Los Angeles Sparks rookie Cameron Brink is in a new ad for New Balance with six other sports stars, including Shohei Ohtani and Coco Gauff, and it’s fantastic.
Cameron Brink, who the Sparks drafted at No. 2 overall on Monday, is having one heck of a week. Brink, who’s had a NIL deal — now likely turned endorsement — with New Balance since 2023, is in an epic ad with several sports giants.
As part of New Balance’s “We Got Now” campaign, the company recently released another commercial with Brink in it. I have to say, the list of athletes she’s with is super impressive. This is my kind of carrying-on.
Ohtani met the fan and gave her a bat, a ball and two hats. Did she make a good deal?
Shohei Ohtani crushed his first home run as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The smashing 430-foot hit came at Dodger Stadium to help secure a series sweep against the San Francisco Giants. While the game had a sold-out crowd of approximately 53,000 people, fortunately for Ohtani, the ball was caught by a fan of the Dodgers and not of the franchise rival.
This is a memory that the fan will have for a lifetime, which is exciting. She looked incredibly pleased with the good luck that came with catching it, too:
The luckiest fan in the world comes up with the ball after Shohei Ohtani’s first home run at Dodger Stadium 👏
After the game, however, Ohtani made an attempt to try to get the ball back so that he could have this piece of his own history.
According to Ohtani, he was able to successfully retrieve this memento for a fairly reasonable deal. He met the fan (which is awesome!) and also gave her a ball, two hats, and a bat.
Shohei Ohtani said he exchanged the home run ball for a ball, two caps and a bat. He also met the fan.
Do the #49ers have visions of adding the NFL’s Shohei Ohtani?
Finding an NFL comparison to Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani is impossible. Impacting the game both ways the way Ohtani does isn’t something an NFL player would be able to do consistently given the physical rigors of the sport. The 49ers might be trying to find that player anyway.
In what could be an expansion of their “positionless” offense, the 49ers are hosting Utah running back/defensive back Sione Vaki on a top 30 visit according to the Draft Network’s Justin Melo.
Vaki played both directions for the Utes and posted 317 rushing yards, 223 receiving yards and five total touchdowns as a running back last season. He also contributed 92 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, one interception and six pass breakups as a safety. His defensive contributions came across 26 games in two seasons, while his offensive stats were all accumulated in the 2023 campaign.
The likelihood that Vaki can regularly play both ways in the NFL is very slim. Adding a player like him though could open two doors for San Francisco. There’s a chance it’s straightforward where they like Vaki at one position or the other and believe he can contribute for them at one of those spots. The other side of that coin though is one where they like Vaki for one spot, but they really like the idea of having two-way capability. Perhaps they like him as a running back who can add emergency depth at safety. They could also view him as a safety who can work into a couple of different offensive packages at running back.
Chances are it’s the former where they like him at one position or the other. Given Ohtani’s meteoric rise in baseball though it’s hard not to ponder what a regular two-way NFL player might look like. While Vaki might have the skill set to be effective on both sides of the ball though, it’s much more likely he winds up sticking at one no matter how lofty a team’s ambitions for him might be.
Gooood morning, Winners. Thanks so much for reading the Morning Win today. We appreciate you for giving us a bit of your time.
This Shohei Ohtani interpreter scandal just keeps getting worse by the day and, honestly, it’s all his fault. Ohtani and his team refuse to give us a plausible explanation for everything going on.
On Monday, Ohtani addressed the media for the first time since the Dodgers fired Ippei Mizuhara. He didn’t take any questions. Instead, he released a statement rehashing everything his team told us before. That doesn’t seem suspicious at all, right?
Here’s a quick summary: Ohtani says Mizuhara was approached by ESPN’s reporters and made a statement on his own accord about the $4.5 million in transfers to the bookmaker. Ohtani apparently didn’t know about his translator’s interview at all. He also says everything he said was a lie and that the money transferred in his name was stolen from him.
