Sports
New York fans who grew up with Brooklyn Dodgers face a tough choice in this World Series
Even now, after all these years, Norman Siegel is conflicted. He was born in Brooklyn, raised in Brooklyn, and he firmly believes his childhood passion for the Brooklyn Dodgers set him on a course to becoming a civil rights attorney.
Now it’s the Los Angeles Dodgers who’ll be playing the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series Friday night, this after knocking off the Mets in the National League Championship Series. And it so happens that Siegel, who turns 81 in November, transferred his loyalties to the expansion Mets in 1962, five years after the Dodgers moved to the west coast.
Should a loyal Mets fan root for the Yankees in the World Series? On the other hand, how can a native of Brooklyn root for the team that abandoned Ebbets Field?
This will be the 12th time the Dodgers and Yankees have met in the World Series, and it’s the fifth meeting since the Dodgers relocated to Los Angeles. To gain some perspective that can only be provided by a true Brooklynite, I spoke with Siegel. I spoke with Abby Tedesco, 90, who participated in the big celebration in front of the Hotel Bossert on Montague Street that October afternoon in 1955 when the Brooklyn Dodgers toppled the Yankees in Game 7 of the World Series for their only pre-Los Angeles championship. I spoke with Shaine Kay, age 51. Not yet born when the Dodgers moved away, even he has feelings on the matter.
Norman Siegel had sports in his blood. His father, Benjamin Siegel, had played some semi-pro basketball back in the day, and he was a hearty Dodgers fan. Benjamin Siegel was a union foreman for Supreme Printing Co., on Varick Street in Greenwich Village, which meant daily trips into Manhattan, but he still found time for trips to Ebbets Field, often with Norman at his side.
Norman Siegel was a fine student at New Utrecht High School and later at Brooklyn College and NYU School of Law, but it’s nothing compared with the education he received at Ebbets Field. Going to Brooklyn Dodgers games, he said, “sensitized me to the concept of racial equality, which led me to become a civil rights lawyer. And I’ve been doing that now for 54 years.
“Ebbets Field was my first exposure to people who were Black in significant number,” Siegel said. “Sitting with Black people in the bleachers helped make me be comfortable rooting for a team that was racially mixed.”
The Dodgers made history in 1947 when their general manager, Branch Rickey, broke baseball’s longstanding color line by promoting Jackie Robinson to the big leagues. Soon other Black players would come along. Roy Campanella. Don Newcombe. Joe Black. Siegel saw all of them.
“For 75 cents you could sit in the bleachers,” Siegel said. “We didn’t high-five anyone in those days, but whenever anyone on the Dodgers did something, whether it was Jackie or Pee Wee Reese or Duke Snider, we’d get up and applaud. Sometimes I would look at the other people, they were Black and White. So whether it was Preacher Roe or Don Newcombe pitching, we usually had four Whites and five Blacks or five Blacks and four Whites, or something like that, but we were all together. It was we shall overcome.”
“I celebrated in ’55, of course, when we finally beat those damn Yankees,” Siegel said. “And I was devastated in ’57.”
Norman Siegel with a photo of several Brooklyn Dodgers greats (Courtesy photo)
With his law degree, and with what he learned growing up at Ebbets Field, Siegel went south to work for the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. In 1985 he was named executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. Now living in the Upper West Side in Manhattan, he’s on the board of directors of the Jackie Robinson Foundation. He is a New Yorker, through and through, and the Dodgers have now been Los Angeles’ team for almost seven decades.
So … Dodgers or Yankees in the World Series?
“People have been asking me what I’m going to do,” Siegel said. “I’ll know for sure when the the first game starts.
“But when I see that uniform, with ‘Dodgers’ across the front, it wins me over.”
Abby Tedesco has no conflicts about which team she plans to support in the World Series.
It’ll be the Dodgers.
It’s a Brooklyn thing.
Abby is living in Lido Beach on Long Island now and has a summer place in the Berkshires where her family runs an animal sanctuary, but to talk to this spry, upbeat woman about growing up in East Flatbush is to talk about those many happy treks to Ebbets Field to watch the Dodgers.
Abby’s biggest takeaways? She especially enjoyed the slaphappy band of Ebbets Field musicians known as the “Dodgers Sym-Phony,” and as a youngster she’d marvel as the volume of peanut shells that collected on the ground during the game. “We’d be eating peanuts all day, and what a mess we’d leave,” Abby said. “I don’t know how they got them all picked up.”
Abby Tedesco with a photo of the memorable 1955 Dodgers. (Courtesy photo)
But it was Abby’s father, Moe Moskowitz, who wore the Dodger pants in the house. “He wasn’t just a Dodger fan, he was a crazy Dodger fan,” Abby said. “If he was watching a game the Dodgers could have an 8-0 lead in the eighth inning and he’d be saying, ‘It’s too close! It’s too close!’ Sometimes he’d get so nervous he’d turn the game off and read about it in the paper in the morning.”
