Eight players from Texas A&M-Commerce and Incarnate Word were suspended by the Southland Conference on Wednesday following the brawl that took place between the two teams after the conclusion of their game on Monday.

After Texas A&M-Commerce won 76-72 in overtime, a brawl took place while the teams were in the handshake line. It wasn’t clear what started the fight, but several players on both sides got involved in the altercation that lasted for more than a minute, all while ESPN cameras caught it.

The conference said the players will be suspended for flagrant unsportsmanlike actions.

‘The Southland Conference Board of Directors has set clear expectations for sportsmanship and behavior of our student-athletes, coaches, and spectators during and after competitions. Unfortunately, these expectations were not met on Monday night, and the Southland Conference will not tolerate any unsportsmanlike behavior,’ commissioner Chris Grant said in a statement. ‘I would like to extend our appreciation to A&M-Commerce Athletics Director Jim Curry and UIW Athletics Director Richard Duran for their unwavering partnership and diligent resolution of this matter.’

Four players from each teams were suspended for various amount of games. The suspensions are:

Texas A&M-Commerce forward Jerome Brewer, Jr.: three games.
Texas A&M-Commerce guard Ant Abraham: three games.
Texas A&M-Commerce forward Kwo Agwa: three games.
Incarnate Word guard Elijah Davis: three games.
Incarnate Word guard Alex Anderson: two games.
Incarnate Word center Gabe Beny Til: two games.
Incarnate Word forward Marcus Glover: two games.
Texas A&M-Commerce guard Prince Davies: one game.

The suspensions will be in place immediately. Both teams are near the bottom of the conference standings, with Texas A&M-Commerce in eighth place at 10-17 with a 4-10 conference record, while Incarnate World is in ninth at 8-18 with a 3-10 conference record.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue thought Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas was crazy.

Sign Lionel Messi? You gotta be kidding, right?

“He had this dream of signing Messi, and I thought he was crazy. Crazy people do amazing things sometimes,” Cue said next to MLS commissioner Don Garber at Chase Stadium before Messi and Inter Miami’s season opener on Wednesday.

MLS and Apple are continuing to ride the wave of momentum Messi has brought with his arrival to Inter Miami last summer.

“I won’t give you the exact number, but pre-Messi it was very U.S. dominant. Post-Messi, it changed materially,” Cue said of Messi’s impact on Apple subscriptions and viewership. He had a significant number of subscribers from South American and Europe. So, it was a big change.”

Apple TV’s latest documentary “Messi’s World Cup: The Rise of a Legend” also debuted on Tuesday night, which Cue credited Mas for introducing him to Messi, leading to the behind-the-scenes access of his 2022 World Cup run in Qatar.

Apple TV will also capitalize on its second-year of streaming MLS games on MLS Season Pass with a “significant” increase in subscribers thanks to Messi.

“He feels very, what I understand, very comfortable here. We are very supportive of him. We couldn’t be more excited,” Garber said. “I mean, we should not forget that the best player in the history of the game is in Major League Soccer.”

Garber says MLS is receiving more buzz internationally than domestically because of Messi.

But he also understands Messi’s presence in MLS is a fleeting moment.

“At some point Messi won’t be in our league. Who will the next Messi be? It’s no different than what anybody thought when David Beckham left, when Thierry Henry left, when Zlatan left,” Garber said.

In the meantime, Garber is concerned with Messi’s experience in South Florida, and ensuring the league continues to grow in a positive direction for the next soccer star that may come along.

“Getting [Messi] signed was a statement about Major League Soccer that we can compete that we can deliver a great experience for a player with a competitive environment where they can further their career. There’s going to be another Leo Messi at some point. And I hope that MLS is in a position to be able to sign that player.”

Spring training games officially get underway Thursday with the San Diego Padres hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers in Cactus League action, a preview of the regular season’s opening series in Seoul, South Korea scheduled for March 20-21.

The Dodgers won all the headlines this offseason by signing Shohei Ohtani ($700 million) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto ($325 million) after winning the NL West for the 10th time in 11 seasons.

San Diego had a disappointing 2023 season (82-80) and failed to get back to the playoffs after reaching the NLCS in 2022. This winter, the Padres traded free-agent-to-be Juan Soto to the New York Yankees and are without reigning NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell, who remains unsigned.

Here’s what to know for Thursday’s game:

What time is Dodgers vs. Padres spring training game?

Thursday’s game between the Dodgers and Padres is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. ET at Peoria Stadium, the Padres’ Cactus League home ballpark.

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How to watch Dodgers vs. Padres

Thursday’s game will air nationally on ESPN and locally on SportsNet LA, or live-streamed via ESPN or fuboTV.

In February for Black History Month, USA TODAY Sports is publishing the series ’29 Black Stories in 29 Days.’ We examine the issues, challenges and opportunities Black athletes and sports officials continue to face after the nation’s reckoning on race following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. This is the fourth installment of the series.

Something remarkable happened during this NFL hiring cycle. The league hired four coaches of color in a single cycle, a record for the NFL. The league was rightfully lauded. But then…

Something remarkable happened during this NFL hiring cycle. As things stand now, there will be zero non-white offensive coordinators entering this coming season.

