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Griner gets first Unrivaled dunk, shares moment with Hall of Famer

MEDLEY, Fla. — Brittney Griner sat at the Unrivaled podium, holding her toddler son, Bash, briefly reliving the moment of being the first player to dunk in the new women’s basketball league.

Griner may be the most prolific dunker in women’s basketball history, but she doesn’t go into games with the intention to dunk. Phantom teammate Natisha Hiedeman proposed the idea during pregame warmups then found Griner open under the basket near the end of the first quarter on Monday night.

Griner felt like she had to deliver. She admits she was pumped, quickly trying to refocus on the defensive end to avoid a lapse after the highlight play. She even sank a 3-pointer just before the buzzer.

Despite the achievement, Griner’s thoughts were on her team’s 92-79 loss to the league-leading Lunar Owls.

“It’s always hype. My teammates love it. Fans love it. You know, try to bring some excitement. But I mean, at the end of the day, we lost,” Griner told USA TODAY Sports. “So, that’s what’s on my mind. Dunk, no dunk. Three, no three. We lost.”

WOMEN’S SPORTS: The latest news and insider insights from USA TODAY Studio IX.

Then, Basketball Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie – the first player to dunk in a game in WNBA history – got hold of the microphone during Griner’s postgame press conference.

Leslie’s presence at Unrivaled has been priceless, furthering the game with the league’s brightest stars. She’s been helping players like Angel Reese, Satou Sabally and Napheesa Collier work on their games, while analyzing Unrivaled games with Turner Sports during the league’s inaugural season.

Leslie wasn’t going to let Griner pass up the opportunity to bask in her accomplishment.

“The dunk was outstanding, and it’s historic. And obviously I know what it’s like to have a historic dunk, but not the ending you want. The night I dunked, we lost that game, too,” Leslie told Griner. “So, I know what you mean about remembering that, but that is a historic moment for you to be the first to dunk in Unrivaled. It was awesome.”

With Leslie sitting just a few feet away, Griner took a moment to truly reflect.

Dunks have been more routine for the 6-foot-9 star than any other player in women’s basketball.

Griner dunked twice during the first WNBA game of her career on May 27, 2013 – quickly tying Candace Parker’s record for dunks in league history, while passing Leslie and Awak Kuier on the all-time dunks list.

Griner has 27 dunks in WNBA games during the regular season, playoffs and All-Star Game during her 11-year career.

It was only a matter of time before she cemented her name in Unrivaled’s record books with the league’s first dunk.

“You know what, it definitely is (awesome),” Griner said to Leslie, while holding her son. “I’ll be able to hold that (title). I got to do it with you here as well. It was pretty cool, when I actually take the time to think about it. And he’s here, too. So, it all kinda lines up.”

Griner’s Unrivaled experience comes three years after her controversial arrest in Russia.

Griner was detained on Feb. 17, 2022 – about two weeks before the public knew she was in custody on drug charges after customs officials allegedly found vape cartridges in her luggage. She was sentenced to nine years in prison on Aug. 4, 2022. She was released in a prisoner exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout on Dec. 8, 2022.

Griner’s past was not lost on Leslie, who felt like she had to praise Griner in person before the night was over.

“It’s amazing. I was happy that I was here. I think it’s great for BG, especially all that she’s been through to have that moment. And I think it’s great for Unrivaled,” Leslie told USA TODAY Sports.

At Unrivaled, an appealing offseason option domestically for WNBA players, Griner has played with Hiedeman, Sabally, Marina Mabrey, Katie Lou Samuelson, her old Phoenix Mercury teammate Natasha Cloud, and U.S. Olympic teammate Sabrina Ionescu for the Phantom, while being coached by eight-year NBA assistant Adam Harrington.

Griner has averaged 16.9 points (11th of 39 Unrivaled players) and leads the league with 1.6 blocks per game. She had season highs of 29 points and nine rebounds on Jan. 24, and had 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in Monday’s loss to the Lunar Owls.

Griner said she wanted to join Unrivaled to remind people she can still play the game at a high level. She’s also enjoying her time in Miami with her son and wife, Cherelle, before she joins the Atlanta Dream for her 12th season in the WNBA.

