The Los Angeles Dodgers are the reigning World Series champions, meaning they have an opportunity to visit President Donald Trump in the White House.
However, a recent story in the Los Angeles Times told their readers, "Don't bet on it.'
The Times mentioned how Mookie Betts skipped out on a visit in 2019 with the Boston Red Sox and remains outspoken about social justice issues, and other former Dodgers, as well as co-owners Magic Johnson and Billie Jean King, have been critical of the president in the past.
Los Angeles will be in D.C. early in the season, with a three-game series from April 7 through 9. That is likely to be the time the Dodgers would pay their visit. (They will also visit the nearby Baltimore Orioles in early September.)
But the Times said that "it's hard to imagine" the team visiting 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
"All in all, itβs hard to imagine the Dodgers agreeing to a celebratory photo op with the president right now. Los Angeles is not just Dodger blue, but Democrat blue," the story read. "The president lost L.A. County by 33 percentage points. In his feuds with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Trump has threatened to withhold fire disaster funds without concessions. He seems to never miss an opportunity to take a swipe at the Golden State.
"The World Champion Dodgers should stand up to, not next to, the president. If an overture from the White House comes, they can send a friendly note: Thanks, but no."
The Dodgers visited former president Joe Biden in July 2021 to celebrate their 2020 World Series title.Β
The Philadelphia Eagles will visit the White House on April 28 amid their Super Bowl LIX victory, despite prior rumors that they would skip, as they did in 2018. The Florida Panthers recently visited the president to celebrate their Stanley Cup victory last summer.
The last championship team from the pros to visit Trump in office during his first presidency were the 2019 Washington Nationals, five days after their World Series victory over the Houston Astros (despite Sean Doolittle's criticisms of the president). The pandemic made visits tougher in 2020, and by the time restrictions started to be lifted, Biden had taken office.
The UConn men's and LSU women's teams visited Biden last year. The former president was criticized for originally not inviting the University of Georgia football team last year, and after they received an invitation, the Bulldogs did not go. They also did not make the trip the year before, due to COVID-19 safety precautions.
Both the Las Vegas Aces and Boston Celtics, the reigning WNBA and NBA champs, respectively, visited Biden before he left office. The prior NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets, notably canceled their visit last year, citing their quest to earn the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. (They got the No. 2 seed after a tiebreaker.)
Two more women have accused former NFL player Marcellus Wiley of rape during his playing days at Columbia University in new lawsuits.
Wiley, already accused of prior allegations, is accused of raping the women in his dorm room in 1994 while playing for the school's football team.
One victim claims she was pressured into having sex with Wiley on Oct. 27, 1994, after accepting an invitation to Wiley's dorm room. Despite saying "no repeatedly," Wiley "then swung [her] legs on the bed, lunged towards her and overpowered [her]," holding her down as he whispered to her "to relax, enjoy it, stop crying, and stop fighting the feeling," the file claims.
She said she had reported the incident to a Columbia administrator, who urged her not to file a criminal complaint, because she "would be known as the girl who destroyed a black manβs NFL dream."
The second victim claims she was assaulted roughly a month later.
Attorneys for Wiley did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The first lawsuit, which was filed in New York Supreme Court under the Adult Survivors Act, claimed that Wiley had attacked her in the fall of 1994 while he was playing at the Ivy League school during his sophomore season.
She stated that Wiley had forced himself on her in a freshman dorm room, had not cared for her objections to his actions and had taken her virginity.Β
Wiley admitted to spending the night in her dorm room, but "we did not engage in intercourse," nor did he want to, because she was a virgin.
"If you're a virgin, I am not going to be your first, because I am not looking at it with the same respect, esteem, honor that you should," he said on his show. "We did mess around, but no vaginal intercourse."
Wiley said the student had told people at the time that "she didn't like" their interaction in her dorm room, but he says that since she had a boyfriend at the time, she had to come up with a story in order to not feel ashamed of herself.
Wiley added that he "fit a stereotype" as a "big Black man from Compton."Β
Wiley went on to be drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft and would go on to play 10 NFL seasons with the San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars as well. He totaled 44 sacks and 322 combined tackles over 147 games.Β
Fox News' Scott Thompson contributed to this report.
North Carolina was on the heels (no pun intended) of completing a 24-point comeback against top-ranked Duke in the ACC semifinal, but a costly mistake ruined their chances.
Ven-Allen Lubin was at the line with 4.1 seconds to go for a chance to tie the game, and he made his free throw.
The refs blew the whistle on Jae'Lyn Withers as Duke, without Cooper Flagg, celebrated. The Blue Devils were able to knock down a pair of free throws, and Lubin missed his three-pointer to send the game to overtime, giving Duke a 74-71 win.
