Sports
Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens get another Baseball Hall of Fame shot through contemporary era committee ballot
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Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens still have a chance to enter baseball’s hallowed hall.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame contemporary baseball era committee ballot will have holdovers in Bonds, Clemens, Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy, while others off the regular ballot have joined them.
Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela will also be on the contemporary era committee ballot for the Class of 2026.
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Former New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens during the Old Timer’s Day Ceremony at Yankee Stadium. (Wendell Cruz/Imagn Images)
The committee, made up of 16 voters, will meet on Dec. 7 during the winter meetings in Orlando, Florida to determine who may be entering the Hall in Cooperstown. A 75% vote is required for election, and if someone reaches that minimum, they will be inducted on July 26, 2026.
The regular Baseball Writers’ Associate of America (BBWAA) vote will be announced on Jan. 20, 2026.
ROGER CLEMENS THANKS TRUMP FOR BASEBALL HALL OF FAME SUPPORT, HITS BACK AT CRITICS
In 2022, the Hall of Fame restructured its veterans committees with panels to consider the contemporary era, which is from 1980 until now, as well as the classic era. For the contemporary era, there are two separate ballots for players and managers, executives and umpires. Contemporary managers, executives and umpires will be considered in December 2026, while classic era candidates will be viewed in December 2027.
Each committee meets every three years, meaning the next contemporary era ballot review will be in December 2028.
When this era ballot was reviewed in December 2022, Fred McGriff was unanimously elected with all 16 votes. Mattingly received eight votes, while Curt Schilling, who was dropped this year from the ballot, received seven. Bonds and Clemens, as well as Rafael Palmeiro, who was dropped along with Schilling, had less than four votes.

San Francisco Giants legend Barry Bonds smiles before the game between the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. (Bob Kupbens/Imagn Images)
Bonds, Clemens and Palmeiro are polarizing figures in the game, as the heights of their fame skyrocketed during baseball’s much-maligned steroids era. Bonds denied knowing using steroids, while Clemens had maintained he had never used them. Palmeiro is the same.
Sheffield also noted that he was unaware that he used performance-enhancing substances, which contained steroids, during training ahead of the 2002 season.
Bonds and Clemens would be shoo-ins for the Hall had their careers in MLB not been tainted by the accusations. Bonds and Clemens were both dropped from the BBWAA’s ballot in 2022 after the former received 66% of votes (260 of 394) and the latter secured 65.2% of votes (257). You also need 75% of votes to receive an induction into the Hall.
Bonds, of course, is still MLB’s home run king, having hit 762 over his career, while also holding the single-season home run record (73). He won seven NL MVP Awards, while also making 14 All-Star appearances.

Barry Bonds is introduced to the fans for the Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame ceremonies at PNC Park. (Philip G. Pavely-USA Today Sports)
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Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, has the third-most strikeouts in league history with 4,672, only behind Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan (5,714) and Randy Johnson (4,875).
It’s also worth noting that the December 2027 ballot will be the first chance that Pete Rose will be available for a vote after Commissioner Rob Manfred determined that his permanent suspension from MLB ended with his death in September 2024.
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Sports
Six teams reveal player retentions for HBL PSL 2026 – SUCH TV
Six franchises, including defending champions Lahore Qalandars, have unveiled their retentions for the HBL PSL season 11, while Multan Sultans have not retained any players from their previous squad, the Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed on Wednesday.
All franchises except Islamabad United have retained four players each. United have kept hold of three players.
The two new franchises, Sialkot Stallionz and Hyderabad, are set to announce their retentions by February 7.
The only captain to win HBL PSL three times, Shaheen Shah Afridi, has been retained in the Platinum category, while Abdullah Shafique has been retained in the Diamond category by Lahore Qalandars.
Zimbabwean all-rounder Sikandar Raza will also stay with Qalandars in the Gold category.
Emerging player of the HBL PSL X Mohammad Naeem has been retained by the reigning champions in the Silver category.
Quetta Gladiators have retained mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed in the Platinum category, Usman Tariq in Diamond, HBL PSL X player of the tournament Hasan Nawaz in Gold and left-handed batter Shamyl Hussain in the Emerging category.
Babar Azam, the leading run-getter of the HBL PSL history and one of the only two players to feature in 100 HBL PSL games, has been retained by 2017 champions Peshawar Zalmi.
