Fever coach Stephanie White reveals she was fined over apparent criticism of WNBA officiating
Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White didn't mince words when sharing her thoughts on officiating in the WNBA, which followed Saturday's game where Caitlin Clark suffered a quad injury that will sideline the star guard for at least two weeks.
Apparently those strong remarks landed White in some trouble with the league.
After the Fever suffered a disappointing loss against the Washington Mystics in the team's first game without Clark, White was asked during the postgame presser whether she believed the league needed to step in to protect top players from "intentionally rough play."
"Obviously, I think we can get better in certain areas as far as how we call the game, consistency with how we call the game. . . . Are we going to say that we want a free-flowing offensive game, or are we going to have tough, grind-out physical games? And whatever way it is, the players will adjust and coaches will adjust but we can't have it be one way one quarter and another way another quarter."
She continued, "I don't think collectively as a whole the league has to step in and do something, I just think that there has to be some improvements in certain areas."
But when pushed further on what those areas might be, White revealed that her previous remarks – likely those on Saturday night – resulted in her receiving a fine.
"Are we trying to get me fined again? Because I did just get fined," she said with a smirk.
White did not elaborate further, but the fine likely stemmed from her comments following Saturday's loss to the New York Liberty.
"I think it's pretty egregious what's been happening to us the last four games, you know, a minus-31 free throw discrepancy," White said, adding she believed Clark was fined in the play of the game. "And I might be able to understand it if we were just chucking 3s. But we're not. We're attacking the rim and the disrespect right now for our team has been pretty unbelievable."
White said Monday that she was not sure when Clark sustained the injury exactly.
"Sometimes great players don't tell you when they're hurting," she said. "I'm glad that she did because we need to nip this in the bud."
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New York Times
32 minutes ago
- New York Times
USWNT match-worn jerseys to be auctioned off while they're being worn
In April, Trinity Rodman struck early for the U.S. Women's National Team against Brazil, with her first goal for the team since the 2024 Olympics. She received the ball from forward Alyssa Thompson and finished with a shot into the lower right corner of the net. It was her 11th goal for the national team. Advertisement While the crowd's cheers filled SoFi Stadium, they did not see what happened in the locker room at halftime. Rodman's sweat-soaked, mud-streaked jersey was carefully collected by the team's equipment manager and placed in a sealed container bound for a warehouse in Amsterdam with eight other jerseys. These belonged to her teammates: Lindsey Heaps, Catarina Macario, Tara McKeown, Emily Fox, Allyson Sentnor, Phallon Tullis-Joyce, Crystal Dunn and Sam Coffey. Almost three months later, on Saturday, the jersey was sold for $1,833 on an online marketplace that auctions signed match-worn shirts from around the world. The Dutch company collaborates with over 300 soccer clubs and federations across 35 countries, and it has just signed a deal with both U.S. national teams. During the USWNT's friendly against China in Minnesota on Saturday, the platform will launch its first live auction tied to a match. Every jersey worn will be up for grabs. The deal with U.S. Soccer and the USWNT Players Association also covers player-worn kits from all international tournaments moving forward, including the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, and the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil. The idea of selling worn jerseys came to brothers and co-founders Bob and Tijmen Zonderwijk in 2016 while they were searching for a special gift for their father, a die-hard Ajax supporter, who was moving across the country for work. They wanted to get him a match-worn, signed jersey from one of his favorite players to hang in his new office. At the time, the only option was the annual club auction. After a year trying to convince Dutch clubs of their new idea, one finally gave in: FC Twente, where Dutch captain Jill Roord recently signed. 'We pitched the idea there, and the guy was quiet for the entire hour. After that, he said, 'Hey, it sounds like a win-win. When can we start?' So we were like, 's***, this is happening!'' Bob Zonderwijk told The Athletic. Advertisement In addition to a handful of USWNT and USMNT jerseys, the company's warehouse in Amsterdam is home to about 9,000 match-worn jerseys. Historically, the locker room and those sweat-soaked jerseys are sacred for players. Most keep them. Some toss them to fans. Others trade them with opponents. Either way, they're prized. The Zonderwijk brothers, lifelong soccer fans, knew better than to mess with that. 'We don't want to interfere with those traditions,' Tijmen Zonderwijk said. So they found a workaround: they collect only first-half jerseys. 