Sports
Ex-NFL star cautions league about ‘giving fans too much’ as Thanksgiving Eve game reportedly eyed
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The NFL is reportedly eyeing adding another game on the holiday menu for fans at Thanksgiving time.
The league is exploring the possibility of adding a Thanksgiving Eve game to the docket for the 2026 season, ESPN reported Tuesday. If finalized, NFL fans would be treated to games on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday.
San Diego Chargers linebacker (56) Shawne Merriman against the Baltimore Ravens at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego on Sept. 20, 2009. (Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports)
Ex-NFL star Shawne Merriman appeared on OutKick’s “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich” on Thursday and warned the NFL about possibly diluting its product.
“I will caution this. The NBA, I think the season is just so long, there’s so many games, it gets watered down. I don’t think it’ll ever get to the point where there’s a 20-plus game season with the NFL for two seasons,” Merriman said. “Physically, I don’t think guys’ bodies can hold up an extra 2-3 games during the year unless there’s another bye week. They have to include another bye week if they plan on doing that.
DaRon Bland #26 Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys take a bite out of a turkey leg after a win over the Washington Commanders at AT&T Stadium on Nov. 23, 2023 in Arlington, Texas. (Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
AN NFL GAME THE NIGHT BEFORE THANKSGIVING IS OFFICIALLY ‘TOO MUCH FOOTBALL’
“What I will caution the NFL is that if you start giving the fans too much, yeah, you can make more money but you water down the product. There has to be some kind of balance with the two.”
The NFL continued to be a ratings boom during the 2025 season. A Week 14 game between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers on FOX drew in 28 million viewers.
Jordan Love #10 of the Green Bay Packers takes a bite out of a turkey leg after the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Nov. 27, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. (Nic Antaya/Getty Images)
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While the NFL remains popular, the league will also have to face the challenge of making sure players stay as healthy as they can to keep the product as good as it has been.
Sports
Legendary WWE tag team duo departs company in latest wave of cuts
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Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, the WWE tag team known as the New Day, reportedly departed the company on Saturday as part of the latest string of releases.
Kingston and Woods became fan favorites as they formed New Day with fellow superstar Big E. But after Big E was sidelined with a serious injury, the two continued their tag team prowess in the ring. Kingston and Woods were four-time tag team champions as a duo and held the belts eight times when they were with Big E.
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Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston attend Netflix Tudum 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on May 31, 2025. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Fightful Select and BodySlam both reported the departures of Kingston and Woods. The two were moved to the alumni section of the WWE website.
Kingston had a ton of success as a singles competitor. He captured the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35 over Daniel Bryan as part of the “Kofi-Mania” era where he received a ton of fan support on his way to his first title. He was also an intercontinental champion four times and a United States champion three times.
Woods joined WWE in 2010 after stints at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Woods won the King of the Ring tournament in 2021.
Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston of the New Day celebrate their win during WrestleMania 41 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2025. (Craig Melvin/WWE)
As a tag team, the two were considered to be one of the best in WWE’s history. They captured their last titles at WrestleMania 41 and turned heel soon after that. The two lost their tag titles in June and Woods was injured during the year. Kingston formed an alliance with Grayson Waller in the interim before the departure.
Elsewhere, Tonga Loa and JC Mateo reportedly departed the company as well.
Loa first appeared in WWE in 2009 before departed in 2014. He re-appeared most recently in 2024, joining forces with Solo Sikoa and the newly formed MFT faction.
MFT’s JC Mateo, Talla Tonga, Solo Sikoa and Tonga Loa face off with Jimmy Uso during Saturday Night’s Main Event at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga., on July 12, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
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Mateo joined WWE in 2025, also backing up Sikoa in the faction. He was also a tag team champion with Tama Tonga before eventually dropping the belts to Damian Priest and R-Truth in March.
Sports
Former Corona Centennial star Camryn Bynum giving back to community
For teenagers dreaming of playing in the NFL, former Corona Centennial high defensive back Camryn Bynum has first-hand knowledge of what it takes. It involves more than a star ranking or posting videos on social media.
“It’s a simple formula to make it to where you want to go,” said Bynum, who recently signed a $60-million contract with the Indianapolis Colts and will be holding a youth camp at his alma mater on May 23.
“It’s just hard to stay on the right track and do every single thing to the best of your ability and consistently do everything the right way,” he said. “You play a few good years of high school ball, you’ll get a chance to play college ball. If you become a starter, maybe one or two years and play well enough, you’ll get a chance at the league, whether you get drafted in the first round, like everybody wants to, or you you’re an undrafted free agent. If you get your foot in the door, there’s hundreds of stories about people getting in.”
Bynum says there’s a big sacrifice that many teenagers are unwilling to accept. It’s called avoiding distractions at all costs. At least it worked for him. He didn’t start on varsity until his junior year. He became a four-year starter at Cal, was a fourth-round draft pick of the Vikings, who immediately told him he’s switching from cornerback to safety. He was ready for anything.