Moe Moskowitz was in ladies’ corsets. “My father managed a chain of 15 stores owned by my uncle,” Abby said. “The company was called Corsetorium. They used to say, ‘Of course it’s Corsetorium!’”
Dashing about from corset shop to corset shop kept Moe busy, but not too busy to take the family to Dodgers games. The family home at East 54th Street and Lenox Road was only a couple of miles from Ebbets Field.
“Jackie Robinson lived not too far from where we lived,” Abby said. “My father would pile all the kids in the car and we would drive past there all the time to see if we could spot him out front and wave hello. We never did see him, but we’d keep going.”
When the Dodgers toppled the Yankees in the 1955 World Series, Moe again piled all the kids in the car. This time the destination was the Hotel Bossert.
“He knew the Dodgers would be celebrating there, and he wanted us to be part of it,” Abby said. “And we just stood there, watching everyone come in and out of the hotel. That was exciting.”
What wasn’t so exciting in the Moskowitz house was what happened two years later, when the Dodgers announced the move to Los Angeles. Moe was all worked up — even more so than if the Dodgers had an 8-0 lead in the eighth inning — but he got over it. “He went from being a crazy Dodgers fan to being a crazy Mets fan,” Abby said.
Moe Moskowitz passed away in 1992. He lived to see the Mets win two World Series championships, twice as many as were won by the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Abby isn’t as big a baseball fan as her father was, but, yes, she rooted for the Mets to beat the Dodgers in the NLCS.
She’ll be rooting for the Dodgers — the Los Angeles Dodgers — to beat the Yankees in the World Series.
“Even though they beat us, I want them to beat those damn Yankees,” Abby said.
And then there’s Brooklyn native Shaine Kay, too young to have even stepped inside Ebbets Field. Moreover, he admits he hasn’t been much of a baseball fan “since I was little.” And yet there’s a Brooklyn Dodgers beat to this heart, partly because of the relationship he had with his grandfather, the late William Kelleher, but also because of that time he met Dodgers icon Duke Snider — the Duke of Flatbush himself! — at an autograph show.
“My grandfather was a big Dodger fan, and my uncle — his brother — was a New York Giants fan,” Kay said. “I heard all the stories about the rivalry they had, and them cursing each other out at the dinner table.”
Like many Brooklyn Dodgers fans, Kelleher eventually transferred his loyalties to the Mets. Kay, on the other hand, had mixed loyalties: He became a Yankees fan as a child but maintained a fondness for former Dodgers shortstop Pee Wee Reese through the stories his grandfather would tell him.
Kelleher died in 1988. Kay drifted away from baseball. He eventually moved to Long Island, and then one day he ventured into a flea market that was selling odd sports souvenirs. Wouldn’t it be swell, he told himself, if there happened to be a Brooklyn Dodgers jersey with Pee Wee Reese’s No. 1 on the back?
What he found was a Brooklyn Dodgers jersey with Duke Snider’s No. 4 on the back.
“The place was going out of business, so I got it dirt cheap,” Kay said. “About a week later, my friend calls me up and says, ‘Get down to the comics store and bring your jersey.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ He says, ‘Duke! Duke! He’s at the comic book store and he’s signing autographs.’ I said, ‘Who?’ And he says, ‘Like the jersey you just bought, idiot! No. 4, Duke Snider, is signing autographs.’”
Shaine Kay with his #4 Duke Snider Dodgers jersey. (Courtesy photo)
Kay gathered his Duke Snider jersey and went to the store, paid $20 to get in line, and presented himself to the Hall of Fame Dodgers center fielder. That’s when somebody stepped in and told Kay that Snider was only signing baseball cards or baseballs that had been purchased at the store.
They say Duke Snider had great range when he patrolled center field for the Dodgers. He showed it again that day at the comic book store, going way out of his way on behalf of Shaine Kay.
“I was going to say, alright, I’m leaving, give me my 20 bucks back,” Kay said. “And then Duke Snider says to me, I was maybe 15 at the time, he says, ‘Any kid who knows who the hell I am, let alone owns my jersey, I’m signing his shirt.’ And he took a Dodger blue sharpie out of his own pocket and signed it.”
So, Kay’s rooting for the Dodgers in the World Series, right? In memory of his grandfather! In memory of Duke Snider!
“I’m rooting for the Yankees, mainly because they’re a New York team,” he said. “But I love the fact that it’s Dodgers-Yankees, again, just like it used to be.
“But when I go,” Kay said, referring to the day he dies, “that Duke Snider jersey is going in the box with me. The rest of my jersey collection, they can split it up. But the Duke’s going with me.”
(Top photo of the 1954 Brooklyn Dodgers: Hulton Archive / Getty Images)
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Russell Wilson and Sean Payton spent just one NFL season together, but tension lingered after a rocky year.
