March 2025
Rangers 0-2 Fenerbahce (3-2 pens): Analysis
Tension, drama, nerves, this Europa League second leg tie wasn’t for the faint hearted.
At the end of the second half, it looked like there was only going to be one winner as Fenerbache headed into extra time on top. But Rangers dug deep and they found a renewed energy for much of extra time.
The nerves during the spot kicks were something else but Rangers and Jack Butland were equal to the pressurised task.
Rangers did make life hard for themselves though, given their lead from the first leg, and how they played for the majority of the first half of this one, they allowed Fenerbahce back into this tie and the visitors’ confidence only grew.
Their goal just before half-time gave them a huge boost, there’s no question about that. It had the opposite effect on Rangers.
The visitors came out for the second 45 firing on all cylinders, piling on the pressure. Rangers, on the other hand, lost their confidence and their dominance. For the majority of the first half they played with energy and intent, their failure to score from decent positions though was an issue, and it almost came back to haunt them.
When Fenerbahce grabbed their second goal of the night, it was deserved, they were the better side and left Rangers’ Europa League hopes hanging by a thread.
The equaliser set up a tense watch for the Rangers fans, the Turkish side were oozing confidence, Rangers were sloppy when they did see the ball.
In extra time, Rangers offered more. Vaclav Cerny forced a brilliant save, and suddenly there was some hope.
When it went to penalties you fancied Rangers, and Jack Butland more than played his part to cap a brilliant night for the Ibrox side.
A great achievement as they march on in Europe.
De’Aaron Fox to undergo season-ending surgery on pinkie as Spurs’ injury woes continue
The San Antonio Spurs lost one star in Victor Wembanyama last month. They just lost another.
Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox will undergo season-ending surgery Tuesday for tendon damage in his left pinkie, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The injury has reportedly been a season-long issue for Fox, who sustained it in training camp with the Sacramento Kings in October.
The Spurs acquired Fox at the trade deadline last month after the All-Star requested a trade from Sacramento, with San Antonio as his reported preferred destination.
As Charania puts it, the decision is designed to expedite Fox’s rehab and give him a chance to work with the Spurs’ roster in the offseason. Viewed from a different angle, the Spurs decided Fox being available for the offseason was more important than the current regular season, in which they have little left to play for.
Wembanyama was ruled out for the season on Feb. 20 after he was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder, taking nearly every gust of wind out of the Spurs’ sails following the Fox trade. The team is 3-8 since that day and currently sits in 12th place in the West at 27-37.
David Berding via Getty Images
With no Wembanyama, the team is more incentivized to lose as many games as it can and hope a shiny new Cooper Flagg falls into its lap, rather than push for a berth in the play-in tournament. Having Fox undergo surgery that has been bothering him all season, but wasn’t preventing him from posting his usual numbers, fits into that dynamic.
When both players are healthy, Fox figures to be a great complement to Wembanyama’s other-worldly talent. He just didn’t have a chance to do that for more than five games this season.
Gerrit Cole’s UCL surgery includes internal bracing, but typical recovery timeframe stands for Yankees ace
Yankees ace Gerrit Cole is missing the 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery but the procedure also includes an internal brace.
Now, while there is a UCL procedure that uses an internal brace instead of the traditional Tommy John surgery, a Yankees spokesman told The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty that Cole had full UCL reconstruction surgery in addition to the internal brace.
In this case, the internal brace is being used to fortify the elbow and the typical recovery timeframe stands.
The recovery time for Tommy Johns is typically 14-18 months. If Cole had the internal brace procedure and not the traditional UCL surgery, it would have shortened his recovery to around 12 months.
So, as of now, Cole’s return could be held off until a few months into the 2026 season.
If Cole were to miss the start of the 2026 season, the ace and Yankees are accustomed to that as well. Cole misseed roughly the first three months of the 2024 season with inflammation in his right elbow but returned to pitch with a 3.41 ERA across 95 innings over 17 starts when he returned in June. However, the Yankees will have to find a way to navigate this year without their ace and Luis Gil for a stretch as the reigning AL Rookie of the Year deals with an oblique strain.
Without Cole and Gil, the Yankees’ starting rotation will include Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt, and Marcus Stroman, with the No. 5 spot on the starting staff likely coming down to Will Warren, Allan Winans, or Carlos Carrasco.
