Sports
Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr. named Topps cover athlete for 2024 baseball trading cards following MVP season
Ronald Acuña Jr. is getting the highly-renowned Topps treatment.
The Atlanta Braves superstar has been tabbed as the cover athlete for Topps’ Series 1 baseball trading cards for the 2024 season.
Acuña is featured on each box of cards, as well as the wrapper used for the packs.
A typical box comes with seven packs of 12 cards, but fans are able to purchase hobby boxes — 20 dozen-card packs, with each pack featuring at least one card with a player’s autograph or a piece of memorabilia.
Atlanta Braves player Ronald Acuna Jr. poses with the National League Most Valuable Player award during the 2024 BBWAA Awards Dinner at New York Hilton Midtown on January 27, 2024 in New York City. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Acuña went beyond the “MVP candidate” category in 2023, going out and winning the award thanks to a season that rewrote the history books — in fact, he added a chapter in them.
The outfielder started an exclusive club while leading the major leagues with 217 hits as part of a 104-win team that won the NL East for the sixth consecutive year.
Entering last year, no player had ever hit 40 home runs while stealing 50 bases in a season (four had previously accomplished a 40-40 season). Acuña took it to another level, though, smashing 41 homers and stealing not 50, not 60, but 73 bases, taking advantage of the larger bags this year.
Ronald Acuna Jr. is the cover athlete for Topps’ Series 1 trading cards this year. (Topps)
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Acuña also led the majors with 149 runs scored, 383 total bases and a .416 on-base percentage, while his 1.012 OPS led the National League (third in MLB). He also hit .337, the second-best mark in the majors.
The 26-year-old outfielder was named an All-Star for the fourth-straight time (outside 2020, in which there was no midsummer classic) and earned his third Silver Slugger Award. His 106 RBI were a career-high.
Acuña’s previous best finish in the voting had been his fifth-place finish in 2019, just his second season in the majors. He certainly would have been in the race in 2021 had he not torn his ACL in his 82nd game of the season.
Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves flips his bat after hitting a home run in the fourth inning during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Truist Park on September 8, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/Getty Images)
Acuña was limited to 119 games in 2022 while still recovering from that injury, and he hit just .266/.351/.413, all career-lows. But everyone knows a fully healthy Acuña can do damage.
Topps turns 35 this year, with this season’s designs, made by Robert Grape, inspired by the company’s very first release of the Series 1 in 1989.
Fox News’ Scott Thompson contributed to this report.
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Sports
UFC fighter Tim Means arrested on child abuse charge in New Mexico
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UFC fighter Tim Means was arrested earlier in the week on a child abuse charge in New Mexico, according to online court records.
Means was arrested on Wednesday and booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque. He didn’t appear to have an attorney listed. Fox News Digital reached out to the UFC for comment.
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Tim Means reacts after his TKO victory over Andre Fialho of Portugal in a welterweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nev., on Sept. 23, 2023. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images)
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call about a physical altercation at a Tijeras home, the Albuquerque Journal reported, citing a criminal complaint. The alleged victim, a teenager, reportedly told dispatchers that the two had been in a spat over chores when he headbutted her.
Means was accused of grabbing the teen in a “strangulation matter.” The mixed martial artist allegedly got angrier, threw a potato at the alleged victim and punched her in the face, according to the paper.
Thiago Alves fights Tim Means during UFC Fight Night at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 7, 2019. (Amber Searls/USA TODAY Sports)
“Let it be known that there were visible hand and red marks on (the teen’s) neck, indicating she was strangled,” according to the complaint. “There was blood on and in her nose where she was head-butted and several red marks indicated she was hit in the face and on her cheek.”
Means, 42, started his MMA career in 2004 and has appeared in King of the Cage, Legacy FC and UFC. He last fought in UFC in 2024, losing to Court McGee via submission at UFC 307.
Tim Means reacts after a loss to Alex Morono in a welterweight bout during UFC Fight Night at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C., on May 13, 2023. (Jim Dedmon/USA TODAY Sports)
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He’s set for a status hearing on May 26.
Sports
Loyola High’s Tripp King looks to become West Coast trendsetter in lacrosse
Seeing Tripp King flick a rubber ball toward the net with his stick is like spotting an unidentified flying object and wondering if you missed it because the shot happens faster than the blink of an eye.
His lacrosse coach at Loyola High, Jimmy Borell, brings out one of those baseball radar guns twice a year to clock how fast his players can send that ball through a net.
King’s right hand delivers the ball at 100 mph and his left hand at 90 mph.
“I pray he doesn’t cut the net,” Borell said.
In a sport that’s beloved on the East Coast, King is helping bring respect to lacrosse players learning the game on the West Coast.
He started lacrosse in kindergarten, showing up to participate in South Bay Lacrosse Club. By first grade, he was wearing lacrosse pads. He also played football and basketball. When he reached Loyola as a freshman, he was still a three-sport athlete, but he had become so talented in lacrosse that it became his focus.
