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The Indiana Fever are 0-1 without superstar Caitlin Clark.

The Washington Mystics defeated the Fever 83-77 on Wednesday in Indiana’s first game without Clark, who is expected to be sidelined at least two weeks with a left quad strain that dates back to the WNBA preseason.

The Fever’s DeWanna Bonner had a team-high 21 points off the bench. It marked a historic night for her she’s the first player in WNBA history to reach 7,500 points, 3,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists. But Bonner’s big night was not enough in the end for the win.

Brittney Sykes had 21 points for Washington, nine rebounds and four assists, finishing just one rebound short of a double-double. Mystics rookies Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron added 16 and 13 points, respectively.

The Mystics move to 3-3 on the season and end a three-game skid. (Washington’s three losses have been by a combined 11 points.) The Fever drop to 2-3 following back-to-back losses.

Fever vs. Mystics highlights

End of Q3: Mystics 60, Fever 53

The Mystics have a 60-53 lead over the Fever heading into the fourth quarter, which marks Washington’s largest of the game. Mystics rookie Lucy Olsen dropped back-to-back 3s in the third quarter and is up to six points on the night. Fellow rookie Kiki Iriafen has eight points and five rebounds.

Halftime: Mystics 44, Fever 40

The Mystics outscored the Fever 25-17 in the second quarter to take a four-point lead into the locker room at halftime. Washington’s Shakira Austin leads all scorers with 13 points off the bench, in addition to two rebounds and one steal. Rookie Sonia Citron added nine points, four rebounds and one assist. The Mystics are outscoring the Fever in paint points (30-18) and fast-break points (5-0). Meanwhile, Natasha Howard leads the Fever with 10 points and five rebounds, but has four turnovers. DeWanna Bonner added nine points off the bench for Indiana.

End of Q1: Fever 23, Mystics 19

No Caitlin Clark, no problem so far for the Fever. Indiana has a four-point lead over Washington heading into the second quarter, following a team-high eight points from Natasha Howard. The Fever are collectively shooting 50% from both the field and 3-point line, while the Mystics are only shooting 35% from the field and 25% from 3. Shakira Austin leads Washington with six points off the bench.

What time is Fever vs. Mystics?

The Indiana Fever vs. Washington Mystics game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 28 at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore.

The Mystics typically play their home games at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C., which seats 4,200, but are playing both of their home games against the Fever at the larger CFG Bank Arena (14,000 capacity).

How to watch Fever vs. Mystics WNBA game: TV, stream

Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore
TV: NBA TV
Stream: Fubo

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

The Indiana Fever are set to play the Washington Mystics on Wednesday in what will be the franchise’s first game this season without the services of Caitlin Clark.

Clark is dealing with a left quad strain that is expected to sideline her for at least two weeks. She dealt with a left quad injury during the WNBA preseason, notably missing a matchup against the Mystics because of it, but was healthy enough to play in the Fever’s season opener against the Chicago Sky.

Without Clark, the Fever will rely more on Aliyah Boston to carry their offense. Boston is averaging 18.5 points and 10.8 rebounds per game this season and is tied with Kelsey Mitchell for the second-most assists per game (2.3) on the team.

Mitchell is more of an off-ball guard but may be asked to up her playmaking ability with Clark out of the lineup. Veteran guard Sydney Colson is set to take over the starting point guard duties in Clark’s stead while Sophie Cunningham will also be a part of the rotation at the position.

Regardless of who runs the point, Fever coach Stephanie White conceded the offense is ‘going to look different’ with Clark out of the lineup.

Meanwhile, the Mystics will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak after winning back-to-back games to open the season. Washington’s three losses have been by a combined 11 points and the team has gotten strong performances out of its first-round rookie duo of Sonia Citron (15.4 points per game) and Kiki Iriafen (13.8 points, 11.2 rebounds per game).

Here’s what to know about the Fever vs. Mystics game, including how to watch the Wednesday matchup.