“It’s been a whirlwind. Shout out to my wife … I couldn’t do this without her, honestly. But I just wanted to come to Unrivaled to show everybody, you know, I still got it. I still can play,” Griner said. “A lot of people kind of counted me out in 3-on-3. So, I love to use that to prove everybody wrong.”

Griner smiled widely during the interaction with Leslie, almost holding her son as a defensive mechanism, as she received praise from the WNBA legend.

“Just know: We are so happy to have you here at Unrivaled, seeing you play. You’re not just back. You’re back and you’re better. And you warm our hearts,” Leslie told Griner. “Even though we don’t say it to you enough, it’s great to see you be able to finish out your career. And good luck in Atlanta as well.”

“Thank you, I really appreciate that,” Griner responded.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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Trump urged by ‘fiscal responsibility’ group to show he’s ‘serious’ about $36T debt

Ahead of President Donald Trump’s congressional address on Tuesday night, the Concord Coalition launched their new ‘fiscal responsibility’ advocacy group, Concord Action, designed to pressure Congress to tackle America’s $36 trillion debt crisis.  

Former Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, D-GA, the new executive director and president, in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital urged Trump to show he is serious about tackling America’s debt crisis. 

‘I’d like to hear that he’s really serious about putting everything on the table and putting together an effort that reaches out,’ Bourdeaux said. ‘He really needs to reach across the aisle. We know that to get the budget done, just on an annual basis, it does require Democrats to be involved. This needs to be a bipartisan effort.’

Bourdeaux, a Democrat who worked with Republicans during the Great Recession to balance Georgia’s state budget, said Trump needs to lead a ‘bipartisan effort’ that goes ‘line by line’ through the nation’s spending. 

‘It needs to be a thoughtful effort,’ Bourdeaux added. ‘It does need to tackle the waste, fraud and abuse, but anyone who is serious about balancing the budget knows that is not enough. We really have to go line by line through all the different programs that we do, including the mandatory spending, and look at places where we can find savings and efficiencies. And we also have to put the tax side on the table as well.’

The economy was the top issue for American voters in 2024, as four in 20 voters said inflation was the most important factor in their vote, according to 2024 Fox News Voter Analysis. Voters reported a negative view of the economy, with almost two-thirds rating the economy as not good, 40%, or downright poor, 24%. 

‘I know people approach this with a sense of despair, but it can be done. Back in the 1990s, I was actually a congressional staffer at the time. We did balance the budget. We did get together. It was done on a bipartisan basis. You know, Clinton was the president, but the House was Republican, at times the Senate was Republican. They got together, and they got it done. We really need to replicate that process again,’ Bourdeaux said. 

Bourdeaux said if America has balanced the budget before, then it can be done again. When former President Bill Clinton took office, the national debt was over $4 trillion, according to U.S. Treasury data. Republicans and Democrats worked across the aisle to achieve budget surpluses through legislation like the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.

Bourdeaux said she wants to hear a real plan from Trump on Tuesday night. 

‘Right now, even getting to balance. Nobody has a plan. Nobody has anything serious on the table right now. We need to set up what that plan is going to be and then start executing it,’ Bourdeaux added.

Deputy White House press secretary Harrison Fields responded in a statement to Fox News Digital, ‘Since day one, President Trump has prioritized government efficiency, proper stewardship of taxpayer dollars, and the goal of signing a long overdue balanced budget. The Trump Administration is committed to ending the mindless spending of foreign wars, woke ideology, and unnecessary government programs that don’t serve the American people.’ 

Trump’s plan to slash federal spending is anchored in Elon Musk’s leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Trump signed an executive order on Inauguration Day establishing DOGE ‘to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.’ The Trump administration has since directed government agencies to comply with DOGE’s departmental investigations. 

According to the official DOGE website, the department has estimated $105 billion in savings, attributed to contract cancelations, workforce reductions, improper payment deletions and other regulatory changes. DOGE has drawn the praise of many Republicans and the protest of several Democrats for its aggressive action to dismantle government waste. 

