Author: rb809rb

The Milan Cortina Olympics had a bit of everything Wednesday: redemption for a U.S. skiing great, inspiration from a relentless American snowboarder, more cross-country skiing history, a men’s hockey quarterfinals to remember, another Olympic proposal and a dog making a tension-breaking cameo.

Here are five of the top stories from Day 12 of the Winter Games:

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Mikaela Shiffrin ends Olympic medal drought, dominates for gold in slalom

Mikaela Shiffrin exorcised her recent Olympic demons on Wednesday in Cortina with a redemptive gold medal in the women’s slalom.

Shiffrin came into this year’s Games with more World Cup wins than any other skier, male or female, period. But she still arrived in Italy with something to prove because, after scattering two golds and a silver across her first two Olympics — Sochi in 2014 and PyeongChang in 2018 — she didn’t medal in Beijing four years ago. In fact, she didn’t even finish three of her events during the 2022 Games. Then, this year, she struggled in the women’s team combined event, failing to reach the podium even after teammate Breezy Johnson established a lead in the downhill portion of the competition. Just three days ago, Shiffrin finished 11th in the giant slalom.

Flash forward to Wednesday, and Shiffrin zoomed to the bottom of the mountain and back to the top of the skiing world when she crushed the field with a pair of legacy-defining runs. Shiffrin recorded the fastest time in her first run. After watching skiers ahead of her spin out or DQ, she maintained an even keel and stayed aggressive amid her second run, transforming her already significant 0.82-second lead into a 1.5-second domination. That margin of victory, according to NBC’s Nick Zaccardi, is the largest in any Olympic Alpine skiing event since 1998. The monkey is off Shiffrin’s back, and the gold is once again around her neck. She’s the first American woman skier to win three Olympic gold medals, and she now holds titles as both the youngest and oldest American woman to win Alpine gold. She was 18 in 2014. She’s 30 in these Games.

U.S. and Canada men’s hockey both need OT to advance to semifinals

Quinn Hughes of the Minnesota Wild lit the lamp three-plus minutes into 3-on-3 overtime to push Team USA past Sweden 2-1 and into the men’s hockey semifinals. The Americans needed overtime because Sweden’s Mika Zibanejad slapped a shot by U.S. netminder Connor Hellebuyck for the game-tying goal with 91 seconds left in regulation. The Swedes provided a stiff, NHL-themed test. The Americans passed, albeit in OT. They’ll now play Slovakia in the semis.

Earlier in the day, Canada booked its spot in the semifinals, but only after it outlasted Czechia in overtime. The Canadians were down 2-1 after the first period, marking the first time Team Canada had trailed in the Olympics with NHL players since 2010, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo. Then, with less than eight minutes to go in the third period, Ondřej Palát scored to put Czechia up 3-2. Fortunately for Canada, Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki saved the nation from the embarrassment of an early exit with a deflected goal. Mitch Marner completed the comeback, scoring less than two minutes into OT with a backhand winner.

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Team Canada didn’t make it out unscathed. It lost captain Sidney Crosby to a lower-body injury. The Canadians will play Finland next, as the U.S. and Canada continue on a collision course for a gold-medal final.

Team USA earns silver in cross-country team sprint, but Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo joins rare air with 10th gold

This sounds like a broken record, but Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo just broke another Winter Games record. In the men’s cross-country skiing team sprint on Wednesday, the 29-year-old Klaebo and his Norwegian teammate, Einar Hedegart, took gold. Klaebo now has five gold medals at this year’s Games, and a record-breaking 10 overall at the Winter Games. He joins Michael Phelps as the only athletes to collect at least 10 Olympic golds. Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, has 23 golds, eight of which he won during the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

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The American men gave Klaebo and Hedegart a run for their money. In fact, Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher finished only 1.4 seconds behind them for the silver. Schumacher made a push, however, Klaebo preserved Norway’s lead on the final hill.

Last week, Ogden became the first U.S. men’s cross-country skier to medal since 1976, with a silver in the cross-country sprint. Now he has two Olympic medals. Schumacher has his first.

As for Klaebo, he can go 6-for-6 at these Games with a gold on Saturday in the 50-kilometer mass start. If he accomplishes that feat, he’ll accompany swimmers Phelps, Mark Spitz and Kristin Otto, plus gymnast Vitaly Scherbo, as Olympians with at least six gold medals at a single Games, per ESPN.

