(PHOENIX) — Arizona Cardinals defensive end JJ Watt will have season-ending shoulder surgery, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The team had already ruled Watt out for Thursday’s game against the Green Bay Packers, and he was listed as Did Not Participate all week during practice.
Watt injured his shoulder during the second quarter of Sunday’s win over the Titans. He ends the year with ten tackles and one sack for the 7-0 Cardinals.
It is the latest injury for the 3-time Defensive Player of the Year. Watt missed 13 games in 2016 after two back surgeries, 11 games in 2017 with a fractured tibia, and eight games in 2019 with a torn pectoral muscle.
This latest injury will be his fourth season-ending injury in six seasons after starting all 80 games in his first five seasons as a member of the Houston Texans.
The team did get good news this week.
Arizona activated linebacker Chandler Jones and defensive lineman Zach Allen off the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Both players missed the past two games.
(NEW YORK) — The NAACP on Thursday called on members of the NBA, WNBA, NFL, NHL and MLB to consider not signing with teams in Texas as a protest against several controversial laws passed recently in the state.
In the two-page letter given first to ABC News, the NAACP took jabs at state lawmakers, calling the state “a blueprint by legislators to violate constitutional rights for all, especially for women, children and marginalized communities.” The NAACP noted the state’s controversial laws on abortion, voting rights and coronavirus mask mandates as reasons for free agents not to sign with Texas teams.
“As we watch an incomprehensible assault on basic human rights unfold in Texas, we are simultaneously witnessing a threat to constitutional guarantees for women, children and marginalized communities,” NAACP National President Derrick Johnson and NAACP Texas State Conference President Gary Bledsoe wrote in the letter. “Over the past few months, legislators in Texas have passed archaic policies, disguised as laws, that directly violate privacy rights and a woman’s freedom to choose, restrict access to free and fair elections for Black and Brown voters, and increase the risk of contracting coronavirus.”
“If you are a woman, avoid Texas. If you are Black, avoid Texas,” the letter continued. “If you want to lower your chances of dying from coronavirus, avoid Texas.”
Texas’ SB8, the strictest anti-abortion law in the country, has caused protests nationwide and a current legal fight between the state and Department of Justice. The law bans abortions after a so-called fetal heartbeat is detected, which is about six weeks into a pregnancy and often before a person knows they are pregnant.
Republicans in the state also spent months trying to overhaul the voting system in the state, even though Democrats say the new rules will make it harder for minority voters to take part in elections. Although there was no evidence of widespread fraud in Texas following the 2020 election, Republicans claim they are seeking to restore voter confidence in the state’s elections.
Gov. Greg Abbott, the only politician who is mentioned by name in the NAACP’s letter, has also been a vociferous opponent of mask and vaccine mandates to fight COVID-19.
There are nine Texas teams playing the leagues mentioned by the NAACP: the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets; the NHL’s Dallas Stars; the WNBA’s Dallas Wings; MLB’s Texas Rangers and Houston Astros; and the NFL’s Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys.
With the NHL, NFL and NBA seasons less than halfway over, the leagues won’t welcome free agency until well into 2022. MLB free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series, where the Astros are currently playing.
The letter comes just a few months after MLB took a stand against Georgia’s voting overhaul this past baseball season when it moved the All-Star Game out of Atlanta in protest.
The civil rights group is calling on athletes to “seek employment with sports teams located in states that will protect, honor and serve your families with integrity.”
The group added, “Until the legislation is overturned, Texas isn’t safe for anyone.”