DOGE has inspired government officials at the city, state and federal level to prioritize efficiency, from San Francisco ordering employees back to the office, to the Environmental Protection Agency locating its own $20 billion in wasteful spending. 

Sens. Pete Ricketts, R-NE, and Jacky Rosen, D-NV, introduced a new bipartisan bill last week that would require the annual presidential budget to include data on improper payments to federal agencies. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-PA, announced the Payment Integrity Information Reform Act to target overpayments by the federal government on the House side as well. 

A Senate DOGE Caucus was established in November 2024 by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-IA., ‘to identify and eliminate government waste’ and works closely with Musk’s DOGE to ‘promote fiscal responsibility.’ The House also established the Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency Caucus to support DOGE through legislative action. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
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EU weighs $840 billion plan to ‘rearm Europe’ after US pauses Ukraine aid

The European Union has a new plan to spend $840 billion more on its own defense after President Donald Trump paused aid to Ukraine and peace negotiations hit a wall.

‘I do not need to describe the grave nature of the threats that we face, or the devastating consequences that we will have to endure if those threats would come to pass,’ EU Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen told reporters on Tuesday. 

She said she had written a letter to the heads of state of all European governments outlining a ‘set of proposals’ to ‘rearm Europe.’ 

‘A new era is upon us,’ von der Leyen wrote in the letter. 

The plan details ‘how to use all the financial levers at our disposal in order to help member states to quickly and significantly increase expenditures in defense capabilities, urgently now, but also over [a] longer period of time, over this decade.’ 

Countries in the EU would have access to loans of up to $158 billion for defense investment, according to the proposal. It also calls for relaxing strict debt ceilings agreed to by the bloc for defense spending. 

‘This will allow member states to significantly increase their defense expenditures without triggering the excessive deficit procedure,’ she said, referring to the rule that requires nations to bring their deficits down if they breach a certain amount. 

The proposal also involves using the existing EU budget to ‘direct more funds towards defense-related investments.’

‘With this equipment, member states can massively step up their support to Ukraine. So, immediate military equipment for Ukraine,’ she said.

The new defense plan comes as Washington recalibrates its relationship with Europe, and conservative Republicans push Trump to lead efforts to pull the U.S. out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 

European leaders held an emergency summit over the weekend in London to discuss how to support Ukraine after the Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy brought peace negotiations to an abrupt halt. 

At that summit, European leaders discussed ways to keep military aid flowing, increase economic pressure on Russia, and establish a ‘coalition of the willing’ of European nations ready to offer forces to act as a safeguard against another invasion by Russia once the two sides reach a peace agreement. 

‘This is a moment for Europe, and we are ready to step up,’ said von der Leyen. 

Even France’s Marine Le Pen, leader of the conservative National Rally party, called the U.S. action a form of ‘brutality.’ 

‘I consider the brutality of this decision to be reprehensible,’ she said of the move to pause aid. 

‘It is very cruel for Ukrainian soldiers engaged in a patriotic defense of their country,’ she insisted, adding that it was ‘very questionable’ not to give the Ukrainians a warning before doing so. 

The temporary pause will apply to all U.S. military aid not yet in Ukraine. It is expected to last until the White House determines that Zelenskyy is committed to peace talks.

‘We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution,’ a White House official said.

After President Joe Biden shipped over a $500 million aid package on his way out the door in January, some $3.86 billion from previously approved aid packages remains, a defense official told Fox News Digital, including Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS) and anti-tank weapons and thousands of artillery rounds and armored vehicles. 

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‘He’s back’: Trump’s joint address to Congress to be blanketed with 6-figure ad buy touting tax plan

A conservative nonprofit group will blanket the airwaves with an ad before and after President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday night, touting his tax cut plan and promising more ‘winning’ as his term unfolds. 

‘He’s back,’ says the 30-second ad from the Plymouth Union Public Advocacy, a conservative nonprofit organization that ‘aims to advance public policies that make America stronger and more prosperous.’ 