'Players are free to do whatever they want with the second-half kits — keep them, swap them, toss them into the stands,' he explains. Which means the Rodman jersey that just sold is certified and guaranteed to be the very shirt she scored in. Operationally, every club is structured differently but MatchWornShirt's co-founders realized that to streamline their operations, they had to work with the most important person in the room: the kit managers. Last year, they hosted the first European conference of kit managers in Amsterdam, inviting 180 club representatives and 90 kit managers from partner clubs. 'The good thing about kitmen is that they are structured and reliable. They have their own protocols and once we become part of that protocol, we are all good,' Tijmen explained. This is especially crucial when it comes to getting the jerseys cleaned. Or rather, not cleaned. Instead of soap and water, the jerseys are treated with UVC light, a method that breaks down any lingering DNA to protect the player's health data but preserves the emotion: the grass stains, the wear and tear, even a trace of the smell. 'Eighty percent of the smell is reduced, but the smell is always there. It's also what makes it authentic,' Tijmen said. 'If it smelled like flowers, then people might also question the authenticity.' Advertisement Once the jerseys are cleaned, the process of authentication starts: using match footage, they check how patches are printed to match them to the player wearing them. Then they chip the shirts with NFC (Near Field Communication) chips that carry a unique ID to certify their authenticity. NFC, commonly used for non-contact payments, uses close-range wireless technology to communicate between devises. So far, the highest price paid for a women's match-worn shirt belongs to Sophia Smith's (now Wilson) No. 9 jersey that she wore while scoring in Portland Thorns' 2-0 NWSLchampionship win over Kansas City Current in 2022. It sold for $9,507 (£7,062). On the men's side, the most expensive jersey auctioned on the site was worn by Lionel Messi from his final season playing for Paris Saint-Germain. The winning bid was $58,000. MatchWornShirt did not share how the money gets split between them and the clubs, as the company doesn't disclose specific contract terms. But each partnership is tailored to reflect the commercial and charitable priorities of the teams and organizations involved. In the case of the U.S. Soccer, the deal includes both the federation and the respective players' associations. That means the proceeds are shared, and players get a cut. According to USWNT Players Association's agreement with the players, the PA receives payment from licenses like MatchWornShirt and players receive royalties. According to their financial statements from 2023, the organization paid its members $1,059,963 in royalties which amounts to 34.7 percent of the total revenue. The U.S. Women's National Team Players Association's (USWNTPA) Department of Labor report from 2024 shows that in 2023 former U.S. forward Alex Morgan took home the most in overall royalties ($167,593). Wilson ($74,232) and Rodman ($41,643) weren't far behind. 'With so many newcomers earning their first caps for the USWNT, these jerseys carry deep significance,' Annie Mitchell-Reid, the director of strategic partnerships and business at USWNTPA, told The Athletic. 'Think of sisters Alyssa and Gisele Thompson making their debuts side by side, and others who will wear the stars and stripes for the first time or even the last time. There are so many amazing moments to come that fans can have a tangible piece of.' But what happens if a jersey doesn't sell at one of MatchWorn's auctions? The Zonderwijks are not worried. 'We've never not sold a jersey,' Tijmen said with a grin.
Forbes
34 minutes ago
- Forbes
A New Documentary Reveals Why America May Need A Birthing Revolution
A movement may be underway that offers a path toward a birthing revolution that works from within ... More the current healthcare system. If the U.S. spends more money on maternal healthcare than most other high-income nations, why does it also have the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality comparatively? More than 80% of maternal deaths in the country are likely preventable, according to the CDC. Racial disparities persist, with Black women being two to three times more likely than white women to die during childbirth. Roughly one in three births in the U.S. are C-sections, yet the World Health Organization deems the ideal rate to be between 10 and 15 percent. While the challenges are multifaceted and there is no single solution, the statistics indicate that America is in need of a birthing revolution. A movement may be underway that offers a path toward a birthing revolution that works from within the current healthcare system. It's being illuminated in a paradigm-shifting documentary called Fear and Now that premiers in June 2025 at Dances With Films festival in Los Angeles. Liat Ron during her second pregnancy reading about the method of hypnobirthing. It begins with film director Liat Ron sharing her unacknowledged traumatic first birth experience. 