Halftime: Mystics 44, Fever 40

The Mystics outscored the Fever 25-17 in the second quarter to take a four-point lead into the locker room at halftime. Washington’s Shakira Austin leads all scorers with 13 points off the bench, in addition to two rebounds and one steal. Rookie Sonia Citron added nine points, four rebounds and one assist. The Mystics are outscoring the Fever in paint points (30-18) and fast break points (5-0). Meanwhile, Natasha Howard leads the Fever with 10 points and five rebounds, but has four turnovers. DeWanna Bonner added nine points off the bench for Indiana.

End of Q1: Fever 23, Mystics 19

No Caitlin Clark, no problem so far for the Fever. Indiana has a four-point lead over Washington heading into the second quarter, following a team-high eight points from Natasha Howard. The Fever is collectively shooting 50% from both the field and three-point line, while the Mystics are only shooting 35% from the field and 25% from three. Shakira Austin leads Washington with six points off the bench.

What time is Fever vs. Mystics?

The Indiana Fever vs. Washington Mystics game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 28 at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore.

The Mystics typically play their home games at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C., which seats 4,200, but are playing both of their home games against the Fever at the larger CFG Bank Arena (14,000 capacity).

How to watch Fever vs. Mystics WNBA game: TV, stream

Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore
TV: NBA TV
Stream: Fubo

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — Would you look at that. We’re finally talking ball again. 

Not court cases, or revenue sharing, or transfer portal or free player movement. Just football. 

After spending two days holed up in a beachside resort for the league’s annual spring meetings, SEC coaches decided to drastically alter the narrative from this painfully parliamentary offseason. 

The coaches want to play the Big Ten once a season. As soon as possible.

“I think I can speak for the room when I say that’s our first goal as coaches,” said LSU coach Brian Kelly said. “But you gotta get a partner who says we’re in for that, too.”

USA TODAY Sports reported last October that the SEC and Big Ten were talking about a scheduling agreement, one that would significantly increase media rights revenue as a stand alone regular season series. A Big Ten official, speaking in December on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the discussions, said the series may not begin until later this decade or the early 2030s because of logistics.

But in the fluid environment of college sports, where the world revolves around generating revenue to help offset pay for play, what’s concrete one month is mailable the next. Especially for the two super conferences quickly coalescing and gaining further separation from the rest of college football.

The ultimate goal of any scheduling agreement would be a straight 16 vs. 16 format, but there are obstacles. While Kelly said he was speaking for the entire group of coaches, that’s theoretically.

They all want to play a game against the Big Ten, but not all in the same manner. Like everything of late in college football, nothing lives in a vacuum.

There are tentacles and unintended consequences to every decision.  It begins with the SEC schedule debate (eight or nine games?), and includes the College Football Playoff selection committee (do Big Ten games strengthen resumes?). 

If the league sticks with eight games, coaches are full-go on playing a non-conference game against the Big Ten. If the league moves to nine conference games, that could be a problem for the four SEC schools (Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina) with current annual rivalry games against an in-state ACC school. 

Playing nine conference games, an annual rivalry game and a game against the Big Ten would leave those four teams with one flexible game on the schedule. Washington, Oregon, Iowa and Southern California are in similar situations in the Big Ten, which currently plays nine conference games.

In other words, a simple 16 vs. 16 schedule agreement might be difficult to execute. But an agreement that includes a majority of the schools from each conference would still generate significant revenue and attention.

“I’m all for it, but it’d be like the Kansas City Chiefs playing the Green Bay Packers for an 18th regular season game,” South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said. “And the other teams aren’t.”

Any schedule agreement also depends on the most perplexing issue of the moment: the College Football Playoff selection committee. Specifically, metrics used to select teams.

Many in the SEC believe they were unfairly penalized for playing in the most competitive conference in college football. Losses, they said, held more weight than wins — no matter the strength of the conference.

There must be a process, SEC officials say, where the selection committee votes within the subtleties of the season. Case in point: Indiana.

The Hoosiers won 11 games in 2024, but beat one team with a winning record and received an at-large berth. While a rotating Big Ten schedule gave Indiana a favorable draw, the selection committee could have weighed that factor — instead of simply rewarding the Hoosiers for winning games. 

Then there’s SMU, which had two losses in a conference that was 3-8 vs. the SEC in the regular season, and was selected ahead of three-loss Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina. 

