Tobin Heath Breaks Down The World Sevens Football Experience
Tobin Heath Breaks Down The World Sevens Football Experience | Full Time Podcast
It has been billed as women's football 'reimagined,' but with the inaugural edition behind us, what really is World Sevens Football (W7F) offering to the sport's global ecosystem? This week on Full Time, hosts Tamerra Griffin and Meg Linehan are joined by USWNT legend Tobin Heath to discuss her role in developing the innovative seven-a-side tournament as chair of the player advisory council. Why was W7F such a breath of fresh air for players, and how can it disrupt the status quo? Then The Athletic's Charlotte Harpur, joins the podcast to give her perspective from covering the W7F on the media side and the concerns regarding its hand-picked competing teams. Plus, Charlotte gives her inside view on Tuesday's sudden news that Mary Earps has retired from international soccer.
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Los Angeles Times
35 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
New Angel City coach Alex Straus sees communication as key to building winning culture
Alexander Straus was fewer than two weeks from his first training session as Angel City FC coach. Yet, Angel City president and co-founder Julie Uhrman wanted to see her new manager at work. She flew to Portugal, where Straus was completing his three-season stint as FC Bayern Munich coach — a club the 49-year-old Norwegian led to three consecutive Frauen-Bundesliga titles and a 57-7-2 league record. As Uhrman watched Straus coach Bayern Munich at the inaugural World Sevens Football tournament, she already was familiar with his technical acumen that was on display en route to a championship victory over Manchester United. That was not a surprise. But what caught Uhrman's attention was Straus' relationships with his players. 'What I saw was something that you don't get in an interview process and you don't read on the [curriculum vitae,]' Uhrman said. 'The connection he had with his teams was palpable. The way that they would celebrate him, the joy that they brought him, and vice versa, was just something you can't learn in an interview process and it's something that's so critical to Angel City.' So, when Straus, reserved and quiet until he opened his mouth, began to speak during his introductory news conference Wednesday morning as the third Angel City head coach in four seasons since inception — with Uhrman and sporting director Mark Parsons bookending him at the podium — he leaned on his beliefs. How Straus wants Angel City to play on the pitch, is the same as how he wants to interact with his players in the locker room — and the state-of-the-art performance center on Cal Lutheran University's campus. 'My philosophy is centered around people,' said Straus, who asked the media to 'bear with' his English after spending four years in Germany. 'I'm here to facilitate for our players to be able to go out on a pitch, have a clear plan and know how to execute it.' Straus continued: 'I need to know people, and I need to know what makes them tick. So how can I get the best out of Sarah Gorden or Christen Press or Riley Tiernan or Alyssa Thompson? How can I get the best out of them?' Earlier in his career, Straus said he overly cared about trophies, medals and success. In 2018, he said his worldview shifted. Straus — who said he considered previous coaching opportunities in America, but didn't feel the timing was right — realized he needed to craft bonds and relationships with his players to cultivate a positive team culture, one that could lead to championships. Uhrman saw the bonds on display in Portugal while Straus was still with Bayern Munich and Parsons has watched the baby steps Straus is taking with Angel City in his first few days as official coach. 'Through this process, Meeting 1 to Meeting 3, I just didn't think this person existed,' Parsons said, adding that during the coaching search he spoke to Straus' former players and staff. 'I really mean that I didn't believe this type of quality existed, and I couldn't be happier that we've got him here.' What stood out to Parsons, he said, was that even players who didn't play much under Straus — who may have left for better opportunities — would still speak positively about the clarity, confidence that Angel City's new coach provided them. Straus — and the Angel City backroom staff — are well aware that winning isn't an overnight process. The club sits in seventh place in NWSL standings with a 4-2-4 record. In some matches, Angel City has exerted control and played the style Parsons said he wants to see asserted. But in other matches, such as recent defeats to Bay FC and Racing Louisville, Angel City has faltered — often losing despite controlling possession. Uhrman stressed she wanted a coach who could help the team bounce back from defeat, or setbacks. She and Parsons believe Straus can do that. He doesn't take falling short lightly. When pushed on his UEFA Women's Champions League record since 2022 on Wednesday during a side media session, Straus spent six-and-a-half minutes breaking down why Bayern Munich fell short in the quarterfinals or group stages, adding what he learned from each losing experience. Straus said he's always open to talking. Angel City players, however, will only have a few more days to get to know the new coach before Straus takes the touchline Saturday at BMO Stadium against the Chicago Stars. 'One thing is to win one year, one game,' Straus said. 'But it needs to be consistent, and it needs to be built on a foundation where you are always the ones that have been spoken about when it comes to challenging for winning the championship.' 'That's why we are here, and that's what we want to do.'


