Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman is in some hot water after being arrested on family violence charges that stem from an incident in the early hours of the morning on June 3.

According to TMZ Sports, the NFL pass-catcher is accused of smashing the window of his ex-girlfriend’s car while his three-month-old child was inside the vehicle. Bateman allegedly used an object to break the windshield and driver’s side window of the car, which caused multiple small lacerations on the victim’s face.

Despite the incident and allegations, Bateman is allowed to see his ex after completing a class, and the no-contact order was removed.

Bateman’s lawyer, Jordan Siev, released a statement on the arrest, claiming the reports were being “sensationalized” and “out of context.”

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“It is unfortunate that a personal family situation has been taken completely out of context for sensational reasons,” he said in a statement to TMZ Sports. “We will let the court process play out, and the facts will come out at that time.”

The Ravens have also released a brief statement, acknowledging the incident but providing no further comment.

“We are aware of the situation involving Rashod and have been in direct communication with him. We notified the league office and have been cooperating throughout the process,” a spokesperson said. “As this is a pending legal matter, we will not have further comment.”

We’ll have to continue monitoring the situation to see what comes of the charges and allegations.

Last season, Bateman was limited to just 13 games, hauling in 19 catches for 224 yards and two touchdowns. It was the least productive season of his NFL career since 2022, which was his second year in the league.

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For a few weeks now, I have tied my enjoyment of Royals games to two factors. If Jac Caglianone has a good game, I’m happy. But also if Noah Cameron pitches well, I’m happy. Sure, there are lots of other fun players, lots of other important players, and wins are always nice. But these are the two I chose to focus on. And boy has it paid off.

Since July 24, no pitcher has a higher fWAR. No pitcher has thrown more innings. Only four starters have a lower ERA, only two have a lower xERA, and only three have a lower FIP. None have a lower FIP. He’s tied for 19th in K-BB%. Of the pitchers with a lower ERA, none have a lower SIERA. Only one of them is even close. Noah Cameron probably isn’t an ace long-term, but for a month, he’s pitched like one all the same.

Unfortunately, one of those pitchers who does edge out Noah in a few stats is tonight’s opposing starter, Troy Melton. That said, Melton has done it in less than 2/3 the innings with a lower strikeout rate, a higher walk rate, and more total hits – to say nothing of the rate.

Melton has faced the Royals once this year, in the game before Cameron’s bulk relief appearance that started this stretch. In that game, he went five innings and allowed two runs. The Tigers ultimately picked up the win thanks to another crummy day for the bullpen, but he was outdueled in that one by Randy Dobnak. It should be Noah’s turn now.

Oh, it’s also Player’s Weekend. So there will be fun bats all over the place. Can the Royals get a story like 2024 Dairon Blanco?

The Royals put Maikel Garcia back on the IL and demoted Carlos Duran back to Omaha. Matthew Lugo and Jose Cuas take their spots on the roster. Lugo will start on the bench for tonight, with Nick Loftin heading back to third, where he played for most of the time Garcia was out. But at least Jac Caglianone is back in the lineup! I mentioned on the podcast that I’d love to see Noah come up with the no-hitter this time out, and I think Jac Caglianone should go ahead and have his first career three-homer game, too. Am I asking for too much?

The gap between what happens on a WNBA court and the media conversation around the league has arguably never been wider.

As the league attempts to juggle the many controversies around it and its players, they have come so quickly and intensely that it is difficult for analysts to cut through with actual basketball commentary. The media instead is discussing transgender children, or white privilege, or Caitlin Clark’s temperament. Mostly, blame has been placed on the league office and commissioner Cathy Engelbert for failing to get a handle on the league’s outward-facing image.

Having played in the league for nearly two decades and now working in mainstream media, Hall of Famer Sue Bird sees it a bit differently.

In the latest episode of her Bird’s Eye View podcast, Bird defended WNBA management. The four-time league champion argued that the league is, even by its supposed defenders, getting held to a higher standard than Democratic politicians or others whose actual job it is to combat conservative talking points by Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.

“I’m very protective, I’ll start by saying, of the league, of the players … everything,” Bird said. “And I’m just like, part of me wants to go out publicly and be like, look at President Trump. Has anyone figured out, have the Democrats figured out, has anyone figured out how to not be manipulated by the way in which he does things and operates? And to me, I feel like the WNBA is expected to have figured this out. But how is the WNBA, overnight, supposed to figure (it) out? Nobody else can.