The 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences that make up the CFP already showed a willingness to change formats after only one season of the 12-team structure. The CFP last week eliminated automatic byes for the highest-ranked four conference champions, and instituted a straight-seed process for the 2025 season.

Maybe friction from the offseason will filter into the selection committee room, too, where the human condition typically outweighs other objective and subjective factors.

Or maybe it’s as simple as winning games that matter, and another non-conference win over a Big Ten team would go a long way in the eyes of the committee. Especially against the conference that has won the last two national titles.

“We want to show we have the depth in this league from top to bottom,” Kelly said. “And we are the premier league in the country.”

Finally, a return to football normalcy. 

Until the next legal hurdle, anyway.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB. 

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

The Coca-Cola 600 marked the longest race on the NASCAR Cup Series calendar and the halfway mark of the regular season. Ross Chastain’s impressive comeback win stamped an exciting race following the NASCAR All-Star break.

The action continues this weekend from Lebanon, Tennessee, at the Nashville Superspeedway. The Cracker Barrel 400 kicks off Sunday night for the latest edition of one of the Cup Series’ newer events.

There has been a different winner in each of the four previous runnings of the race: Kyle Larson in 2021, Chase Elliott in 2022, Chastain in 2023 and Joey Logano in 2024. That leaves things wide open this weekend.

With the calendar reaching the halfway point, it’s a good time to take stock of the championship power rankings. So far, only eight drivers have won races through the first 13 championship races. That means half of the playoff field (16 spots) is still up for grabs.

The championship rankings saw lots of change after the Coca-Cola 600. The latest NASCAR odds from BetMGM show a clear favorite ahead of a closely packed second tier.

Here’s how things look by odds for winning the Cup Series title in 2025:

NASCAR power rankings by odds

Odds via BetMGM as of May 28.

T-12. Josh Berry (+5000)

Berry’s earned his spot in the playoffs thanks to his win in Las Vegas in March. Beyond that win, he has a pair of top-eight finishes (fourth in Phoenix, sixth in Kansas). He had a solid finish in Charlotte (12th) ahead of his hometown race in Tennessee.

T-12. Austin Cindric (+5000)

Cindric’s win in Talladega secures him a spot in the playoffs and he’s shown great speed at Superspeedways this season. That form will come in handy in the playoffs with the penultimate round of the Round of 8 in Talladega this season.

T-12. Bubba Wallace (+5000)

Wallace is in a tough stretch of results with three consecutive DNFs following his eighth-place result in Talladega that featured a Stage 2 win. This is his worst string of results since moving to 23XI Racing so he’s more likely than not to bounce back soon.

T-12. Kyle Busch (+5000)

The two-time Cup Series champion notched another top-15 finish in Charlotte. He’s had solid results this season but still has yet to make an appearance in victory lane since June 2023 (Gateway).

T-12. Chris Buescher (+5000)

Buescher has had some tough luck recently with only one top-10 result in the last five races (eighth in Kansas). Luckily, Michigan and Pocono are on the docket for the next four races, both tracks Buescher has won at before.

11. Chase Briscoe (+4000)

Briscoe took pole position for Charlotte but dropped down the order. He worked his way back to third, his fifth top-five finish of the season. He’s yet to win in the regular season but is in good form ahead of Nashville.

T-9. Ross Chastain (+3000)

Chastain had an outstanding drive under the lights after Trackhouse Racing had to build a backup car. He went from 40th to victory lane for his first win of the season. Nashville is one of his better tracks on the calendar and he should perform well.

T-9. Alex Bowman (+3000)

It’s hard to find a more up-and-down season than Bowman’s so far in 2025. He has two top-10 results (Talladega, Kansas) balanced out by DNFs in Bristol and Texas as well as 29th in Charlotte.

8. Joey Logano (+1600)

Logano pushed it for a win in Charlotte but the caution he was waiting for never arrived. The defending Cup Series champion has shown he can get hot at the right time and already has his playoff ticket punched thanks to his win in Texas.

7. Chase Elliott (+1200)

Elliott has yet to win a race in the 2025 season but has been the picture of consistency as usual. He has yet to finish a race lower than 20th with seven top-10 results. More non-oval races are coming up on the Cup Series calendar and that should play to his strengths.