They have also kept left-arm wrist-spinner Sufyan Moqim in Diamond, Abdul Samad in Gold and pacer Ali Raza in the Emerging category.
Shadab Khan’s nine-year long journey with Islamabad United will reach the decade-mark as he has been retained by the three-time HBL PSL champions in the Platinum category.
Fast bowler Salman Irshad in the Gold and USA wicketkeeper-batter Andries Gous in the Silver categories are the other two retentions by Islamabad United.
Hasan Ali – the leading wicket-taker in HBL PSL history – will continue to star for Karachi Kings as he has been retained in the Platinum category.
Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Khushdil Shah and Saad Baig have been retained in Diamond, Gold and Emerging, respectively, by the 2020 champions.
Full retentions:
Lahore Qalandars: Shaheen Shah Afridi (Platinum), Abdullah Shafique (Diamond), Sikandar Raza (Gold) and Mohammad Naeem (Silver)
Quetta Gladiators: Abrar Ahmed (Platinum), Usman Tariq (Diamond), Hasan Nawaz (Gold) and Shamyl Hussain (Emerging)
Islamabad United: Shadab Khan (Platinum), Salman Irshad (Gold) and Andries Gous (Silver)
Peshawar Zalmi: Babar Azam (Platinum), Sufyan Moqim (Diamond), Abdul Samad (Gold) and Ali Raza (Emerging)
Karachi Kings: Hasan Ali (Platinum), Mohammad Abbas Afridi (Diamond), Khushdil Shah (Gold) and Saad Baig (Emerging)
Multan Sultans: Zero retentions.
Sports
Doberman pinscher named Penny wins best in show at Westminster
NEW YORK — The dog was Penny. The win was priceless.
A Doberman pinscher named Penny won best in show Tuesday night at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, netting U.S. show dogs’ most coveted prize — and giving veteran Andy Linton another win after nearly four decades. Linton got best in show in 1989 with another Doberman, named Indy.
Penny “is as great a Doberman as I have ever seen,” Linton told a supportive crowd. Despite ongoing health problems, he had guided the 4-year-old dog through a razor-crisp performance.
“I had some goals, and this was one of them,” Linton said.
Runner-up — and cheers just as loud — went to a Chesapeake Bay retriever named Cota. Though Dobermans have won five times including Tuesday, no retriever has ever won, and their fans applaud every encouraging sign.
Cota also seemed to enjoy the moment, particularly when his handler let him play with the ribbon.
Other finalists included an Afghan hound named Zaida, a Lhasa apso called JJ, a Maltese named Cookie, an old English sheepdog dubbed Graham and a smooth fox terrier called Wager.
Each dog is judged according to how closely it matches the ideal for its breed. The winner gets a trophy, ribbons, bragging rights and the distinction of winning the milestone 150th annual Westminster show.
A crowd favorite at the 2025 Westminster show, Penny has rocked show rings since. A throng of handlers and other dog folk cheered for her and the well-liked Linton in early-round action Tuesday afternoon.
Ringside afterward, Penny politely but pointedly nudged her nose into a visitor’s leg, looking for something — pets, as it turned out.
Co-owner Greg Chan of Toronto said Penny is “very demanding and very smart,” but she’s also “a pleaser — she’ll do anything for food.” (Her favorite snack? “Everything.”)
Penny came out on top after two days, 2,500 dogs and more than 200 breeds that strutted their stuff at the Westminster Kennel Club.
Lots of others scored meme-able moments or lightened up the crowd, even if they didn’t make the finals.
Over two nights of semifinals, spectators cheered extra loud for a Xoloitzcuintli named Calaco, a hairless dog who went around the ring like he had nothing to prove. A vizsla named Beamer charmed the crowd by hopping into a box set out for his handler’s tools, and Storm the Newfoundland got laughs when he jumped up on his handler, standing almost as tall as she. Spectators cheered so loud for a golden retriever named Oliver that they drowned out the arena’s announcer, and chants of “Lumpy! Lumpy!” resounded as Lumpy the Pekingese strolled before a judge.
One dog that made history in the semifinals was Millie, a Danish-Swedish farmdog. The small, spry breed just became eligible for the Westminster show this year, and Millie bested about 10 other farmdogs Tuesday afternoon to get to the evening round.
“It’s been a very exciting journey” to establish the breed in the U.S., said Brita Lemmon, who got her first farmdog in 2000 and competed Tuesday with one named Coyote.
