Minneapolis — They all had a motive to return. Every one of them.

Simone Biles must move past those agonizing two weeks in Japan three years ago, when the gymnastics sensation chose her mental health and safety over glory, inspiring some but infuriating others.

Suni Lee wanted to prove — maybe most importantly to herself — that the all-around gold medal she won while Biles watched from the stands was not a fluke.

Jordan Chiles hopes to turn the team silver she helped secure at the 2020 Games into gold.

Simone Biles Headlines A U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team Eyeing Redemption At The Paris Olympics

Jade Carey will be an official member of the five-woman Olympic squad after qualifying as an individual qualifier, a route not open to the United States this time and one she has no desire to pursue again.

They’re all reclaiming the one-of-a-kind spotlight that only the sport’s largest stage can deliver, including 16-year-old newbie Hezly Rivera.

Their reasons are quite personal. However, their motivation is not clear.

“This is definitely our redemption tour,” Biles said after winning the U.S. trials on Sunday night, securing her third Olympic appearance. “I feel like we all have more to give.”

Perhaps no one more than Biles, who, at 27, is the oldest American woman to make an Olympic gymnastics squad since 1950. She never expected to be doing this nearly a decade after becoming a crossover sensation in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

So here she is—still working, still pushing—not to silence the detractors who continue to bombard her social media mentions, asking if she will “quit” again, but because she is motivated to get the most out of her extraordinary skills.

“Nobody’s forcing me to do it,” said Biles, who won the all-around with a two-day total of 117.225, about six points more than Lee. “Every day, I get up and decide to work hard in the gym and perform for myself. I just wanted to assure myself that I could still do it.”

And do it at a level that no one else in her sport—or, when she’s at her peak, sports in general—can match.

A trip to France has never been in doubt since Biles returned from a two-year absence last summer. All she’s done in the previous 12 months is win her sixth global all-around title and her eighth and ninth national titles — both records — despite performing the most difficult gymnastics of her career.

She will be a prohibitive favorite when she goes onto the Bercy Arena floor, but there is still much work to be done before women’s qualifying on July 28. However, some items need to be cleaned up during the following four weeks.

Biles backpedaled after landing her Yurchenko double pike vault, demonstrating both the difficulty of the vault and the incredible power she creates while performing a move that few male gymnasts attempt and even fewer accomplish as cleanly.

She leaped off the beam after failing to land her side aerial, but she wasn’t as furious as she had been on Friday when she uttered an expletive in front of the entire globe.

Biles finished with a flourish in the floor exercise, her signature event. Though there was a little trip out of bounds, there was also unrivaled world-class tumbling, which just earned a shoutout from pop artist Taylor Swift, whose song “Ready For It” opens Biles’ routine.

She stepped down the podium to a standing ovation before sitting atop the steps to take in the occasion in what could be her final competitive round on American soil for quite some time. Perhaps ever.

Biles avoided questions about what lies ahead. That can wait. It’s been a long, winding trek back to this point. She intends to enjoy it while being part of a team with “a lot of weight on our shoulders.”

She believes she and her teammates are better prepared to manage it.

“It’s really nice that Tokyo gave us that opportunity to open up that stage for that talk,” Biles informed the crowd. “And so I think now athletes are a little bit more in tune and we just trust what our gut is saying.”

And Biles’ instincts told her that if she wanted to return, she had to do so on her terms. That entailed taking deliberate steps to ensure her life was no longer defined by her gymnastics.

She married Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens in the spring of 2023, and the couple is building a house in the northern Houston suburbs that they want to move into soon after Biles returns from Paris.

Biles travels to France as maybe the face of the United States Olympic movement, but she is well aware that more than a few of the millions who will tune in next month will be watching to see if the demons that wrecked her in Tokyo resurface.

Simone Biles Headlines A U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team Eyeing Redemption At The Paris Olympics

While she still experiences periods of fear, such as at last year’s world championships, she has taken precautions to protect herself. She sees a therapist weekly, even during competition season, something she did not do in preparation for the 2020 Games.

The Americans will send their oldest women’s team to the Games, thanks to Biles’ unrivaled longevity—she hasn’t lost a meet she’s started and finished since 2013—and the NCAA’s relaxation of name, image, and likeness rules, which allowed Carey (24), Chiles (23) and Lee (21) to continue competing while cashing in on their newfound fame.

