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Most of the NHL’s top unrestricted free agents found homes early in July.

But there is still plenty of action to track during the NHL offseason. There are trades to be made and restricted free agents to re-sign. Salary arbitration hearings were scheduled from July 20 to Aug. 4, although players and teams settled beforehand in all 11 cases.

Also, players whose contracts run out after the 2025-26 season are eligible to sign contract extensions at any time.

Here is a look at the latest signings, trades and other news that have happened since the initial surge of movement in late June and early July:

Aug. 15: Travis Hamonic signs with Red Wings

Hamonic is getting a one year deal at $1 million. The veteran depth addition likely will play in the bottom defense pairing. He ranked second on the Ottawa Senators last season in blocked shots per 60 minutes and also killed penalties. Detroit will be his fifth NHL team. Hamonic, who turns 35 on Aug. 16, has 53 goals and 242 points in 900 career games.

Aug. 10: Jack Johnson signs tryout agreement with Wild

The 38-year-old defenseman will go to camp as a tryout in a bid for a 20th NHL season. He played 41 games last season with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Wild might be without defenseman Jonas Brodin at the beginning of the season, according to the Athletic.

Also: The Kraken agreed to terms with defenseman Ryker Evans for two years at a $2.05 million average. He ranked fourth among Seattle blueliners with 25 points and was first with 123 hits.

Aug. 9: Nathan Bastian signs with Stars

He’ll get a one-year, $775,000 contract and add depth to the forward group. Bastian had played all but 12 games of his NHL career with the New Jersey Devils and ranked third among New Jersey regulars last season with 12.83 hits per 60 minutes. He has career totals of 33 goals, 68 points and 190 penalty minutes in 276 regular season games between the Devils and Seattle Kraken.

Aug. 8: Two-time Stanley Cup winner Kyle Clifford retires

Cllifford, who won Stanley Cup titles in 2012 and 2014 with the Los Angeles Kings, is retiring after 13 NHL seasons. The NHL Players’ Association said he would move into a player development role with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Clifford had two stints with the Leafs and finished his playing career in the organization with the American Hockey League’s Marlies. He also played for the St. Louis Blues and finished with 66 goals, 144 points and 905 penalty minutes in 753 NHL games.

Aug. 8: Avalanche re-sign Joel Kiviranta

Kiviranta is sticking around for a third season in Colorado by signing a one-year deal. Terms weren’t released. The bottom-six forward had 16 goals last season.

Aug. 2: Nick Robertson settles before arbitration hearing

All 11 players who filed for salary arbitration settled their cases before their hearings, with the Maple Leafs and Robertson the last to do so. Here are the new contracts the players agreed to, listed alphabetically.

Morgan Barron (Winnipeg Jets): Two years, $3.7 million.
Lukas Dostal (Anaheim Ducks): Five years, $32.5 million.
Drew Helleson (Anaheim Ducks): Two years, $2.2 million.
Kaapo Kakko (Seattle Kraken). Three years, $13.575 million.
Nick Robertson (Toronto Maple Leafs). One year, $1.825 million.
Dylan Samberg (Winnipeg Jets): Three years, $15.75 million.
Arvid Soderblom (Chicago Blackhawks): Two years, $5.5 million.
Jayden Struble (Montreal Canadiens): Two years, $2.825 million.
Conor Timmins (Buffalo Sabres): Two years, $4.4 million.
Maxim Tsyplakov (New York Islanders): Two years, $4.5 million.
Gabriel Vilardi (Winnipeg Jets): Six years, $45 million.

July 31: Sabres’ Devon Levi re-signs for two years

He’ll average $812,500 in the deal and is the final restricted free agent who needed to re-sign. He has had back-to-back solid seasons in the American Hockey League. With the Buffalo Sabres signing Alex Lyon this summer, Levi is expected to spend more time in the AHL for now.

July 28: Nicklas Backstrom signs deal in Sweden

The former Capitals star, 37, is returning to hockey by signing a deal to play for Brynas for the first time since 2006-07. He had played 1,105 NHL games in between, recording 1,033 points. But he had missed all of last season and most of 2023-24 while recovering from 2022 hip surgery.

