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New York Times
21 minutes ago
- Business
- New York Times
Luis Enrique's guiding light, Chelsea complete Euro set, Liga MX's legal battle
The Athletic FC ⚽ is The Athletic's daily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox. Hello! There's a star flickering in Luis Enrique's sky, ready to go with him to Munich. On the way: How do sportspeople suffer tragedy or loss without involuntarily losing their edge? When life changes, does perspective change with it — reducing their profession to a less consequential level? These are questions you could put to Luis Enrique. Indeed, they are questions he has answered. Paris Saint-Germain's manager suffered the greatest loss of all in 2019, the death of his daughter, Xana. She was nine years old when she passed away, from bone cancer. She was — and is — his guiding light. Advertisement Jack Lang's eulogy — beginning with a haunting photo (below) of Xana, waving a flag on a deserted pitch with her father looking on after his Barcelona side's 2015 Champions League final victory — will do a good job of moving you to tears. It also gives context to the drive and ambition found in Luis Enrique's eyes. He's a man with perspective but he hasn't lost his edge. If anything, he's twice the coach he used to be. Saturday has the potential to be his finest hour. Yes, he's a Champions League-winning coach already — the last to take the trophy to Camp Nou, no less — but repeating that with Paris Saint-Germain against Inter in Munich would be something else; Luis Enrique taming a beast which, for all PSG's affluence and extravagance, refused to be tamed by other mortals. It's the work of a committed optimist. Luis Enrique was asked once how Xana's death made him feel; whether his overriding emotion was bitterness or pain. 'The most negative experiences are the ones that teach you the most,' he replied. 'My daughter came to live with us for nine wonderful years. We have a thousand memories of her. I consider myself to have been fortunate. Very fortunate.' The ability to look for joy never left him. Perhaps the experience taught Luis Enrique to approach football with a renewed sense of purity. His PSG team have a definite philosophy to them: both in the way they play (which has been spellbinding since Christmas) and the way they are built. When PSG were all about Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar, they were the sort of nightclub you crossed the road to avoid. Once they made it all about Luis Enrique, there was so much more to love. He was brave in reframing their squad, and the uptick in PSG's pressing (see the graphic, above) is both wild and logical. Mbappe, Messi and Neymar weren't masters of it. Luis Enrique's dressing room is filled with players who are. QED. Advertisement Nothing about him says he takes his work any less seriously than he did while Xana was alive. The game is deep in his soul. It's more like he's on a mission to generate football which sings to her and if that's what he wants, it's what he's getting. Maybe an awareness of what matters most in life brings with it mindfulness, and a clarity of thought. Nothing against Saturday's opposite number Simone Inzaghi, because Inter are a terrific team too. But there's a right way for this year's final to end. From the outset, the Conference League presented Chelsea with no insurmountable hurdles. They had cards to play at every turn, and too much talent not to win it UEFA's third-tier club competition. They got the job done in Poland last night, despite Enzo Maresca's decision to gut his back five causing a wobble against Real Betis. Cole Palmer stepped up, which is what Cole Palmer does. Jadon Sancho put the final to bed with what might be one of his last kicks in Chelsea blue (above). His loan from Manchester United didn't take off, but here are grounds to remember him fondly. Chelsea, uniquely, now hold a full set of trophies from UEFA club tournaments: the European Cup/Champions League, Europa League, Conference League and Cup Winners' Cup (God rest its soul). They won the UEFA Super Cup too. And while Maresca's position as head coach isn't greatly consolidated by winning the least of them, defeat to Betis would have hurt him. Parts of the final's first half — slow and ponderous, with full-back Malo Gusto severely inverted — explained why a portion of Chelsea's crowd are sceptical about him. The marriage feels fragile. But between the Conference League and a fourth-place finish in the Premier