They have relied on that experience over a sometimes tumultuous race, which saw leading competitors Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely, and Kayla DiCello withdraw with leg problems. Their problems kept them out of the running for weeks before they could realize a lifelong dream.

Watching good friends leave the arena in tears reminded me of how narrow the gap between success and failure can be. Biles has remained on the right side of that divide for longer than she imagined. She’ll attempt to enjoy it despite the pressure.

She might have gone ahead of herself in 2021. She is determined to prevent this from happening again.

“I feel like success is just what I make it,” she told me. I’ve been successful by competing in Olympic trials and reaching the Paris Olympic team. So we’ll see what happens from there.

SOURCE – (AP)

On Thursday, a jury sentenced the NFL to pay more than $4.7 billion for antitrust violations related to its “Sunday Ticket” package. This package allows fans to watch games outside of their local areas but requires them to purchase access to a bundle of games to do so.

Because the case concerns antitrust, the verdict may be quadrupled if upheld, leaving the NFL liable for $14.1 billion in damages. However, the league, America’s most popular source of television content, has already promised to appeal.

NFL Hit With Jury Verdict In ‘Sunday Ticket’ Antitrust Trial That Could Reach $14.1 Billion

The verdict is so big that if it is upheld on appeal, it will deal a financial blow to America’s richest, most popular, and most profitable sport. According to estimates, the NFL’s annual revenue exceeded $18 billion last year, and Commissioner Roger Goodell has set a $25 billion revenue target for 2027. Rights fees are the primary source of revenue for professional sports teams, but this ruling can shake up those agreements and others across the industry, altering how teams generate money.

The case, filed in 2015, centered on the NFL’s package of games played outside of a local market that are not broadcast nationally on other networks. Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the class action suit said that by limiting broadcasts of such “out-of-market” games to the “Sunday Ticket” package, the NFL is forcing fans who only want to watch one or a few teams to pay more.

“Given the relatively low cost of internet streaming and satellite and cable television carriage, each team acting independently would offer their games at a competitive price to anybody in the country who wanted to watch that particular team,” the lawyers representing the plaintiffs said in a motion. “Instead, however, the teams have all forgone this option in favor of creating a more lucrative monopoly.”

NFL Hit With Jury Verdict In ‘Sunday Ticket’ Antitrust Trial That Could Reach $14.1 Billion

Bill Carmody, the case’s lead attorney, told CNN that the Los Angeles jury had been out for less than two hours.

“Justice was done, and it was a great day for consumers everywhere,” added the politician. “It was a real decisive win.”

During arguments, the plaintiffs contended that supporters of certain clubs should be able to purchase packages containing only the games they want to watch rather than the full league’s worth of out-of-market games. However, the jury did not rule on whether that would happen now. It merely determined the amount of damages.

“I don’t know, but I sure hope so,” Carmody remarked when asked if individual game or team packages would suddenly be available. “That question is something the court is going to deal with separately.”

The NFL has contended that it offers the best value to its fans by allowing them to watch a wide range of games for free on broadcast networks and other games for free if they have cable, satellite, or streaming services.

NFL Hit With Jury Verdict In ‘Sunday Ticket’ Antitrust Trial That Could Reach $14.1 Billion

“We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,” the NFL stated Thursday. “We believe our media distribution strategy is the most fan-friendly in sports and entertainment, with all NFL games broadcast on free over-the-air TV in participating teams’ markets and national distribution of our most popular games.” We will likely challenge this decision because we feel the class action allegations in this case are unfounded and without merit.”

The argument focused on the package as supplied by DirecTV, which had held the exclusive Sunday Ticket package until it was lost to Google-owned YouTube TV at the start of last season, at a cost of $2 billion per year, according to the Wall Street Journal. YouTube charges fans $449 per year for the package.

SOURCE – (CNN)

El Segundo, California – Three days after LeBron James’ podcast partner was named head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, the organization drafted Bronny, James’ oldest kid.

Unless they rename the organization after him next, it’s hard to think of anything else the Lakers could do to ensure the greatest scorer in NBA history stays with them for the remainder of his unrivaled career.

