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Florida Gators softball coach Tim Walton was ejected after throwing a tantrum following a ruling on a confusing play on Saturday.
Walton’s Gators beat Arkansas 10-7 in 9 innings during their game at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday. The game was tied at 6 in the top of the 8th when Arkansas put runners on first and second with nobody out. The Razorbacks then tried a sacrifice bunt, and the umpires ruled Karlie Davison had been hit by a pitch before putting down her bunt and being thrown out at first. There was a 25-minute review during which the umpires met and consulted the rule book.
The umpires finally decided to put the bases loaded with nobody out — a decision that left Walton furious. The Florida coach came charging out of his dugout, threw down his hat, and started to kick dirt all over. He was ejected from the game and continued to throw a fit.
And after nearly half an hour waiting on a ruling, #Florida HC Tim Walton gets tossed. https://t.co/kGJyfLsMyw pic.twitter.com/cLLrvDGhHH
— Jack Allen KATV (@JackAllenTV) April 5, 2025
Even though the bases were loaded with nobody out, Florida was able to escape the jam by getting the next three batters out. They went on to win the game 10-7 on a walk-off grand slam by Korbe Otis.
Walton may have been furious in what he thought was a game-changing moment, but in the end at least things worked out his team’s way.
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With the SEC Expanding to 9 League Games, Here Are Oklahoma's Best Options for Permanent Rivals
Thursday’s news that the SEC has finally decided to switch to a nine-game conference schedule from the long-standing eight-game format starting next fall with the 2026 season has rekindled a favorite topic among Oklahoma fans. Who should the Sooners’ three permanent SEC rivals be? With a nine-game schedule, the best working model is that the 16 SEC members play annual matchups against three permanent opponents and six rotating opponents among the league’s other 12 members. The real appeal there is that in addition to each program either building new or adding to intense rivalries, every SEC member will play every other SEC member within a two-year span, and every team will play at every SEC venue at least once every four years. That’s appealing to the fans who enjoy traveling to opposing SEC venues, to the fans who enjoy welcoming enemy fan bases to their town, and to recruits and their families who can leave their hometown and virtually guarantee they’ll be able to come back and play in front of friends and family (if only they’ll stay out of that darned transfer portal). There’s one school that works best for Oklahoma in either of those models: Texas. Nobody with any level of intelligence would suggest putting the Red River Rivalry on even a one-year hiatus. Oklahoma-Texas are permanent rivals. The SEC, which can come across as a little arrogant at times telling everyone how great its many, many traditions are, has already acquiesced to not touching the annual showdown between its newest members. But who else do OU fans want to see every year? It’s a lively debate. There seems to be an assumption that, because they were in the Big Six, Big Seven, Big Eight and Big 12 for like, 100 years, that OU fans should view Missouri as a natural rival. Maybe. History can be important. And some in Sooner Nation probably do. But when one team owns a series record 67-25-5 like Oklahoma owns the series with Mizzou, that’s not a rivalry. It’s an obligation. Last year’s crazy game in Columbia – which the Tigers won thanks to some last-minute heroics by Mizzou (and some last-minute chokes by the Sooners) was a good reminder of how inhospitable the Missouri fan base can be. They’re loud, and they’re excitable, and they can be a handful – especially when the opponent is wearing Crimson and Cream and displays an interlocking “OU” on the helmet. But OU fans – probably something on the order of 80 or 90 percent – just don’t feel the passion for playing Mizzou in the same way that Tigers fans do playing the Sooners. To be honest, Sooner Nation seems pretty ambivalent about playing Missouri again. Still, with Missouri and Texas A M as the SEC’s most recent additions before OU and Texas – and with their most recent conference affiliation being with the Big 12 – the SEC has to look at the newcomers with practicality. The conference has a whole bunch of other traditional rivalries it feels the need to protect, so just in terms of seniority, Mizzou and OU rank at or near the bottom. Sorry, that’s just the way it is. A lot of OU fans won’t care for it, but that’s how it has to be. They might rather play an annual matchup against LSU. And maybe that’d be a good one just for the spectacle of the game itself. OU fans generally enjoyed their visit to the Bayou last season – even if the team did not. The Tigers to the south have a tendency to put 5-star talent on the field and occasionally chase national championships, while the Tigers to the north don’t do much of either. Why not take what more often than not amounts to an easy win in a truly challenging conference schedule? So pencil in Missouri for now. Figuring out the Sooners’ third rivalry game gets pretty complicated. Alabama? Last year’s home finale was fun for the fans who mobbed Owen Field, no doubt. But for a program that averaged 10-plus wins and routinely won the conference crown during its Big 12 membership, do you really want to have to face the Crimson Tide every year? Not that OU should be afraid of any program. Historically speaking, the Sooners are at the top of just about any discussion. But this would be two of college football’s bluest of