The Rams and 49ers will make NFL history in Week 1, but their preparation for the long trip to Melbourne could not be more different

'I don't think there's anyone in the game on both sides, men and women, who can do the things that Chelsea Gray can do,' A'ja Wilson said

You're going to need help figuring out how aggressive you need to be drafting wide receivers.

Every team is down to its last series before Monday's trade deadline

Ahead of the 2026 MLB Trade Deadline, the Detroit Tigers are calling up one of the MLB's top prospects. The Tigers announced on Thursday, July 30, that they are selecting the contract of 21-year-old prospect Max Clark. Clark is the team's No. 1-ranked prospect and the No. 13 MLB prospect(per MLB Pipeline). Clark is expected to make his MLB debut this weekend, which could come as early as Friday, July 31, when the Tigers take on the Oakland Athletics in Sacramento, California. In Triple-A with the Toledo Mud Hens, Clark has posted a .276 batting average with 11 home runs, 20 doubles, 42 RBI and 21 stolen bases in 362 at-bats in 90 games. He was selected third overall by the Tigers in the 2023 MLB Draft out of high school, in the same class as fellow rookie Kevin McGonigle. Before embarking on his professional career, Clark was a star high school player.Here's what you need to know about Clark's prep career:Where did Max Clark go to high school?Clark was the No. 3 overall pick one pick ahead of former Florida and current Texas Ranger star Wyatt Langford in the 2023 draft for a reason. He was named the Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year in 2023.He attended Franklin Community High Schoolin Franklin, Indiana, which is 25 miles South of Indianapolis, where he was named the Indiana Gatorade Baseball Player of theYear in his sophomore, junior and senior seasons.As a senior, Clark finished with a .646 batting average with six home runs, 33 RBIs, and 45 runs scored, living up to the preseason draft hype he had garnered. As a junior, he hit .577 with nine home runs, 32 RBIs, 31 walks and 22 stolen bases. He hit .450 with six home runs, thirty RBIs and 31 stolen bases in his sophomore season, also pitching to a 0.84 ERA and 120 strikeouts over fifty innings.Clark could have had more high school success, but his freshman season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ahead of his senior year, Clark played for Team USA in the 2021 WBSC U-18 World Cup, posting a .294 batting average over eight games to help the U.S. earn a gold medal.While he was committed to Vanderbilt for college baseball, he ended up signing with the Tigers for $7.7 million on July 17, 2023. Following the selection of Clark, Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris praised Clark's abilities on the baseball field."He was the best player on our board at that pick, and we are thrilled that he got to our pick," Harris said. "We think Max is a five-tool player. I think that label gets thrown around way too much in our industry. We think Max has all five."This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where did Max Clark go to high school? What to know about Detroit Tigers' top prospect

Before the season starts, I thought it would be fun to compile a list of all the old faces in different places, sorted by position, from quarterbacks to head coaches. First up are the QBs. Below will be a breakdown of who went where while switching area codes. Half the battle will be whether they're a good fit.Justin Fields - Kansas City ChiefsPatrick Mahomes is apparently on pace to be ready for the start of the season, but knee injuries are tricky and can have setbacks. Justin Fields was brought in for an (in the event of) scenario.Malik Willis - Miami DolphinsMalik Willis was hand-picked and given a hefty contract to try and get this team back on the right track and relevant. He will be relied on very heavily to do so.Kyler Murray - Minnesota VikingsKyler Murray has a chance to revitalize his career in Minnesota. There will be no in-between either. He has plenty of untapped potential, and head coaching plus schemes matter.Tua Tagovailoa - Atlanta FalconsAnother prime opportunity to revitalize a career here for Tua. He has the weapons at his disposal, but must overtake Michael Penix Jr. on the depth chart and stay healthy.Kirk Cousins - Las Vegas RaidersKirk Cousins will be the starter in Las Vegas to start the season, and he can still go at a high level. But the backup QB is always the most popular guy in the room... especially when you're the number one overall draft pick.This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: Old faces in different places: Quarterback edition

