A day after hoisting their World Series flag, the Los Angeles Dodgers had some World Series rings to give out. Then a game to win in absurd fashion.

The 2024 World Series champs distributed their newest jewelry in a pregame ceremony Friday, celebrating their eighth title with a ring featuring their iconic hexagonal scoreboards, palm trees, the scores of their three series wins and a golden World Series trophy, and Dodger Stadium inside a hinged opening.

Designed by Jostens, the ring’s more personal touches include 34 blue stones in honor of Fernando Valenzuela’s jersey number, the Dodgers legend who died shortly before the Fall Classic, and an actual piece from a World Series base.

And then there were the five diamonds at the bottom of the ring, in honor of the 5-0 deficit the Dodgers erased in Game 5 to clinch the World Series. Given how they gave up those runs, New York Yankees fans should probably look away.

Considering how much trash the Dodgers have talked about the Yankees’ mistake-riddle meltdown in that Game 5, we probably shouldn’t be surprised they decided to immortalize it in their hardware.

The ring ceremony was set up in a way only Hollywood’s favorite team could pull off. Emmy-nominated actor Anthony Anderson hosted the proceedings and announced each player, but the really nice touch was the voice that followed him.

Movie buffs might recognize the voice of Randy Thomas, who provides the bios for every winner at the Academy Awards, listing off each player’s accomplishments as they walked the blue carpet. Given the name of the Dodgers’ starting catcher, it was probably earlier than she ever expected to be saying Will Smith’s name.

Thomas’ presence gave Dodger Stadium an Oscars feel as the players shook hands with Dodgers principal owner Mark Walter, team president Stan Kasten and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.

The Dodgers entered Friday with a 3-0 record after sweeping the Japan Series against the Chicago Cubs and taking their home opener against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday. One member of the 2024 team who didn’t receive his ring was Tigers starting pitcher Jack Flaherty, who was preparing to make his Tigers debut against his old team.

He will reportedly receive his ring Saturday.

Flaherty made an impressive showing in front of his old home crowd, taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but that was just the first chapter of a thriller. World Series MVP Freddie Freeman tied the game in the sixth with a two-run homer, then Mookie Betts, still operating underweight after fighting a stomach illness for two weeks, gave the Dodgers the lead in the eighth inning with a solo homer.

Tanner Scott, one of the Dodgers’ biggest offseason acquisitions, blew the save in the ninth and the game appeared lost when the Tigers scored two in the top of the 10th, but the Dodgers displayed the kind of clutch hitting that won them the title last year in the bottom of the frame.

Hits from Michael Conforto and Smith tied the game with only one out, then Betts stepped up again with his second homer of the night.

Again, that was a man unable to eat solid foods without vomiting until about three days ago.

The win pushed the Dodgers’ record to 4-0, and this year’s team is looking no worse than last year’s.

The New York Mets gave Juan Soto more than three quarters of a billion dollars to do mean things to baseballs for the next 15 years. He officially got started on Friday.

The 26-year-old outfielder slugged the first home run of his Mets career on Friday, taking a cutter from Houston Astros starter Hunter Brown and depositing it in the second deck of Minute Maid Park. The speed of the ball off the bat: 107.3 mph. The distance: 390 feet.

Everyone in the stadium, including Soto, knew where the ball was landing.

Soto made his Mets debut on Opening Day a day earlier, going 1-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout in a 3-1 loss. He showed his plate discipline that day, and on Friday he showed his power in a 3-1 win. 

It isn’t the first time he’s wowed that particular park with a moonshot, as he broke out on the national stage when he slugged a homer off Gerrit Cole to the train tracks for the Washington Nationals in the 2019 World Series.

Juan Soto will be a Met for a long time, and it wasn’t cheap

This week’s games are at the start of the most expensive tenure in the history of sports. Soto signed a record-shattering 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets in free agency last winter, and it’s even more valuable than you’d think when compared to Shohei Ohtani’s previously record-holding $700 million deal.

Unlike Ohtani, Soto’s deal contains no deferred money. Unlike Ohtani, Soto’s deal has an opt-out that can be nullified by making it an $815 million deal. Having signed the longest contract in MLB history, Soto will be under Mets team control until he is 40 years old. That is what happens when you get the Mets and New York Yankees in a bidding war, with the Los Angeles Dodgers looming on the sidelines.

So the Mets will take their first Soto homer as quickly as they can, and preferably much more after that. Considering Darryl Strawberry is New York’s all-time home run leader with 252 (with Pete Alonso at 226 and counting) and Soto has averaged 34.8 homers per 162 games in his career (with 41 last year), it is entirely possible, if not probable, that Soto retires as the Mets’ new homer leader.

Down more than a few pounds, Mookie Betts was in the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ Opening Day lineup, batting second and playing the entire game at shortstop against the Detroit Tigers.

Despite Detroit having American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal on the mound, Betts went 1-for-3 with a walk in a 5-4 Dodgers win, improving the defending champs’ record to 3-0.