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
Atlanta 6 Houston 2 (Atlanta leads series 1-0)
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
New York 112, Philadelphia 99
Golden State 106, Oklahoma City 98
Dallas 116, Houston 106
LA Lakers 125, San Antonio 121 (OT)
Utah 122, Denver 110
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Tampa Bay 5, Pittsburgh 1
Calgary 5, New Jersey 3
Vegas 3, Colorado 1
Nashville 3, San Jose 1
Minnesota 3, Vancouver 2
Seattle 5 Montreal 1
Winnipeg 4, Anaheim 3
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Milwaukee 119, Indiana 109
Boston 140, Charlotte 129 (OT)
Atlanta 122, Detroit 104
Brooklyn 104, Washington 90
Miami 107, Orlando 90
Chicago 111, Toronto 108
New Orleans 107, Minnesota 98
Cleveland 99, Denver 87
L.A. Clippers 116, Portland 86
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Columbus 4, Dallas 1
Buffalo 5, Tampa Bay 1
Calgary 5, NY Rangers 1
Carolina 4, Toronto 1
Florida 5, Arizona 3
Washington 7, Ottawa 5
St. Louis 3, Los Angeles 0
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
New Orleans 13, Seattle 10
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Charlotte 111, Brooklyn 95
Philadelphia 115, Oklahoma City 103
Boston 107, Houston 97
Orlando 110, New York 104
Golden State 119, Sacramento 107
Lakers 121, Memphis 118
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Boston 4, San Jose 3
Nashville 5, Minnesota 2
Detroit 6, Chicago 3
NY Islanders 2, Vegas 0
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Atlanta 30, Miami 28
Cincinnati 41, Baltimore 17
Green Bay 24, Washington 10
NY Giants 25, Carolina 3
New England 54, NY Jets 13
Tennessee 27, Kansas City 3
LA Rams 28, Detroit 19
Las Vegas 33, Philadelphia 22
Arizona 31, Houston 5
Tampa Bay 38, Chicago 3
Indianapolis 30, San Francisco 18
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Austin FC 2, Houston 1
New England 2, Orlando City 2 (Tie)
(ATLANTA) — Historically, very few African Americans have played polo, but that’s changing in Atlanta.
“I’ve never ridden a horse outside of me starting this, let alone actually play polo, so I had to get over my fear of, like, thinking I would get kicked or that I will fall,” Gia Tejeda, a junior economics major at Spelman College, told ABC News. “I just feel as though if you can learn how to navigate a horse and really master a sport that you can also, in the same sense, conquer the world, because it takes a lot to ride a horse.”
Tejeda’s three-woman team includes another Spelman student and one from Savanah College of Arts and Design. They’re sponsored by Ride to the Olympics, a foundation that exposes urban students to equestrian sports.
“We break barriers,” Kim Watson, CEO of Ride to the Olympics, told ABC News. “It was almost, like, tear-jerking it to see what it does to their confidence level.”
The group was founded in 2017 by men’s formal wear designer Miguel Wilson, who said he hoped one day of having its members qualify for the Olympics.
“The change of scenery, seeing the concrete turn into grass … for a lot kids in the inner cities, going out to the country and just being able to spend a few hours with horses is life-changing,” Wilson told ABC News.
Polo is very expensive to play and requires wide-open spaces that are hard to find in most cities.
“There are barriers that exist — so it’s about bridging that gap,” Wilson said.
Even though comparatively fewer African Americans ride horses professionally now, Black jockeys played an important role in American history. Among the first 28 Kentucky Derby winners, 15 jockeys were Black. But zero Black riders participated from 1921 to 2000. And even fewer played polo.
In 2019, with the help of Wilson and Ride to the Olympics, Morehouse became the first historically Black college to create a polo club and be declared a member of the United States Polo Association.
“A lot of kids in these inner cities,” Wilson said, “they know about football, they know about basketball, but who knows how many professional polo players we have walking around in northwest Washington, D.C., or in southwest Atlanta?”
Tejeda said she’s “honestly still in awe” to have the opportunity to play the sport.
“When you think of polo, you don’t think about Black kids playing the sport,” she added. “So to be the pioneer in starting this is really amazing.”
Added Wilson: “I mean, the Morehouse team was phenomenal. But to see these young ladies is extraordinary.”
Female players composed about 40% of the U.S. Polo Association’s membership in 2020, and the number of women’s tournaments has grown steadily over five years, but no Black women currently are playing professionally. Uneku Atawodi, a Nigerian, is credited with being the first Black woman to reach such heights.
“I wasn’t exposed to it, so that’s generally the main reason” more Black Americans don’t play polo, said AnaSimone Guimone, a junior who plays for Spelman College.
Ride to the Olympics recently teamed up with the Boys and Girls Foundation to create eight polo teams in urban areas for kids 8 to 18, and it hosts the Polo Classic in Atlanta, where student members and other Black players can play together.
“I wanted to create an environment where African Americans can go to a polo event that celebrates our culture,” Wilson said. “Most polo events aren’t about us.”
As Snoop Dogg‘s 50th birthday week continues, he’s now joined the Harlem Globetrotters for a unique project.