Football chiefs will consider whether to push for a vote of no confidence on Gianni Infantino following another another day of drastic developments surrounding the embattled Fifa president. But Infantinos game-breaking Fifa Forward Enterprise plan is described as not dead yet, with the Swiss official still pushing on with his controversial plans after the global governing body issued another round of clarifications overnight.Sources have even spoken of Infantino continuing on in the office as normal. Meanwhile, many outside his decreasingly small circle are highly curious as to what he is feeling right now, as a previously invulnerable position has been left so exposed in a matter of days.FIFA president Gianni Infantino and US president Donald Trump with the World Cup trophy (Bradley Collyer/PA) (PA Wire)Above anything, its remarkable to think a Fifa president can continue when the most powerful continent have boycotted the World Cup, in Uefa, and two other confederations have at least prepared the ground to follow.This all in a week that actually started with Infantino berating the media for criticism. One of his most senior advisors, Carlos Cordeiro, has also now quit, signing off with a damning statement. Thats just another development that would usually be difficult to survive.Federation chiefs have already started talking about the process of a vote of no confidence, which would first necessitate a meeting of the Fifa Council and then 43 member associations - a quarter of the 211 - to push for an Extraordinary Congress.Before that, though, everyone is waiting to see how the dust settles. Football chiefs have even felt its all been happening too fast to even properly register.Amid all of that, Cordeiros statement was still clear enough to sum up the main problems with this plan. He wrote of how Fifa sits on billions of dollars in reserves and no debt, ensuring that selling a permanent stake in footballs most valuable asset to raise $4.2bn makes little sense.Why this deal? Why now?The JP Morgan deck for the plan is indeed said to have been the final straw for many member associations, including how it seemed to undervalue something as precious as the World Cup - let alone the principle of selling it off. They also pointed to contradictions in how Fifa is now bleating about consultations, but their very documents say terms have been agreed. As one involved figure said, who agreed them?The exclusion of Cordeiro from the process is one of many elements that has only further baffled football.Cordeiro (left) was a key figure within Fifa as Infantinos right-hand man (AFP/Getty)While the former US Soccer president has been a divisive figure himself, he is seen as one of the worlds top bankers given his decades of work at Goldman Sachs.It would surely have been obvious for Infantino to include him in formulating an idea like this, not least given their proximity. But he didnt.Among another key question being asked - of many - is how and why the arbitrary deadline of 19 September was picked.Sources were wryly laughing at how Fifas clarification email complained at how their planned consultation process was disrupted by incorrect media reports only to then plough ahead with this deadline of 19 September. What would have changed if the consultation process hadnt been disrupted by the media?Sports industry figures have pointed to how a comparable deal between CVC Capital Partners and the Six Nations took two years to go through. Fifa were instead insisting on seven weeks with 211 countries, and that covering a period when most senior federation people are on holiday after a gruelling World Cup.It is of a piece with so many major decisions under Infantinos Fifa being rushed through with minimal opportunity for discussion, with the latest apparently the connected expansion of the World Cup to 64 teams.The pressure is mounting on Fifa president Gianni Infantino (PA Archive)If a radical shift like this plan was being taken in normal circumstances, it would come after a strategy department had been suggesting change over a period of time, before going through the board, the finance office and legal.Except, nothing about this is normal.The 19 September is otherwise seen by finance figures as a standard attempt to have hard milestones in place before the plan can evolve to formal financial due diligence. It also happens to fit with key Fifa dates, given that theres an Extraordinary Congress scheduled for 23 November - by which point the presidential nominations are due for the March 2027 election - and the deadline for that agenda is 23 September.Many figures naturally feel more time is essential, before even considering all the other concerns.Ultimately, though, there was one major factor putting most voters off.As a number of sources have said, the association with the Trumps was just never going to fly.So much more of the story at least makes sense once it is viewed through the prism of the world around Donald Trump.Infantinos long association with a notoriously transactional US president played into a situation where he is suddenly announcing a plan that centrally involves the brother of Trumps son-in-law - through Josh Kushners Thrive Capital - after a year-long plan that very few people apparently knew about.Josh Kushner is the founder and CEO of Thrive Capital, which has emerged as a proposed lead investor in Infantinos proposals (Getty)That element is said to have infuriated big hitters in the financial community, too. Here was the most secure, most revenue-generating, most global asset coming on the market and firms from Silverlake to CVC were not even at the table. That alone could cause awkward discussions at the next round of investor conversations.And yet it is apparently going to Thrive Capital, which is seen in that sphere as an internet/software venture capital fund.So, why Kushner?Many are also seeing Trumps long flattery of Infantino with a different perspective. As one source puts it, he talks about him in a way he doesnt even talk about Benjamin Netanyahu. Infantino has had longer and deeper access to the White House than almost anyone outside politics, and stayed close to Trump longer after the type of timescale where relationships with other comparable figures are burned. Look at Elon Musk, for example.Was it connected to this plan?The Trump connection could also dictate where this goes next.As well as a vote of no confidence, federation chiefs have been weighing up potential challengers to be announced in November - from Concacafs Victor Montigliani to Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser El-Khelaifi - but they do still see a path to survival for Infantino.Gianni Infantino cultivated a relationship with Donald Trump before the staging of the 2026 World Cup (PA Wire)If he says he understands the views of the many dissenters and goes in another direction, he could stay.That direction could even be to still create Fifa Forward Enterprises but without the private equity element, as Uefa have done with Uefa Events SA. The record World Cup profits could then be distributed to member associations at $20m each and everyone moves with a contrite but weakened Infantino.But will he do that given this connection to the Trumps? What has actually been discussed in the secret negotiations that led to this? Can he unmoor himself from this specific plan in that way, or will he press on and try and get it to a vote?The next steps could decide more than Infantinos future.