I’m sorry, man, but absolutely nobody believes this. We’ve all got questions. Or, really, I think we’ve all got the same question: If we’re to believe this, how on Earth did Mizuhara have this much access to Ohtani’s financials? Our Tyler Nettuno asks the question here:
“Further, if he did gain access to Ohtani’s accounts without his knowledge, how was he able to transfer millions of dollars to an individual who was already under federal investigation without flagging the attention of the bank’s risk management systems?”
That just seems impossible. And maybe there are perfectly reasonable answers to this. Personally, I found the first explanation of Ohtani simply helping a friend out to be plausible. Ohtani has a ton of money. He and Mizuhara were (maybe are still?) legitimately friends. If his buddy simply needed help here, I could see anyone in that position helping him.
But this? Nah, man. This ain’t it. Something fishy is going on here. Eventually, we’ll find out what it is — especially if legal action is being taken here.
In the meantime, though, people will fill this blank space with theories. Most of them will be about Ohtani having a gambling problem and him having his friend take the fall for it. That’s unfortunate. But that’s what happens when you give us a story that doesn’t make sense.
Jontay Porter might be done in the NBA
Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Speaking of gambling problems, Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter is being investigated by the NBA for betting irregularities in his stat lines, ESPN reports.
You probably don’t know this guy. He’s a fringe player and is also the brother of Denver’s Michael Porter Jr. He’s only appeared in 26 games so far this season.
Yet, here he is, at the center of a major NBA investigation. The league is investigating two games involving Porter: One against the Clippers on Jan. 26 and another against the Kings on March 20.
He mysteriously left both with ailments after playing a few minutes in both games, allowing his stats to hit the under. After multiple accounts reportedly attempted to bet $10,000 and $20,000 on Porter’s under in the Clippers game, red flags went up.
The NBA can’t let that fly. If the investigation finds Porter was involved in some way, the punishment has to be heavy. He shouldn’t be allowed to play in the NBA ever again.
You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again, upholding the integrity of the game is the most important thing to sports leagues when it comes to betting. If players think they can get away with manipulating betting outcomes, what’s stopping the next bench-warmer (or referee) from trying something similar.
If you haven’t been tapped into the women’s NCAA tournament, you should lock in as soon as possible. We’re about to see a ton of great basketball over the next few days.
The game’s biggest stars made it to the Sweet 16. We’ll have some incredible matchups to watch.
The biggest storylines:
— The Freshman class: There are so many incredible freshmen who’ve carried their teams this far. Juju Watkins (USC), Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame), Madison Booker (Texas) and Mikaylah Williams (LSU) are the four I’m locked in on. They’re so fun to watch.
— Can LSU survive? Angel Reese and the Tigers will face their greatest test on the road to repeating yet with a Sweet 16 matchup against UCLA. Defending Lauren Betts down low is going to be a challenge.
— South Carolina’s dominance: Will South Carolina dominate Indiana the same way it did UNC and Presbyterian? I doubt it. Indiana’s defense is tough. But Dawn Staley’s team seems inevitable.
— Caitlin’s climb: Iowa has probably been the headliner of the tournament for obvious reasons. Everyone is either rooting for or against Caitlin Clark. The Hawkeyes almost faltered against West Virginia. Colorado isn’t going to be any easier of an opponent.
Lots of fun basketball, folks. Don’t miss out on this.
Quick hits: The NFL’s new kickoff rules explained … The Jalen Green dilemma … and more
Shohei Ohtani’s previous interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, is no longer on the job because of accusations that he was involved with an illegal bookmaker and that Ohtani either paid his debts or had money taken from him by Mizuhara to do the same. There are still a lot of questions that have yet to be answered.
So, with Ohtani making a statement on Monday to reporters about the scandal that has emerged, the question is: if he does have an interpreter now, who is it?
The answer is: it’s Will Ireton, who is a member of a the Dodgers organization who previous interpreted for Kenta Maeda. So there’s your answer:
Will Ireton, the Dodgers current Manager of Performance Operations, will take over as Shohei Ohtani's translator following the firing of Ohtani's longtime translator Ippei Mizuhara. Ireton was previously Kenta Maeda's translator during his time with the Dodgers.
Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us here at FTW today. We appreciate you.
Shohei Ohtani’s been lucky over the last week. The sports betting scandal involving his interpreter would be headlining news if not for the constant excitement of the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments. He and the Dodgers have had a bit of cover on this one.
Ohtani will address the situation to the media for the first time. At the very least, we know he’ll be making a public statement where he’ll have a chance to clarify his involvement in the situation.
I’ll make the long story short for those who may be out of the loop. The story boils down to this: a reported $4.5 million of Ohtani’s money was paid to an illegal bookmaker’s gambling operation to pay off gambling debts. We’ve been told the debt belonged to Ohtani’s friend and former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.
But the story has been so muddled that people don’t know what to believe. First, Mizuhara told ESPN that Ohtani knew about this and intentionally paid off the debt. The next minute, Ohtani’s lawyers released a statement disavowing everything Mizuhara said and claiming this was a “massive theft.” But if he knew, how was this a theft? Did he know? What in the world is going on?
Ohtani needs to finally clear things up because all the questions and unknowns about the situation have only made things look worse for him. It’s certainly plausible that he was paying off a friend’s debt, but it’s also not unreasonable for someone to think this might be a cover for Ohtani to hide a bad gambling habit.
And, if that’s the case? Whew, boy. Do even more questions come into play? Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
Speaking of addressing the media…
Mandatory Credit: Ken Ruinard/The Greenville News via USA TODAY NETWORK
Kim Mulkey’s weekend press conference, where she threatened to sue the Washington Post over an upcoming story, was bizarre. That feels like the only appropriate word for it.
We don’t know what’s in the report, but now we all desperately want to know because Mulkey drew so much attention to it here. She is livid about it:
“I’m fed up, and I’m not going to let The Washington Post attack this university, this awesome team of young women I have, or me without a fight. I’ve hired the best defamation law firm in the country, and I will sue The Washington Post if they publish a false story about me. Not many people are in a position to hold these kinds of journalists accountable, but I am, and I’ll do it.”
Kim Mulkey isn’t new to controversy. It follows her, as we pointed out here. But if Mulkey felt the need to get ahead of it like this, then there’s clearly a big problem here.
We’ll have to wait and see what it is.
Shame on you, Bill Self
(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
After getting blown out by Gonzaga over the weekend, Kansas’ head coach revealed that he’s been thinking about next season for the last month, Prince Grimes writes.
“For the last month, I’ve been thinking about next season”
Look. I can understand not being that excited about this team. It’s not Self’s best. And Kansas has a ton of talent coming in next year that should make it one of the best teams in college basketball again.
But to openly admit this for your team to hear? Man, that’s wild. Keep this to yourself, big dog. Prince agrees:
“What Self said isn’t actually the problem, though, and shouldn’t be interpreted as him quitting on the season. In fact, him acknowledging he can do better to improve the roster is actually a statement of accountability — an admission of his own failure to put together a team he could believe in this year. Where he went wrong is that he said it out loud. Self should have kept this to himself.”
His team deserved more respect than this.
Quick hits: Cameron Brink is the best … Charles Barkley roasts Grand Canyon … and more
Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to Morning Win! We appreciate you being with us today and giving us some time. Happy March Madness day, folks!
Let’s talk about the Shohei Ohtani interpreter scandal. This is a terrifying moment for the sports world.
To make a long story short, Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter and close friend, Ippei Mizuhara, owed roughly $4.5 million in gambling debts to an illegal bookmaker in California. Ohtani’s money reportedly paid off those debts. What’s unclear is whether it was authorized with Ohtani’s approval or if Mizuahra stole the money. From all accounts, it certainly seems like Ohtani knew about it. But now his lawyers are claiming he didn’t.
I’m not here to litigate all that, though. We’ll eventually get more facts on all of this. What’s been more interesting to me has been the reactions from the people observing this one.
