Baseball fans have learned over the last few years that the players they cheer for take fantasy football extremely seriously and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt reminded them of that.
Bassitt’s punishment for going 4-10 during the 2024 season – becoming the team’s bat boy, according to Sportsnet. He served as it for the team’s spring training game on Saturday against the New York Yankees. He wore "4-10" on the back of his jersey.
Fantasy football was a hot topic of conversation between Joc Pederson and Tommy Pham in 2022. Pederson, then with the San Francisco Giants, and Pham, then with the Cincinnati Reds, got into an incident over fantasy football. It led to Pham slapping Pederson over the whole ordeal.
The one-time All-Star is entering his 11th season in the majors and third with Toronto. He had a 4.16 ERA in 31 starts for the team last season. He also had 168 strikeouts.
Bassitt finished 10th in American League Cy Young Award voting in 2023. He led the American League with 16 wins, 33 starts and 826 batters faced. He pitched in a career-high 200 innings.
This season, Fan Graphs projected Bassitt to be the No. 3 starter in the team’s rotation behind Kevin Gausman and Jose Berrios. The Blue Jays are also expected to have Max Scherzer and Bowden Francis as well.
Donovan Munger, a former college football defensive lineman who played for the 2014 Ohio State national championship team, has died, his mother announced on social media. He was 30.
"My heart will never beat the same. It is with my deepest sadness that I formally announce to the world the passing of my eldest child Donovan Munger. Pray for my family," his mother wrote in an Instagram post.
Munger was a standout high school football player and committed to Ohio State as a four-star recruit. He was diagnosed with a blood clot before the start of the 2013 season, which forced him to sit out a year, according to 247 Sports.
A transgender basketball player was absent from a girls’ playoff game in California on Saturday night after a week of national media attention and controversy.
The trans athlete had led San Francisco Waldorf’s girls’ basketball team to a 9-8 record and a playoff meeting against Cornerstone Christian School.
But in the trans athlete’s absence, San Francisco lost to Cornerstone 56-30.
No reason has been given for the athlete’s absence. San Francisco Waldorf has not responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Multiple protesters attended Saturday night’s game on the Cornerstone campus wielding signs with anti-trans messaging. But those signs were not flown in the gymnasium after protesters realized the trans athlete wasn’t there, sources told Fox News Digital.
The athlete played on Waldorf’s girls’ volleyball team in the fall, prompting a playoff forfeit by Stone Ridge Christian in November.
However, Cornerstone Christian vowed to compete in Saturday’s game against the trans player, which Fox News Digital was first to report on Tuesday.
News that Cornerstone would play ignited national media coverage, amid an ongoing conflict between the state of California and President Donald Trump’s administration over the issue of trans inclusion in girls’ sports.
Additionally, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is under investigation by Trump’s Department of Education (DOE) and Office of Civil Rights (OCR) as it continues to instruct schools to allow trans athletes to compete as women in defiance of the president's executive order.
The DOE’s deputy general counsel, Candice Jackson, previously told Fox News Digital that the department was monitoring the state’s girls’ basketball playoffs as it conducts its investigation.
"CIF sets the parameters under which schools compete in these playoffs, and they have responsibility as recipients of federal funds to comply with Title IX. OCR’s investigation into CIF is continuing as it appears that CIF’s disregard for Title IX is continuing," Jackson said.
Trump’s executive order would cut federal funding for any institution that enables trans athletes to compete against girls and women.
According to USA Facts, California public schools receive about $16.8 billion per year, which is 13.9% or one in every seven dollars of public school funding, which is well above the national average.
The CIF has not responded to a request for comment on the situation involving the upcoming playoff game.
The CIF previously told Fox News Digital that it will continue to follow state legislation, which has been in effect since 2014, on the issue of trans athletes.
"The CIF provides students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete in education-based experiences in compliance with California law [Education Code section 221.5. (f)] which permits students to participate in school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, consistent with the student’s gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student’s records," the statement reads.
A law called AB 1266 has been in effect since 2014 and gives California students at scholastic and collegiate levels the right to "participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records."
California state Assembly member Kate Sanchez announced one such bill on Jan. 7, then Assembly member Bill Essayli introduced a similar one on Feb. 14.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich had a "mild stroke" in November, hasn't coached since, and he's reportedly not expected to return to the bench this season.
The 76-year-old missed six games earlier this season before the team announced he had the stroke. He coached the team's first five games of the season.
ESPN reported Saturday night that Popovich's future is uncertain amid his recovery.
"This has certainly been an unexpected six weeks for my family and me," Popovich said in December. "As we work together on my recovery, I want to take a moment to share that the outpouring of support we’ve received during this time has been truly overwhelming in the best possible way.
"While I wish I could get back to each one of you, for now, let me say that my family and I are forever grateful. We’re thankful for our wonderful community, the entire Spurs organization and our family and friends."
At the time, Popvich had not ruled out a comeback, saying tongue-in-cheek, "No one is more excited to see me return to the bench than the talented individuals who have been leading my rehabilitation process. They’ve quickly learned that I’m less coachable."
The team said he was expected to make a full recovery. Mitch Johnson has been leading the Spurs in Popovich’s absence.
The news comes after it was recently revealed Victor Wembanyama would miss the remainder of the season with a blood clot in his shoulder.
Popovich is the NBA’s career leader with 1,401 victories and another 170 postseason wins while winning five NBA titles. He is in his 29th season, all with San Antonio.
Fox News' Ryan Gaydos and Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
A high school football coach in Alabama was arrested for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with a student.
Robert Carter, the coach of Clarke County High School, was arrested in Niceville, Florida, after a traffic stop, according to FOX10. He allegedly fled Alabama during an investigation.
Carter, 55, was arrested on 11 counts and is being held at the Okaloosa County jail on $122,000 bond.
The charges include four counts of a school employee engaging in a sex act with a student, four counts of distributing or soliciting obscene material from a student and three counts of soliciting a sex act with a student.
Before his arrest, Clarke County School placed him on administrative leave.
"As the leader of Clarke County Schools, I expect professionalism and integrity from my faculty and staff," Clarke County Schools Superintendent Ashlie Flowers said in a release.
"I and the school system take reports of misconduct by employees seriously and work closely with the school administration or law enforcement to ensure appropriate action is taken. The safety and well-being of our students is always a top priority. I appreciate the outstanding work of our administrative team, dedicated school resource officer and local law enforcement during this process."
Carter became the school’s coach in 2023, going 15-10 in his two seasons. He was previously the head coach at Beauregard High School, where he won a state title in 2016, and he coached at Sylacauga in 2021 and 2022.
In his first spring training at-bat with the New York Mets, Soto crushed a 426-foot opposite field home run off the Houston Astros’ Colton Gordon to give the Mets a 1-0 lead in the first inning Saturday.
Soto signed the most lucrative contract in professional sports history this offseason, a 15-year, $765 million deal with the Mets.
In signing Soto, the Mets hoped to propel the team to the World Series after making a surprise run to the NLCS last season, where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The addition of Soto had fans wondering if the team would be able to retain first baseman Pete Alonso, also a free agent this offseason.
Alonso later re-signed with the Mets, giving Soto some important protection in the lineup.
Soto, a four-time All-Star, had the best season of his career with the Yankees last season. He hit .288 with a career-best 41 home runs and 109 RBIs.
Former NFL player Steve Smith Sr. found himself at the center of social media drama Saturday after a man took to X accusing the ex-wide receiver of having an affair with his wife, who the man claims is a member of the Baltimore Ravens marching band.
The social media user posted a series of messages on X early Saturday morning, including one in direct response to one of Smith's posts.
"Hit me up. Does your wife know you've been f---ing my wife?" the user, who later changed his profile picture to one of Smith, wrote.
The man then shared several screenshots of what appeared to be sexually explicit text messages between his wife and Smith. Some of the posts also included images of Smith allegedly sent to the woman.
Later on, a video posted to the account appeared to show the man confronting someone on the phone. The man recording the video appeared to call Smith by name.
"Yo Steve," the man in the video says. A man on the other end of the line responded, "What's up?"
"You've been f---ing my wife, bro?" the man asked. "What you gotta say for yourself?"
"You're sorry? You f---ing knew she was married. You're not a f---ing idiot, man. You're f---ing Steve Smith Sr. What kind of dumb s--- was that?"
The man on the other line never responded again and hung up.
The man claimed in a separate post online that his wife was a member of the Ravens' marching band. Neither the Ravens, the band, nor Smith's agency have responded to emails from Fox News Digital.
Smith performed with the band during a game early in the 2024 season. He spent three seasons with the team after playing for the Carolina Panthers for 13.
Smith has been married since 2000, and he and his wife have four children.
Just because the New York Yankees are allowing their players to rock beards for the first time in nearly 50 years, it doesn't mean everyone is going to.