While the violation was clear, many fans were upset with the call.
"You do not call these in those situations man," said one user on X.
"Look how excited that referee was to enter the play and decide the game on an absolutely meaningless violation. Total disgrace," added another.
"I guess you could just say I kind of mistimed the shot," Withers said. "I was trying to make sure I crashed hard to secure a rebound in case he did miss."
But UNC refused to blame the whistle on the loss.
"It was a lot more to blame than a lane violation," Lubin said. "We made a ton of mistakes throughout the game. We were in that position trying to dig ourselves out of it and come out with a win or get to overtime."
"We all made mistakes in this game," RJ Davis said. "I am behind J-Wit. He has our full support, and we would not be in this position without J-Wit. I want him to hold his head high. We all make mistakes in this game. Itβs not just on him."
Head coach Hubert Davis also supported his player.
"Guys, we're not here without J-Wit," Davis said.
UNC's tournament hopes now seem to be over. An ACC title win would have clinched an automatic bid, but the semifinal loss with a sub-par regular season may not be enough.
East Carolina's Parker Byrd, whose right leg was amputated below the knee after a boating accident three years ago, got his first hit as a college player when he singled in the Pirates' 12-0 win over William & Mary.
Emotions ran high on Friday night at Madison Square Garden as Creighton advanced to the Big East final over the two-time defending national champions in UConn.
The Bluejays were coasting to a victory and were able to dribble the ball out for the final seconds.
With the second-seeded Bluejays leading 69-62, they got a defensive rebound with under 10 seconds left, and Huskies coach Dan Hurley signaled for his team to let the clock run out without fouling.
However, Jamiya Neal took off streaking down the left sideline for a slam with 1.5 seconds remaining and hung onto the rim for a pullup. After his skirmish with Diarra, Neal waved his arms to fire up Creighton fans in the sellout crowd.
Huskies guard Hassan Diarra shoved Neal in the chest and appeared to square up with his fists for a split second as the two were face-to-face.Β
Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner separated them by pushing Neal away as whistles blew and players came streaming off the benches at Madison Square Garden.
Order restored rather quickly, but the emotions were still tense after the game.
"I mean, they were already up with seven seconds left," Diarra said. "He didn't want to dribble the ball out. Went in for a fancy dunk. I just felt it was disrespectful to the game of basketball."
Neal admitted he "got caught up in the emotions of the game" and apologized.
Hurley and Bluejays coach Greg McDermott were already approaching each other along the sideline to shake hands when Neal took off for his dunk. McDermott appeared to apologize to Hurley immediately afterward, and again when the game ended.
Creighton and UConn have had their beef this year already. Hurley taunted Creighton fans last month after the Huskies brought home a road win, waving goodbye to the crowd and yelling out, "Two rings!"
The Oklahoma City Thunder were able to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers by 18 points last Friday, but they did it without any of their five starters.
The starting lineup is led by MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, yet he, along with the other four starters, all had the night off in their 107-89 victory.
Clearly, the Thunder were OK, but the NBA is investigating the matter for potentially violating the league's player-participation policy, according to ESPN.
It was the second game of a back-to-back, and this week, the Thunder had a stout schedule, including another back-to-back against the Denver Nuggets and a potential NBA Finals matchup against the Boston Celtics. (They split with Denver and beat Boston on the road.)
Saturday also starts another back-to-back for OKC against the Pistons and Bucks, both of whom own playoff spots.
The Thunder are 54-12, good for easily the top record in the Western Conference. It's easy to say they are playing the long game, as they have the No. 1 seed all but clinched. However, the NBA has begun to crack down on load management for players.
It was just the second time Gilgeous-Alexander missed a game this season, who was out due to what the team called "rest." However, OKC did list injuries for the other four starters.
Two years ago, the Dallas Mavericks were fined $750,000 for sitting players in a game, but that had been in a rather clear effort to tank for a better draft pick.
Later in 2023, the league voted in favor of a new player-participation policy, which would restrict teams from resting a star player during a nationally televised game or for the in-season tournament games.
The association was also set to investigate the Philadelphia 76ers amid Joel Embiid's absence earlier this season, and they are now being looked at due to Paul George and Tyrese Maxey missing games as their season continues to falter.
Teams are not allowed to have any players stop playing long-term unless they are dealing with injury.Β
The policy also states that players must play in at least 65 of the 82 regular-season contests on the schedule to be eligible for league awards, including MVP and All-NBA teams.Β
Fox News' Scott Thompson contributed to this report.
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