Fear and resignation after ‘world’s most powerful company’ pays Trump a $100 billion ‘protection fee’
Mets’ Edwin Diaz has ‘better’ spring outing against Red Sox: ‘From the first pitch, there was conviction’
It’s been an inconsistent spring for Edwin Diaz, but he bounced back in a big way for the Mets on Thursday.
Although it came in a losing effort, Diaz was sharp making his third spring training outing. After the Mets closer gave up a leadoff double, he retired the next three batters on a fly out, swinging strikeout and another fly out — he threw 18 pitches (12 strikes).
“Better,” Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza said of Diaz’s outing. “From the first pitch, there was conviction. It’s spring training. The first couple of outings, you felt like after a couple of guys got on, that was when he was letting the ball go. Today, we saw it from the first pitch. Even though he gave up that double, he had to work today, make pitches and there was much more conviction behind it.”
Diaz’s first outing came back on March 6 against the Astros, where he allowed two runs on two hits and one walk, recording just one out. The All-Star closer was unfazed by his performance, calling it just “part of the game.”
His next time out (March 9 against the Nationals), Diaz struck out three batters but walked two in his inning of work. It took him 27 pitches to retire the side.
Thursday was a different story. Diaz was efficient and attacked the zone. However, his fastball saw a dip in velocity. The 30-year-old’s fastball averaged 95 mph and topped out around 96 mph. His final heater was clocked at 92 mph.
Mendoza was asked about Diaz’s velocity and whether he was concerned.
“Nah, it’ll come up,” he said. “I’m not worried about that.”
If all is right with Diaz, the Mets should have a formidable backend of the bullpen with A.J. Minter making his impressive spring debut on Wednesday. The left-hander, who signed a two-year deal, pitched a perfect inning on just 10 pitches.
Minter had a delayed start to camp after recovering from offseason hip surgery.
Dedniel Núñez, who was impressive out of the Mets’ bullpen last season, got through a two inning live BP session earlier this week “ok,” per Mendoza. The skipper added that Núñez’s next step will be making his spring debut on Monday against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Mets’ next game is hosting the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.
Nebula’s Smallest Portable Projector Is $130 Off Right Now
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
Anker has been on a roll slashing prices off their portable projectors, with the powerful Mars 3 Air reaching its lowest price earlier this month, the mid-size Nebula Capsule 3 still at its lowest price, and now their smallest portable projector, the Nebula Capsule Air down to $269.99 (originally $399.99) after a $100 discount and a 10% on-page coupon on Amazon. This is the lowest price this portable projector has been, according to price-tracking tools.
Portable projectors, obviously, must work independently of an outlet and be easy to cart around. The Nebula Capsule Air can do both, measuring just 5.5 by 2.7 by 2.7 inches (HWD)—that’s slightly bigger than a regular soda can. The battery isn’t great, but considering the size, two hours is fine (you’ll be able to watch most movies in one shot). Where this projector falls short is on the brightness, reaching a mere 150 ANSI lumens. That means you need to get your space dark if you want to see a good image. If you have ambient light outdoors and you’re hoping to use this projector, it might be washed out. The native resolution is also just 720p, although it supports 1080p input in HDR.
PCMag gave this projector an “excellent” rating on their review, pointing out how the HDR makes shadows look much better, gave it props for the Google TV OS (which is my favorite since it lets you seamlessly cast your phone to the projector), and praising the twist-on stand that allows you to position the image easily on your screen or wall.
Portable projectors need good keystone, since by their very nature, they will be moved a lot and the image will be constantly out of focus. The Nebula Capsule Air has an excellent keystone, with autofocus and automatic horizontal and vertical adjustments.
If you’re looking for the smallest reliable projector at a great price, the Nebula Capsule Air projector is a great choice.
Intel’s New CEO Thrills Wall Street. There’s Still a Lot of Work Ahead.
Mets’ Jeff McNeil to open season on injured list with oblique strain
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — New York Mets All-Star infielder Jeff McNeil will open the season on the injured list because of a strained right oblique.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Thursday that the 2022 big league batting champion has a low grade strain. McNeil won’t participate in baseball activities for a week to 10 days and likely will be sidelined for three to four weeks.
“It’s low-grade, he felt it after playing a couple of days ago,” Mendoza said. “He came in sore, we gave him 24 hours and yesterday same thing so we decided to have imaging and it shows that strain.”
