Culture
When brain cancer struck a baseball family, a ‘wonderful’ village sheltered them
Ten months ago when the nights were longest, Ned Rice emailed total strangers to share his family’s unthinkable dilemma. These were doctors across the country who had not met and did not treat his 3-year-old daughter. Wynnie had brain cancer. This was how Rice, a Phillies assistant general manager, coped.
He had to gather as much information as he could.
“I have still to this day never googled medulloblastoma,” said Cary Rice, his wife. “Because I can’t handle it. And I’m an analytical thinker, too. But if it’s too emotional, I can’t do it.”
Everything about this felt impossible. Wynnie had lost her balance a few times — and now her parents faced a sudden and critical decision. Doctors at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) told the Rices they could not treat Wynnie with radiation; she was too young. The neurocognitive damage from radiation would prevent her from having an independent adult life. But her chances of survival were better with radiation.
Ned Rice sought a second opinion from another leading children’s hospital. They told him it would be reckless not to use the treatment known to be the best — radiation — no matter the long-term effects. Rice had negotiated player contracts worth hundreds of millions — a high-stakes process that blends objective valuations with a subjective hand. But this was so different.
It was a parent’s worst nightmare.
Then Rice saw an email. A neuro-oncologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital named Richard Graham sent a lengthy reply to one of Rice’s cold calls. “I was really panicking,” Rice said. “He doesn’t even know who I am. He has his own patients and his own life.” Graham shared his advice. He became a frequent resource for Rice.
These small, thoughtful moments accumulated.
An unexpected gift at the doorstep. A video from Wynnie’s classmates. More responses from out-of-town doctors who would never meet Wynnie. Family members and friends who dropped everything to care for her two siblings. More gifts. Nurses who did not just look after Wynnie — but her parents, too.
“It hits you over and over again,” Rice said. “There’s so many people that want to help. Everybody does it in their own way.”
Rice called his former boss. These weren’t like the late-night talks Matt Klentak and he often had while they ran baseball operations for the Phillies. But it felt normal, even though Klentak worked for the Milwaukee Brewers and Rice was on leave from the Phillies.
The phone calls were cathartic. They could dive right into whatever was on Rice’s mind because Klentak knew the latest on Wynnie through an Instagram account the Rices created to chronicle her fight against cancer. It’s grown to more than 700 followers. Friends of friends of friends now reply to posts with, “Go Wynnie go!” The account is a raw look into life with pediatric cancer. It’s become a way for Ned and Cary to express complicated feelings.
More than anything, it’s opened a door. “Caregiver burnout is a common phenomenon,” said Jane Minturn, Wynnie’s neuro-oncologist at CHOP, “and (Ned and Cary) have worked together to limit this.” Wynnie knows she is sick, but she does not understand what brain cancer is. The burden is shared by everyone around her.
It is immense. Klentak could sense it, at times, during those late-night conversations. It is isolating. But Rice started to carry the goodness of those who had entered Wynnie’s universe.
“I couldn’t really relate to what he was going through,” Klentak said. “And I think very few people could. But that doesn’t stop people from wanting to help.”
The first sign of distress wasn’t alarming. Wynnie was a happy and healthy 3-year-old learning to move faster. That meant an occasional stumble. But Ned and Cary noticed their daughter’s balance wasn’t improving; it looked a fraction worse every week. They scheduled an appointment last December with their pediatrician.
He threw cotton balls across the room to Wynnie, who was content to play the game. She had to bend over and fetch them. She wobbled. The pediatrician agreed something seemed off. He wanted her to see a neurologist at CHOP. The next appointment wasn’t for five months. He suggested the Rices go to the CHOP emergency room — not because it was urgent, but to assuage any immediate concerns.
They took Wynnie on Dec. 21, 2023.
“Sure enough,” Rice said, “we had five neurologists in our room in a few minutes.”
Wynnie didn’t have any other symptoms. The doctors scheduled an MRI in three weeks. It could be a muscular disease. Maybe it was vertigo. The Rices visited family for Christmas and Wynnie vomited twice. CHOP rescheduled the MRI for Dec. 29 and, that morning, Wynnie threw up again. She stumbled a few more times.
A doctor summoned Ned and Cary during the MRI. He pointed to a screen. There was a large tumor in Wynnie’s brain. Wynnie was sedated for the MRI. The doctors wanted to do immediate surgery to remove the tumor. It was 4 p.m. on the Friday of a holiday weekend. The procedure lasted four hours; it would take a week to know whether the tumor was cancerous.
Everything had spiraled so fast.
“It’s a long process, but that was definitely a low point,” Rice said. “Those first few days — you took a mostly happy, healthy, sweet girl in for an outpatient MRI. She wakes up and you’re just like, ‘Will we ever see that girl again?’ That was really hard.”
Then Wynnie was diagnosed with medulloblastoma.
Cary lies with Wynnie in the CHOP ICU four days after her brain surgery. Wynnie still could not move or talk. (Courtesy of the Rice family)
During that first trip to the E.R., before everything escalated, Rice was on the phone with Dave Dombrowski. Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s camp had instructed teams to make their last and best offers for the star free agent. Dombrowski communicated the number to Rice, who relayed it to Joel Wolfe, Yamamoto’s agent. Yamamoto signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers that night.