And it appears the tension that built up from that tumultuous stretch continues to linger.
Wilson’s interview on the “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast, recorded before last month’s Super Bowl between Seattle and New England, recently resurfaced.
In the interview, Wilson doubled down on his October comment labeling Payton “classless,” saying he felt slighted by his former coach’s remarks.
Head coach Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos talks to quarterback Russell Wilson on the sideline during an NFL preseason football game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium Aug. 11, 2023, in Glendale, Ariz. (Ryan Kang/Getty Images)
“[When] you’ve been on the same side or this and that, and I got the same amount of rings as you got, meaning Sean, right?” said Wilson, who won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks as Payton did coaching for the New Orleans Saints.
“I got a lot of respect for him as a play-caller, this and that, but to take a shot, I don’t like. I don’t think it’s necessary, you know, I mean, especially when I’m not even on your own team anymore. So, for me, there’s a point in time where you have to, I’ve realized, I’ve stayed quiet for so long. There’s a there’s a time and place where I’m not.
“I know who I am as a competitor, as a warrior, as a champion, too, and, you know, I’ve beaten Sean, too. You know, like we’ve been on the same place and the same thing. And so, it’s not a matter of disrespect. Just don’t disrespect me.”
Sean Payton and Russell Wilson of the Denver Broncos during an a game against the Minnesota Vikings at Empower Field at Mile High Nov. 19, 2023, in Denver, Colo. (Ryan Kang/Getty Images)
After a rocky one-year stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024, Wilson joined the New York Giants last offseason. However, he was relegated to a backup role after just three games.
Rookie Jaxson Dart quickly showed promise once he had the chance to start, but his season was briefly derailed by injury. Jameis Winston — not Wilson — stepped in for Dart in a handful of games. Dart threw three touchdowns in a Week 7 matchup with the Broncos, nearly pulling off an upset in what was eventually a close loss.
After the game, Payton said Dart provided a “spark” to the Giants’ offense.
“I was talking to [Giants owner] John Mara not too long ago, and I said, ‘We were hoping that that change would have happened long after our game,’” Payton said.
The New York Giants’ Russell Wilson attempts to escape a sack by Dallas Cowboys defensive end James Houston (53) in the first half of a game Sept. 14, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Payton also said the Broncos would have faced less of a challenge had Wilson been under center.
“Classless … but not surprised,” Wilson responded in a social media post. “Didn’t realize you’re still bounty hunting 15+ years later though the media.”
Despite last season’s struggles and chatter about his football future, Wilson does not appear ready to call it quits in 2026.
“I wanna play a few more years for sure,” he said. “I think, for me, I’ve always had the vision of getting to 40, at least. I think the game is different. Quarterbacks, we get hit. It’s not, you know, we get hit hard, but … there’s certain rules. I mean, back in the day when I started, bro, it was you just get [clobbered].
“I mean, so I feel like the game allows you to, you know, live a little longer, I guess. I feel healthy. I feel great. But I think, more than anything else is, do you love the game? Do you love studying? Do you love the passion for it all? Do you love the process? Do you love the practice? Do you love — everybody loves the winning part of it, but it’s process. There’s a journey that you got to be obsessed with. And that part I’m obsessed with.”
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The early rounds of the BNP Paribas Open began Wednesday, with top seeds slated to start play Friday during the 12-day ATP and WTPA Master 1000 tournament.
A busy stretch of the tennis season reaches another gear at Indian Wells Tennis Garden, the second largest outdoor tennis stadium in the world.
While many consider it the “fifth Grand Slam” because of its elite player field, amenities and equal prize money for men and women, professionals acknowledge the tournament is part of a stressful stretch on the tennis calendar.
Indian Wells is followed by the Miami Open, another two-week Master 1000 tournament. The tour stops are known as the “Sunshine Double.”
Some players made the short trip from Indian Wells to Las Vegas this past weekend to participate in the MGM Grand Slam, an exhibition designed to help players ramp up for back-to-back tournaments.
American Reilly Opelka, a 6-foot–11 pro, said managing fatigue after a series of tournaments before hitting Indian Wells has altered his practice and play in exhibition matches, including a loss to 19-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca in Las Vegas.
“Normally in any kind of competition, you get excited and play with a pressure point … but you don’t feel this when you are practicing,” Opelka said.
“I was trying to feel like this a few days ago while practicing with … [Tommy Paul,] but instead we got tired and hungry. … That usually doesn’t happen. We just decided to stop and go to eat somewhere.”
Paul said despite the decision to cut practice short, he feels fresh for the upcoming events.
“I started the year pretty well and for Americans, we are excited for the Sunshine Double,” Paul said.
