K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(LAS VEGAS) — Former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison for a deadly crash in Las Vegas.
Ruggs, 24, pleaded guilty in May to one count of driving under the influence resulting in death, a felony, and one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in the 2021 crash, which killed a 23-year-old woman and her dog.
Judge Jennifer Schwartz said this was “one of the more tragic cases that I’ve seen” before formally sentencing Ruggs in Clark County District Court on Wednesday. The judge said her sentence adhered to the terms of the plea agreement, under which Ruggs will be eligible for parole after three years.
Ruggs addressed the court prior to his sentencing. He apologized to the family of Tina Tintor, who died from thermal injuries in the crash along with her dog, Max.
Ruggs said he’s spent the past 21 months searching to “find answers to explain my selfish behavior on that day.”
“I have no excuse and pray that accepting responsibility and my guilty plea can allow me to begin the healing process and to allow everyone involved to heal also,” he said.
In a statement read by a family representative prior to the sentencing, Tintor’s family said she was “killed in the most tragic yet preventable way.”
“Our Tina was special to us in that she was unlike any other. Her perspective on the world made everyone around her better,” the family said.
Ruggs was driving 156 mph seconds before he slammed his Corvette into the back of a Toyota SUV in Las Vegas, according to police.
Ruggs refused a field sobriety test, according to police, but prosecutors said he had a blood alcohol level of 0.161% — more than twice the legal limit in Nevada.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped several other charges, including felony reckless driving. The Clark County District Attorney’s Office said it agreed to a plea deal because there was a “legitimate concern” that the court would have suppressed the result of the blood draw and prosecutors could have lost the felony DUI charge, the most serious charge Ruggs faced.
“This resolution sends Ruggs to prison for up to 10 years on a felony DUI conviction and brings closure to the Tintor family,” Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said in May.
Ruggs was released by the Raiders hours after the crash.
The former first-round pick said in court Wednesday he is now committed to “creating greater awareness” about the dangers of driving impaired and excessive speed.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
LA Angels 7, San Francisco 5
Seattle 2, San Diego 0
Tampa Bay 4, St. Louis 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Texas 6, Oakland 1
Detroit 6, Minnesota 0
Cleveland 1, Toronto 0
Houston 7, Baltimore 6
Kansas City 9, Boston 3
NY Yankees 7, Chi White Sox 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
LA Dodgers 5, Arizona 4
Philadelphia 8, Washington 4
Miami 3, Cincinnati 2
Chi Cubs 3, NY Mets 2
Atlanta 8, Pittsburgh 6
Washington 5, Philadelphia 4
Colorado 7, Milwaukee 3
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Connecticut 81, Seattle 69
Los Angeles 87, Indiana 80
Minnesota 88, Chicago 79
Las Vegas 104, Dallas 84
Phoenix 91, Washington 72
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
San Francisco 8, LA Angels 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Texas 5, Oakland 3
Minnesota 9, Detroit 3
Toronto 3, Cleveland 1
Boston 6, Kansas City 2
Chi White Sox 5, NY Yankees 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
N-Y Mets 11, Chi Cubs 2
Washington at Philadelphia (Postponed)
LA Dodgers 13, San Diego 7
Cincinnati 5, Miami 2
Pittsburgh 7, Atlanta 6
Milwaukee 12, Colorado 1
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden hosted the 2022 World Series champion Houston Astros to celebrate the team’s win on Monday, and focused on their work off the field, particularly in the wake of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting.
The Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies in November to win the 2022 World Series. Their win came about six months after the shooting rampage at Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School left 21 dead.
“You stepped up helping those most in need. And it matters — don’t underestimate it, guys. It’s an American thing to do. You showed up for the people in Uvalde when they needed it most,” Biden said.
Biden said the community was devastated, and the team stepped up to offer support.
“You showed up. You spent time with the surviving students. You gave them hope, you played ball in the park with them, you signed jerseys with the names of the children that were lost on them,” Biden said.
While the Astros were there to celebrate their athletic accomplishment, Biden continued to heap praise on the team for caring for their fans, saying that sports is about a lot more than winning – it’s about lifting people up and bringing people together, he said.
“I’ve done a lot of these. You’re an impressive group of men. I mean you really are — from management on down to ownership. I mean they care,” Biden said.
The Astros, who were off Monday ahead of a series in Baltimore, sent more than 100 people to the White House, including owner Jim Crane, team executives, players and coaches.
Biden recognized the team’s manager, Dusty Baker for his achievement, and also poked fun at himself.