League, Maresca has met his objectives. Onwards. Mexico's Liga MX had a valid reason for pausing promotion and relegation in 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic was peaking and clubs in the division below saw cash reserves run low. The suspension of pro-rel was a makeweight in a financial deal to assist them. The problem is, it was never reinstated, or not properly. Since 2023, there have been mechanisms by which second division, or Liga Expansión, teams can join Liga MX — through meeting certain criteria — but the system is complicated, woolly and unsatisfactory. So a battle has broken out. Advertisement Felipe Cardenas recently discovered that a number of Liga Expansión sides had taken a legal case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), in an effort to force Liga MX and the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) to open the door properly again. He's now reporting that one of the complainants, Club Atlante, has pulled out of the appeal — amid claims of retaliation by the authorities. There's a suspicion on the part of the locked-out teams that existing Liga MX members like their guaranteed status. Some are part of multi-club groups (the reason why Club Leon lost its place at the Club World Cup) and the division's status is growing, attracting bigger names, like Sergio Ramos. A lawyer for those seeking pro-rel says they are 'exhausted' — but determined to stay the course. Over to our Manchester United hype man, Adam Crafton, for his X verdict on their post-season defeat to the ASEAN All Stars in Kuala Lumpur yesterday (a match which ended to the sound of booing): 'You can't say they haven't given the global fanbase in Malaysia an authentic experience of watching Manchester United.' Look, the beancounters won't care. If you're confused by the rationale for United choosing to prolong a laughable season by embarrassing themselves in a friendly in the Far East, the word you're looking for is 'money'. What's one more feeble goal when you've made an art of conceding them? And why not introduce the wider world to goalscorer Maung Maung Lwin? Remember the name (actually, don't).
New York Times
31 minutes ago
- Business
- New York Times
Phillies minors notes: Aidan Miller trusted his plan, Seth Johnson's bullpen move and more
Phillies No. 2 prospect Aidan Miller tinkered with the basics when struggling at the plate last season: his leg kick, where to start his hands, his stance. Nothing major, but enough messing around to worsen his problems. So when Miller batted .203 over 19 games in April for Double-A Reading, he did not hit the panic button again. He trusted his plan at the plate. Advertisement 'Not trying to change too much with my swing, mechanical-wise or anything, just going out there every single day and treating it like a new day — it really helped me get out of that,' Miller said. The 20-year-old shortstop, the Phillies' top pick in the 2023 MLB amateur draft, has emerged stronger. Miller is slashing .247/.329/.356 with a .685 OPS across 20 games in May, riding a 10-game hitting streak through Saturday. He knows slumps happen to everyone. He stayed the course. There was no big turnaround. Balls that previously went straight to the defense started to fall, Miller said, lifting a mental weight. AIDAN MILLER🤩 — Reading Fightin Phils (@ReadingFightins) May 17, 2025 The Phillies took a swing on Miller, a top high school hitter who fell to No. 27 in the 2023 draft after missing much of his senior season with a hamate fracture in his left hand. Their belief paid off as Miller ascended from Low-A Clearwater to Double-A Reading last season, posting an .811 OPS and tallying 45 extra-base hits while earning a spot in the Futures Game. And, even as Miller worked through struggles in April, he walked 11 times and reached base in 16 consecutive games. Miller went from playing four to five games a week in 2024 to six days a week now. Health is his top priority with greater playing time, so he's focused more on routine: eating healthy, hitting the weight room, treating soft tissue when needed. Keeping this routine has gotten easier with time. So has trusting himself at the plate. Both have paid dividends. Triple-A Lehigh Valley right-hander Seth Johnson has a nice two-pitch mix and compelling stuff — part of why the Phillies moved him to a bullpen role in April. But it's his flexibility that stands out most to Triple-A manager Anthony Contreras. Advertisement 'Once you have a starter come out to the bullpen, that type of utility in a pitching role is going to be valuable for him going forward,' Contreras said. 