Sports

Imagine a baseball season without the iconic crack of an ash bat. This could become a reality thanks to the emerald ash borer, a tiny beetle that causes massive destruction of ash trees across North America. For decades, ash has reigned supreme in baseball bats. From legendary players like Babe Ruth to modern sluggers like Mark McGwire, ash has been the go-to material for feel and performance. Companies like Hillerich & Bradsby, maker of the Louisville Slugger, produced hundreds of thousands of ash bats each year. However, the ash beetle has changed the game. This invasive insect, about the size of a grain of rice, attacks ash trees by laying eggs under the bark. The larvae then feed on the tree’s vital nutrients, killing it. Since arriving in the United States in 2002, the ash beetle ha...

Mike Duggan and his hockey buddies were strapping on their gear one recent morning when their banter turned, as it often does, to the topic of joint replacement surgeries. Duggan, 74, the proud owner of an artificial hip, marveled at the sheer number of titanium body parts in the locker room. He nodded toward Mitch Boriskin, who was putting on a pair of skates along the opposite wall. “I don't think there's an original part to you,” Duggan said. Boriskin, 70, smiled. “Two fake knees, a spinal cord stimulator, 25 surgeries,” he began, as if he were reciting a sheet of music. “And a lobotomy,” Duggan chimed in, as laughter rippled through the room. All that titanium, at least, was being put to good use. Their team, Oregon Old Growth, had joined dozens of others from across North America ...

He also took several trips to Europe, discovering a passion for exploring his father's ancestral land in the Basque Country in northern Spain. And he drove a camper van around Australia and Indonesia. But the boat was his greatest pleasure. “I want my life to be simple and there's nothing simpler than being on a sailboat,” she said. “You treat the boat well and it treats you well. That's all. Before the pandemic, the Roaming Rose docked in Turks and Caicos. Due to travel restrictions, she was stuck there for nearly two years. When he was allowed to return to the boat in 2022, she took her girlfriend, Jayden Davila, with her for a three-month sail around the Caribbean. They docked in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands. “John is...

While sports fans enjoy the defining moments of this month's NBA Finals and Stanley Cup, Jason Arasheben studies like a college student before exams. Arasheben, a famous jeweler whose clients include rappers Drake and ASAP Rocky, is investigating the contending teams' history, connections to their hometowns and any other interesting facts that might go into an extravagantly bejeweled ring. He is also examining his personal contacts to find someone who can facilitate a meeting with the wealthy owners of the winning franchises. “You just have to start connecting the dots,” said Arasheben, CEO of the Jason jewelry house in Beverly Hills, near Los Angeles. “Billionaires talk to other billionaires.” In recent years, Arasheben has established itself as the go-to jeweler for title-winning team...

The outburst, which Votto and Jim Day, the reporter on the sidelines of the Reds broadcasts, had been reminiscing for weeks – even on the team plane, which confused quite a few members of the Reds staff – has gone viral: one of the funniest characters of baseball had acted again. Votto, 40, who didn't embrace social media until March 2020, now regularly posts content to an audience of more than 300,000 followers on Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter. Like the attack on Russo, Votto's posts are carefully conceived and executed. Last winter, she posed in a flamboyant designer outfit - puffer jacket, furry tracksuit, expensive sunglasses, all purchased for the occasion - before playing in a chess tournament in Toronto. In June, shortly before returning from shoulder surgery, he deb...

Rocky Wirtz, who after taking over from his father as principal owner of the Chicago Blackhawks, won three Stanley Cup championships in the 2010s — a stellar run that lost its luster several years later after a sexual assault investigation by one of the teams of the minor league. players by a coach – died Tuesday in Evanston, Illinois. He was 70 years old. His death, in hospital, was confirmed by John Steinmiller, team spokesman. Under Mr. Wirtz's father, William, the Blackhawks, one of the National Hockey League's six original franchises, had become a downtrodden, money-losing franchise. The team hadn't won the Stanley Cup since 1961. Attendance at the United Center was among the worst in the league. And home games weren't televised. “I would say, 'Dad, we're losing generations of fa...

e was the tallest player. Even at the age of 16, Jimmy Aggrey stood well over six feet. The big lads went at the back. Line up and smile for the camera, please. Chelsea liked him. They thought he had a good chance of making it. For such a tall kid, Aggrey had quick, skilful feet. His future was bright at a time, in 1995, when Chelsea were re-establishing themselves among the most glamorous football clubs in England. “When I joined Chelsea, Glenn Hoddle was the first-team manager,” says Aggrey. “Ruud Gullit arrived later. The place was full of superstars: Gianfranco Zola, Frank Leboeuf, Roberto Di Matteo. So I can understand why many people might think it’s a great photograph. They should have been the greatest times of my life.” Aggrey was in his fourth year in Chelsea’s youth sy...

For the first season, each team will play 24 regular season games starting in January 2024. The league says subsequent seasons will begin in November and include 32 games. An expansion is also possible in the future, he said. In its final season, the PHF had teams in Boston; buffalo; Simsbury, Conn.; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Richfield, MN; Montreal; and Toronto. With the start of the new championship, Buffalo and Connecticut lose their teams, while Ottawa gains one. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said his league is reluctant to get involved in women's hockey as long as the split continues. Stan Kasten, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who serves on the new league's board of directors, said the NHL has provided advice. “The NHL has supported us fantastically,” he s...

He didn't care that it was a no-hitter. He just wanted the Yankees to win. More than five hours after we arrived at Yankee Stadium, my 9-year-old son Wes had waited in line for an hour in a rainstorm, picked up his coveted (replica) 1998 Yankees World Series ring, and he convinced me to buy it. a t-shirt, visited the Gluten Free Grill twice, mourned Jasson Domínguez's season-ending injury, cheered Aaron Judge so loudly his voice was getting hoarse, and brushed off every single mention I made of Corbin Burnes, the starter for the Milwaukee Brewers, was playing an incredible game. While rain delayed Sunday's game between Milwaukee and the Yankees by just 15 minutes, soggy conditions persisted through the first inning and Burnes, the 2021 National League Cy Young Award winner, rocked the Y...

The niche world of hockey romance novels is gaining public attention after the wife of an NHL player criticized fans of the books who she said had made comments and videos on social media about her husband as " predators and exploiters". Here's what happened when the worlds of professional sports, romance novels and TikTok collided. First there was BookTok. On TikTok, people share book recommendations and reviews under the hashtag #BookTok, and the community has become a powerful force in publishing: More than 100 authors with large followings on BookTok generated $760 million in sales in 2022, a up 60% from 2021, according to Circana BookScan, which tracks print sales. Romance is a big part of the BookTok universe, as is its popular subgenre of hockey romance, which falls under the broad...