Rice did not mention where he was.
The day Wynnie underwent surgery, Rice called Phillies general manager Sam Fuld. He told him what was happening. Dombrowski was out of the country for a rare vacation; Rice talked to the Phillies’ president of baseball operations soon after New Year’s.
“We’ll see you when it’s over,” Dombrowski told him. “Take everything you need. We’ll completely cover it. Don’t worry about anything.”
John Middleton called a few hours later. The Phillies’ principal owner offered to connect the family with doctors. Cary is a lawyer and her firm, Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller, told her to take as much time as she needed. The Rices were fortunate; they had the means to pay for treatment and ample time to direct attention toward Wynnie. Acquaintances offered to help with whatever the family needed, but what they needed was a cure for cancer.
All they wanted was normal. It was an uncomfortable situation that didn’t always have to be uncomfortable.
“We just have this wonderful sort of village that kept showing up,” Cary said. “Kept calling. Kept texting. Even when I couldn’t respond. We’re just really grateful for that because we are still the same people. We still want to talk about things and do things that have nothing to do with cancer. We want to feel normal. We want to have hope for a normal future. The worst thing you can do or say is nothing.”
Wynnie sits on a bed at CHOP between cycles of her treatment. (Courtesy of the Rice family)
Wynnie lived on the third floor at CHOP for almost eight months. The Rices opted against radiation. But her treatment — alternating cycles of chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplants — was so grueling that most of it was inpatient. Ned and Cary would take 24-hour shifts with Wynnie. They were ships passing in the night without much interaction.
They found a community inside the hospital.
“These nurses, I mean, they’re not just nurses,” Cary said. “They’re therapists. They’re friends. They’re cheerleaders.”
Heidi Turner, one of Wynnie’s nurses, worked only overnights. That meant a lot of late-night bonding. Wynnie was discharged Aug. 23. The last night at CHOP, Turner handed Cary a letter to Wynnie.
“I’m going to miss you so much,” Cary said to Turner. “We’ll stop by and hopefully I’ll see you.”
She stared at Cary. The nurse replied she hoped to never see them again.
“And,” Cary said, “it just stuck with me because it’s such a weird feeling to have.”
Rice, who has been with the Phillies since 2016, stayed in contact with player agents and rival team executives last offseason but no longer served as the team’s main point of contact. The Phillies had started negotiating Zack Wheeler’s three-year, $126 million extension with B.B. Abbott, Wheeler’s agent at Wasserman. By January, Rice and Abbott had regular talks that started with 30 minutes about Wynnie and progressed to Wheeler’s contract.
“You’re never what you want to be for these families that are trying to talk about this,” Abbott said. “Because you just can’t be. It’s so all-consuming when you think, ‘My 3-year-old daughter has to go through this.’ It’s hard for parents and families to get their heads around exactly what’s getting ready to happen. The days and nights and hospitals. Watching their little girl lose her hair and be sick. All of this stuff that I knew was getting ready to come.”
For years, Abbott has raised awareness for pediatric cancer research through the Rally Foundation and the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation. “I just wanted to be more of a sounding board for him,” Abbott said. The Rices weren’t keeping Wynnie’s illness hidden; it was more of an open secret. Abbott decided to help subtly.
He asked Wheeler if he’d lend his name to a fundraiser for the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation near the end of spring training at the Phillies’ complex in Clearwater, Fla. Everyone knew it was for Wynnie, but no one had to say it. Word spread to the team’s front office and support staff. Dozens of Phillies employees had their heads shaved or orange streaks painted in their hair. Players made donations to the foundation.
Reliever Matt Strahm’s wife, Megan, organized a present from the Phillies’ wives and girlfriends. “An unbelievable, huge, outrageous gift wagon for Wynnie,” Rice said. He had not met Strahm’s wife until later that summer at the team’s family day.
“You’re amazing,” Rice said to her.
With Wynnie in the hospital, Rice watched from afar this year as the Phillies sprinted to first place. “The Banatic!” Wynnie said to her dad whenever the furry green mascot appeared on the screen. There are certain rhythms to the baseball season. It is monotonous but contains specific checkpoints. The Rices had none of that with Wynnie. There were no regular updates on her prognosis. They will not know how successful her treatments were until a scan sometime in December.
Their focus was singular. Get through today.
“Wynnie, she’s something,” Cary said. “She has this tiny little voice and she’s so sweet and gentle with everything she does. We always kind of considered her this little delicate flower. But she’s a beast.”
Wynnie at her 4th birthday party. (Ashley Blair Photography)
Two weeks ago, Wynnie had a birthday party. The Rices held it outdoors, at a playground by the Schuylkill River Park, because Wynnie’s immune system remains at risk. They had bagels and coffee and a face painter. Cary handed every kid a stuffed fox as a party favor. “Mr. Fox” was Wynnie’s constant companion in the hospital; Cary had so many at the house because people kept sending them when Wynnie would throw up on hers.
This was a celebration of Wynnie and the village that formed around her.
“We were surrounded,” Cary said, “by about 85 of the friends who have been there for us in so many different ways this year.”
Wynnie’s hair has started to grow back, although she wore a purple knit cap that covered her head at her party. Everyone could see the three purple flowers painted on her forehead.