'Just being able to make that adjustment that quickly is probably the most impressive thing.' Johnson, drafted 40th by Tampa Bay in 2019, has made flexibility central to his career. He pitched with the Rays organization for four years before being traded to the Orioles in August 2022. After two seasons in Baltimore's system — a significant chunk of it spent recovering from Tommy John surgery — he was sent to the Phillies as part of the Gregory Soto trade last July. So, when Contreras called Johnson into his office when the IronPigs were in Gwinnett in April, Johnson figured he was being traded again. 'I was relieved at first,' the right-handed pitcher said. 'I didn't have to go pack up all my stuff again. I knew moving to the bullpen was a possibility this year, so it was kind of nice hearing it early in the year.' It's a move the Phillies believe gives Johnson a better chance to make an impact in the big leagues. He hasn't appeared for the Phillies since he debuted with a spot start against the Miami Marlins in September 2024. It did not go well. He allowed nine runs and walked three batters, becoming just the second MLB pitcher to post those numbers in his debut — and the first since 1912. His big-league ERA sits at 34.71 in 2 1/3 innings. Contreras said the club hoped that shifting Johnson to shorter outings would up his velocity. 'With the big arm, not having to pitch five, six, seven innings every fifth day, he's able to kind of blow it out — put everything he has into one, two, maybe three innings depending on how we use him,' Contreras said. 'He seems to be adjusting well.' Before Johnson moved to the bullpen, he'd been a reliever just once: at Campbell University, playing in the Big South conference tournament in May 2019. There's not much to take away from that short-lived stint. The biggest learning curve, he said, is being ready all the time. Johnson has been following everyone else's lead in the pen: moving in the third or fourth inning and staying loose. But he's felt more comfortable with time, finding that he doesn't need an hour to get ready to pitch. Fifteen throws will do. Advertisement The decision to transition Johnson was made before reliever José Alvarado's 80-game PED suspension, which has elevated the importance of bullpen help for the Phillies. But control remains an issue for Johnson and would need to improve before a call-up. He's averaging 5.91 walks per nine innings — mostly a result of walking a combined 10 batters across three starts in April. The numbers have somewhat improved, as he's walked four batters and hit one across 8 2/3 innings in May. • There was no stumble from pitcher Mick Abel as he returned to Lehigh Valley after his nine-strikeout debut for the Phillies on May 18. He loaded the bases after two walks, a single and a force-out in the first inning Saturday against the Buffalo Bisons, but escaped with one run scored. Abel went on to strike out eight, walk four and allow three hits in six innings. Abel's breakout 2025 comes after a difficult 2024 in which he lost command en route to a 6.46 ERA. He simplified his approach to pitching over the offseason, which proved key to earning his first big league call-up. 'With time and age comes experience and maturity, and that plays into success,' Contreras said. 'I think he's reaping the benefits of making the adjustments going into this year.' • Top 2024 Phillies draft picks have struggled to find their footing this season with Low-A Clearwater. Outfielder Griffin Burkholder, a second-round selection, has had limited at-bats due to hamstring injuries. He and first-rounder Dante Nori are both searching for power. Burkholder's average exit velocity: 85.1 mph. Nori's? 86.7 mph. The average exit velocity for tracked pitches in Low A this season is 87.3 mph. • Reliever Tommy McCollum struck out a Double-A season-high three in two innings in Portland on May 25 and leads Reading with a 0.96 ERA. The undrafted righty has thrown more strikes this season, though his pitches sit at 93 mph. But his size and the pitches looking harder than they actually are have been enough to confound batters. The 25-year-old, who moved to Double A earlier this month, could reach Triple-A this season if he keeps it up. • Another undrafted standout: Double-A outfielder Keaton Anthony. The 23-year-old was ensnared in a gambling scandal as a college baseball player at Iowa, though he faced no charges. The Phillies signed him in July 2023, and Anthony has excelled ever since. He's hitting .321/.384/.507 with a .891 OPS in 37 games with Reading this season. Advertisement • Low-A closer Titan Hayes has shown flashes this season, working his way to a 2.12 ERA — and 0.00 in nine innings in April — and six saves. The 2024 11th-rounder's fastball sits at 97 mph, though he's struggled to throw consistent strikes. Should he stay the course, a High-A promotion could pose a good test in June or July. — The Athletic's Matt Gelb contributed to this report. (Top photo of Aidan Miller: Mitchell Leff / Philadelphia Phillies)
