Spring training is underway,but that normally joyful return to the diamond may be a bit clouded for the 19 players who just went through one of Major League Baseball's strangest annual traditions: arbitration.
State of play: This year's arbitration window concluded last week, and just six of the 19 players who fought for a higher salary won their case.
The big picture: Griner was released late last year in a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russia that caught international attention. Her incarceration led her to miss the 2022 season.
Jon Rahm (-17) held off Max Homa (-15) to win the Genesis Invitational on Sunday at Riviera Country Club, returning to No. 1 in the world on the strength of his third win in five starts this year.
Why it matters: The Spaniard picked a great time to play some of the best golf of his career, capturing massive prizes in these first couple months of the PGA Tour's new "elevated" era.
Americans searching for ways to fill new chunks of leisure time are leaning heavily toward pickleball, data out today from Yelp shows.
Zoom in: Interest in the game shot up by 275% from 2019 to 2022, according to changes in consumer actions such as viewing relevant business pages, sharing photos or posting reviews on Yelp.
The intrigue: Pickleball even made its way onto the agenda for the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting earlier this year in D.C.
Mayors in attendance at a pickleball breakout session discussed ways in which the sport can drive community engagement and real estate development.
One surprising takeaway from their conversation: people are having too much fun playing it.
"Some guys in Utah were doing surveys on the noise complaints from neighbors, and the number one complaint was that people were having too much fun and they were being loud — not the sound of the ball," said Tim Klitch, a franchise co-Owner of Major League Pickleball from Austin.
