Sports
Women golfers rejoice after LPGA bars post-puberty males from female competition: 'No more!'
Multiple women’s golfers came forward to praise and celebrate the LPGA’s rule change on Wednesday that bars post-pubescent males from competing against females in pro competition.
The organization said in a news release that male players who have gone through male puberty are barred from competing in the LPGA Tour, Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour and all other elite LPGA competitions. The new rule will go into effect for the 2025 season.
“Players assigned male at birth and who have gone through male puberty are not eligible to compete in the aforementioned events,” the organization said. “The policies governing the LPGA’s recreational programs and non-elite events utilize different criteria to provide opportunities for participation in the broader LPGA community.”
The International Women’s Forum (IWF) released a press release in which several women golfers spoke in favor of the ruling later on Wednesday. These golfers include Lauren Miller, Hannah Arnold, Dana Fall, and Amy Olson.
Miller said that she and female colleagues in pro golf have said “no more” to the issues of competing against biological males with the statement.
“This announcement from the LPGA and USGA gives me hope for the future of women’s golf,” Miller said. “The movement of female professional golfers was essential and has been heard — we’ve stood up and said, ‘No more’. By acknowledging the distinctions between men and women, golf leadership is uniting with us in their desire to champion women and girls by restoring a space that prioritizes fair competition. Today, women have won.”
Olson, meanwhile, insisted that the biological differences between men and women should be acknowledged in sports.
“This is a positive step forward, recognizing that an individual’s chromosomes affect their physical development in ways that are irreversible,” Olson said.
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Fall said that Wednesday’s announcement indicates that “women do matter” in sports.
“Today’s policy announcement is a huge win for women and girls in sports. The LPGA and USGA, the premiere bodies which dictate the rules of women’s golf, are standing up for fairness and the integrity of our sport. Today, the message sent to women is that we do matter, and they are working to return equal opportunity and protect fair sport for female athletes,” Fall said.
Still, the announcement was not meant with unanimous praise. Liberals and trans rights activists have criticized the new rule.
Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson spoke out against the new rule, as it will likely prevent Davidson from competing in the LPGA moving forward.
“Can’t say I didn’t see this coming. Banned from the Epson and LPGA,” Davidson wrote in an Instagram Stories post. “All the silence and people wanting to stay ‘neutral’ thanks for absolutely nothing. This happened because of all your silence.
“And somehow people are surprised the suicide rate for transgender people is around 50%. Situations just like this are part of the reason.”
A female golfer who competed against Davidson, Olivia Schmidt, made a plea to the LPGA to ban trans athletes like Davidson during an appearance at the Independent Women’s Forum in November.
“The bottom line is we can fight this all we want, but the true change comes from the LPGA. They are the only ones with the power to stop it. It’s up to them to protect us,” she said.
“I want my kids one day to chase their dreams and not have these distractions in their way. I’m just praying that [the policy] gets changed, and I’m praying that we can find a way to kind of find some common ground in that and hopefully for the next generation of golfers.”
Now, the LPGA has fulfilled that wish for all of its female competitors and fans.
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Sports
Server Error – The New York Times
Sports
White Sox great 'Beltin'' Bill Melton dead at 79
The Chicago White Sox announced that “Beltin’” Bill Metlon, their former All-Star third baseman, died after a brief illness at 79 years old.
“Bill Melton, who played 10 seasons in the major leagues, including eight with the White Sox, and served as a popular pre and postgame analyst for White Sox telecasts for over two decades, passed away early this morning in Phoenix after a brief illness,” the team’s statement read.
Melton was known for his powerful bat, crushing 33 homers in back-to-back seasons in 1970 and 1971, the latter of which he secured his lone All-Star bid.
Melton would hit 154 home runs for Chicago from 1968-75, which was a record for the organization until Harold Baines, the Hall of Fame outfielder, broke it in 1987.
“Bill Melton enjoyed two tremendous careers with the White Sox,” team chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement. “His first came as a celebrated home run king for White Sox teams in the early 1970s, where ‘Beltin Bill’ brought power to a franchise that played its home games in a pitcher-friendly ballpark.
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“Bill’s second career came as a well-liked and respected pre- and postgame television analyst, where on a nightly basis Sox fans saw his passion for the team, win or lose. Bill was a friend to many at the White Sox and around baseball, and his booming voice will be missed.”
