Friday was another positive session, with more evidence of progress, for Alpine.
Amidst the picturesque backdrop provided by the Styrian mountains, 20 Formula 1 cars roared to life on Friday at Red Bull Ring, as qualifying for tomorrow’s F1 Sprint Race was on the schedule. Once again Alpine saw both Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon advance into the third and final segment of qualifying, as both drivers moved out of SQ2 and into SQ3.
While thoughts of an even bigger surprise were quashed there, as Ocon qualified eighth and Gasly ninth, the result was hailed by the team as even more evidence that they are making progress this F1 season.
“I’m happy to have reached SQ3 today and starting in eighth place for tomorrow,” said Ocon in the team’s post-session media report. “Again, we reached the top ten in Qualifying as a team, which is another good performance. SQ3 was far from straightforward as we were at the back of the queue.
“We probably got a little fortunate with Charles [Leclerc] missing the flag at the end and gained a position as a result,” added Ocon. “Even so, the positive is we performed well and we are in a good position in the Sprint Race. We still have work to do and things to understand but it’s pleasing to be heading in a good direction.”
Leclerc’s SF-24 stopped on pit lane with just minutes remaining in SQ3 and while the Ferrari driver was able to get it started and onto the track, he could not post a time during SQ3 and will start the F1 Sprint Race in P10.
On the other side of the garage, Gasly pointed to the improved pace from the A524 as a “good sign” for tomorrow.
“It was a good Sprint Qualifying for the team overall today with both cars reaching SQ3,” described Gasly, who earlier this week announced a new “multi-year” deal with Alpine. “We managed SQ1 and SQ2 well, showed good pace and we progressed through both sessions. We certainly did not [maximize] SQ3. It was a messy one and I did not get a proper push lap. These are things we will review as we always aim to [maximize] all sessions and get the most from it.
“Even so, we had good pace again today – that is pleasing – and again we are inside the top ten. Those cars ahead of us are quick and only the top eight score in the Sprint Race tomorrow. It will not be easy to pick up points but we will try our best and see what we can achieve.”
Thanks to their recent form — Alpine has picked up six points over the last two race weekends — the team has climbed to seventh in the Constructors’ Championship. Coming into the Austrian Grand Prix one of the major storylines was whether Alpine could keep that recent run of form going.
Neal Shipley is no longer an amateur golfer but officially a professional. He made his PGA Tour Americas start last week at The Beachlands Victoria Open and finished T9.
Shipley received a sponsorship exemption into the Rocket Mortgage Classic to make his first PGA Tour start as a professional. He is no stranger to the PGA Tour, though, as he took the world by storm at The Masters and U.S. Open.
The former Ohio State Buckeye finished low amateur at both majors, becoming the second player in the last 25 years to achieve this feat. Viktor Hovland was the other player to do it in 2019.
Friday at Detroit Golf Club saw him card a 4-under 68 to follow his Thursday 5-under 67 score. He sits at 9-under total and four shots behind the leader, Akshay Bhatia. Despite being a new kid on the block, Shipley does not consider it.
“With my experience with the majors, I don’t feel like there’s a big learning curve for me,” Shipley said.
Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
“Pretty fortunate to have had two great experiences at Augusta and Pinehurst. I’ve been in the mix at both at certain times throughout the week, so I feel comfortable. I had a great week last week as a professional as well. So getting settled in and playing good golf, and good golf travels no matter if you’re an amateur or a professional.”
He began his day with a bogey on the par-4 2nd but rebounded and put together a solid round. Shipley recorded two more birdies on the front, then three more on the back nine as he came home in 33 strokes.
In six rounds to start his professional career, Neal Shipley has already made 42 birdies and an eagle. He is currently tied for seventh at 9-under after 36 holes at the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, which means he will make the cut for a third time against PGA Tour players
The 23-year-old is No. 4 in strokes gained approach to the green, picking up +4.296 shots. He is also T10 in strokes gained total at +5.970.
“Had a good first two days so far. Played steady golf today, which I was pretty happy about,” he said. “Hope to keep that up in the weekend and maybe even go a little bit lower. Throw in a low round tomorrow, and we’ll be right in the mix.”
Shipley sits in a good spot heading into Saturday and the rest of the weekend. His PGA Tour journey does not stop in Detroit, as he will also play in next week’s John Deere Classic.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
With the calendar set to flip in a few days from June to July, that means that the looming specter of MLB’s trade deadline is getting larger and larger on the horizon. With each passing day, we’re starting to get a better idea of who’s going to be using the deadline to try to boost their shots at making a World Series run and who’s going to be trying to jumpstart a rebuild for the upcoming season or even longer.
One of the teams that is currently looking likely to end up in the seller’s group is the Toronto Blue Jays. This is actually a bit of an upset (in more ways than one) for the Blue Jays, who have made the Postseason in three of the past four seasons but came away without any wins in each of those appearances. Depressing recent playoff history aside, the Blue Jays still figured to be right in the thick of things in terms of the Postseason race. Sure, they probably weren’t going to be competing for a divisional title (as evidenced by their 16 percent odds in spring training of winning the AL East, according to FanGraphs) but this was at least a team that could realistically harbor hopes of returning to October baseball again as they were sitting on a 49 percent chance of making the Postseason this year according to FanGraphs’ Playoff Odds.
As of right now, it’s a longshot for the team up North to get back into the tournament. Toronto is now 37-43, they’re lightyears behind in the division — 13.5 games behind Baltimore for first place and given a 0.0 percent chance of winning it. Their Wild Card hopes are getting slimmer with each day as well, as they’re currently 6.5 games behind the Kansas City Royals for the third and final Wild Card spot and they’ve got three teams directly in front of them vying for Kansas City’s spot. As such, FanGraphs is giving Toronto a 6 percent shot at making the Postseason now. All you can say is that it’s better than zero!