“I think the best way to reach the point where you want to go is to stay distraction free,” he said. “Stay working towards that goal and don’t let anything come in between. That’s been the biggest part of my journey, my faith, and being able to just trust that God will put me exactly where I need to be, but also putting in the work myself knowing that if I want to play college ball, I need to keep my grades up in high school, stay away from all the distractions, the parties, the drinking, the drugs, like a lot of people unfortunately fall into.”
His first major test was dealing with adversity. He started on JSerra’s freshman team, then transferred back home to Centennial. He said he was fifth string on the JV team. “I was literally not playing,” he said. He gave serious consideration to leaving. But Centennial coach Matt Logan and others made it clear he had to earn his playing time.
(Paul Sancya / Associated Press)
“Coach Logan, he’s like, ‘No, you gotta work. You gotta work, figure it out and grind. You’re good. You’re plenty good enough, but you have to earn your spot.’ And I remember a few other coaches telling me, ‘It’s all up to you, if you want to put the work in and you want to compete, This is a competitive program, you got to figure out how to earn your playing time.’”
Bynum went to a private coach and started training morning and night. He became stronger, faster and more confident. As a junior, he became a standout. He still uses that same private coach, Jordan Brown, in his training.
Bynum, born to a Filipino mother, now lives in the offseason with his Filipino wife and young daughter on the outskirts of Manila.
Asked if Manila traffic is worse than Los Angeles traffic, he said, “They’re both pretty bad. They’re just bad in different ways.”
His first youth camp will help raise funds for his foundation that is supporting causes such as teaching flag football in the Philippines. The camp will be for youth and high school-age players and provide a vehicle for exposure along with football development.
“We want it to be a learning environment and a competitive environment to help kids get recruited and be seen more,” Bynum said.
Just remember the path is simple but the road blocks are many to overcome.
Sports
Beloved racer Alex Zanardi, who turned tragedy into Paralympic triumph, dead at 59
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The auto racing world is mourning the loss of Alex Zanardi. The Italian Formula 1 driver, who later became a Paralympic champion after two life-altering accidents, has died, his family announced Saturday. He was 59.
The family confirmed that loved ones were with Zanardi when he died. “Alex died peacefully, surrounded by the affection of those closest to him,” the family said in a statement. A cause of death was not provided.
Zanardi’s family also said that it “Thanks everyone who is sharing their support right now and asks for respect during this time of mourning.”
Zanardi suffered serious injuries in a 2020 handbike accident, colliding with an oncoming truck during a relay event in Italy. He sustained facial and cranial trauma and was placed in a medically induced coma.
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Alessandro Zanardi of Italy celebrates holding his gold medal after winning the men’s road cycle individual time trial H4 category at the 2012 Paralympics at Brands Hatch motor racing circuit near London on Sept. 5, 2012. (Alastair Grant/AP)
Nearly two decades earlier, Zanardi lost both of his legs in an auto racing crash.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni paid tribute to Zanardi in a post on X, saying in part, “Italy loses a great champion and an extraordinary man, capable of turning every challenge of life into a lesson in courage, strength, and dignity. Alex Zanardi knew how to bounce back every time, facing even the toughest challenges with determination, clarity, and a strength of spirit that was truly exceptional.”
Zanardi won back-to-back championships in CART in 1997 and 1998 in the U.S. He then briefly returned to F1.
He ultimately came back stateside, racing in Germany in a CART event in 2001 when both of his legs were severed in a horrific accident the weekend after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. CART raced only because the series was already in Germany at the time of the attacks and could not return to the U.S.
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Zanardi was left in a three-day coma following the 2001 crash.
During his recovery, Zanardi designed his own prosthetics and learned to walk again. He then turned his attention to hand cycling and developed into one of the sport’s most accomplished athletes in the world.
He won four gold medals and two silvers at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics, competed in the New York City Marathon and set an Ironman record.
Driver Alex Zanardi (24) of BMW Team RLL BMW M8 GTE, looks on before the Rolex 24 at Daytona at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Jan. 26, 2019. (David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire)
Zanardi used specially adapted cars with hand controls for gas and braking to take up racing again after the 2001 accident.
Stefano Domenicali, the president and CEO of F1, said he was “deeply saddened by the passing of my dear friend,” calling Zanardi “truly an inspirational person, as a human and as an athlete.”
“He faced challenges that would have stopped anyone, yet he continued to look forward, always with a smile and a stubborn determination that inspired us all,” Domenicali added. “While his loss is profoundly felt, his legacy remains strong.”
Alex Zanardi of Italy crosses the finish line at the IRONMAN 70.3 Emilia Romagna in Cervia, Italy, on Sept. 22, 2019. (Bryn Lennon/Getty Images for IRONMAN)
After Zanardi’s 2020 crash, Pope Francis praised him as a symbol of strength in adversity and sent a handwritten letter offering encouragement and prayers.
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Before Saturday’s F1 sprint race in Miami Gardens, Florida, a moment of silence honored Zanardi. The Italian Olympic Committee also called for a minute of silence at sporting events across Italy.
Zanardi is survived by his wife, Daniela, and son, Niccolò.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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