Captain Aaron Judge told reporters on Saturday that despite the policy getting a makeover, he answered "No" when asked if he would grow some facial hair.
"I got drafted by this organization, so the very first day I was here, I’ve been shaving since 2013," Judge said. "This is what I know, this is what I’m used to. I look around the building, look at old photos of the past legends and people that played here, they all followed that rule, so I just tried to follow on their path."
However, he is all for the change, echoing the same sentiments team owner Hal Steinbrenner did - Steinbrenner, who lifted the rule that his dad, George, implemented in 1976, hinted that he was afraid that players would not come to the Yankees in the future because of the rule. Note that Vladimir Guerrero Jr., MLB's next big free agent, has had a beard a majority of his career.
"I really didn’t think it was that big of a deal until it got brought up the past couple weeks. I think the rule will be good. I think it’ll help a lot of guys. If it gets us a couple more players that’ll help us win games, everybody will be on board for that," Judge continued.
Steinbrenner told reporters Friday, "If I ever found out that a player we wanted to acquire to make us better, to get us a championship, did not want to be here, and if he had the ability, would not come here, because of that policy … that would be very, very concerning."
Yankees Hall of Famers CC Sabathia and Derek Jeter have both grown beards since retiring. Players often grow facial hair when leaving the Yankees or during the offseason.
Nearly 50 years after New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner implemented a policy banning facial hair, the team made the shocking announcement to end what Hal Steinbrenner came to learn was an "outdated" rule that could have potentially serious consequences for the organization.
Hal Steinbrenner announced the change on Friday prior to the Yankees’ spring training opener and delved into the process that led him to make a new policy where players can now sport "well-groomed beards."
As Steinbrenner explained, facial hair has become the new norm. He pointed to our nation’s leaders, including Vice President JD Vance, as an example of how times have changed since the policy was first implemented in 1976.
"This generation, the vast majority of 20s, 30s into the 40s, men in this country have beards. Our new vice president has a beard, members of congress have a beard – the list goes on and on and on in this country and in this world," he told members of the media during a press conference.
"It is part of who these younger men are, it’s part of their character, it’s part of their persona. Do I totally relate to that? It’s difficult for me, I’m an older guy who’s never had a beard in his life. But it’s a very important thing to them and they feel it defines their character."
Steinbrenner went on to explain that knowing this led him to a "real concern" that the policy could potentially be detrimental to the Yankees’ ultimate goal of winning its first World Series title since 2009.
"If I ever found out that a player we wanted to acquire, to make us better, to get us a championship, did not want to be here, and if he had the ability, would not come here because of that policy – as important as it is to that generation – that would be very, very concerning.
"I am fairly convinced that’s a real concern," he said.
Steinbrenner, who succeeded his father as controlling owner in November 2008, said he had considered the issue for some time, but said he spent this season actively discussing the issue with players and others.
Playing for the Rose Basketball Club, Reese was posting up down low when her defender took a charge. The defender might have sold the call, but it was enough to get Reese, who had dominated all night, out of the game.
Reese thought the refs made a bad call, so she wanted her coach to challenge the call, and she was emphatic about it.
There was no challenge, and Reese was done for the rest of the game. Her team held on for a 72-63 win.
After the game, a fan of Reese posted to X to not "be on the wrong side of history" when her career is over, saying "Reese is exactly who she thinks she is."
It was a compliment, but Reese seems to want her haters to keep on hating.
"no. tell them stay on that side. please," she replied.
Reese was the seventh pick in last year's WNBA Draft by the Chicago Sky after a dominant career at LSU that included a national championship win over Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2023.
In her rookie year, Reese broke the record for most rebounds in a single season, but multi-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson later surpassed her.
Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki was on a family vacation when news of the seismic Luke Doncic-Anthony Davis trade broke, but he found out about it quickly.
"When I saw the news, I was actually all across on the other side of the world. I was on vacation with the family in the Maldives. . . . Actually about to go to lunch, and then we’re leaving that day to travel back, and my phone starts blowing up," Nowitzki said during an appearance at 96.7 The Ticket’s Ticketstock event.
Nowitzki and Doncic overlapped for one season in Dallas and formed a strong relationship. He said they texted after the trade went down.
"Fast-forward coming home, obviously Luka, we texted a bit. I felt a little disappointed and sad for him. He obviously didn’t see this coming. He invited me to come out to his first game in (Los Angeles), and I felt like I had to support him," Nowitzki said.