‘And that means tax cuts. Not just one, not just a couple, a lot of tax cuts. President Trump is fighting to extend his 2017 tax cuts. To end taxes on tips, overtime, social security. And will stand in the way of a tax on our healthcare that would drive up costs.’

The new ad, titled ‘Winning,’ will bracket Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday and is backed by a six-figure buy and will run nationally on television and digital platforms. 

‘Trump’s back. That means we’re going to win,’ the ad says. ‘Not just a little, a lot. Thank President Trump for fighting to protect our tax cuts. We’re not tired of winning.’

The ad comes shortly after a Fox News focus group of Independent voters approved of Trump’s promise to cut taxes and eliminate wasteful government spending.

The House of Representatives adopted a resolution last week that would eventually become a massive multitrillion-dollar bill full of Trump’s priorities on the border, defense, energy and taxes.

Fox News Digital exclusively reported on Monday that Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress will have the theme, ‘Renewal of the American Dream.’

White House officials told Fox News Digital that the speech will feature four main sections: accomplishments from Trump’s second term thus far at home and abroad; what the Trump administration has done for the economy; the president’s renewed push for Congress to pass additional funding for border security; and the president’s plans for peace around the globe.

Several Democratic members are planning to boycott Trump’s address, including Sen. Chris Murphy, D-CT, who will instead hold a live prebuttal of the speech. 

‘I think that State of the Union speech is going to be a farce. I think it’s going to be a MAGA pep rally, not a serious talk to the nation,’ Murphy told CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ on Sunday.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman, Aubrie Spady and Liz Elkind contributed to this report.

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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to President Trump’s speech to Congress tonight

Tonight’s speech is technically not a ‘State of the Union.’ They usually eschew that title this time around, since the president has only been in office a few weeks.

Interestingly, nothing in the Constitution requires a speech.

Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution says the ‘President Shall from time to time give Congress information on the State of the Union.’

President George Washington gave the first such address in New York, but President Thomas Jefferson discontinued the practice. He viewed it as too much like a speech from the crown.

The ‘State of the Union’ was a written document until the early 20th century. That’s when President Woodrow Wilson revived the speech custom after 112 years of dormancy.

President Calvin Coolidge was the first to deliver a State of the Union speech over the radio in 1923.

However, the tradition of radio really found its footing in the 1930s.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt mastered radio with his ‘Fireside Chats’ during the Great Depression and World War II. That continued during his State of the Union messages.

President Harry Truman was the first to have the speech broadcast on television in 1947.

President Lyndon Baines Johnson moved the speech to prime time in 1965.

President Bill Clinton had his speeches streamed on the internet in the mid-1990s.

Sometimes the speech itself isn’t what’s remembered – it’s the extracurriculars.

In January 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge shortly after takeoff.

Congressional Budget Office employee Lenny Skutnik famously dove into the freezing water to rescue a passenger.

Two weeks later, President Ronald Reagan recognized Skutnik by inviting him to the State of the Union as a guest. Presidents – and lawmakers – have continued this practice.

President Barack Obama spoke to a Joint Session of Congress in September 2009 about Obamacare. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-SC, infamously heckled the president, shouting ‘You lie!’

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, ripped up President Donald Trump’s speech after she presided over his State of the Union speech in February 2020.

Police arrested Steve Nikoui after he repeatedly disrupted President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address last year. Nikoui was upset after his son Kareem was killed in Afghanistan. Prosecutors later dropped the charges.

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Domino’s Pizza finally launches stuffed crust to keep customers away from rivals

Domino’s Pizza is finally releasing its own version of stuffed crust on Monday, aiming to win over the customers who are willing to spend more on the pricey pizza customization. 

Thirty years ago, Yum Brands’ Pizza Hut debuted the cheesy stuffed crust, marketing the launch with a television commercial starring Donald Trump. As years passed, rivals Papa John’s and Little Caesars eventually followed with their own takes. Trump went from hawking pizza to sitting in the Oval Office.