As you could probably surmise by simply looking at their current lot in baseball life, the Blue Jays aren’t doing anything particularly well at the moment. Collectively, their pitching staff has an ERA- of 106 and a FIP- of 108 — both of those numbers being good for having their pitching staff rated in the bottom 10 of baseball. Yusei Kikuchi and Chris Bassitt are giving it their best in the rotation and you could say the same for guys like Yimi García (before his injury) and Trevor Richards in the bullpen as well. Still, it hasn’t been enough to propel the Blue Jays into a winning position and it’s been a far cry from the great work that this pitching staff did last season.
With that being said, the pitching would simply be a thorn in the team’s side if Toronto was putting up numbers at the plate. As it turns out, they’ve also gotten worse as a collective at the plate here in 2024 — heading into action on Friday, the Blue Jays were collectively hitting .234/.312/.372 with a .304 wOBA and a team wRC+ of 98. They’re hitting for far less power as well, as their Isolated Power has gone down from .161 last season to just .138 this season. That’s a bottom-five number in all of MLB and all the other numbers are mediocre at best. So with the Blue Jays taking a drop in production all across the board on both the mound and at the plate, it’s suddenly very easy and understandable to see how they’ve played themselves into a serious pickle here.
So it’s simple, right? A team with slim-to-no chance of making the Postseason should obviously be selling, right? GM Ross Atkins may as well just go ahead put up the ol’ “For Sale” sign and start working the phones with the full intention of starting a rebuild, correct? As it turns out, it’s not that simple. As Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic mentioned in her recent article, the franchise is just coming off of an expensive renovation of the Rogers Centre and would not want to put fans through a rebuild so soon into their tenure at the newly renovated ballpark.
Between that and the large amount of money that’s already been invested into this team to begin with, it’s safe to say that this isn’t simply a matter of flipping the switch and saying “Okay, time to start it all over again.” Atkins told McGrath as such in the aforementioned article:
“Every decision that you make, regardless of a stadium renovation or the state of your organization, you have to be thinking of the future, as well,” Atkins said. “But as you’ve seen over the last four years, we’ve poured a lot into the current team, from a financial standpoint, from a trade standpoint, from a resource standpoint and we’ll continue to do that until it doesn’t make sense to do so anymore.”
With all of that in mind, if the Blue Jays are still in a similar position in both the division and Wild Card race by the time the trade deadline starts to become imminent then I think it would be safe to assume that Toronto would start selling. If that happens, then the question shifts towards whether or not they’ll just stick with moving their impending free agents or if they’ll move their stars as well. If they stick with simply getting what they can for guys like Yusei Kikuchi and Yimi García then it’s clear that they’re probably going to try to run it back in 2025 with a retooled roster.
However, there appears to be a possibility that guys like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette could be on the move. Those rumors received a nice and healthy dose of oxygen when Vladito did an interview with Virus Deportivo and made these comments regarding potentially being traded to a team like the Yankees:
Here’s a translation of those comments from ESPN:
In 2022, Guerrero Jr. said he’d “never sign with the Yankees — not even dead.” In 2023, he told the New York Post that it was “a personal thing that goes back with my family. … I would never change that.”
But never say never.
“Like I tell you, I’m a player and if a team picks me or if they do something, it’s because they need it, obviously, and I’ll be happy to help any team,” Guerrero told Virus Deportivo on Monday. “But right now, I’m just focused on helping my team try to get out of this bad streak.”
If I was a Blue Jays fan, this would have me turning on the alarm bells. While walking back the comments about his beef with the Yankees might just be a sign of growing up and maturing, that’s beside the point. The main point is that it’s never really a great sign for a team potentially keeping a player around when said player is publicly talking about being willing to help any team he’s traded to — even the team that he had “a personal thing” with. Again, it’s not that I have an issue with what Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said — that was about as professional-yet-honest of an answer as you could get to that question. It’s the fact that it was even entertained that says a lot about what’s going on with the Blue Jays at the moment.
With all of this being said, there’s still no signs that a Blue Jays/Yankees trade is on the horizon. All of this trade talk at the moment is smoke with real tangible signs of a fire nearby. With that being said, with each week that goes by without the Blue Jays getting going, it seems like some hard choices might have to be made North of the border. Whether it’s via a retool or a complete rebuild, it’s clear that the Blue Jays can’t keep going like they are and expect the World Series trophy to return to Canada.
Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka are set to run things back.
This Saturday, Pereira and Prochazka rematch their UFC 295 light heavyweight title fight in the main event of UFC 303. The first time these two met, Pereira knocked Prochazka out in the second round to become the UFC’s ninth two-division champion. This time, the two meet on short-notice as they step in to save the day following Conor McGregor’s withdrawal from the event due to injury.
How will each man approach this fight, and how do they take home the win? Let’s take a look.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Paths to Victory for Alex Pereira at UFC 303
When these two first fought, I picked Pereira to win with relative ease because Prochazka’s offense, while potent, is not backed up by elite defense, meaning Pereira would have ample opportunity to counter. That’s less than ideal for Prochakza given that Pereira is one of the hardest punchers in the sport. And I was half right. Yes, Prochakza did walk headlong on to Pereira’s offense repeatedly, but what actually did him in was the low kicks.
