Sports
Auerbach: Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese providing fuel for a long-standing WNBA rivalry
INDIANAPOLIS — Even if one or both sides won’t officially acknowledge the existence of a new rivalry, there are always signs — and sounds.
For example, the very loud boos from Indiana Fever fans whenever Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese went to the free-throw line. Or the very loud cheers from those same fans when Reese (and Kamilla Cardoso) picked up fouls.
The only noise louder than the crowd’s swell when Reese picked up her fifth foul early in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game was for the T-shirt cannon.
That’s what burgeoning rivalries are supposed to sound like. They’re marked by good, old-fashioned hate; you root against your rival just as fervently as you root for your favorite team. And the Sky versus the Fever is giving us exactly that.
“I think it just shows when given an opportunity women’s sports are certainly an amazing thing, and fun to watch.”
Caitlin Clark on the rise of women’s sports 👏 pic.twitter.com/ulcOw1cQns
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) June 16, 2024
These teams have played twice so far this season, with Indiana victorious twice in tight games. The first matchup needs few reminders, as the Chennedy Carter hip-check on Caitlin Clark made that game rather memorable (and controversial). Sunday’s game featured Reese swatting for the ball but inadvertently smacking Clark in the head as she attempted a layup, a foul that was correctly upgraded to a Flagrant 1 after a brief officials’ review.
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Angel Reese foul on Caitlin Clark upgraded to flagrant
Those interactions might lead the sports debate shows, but they’re such a minor part of what could very well become one of the best rivalries in the WNBA. This is about Reese and Clark, who have faced off in two of the most memorable NCAA Tournament games in recent history and are now household names. This is about Cardoso, who has already established herself as a force in the paint as a pro despite dealing with an early-season injury. This is about Aliyah Boston, last year’s WNBA Rookie of the Year who is playing her best basketball now. This is about Carter, a game-changer for Chicago when she’s on the court.
This is about a treasure trove of elite young talent, who play in cities located just three hours apart. The teams boast six players combined who were top-four picks in the past four WNBA drafts. These are organizations starved for some success, now with the pieces that can help them build it.
After the Fever’s 91-83 win over the Sky on Sunday, Chicago guard Marina Mabrey said she doesn’t see the matchup as a rivalry, adding that it’s probably only something like that for “new fans.”
But even if it’s fueled by new-to-the-W fans, that’s the point. It’s an obvious entry point for fans of Clark or Reese, or anyone who was part of the record-setting audiences that tuned in for women’s college basketball over the past couple of seasons. The public has already been drawn to these players and their personalities, and they want to see what happens when they continue to clash, even with different names on the front of their jerseys. Fever coach Christie Sides, who spent the first six years of her WNBA coaching career in Chicago, said it is a rivalry that has existed before, but what’s different about now is that it features two “really good, young teams that are trying to figure it out with great players just getting better every game.”
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Fever outlast Sky: 3 takeaways
Clark, for her part, also understands why fans are drawn to this specific matchup. It’s because of her and because of Reese.
“It’s just the emotion and passion that we play with — I think people love to see that,” Clark said. “That’s maybe not something that was always appreciated in women’s sports, and it should be. I think that’s what makes it fun. We’re competitors. That’s the way the game should be. It’s gonna get a little feisty. It’s gonna get a little physical, but at the end of the day, both teams are just trying to win.
“Obviously, I’ve played her for a very long time, and she’s been a tremendous player. It’s been fun getting to compete against (Reese). I think it’s been really good for the game. People just love seeing great matchups, but also, at the same time, the people tune in for these matchups (between us), but then they get to see how amazing these teams are, and then they find new players to support and continue to come back for them, too.”
Or maybe they’ll watch an incredible back-and-forth game and find new players they want to root against. Which is also fine, because that’s sports. Everything means a little bit more if there’s just more fuel added to the fire.
(Photo of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
Sports
Indy 500: Counting Down The 10 Best Finishes In Race History
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The best Indianapolis 500 finish could be subjective, depending on which driver a fan was rooting for to win.
It certainly is in the eye of the beholder.