July 17: Maple Leafs acquire Dakota Joshua from Canucks

Vancouver receives a 2028 fourth-round pick. Joshua will likely slot in the Maple Leafs’ bottom six forwards. He had a career-best 18 goals and 32 points in 2023-24 but missed the beginning of last season after having surgery for testicular cancer. He finished with 14 points in 57 games. He originally was drafted by the Maple Leafs but never played for them.

July 17: Blue Jackets’ Yegor Chinakhov requests trade

Yegor Chinakhov, a former first-round draft pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets, has asked for a trade.

The agent for Chinakhov posted on X, formerly Twitter, about the trade request.

“I had some misunderstandings with the coach during the season,” read the post quoting Chinakhov. “Now I would be glad to have a trade. I would like to move to a different location. Will I return to Russia? As long as I can play in the NHL, I will keep developing here.”

Chinakhov, who was selected with the No. 21 overall selection in 2020, missed nearly half of last season with a back injury, an issue that also sidelined him for the final 17 games in the previous season. – Joey Kaufman, Columbus Dispatch

July 15: Sabres re-sign Bowen Byram for two years

The defenseman will average $6.25 million in the deal. He was considered a candidate for an offer sheet but the Sabres reportedly filed for arbitration to prevent that. He ranked third among Sabres defensemen in average ice time and third with 38 points. The cap hit makes him the third highest paid defenseman on the team behind Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

The NCAA fined Michigan, gave coach Sherrone Moore a show-cause order and suspension, and placed the program on probation for sign-stealing.
Former coach Jim Harbaugh received a 10-year show-cause order, while other staff members also faced penalties.
Michigan self-imposed a two-game suspension for Moore in 2025, and the NCAA opted not to issue a postseason ban.
Lack of cooperation and destruction of evidence contributed to the severity of penalties.

Nearly two full years after news broke of an investigation into alleged in-person scouting and sign-stealing from the Michigan football program, the Wolverines have been handed their punishment.

The NCAA has slapped Michigan with a sizable fine, handed Wolverines head coach Sherrone Moore a two-year show cause order and suspended him the first game of the 2026 season, and put Michigan on four years probation, the NCAA announced on Aug. 15 following an investigation from its committee on infractions. Michigan has already self-imposed a two-game suspension on Moore for the 2025 season.

The fine for the Wolverines includes:

$50,000, plus 10% of the football program’s budget
A sum equivalent to the anticipated loss of all postseason competition revenue sharing from the 2025 and 2026 football seasons
A sum equivalent to the cost of 10% of the scholarships awarded in Michigan’s football program for the 2025-26 academic year

The total from all of those fines is expected to be around $30 million.

The NCAA also handed former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, now the head coach of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers, a 10-year show cause, which will take effect Aug. 7, 2028, when the four-year show cause he was given from a separate NCAA investigation concludes.

Connor Stalions, the former Michigan staffer who spearheaded the program’s in-person scouting operation, has received an eight-year show cause. Stalions resigned from his position with the Wolverines in November 2023 and has been out of college athletics in an official capacity since.

In May, Michigan announced the self-imposed suspension for Moore, which will force him to miss games against Central Michigan and Nebraska this season. Moore had been Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator while the in-person scouting occurred from 2021-23.

In a statement, Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said he ‘fully’ supports Moore.

‘I am glad that this part of the process has been completed,’ Moore said in a statement. ‘I greatly respect the rules governing collegiate athletics and it is my intent to have our program comply with those rules at all times. I will continue to focus my attention on our team and the upcoming 2025 season.’

Other sanctions against the Wolverines include a 25% reduction in football official visits during the 2025-26 academic year, a 14-week prohibition on recruiting communications in the football program and a three-year show-cause order for former assistant director of player personnel Denard Robinson. Robinson, a star quarterback at the school from 2009-12, hasn’t been with the program since May 2024, shortly after he was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

Michigan has since said it will appeal the NCAA’s ruling.