New York Times
31 minutes ago
- Business
- New York Times
As the NBA on TNT prepares for its finale, an appreciation for its legacy and contribution
Nostalgia is a mug's game, especially when it comes to the sports media. Sure, we celebrate beloved broadcasters retiring (shoutout, Hubie Brown) and the famed players they highlighted, but those festivities are short. It's onto the next soon enough in our fast-twitch Max — sorry, HBO Max — times. Focus on the past too long, and you'll be working at a Blockbuster. Advertisement But I'm going to miss TNT's coverage of the NBA — and my time to show gratitude has grown short. The last NBA broadcast on TNT could come at any time, including tonight. My appreciation for TNT's NBA coverage mostly revolves around its signature show, 'Inside The NBA,' and I'll get to that show in a bit. First, I want to note TNT's NBA game coverage, which has consistently been excellent over its 36-year run. TNT made Thursday nights feel big, from how it treated audio to graphics to camera angles. Its legacy includes four lead voices — Marv Albert, Ian Eagle, Kevin Harlan and Dick Stockton — who all have legitimate credentials to be tagged as the greatest NBA game caller of all time. Among those who worked as analysts: Hubie Brown, Steve Kerr, Mike Fratello. Each of those broadcasters educated you about the game as opposed to screaming it at you. (Think of how good viewers had it with Kerr for the five years he worked at TNT.) There were the transcendent sideline reporters — Cheryl Miller and the late Craig Sager, to name just two —who elevated broadcasts with observations and reporting. You can't detail TNT's basketball story without mentioning the sartorially famous Sager, who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2014 and returned to the NBA sidelines in 2015 after an 82-day hospital stay. He died at 65 in December 2016. In all my years writing about sports media, Sager was the only person who regularly fielded questions from me on wardrobe. Even when we spoke during his cancer treatment, I'd ask what he planned on coming up with for couture. The answers ranged from orange-and-white-striped linen coats to ostrich shoes. Sager's sideline interviews, especially with the intentionally grumpy Gregg Popovich, helped make TNT's NBA programming unique. The needle that TNT's game coverage threaded was that the crew respected the needs of the traditional NBA fan but also made broadcasts comfortable for a casual fan. The later years of the coverage on the game analyst side were more entertainment-based than informative, but the bar remained high overall. Since this column is offering nostalgia, maybe it's worth providing a short history of how the NBA ended up on TNT: In 1984, the league signed a two-year, $20 million deal (that is not a misprint) with Turner Broadcasting System for an exclusive national cable television package. The deal consisted of 55 regular season and 20 playoff games on Ted Turner's Atlanta television station WTBS, which at the time was available in 37 percent of homes in the United States and growing quickly. Advertisement The parties signed a two-year contract extension in 1987, granting TBS exclusive national cable rights to NBA games through the 1989-90 season. At the time, TBS held the rights to televise 50 regular-season games, 25 playoff games, various parts of the All-Star Game weekend (the Slam Dunk contest, a Legends game and the 3-point long-distance shootout), as well as the NBA Draft and the NBA awards show. In July 1989, Ted Turner announced that NBA games would move to his latest cable television venture, Turner Network Television (TNT), which had just topped a subscriber base of 30 million. TNT's programming then was mostly movies from the film library Turner acquired from MGM Studios in 1986. The future for cable television, to paraphrase Tom Petty, was wide open. 'We in cable have the high ground,' Turner told The New York Times on cable's potential for growth. 