6. Tyler Reddick (+1000)

Reddick has been similarly consistent but a step down from Elliott. He had a season-worst 26th-place finish in Charlotte thanks to a late incident. He hasn’t made the top 10 in the last five races, though, and needs a turn of form to make the Championship 4 once again.

T-4. Denny Hamlin (+650)

Hamlin’s back-to-back wins in Martinsville and Darlington have his playoff spot sealed. He had a disappointing result in Charlotte due to a fueling issue but is still a contender every week.

T-4. Ryan Blaney (+650)

Blaney’s in a tough stretch of the calendar. Top-five finishes in Darlington, Bristol, Texas and Kansas have been balanced by DNFs in Talladega and Charlotte. He’s yet to visit victory lane in 2025 but the 2023 Cup Series champion has the pedigree to make a run.

3. William Byron (+600)

Byron led 283 of the 400 laps in Charlotte but could only manage second behind Chastain. Still, that result gives him the championship lead. His win in the Daytona 500 ensured his playoff spot and he’s been consistent enough in the postseason to be a contender late in the year.

2. Christopher Bell (+500)

Bell’s the only driver to win three races in a row – he did so early on in Atlanta, Austin and Phoenix – and has stayed consistent since then. His six top-10 finishes in the last seven races put him within range of Byron for the championship lead.

1. Kyle Larson (+275)

Larson’s bad luck with trying The Double last week dampened what’s been a great stretch for the Hendrick Motorsports driver. His dominant wins in Kansas and Bristol were balanced out by DNFs in Darlington and Charlotte. He’s the favorite for good reason

2025 Cracker Barrel 400: How to watch, TV, streaming

Here’s how to watch the Cracker Barrel 400 this weekend.

Laps: 300
Distance: 400 miles
Date: Sunday, June 1, 2025
Location: Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tennessee
Time: 7 p.m. ET
TV: n/a
Streaming:Prime Video, Fubo

Watch the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series with Fubo

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

Elon Musk is beginning the process of stepping down from his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO posted on X on Wednesday night that his time as a special government employee is coming to an end and thanked President Donald Trump for the opportunity to cut down on wasteful spending.

‘The ⁦‪@DOGE‬⁩ mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government,’ 
Musk wrote in his post. The White House confirmed to FOX that Musk’s post is accurate and offboarding will begin Wednesday night.

Musk has been the public face of DOGE since Trump signed an executive order establishing the office Jan. 20. DOGE has since ripped through federal government agencies in a quest to identify and end government overspending, corruption and fraud.

He was officially hired as a ‘special government employee,’ which is a role Congress created in 1962 that allows the executive or legislative branch to hire temporary employees for specific short-term initiatives.

Special government employees are permitted to work for the federal government for ‘no more than 130 days in a 365-day period,’ according to data from the Office of Government Ethics. Musk’s 130-day timeframe, beginning on Inauguration Day, was set to run dry on May 30.

DOGE is a temporary cross-departmental organization that was established to slim down and streamline the federal government. The group itself will be dissolved on July 4, 2026, according to Trump’s executive order.

Musk and Trump have both previously previewed that Musk’s role was temporary and would come to end in the spring. 

‘You, technically, are a special government employee and you’re supposed to be 130 days,’ Fox News’ Bret Baier asked Musk during an exclusive interview Musk and DOGE team members in April. ‘Are you going to continue past that or do you think that’s what you’re going to do?’ 

‘I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars within that time frame,’ Musk responded. 

Trump hinted at Musk’s departure in comments to the media on March 31, when asked if he wants Musk to remain in a government role for longer than the predetermined 130 days. 

‘I think he’s amazing. But I also think he’s got a big company to run,’ Trump said in March. ‘And so at some point he’s going to be going back.’

‘I’d keep him as long as I can keep him,’ Trump said. ‘He’s a very talented guy. You know, I love very smart people. He’s very smart. And he’s done a good job,’ the president added. ‘DOGE is, we’ve found numbers that nobody can even believe.’ 

More recently, Musk said during a Tesla earnings call on April 22 that he will take a step back from his work as DOGE’s leader. 