'It was a cascade of interventions and forced protocols; I had no control over what was happening to me,' says Ron in the film. The documentary also describes her mission to overcome her extreme fear of birth for her second pregnancy. This mission led Ron to discover the transformative power of hypnobirthing, which gives women a myriad of tools including breathing, relaxation, and visualization techniques, and accounts for both the physical and psychological well-being of the mother. The method reduces and even eliminates the fear-tension-pain cycle to help create a more gentle, enjoyable birth process. Director Liat Ron while filming "Fear and Now." The profound impact this particular method had on Ron to release fear and trauma and enable her second birthing experience to be enjoyable sparked her to embark upon a journey across the country to document the stories of parents, medical professionals, and birth workers who are also using hypnobirthing to put women back at the center of their birthing experience. 'I led myself to the dream birth I didn't know was possible, and that we all deserve to have. It changed my life,' says Ron. 'I do believe it is the best kept secret in the birthing world, but it's about time we all know what hypnobirthing really is. It's time we all have access to this birthing choice, if we decide it is for us.' Teneha Smith, DNP, FNP-BC, RNFA, is a mother of three based in Orlando, Florida who shares her story in Fear and Now. I spoke to Smith who recounts how she had a near death experience during her first birth, and it took her 15 years before she could even consider becoming pregnant again. 'During my first [birthing experience], things happened so quickly out of my control,' says Smith. 'It's like I was standing beside myself watching all these things happen to me. It really traumatized me. I love my daughter and I was thankful for her, but after what I had gone through I told myself I would never do this again. I'm a type A personality. I like to be in control. I like to have things organized. And that experience completely broke me down.' Smith said her husband had been talking about wanting to have more children for years, and she kept avoiding it until she got to the point where she did not want to let her first birthing experience overcome her and keep her from having more children. However, since she'd had her first daughter she had gone into the medical field to become a nurse practitioner, and was required to be present for births during her ob-gyn rotations. 'It just made my fear of birthing worse because it is like all the drama that you see on television,' she says. 'I knew there had to be another method, because my mother had all three of her children naturally.' Smith came across the hypnobirthing method in her research, and at first was skeptical. 'It sounded mystical, like a spell was being cast or something,' she says. 'I did my research, and I found it wasn't Voodoo or something crazy, but it was really about the power of the mind.' Teneha Smith shares her birthing story with Liat Ron while filming for the "Fear and Now" ... More documentary. Smith says she appreciated how hypnobirthing also educates about the physical aspects of giving birth, such as how the uterus works and the way endorphins are released. But the focus is on how your mindset controls your body. 'The mind is powerful,' says Smith. 'Think about the placebo effect and how a patient who believes a pill will make them better often does in fact feel better while taking the placebo just from the power of the mind. So I embraced that.' Smith went to the hypnobirthing class two times before she was even pregnant just to get her mind right, and then took the classes a third time once she became pregnant. She credits hypnobirthing with enabling her to have her next two births without an epidural or pain medication and to feel more in control of her birthing experience. 'Hypnobirthing teaches you to go within yourself, and to find your strength, whatever it is,' says Smith. 'For me, it was my faith in God. For other people it might be something else. But that's how I honestly overcame my fear of birth. And my support system.' Some research shows that pregnant people who learn hypnobirthing techniques are less likely to need medical interventions such as C-sections, and their delivery periods are shorter. Other research finds links between hypnobirthing and reduced labor pain and lower rates of postpartum depression. Delisa Skeete Henry, M.D., a board certified obstetrician and gynecologist of more than 20 years and owner of Serene Health OB-GYN & Wellness in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who is also featured in Fear and Now, says she discovered hypnobirthing from a patient during her early years in private practice. Though it was the first time she heard of the method, she did her research and supported her patient's choice to leverage hypnobirthing, along with having a doula, for an unmedicated birth. Since that experience, Dr. Skeete Henry, who does only hospital deliveries except during COVID, has continued to support women who want to use hypnobirthing, as well as other support strategies such as working with a doula and writing a birth plan. She says her practice's goal is to take a more holistic approach to prepare and educate women about what birth is, versus simply measuring the belly and listening to the baby. "Fear and Now" director Liat Ron filming during COVID with Dr. Skeete Henry and her team at Serene ... More Health OB-GYN & Wellness. 