'You know they're hurting when they start squealing like pigs.' Of course, in the future, when basketball fans reminisce about the NBA on TNT, what will come first and foremost is the iconic studio show, 'Inside The NBA.' I have written it often but maybe one last time for the road: It is the best studio show in sports television history. The show has impacted multiple generations of basketball fans and players — and I'd argue that during its run, it has been as significant to the growth of the NBA as much as any member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Inside's genius was that it could go anywhere, because it was unrehearsed, unscripted and impactful. They once held a nine-minute discussion (think about that length for a sports studio show) on the nexus of China and the NBA's business interests that was unlike any other sports show that dared address the topic. During that same week, Charles Barkley delivered what made the show a riot. Of then-Hawks rookie small forward Cam Reddish, Barkley said, 'Cam Reddish only had one point. He had one point more than a dead man.' Advertisement One of its most iconic moments came on Jan. 27, 2020, when the show honored the life of Kobe Bryant. But it could be goofy as well, with Kenny Smith's endless racing to the video board and all the Gone Fishin' segments. Yes, it had its 'old men screaming at clouds' segments and Barkley went too far in some instances. But it was so much better than what competitor ESPN had to offer that Disney finally figured out the only way to beat it was to trade for it. 'Inside The NBA' will continue next season, produced for ESPN. Next up for the NBA is NBC (returning from its heyday of the 1990s with brand-new on-air talent) and Amazon Prime Video. (TNT's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, did acquire the rights for NBA games outside the U.S., including in Nordic countries and parts of Latin America, so congrats to Finland.) NBA viewers will adjust quickly. Few under 40 probably know that Fox didn't always air the NFL. Change is constant. Everything ends at some point. So thanks for the memories, TNT. You treated NBA viewers like adults. That's a great epitaph.
New York Times
36 minutes ago
- Business
- New York Times
The Thunder's anonymous dominance, plus a NASCAR controversy
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic's daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Gather some assets today. For years, the NBA had an inside joke of sorts about Sam Presti. The Thunder general manager was always building, always hoarding assets, always making the smart move — but what was it all for? Kevin Durant, Paul George, Russell Westbrook. Superstars all out the door with no rings to show. Now, a ring sits four wins away after Oklahoma City thundered past the Timberwolves in a decisive 124-94 Game 5 win at home last night. Consider this arc: Not so suddenly, the Thunder are both the NBA's best team and the clear favorite entering next week's finals. They are terrifying to play against. BetMGM has them -750 to win it all. OKC isn't flashy, either, and I'd wager this might be our most anonymous elite team/MVP pairing in recent memory. More eyes than ever will be on the Thunder next Thursday when they face the winner of Indiana-New York in Game 1 of the finals. I can't wait. We have two more clinch possibilities tonight. Onward: Vrabel addresses Diggs video If you have logged on to any slice of sports social media in the last 24 hours, you've seen the video of new Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs on a boat partying, handing women a bag of an unknown pink substance. New England coach Mike Vrabel acknowledged yesterday he had seen the video and emphasized he wants players to 'make great decisions on and off the field.' Diggs was not present at OTAs yesterday. More on this developing story here. Advertisement France scraps NASCAR plan after backlash Jim France, NASCAR's co-owner and CEO, was close to a deal that would've funded a car in an upcoming Cup Series race before intense backlash led him to step away. According to an exclusive report from The Athletic, France scrapped the deal after our reporters started asking around about the arrangement, which would present pretty obvious ethical hurdles. Owning a series and a team/car is not wholly unheard of — see the Penske dynasty/debacle in IndyCar — but France's proposed involvement here still made people quite angry. Read the full report here. More news 📫 Love The Pulse? Check out our other newsletters. In the sports world, there will always be phenoms. Young, shooting stars that take our breath away before making us say, 'Wait, how old?' LeBron James posed on the cover of Sports Illustrated at 16. Tiger Woods won the U.S. Amateur at 15. Lamine Yamal is different. Pol Ballús, our excellent Barca reporter, has the inside story of how the club signed Yamal to such a remarkable deal. It's worth a read this morning. And try to catch this kid on TV soon if you can. 