“I tell you remarkable achievements led by, and this is not hyperbole, the legendary Dusty Baker. The worst part is, I remember rooting for him as a kid, I was older than he was. Dusty, it wasn’t easy, people counted you out, saying you’re past your prime. Hell, I know something about that,” Biden joked about the 74-year-old Baker. In 2020, Biden became the oldest president ever elected at 77 years old. He is now 80, and running for reelection in 2024.
The team presented Biden with a “Biden 46” Astros jersey and posed for a photo.
“Put me in, coach! I’m ready to play,” Biden quipped as he held up the jersey, according to pool reports.
(MELBOURNE, Australia) — The United States was knocked out of the World Cup by Sweden, in a match that pitted the reigning champions against a hard-charging team on a winning streak.
The game closed out 120 minutes of regulation play without a goal, despite the U.S. squad having several close calls. The even match-up continued into the nerve-wracking penalty kicks, which themselves went into sudden death.
The odds leaned back and forth during the kicks, with both Sweden’s Nathalie Björn and the U.S. star Megan Rapinoe missing their shots, which started a string of four-straight missed kicks. After Sweden’s Rebecka Blomqvist shot was saved, U.S.’s Sophia Smith missed her shot.
In the end, the ball crossed over the line after U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher blocked Lina Hurtig’s shot. Because she couldn’t save it again, the game was over. The final score was 5-4.
The U.S. squad were the favorites entering the tournament, having won the last two World Cups, held in 2019 and 2015. They were also top of the pile in 1999 and 1991.
But their footwork in the group stage didn’t equate to many goals, or victories. They handily beat Vietnam in a 3-0 match, but their matches against the Netherlands and Portugal both ended in draws.
They exited the group round with five points, trailing the Netherlands by two. This was the first time in Women’s World Cup history that the U.S. earned fewer than six points during the group stage.
Sunday’s match was the United States’ fourth-ever World Cup game to enter extra time, with all three prior going all the way to penalties.
Swedish goalkeeper Zecira Musovic made a few big saves, including stopping a strong charge by Alex Morgan in the final moment of regulation play.
The first half of play had been controlled by the U.S. team, which monopolized possession and had at least two shots on goal to Sweden’s zero. But the score was nil-nil at the midway point.
By midway through the second half, Sweden began to apply more pressure, with possession evening out. They put together a few set pieces that were closer to success than they’d had previously, but they still struggled to finish.
The U.S. squad wasn’t on its back foot, however, as they were still getting more chances on goal than their rivals, with two more shots on target.
Sweden’s first shot on goal came in the 85th minute.
Rapinoe, the star U.S. midfielder, entered the game in the eighth minute of extra time, with the scoreboard still blank. She was a member of previous World Cup-winning squads and this tournament is expected to be her last as a player.
Sweden, which was ranked third in the tournament, was the runner up in 2003, their top placement since the initial 1991 tournament.
They topped their group with nine points after handily trouncing Argentina, Italy and South Africa. Only two other teams, England and Japan, left the group round undefeated.
The United States and Sweden have played each other in every Women’s World Cup since 2003.
“It wouldn’t be a major tournament if we weren’t facing Sweden,” said Lindsey Horan, the U.S. captain.
The Round of 16 match began at 7 p.m. local time, or 5 a.m. ET, at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(CHICAGO) — In two new lawsuits filed against Northwestern University, former football players allege they were subjected to demeaning and tortuous hazing as freshmen by veteran teammates and that coaches either knew about it, encouraged it or ignored the allegations when they were told.
The lawsuits filed Monday in a circuit court in Cook County, Illinois, allege the conduct by coaches and upperclassmen teammates created a “culture of violent, intimidating, sexualized abuse and hazing, and extreme mental abuse resulting in degradation, humiliation, embarrassment, and at times, causing devastating physical and mental illnesses to individual football players.”
The legal actions mark the fourth and fifth lawsuits filed against the Evanston, Illinois, school in the hazing scandal that prompted the firing last month of head football coach Pat “Fitz” Fitzgerald, the winningest coach in the university’s history.
The court documents claim Fitzgerald and his coaching staff knew or should have known about the hazing “initiations” and “traditions” of his Wildcats’ football program. The complaints allege the behavior “groomed” incoming freshmen players to believe it “was normal.”
The lawsuits are seeking actual and punitive damages as well as attorneys’ fees and costs.
The lawsuits accuse Northwestern of negligence, willful and wanton disregard for player safety and well-being, and violation of Illinois’ Gender Violence Act.
