WrestleMania? In Los Angeles, It’s LuchaMania.

 

WrestleMania? In Los Angeles, It’s LuchaMania.

Under the glaring lights of the arena, the roar of the crowd reached a fever pitch. In a blur of red and gold, Amazona wrapped her legs and arms around her opponent, Lady Lee, executing a flawless hold before slamming her face-first into the canvas. The audience erupted. The sound of wooden noisemakers rattled through the space, mingling with cheers and gasps. One voice, high and insistent, pierced through the noise—“Amazona! Amazona!”

It was the voice of her six-year-old son, perched in the front row, eyes wide with pride. Tonight, his mother didn’t have a sitter. But in the colorful chaos of lucha libre, that hardly mattered.

Amazona—her thick red hair flowing from the back of a crimson mask, sequin-studded suit catching the light with every move, and black, high-laced boots pounding the mat—stood triumphant. She raised her arms, taking in the electricity of the crowd and the moment. She was both warrior and mother, wrestler and working woman.

By day, she worked behind a desk at a logistics firm, managing shipments, coordinating schedules, and navigating corporate protocols. Her colleagues knew her as quiet, efficient, and professional. Few would guess that by night, she transformed into Amazona—a fierce competitor in the world of lucha libre, where strength, strategy, and theatrical flair collide.

Lucha libre, Mexico’s iconic form of professional wrestling, is far more than entertainment. It is spectacle, tradition, and metaphor. Wrestlers, often masked and bearing larger-than-life personas, perform daring aerial feats and dramatic takedowns. But for many fans, the ring is more than a stage—it’s a reflection of life’s battles. The villains, or rudos, challenge the rules, while the heroes, or técnicos, fight for honor. In every match, there is struggle, resistance, triumph, and sometimes, defeat.

The sport has been woven into the fabric of Mexican culture for generations. Long before the rise of global wrestling icons, lucha libre captivated audiences with its mystique and moral clarity. The masks, often ornate and symbolic, preserve anonymity and identity simultaneously. They turn ordinary individuals into legends.

For Amazona, the ring is a place of release and reclamation. Here, she is powerful. Here, she is unbound. She channels the strength she musters daily as a single mother, a full-time employee, and now, a rising figure in the world of women’s wrestling.

Her son doesn’t just see his mom as someone who prepares his lunch or helps with homework. He sees her stand tall after every match, resilient and fierce. He cheers not only for the moves she makes but for what she represents—endurance, passion, and the fight it takes to chase dreams.

As the referee lifted her hand in victory and the crowd continued to chant her name, Amazona stole a quick glance toward her son. He was beaming. For a brief moment, the two worlds she straddled—professional and personal, reality and performance—merged.

On lucha libre night, anything can happen. And for Amazona, every match is more than just a spectacle. It’s a story of identity, struggle, and the extraordinary strength found in the everyday.

Aaron Rodgers’ words for Aaron Glenn are a reminder: The Jets were right to move on

Aaron Rodgers’ words for Aaron Glenn are a reminder: The Jets were right to move on

​​Aaron Rodgers Feels Ghosted by the Jets — but They’re Already on a New Path

From the moment Aaron Glenn walked in as head coach, it was clear the Jets were turning the page — and turning it hard. The only problem? Aaron Rodgers didn’t get the memo.

Appearing once again on The Pat McAfee Show Thursday afternoon, Rodgers was his usual candid self, speaking from a sun-soaked patio (likely in Malibu), wearing his signature wired earbuds — the ones he insists help protect his brain. But when the Jets came up in conversation, his internet conveniently glitched.

“They’re probably trying to shut this part down,” Rodgers quipped with a smirk. Or maybe his Wi-Fi budget is tighter now, considering he “flew across the country on [his] own dime” to New Jersey earlier this offseason — a trip that ended up being his last as a member of the Jets.

Rodgers expected a sit-down with Glenn and new general manager Darren Mougey — a chance to share his thoughts on the franchise’s direction and his potential role in it. What he got instead felt more like an exit interview.

Rodgers recounted how the meeting started strangely: Glenn left mid-conversation, then returned with Mougey. Moments later, Glenn leaned forward and asked, “You sure you want to play football?” Rodgers said yes. Glenn replied bluntly: “We’re going in another direction at quarterback.”

“I was shocked,” Rodgers said. And then he let them have it.

“I just flew across the country for this? You could’ve told me on the phone,” he told McAfee.

Things got tense. Rodgers said Glenn brought up concerns about how Rodgers’ presence might affect the team’s chemistry, even suggesting Rodgers might undermine him. Rodgers took offense.