But Wynnie felt sick near the end of the party. She went to the emergency room with croup. Another challenge. But she was 4 and she was here.
She wore her face paint to the E.R.
(Top image: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic. Photos: Ashley Blair Photography)
As the season approaches its final two weeks, jostling for at-large bids continues for teams in the upper echelon of College Football Playoff competition.
At this point, there are teams with CFP hopes both as a conference champion and as an at-large. There are others, such as Big 12 contenders BYU and Colorado, which need to win their conference to reach the Playoff. The same scenario exists for Group of 5 squads Boise State and Tulane.
For the teams strictly in at-large contention, what are the cases for their inclusion and what are the flaws that could keep them from the 12-team tournament? Below we examine 16 teams with at-large hopes — not just the 16 highest-ranked teams — and examine why they are worthy of at-large consideration while breaking down their flaws.
No. 1 Oregon (11-0)
By the numbers – Sagarin SOS (strength of schedule): 52; Record vs. FBS winning teams: 4-0; Record vs. FBS non-winning teams: 6-0; Points for: 33.9; Points against: 15.7.
Case for: The Ducks are the nation’s only unbeaten team, have ranked wins against Ohio State, Boise State and Illinois and compete in a coast-to-coast conference. At this stage, Oregon deserves the No. 1 ranking without debate.
Fatal flaw: This is more of a concern moving forward. Had Ohio State quarterback Will Howard slid a second earlier and called a timeout against Oregon, the Buckeyes might have kicked a game-winning field goal in Eugene. The teams are likely to meet in Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship. Should Oregon fall, the Ducks could face Boise State again in the CFP, and they won that game on a last-second field goal. Rematches against motivated opponents could pose challenges.
No. 2 Ohio State (10-1)
By the numbers – Sagarin SOS: 58; Record vs. FBS winning teams: 5-1; Record vs. FBS non-winning teams: 5-0; Points for: 37.8; Points against: 10.7.
Case for: The Buckeyes have the talent at every position to compete with any team in the country. They boast two NFL-caliber running backs and the nation’s top defense. Howard has completed 80 percent of his passes in six different games, and receivers Emeka Egbuka, Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate are an electrifying trio. On a neutral field, this team could win it all.
Fatal flaw: There are times the Buckeyes look ordinary, like in a 21-17 home win against Nebraska. Injuries to Ohio State’s top two offensive linemen could have consequences against a physical, athletic front. Howard has competed at a high level this year, but can he make the game-winning plays in a close contest against similar talent?
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No. 3 Texas (10-1)
By the numbers – Sagarin SOS: 39; Record vs. FBS winning teams: 7-1; Record vs. FBS non-winning teams: 3-0; Points for: 37.8; Points against: 12.1.
Case for: Texas can match up with anyone player-for-player. The Longhorns have the SEC’s top scoring defense and rank second nationally in total defense. They have an experienced quarterback in Quinn Ewers, elite players at every position and showed their grit by losing only one game so far in their first SEC season.
Fatal flaw: The Longhorns don’t own a victory over a current Top 25 team. They avoided Alabama, Ole Miss, Tennessee and South Carolina and they lost decisively to Georgia. That doesn’t take away their intent; the Longhorns traveled to defending national champion Michigan and won 31-19. But questions persist about how Texas will perform against fellow elite programs because they haven’t faced more than one entering this week’s showdown against Texas A&M.
By the numbers – Sagarin SOS: 37; Record vs. FBS winning teams: 6-1; Record vs. FBS non-winning teams: 4-0; Points for: 32.4; Points against: 14.6.
Case for: The Nittany Lions have handled their business in fine fashion. They survived at tough road venues like USC, Minnesota, Wisconsin and West Virginia with big plays in critical moments. Penn State has an underrated quarterback in Drew Allar, the nation’s best tight end in Tyler Warren and a top-five NFL Draft pick in edge rusher Abdul Carter. The Nittany Lions can adapt to different styles and weather won’t be a factor.
Fatal flaw: There are two big questions facing Penn State. One, can their wide receivers gain enough separation against an equally talented opponent? Two, can coach James Franklin string together multiple wins against top-10 competition? In Franklin’s 11 years, the Nittany Lions are 3-17 against top-10 opponents with only one victory in the last eight seasons.
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By the numbers – Sagarin SOS: 65; Record vs. FBS winning teams: 6-1; Record vs. FBS non-winning teams: 4-0; Points for: 39.0; Points against: 11.6.
Case for: Few, if any, teams have looked more impressive than Notre Dame in the last two months. Only once have the Irish allowed more than 16 points in a game, and they’ve scored at least 31 points in each of their last seven games. Quarterback Riley Leonard has become an elite playmaker and Notre Dame’s line of scrimmage play can hang with any opponent.
Fatal flaw: The Irish have ranked wins against Texas A&M and Army away from home, but their overall schedule was light. Notre Dame’s 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois has served as a lightning rod for criticism. For the Irish the scenario is simple: beat USC and pick up a home CFP game. Lose to the Trojans and probably fall from CFP consideration.
No. 6 Miami (10-1)
By the numbers – Sagarin SOS: 61; Record vs. FBS winning teams: 5-1; Record vs. FBS non-winning teams: 4-0; Points for: 44.7; Points against: 22.3.