Ayami Sato pitches during a Women's Pro Baseball League exhibition game in March.Photograph: Rebecca Blackwell/APWhen Ayami Sato takes the mound as the starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Queens on Saturday, it will be the culmination of a professional career that has spanned 16 years and three countries. The right-handed hurler is largely considered the best pitcher in the history of womens baseball. She has the awards and experience to prove it, and now shes taking on America when she makes her debut in the Womens Professional Baseball League, the first pro womens baseball league in the United States since the 1950s.Even though most Americans tuning into the WPBL may not have heard of her, Satos resume speaks for itself. Satos fastball has been clocked at nearly 80mph and her curveball has a devastating spin rate that is higher than many Major League Baseball pitchers. As a member of the Japan National Team since 2010, Sato has won six gold medals. She is the only player in Womens Baseball World Cup history to win three consecutive MVP awards. As a member of the now-defunct Japans Womens Baseball League, Sato led the league in strikeouts in three of the last four seasons. And most recently, in 2024 she became the first woman to play pro baseball in Canada as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Intercounty Baseball League.Now, she is bringing her talent to the US and the WPBL. This is a brand new league for all of us, Sato tells the Guardian through a translator. So I also want to approach it with the mindset of a rookie staying curious, paying attention to everything around me, and embracing this new challenge with an open mind.The league will play all its games in a centralized location for its first season, at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois. There are four teams the Queens, the New York Heights, the San Francisco Firebells and the Boston Hunters. And the best players from all over the world will take the field together for the first time as one league, including at least nine players from the US womens national baseball team. On the Queens, Sato will play alongside USA star third baseman Ashton Lansdell and Little League World Series star Mone Davis.WPBL co-founder and commissioner Justine Seigel says it was always the plan to recruit internationally for the league. We want many of the best players, and to have many of the best players, you have to go out into the world and find the best shortstop in Venezuela, and whos pitching in Japan, Seigel says. Its also fun because baseball is baseball, but its also got its own little nuances country-to-country, and its kind of fun to see in a game, as well.Sato is from Amami shima island in Kagoshima prefecture. She began playing baseball as a girl, at first as a way to hang out with her older brother, but by third grade she was taking the sport seriously. She took to pitching almost immediately, after the manager of the boys baseball team she was on noticed that she liked to throw and told her that she had a strong shoulder.In Japan, Sato explains that there is a strong emphasis on mastering the fundamentals like proper throwing mechanics and learning to move your body the right way. While its something that Sato has always liked about the way she was trained, shes gained even more appreciation for her countrys emphasis on the fundamentals because she believes they have contributed to the longevity of her career.One thing that I hope fans recognize is that great performances dont just happen, they come from a lot of preparation, Sato says. I spend a great deal of time getting ready, physically and mentally, before I ever step onto the field, so Ill be very happy if people notice not only how I play, but also the preparation that I do and mindset behind it.I got to catch her bullpen, which was surreal, New York Heights and USA catcher Denae Benites said at one of the WPBL tryout sessions. Shes a legend in the game and last year I got to face her as a hitter in a World Cup and I think she did get me twice. So now Im learning her secrets, Im learning her pitches. But that was a truly incredible moment.Despite all the