“You don’t know me,” he said. Glenn replied, “You don’t know me.” And that was the tone of the meeting — a cold, businesslike divorce.

Rodgers described it as “rogue” behavior by the new coach. But from the Jets’ perspective, it was anything but.

Let’s rewind to how this all started. In 2023, the Jets made an aggressive play for Rodgers, flying a group to Malibu, hiring his buddy Nathaniel Hackett, overpaying for Allen Lazard, and signing a laundry list of Rodgers’ favorites: Randall Cobb, Billy Turner, Tim Boyle, Dalvin Cook. Few moves paid off. GMs around the league joked that Rodgers was the real GM in Florham Park.

The Jets hoped Rodgers would elevate the team. Instead, they got headlines, controversies, and four offensive snaps before a season-ending injury. He never quite returned to football relevance after that, though he did stay in the spotlight thanks to his weekly McAfee interviews — and not always for the right reasons.

Now, with Glenn at the helm for just 85 days, the Jets are cleaning house. The leaks are gone. The headlines have quieted. The team is younger, leaner, and — in the front office’s eyes — more focused. Only four players over 30 remain on the roster. This is no longer Rodgers’ team. It’s Glenn’s.

And as for Rodgers? He says he wished they’d just fired him over the phone, even though it’s likely he’d have criticized that, too. What matters now is that the breakup is official.

Rodgers’ future is unclear. He told Glenn he was “interested” in playing football — a vague answer for someone entering April still undecided. The Jets didn’t have the luxury of waiting around. They moved on to Justin Fields, who brings a fresh start and, notably, doesn’t seek a spotlight every Tuesday.

Now the focus shifts to Pittsburgh. The Steelers are reportedly circling Rodgers, hoping to make a push with a veteran under center. Sound familiar?

If this chapter plays out like the last, Pittsburgh may want to buckle up.

Hailed as a Trailblazer, Kim Ng Stands Alone

Hailed as a Trailblazer, Kim Ng Stands Alone

Significant League Baseball praised the recruiting of a lady as an indication of progress on variety in its leader positions. Each similar recruit throughout the most recent two years has been a white man.

Thirteen individuals have been recruited in the course of the last two seasons to run the baseball tasks of a front office: Chaim Bloom (Red Sox), Sam Fuld (Phillies), Chris Young (Rangers), Jed Hoyer (Cubs), James Click (Astros), Matt Arnold (Brewers), Dave Dombrowski (Phillies), Scott Harris (Giants), Ben Cherington (Pirates), Perry Minasian (Angels), Brian O'Halloran (Red Sox), Sandy Alderson (Mets) and Kim Ng. Ng, the head supervisor of the Miami Marlins, is the solitary lady and the lone minority in that gathering.

"I've been singing this tune as a player since the mid '80s," Stewart added later in the telephone meet. "And afterward when I turned into a leader and was circumvent for a work that I was more than qualified for when I was in Toronto, I said it indeed freely — that there was an issue with baseball and bigotry. Regardless of whether they say it's bigotry or whether they say it's bias, it's as yet an issue."a

Like others of shading around baseball, Stewart wasn't astonished by the top leader employs this slow time of year. Their disappointment emerges from the proceeded with absence of chances, particularly after partnerships around the United States swore to handle racial disparity following George Floyd's executing while in Minneapolis police guardianship in May. 

Just four heads of club baseball activities are recognized as nonwhite by M.L.B's. variety objectives — around 13 percent of M.L.B's. 30 groups. They are Kenny Williams, who is Black, of the Chicago White Sox; Farhan Zaidi, who is of Asian plunge, of the San Francisco Giants; Al Avila, who is Latino, of the Detroit Tigers; and Ng. That is an unmistakable difference to the socioeconomics on the field, where 40% of major-association players are recognized as nonwhite by M.L.B. — most of whom are Latino. 

"It burdens me and it's something that I need to fix," said Neil Leibman, who as of late took over as the administrator of M.L.B's. variety, value and consideration council, which is comprised of group proprietors and class authorities. Leibman, who is white, is the director of the Texas Rangers' proprietorship panel and the club's head working official.

As M.L.B. Magistrate Rob Manfred has said and Leibman repeated as of late, clubs settle on their own decisions on recruits for leader of baseball activities or head supervisor. While M.L.B. has assets, programs and a data set of up-and-comers pointed toward improving its variety, the lone prerequisite overseeing top baseball positions is the Selig Rule. 

First proposed by the previous official Bud Selig in 1999, the standard necessitates that clubs consider minority contender for openings in five top baseball positions, including senior supervisor and director. 