Casper Rudd lost to Opelka during the first round of the Las Vegas exhibition. The Norwegian also lost a week ago during the first round of the Acapulco Open, falling to Chinese qualifier Yibing Wu in straight sets.
Rudd said he felt “extremely tired” after the Australian Open in January.
Rancho Palo Verdes resident Taylor Fritz, ranked No. 7 in the world, said the best way to prepare yourself for grueling tour schedule is “putting [in] the time, work and repetition.”
“… Be there, be focused on the quality that you are doing,” said Fritz, a 28-year-old who won the Indian Wells title in 2022.
While some players are guarding against burnout, others struggled to even reach California. Some players who live in Dubai, including Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, have to contend with closed airspace triggered by the U.S. and Israel bombing Iran.
The ATP announced Wednesday that, “the vast majority of players who were in Dubai have successfully departed today on selected flights.”
Sports
Law firm fighting for women’s sports in SCOTUS battle comments on ruling possibly impacting SJSU trans lawsuit
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A law firm leading the charge in the ongoing Supreme Court case over trans athletes in women’s sports has responded after a federal judge suggested the case’s ruling could impact a separate case involving a similar issue.
Colorado District Judge Kato Crews deferred ruling in motions to dismiss former San Jose State volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser’s lawsuit against the California State University (CSU) system until after a ruling in the B.P.J. v. West Virginia Supreme Court case, which is expected to come in June.
Slusser filed the lawsuit against representatives of her school and the Mountain West Conference in fall 2024 after she allegedly was made to share bedrooms and changing spaces with trans teammate Blaire Fleming for a whole season without being informed that Fleming is a biological male.
Meanwhile, the B.P.J. case went to the Supreme Court after a trans teen sued West Virginia to block the state’s law that prevents males from competing in girls’ high school sports.
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is the primary law firm defending West Virginia in that case at the Supreme Court, and has now responded to news that Slusser’s lawsuit could be affected by the SCOTUS ruling.
“We hope the ruling from the Supreme Court will affirm that Title IX was designed to guarantee equal opportunity for women, not to let male athletes displace women and girl in competition. It is crucial that sports be separated by sex for not only the equal opportunity of women but for safety and privacy. Title IX should protect women’s right to compete in their own sports. Allowing men to compete in the female category reverses 50 years of advancement for women,” ADF Vice President of Litigation Strategies Jonathan Scruggs said.
Slusser’s attorney, Bill Bock of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, expects a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the legal defense representing West Virginia, thus helping his case.
(Left) Brooke Slusser (10) of the San Jose State Spartans serves the ball during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Oct. 19, 2024. (Right) Blaire Fleming #3 of the San Jose State Spartans looks on during the third set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym on October 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. ( Andrew Wevers/Getty Images; Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
“We’re looking forward to the case going forward,” Bock told Fox News Digital.
“I believe that the court is going to find that Title IX operates on the basis of biological sex, without regard to an assumed or professed gender, and so just like the congress and the members of congress that passed Title IX in 1972, allowed this specifically provided for in the regulations that there had to be separate men’s and women’s teams based on biological sex, I think the court is going to see that is the original meaning of the statute and apply it in that way, and I think it’s going to be a big win in women’s sports.”
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared prepared to rule in favor of West Virginia after oral arguments on Jan. 13.
Slusser spoke on the steps of the Supreme Court on Jan. 13 while oral arguments took place inside, sharing her experience with a divided crowd of opposing protesters.
With Fleming on its roster, SJSU reached the 2024 conference final by virtue of a forfeit by Boise State in the semifinal round. SJSU lost in the final to Colorado State.
Slusser went on to develop an eating disorder due to the anxiety and trauma from the scandal and dropped out of her classes the following semester. The eating disorder became so severe, that Slusser said she lost her menstrual cycle for nine months. Her decision to drop her classes resulted in the loss of her scholarship, and her parents said they had to foot the bill out of pocket for an unfinished final semester of college.
President Donald Trump’s Department of Education determined in January that SJSU violated Title IX in its handling of the situation involving Fleming, and has given the university an ultimatum to agree to a series of resolutions or face a referral to the Department of Justice.
Among the department’s findings, it determined that a female athlete discovered that the trans student allegedly conspired to have a member of an opposing team spike her in the face during a match. ED claims that “SJSU did not investigate the conspiracy, but later subjected the female athlete to a Title IX complaint for ‘misgendering’ the male athlete in online videos and interviews.”
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SJSU trans player Blaire Fleming and teammate Brooke Slusser went to a magic show and had Thanksgiving together in Las Vegas despite an ongoing lawsuit over Fleming being transgender. (Thien-An Truong/San Jose State Athletics)
SJSU Athletic Director Jeff Konya told Fox News Digital in a July interview that he was satisfied with how the university handled the situation involving Fleming.
“I think everybody acted in the best possible way they could, given the circumstances,” Konya said.
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