Obviously, there was a big fear here that Shohei Ohtani was involved directly in an illegal sports betting operation. That’s not the case here. He’s apparently not facing any discipline to this point. This is all on his friend.
But there’s been a lot of hand-wringing about the possibility of us being trapped amid an Ohtani gambling scandal and what that could mean for the sports industry.
From the very moment sports betting was legalized and the sports media began working hand-in-hand with it, there have been fears about it leading to a massive insider gambling scandal. We thought this might’ve been the one and it would’ve been a heartbreaker. The quiet, two-way phenom we all know and love turning into the 2024 Pete Rose? Man. That would’ve stung.
But, thankfully, this doesn’t appear to be that.
The natural line for people to take here is that this is a result of the sports industry flying a little too close to the sun. If sports betting wasn’t so prominent these days, maybe Mizuhara wouldn’t have gotten involved in this. That might be true.
But Mizuhara did the thing that regulation is supposed to prevent. He went off the books to place his bets and got burned. He claimed he didn’t know, but it’s hard to believe someone who was $4.5 million in the hole had no idea what he was doing was illegal.
Regardless, what’s done is done. We’ll parse through the results of the investigation when we get there. But this didn’t happen because of the integration of sports betting and sports media — it happened because Mizuhara has a gambling problem.
By no means does that mean this marriage is perfect. It’s far from it. We might have a little too much dip on the chip here.
There’s also the fact that we actuallyhave had gambling scandals already — they just haven’t involved prominent players to this point. Will we eventually run into that? I hope we won’t, but the answer is that it is probably inevitable.
Let’s just make sure we don’t treat this Shohei Ohtani investigation as if it’s that.
Caleb Williams, you are a Chicago Bear
Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
It feels like we’ve known for a while that the Bears were taking Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick. But now, after hearing his quote on Keenan Allen at his pro day, it feels all but official.
“On Wednesday, Williams performed for a gathered contingent of league evaluators at USC’s pro day. When talking about the Bears’ recent acquisition of six-time Pro Bowl receiver Keenan Allen, Williams gushed about how he and the playmaker have already connected before. Allen was, of course, a Southern California resident as a member of the Los Angeles Chargers, giving him the opportunity to occasionally hang with Williams as USC’s quarterback.
More importantly, Williams said that Allen is now “here for a fourth-round pick.”
Oh, wait. Allen is “here”? As in, with Williams … on the Bears? What an (entirely unsurprising) slip of the tongue.”
The table is set for Chicago. Justin Fields is gone, Keenan Allen is in, the structure of a solid team is there. Williams just has to cook.
Let’s see how this goes.
The Jazz just keep getting dunked on
Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
I don’t know what it is about the Utah Jazz, but these dudes just keep getting dunked on, man. It’s hilarious.
First, obviously, Anthony Edwards completely decimated John Collins. Now, Chet Holmgren straight-up jammed on Taylor Hendricks in what ended up being one of the Thunder center’s best games of the season.
1. Rebound and dunk over Collins 2. Poster on Hendricks 3. Transition dunk (THT hits him in the head) 4. Alley Oop from JDub 5. Transition 1 handed pic.twitter.com/TDU5Ki60ay
In his first game as a Dodger in South Korea, Ohtani got his first hit with his new club, and Tanaka was there to watch along with his family. Her reaction was captured by ESPN cameras, and it was a delight:
Mamiko Tanaka, Shohei Ohtani's wife, reacts to his first hit with the Dodgers 😊
Shohei Ohtani continues to be the most impressive athlete.
He’s a Los Angeles Dodger now, and the slugger proved in his first regular-season game just how amazing he is — he got a hit in the game, and then he did something pretty wild.
With his new wife watching in person as the Dodgers and San Diego Padres opened the 2024 season in South Korea, he hit a foul ball a whopping 119.2 MPH. Again, it was foul … but it apparently ripped through the roof of the Gocheok Sky Dome.
WOW. Now that is some serious power. Check out the video and be wowed, too:
