I Dig Sports
Magic, Dodgers exec to lead wildfire aid group
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has tabbed NBA legend Magic Johnson, Dodgers chairman Mark Walter and 2028 Olympics organizer Casey Wasserman to lead a new effort to support wildfire recovery and rebuilding efforts in Los Angeles.
The philanthropic organization, called LA Rises, includes other business leaders and elected officials as the city looks to rebuild after the January fires ravaged communities and killed at least 29 people.
"We can't lose hope," Newsom said in a news conference at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday. "It is possible that we can come back more climate resilient, come back stronger."
The Mark Walter Family Foundation and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation have committed up to $100 million to the effort, Newsom said.
Johnson said he will lead the effort to rebuild Altadena, which has been a haven for generations of Black families avoiding discriminatory housing practices elsewhere.
"My focus will be on Altadena because those people may be left behind and I want to make sure that that doesn't happen," Johnson said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Firefighters were close to nearly having the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire fully to the east surrounded after the first significant storm of the season dosed a region that had been dry for eight months. Both fires ignited Jan. 7 during powerful Santa Ana winds. The Palisades Fire, the largest of the blazes, destroyed more than 6,800 structures and killed at least 12 people.
The Hughes Fire, which ignited north of Los Angeles last week and caused evacuation orders or warnings for more than 50,000 people, was also nearly contained.
Wasserman said the effort is intended to bring about the "rebirth of L.A."
"This process and this journey we're about to start with LA Rises is not about the next month or the next year. This is about what L.A. is going to be like for the next 50 or 100 years, " Wasserman said, according to the Times.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Steinbrenner: 'Difficult' to spend like Dodgers
New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner weighed in on the Los Angeles Dodgers' offseason spending spree, saying it will be even more "difficult" to keep up with the reigning World Series champions.
The Dodgers have spent more than $450 million guaranteed this offseason, pushing their 2025 luxury tax payroll to approximately $390 million.
With the penalties for exceeding the $241 million threshold, the Dodgers' total payroll for this year likely will be in excess of $500 million.
"It's difficult for most of us owners to be able to do the kind of things that they're doing," Steinbrenner said during an interview with the YES Network that aired Tuesday. "We'll see if it pays off."
Despite losing superstar Juan Soto as a free agent to the crosstown rival Mets, the Yankees also have had an active offseason, headlined by Max Fried's eight-year, $218 million deal.
The Yankees currently have Major League Baseball's third-highest luxury tax payroll at just under $303 million. The Phillies are second at just under $308 million, more than $80 million behind the Dodgers.
The Yankees were listed in March 2024 by Forbes as MLB's most valuable franchise, worth an estimated $7.55 billion, while the Dodgers were the second-most valuable at approximately $5.45 billion.
Los Angeles' latest free agent addition, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan, is reliever Kirby Yates, who agreed to a one-year deal worth $13 million.
The Dodgers also have signed free agents Blake Snell, Tanner Scott, Roki Sasaki, Michael Conforto and Hyeseong Kim; they re-signed Teoscar Hernandez and Blake Treinen; and they reached a multiyear extension with Tommy Edman.
Steinbrenner, whose Yankees lost to the Dodgers in last season's World Series, added Tuesday that Los Angeles' busy offseason does not guarantee another championship.
"They still have to have a season that's relatively injury-free for it to work out for them," Steinbrenner said. "It's a long season as you know, and once you get to the postseason, anything can happen. We've seen that time and time again. We'll see who's there at the end."
Injured Djokovic pulls out of Serbia Davis Cup tie
Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from Serbia's Davis Cup tie against Denmark because of a hamstring injury.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion was booed off court by some Australian Open fans last week when he retired with the issue after losing the first set of his semi-final against Alexander Zverev.
Djokovic, 37, later posted a photo of an MRI taken of his left hamstring with the caption: "Thought I'd leave this here for all the sports injury 'experts' out there."
Serbia are playing Denmark in a first-round qualifying tie, which starts on Friday.
"We are weakened by not playing Novak, but we are still going for the win," said Serbia captain Viktor Troicki.
"The Danes have a great player in Holger Rune, but our players are also great and I believe in my team."
ITTF Mentorship 2024: Fostering Growth and Excellence
The ITTF Mentorship allowed participants to learn directly from experienced and highly profiled experts in their respective fields. Over four months, mentees engaged in:
- Regular Online Sessions: These sessions provided theoretical insights and practical knowledge, fostering a collaborative learning environment.
- Monthly Assignments: Tailored tasks encouraged participants to apply what they had learned in real-world scenarios, refining their skills and understanding.
- Interactive Mentorship: Direct interactions between mentors and mentees facilitated personalized guidance and constructive feedback.
