 2-for-15.
The two-time MVP just went 1-for-10 in a three-game home series against the San Diego Padres, but the one hit was a homer.
Judge grew up 50 miles south of Sacramento in Linden and starred for Linden High but wasn’t highly sought by major league teams. The then-Oakland Athletics selected him in the 31st round in 2010.
Judge instead went the college route and starred for Fresno State. He was chosen in the first round (32nd overall) by the Yankees in the 2013 draft.
Trent Grisham was one of the heroes of Wednesday’s 4-3, 10-inning win over the Padres. He hit a tying two-run pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning.
Grisham had two homers and five RBIs in the series against the Padres — one of his former teams — and already has 10 long balls in just 89 at-bats. He hit just nine last season in 179 at-bats.
“I’m having fun with the guys, I would say that more than anything,” Grisham said. “The clubhouse is really good in here, led by Cap (Judge). So, I would say the guys have been the most enjoyable part.”
New York is starting right-hander Will Warren (1-2, 5.65 ERA) in Friday’s series opener. Right-hander Osvaldo Bido (2-2, 4.71) will be on the mound for the Athletics.
Warren, 25, struck out a career-high eight in 4 2/3 innings while losing to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. He gave up five runs (three earned) and seven hits. Warren hasn’t previously faced the Athletics.
Bido, 29, received a no-decision against the Miami Marlins last Saturday when he gave up four runs on three hits over five innings. He is winless (0-1) over his last three starts. Bido hasn’t faced the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao coming out of retirement
Aug 21, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada; Manny Pacquiao (right) fights Yordenis Ugas in a world welterweight championship bout at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao plans to end his retirement and return to the ring on July 19 against Mario Barrios in Las Vegas, ESPN reported Thursday.
Pacquiao, 46, will be fighting for the first time since losing a unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugas in 2021.
The fight will be for Barrios’ WBC welterweight championship belt. Barrios turns 30 on May 18.
Pacquiao is an eight-division champion who is slated to be inducted into the boxing Hall of Fame in June. He reportedly will formally announce his return to boxing next week. The report stated that Pacquiao has been cleared to compete by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
In recent years, Pacquiao has been focusing on his political career in the Philippines.
The boxer nicknamed “PacMan” has a 62-8-2 record with 39 knockouts during his career. He won his first major title — the WBC flyweight crown — at age 19 in 1998.
Pacquiao was 54-3-2 prior to turning 33 and 8-5 afterward. One of those losses was to Floyd Mayweather Jr. via unanimous decision in 2015, a bout that reportedly drew nearly $400 million in pay-per-view sales.
Barrios (29-2-1, 18 knockouts) fought to a 12-round, split-decision draw against Abel Ramos last November. This will be his third defense since winning the title by beating Ugas in 2023.
–Field Level Media
A'ja Wilson has no shortage of motivation after Aces' early exit in '24
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