So take this list for what it’s worth. One view of the 10 best finishes in Indianapolis 500 history. Of course, it skews to more recent decades when the runs have come a little faster and the finishes have had a tendency to be a little closer.
We’ll add one each day to this list of fantastic finishes ahead of the 110th running of the Indy 500 on May 24 (12:30 p.m. ET on FOX).
10. Ericsson outduels O’Ward (2022)
After a red flag, Marcus Ericsson held off Pato O’Ward in a two-lap shootout. The shootout didn’t last two laps, though, as there was a crash on the final lap behind them. Ericsson had a comfortable lead when the red flag came out for a crash with four laps to go, a situation where in past Indianapolis 500 races, they likely would have ended the race under caution with Ericsson as the winner.
9. Foyt survives chaos (1967)
How does a driver who wins by two laps end up on this list? It’s because the win nearly didn’t happen on the last lap. A big crash with cars and debris littering the frontstretch just ahead of Foyt as he came to the checkered flag forced him to navigate through the wreckage for the win.
8. Sato can’t catch Franchitti (2012)
This was one of those finishes where the leader holds on for the win, but boy did the leader have to hold on. Takuma Sato tried to pass Dario Franchitti early on the final lap but to no avail and Franchitti sped off for the victory. This was one of those Indy 500s that made you hold your breath all the way to the checkered flag.
Sports
UCLA softball pummels South Carolina to advance to NCAA super regional
No. 8 UCLA stuck with right-hander Taylor Tinsley throughout the Los Angeles Regional and that faith in the senior paid off.
During the Bruins’ NCAA tournament opener at Easton Stadium, Tinsley gave up 10 runs before her teammates rallied for a walk-off win. She returned less than 24 hours to pitch against South Carolina, giving up two earned runs in a victory. Tinsley was back in the circle Sunday afternoon, yielding one run in UCLA’s 15-1 victory over the Gamecocks to advance to the super regionals.
“I am proud of Taylor’s resiliency, the ability to do whatever she can to help this team,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “She got stronger through the weekend. I am proud of that.”
Tinsley and her teammates will host Central Florida in a super regional that begins Friday.
“I feel good,” Tinsley said after pitching three key games in three days. “I could have gone more innings if needed.”
South Carolina right-hander Jori Heard gave up only one hit through two innings, keeping UCLA’s potent bats relatively quiet. The Gamecocks had runners on first and second with two outs in the second, but Tinsley escaped the inning with a pop-up to left field.
The Bruins got on the board first with a two-run home run from left fielder Rylee Slimp in the third inning. The Bruins followed it up by loading the bases with no outs in the fifth for right fielder Megan Grant.
Grant cooked up a grand slam to make it 6-0. She has 40 home runs, extending her hold on the NCAA single-season home run record. Oklahoma freshman Kendall Wells trails Grant with 37 homers.
“Its just incredible because I am blessed to be able to say the number 40,” Grant said.
South Carolina broke through on an RBI single from left fielder Quincee Lilio to cut UCLA’s lead to 6-1 in the fifth inning after being held to just one hit since the first inning. The Gamecocks couldn’t cash in the rest of the way.
The Bruins resumed scoring in the sixth inning, with the bases loaded and Grant at bat again. Fans at Easton Stadium anticipated another grand slam, holding up their cellphones hoping to catch some magic. Grant served up a two-run RBI single to expand the lead 8-1.
Jordan Woolery added to the scoring with a two-run RBI double down the left-field line, and Kaniya Bragg hit a home run to left-center field. Soo-jin Berry put a bow on the win with one more home run.
Sports
Pro wrestling star learns what ‘land of opportunity’ means in US as he details journey from Italy to America
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Cristiano Argento has been tearing up opponents in the ring for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) as he worked his way up the ladder to get a few shots at some gold.
But the path to get to one of the most prestigious pro wrestling companies in the U.S. was long and a path that not many wrestlers have taken.