Generations of consumers have grown up with stuffed crust, including the increasingly important Gen Z diners, who are entering the workforce and buying their own pizzas now. The addition is critical for Domino’s, the top U.S. pizza chain, to compete with rivals Pizza Hut and Papa John’s, which have ceded market share to Domino’s in recent quarters but still steal the pizza chain’s customers.

“Nearly 13 million Domino’s customers each year are buying stuffed crust from our competitors, and these are our customers who have to leave our brand because we’re the only national pizza brand that doesn’t offer it,” Domino’s Chief Marketing Officer Kate Trumbull told CNBC.

Domino’s has taken so long to release stuffed crust that a survey of its customers found that 73% already believed that the chain offered it on the menu, according to Trumbull.

That all changes on Monday, when Domino’s launches its Parmesan Stuffed Crust. The menu item is included in the pizza chain’s $9.99 carryout deal.

When Pizza Hut originally launched stuffed crust, Domino’s viewed the menu item as gimmicky, according to Trumbull. Plus, the company heard that stuffed crust caused bottlenecks and slowed down service, leading to unhappy customers and workers.

But Domino’s perspective changed after more national competitors followed Pizza Hut’s lead. The chain committed to launching its own version in 2022, when its sales were faltering in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic pizza boom.

“It has been one of the longest development efforts in the company’s history,” Trumbull said.

The process began with extensive market research. Findings included that stuffed crust customers tend to buy pizza more frequently and often spend more per transaction.

Eight potential iterations followed before Domino’s landed on the right recipe for its Parmesan Stuffed Crust, made with mozzarella and topped with garlic seasoning and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

At the same time, Domino’s was improving its restaurants’ overall operations, retraining its employees across the system on making its crust and rolling out a custom dough spinner to restaurants. If the pizza chain hadn’t made its kitchens more efficient, it wouldn’t have been able to launch stuffed crust, according to Trumbull.

Ahead of the launch of Parmesan Stuffed Crust, the pizza chain spent 12 weeks training franchisees and 7,000 stores on how to make it properly.

“We’re not going to leave anything to chance after taking three years,” Trumbull said.

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With hat in hand, Florida State, Clemson stuck with ACC after failed exit

After all the hyperbole and histrionics, all the wasted millions in legal fees, we now see the crux of the situation. 

Wait, it did less than that. It brought the fantasy of what could be. And Clemson followed. 

If you’re shocked by the latest twist in the ACC vs. Florida State and Clemson lawsuits that’s now in the makeup phase of the program, you clearly haven’t been following along. It was nearly three months ago that Florida State athletic director Mike Alford told USA TODAY Sports, “We never said we wanted to leave the ACC” — after his university spent months, and millions in legal fees, doing just that.

It was last summer when multiple people from the Big Ten told USA TODAY Sports that the league never had direct or indirect talks with Florida State, and wasn’t interested in adding the Seminoles, which the league deemed a “bad partner” that was trying to break up the ACC in search of greener financial pastures.

While we can argue the merits of Florida State and Clemson’s reasons for trying to escape the ACC – and I agree with a few – there is no argument about the foundation of the case. 

Florida State and Clemson had no leverage. 

Had. No. Leverage. 

Florida State’s grand plan was to get out of the ACC, and then become an attractive candidate for the Big Ten. Who among us wouldn’t want the blue blood football program, and sudden mercenary, for hire?

That’s right, FSU – and Clemson, to a lesser extent because it wasn’t publicly grandstanding – decided to risk its A-rating media properties brand on a whim and a hope.

Then kept doubling down.   

It is here where we introduce Hernan Cortes, the famous Spanish conquistador, who in 1519 ordered his ships to be burned after landing in Mexico to prevent retreat and motivate his crew to succeed in the new land.

Florida State burned the ships knowing it didn’t have back channel negotiations with the Big Ten, or any semblance of a landing place if it were successful in its lawsuit against the ACC. 

The Seminoles did it all knowing it signed the ironclad Grant of Rights agreement with the ACC not once (in 2013), but twice (again in 2016). Did it knowing ESPN would never, ever walk away from, or alter, a favorable media rights deal with the ACC through 2036.