"I played with him in my last season. We got close. I tried to mentor him, I tried to help as much as I can in the last few years."
Mavericks fans hoped that Doncic would be like Nowitzki, the superstar who stayed in Dallas his whole career and won a title for them.
Doncic, like Mavericks fans, was "disappointed" with the trade. Nowitzki attended Doncic’s first game with the Los Angeles Lakers in support of Doncic, and not the Lakers.
"He’s a good kid, so I felt like I had to go out there and support him in this new chapter. It was reported that he was pretty down and disappointed how it went down, so I wanted to be there for him. I wanted to be there for his family and show support," Nowitzki said.
"You guys saw my face, it was weird. It was surreal to see him play for the Lakers. I’ll never be a Lakers fan, but I must always be a Luka fan."
Doncic said that Nowiztki being there for his Lakers debut was "amazing," via the Dallas Morning News.
The centerpiece of the return in the Doncic trade for the Mavericks was Anthony Davis. Davis injured his groin in one of his first games with the Mavericks and has been out since.
The Mavericks and Lakers are set to face off for the first time since the trade on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 10:00 p.m. ET.
Trans activist Blossom Brown went viral this week after saying that the upcoming Summer Olympics in Los Angeles should "absolutely" be gender-neutral and suggesting that there shouldn’t be a reason why Olympians and Paralympians can’t compete against one another.
Brown’s statements came during a heated debate with former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines during an appearance on "Piers Morgan Uncensored" on Thursday where the two discussed President Donald Trump’s recent executive order that essentially banned transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.
Morgan repeatedly asked Brown why men and women are separated in sports at the Olympics.
Gaines, the host of OutKick’s "Gaines for Girls" podcast, continued to defend Trump’s executive order and its efforts to create fairness in women’s sports.
"Because men and women are different. We have different physical ceilings. It’s the same reason you have any category. It’s the same reason we have the Paralympics versus the Olympics. It’s the same reason we have weight classes in boxing. We don’t have weight classes in boxing because we are fat-shaming people who weigh more. No – we have weight classes because it would be unfair. We know the outcome."
Gaines later raised the question about Olympians and Paralympians competing against one another.
When asked whether the Games should be combined, Brown said, "I mean, why not?"
Brown's comments come weeks after Trump signed an executive order instructing all federal agencies to review grants, programs and policies that fail to comply with the administration's efforts to end "male competitive participation in women’s sports … as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth."
The order also instructed strict Title IX enforcement against any educational institutions or athletic associations that do not comply and demands federal assistance be taken away in such cases.
Some states have already spoken out against their willingness to comply with the federal law.
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
Veteran NFL linebacker De’Vondre Campbell unleashed an expletive-laden tirade on social media Friday about his decision not to play for the San Francisco 49ers during a Week 15 game against the Los Angeles Rams – a move that earned the one-time All-Pro a three-game suspension.
Campbell, who signed with the 49ers on a one-year deal in March 2024, shared a clip on X of former Atlanta Falcons special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong from a previous season of HBO’s "Hard Knocks."
In his post, which showed a passionate Armstrong during a film session, Campbell complemented the coach, adding that he was thankful to enter the league when he did, before the "soft babying players s---" existed.
But fans on social media were quick to remind the NFL player of his decision to quit on his team during their 12-6 loss to the Rams this past season.
The comments sparked a fiery response from Campbell, who said he was "sick" of all the backlash on social media.
"It’s been 2 months and I have yet to address the situation cause I know the truth and don’t care to clear anything up," he said in the first of a series of posts. "I’m by myself ALL the time if you or any of them b---- a-- n----s from the 49ers feel some type of way go wit ya move when you see me cause all them n----s that had so much to say about me gone have to stand on them words next time I see them I been standing on business my whole life and it’s gone be like that until the day I’m 6ft under p---- a-- n----s don’t know me."
Campbell went on to call out broadcast analysts who had spoken about the situation, saying that instead of reaching out to him, "they just took what the 49ers said and ran with it."
Campbell lost his starting job this past season when Dre Greenlaw came back from the Achilles tear he had suffered in a Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. But during the Week 15 game, Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan wanted to put Campbell into the game, because Greenlaw was aching from soreness in his Achilles tendon.
Campbell refused, and at the time, Shanahan said he had never gotten an explanation.
Days later, 49ers general manager John Lynch announced that Campbell would be suspended three-games for "conduct detrimental to the team."