Case for: The Hurricanes average more points than any team in CFP contention. With quarterback Cam Ward, Miami can fill it up. In five different games, the Hurricanes have scored at least 50 points.
Fatal flaw: No at-large contender allows more points per game than Miami at 22.3. The Hurricanes frequently have been involved in one-score games against unranked opponents and have needed late rallies to win. Miami has yet to play a Top 25 team, let alone beat one.
Miami will finish the regular season on the road against Syracuse on Saturday. (Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)
By the numbers – Sagarin SOS: 4; Record vs. FBS winning teams: 4-2; Record vs. FBS non-winning teams: 4-0; Points for: 33.2; Points against: 14.6.
Case for: Nobody has more quality wins than Georgia, which beat CFP contenders Clemson, Texas and Tennessee. When operating at a high level, the Bulldogs look like an eventual champion. They have a veteran quarterback and talent that jumps off the roster. Despite a loss at Alabama, their furious comeback attempt will scare any future opponent.
Fatal flaw: Which version of Carson Beck will take the field in the CFP? He’s thrown 12 interceptions and three picks in three different games, including in a loss to Alabama and a win against Texas. In a game between equally matched opponents, how Beck performs could enhance – or harm – Georgia’s performance.
No. 8 Tennessee (9-2)
By the numbers – Sagarin SOS: 57; Record vs. FBS winning teams: 3-2; Record vs. FBS non-winning teams: 5-0; Points for: 37.4; Points against: 13.1.
Case for: The Vols can play any style of football and compete. They rank second in the SEC in both points scored and points allowed. Running back Dylan Sampson is one of the nation’s three best running backs and sophomore quarterback Nico Iamaleava displays some dynamic qualities.
Fatal flaw: Outside of beating Alabama, the Vols have an ordinary resume. None of their nonconference opponents are bowl eligible, and they lost to 6-5 Arkansas at home. It’s why Tennessee hovered outside the CFP before Ole Miss and Alabama suffered losses last weekend.
No. 9 SMU (10-1)
By the numbers – Sagarin SOS: 59; Record vs. FBS winning teams: 5-1; Record vs. FBS non-winning teams: 4-0; Points for: 39.3; Points against: 21.0.
Case for: SMU’s ACC debut has been flawless with nary a loss despite a reduced revenue share. The Mustangs are one victory shy of running the table and advancing to the ACC title game. All-everything running back Brashard Smith was critical in wins against Duke and Pittsburgh.
Fatal flaw: An early loss to BYU lingers but not in the way most people expected back in September. With SEC teams slipping after their third loss, heightened scrutiny awaits SMU this weekend against Cal and in a potential ACC title game. It’s worth watching SMU’s defense, which has allowed at least 25 points to every bowl-eligible opponent since its BYU loss.
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By the numbers – Sagarin SOS: 68; Record vs. FBS winning teams: 3-1; Record vs. FBS non-winning teams: 6-0; Points for: 41.3; Points against: 16.0.
Case for: The eye test and statistics favor Indiana. The Hoosiers have an electrifying offense led by quarterback Kurtis Rourke and five receivers with at least 24 catches, 280 yards and three touchdowns. Indiana also plays high-level defense, which is unusual for a portal-based team.
Fatal flaw: As of today, Indiana has beaten three FBS teams with winning records but that could fall to zero by Saturday. Its strength of schedule is by far the lowest of any power conference team vying for an at-large bid. In the Hoosiers’ only game against a ranked opponent, they lost 38-15 to Ohio State.
No. 12 Clemson (9-2)
By the numbers – Sagarin SOS: 62; Record vs. FBS winning teams: 1-2; Record vs. FBS non-winning teams: 7-0; Points for: 37.6; Points against: 22.0.
Case for: In all but one of its victories, Clemson won by double figures. It has a potent offense guided by quarterback Cade Klubnik, who has 29 touchdowns and four interceptions. The Tigers are third in the ACC in both scoring offense and scoring defense.
Fatal flaw: Clemson has the most pedestrian resume of any potential at-large squad. It has played just three FBS teams with winning records and won just once, and that was last week against 7-4 Pittsburgh. The Tigers give up nearly 23 points a game, the second-most of any team in the CFP Top 25.
No. 13 Alabama (8-3)
By the numbers – Sagarin SOS: 7; Record vs. FBS winning teams: 6-3; Record vs. FBS non-winning teams: 1-0; Points for: 36.2; Points against: 17.5.
Case for: In the first half against Georgia or throughout its victories against LSU and Missouri, Alabama looked like not only a CFP team but a title contender. Nine of its 11 FBS opponents have winning records, including seven of eight SEC opponents.
Fatal flaw: It really starts and ends with the win-loss record. Losing three games would end CFP hopes for nearly every other program save for Alabama. The Tide dropped games to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, both of which are 6-5. It’s not impossible to build a case for Alabama’s inclusion, but it involves losses by multiple teams this weekend rather than for the Tide to simply beat Auburn.
No. 14 Ole Miss (8-3)
By the numbers – Sagarin SOS: 31; Record vs. FBS winning teams: 5-2; Record vs. FBS non-winning teams: 2-1; Points for: 38.5; Points against: 13.9.
