If President Donald Trump is coming to the game, bet on the visiting team. You'll usually be in the money at least if recent history holds. The New York Knicks, coming off two straight wins in the finals against the San Antonio Spurs, lost at home 115-111 on Monday night with Trump, a longtime fan of the Big Apple's NBA team, in a luxury suite at Madison Square Garden. He similarly may have had a jinxing role for MLB's Washington Nationals during his first term, when the home team lost Game 5 of the World Series to the Houston Astros 7-1.In November, the president was on hand when the NFL's Washington Commanders hosted the Detroit Lions, and the visitors romped 44-22. And he was front and center at Bethpage Black when Europe topped the U.S. golf team in last fall's Ryder Cup.Its a glaring irony for a president fanatical about sports but also especially obsessed with winning. Trump frequently mentions his own election victories, even boasting of a 2020 win over Joe Biden that never happened, and touts his record of endorsing winning Republican primary candidates. His love of sports also sometimes leads him into hostile territory, including heavily Democratic Manhattan, where his very presence led to sustained booing before Game 3's tipoff.To be fair, Trump's attendance doesn't guarantee the home team will lose.Last September, the New York Yankees beat the visiting Detroit Tigers 9-3 as the president marked the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Trump was also there when Navy beat Army 17-16 in Baltimore last fall, when the Midshipmen were technically the home team though Navy wasn't playing in its home stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.He's also been to plenty of sporting events where home field advantage isn't a factor.That was true for his attending the U.S. Open in September and the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans, where the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs, as well as that year's Daytona 500. Ditto for 2024's NCAA wrestling championships in Philadelphia and the FIFA Club World Cup final in East Rutherford, New Jersey.It also won't be an issue Sunday, when the White House's South Lawn will host a UFC show to mark Trump's 80th birthday. The White House didnt respond to a message Monday seeking comment on Trumps attendance at key sporting events possibly being bad luck for the home team.If the trend holds, however, it may not be great news for the U.S. national team in the World Cup, which opens Thursday. The Americans have never made it past the semifinal stage in the tournament's modern history anyway and they'll have to contend this time with Trump playing an outsize role in organizing the event. He has pledged to attend the final and award the trophy to the winning team.Trump getting blamed for New York's lossSome Knicks fans have faulted the president for the Game 3 defeat, even though their team still leads the series. Game 4 will also be played in New York on Wednesday, though this time Trump isn't expected to attend. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a likely 2028 Democratic presidential candidate and frequent foil for the president, playfully picked up on the theme of Trump as a jinx, reposting a past White House post on X declaring Call it the Trump effect alongside discussion about the Knicks' loss. ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith himself mentioned as a possible future presidential hopeful suggested before Game 3 that it'd be Trump's fault if the Knicks didn't win. Afterward, he said, What I feared would happen ended up happening.The president disrupted our mojo, said Smith, a longtime Knicks fan, before adding, The man messed things up.Asked after the game about Smith potentially blaming him for a Knicks loss, Trump dismissed the commentator's political aspirations and questioned his intelligence.I think hes a nice guy. But you need a certain aptitude to run for president, Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One for his flight back to Washington early TuesdayYou need a high IQ. Im not sure that Stephen has that, he said. I dont think he does, actually.Frequent booing hasn't stop Trump from attending sporting eventsBefore he was a politician, Trump, a native of the New York City borough of Queens, frequently attended Knicks games, sometimes sitting courtside. His return to the Garden nonetheless drew long and loud boos when his face was shown on the jumbotron during the national anthem and that was before the Knicks lost.In fact, he's been roundly booed repeatedly, though it has more to do with his politics than any role he might have in jinxing the home team. Trump drew boos at the Nationals' World Series game and during the Commanders game and the U.S. Open. At some events he's cheered and the crowd reaction can also be mixed though Trump is likely to simply claim a more friendly reception than he actually gets. After the Knicks game, Trump tried to suggest that the boos were I think, mostly cheers. The White House similarly attempted to spin the incident into a political show of strength, posting a photo of Trump at the game with the caption King of New York. Offering a different assessment was New York's Daily News tabloid. It featured a cartoon of an exaggeratedly rotund Trump wearing a No. 38 Knicks jersey with a bubble emerging from his mouth saying approval rating.

BBC Sport director Alex Kay-Jelski has dismissed Gary Lineker's mockery of the corporation's World Cup studio, revealing an impressive new facility in Salford just 48 hours before the tournament kicks off.The former Match of the Day presenter had ridiculed the BBC's decision to base coverage in the UK rather than travelling to North America, boasting in April about spending the World Cup "overlooking Times Square" while his former colleagues remained "in Salford in a green box".Opening the doors to Media City on Tuesday, Kay-Jelski offered a pointed rebuttal: "It's not a green box in Salford. It's a beautiful state-of-the-art studio. No one's seen it until now."He added: "It's completely fine to assume that what was there before was what it was going to be. And I'm really proud of this."The broadcaster has invested in a massive 360-degree panoramic screen that will transport viewers to whichever of the 16 host cities across the United States, Mexico and Canada a match is being shown from.Rather than relying on cheap green screen technology, the LED backdrop displays dynamic photographs of locations such as Mexico City and New York, adjusting automatically for local time and weather conditions.The corporation has even installed fans positioned near the screen to generate a gentle breeze, adding to the immersive atmosphere.Augmented reality features allow CGI graphics to appear as though they are floating within the part-real, part-virtual environment.The studio combines physical furniture with computer-generated backgrounds, creating what the BBC describes as a cutting-edge setup for presenters Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman.Kay-Jelski mounted a robust defence of the decision to keep the main operation in the UK, arguing it has saved licence-fee payers a substantial sum ahead of significant budget reductions before the 2028 Royal Charter."To have what would probably be an extra couple of hundred people out there and that's before you build a studio you're talking millions," he explained.The BBC Sport director challenged critics to consider whether relocating presenters would genuinely enhance the viewer experience."If I was standing here saying, 'Everything is going to be done from a studio in Dallas', you would rightly be saying to me, 'How can you justify that spend?'" he said.He insisted: "The actual end product people are getting at home, I don't really think it's that different."Lineker departed the BBC last year following controversy over a social media post containing a rat emoji, imagery associated with anti-Semitic propaganda. He had been earning 1.3 million annually and was expected to front the corporation's World Cup coverage.The 65-year-old subsequently secured a 14 million contract with Netflix to broadcast his The Rest is Football podcast from a studio in New York during the tournament.Despite the studio remaining in Britain, Kay-Jelski confirmed that pundits Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy will be on the ground in North America alongside various commentators and journalists.Gabby Logan is set to make history as the first woman to anchor a World Cup final on British television, with Wayne Rooney and Micah Richards joining her as pundits.Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter

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