"I ain’t addressing s---," Campbell continued in his rant Friday. "I’m rich and never have to work another day of my life and I told Kyle Shannahan and John Lynch that when they FaceTime me and begged me to come out there an hour after Green Bay cut me… I play because I WANT TO."
Before his brief stint with the 49ers, Campbell spent three years with the Green Bay Packers, a year with the Arizona Cardinals and four years with the Atlanta Falcons.
The Spartans (22-5, 13-3) have surged atop the highly competitive conference with their third straight win. The Wolverines (20-6, 12-3) fell out of first place with their first loss in seven games.
Michigan's Vladislav Goldin scored 21 points, Danny Wolf had 11 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and Nimari Burnett added 12 points. The Wolverines led 38-34 at halftime and the Spartans went ahead for good on Carson Cooper's dunk early in the second half.
Michigan State's Richardson earned his first start of the season on Feb. 8 against Oregon. He scored a season-high 29 points that night and has scored in double-digits in every game since then, including Friday.
Jaden Akins had 11 points, Jeremy Fears scored 10 and Michigan State was 9 of 22 on 3-pointers.
Michigan State: Tom Izzo's team has put itself in a position to win a Big Ten title that wasn't expected to be in reach when the season began. The Spartans have games remaining against conference contenders: No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 20 Maryland and Michigan at home on March 9 in the regular-season finale.
Michigan: The school agreed to a multiyear contract extension for coach Dusty May, announcing the move two hours before tip off. May, a Bob Knight protege, made it clear he is happy and had no interest in being the next coach at Indiana.
After over a dozen women accused Justin Tucker of sexual misconduct, the NFL is investigating, according to reports.
The NFL has reportedly begun interviewing massage therapists who have accused the Baltimore Ravens kicker of inappropriate sexual behavior.
Last month, six massage therapists employed at high-end spas said Tucker exposed himself repeatedly during a span of four years, including his rookie season, when the Ravens won the Super Bowl.
The accusations placed Tucker at four different spas and wellness centers, where the alleged victims say he would brush them with his genitals and commit other acts of sexual misconduct.
Earlier this month, seven more women accused Tucker of sexual misconduct, and the total number of accusers is 16.
The women are from eight Baltimore-based spas and wellness centers, two of which said the behavior was so inappropriate they banned Tucker, according to The Baltimore Banner.
The new accusers claimed Tucker "acted inappropriately" at some of the best luxury spas in Baltimore, including the spas at the Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton in the city.
Tucker is accused of exposing himself, brushing some of the therapists with his genitals and other forms of misconduct.
Tucker released a statement through his attorneys last month, calling the allegations "unequivocally false."
"Throughout my career as a professional athlete, I have always sought to conduct myself with the utmost professionalism. I have never before been accused of misconduct of any kind, and I have never been accused of acting inappropriately in front of a massage therapist or during a massage therapy session or during other bodywork," Tucker’s statement said.
"I have never received any complaints from a massage therapist, have never been dismissed from a massage therapy or bodywork session and have never been told that I was not welcome at any spa or other place of business."
The Ravens also told Fox News Digital last month they were aware of the accusations against Tucker and they "take any allegations of this nature seriously and will continue to monitor the situation."
Tucker is regarded to be one of the best placekickers of all time. He's been named to seven Pro Bowls and five All-Pro teams during his 13-year career in the NFL, all with the Ravens.
Fox News' Scott Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The New York Yankees announced Friday that their players no longer must be clean-shaven.
Owner Hal Steinbrenner said in a statement that players would be able to keep "well-groomed" beards after discussing the matter with current and former players over "several" years.
The rule, which said players could not have facial hair below the lower lip, was established by Hal's father, George Steinbrenner, in 1976.
Yankee broadcaster Michael Kay, who hosts a radio show during the week, was calling the team's first spring training game of the season and of the franchise's new hair era Friday.
"I don't think it's hyperbole. [It] kind of stunned the baseball world," he said.
One of the main reasons the team lifted the rule was because it could discourage a player from choosing the Yanks as a future destination.
"If I ever found out that a player we wanted to acquire to make us better, to get us a championship, did not want to be here, and if he had the ability, would not come here, because of that policy … that would be very, very concerning," Steinbrenner told reporters Friday.
Manager Aaron Boone told reporters he had heard rumblings about the policy change. It should be noted Vladimir Guerrero Jr., MLB's next big free agent, has had a beard a majority of his career.
That sentiment, Kay said, was his biggest takeaway.
