Sports
Trust, trash-talk and 'out of control' egos: Inside Toronto's 'Puzzlepalooza'
HOUSTON — An issue of trust threatens to tear a small portion of the Toronto Raptors asunder. Accusations are flying. A neutral tribunal might be necessary.
“I know I would be the first person that she would screw over,” Raptors centre Jakob Poeltl said late last week.
“All my trust went out the window,” he added. “I’m fully calling this tournament rigged — officially in the media.”
“The losers of the group, I think, is who it’s coming from,” said Raptors physiotherapist Amanda Joaquim.
“The egos are out of control. The complaining — holy. The rules are the rules. What am I supposed to do? I just have to enforce the rules. There’s no leeway to these rules. But now people want to change the rules. They want to add rules. I told them, if they want to do that, they have got to run their own Puzzlepalooza.”
The Puzzlepalooza has become a topic of contention for the Raptors, or at least the seven staffers and one player, the 7-foot Austrian, Poeltl, who went public with his match-fixing allegations.
Joaquim is the commissioner of the Raptors’ New York Times puzzle tournament, which is poised to wrap up later this week. The group has competed in three separate mini-tournaments so far — one for Wordle, one for Connections and one for the Mini Crossword. (All three games are owned by the Times, which also owns The Athletic.)
The tournaments are single-elimination, with matchups determined by random draw. Winners and losers brackets follow to determine placement. The winner of each tournament gets eight points, the last-place finisher gets one, with corresponding rewards for results in between. Each tournament takes three days, with a few days of “load management” in between. (When Joaquim was told the term is now frowned upon by the league, she called them “mind rest days.”)
Raptors puzzle tournament tiebreakers
| Game | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|
|
Wordle |
Most correct squares in earlier guesses |
|
Connections |
Completed in most difficult order |
|
Mini Crossword |
Time |
|
Ultimate tiebreaker |
Rock, paper, scissors — obviously |
There are also some, errr, personal touches in the scoring system.
“There are random bonus awards that are given out based mainly on how I feel,” Joaquim said. “There are some that have (actual merit).”
One of the current bonuses is for whoever can beat the crossword score of Jennifer Quinn, the team’s director of communications.
“Even if they’re not competing against her — bonus two points,” Joaquim said. “She’s the queen of crosswords.”
Yes, perhaps some codification of the rules is in order.
The idea took shape at the start of this season, when a “group of nerds,” as Joaquim put it, began sharing their scores in various games in a WhatsApp group. Poeltl’s and Quinn’s competitors come from a wide range of departments within the Raptors: Social impact manager Katherine Allen, Wayne and Theresa Embry fellow Gregory Ho, nutritionist Jennifer Sygo, massage therapist Melissa Doldron, technology lead Brandon Moita and player service and advancement specialist Rae-Marie Rostant. Garrett Temple has entered the chat, sharing his scores, but joined too late for tournament play.
Sygo won both the Wordle and Connections tournaments, with Quinn winning the Mini Crossword competition. They were tied for first, heading into what Joaquim has coined “the grand championship.”
“The rules haven’t been released yet,” Joaquim said last week.
It’s hard to see why there are trust issues here.
Joaquim eventually decided on having a final eight-person tournament as the grand championship, with single-elimination games in which the contestants compete in all three games on the same day. The matchups were determined by seeding from the first three rounds, with an awards banquet to come next week. Poeltl drew Quinn in the first round again. Quinn won the Mini Crossword, but Poeltl won Wordle, getting to “repel” quicker than his competitor. Neither got a line correct in a particularly tough edition of Connections, leading to a rock, paper, scissors tiebreaker. The match was live-streamed to the group, with Poeltl winning and advancing to the semifinals of the championship round.
Reports indicate Poeltl was “a gracious winner,” perhaps a bit of a surprise. Poeltl has been completely above reproach during the tournament. One source said that Poeltl manipulated his time during the Mini Crossword tournament — presumably for his own amusement — before coming clean.
“As far as trash talk goes, I think there are a couple of dark horses. I count myself up there with the trash-talking crew,” Poeltl said. “I know Amanda’s also high in the trash-talking crew.”
