The United States Men’s National Team has scored a massive recruitment victory, as striker Folarin Balogun has opted to represent the U.S. moving forward.

Balogun has filed a one-time switch with FIFA, meaning he is permanently tied to the U.S. after most recently representing England at the youth level.

“The change of association of the player Folarin Jolaoluwa Balogun from England to the USA has been approved,” a FIFA spokesperson said in a statement to Pro Soccer Wire.

Balogun, who was also eligible for Nigeria, was born in New York and moved to England at a young age.

The Arsenal forward has had a breakout campaign on loan with Reims, scoring 19 goals in Ligue 1 to put himself among the French top flight’s top scorers.

Balogun announced his choice with a post on social media titled: ‘Let’s make history.’

Folarin Balogun: All the love from fans helped me pick the USMNT

In a U.S. Soccer statement, Balogun added: “My decision to represent the United States came together with my family. In the end it became a no-brainer, but for sure it’s just something I wanted to do and it feels like I’m at home here.

“To represent the United States means a lot, more than people would know. I’m very proud and honored to have this opportunity, and I want to give everything I have to make our team successful.”

Amid a heavy recruitment effort from U.S. Soccer, Balogun traveled to Orlando in March to visit the USMNT during the team’s camp for two Nations League matches.

Interim USMNT coach Anthony Hudson said that the visit allowed him and his staff to present the 21-year-old with their vision for how he’d fit in with the team.

Though England U-21 coach Lee Carsley has emphasized his desire to see Balogun stay with the Three Lions, senior head coach Gareth Southgate cautioned in March that he wouldn’t call Balogun up just to prevent him from committing to the USMNT.

In an interview with L’Equipe last fall, Balogun explained how he felt connected to England, the U.S. and Nigeria as he weighed up his international future.

‘Above everything, I feel English, but I also have an American side, because I have family in New York and I love going there,’ Balogun said. ‘I have my grandmother and cousins in Lagos, even if I haven’t been there since I was very young. My mother sometimes speaks to me in Yoruba and it is important to me.’

Balogun will likely make his USMNT debut this summer, as the team gets set for a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal against Mexico next month, as well as the Gold Cup.

Former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones has turned his most-famous tweet into another viral moment.

In 2012, Jones, who led the Buckeyes to the 2014 national championship, posted: ‘We ain’t come to play SCHOOL.’ And now he has quote-tweeted a report that former Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett did not graduate this spring after being selected in the fourth round of the NFL draft by the Los Angeles Rams.

‘Buddy definitely wasn’t playing school,’ Jones tweeted Sunday.

Bennett redshirted his freshman season at Georgia in 2017, the same year Jones graduated from Ohio State. Bennett then transferred to Jones College for one season before returning to the Bulldogs in 2019 and becoming their starting quarterback in 2020. He led Georgia to back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022.

That means he spent six years in college.

According to Bennett’s bio on the Bulldogs’ website, he was a Learning Design and Technology major in the Mary Frances Early College of Education.

Bennett’s name was not listed in the university’s 2023 spring commencement program. He was also not included in a picture of Georgia football graduates after the winter semester in 2022.

The school has yet to respond to a question as to whether Bennett had earned a degree.

Bennett, a 2022 Heisman Trophy finalist who finished fourth behind Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, TCU quarterback Max Duggan and Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, finished his college career with 8,429 passing yards, 80 touchdowns and 21 interceptions.

You hear major league teams say it all the time: “You can never have too much pitching.”

Even more so this year, with so many pitchers hit with injuries over the first quarter of the regular season.

If the injury bug seems like it’s biting way worse than usual, that’s because it is. If you need further proof, just check out Roster Resource’s complete injury report on FanGraphs.com.

It’s not simply the number, it’s also the importance of who is getting hurt.

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On the shelf

With the Rays’ Drew Rasmussen (flexor strain) and the Reds’ Nick Lodolo (calf) the latest victims, 12 of the top 50 starting pitchers on draft day (according to the NFBC) are currently on the injured list. Three of them — Robbie Ray, Jeffrey Springs and Luis Garcia — are out for the season due to Tommy John elbow surgery.