The program targeted three key areas critical to the growth and sustainability of table tennis:
- Coaching: 14 coaches (9 male and 5 female) received mentorship, equipping them with advanced techniques and methodologies to elevate their training sessions.
- Young Umpires: A cohort of 14 young umpires (6 male and 8 female) received guidance to enhance their officiating skills and advance their career.
- Match Officials Evaluators Trainee: Three evaluator trainees (2 male and 1 female) were trained to assess and improve umpiring performance, ensuring consistent quality across events.
The 2024 edition provided group sessions for the mentees, 4 groups were formed for the coaching area, 4 groups for the young umpires area, and 1 group for the evaluator trainee area which was introduced in the project for the first time in 2024. Each group organized at least 7 online sessions and submitted a minimum of 4 assignments that complemented the online sessions. At the end of the project, the mentees received feedback from their mentor about their participation and performance in the project and about future steps. The project underscored ITTFs commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and professional excellence within the sport. By empowering individuals from diverse backgrounds and skill levels and creating networks amongst them, the initiative supported the broader mission of strengthening table tennis globally.
The key outcomes of the program are to strengthen the capabilities among coaches, umpires, and evaluators, ensuring sustained growth in their respective roles, and providing a platform for participants to network, collaborate, and share best practices across regions and disciplines.
Quotes:
I have learned a lot in this program and realized that we all face the same challenges developing countries as well as elite countries. You never stop learning. Fungai Zinatsu (ZIM): Coach Mentee
I want to express my deep gratitude and admiration for mentor Zoltan and his invaluable guidance during this ITTF mentoring program. His experience and knowledge have been fundamental pillars in my growth as a coach. It has been an extraordinary experience. It has not only provided me with technical and tactical tools, but also a broader and deeper insight into what it means to be a leader within the sport. I am very grateful to the ITTF for giving me the opportunity to learn and I look forward to continuing to apply and share all that I have learned. Edgardo Vázquez Morales (PUR): Coach Mentee
This program has been really helpful. It has guided me closely in my transition from player to coach. Ryan has been a very good mentor, always available if we had any inquiries or when we asked for advice. Thank you for opportunity. I look forward to further programs to develop my coaching skills. Fathimath Jumana Nimal (MDV): Coach Mentee
Great opportunity to improve my skills and learn from better umpires, very collaborative with learning with the other students and share my knowledge while learning from others. Star Richens (NZL) Young Umpire Mentee
This program is very effective in developing young umpires in the long term and is highly motivating for continuing to improve umpiring skills. Margareta Suryani (INA) Young Umpires Mentee
The program was fruitful and important. Especially the scientific and pedagogical method of the Mentor was wonderful and he was an example to be followed. I am looking forward to the next step. Najeh Ghachem (TUN): Evaluators Trainee Mentee
I found the mentoring sessions very interesting and highly informative, particularly regarding the field of assessments. Analyzing real cases was especially valuable, as it helped bridge the gap between theory and practical application. Santiago Mercade (ARG): Evaluators Trainee Mentee
With the three mentees having different background and experiences, they were able to share their own experience with the other mentees during the online meetings. All in all, the program has been smooth and successful, identifying young and willing evaluators from different continents to help URC with training of advanced umpires. Chan Cheong Ki (HKG): Evaluators Mentor
The group sessions shared many ideas & every participant shared the experience with all the groups, really its very useful. Hisham Ezzat (EGY): Coach Mentor
Goodman praises Sexton role in Ireland's England prep
Sexton was part of Ireland's pre-tournament training camp in Portugal, and while imparting his wisdom on the fly-halves has been a key responsibility, Goodman says he has also been assisting the coaches and Caelan Doris, who replaced Peter O'Mahony as captain in November.
"For us coaches, he's got such a great eye on the game," added Goodman, who worked with Sexton at Leinster.
"Personally, myself, I run things past him and I love him because he's honest and he'll provide his own opinion on things and that always leads to discussion and debate and then ultimately you get a really good spot.
"I'm using him a lot, he's got a great eye for the game and hopefully he can continue in that role for as long as possible."
Growing up, the brothers competed in all types of sports, including rugby, athletics, cricket and football.
But it was at indoor bowls where Tom first got the upper hand on Ben, something he still reminds his identical twin about.
"In primary school, we had indoor bowls and I weirdly turned out to be really good at it," he told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast.
"I was champion within my school. It was one of my favourite trophies, it was massive."
Sport is in the Curry blood. Their mother is a PE teacher, their father played rugby for Rosslyn Park when they were in England's top flight and coached the twins from the age of four, while their uncle John Olver was a Northampton Saints and England hooker.
And they are not the only internationals in the family, as their sister Charlotte represented Great Britain Under-17s at frisbee.