Case for: Just watch the Rebels in action. It’s a potent offense led by Jaxson Dart and Tre Harris, capable of putting up points on everyone. Ole Miss crushed Georgia 28-10 and scored 63 points on Arkansas, which held Tennessee to 14. The defense has NFL-caliber performers, especially along the line.
Fatal flaw: Not only do Mississippi’s three losses make it difficult to climb into the CFP, but it’s also who beat the Rebels. None of the three teams are ranked by the committee with LSU (7-4) posting the best record. Losing at home to Kentucky (4-7) is probably the kill shot.
Ole Miss’ loss to Florida last week dropped the Rebels’ Playoff chances to 9 percent, per The Athletic’s model. (Matt Pendleton / Imagn Images)
No. 15 South Carolina (8-3)
By the numbers – Sagarin SOS: 18; Record vs. FBS winning teams: 4-3; Record vs. non-winning FBS teams: 3-0; Points for: 32.9; Points against: 18.2.
Case for: Of the 8-3 teams hovering in the SEC’s second tier, the Gamecocks won the important head-to-head battles against Texas A&M and Missouri. South Carolina has one of college football’s most dominant defensive lines with 39 sacks. Its offensive efficiency is impressive.
Fatal flaw: This is the season of “almosts” for South Carolina. Two touchdowns were called back against LSU because of penalties and a failed two-point conversion cost the Gamecocks an overtime opportunity against Alabama. Barring a chaotic scenario rivaling 2007, South Carolina “almost” will get into the CFP.
By the numbers – Sagarin SOS: 33; Record vs. winning teams: 3-1; Record vs. non-winning teams: 6-1; Points for: 30.5; Points against: 22.8.
Case for: Arizona State has posted its two most impressive wins in the last two weeks, beating Kansas State 24-14 on the road before toppling BYU 28-23 at home. The Sun Devils, who are led by versatile running back Cam Skattebo, have churned out five wins by a touchdown or less.
Fatal flaw: The Sun Devils have a 7.7-point differential, which is by far the lowest of any potential at-large team. Their losses came against 7-4 Texas Tech and 5-6 Cincinnati, and they’ve played only four teams with winning records.
By the numbers – Sagarin SOS: 40; Record vs. winning teams: 4-1; Record vs. non-winning teams: 4-1; Points for: 31.4; Points against: 19.5.
Case for: The Cyclones are resilient, as demonstrated by three come-from-behind victories in the closing seconds. Iowa State has the Big 12’s best pass defense, which ranks third overall. Their receiving combination of Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel has compiled nearly 2,000 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Fatal flaw: Iowa State steadily climbed the rankings until losing two straight to Texas Tech and Kansas (5-6). The Cyclones don’t own any Top 25 wins, and their depleted defense has given up more than 230 rushing yards in three of their last five games.
(Top photo: Johnnie Izquierdo / Getty Images))
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Los Angeles Chargers are an improved team. But Monday night’s 30-23 loss to the Baltimore Ravens showed just how far they have still to go.
That is not an indictment of what coach Jim Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz are building. It is still Year 1 of an organizational overhaul. The Chargers are 7-4. They have a really good chance of making the playoffs. The mere fact that the Chargers will play meaningful December games, starting next week in Atlanta, is evidence of an upward trajectory.
The roster just has limitations at this stage of the process. The Ravens are bona fide contenders. The Chargers are not yet at that level. In the NFL, quality opponents will exploit weaknesses and reveal the truth.
“They played better football than we did tonight,” Harbaugh said.
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This loss is going to sting for Harbaugh, as he falls to 0-3 against his big brother, John. This loss is going to sting for Hortiz, who spent 26 years working for the Ravens. It will sting for offensive coordinator Greg Roman, who was let go by the Ravens following the 2022 season after six years in Baltimore. It will sting for all the former Ravens now with the Chargers, from assistant general manager Chad Alexander, to offensive line coach Mike Devlin, to tight ends coach and run game coordinator Andy Bischoff.
Good coaching and sound roster construction can lead to rapid and immediate progress. We have seen that this season with the Chargers.
Building a team capable of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy takes time.
“You can say there’s a lot of fight and all those different things,” edge rusher Khalil Mack said. “But there’s no moral victories at this point in the season. You got to go out and play winning football when it matters the most.”
The Chargers did not have the physicality to match up with Ravens running back Derrick Henry, who finished with 140 rushing yards on 24 carries.
Coordinator Jesse Minter’s unit started fast. The Chargers forced punts on the first two possessions of the game. But the Ravens leaned into Henry on the next drive. Henry broke off a 19-yard run on the opening play. He followed that up with a 14-yard run. He totaled 44 rushing yards on the drive, which quarterback Lamar Jackson capped off with a 10-yard touchdown run.
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Henry is a freight train, and the Chargers did not have an emergency brake to pull. Once Henry got rolling, there was no stopping him.
The Chargers lost at the line of scrimmage. They did not tackle well at any level.
“We need better block destruction just across the board,” Harbaugh said.
Henry averaged 7.1 yards per carry on first down. The Ravens had an average distance to gain of 6.4 yards on second, third and fourth downs, according to TruMedia.
Derrick Henry getting the @Ravens offense going.
