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Jets lock down Pionk with 6-year, $42M extension
The Winnipeg Jets have locked down defenseman Neal Pionk for the long term, signing him to a six-year, $42 million contract extension Thursday.
Pionk, 29, was a pending unrestricted free agent who was projected to be a hot commodity on the open market. A coveted right-shot defender with excellent puck-moving abilities, Pionk has enjoyed a comeback season with 10 goals and 39 points in 69 games in a top-four role for the Jets. It was just the second time in Pionk's career that he has reached double-digit goals, and he was one of 12 Jets skaters to do it this season.
Winnipeg has had him lined up primarily with Dylan Samberg on the team's second pairing, where Pionk averages over 22 minutes time on ice per game.
The Jets are currently having the best season in franchise history. They earned the Presidents' Trophy with 116 points. Winnipeg did that, in part, by being the NHL's stingiest team defensively, with Pionk & Co. leading the way in front of Connor Hellebuyck as the Jets allowed the fewest goals per game in the league (2.32).
Winnipeg will open its postseason Saturday at home against St. Louis.
Rodgers still unsure on future, rips Jets for exit
Future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers said Thursday on "The Pat McAfee Show" that he is not ready to make a decision on his plans for the 2025 season and allowed that retirement could still be a possibility.
Rodgers confirmed he has had talks with the New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers since his release by the New York Jets last month. The Giants have since signed quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston and the Vikings have said they are committed to giving J.J. McCarthy a chance to show he can be their starting quarterback.
The Steelers are the only one of those teams with a still-unsettled quarterback situation after only signing Mason Rudolph in free agency. Rodgers said he is still in contact with the Steelers but said he hasn't given them any indication he has a timeline for a decision.
Rodgers said right now, his sole focus is on his personal life. He said he is in a serious relationship and two people close to him are dealing with serious situations. He said next week's NFL draft will have no impact on his plans.
The Jets released Rodgers on March 12, two days after agreeing to a contract with former Steeler Justin Fields as they moved in a different direction at quarterback under the new regime of coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey.
The Jets had earlier announced they were moving on from Rodgers after meeting with him in February. Rodgers had flown from California to meet with the Jets' new brass and said Thursday he was "shocked" he was quickly told they were moving in a new direction and confused because he felt they could have delivered that message in a phone call. He said, however, that the ending "didn't damper" his feelings about his two years with the franchise.
Rodgers' two-year tenure with the Jets produced little on-field success, however. He won only six of his 18 starts, and the Jets sputtered to a 5-12 record in 2024. Coach Robert Saleh and GM Joe Douglas, who were instrumental in luring Rodgers to the Jets in 2023, were fired during the season.
Rodgers, 41, threw for 3,897 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2024, both third on the Jets' single-season list, but it was an uneven performance. He finished 25th in Total QBR, 30th in completion percentage and 28th in yards per attempt among qualified passers. The Jets finished 3-7 in one-score games, with Rodgers failing in a few of them to pull out wins on his final possession.
The Jets' trade with the Green Bay Packers for Rodgers in April 2023 will be remembered as one of the most disappointing moves in franchise history. His first season ended quickly, as he tore his left Achilles on the fourth snap of the first game. He started every game in 2024, but the Jets, who began the year with Super Bowl aspirations, were a nonfactor most of the season.
The four-time MVP endeared himself to the Jets' organization in 2023, when he took a voluntary $35 million pay cut to help provide cap relief. His teammates voted him the most inspirational player in 2023, when he tried to return from Achilles surgery late in the season. Ultimately, his comeback bid came up short.
Before joining the Jets, Rodgers led the Packers to 11 playoff appearances and one Super Bowl championship in 15 years as the starting quarterback.
He is the Packers' franchise leader in touchdown passes (475), completion percentage (65.3) and passer rating (103.6) and ranks second behind only Brett Favre in passing yards (59,055) and completions (5,001).
Last season, Rodgers became just the fifth player in NFL history to throw 500 touchdown passes, achieving the feat in the final game of the regular season. He threw four touchdown passes in all in the game, putting him at 503 for his career. Tom Brady (649), Drew Brees (571), Peyton Manning (539) and Favre (508) are the other members of the 500 club.
Rodgers has only thrown 116 interceptions in his 20-year career and has passed for 62,952 yards, seventh all-time.