Pereira is perhaps the best calf-kicker in MMA. He’s so adept at kicking the legs without any setup, making it extremely hard to read. And that’s especially bad for Prochakza who operates from a long stance with a lot of weight on the front foot. Aleksandar Rakic chopped the lead leg out from Prochakza, and was dominating the fight, until Prochazka went wild man on him and simply overran him with offense. That’s a much more difficult proposition against someone with the firepower and technique of Pereira.
What this means is that for Pereira, the path forward is simple: make this fight like the first one. Chop the front leg, defend takedowns, and clip Prochazka when he starts to get wild. On top of that, Pereira also should look to double jab, setting up the straight right hand. Because Prochakza fights with his hands down, his first instinct on defense is to slip and then slide back. The double jab with a follow up puts Prochakza in the tough spot of being at the end of his defense when the power shot comes in. Double jabs and calf kicks, that’s the name of the game on Saturday for Pereira.
Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
Paths to victory for Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303
Despite the fact that he got stopped in the first matchup, Prochakza enters Saturday saying he’s not going to change the gameplan. That seems like a bad idea. After all, the definition of crazy is doing the same thing and expecting different results.
In the first fight, Prochakza approached it in the same way he approaches most people, a little bit of everything. He shows Pereira a ton of different looks on the feet, scored one takedown, and even stunned Pereira in the second round with a barrage of long punches that “Poatan” didn’t see coming. It’s a smart way to fight most people: but Pereira is not most people.
Keeping opponents on their toes is usually a good strategy. The more they have to consider, the harder things get for them. Except in this circumstance, when Prochakza spent the second round consenting to a striking battle with Pereira, that was just playing to his opponent’s strength. Sure, you can win that way. But it’s wiser not to.
The simplest way to beat Pereira is to take him down. That almost entirely negates his offense, meaning Prochakza has the best chance to win the fight. And while Pereira is better than many believe at wrestling and grappling, Prochakza proved he can do it. His first plan of attack should always be getting this to the floor and once it’s there, it should be about control. Prochakza’s wild tendencies extend to the ground as well and that’s how Pereira stood up in the first fight. The focus should be getting Pereira down and then keeping him there. Let offense come afterwards.
Of course that doesn’t mean be afraid of Pereira’s striking. No fighter can win a fight if they just punt on one phase of the game entirely. Prochakza had a good amount of success on the feet using a ton of feints to keep Pereira off balance. Using plenty of that, plus more body work should be the focus in striking. Prochakza has a sneaky front kick to the body that would serve him well, and the body work should open up other opportunities both up top and into clinches, where Prochakza than then look to take things to the floor.
X-Factors
According to Prochakza, the biggest x-factor is Pereira’s use of “spiritual forces” to gain an unsporting advantage in the fight. But any good samurai should be able to negate the mystical powers deployed against him, so I’m calling that a wash. No, the x-factor in this fight is the short-notice.
Per most reports, Pereira was not originally keen on stepping in to save this event on just a few weeks’ notice, and was in fact in Australia at the time. Add in that he’s recovering/still dealing with some broken toes (coincidentally the same issue that led Conor McGregor to withdraw from the event) and it’s fair to wonder what version of Pereira will step into the cage on Saturday. No fighter competes at 100 percent, but is Poatan even at 75? We’ll see.
On the other side of things, Prochakza is also stepping in on short notice but rumor has it he was training like normal. If so, that’s definitely an advantage heading into this fight.
Could all of this be nothing? Of course! It’s rumor, speculation, and conjecture. But if Pereira shows up and can’t move as well or runs out of gas in the later rounds, everyone will look back and think we should have seen this coming.
Prediction
Because of the short notice, I do believe this fight is closer than last time, but I’ll guess the same result happens. Prochakza has some tools to make things difficult, but his insistence that he’s not changing the plan and his odd obsession with Pereira’s “spiritual powers” makes me think “BJP” didn’t learn any real lessons from the first encounter. In that case, Prochakza is basically hoping to high-roll a knockout blow against Pereira, which could always happen, but the more likely outcome is another fight where Jiri runs headlong onto Pereira’s best weapons.
Alex Pereira def. Jiri Prochazka via knockout (punches) — 4:34, Round 3.
Akshay Bhatia put together another strong round at Detroit Golf Club to maintain his lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He signed for a bogey-free 5-under 67 to sit at 13-under total.
The two-time PGA Tour winner leads the morning wave by two shots as Taylor Montgomery and Troy Merritt sit at 11-under. Merritt fired off an 8-under 64 to move up 38 spots.
Bhatia did not make as many birdies but kept his scorecard clean for the second straight day. He began his day on the back nine and recorded three birdies. Two more birdies came at the 1st and 7th hole.
One of the wildest moments of the morning came at the par-5 17th when his ball rolled into a drain on the course.
“Never seen it. Rules official’s never seen it, so it was kind of one in a million chance that ball goes in that small hole in that drain, so it was pretty funny,” Bhatia said. “That’s probably the craziest [lost ball].”
Detroit Golf Club and left-handed golfers do generally not mix well, but Bhatia’s game is nearly perfect for this track.
“It’s a ball-striker’s golf course, a lot of wedges,” he said. “That’s my strong suit, especially inside, I would say, 150 yards, so I think that’s why I like this golf course. I don’t think there’s a difference lefty or righty.”
He currently leads the field in strokes gained total at +10.372 and in strokes gained approach to the green, picking up +5.666. The 22-year-old has also only missed three greens in the past two days.
This week will be about who can make the most birdies and avoid costly mistakes. After such a strong round, Bhatia built off that momentum.
