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Lionel Messi and the unmistakeable sense of an ending

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Lionel Messi and the unmistakeable sense of an ending

First, he sank to the ground, grimacing. Play continued for a few seconds and then came the communal gasp.

Lionel Messi was down. And Lionel Messi is not a player who goes down for nothing.

Argentina’s playmaker and talisman clutched his right ankle. He had fallen on his own, with no obvious kick to point to as the cause of the injury that he knew meant his evening was over.

He took off his right boot and stood up gingerly. The physios asked him how he was but they must have known. He shuffled to the touchline, every step a little dagger in Argentine hearts. Then the board went up: Nicolas Gonzalez on, Messi off.

Messi walked slowly to the bench and threw his boot onto the floor. He sunk into his seat, placing his face in his hands. Leandro Paredes, his team-mate, ruffled his hair but said nothing. What was there to say?

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A second or two later, the camera returned to Messi, zooming in on the most recognisable face in football. Humanity, even. And Messi, the arch stoic, was no longer able to hold back the emotion.

The crowd chanted his name. Messi was sobbing.

The tears were for the moment — Argentina needed him; they always do — but it was impossible to abstract them from the wider context. For Messi, wherever he treads in this extended career outro, is always accompanied by the unmistakable sense of an ending.

Messi is 37. He confirmed earlier in the week that this was to be his final edition of the competition. The mood music around the Argentina camp has suggested that it might be his last major tournament, period. He will be 38 when the next World Cup starts in the United States, Mexico and Canada, and will turn 39 during the tournament.

Those endless summer days spent watching Messi gambol around the football pitches of our souls? They could now be numbered.

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Stopping is never an appealing prospect for any sportsperson. Athletes die twice, they say. Messi’s incredible longevity — and continued excellence — has been an effective shield against retirement talk but no one can run forever. At some stage, everything you do becomes the last time. Everything comes laced with heavy finality.

Messi, clearly, seems to have some inkling of what awaits him on the other side of the great beyond. “I am a bit scared of it all ending,” he told ESPN Argentina earlier this year. “I try not to think about it. I try to enjoy it. I do that more now because I’m aware there’s not a lot of time left.”

Here, on a stifling, charged night at the Hard Rock Stadium, he surely wasn’t banking on being denied a chunk of that remaining balance. As he sat there on the bench, an ice pack on his swollen ankle and yellow vest covering his blue and white jersey, it was tempting to wonder what was going through Messi’s mind.


(Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images)

Perhaps, in that instance, he simply became a fan. Perhaps the vision of the team playing without him — an image he will have to get used to in the decades ahead — twisted his already knotted guts into new, uncomfortable shapes.

Post-game, Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni said that Messi didn’t want to come off but his injury rendered any other option redundant.

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“Leo has something that everyone should have,” said Scaloni. “He’s the best in history and, even with an ankle like that, he doesn’t want to go off.

“It’s not because he’s selfish but because he doesn’t want to let his team-mates down. He was born to be on a pitch.”

At least there was, in the end, relief. When Lautaro Martinez stroked home the winning goal four minutes before midnight in Miami, it was telling that the biggest huddle of players was not around the scorer. No, Argentina’s players flocked to Messi, their guiding light.


(Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images)

“When we talk about players who have left a mark on the history of football, we try to extend their careers when we begin to see the end,” his Inter Miami coach, Tata Martino, said recently. “I believe that Leo and his family are preparing themselves for when that ending will come. It comes for everyone.”

It has not come for Messi quite yet. He will play on in MLS when this injury heals, maybe even do his bit to get Argentina to the World Cup, but this was the final episode of Messi Does Tournaments and another staging post on the way to The End. The real end. The day this absurd, magical, laugh-out-loud-good little sprite of a footballer skips away into the past tense.

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“I’m lucky I can do something I’m passionate about,” Messi said in the Apple documentary about his American adventure. “I know these are my last years and I know when I don’t have this, I’m going to miss it dearly because no matter how many things I find to do, nothing is going to be like this.”

No more big finals, potentially. No more nights like this, raw and glorious for his nation. And so, long before the celebrations, he cried. You could understand it.

(Top photos: Juan Mabromata; Buda Mendez; Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images; design: Ray Orr)

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Transgender golfer sues LPGA over policy that protects women’s competitions

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Transgender golfer sues LPGA over policy that protects women’s competitions

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Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson has sued the LPGA and USGA for its policies that prohibit biological males who underwent male puberty from competing in women’s competition.

The LPGA said in a statement it was aware of the lawsuit and would “let that process play out on the proper forum.”

“The LPGA’s gender policy was developed through a thoughtful, expert-informed process and is grounded in protecting the competitive integrity of elite women’s golf,” the statement said.