The NCAA said it had ‘sufficient grounds’ to levy Michigan with a multiyear postseason ban due to the severity of the transgressions and the program’s status as a repeat violator, but elected not to do so because such a move ‘would unfairly penalize student-athletes for the actions of coaches and staff who are no longer associated with the Michigan football program.’

The organization also declined to vacate any of the Wolverines’ wins or records, which could have potentially included their national championship at the end of the 2023 season. Norman Bay, the chief hearing officer for the NCAA committee on infractions panel, said vacating records only occurs when there’s an ineligible player competing, which wasn’t a factor in Michigan’s case. Additionally, Bay said after news of the sign-stealing probe broke in October 2023 that there was ‘no evidence” that Stalions did anything to affect the outcome of games.

The NCAA found that from 2021-23, Stalions directed and arranged for staff members, interns and acquaintances to conduct off-campus, in-person scouting of future Michigan opponents. Stalions would purchase game tickets and transfer them to the individuals, a network that was referred to as the ‘KGB.’ Those involved in the operation would film the signals used by coaches of future opponents and pass the film along to Stalions, who would decipher them. During games, Stalions had access to prominent coaching staff members, who he would stand next to.

In all, 13 future Wolverines opponents were scouted across 52 different games. Stalions claimed he spent nearly $35,000 on tickets during the 2022 season alone. He denied receiving any outside funding for those purchases and the NCAA’s enfocement staff was unable to substantiate the origin of that money.

“The true scope and scale of the scheme, including the competitive advantage it afforded, will never be fully known due to individuals’ intentional destruction and withholding of materials and information. But the intent was clear — to gain a substantial competitive advantage,’ Bay said in a news conference. ‘You don’t put together a network of individuals called the ‘KGB’ that records what they call ‘dirty film’ where the cost of doing this is in the tens of thousands of dollars over three seasons unless you intend to gain a substantial competitive advantage.”

The findings against Stalions were corroborated by interview testimonies, ticket receipts and transfer data, and other evidence that included a master chart of Michigan’s opponents and who could attend the games, a Google Calendar to track attendees and a document entitled “How to Steal Signals.’

The show causes for Harbaugh, Moore, Stalions and Robinson came in part because the NCAA said ‘each failed to meet the membership’s expectations of cooperation’ during the investigation, conduct that ranged from destroying evidence to providing false and misleading information during interviews.

Moore had deleted his entire 52-message text thread with Stalions after news of the former analyst’s scheme first broke in October 2023. The NCAA said Moore initially blamed the deleted messages on storage space, but later admitted doing so as a reaction to the news.

Stalions had instructed an intern with the football program to ‘clear out’ emails, photos, text messages and videos related to the scouting scheme. He also admitted during a hearing that he smashed his phone into 1,000 pieces and disposed of the remains, as well as a hard drive, in a pond.

The NCAA noted that Harbaugh ‘did not embrace or enforce a culture of compliance during his tenure’ and that his program ‘had a contentious relationship with Michigan’s compliance office, leading coaches and staff to disregard NCAA rules.’ One Wolverines staff member, according to the NCAA, described the school’s compliance staff as the ‘scum of the earth.’

Harbaugh refused to be interviewed by NCAA enforcement staff and never turned over any emails or text messages.

Michigan football sign-stealing punishment

The full punishment for Michigan football included fines, show-cause penalties for several major figures within the Michigan program at the time of the infractions, and a suspension for then-offensive coordinator and current head coach Sherrone Moore.

Here is a look at the full punishment:

Four-year probation
$50,000 fine
10% of the Michigan football program budget
A fine equivalent to 2025 and 2026 postseason revenue sharing
A fine equivalent to 10% of Michigan’s 2025-26 scholarships
25% reduction in official football visits for 2025
14-week prohibition on recruiting comms in the football program during probation
Eight-year show-cause for Connor Stalions
10-year show-cause for Jim Harbaugh (on top of previous four-year show-cause for 14 years total)
Three-year show-cause for Denard Robinson
Two-year show-cause for Sherrone Moore, plus a one-game suspension on top of Michigan’s self-imposed two-game suspension to be served in 2026

Michigan NCAA appeal

The school added that it will ‘consider all other options.’