At one stage, the twins had dreams of a professional football career for Manchester City but Tom says they ended when he headed the ball past his own goalkeeper during a game.
In their early years of playing rugby, the brothers found themselves lining up in the backline together.
"It was Ben at 12 and I was at 10. I was a crash-ball 10 so the ball didn't get out," joked Tom.
"Tom then moved into the forwards first and somehow I got dragged in," added Ben.
Having grown up together, they decided against going their separate ways at the first opportunity, and continue to live under the same roof at the age of 26.
Not that they live identical lives around the house.
"When we go home it is every man for himself," Tom added. "We don't cook or eat together. We just do our own thing."
Stars' Heiskanen injured; Stone called for tripping
LAS VEGAS -- Defenseman Miro Heiskanen was injured in the third period of the Dallas Stars' 4-3 overtime victory over Vegas on Tuesday night after taking a big hit from Golden Knights captain Mark Stone.
Stone fell toward Heiskanen's left knee and thigh after getting tripped.
Dallas coach Pete DeBoer, who coached Vegas from 2019 to 2022, said he didn't have an update on Heiskanen.
Stone was assessed a two-minute tripping penalty.
"I coached Mark Stone," DeBoer said. "He's not a dirty player. He's not trying to hurt anybody. I know that. That doesn't mean they can't call a [5-minute major] or at least look at it. That was my argument."
Stone said he wasn't trying to take out Heiskanen.
"I go to reach to try and angle him out and, not sure who it was, tripped me kind of as I was falling forward," Stone said. "I really hope he's all right. But I was just trying to make a play and got tripped into him."
There was a brief clash between the teams while Heiskanen was sprawled on the ice.
"He's their best defenseman," Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. "He goes down and never looks good. He's a great player. A ton of respect for the way he plays. But the way we saw it, Stoney got tripped and lost his balance. We're not out there trying to take out good players in the league."
Afghanistan women's match a big step on a path unknown
For Afghanistan's women cricketers, their first competitive match since escaping oppression in their home country represents a significant step in their sporting journey - although the path ahead may not be the one they envisaged before.
So what are the ways forward?
Playing as Afghanistan Women
Against Cricket Without Borders, the players will compete as the Afghanistan Women's XI as opposed to Afghanistan Women and wear a kit specifically designed for the match as opposed to a national team uniform.
Mel Jones, the commentator who was instrumental in helping the formerly contracted Afghanistan Women's team players escape their country after the Taliban took over in 2021, says that until the ICC recognises them as a national team, those differences are likely to remain.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board and ICC say they cannot do so as it would contravene the country's laws. This is why Afghanistan have been allowed to retain ICC membership, despite not currently fulfilling the requirement to commit to developing women's cricket.
The ICC are a member-led organisation, bound by the vote of its member boards and, if the boards who support recognising an Afghanistan Women's team are in the minority, the governing body can argue its hands are tied.
"Anything to do with these players as a team would be their own individual team," Jones told ESPNcricinfo's Powerplay podcast. "They won't play underneath the ACB or the Afghanistan flag as a side.
"But what we're trying to navigate at the moment is how can we allow them the opportunity of still feeling part of their country while not saying that they're the Afghanistan Women's cricket team because my understanding is that that will never be the case.
"That is really, really tough for them as a group to try and understand. I still don't think most of them have got their heads around that at the moment, and that just adds to the trauma. I think, hopefully, that they themselves know that they were the contracted players, the contracted Afghanistan women's players at the fall of Afghanistan, and they get an opportunity to once again play, for the first time really, as that group."
Jones acknowledged the complexities of the sport's governance, but highlighted the need for discussion. She credited Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia's outgoing CEO, for meeting the players on several occasions and listening to their concerns.
"The ability to sit down and listen has made such a difference to this group, and that's probably the one piece that I would say we've been really bad at over the last four years, is that people turn their back on that conversation," Jones said.
"I would hope that if we learn anything from this, if something like this happens again, that we just don't turn our back on people and hope that silence will make it go away because it just doesn't."
Refugee team
In the meantime, one sticking point to fielding a refugee team is that, unlike the Olympic refugee team, which comprises individual athletes from various countries, this team is from only one nation. Any refugee team would have to be open to players in exile from other countries, unless this team is recognised purely as the Afghanistan Refugee team.
Even then, the fact that some of the exiled Afghan players reside in the UK and Canada poses logistical challenges for bringing the team together, particularly without the funding to do so.
Benafsha Hashimi, one of the exiled Afghanistan players in Australia, said the upcoming match could be a stepping stone to wider recognition as a team.
