At a time when many racing series' growth is flat, IMSA is adding manufacturer after manufacturer, and fans are lining up to watch the on-track action.
Edmonton Oilers star Corey Perry likely had one of the most unusual assists of his career during the third period of Tuesday night’s game against the league-leading Washington Capitals.
The Oilers were trailing 3-1 to start the third period when center Leon Draisaitl skated into Washington’s zone, making a quick pass to Perry, who beat Capitals netminder Logan Thompson to cut the lead to a one-goal deficit.
However, Thompson appeared to take issue with the sequence of events, pleading to officials that something had been thrown onto the ice before the pass was made.
What was it that distracted one of the NHL’s top goalies? A platter of nachos.
"That's a first," Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said after the game, via ESPN.
"We just talked about that in the coaches' office. I don't think I've ever seen a nachos-on-the-ice National Hockey League game. Did they save them? Maybe we can bring them into the locker room."
A replay of the play showed Perry skating around the concession stand favorite to find the back of the net. Thompson admitted after the game that he should have played until the whistle.
"I've never seen that before. Obviously, I've got to play to the whistle. That one's on me," Thompson said, adding that he saw the fan that threw the plate of nachos.
"Wasn't too happy. But credit to him. He got them a goal," he said, suggesting the fan was an Oilers supporter.
For his part, Perry admitted to not even noticing the platter.
Despite the setback, the Capitals were able to hold on to the 3-2 lead for the win as they extended their win streak to five straight. The Oilers have now dropped two in a row and their first since star forward Connor McDavid was issued a three-game suspension for cross-checking.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2025 has been announced, as CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki and Billy Wagner will be heading to Cooperstown to be enshrined forever alongside the game’s greats.
While the baseball world celebrates these three amazing ballplayers, there are some who have real cases for the Hall of Fame that saw another year go by without getting a shot at entering the Hall.
One of them is Kenny Lofton, the six-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glover who spent 17 seasons in MLB racking up 2,428 hits and a 68.4 WAR over 2,103 games.
Now, when the day comes like Tuesday, when the Hall of Fame ballots are counted and results come in, Lofton isn’t rubbed the wrong way. He knows that after not securing at least 5% of the ballot in 2013, he’s no longer eligible to be voted on regularly.
But there’s no doubting that Lofton still feels hurt that he didn’t get what he believes is a fair shot at being in Cooperstown.
"I didn’t get credit for what I did. It’s kinda sad. I still don’t get credit," Lofton told Fox News Digital while discussing his role as an advisor with Sluggball, a reimagined approach to the game of baseball.
"I can only say all the time that, from my era and my time, I did what I was supposed to do. I thought at that time, it was very important for me to do my job as a teammate, and that was an important part of the game. Now you look at it as me doing my job and me being a team player, it kinda hurt me. Instead of me being selfish like other guys, the three and four hitters, it was all about them eating. I was serving, and they were eating, but I didn’t get the credit for serving the food to them."
Lofton’s first year on the Hall of Fame ballot was perhaps one of the most stacked ballots of all time, though no living inductees were had for the first time since 1965. There were 10 players, including Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Mike Piazza and Edgar Martinez, who eventually got the 75% of votes needed to get in, but guys like Lofton and Bernie Williams were left off the ballot the next year because at least 5% of votes is required to move on.
And like Lofton mentioned, the era of baseball he played in, infamously known as the Steroid Era, had players like Barry Bonds (36.2%), Mark McGwire (16.9%), Sammy Sosa (12.5%) and Rafael Palmeiro (8.8%) also on the ballot with him.
Ichiro also played in that era, entering MLB at the late age of 27 in 2001 and still putting up 3,089 hits over 19 seasons. Only one Hall of Fame voter left him off their ballot despite, much like Derek Jeter, there being a very strong case for a unanimous vote.
Lofton loves that Ichiro got his due, and the same goes for Tim Raines, whose 23-year career saw a speedy outfielder hitting for average rather than home runs. But he feels he’s in the same conversation.
