Sports

MLB players with Vegas roots skeptical of A's relocation: 'It’s a terrible idea'

Published

2 years ago

July 16, 2024

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MLB players with Vegas roots skeptical of A's relocation: 'It’s a terrible idea'

ARLINGTON, Texas —

The Oakland Athletics are 11 weeks from extinction.

They’ll set up shop in Sacramento for three or four years, and after that they plan on making Las Vegas their new home. The A’s fans hate the idea, of course. The elected officials in Nevada, who authorized $380 million in public funding toward a new ballpark in Las Vegas, largely love the idea.

Las Vegas has a strong baseball community, and a growing cast of major league players. I spent the past few weeks asking major leaguers with Las Vegas roots what they thought of the A’s move and whether they believed the team would succeed there. Their comments were thoughtful and often nuanced — well, most of them.

“I think it’s a terrible idea,” Arizona Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald said. “The whole thing, I fear, is going to be an abject disaster.”

Sewald said he would prefer the public funding be used for schools and roads. He said he also was skeptical that Las Vegas could support the A’s when the Raiders and 2023 Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights already are there, the two-time defending champion WNBA Aces have sold out their entire season, and it is possible that an NBA expansion team could beat the A’s to town.

“We just don’t have enough bandwidth to invest in three, four, five professional teams,” Sewald said. “We just don’t have enough people. That’s OK. We don’t have to be a city that has all four major sports.”

Bryce Harper, the Philadelphia Phillies’ All-Star first baseman, said he was unsure if the A’s would succeed in Las Vegas. He would prefer an expansion team — a team that could create its own history, just like the expansion Golden Knights.

“Everybody is still locked in on the Golden Knights,” Harper said. “It’s a tough thing to see the A’s go away from Oakland. They have so much tradition and history there: the green, the yellow, the white cleats, Eric Chavez and all those guys that played there, Barry Zito, [Mark] Mulder, Huddy [Tim Hudson], the teams they had.

“I see it in Oakland. I don’t see it in Vegas.”

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Paul Sewald doesn’t like the Oakland Athletics relocating to Las Vegas one bit. “The whole thing, I fear, is going to be an abject disaster,” he said.

(Darryl Webb / Associated Press)

Said Texas Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux: “I think it would be great to have a big league team, whether it was a team that moves or an expansion team.

“I think the economy is there. It’s grown so much that it can support a team. And all people need is a reason to go to Vegas. If you’re going to go there to watch a ballgame, let that be your excuse to get out there.”

Sewald is not convinced the baseball fans of Las Vegas would become A’s fans.

“They are all Dodgers fans,” he said. “Ninety percent of the people there are from California. That’s how my dad got there. That’s how I became a Dodger fan growing up. They’re not leaving the Dodgers fan base, just because you have a team.”

Chicago White Sox outfielder Tommy Pham said he understood the skepticism. He also said he had heard it before.

“They said the same thing about the Golden Knights: Would this be a hockey town?” Pham said. “And the Golden Knights were winning, and look at it now. Everybody wears Golden Knights stuff in Vegas now.”

Maddux had no doubt the A’s would enjoy a honeymoon period in Las Vegas.

“They’ll always come at the beginning,” he said. “Then you have to sustain it.”

That is the fundamental concern of all the Las Vegans with whom I spoke for this column.

“Seeing the A’s, and going to their park the last few years and seeing how that has been kept up,” Angels All-Star pitcher Tyler Anderson said, “and how they run their team — a lot of times, they have really good teams, but it seems like, as soon as they get a good team, they start trading guys before they get too expensive.

“It’s hard as a fan to have a good connection with players and teams there. You hope they come [to Las Vegas] and it changes a little bit.”

In Oakland, the A’s have ranked last in payroll in each of the past two years and have not ranked among the top 20 in payroll since 2007. They are on pace to lose 100 games for a third consecutive season.

“No one in Vegas is an A’s fan,” Sewald said. “Why are they going to change allegiances to a team that is not trying to win?”

An Oakland Athletics fan holds up a sign protesting the team's planned move to Las Vegas.

That, really, is the $380 million question: Has Nevada bought itself a winner?

The only one who really knows the answer is John Fisher, the A’s owner. So I asked him.

“By moving into our new stadium on the Las Vegas Strip,” Fisher said in a statement, “we will finally have the resources to significantly increase our payroll, retain our most talented young players, and make acquisitions through trades and in the free-agent market.”

A’s fans like to point out — they may be emailing me at this very moment — that Fisher’s Major League Soccer team, the San José Earthquakes, moved into a new stadium nine years ago. The Earthquakes have neither posted a winning record nor hosted a playoff game since then, and their payroll generally ranks in the bottom half of the league.