“I feel like when you know you’re playing well, then you feel like you can hit all the golf shots that you need to hit to make a good golf score,” Bhatia said. “I think the difference in situations maybe it’s a little harder, but out here, you can easily make five, six, seven birdies.”
So far, he has 11 birdies, one eagle and 24 pars on the week. If the No. 29 ranked golfer avoids disaster and can keep down the pedal, his third career win and second after the Texas Open might be within reach.
With the afternoon groups left to play, Bhatia will have to wait and see if anyone matches his score and who will likely join him for Saturday’s final tee time.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
Friday was not the easiest of days for Daniel Ricciardo as the 2024 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix got underway.
But despite the early struggles, one of F1’s main attractions is staying upbeat.
Ricciardo posted the 16th-fastest time in the single practice of the week, and could not improve on that position in Friday’s F1 Sprint Qualifying session. The Visa Cash App RB F1 Team driver finished 16th, leading to his elimination in SQ1.
Perhaps adding to the frustration? The fact that Ricciardo missed out on a spot in SQ2 by less than three-hundredths of a second, to teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
But in his post-session comments, Ricciardo remained positive.
“It’s a short lap here, so it’s always going to be tricky. We changed quite a lot from FP1, and we’re still trying to learn about the package, but obviously, it’s frustrating when you miss out by a small bit,” said the driver in VCARB’s post-session media report. “The second lap of the Sprint-Quali was definitely better than the first one, but we still need to finetune some things. I do think we made the right changes, but maybe we need to balance it better. We’ll try to use the Sprint to understand the car always more, so I’m staying optimistic.”
Ricciardo’s optimism comes as there is increased speculation about his position with the team, not just for the 2025 season but perhaps the rest of this season. Red Bull Senior Advisor Dr. Helmut Marko kicked that speculation off ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix earlier this week, noting that there is perhaps some pressure from shareholders to give a younger driver — Liam Lawson — a seat at VCARB.
That speculation kicked into overdrive when noted F1 journalist Joe Saward surmised on social media that Lawson could be in that seat as early as this summer.
With the usual caveats that every rumor regarding driver movement in F1 needs to be given context and taken with a healthy grain of salt or two, Ricciardo admitted during Thursday’s media day that he needs to improve his performance.
“I said I really do enjoy being back in the [Red Bull] family,” said Ricciardo to the assembled media on Thursday. “I weirdly do enjoy sometimes a little bit of the pokes from Helmut because I think it also could be a way to get me a little bit fired up and try to get the best out of me.”
Still, Ricciardo was clear about what he needs to do to secure his future.
“It’s the on-track stuff so I’ve obviously got a good opportunity, I say until the summer break,” continued Ricciardo. “I don’t think that’s a deadline but obviously that’s what you look at for the first half of the season. So I try to do what I can and obviously help my cause.”
Friday also saw the second FIA Press Conference ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, with VCARB CEO Peter Bayer addressing Ricciardo’s performance to date, as well as the rumors regarding Lawson.
“Well, [Ricciardo] certainly has helped us tremendously. Looking back last year when he joined the team, he brought a whole new energy and spirit into the team. And he has been extremely helpful in supporting Yuki. Yuki has just stated that very recently, actually, that he still keeps learning from Daniel,” began Bayer. “And it’s part of our job, also as a mission from the shareholders, to develop drivers. And that’s what we currently do. But certainly, as Christian said, this is about performance.
“We do luckily have a couple of options with the junior [program], but we’re also not in a hurry to take a decision for next year’s line-up. We’ve confirmed Yuki, which was very important for us. And the focus currently, honestly, as you can tell, is on the car and to go into the summer break and have a quiet discussion.”
Bayer — as well as Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner — was pressed on the driver lineup by the brilliant Luke Smith of The Athletic. For Horner, he outlined how any decisions will be first addressed in-house, but did offer that like everything in F1, the lineup at VCARB is “fluid.”
“I think anything regarding drivers is going to be dealt with in-house before we talk to the media about it. They’re all, as I say, Red Bull racing drivers and every Red Bull driver knows that there’s always a pressure, that there’s always a scrutiny,” described Horner. “But, you know, Daniel is in the seat and it’s down to him to make the most of that. And then, it’s always, as we see in Formula 1, things are always fluid.”
As for Bayer, he echoed Horner’s thoughts.
“Perhaps just to add on what Christian perfectly summarised, Liam is part of the team, he’s our test driver, he’s in the simulator,” added Bayer. “As most of you know, he’ll be in the [Testing of Previous Car session]. We do our job to develop young drivers, but the decision on the second seat will be taken quietly and we’re not in a hurry.”
VCARB and Red Bull might not be in a hurry to solidify their lineup for 2025 — and make a decision on Ricciardo’s future — but the driver remains under mounting pressure to improve his form.
Following the checkered flag in SQ3, it looked as if McLaren had locked out the front row. Oscar Piastri put his MCL38 on provisional pole with a banger of a lap, only to see Lando Norris nip him with a thunderous lap of his own.
But on the track, Max Verstappen was looming.
The Dutch driver was screaming around Red Bull Ring, pushing his RB20 to the ultimate edge. And as he cut the line with his own final push lap in SQ3, you did not need to look at the timing boards to see the result.
You just needed to hear the crowd.
The Red Bull-friendly crowd roared to life as Verstappen’s lap rocketed him to the top of the timing sheets, securing yet another pole position for one of the sport’s greatest drivers. The sea of orange in the crowd roared to life, and the orange flares overcame the mass of humanity watching on.
Their hero had done it yet again.
”Everything has been working really well. Good start to the weekend, I’m happy with today,” said Verstappen to Davide Valsecchi trackside.