Jacob deGrom, Brandon Woodruff and Max Fried have been outstanding but will miss at least a few more weeks.

And it doesn’t help that three top-50 starters have yet to make their 2023 debuts because of injuries that cropped up in spring training.

— Carlos Rodon looked like he was close to returning from a forearm strain he suffered in spring training. However, he revealed a chronic back issue is now his primary concern — and it’s pushed his first regular-season appearance for the Yankees back even further.

— Triston McKenzie was shut down during his final spring start with a shoulder strain that eventually landed him on the 60-day injured list. He’s eligible to be activated on May 29, but he only recently began throwing bullpen sessions.

— And after making it all the way back from Tommy John surgery last September, Tyler Glasnow was slowed by an oblique strain shortly after he reported to camp. On the verge of being activated, he was pulled from his second rehab start as a precaution. It’s not clear whether that was a setback or just a hiccup.

Is there an explanation for this tidal wave of injuries? That’s a question we seem to ask every year.

In 2021, the prevailing opinion centered around the increased workloads from a COVID-19 shortened 2020 season.

Last year, we were worried about the lockout and the impact of an abbreviated spring training.

This year, the implementation of a pitch clock for the first time in MLB stands out as the most obvious reason.

But let’s not overlook the one thread that ties everything together. Pitching is a stressful activity, and repeatedly throwing a baseball with tremendous spin and at high velocity is going to take a significant physical toll.

As much as we try to analyze the factors that contribute to injuries, we’re never going to be able to know for sure which pitchers are going to break down. We have to be prepared to find capable replacements when our luck runs out.

Few happy returns

If the wave of injuries to top starting pitchers wasn’t enough, many of those who’ve remained healthy have simply underperformed.

The Brewers’ Corbin Burnes and the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole were in a virtual tie for the first pitcher off the board in fantasy drafts this spring. While Cole (5-0, 2.22 ERA, 62 strikeouts) has been stellar, Burnes (4-2, 3.35) has seen his strikeout rate plummet and his walk rate rise, leading to some uneven results.

Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins (1-4, 4.91), Aaron Nola of the Phillies (3-3, 4.53) and Dylan Cease of the White Sox (2-2, 4.86) all had average draft positions in the top 50 overall but have struggled mightily in the early going.

Throw in the Mets’ veteran tandem of Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, who’ve combined for less than 40 innings over the first quarter of the regular season, and only three of the top 11 starters — Cole, Spencer Strider and Shane McClanahan — have come anywhere close to their draft-day value so far.

And just for the record, only five starting pitchers have outperformed the Cole-Strider-McClanahan trio in Roto Value (15-team, 5×5 format, according to BaseballHQ.com) through Sunday’s games.

Zac Gallen, Diamondbacks ($34): 6-1, 2.35 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 70 KJoe Ryan, Twins ($32): 6-1, 2.16 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 57 KEduardo Rodriguez, Tigers ($30): 4-2, 1.57 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 47 KClayton Kershaw, Dodgers ($28): 6-2, 2.36 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 56 KMitch Keller, Pirates ($28): 5-1, 2.38 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 69 K

Of that group, only Gallen was even among the top 30 starters in ADP this spring.

Dipping into the prospect pool

With all the starting pitchers falling by the wayside or failing to live up to expectations, there must be a way to fill the void. In many fantasy leagues, some of that burden is falling on the shoulders of previously unproven prospects.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen a steady trickle of young arms make their way to the majors.

When the Rays lost Springs, they turned to their top minor league arm, 22-year-old Taj Bradley. He responded by tossing three solid starts — with an impressive 23 strikeouts to just two walks — before he was sent back down. With Rasmussen joining the injured list, Bradley will likely be up for good.

One of the few bright spots in Oakland has been fireballing right-hander Mason Miller. But after making his MLB debut on April 19 and fanning 22 batters in 21 1/3 innings in his four starts, he landed on the injured list with elbow inflammation. Not a good sign.