‘We appreciate the work of the Committee on Infractions,’ the university wrote in a statement. ‘But, respectfully, in a number of instances the decision makes fundamental errors in interpreting NCAA bylaws; and it includes a number of conclusions that are directly contradictory to the evidence — or lack of evidence — in the record. ‘

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All the bugs are out in full force as the summer rolls on and it’s the injury bug that took a bite out of Travis Hunter.

The Jacksonville Jaguars might be forced to play without the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Saturday night in New Orleans after Hunter suffered an upper-body injury.

He was held out of practice on Friday, Aug. 15, leaving his status in doubt as the preseason continues.

Given Hunter’s desire to play offense and defense at the NFL level, every injury will be magnified – no matter how minor it appears. Jacksonville likely will be extra cautious given the added workload, but the team doesn’t seem to be concerned at this time.

Here’s the latest on Travis Hunter.

Travis Hunter injury update

Hunter is dealing with an upper-body injury.

The ailment kept him out of Friday’s practice and now puts his status in jeopardy for Saturday’s Week 2 preseason contest against the New Orleans Saints.

Coach Liam Coen didn’t seem too worried about the injury, telling reporters that the two-way rookie was held out for precautionary reasons.

If Hunter can’t play on Saturday, his next chance to suit up will be on Saturday, Aug. 23 when the Jaguars wrap up the preseason against the Miami Dolphins.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

Baseball’s best rivalry this decade is about to jump off once again — yet with the principals in decidedly unfamiliar circumstances.

The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers will reconvene for a three-game series at Dodger Stadium this weekend and this time, it is the Padres on top of the National League West by just a game.

Not a big deal? Well, consider that this is the latest in the season that the Padres have occupied first place since 2010, when they were overtaken on the last weekend of the season by the San Francisco Giants, who’d then launch a mini-dynasty.

And it’s just as much unfamiliar territory for the dynastic and big-spending Dodgers, who have won 11 of 12 West titles since 2013.

As the Padres (69-52) and Dodgers (68-53) reengage, here’s what to watch in this first of six matchups over the next nine games:

Playoff encore

It’s possible San Diegans haven’t totally gotten over the 2024 NL Division Series, when the Padres held a 2-1 lead only to see the Dodgers win a bullpen game and then get a gem from Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the deciding Game 5.

As the Dodgers rolled to the World Series title, hindsight lent credence to the theory that this was the best matchup of the postseason, a couple rounds too early.

There was plenty of spice in that battle, as well. Dodger Stadium fans caused a brief delay in Game 2 after engaging with Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar, and a similar imbroglio developed in right field with Fernando Tatis Jr.

Meanwhile, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts took exception to the manner in which his former shortstop, Manny Machado, tossed baseballs back to the Dodgers’ dugout from Machado’s perch at third base.

Grandstanding met by grandstanding? Perhaps.

Season series

While the Padres hold a slim division lead, they’ve got some work to do against the Dodgers this season. L.A. has won five of seven matchups and can clinch the season series with two victories this weekend. That’s no minor feat given how close the teams are in the standings, with the season series winner gaining a tiebreaker that essentially adds another game to their lead.

The teams’ first seven games were, like this one, played almost consecutively, with just one series breaking them up. And the Dodgers reeled off three consecutive home victories to build a 4 ½-game lead by June 18.

It would balloon to nine games by July 3, seemingly putting the West race on ice given the Dodgers’ dynastic track record. Yeah, about that …

Dodgers’ July collapse

After that high-water mark, the Dodgers would immediately lose 11 of 13 games, including a pair of sweeps by the Milwaukee Brewers, who would shortly assume the tag as best team in baseball.

Their 10-14 July shaved their West lead to three games, and would seem to suggest reinforcements were necessary at the deadline.