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U.S. snowboarder Jake Canter rides to bronze in slopestyle nine years after suffering life-threatening brain injury

The triumphant and celebratory words that burst from the mouth of a fiery Jake Canter — “Let’s go! Come on!” — were laced with relentless passion. He had just stuck the landing on his final run of the men’s snowboard slopestyle Wednesday in Italy, where he eventually won bronze after sweating out the rest of the field as he clung to a top-three finish.

The 22-year-old Colorado native took home the Aspen World Cup in January, and now he’s an Olympic medalist nine years after suffering a traumatic brain injury that put him in a coma for four days when he was just 13. That life-threatening injury took place on a trampoline at an action-sports camp, as reported by The Associated Press. He was kicked in the head. It was a freak accident. Six months later, he reportedly ended up in another four-day coma, that time because of meningitis. The surgery he needed called for him to learn how to walk and talk again.

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“I really just hope I made 13-year-old me lying in that hospital bed proud,” Canter said, per the AP. “This is for him and everyone who supported me.”

In his Olympic debut, Canter delivered Team USA’s first men’s snowboard slopestyle medal since 2018, thanks to a gutsy, rotation-filled spin on his final jump.

U.S. curling has a rough day: Women can still make playoffs, but men need some help

Team USA has cooled off in curling of late. The American women missed a chance to put themselves in the playoffs on Wednesday when they let a game against Great Britain slip through their grasp in the 10th end. The U.S. women’s team was a point away from reaching the medal round. But an incredible throw by skip Rebecca Morrison helped Great Britain steal two and win 8-7.

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The American women are 5-3 in round-robin competition. A win over 6-2 Switzerland or a Great Britain loss to 2-6 Italy would clinch the U.S. women a spot in the four-team playoff field. There are more complicated ways for them to reach the semifinals, too, but those are the most clear-cut paths.

The U.S. men’s curling team technically can make the playoff as well. It’s going to need a lot more to go right, though. The American men followed three consecutive wins — and a 4-2 start — with three straight losses to end round-robin play, including a lopsided defeat that the U.S. men conceded to Great Britain 9-2 on Wednesday. The young group needs Italy (4-4), Norway (4-4) and Germany (3-5) all to lose Thursday. That would force a tiebreaker the American men would own over Italy and Norway.

Highlight of the day

Hilary Knight, a linchpin of the gold-medal-contending U.S. women’s hockey team, proposed to American speedskater Brittany Bowe this week. The couple connected at the 2022 Games in Beijing.

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“Olympics brought us together. This one made us forever,” Knight wrote in her Instagram caption on Wednesday.

Knight, 36, has won four Olympic medals — three silvers and a gold — and Bowe, 37, has two bronzes to her name. This is their last Olympics.

Medals are being handed out in Italy, and so are rings. This isn’t the first proposal of these Games.

Perhaps most notably, after U.S. downhill skiing gold medalist Breezy Johnson crashed out of the women’s super-G last week, she got engaged to her boyfriend, Connor Watkins.

Others have agreed to tie the knot, too.

One more thing

Dogs are fun-loving creatures that just keep on giving — not only love but also iconic moments. Another was on display Wednesday during a qualifying round of the women’s cross-country team sprint.

A 2-year-old Czechoslovakian wolfdog named Nazgul was seen running alongside skiers and even racing past the finish line. He reportedly is local and had escaped from his owner before embarking on a journey that made headlines everywhere.

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Nazgul was eventually returned to his owner with a tale that will have other pups wagging their tails.

One day after Tony Clark’s surprise resignation amid a reported inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, the Major League Baseball Players Association elected Bruce Meyer as its interim executive director, the union announced Wednesday.

The vote was reportedly unanimous for Meyer, who was previously serving as deputy executive director. Matt Nussbaum, the union’s general counsel, was promoted to interim deputy executive director.

Meyer was the natural choice, as Clark’s No. 2 and the union’s lead negotiator with MLB. He spoke earlier Wednesday about the importance of the union remaining united in the wake of Clark’s ouster.

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According to ESPN’s Passan, Clark resigned on the heels of an internal investigation that revealed an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, who worked for the union beginning in 2023. The union held an emergency meeting Tuesday afternoon but did not vote on an executive director until Wednesday.