"Of course I want to play under my country name, that is my dream, that was the reason that I'm here," Hashimi said. "We have tried many times, email and sending the letter to the ICC, but unfortunately all the time they're just ignoring us, which is quite upsetting.
"We are living in different states, I know, but the thing is we were living in a different state in Afghanistan too. It doesn't really make anything change. I can still play and we can still catch up. It's not really a big deal to do it, so I will definitely go for it.
"We said all the time that we can't go by jumping, we have to go step by step. It's a good starting step. I'm so excited for it. I can say it's a special feeling inside that I can't really explain it how it's been to me. It's like a really big step for me."
Funding
The ECB, who along with Cricket Australia have declined to field men's teams in bilateral series against Afghanistan, recently wrote to the ICC asking, among other things that they withhold a proportion of funding from the Afghanistan Cricket Board until women's and girls' cricket is reinstated in the country.
Firooza Amiri, one of the players who escaped Afghanistan and is now based in Melbourne, told the podcast that this week's game marked the start of the team's goal to play for Afghanistan - in whatever guise - and in receiving financial support to do that.
"It's not only a match for us, it's a huge step," Amiri said. "It's going to be a very big step that we are taking toward our journey of cricket.
"The ICC ignored us as a refugee team and also as a Afghanistan national team that represent Afghanistan and obviously the Afghanistan Cricket Board ignored us as well. But Cricket Australia took a huge step for us.
"From here, it doesn't matter if we are Afghan Exiles or Afghan XI or Afghanistan refugee team or anything. Our hope is only to represent Afghanistan in some ways and women outside and inside Afghanistan look at us as a representative of Afghanistan.
"What we are hoping from here is to continue playing for Afghanistan under Afghan XI team and we just want world help us with this journey."
Valkerie Baynes is a general editor, women's cricket, at ESPNcricinfo
World Cricketers Association calls out 'random and inconsistent' support for Afghanistan women
In the same week that an Afghan Women's XI will come together for the first time to play against a Cricket Without Borders team at the Junction Oval in Australia, Moffat spoke to ESPNcricinfo about possible collective action which he says "doesn't necessarily mean boycotts," but should include both the ICC and individual boards.
"The ICC and national governing bodies run and regulate the game and their tournaments, and have a responsibility to exercise leverage to ensure that the rights of players in our sport, including Afghanistan women's players, are protected and respected," Moffat said. "That doesn't necessarily mean boycotts, there are a number of ways to exercise leverage, but to date the random and inconsistent manner of dealing with it, and of even having the conversation around the world, highlights the need for cricket's governing bodies to implement a more systematic global approach to protecting basic player rights, along with just about every other aspect of the sport."
Afghanistan, who have been a Full Member since 2017, does not have a women's team but was developing one before the Taliban takeover in 2021. In 2020, the ACB contracted 25 women's players but they never played an international. Under the Taliban regime, women have been banned from participating in sport and there have been increasing restrictions on them in all aspects of public life including education and access to healthcare.
The crackdown on women's rights has drawn criticism from several international organisations including Amnesty International and the United Nations, and though there are asset freezes on some Taliban officials, there are no sporting bans in place. Afghanistan remain members of FIFA and the ICC, to name two global bodies and sent a team of three men and three women, who were living in exile and were not recognised by the Taliban government, to last year's Paris Olympics.
Currently, Australia are the only country who have cancelled bilateral engagements against Afghanistan while England have said they will do the same. Both countries continue to play Afghanistan in ICC events, even as calls to boycott those games grow.
Cricket South Africa have actively sought out fixtures against Afghanistan and played them in an ODI series in Sharjah last September and maintain that shunning the men's team will not have a material impact on the situation facing women in Afghanistan. South Africa's stance is important because they have first-hand experience of being banned from the 1970s to 1990s and sporting isolation (along with economic sanctions) was a significant contributor to the fall of Apartheid. However, CSA is of the opinion that it will take more than a cricket boycott to force the Taliban to recognise women's rights.
While there is a need to acknowledge that the freedom to play sport is one of many that have been taken away from Afghan women and girls, there is also a desire from organisations like the WCA to underline how crucial that right is.
"Every athlete has the right to equality of opportunity which is protected in the Universal Declaration of Player Rights, underpinned by international law," Moffat said. "That means each player has the right to equality of opportunity in the pursuit of sport, free of discrimination, harassment and violence, and a player's right to pursue sport cannot be limited because of his or her gender."
It is understood that many of the Afghan men's players have family in the country and fear retribution for speaking out, especially as they have little protection. As things stand, Afghanistan does not have a player association but some of the men's players are part of the WCA's global commercial program.
ICC rankings: Adil Rashid No. 1 again, Varun Chakravarthy climbs to fifth among T20I bowlers
Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: 
Email: 