Yeah, about that …

Padres: Deadline dealers, fast climbers

Instead, it was notoriously active Padres club president A.J. Preller who again “won the trade deadline,” though perhaps we can remove the air quotes already. His acquisition of top-flight reliever Mason Miller to what was already the game’s best bullpen gave the club a lockdown look in the late innings.

And additions of outfielder Ramon Laureano and lefty slugger Ryan O’Hearn in a deal with Baltimore lengthened the lineup and boosted the outfield defense.

Since then? The Padres have won nine of 12 games post-deadline, erasing the last three games of the Dodgers’ lead — and taking a one-game advantage themselves.

Dodgers-Padres pitching matchups

While pitching matchups always matter in late-season intra-division battles, they take on a greater significance here since so many of the arms are recent reinforcements.

Friday: Padres RHP Michael King vs. Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw.

Saturday: Padres RHP Dylan Cease vs. Dodgers LHP Blake Snell.

Sunday: Padres RHP Yu Darvish vs. Dodgers RHP Tyler Glasnow.

Wow, a lot to parse here. King has made just one start since missing three months with a pinched nerve in his throwing shoulder. Snell has made just one start since missing four months with his own shoulder issues.

Darvish (eight starts after missing the first half with elbow inflammation) and Glasnow (six starts after three-month shoulder-related absence) also have limited recent samples, though Glasnow has pitched well of late.

The man to watch: Snell, who won the 2023 NL Cy Young Award as a Padre, struck out 10 in five innings of his most recent start. If he builds upon that and resembles the guy who pitched so dominantly after a similar return in 2024, it could drastically change the dynamics of this race.

Dodgers-Padres: How to watch

MLB Network will broadcast both Friday’s game (10:10 ET) and Sunday’s game (4:10 ET).

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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark has been out with a right groin injury for nearly a month, leaving many fans wondering when the All-Star guard will make her return to the court.

Clark will miss the Fever’s matchup against the Washington Mystics on Friday, her 12th consecutive absence since suffering the groin injury July 15. Clark, who previously missed time with a left quad and a left groin injury, has been sidelined 20 of the Fever’s 33 games this season. Indiana is 8-5 with Clark in the lineup and 10-10 without her on the floor.

Clark’s lengthy absence marks uncharted territory for the 2024 Rookie of the Year, who never missed a game during her four years at Iowa or during her rookie campaign with the Fever.

‘I’ve never been through anything like this, which is probably why it’s been so hard,’ Clark said during a Aug. 8 episode of Sue Bird’s podcast, ‘Bird’s Eye View.’ ‘I’ve never really dealt with injury. It’s probably been a challenge in itself because when I was first feeling pain, I didn’t understand it.’

Clark isn’t the only injury Indiana is navigating. The Fever lost guards Sydney Colson (left ACL tear) and Aari McDonald (broken right foot) to season-ending injuries, further depleting the team’s depth at point guard. The Fever signed guard Odyssey Sims to a hardship contract on Sunday and guard Kyra Lambert to a seven-day contract on Thursday.

Here’s what we know about Clark’s injury status, including a full injury timeline:

Is Caitlin Clark playing Friday? Injury status for Fever-Mystics

Clark (right groin injury) will likely be ruled out of the Fever’s matchup against the Washington Mystics on Friday in Indianapolis, which is set to tip off at 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. PT) on ESPN. Indiana hasn’t announced a timetable for Clark’s return. Earlier this week, Fever coach Stephanie White said Clark has resumed running, but hasn’t returned to practice just yet, meaning her return won’t be anytime soon.

If Clark is ruled out, Friday’s game against the Mystics would mark her 21st total absence of the year.

How was Caitlin Clark injured?

Clark suffered a right groin injury in the final minute of the Fever’s 85-77 victory over the Sun at TD Garden in Boston on July 15. With 39.1 seconds remaining in the contest, Clark completed a bounce pass to Kelsey Mitchell to put the Fever up 84-75. After the pass, Clark immediately grabbed for her right groin and grimaced as she gingerly walked over and headbutted the stanchion. She did not return to the game. 