"That’s what hurts me to see this and seeing Ichiro with the opportunity to show, OK, here’s some smaller guys who are not all about home runs can get in the game and then you compare my numbers to Ichiro, we’re not too far off," Lofton explained.
Making that case, Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is a mark many voters use to see if a player should be in the Hall of Fame. Ichiro had a 60.0 WAR, while Lofton was at 68.4 over his career.
And when you view their career season averages side by side, Lofton was better with stolen bases (48 to 31), home runs (10 to 7), RBI (60 to 48), and runs (118 to 87). Ichiro beats Lofton in batting average (.311 to .299), but only by two in hits (189 to 187).
Then, there is sabermetrician Jay Jaffe’s "The Cooperstown Casebook," which outlines the JAWS metric to determine who should and shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame. JAWS is a player’s WAR averaged with their 7-year peak WAR.
Lofton is 10th all-time for center fielders with a 55.9 JAWS mark. Every player above him is in the Hall of Fame except for Mike Trout (fifth), who still plays, and Carlos Beltran (ninth), who remains on the ballot and just missed getting in this year with 70.3% of votes.
Richie Ashburn, Andrew Dawson, Billy Hamilton, Larry Doby, Earl Averill, Max Carey and Kirby Puckett are all players with a lesser JAWS rating that are in the Hall.
Finally, Lofton's ability to steal bases – he's 15th all-time with 622 stolen bags – made him a menace when he got on base. In fact, he's one of only nine players with 600 career steals and 600 extra-base hits, yet he's the only one not in Cooperstown.
"All I’m asking from people is look at my numbers a little bit more," Lofton said. "… That was all I wanted because when you look at the stats and what people say, I have one of the highest WARs in history, especially for center fielders."
If the numbers are not enough, Lofton spoke of his peers reminiscing about his time in the league.
"I talked to [Hall of Famer] Barry Larkin and he says, ‘During the era of when you played, Kenny, you were the best thing out there,’" Lofton said. "He said, ‘No one wanted to deal with you when you stepped at the plate or when you were in the outfield.’ That made me feel good for another player to say that about me.
"When David Justice during the World Series, he said, ‘Kenny, our main thing was keeping you off the bases.’ He said, ‘We didn’t have a big meeting. We had a meeting that said keep that damn Kenny Lofton off the bases and we will win this series.’ So, that made me feel good to hear that kind of stuff from the players you played with."
There is still a way for Lofton to get into the Hall, as the Contemporary Committee votes in December 2025. But the ballot is only eight candidates, where 75% of votes must also be tallied to enter the Hall.
Lofton already went through that, though, in 2022 when Fred McGriff was elected by the committee. McGriff finished his 19-year career with 493 homers and a 52.6 WAR.
Again, Lofton isn’t knocking any of these players for getting their plaque in the Hall. All he wants is the consideration he feels he deserves.
Because it’s gotten to the point where he questions if his efforts were worth it.
"Sometimes, I look back at it like, ‘Dude, did I play the game the right way?’" Lofton questioned. "People are getting all these accolades for what they’re doing now. I’m like, wait a minute, what I did I guess was nothing at this point looking at how they perceive the game and how they look at it. How they look at it is leadoff hitter means nothing. I thought leadoff guy, that’s what you wanted your guy to do because he was helping the team. RBI means run batted in, so all these big guys getting all these accolades because of their runs batted in and they get praise from runs batted in. But how would that happen if a guy didn’t get on base for him to get that RBI? And he didn’t get credit, it’s sad.
"All I want people to do is look at my numbers and compare. And when they say during your era in your position or whatever, were you the best? At this point, they’re looking around that. I just want the committee to look at it and say, ‘He’s the best at it.’ But I don’t know. That’s not on me, but look at my numbers and compare me to people who are already in the Hall of Fame."
Pass rusher Khalil Mack, who said after the Chargers' postseason loss to the Texans that he needed to take some time to mull his future, will indeed play in the 2025 season, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
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EXCLUSIVE: As the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act heads to the Senate after passing in the House of Representatives, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn, believes it will continue to get bipartisan support there, just as it did in the House.