ESPN's Rich Cimini contributed to this report.
The Sacramento Kings are finalizing a deal to hire longtime NBA executive Scott Perry as their new general manager, sources told ESPN.
Perry, who started his executive career in 2000 with the Detroit Pistons, spent three months with the Kings in 2017 before leaving for the New York Knicks.
Perry will replace Monte McNair, who is out as Kings GM after the sides mutually agreed to his departure following Wednesday night's season-ending loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the play-in tournament.
Perry also has worked in front office roles with the Orlando Magic and the then-Seattle SuperSonics.
McNair spent five seasons running the Kings, winning NBA Executive of the Year in 2023 when Sacramento went 48-34 and ended an NBA-record 16-year playoff drought.
The Kings have won 40 or more games in three straight seasons under McNair's leadership. Before this streak, they had not won 40 games in any season since 2005-06.
The Kings had a .488 win percentage under McNair. From 2006-07 to when McNair took over, the franchise had a .362 win percentage, second worst in the NBA during that span.
McNair's departure comes three weeks after assistant GM Wes Wilcox left to become general manager of the University of Utah's men's basketball team. Wilcox also spent five seasons in Sacramento's front office.
Sources: Lillard taken off blood-thinning meds
Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard has been cleared of his deep vein thrombosis and is no longer on blood-thinning medication, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
Lillard will not play Saturday for Game 1 of the Bucks' playoff series against the Indiana Pacers, and sources told ESPN the veteran guard will have a period of time to resume contact workouts and ramp up for a return.
Doctors have told Bucks officials that the speed of Lillard's recovery has never been seen before, but it occurred because of early treatment, detection and specialists working on him before a formal diagnosis, according to sources.
The Bucks said Tuesday that Lillard was making "significant improvement on his deep vein thrombosis" and that the nine-time All-Star will increase his on-court activity, but did not offer a clear timetable for his return.
The Bucks announced last month that Lillard, 34, would be sidelined indefinitely. The team said at the time that Lillard had been using a blood-thinning medication to stabilize the clot.
Coach Doc Rivers added earlier this month that he was optimistic Lillard would return at some point, but acknowledged that the team also was prepared for the nine-time All-Star to miss the rest of the season.
Lillard was averaging 24.9 points and 7.1 assists before being sidelined for Milwaukee's final 14 games of the regular season. The Bucks went 10-4 in those contests and ended the season on an eight-game winning streak.
ESPN's Tim Bontemps and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Washington Nationals reliever Jorge Lopez has been suspended three games for intentionally throwing at Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen during Wednesday's game.
Major League Baseball announced the suspension Thursday and said Lopez has filed an appeal, meaning he will be eligible for Washington's series finale in Pittsburgh.
MLB also suspended Nationals manager Dave Martinez for one game, which he will serve Thursday afternoon.
In the seventh inning Wednesday, Lopez hit the Pittsburgh's Bryan Reynolds with a pitch before facing McCutchen, who had to fall to the ground to avoid getting hit by a 92 mph ball near his head.
As the umpires gathered to discuss the incident, Lopez and McCutchen started arguing, which caused both benches to empty. Pirates outfielder Tommy Pham was seen yelling while being held back by teammate Oneil Cruz.
Lopez told reporters that he was not trying to throw at Reynolds or McCutchen.
"I apologize for everything," Lopez said after the game, according to The Washington Post. "I didn't make any purpose pitch right there. I've been trying to find my way with my delivery, been trying to find my way through the whole season. It's really miserable to have that happen. I regret what just happened."
Cruz hit a grand slam later in the inning off Eduardo Salazar to lead Pittsburgh to a 6-1 victory.
"Cruz showed up," McCutchen told reporters. "Lit a fire under him. He was able to hit a grand slam. Sometimes it's needed."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Rafael Nadal will be honoured in a ceremony at this year's French Open, says tournament director Amelie Mauresmo.
The Spanish great, who retired in November, won 14 of his 22 Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros.
No other player has won as many singles titles at one Grand Slam event as Nadal at the French Open. The 38-year-old claimed his final Grand Slam title there in 2022.
Mauresmo said a ceremony would be held on Court Philippe Chatrier at the end of the day session on Sunday, 25 May.
"Rafa made history at Roland Garros and his 14 titles will perhaps remain unequalled," two-time major champion Mauresmo said.