New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Former Indiana basketball players accuse longtime team doctor of sexual misconduct
A growing number of former Indiana University men's basketball players are accusing a doctor who worked with the team for more than 20 years during the Bob Knight era of sexual misconduct. In October, former Hoosiers players Haris Mujezinovic and Charlie Miller sued the university and former head athletic trainer Tim Garl, alleging they 'had active knowledge' of team physician Dr. Bradford Bomba's conduct and that the university 'acted with deliberate indifference.' In April, former players John Flowers and Larry Richardson Jr. joined the suit. Attorney Michelle Simpson Tuegel told The Athletic on Wednesday that at least 10 more players plan to come forward in a separate upcoming filing. Advertisement ESPN first reported that 10 more players plan to proceed legally with a case. Simpson Tuegel did not put a timeline on when those players could file a lawsuit, saying she and her team were 'preparing and getting more information.' The four players who have filed suit so far said basketball players 'were routinely and repeatedly subjected to medically unnecessary, invasive, and abusive digital rectal examinations' (DREs) by Bomba, who worked with the team from the 1970s into the early 2000s. 'As a grown man it breaks my heart to think about what happened to me when I was a young, vulnerable, and trusting student excited to play basketball at Indiana University,' Mujezinovic said in a statement provided by attorney Kathleen Delaney. 'At the time I viewed myself as an adult, but now I realize looking at my own kids how young and powerless me and my teammates actually were. The adults within the basketball program who were entrusted with our care knew what was happening to us. They joked about and let it continue.' In response to a request for comment, Indiana referred The Athletic to a statement it made May 1, when it released a report from a review of the allegations by the law firm Jones Day. Indiana commissioned the report in September. In the report, Jones Day wrote that 'the evidence did not lead us to conclude that Dr. Bomba acted in bad faith or with an improper purpose when performing DREs while conducting thorough and complete (pre-participation physical examinations) of college-age student athletes.' The university filed its most recent response to the lawsuit filed by the four players on Monday, a brief arguing for the complaint to be dismissed because it falls outside of the statute of limitations. Bomba died on May 8 at the age of 89. He was deposed in December after the initial lawsuit was filed. During the 75-minute deposition, he asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 45 times to refuse to answer questions. In a civil lawsuit, the Fifth Amendment does not forbid inferences that the answer would have been incriminating if he had given it. Bomba testified that Garl, Indiana's head athletic trainer from 1981 until earlier this year, was the individual in charge of the medical team for the men's basketball players. In their lawsuit, the players said Garl directed them to see Bomba despite complaints about the examinations. Garl's attorneys have argued that he did not supervise Bomba in any 'relevant sense,' ESPN reported. Garl's attorney did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Advertisement Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson did not renew Garl's contract for a 45th season in March, stating he would like a 'fresh start' for the IU basketball sports medicine staff. After receiving a letter from a former player's legal counsel in August outlining allegations against Bomba, Indiana commissioned the Jones Day investigation in September. The firm interviewed 'close to 100' individuals and reviewed more than 100,000 pages of physical documents, the university said. Jones Day stated its findings supported Bomba to have acted in a 'clinically appropriate manner.' Investigators in the report noted that 'players would commonly joke or engage in what they characterized as 'locker room banter' regarding Dr. Bomba's DREs, including within earshot of one another and certain staff members.' Simpson Tuegel said the university's failures to appropriately respond to the allegations and the framing of the Jones Day report have driven more players to come forward. 'They tried to couch it as there was a lack of sexual intent, and we strongly disagree with that,' she said. As team doctor, Bomba was a presence at Indiana games, sitting next to Knight on the bench and traveling to most away games. He gained 'wide recognition' by fans, Jones Day wrote in its report. Former Indiana star Butch Carter, who went on to play and coach in the NBA, said in an affidavit in March that he complained to school officials multiple times about Bomba during Carter's senior season, which was in 1979. 'I fought with Coach Knight multiple times about any players being near Dr. Bomba, Sr. Coach Knight took no action to address my complaints that I'm aware of,' wrote Carter, who is not one of the four plaintiffs who have filed suit. Knight died on Nov. 1, 2023, at the age of 83. Knight's son Pat, who played for the Hoosiers from 1990 to 1995, said in the Jones Day report that Bomba was his family physician from a young age and that he received a DRE from the doctor while playing at the university. Pat Knight, currently the men's basketball coach at Marian University in Indianapolis, did not respond to a request for comment. Advertisement In recent years, former athletes at Michigan and Ohio State filed lawsuits against former trainers after the trainers had died, and years after the statute of limitations had expired. In the Ohio State case against Dr. Richard Strauss, who died by suicide in 2005, the school paid more than $60 million in settlements to 296 accusers from 2020 to 2022. In the Michigan case against former team doctor Robert Anderson, who died in 2008, the school finalized a $490 million settlement with more than 1,000 abuse survivors in 2022. Simpson Tuegel said she represented some of the men who accused Anderson of abuse, and noted it could be helpful for the jury in this Indiana case to have Bomba's deposition from before he died on record. Miller, one of the two former players who originally filed the lawsuit, said in a statement through Delaney that Bomba's death didn't 'weaken my desire to move forward.' 'We don't always get second chances to speak up,' he said. 'So I'm using mine now.' (Photo of Bomba, right, sitting next to Bob Knight, center: Jonathan Daniel / Allsport)


CNET
2 hours ago
- CNET
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for June 5 #255
Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles. Do you know the NBA forwards and backwards? If so, you'll score big on today's Connections: Sports Edition. Read on for hints and the answers. Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That's a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn't show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic's own app. Or you can continue to play it free online. Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta Hints for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups Here are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group. Yellow group hint: Hoops teams. Green group hint: B-ball characters. Blue group hint: Oklahoma players. Purple group hint: Indiana players. Answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups Yellow group: This year's NBA conference finalists. Green group: NBA mascots. Blue group: Thunder stars of years past. Purple group: Pacers stars of years past. Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words What are today's Connections: Sports Edition answers? The completed NYT Connections Sports Edition puzzle for June 5, 2025, #255. NYT/Screenshot by CNET The yellow words in today's Connections The theme is this year's NBA conference finalists. The four answers are Knicks, Pacers, Thunder and Timberwolves. The green words in today's Connections The theme is NBA mascots. The four answers are Benny, Boomer, Burnie and Rumble. The blue words in today's Connections The theme is Thunder stars of years past. The four answers are Durant, Harden, Ibaka and Westbrook. The purple words in today's Connections The theme is Pacers stars of years past. The four answers are George, Miller, O'Neal and Smits.