What Fisher’s teams did in the Bay Area need not be relevant in Nevada. If the A’s spend to win in Las Vegas, Pham said, they shouldn’t be concerned about winning over their new hometown.

“Shouldn’t be,” Pham said. “Shouldn’t be, man. These owners are profiting, you know? They cry broke.

“I do the same thing. I cry broke when people ask me for money but, deep down, I know I got it. It’s what people with money do.”

Times staff writer Mike DiGiovanna contributed to this column.

Sports

Deion Sanders mourns loss of Colorado quarterback Dominiq Ponder: ‘One of my favorites’

Published

3 hours ago

March 1, 2026

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Deion Sanders mourns loss of Colorado quarterback Dominiq Ponder: ‘One of my favorites’

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Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Dominiq Ponder died this weekend, the team’s head coach Deion Sanders confirmed on Sunday with a social media post.

“God please comfort the Ponder family, friends and loved ones,” Sanders wrote on social media. “Dom was one of my favorites! He was Loved, Respected & a Born Leader. Let’s pray for all that knew him & had the opportunity to be in his presence. Lord you’re receiving a good 1. Comfort us Lord Comfort us.”

Ponder was 23 years old.

Details of Ponder’s death are not yet known.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his team warm up before an NCAA college football game against TCU Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Fort Worth, Texas. (Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo)

Ponder, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound signal caller, joined the Buffaloes and “Coach Prime’s” program in 2024 after spending time at Bethune-Cookman before making his way to Boulder.

Last season, Ponder played just two games for the Buffaloes while serving in his backup role. He recorded two rush attempts and one pass attempt.

The Opa Locka, Fla., native also received tribute from a fellow quarterback with the Buffaloes, Colton Allen.

Bethune-Cookman QB Dominiq Ponder takes a snap during the Wildcats’ spring game Saturday, April 22, 2023, at Daytona Stadium. (IMAGN)

“Dom, you were a blessing to so many people,” Allen wrote on Instagram. “You had a presence about you that just made everything better. You brought so much joy to me and everyone around you. I’m grateful for every lift, every practice, every rep, every conversation we got to share. I’ll carry those with me for the rest of my life.”

Ponder was going to be a part of Colorado’s spring practices, which are set to begin on Monday. It’s unknown if Sanders will postpone the start due to Ponder’s passing.

Ponder also received a tribute from the University of Central Florida.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his players warm up before an NCAA college football game against Utah, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (Tyler Tate/AP Photo)

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“Our prayers are with Dominiq and the Ponder family along with all in the Colorado football program,” the university’s football account on X wrote.

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Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.

Sports

No. 2 UCLA women dominate rival USC to finish Big Ten play undefeated

Published

4 hours ago

March 1, 2026

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No. 2 UCLA women dominate rival USC to finish Big Ten play undefeated

Sunday was “Senior Night” for the USC women’s basketball team at Galen Center, but it was the other team’s seniors who stole the show.

Gabriela Jaquez scored 14 points, Kiki Rice had 11 points and four assists and Lauren Betts had 15 rebounds and five assists as UCLA wrapped up the regular season with a 73-50 victory over its rival and finished undefeated in conference play for the first time since going 18-0 in the Pac-10 in 1998-99 under Kathy Olivier.

Having already clinched the regular-season title, UCLA became the first team to navigate the Big Ten schedule without a loss since Maryland in 2014-15.

“These are two elite programs, we knew it would be different tonight, we knew they’d come with fire,” said UCLA coach Cori Close, who improved to 9-4 against the Trojans since counterpart Lindsay Gottlieb started at USC in 2021. “We knew we’d have to do it with our defense, our rebounding and by taking care of the ball.”

It was the Bruins’ 22nd consecutive win, one shy of the record they set last season. Since their lone loss to then-No. 4 Texas on Nov. 26 in Las Vegas, they have won by 20 or more points 17 times.

Ranked second in the nation in both the Associated Press and coaches’ polls behind defending national champion Connecticut (30-0), the Bruins earned the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament in Indianapolis and got a bye into Friday’s quarterfinals.

Charlisse Leger-Walker, nicknamed “X-ray vision” by teammates, equaled her season high with 20 points for the Bruins (28-1, 18-0) while Gianna Kneepkens added 14 points and five assists.

“Anytime we play together we know we can win,” Leger-Walker said. “We did a good job looking into the scout. Every game we just think about going 1-0. People scouting us know that all five players on the court can score the ball.”