"The idea is to have a vision for the future and also to celebrate those who thrilled us in the past."
Nadal lost to eventual runner-up Alexander Zverev in his final French Open appearance last year.
The tournament will also honour the retiring Richard Gasquet and 2000 champion Mary Pierce.
The French Open - the second major of the year - takes place from 25 May-8 June.
Ireland's King to miss rest of Six Nations and World Cup
Back row Erin King will miss the remainder of Ireland's Women's Six Nations campaign and the World Cup later this year because of a knee injury, the Irish Rugby Football Union has confirmed.
The 21-year-old sustained the injury during last week's defeat by England in Cork and is to undergo surgery in Dublin on Thursday before beginning her rehabilitation.
King, who was named World Rugby Women's XV's Breakthrough Player of the Year last November, will miss the forthcoming matches away to Wales and Scotland, as well as the World Cup, which takes place in England in August and September.
"I'm heartbroken," said Australia-born King.
"It feels very unfair right now but I've had the best few months with this team and I can't wait to support in every way I can from the sidelines.
"It will be a long road ahead, but with the support I have from family, friends and team-mates around me, I will learn to accept that everything happens for a reason and if I stick to the process and rehab programme set out by the medical team, I'll be back better."
Scotland change two for 'huge task' against England
Captain Rachel Malcolm misses out with a concussion as Scotland make two changes for their Six Nations trip to England on Saturday.
Malcolm suffered a head knock in the 25-17 home defeat by Italy last weekend, as did scrum-half Leia Brebner-Holden.
Fly-half Helen Nelson will lead the team in Malcolm's absence.
Caity Mattinson takes over at number nine and Jade Konkel comes in at number eight as Evie Gallagher moves to blindside flanker in place of Malcolm.
Rachel McLachlan joins those two in the back row and will earn her 50th cap, while lock Becky Boyd stays in the team after making her first start against the Italians.
There are a trio of uncapped players on the bench, with Gemma Bell among the forward options, while Rhea Clarke provides scrum-half cover and centre Rachel Philipps could also make a potential debut.
Scotland opened with victory over Wales but are now fifth in the table after defeats by France and Italy.
England, aiming for a seventh successive title, lead the way with three bonus-point wins.
England have won all 23 Six Nations meetings with Scotland, the past five encounters settled by an aggregate score of 266-22.
"England have the ability to go through you physically, they also have the ability to go round you," said head coach Bryan Easson. "They can suffocate you defensively.
"They have such a good team, one to 15, or should I say one to 40. No matter what changes they make, they have world class players coming in.
"It's a huge task but one we are certainly up for.
"We were really disappointed with our performance against Italy so this is an opportunity to put that to bed and for this group to show the progress we have made."
YPSILANTI, Mich. Future Energy Solutions Lighting, a national Lighting-As-A-Service provider, extended its Kalitta Motorsports agreement as a primary partner on Shawn Langdons Top Fuel dragster, the team announced.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series resumes April 25-27 at the American Rebel Light NHRA Four-Wide Nationals near Charlotte.
FES will be the primary partner on Langdons car at next weeks race and a full-season associate partner on the Top Fuel dragsters driven by Langdon and Doug Kalitta.
FES completed the lighting upgrades at both Kalitta Motorsports and Kalitta Air. Now, they are working on projects for multiple Kalitta Motorsports partners around the country.
We are thrilled to have completed the lighting upgrades at Kalitta Air and Kalitta Motorsports, FES Acting Chief Executive Officer Marcus Brodin said. Both are realizing the energy and maintenance savings FES zero upfront cost Lighting-As-A-Service model provides. Were now working with Kalitta partners to generate the same cost and maintenance savings Kalitta is already enjoying. We are quite happy with this program and look forward to making additional impact with more companies in the future.
FES Lighting-as-a-Service (LaaS) model creates a zero upfront capex lighting solution that allows business owners to enjoy instant energy savings from day one. FES installs and maintains the new high-efficiency lighting system at zero upfront cost to its customers. A portion of the monthly energy savings created from the upgrade is then applied towards the Lighting-as-a-Service program.
Our partnership with Future Energy Solutions is very successful, and its working for everyone not just our companies, Team Kalitta General Manager Chad Head said. We are far more energy efficient at Kalitta Air and Kalitta Motorsports thanks to FES, and we really enjoy working with Marcus and his team. A number of our other partners are benefitting the FES program this relationship is a prime example of how business-to-business relationships benefit the companies involved in them.