‘I think starting probably in next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,’ Musk said during Tesla’s earnings conference call. ‘I’ll have to continue doing it for, I think, the remainder of the president’s term just to make sure the waste and fraud that we stopped does not come roaring back, which it will do if it has the chance. So I think I’ll continue to spend, you know, a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the president would like me to do so and as long as it is useful.’

‘But starting next month,’ he added, ‘I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla now that the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done.’

Amid Musk’s work with DOGE, Democrats and activists have staged protests against the tech billionaire and his companies, including working to tank Tesla stocks. 

Musk has been the public face of DOGE for months, but is not an employee of the United States DOGE Service and does not report to the acting DOGE chief, according to court filing in March that shed additional light on the internal workings of the office. 

‘Elon Musk does not work at USDS. I do not report to him, and he does not report to me. To my knowledge, he is a Senior Advisor to the White House,’ Amy Gleason, the acting administrator of DOGE, wrote in a declaration included in a court filing. 

Gleason previously worked for the United States Digital Service, which was founded in 2014 by former President Barack Obama as a technology office within the Executive Office of the President. Trump signed an executive order in January that renamed the office to the United States DOGE Service, establishing DOGE. 

Though Musk has been the public face of DOGE, he ‘has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself’ and is working as a senior advisor to the president, a White House official said in a separate court filing back in February.

Musk emerged as an ardent supporter of Trump’s at the height of the election cycle over the summer, officially endorsing Trump after the first assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. 

‘I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,’ Musk posted to X shortly after the attempt, accompanied by footage of Trump raising a fist and shouting ‘Fight, fight, fight!’ after he was left bloodied by the assassination attempt. 

Musk hosted Trump on X for an expansive interview while on the campaign trail 

Across Musk’s tenure as a special government employee, Trump has praised the tech billionaire for his efforts to streamline the government and cut it of overspending, including during his first address to a joint session of Congress since his second inauguration. 

‘Thank you, Elon. He’s working very hard. He didn’t need this. He didn’t need this. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Everybody here, even this side, appreciates it, I believe. They just don’t want to admit that,’ Trump said in March during his address, quipping that Democrats were even grateful for Musk’s work at DOGE. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is terminating awards totaling more than $750 million dollars that were provided to pharmaceutical manufacturer Moderna to help facilitate its production of mRNA-based bird flu vaccines. 

During President Joe Biden’s final week in office, his administration awarded $590 million to Moderna to help speed up its production of mRNA-based vaccines. The $590 million award followed a separate $176 million award Biden gave to Moderna earlier last year for mRNA vaccine technology.

Messenger RNA vaccines are a newer type of vaccine technology, which was utilized by companies like Moderna and Pfizer to develop their COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccine technology was at the center of a lot of criticism amid the coronavirus pandemic for potentially being associated with adverse side effects in some people who took them, such as myocarditis.

Trump administration officials previously hinted at the potential that this funding could be terminated, citing a lack of oversight during the Biden administration pertaining to vaccine production. 

‘After a rigorous review, we concluded that continued investment in Moderna’s H5N1 mRNA vaccine was not scientifically or ethically justifiable,’ HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon said. ‘This is not simply about efficacy — it’s about safety, integrity, and trust. The reality is that mRNA technology remains under-tested, and we are not going to spend taxpayer dollars repeating the mistakes of the last administration, which concealed legitimate safety concerns from the public.’

The announcement reflects a larger shift in federal vaccine priorities, after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced earlier this week that COVID-19 vaccines would be removed from the federal government’s list of recommended vaccines for children and pregnant women. 

Meanwhile, a report from Senate Republicans released earlier this month suggested the Biden administration withheld critical safety data and downplayed known risks tied to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. In particular, the Senate report focuses on HHS’ awareness of, and response to, cases of myocarditis — a type of heart inflammation — following COVID-19 vaccination.

‘Rather than provide the public and health care providers with immediate and transparent information regarding the risk of myocarditis following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, the Biden administration waited until late June 2021 to announce changes to the labels for the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines based on the ‘suggested increased risks’ of myocarditis and pericarditis,’ the Senate report states. ‘Even though CDC and FDA officials were well aware of the risk of myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccination, the Biden administration opted to withhold issuing a formal warning to the public for months about the safety concerns, jeopardizing the health of young Americans.’