Asked about the threat Norris could pose, Verstappen was his usual calm, cool, and collected self.
“I mean, we’ll find out tomorrow,” began Verstappen. “I’m not really too stressed about it. I’m gonna enjoy my eventing and we’ll try it again tomorrow.”
And if today’s performance from Verstappen is any indication, he might enjoy his day tomorrow as well.
Here are more winners and losers from F1 Sprint Qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix, as well as the full results:
Winner: Logan Sargeant
Logan Sargeant was eventually eliminated in SQ2 and will start the F1 Sprint Race in P15. In addition, what might have been a lap that put him into SQ3 was deleted due to exceeding track limits. “I didn’t get T1 and T3 right,” admitted Sargeant after SQ2.
But this was still a win for the American driver, who is facing a very uncertain future in the sport.
Sargeant advanced into SQ2, ahead of teammate Alexander Albon. It was the first time in his F1 career that he qualified ahead of Albon, marking a personal achievement for the Williams driver.
This might not be enough to save Sargeant’s spot at Williams, given the speculation about options such as Carlos Sainz Jr. for the team starting in 2025, but this could be a sign that Sargeant is continuing to improve his racecraft. Performances such as this could see Sargeant emerge as an option elsewhere if Williams truly moves in a different direction for 2025 as is expected.
Loser: Daniel Ricciardo
Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images
With the caveat that this is just F1 Sprint Qualifying and the big points are still to come this weekend, if you are Daniel Ricciardo this is not how you want the week to start.
The Austrian Grand Prix began with rumors swirling regarding Ricciardo’s future in the sport, with Dr. Helmut Marko outlining how the command could come from on high to put Liam Lawson into a seat at Visa Cash App RB F1 Team and noted F1 journalist Joe Saward speculating that such a move could happen this summer. That led to Ricciardo himself addressing his uncertain future during media day Thursday, with an acknowledgment that he needed improved performance to solidify his spot at VCARB.
Being eliminated in SQ1 — and seeing Yuki Tsunoda advance into SQ2 — is not the start to the weekend you want if you are Ricciardo.
Again, there is a lot of time left on the track this weekend, and the big points start coming on Saturday with qualifying for the Grand Prix. But Ricciardo needs to step up his game if he is going to keep his spot, something the driver himself admitted on Thursday.
Winners: Alpine
The progress continues over at Alpine.
Yet again both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly advanced into the final segment of qualifying, with both drivers moving into SQ3 on Friday. While both Alpine drivers finished at the back of that group — with Ocon set to start the F1 Sprint Race in P8 and Gasly back in P9 — it is another sign that the team is moving in the right direction.
Sure, you can point to the fact that the only driver they beat in SQ3 was Charles Leclerc, who did not post a time due to a stall on pit lane shortly before the session ended, but you can also point to how close Ocon was to Sergio Pérez on merit. The Red Bull driver posted a 1:06.008 in SQ3, while Ocon posted a 1:06.101.
That is not a large margin at all.
Alpine has been talking about progress for weeks now, starting with their first point of the season at the Miami Grand Prix. But the progress is truly taking shape with their recent results, as they scored double-points finishes in each of the last two weekends. Given where Ocon and Gasly start tomorrow, they have a chance to keep that streak alive.
Something unimaginable when the season began, given how they started the 2024 campaign.
Loser: Charles Leclerc
Generally speaking, you want to put in your best push lap at the absolute end of a session, because the track will have “rubbered in” as much as possible, leading to the best possible time.
That led to an amusing situation during SQ3 as the session began, and the final ten waited in their respective garages. As the clock ticked down, some drivers, such as George Russell, started to get impatient, with Russell saying to his team “we need to get on with it” before the session came to a close.
Eventually the ten drivers lumbered out of the garage, but unfortunately for Charles Leclerc, his SF-24 went through an anti-stall as he rode down pit lane. While Leclerc was able to get his car going again, he could not get his push lap started before the checkered flag flew, and he ended up not posting a time.
That means he will start the F1 Sprint Race down in P10.
Leclerc can still make up some spots on the grid in the F1 Sprint Race itself, and perhaps salvage a result on Saturday. But he will be fighting at the back end of the points to start, and not up front where he wanted to be.
Winners: McLaren
Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images
Following the Monaco Grand Prix, it looked as if the potential fight at the top of the Constructors’ Championship was a two-way fight between Red Bull and Ferrari.
Since then, McLaren has crashed the party.
And then some.
Friday’s F1 Sprint Qualifying session showed again that McLaren has true pace this season, and for a moment it looked as if the front row would be all orange when the F1 Sprint Race began tomorrow. Lando Norris was on provisional pole, with Oscar Piastri right beside him.
As he has done so many times before Max Verstappen answered that challenge, rocketing to the top of the timing sheets, but when the lights go out tomorrow two McLarens will be at the front once more, with a chance to bring home some critical points in that three-way fight.
Furthermore, given where Ferrari finds themselves on the grid for tomorrow’s Sprint Race, McLaren has a chance to pull even closer to the Scuderia in the standings.
Zooming out for a moment, the pace from the MCL38 we have seen today illustrates that yet again, Norris could be primed to challenge Verstappen in the Austrian Grand Prix itself. That story has yet to be told, and tomorrow’s Qualifying session could provide more twists and turns, but McLaren has certainly put themselves in the mix given their recent form, and today’s F1 Sprint Qualifying session is just the latest evidence of that fact.
Losers: Sauber
The tough times roll on for Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.
Both drivers were eliminated in SQ1 on Friday, with Bottas finishing P18 and Zhou at the back of the field, in P20.