That’s right. Zero.

According to research conducted by USA TODAY Sports as part of its NFL Coaches Project, this will be the first time since the implementation of the Rooney Rule in 2003 that the league starts a season without a single offensive coordinator of color.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

This particular moment for the league is typical NFL. There’s one historic achievement that is worth celebrating followed by another that sets the league back. Both within weeks of each other. Two steps forward, one to the rear when it comes to race is the NFL motto. It should be etched on the Lombardi Trophy.

Why is this story important? It’s definitely changing (slightly) but the offensive coordinator position is the most glamorous in football when it comes to assistant coaches. This axiom still applies: the closer to the quarterback, the more important the coaching position. So coordinators and quarterback coaches/passing game coordinators remain the place where many teams looking for head coaches will go to first. Not all the time but in many instances.

Black coaches have been traditionally excluded from this position. For this coming season, at least, they are being excluded yet again.

Taylor, who was first named the position in 1980 with the Los Angeles Rams, added: ‘People say, ‘Well it was a long time, things are so much better,’ and this and that. That’s an excuse. You say you’re climbing the ladder but you haven’t made it. That’s the way I look at it.’

‘That position has plagued us,’ NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said last year. ‘A lot of that is from the false narratives of who these men were and what they were capable of doing − these myths that exist. We’ve still got a lot of work to do here. But the efforts of building, focusing in on building the pipeline, we believe will have some long-term implications.’

Meanwhile, 18 of 32 defensive coordinators, or 56%, are non-white. Fourteen of the 18 are Black.

Again, go back to offensive coordinators. There will be a significant number of owners and general managers who will look to almost exclusively hire from the offensive coordinator pool. They may interview defensive coordinators but they’ll want to hire from the offensive side of the ball and having no people of color holding the top spot on offense is devastating for the league.

In 2022, the league instituted a policy requiring each team to have at least one woman or minority offensive assistant coach. Commissioner Roger Goodell, at his Super Bowl press conference on Feb. 5, said the lack of offensive coordinators of color isn’t an indication that policy is failing.

‘… I think these programs take a while,’ Goodell said. ‘Offensive assistants are young. They need the ability to have exposure to the experiences to grow, to be able to get the kind of experience to become offensive coordinators and then head coaches. I think it’s too early to say it’s not working. I don’t accept that at this stage.’

There’s another part of this that’s important. It’s not just the lack of hiring. It’s another problem that’s plagued the league, and the NFL can’t seem to find a way to solve it. White offensive coordinators like Luke Getsy, Kellen Moore and Ken Dorsey, among others, move around the league more freely. They hop from one offensive coordinator position to another with little issue. Moore, for example, since 2019 has been the offensive coordinator for the Cowboys, Chargers and now Eagles.

The opposite is true with Black offensive coordinators such as Byron Leftwich, Marcus Brady, Thomas Brown and Brian Johnson. If you remove Leftwich’s interim stint as an offensive coordinator, he’s only gotten one shot at the position, last with the Buccaneers in 2022. Leftwich won a Super Bowl in Tampa Bay.

Brady was offensive coordinator for the Colts in 2021-2022 but hasn’t held the same position since. He’s been an offensive consultant and senior offensive assistant with the Eagles and is currently the passing game coordinator for the Chargers (but again not the coordinator).

Brown was the offensive coordinator for the Panthers last season and is now the passing game coordinator for the Bears. Johnson was the offensive coordinator for the Eagles last year and is now the assistant head coach/offensive pass game coordinator in Washington.

This is where we are. Steps forward, several back. Maybe one day that will change but it might be a long time.

Messi Mania 2024 is officially underway as Inter Miami CF kicked off the new MLS season by defeating Real Salt Lake, 2-0, on Wednesday night.

Inter Miami’s power quartet of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba were all in the starting lineup for the season opener at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

With Messi’s pals from his FC Barcelona glory days in tow, Inter Miami faces huge expectations heading into the 2024 MLS season. The season opener is just the first step toward what should be a memorable season in South Florida for Messi and the Herons.

Here are the best images from the landmark season-opening night in Fort Lauderdale:

Social media went into a frenzy and rumors were swirling when it was discovered Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields unfollowed the team on Instagram.

But he has an explanation.

Fields appeared on ‘The St. Brown Brothers’ podcast with Detroit Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and fellow Bears teammate Equanimeous St. Brown, and the siblings weren’t afraid to ask him directly why he no longer follows Chicago. Fields said he was glad to address it and explained there really isn’t much to it.

‘Why do people take social media so serious?’ Fields said. ‘I still mess with the Bears. I’m just trying to take a little break. I unfollowed the Bears and the NFL bro. I’m not just trying to have football on my timeline.’

All things Bears: Latest Chicago Bears news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Fields then compared it to ‘messing’ with a girl but not following them on social media. When Amon-Ra St. Brown suggested that it means Fields ‘messes’ with the Bears more now, the quarterback said it’s not like that.

