MLB's baseballs have been rubbed with a special mud from the Delaware River for decades to improve their grip. Now, the procedure for doing so will become universal.
Driving the news: The league sent a memo to all 30 teams this week detailing how balls must be prepared in an attempt to improve consistency. A minimum of 13 dozen are readied for each MLB game.
With training camp less than a month away, the NFL is juggling three complex and potentially damaging legal challenges.
1. Daniel Snyder: A congressional hearing, which Snyder declined to attend, was held Wednesday by the House Oversight Committee, which released the findings of its Commanders investigation earlier in the day.
Team USA Artistic swimmer and two-time Olympian Anita Alvarez was rescued by her coach after she fainted while in the pool during the FINA World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on Wednesday.
Driving the news: Alvarez lost consciousness in the pool and began sinking to the bottom toward the end of her solo routine, causing Team USA coach Andrea Fuentes to jump in and rescue her, per Reuters.
Title IX, the landmark 1972 legislation that barred sex discrimination in education and paved the way for a decadeslong women's sports boom, turns 50 today.
Why it matters: Before Title IX, 294,000 girls were participating in high school sports nationwide and just 15% of NCAA athletes were women. Today, those numbers are roughly 3.4 million and 44%, respectively.