Blackburn told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that she has spoken to multiple Democrats across the aisle who are in support of restricting trans inclusion in women's sports.
"Many of my friends who are Democrats will tell you that they think Title IX is a thing and to have biological males competing against women is inappropriate, and they want opportunities for their daughters or nieces or granddaughters, and it's frustrating to them when they hear or about or witness a transgender male playing in a women's or girls' league" Blackburn said.
When the bill passed through the House last Tuesday, Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and Vicente Gonzales, D-Texas, were the only two Democrats to vote in favor of it. Blackburn expects and hopes that there will be multiple Democratic senators who vote in favor of the bill when it hits the Senate floor.
"I would expect there would be, I would hope there would be," she said.
However, most Democrats have remained firmly opposed to the bill. Many have gone so far in their opposition to make unsubstantiated claims that the law would empower child predators to give genital examinations to young girls.
Many of the 206 Democratic house representatives, including Minority Rep. Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., presented that argument despite no language in the bill that indicates genital examinations would be used.
Republicans insisted that proof of birth sex can be determined simply by a birth certificate. The Democrats' attempt to tie the bill to child predator empowerment has driven many loyal voters away from the party, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Blackburn says she has "no idea" what those Democrats who argued it would result in child predator empowerment are thinking.
"I find it very difficult to believe that protecting girls in sports would have such an adverse effect," Blackburn said. "Looking at the content of the bill is the best way to argue against it and know that a vast majority of Americans support protecting girls in girls' sports."
A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, do not think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women's sports.
Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women.
Controversies over trans athletes competing against women became a key election issue in 2024, as President Donald Trump and Republicans down ballot all vowed to take action to prevent it.
The GOP has indicated it will make good on its promise very early, as the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act was the very first bill introduced to the 119th Congress. Blackburn plans to advocate strongly for the bill once it reaches the Senate, where the Republican majority and some Democrats are expected to pass it on to the White House for Trump to sign it into law.
However, Blackburn is not stopping there. She is also introducing three other proposals to tackle the issue on both a legislative and cultural level.
The Tennessee Senator has introduced a resolution calling on the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to revoke its transgender student-athlete eligibility policy, alongside Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla.
NCAA President Charlie Baker faced questions and criticism from Republican lawmakers for these policies during a congressional hearing on Dec. 17. Baker repeatedly cited federal law and recent rulings of federal courts that have enabled it. Blackburn and Steube's resolution would force Baker and the NCAA to follow a new precedent instead.
Blackburn is also introducing a bill to assess and prevent violence against women in athletics. The Fair Play for Girls Act, which, in addition to keeping women's sports for females, would "require the U.S. Attorney General to submit an analysis of violence against women in athletics to Congress."
"We have talked with different women who have had adverse impacts," Blackburn said. "This would require the attorney general to do an analysis and look at what is happening in the world of sports with women and to women and then looking at where there are impediments to fair competition for the girls, where there are occurrences of girls losing opportunities because a girl has joined their team or is playing in their league, and then also to look at harassment against women and girls in athletics."
Blackburn is even looking to have a conscious protection of women and girls in sports ingrained into American culture with a resolution declaring Oct. 10 as "American Girls in Sports Day," which Senate Democrats blocked last Congress.
The date, Oct. 10, which translates to XX in Roman numerals, is meant to reference the XX chromosomes that determine female gender at birth.
"It would just be teams and schools celebrating their teams and treating it as a time for schools to give the opportunities to coaches to girls who have excelled in different sports, I think it would be a source of encouragement to more young girls to participate in sports," Blackburn said.
Blackburn's legislative proposals have been endorsed by Riley Gaines, Jennifer Sey, Caitlyn Jenner, Sage Steele, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, Parents Defending Education Action and Independent Women’s Forum.
Patrick Mahomes certainly has no reason to complain. The Chiefs’ three-time super Bowl champion quarterback downplayed the prevailing public sentiment that he and his Kansas City teammates have routinely benefitted from a generous whistle from the referees, including during Saturday’s divisional-round win over the Texans. Mahomes induced two questionable 15-yard penalties during Saturday’s 23-14 win...
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