About the author
Women’s Pro Baseball League strikes media deal with Fremantle
The Women’s Pro Baseball League is teaming up with Fremantle, the production company behind shows like the global Got Talent franchise (such as “America’s Got Talent”) and Family Feud, to help grow the league.The partnership announcement comes on the heels of the WPBL’s recent news that global women’s sports investor Assia Grazioli-Venier has joined the league as chair. Grazioli-Venier’s Muse Sport — the sports advisory arm of her firm, Muse Capital — has also joined the league as an official advisory partner.Advertisement“We’re not interested in just documenting games. We’re documenting the rebirth of a sport, and the pioneers who are making it happen,” Grazioli-Venier told The Athletic. “From draft day to the locker room, the training grind to the business decisions, there’s a generational story unfolding here — and Fremantle is the perfect partner to help us tell it.”Fremantle, part […]
What is the future of ‘College GameDay’ after Lee Corso? Richard Deitsch’s media mailbag
Welcome to the 41th media mailbag for The Athletic. Thanks for sending in your questions via the website and app. There were close to 100 questions, so this is the second of two parts. Here was Part I.Note: Submitted questions have been edited for clarity and length.How should programming for “College GameDay” change after Lee Corso retires? Does that open the door for something or someone new? — Justin F.Let’s say Rece Davis did leave “GameDay” for (Fox’s) “Big Noon Kickoff.” Who replaces him? Does his replacement also do basketball’s “GameDay”? — Karl T.ESPN may have already given itself a preview of a post-Lee Corso “College GameDay” with how few segments Lee did during the last several seasons. Do you believe they ultimately stick with the same group for 2025 and beyond? — Orange DotUnderstandably, there were a lot of […]
Seahawks rookie camp Day 2: Nick Emmanwori’s No. 3, Elijah Arroyo a ‘big target’
RENTON, Wash. — The first installment of our Seattle Seahawks rookie minicamp rundown focused on third-round pick Jalen Milroe, the most interesting of the team’s 11 selections in the 2025 NFL Draft due to being the franchise’s first quarterback pick since 2018.This second iteration will touch on Milroe as well, but first, let’s get into takeaways involving the other draft picks from Seattle’s two-day minicamp at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.Advertisement1. First-round pick Grey Zabel spent minicamp at left guard, as expected. Seattle knows he can play left tackle in a pinch and has the mental capacity to play center if needed, but for now, he’ll slot in next to left tackle Charles Cross. Zabel will have to earn the job, of course, but it’s safe to assume that if any of the interior linemen want to crack the starting […]
Lift, launch, pull? The Nats’ James Wood just tries to smoke every ball — and it’s working
PHILADELPHIA — It’s a Wednesday afternoon in Toronto, the end of the Washington Nationals’ first road trip of the season. Ninth inning, two outs, time to pack for the airport. But James Wood has one more swing, and that is always worth watching.The description on Statcast of what happens next is appropriately mundane: James Wood singles on a ground ball to right fielder Anthony Santander. Yet a month later, even after witnessing stupendous home runs from his precocious teammate, Nathaniel Lowe isn’t over that routine hit, and everything it signified.Advertisement“It didn’t make a crazy sound, it didn’t go far, it was just a single up the middle,” said Lowe, who saw it from the on-deck circle at Rogers Centre. “And I looked up at the scoreboard and it said 115 mph. And I was like, ‘I guess it’s just that […]
Randall Cunningham’s not scrambling anymore: How the ‘Ultimate Weapon’ found peace
LAS VEGAS — The nerves take him back. Same hurried breaths. Same trembling hands. Same feeling in the pit of his stomach.Randall Cunningham still worries he might fail.Back when he was a quarterback, he figured out a way to ease those nerves. On his way to the stadium, he’d slide up the divider in his limousine and let the tears trickle out. “I had to work all that out of me,” he says.AdvertisementHe doesn’t cry anymore, but 24 years after his NFL career ended, Sundays start with some of the same anxieties. “Pregame jitters,” he calls them, laughing. Come showtime, he clenches his notes, steadies his hands and looks over what he’s typed. His words are double-spaced, mostly in black. Some lines are in red. Others blue. Others green. He saves purple for the ones he really wants to resonate. […]
2025 NHL Draft ranking: Matthew Schaefer, Michael Misa lead Wheeler’s May top 64 list
Welcome to my May ranking of the top 64 prospects eligible for the 2025 NHL Draft.This post-U18 Worlds top 64 (plus a list of 65 honorable mentions) follows my way-too-early top 28, my preseason top 32, my preliminary top 64, my February top 64 and my March top 64. It’s my penultimate ranking and will be followed by my final top 100 (released in June).AdvertisementThe 2025 class is led by the twosome of Erie Otters defenseman Matthew Schaefer and exceptional status Saginaw Spirit center Michael Misa. They’re followed by Boston College center James Hagens, Swedish center Anton Frondell, Brampton Steelheads winger Porter Martone and Moncton Wildcats center Caleb Desnoyers, who round out the top six of this year’s crop for me.As always, the ranking is packaged in our fully sortable user interface and broken down into tiers. There are seven tiers […]
Related