📺: #BALvsLAC on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/otSPxAT7JH— NFL (@NFL) November 26, 2024
“He’s going to be effective when they play that way,” safety Derwin James Jr. said.
Baltimore successfully converted three fourth-and-1s. Two of those came from Henry on a touchdown drive in the second half.
Mack said giving up 212 rushing yards is “the thing that pisses me off the most.”
The Chargers were not at full strength, and that mattered. Linebacker Denzel Perryman was inactive with a groin injury. This game was begging for one of Perryman’s trademark violent hits. Maybe if Perryman plays, he meets Henry in the hole in the first quarter and sets a different tone for the defense.
“He’s definitely one of the hearts and souls in the middle of our defense,” James said of Perryman.
Mack was also on a snap count in his first game back from two pulled groins. Mack, who was inactive last week against the Cincinnati Bengals, only played 27 of the defense’s 64 snaps Monday night.
The Chargers did not set consistent edges against Henry.
Mack said after the game he was “trying not to jump on the field in certain situations.”
“I didn’t want no setback,” Mack said, “so I kind of just stayed coachable in those moments.”
More snaps from Mack, perhaps the defense’s most consistently physical player, could have made a big difference.
“It’s not hard for me to play against that guy,” Mack said of Henry. “I love playing against the greats.”
The Chargers struggled all night to contain Ravens running back Derrick Henry. (Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
The Chargers were also without cornerback Cam Hart, who has been good in run support this season. He aggravated his ankle injury in Saturday’s practice, according to Harbaugh, and was inactive for the game. Fellow rookie Tarheeb Still started in place of Hart at outside cornerback and ended up one-on-one with Henry multiple times.
At the same time, the Chargers had their full stable of interior defensive linemen. They had Tuli Tuipulotu and Joey Bosa on the edge. They had their best cornerback Kristian Fulton, who gave up a 40-yard touchdown from Jackson to receiver Rashod Bateman in the second quarter. They had linebacker Daiyan Henley, and they had all three of their starting safeties in James, Alohi Gilman and Elijah Molden.
The Ravens scored on five straight drives after their two early punts.
“We just got to get him on the ground,” James said of Henry.
Despite the defensive unraveling, the Chargers had a chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter, trailing 23-16. Quarterback Justin Herbert and the offense faced a third-and-6 from their 34-yard line.
Herbert dropped back after a shotgun snap. Receiver Quentin Johnston came wide open on a crossing route. Herbert delivered a perfect throw. Johnston dropped what would have been an easy conversion — and much more.
“I felt I had some space upfield,” said Johnston, who did not have a catch on five targets, “so I just turned my head before I’d seen the catch all the way in.”
Johnston struggled with drops as a rookie last season. He called the play a “complete lack of focus at the catch point.”
“He’s a fighter,” Herbert said of Johnston. “I’m going to keep throwing him the ball.”
Rookie Ladd McConkey is an emerging player. He led the Chargers with six catches on six targets for 83 yards.
But Monday night was a glaring example of how badly the Chargers need receiving help. It is a roster limitation after Harbaugh and Hortiz moved on from Keenan Allen and Mike Williams in the offseason.
The Ravens had given up at least three completions of 20-plus yards in every game this season.
The Chargers did not have a single completion of 20 yards in the game.
Receiver Joshua Palmer had three catches on eight targets.
Receiver DJ Chark, who the Chargers signed in free agency in March, was a healthy scratch for the game. He could potentially give the passing game a boost. Chark has played only one offensive snap all season. He was on injured reserve until early November. But the reality is that adding the type of difference-maker the Chargers need will have to wait until the offseason.
“We’re all going to have some things that we wish we would have played, coached better,” Harbaugh said.
The Chargers scored only three second-half points before a garbage-time touchdown made the final score look closer than the game actually was.
Running back J.K. Dobbins, another former Raven, left the game with a knee injury in the second quarter, and the Chargers struggled to run the ball after his departure. Gus Edwards had 11 rushing yards on nine carries.
“They executed,” Harbaugh said, “and they were the better team tonight.”
Monday night was a measuring stick. And now it is clear where the Chargers stand.
“We’ll regroup,” Harbaugh said.
(Top photo: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
Culture
The PWHL pulled off its inaugural season. Year 2 will decide the future of women’s pro hockey
Marie-Philip Poulin stood on the blue line at the Bell Centre, fighting back tears.
She had just been introduced to a world record crowd in Montreal and the fans were giving her a deafening ovation. Poulin, the best women’s hockey player in the world for almost a decade, typically gets the loudest pregame cheer, especially in her home province of Quebec. But this applause — over 20 seconds long and delivered by 21,105 people — was different.
“Honestly, I didn’t know what to do, how to react, the emotions were so high,” Poulin said. “Having the Bell Centre packed for women’s hockey … it (felt like) we finally made it.”
That April 20 game broke the all-time attendance record for women’s hockey, one of many milestones for the inaugural Professional Women’s Hockey League season. Since its launch in January 2024, the long-awaited six-team league featuring the world’s best players has largely been heralded as a success. Millions of viewers tuned in for games; attendance records were repeatedly set and broken; and demand for tickets in some markets was so high that teams have already moved into bigger venues. Just last month, the league announced that it was preparing for expansion as soon as the 2025-26 season — sooner than anticipated.