Caitlin Clark injury timeline

May 24: Clark suffered a left quad injury during the Fever’s 90-88 loss to the New York Liberty, where she recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 assists. Clark couldn’t pinpoint the specific play that caused her injury, but noted that it happened early in the contest. Clark said, ‘Adrenaline covers up a lot of stuff when you’re in the heat of battle. After the game, I had some pain, and then we got an MRI, and that kind of gave me the result that I didn’t want to see.’ She missed the Fever’s next five games.
June 14: Clark returned to Indiana’s lineup in the Fever’s 102-88 win over the Liberty and dropped 32 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in her first game back. 
June 24: Clark suffered a left groin injury in the Fever’s 94-86 win over the Seattle Storm, which resulted in Clark missing the team’s next four games. Fever coach Stephanie White said she learned of Clark’s groin injury the following night after Clark alerted team trainers of discomfort.
July 1: Clark was ruled out of the Fever’s 2025 Commissioner’s Cup win over the Minnesota Lynx in Minneapolis. That didn’t stop Clark from rightfully celebrating the team’s hardware.
July 9: Clark returned to the Fever’s lineup in the Fever’s 80-61 loss to the Golden State Valkyries. Clark was limited to 10 points, shooting 4 of 12 from the field and 2 of 5 from the 3-point line, in addition to six assists, five rebounds and four turnovers. Following the blowout loss, Clark said it was ‘going to take me a second to get my wind back. … Just trying to get my legs under me.’
July 15: Clark suffered a right groin injury in the final minute of the Fever’s 85-77 victory over the Sun at TD Garden in Boston. White later confirmed Clark ‘felt a little something in her groin.’ This marked the last game for which Clark suited up.
July 18: Clark announced that she would sit out the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis, where she was named a team captain. Clark was also set to participate in the 3-point contest. She said, ‘I am incredibly sad and disappointed to say I can’t participate … I have to rest my body.’
July 24: The Fever said Clark’s medical evaluations confirmed there’s ‘no additional injuries or damage,’ but the team said it will be cautious with Clark’s rehab and recovery.
August 8: During an appearance on Sue Bird’s podcast, ‘Bird’s Eye View,’ Clark spoke about the frustrations of her injury-filled season: “It’s not like I have a training camp to build up to play in my first game again. It’s like no, you’re tossed into Game 30 — like, ‘Go try to play well.’ It’s hard, it really is.”
August 10: Fever coach Stephanie White said Clark has progressed in her recovery and has started running full court again, but Clark hasn’t returned to practice just yet: an important step in her ramp-up. ‘She’s been able to get a little bit more in her full-court running with all of her body weight… She’s been able to do a little more on the court in terms of how she moves, but not into practice yet,’ White said.

Caitlin Clark stats

Clark is averaging 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and a career-high 8.8 assists in 13 games this season. Her assists average is the second-highest in the league, behind Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas (9.0).

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Apple on Thursday announced a redesigned blood oxygen feature for some Apple Watch users, following a yearslong intellectual property dispute over the capability.

Apple said the redesigned feature is coming to some Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 users on Thursday. The update was possible because of a recent U.S. Customs ruling, the company said.

In 2023, the International Trade Commission found that Apple’s blood oxygen sensors infringed on intellectual property from Masimo, a medical technology company. Apple paused the sale of some of its watches and began selling modified versions of the wearables without the blood oxygen feature.

“Apple’s teams work tirelessly to create products and services that empower users with industry-leading health, wellness, and safety features that are grounded in science and have privacy at the core,” the company said in a release announcing the feature rollout.

CNBC has reached out to Masimo for comment.

Users who do not currently have the feature will be able to access it by updating their iPhone to iOS 18.6.1 and their Apple Watch to watchOS 11.6.1, Apple said. Users will be able to see their results in the Respiratory section of the Health app.

Apple has been pushing deeper into health care in recent years.

The company recently released a sleep apnea detection feature for Apple Watch users and hearing health features for its AirPods headphones. In February, Apple launched its first major health study in five years.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

When the NCAA’s committee on infractions announced its penalties for Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal Friday, it included heavy penalties for Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Harbaugh received a 10-year show-cause order and a prohibition from ‘all athletically related activities.’ The new penalty will be added onto the back of a previously issued four-year show-cause order, which the NCAA had previously levied on the former Michigan head coach for violating recruitment rules in 2021.