“So it’s just, there are times where I’m like, is the WNBA as a league, and by league I’m going to be specific and say league office, do they get too much flak for not being able to handle things that even politicians who are paid to handle these things can’t figure out?”

One explanation posed by ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Bird’s guest on the episode, is that there has been “less expression across all sports” politically during the second Trump administration. Whereas, according to Shelburne, the WNBA has been a more “willing participant” in the conversation around social issues because its players are less hesitant to speak out.

To Shelburne’s point, two of the noisier recent news cycles centered around comments made directly by Sophie Cunningham and Dijonai Carrington.

While Bird (who, it should be noted, is also an executive at USA Basketball and part owner of the Seattle Storm) took the point, she also explained that WNBA players became so outspoken because they often were forced to defend themselves and their existence as pro athletes against the same outside agitators who now want to manipulate the conversation around the league.

“For years, we had to engage,” Bird said. “We were told to shut up and dribble; athletes are told to shut up and dribble at that time and years prior. We would have loved to. We would have loved to shut up and dribble. But for us, for a very long time, it was never about basketball. Because I do personally think what was held up against us was the … intersectionality of it all. So we kind of had to speak on these things, and now it’s almost been, like, flipped.”

As an example, Bird recalled the 2020 Bubble season in Florida, when players helped shift the U.S. Senate election in Georgia toward the Democratic candidate, Rafael Warnock. They did so because the Republican incumbent, Kelly Loeffler, despite being a part owner of the league’s Atlanta Dream, painted the players as radicals for their support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

While Bird acknowledged there is no simple solution to the broader issues facing the WNBA as it attempts to break through into the mainstream, it is useful to understand this history. Players today (or at least some of them) are being told to pipe down so that the league can grow, while the league office is expected to navigate a minefield of hypercritical 24/7 right-wing news coverage that almost nobody in America has ever tamed. Left unsaid is that all the while, the players and what they represent will continue to be co-opted by reactionary figures.

The post Sue Bird defends WNBA response to right-wing news cycles: ‘For a very long time, it was never about basketball’ appeared first on Awful Announcing.

NASCAR has not sold the remaining property of the California Speedway, which shut down in 2023. Yesterday, a quitclaim deed surfaced on social media, indicating that NASCAR sold the rest of the property it was holding onto.

However, today’s reports say otherwise that NASCAR is still holding onto 90 acres of the California Speedway property. NASCAR previously sold 433 of the 522-acre property.

The new report that NASCAR has not sold its remaining property of California Speedway was brought to light by FOX motorsports reporter Bob Pockrass.

“It is my understanding NASCAR still has the parcel of land at Auto Club that it has had since it sold the majority of the property. The documents from May appear to be, from what I can tell, about an easement,” Pockrass wrote via X.

An easement is a legal right allowing for a property owner to allow someone else to use their land for limited purposes. Pockrass added on X that NASCAR made it clear that it was a cancelation of an easement rather than a selling.

“NASCAR confirms that it is a cancelation of an easement,” Pockrass wrote.

Yesterday, reports came out that NASCAR had sold the remaining property of the former 2.0-mile, D-shaped oval track in Fontana, California. Speedway Digest, a NASCAR news website, shared via X a quitclaim deed in a now-deleted post, believing that NASCAR has sold the property.

The quitclaim deed stated:

“FOR VALUABLE CONSIDERATION, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY, LIC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Grantor”). hereby REMISES, RELEASES AND QUITCLAIMS to SPEEDWAY SBC DEVELOPMENT, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Grantee”).”

Despite the confusion, it appears that NASCAR has not let go of California Speedway just yet.

When the California Speedway, also known as Auto Club Speedway, shut down in 2023, NASCAR did not want to give up the area.

The plans at the time were for NASCAR to create a “Next Gen California” project. Instead of the 2.0-mile oval, NASCAR’s plan was to tear down the track and create a high-banked, 0.5-mile short track in its place. NASCAR kept 90 acres of the property for blueprint and sold 433 acres.

However, efforts in the $300 million racing project paused in 2025. While NASCAR is holding onto the property, no reports on the status of the “Next Gen California” project have been given since early 2025.

The Cup Series raced at California Speedway 33 times, which spanned over four decades. Jimmie Johnson, a California native, was the winningest driver at the track with six victories.

The late Kyle Busch won the final race at Auto Club Speedway in 2023. It was his first of three wins driving for Richard Childress Racing.