Sports
Venezuela’s WBC Win Exposed What Team USA Must Fix
Team Venezuela winning the gold medal at the World Baseball Classic earlier this week set off alarms in two different hemispheres.
Not long after the Venezuelans eliminated his team in the quarterfinals, Samurai Japan manager Hirokazu Ibata reportedly announced his intention to resign. Ibata’s departure comes amid criticism that Team Japan’s offense strayed too far in the WBC from a “small ball” style that served them well in previous international competitions.
Team Venezuela also knocked off Team USA in the finals, which of course has American supporters asking what the U.S. needs to change to win at their own game the next time the WBC comes around.
For his own part, Team USA manager Mark DeRosa said he’s game for another try when the WBC returns in 2030. It would be his third turn at the helm, which so far has produced two silver medals. DeRosa’s enthusiasm isn’t likely to be met by many fans disappointed by his team’s performances. In addition to the end results, DeRosa received criticism along the way for his lineups and in-game decisions—like many managers do.
There are also the comments DeRosa won’t ever live down—the ones indicating he didn’t understand the rules of advancing beyond pool play and how he prepared the team as a result.
That mistake aside, let’s be fair about the limitations every WBC manager works under. Considering the time of year the tournament is played, the influence major league teams have over how their players are used, and the realities of pitchers preparing for the long regular season ahead, WBC skippers are in an impossible spot. They serve too many masters.
The WBC already has proved to be a great tournament, no matter who wins. Record TV ratings, record attendance, anecdotal but powerful reactions from a plurality of competitors on every team. It’s the best baseball tournament yet devised. It would be even better with some tweaking—and the right changes would benefit the U.S. by coincidence.
How could WBC change?
Some have suggested moving the WBC to July to coincide with the MLB all-star break every other year. That’s one solution, but a better one might be what right-hander Max Scherzer suggested to Fox Sports.
At least play the knockout rounds around the time MLB usually schedules its opening week. Reduce the regular-season schedule by eight games, or so, going back to the old 154-game calendar. Remove a bunch of regular-season games from the last week in March and the first week in April, when it’s often too cold in too many U.S. cities to really enjoy baseball anyway.
Is Scherzer signaling some details to negotiate during the upcoming collective bargaining talks between owners and the players association? Sounds like it.
Moving the WBC to the end of Spring Training and the beginning of the regular season would reduce fears MLB pitching coaches have about interfering with their starting pitchers’ preparation time. The entire kerfuffle with left-hander Tarik Skubal, for example, could have been muted if he and the Detroit Tigers weren’t afraid to let him go a little full bore for Team USA.
Changing the timing of the WBC would let the U.S. fully use its greatest advantage over every other country: starting pitching.
It might be difficult for some U.S. fans to accept, but much of the world is about as good at baseball as their country is. Starting pitching still separates the U.S., though, and having Skubal, Paul Skenes and any number of other starters ready to pitch six or seven innings multiple times, instead of what we have now, would give a future U.S. team a huge advantage.
It’s true the U.S. could have won the 2026 tournament too, had the players in their lineup not been pressing so much. Nobody should buy that the Americans didn’t care enough. If anything they caught themselves caring too much. They just don’t express themselves like players from Venezuela or the Dominican Republic do. It would be great if they did, but only if it came naturally. Maybe it will one day.
Give Team USA full use of its greatest asset, strong starting pitching, and next time the hitters likely will perform better. And the U.S. will win gold at the WBC. No matter who is managing them.
Moving the tournament finale to around April 1 will benefit every team in the field, trim some fat off the MLB schedule, and make it all even more enjoyable for fans. It should be a priority.
Sports
Hot start helps Hyo Joo Kim take 5-shot lead at Fortinet Founders Cup
Apr 27, 2025; The Woodlands, Texas, USA; Hyo Joo Kim of Korea hits a tee shot on the first hole during the final round of The Chevron Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim improved her grip on the lead to five strokes with a 6-under-par 66 on Saturday at the Fortinet Founders Cup in Menlo Park, Calif.
Kim, a seven-time winner on the LPGA Tour and the 2015 Founders Cup champion, led by two shots after the opening round and four through Friday’s play. The 30-year-old shot 6 under for the first six holes on Saturday and is 17-under 199 after three rounds at Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club, which is hosting the event for the first time.
World No. 2 Nelly Korda, competing for the first time since winning the weather-shortened Tournament of Champions to open the 2026 season, is five strokes back at 12 under after she matched Kim’s 66.
Kim, ranked No. 8 in the world, had an adventurous round with only seven pars. She started on fire with birdies at Nos. 1, 3 and 4 before an eagle at the par-5 fifth hole to get to 16 under for the tournament. Another birdie followed at No. 6, then the first of her three bogeys on the day to make the turn in 31 shots.
“The start up to hole 6, I believe, was unbelievable golf and I can’t even believe it,” Kim said. “I had a lot of birdies and (an) eagle, too. But I did also have some bogeys I shouldn’t have done. The start felt like almost a game.”
The back nine included birdies at Nos. 10 and 13 sandwiched around two bogeys and her seventh birdie of the round at the par-4 No. 16.
Kim hit eight of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens in regulation on Saturday.
Korda carded 33 on both the front and back nines in her bogey-free round. Birdies came at Nos. 2, 7, 8, 10, 16 and 18.
“It’s nice to have a clean scorecard wherever you play,” Korda said. “Doesn’t matter. With kind of how tough it is off the tee and into the greens, just really happy with my round today.”
She needed only 27 putts in hitting 10 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation.