The news comes less than 10 months before the current CBA is set to expire on Dec. 1. The union and MLB owners are expected to engage in a furious labor battle ahead of a new CBA, which many expect could lead to a lockout extending into the 2027 MLB season. There is speculation that the owners will push hard for a salary cap, something the players have opposed for years.

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Meyer joined the MLBPA in 2018 and played a central role in the previous CBA negotiation as well as the 2020 agreement to play baseball amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This election confirms he’ll be at the table for the upcoming negotiation.

Clark also played a role in helping negotiate previous CBAs for the players. He reportedly took an active part in negotiations as a player before being hired by the MLBPA in 2010. He was initially a director of player relations before he was hired as the union’s executive director in 2013. He oversaw negotiations ahead of the 2016 CBA and the contentious 2022 lockout, which resulted in Opening Day being postponed by a week as negotiations extended into March.

SURPRISE, Ariz. — In the first public comments from the MLB Players Association since the shocking and sudden resignation of executive director Tony Clark and hours before he was unanimously elected as the union’s interim executive director, Bruce Meyer emphasized Wednesday that the unforeseen change in leadership will not impact the upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations with MLB’s team owners.

“The Executive Board has been in discussions … to determine the future leadership of the union,” Meyer said. “But regardless, we have people on staff, including myself and others — former players, lawyers — who have been here for a long time. We don’t expect anything to change in terms of bargaining. We’ve been preparing for bargaining for years. Players have been preparing. Players know what’s coming.

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“At the end of the day, leadership is important, and leadership comes and goes, but what remains is the players,” he continued. “At the end of the day, it’s the players who determine the direction of the union.”

Clark, the former All-Star first baseman who had been in the executive director role since taking over for Michael Weiner in 2013, resigned Tuesday as a result of revelations that he had an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, who also worked for the union. Clark was already the subject of a federal investigation involving potential financial misconduct related to business dealings tied to the union, and the relationship was uncovered as part of an internal inquiry into those matters.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday at the Kansas City Royals’ spring training complex after the MLBPA met with Royals players as part of their annual tour of Cactus and Grapefruit League camps, Meyer emphasized how quickly the situation has developed and how player leadership responded.

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“The information that really led to this came out within the last 72 hours or so. So this is not something that has been sat on,” he said. “When the information came out, the players on the subcommittee made their feelings known. And Tony, to his credit, he’s always been about players first. And Tony decided to take the action he did in the interest of the players.”

This chaotic sequence just days before spring training games begin has left the MLBPA in a perceived state of disarray, but Meyer insisted that these recent events do not meaningfully alter the union’s focus or mission entering the season.

“Anybody who is gonna assume that and act on that is really making a mistake,” he said. “I’m not going to say this is, you know, a great thing. This is unforeseen. … I’m not going to say this is like a nothing and that there’s not going to be some disruptions. But again, at the end of the day, bargaining is the most important thing. It’s always been the most important thing. Our team that’s been preparing for that for years remains in place. Players have been getting educated on the issues that are going to come up for years. And so it’s not going to affect it in any respect.”

With Clark’s resignation, the members of the MLBPA’s executive subcommittee — Marcus Semien, Chris Bassitt, Jake Cronenworth, Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal, Brent Suter, Pete Fairbanks and Cedric Mullins — became the leading figures in the pivotal task of identifying an interim executive director entering the final year of the current CBA.

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“We’re all fairly devastated by things that happened in the last 48-72 hours,” Meyer said of Clark’s sudden departure. “… But I think that this was something that the players determined had to happen at this particular point in time. We’ll move forward and be strong as we always are.”

Meyer, the former deputy executive director, was considered the top candidate to succeed Clark, but he said repeatedly Wednesday morning that choosing the next executive director would be entirely up to the players, and it would take more than just the eight subcommittee members to determine a successor. Indeed, the 72 players on the union executive board voted later Wednesday to elect Meyer in an interim capacity.

“Major league bargaining agreement, that’s just the major leaguers. Minor league bargaining agreement, that’s just the minor leaguers,” Meyer said. “Something like this, which affects the leadership of the union — our executive committee consists of 72 members, 38 of whom are major leaguers, 34 of whom are minor leaguers — the entire executive board will be voting.”

