Sports
'Take my story back': How Layshia Clarendon earned redemption with the Sparks
Layshia Clarendon wasn’t used to having free time in the summer. Usually around this time, they would be in the middle of the grind of a WNBA season, a grueling schedule that consisted of games, practices and treatment, which didn’t leave much room for anything else. But then in 2022, Clarendon was cut by the Minnesota Lynx.
Clarendon spent the summer at home in the Bay Area, savoring every moment of a season they hadn’t experienced in more than 10 years. Hanging out with family, being on a boat, going to music festivals and the market. For Clarendon, it was a beautiful, if rare, time.
“I was like, ‘Wow, this is what everyone does in the summer?’ This is so much fun,” said Clarendon , who identifies as non-binary. “… People are really outside.”
Yet there were also dark days.
Clarendon normally loves to follow the WNBAout of a pure love of the game and the league. But in that 2022 summer, Clarendon couldn’t watch a game.
“It was just too hard,” said Clarendon, who is 33.
It was the first time since entering the league in 2013 that Clarendon wasn’t on a team. Despite a successful 2021 season in Minnesota, Clarendon began to question if their career was over. If they could still play the game at a high enough level. For the first time, Clarendon was truly wondering if they had enough left in the tank, had enough drive and energy.
“People don’t talk about that a lot … just the volatility of this league … how much perseverance you have to have to play in this league,” said Clarendon, who begins her second season with the Sparks and 11th in the WNBA on Wednesday night in the season opener against Atlanta. “It’s really difficult emotionally and physically.”
It was ultimately Clarendon’s child, known publicly as Baby C, who helped them through depression by playing together on a Little Tikes hoop. Baby C would pass the ball, and Clarendon would shoot.
In these small moments, seeing Baby C’s joy from playing basketball, reminded Clarendon of their own passion for the game. Love for the competition. Love for everything about the game. This was their game.
“No matter what anyone does, or what any GM has to say, I play this game,” said Clarendon, who starred at Cajon High in San Bernardino before playing at California. “I get to take control of my narrative. I get to come back and make this L.A. team and take my story back.”
Sparks head coach Curt Miller was honest with Clarendon when they were invited to training camp.
“It’s going to be a competitive camp,” Clarendon recalls him saying. “But show us what you got.”
Sparks guard Layshia Clarendon is fired up during a game against the Mercury last season.
(Jeff Lewis / Associated Press)
Clarendon was fully betting on themselves. They knew they had to prove they were good enough to make the team, but they had come to realize that every year was a tryout in the WNBA. Clarendon wasn’t taking that for granted anymore.
They not only made the final roster for the Sparks, but they reminded everyone of their skills. Clarendon had arguably the best season of their career in 2023 with career highs in three-point percentage, free-throw percentage and steals. They also averaged 11.1 points, their highest since their lone All-Star season in 2017.
Clarendon also emerged as a leader for the Sparks, a theme that has reoccurred not just through their WNBA career, but really throughout life.
“I think it really just comes from who I am, and my deep love for people,” Clarendon said. “I love people, I love this game, and I want to make people better. I think that’s the best thing a point guard can be because … ultimately, it’s your job to make everyone around you better.”
A lot of people might think of a leader as the center of attention, but that’s not Clarendon. For them, being a leader is about attention to detail. It’s about making a cut on the court because they know it’ll get someone else open. It’s about sending a text to teammates who were waived. It’s about being a mentor to Aari McDonald and showing her the ropes as a young point guard. It’s about building relationships and showing up for people off the court.
She’ll help lead a team with two prized rookies in center Cameron Brink and forward Rickea Jackson, who were selected second and fourth, respectively, in the draft this summer.
“I’ve played every role in this league,” Clarendon said. “I know what it’s like when you’re a bench player, I know what it’s like when you’re a starter. I know what it’s like when you don’t play a lot of minutes and have to do cardio afterwards. I know what it’s like to be the person everyone’s looking at.”
Clarendon knows this won’t last forever, but they make the most of it by being deeply present in every moment.
“Age is coming for everybody, even Sue Bird,” Clarendon joked.
They look for the beauty in the moments between the grueling training camp practices. Things like connecting with a trainer during treatment, sharing jokes with teammates, getting hyped when they make a big shot, or talking trash in the middle of an intense scrimmage.
“Things like that make the joy and the fun between the game, really fun,” Clarendon said. “I just try and enjoy the moment.”
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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