📺 NBA: Pacers at Knicks 8 p.m. ET on TNT/Max Do-or-die for the best Knicks season in 25 years. Indiana can book its first finals trip of this century. The atmosphere should be buzzy. This is why we watch sports. 📺 NHL: Oilers at Stars 8 p.m. ET on ESPN Copy and paste from above. The road team can clinch a trip to the Stanley Cup Final. The home team plays for its season in front of a home crowd. Fun night. Get tickets to games like these here. Mike Sando picked his favorite offseason moves for each NFL team. Hooray for a QB retiring. Also, Dane Brugler revisited his 2025 NFL Draft top 50 rankings. See the hits and misses here. 🎥 The 'No Dunks' guys ranked Tyrese Haliburton's flawless Game 4 among the best playoff performances so far. Watch it here. Advertisement The Pirates don't want to trade Paul Skenes but … they'd have to consider these five packages. Women's golf has a new star in 16-year-old Asterisk Talley, as Brody Miller writes. The sport is wrestling with how to protect her. Great guest spot: Matt Antonelli was a first-round MLB bust. He gave us five lessons he learned. Sam Blum bought a ticket to attend a Sacramento A's home game as a fan, and it doesn't sound like anyone is happy there. Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Antonio Morales' ranking of every five-star QB in the recruiting era. Most-read on the website yesterday: Our latest 2025 NHL Mock Draft. Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
New York Times
37 minutes ago
- Business
- New York Times
Stocks Jump After Court Blocks Trump's Tariffs
Markets around the world rose on Thursday, the day after a panel of U.S. judges blocked President Trump from imposing some of his steepest tariffs, which have threatened to squeeze consumers, snarl supply chains and dent corporate earnings. Futures for the S&P 500 index jumped 1.5 percent, suggesting that stocks will open sharply higher when trading begins in New York. Although the ruling is subject to appeal, the latest twist in the on-again, off-again tariff drama is set to 'lift investors' spirits,' wrote Derren Nathan, head of equity research at the brokerage firm Hargreaves Lansdown. Nvidia, the chip giant, was also pulling the market higher, after it reported strong earnings growth on Wednesday and suggested that the tech industry's embrace of artificial intelligence had ample room to run. Its stock, which exerts an outsize influence over major indexes, surged more than 6 percent in premarket trading. Markets elsewhere also rallied, with stocks in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea all rising more than 1 percent. Indexes in France and Germany gained about half a percent. The dollar, which has been under pressure since Mr. Trump started a trade war with U.S. trading partners, rose on Wednesday. Oil prices, which have dipped on fears that a slowdown in trade would hamper economic growth, also jumped. The price of gold, which has set a series of record highs as investors flocked to the traditional haven in times of turmoil, slipped. Investors sold U.S. government bonds. The yield on the 30-year Treasury note, a focus for investors after Mr. Trump's bill to cut taxes deepened worries about debt and deficits, rose back above 5 percent. A significant reduction or cancellation of a chunk of U.S. tariffs 'would be bad news for Treasuries since it would reduce a significant source of income and widen the budget deficit over the coming decade,' analysts at Panmure Liberum wrote in a note. They added that the court ruling suggests that in the long run, 'extreme tariffs and rapidly changing tariffs are less likely to happen going forward, which reduces uncertainty somewhat.' But in the short term, they said, the ruling and subsequent challenges to it 'will add significant uncertainty to the mix, making it even harder for U.S. businesses to plan.' That suggests markets could continue to veer up and down on tariff developments, as investors now parse court rulings and appeals in addition to Mr. Trump's threats, delays and concessions.