Florida State did it knowing the ACC knew it held all the cards – and by all the cards, I mean all the cards – and wasn’t negotiating with a rogue member. 

Only after it was clear last summer that FSU had no landing spot if it left the ACC, and that capital investment wasn’t the answer, did the school arrive at the negotiating table with the ACC — burned ships smoldering in the background. 

FSU and Clemson have legit arguments in this fight. Without them, there is no ACC football. Who in their right mind wants to watch Wake Forest and Syracuse go it for four quarters on a perfectly good Saturday afternoon?

Especially when Tennessee vs. Florida is on another network. Or Michigan vs. Penn State, or Georgia vs. LSU or Ohio State vs. Southern California or any other combination of SEC and Big Ten games you can imagine. 

ESPN is paying for Florida State and Clemson football in the ACC media rights deal, and to a lesser extent, Miami and as many Notre Dame games as it can get. FSU and Clemson feel as though the rest of the ACC earns off their brands, and that’s a legitimate argument. 

But Vanderbilt and the Mississippi schools (among others) earn off SEC blue bloods, and Purdue, Indiana and Rutgers (among others) earn off Big Ten blue bloods. 

That’s a partnership. 

While football is the fuel, there are other benefits of conference partnership (at the top of the list, scheduling for every other sport) that hold critical value to an efficient engine. 

If and until college football decides to break away from the rest of college sports and become a quasi-professional league of 50-60 teams that can afford it, this is the conference affiliation setup moving forward. 

That the ACC has agreed on a revenue distribution model based on television viewership – a big get for Florida State, Clemson, Miami and North Carolina – is remarkable in its generosity. 

The ACC didn’t have to do anything. They have the contract on their side, a contract Florida State twice signed and learned after months and millions in legal wrangling, couldn’t be broken. 

The only incentive the ACC had to get a deal done with its wayward schools was protecting its brand. Meanwhile, Florida State and Clemson didn’t have a landing spot even if each paid an estimated half a billion dollars in financial obligations to leave the ACC.

All three were damaging their brands with each argument in court, and only one had leverage.

This is what happens when you bring fantasy to a gun fight. 

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

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NASCAR Cup Series set to have first woman driver in 7 years: What to know

Live Fast Motorsports has a new driver for their NASCAR Cup Series car, and it’s a veteran motor sports racer and a woman.

Katherine Legge, 44, will make her debut in the series this Sunday at Phoenix Raceway in the Shriners Children’s 500, becoming the 17th woman ever to compete in a Cup race. Legge will drive the No. 78 DROPLiGHT Chevrolet Camaro.

This will also be the first time in seven years that a woman has competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, with Danica Patrick last making an appearance in 2018.

‘I don’t want to just be a female driver for the sake of ticking a diversity box, right?’ said Legge. ‘I want to be there on merit, and I want to be a good example for everybody that’s coming up behind me.’ She continued, ‘I have to prove competence at the end of the day, right?  Don’t think anybody expects me to go out and set the world on fire and be competitive because it’s the most competitive championship in the world. I just don’t want to make any mistakes and look silly or look incapable. I think the competitiveness will come with experience.’

Live Fast Motorsports, co-owned by driver B.J. McLeod and wife Jessica McLeod, field a part-time entry in the Cup Series. B.J. McLeod finished 22nd driving the No. 78 car at Atlanta, but he failed to qualify for the season-opening Daytona 500 and did not compete in the most recent race at Circuit of the Americas. With only 37 entries slated for Phoenix, Legge is assured of a starting spot on Sunday.

What to know about Legge’s motor sports career and women in NASCAR:

Katherine Legge’s auto racing career

Legge, who was born in Guildford, England, has five starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, most recently in 2023 when she recorded her best finish: 14th at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. In February, she finished 39th in the ARCA Menards Series’ Ride the ‘Dente race at Daytona International Speedway.

Legge is most well-known, however, as an IndyCar driver, competing in 19 races in the NTT IndyCar Series across four seasons (2012, 2013, 2023 and 2024) and 28 in CART (2006 and 2007), earned a combined seven top-10s.