With Meyer taking the reins, he will be tasked with navigating what is expected to be a highly contentious round of CBA negotiations. Meyer said he expects to maintain his role as lead negotiator, and as interim executive director, he will become a central figure in the upcoming labor battle, a surprising main character at a crucial crossroads in baseball history.

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Prior to Wednesday’s vote, Meyer made clear his confidence that the union remains in a strong position to take on the fight ahead.

“At the end of the day, our union is strong and always has been strong because of the solidarity of our members, of our players,” he said. “That is going to continue. As I’ve said in the past: Anybody who underestimates the strength and solidarity of the MLB Players Association does so at their peril.”

Mike Wagner, a former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back who played a significant role in the franchise’s Steel Curtain dynasty, has died at 76, the franchise announced Wednesday.

No cause of death was provided. Steelers owner Art Rooney II provided the following statement about Wagner’s contributions to the team:

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mike Wagner, a tremendous player and an integral part of some of the most successful teams in Pittsburgh Steelers history.

Mike played a key role on our championship teams of the 1970s. As a member of four Super Bowl-winning teams, his toughness and consistency were paramount to our secondary. His contributions on the field were significant, but it was also his steady presence and team-first mentality that truly defined him.

On behalf of the entire Pittsburgh Steelers organization, we extend our heartfelt condolences to Mike’s family. He will always be remembered as a champion, a great teammate, and a proud member of the Steelers family.

The Steelers drafted Wagner, an NAIA All-American at Western Illinois, in the 11th round of the 1971 NFL Draft, as the 268th overall pick.

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As he recounted in a profile with his fraternity, Wagner didn’t make the varsity team until his junior year of high school, saw little interest from college football programs and only made the WIU team after requesting a tryout from the school’s head coach in late September. He balanced his football career with a job waiting tables.

Once he reached the Steelers in 1971, he got a starting safety job as a rookie after an injury opened up a spot. Over the next 10 seasons, he would notch 36 interceptions and earn two Pro Bowl nods while starting for all four Super Bowl teams.

Wagner caught the game-sealing interception against Fran Tarkenton and the Minnesota Vikings in the Steeler’s first title game at Super Bowl IX, then recorded another big interception against the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl X, as the Steelers’ website explains:

Early in Super Bowl X, Roger Staubach hit Drew Pearson, coming across the middle, for a 29-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The Cowboys called the play again in the second half, and Mike Wagner stepped in for an interception that led to a field goal in what became a 21-17 Steelers win. “Wagner gambled and won,” said Staubach. “I didn’t see him.”

Wagner retired in 1981 after 10 seasons with Pittsburgh. He was inducted into its Hall of Honor in 2020 and remained in the area for the rest of his life.

There’s no pressure in sports like Olympic pressure, as years of preparation culminate in a performance that can last a matter of minutes or even seconds and where one small misstep can crush an athlete’s dreams.

If one falls short of his or her goals, he or she may not face another shot at achieving them four grueling years later.

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Few sports in the Games embody that pressure like figure skating, where athletes jump, spin and glide across ice on a blade with all eyes in the arena and millions more from around the world watching on TV. Missteps await at every turn.

Amber Glenn’s ‘soul-crushing’ short program

U.S. skater Amber Glenn experienced such a misstep Tuesday night. A technical mistake in her short program tanked her score, threatening to shatter her Olympic dreams and leaving her in tears after her program.

It wasn’t a glaring gaffe or a fall that left her sprawled on the ice. Instead of a planned triple loop, she executed a double. And that was enough to invalidate the element and erase all seven potential points that came with it.

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That dropped her from likely medal contention and expectations all the way down to 13th place, leaving her in need of perfection in Thursday’s free skate and a lot of mistakes by skaters ahead of her to return to contention.

Glenn knew the ramifications as soon as she landed the double, which arrived toward the end of her routine. Her face and her body language told the story as the energy and joy that marked the start of her skate was gone.

When she was done, she broke into tears on the ice and reached out for a consoling hug from her coach.

Glenn opens up

On Wednesday, Glenn returned to the ice to practice for Thursday’s free skate. And after bypassing media availability in the painful aftermath of her skate, she explained to reporters what Tuesday night felt like to her.