After playing a season with the Los Angeles Angels and the Cleveland Guardians, Melton retired following the 1997 campaign. He finished his career hitting .253/.337/.419 with 160 homers, 591 RBI and 1,004 hits.
But, as Reinsdorf mentions, Melton’s second career in baseball was a flourishing one as well.
He became a White Sox analyst for WGN in 1998 and would later join Comcast SportsNet Chicago in 2005. He would serve as an analyst for the White Sox from then until 2020, when he retired.
In between his retirement from playing and broadcasting, Melton was also known as a part-time scout and team ambassador for the White Sox, most notably being a hitting instructor for NBA great Michael Jordan in 1993 when he played in the team’s minor leagues.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Sports
UCLA to hire Indiana's Tino Sunseri, replacing offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy
Eric Bieniemy received a hero’s welcome upon his arrival in March, co-workers lining the hallway inside UCLA’s practice facility to serenade him with applause.
The new offensive coordinator removed one of his Super Bowl rings so that DeShaun Foster, his new boss, could inspect it.
“It’s time,” Bienemy said that day, referring to his plans to do big things. “It’s time.”
Nine months later, after a season in which the Bruins’ offense ranked as one of the worst in the nation and several top players regressed from their previous form, Bieniemy’s boss decided it was time to move on.
In a development that showed both an admission of making the wrong hire and a willingness to quickly pivot, Foster severed ties with Bieniemy on Thursday after their one season together produced across-the-board struggles on offense.
Foster secured an intriguing replacement, agreeing to hire Indiana quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri after the end of the Hoosiers’ season, according to one person close to the situation not authorized to publicly divulge the information because the move has not been made official.
Sunseri, who will turn 36 later this month, was one of the architects of an Indiana offense that’s been among the best in the country, averaging 43.3 points per game while vaulting the Hoosiers toward an expected appearance in the College Football Playoff.
UCLA averaged less than half that figure under Bieniemy. The Bruins ranked No. 117 in the country in total offense (328.8 yards per game), No. 126 in scoring offense (18.4 points per game) and No. 130 in rushing offense (86.6 yards per game). The Bruins’ inability to run the ball was especially maddening given that both Foster and Bieniemy had success as running backs in the NFL.
Several top players entered the transfer portal after the team’s final game last weekend, including quarterback Justyn Martin, running back TJ Harden and slot receiver Logan Loya. The Bruins also lost high school recruits Madden Iamaleava and Jace Brown on Wednesday when they signed with Arkansas amid rumors of Bieniemy’s dismissal.
Bieniemy’s agent, Jason Fletcher, labeled Bieniemy’s departure as a mutual parting of the ways in a statement, saying the former offensive coordinator with the Washington Commanders was still being paid by the NFL team and was assisting Foster for one season before making a planned return to the NFL in 2025.
But that statement doesn’t jibe with the terms of a two-year contract that included a $550,000 in retention bonuses if Bieniemy remained on the job through the end of July. It also doesn’t hold up given that Bieniemy recruited for the Bruins and did not have a new job to announce at the time of his departure Bieniemy was set to receive a $180,000 hiring bonus on Saturday.
After flaming out in his one season with the Commanders, Bieniemy, 55, was bombastic in his return to UCLA after having previously served as the running backs coach under Karl Dorrell. He routinely unleashed a flurry of expletives and biting one-liners that carried across the practice field. Players said Bieniemy’s plays were wordy and hard to learn, and the results reflected those struggles.
Veteran quarterback Ethan Garbers and Harden both failed to replicate their production from the previous year under coach Chip Kelly, who also ran the team’s offense.
Bieniemy was also pivotal in the hiring of offensive line coach Juan Castillo after they had worked together with the Commanders. UCLA’s offensive line was one of the team’s most underperforming position groups last season, allowing 34 sacks and failing to open enough holes for the running backs.
Bieniemy’s UCLA offense never remotely resembled the ones he helped construct with the Kansas City Chiefs while winning Super Bowls in 2020 and 2023.
Foster is expected to make other changes to his staff, including the addition of Demetrice Martin to help coach the secondary. His biggest move may be bidding farewell to the offensive coordinator who didn’t live up to the hype.
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