She has raced in the legendary Indianapolis 500 four times, and in 2023, she set the record for the fastest-ever qualifying time by a woman.

Legge’s biggest success has come as a sports car driver. She has competed in 92 IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship races sine 2014, winning four times and scoring 11 podium finishes.

NASCAR cited Legge’s recent participation on ‘high-speed ovals’ in approving her to race in the Cup Series.

When was the last time a woman competed in NASCAR Cup Series?

Danica Patrick was the last woman to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Her final race was the 2018 Daytona 500, where she finished 35th. In total, Patrick made 191 Cup starts between 2012 and 2018, amassing seven top-10 finishes in that span. Twice, Patrick finished top-25 in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, finishing 24th in both 2015 and 2016.

Sixteen female drivers have run at least one race in the Cup Series, including Hall of Famer Janet Guthrie, who drove in 33 races between 1976-80. The NASCAR Hall of Fame awarded Guthrie the Landmark Award in 2024.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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New York officials reviewing Gervonta Davis-Lamont Roach controversy

The controversial non-call when Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis took a knee during his fight against Lamont Roach Jr. Saturday is under review by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC), the NYSAC said in a statement issued Monday.

‘A technical issue” may have prevented the commission from acting during the fight at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, according to the statement.

The bout ended in a majority draw, and the critical moment could have swung the outcome in Roach’s favor.

That incident occurred in the ninth round when Davis dropped to a knee and headed back to his corner. Referee Steve Willis started a mandatory 10-count before allowing Davis to resume fighting without penalty — after Davis got his eyes wiped with a towel.

Davis later said he took a knee and headed to the corner because he had grease in his eye, the result of getting his hair done two days before the fight.

Ruling it a knockdown would have led to a point deduction for Davis and presumably changed the outcome of the fight.

‘During the round in question, following the commission’s request for the replay video, there was a technical issue preventing the commission from receiving it within the allotted time for review,’ the statement read. ‘Therefore, the referee’s in-ring decision was relied upon and the fight continued. The commission is dedicated to preserving the integrity of combative sports and is committed to working with all promotions and production teams on behalf of the athletes, officials and fans to ensure technical issues do not occur in the future that prevent delivery of ringside instant replay feeds to the commission’s officials when needed.’

The judges scored the 12-round fight 115-113 (in favor of Davis), 114-114, 114-114.

Davis (30-1-1, 28 KOs) was a heavy favorite entering the fight against Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs).

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Colorado coach Deion Sanders calls out player with Band-Aids over ears

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders delivered a stern message to his team Monday about penalties, Band-Aids and earrings – a lecture designed to grab his players’ attention about something they’ve sometimes lacked in his first two seasons.

Discipline.

The Buffaloes committed the third-most penalties in the nation in 2023 (107) and the most in the Big 12 Conference in 2024 (100). He reminded his team about it Monday after returning to campus in Boulder following some time away in Texas.

“Last in the conference in penalties, right?” Sanders said to his team, as documented on Well Off Media, a YouTube channel run by his eldest son Deion Jr. “So that means no discipline, right?”

Sanders then singled out an unidentified player who apparently had showed up for the team workout wearing bandages over his earrings. Sanders has prohibited earrings while in uniform and during meetings.

“We got one cat out here with Band-Aids over his ears,” Sanders said. “What that mean? That means `I’m gonna wear my earrings, but I’m gonna put a Band-Aid over them, because I ain’t gonna listen to y’all because I ain’t got no discipline.’ Does that mean that? What that mean? What that mean? That mean you gonna do you right? Forget us. Anybody else out here with earrings in? Anybody else besides one dude?”

Sanders gave the player a warning, telling him he’d be on the “first thing smoking” if he did it again – a reference to transportation out of town.

“Come out here like that again, please,” Sanders told him. “I promise you you’ll be on the first thing smoking. You got that?”

“Yes sir,” the player replied.

“Discipline,” Sanders said. “Discipline.”

The Buffs finished 9-4 in Sanders’ second season last year and will begin the third spring practice season under him March 11. They begin the 2025 season Aug. 30 at home against Georgia Tech.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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