“I have always been known to wear my heart on my sleeve, which is what makes me relatable, but it also makes it hard for me to hide how I feel,” Glenn told reporters, per Time. “And in that moment, it was soul-crushing. Because I did the hard stuff, and it was the easiest thing, my favorite jump, that just got away from me.”

Glenn then appeared to reference a moment in men’s downhill skiing Monday when gold medal contender Atle Lie McGrath missed a slalom gate and was immediately disqualified on his second of two runs. He responded by throwing his poles, taking off his skis and walking off the course to the adjacent woods.

“You can’t fix it,” Glenn continued. ” I didn’t get to skate off like I see in other sports, where you make a mistake and you’re done and you just kind of [go] off into the woods.

“I wish I could do that. But they expect you to smile, and they expect you to still perform, like you’re having the time of your life, when in reality your dreams were just smashed to pieces.”

Glenn doesn’t blame Olympic pressure

Glenn said that her mistake was not a product of Olympic pressure. Sometimes things just happen, she explained.

“It wasn’t the pressure that got to me, it was just a literal lack of balance,” Glenn said. “Like, I just kind of, like, lost my balance for a second. And, you know, stuff happens.”

Glenn is a vocal mental health advocate who’s spoken candidly about her struggles with depression and anxiety. She doesn’t conceal her feelings. To those familiar with her story, it was no surprise to see her wear her emotions on her sleeve Tuesday night.

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She said Wednesday it wasn’t the realization that her Olympic medal hopes were reduced to a long shot that upset her. It was that she lost the joy of skating on Olympic ice after her fateful double loop.

Glenn intends to regain ‘happiness’ in free skate

Medal shot or not, regaining that joy of skating on Olympic ice is Glenn’s goal for Thursday’s free skate.

“I was devastated because I lost the happiness and the enjoyment that I wanted to have out there on the ice to say, ‘I fought for everything, I did everything I could,’” Glenn said. “That’s what I truly wanted, and that’s what I missed out on.

“So that’s what I’m hoping to do tomorrow. When I was little, I always imagined me doing a spiral and looking up and being like, ‘I’m at the Olympics.’ That’s what I want.”

Somebody had to lose Wednesday night.

In one of the best games of the men’s college basketball season, it was Arkansas. The 20th-ranked Razorbacks got 49 points out of star freshman Darius Acuff Jr., but it wasn’t enough as No. 25 Alabama survived a double-overtime thriller for a 117-115 win.

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After hitting a late 3 to force overtime and two free throws in the extra session to help force the second OT, Acuff and the Razorbacks had a look to extend the game to a third overtime. But Acuff’s floater missed high off the glass, and Malique Ewin clanged a putback dunk off the back of the rim.

Alabama secured the rebound as time expired and held on for the two-point win.

Acuff’s monster night headlines big games all around

Acuff, a freshman guard averaging 21.2 points and 6.3 assists per game who’s a potential lottery pick in June’s NBA Draft, had one of the best individual games of the season.

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He averaged almost a point per minute while shooting 16 of 27 from the field and 6 of 10 from 3 en route to 49 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Billy Richmond added 20 points and 6 rebounds. Meleek Thomas posted 24 points and 6 rebounds while shooting 6 of 8 from 3.

But it wasn’t enough against a resilient Alabama team that got 35 points and 7 assists from Labaron Philon Jr. as one of four Crimson Tide starters with 15-plus points.

Aiden Sherrell added 26 points and 13 rebounds while shooting 10 of 13 from the field for the Tide. His teammate Amari Allen also double-doubled with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

It added up to a night of sensational basketball from both teams that wasn’t decided until 50 minutes ran off the clock.

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Back-and-forth drama down the stretch

Arkansas took control early with an explosive first half and went into the break with a 57-47 lead. It then extended the lead to 75-62 in the second half before Alabama mounted its rally.

The Crimson Tide retook the lead at 80-79 on a Philon 3. And a pair of Aden Holloway free throws gave Alabama a 95-92 lead with 18 seconds remaining.

But Acuff answered on the other end with a 3-pointer to reach 40 for the game with 11.9 seconds remaining.

The shot ultimately forced overtime.

The game then went to another overtime when Acuff’s pull-up jumper missed the mark as time expired. It remained back and forth through most of the second overtime until Philon found a wide-open Houston Mallette in the corner to extend Alabama’s lead to two possessions in the final minute at 117-113.

