The defender believes Ruben Amorim’s side can still end the season on a high
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The England manager said she was ‘proud’ of the work James put in off the ball in the win over Spain
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Jones handed in his notice period last August before reaching a settlement to depart
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Michigan State Spartans guard Tre Holloman gave college basketball fans a preview of the madness to come in March when the men’s tournament begins.
The No. 8 team in the nation was locked in a battle against the No. 16 Maryland Terrapins. The two Big Ten Conference teams were tied at 55 apiece. Terrapins guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie missed his chance at a go-ahead bucket when the Spartans rebounded.
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Holloman got the ball in his hands and launched it from around 65 feet and nailed the shot. His Spartans teammates were jubilant as the crowd in College Park, Maryland, was left silent.
Michigan State won the game, 58-55.
"Every day at home, the night before a game, that last practice, we have the guys go around. Everybody gets a shot at a half-court shot. The last two games, Tre has made two of them. He’s made one (before) each game," Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. "I thought that thing was in when it left. I really did."
Izzo added that he thought his team "deserved to win the game."
College basketball fans were ecstatic.
Holloman, who finished with nine points, underscored Izzo’s sentiments. He had full confidence his shot was going in.
"I knew that it was good," he said. "We practice those."
Jase Richardson led the Spartans with 15 points. Rodney Rice led Maryland with 20 points.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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The right back was key to England’s versatile system in the 1-0 win over Spain at Wembley
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Tennis legend Martina Navratilova criticized California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s policies regarding transgender participation in girls' sports as another issue appeared to arise.
A triple-jump record was broken in California girls high school track and field last weekend, sparking the latest debate about trans-inclusion in girls' sports. The issue came as California bucked President Donald Trump’s executive order keeping biological males out of girls’ and women’s sports.
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Navratilova, who has championed fairness in women’s sports, took a shot at Newsom on X.
"Seems fair to me, right??? Hey gov. Newsom- @CAgovernor- this is not ok!!! This is not what one would call progressive. In fact it’s regressive AF," she wrote.
The California Interscholastic Federation was among the high school governing bodies in the U.S. that announced plans to continue to allow trans athletes to compete in women’s sports despite Trump’s order and the NCAA’s own policy change – which has also been criticized.
Minnesota and Maine also joined California’s stance.
Attorney General Pam Bondi warned those states earlier this week to comply with Trump’s order or face legal action.
"This Department of Justice will hold accountable states and state entities that violate federal law," Bondi wrote in a letter first obtained by Fox News. "Indeed, we have already begun to do so."
Bondi was referring to the Justice Department’s move to sue Illinois and New York earlier in February for defying federal immigration laws.
"We also stand ready to sue states and state entities that defy federal antidiscrimination laws," Bondi wrote.
Trump directed the Justice Department and the Education Department to prioritize enforcement actions against athletic associations that deny girls an equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events by requiring them to compete against boys. Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from Maine schools over its gender-participation policy, which sparked a spat with Gov. Janet Mills last week.
In California, Bondi said the state "should be on notice," amid the Department of Education’s Title IX investigation into the California Interscholastic Federation.
"If the Department of Education’s investigation shows that the Federation is indeed denying girls an equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events by requiring them to compete against boys, the Department of Justice stands ready to take all appropriate action to enforce federal law," Bondi wrote.
Bondi said the Justice Department "only wants states and state entities to comply with the law."
"And federal law requires giving girls an equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events by ensuring that girls need to compete only with other girls, not with boys," Bondi wrote.
Bondi told Fox News that "this Department of Justice will defend women and does not tolerate state officials who ignore federal law."
"We will leverage every legal option necessary to ensure state compliance with federal law and President Trump’s Executive Order protecting women’s sports," she said.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman, Jake Gibson and David Spunt contributed to this report.
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The British rivals will clash more than three decades after their fathers settled their own bitter grudge
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"I maintain I did not act inappropriately at any point before, during, or after a professional bodywork treatment session, nor have I ever been told I am unwelcome at any massage therapy provider. These claims are simply not true."
Those are the words of Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker in an exclusive statement to OutKick, his first public comments to the media since the initial accusations.
Since January, a total of 16 massage therapists have accused Tucker of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior during sessions from 2012 to 2016 at eight spas in and around Baltimore. Initially, six accusers were included in a report from the Baltimore-area publication The Banner on January 30.
NFL investigators were in Baltimore last week speaking to some of the accusers, ESPN reports. The Ravens could not be reached for comment for this story, but earlier this week at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, general manager Eric DeCosta called the allegations "serious and concerning."
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Tucker and his legal counsel, led by Joe Terry of Williams & Connolly's First Amendment practice group, deny all allegations and say they are determined to clear Tucker's name.
"Throughout the last four weeks, I have spent countless hours replaying every interaction I have had with bodywork professionals over the last thirteen years," Tucker told OutKick. "I can assure whoever is reading this that I have never intended to disrespect anyone, cross any boundary, or make anyone feel uncomfortable in any way whatsoever."
"It devastates me to know that anyone I have worked with would not have felt respected and valued as a professional, but more importantly as a person, and to anyone who has felt otherwise, I am sorry," Tucker said in his statement, the full text of which can be found below. "I want you to know I am committed to ensuring that everyone I interact with continues to feel that I respect them and care about them as a human being."
Tucker said he began outside massage therapy in 2012 during his rookie season in Baltimore. He said at the time that the Ravens did not provide the services. After years of visiting local spas for his treatments, Tucker says he signed up for in-house massage therapy from RPMotion Therapy, LLC, in the summer of 2016 after buying a home in the suburbs of Baltimore. He and his wife, Amanda, had previously lived in the city in a condo at Ritz-Carlton Residences – where a therapist recently accused him of "exposing himself" during a massage session in 2013.
