Tag: sports

Former MLB prospect sues White Sox for millions over COVID-19 vaccine injury

An awful vaccine side effect has allegedly sidelined a baseball player for the rest of his life.

Isaiah Carranza was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in 2018 but never made it to the major leagues. Now, Carranza is suing his former organization, saying it denied his vaccine injury after he was “coerced” into getting the shot.

Carranza played two years in High-A, the third-highest level of minor league baseball in the United States. However, 2022 was the last time he appeared in a game, and the former pitcher has since alleged that team officials warned him he would be “blacklisted” if he didn’t get a COVID-19 vaccine.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Carranza claimed if he did not get two doses, his organization would not release him from his contract so that he could pursue other teams. At the same time, he was allegedly told he had “no prospects of moving up” within the White Sox’s organization.

After getting the Pfizer vaccine, Carranza says he soon began suffering “extreme dizziness, nausea, near-fainting, and wildly fluctuating heart rate,” but the team told him it was simply dehydration, anxiety, and “rookie nerves.”

Carranza also allegedly began experiencing severe pain and dysfunction in his pitching arm.

“After receiving the vaccine, Plaintiff suffered severe adverse health reactions with little to no support from Defendants, who denied him necessary accommodations,” the lawsuit said, according to Newsmax.

Carranza also claimed that the injury impaired his ability to throw at a professional level and essentially ended his career. He is reportedly seeking $19 million in damages and has an estimated $557,000 price tag in future medical expenses.

The MLB did not have an official vaccine mandate but encouraged players to get vaccinated through its union and the league.

Carranza’s legal team said on its website that minor league players lacked union representation and the financial security to safely speak out against the “condition of employment.”

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How Grok’s Football Roasts Put X in the Crosshairs of Britain’s Online Censorship Law

Few subjects in Britain carry as much emotional weight as football. Club loyalty runs deep, tragedies remain painfully close to the surface, and rivalries often cross the line between banter and cruelty. That volatile mix resurfaced this week when Grok, the AI chatbot on X, generated what officials described as “vulgar roasts” after users explicitly prompted it to produce offensive material.

UK authorities reacted quickly, discussing the Online Safety Act, Britain’s new censorship law, and raising the possibility of serious financial penalties for X. Under the law, platforms can face fines reaching up to ten percent of global revenue if they fail to address harmful content.

The material dredged up some of the most painful chapters in English football history. It mocked the Hillsborough disaster, where 97 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death at an FA Cup semi-final in Sheffield after police failures led to fatal overcrowding in a standing pen.

It also referenced the Munich air disaster, which killed 23 people, including eight Manchester United players, when the team’s aircraft crashed during takeoff in icy conditions. Grok further alluded to the recent death of Diogo Jota, who died in a car accident in Spain in June 2025 at the age of 28 while playing for Liverpool F.C.

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Surreal NCAA Scandal: California Basketball Coach Was Moonlighting in Multiple States as a Pimp

Even in the large, expansive, and sordid history of college sports scandals, this one might be one of the strangest.

According to ESPN, California State University, Bakersfield, has been rocked by a surreal scandal that has overshadowed the fact that the team is dead last in the Big West Conference.

(Which is probably for the best for the Roadrunners, given that they’re 8-22.)

But it doesn’t appear that Cal State Bakersfield’s athletic department will be answering any questions about that putrid record any time soon.

Instead, the department will undoubtedly be peppered with questions about “temporary assistant coach” Kevin Mays.

In August, then-Cal State Bakersfield basketball head coach Rod Barnes received an anonymous email alleging that Mays had been operating as a pimp across four different states.

“FIX IT OR THE WHOLE STAFF WILL FALL,” the tipster, who had identified a woman allegedly being trafficked by Mays, said in the email.

The tipster added that it was a “first warning and a final warning.”

Barnes would forward that email to school officials, which prompted an investigation that would eventually lead to criminal charges being pressed against Mays.

Mays is currently being held without bail as he faces an extensive list of charges — 11 in total — spanning both felonies and misdemeanors.

Among the most serious allegations are felony counts of pimping, along with charges tied to illegal weapons and drug trafficking.

Prosecutors accused him of possessing automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines, as well as methamphetamine and marijuana that authorities say were intended for distribution. Those allegations alone carry significant penalties if proven in court.

In addition, investigators claimed Mays had more than 600 images of child sexual abuse material and distributed obscene content involving a minor.

Despite the damning list of accusations, Mays has entered a plea of not guilty to every charge.

The bizarre scandal unsurprisingly took the sports world by storm.

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Fire That Killed NASCAR Star Denny Hamlin’s Father Ruled Accidental But What Caused It Remains a Mystery

An investigation by North Carolina authorities into the fire that killed NASCAR star Denny Hamlin’s father has concluded.