UCLA center Lauren Betts, left, controls the ball in front of USC forward Vivian Iwuchukwu during the first half Sunday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

UCLA held USC to 27% shooting in the teams’ first meeting — a 34-point Bruins victory at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 3 behind Betts’ 18 points. It was USC’s most lopsided loss under coach Lindsay Gottlieb. On Sunday, USC shot 39% and was only three for 19 from three-point range.

“Going undefeated [in conference] is a great step in the right direction towards what we want to accomplish,” said Jaquez, who appreciated the flowers she received before the game from USC. “I love this rivalry. It’s super fun to play against them and it was nice that they honored us too.”

UCLA jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the first five minutes and carried a 19-11 advantage into the second quarter. The Bruins widened the gap to 18 points by halftime, holding the Trojans scoreless for the last 3:08.

USC (17-12, 9-9) opened the second half on an 11-2 run but gave up 14 second-chance points and allowed 22 offensive rebounds.

UCLA guard Kiki Rice, front, and forward Angela Dugalic celebrate as USC guard Kennedy Smith walks away.

“If we get more possessions than our opponent we’re most likely going to win,” Close said. “We didn’t allow one basket on an out-of-bounds play and they lead the conference in that.”

Freshman guard Jazzy Davidson, USC’s leading scorer, got into early foul trouble but still finished with 12 points. She was held to 10 points on four-for-15 shooting in the first meeting.

“It was a great crowd, we were in the fight but we didn’t rebound or shoot well enough,” Gottlieb said. “We wanted to keep them out of our paint. We swarmed Betts, double-teamed her and got it out of her hands but other people scored.”

Londynn Jones, who spent three seasons in Westwood (playing in 108 straight games) before transferring to USC for her senior year, was held to six points in the team’s first meeting and nine points (on four-of-10 shooting) in the rematch. The Trojans’ other senior, Kara Dunn, was held scoreless in the first half and finished with eight points.

“I love Londynn,” Close said. “We think she looks better in blue, but we love her and I told her that. I appreciate all she gave to our programs.”

Asked if this is the best team she has ever coached, Close had a one-word answer.

“Yes.”

Sports

Israeli national gymnastics team suspends all activities after Iranian counter-attack

Published

15 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Israeli national gymnastics team suspends all activities after Iranian counter-attack

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Israel’s national gymnastics team has suspended all training and team activities amid the recent Iranian counter-attack on the country following the U.S.-assisted strikes on Iran.

The Israel Gymnastics Federation (IGF) provided a statement to Fox News Digital announcing the violence has caused “unavoidable disruptions.”

“The current security situation in our region has resulted in unavoidable disruptions to our regular training schedule and has created significant uncertainty regarding the national teams’ professional plans, particularly as we are at the outset of the international season,” the statement read.

“At this time, all training activities have been temporarily suspended, pending approval from the relevant authorities to safely resume operations. Naturally, the suspension of training and the closure of airspace are causing considerable stress and concern. However, the safety and well-being of our gymnasts and professional staff remain our highest priority. We sincerely hope for safer and calmer days ahead, when we can focus solely on sport.”

A source within the team told Fox News Digital on Saturday that the gymnasts have been moving between bomb shelters since Iran’s counterstrikes began.

Israel’s gymnastics team is considered one of nation’s strongest Olympic programs alongside its Judo and sailing teams. The team is only a week removed from a successful trip at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Germany, where the country’s star Artem Dolgopyat won the gold medal in floor gymnastics.

Now, the team will have to seek safety until the attacks are over.

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has directed all U.S. government employees and their family members to continue to shelter in place either in or near their residences as Iran continues to fire missiles at Israel.

Additionally, the embassy announced that due to the security situation, it would be closed on March 2, and did not give an estimate on when it would be reopening. The closure includes consular sections in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

The embassy also said it is “not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel.” It noted that Ben Gurion Airport remains closed and there there are neither commercial nor charter flights operating from the airport.

On Friday, ahead of the launch of Operation Epic Fury, the embassy gave all non-essential workers permission to leave Israel, with reports that U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee urged those looking to leave to do so as soon as possible.

Iranian airstrikes killed at least eight Israelis on Sunday as Tehran’s latest missile barrage landed just miles from Jerusalem.

The strikes landed in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh. Initial reports said four people were killed when missiles landed in a residential area on Sunday, but that death toll rose to eight, according to Israel’s national emergency service.

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Iran’s military has carried out counterattacks against Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East after a joint U.S.-Israeli strike killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.

The strikes also killed several other top Iranian leaders, including the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

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Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.