The current Chargers head coach was one of four people named directly in the NCAA’s announcement of penalties.

Here’s what his show-cause order means and whether it will affect the Chargers:

What was Jim Harbaugh’s punishment?

The NCAA hit Harbaugh with a 10-year show-cause order for his involvement in Michigan’s illicit ‘off-campus, in-person scouting scheme’ in 2023.

It will begin on Aug. 7, 2028, after his active, four-year show-cause order – handed out in 2024 because of recruiting violations in 2021 – ends.

What is a show-cause order?

A show-cause order is essentially a college football-wide ban on hiring a person to join their coaching staff, barring proof the team hiring the coach will foster an environment that will engender an equal playing field.

If Michigan or any other college football program wanted to hire Harbaugh, it would have to appear before the NCAA’s committee on infractions and make a strong case for why it specifically wants to hire him.

In addition to Harbaugh’s new, 10-year show cause, he has a one-year suspension from coaching college football – should he ever return – that the NCAA levied at the same time as Harbaugh’s original, four-year show-cause order.

The name ‘show cause’ comes from the case that the prospective employer must make to the NCAA, showing reasonable cause to believe that previous infractions would not happen again if a previous offender is hired at a new program.

Show-cause orders are a somewhat common penalty imposed on coaches or other personnel found to have violated major rules.

How does Jim Harbaugh’s punishment affect the Chargers?

Harbaugh’s punishment was one enacted by the NCAA, which has no jurisdiction in NFL matter. His punishment at the hands of college football’s governing entity will have no affect on his current head coaching job with Los Angeles.

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A Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant basketball card is expected to sell for over $6 million at auction.
The 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection card features autographs and NBA logo patches from both players.
This sale is poised to break the previous record of $3.2 million for a Luka Dončić card.

A basketball card featuring Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant has become the most valuable basketball card ever, with bidding surpassing more than $6 million.

The 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autographs Michael Jordan & Kobe Bryant #DL-KM Signed PSA EX-MT 6 – #’d 1/1 features Jordan and Bryant’s signatures, with two NBA logos, one white and the other gold.

The bidding is currently at $5 million, and has been upped to $6.1 million with the buyer’s premium. The previous record for the auction of a basketball card is the 2018 Panini National Treasures Logoman Luka Dončić 1/1, which sold for $3.2 million.

The private sale record for a basketball card is a 2009 Panini National Treasures Logoman Steph Curry 1/1, which sold for $5.9 million.

‘The demand for this card is astronomical, which makes sense, because it has everything, including photos, jersey patches, and signatures from two of the greatest players who ever stepped on the court,’ Chris Ivy, Heritage’s Director of Sports Auctions, said in a statement. ‘The Dual Logoman card offered in this auction is the only example created that includes only Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant – making it the most sought-after example of the incredible Upper Deck Logoman series, and because of Kobe Bryant’s tragic death in 2020, it always will be the only one.’

The actual auction will take place at Heritage’s Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction on Aug. 23-24, which will also feature a Jordan-signed piece of the Chicago Bulls home court, Babe Ruth’s 1923 championship watch, and Mickey Mantle’s earliest autograph from a 1947 high school publication.

Jordan, considered by many to be the greatest basketball player ever, was a six-time NBA champion and a five-time MVP with the Bulls. Bryant was named to the All-NBA First Team 11 times and won five NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020, along with his daughter Gianna and seven others.

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The NCAA imposed sanctions on the University of Michigan football program for a sign-stealing scandal.
Former Michigan analyst Connor Stalions received an eight-year show-cause order.
Stalions was found to have orchestrated illegal scouting of opponents.
Head coach Sherrone Moore received a one-game suspension on top of a two-game self-imposed suspension, and former coach Jim Harbaugh received a 10-year show cause.
The sanctions include fines and a percentage of the program’s budget.

