Month: February 2024

Joaquin Niemann of Chile received a special invitation to the 2024 Masters tournament on Wednesday, despite having moved to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf . Niemann, 25, is among three players who have accepted a special invitation to play in the Masters. The inclusion of these three players increases the field list to 83 players.

Masters chairman Fred Ridley said Wednesday that Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune also accepted special invitations to compete in the tournament: “The Masters Tournament has a long-standing tradition of inviting leading international players who are not otherwise qualified. Today’s announcement represents the Tournament’s continued commitment towards developing interest in the game of golf across the world. We look forward to welcoming each player to Augusta National this spring.”

Niemann’s appearance at the Masters was in doubt after moving to LIV golf in summer 2022, which doesn’t currently award world-ranking points (he is ranked 81st in the Official World Golf Ranking). Niemann is a former winner of the Latin America Amateur Championship, run by Augusta National, and recently won the Australian Open (earning a spot in this year’s Open Championship) and LIV’s season-opening event in Mexico.

Olesen is making his first appearance in the Masters since 2019, and fourth overall. He recently won the DP World Tour’s Ras Al Khaimah Championship and has rejoined the top 60 in the world. Hisatsune, the reigning DP World Tour Rookie of the Year, will be making his Masters debut in April.

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MLB first baseman/DH Eric Hosmer has announced his retirement from baseball after 13 seasons in the majors. Hosmer, who won the World Series with the Kansas City Royals in 2015, posted to social media saying in part: “the playing days are unfortunately over but I’m committed to giving back to the baseball community …You have to be 110% committed and doing what is necessary both physically and mentally to play at the major league level and I reached a point where I wasn’t there anymore. I’m very satisfied with my career. I feel like I accomplished a lot, was around a lot of great people and have a lot of good stories to tell.”

Hosmer also shared that he is launching a new podcast, “Diggin’ Deep,” hosted with former MLB pitcher Peter Moylan and process and development coach Justin Su’a, from his new media company, MoonBall Media. Hosmer said of the podcast: “We’re not trying to break news, we’re not trying to figure out if any team has interest in trading for Mike Trout or anything like that. What we’re doing is digging deep into how people got started in their baseball careers, how something might have happened during their careers that changed them in a big way, things of that nature. That’s going to be something unique and a lot of fun.”

Hosmer retires with a .276/.335/.427 career average. He made his debut in 2011 with the Kansas City Royals, hitting 19 home runs over 128 games and hitting .293, earning him third place in AL Rookie of the Year voting. With the Royals he won the 2015 World Series against the New York Mets, the franchise’s first championship trophy since 1985.

In his best season (2017) Hosmer played in all 162 games, hitting .318/.385/.498 with 25 home runs, and earned a Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger, and finished 14th in AL MVP voting. Hosmer signed an eight-year, $144 million contract with the San Diego Padres (the biggest in franchise history at the time) but was traded to the Boston Red Sox in 2022, who released him during the offseason. In 2023, Hosmer signed a one-year deal with the Cubs and appeared in 31 games, hitting .234/.280/.330 with two home runs before the Cubs released him in late May.

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Two men have been charged with murder after one person was killed and multiple people were injured at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade. Two juveniles were previously detained near Union Station on gun-related and resisting arrest charges shortly after the incident took place, with authorities saying on Tuesday, February 20 that more charges are possible.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced on Tuesday that Lyndell Mays of Raytown, Mo., and Dominic Miller of Kansas City have been charged with second-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. Baker said that the shooting occurred after one of the suspects had an argument with another person, which led to the suspect pulling out a handgun and others — including the second man charged — escalating the situation. Miller is suspected to be the one who pulled the trigger on the gun that killed 43-year-old Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a married mother of two and Kansas City-area radio personality.

The shooting occurred shortly after the Kansas City Chiefs celebrated their Super Bowl victory with a parade and rally on Wednesday, February 14. As the parade came to an end, Kansas City Missouri Police Department confirmed that there was a shooting near the event. One woman, identified as Lopez-Galvan, was killed and more than 20 people ranging in age from age 8 to 47 years old were injured during the incident. Children’s Mercy Kansas City confirmed that nine children were treated for gunshot wounds, but have since all been released.

According to The New York Times, they have been hospitalized since the shooting and are each being held on a one million dollar bond.

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New England Patriots special teams contributor and captain Matthew Slater announced his retirement on Tuesday after 16 NFL seasons.

Slater, 38, wrote in a retirement letter posted by the Patriots: “I came here as a young man with hopes and dreams. In 2024, I can retire knowing this experience has exceeded any hope or dream I ever had … “I have given all that I possibly can to respect and honor the game. Though it is time for my relationship with the game to evolve, the love I have for it will last a lifetime.”

Called “just about the perfect player” by former Patriots coach Bill Belichick, Slater won all three of his Super Bowl titles alongside Belichick and former teammate Tom Brady, among other future Hall of Famers, and was part of five AFC championship teams. Slater thanked fans, his family, the Patriots and others who helped him along in his NFL journey, including Belichick: “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to pursue my childhood dream. Thank you for your belief in me. You took a chance on me and kept me around when many would not have. It is a great honor to know that I played for the best coach in the history of our league.”

Slater joined the Patriots in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft, making it to 10 Pro Bowls – a record for special teams players and was a two-time first-team All-Pro selection (2016, 2019). He finished with 191 career tackles and 138 solo takedowns during his NFL tenure  He logged 22 combine tackles and 13 solo takedowns in the playoffs. Slater also totaled 637 yards on 35 career kick returns.

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