On December 28, the home of Dennis and Mary Lou Hamlin caught fire.

As emergency services arrived on the scene, the couple was spotted in the front yard with significant injuries.

Dennis Hamlin, 75, succumbed to his injuries, but his wife, Mary Lou, survived.

Since the fire, Gaston County Emergency Management and Fire Services have been investigating the incident for the past month and have concluded their investigation, ruling the fire “accidental.”

However, the investigation concluded without ever determining what sparked the blaze in the couple’s bedroom.

Per AP:

The North Carolina house fire that killed NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin’s father and injured his mother has been ruled accidental but it’s still unclear what started it.

A report released by Gaston County Emergency Management & Fire Services said the Dec. 28 fire at the two-story home originated in a bedroom, but the “cause of ignition” is “undetermined.”

Otherwise, the investigation determined the fire as accidental, Gaston County spokesperson Adam Gaub wrote in an email Friday.

Hamlin’s parents, Dennis and Mary Lou Hamlin were found outside the home the evening of the fire suffering from catastrophic injuries, officials said. Dennis Hamlin, 75, later died, while his wife survived.

The home, located near Stanley about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Charlotte, was owned by a company that listed Denny Hamlin as its manager, according to government records.

Following the death of his father, Hamlin took to X to write, “Thank you to everyone who has reached out with condolences on my father’s passing.”

He added, “My mother continues to improve, and our family truly appreciates the outpouring of support and the respect for our privacy during this time.”

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Spanish Court Orders NordVPN and Proton VPN to Block Piracy Streams

Spain’s soccer league has found a new target in its fight against pirate streams: the VPNs people use to protect their privacy online.

A court in Córdoba has ordered NordVPN and Proton VPN to block specific IP addresses broadcasting illegal LaLiga matches, requiring both companies to alter their “internal systems” to make those addresses “inaccessible from Spain.”

The ruling was issued without notifying either provider. Neither could challenge it before it took effect. The court says it cannot be appealed at all.

LaLiga and Telefónica Audiovisual Digital brought the case to Commercial Court No. 1 of Córdoba, framing the measures as “precautionary” and taken in “defense of [LaLiga] clubs’ audiovisual rights.”

The court’s theory of liability is that VPNs are “contributing” to piracy simply by doing what VPNs do, letting users change their IP address and location. The order also notes that VPNs “acknowledge and advertise” their effectiveness at evading internet restrictions. Offering a privacy tool that works, in other words, is now evidence of wrongdoing.

Both companies found out about the ruling the same way everyone else did. NordVPN and Proton have said that they have received no notice of this.

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Male Student Takes Two Girls’ Medals In Massachusetts State Track and Field Championships

Women’s sports advocacy groups are expressing outrage after a male student was found to be competing in girls’ track and field for Chelsea High School in Massachusetts. Lilly Serrano captured two podium finishes at Thursday’s Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 3 Indoor Track and Field Championships last week.

Serrano, who has competed in girls’ athletics since at least 2024, has earned multiple podium finishes in recent seasons. Earlier this month at the Greater Boston League Championship, Serrano placed first in both the 55-meter dash and the high jump, and third in the 500-meter race. On February 12, Serrano took third in the 55-meter dash and seventh in the 300-meter race at the state championships, earning a medal and podium position in both events.

Serrano, 17, currently ranks first on the Chelsea High School team in the 200-, 300-, and 400-meter races, as well as the high jump and 55-meter dash for the 2026 indoor season. Serrano is also ranked as the second best “female” runner in Massachusetts in the 200 meter Division 3 category.

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Department of Education Hopes to Pin Down the Transgender Wrestler Nonsense in Washington

What happened to Kallie Keeler in Washington during a wrestling match shouldn’t have happened. Last December, Keeler was wrestling someone in her 190-pound weight class that was a bit different: it was a transgender. Keeler lost, but it wasn’t much of a contest. It’s not that Keeler couldn’t handle her opponent; it’s that she felt violated during the bout. The opponents pressed hard into her genital region, and the look of shock is visible on her face. The incident was captured on video.

Keeler allowed herself to get pinned to end the match. 

The incident has been characterized as a potential sexual assault, and now the federal government is getting involved. The Department of Education opened an investigation into this fiasco. Keeler reported the incident two days after her match on December 8. Nothing happened for two months until local officials felt pressured once independent media, like Brandi Kruse’s UnDivided, started to ask questions (via KOMO): 

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon announced Friday that the Department of Education is opening a Title IX investigation into the Puyallup School District’s handling of a reported sexual assault during a girls’ wrestling match in December. 

A female wrestler said a transgender competitor sexually assaulted her during the match, but the district didn’t report the allegation to police for almost two months. 

“Too many women have been injured, harassed, and deprived of opportunities they work hard for,” McMahon posted on X. “Title IX is the law – follow it or face consequences.” 