Betts, 32, missed the Dodgers’ first two games of the season in the Tokyo Series against the Chicago Cubs on March 18-19 due to an illness that was described as “flu-like symptoms.” He stayed out of the lineup for two more spring training games once the Dodgers returned to the U.S. 

He finally played in Tuesday’s preseason finale in the Freeway Series matchup versus the Los Angeles Angels. Betts batted second and went 0-for-3 while playing five innings at shortstop. Two days prior to his appearance, he revealed to reporters that he had lost 18 pounds while dealing with the illness, which began before the Dodgers left for Japan.

Listed at 180 pounds, Betts reportedly got down to 157 pounds during what he described as a difficult experience with an inability to keep solid food down.

“I’m tired of sitting, tired of just throwing up, tired of doing all this. I just really want to play,” he said, via the Los Angeles Times. “My body’s just kind of eating itself. It’s hard to not fuel it. And so every time — literally, every time — I fuel my body, I throw up. … I don’t know what to do.”

Betts was initially expected to play Sunday until he began vomiting again before that day’s game. He explained to reporters that he was able to work out regularly with the illness, but the issues arose when he attempted to eat solid food. 

Elsewhere in the Dodgers lineup, there is concern that Enrique Hernández may be dealing with the same illness that afflicted Betts. He’s now vomiting and struggling with keeping food down, as well. However, manager Dave Roberts said he’s not concerned that something is going around the team’s clubhouse. 

Betts begins the season as the Dodgers’ shortstop after starting at the position last year before moving back to right field, where he has played most of his career. Even with the position switch, he batted .289 with an .863 OPS, 19 home runs, 24 doubles, 75 RBI and 16 stolen bases in 2024. He was limited to 116 games due to a fractured left hand.

Basketball and LEGOs share a special connection, and NC State’s Zamareya Jones has discovered the ideal balance between orchestrating plays on the basketball court and assembling the perfect build.

The freshman guard from Greenville, North Carolina, started the hobby last summer with a Jeep set. Once the final piece was placed, her passion for building was sparked. Now, Jones has a growing collection of builds, including Mario, Spider-Man, Pac-Man, and the beloved Experiment 626 Stitch.

FOLLOW THE MADNESS NCAA women’s basketball scores, schedules, teams and more.

Let’s not forget why Jones landed on the ACC newcomer watch list—she can hoop. The former McDonald’s All-American has averaged 6.9 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists coming off the bench. The freshman posted a career-high 18 points in a dominant 72-42 win over Louisville.

On the journey to the NCAA women’s tournament game between No. 2 NC State and No. 3 LSU, Jones was on the team plane organizing her next build: a retro radio.

Whether you’re a seasoned builder or a novice eager to create, the retro radio is available for purchase on Lego.com, Target or Amazon.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Buy retro LEGO radio Zamareya Jones built during March Madness flight

Deion Sanders’ quest to play a spring football game against another team has been shot down by the NCAA, at least for this year.

NCAA rules currently forbid two teams playing each other in the spring. But the Colorado and Syracuse football programs applied for a waiver from the NCAA to play and practice against each other in April.

The NCAA’s Division I FBS oversight committee then met this week via videoconference and opposed the request, noting the late timing of it and how it would give the two schools a “competitive and recruiting advantage” to engage in activities that “no other institutions are permitted to do,” according to the committee’s report on the meeting.

The committee noted most schools already have planned their spring practice periods or completed it.

Sanders, Colorado’s football coach, wanted to play Syracuse in Boulder April 19 on ESPN2. His team instead will play itself in an intra-squad game that day at Folsom Field.

Who’s on this NCAA committee?

The committee includes Illinois head coach Bret Bielema. Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks, Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes, Miami (Fla.) athletic director Dan Radakovich and former Wyoming coach Craig Bohl, among others.

It noted that a spring game between two teams also would lead to players missing class time.

“The committee agreed to discuss, during a future meeting, a concept that could permit joint spring practices in future seasons,” the committee’s meeting report said.

BIG COMMITMENT: Deion Sanders gets big new contract from Colorado

Sanders had said in a news conference this month that he wanted to spice up his annual spring game by playing somebody else instead of practicing against each other.

“I would like to style it like the pros,” he said. “I’d like to go against someone (in practice) for a few days, and then you have the spring game. I think the public would be satisfied with that tremendously. I think it’s a tremendous idea.”

Syracuse coach Fran Brown then responded to Sanders’ idea on social media by saying he would take his team to Boulder for three days.

The committee’s meeting report indicated the request included a joint-contact practice session, a joint-noncontact practice session and an 11-on-11 scrimmage.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Deion Sanders’ quest to play Syracuse in spring game denied by NCAA

As Sean Miller begins assembling his first roster as head coach of the Texas Longhorns men’s basketball team, freshman guard Devon Pryor is expected to enter the NCAA transfer portal.