‘It’s something that I don’t want to spend my time on. I’m about to go on vacation,’ he said.

Fields also addressed the speculation between the organization’s decision to keep him or go with Williams, saying that all he sees on social media is, ‘it’s either keep Fields, we want Fields, it’s either draft Caleb.’

‘I’m tired of hearing the talk. I just want it to be over.’

As of now, Fields remains the quarterback for Chicago, but it could change anytime between now and the first round of the draft on April 25. Williams is expected to be the first overall selection in the draft, including in the USA TODAY Sports mock drafts. Fields is still under contract and he has a fifth-year option after the end of the 2024 that could be picked up, meaning drafting Williams would likely result in Fields being traded.

Major League Soccer is having its moment again in the United States, and you can thank Lionel Messi for that.

Messi — the Argentine World Cup champion and eight-time Ballon d’Or winner — kicks off his second MLS season with Inter Miami at 8 p.m. Wednesday night against Real Salt Lake. The game will be played at Miami’s newly-named Chase Stadium.

This will be Messi’s first full season with the team after joining last summer, and captivating fans by leading the club to a Leagues Cup title a month after his arrival.

The expectations are even higher in 2024.

But Messi’s health and availability are paramount with fans all over North America, Argentina and abroad investing in Inter Miami tickets to experience Messi Mania.

“If there’s anyone that wants to be in every game, play every minute and win everything, that’s Messi,” said Inter Miami chief business officer Xavier Asensi, who knows Messi intimately after 10 years together in Barcelona.

But ticket buyers need to temper their expectations of how much they’ll see Messi play — if they see him at all — with a grueling schedule ahead for the 36-year-old star.

Messi’s U.S. moment comes with jam-packed schedule

Messi and Inter Miami will pursue the Champions Cup, the Leagues Cup again, the U.S. Open Cup and the MLS Cup this season. He’ll also join Argentina again for two matches in March, matches during Copa America (with the final in Miami) and other 2026 World Cup qualifying games this year.

It all starts on the pitch, where Messi could play upwards of 50-60 games during the year if his health holds up. A fine line must be navigated between winning, promoting Inter Miami and MLS globally, and driving the sport’s momentum in this country.

“This is going to be an amazing 2024, and what comes ahead of us: The eyes of the world are going to be on America and South Florida with Copa America this summer, the FIFA Team World Cup in 2025 and the World Cup in 2026,” Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas said.

If Messi is in prime form, he’ll likely play entire Inter Miami matches, unless the score allows for a curtain call. If Messi is ramping up after an injury, he could see limited action. But if Messi is injured, he won’t play at all.

Those instances are difficult for Inter Miami to forecast, and will become disappointing realities ticket buyers must face if they arise.

“Players like Leo want to play. They want to be in absolutely every game. If it depended on him, he would play in every game. The reality is, that it is very difficult to be able to sustain with so many games throughout the year,” coach Tata Martino said. “So as coaches, what we have to look out for is the player’s health and that he is able to play as many games as possible.

‘Not only because fans want to see him, but also because it makes our team better if he is on the pitch.”

Messi’s absence in China is a cautionary tale

When fans are informed of Messi’s absence, however, has been a sticking point. In some instances, fans don’t know if Messi is coming off the bench or even playing at all until an hour before kickoff, when lineups are announced.

Messi did not play in a Hong Kong friendly earlier this month due to an adductor injury he has since recovered from. But fans grew restless and became angry as he sat from the bench in street clothes with no word he would not play.

It was a public relations disaster for Inter Miami during their international preseason tour, which made stops in El Salvador, Dallas, Saudi Arabia and Tokyo, and a cautionary tale for fans waiting to see Messi play this year.

“Unfortunately, it is something that happens in football, in any game it can happen that we get injured. It happened to me,” Messi said two days later, Feb.6, in Tokyo. “I couldn’t be in the game in Hong Kong, and it’s a shame because I always want to participate. I want to be there, and even more so when it comes to these types of games where we traveled so far, and people were so excited to watch us play.”

Martino said players will also rest when Inter Miami’s medical team deems further injury could be at risk. He understands fans’ disappointment if/when Messi is unavailable.

“I wish we could know in advance what games those would be, so we can communicate it,” Martino said. “But since that is decided depending on the minutes played, there are times when fans are disappointed, which we understand, because we have to go to a city and maybe he is either on the bench or not available to play.”

Messi missed six MLS games last September (two due to national duties and four due to injury), including Inter Miami’s final in the U.S. Open Cup, which they lost to Houston Dynamo.

And Asensi said no one was more upset about being sidelined in the final than Messi. “Believe me, you didn’t want to talk to him that night.”

Inter Miami does have “things to improve” when it comes to informing fans, Asensi acknowledges.

But he reiterates: No one wants to play more than Messi.

“If someone says, ‘I’m sad because Messi is not playing.’ Well, believe me. Leo is the one that is upset the most, and really it’s us because we want him to play,’ Asensi said. ‘Not just for you to be happy, but because we want to win.’

“And that’s a difficult balance to find.”