Arkansas responded with a bucket and a late stop to set up its last possession. But both looks at a game-tying bucket missed the mark, and Alabama walked away with a win in front of a raucous home crowd.

Dan Hurley and the Huskies suffered a rare, bad loss at Gampel Pavilion on Wednesday night.

No. 5 UConn fell apart down the stretch and allowed Creighton, which has struggled all season in a down year in Omaha, to pick up a very solid 91-84 upset win. That was by far the biggest victory of the season for the Bluejays, who sit at just 14-13 and need some help in order to even make the NCAA tournament.

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The loss for UConn was just the team’s third all season, but it both put their hopes at claiming a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament in serious risk and opened the door for Rick Pitino and St. John’s to take the Big East title. The Red Storm survived a scare of their own later on Wednesday night and beat Marquette 76-70 in Milwaukee to take the lead in the conference standings.

Creighton had no issue keeping up with UConn all night. The Bluejays entered the locker room tied with the Huskies, and then mounted a huge 14-5 run in the second half while shutting down UConn’s offense almost completely. They forced a stretch in which the Huskies missed 10 of 11 shots, too, and briefly pushed their lead to 12 points before cruising to the seven-point win.

Blake Harper likely sealed the deal after he drilled a huge corner 3-pointer just seconds after a Silas Demary layup on the other end. Harper’s bucket pushed Creighton’s lead to 10 points with just 90 seconds left.

Josh Dix led Creighton with 21 points and eight rebounds, and Nik Graves added 18 points. Harper finished with 12 points off the bench.

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The win seemingly came out of nowhere for the Bluejays. They entered Wednesday night’s game having lost six of their last eight. The only wins during that stretch came by a combined two points. They were just 1-8 against Quad I teams up until this point, too.

An NCAA tournament bid is likely out of the question for Creighton, however, unless it manages to knock off No. 17 St. John’s on Saturday in New York and goes on a run in the Big East tournament. Wednesday’s win, however, was a big step to getting that done.

Braylon Mullins led UConn with 25 points and six rebounds, and Demary added 17 points and nine assists. Star Alex Karaban was held to just two points after he shot 1-of-6 from the field, marking his worst output of the season.

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UConn, after starting the season winning 22 of its first 23 games, has now lost twice in its last four after falling at St. John’s last week. And if they aren’t perfect, or close to it, the rest of the way, securing a top seed in the NCAA tournament could be out of reach.

The rematch between the two teams leading the Big East next week is suddenly that much more important heading into the conference tournament.

On Wednesday evening, Bruce Meyer was officially elected as the new interim executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. The news, which comes less than 48 hours after the shocking resignation of former head honcho Tony Clark, was first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Meyer, 64, was previously the union’s deputy executive director and chief negotiator. He will serve as executive director on an interim basis as the union prepares for a contentious collective bargaining showdown with the league this coming winter.

Matt Nussbaum, who had been the MLBPA’s general counsel, was promoted into Meyer’s old role. However, sources indicate to Yahoo Sports that Meyer’s job will be largely unchanged. Bargaining will remain his priority, while Nussbaum is set to assume many of the day-to-day responsibilities of running the union, responsibilities that once belonged to Clark.

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Meyer’s unanimous election by a committee of 72 players — 38 major leaguers and 34 minor leaguers — is the culmination of a tumultuous few days for what is considered the most powerful union in American sports. Clark, who had held the MLBPA’s top position since 2013, stepped down Tuesday after it was alleged that he had an inappropriate relationship with a union employee — an employee who, salaciously, also happened to be his sister-in-law.

The eight players on the union’s executive subcommittee — Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes, Detroit’s Tarik Skubal, Miami’s Pete Fairbanks, New York’s Marcus Semien, Baltimore’s Chris Bassitt, San Diego’s Jake Cronenworth, Los Angeles’ Brent Suter and Tampa Bay’s Cedric Mullins — found out about Clark’s misdeeds earlier in the week as part of a broader investigation into potential financial improprieties via the subcommittee’s outside counsel, Adam Braverman. Clark and the union remain under investigation by multiple federal agencies for allegedly misappropriating funds related to an MLBPA-sponsored youth organization called Players Way.