In response to the Trump administration’s funding termination, Moderna put out a press release acknowledging the move, but also touting the ‘safety profile’ observed amid its work on a new mRNA bird flu vaccine.

‘While the termination of funding from HHS adds uncertainty, we are pleased by the robust immune response and safety profile observed in this interim analysis of the Phase 1/2 study of our H5 avian flu vaccine and we will explore alternative paths forward for the program,’ said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. ‘These clinical data in pandemic influenza underscore the critical role mRNA technology has played as a countermeasure to emerging health threats.’

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday the U.S. will begin ‘aggressively’ revoking visas of Chinese students.

‘Under President Donald Trump’s leadership, the U.S. State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,’ Rubio wrote in a statement. 

The State Department will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong.

In March, House Republicans introduced the Stop Chinese Communist Prying by Vindicating Intellectual Safeguards in Academia Act, also known as the Stop CCP VISAs Act.

In an interview with FOX Business May 12, U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., criticized providing student visas to Chinese nationals, citing a Stanford University report that uncovered the Chinese Communist Party’s alleged activity on U.S. college campuses.

The report, published by the Stanford Review, detailed an incident in which a man posing as a Stanford student targeted women at the university to gather intelligence for the Chinese Ministry of State Security.

‘How can we keep offering 300,000 student visas to Chinese nationals every year when we KNOW they are legally required to gather intelligence for the CCP? The answer is simple: we can’t,’ Moody wrote in a post on X. ‘@StanfordReview’s report on CCP espionage on campus should shock everyone and verify what I have been saying. We need to pass my STOP CCP Visas Act to protect our national security.’

Along with the new Chinese national policy, Rubio announced new visa restrictions Wednesday on foreigners ‘complicit’ in censoring Americans.

‘For too long, Americans have been fined, harassed, and even charged by foreign authorities for exercising their free speech rights,’ Rubio wrote in a post. ‘Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign officials and persons who are complicit in censoring Americans.

‘Free speech is essential to the American way of life – a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority.’

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

It is shameful enough for the president of the United States to launch a barrage of insults at a fellow adult and issue not-so-veiled threats.

But a teenager? A 16-year-old whose biggest concerns ought to be her upcoming finals and choosing a topic for her college application essay is now in harm’s way because of Donald Trump’s latest effort to gin up his base.

Trump targeted the transgender teen as part of a social media post Tuesday threatening California Gov. Gavin Newsom over the state’s law protecting the participation of transgender athletes. (Ask Maine how well that’s going to go.) Though Trump did not mention the young woman’s name, her high school or even which events she’s won, it only takes a quick spin of the Google machine to find all that out — along with when she’ll be competing at this weekend’s state championships.

If you don’t think that’s a threat to her physical safety, if you can’t imagine how Trump’s screed might encourage one of his followers to take matters into his or her own hands, you must have been under a rock on Jan. 6, 2021.

Hernandez has shrugged off the hysteria from the anti-trans activists, telling Capital & Main, “I’m still a child, you’re an adult, and for you to act like a child shows how you are as a person.” But there’s quite a difference between Karen from Chino trying to make you disappear and the president of the United States bringing the full weight of his social media following to the fight.

And, as usual when it comes to transgender participation in sports, facts are irrelevant.

Trump claimed that Hernandez ‘won ‘everything’ at last weekend’s southern California regional championship and “is practically unbeatable.” This despite her finishing fourth in the high jump at what was not even a statewide meet.

Hernandez did win titles in the triple jump and long jump, but even in those events she is not close to being “unbeatable”. Her personal best in the triple jump is 41 feet, 4 inches, which is almost 2 feet behind the nation’s best this season. Two feet! And Hernandez didn’t come close to that Saturday.

It’s similar in the long jump, where the 19 feet, 3.5 inches Hernandez jumped on Saturday doesn’t even crack the top 25 for best performances nationally this season. Heck, it isn’t even the best result in the state this season.