"I think the most telling thing that [Steinbrenner] said is, ‘We don’t want to ever be in a position where we lose a player that we think can help us win because he didn’t want to come here because of this rule.’ And I think what the Yankees did. They got ahead of things," Kay added.
"And I’ve always wondered, 'If you’re going to change the rule, you almost have to change the rule before somebody fights back on it. Because if you did lose a player who said, ‘I’m not going to go there because I don't want to shave,' that would look really bad."
Yankees Hall of Famers CC Sabathia and Derek Jeter have both grown beards since retiring. Players often grow facial hair when leaving the Yankees or during the offseason.
Maine Governor Janet Mills released a statement on Friday in response to the announcement that the U.S. Department of Education will be investigating her state for allowing trans athletes to compete in girls' sports, defying a recent executive order by President Donald Trump.
In Mills' statement, she suggested that Trump's investigation into her state's potential Title IX violations is an indicator that the president will later target people based on their race or religion.
"Maine may [be] one of the first states to undergo an investigation by his administration, but we won’t be the last. Today, the President of the United States has targeted one particular group on one particular issue which Maine law has addressed. But you must ask yourself: who and what will he target next, and what will he do? Will it be you? Will it be because of your race or your religion? Will it be because you look different or think differently? Where does it end? In America, the President is neither a King nor a dictator, as much as this one tries to act like it – and it is the rule of law that prevents him from being so," Mills said.
"I imagine that the outcome of this politically directed investigation is all but predetermined. My Administration will begin work with the Attorney General to defend the interests of Maine people in the court of law. But do not be misled: this is not just about who can compete on the athletic field, this is about whether a President can force compliance with his will, without regard for the rule of law that governs our nation. I believe he cannot."
Mills also insisted that Trump has no authority to withhold federal funding from her state for refusing to comply with his recent executive order to ban trans athletes from girls' and women's sports, which the president vowed to do in a speech on Thursday.
"No President – Republican or Democrat – can withhold Federal funding authorized and appropriated by Congress and paid for by Maine taxpayers in an attempt to coerce someone into compliance with his will. It is a violation of our Constitution and of our laws, which I took an oath to uphold," Mills said.
Maine is the fourth state to have a Title IX investigation launched against it for defying Trump's order since it was signed on Feb. 5. The DOE announced on Feb. 12 it would be investigating the high school athletic associations in California and Minnesota after those states refused to comply with Trump's recent order.
Before that, the DOE announced on Feb. 6 it would investigate the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) alongside San Jose State University and the University of Pennsylvania for potential Title IX violations.
Now, Maine joins that list after a confrontational two days between Trump and Mills.
It started on Thursday when Trump vowed to cut funding to the state for refusing to follow his order during a gathering of Republican governors in Washington.
"I hate to tell you this, but we're not going to give them any federal money, they are still saying ‘we want men to play in women’s sports' and I can not believe that they're doing that… So we’re not going to give them any federal funding, none whatsoever, until they clean that up."
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Maine received more than $360 million, or about 10.1 percent of its education funding, from the federal government in the 2021-22 fiscal year.
On Friday, Mills' office responded with a statement threatening legal action against the Trump Administration if it did withhold federal funding from the state. Then, Trump and Mills verbally sparred in a widely-publicized argument at the White House during a bipartisan meeting of governors.
"Are you not going to comply with that?" Trump asked Mills.
"I'm complying with state and federal laws," she responded, before Trump said "Well, we are the federal law" and "you better do it, you better do it because you're not going to get any federal funding at all if you don't.
"And by the way, your population, even though it's somewhat liberal, although I did very well there, your population doesn't want men playing in women's sports, so you better comply because otherwise you're not getting any federal funding," Trump continued.
"Good, I'll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one. And enjoy your life after governor because I don't think you'll be in elected politics," Trump concluded.
The DOE investigation against Maine was announced just hours later.
Maine came under national scrutiny for allowing trans athletes in girls' sports amid the state's refusal to comply with Trump's order and a recent incident involving a trans pole vaulter.
During a state championship track and field meet, Katie Spencer, who previously competed as a male named John Rydzewski in pole-vaulting as recently as June 2024, out-jumped every other female by half a foot. Spencer's winning pole vault was pivotal in helping Spencer's track and field team at Greely High School in Cumberland, Maine, win the Class B state championship meet by just a single point.
Due to the win, Spencer has now automatically qualified for the multistate regional championships, taking the spot that would have been awarded to the female athlete who garnered second place had Spencer competed in the boys' division.
A female high school track and field athlete praised Trump for intervening in the situation on Friday.