China’s Ruixin Liu (66 on Saturday) and Mexico’s Gaby Lopez (65) are tied for third at 11 under.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand, who leads the Race to CME Globe standings, is tied for fifth at 9 under with three others: Australia’s Karis Davison (69), Japan’s Erika Hara (67) and South Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi (69).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Fresh off historic blowout, No. 1 Florida takes aim at No. 9 Iowa
Mar 20, 2026; Tampa, FL, USA; Florida Gators center Olivier Rioux (32) dunks the ball in the second half against the Prairie View A&M Panthers during a first round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images Florida began pursuit of a second straight national championship by trouncing Prairie View A&M by a whopping 59 points, the second-largest winning margin in NCAA Tournament history.
That margin of victory couldn’t have been comforting for Iowa.
The ninth-seeded Hawkeyes take aim at a major upset when they face the top-seeded Gators on Sunday night in a second-round South Region game at Tampa, Fla.
“They’re talented at all five positions for Florida,” Iowa star guard Bennett Stirtz said on Saturday. “Yeah, our hands are going to be full, but we’re going to take full advantage of the opportunity, and to be the best you’ve got to beat the best.”
Iowa (22-12) registered a 67-61 first-round victory over eighth-seeded Clemson on Friday for its first NCAA tourney win since 2021. The Gators (27-7) romped 114-55 over Prairie View A&M with only Loyola Chicago’s 111-42 win over Tennessee Tech in 1963 representing a worse beatdown.
In other words, Florida plays a much-faster pace than the Hawkeyes, who are more comfortable in halfcourt sets.
Iowa coach Ben McCollum isn’t paying much attention to whether the game is slowed down or resembles a track meet.
“If it’s slow or fast is irrelevant, it’s just a matter if we can put the ball in the basket more than they do,” McCollum said of the pace. “I don’t think we probably focus on it as much as most people think. I think it just naturally happens.”
Meanwhile, the Gators will have a pro-Florida crowd in Tampa for the second straight game and coach Todd Golden is certainly relishing that aspect.
“It’s a great advantage of finishing where we did and being able to stay close to home and playing in Tampa and something that we definitely don’t take lightly,” Golden said.
Last season, the Gators squeaked out a 77-75 win over two-time defending national champion UConn in the second round. It was one of four victories by six or fewer points in the title run, including a 65-63 victory over Houston to win the national title.
Golden said this season’s Gators are more ready to battle their way through the tournament than last season’s edition.
“I believe we’re more prepared this year, obviously going through last year’s tournament,” Golden said. “Just the ups and downs that we had earlier on in the season. We’ve been able to get through some adversity and get back to playing together, playing the right way, having really good success.
“So, coming into the Tournament, I feel like we’re more comfortable, better prepared. I believe our guys had a great mentality after this week’s practice going into the game (Friday) night and played with great purpose and intent. I expect to try to do that again against a really good Iowa team.”
The Gators were ready for their first game, shooting 64.3% from the field and outrebounding the Panthers 54-20. Seven Florida players scored in double digits.
Florida knows the task will be tougher Sunday. The players are focusing on Stirtz, the honorable mention All-American who was just 4-of-17 shooting while scoring 16 points in Iowa’s win over Clemson.
“Bennett is a great player,” Florida guard Boogie Fland said. “Just got to contain him, no threes, and all team defense.”
McCollum, who is coaching Stirtz for the fourth straight season at a third different school, is expecting a bounce-back from Stirtz.
“They’re paying attention to him pretty heavy and it’s pretty contested,” McCollum said. “I’m not overly concerned with it. Obviously, he’s going to have to be able to score for us to win to a certain level, but he doesn’t need to go have 30 points for us to do that.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Sixers close trip with late spurt, knock off Jazz
Mar 21, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Jabari Walker (33) goes up for a shot against Utah Jazz guard John Konchar (55) during the first half at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images Quentin Grimes scored 25 points and VJ Edgecombe added 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 126-116 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night at Salt Lake City.
Trendon Watford added 20 points off the bench for the 76ers (39-32), who won for the fourth time in the last five games. Cameron Payne added 16 points and seven assists off the bench and Adem Bona also scored 16 points for Philadelphia, which played without star Joel Embiid (oblique) for the 12th straight contest.
Ace Bailey had 25 points and seven rebounds and Kennedy Chandler scored a career-best 19 points off the bench for Utah (21-50), which sewed up its third straight 50-loss campaign. Chandler made his team debut after being signed to a 10-day contract due to the Jazz being short on players. Utah suited up eight on Saturday.
Cody Williams and Elijah Harkless scored 15 points apiece and Bez Mbeng had a career-best 13 points for the Jazz, who have lost five of their last six.
Utah shot 40.6% from the field, including a shaky 9 of 40 from 3-point range.
The 76ers, who won two of three on a trip out west, connected on 50% of their attempts and also struggled from deep (6 of 27).
Grimes scored six points during a decisive 12-2 run turned a two-point deficit into a 118-110 lead with 2:35 remaining in the game.
When Utah crept within six, Grimes banked in a short floater to make it 122-114 with 1:36 left and Philadelphia closed it out.
Bailey and Chandler scored 13 points apiece as Utah led 70-64 at halftime. Edgecombe and Grimes each had 12 in the half for Philadelphia.
The 76ers used a 13-2 burst early in the third quarter to take a 77-74 lead on Watford’s basket with 7:26 left in the third quarter.
Edgecombe later buried a tiebreaking 3-pointer to give Philadelphia a 95-92 lead with 41.9 seconds left in the period.
The 76ers took a 95-94 edge into the fourth quarter and later led by four before Utah went on a 10-4 run. John Konchar’s three-point play gave the Jazz a 108-106 lead with 6:43 to play.
–Field Level Media
Hot start helps Hyo Joo Kim take 5-shot lead at Fortinet Founders Cup
Fresh off historic blowout, No. 1 Florida takes aim at No. 9 Iowa
