Good afternoon.

We start today’s newsletter with some good news!

Vahine Fierro has become the first Tahitian woman to win a famous surfing competition in Tahiti. She was the winner of the 2024 Tahiti Pro, and is now seen as a favourite to win the gold medal at the Olympics.

The World Surf League said this “will go down as one of the most culturally important days in competitive surfing history”.

I’ve got 10 seconds

Stat of the day

30
How many points WNBA player Caitlin Clark scored for the Indiana Fever against the Los Angeles Sparks, a professional career-high for the rookie. Despite her efforts, the Fever slumped to their seventh loss in eight games.

Quote of the day

“I wish to put this incident behind me… Police officers have a difficult job and I hold them in high regard. This was a severe miscommunication in a chaotic situation."
Golfer Scottie Scheffler after four charges against him, including one for assaulting a police officer, were dropped. The world number one was arrested earlier this month after trying to drive around a fatal road accident on the way to the PGA Championship.

Random fact of the day

In 2007, at the age of 12, Lexi Thompson became the youngest golfer ever to qualify for the U.S Women’s Open. Thompson announced her retirement from a 17-year career in golf yesterday at the age of 29. Her record was broken by Lucy Li in 2014 who qualified for the tournament at the age of 11.

I’ve got 1 minute

The Melbourne Rebels, one of Australia’s five Super Rugby Pacific teams, have been notified by Rugby Australia (RA) that they will not be able to participate in the 2025 iteration of the competition.

The news comes as the Rebels, who joined the competition in 2011, are currently preparing for their first ever finals series. The club has been plagued by financial insecurity throughout its 13-year history and currently owes $23 million to creditors.

The details

RA rejected an application for a group of financial backers, led by former Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford, to support the club through to 2030.

The organisation said in a statement “the application did not demonstrate sufficient financial viability” and that forecasts made in the application were “overly optimistic”.

Court battle?

Clifford has threatened legal action against Rugby Australia for refusing to negotiate the offer. The last high-profile suit against RA was over its sacking of star player Israel Folau.

I’ve got 2 minutes

Major League Baseball (MLB), the top baseball organisation in the U.S., announced yesterday that historical statistics from the sport’s Negro Leagues have officially been incorporated into their record books.

The news follows a 2020 announcement from the MLB that it would be “correcting a long time oversight” and recognising players overlooked by the record books due to segregation. The MLB appointed a Negro Leagues Statistical Review Committee and teams of researchers to uncover and sort through statistical data from the first half of the 20th century.

Legendary players of the Negro Leagues will now join the all-time leaderboards and be recognised for their achievements and contributions to baseball.

What were the Negro Leagues?

The Negro Leagues were a product of racially segregated America. From 1920 to 1948, Black and Latino players were not allowed to play in America’s two predominant baseball leagues, the American and National leagues, so they formed their own.

There were seven iterations of the Negro Leagues, featuring more than 2,300 players, during the 28-year period.

In 1947, Jackie Robinson made history as the first black man to play in America’s mainstream baseball league.

What they said

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said: “This initiative is focused on ensuring that future generations of fans have access to the statistics and milestones of all those who made the Negro Leagues possible. Their accomplishments on the field will be a gateway to broader learning about this triumph in American history.”

Josh Gibson - a name to remember

Josh Gibson, a hall-of-famer and widely thought to be the Negro Leagues’ most impressive player, now sits atop three all-time leaderboards, including the highest batting average in a season.

Apart from Gibson, the Leagues produced 35 hall-of-famers, a significant contribution to the game affectionately known as America’s pastime.

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Looking back…

Looking forward…

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