Sauber is still seeking their first point of the 2024 F1 season, and given where they are set to start the F1 Sprint Race on Saturday, it seems apparent that the first result will not come in that event.
More worrisome might be the lack of pace they showed in both SQ1 as well as Friday’s only practice session, which saw Zhou in P14 and Bottas in P15. That was not enough to get them into SQ2, and that pace could see them struggle again in qualifying for the Grand Prix itself.
A jury in federal court in California decided on Thursday that the NFL and its member teams violated federal antitrust laws with the “Sunday Ticket” package. Following Thursday’s historic jury verdict against the NFL and its member teams — that could have the league on the hook for over $14 billion in damages to plaintiffs, including individual fans and commercial establishments who bought “Sunday Ticket” — many are wondering when individual team packages could hit the airwaves, as well as when they might see a check.
To quote the great Lee Corso, “not so fast my friend.”
Keeping this in football terms, the verdict is akin to the league getting sacked for a huge loss. You might even say they are facing third and long.
But they might not be punting anytime soon, and we are in the first quarter of a game that likely comes down to the final play.
And maybe even overtime.
So let’s take a moment to talk about what could happen next, and where this might all ultimately end up. But before we dive in it is important to note that while I was not the world’s greatest attorney — the fact that I’m now a sports writer and no longer practicing law speaks to that point — I did spend a decade practicing civil litigation. While I never practiced in the Ninth Circuit, I do have some appellate experience on my resume, which is lying around here somewhere …
What happens next?
NFL fans are about to get a crash course in complex civil litigation, and the associated calendar and scheduling issues associated with such matters.
At the outset, it seems worth mentioning that this case was originally filed in 2015. That’s right, it took almost a decade to get to this point.
And we might still be in the first quarter.
The next step following this verdict comes at the end of July. That is when Judge Philip Gutierrez, who was the trial judge in this matter, will hear post-trial motions. That hearing is set for July 31.
The NFL will likely file motions along various lines, including a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV). Simply put, this is a motion arguing that no reasonable jury could have found what the jury in this case did, given all the facts that were elicited at trial.
In football terms, this is probably on par with a Hail Mary, but it is important to note that at certain points in this trial Judge Gutierrez expressed some skepticism — if not downright frustration — with the case set forth by the plaintiffs. At one point Judge Gutierrez went as far as telling plaintiffs’ counsel “[y]ou really have nothing” regarding their case, and at another point chastised plaintiffs’ counsel for overcomplicating the trial. “The way you have tried this case is far from simple,” Gutierrez told attorneys representing the subscribers. “This case has turned into 25 hours of depositions and gobbledygook. … This case has gone in a direction it shouldn’t have gone.”
Still, that does not mean that Judge Gutierrez will be inclined to completely set aside the verdict, and there are other pathways the league can explore at the post-trial hearing. They can file a motion seeking remittitur, arguing that the damages award in this case rendered by the jury is excessive.
Finally, as set forth by Michael McCann in his analysis of where the case stands, the NFL could seek to have Judge Gutierrez table any potential changes to the “Sunday Ticket” structure until the case reaches its full resolution.
Regardless of what Judge Gutierrez decides to do — whether on July 31 or sometime after if he takes matters under advisement to render decisions on a later date — the league is likely going to appeal this matter to the Ninth Circuit. In a statement following the verdict, the league indicated that they would “ … certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit.”
Again, they are not punting anytime soon.
Should they appeal this matter to the Ninth Circuit, we are then talking about months, if not longer, for the Ninth Circuit to weigh in on the case. As noted by McCann in his above analysis, “ … Ninth Circuit appeals often take in the ballpark of a year-and-half to nearly three years.” And the league would simply wait on making any changes to their “Sunday Ticket” structure until, as they would likely argue, the case “reaches a full-and-final resolution.”
But we might not get that from the Ninth Circuit.
Yes, this could go to the Supreme Court.
Could this really go to the Supreme Court?
An often-used joke in everyday life, when someone endures the slightest of grievances, is the line “I’m taking this to the Supreme Court.”
That might actually happen here.
The reason? As my own Constitutional Law professor Michael Gerhardt drilled into my brain the first semester of law school, the Supreme Court is the final arbiter of questions of federal law. And while the case against the league is fascinating concerning what it could mean for the NFL and its fans, there is actually a fairly interesting — if dry — federal question at issue here.
That is the current applicability of the Sports Broadcasting Act, found in 15 US Code Sections 1291-1295.
Passed in 1961 and signed into law by President John F. Kennedy, the SBA adjusted federal antitrust law to allow sports leagues to pool broadcasting rights of all their teams and sign exclusive league-wide deals with networks.
In the case at hand, Plaintiffs argued that the SBA does not apply to the “Sunday Ticket” package because the SBA applies to “over-the-air” broadcasts, and not cable or satellite packages. In contrast, the league asserted that the SBA barred the Plaintiffs’ claims, arguing that the language of the SBA enables the league to set up a service such as “Sunday Ticket.”
Judge Gutierrez previously brushed this claim by the league aside. In his earlier decision denying the NFL’s Motion for Summary Judgement, Judge Gutierrez cited earlier decisions by the Ninth Circuit in doing so:
“And the Ninth Circuit expressly distinguished between “the NFL’s collective sale of telecast rights to free, over-the-air television networks [which] was squarely covered by the SBA” with “league contracts with cable or satellite television services, for which subscribers are charged a fee,” which the SBA does not exempt from antitrust liability.”
This is the kind of federal law question that the Supreme Court might want to weigh in on, given the direction sports broadcasting is moving right now, toward more cable and satellite television services.