[…] 

According to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, a school resource officer at Rogers High School in South Hill was contacted by the school’s administration on Jan. 30 to report allegations of sexual assault. The incident in question happened in early December at a girls’ wrestling match when a teenager alleged she was groped by a transgender competitor during a grappling match. 

The girl reported the incident to school officials on Dec. 8, according to the sheriff’s office. Investigators stated that they were unaware of why the district did not contact them for nearly two months. 

Kruse published a lengthy story about this incident earlier this month. 

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Chilling warning signs before ‘narcissistic’ trans dad ‘shot ex-wife and kids’ in hockey game bloodbath

The gunman who killed two people at a youth hockey game in Rhode Island appeared to post ominous warnings in the days before the deadly shooting.

An online profile that appears to belong to Robert Dorgan, 56, who also went by the name ‘Roberta Esposito‘, shared an eerie video of a woman running on a treadmill while loading ammunition magazines into a handgun and aiming. 

In another post on X, a profile for ‘Roberta Dorgano’ threatened to go ‘BERSERK’ while defending transgender Congresswoman Sarah McBride.

‘Keep bashing us,’ they wrote Sunday. ‘But do not wonder why we Go BESERK.’

Just hours after the shooting, a woman who claimed to be Dorgan’s daughter claimed the gunman ‘has mental health issues’. 

‘He shot my family, and he’s dead now,’ the woman told WCVB.

Dorgan’s wife, Rhonda, who was reportedly killed in the shooting, claimed on divorce documents that her husband displayed ‘narcissistic and personality disorder traits’. 

Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said Monday night that Dorgan entered the Dennis M Lynch Arena to watch a high school hockey match. The attacker then opened fire at around 2.30pm. 

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Rhode Island Transgender Hockey Game Shooter Identified — Replied to Alex Jones About Trans People Going ‘Fkn Berserk’ Day Before Family Massacre

The transgender man who shot and killed three members of his family during a high school hockey game at Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on Monday has been identified as Robert K. Dorgan, 56, of North Providence, who went by the name “Roberta Esposito,” or “Roberta Dorgano,” and identified as a “woman.”

Dorgan was the parent of a player on the North Providence High School team.

The biological male posted on X the day before the shooting, writing to Alex Jones about how low tolerance for transgender people is why “trans ppl go fkn BERSERK.”

Dorgan wrote, “stfu Alex dont be so butt hurtt over somebody different. then wonder why trans ppl go fkn BERSERK,” in response to Jones calling a photo of Rep. Tim McBride, who is also transgender, “so creepy.”

The killer had also replied to actor Kevin Sorbo, saying, “Keep bashing us. but do not wonder why we Go BERSERK.”

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The Lost Dog That Made Constant Surveillance Feel Like a Favor

Amazon picked the Super Bowl for a reason. Nothing softens a technological land grab like a few million viewers, a calm voice, and a lost dog.

Ring’s commercial introduced “Search Party,” a feature that links doorbell cameras through AI and asks users to help find missing pets. The tone was gentle despite the scale being enormous.

Jamie Siminoff, Ring’s founder, narrated the ad over images of taped-up dog posters and surveillance footage polished to look comforting rather than clinical. “Pets are family, but every year, 10 million go missing,” he said. The answer arrived on cue. “Search Party from Ring uses AI to help families find lost dogs.”

This aired during a broadcast already stuffed with AI branding, where commercial breaks felt increasingly automated. Ring’s spot stood out because it described a system already deployed across American neighborhoods rather than a future promise.

Search Party lets users post a missing dog alert through the Ring app. Participating outdoor cameras then scan their footage for dogs resembling the report. When the system flags a possible match, the camera owner receives an alert and can decide whether to share the clip.

Siminoff framed the feature as a community upgrade. “Before Search Party, the best you could do was drive up and down the neighborhood, shouting your dog’s name in hopes of finding them,” he said.

The new setup allows entire neighborhoods to participate at once. He emphasized that it is “available to everyone for free right now” in the US, including people without Ring cameras.

Amazon paired the launch with a $1 million initiative to equip more than 4,000 animal shelters with Ring systems. The company says the goal is faster reunification and shorter shelter stays.

Every element of the rollout leaned toward public service language.

The system described in the ad already performs pattern detection, object recognition, and automated scanning across a wide network of private cameras.

The same system that scans footage for a missing dog already supports far broader forms of identification. Software built to recognize an animal by color and shape also supports license plate reading, facial recognition, and searches based on physical description.

Ring already operates a process that allows police to obtain footage without a warrant under situations they classify as emergencies. Once those capabilities exist inside a shared camera network, expanding their use becomes a matter of policy choice rather than technical limitation.

Ring also typically enables new AI features by default, leaving users responsible for finding the controls to disable them.

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