The hip hop icon has partnered with the legendary basketball team to star in a hilarious video that’s being described as the first sitcom to be auctioned as an NFT.
In the trailer, Snoop, whose character is named Jermaine, is hired to work with the Globetrotters in his “Da Dogg Gone Gym.” The caption reads, “When the Harlem Globetrotters hired trainers, something went terribly wrong…They hired the wrong brothas.”
In the clip, Snoop proves he is extremely unqualified for the job, leading one player to say to the team, “I told you we need basketball trainers this time!” At one point, Jermaine brags to one of his assistants that they are being paid “50 cents a hour.”
Harlem Globetrotters Vice President Sunni Hickman says in a statement about the collaboration, “It’s been a dream come true for our Globetrotter players to work with the iconic Snoop Dogg. His passion for basketball and baller culture is second to none; to have him as part of our team has been super dope.”
The sitcom, which is still in development, will be available on the crypto promotion site VAST.com. The “All the Way Up” rapper also will create a theme song for the show, which will drop during the Globetrotters’ Spread the Game tour, kicking off December 26 in Pittsburgh.
As previously reported, Snoop celebrated his 50th birthday Wednesday night at his home in Inglewood, California, with a star-studded players ball attended by Jamie Foxx, Usher, T.I., Mike Epps, Terence J and many more.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
LA Dodgers 11, Atlanta 2 (Atlanta leads series 3-2)
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Atlanta 113, Dallas 87
Miami 137, Milwaukee 95
Golden State 115, LA Clippers 113
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Columbus 3, NY Islanders 2 (OT)
Washington 4, New Jersey 1
Carolina 4, Montreal 1
San Jose 2 Ottawa 1
Florida 4, Colorado 1
Calgary 3, Detroit 0
Winnipeg 5, Anaheim 1
NY Rangers 3, Nashville 1
Vancouver 4, Chicago 1
Edmonton 5, Arizona 1
Chris Brown and Kyrie Irving in 2014; Jerritt Clark/Getty Images
As many sports commentators are slamming Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving for refusing to be vaccinated, Chris Brown is coming to his defense.
Breezy, who has displayed his basketball skills in several celebrity games, is praising the NBA All-Star for his anti-vaccine stance.
“THE REAL HERO!!! I stand with my brother,” the “Freaky Friday” singer wrote Wednesday in an Instagram Story over a picture of Irving. “WHOEVER DONT LIKE IT… Go live your damn life.. ITS HIS CHOICE AND A DAMN GOOD ONE. ALWAYS IN MY BROTHERS CORNER.”
Kyrie, who won an NBA championship with LeBron James as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, has been banned by the Nets from playing because he has not received a COVID-19 vaccine. The team began the new season Tuesday night without Irving and lost 127-104 to the defending NBA champs, the Milwaukee Bucks.
The 29-year-old player explained his position on being vaccinated on October 14 in an Instagram Live session.
“It is reality that in order to be in New York City, in order to be on a team, I have to be vaccinated,” Irving said. “I chose to be unvaccinated, and that was my choice, and I would ask you all to just respect that choice.”
Before the Nets played Tuesday night, Charles Barkley blasted Irving for refusing to be vaccinated.
“First of all, you don’t get the vaccine for yourself, you get it for other people,” the NBA Hall of Famer said on TNT’s Inside the NBA. “I got vaccinated. I can’t wait to get the booster. You get vaccinated for your family first, you get vaccinated for your teammates second. That’s what bothers me about this whole thing.”
(LOS ANGELES) — Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner is out for the year with a hamstring injury, manager Dave Roberts announced.
The All-Star suffered the injury while hitting into a double play in the bottom of the seventh inning of the team’s 9-2 loss to Atlanta in game four of the National League Championship Series, Wednesday night.
“Early indication is it’s a grade two [strain], so I think that will be it from him,” manager Dave Roberts said after the game.
Turner did not speak to reporters after the game.
The Dodgers season could also be over tonight. They are down 3-1 in the NLCS heading into tonight’s game five in Los Angeles.
The first three games of the series were all won by one run. Atlanta took the first took games at home winning 3-2 and 5-4, respectively. Once the series shifted to Los Angeles, the Dodgers won 6-5, using a four-run bottom of the eighth rally to give them the 5-4 lead.