Poeltl has been interested in various puzzles all of his life. (Coincidentally, the NBA player guessing game launched after Wordle gained popularity in late 2021 is named “Poeltl,” for rhyming reasons. Poeltl said he has become involved in that game on an official level, with an announcement to come about further developments.)
As with many people worldwide, Poeltl started playing Wordle soon after its release and began playing some of its copy-cats, including Pokedle, based on Pokemon characters, soon after. Game fatigue hit, but he resumed playing once talk of scores took over the training room. He said he plays six or seven of the games regularly, although he is coming at this with a disadvantage — German is his first language.
“It’s just different kinds of problem-solving,” Poeltl said. “You need a specific type of knowledge to be good at them as well. But at the end of the day, what I really enjoy and what I think I’m good at is trying to find the best way to solve whatever problem’s ahead of me. I might not know all the words because (English is my) second language. For Connections, sometimes if there’s a word in there that I just don’t know, then I’m pretty much just done for. At least I can try to make sense of it the best I can, try to work with process of elimination, for example. I think that kind of stuff is really helping me also, just working with the brain.”
Poeltl said Connections is currently his favourite game because it encourages the most creative thinking and reasoning.
“Jak doesn’t just participate, but he was able to reverse engineer what everybody’s Wordle word guesses,” Joaquim said. “He spends a lot of time. He was able to work out our whole four guesses. He was able to figure it out. He is a master at planning and he was able to get two back-to-back perfect Connections games by spending hours upon hours upon hours working out these puzzles.”
Heading into the season, head coach Darko Rajaković said Poeltl was well-suited to running the offence from the elbows, picking out cutters and shooters based on how opposing defences react. Since then, the Raptors roster has changed dramatically, with his assist numbers right around where they were in his final San Antonio years.
Still, the Raptors will continue to use him at times in that role, and Poeltl sees a connection — sorry — between his hobby and profession.
“I think they are very similar concepts,” Poeltl said. “It’s a completely different field, but it’s similar concepts. It’s understanding what’s in front of you and trying to attack it the most effective way.”
Another overlap: Complaining to, and about, the officials.
“I don’t want to put myself out there and open myself up to a lawsuit or something like that (by being specific about complaints about Joaquim),” Poeltl said. “But something’s going on, I can tell you that much.”
These allegations are why Joaquim has stayed out of competing in the tournament. She did not want a conflict of interest to emerge.
“That would be grossly unfair,” Joaquim said. “I would be awarding myself (points). I do send my scores for bragging rights and to show that I would be the supreme champion (if I were) participating.”
(Illustration: Eamonn Dalton for The Athletic; Photos: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
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Dallas Cowboys star CeeDee Lamb opened up about why he and teammate George Pickens were benched for the first drive of the team’s blowout win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Lamb explained that he and Pickens were out late at a Las Vegas casino and were disciplined for returning past curfew. The wide receiver also said he wanted to refute reports on social media that he was seen throwing up at the casino the morning before the game.
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, left, celebrates his touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders with Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) during the first half of an NFL football game Monday, Nov. 17, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)
“That’s a disrespect to even suggest that,” Lamb said, via The Dallas Morning News. “I know how to hold my liquor.”
Regardless of the benching, Lamb and Pickens had themselves a dynamite game.
Pickens had nine catches for 144 yards and a 37-yard touchdown catch. Lamb had five catches for 66 yards and a touchdown. Their touchdowns helped contribute to Dak Prescott’s incredible game as he was 25-of-33 with 268 passing yards and four touchdown passes.
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Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Ryan Flournoy, left, celebrates his touchdown catch against the Las Vegas Raiders with Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb during the second half of an NFL football game Monday, Nov. 17, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)
Pickens, who was acquired by the Cowboys in the offseason from the Pittsburgh Steelers, has had a terrific year in Dallas. He has 58 catches for 908 yards and seven touchdowns, as he’s pacing for his best season yet as a pro.
Lamb missed a couple of games with an injury. He has 40 catches for 557 yards and two touchdown catches.
George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb of the Dallas Cowboys celebrate a touchdown during the second quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium on Nov. 17, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ian Maule/Getty Images)
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The Cowboys, despite their stunning trade of Micah Parsons, are still hanging around playoff contention and have a big game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Dallas will enter the game 4-5-1 and Philadelphia will be at 8-2.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Sports
Committee organizing L.A. Olympic Games adds former House speaker McCarthy, other GOP leaders, to the board
LA28, the committee behind the upcoming Olympic Games, has quietly added high-profile Republicans with deep ties to President Trump to its board of directors.
The 35-member volunteer board now includes former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Bakersfield Republican who resigned in 2023, and Reince Priebus, who served as Trump’s chief of staff for the first six months of his first term and, before that, as chair of the Republican National Committee.
Diane Hendricks, a major GOP donor who has given millions to Trump’s campaigns, and Patrick Dumont, who owns the Dallas Mavericks, also joined the board. Ken Moelis, an investment banker who worked with Trump in the 1990s and predicted the then businessman would win the presidency in 2016, is also on the roster.
The Trump-adjacent inflow to the board of directors, first reported by Politico, is the latest sign of the president’s possible involvement in the Summer Games.
It is not clear why the directors expanded the board or the criteria used in the selection process. A spokesperson for LA28 did not immediately respond to questions.
Kevin McCarthy
(Associated Press)
Not all of the new board members are tied to the president. Los Angeles business consultant Denita Willoughby and philanthropist Maria Hummer-Tuttle were also named to LA28.
“We are thrilled to welcome this accomplished group to the LA28 Board who will help create an unforgettable Games for athletes and fans alike,” Casey Wasserman, chair of the 2028 L.A. Olympics organizing committee, said in a prepared statement.
Wasserman could not immediately be reached for comment.
Although past presidents have taken a largely ceremonial role when the Olympics are held on U.S. soil, there are signs that Trump is seeking more involvement. The 2028 Games coincide with his final year in office.
In August, he signed an executive order naming himself chair of a White House task force on the Games. The president views the event as “a premier opportunity to showcase American exceptionalism,” according to a White House statement.
Trump at the time noted that he’d be willing to send the military to Los Angeles to protect the Games. In June, he sent the National Guard and U.S. Marines to the city amid escalating immigration enforcement actions, prompting pushback from Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Wasserman attended the executive order signing at the White House and thanked Trump for “leaning in” to planning for the Olympics.
“You’ve been supportive and helpful every step of the way,” Wasserman told the president at the time. “With the creation of this task force, we’ve unlocked the opportunity to level up our planning and deliver the largest and, yes, greatest Games for our nation, ever.”
Sports
MLB commissioner addresses sport’s illegal gambling scandal, will cooperate with Congress on investigation
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Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Wednesday the league will cooperate with a U.S. Senate committee’s request for documents detailing gambling investigations.
“We’re going to respond fully and cooperatively and on time to the Senate inquiry,” Manfred said during a news conference at an owners meeting.
The sport has been rocked by a scandal involving Cleveland Guardians players Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, who are accused of aiding gamblers by taking bribes to rig pitches.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during the first round of the MLB Draft July, 13, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee sent a letter Monday to Manfred asking for information by Dec. 5.
The committee is asking for responses to six questions by that date:
- “How and when was MLB made aware of suspicious betting and game manipulation activity by Emmanuel Clase or Luis Ortiz? Provide documents sufficient to support your response?”
- “Provide documents sufficient to show MLB’s policies and procedures relating to sports betting, gambling, or game rigging by MLB or an affiliated team’s players, coaches, employees, or owners.”
- “List any investigation into an MLB or affiliate team’s players, coaches, employees, or owners for violating MLB rules relating to sports betting, gambling, or game rigging or related criminal conduct between January 1, 2020, and the present.”
- “Provide all documents related to any investigation listed in response to Request 3, including: Procedures and policies used to conduct any relevant investigation; Documents received by third parties or otherwise collected by MLB during any relevant investigation; and Findings, conclusions, and actions taken as a result of any relevant investigation.”