“I don’t think you understand that this puts your idiotic claims to trash. `She can’t be beat because she’s biologically male,’” Hernandez told Capital & Main after an earlier meet, where she won the triple jump but was third in the long jump and eighth in the high jump.

I don’t know how many times this needs to be said, but there is no reputable science showing a competitive advantage by transgender women. Nor are the performances of cisgender men an appropriate comparison or predictor for transgender women because the two are not the same.  

Transgender girls and young women have been competing for years now and, last time I checked, they aren’t overrunning the podium or taking all the roster spots. They don’t pose an existential threat to cisgender women or women’s sports.

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Are there some transgender girls and young women who’ve beaten their cisgender opponents, as Hernandez did in the triple jump? Sure. But it’s not because they’re transgender. It’s because that’s how sport works. You line up, you compete, and somebody wins and everybody else loses, and the reasons for that are as varied as the people involved. Physiology. Coaching. Experience. Work ethic. Nutrition. I could go on.

But the transgender community, and transgender women athletes in particular, have become a convenient punching bag for opportunistic politicians and mean-spirited grifters, often as a cover for their own failings. These people have made the few dozen transgender athletes — yes, that’s really all there is across the levels of youth sports — into bogey men and women who will be the ruin of our society, and too many Americans have fallen for the con.

It’s craven and it’s cruel. And in the case of Trump’s post Tuesday, it’s dangerous. The discourse over transgender athletes has gotten so out of hand, devoid of all reality and decency, that it’s only a matter of time until someone gets physically hurt.

Or worse.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

John Kopecky, a salesman in Colorado Springs, Colorado, had grand plans for this coming weekend. He paid about $3,000 for flights, hotel rooms and four tickets to take his wife, 14-year-old daughter and her basketball teammate to Caitlin Clark’s game May 30 against the Connecticut Sun in Indianapolis. 

On May 26, Kopecky read on social media that Clark had a strained left quadriceps and would be out for at least the next two weeks. He spoke to his wife and they decided right then and there to cancel their flights and hotel rooms, give their tickets to a friend in Indianapolis and look at the Fever’s August schedule for another game to attend. 

“Once I found out Caitlin wasn’t playing, it didn’t make sense for us to fly to Indianapolis,” Kopecky said in a phone interview. “We are Caitlin fans before Fever fans. She’s the biggest draw − that’s who the girls want to see. That was the whole point of going to Indy: seeing Caitlin Clark. When she was injured, we thought, ‘Let’s just postpone until August.’” 

Kopecky and his family are not alone. Ticket prices for the next four Fever games on the secondary market are plummeting as fans as well as the WNBA itself begin to grapple with the reality that the biggest draw in the history of women’s basketball, and one of the greatest attractions in all of sports, men’s and women’s, will not be around for awhile. It has happening most dramatically with tickets for the June 7 Fever-Sky game at the 23,500-seat United Center in Chicago, where Clark is such an overwhelming draw that ticket prices have fallen more than 300% in less than two days.

I can personally confirm the pronounced change in interest in Fever games without Clark. A week ago, I bought four tickets on StubHub to take my sports-playing nieces to the Fever-Washington Mystics game in Baltimore. Tickets in the same row are now going for less than half of what I paid. I could only imagine what they would cost by game time. Perhaps they’ll be giving them away. And yes, we are still going to the game.

Ironically, the reason the game is being played in Baltimore is because the Mystics decided to move it from their 4,200-seat venue in Washington to the 14,000-seat CFG Bank Arena to make as much money from Clark’s presence as possible. Massive Capital One Arena, which Clark and the Fever sold out twice last season, including the largest crowd in WNBA regular-season history, 20,711, is undergoing renovations and is unavailable, hence the trip to Baltimore. 

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The superlatives never seem to stop for Clark, but one stunning statistic stands out above the rest. In Clark’s record-breaking rookie season last year, the Fever’s average home attendance was by far the highest in the league: 17,036. It also was better than the average home attendance of five NBA teams in the 2023-24 season: their hometown partner Indiana Pacers, the Atlanta Hawks, the Washington Wizards, the Memphis Grizzlies and the Charlotte Hornets, according to my upcoming book, ‘On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports.’