'I've seen through hypnobirthing when women are able to accomplish—either intentionally or unintentionally—that euphoria, that joy, that burst of hormones,' says Dr. Skeete Henry. 'It empowers them. I think that an empowered mom who has been able to achieve something so amazing is going to be a better mom, a better partner, just a better person in society. Even if you're planning medication, planning for an epidural, or have to do a C-section, the hypnobirthing philosophy and education in my mind makes the whole process so much easier.' It's important to note that interventions such as C-sections and inductions aren't always unnecessary and they can create positive outcomes and save lives. However, research finds that fewer interventions are needed when women have more autonomy in their birthing experience, such as by feeling they're able to make choices that are best for them in collaboration with their care providers, practice pain and anxiety management methods such as hypnobirthing, and have labor support such as a doula. 'We absolutely need medical professionals, but when it comes to certain things such as giving birth, you'll get a better experience and outcome if you collaborate with your doctor versus giving them full power and full authority over your birth story,' says Kymaletha Brown, LPC, MA, a mother of two based in Detroit, and a clinical mental health counselor, doula, and hypnobirthing educator. 'You know what's going on in your body. You're the one who's experiencing it. So it's important to get in tune with what you're experiencing, and take that power and align yourself mentally and physically. This will help you be more likely to have a safe, comfortable, and informed birth.' One of a myriad of reasons birthing women in America may experience higher intervention rates, such as inductions and C-sections, is that doctors may feel more in control of the outcome or perceive lower risks by performing an intervention. Dr. Lorne Campbell, M.D., who practiced family medicine in Johnson City, New York tells Ron in Fear and Now that doctors have developed a culture of fear of birthing, because we live in a litigious society and they're afraid of lawsuits. He also shares in the film how hypnobirthing changes the paradigm because the doctor's role becomes more of a support person rather than the driver. 'It's a completely mind-altering experience to be there with a woman and realize that if I put her in control, I get better outcomes than if I do it myself.' The beauty of hypnobirthing is that it is a method that all birthing people can use, regardless of whether a woman is having a home or hospital birth, a medication-free birth or an epidural. 'The goal of hypnobirthing is not to grunt or power through labor so you can say, 'I did it without an epidural.' The idea is to labor with the least amount of intervention so that mom and baby are safe, and it's as pleasant an experience as possible,' says Smith. Hypnobirthing teaches people mindset techniques, but it's also a holistic method that addresses everything from nutrition to having the right support system. 'It takes everything in you to give birth,' says Smith. 'You're in a vulnerable position. If you're not surrounded with the correct team that shares the same understanding and belief system that you do, you will bend to what others tell you to do no matter how strong you are.' Smith says using hypnobirthing for her second and third deliveries helped her move from labor being traumatic to being a very empowering experience. 'It wouldn't have happened that way if my husband wasn't on board, or if my doula wasn't on board, and if I had not spoken to my midwife and let her know this is the way I wanted things to go,' Smith says. A challenge is that in American medical culture rather than viewing birth as a natural process to stay out of unless there's a need for an intervention, it's viewed as a medicalized process. Fear and Now reveals how hypnobirthing is one method that can take something that's medicalized and scary, and turn it into an empowering experience. 'It can turn labor into something that you can look back on with pleasure and share it with your children versus it being like every other birth horror story that we always hear about,' says Smith. 'I really want birthing to be a positive, life-changing experience for women, and not what it has become in America today.' While Fear and Now focuses specifically on hypnobirthing as a cornerstone of the maternal healthcare revolution, the heart of the documentary's message is about women being in the driver's seat of their birthing experience. If women are able to experience birthing from a place of empowerment rather than a place of fear, it could have a ripple effect of impacting how they show up across other areas of their life—and be a gift they give to the next generation. It's about tapping into inner strength, resilience, and ultimately, joy. 'I hope the film brings to light that there are options for birth,' says Dr. Skeete Henry. 'I hope more women are able to at least explore hypnobirthing, and I hope more women are empowered to speak up for themselves."