- Procedures and policies used to conduct any relevant investigation;
- Documents received by third parties or otherwise collected by MLB during any relevant investigation; and
- Findings, conclusions, and actions taken as a result of any relevant investigation.”
- “Provide communications between MLB and any sports betting platform or sports gambling integrity monitor regarding suspicious or flagged sports wagers: Placed by MLB’s or an affiliated team’s players, coaches, employees, or owners; or Placed on MLB games or propositions related to MLB games, players, or teams.”
- Placed by MLB’s or an affiliated team’s players, coaches, employees, or owners; or
- Placed on MLB games or propositions related to MLB games, players, or teams.”
- “Explain the extent to which MLB has addressed and plans to further address the alleged instances of sports betting, gambling, and game rigging that have occurred including: How, if at all, MLB plans to revise its rules, policies, procedures, or enforcement structure; How, if at all, MLB plans to revise or enforce its rules relating to cellphone use during games; and How MLB plans to ensure players, employees, coaches, and owners do not have ties to organized crime.”
- How, if at all, MLB plans to revise its rules, policies, procedures, or enforcement structure;
- How, if at all, MLB plans to revise or enforce its rules relating to cellphone use during games; and
- How MLB plans to ensure players, employees, coaches, and owners do not have ties to organized crime.”
Two days after the indictments were unsealed on Nov. 9, MLB said its authorized gaming operators will cap bets on individual pitches at $200 and exclude them from parlays.
“We think the steps we’ve taken in terms of limiting the size of these prop bets and prohibiting parlays off them is a really, really significant change that should reduce the incentive for anyone to be involved in an inappropriate way,” Manfred said.
MLB CRACKS DOWN WITH NEW BETTING LIMIT AFTER CLEVELAND PITCHERS CHARGED IN GAMBLING SCHEME
Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee sent a letter Monday to Manfred asking for information by Dec. 5. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Manfred said MLB’s internal investigation into the Cleveland pitchers didn’t have a timetable. Ortiz was placed on paid leave July 3 and Clase was placed on leave July 28.
“We think that we should take advantage of the offseason to make sure that we conduct the most thorough and complete investigation possible,” he said.
Both Ortiz and Clase have pleaded not guilty.
Clase and Ortiz were arrested and appeared in federal court in New York last week. Clase, a three-time All-Star, pleaded not guilty to charges that he took bribes to help gamblers win money on his pitches. Ortiz also pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Officials said in the indictment that, from May 2023 to June 2025, Clase agreed with one co-conspirator to “throw specific pitches in certain MLB games” so that the bettors they were allegedly partnered with “would profit from illegal wagers made based on that inside information.” Ortiz allegedly joined the scheme in June 2025.
The indictment said Clase conferred with one bettor to throw a ball on the first pitch of an at-bat when he was brought into games in relief. The indictment pointed to instances in specific games, including May 19, 2023, vs. the New York Mets; June 2, 2023, vs. the Minnesota Twins; and June 7, 2023, vs. the Boston Red Sox.
Clase allegedly began to request and receive bribes and kickback payments for agreeing to throw the specific pitches in April, according to the indictment. In one instance, the indictment said, Clase used his phone in the middle of a game to coordinate with a bettor on a pitch he would throw.
Bettors allegedly won $400,000 from betting platforms on pitches thrown by Clase between 2023 and 2025.
When Ortiz allegedly joined the scheme, the indictment said, he agreed to throw balls over strikes on certain pitches in exchange for bribes or kickbacks. He allegedly agreed to throw a ball on June 15 against the Seattle Mariners for around $5,000 in his first pitch in the second inning.
The indictment said Ortiz agreed to throw a ball in his first pitch of the third inning on June 27 against the St. Louis Cardinals for $7,000. In June 2025, bettors won at least $60,000 on pitches thrown by Ortiz.
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Cleveland Guardians pitchers Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase’s leave was extended indefinitely Aug. 31, 2025. (IMAGN/AP)
The indictment announcement came weeks after three NBA figures were swept up in an FBI operation involving alleged illegal gambling. Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones were among the more than two dozen arrested in the alleged scheme.
Fox News Digital’s Ryan Gaydos and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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