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The USGA and LPGA changed gender policies for events in 2025 and beyond, declaring that players must be assigned female at birth or have transitioned to female before going through male puberty to be eligible to compete.

The 33-year-old Davidson didn’t transition until after puberty. Davidson competed in a U.S. Open qualifier and LPGA Qualifying School under a different policy in 2024, falling short in both efforts.

Davidson claimed in the lawsuit that the new policy effectively bans transgender women from competing in USGA women’s events or the LPGA because many states prevent children from taking hormones or blocking puberty.

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When the USGA denied Davidson entry into the qualifier, Davidson claimed the Hackensack Golf Club violated the law by saying the USGA controlled all decisions regarding eligibility. Davidson began hormone treatments in Davidson’s early 20s in 2015 and in 2021 underwent gender-affirming surgery, which was required under the LPGA’s previous gender policy. 

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Davidson also filed a lawsuit against the women’s golf tour NXXT in December after it changed its policies to prevent biological males from competing against females. 

NXXT and its attorneys from America First Legal filed its motion to dismiss in February, and believe the suit will be thrown out. 

“We are asking the courts to dismiss the claims, and we’re addressing the matter,” NXXT Golf CEO Stuart McKinnon told Fox News Digital.

“This was about simply protecting women’s sports. So the goal was really clarity and competitive integrity, and, as a professional tour, we believe it was our responsibility to define those categories.”

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NXXT was one of the first women’s tours that stepped up to make a policy change. The LPGA then changed its own policy to bring about more restrictions to protect the women’s category in December 2024.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Prep sports roundup: Bishop Alemany takes two of three games vs. Harvard-Westlake

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Prep sports roundup: Bishop Alemany takes two of three games vs. Harvard-Westlake

Harvard-Westlake doesn’t drop too many series in baseball these days, but if there’s one coach who gives the Wolverines fits, it’s Randy Thompson of Bishop Alemany. The reminder happened years ago when Harvard-Westlake had three future first-round draft picks on the same team in Max Fried, Lucas Giolito and Jack Flaherty, and Alemany defeated that powerful Wolverines team with Giolito on the mound.

On Friday, Alemany (8-3, 4-1 Mission League) completed a week in which it took two of three games from the Wolverines with a 10-4 victory. Apparently success against Harvard-Westlake isn’t just limited to the head coach. Thompson’s son, Brody, hit two home runs and a double and finished with three RBIs. Also hitting two home runs was Chase Stevenson, who had three hits and two RBIs.

Alemany had 16 hits on the day.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 5, Chaminade 4: The Knights (10-0) stayed unbeaten, with Dru Wilson’s RBI single in the sixth breaking a 4-4 tie. Malakye Matsumoto had three hits and three RBIs, including a home run. Lachlan Clark threw four innings of scoreless relief with seven strikeouts and no walks. Andrew Chute had a home run and three RBIs for Chaminade.

Loyola 5, St. Francis 4: Freshman Anthony Adame closed out the win with two innings of stellar relief and three strikeouts in the eight-inning contest. Austin Junk drove in the winning run with a double.

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Sierra Canyon 19, Crespi 2: Charlie Cummings had two doubles, a single and three RBIs for Sierra Canyon.

Royal 6, Simi Valley 2: Dustin Dunwoody struck out 16 in six innings for Royal.

Hart 15, Valencia 14: The Hawks survived a four-run rally by Valencia in the seventh to win a wild Foothill League game. Justin Gaisford had a home run and five RBIs for Valencia. Hart received four hits and three RBIs for Matix Frithsmith. Josh Whitson had three hits and four RBIs and Hayden Rhodes hit a three-run home run. The two teams combined for 49 runs and 11 errors in two games. Another game ended in a 10-10 tie.

El Camino Real 6, Chatsworth 3: RJ De La Rosa and Jackson Sellz each had two RBIs to help El Camino Real stay unbeaten in the West Valley League.

Birmingham 8, Granada Hills 2: Carlos Acuna struck out five in six innings, Aidan Martinez struck out three in one inning of relief and Julius Monroe-Truitt had three RBIs for Birmingham.

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Cleveland 3, Taft 2: Ezra Preis had two hits and two RBIs for the Cavaliers.

Bell 17, Huntington Park 1: Daniel Garcia had two triples and three RBIs for 12-1 Bell.

Carson 6, Banning 4: The Colts took control of the Marine League race this week. Skylar Vinson had two hits.

St. John Bosco 13, JSerra 0: For the fifth time in seven games, St. John Bosco (7-0), ranked No. 1 by The Times, recorded a shutout. Jack Champlin started and gave up one hit in five innings. Jhett Ohira had three hits and three RBIs. Ohira was seven for 12 in the Braves’ three-game sweep of JSerra.