“I always loved the speed of lacrosse,” said the junior. “I see that similarity in basketball. It’s always pulled me knowing you have to be good at everything instead of one particular skill.”
At 6 feet 1 and 200 pounds with the thick calves of a football player, he’s an attacker that every opponent must track. He’ll stand behind the net ready to receive the ball and make a pass to teammates who will quickly get the ball back to him for a goal with one flick of his wrist.
He had 102 points during the regular season (65 goals, 37 assists) for a Loyola team seeded No. 1 for the seven-team Southern Section Division 1 playoffs that begin this week. Loyola has a bye in the opening round and won’t play until May 9.
“He’s pretty special,” Borell said. “He’s got the tangibles, very skilled, can use both of his hands and has a very quick step.”
He’s committed to North Carolina, which is a dream come true since he was born to be a Tar Heel. Both of his parents went to North Carolina.
Tripp King, wearing No. 11, is an attacker for Loyola’s No. 1-ranked lacrosse team.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
“I’ve grown up a Tar Heel,” he said.
He’s also a kind, friendly future Tar Heel, something you can’t always say about lacrosse players who often feel they are either entitled or frustrated when people don’t pay enough attention to them.
Classmates swear by King.
“Nice,” is what several told me.
He returns to the South Bay Lacrosse Club to give back, working with young players just like when somebody helped him as a 5-year-old.
He’s someone ready to head to the East Coast determined to be proof of how determined West Coast players have become.
“A lot of the stereotypes of the West Coast are surfer boy or doesn’t take it seriously,” he said. “We’ve made it an atmosphere at Loyola where every day we’re waking up at 5 o’clock for 6 a.m. practices. We’re getting in extra work before and after practice. I think that lazier, not tough stereotype isn’t true. The West Coast is growing.”
King lives in Manhattan Beach, where celebrities and pro athletes can be seen walking or riding bikes on any given day.
King is only 17, but if he’s taking a walk or riding a bike, pay attention, because one day, he’s going to be recognized as lacrosse trendsetter from the West Coast.
Sports
UFL 2026: Full Regular-Season Schedules, Results for All 8 Teams
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The 2026 UFL season kicked off on March 27 on FOX UFL Friday, and it consists of a 10-week regular season ending on May 31, followed by playoffs starting the week of June 7 and the championship game later that month.
There are new teams, new coaches, new players and new uniforms this season — and that’s just the beginning.
The league’s media partners — FOX, FS1, ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 — combine to broadcast all 43 games during the UFL’s third season. Select games in Spanish will also air across FOX Deportes and ESPN Deportes.
Here are the full 2026 schedules for all eight teams:
Week 1 (March 27-29)
Week 2 (April 3-7)
Week 3 (April 10-12)
Week 4 (April 16-18)
Week 5 (April 24-26)
Week 6 (April 30-May 3)
- St. Louis Battlehawks @ Louisville Kings (Thursday, April 30 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1)
- Houston Gamblers @ Columbus Aviators (Friday, May 1 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX)
- Dallas Renegades @ DC Defenders (Saturday, May 2 at noon ET on ABC)
- Birmingham Stallions @ Orlando Storm (Sunday, May 3 at 4 p.m. ET on FOX)
Week 7 (May 8-10)
- Columbus Aviators @ St. Louis Battlehawks (Friday, May 8 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX)
- Louisville Kings @ DC Defenders (Saturday, May 9 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX)
- Dallas Renegades @ Birmingham Stallions (Saturday, May 9 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN)
- Orlando Storm @ Houston Gamblers (Sunday, May 10 at 6 p.m. ET on FS1)
Week 8 (May 15-17)
- Orlando Storm @ Dallas Renegades (Friday, May 15 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX)
- DC Defenders @ Louisville Kings (Saturday, May 16 at noon ET on ABC)
- Houston Gamblers @ St. Louis Battlehawks (Saturday, May 16 at 3 p.m. ET on ABC)
- Columbus Aviators @ Birmingham Stallions (Sunday, May 17 at 1 p.m. ET on FOX)
Week 9 (May 22-24)
- DC Defenders @ Orlando Storm (Friday, May 22 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX)
- Birmingham Stallions @ Columbus Aviators (Saturday, May 23 at 3 p.m. ET on ABC)
- Dallas Renegades @ Louisville Kings (Sunday, May 24 at 4 p.m. ET on FOX)
- St. Louis Battlehawks @ Houston Gamblers (Sunday, May 24 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2)
Week 10 (May 29-31)
- Dallas Renegades @ St. Louis Battlehawks (Friday, May 29 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX)
- Houston Gamblers @ Birmingham Stallions (Saturday, May 30 at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2)
- Orlando Storm @ DC Defenders (Sunday, May 31 at noon ET on ABC)
- Louisville Kings @ Columbus Aviators (Sunday, May 31 at 6 p.m. ET on FOX)
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