You read that right. Clark and the Fever beat five NBA teams in average home attendance. Before her arrival in the WNBA, this kind of statistic would have been unthinkable. So, for those who want to continue to minimize Clark or her historic impact on the league and throughout women’s sports, consider that as she attracts people who never before watched women’s basketball, she helps shine a light on so many players in a league that is 74% Black or mixed-race − players who never received the attention or recognition they deserved from the male-dominated sports media, as well as a vast swath of the American fan base, until she arrived.  

TV viewership, always sky-high for Clark’s games, probably will take a hit as well. In the 2024 regular season, of the 23 WNBA games to reach at least 1 million viewers, 20 of them featured Clark. According to Fox Sports, Clark’s games averaged 1.178 million viewers; all other games averaged 394,000. This is why 40 of the 44 Fever games are on national TV this year, the most of any team in the league.

All of this illustrates the significance of the news about Clark. This is not just another player getting injured; this is the WNBA’s top financial driver who is now unavailable to play, promote and sell the league, for a couple of weeks at least.

In December 2024, The Indianapolis Star reported that Clark was responsible for 26.5% of the WNBA’s league-wide activity during the 2024 season, including attendance, merchandise sales and television, according to Dr. Ryan Brewer of Indiana University Columbus. One of every 6 tickets sold at a WNBA arena could be attributed to Clark, said the Star, part of the USA TODAY Network. 

That is just how crucial Caitlin Clark is to the WNBA. You would think the league might acknowledge the moment. But so far, no. Asked three times for a comment on Clark’s injury and what it meant to the league, a WNBA spokesman never replied. 

Editor’s note: Christine Brennan’s book, ‘On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports,’ will be published by Scribner July 8.  

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An Indiana man allegedly took the Pacers and New York Knicks rivalry too far, after he was arrested and charged for stabbing a Knicks fan at a bar on May 23 and injuring another fan.

The stabbing occurred around 10:40 p.m. after the Pacers fan, Jarrett Funke, 24, had allegedly harassed two Knicks fans while they were watching the game at bar in Carmel, a suburb about 20 miles north of Indianapolis.

According to court records, Funke allegedly approached one of the Knicks fans, hitting the fan’s hat off his head and began yelling at the two fans to engage in a fight.

At that point, Funke’s father grabbed his son and attempted to de-escalate the situation. Bar staff called police and told Funke and his family to leave the premises.

After receiving this warning, Funke’s father started to drag his son out of the bar, as Jarrett cursed at the Knicks fan, yelling ‘take this outside,’ according to court records.

Court records: Men pull out knives out on patio

Officers with the Carmel Police Department initially responded to the call at the brewery, Danny Boy Beer Works, but turned around after staff called back and said that the man causing the issue had left.

After Funke left, the two Knicks fans stepped onto the bar’s patio to smoke. That’s when Funke stormed onto the patio and began harassing them once more.

One of the Knicks fans pulled out a pocket knife and then put it back in his pocket, according to court records.

Funke then attacked the man, pulling out his own pocket knife and stabbing him in the back with it, while the Knicks fan fought back, according to court records.

The other Knicks fan attempted to pull Funke off of his friend, but ended up cutting his leg against the patio’s stoop, according to court documents.

Multiple people told police that the man was bleeding profusely, causing them to worry that he might die from his injuries.

During the fight, bar staff once more called the police.

Pacers fan facing battery charges

As Funke attempted to drive away from the bar, he was stopped by Carmel Police officers in the parking lot.

Police arrested Funke, while emergency medical personnel transported the two Knicks fans to a hospital. Police brought Funke to the hospital to address his injuries, and while there, police interviewed Funke to figure out what caused the fight on the patio.

‘They were talking (expletive),’ Funke told the officer.

Funke claimed that the Knicks fans had started the fight, but after interviewing everyone involved in the fight and at the bar, the officer determined that Funke was the aggressor.

On May 27, 2025, the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office charged Funke with battery by means of a deadly weapon, battery resulting in serious bodily injury, criminal recklessness and battery.

Contact IndyStar reporter Noe Padilla at npadilla@indystar.com, follow him on X @1NoePadilla or on Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social.

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