But player sources told Yahoo Sports that Braverman informed the subcommittee that — to his knowledge to this point — Meyer does not appear to have been involved in any of Clark’s potential malfeasance. The same is true of Nussbaum. In fact, neither has been officially accused of anything related to either of the investigations swirling around Clark.

This entire saga unfolds at a crucial time for the union, with the current collective bargaining agreement set to expire Dec. 1. Although the two sides will negotiate between now and then, the league and its owners are widely expected to lock out the players. Burgeoning fan frustration about small-market frugality and big-market extravagance has intensified calls for a salary cap. Major League Baseball remains the only large-scale American sports league without a cap; such a mechanism has long been opposed by the MLBPA.

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Into that context steps Meyer, a career labor lawyer who joined the MLBPA in 2018 after a stint with the NHL Players Association. Brought in by Clark to bolster the union’s negotiating prowess, Meyer played a significant role in the 2022 CBA talks, an agreement generally considered to have been a win for players.

He has, however, been a polarizing figure. In 2024, a group of players attempted to have Meyer removed from his role at the moment he boarded a flight to Korea for the season’s opening series. Clark and other allies rallied to Meyer’s defense, and Harry Marino, the union lawyer behind the mutiny, threw in the towel.

Meyer lacks Clark’s charisma and playing background. Others have critiqued him for being too aligned with agent Scott Boras, though Meyer has, both on and off the record, vehemently denied such assertions. He is far from a social butterfly, and his intense, wintry demeanor does not lend itself to the hobnobbing typically associated with a top union job.

But many of those same characteristics, union sources say, make Meyer a formidable presence at the bargaining table. He is not afraid to say no. He does not cower from a fight. He is well-versed, passionate and unconcerned with how others perceive him. So while he wouldn’t be anybody’s choice to host “Saturday Night Live,” Meyer remains uniquely positioned to lead the union into the breach.

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That is why he received unanimous support from the players on Wednesday. A segment of players had wanted to elect Meyer on a Tuesday night call, but others wanted to discuss things with their teammates first. On Wednesday, across spring training complexes in Florida and Arizona, that’s exactly what happened, with players at both the major- and minor-league levels holding meetings to debate next steps. In the end, Meyer emerged as the most reasonable, most logical choice.

Distracting as this entire soap opera has been, players and union officials remain resolute that Clark’s obscene exit does not threaten their position ahead of the upcoming labor battle. Some, granted anonymity to speak freely, even contended that Clark’s role in previous negotiations was more marginal than publicly understood, that it was Meyer’s show and will continue to be.

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“We don’t expect anything to change in terms of bargaining,” Meyer told members of the media, including Yahoo Sports, on Wednesday morning before his elevation to interim executive director. “We’ve been preparing for bargaining for years. Players have been preparing. Players know what’s coming. At the end of the day, you know, leadership is important, and leadership comes and goes, but what remains is the players.”

Editor’s note: An earlier edition of this piece stated that Meyer and Nussbaum had not been “completely absolved.” It has been updated to reflect that the pair have not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Chinese freestyle skier Eileen Gu will be leaving the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics with at least two silver medals. She could add one more medal to her total if she can qualify for Saturday’s women’s skiing halfpipe final.

The 22-year-old Gu entered these Olympics as a favorite to win multiple gold medals. Four years ago in Beijing she won the women’s big air and halfpipe events, while earning a silver medal in slopestyle.

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Despite not having a haul of gold medals with the Milan Cortina Games winding down, Gu doesn’t look at that as a disappointing result. When asked Tuesday if she sees her silver medals as “two golds lost,” Gu laughed off the question and offered her perspective of her career accomplishments.

“I’m the most decorated female freeskier in history. I think that’s an answer in and of itself,” Gu said. “How do I say this? Winning a medal at the Olympics is a life-changing experience for every athlete. Doing it five times is exponentially harder, because every medal is equally hard for me, but everybody else’s expectations rise, right?

“So, the two medals lost situation, to be quite frank with you, I think is kind of a ridiculous perspective to take. I’m showcasing my best skiing. I’m doing things that quite literally have never been done before. And so I think that is more than good enough, but thank you.”

Along with her five Olympic medals, Gu is a two-time world champion, three-time X-Games winner and even won two gold medals at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics. That’s a very decorated career, even at the age of 22.

Gu’s hard work has paid off, literally, as she was the fourth-highest earning female athlete in 2025, earning upward of $23 million. According to Sportico, all but $20,000 of that $23 million came from endorsements.