The Guardians have one of the deepest farm systems, especially when it comes to pitching. Right-hander Tanner Bibee and lefty Logan Allen made their debuts over a four-day span in late April. Both have pitched well enough in their four starts to stick in the rotation, which will make for interesting decisions when McKenzie and Aaron Civale are healthy.

Bryce Miller of the Mariners has been the best of the bunch so far, allowing just one earned run in 19 innings (0.47 ERA). Perhaps even more impressive, he has an 18-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, resulting in a 0.42 WHIP. An unsustainable .164 batting average allowed on balls in play won’t continue, but he’s more than capably filled Ray’s spot in the rotation.

Then last week, the Marlins promoted 6-8 righty Eury Perez from Class AA; he struck out seven and allowed two earned runs in 42/3 innings. He’ll likely have a cap on his innings this year, but the 20-year-old has the highest ceiling of them all.

Has the well run dry? Elite prospects Andrew Painter of the Phillies and Ricky Tiedemann of the Blue Jays are currently dealing with injuries of their own. The Dodgers have Gavin Stone and Bobby Miller waiting in the wings if needed. Perhaps the next big thing could be another Guardian: right-hander Gavin Williams has already spurred a promotion to Class AAA, yielding just three earned runs and striking out 41 in 301/3 innings.

Ja Morant is wrong for brandishing a gun on social media. He’s done it twice now. Morant doesn’t seem to get it. He’s acting in a self-destructive way, seemingly not caring about his career, or the possibility of throwing away hundreds of millions of dollars. That’s accurate, too. It’s also OK to worry about Morant’s mental health. And it’s right for the NBA to discipline him. It has no choice.

All of these things are true.

The situation with Morant, however, is much more layered than some people want to admit. That’s because Morant is unflinchingly and embarrassingly American in one huge way: he has an apparent gun fetish. Morant displays this fetish by brandishing his gun on social media. This makes him the same as some other athletes, ordinary citizens, and members of Congress.

Forget basketball. Ja Morant’s focus needs to be on his life, not his fame.

Morant is a high-profile version of doing this, so he will get lots of attention, but there are 400 million guns in America. We are A-gun-i-stan. One nation under guns. Indivisible from our ammo. With liberty and justice for our weapons.

And we love to pose with our guns. Take pictures with them like they are our significant others. There are thousands, if not a whole lot more, of people who do just that all the time across social media. If you do not believe this, just go look. What Morant has done is wrong but it’s also, in many ways, extremely normal and American. No, this is not a good normal. This is a grotesque one and posing with guns has nothing to do with self-defense.

With Morant, he’s not some weird dude doing something odd. It’s the opposite. He’s totally one of us.

New York Jets defensive back Sauce Gardner appeared to tweet in response to Morant’s video: ‘Everybody have guns bro. No need to post it on IG live lol.’ Gardner deleted the tweet because there’s no real LOL’ing about this. Gardner was right about one thing, though. Everybody does have guns, bro.

This posing with guns happens across the political spectrum but some right-wing politicians have taken it to an absurd level. They put pictures of themselves carrying heavy on Christmas cards. Nothing says celebrate the birth of Jesus like holding an AK. Republicans Thomas Massie and Lauren Boebert both were in pictures with their families clinging onto automatic weapons on the cover of their version of holiday wishes. Remarkably, their own minor kids are holding these huge weapons. This is so staggeringly gross it’s difficult to imagine a parent teaching this to their young children but here we are.

‘I hear that this little pin that I’ve been giving out on the House floor has been triggering some of my Democratic colleagues,’ Clyde said in a video posted on Twitter. ‘Well, I give it out to remind people of the Second Amendment of the Constitution and how important it is in preserving our liberties.’

Posing with weapons like they are baseball cards is problematic, even dangerous, because it minimizes the power of the gun, and the damage it can do. It shows a lack of respect for how such weapons, especially automatic ones, can take a life. Or multiple ones. Guns aren’t supposed to be glamourous.