Zoe, who competed in shot put at Maine's Class B state indoor championship meet on Monday, said she is "grateful" for the president's announcement that he will be cutting federal funding to Maine over its defiance of Trump's order to keep men out of women's sports, adding that leaders in the state "have failed our female athletes."
"State leaders have failed our female athletes and there needs to be repercussions for their neglect," Zoe said. "We feel seen and heard because of this announcement and hope that steps will continue to be made to protect women's sports in Maine."
In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "Partisan elected officials and judicial activists who seek to legally obstruct President Trump’s agenda are defying the will of 77 million Americans who overwhelmingly re-elected President Trump," and added that "their efforts will fail."
"All of President Trump’s executive actions are lawful, constitutional and intended to deliver on the promises he made to the American people," Leavitt said. "The Trump Administration is prepared to fight these battles in court and will prevail."
Fox News Digital's Alex Schemel contributed to this report.
Washington state Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal spoke in defense of transgender athletes in girls sports in an address Thursday, claiming it was "inaccurate" to say there are only two genders.
"It is quite simply inaccurate to say, biologically, that there are only boys and there are only girls," Reykdal said. "There's a continuum. There's a science to this. There are children who are born intersex. There are children whose hormones and whose chromosomes are not consistent with their sex at birth.
"That's not a debate we're going to have today. I just want to remind you of our civil rights obligations. Our state laws make clear that children get to identify and participate based on the gender in which they identify. We're going to uphold that law."
Reykdal served three terms as a Democratic member of the Washington House of Representatives from the 22nd district.
While criticizing President Donald Trump's recent executive order that prohibits schools from allowing trans athletes to compete in girls sports, Reykdal cited a statistic of how many transgender athletes there are in his state.
"Out of nearly a quarter million kids participating in interscholastic athletics and activities in the state of Washington, roughly five to 10 youth have identified themselves as trans participating in those activities," Reykdal said. "If we can't accommodate the needs of five or 10 people — whether there's privacy access for and a privacy opportunity for all students, that's what our laws and rules say — if we can't do that then who are we?"
Reykdal insisted Trump did not have the authority as president to issue a ban on trans athletes in girls sports but conceded the U.S. Congress does. The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act is a bill in Congress that would carry out similar requirements as Trump's order and has already passed in the House of Representatives. It hasn't gone to a vote in the Senate yet.
"Until Congress changes the law or our state legislature changes the law, we're going to follow the current law and the current civil rights framework of this state, and that's what it tells us to do," Reykdal said.
Washington's high school athletes are allowed to compete based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex. Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) policy states that each athlete will participate in programs "consistent with their gender identity or the gender most consistently expressed," and there are no medical or legal requirements.
Bills that would prohibit transgender girls from participating in girls and women's sports have been introduced but not passed.
However, the issue became so concerning for residents, that in December the WIAA announced a proposal to create a separate open division for transgender athletes to compete in.
"In order to maintain fair and equitable competition, participation in girls' sports and girls' divisions of sports is restricted to students who were assigned female at birth. The purpose of this policy is to offer clarity with respect to the participation of trans and gender-diverse student-athletes. Additionally, this policy encourages a culture in which student-athletes can compete in a safe and supportive environment, free of discrimination," the proposal said.
That proposal came weeks after the Central Valley School Board, which oversees schools in Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake, Washington, voted to send a message to the WIAA over the issue after debate at a school board meeting.
The resolution, "Supporting Equity and Safety in Female Sports," claims the entire board is comprised of female members who have either competed in athletics themselves or have daughters who competed in athletics.
One of the women, an unidentified current cross-country runner, shared her experience during that hearing.
"When I ran cross-country for Greenacres Middle School, a boy who was biologically male but identified as female competed on the girls team," she said. "While I respect everyone's right to participate in sports, the situation made me question the fairness of competing (with) someone who had the physical advantage associated with male biology."
In May, a trans athlete competed in a girls cross-country championship and won.
The athlete won the 400-meter heat race in the girls division with a time of 55.59 seconds. The second-place runner finished at 58.83 seconds. In the finals, the trans athlete won with a time of 55.75 seconds, a full second ahead of the second-place runner, who finished with 56.75.
This week, a civil rights complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights on behalf of a teenage girl in Washington state who was allegedly punished for refusing to play a basketball game against a trans athlete.
The complaint alleged that the Tumwater School District in Washington is investigating 15-year-old Frances Staudt for "misgendering" the opponent and violating the district's policies against bullying and harassment.