The 32-year-old McNeil hit .238 with 12 homers and 44 RBIs last year. His right wrist was broken on Sept. 6 when hit by a pitch from Cincinnati’s Brandon Williamson, and McNeil returned for the NL Championship Series.
McNeil played the majority of the season at second base, but also spent time in both corner outfield positions.
New York has had a series of injuries during spring training.
Catcher Francisco Alvarez broke his left hand during batting practice on Saturday and is expected to be out six to eight weeks. Left-hander Sean Manaea (oblique), right-hander Frankie Montas (lat) and infielder Nick Madrigal (fractured shoulder) also will miss the start of the season. Madrigal could be out all year.
Tampa Bay Rays withdraw from planned $1.3 billion ballpark in St. Petersburg, citing storms, delays
CHIMCHIME, ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES – 2024/10/13: (EDITORS NOTE: Image taken with drone) In this aerial view, the domed roof at Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, is seen ripped to shreds from Hurricane Miltonís powerful winds in St. Petersburg. The storm passed through the area on October 10, 2024, making landfall as a Category 3 hurricane in Siesta Key, Florida. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
SOPA Images/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays withdrew Thursday from a $1.3 billion project to construct a new ballpark adjacent to Tropicana Field, citing a hurricane and delays that likely drove up the proposal’s cost.
The team issued a statement by principal owner Stuart Sternberg saying “a series of events” in October, which included severe damage to the the Trop and financing delays, led to what he called “this difficult decision.”
“After careful deliberation, we have concluded we cannot move forward with the new ballpark and development project at this moment,” Sternberg said.
Displaced from the Trop in St. Petersburg, the Rays are set to play their home games this season across Tampa Bay at the New York Yankees’ spring training home, 11,000-seat Steinbrenner Field. Meanwhile, repairs are envisioned to the Trop, including replacing its roof shredded by Hurricane Milton, that would have it ready for the 2026 season.
“Major League Baseball remains committed to finding a permanent home for the club in the Tampa Bay region for their fans and the local community,” MLB said in a statement. “Commissioner (Rob) Manfred understands the disappointment of the St. Petersburg community from today’s announcement, but he will continue to work with elected officials, community leaders, and Rays officials to secure the club’s future in the Tampa Bay region.”
The Trop opened in 1990 and has been the Rays’ home since they took the field in 1998. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, a driving force behind what was dubbed the “Here To Stay” initiative aimed at keeping the Rays in the city for another 30 years, said the decision was disappointing but “it is not unexpected.” It is also possible the Rays could be sold, he noted.
“If in the coming months a new owner, who demonstrates a commitment to honoring their agreements and our community priorities emerges, we will consider a partnership to keep baseball in St. Pete. But we will not put our city’s progress on hold as we await a collaborative and community-focused baseball partner,” Welch said.
Under their current contract with the city of St. Petersburg, the Rays would play three more seasons at their existing ballpark after it is repaired. Beyond that, the team’s future in the Tampa Bay area is uncertain. MLB and the Rays could evaluate attendance and fan interest during the team’s season at Steinbrenner Field as they consider alternate sites.
“The opportunity to play on the Tampa side could give insights into the Tampa Bay market as a whole that could be useful for the club moving forward,” Manfred said during a Wednesday interview with The Associated Press.
For now, the Rays are set to return to the Trop after a year across the bay.
“The City of St. Petersburg is currently advancing plans to restore Tropicana Field for the 2026 season,” Sternberg said. “We are thankful for their efforts and are excited to return to our home field next spring.”
The proposed 30,000-seat stadium is a signature piece of a broader $6.5 billion revitalization project known as the Historic Gas Plant District, which refers to a predominantly Black neighborhood that was forced out by construction of the Trop and an interstate highway spur.
Supporters say the development would transform an 86-acre (34-hectare) tract in the city’s downtown, with plans for a Black history museum, affordable housing, entertainment venues, plus office and retail space — and the promise of thousands of jobs.
That broader project, counting on the Rays ballpark to be an anchor, is also in limbo with this decision.
The Rays had faced a March 31 deadline to decide whether to continue with the new ballpark project. Under the agreement previously approved by the city and Pinellas County, the governments would cover about half the cost of the $1.3 billion stadium, with the Rays and their development partner Hines covering the rest, including any cost overruns.
The Rays previously said a delayed vote in October on the final financing plan by the Pinellas County Commission was a factor increasing projected costs beyond the team’s funding ability. The city already has approved its financing.