Corona del Mar 8, Newport Harbor 1: Stevie Jones gave up one run in 6⅔ innings and Ryan Williams and Grant Horsley each had two hits.

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La Canada 6, San Marino 0: Joe Bell threw a five-hit shutout and had two hits and three RBIs.

El Dorado 4, Villa Park 2: Brady Abner had the tying triple and Xavi Cadena hit the winning home run.

Corona 19, King 7: Anthony Murphy had a home run, a double and two singles. He also struck out three batters in his one inning of relief. Trey Ebel added two hits and three RBIs.

Norco 7, Corona Centennial 4: Dylan Seward and Jordan Ayala hit home runs for Norco.

Corona Santiago 9, Eastvale Roosevelt 1: Striker Pence hit a two-run home run and Joshua Angulo had two hits and three RBIs for Santiago. Ayden White threw three innings of hitless relief.

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Redondo Union 6, Mira Costa 2: Robby Zimmerman struck out eight in 5⅔ innings.

Cypress 7, Mater Dei 5: Austin Gerken hit a three-run home run for Mater Dei, but Drew Slevcove got the save for Cypress.

Los Alamitos 6, Edison 5: A two-run double by Willie Adams keyed the comeback win.

Bishop Amat 7, St. Paul 0: Ashton Chavez, Kevin Martin and Izaac Muniz combined on the shutout. Omar Arretche had three hits for Bishop Amat.

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Norco 14, Corona Centennial 0: Leighton Gray hit two home runs for Norco.

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NFL fans call the league’s streaming strategy a ‘money grab’ as costs spiral out of control

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NFL fans call the league’s streaming strategy a ‘money grab’ as costs spiral out of control

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Football fans are airing their frustrations about the continuing rise in the costs of watching the NFL.

As the league has continued to strike new media deals with different streaming services, fans are left scrambling to figure out not only which channel or streaming service the game is on, but also whether they subscribe to that service. OutKick’s Davey Hudson took to the streets of Nashville and New York City to talk to aggrieved football fans.

“I think it’s frustrating when you just want to watch a game, and you have to figure out what app it’s on. And then you’re paying for multiple apps all the time,” one fan said.

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New England Patriots fans look upset as the Patriots lose in the second half of an NFL game against the Chicago Bears at Gillette Stadium in Boston, Massachusetts, on Oct. 24, 2022. (Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)

Another fan was blunt, calling the current system of watching games “f—ing stupid.”

“Well, it’s f—king stupid, you have to get five different platforms to watch all of the games that you want to, and still you have to pay on top. It’s ridiculous at this point,” the fan said.

One fan called it a “pain in the a–” to keep track of where and when the games are being streamed.

A different fan called it a “money grab,” citing Netflix as the latest streaming service the NFL brought in to start broadcasting its games.

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One fan, who said he is a New York Jets season ticket holder and has the NFL package, lamented that he still does not have access to every game.

FCC TAKES NOTICE AS AMERICA’S MOST POPULAR SPORT BECOMES INCREASINGLY COSTLY, FRUSTRATING TO CONSUME

NFL fans walk outside the Super Bowl Experience at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, on Feb. 6, 2026.  (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

“I can’t tell you how frustrating it is when I feel like I have every service, I have Jets season tickets, I have the NFL package, and then there is still games on top of that that I don’t have access to. It gets very frustrating,” the fan said.

Multiple fans said they pay for at least three, if not four streaming services. Numerous other fans said they pay for five or six different services at this point.

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The fan who called the current system “f—king stupid,” said that she thinks that the NFL is taking the long way around to returning to satellite TV.

“Well, I think what’s actually going to happen is we are just taking the long way around going back to like satellite TV, and we are in the last stages of this part of it. It’s all going to conglomerate at one point,” she said.

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Denver Broncos fans cheer during a game against the New England Patriots in the fourth quarter of the Patriots’ 10-7 win in the AFC Championship Game at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado, on Jan. 25, 2026. (Aaron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post/Getty Images)

NFL fans who want access to every game need to purchase YouTube TV for “NFL Sunday Ticket,” in addition to the costly subscriptions for all the streaming services the NFL broadcasts on. Those streaming services are Amazon Prime, Peacock and Netflix. The combination of those respective services is over $1,500 a year, and that doesn’t include the fees that come with basic cable packages or high-speed Wi-Fi that is needed to accommodate the platforms.

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Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr said he was concerned that the rising prices of streaming games are maddening for sports fans, and it appears his concerns are valid.

Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.

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