“With each filing, we have a clearer picture of the routine abuse that occurred in Northwestern’s football program and continues to haunt these young men,” said national civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who along with the Chicago law firm Levin & Perconti is representing the plaintiffs in the litigation. “The code of silence has been broken. The brave survivors filing these lawsuits are standing up to their alleged abusers and the institutions that reportedly allowed this twisted culture to prevail.”
Eight former players are now suing the university over the alleged abuse they say they endured while members of the elite Big Ten Conference football team.
Lawsuits follow independent investigation
The latest lawsuits were filed on behalf of Warren Miles Long — a former running back on the team, who played in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks — and an unnamed player referred to in court papers as John Doe 2.
In a statement to ABC News on Tuesday, Northwestern officials said the university is taking steps to address allegations made by former players during a six-month independent investigation that preceded the filing of the new lawsuits.
“Shortly after learning the results of the independent investigation into hazing on the football team, the University announced a series of steps including the monitoring of the football locker room, anti-hazing training and the establishment of an online reporting tool for complaints,” according to the university’s statement. “These steps, while necessary and appropriate, are just the start, and we will be augmenting them in the coming weeks.”
The statement adds, “The University is working to ensure we have in place appropriate accountability for our athletic department. We will engage an outside firm to evaluate the sufficiency of our accountability mechanism, and to detect threats to the welfare of our student-athletes. We also will examine the culture of Northwestern Athletics and its relationship to the academic mission. Both of these reviews will be conducted with feedback and engagement of faculty, staff and students, and both will be made publicly available.”
While the independent investigation, conducted by attorney Maggie Hickey of the law firm ArentFox, did not find “sufficient” evidence that Fitzgerald and his coaches knew of the ongoing hazing, it did conclude that coaching staff had “significant opportunities” to find out about the conduct.
Following the investigation, Northwestern President Michael Schill initially suspended Fitzgerald on July 7 for two weeks without pay. But when the university’s student newspaper The Daily Northwestern published a story detailing allegations of hazing and sexual abuse by a former player, Schill terminated Fitzgerald’s employment on July 10.
In an open letter to the university community, Schill wrote that “the hazing included forced participation, nudity and sexual acts of a degrading nature, in clear violation of Northwestern policies and values.”
In a statement to ESPN, Fitzgerald said he was surprised by Schill’s decision to fire him. He said the independent investigation “reaffirmed what I have always maintained — that I had no knowledge whatsoever of any form of hazing within the Northwestern Football Program.”
Long history of hazing alleged
The lawsuits acknowledge hazing has been prevalent in collegiate sports and fraternities since the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Northwestern scandal comes after New Mexico State University fired its head basketball coach this year and agreed to an $8 million settlement with two basketball players who filed a lawsuit alleging they were sexually assaulted by teammates. The new lawsuits also cite hazing allegations raised in 2000 that caused the University of Vermont to cancel its hockey team’s season, and the dismissal of four players from Georgia Southern University in 1999 for hazing.
In the lawsuit filed on his behalf, Warren alleged that as a freshman in 2013, he was subjected to a hazing ritual dubbed “running,” in which a group of upperclassmen teammates wearing animal masks and calling themselves the “Shrek Squad,” forcibly held him down and touched his body, groping his genitals and buttocks while playing music from the horror film “The Purge.”
“Warren was so fearful of what might be done to him and was forced to physically fight back…,” according to the lawsuit.
‘Shrek Clap’ and other hazing rituals
Warren and John Doe 2 also detailed another hazing ritual dubbed the “Shrek Clap,” in which freshmen players were forced to do pull-ups, pass rush drills and other practice drills while naked.
“If the players refused to get naked or comply, they would get [the “running” ritual], which they had already been groomed and primed to accept as the ultimate punishment,” according to both the new lawsuits.
Warren alleged he and other freshman players were also subjected to a hazing called the “Car Wash,” in which they would have to run a gauntlet of naked upperclassmen teammates to get to the locker room showers.
“Due to Northwestern’s status as the premier academic school in the Big 10 and Coach Pat Fitzgerald’s charisma and promises about protecting players, both the plaintiffs and their families thought Northwestern would be the best place for them to play division one football,” said Margaret Battersby Black, managing partner at Levin & Perconti. “They could never have imagined the abuse they would face. It was a huge betrayal of trust.”
(NEW YORK) — An up-and-coming American cyclist who was a member of the U.S. National Team was struck and killed by a car while he was training for a race over the weekend, his team said.