accolades and stats that Sato has racked up over the course of her career, shes humble. For as excited as the other players are to play alongside her, she is just as excited to play with (and against) them.Ive always considered the American players to be the biggest rivals against Japan, Sato says. They constantly challenged me and made things very difficult for me, but because they were such strong opponents, they also pushed me to improve and made me want to become a better player.She says after watching the documentary See Her, Be Her about women who played baseball (including Sato herself), she stopped seeing the USA players just as opponent-athletes and more as people who had had many of the same experiences that she has faced.Now Ill have the chance to play in the same league with the players Ive come to understand on a deeper level and we will be fellow players building something together, she says. I feel nothing but excitement, and I really cannot wait.And because Sato is such an experienced player, she can bring that veteran leadership to the Queens. She hopes she can teach her teammates how to slow down and never let the game get away from them, to take the game pitch-by-pitch, and to work hard so that they can be the best version of themselves that they can be.Sato is so hyperfocused on baseball that sometimes it can be hard for her to think of herself outside of that. When asked what she wanted fans to know about her off-the field, she regularly came back to her baseball training or philosophy. She found it to be a difficult question to answer, describing herself as a person. Her partner and translator, Mayo Hirano, was happy to offer insight into Satos personality.She has a unique ability to take control of the game and set the tone for everyone around her, Hirano says. Once she steps onto the mound, she creates an atmosphere that only Ayami can create calm, focused, and quietly powerful.Off the field, though, she is completely different. She is one of the purest and most genuine people I know. She lives life at her own pace, and its a very slow one sometimes it even tests my patience! She loves drawing and singing, and she finds joy in the simple things.In many ways, Sato has been building towards the WPBL through her entire career. That this league has come to be at a time when Japans womens league no longer exists and while Sato is still playing is, in some ways, kismet. Sato will have yet another opportunity to show the world why she is the best at what she does. And shell get to do it on her own terms, bringing all the lessons shes learned throughout her career to the mound in Springfield.I think the combination of bringing together the American style of enjoying the game and having fun with the Japanese approach of building a strong foundation if you could combine those two, I think you have the base of the best of both worlds.

Twenty-four months later, "Wemby" is back in the Paris region, ready to play again with his country , and his status has evolved: he is no longer just a 20-year-old Rookie of the Year, but a 22-year-old All-Star, Defensive Player of the Year and potential MVP. At the inauguration of a renovated basketball court in Nanterre, a moment he described as " lucky " to be able to experience, Victor Wembanyama made no secret of his enthusiasm about returning to where he trained for eight years. And in France, more broadly. " When I come back here, it does me a lot of good, " he says , before looking ahead to his return to the blue jersey, since he had to miss Euro 2025. " I don't miss the NBA at the moment, but I do miss FIBA ," he clearly tells the journalists present.Basket USAThis article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Victor Wembanyama: 'I don't miss the NBA at the moment, but I do miss FIBA'

" According to the latest report published by Data Bridge Market Research, the Automotive Predictive Analytics Market The global automotive predictive analytics market size was valued at USD 2.21 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach USD 14.18 billion by 2033, at a CAGR of26.10% during the forecast period Attaining maximum return on investment (ROI)...