blue-bloods – and, well, it would produce the opportunity for a lot of losses, even with Nick Saban comfortably in retirement. Visiting Tuscaloosa would be high on the to-do lists of a lot of Oklahoma fans. Like OU fans learned when they recently visited South Bend or Columbus or Lincoln (or are making plans next year to visit Ann Arbor), it’s truly one of the cradles of college football. No doubt Tuscaloosa retailers would feel the impact of Sooner Nation descending on their burg. Florida? That seemed to be the team of choice as a third permanent opponent for OU any time the nine-game schedule was discussed in the interim period between 2021 and 2024. We know OU fans do enjoy a good trip to the Sunshine State, although that’s always been to the Orange Bowl and South Beach. Would they turn out for semi-annual visits to the north central part of the state? Gainesville is inland from the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. It’s not even in the Panhandle, like Florida State was in 2011. It’s kind of land-locked. To landlubbers from Middle America, would that even feel like Florida? Oh, and then there’s the football. Urban Meyer showed what the program is capable of. But the Gators haven’t exactly been a buzz-saw since he left, posting nine winning seasons (four of 10 wins or more), five losing seasons and a record of 99-71 record. Florida is on their fourth coach since Meyer stepped away 14 seasons ago. What about Texas A M? Well, it turns out that DeLoss Dodds’ long-ago prediction that A M joining the SEC would open “just a sliver down the side” of the fertile recruiting grounds around Houston and South Texas was just a bit off. The SEC’s welcoming of the Aggies back in 2012 kicked open the door for the league to feast on all those talented recruits. OU has always had a recruiting pipeline to the area, but playing the Aggies every year would only widen that flow. Among college football’s great underachieving programs, Texas A M sits firmly at the top of the list. After going 68-61 in league play 16 seasons in the Big 12, the Aggies are just 57-48 in conference games in 12 seasons in the SEC – despite the largest alumni base and the wealthiest boosters. Why wouldn’t Oklahoma want open another recruiting vein while also beating up on a perennial underachiever? Why not Arkansas? The Razorbacks are attractive because they’re just across the border and, honestly, there’s not much actual history between the two programs. Creating that rivalry from the ground up just for the sake of proximity is tantalizing. There’s some real opportunity there for just pure regional dislike. Unfortunately, Arkansas as a region offers very little to Oklahoma in the recruiting game. The Sooners have certainly produced some good players who hailed from the Natural State (Keith Jackson, Jim Files, Ralph Neely, Danny and Mark Bradley stand out), but not many. Also, as a winnable game, Arkansas would top the list. The Razorbacks have just three 10-win seasons since joining the SEC in 1992, with a 104-152 conference record. A M would be the best choice for Oklahoma, but the Aggies already have built-in permanent rivals with Texas and LSU. Maybe the SEC would do them a favor and sprinkle in someone from outside the region. Alabama has a long line of teams who want to be the Tide’s permanent rivals. Arkansas offers little more than border hate. So perhaps Florida is the team that wins this particular derby. The Gators already have one of college football's best rivalries with Georgia, and an annual matchup with LSU is strong. Alabama also fits their needs, but someone’s going to have to compromise. Our pick? It’s Texas A M. What will the SEC decide? We think Florida.
Bill Belichick takes another shot at Patriots owner Robert Kraft
It is no secret that the relationship between Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft has been strained since Belichick left the New England Patriots. Belichick took an obvious shot at Kraft and the Patriots owner's son, Jonathan, who is the president of the team, during an interview with Ben Volin of the Boston Globe that was published on Thursday. Belichick is preparing for his first-ever season as a college coach with North Carolina. When asked what he has noticed that is different about coaching in college versus the NFL, Belichick insinuated he has enjoyed not having to answer to any members of the Kraft family while doing his job in Chapel Hill. "It’s a much more cohesive, and I’d say unified, view of what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to do it," Belichick told Volin. "It’s a lot of football, and there’s not much in your way. "There’s no owner, there’s no owner’s son. There’s no cap, everything that goes with the marketing and everything else, which I’m all for that. But it’s way less of what it was at that level." Shots fired. There is no way to interpret that other than a criticism of Robert and Jonathan Kraft. Had Belichick left it at not having to answer to a team owner, you could make the case that he was speaking generally about the NFL. The fact that he added in "owner's son" makes it obvious he was referring to his old bosses, as both Robert and Jonathan are hands-on with the Patriots. Belichick is almost certainly bitter over the way his tenure in New England ended following the 2023 season. He coached the Patriots for 24 seasons and won six Super Bowls, so he likely felt he should have been given more time to turn things around in the post-Tom Brady era. The Kraft family preferred to move on after a 4-13 campaign. Though Belichick insists he is solely focused on the upcoming UNC season, this is not the first time in recent months that he has gone out of his way to throw a jab at Robert Kraft.