"G. gave Tucker two massages at the Ritz-Carlton in 2013 and said he repeatedly exposed himself and that she employed an intense massaging technique hoping to make him stop. ‘It was like a game’ for him, she said, adding that he exposed himself ‘more than I could count." She ended the first massage early, she said. After the second massage, he left behind what she believed to be ejaculate. ’It wasn’t sweat. You could tell what it was,' she said," the Baltimore Banner reports.
In response, Tucker's counsel references two sworn declarations from the previous owners of the Ritz-Carlton spa, disputing the accusations levied, which Outkick obtained.
His lawyer also cited Tucker's meticulous tax documents that the kicker kept of each massage session he attended, which they say show him attending the various salons in question well after his alleged misconduct. OutKick wasn't shown these documents.
In one specific instance, Tucker's counsel said the kicker appeared for 14 different sessions at The QG salon in downtown Baltimore after alleged misbehavior. His legal team provided an email statement from one of the accusers telling him it had been "a pleasure working with you" when he canceled his membership on January 5, 2016.
Through an attorney, the owner of QG, Craig Martin, told The Banner he was unaware of any complaints against Tucker.
Tucker and his attorney also deny claims from the salon owners of the now-closed Studio 921 and Ojas that he was banned over his alleged behavior. According to the Baltimore Banner, the owner of Apothecary was the only other spa owner of the eight to confirm hearing about a specific allegation cited against Tucker.
Per his lawyer, Tucker attended the Ojas seven times in 2014 and Studio 921 18 times from 2013 to 2015. Tucker was accused by a therapist at Studio 921, according to The Banner, of "[being] erect for most of the massage session and regularly sought to expose his genitals."
The Banner reported that he was banned from the establishment, but Tucker's lawyers pointed out that Studio 921, which closed in 2023, posted a promotional picture of Tucker on the website Trip Advisor a year after he was allegedly banned. The post remained on the site throughout the life of the business, as seen here.
Perry told OutKick that Tucker's wife, Amanda, had recommended several of the salons to her spouse as they frequently scheduled couples' sessions. Amanda called all the allegations against her husband "false" in an exclusive statement to OutKick:
"The false allegations against Justin have caused so much hurt to our family. I believe my husband, and I love and support him fully."
When asked about the details provided by Tucker's attorneys, Michael Belsky and Catherine Dickinson, the SBWD law firm partners representing most of Tucker's accusers, provided us with the following statement:
"We do not represent the spa owners, only the affected therapists. Whether the owners acted appropriately and in protection of their respective employees when faced with complaints is a question better directed to the them."
Justin Tucker's full statement to OutKick:
From the moment I first arrived in Baltimore in 2012, I felt embraced and supported by this amazing community, which I have come to love so much. Both on and off the football field, I have strived to reciprocate that love and support through hard work and dedication to my sport. I have sought to treat everyone with kindness, dignity, and respect, and to set the type of positive example that makes my family proud to call me a father, husband, and friend and encourages members of this community to be proud to call me one of their own.
It is with all of that in mind that the allegations against me are so shocking and heart-breaking. I maintain I did not act inappropriately at any point before, during, or after a professional bodywork treatment session, nor have I ever been told I am unwelcome at any massage therapy provider. These claims are simply not true. Throughout the last four weeks, I have spent countless hours replaying every interaction I have had with bodywork professionals over the last thirteen years. I can assure whoever is reading this that I have never intended to disrespect anyone, cross any boundary, or make anyone feel uncomfortable in any way whatsoever. It devastates me to know that anyone I have worked with would not have felt respected and valued as a professional, but more importantly as a person, and to anyone who has felt otherwise, I am sorry. I want you to know I am committed to ensuring that everyone I interact with continues to feel that I respect them and care about them as a human being.
Since I began working as a professional athlete, I came to recognize the importance of receiving consistent professional bodywork. By investing my time and resources to restorative bodywork — with licensed therapists at respected places of business and at my home — during the times where I’m most active as a football player, I have experienced considerable health and athletic performance benefits. Physical therapy and massage therapy are a large part of why I’ve been consistently healthy and available during the football season. In fact, both my wife and I continue to count so many of those professionals as our friends. I absolutely respect the massage therapy profession and more so the individuals who work as massage therapists.
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Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith seemingly agreed with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ stance on paying yearly property taxes.
DeSantis proposed the idea of getting rid of property taxes in the state as he talked about establishing a Department of Government Efficiency-like task force to help trim the state’s spending.
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"Just for being on your property, you’ve got to write a check to the government every year, so you’re basically paying rent to the government to live on your own property," DeSantis said, via Florida Voice News.
"There’s homestead stuff that helps protect you to a certain extent, but you’re paying more, and a lot of people can’t afford that, so I think that’s a big issue, and I know we’re going to be really looking at ways to bring people relief from that, because I think it’s been really something that’s pinching a lot of homeowners, particularly seniors on fixed incomes," he added.
Smith reacted with one emoji on X, suggesting the Republican governor was on point.
EX-PATRIOTS RUNNING BACK RECALLS BILL BELICHICK PUTTING HIM IN 'FAT CAMP' AFTER HE WAS DRAFTED
Smith is signed with the Seahawks through the 2025 season. He has earned more than $67.4 million in his career, according to Spotrac.
DeSantis endorsed the idea earlier this month on X.
"Property taxes are local, not state. So we’d need to do a constitutional amendment (requires 60% of voters to approve) to eliminate them (which I would support) or even to reform/lower them," he wrote in a social media post.
"We should put the boldest amendment on the ballot that has a chance of getting that 60%. I agree that taxing land/property is the more oppressive and ineffective form of taxation."
Fox News’ Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.
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Cian Healy, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray will all bow out at the end of the tournament as Ireland chase a third consecutive title
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