Which would mean an even longer delay to a final resolution.
What happens in the interim?
What happens in the interim, you might ask?
We wait.
Because the wheels of civil litigation grind slowly, there is likely a post-trial process that will play out over months if not years.
So if you are a previous subscriber to “Sunday Ticket” on DirecTV, you might not want to be running to the mailbox every day waiting for a check.
Kyle Filipowski should have been a Top 20 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, especially this NBA Draft. When you’re a seven-foot stretch four from Duke who averaged 16 points and 8 rebounds, when most of the 2024 class is full of Hail Mary picks and “what ifs,” it doesn’t matter that there are concerns about your athleticism or shot creation — you get picked early.
Instead, we saw one of the more puzzling draft drops in recent memory. In the span of 24 hours, Filipowski went from being mocked as high as the early teens to falling out of the first round altogether — earning the unfortunate “reward” of turning up to the NBA Draft green room for likely first-round draft picks, then waiting all night without hearing his name called without getting picked (he was eventually taken in the second round, on Day 2 of the Draft, with the Utah Jazz selecting him 32nd overall).
Obviously, something had teams spooked about Filipowski, but nobody could have predicted how this saga would unfold over the internet on Thursday.
Concerns of an older “girlfriend”
The first reports of something being off in the Filipowski camp came on Thursday morning as ESPN draft analyst Jonathan Givony explained on The Lowe Post Podcastwhat he’d heard from teams in regards to the Duke big man.
“NBA teams are talking about the fact that they had questions about his girlfriend being so much older than him, why was he estranged from his family because of this whole situation. It’s a very, very odd situation. I personally don’t understand why it would cause him to drop like this into the second round.”
Just to establish things: Caitlin Hutchinson is being referred to as Filipowski’s “girlfriend,” however the couple are engaged as of April 18 — with the intent of getting married in August.
As it pertains to draft stock: Filipowski is 20 years old, and Givony said his fiancee is 25 — sure, the age difference is a little unusual, but it’s hardly the kind of earth-shattering revelation that would normally tank a draft stock. Similarly, there have been plenty of prospective rookies who have been estranged from their parents, and it didn’t cause them to fall like Filipowski was.
There was a missing piece to this puzzle, and it wasn’t long before the internet began to try and work out what was going on here.
What we know about Caitlin Hutchinson
An Alabama native, there is little concrete information on who exactly Filipowski’s fiancee is. Most information can be gleaned from past social media posts, which as of writing are still public.
Trying to ascertain Hutchinson’s age is critical here, and that will become very apparent in a moment. A Facebook post from December 23, 2018 shows Hutchinson graduating from Alabama.
Another post Hutchinson is tagged in from Instagram shows her in a high school graduation gown in May of 2015.
While it’s possible she graduated from high school or college early, if she stayed on a standard track she is either 27 or 28 years old, with her now being 6 years removed from college. Again, that’s not really an issue. As we’ve established, a 20-year-old dating someone in their late-20s might be odd — but it’s not exactly a major red flag.
But this is.
The prom photo
As people combed through social media on Thursday morning a photo of Filipowski and Hutchinson from his high school prom began catching everyone’s eye. It shows the couple together and is dated May 21, 2022.
Filipowski was born in November of 2003. At the time of this photo he was 17 years old, and Hutchinson was (probably) 25 or 26. Even if we assume the first time they met was at this prom, that’s still an adult dating a minor. However, a now-deleted comment on the Filipowski prom photo from Hutchinson read: “one year with my favorite person.”
This would mean that they started their relationship when he was 16 years old and she was likely 24 or 25.
The Filipowski family weighs in
A critical component of this story, in addition to the relationship, were reports Filipowski had become estranged from his family over dating Hutchinson.
It wasn’t long before people claiming to be Kyle’s older brother Daniel, and his mom Becky were on Twitter explaining their side of things — and trying to track down Jonathan Givony to tell their side of the story.
If we combine the accounts of the Filipowski family, they appear to be alleging that Caitlin Hutchinson began a relationship with Filipowski as a high schooler with the intent of grooming him and converting him to the mormon religion. According to their allegations, that includes a long-term play to become engaged to him shortly after he left Duke, and with the NBA on the horizon. This appears to have caused friction between Filipowski and his family, with Kyle seemingly choosing his relationship with Caitlin over his family, and — again, according to their tweets and Givony’s accounting of what NBA executives are saying — severing a relationship with them.
What can we make of all this?
If everything outlined above is to be believed, Filipowski could be viewed as a victim. Again, if the facts outlined above are actually what happened, it would appear an adult entered a relationship with a high school basketball player, one who was highly touted and seemed destined for the NBA.
Then, the same relationship reportedly damaged his draft stock by making Filipowski either too uncomfortable to talk about in interviews, which scared off teams — or by raising red flags about Hutchinson’s influence on his life.
As of right now, it does not appear there is anything illegal going on. Filipowski is 20, his fiancee is in her late-20s, so they can do what they want. However, this story isn’t going away, and it may be only a matter of time before more information comes to light about the nature of this relationship and how it’s damaged the Filipowski family. At the very least, given how much this has blown up on the internet and appears to have damaged his draft stock enough to drop a likely lottery pick out of the first round entirely, it seems probable that Filipowski will get asked about it by NBA media at some point, when maybe we will get his and Hutchinson’s side of the story.
Excluding a pair of rest days, the Tour de France is a 21-day event. We recommend you watch as much of it as possible, but also understand that spending three weeks in the middle of summer watching men in lycra pants riding a bike through towns with names like Gignac, Minot, or Chorges — yes, these are all real — might prove to be a challenge.