Green Bay Packers: Mike Macdonald’s First Message to Matt LaFleur After Mayhem-Marred Practice
Joint practices in the NFL can be really heated. Just take for example the one involving the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday, with fights erupting on the field between players from both sides. Even though it’s just a practice session with nothing significant on the line, the competitive juices of players can get in the way and spark fiery moments on the field. If anything, at least no one appears to have been seriously hurt from the multiple altercations reported. However, Packers right tackle Zach Tom was reportedly tossed out of the field after throwing punches at a couple of Seahawks players. Despite all the chaos that transpired between the Packers and the Seahawks, Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald had great things to say about Green Bay. Seahawks head coach sends message to Matt LaFleur, Green Bay Packers Brady Henderson of ESPN noted that Macdonald started his session with the media after the practice, “by thanking Packers coach Matt LaFleur and the organization for hosting them.” In any case, Macdonald felt good overall about his players. “It’s hard to tell what happened, who said what,” Macdonald shared. “Look, you want your guys to defend their [teammates]. There’s a line. Whether we go past the line, I don’t think we did, which is good. Our guys stayed composed. But some of these things do tend to happen, and however it gets started … hopefully it’s not our guys, but people are going to react to a certain extent. I think our guys handled it pretty well.” The Packers and the Seahawks will still see each other on the field this offseason, as they are scheduled to play in their 2025 NFL preseason finale on Saturday at Lambeau Field.
'Look out for this dude': Former NFL exec has warning about unexpected SEC quarterback
Blackhawks make gargantuan commitment to young forward
The Blackhawks have officially announced a seven-year extension for pending RFA forward Frank Nazar. The deal will pay him an AAV and cap hit of $6.59M for a total value of $46.13M. It’s a gargantuan commitment to the 21-year-old Nazar considering his lack of NHL experience. The 2022 No. 13 overall pick lands the richest total-value contract in league history for someone with 56 or fewer career appearances, which is Nazar’s tally entering the 2025-26 campaign. Nazar, who still has one year left on his entry-level contract before his extension will kick in for 2026-27, has yet to spend an entire season on the NHL roster. Last year was his first full run in the pros after two years at the University of Michigan, but he made his NHL debut in the final three games of 2023-24 after signing his ELC. He did not make the Blackhawks’ opening night roster but, after recording 11 goals and 24 points in 21 games for AHL Rockford, was recalled in mid-December shortly after Chicago’s coaching change and never looked back. He faltered out of the gate, recording only one assist and a -5 rating through his first 10 appearances while averaging 14:44 of ice time per game. But under interim head coach Anders Sörenson, who had overseen his early-season success in Rockford, he was extended some patience. That paid off in the long run as Nazar built confidence, including a four-game point streak in January and a run of nine points in eight games in April to end the season. All told, Nazar finished the season with a 12-14–26 scoring line 53 games — ninth on the team — and averaged nearly 16 minutes per game. While size concerns (5-foot-10, 190 pounds) created some detractors about his ability to hold down his natural center position in the NHL, he saw a fair amount of time as Chicago’s second-line middleman behind Connor Bedard. His most common deployment (107 minutes) amid an astronomical 91 different line combinations used by the Hawks last year was at 2C between Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teräväinen, although he did also see some time up on Bedard’s wing. Nazar was seen as a top-10 threat in the 2022 class, but after slipping to Chicago and missing most of his freshman year at Michigan due to injury, there were warranted doubts about his development path. He silenced them quickly with a point-per-game sophomore showing for the Wolverines and has made about as good an adjustment to pro hockey as can be expected, given the lack of quality veteran support on the Hawks’ NHL roster. A long-term bet at what’s even now a conservative second-line price point in 2025 could pay incredible dividends for the Blackhawks if he remains a long-term top-six piece, even if it’s on the wing, as the cap increases and they reward the other pieces of their young core with long-term deals. There’s also an incredible risk factor for someone still relatively early on their development track with less than a full season’s worth of NHL experience. The only recent comparable for someone with his experience is Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov, who signed a five-year, $45M contract after his rookie season (55 GP). Kaprizov, however, had far more professional experience after coming up through Russia’s KHL and was two years older than Nazar is now, making him a more projectable player. Kaprizov also took home the Calder Trophy that year and had twice the offensive output Nazar did. As such, the Blackhawks are betting hard on Nazar being a long-term solution, either as a wingman for Bedard or as a second-line center behind him. There’s certainly reason for optimism – he’s developed well and is coming off a spectacular World Championship showing with the United States that earned him a spot at their Olympic orientation camp. He’ll be under contract through the 2032-33 season and can walk to unrestricted free agency upon expiry. Getting Nazar’s extension out of the way now isn’t just about him, though. Chicago has two other big-ticket RFAs next summer — Bedard and new No. 1 goalie Spencer Knight — who will take serious resources to extend. They still have barely over $40M in allocated cap hits for 2026-27, though, leaving them with virtually unlimited spending power under a projected $104M cap. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet first reported the Blackhawks were signing Nazar to a seven-year extension. Bleacher Report’s Frank Seravalli reported a more accurate cap hit in the $6.6M range.
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