The answer is because he’s a star, in a league full of them, who mostly do the right thing. You also can’t have a sports league tolerate this kind of behavior, even if the rest of the country does. In this way, we’re in the Twilight Zone, where the NBA knows the right thing to do, but a Congressperson does not. It’s so darn weird.

Morant is the big name now, the headline grabber, and that’s totally fair. It’s also right that he’s catching heat. He’s not alone though. Far from it. He is typical. Typically … American.

NEW YORK — Sarah Hughes, who won a gold medal in figure skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics, has filed to run for Congress in New York, joining several other Democrats seeking to unseat Long Island Republican Anthony D’Esposito.

Hughes, 38, will make a formal announcement of her campaign for New York’s 4th Congressional District ”in the next few weeks,” spokesperson Max Kramer said Tuesday.

Hughes was just 16 when she scored her upset win over teammate Michelle Kwan at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.

She later earned an undergraduate degree from Yale and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Hughes spent three years as an associate at Manhattan-based corporate law firm Proskauer Rose and is currently studying toward an MBA from Stanford.

She made headlines in 2011 when she dated Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor and Donald Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani.

Hughes lives in Manhattan and is looking for a home within the 4th Congressional District in southern and central Nassau County, Kramer said.

Hughes grew up in Great Neck, which is in the adjoining district now represented by Republican George Santos, who pleaded not guilty last week to a 13-count federal indictment that accused him of duping donors, stealing from his campaign and lying to Congress about his finances.

D’Esposito and Santos both flipped seats previously held by Democrats, part of a strong 2022 showing by New York Republicans in the suburbs surrounding New York City.

Other candidates who have filed for the Democratic nomination for the 4th Congressional District include Laura Gillen, a former Hempstead town supervisor who lost narrowly to D’Esposito in 2022; Patricia Maher, who ran unsuccessfully against Rep. Peter King in the 2nd Congressional District in 2014; and Lawrence Patrick Henry.

Michele Kang is creating a bridge for women’s soccer like never before. On Tuesday, Kang and French ownership network OL Groupe announced that they are combining forces to create a women’s soccer organization that she will helm. The group, which is the first of its kind to be owned by a woman and be comprised of women’s teams, will include NWSL team Washington Spirit, which she bought last year for $35 million, and the women’s team of French club Olympique Lyonnais.

‘This deal represents a major step forward in the history of women’s professional football,” Kang said in a statement. “It brings together the unparalleled tradition of the eight-time Champions League winning OL Féminin and the dynamism of the 2021 NWSL Champion Spirit to usher our sport into a new era. The complete alignment and support for this vision among the OL Groupe board and key principals including Jean-Michel Aulas, John Textor and myself is very powerful. It is a great honor to take stewardship of OL Féminin and lead this unprecedented effort on behalf of the fans, players and staff of both teams.” 

Olympique Lyonnais, also known as Lyon, is owned by OL Groupe as part of a network that also includes a men’s team and the NWSL team OL Reign, which they are selling.

In the new organization, Kang will be the majority owner of the Lyon women’s team with a 52 percent stake. She attended the club’s French Cup final on Saturday and hoisted the trophy after they won its 10th title. In February, she became a part owner of Eagle Football Holdings, which is the majority shareholder of OL Groupe and has ownership stakes in several other soccer clubs.

The deal is still pending approval from the NWSL and entities in France, but is projected to be finalized in June, a month before the women’s World Cup kicks off.

The yet-to-be-named network is seeking to add additional teams. The organization would follow the model of Red Bull — which owns multiple teams across the world, including the MLS’ New York Red Bulls — and City Football Group, which owns a dozen clubs internationally, including the Premier League’s Manchester City and MLS’ New York City FC.

Kang shared more about her hopes for the network with The Washington Post: ‘This is about bringing women’s soccer to that level so that young girls growing up all around the world can see it and be inspired and say, ‘I’m going to go into professional soccer.”