But there were bumps along the way, and with the arrival of the PWHL’s second season, which begins on Saturday, big-picture questions loom. Now that the league is no longer sparkling brand new, can it maintain positive momentum? And what needs to happen to set the PWHL up for long-term success?
Five days into the PWHL’s inaugural season, Stan Kasten had seen enough.
Kasten was on a tour around the league, making stops at most teams’ home openers during the first week of the season. He visited Toronto for the first PWHL game on Jan. 1, attended a sell-out in Ottawa the next day, and watched games in New York and Boston.
Then Kasten got to Minnesota for the team’s home opener, which set a women’s pro hockey attendance record with over 13,000 fans at the Xcel Energy Center.
“That was the day I knew this was going to work,” Kasten said.
The longtime sports executive and president of the Los Angeles Dodgers became a central figure in women’s hockey after Dodgers majority owner Mark Walter and his wife, Kimbra, agreed to bankroll a new professional women’s hockey league.
The PWHL came together in a six-month sprint. Six markets and venues were chosen. A 72-game schedule was assembled. General managers and coaches and league staff were hired; players were signed and drafted. With so little time, teams played without traditional names, logos or jerseys.
“I will look back in amazement that we did it,” Kasten said. “We set the six months as our goal. … I was too dumb to know it wasn’t possible.”
The inaugural game on Jan. 1, between Toronto and New York, was sold out, albeit at Toronto’s 2,600-seat venue. Tennis legend Billie Jean King — who sits on the league’s advisory board — dropped the ceremonial puck alongside PWHL senior vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford. The game reached over 3 million views on Canadian television networks and the league’s YouTube stream.
“It was that moment where you’re like, ‘my childhood dream is coming true,’” said Toronto defender Jocelyne Larocque. “I had tears in my eyes because as a kid, my dream was to play pro hockey. And then, as you get a bit older, you think because I’m a woman, this isn’t going to happen for me.”
The next day, the league broke an attendance record for a women’s professional hockey game in Ottawa with over 8,000 fans at TD Place Arena. That was the record Minnesota smashed only four days later.
Fans packed the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass., for a Minnesota-Boston PWHL game during the first week of the league’s inaugural season. (Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
The honeymoon phase didn’t end after the first few weeks of the season either. The league set a world record for attendance in Toronto (19,285) in February at Scotiabank Arena, which was broken two months later at the Bell Centre when Poulin received the ovation.
Overall, the league beat its own modest attendance projections for the inaugural year. According to Kasten, the internal projection was around 1,000 fans per game. The actual figure — over 5,000 — is a major accomplishment considering that previous women’s hockey leagues mostly struggled at the gate.
“Going into this season, no one really knew what to expect. We knew that we had a product that was worth watching and that we were going to do the best we could to showcase women’s hockey,” said Toronto goalie Kristen Campbell. “The fan support (exceeded) my expectations.”
Games throughout the season were uptempo, highly skilled and surprisingly physical. They were also easy to watch, since every game was available on YouTube for free — with high-quality broadcast production paid for by the league.
“I just don’t think a lot of people understood the skill level and the athleticism of these players,” said Ottawa GM Mike Hirshfeld. “And I think once they saw that, it became really attractive.”
The league landed several partnerships with major brands — such as Air Canada, Scotiabank, Bauer and Barbie — and worked with the NHL, going to All-Star Weekend and playing two neutral-site games at NHL venues in Pittsburgh and Detroit.
But the inaugural season was far from perfect.
PWHL merchandise flew off the shelves despite a lack of team names or logos, but the rollout was criticized because of supply issues and the limited size ranges.
The New York franchise played in three different rinks and struggled to draw fans, finishing with the worst attendance in the league. One game in Bridgeport, Conn., had only 728 fans — the league’s only game with fewer than 1,000 all season.
And just nine days after Minnesota won the first-ever Walter Cup, the league announced it was parting ways with the team’s general manager, Natalie Darwitz, “effective immediately.”
Some reports suggested there was a rift between Darwitz — a legend of Minnesota hockey and now a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee — and head coach Ken Klee, with some influential players siding with Klee. However, the league maintained the decision came after a review of the team’s operations that found “there wasn’t a path forward with the current personnel in place.”
Still, when the PWHL hosted the 2024 draft and awards in St. Paul, Minn., four days after Darwitz departed, fans were dispirited. Klee, who was responsible for the team’s draft picks, was booed at points during the night. He was also heavily criticized for selecting Britta Curl, who stirred controversy in the weeks leading up to the draft for her social media activity.
When asked about Darwitz’s departure this month, Minnesota captain Kendall Coyne Schofield said it was a league decision. Klee, meanwhile, said the team was focused on moving on.
“It’s pro hockey. Things happen,” he said. “We’re excited to get the season going.”
Kendall Coyne Schofield raised the Walter Cup after Minnesota won the PWHL’s inaugural league championship. (Troy Parla / Getty Images)
If the PWHL’s first season was about celebrating the league’s existence, its sophomore year, just days away, will focus on maintaining momentum while remaining in startup mode.
“We are far from a finished product,” said Kasten.
The league has taken several positive steps in its first real offseason.
In September, it unveiled team names and logos; jerseys were released earlier this month. The coinciding merchandise offerings have included more design options and size ranges.