Pryor, appeared in seven games during the 2023–24 season, averaging 0.7 points and 1.0 rebounds in 3.5 minutes per game. The former three-star recruit reclassified academically to join the Longhorns early, enrolling at the University of Texas in fall 2023.

Following the loss to Xavier, Pryor spoke to the media to speak about his future with the team. The loss did lead to a change of coaches in Austin, with Sean Miller taking over. “I haven’t truly thought about the future,” Pryor said. “I definitely have some reflecting to do with everything going on around us, but the loss really stings right now.”

The 6-foot-7 wing recorded a season-high four rebounds in his collegiate debut against Incarnate Word on Nov. 6. He scored a season-best three points in a win over UNC Greensboro on Dec. 29 and added two points and one rebound against West Virginia on Feb. 10.

A product of PSAT-XEA Academy in Houston, Pryor was ranked No. 21 in Texas, No. 45 among small forwards and No. 209 nationally in the final 2023 class rankings by 247Sports. He also played for One Time Legends on the Adidas 3SSB circuit, coached by NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady. Pryor was born in El Paso and moved to the Houston suburb of Cypress at age 13.

The 30-day spring transfer window opened Monday, giving players across the country a chance to explore new opportunities ahead of the 2024–25 season. It’s unclear where Pryor may target, though Houston could be a potential landing spot for the native. Regardless, his destination is likely set in stone as he joined the transfer portal with a do-not contact tag.

This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Texas hoops player enters transfer portal as Miller era begins

The Golden State Warriors have had over 600 players don the more than 60 jersey numbers used by their players over the more than 75 years of existence the team has enjoyed in its rich and storied history.

Founded in 1946 during the Basketball Association of America (BAA — a precursor league of the NBA) era, the team has called home the cities of Philadelphia, San Francisco, Oakland, and even San Diego.

 To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Warriors Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. For this article, we begin with the first of 15 players who wore the No. 9 jersey for the Warriors.

That player would be Golden State forward alum Don Lofgran. After ending his college career at San Francisco, Lofgran was picked up with the 12th overall selection of the 1950 NBA draft by the (then) Syracuse Nationals (now, Philadelphia 76ers).

The Oakland, California native would play part of his first season of his pro career with the Nats, his contract sold to the (defunct) Indianapolis Olympians midway through the campaign. In 1952, he was dealt again, this time to the (then) Philadelphia (now, Golden State) Warriors.

His stay with the team would span a single season, ending when he joined the (then) Milwaukee (now, Atlanta) Hawks in 1953. During his time suiting up for the Warriors, Lofgran wore only jersey No. 9 and put up 7.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game.

This article originally appeared on Warriors Wire: Warriors jersey history – No. 9 – Don Lofgran (1952-53)

The Oklahoma City Thunder (and the Seattle Supersonics before them) have 51 jersey numbers worn by the players who have suited up for the franchise since its founding at the start of the 1967-68 season. To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Thunder Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team.

And while those Supersonics jerseys may not remain part of the franchise history should a new team be established in Seattle as was the case with the return of the Charlotte Hornets, they are part of the Thunder’s history today.

For this article, we continue with the 24th jersey number in the series, jersey No. 22, with 20 players in total having donned the jersey in the history of the franchise.

The first of those players did so in the Seattle SuperSonics era, big man alum Jim McIlvaine. After ending his college career at Marquette, McIlvaine was picked up with the 32nd overall selection of the 1994 NBA draft by the (then) Washington Bullets (now, Wizards).

The Racine, Wisconsin native would play the first 2 seasons of his pro career with Washington before he’d sign with Seattle in 1996. His stay with the team would span 2 seasons, ending when he was dealt to the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets in 1999.

During his time suiting up for the Sonics, McIlvaine wore only jersey No. 22 and put up 3.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Thunder jersey history No. 22 – Jim McIlvaine (1996-99)

The Brooklyn Nets have 52 jersey numbers worn by over 600 different players over the course of their history since the franchise was founded in 1967 as a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA), when the team was known as the “New Jersey Americans”.

Since then, that league has been absorbed by the NBA with the team that would later become the New York Nets and New Jersey Nets before settling on the name by which they are known today, bringing their rich player and jersey history with them to the league of today.

To commemorate the players who played for the Nets over the decades wearing those 52 different jersey numbers, Nets Wire is covering the entire history of the franchise’s jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. The 13th of those 52 different numbers is jersey No. 11 which has has had a total of 19 players wear the number in the history of the team.

The 17th of those players wearing No. 11 played in the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets era, guard alum Jacques Vaughn. After ending his college career at Kansas, Vaughn was picked up with the 27th overall selection of the 1997 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz.

The Los Angeles, California native would play the first 4 seasons of his pro career with the Jazz. He would also have stints with the Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, and Hawks again before he signed with New Jersey in 2004. His stay with the team would span 2 seasons, ending when he signed with the San Antonio Spurs in 2006.

During his time suiting up for the Nets, Vaughn wore only jersey No. 11 and put up 4.3 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets jersey history No. 11 – Jacques Vaughn (2004-06)