According to the document, prior to a game, Staudt asked the school's principal and athletic director whether a player was a biological male. The administrators then allegedly confirmed they were notified the player was transgender but denied her pleas to have the player removed. Staudt removed herself from the game.
President Trump's Department of Education has already launched Title IX investigations into the state high school athletic conferences in California, Minnesota and Maine for their refusal to comply with his executive order.
Team USA and Team Canada duked it out in Boston on Thursday for the final of the tournament in its inaugural year, five days after the two longtime rivals got into three fights in the first nine seconds of their first game last week.
The fights, which came following a Montreal crowd loudly booing "The Star-Spangled Banner," got non-hockey fans locked in, and it turned into, quite literally, the biggest hockey game ever.
ESPN reported that 9.3 million fans in the United States tuned into the final on Thursday night, the largest Nielsen rating viewership recorded in NHL history, which dates back to 1994. That figure is more than double the game last Saturday, which attracted 4.4 million people.
The previous record for Nielsen ratings was the 8.9 million who tapped into Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup final between the St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins, which, like Thursday's game, took place at Boston's TD Garden.
Sports Business Journal reported that 12.41 million people watched Game 7 of the 1971 Cup Final between the Montreal Canadiens and the Chicago Blackhawks.
The 4 Nations Face-Off championship was most-watched hockey game since the 2010 Olympic gold medal game between Canada and the U.S. (over 27 million), but unfortunately for the Americans, Thursday night was déjà vu.
That gold medal game ended with a Sidney Crosby overtime goal for Canada, while on Thursday, Connor McDavid found the back of the net in overtime to give Team Canada the title.
With the victory, Canada moved to 14-4-1 against the U.S. in best-on-best format, with wins including the aforementioned 2010 contest, the 2002 Olympic gold medal game and the 2014 Olympic semifinal.
The Americans won Saturday's vicious contest, but they still have not won back-to-back games against the Canadians since 1996.
Nonetheless, the tournament, which many were afraid would not have much buzz, has energized the sport and was a rousing success.
The United States Department of Education has launched Title IX investigations into Maine's DOE and a state school district for allegedly ignoring President Donald Trump's executive order on transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports.
Maine joins California and Minnesota as states to be investigated for allegedly continuing to allow biological males to compete against biological females.
"Today the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent a letter to the Maine Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin announcing that OCR is initiating a directed investigation of the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) amid allegations that it continues to allow male athletes to compete in girls’ interscholastic athletics and that it has denied female athletes female-only intimate facilities, thereby violating federal antidiscrimination law," the USDOE said in a press release Friday.
"The letter also notifies MDOE that OCR is launching an investigation into Maine School Administrative District #51 (MSAD #51), after it was reported that Greely High School, a school under its jurisdiction, is continuing to allow at least one male student to compete in girls’ categories."
Trump and Maine's governor, Janet Mills, clashed over transgender women in sports on Friday, with Trump telling her at the White House that she must follow his executive order, or "you're not going to get any federal funding," to which she replied, "We’ll see you in court."
"I'm complying with state and federal laws," Mills said, before Trump said, "Well, we are the federal law," and "you better do it, you better do it, because you're not going to get any federal funding at all if you don't.
Mills released a statement on Friday, saying, "The State of Maine will not be intimidated by the President's threats."
Trump vowed on Thursday to not give Maine any federal money if the state continues to allow biological males to compete in girls' and women's athletics.
"They are still saying, ‘We want men to play in women’s sports,' and I cannot believe that they're doing that. . . . So, we’re not going to give them any federal funding, none whatsoever, until they clean that up," Trump said.
Acting assistant secretary for civil rights Craig Trainor added as part of the DOE's announcement, "Maine would have you believe that it has no choice in how it treats women and girls in athletics - that is, that it must follow its state laws and allow male athletes to compete against women and girls. Let me be clear: If Maine wants to continue to receive federal funds from the Education Department, it has to follow Title IX. If it wants to forgo federal funds and continue to trample the rights of its young female athletes, that, too, is its choice. OCR will do everything in its power to ensure taxpayers are not funding blatant civil rights violators."
The USDOE is also investigating San Jose State, UPenn and a Massachusetts high school. Trans athletes Blaire Fleming and Lia Thomas starred for SJSU and the Ivy League school, respectively, with Thomas winning an NCAA Division I title in 2022.
Trump signed the "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order on Feb. 5.
Fox News' Greg Norman and Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