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
9-1-1 Season 9: Burning Questions We Need Answered This Fall, From Athena's Next Steps to Buck's Big Move
It's been more than two weeks since 9-1-1 wrapped one of its most series-defining seasons yet (for better or worse), but that doesn't mean I've stopped thinking about the 118. In fact, the more time passes, the more time I've had to wonder how Season 9 could play out for each of our our fire-fighting favorites this fall. Without any concrete insight from showrunner Tim Minear (yet), it remains anyone's guess what the future holds for the 118 as they continue to find their way forward in the wake of Bobby's death. So what are we left to do in this situation? Why, wildly speculate, of course! More from TVLine 'Bonkers!': Ginnifer Goodwin Reflects on Once Upon a Time Musical Episode Anniversary - WATCH As Doctor Odyssey's Fate Hangs in the Balance, Joshua Jackson Thanks John Oliver for Viral Season 2 Renewal Plea General Hospital Recasts Michael: Former Y&R Actor Rory Gibson Replaces Chad Duell The season may have ended on a positive note for several characters (Maddie gave birth, Hen and Karen formally adopted Mara, the Diaz boys moved back Los Angeles, etc.), but it also left just as many characters at a crossroads, from Athena selling her house to Buck begrudgingly vacating Eddie's couch. Read on for the eight burning questions I have ahead of Season 9, including at least one I'm sure you'll hate, then drop a comment with your own queries below. This feels like one of the biggest question marks on our list. When Athena put her house on the market and drove away in the Season 8 finale, it felt like more than just a farewell to a plot of land. She was leaving her life with Bobby in the rearview, headed towards a fresh start. But what, exactly, does that mean for Athena? Where will she live? Will she remain a sergeant with the LAPD, or might she follow a new calling? And even though I feel like it's way too soon to think about this… might she still have another great love story left in her someday? Maddie's first pregnancy back in Season 5 led to a powerful storyline about postpartum depression, one which nearly cost Jennifer Love Hewitt's character her life. The Season 8 finale ended with the joyous birth of Maddie and Chimney's son, Robert 'Bobby' Nash Hahn, but it's hard not to worry about that joy being short-lived. Here's hoping Maddie has a much easier time with baby No. 2 — that poor woman has already been through enough! Speaking of people who have been through enough already, Season 8 ended on an extremely positive note for the Wilsons, as Hen and Karen officially adopted Mara into their family. But there's that word, 'family.' 9-1-1 seems to take a special delight in putting this particular family in jeopardy, whether it's via the return of a problematic biological parent, the menacing tactics of a vengeful councilwoman, or just the occasional freak accident that puts one or more of their lives in danger. So while I'm always relieved to see Hen and Karen enjoying even a fleeting moment of happiness, I can't help but wonder what future nightmares Season 9 has in store for them. Once Hen passed on the promotion to captain of the 118, Chimney became the next logical choice to fill Bobby's turnout gear — especially after that powerful finale speech. But just because Hen accidentally called him 'cap,' that doesn't mean the job is officially his… yet. Will he finally sign on the dotted line in the Season 9 premiere, or is this something he'll have to fight for? If the latter, who would he be up against? Season 8 finally gave Buddie fans what they've always wanted — Buck and Eddie living together under the same roof. Unfortunately, that dream turned out to be short-lived, as the finale ended with Buck moving out to find a place of his own. It was obvious that he didn't want to leave, telling his realtor that he liked how lived-in his last place felt, so there's always a chance he could end up back at Chateau Diaz. The only question is: would the show really be that good to us? Like all 9-1-1 viewers, I've had a soft spot for Ravi ever since his 'probie' days. And by the end of Season 8, he was really beginning to feel like a full-time member of the team — nay, a full-time member of the family. Heck, he was front and center for some of the season's most formative moments, from the death of Bobby to the birth of… also Bobby. This leaves me to wonder: when will 9-1-1 finally give actor Anirudh Pisharody a well-deserved promotion, potently revealing more about Ravi in the process? With Rescue: HI-Surf cancelled at Fox, Arielle Kebbel is now available to return to the 118's orbit, and I wouldn't hate that one bit. Besides being a Kebbel stan since the days of John Tucker Must Die, I've always considered Lucy to be an under-explored character with a lot of potential. Plus, once considered a viable love interest for Buck, Lucy would undoubtedly have a memorable reaction to the news of his recent bisexual awakening. Much like the show itself, I've had a complicated relationship with Buddie over the years. The spark between Buck and Eddie has been obvious since the latter joined the 118 in Season 2, but as time progressed, I began to give up hope. When Buck came out as bisexual in Season 7, however, everything changed. The idea of him and Eddie finally seeing what fans have seen for years was no longer a pipe dream, but rather a very real possibility. And Season 8 marked another undeniable milestone on the road to Buddieville, when Maddie asked her brother point blank if he's in love with his best friend. Buck denied having feelings for Eddie, of course, but his actions continue to speak otherwise. And they speak loudly. After cruelly taking Bobby from us, the least 9-1-1 can do now is give us Buddie in exchange. Is that really so much to ask? Best of TVLine Summer TV Calendar: Your Guide to 85+ Season and Series Premieres Classic Christmas Movies Guide: Where to Watch It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, Die Hard and Others What's New on Netflix in June