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The American-born Gu has been a controversial figure for her decision to compete for China, where her mother is was born. Last year, she, along with another American-born athlete who competes for China, were paid a combined $6.6 million by the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau in 2025 for “striving for excellent results in qualifying for the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics.”

With the NBA returning from the All-Star break and heading into the final eight weeks of the season, there are still some opportunities in the futures market that provide strong value and won’t tie up funds for a long time.

Here are a few futures bets worth considering right now.

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L.A. Lakers under 48.5 regular-season wins

The Los Angeles Lakers have the eighth-hardest strength of schedule remaining. They are often put on national TV against other strong marquee teams because of the increased attention. The Lakers have a backloaded schedule.

According to current market ratings, combined with their current record and remaining schedule, they are projected to win 47 games. This also does not factor in that Lebron James often sits on the second leg of back-to-backs, Luka Dončić is coming back from injury to a minutes restriction, and Austin Reaves went into the All-Star break coming off the bench and playing limited minutes because of a calf injury.

Given the number at 48.5, the projection at 47, the hard schedule and increased likelihood they sit stars during some schedule-loss games, the Lakers under was my first midseason futures bet.

L.A. Clippers under 41.5 regular-season wins

I used similar criteria to project the Clippers’ win total. I used market ratings and current record combined with remaining schedule and got to 41 wins, almost spot on with the market number of 41.5.

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However, the Clippers just traded James Harden and Ivica Zubac at the deadline and gutted their roster to get younger and collect future assets. It is unknown when Darius Garland is going to return.

Both their offense and defense took major hits that should cause some setbacks, leaving Kawhi Leonard with a massive usage rate to keep this team afloat. Brook Lopez has looked very slow footed and cannot provide the defensive backbone Zubac did. If Kawhi sits out any games, this team will likely take a dive in the wrong direction.

The Clippers’ actions show the front office is prioritizing future seasons, and it’s tough to envision a postseason run. Thus far, Leonard has played most back to backs, but I wonder if that shifts as the season nears the end and they are locked into a play-in seed. Their market rating right now might be the highest it is all season.

Cleveland Cavaliers to win Eastern Conference and NBA Finals (+300, +1200)

I am looking to back the Cavaliers in futures markets right now before they show us what a full roster looks like with the recent addition of James Harden and the returns of injured players Evan Mobley and Max Strus.

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This team has by far the best shooters in the Eastern Conference, and I suspect it will finish the season and go into the playoffs as the clear favorites in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers consistently take sharp action in games vs. the New York Knicks, and I seriously doubt the Pistons’ chances in the playoffs, where spacing likely creates some issues.

The Pistons showed their hand at the deadline by not making a big win-now move, letting this team do what it can and considering 2025-26 a successful season.

On the other hand, the Cavaliers clearly want to win now by trading 26-year-old Darius Garland for a piece that is healthy and can bolster both their offense and defense in Harden.

Yes, Harden can bolster the Cavaliers’ defense. Historically, Garland would get picked on because of his size, and then Donovan Mitchell would have to also guard up in size and be exploited a bit as well and get worn down physically. If Harden is good at one thing defensively, it’s guarding against bigger plays, which allows Mitchell to go back to guarding his true PG position. This is an upgrade on both ends for the Cavaliers.

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to win MVP (-200 or better)

Right now the biggest caveat in the MVP market is forecasting games played with the 65-game minimum required to qualify for NBA awards.

Gilgeous-Alexander has missed seven games and can miss 10 more. Nikola Jokić is the next contender for MVP, but if he misses just one more game he is disqualified. Gilgeous-Alexander went into the All-Star break not playing because of an abdominal injury. Based on the reported timing of his recovery and the Thunder’s upcoming schedule, I would predict SGA sits vs. the Brooklyn Nets on Friday and returns when the Thunder face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.

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I am waiting for SGA to be ruled out on Friday and striking this bet Friday night or Saturday morning before he is potentially announced back for Sunday. SGA was north of a -700 favorite before sitting a few games with his injury and being able to get this below -200 right before he returns will be perfectly timed and a huge discount.

Hat tip to my friend, Joe Dellera, at Action Network for pointing out this schedule quirk as the OKC Thunder return from the break.