Well, sort of finally securing a third superstar for James after years of effort.

The Lakers Have Hired Redick And Drafted Bronny. They Clearly Hope To Lock Down LeBron For Good Next

Although James’ future remains uncertain until he publicly selects where he will play next season, the Lakers selection of his 19-year-old son in the second round of the NBA Thursday appears to make it extremely improbable that LeBron will be anywhere other than Los Angeles in the fall.

“The biggest moments in sports happen with the Lakers,” remarked general manager Rob Pelinka. “That’s how we’re built, and we’re excited to see this story unfold.”

LeBron and Bronny — that is, LeBron James Jr. — would be the first father and son to play in the NBA simultaneously, let alone on the same team. If LeBron Sr. exercises his $51.4 million player option for next season this week, he can accompany his kid to work in the fall.

Pelinka was careful not to get ahead of himself while bragging about Bronny’s potential, but the general manager recognized that a father-son coupling in purple and gold was “something that could be magical.”

“We know and have to respect, of course, that LeBron has a decision about his opt-out,” Pelinka told the audience. “I’m sure he, his family, and his agent will discuss what they’re going to do there, and he has the flexibility to do whatever is best for him and his family. But if he joins our club next season, NBA history might be created, and it should be made in a Lakers uniform.”

With their two significant signings this week, the Lakers have made it plain that they intend to keep James as their centerpiece and leader for his record-tying 22nd NBA season this fall and beyond.

Los Angeles’ new coach is JJ Redick, who co-hosted the “Mind the Game” podcast with James this year. Redick is a 15-year NBA veteran who has never coached an adult basketball game, but the Lakers promptly hired the broadcaster after Dan Hurley declined—and Pelinka acknowledged that Redick’s compatibility with James was positive.

The Lakers Have Hired Redick And Drafted Bronny. They Clearly Hope To Lock Down LeBron For Good Next

Bronny, the Lakers’ 55th overall pick, had unimpressive stats in his single year of college at Southern California. Bronny James is talented, but the same athlete with a different name would have had a lower chance of being selected.

Bronny James was thoroughly scouted by Pelinka and the Lakers, and he performed admirably at the pre-draft camp and in a workout at the Lakers’ training complex, which was followed by a meeting with him. Pelinka claimed he never asked Bronny what he thought about the potential strain of playing alongside his father, which even LeBron admitted Bronny was not willing to do.

“We really kept the draft process to Bronny being a Laker, and what we felt like we needed to do to help him become great,” Pelinka informed the crowd. “We didn’t talk a lot about that, just because (we) wanted to respect his dad’s decision as a free agent, so that wasn’t really something that came up.”

Depending on how James decides to proceed, his decision feels increasingly formal. The 20-time All-Star and four-time NBA champion has expressed his desire to play a season with his kid numerous times throughout the years, and the fantasy is now just a signature away from becoming reality.

James might exercise his option for 2024-25 or negotiate a new agreement for considerably more money. He could sign a three-year, $162 million contract that would give him the longest career in NBA history if he played it out.

Either option would likely be acceptable to Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, who demonstrated a similar fierce dedication to Kobe Bryant when she pushed for a $48.5 million extension for the final two seasons of his career despite his mounting injury problems.

Bronny is unlikely to help the Lakers win right now, but their option with the 17th overall pick might: Dalton Knecht, the high-scoring Tennessee wing who was named SEC Player of the Year, appears to be one of the draft’s most pro-ready players, and not just because he is already 23 years old.

“In my mind, I thought there’s no way a player that skilled would be available to us (at No. 17),” Pelinka disclosed.

The Lakers Have Hired Redick And Drafted Bronny. They Clearly Hope To Lock Down LeBron For Good Next

Pelinka has repeatedly tried to keep fans’ expectations low for a major player addition to a team that lost to Denver in the first round of the playoffs, instead focusing on incremental improvements to the core around James and Anthony Davis, as well as a potential bench upgrade from Redick’s innovative basketball mind.

“We’ve explored every upgrade we could to make our team better,” Pelinka told the crowd. “Trades in general have become more difficult as a result of the new CBA system, and there is less opportunity to make such major moves than there was under the previous system. But that didn’t stop us from looking into everything and finding methods to improve ourselves.”

SOURCE – (AP)