Sixty-five years after his death and a century following his headline-grabbing exploits on two wheels and four, Cannonball Baker remains an iconic figure in not only motorsports, but in American culture itself.
Celebrated in movies, books, and with a cross-country race named for him, the name Cannonball Baker remains synonymous with adventure, speed, and daring. His celebrity transcended the fields of motorized endeavor, and prompted President Herbert Hoover to exclaim, More people know Cannonballs name than mine.
Since he was born in a backwoods log cabin near Lawrenceburg, Ind., on March 12, 1882, its ironic that Ervin George Baker became a symbol of the era that ushered in the machine age.
Baker grew up a tall, gangly kid, but possessed a natural athleticism. After moving to Indianapolis with his family as a kid, he competed as a wrestler, boxer and gymnast in his local high school.
His gymnastic skills proved so exceptional that a popular acrobatic entertainment team hired him, and he crisscrossed the country on the vaudevillian circuit. His bent as a showman took a different turn, however, when he became enamored with bicycle racing.
Trading the theater boards for the board track velodromes, he quickly succeeded in the incredibly popular sport.
Anxious for even speed on two wheels, he turned to motorcycles. Baker bought his first one in 1908, an Indian, and competed on tracks throughout the Midwest. On July 4, 1908, at Crawfordsville, Ind., he won his first race. And a year later, he was ready for the sports first major event.
It proved a historic one.
A new, 2.5-mile track had opened on Indianapoliss west side. Carl Fisher, its developer, christened the facility with a series of FAM (Federation of American Motorcyclists) events. Racing on a treacherous, oil-treated, ground limestone surface, Baker captured the first motorized race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Aug. 14, 1909.
After that win, however, he stepped away from conventional racing events. The president of Indian Motorcycles, George Hendee, approached him about promoting the brand. To accomplish that, Baker then undertook a series of attention-capturing stunts.
He raced against trains from city to city. He broke countless speed records. And during a time when roads were only deeply rutted, rock-strewn, mud-infused paths, he became renowned for cross-country endurance runs. He even took his exploits international.
In 1912, Hendee funded a run dubbed the South American Tour, and Baker raced his Indian through Jamaica, Panama and Cuba. He completed more than 14,000 miles, while huge crowds thronged to catch a glimpse of the Crazy Yankee as he roared through tiny villages and hamlets.
After one record-setting transcontinental run in 1914, a New York newspaper writer compared him to the Cannonball Express locomotive. Baker loved the comparison, and bore the moniker the remainder of his life. It was so popular he trademarked it.
His AMA Hall of Fame worthy, two-wheel accomplishments were not the sole reason for Bakers celebrity. His achievements on four wheels became equally unique and trendsetting.
He carved out an unparalleled place in motorsports history as the only person to compete at Indianapolis on a motorcycle and in a race car. His Indianapolis 500 appearance came in 1922, at the urging of Henry Ford. Driving a Ford-Frontenac, he managed to run the entire 500 miles and finished 11th, despite a series of time-eating pit stops.
As he had with the motorcycles, Baker became particularly adept at long-distance runs. He drove a huge variety of cars, as manufacturers clamored for the famous Cannonball to handle their machines.
In 1933, he drove a Graham-Paige across the United States in a record-setting 53-1/2 hours through desert sands, on mud paths and horse-buggy roads. The media dubbed it the Cannonball Run.
Forty years later, automotive journalist Brock Yates revived the Cannonball Run. It captivated the publics imagination, inspiring books, movies, and TV shows. Dan Gurney completed the 1972 version of the Cannonball Run in 35 hours and 54 minutes in a Ferrari Daytona. Gurney benefited from interstate highways and cops tended to look the other way.
By comparison, Bakers speed was remarkable even for today and an extraordinary one for the 1930s.
Bakers renown and automotive expertise caught NASCARs attention. In 1948, they named him their first national commissioner. Besides NASCAR, Baker remained a prominent spokesman and consultant in automotive performance circles until his death on May 10, 1960.
In a lifetime of incredible automobile and motorcycle runs, Cannonball Baker established an unbelievable 143 transcontinental records and racked up more than 5,500,000 miles.
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