Magnus White, a 17-year-old U.S. athlete from Boulder, Colorado, was making his final training preparations over the weekend before his next race — competing in the Junior Men’s Mountain Bike Cross-Country World Championships beginning on Aug. 10 in Glasgow, Scotland — when he was struck by a car on a bike ride on Sunday, USA Cycling said in a statement confirming his death.
“It is with an extremely heavy heart that we share the news that 17-year-old Magnus White has passed away in a training accident,” USA Cycling said. “White fell in love with cycling at an early age through Boulder Junior Cycling. He was a rising star in the off-road cycling scene and his passion for cycling was evident through his racing and camaraderie with his teammates and local community.”
White won the 2021 Junior 17-18 Cyclocross National Championships before going on to compete with the USA Cycling National Team for a full season of European Cyclocross racing. He finished out the 2022 season at the 2022 UCI Cyclocross World Championship in Fayetteville, Arkansas and represented the United States at another Cyclocross World Championships event in Jan. 2023.
White was preparing to take the next step in his burgeoning career after earning a spot on the Mountain Bike World Championships team before the accident on Sunday.
The investigation into the deadly crash is ongoing and it is not immediately clear if criminal charges are being pursued.
“We offer our heartfelt condolences to the White family, his teammates, friends, and the Boulder community during this incredibly difficult time,” USA Cycling said. “We ride for Magnus.”
(NEW YORK) — An up-and-coming American cyclist who was a member of the U.S. National Team was struck and killed by a car while he was training for a race over the weekend, his team said.
Magnus White, a 17-year-old U.S. athlete from Boulder, Colorado, was making his final training preparations over the weekend before his next race — competing in the Junior Men’s Mountain Bike Cross-Country World Championships beginning on Aug. 10 in Glasgow, Scotland — when he was struck by a car on a bike ride on Sunday, USA Cycling said in a statement confirming his death.
“It is with an extremely heavy heart that we share the news that 17-year-old Magnus White has passed away in a training accident,” USA Cycling said. “White fell in love with cycling at an early age through Boulder Junior Cycling. He was a rising star in the off-road cycling scene and his passion for cycling was evident through his racing and camaraderie with his teammates and local community.”
White won the 2021 Junior 17-18 Cyclocross National Championships before going on to compete with the USA Cycling National Team for a full season of European Cyclocross racing. He finished out the 2022 season at the 2022 UCI Cyclocross World Championship in Fayetteville, Arkansas and represented the United States at another Cyclocross World Championships event in Jan. 2023.
White was preparing to take the next step in his burgeoning career after earning a spot on the Mountain Bike World Championships team before the accident on Sunday.
The investigation into the deadly crash is ongoing and it is not immediately clear if criminal charges are being pursued.
“We offer our heartfelt condolences to the White family, his teammates, friends, and the Boulder community during this incredibly difficult time,” USA Cycling said. “We ride for Magnus.”
(NEW YORK) — An up-and-coming American cyclist who was a member of the U.S. National Team was struck and killed by a car while he was training for a race over the weekend, his team said.
Magnus White, a 17-year-old U.S. athlete from Boulder, Colorado, was making his final training preparations over the weekend before his next race — competing in the Junior Men’s Mountain Bike Cross-Country World Championships beginning on Aug. 10 in Glasgow, Scotland — when he was struck by a car on a bike ride on Sunday, USA Cycling said in a statement confirming his death.
“It is with an extremely heavy heart that we share the news that 17-year-old Magnus White has passed away in a training accident,” USA Cycling said. “White fell in love with cycling at an early age through Boulder Junior Cycling. He was a rising star in the off-road cycling scene and his passion for cycling was evident through his racing and camaraderie with his teammates and local community.”
White won the 2021 Junior 17-18 Cyclocross National Championships before going on to compete with the USA Cycling National Team for a full season of European Cyclocross racing. He finished out the 2022 season at the 2022 UCI Cyclocross World Championship in Fayetteville, Arkansas and represented the United States at another Cyclocross World Championships event in Jan. 2023.
White was preparing to take the next step in his burgeoning career after earning a spot on the Mountain Bike World Championships team before the accident on Sunday.
The investigation into the deadly crash is ongoing and it is not immediately clear if criminal charges are being pursued.
“We offer our heartfelt condolences to the White family, his teammates, friends, and the Boulder community during this incredibly difficult time,” USA Cycling said. “We ride for Magnus.”