Westminster wins often go to pooches with professional handlers or owners with decades or even generations of experience behind them. But just reaching the elite, champions-only show is a major accomplishment in dogdom, especially for first-timers such as Joseph Carrero and his Neapolitan mastiff, Dezi.
After yearning for a Neo since his teenage years, Carrero finally got one when he was 35. A heavy-equipment operator from Indian Springs, Nevada, he started showing the dog only because the breeder wanted him to. Now Carrero himself breeds and handles his Neos in the ring, while also working full time and then some.
“It’s really hard for us to do this, but we enjoy it, and he enjoys it,” Carrero said as visitors gathered around to greet the jowly, 190-pound dog.
Boerboels, which are formidable guard dogs originally from South Africa, played a major role in how Natalee Ridenhour met her late husband and why she eventually left metropolitan life for a farm in Royse City, Texas.
On Tuesday, Ridenhour and a Boerboel named Invictus did something else she once would never have pictured: compete at the Westminster show.
The dog didn’t advance past the first round. But as a visitor delightedly petted the 170-pound animal, Ridenhour said, “Honestly, the big win is: You’re about the 50th person who’s gotten down in his face and loved on him.”
Sports
Lions fan files $100M lawsuit after DK Metcalf clash, denies racial slur claims
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Ryan Kennedy, a Michigan resident and self-described Detroit Lions fan, is taking legal action following a December altercation with Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf at Ford Field.
Kennedy and his legal team held a news conference in Farmington Hills, Michigan, on Dec. 26. On Tuesday, attorneys representing Kennedy announced that a lawsuit had been filed in Wayne County Court. The lawsuit seeks $100 million in damages stemming from the Dec. 21 incident and names DK Metcalf, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Ford Field, the Lions’ longtime home stadium.
Former NFL player Chad Johnson, Ford Field management and multiple media platforms were also listed in the lawsuit, alleging that they played a role in making “defamatory and life-altering statements” against Kennedy in the aftermath of the incident.
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Detroit Lions fan Ryan Kennedy, center, seated next to attorney Sean Murphy, left, and attorney Shawn Head, right, while discussing the fan-involved altercation with Pittsburgh Steelers player DK Metcalf at the Head Murphy Law office in Farmington Hills, Michigan on Dec. 26, 2025. (Ryan Garza/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
The filing outlines nine counts, including negligence against Ford Field and multiple defamation claims against Metcalf, Johnson and former NFL tight end Shannon Sharpe’s Shay Shay Media.
During the first half of the Lions–Steelers game on Dec. 21, Metcalf appeared to take a swing at Kennedy, who was seated in the Ford Field stands. The NFL later disciplined Metcalf with a two-game suspension to close the regular season.
STEELERS MAKE MAJOR CONTRACT DECISION ON DK METCALF AFTER SUSPENSION
On an episode of Shay Shay Media’s “Nightcap” podcast released the day after the incident, co-host Chad Johnson said Metcalf told him Kennedy directed a racial slur at the Steelers receiver and used a derogatory term toward Metcalf’s mother.
Kennedy denied using any slurs at a December press conference, a claim reiterated in the lawsuit.

A general overall aerial view of Ford Field on Dec. 7, 2023 in Detroit, Michigan. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
“The statements were false and reckless,” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiff Kennedy did not call Defendant Metcalf the ‘N-word’; did not call Defendant Metcalf’s mother a ‘c—‘; and did not ever use any racial slurs or hate speech whatsoever … Defendant Metcalf provided false information to Defendant Johnson about what Plaintiff Kennedy allegedly said, thereby instigating and authorizing the publication of the defamatory and reckless statements, which were intended to harm Plaintiff Kennedy.”

DK Metcalf of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks on prior to an NFL Preseason 2025 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Acrisure Stadium on Aug. 16, 2025 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
Kennedy is also taking legal action against the Steelers for the team’s alleged liability in the incident, while Metcalf is accused of committing assault and battery in the lawsuit. The claims against Ford Field management are also based on liability.
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“Defendant Ford Field Management, LLC breached its duty by failing to establish or enforce adequate barriers, protocols, or security measures to prevent players from reaching into the stands and making physical contact with patrons,” the lawsuit reads.
Fox News Digital contacted the Lions requesting comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Metcalf recorded 850 receiving yards in his first season with the Steelers.
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