Decision day has come and gone for Connor Stalions and the Michigan football program.

On Friday, the NCAA handed out a lengthy list of punishments and fines to Michigan following its sign-stealing scandal that surfaced during its 2023 national championship season.

The lengthy list of punishments handed down by the NCAA included a $50,000 fine, plus 10% of Michigan’s football program budget, a two-year show cause order and a one-game suspension for head coach Sherrone Moore in the 2026 season and an eight-year show cause order for Stalions. Former Michigan and now Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh was additionally given a 10-year show cause by the NCAA.

The news comes just about two years after Stalions, a then off-field analyst on Harbaugh’s staff, was reported to be standing on the sidelines of a Central Michigan game in 2023 disguised in Chippewas gear and allegedly wearing Meta glasses for recording in a game against Michigan State. In its report on Friday, the NCAA mentioned that through its report, it was able to confirm that he was on the Central Michigan sideline. It went onto say that Stalions was there to decipher signs from the Spartans, who were playing Central Michigan, and to help a Central Michigan staffer out with play-calling.

Stalions has been out of college football since he resigned from the Wolverines program in October of 2023. He has since coached in the high school ranks in the Detroit area, as he served as the acting football head coach at Detroit Mumford High School in September of 2024 and then was ‘around’ the Belleville High School program, the same one that produced now Michigan freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, in November of 2024.

Here’s what to know on how Friday’s unveiling of the NCAA’s punishments towards Michigan impacts Stalions fallout:

Connor Stalions-Michigan NCAA punishments

In the NCAA’s announcement on Friday, the governing body’s Committee on Infractions handed Stalions an eight-year show-cause order for spearheading Michigan’s sign-stealing case from the 2023 college football season. Stalions’ show-cause is effective immediately from August 15, 2025, through August 14, 2033.

Connor Stalions fallout from Michigan football sign-stealing scandal

The fallout for Stalions from the sign-stealing case continues to be detrimental for the former Michigan analyst.

By getting hit with a show-cause, it essentially means that if a college football program were to hire Stalions for a position and could show that he could follow rules and guidelines, he would still be suspended for the entirety of his first season with that program. The show-cause is essentially a job suspension from athletically related activities for a set period by the NCAA and its Committee on Infractions.

In the report, Stalions was found to have arranged the illegal scouting of at least 13 Michigan future opponents on at least 58 occasions between 2021 and 2023. He resigned in October of 2023 amid the initial reports and allegations of the scouting and sign-stealing scheme.

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Several Baltimore Ravens players requested swim lessons.
Michael Phelps, a Baltimore native, offered to teach the players.
Phelps gave the players a lesson at Loyola University’s aquatic center.
The Ravens donated $100,000 to the Michael Phelps Foundation.

Last month, some members of the Baltimore Ravens requested assistance in learning to swim.

Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey then posted a video to Instagram with teammates offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley, safety Kyle Hamilton and tight end Charlie Kolar asking the greatest swimmer of all-time, Baltimore native Michael Phelps, to lend a helping hand.

‘Mr. Phelps, we have a problem. Did you know that one in three Ravens cannot swim? We have a solution for you, sir. Come to Ravens training camp and this beautiful aquatic center and teach us how to swim,’ they said.

The 23-time Olympic gold medalist was more than happy to oblige.

‘I got y’all!!! Let’s do it!’ he said.

Phelps made a trip to the Ravens training camp Tuesday, and then the team hopped on buses and headed over to Loyola University’s aquatic center for a swimming lesson.

‘I didn’t know what I was getting into,’ Phelps said. ‘I had no idea what their comfort level was. When I see the guys in there and some of the guys who are literally working on floating and breathing, and they’re focused on paying attention to those details, it shows their vulnerability, especially when they’re uncomfortable. It was a special day. Racing some of the fellas in the 25 (meter). My son raced some of the guys. It was a great day. I truly hope they learned something, hopefully got some confidence, and hopefully can transition into something else.’

Members of the Michael Phelps Foundation helped in the lesson, and the Ravens gave back by making a $100,000 donation to the foundation.

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