Women’s Pro Baseball League strikes media deal with Fremantle
The Women’s Pro Baseball League is teaming up with Fremantle, the production company behind shows like the global Got Talent franchise (such as “America’s Got Talent”) and Family Feud, to help grow the league.The partnership announcement comes on the heels of the WPBL’s recent news that global women’s sports investor Assia Grazioli-Venier has joined the league as chair. Grazioli-Venier’s Muse Sport — the sports advisory arm of her firm, Muse Capital — has also joined the league as an official advisory partner.Advertisement“We’re not interested in just documenting games. We’re documenting the rebirth of a sport, and the pioneers who are making it happen,” Grazioli-Venier told The Athletic. “From draft day to the locker room, the training grind to the business decisions, there’s a generational story unfolding here — and Fremantle is the perfect partner to help us tell it.”Fremantle, part […]
What is the future of ‘College GameDay’ after Lee Corso? Richard Deitsch’s media mailbag
Welcome to the 41th media mailbag for The Athletic. Thanks for sending in your questions via the website and app. There were close to 100 questions, so this is the second of two parts. Here was Part I.Note: Submitted questions have been edited for clarity and length.How should programming for “College GameDay” change after Lee Corso retires? Does that open the door for something or someone new? — Justin F.Let’s say Rece Davis did leave “GameDay” for (Fox’s) “Big Noon Kickoff.” Who replaces him? Does his replacement also do basketball’s “GameDay”? — Karl T.ESPN may have already given itself a preview of a post-Lee Corso “College GameDay” with how few segments Lee did during the last several seasons. Do you believe they ultimately stick with the same group for 2025 and beyond? — Orange DotUnderstandably, there were a lot of […]
Seahawks rookie camp Day 2: Nick Emmanwori’s No. 3, Elijah Arroyo a ‘big target’
RENTON, Wash. — The first installment of our Seattle Seahawks rookie minicamp rundown focused on third-round pick Jalen Milroe, the most interesting of the team’s 11 selections in the 2025 NFL Draft due to being the franchise’s first quarterback pick since 2018.This second iteration will touch on Milroe as well, but first, let’s get into takeaways involving the other draft picks from Seattle’s two-day minicamp at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.Advertisement1. First-round pick Grey Zabel spent minicamp at left guard, as expected. Seattle knows he can play left tackle in a pinch and has the mental capacity to play center if needed, but for now, he’ll slot in next to left tackle Charles Cross. Zabel will have to earn the job, of course, but it’s safe to assume that if any of the interior linemen want to crack the starting […]
Lift, launch, pull? The Nats’ James Wood just tries to smoke every ball — and it’s working
PHILADELPHIA — It’s a Wednesday afternoon in Toronto, the end of the Washington Nationals’ first road trip of the season. Ninth inning, two outs, time to pack for the airport. But James Wood has one more swing, and that is always worth watching.The description on Statcast of what happens next is appropriately mundane: James Wood singles on a ground ball to right fielder Anthony Santander. Yet a month later, even after witnessing stupendous home runs from his precocious teammate, Nathaniel Lowe isn’t over that routine hit, and everything it signified.Advertisement“It didn’t make a crazy sound, it didn’t go far, it was just a single up the middle,” said Lowe, who saw it from the on-deck circle at Rogers Centre. “And I looked up at the scoreboard and it said 115 mph. And I was like, ‘I guess it’s just that […]
Randall Cunningham’s not scrambling anymore: How the ‘Ultimate Weapon’ found peace
LAS VEGAS — The nerves take him back. Same hurried breaths. Same trembling hands. Same feeling in the pit of his stomach.Randall Cunningham still worries he might fail.Back when he was a quarterback, he figured out a way to ease those nerves. On his way to the stadium, he’d slide up the divider in his limousine and let the tears trickle out. “I had to work all that out of me,” he says.AdvertisementHe doesn’t cry anymore, but 24 years after his NFL career ended, Sundays start with some of the same anxieties. “Pregame jitters,” he calls them, laughing. Come showtime, he clenches his notes, steadies his hands and looks over what he’s typed. His words are double-spaced, mostly in black. Some lines are in red. Others blue. Others green. He saves purple for the ones he really wants to resonate. […]
2025 NHL Draft ranking: Matthew Schaefer, Michael Misa lead Wheeler’s May top 64 list
Welcome to my May ranking of the top 64 prospects eligible for the 2025 NHL Draft.This post-U18 Worlds top 64 (plus a list of 65 honorable mentions) follows my way-too-early top 28, my preseason top 32, my preliminary top 64, my February top 64 and my March top 64. It’s my penultimate ranking and will be followed by my final top 100 (released in June).AdvertisementThe 2025 class is led by the twosome of Erie Otters defenseman Matthew Schaefer and exceptional status Saginaw Spirit center Michael Misa. They’re followed by Boston College center James Hagens, Swedish center Anton Frondell, Brampton Steelheads winger Porter Martone and Moncton Wildcats center Caleb Desnoyers, who round out the top six of this year’s crop for me.As always, the ranking is packaged in our fully sortable user interface and broken down into tiers. There are seven tiers […]
Be the first to leave a comment