But, worry not, friend! We are here to help.
We took a close look at this year’s route, and out of the 21 stages picked seven that definitively fall in the must-watch category. What criteria did we use? Mainly the course itself, and what we expect to see on each individual stage.
So, without further ado, let’s dive right in.
Stage 1: Florence > Rimini (Sat 6/29)
A.S.O.
For the first time in its 111-year history, the Tour de France is set to start in Italy. And it is about to kick off with a bang: the first of three-and-a-half stages on Italian soil covers 206 kilometers while featuring over 3,800 meters of elevation gain.
Arguably the hardest opening stage in recent memory, we might already see some general classification action on Day 1. Due to the relentless nature especially over the final 75 kilometers, the big race favorite, Slovenian Tadej Pogačar, might already try to test his competitors led by two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard — a similar tactic he employed during his dominant Giro d’Italia showing earlier this year.
Pogačar, who himself is a two-time Tour winner, recently mentioned his shape would be “even better than what I expected.” Given this and the fact that Vingegaard was among several GC contenders to crash hard back in April, the 25-year-old might try to put his early mark on the stage.
Stage 4: Pinerolo > Valloire (Tue 7/2)
A.S.O.
Whether or not Pogačar enters Day 4 as wearer of the yellow jersey remains to be seen. Regardless of his status relative to the rest of the general classification field, however, the 140-kilometer border-crossing stage from Pinerolo to Valloire is the first high-mountain test of this week’s Tour.
The 3,900 meters of elevation gain might be a bit misleading — the first two classified climbs are not particularly difficult — but the ascent to the legendary Col du Galibier could be the perfect GC battle ground. Never before has the Tour reached such heights this early in a race, which might just prompt Pogačar and his climber-heavy UAE Team Emirates squad to try to light some fireworks.
If Vingegaard in particular shows any weakness on the hilly first two stages of the race, the fourth could prove a challenge. He and his Visma | Lease a Bike team need to be on high alert over the last 40 kilometers.
Stage 9: Troyes > Troyes (Sun 7/7)
A.S.O.
A vast majority of this year’s Tour de France takes place on asphalt roads, but there is one notable exception. On July 7, the cyclists will hit the gravel roads around the city of Troyes. The stage itself is not the hardest in terms of elevation gain — only around 2,000 — but the surface below the wheels could lead to some chaos.
In total, there are 14 gravel sectors totaling 32 kilometers. That does not sound like a lot, but a puncture or crash at the wrong time on what will be a nervous day for the entire peloton could spell doom for general classification contenders. You won’t be able to win the Tour on Stage 9, but you very well could lose it.
Stage 15: Loudenvielle > Plateau de Beille (Sun 7/14)
A.S.O.
When it comes to vertical meters gained, this is the hardest stage of the entire 2024 Tour de France. This 198-kilometer monster will see riders climb more than 5,000 meters in the French Pyrenees between Loudenvielle and Plateau de Beille.
While it seems unlikely there will be much general classification action before what looks to be a brutal mountaintop finish, the built up fatigue up until that point could lead to some serious cracks. Every single GC rider, even if they are named Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič, Remco Evenepoel, or Carlos Rodriguez, needs to bring their A-game to Stage 15.
All eyes will naturally be on those and other riders atop the standings at this point, but we will also closely follow the race against the so-called broom wagon: with some serious climbing to be done and a 7-kilometer test right out of the gate, every rider making the time cut is not a foregone conclusion.
Stage 19: Embrun > Isola 2000 (Fri 7/19)
A.S.O.
Stage 19 is comparatively short at only 145 kilometers, but it will see over 4,500 meters of climbing split between three challenging peaks. Tops among those is the highest point ever reached by the Tour de France: at 2,802 meters, the Cime de la Bonette will be crossed for just the fifth time in race history and the first since 2008.
Despite being the highest paved road in France, however, it is merely an appetizer for what projects to be a high-octane finish to Isola 2000. Differences will be made on the 16-kilometer ascent, and riders will get dropped. The question is: who, and by whom?
If Jonas Vingegaard wants to win his third straight maillot jaune, this is where the hyper-talented climber needs to go on the offensive. Likewise, if Tadej Pogačar wants to regain his Tour de France supremacy, he might try to use this stage as either a launching pad or a final dagger to his competition.
Stage 20: Nice > Col de la Couillole (Sat 7/20)
A.S.O.
The mountains may not be quite as high as on the previous day, and 133 kilometers is a quite moderate distance. Stage 20 will nonetheless be an entertaining affair on difficult terrain. In fact, in terms of vertical gain per kilometer, this is the toughest stage in the Tour.
The riders will go up and down throughout the day before finishing on the Col de la Couillole. Given the nature of the stage, and the fact that it is the final mountain test before a closing-day individual time trial, action is guaranteed — especially if the GC battle is still somewhat close at this point in the race.
Stage 21: Monaco > Nice (Sun 7/21)
A.S.O.
For the first time since 1989, when American Greg LeMond stole the yellow jersey from Frenchmen Laurent Fignon by just 8 seconds, the Tour de France will end with an individual time trial. This one will take the riders from the world’s second-smallest nation to the French city of Nice over a hilly 34-kilometer parcours.
The big four participating in this race — Pogačar, Vingegaard, Roglič, and Evenepoel — are all strong against the clock and capable of gaining just enough time on a good day. And even though a repeat of the LeMond-Fignon scenario might seem unlikely, 20 days of racing and the riders participating means that anything can happen on Day 21.
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