Argento was born and raised in Osimo, Italy – a town of about 35,000 people located on the east side of the country closer to the Adriatic Sea. He told Fox News Digital he started training in a ring at a boxing gym before he got started on the independent scene in Italy. He wrestled in Germany, Sweden, France and Denmark before he came to the realization that, to become a professional wrestler, he needed to make his way to the United States.
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Cristiano Argento performs in the National Wrestling Alliance (Instagram)
He first worked his way to Canada to get trained by pro wrestling legend Lance Storm. He moved to Canada, leaving most of his friends and family behind and without a firm grasp on the English language.
“At the time, my English was horrible. I didn’t speak any English at all,” he said. “But I was with my friend, Stefano, he came with me and he translated everything for me. I probably missed 50% of the knowledge that Lance Storm was giving to us because I was unable to understand. I was only given a recap and everything I was able to see. I’m sure if I was doing it now with a proper knowledge of English, it would have been a different scenario.
“Eventually, I moved back to Italy after the training and I said, OK, now, I want to go to the U.S. So, I studied English more properly, and eventually I got my first work visa that was in Texas. I was in Houston for a short period of time. I trained with Booker T at Reality of Wrestling. I got on his show, which was my debut in the U.S. That was awesome. I eventually got a new work visa in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I currently live since 2017. Since then, my wrestling career, thankfully, kept growing, growing, growing and growing until now wrestling for the NWA. One of the bigger promotions in the U.S.”
Argento said that his family thought he was “nuts” for chasing his pro wrestling dream.
He said they were more concerned about his well-being given that he was half-way around the world without anyone he knew by his side in case something went sideways.
“My family, friends, everybody was like why do you want to move to the opposite side of the world not knowing the language, not knowing anybody, by yourself, to try to become a professional wrestler? And I was like, well, we have one life, I love, and that’s what I’m gonna do,” he told Fox News Digital. “Eventually, my family was really supportive. But when I first said, ‘Hey, mom and dad, I want to do that.’ They looked at me like, ‘Are you nuts? Are you drunk or something? What are you talking about?’ And I said, no that’s what I want to do. And they knew I loved this sport because in Italy I was traveling around Europe, spending time in Canada training, so they started to understand slowly that’s what I want to do with my life. They were proud of me.
Cristiano Argento works out in the gym. (Instagram)
“They’re still proud of me. I think more like the fact that you’re gonna try that, that it’s hard than more like you’re gonna leave us. The fact like, oh, my son is gonna go on the opposite side of the world for a six-hour time difference and we’re gonna see him maybe, when, like, I don’t know. Not often. I think it was more that. And for me too, it was really hard. It was heartbreaking not being able to see my family every day or every month. Like once a year if I’m lucky. I think that was the biggest part for them because of concern or that I was here by myself and if I have any issue or any problem, I didn’t have nobody. So they were scared. Like, you get sick, if you have a problem, anything, and they’re not being able to be here next to me. But they were really supportive since day one.”
Argento is living out his dream in the U.S. He suggested that the moniker of the U.S. being the “land of opportunity” wasn’t far from what is preached in movies and literature – it was the real thing.
“I was inspired by people who came to the U.S. and made it big,” Argento told Fox News Digital. “The U.S. was always like the land of opportunity. That’s how they sell it to us and this is what it is. I feel like, in myself, that was true because anything I tried to do so far I was able to reach a lot more than if I wasn’t here. I’m not yet where I’d like to be but I see like there’s so many opportunities in this country. Not just in wrestling but like in any business to reach the goal. I’m really happy of the choices I did here.
National Wrestling Alliance star Cristiano Argento poses in Times Square in New York. (Instagram)
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“But my big inspirations were big-time actors who moved to the country, who didn’t know English, with no money, no support system. I had one dream, I have to go right there to make it happen and I’m gonna go and do it and I’m gonna make it happen. So those people were always the biggest inspiration even if it wasn’t in wrestling, just how they handled their passion, how they pursued their dream without being scared of anything, how far you are, how alone by yourself … You don’t know the language, you’re like, let’s go, let’s do it.”
Outside of the NWA, Argento has performed for the International Wrestling Cartel, Enjoy Wrestling and Exodus Pro Wrestling this year.
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