New York has moved into a single primary venue — the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., where the team played in front of its biggest crowd (5,132) last season — while Toronto and Montreal have moved into bigger venues full-time.
“We always hoped and planned to be in bigger buildings, but I don’t think we expected it so quickly,” said Hefford. “But that demand was real and it wasn’t just a blip. It wasn’t just inaugural-year excitement. And we’re seeing that in the response from fans this year in terms of ticket sales and memberships.”
Even with an 8,150 capacity at Coca-Cola Coliseum, Toronto’s season-ticket memberships sold out for a second year in a row. And Kasten said the league expects average attendance to increase.
The PWHL will also play nine neutral-site games, mostly in NHL buildings including Seattle, Vancouver, Denver and St. Louis.
“It’s a reinforcement of what we perceive as widespread and growing interest around our sport,” he said of the neutral-site games. “I can’t say it enough times, these women, these world-class athletes who have been overlooked for so long, are finally seeing the recognition they should have been receiving for years and years.”
Perhaps the biggest development of the offseason is that the league is already looking to add up to two teams as soon as 2025-26. Last season, league leadership often tried to head off questions about expansion but Kasten said the success of Year 1 convinced league leaders to start the process sooner.
“I don’t know if we do it,” he said. “But we’re looking at it because the interest is really there.”
The league has sent out over 20 requests for proposals to interested potential expansion partners, said Amy Scheer, the PWHL’s senior vice president of business operations.
A major driver of PWHL expansion is the influx of international players. In June, over a dozen international players — from Finland, Sweden, Russia, Czechia and more — were drafted, alongside dozens more players from the NCAA. That so many players have decided to make the jump to North America is an encouraging sign. Most top players elected to stay in Europe last season and track the new league’s progress from afar.
“It became more clear what the league is going to look like and so now, I feel like everybody is trying to get a spot here,” said Team Germany forward Laura Kluge, who was invited to Toronto’s training camp after going undrafted in June. “The goal is to come here and play because (it’s) the most professional league out there.”
One of the major critiques of the PWHL last season was that — with the seven-team Premier Hockey Federation shutting down in June 2023 — the ecosystem for women’s hockey in North America became too small, with very few roster spots and development opportunities. Expansion would fix that without diluting the product, given how much talent should be coming from Europe and the NCAA over the next two years.
How expansion might work still remains to be seen. All six current PWHL teams, as well as the league itself, are owned by the Walters.
The single-entity ownership model was critical, Kasten said, to the league getting up and running as quickly as it did. But the question remains: Will the business eventually outgrow unilateral control?
Women’s hockey has attempted individual ownership in the past. The original National Women’s Hockey League folded, in part, because owners stopped seeing the value in investing. The PHF sold some teams, but the league’s main financial backers — John and Johanna Boynton — still owned four of the league’s seven teams.
“I love how it has worked for us so far. I don’t know when that model stops being the most efficient, if ever,” Kasten said. “Could that change in the future? I suppose it could, but we don’t have any plans to change it now.”
For all the progress made during this offseason, there are some longer-term benchmarks left.
The PWHL does not have the kind of media rights deals that are traditional in men’s pro sports, and those more recently signed in women’s professional basketball and soccer.
“Let’s face it, until we get a mature media plan and media revenue we won’t really be a full-fledged league,” said Kasten.
Last season, every game was broadcast on the league’s YouTube channel. This season, however, Canadian audiences won’t have access to the PWHL’s YouTube stream. Those streaming rights are now exclusive to the league’s Canadian broadcast partners, which include TSN, CBC and Amazon Prime. U.S. broadcast rights have not been announced. Pulling games off YouTube in Canadian markets is a hit to access and visibility, but the league is expected to make more money from an increase in rights fees.
“The change is positive for the league because it helps us grow in terms of stability,” Scheer said. “It helps us grow to ensure that the league is on the path to long term health and that women’s hockey will be here for good.”
The biggest challenge for the league is going to be the wage gap that exists between top players and those who make up the majority of each team’s roster, due to how the collective-bargaining agreement set player compensation and roster construction.
In Year 1, the top six players on each team were required to make at least $80,000 on guaranteed three-year contracts, per the CBA. Meanwhile, the league minimum was set at $35,000, which will increase by 3 percent to $36,050 in 2024-25. Many players’ salaries are closer to league minimum on non-guaranteed contracts. And given how much of the salary cap has already been allotted to top players, incoming players — or free agents deserving of raises — will be feeling the squeeze until those contracts expire after the 2025-26 season.
It’s a trickier problem to fix with the CBA locked in until July 31, 2031. But it’s something the league will inevitably be judged on if the business continues to grow.
Despite all these questions, perhaps the biggest change in Year 2 will be a focus not so much on milestones and records but more on the game itself.
“There were a lot of firsts last year and a lot of emotional moments — moments that were bigger than hockey,” said Poulin. “This year is about making it normal that we play in bigger buildings that sell out, that people are excited (to be there). And now we’re just going to play hockey because that’s our job.”
(Illustration: Meech Robinson / The Athletic. Photos: Mark Blinch, Minas Panagiotakis, Bruce Bennett / Getty Images; Kevin Sousa / NHLI via Getty Images; M. Anthony Nesmith / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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