In any case, in the twenty years since the standard's initiation, proprietors have generally employed top chiefs who appear as though them, and the quantity of nonwhite heads of baseball activities and field directors hasn't changed a lot. (Entering the 2021 season, there will be just six administrators of shading — around 20%, which misses the mark concerning the cosmetics of the M.L.B. player pool and the country.) Throughout the years, a few applicants of fluctuated racial foundations — Ng included — have said they felt as though their prospective employee meetings occurred basically so groups could check a case. 

"This story — or fantasy or anything you desire to call it — you're offering to make minorities believe that you really get an opportunity, we need to in any case try to land that position, yet throughout recent decades — throughout recent decades — it's simply not occurring," said Stewart, who additionally highlighted the absence of variety among proprietors as a contributing component. Arte Moreno, a Latino, is the just nonwhite greater part group proprietor in M.L.B.

A Peaceful Existence of Uproarious Homers: Hank Aaron in Photographs

 

A Peaceful Existence of Uproarious Homers: Hank Aaron in Photographs

There were numerous exceptional seasons in Aaron's vocation, however nothing could very match 1957, when he bloomed into one of the game's best players and drove the Milwaukee Conquers to a World Arrangement title — the establishment's first title since 1914 and the one and only one while the group was situated in Milwaukee. Aaron got the Most Important Player Grant after the season

There were numerous unique seasons in Aaron's profession, yet nothing could very match 1957, when he bloomed into one of the game's best players and drove the Milwaukee Conquers to a World Arrangement title — the establishment's first title since 1914 and the one and only one while the group was situated in Milwaukee. Aaron got the Most Significant Player Grant after the season.

Aaron and his first spouse, Barbara Lucas, had five youngsters, including Henry Jr. In 1957, life at home included salutary calls for the Conquers' Public Alliance flag.

In the 1957 World Arrangement, Aaron hit .393 with three grand slams, remembering this three-run went for Game 4. Milwaukee beat the Yankees in seven games.

The Overcomes' enchanted 1957 season incorporated some genuine equipment. Warren Spahn, the group's expert left-hander, won the Cy Youthful Honor and Aaron won the Most Significant Player Grant

Tony Hawk’s 900 Spin Was Amazing. An 11-Year-Old Skateboarder Stuck a 1080

Tony Hawk’s 900 Spin Was Amazing. An 11-Year-Old Skateboarder Stuck a 1080

Gui Khury possessed a skateboard before he was even conceived, because of his dad, Ricardo. 

Gui was in skate exercises at a Y.M.C.A. in the sea shore town of Encinitas, Calif., when he was 4 years of age. After one year, he was dropping in on halfpipes, vaulting over the lip of the vertical slope at high speeds. 

"He was only a little child, however he was so courageous," Ricardo Khury said in a telephone meet. "That is the means by which everything began — he was the little one that drops in on the large inclines." 

This month, the 11-year-old turned into the main skateboarder to land a 1080 on a halfpipe — a stunt wherein the skater turns three full occasions noticeable all around, 1,080 degrees, before nailing a finish on the vert incline. 

"I figured I could land it," Gui said a couple of days subsequent to handling the stunt, still overjoyed. "I simply continued difficult." 

Youthful skaters have since quite a while ago slung to acclaim with stunts that had appeared to be unthinkable, suspending doubt and opposing gravity to push the game forward. 

At the point when Gui was conceived, in 2008, skateboarding had standard ubiquity. It had been a long time since Tony Hawk handled the 900 — over two turns — at the X-Games. Bird of prey's Pro Skater computer game establishment was at that point in its eleventh emphasis. Sway Burnquist had fabricated his Mega Ramp, remaining at eight stories tall, permitting skaters to arrive at 55 miles an hour and dispatch over a 70-foot hole. The youthful phenoms Ryan Sheckler and Nyjah Huston previously had won their first awards at the X-Games. 

There were skate stops all around the family's Southern California home, and Ricardo Khury immediately got on his child's capacities. 

So when the family moved to Curitiba, in southern Brazil, he fabricated a slope in a distribution center for his child to rehearse. "After I assembled the incline here, he handled his first McTwist," Ricardo Khury stated, portraying a 540-degree rear turn. "He was only 7 years of age. That is extremely hard for a skateboarder. A quarter of a year from that point forward, he had handled his initial 720 and turned into the most youthful on the planet to land it." 

When the coronavirus pandemic shut schools in Brazil, Ricardo understood that his child could profit by the delay on a significant part of the remainder of day by day life. Gui would have more opportunity to prepare, he could eat well at home and he would have boundless access to the main athletic offices he required. The stockroom vert incline is a little ways from their home, and there is additionally a littler slope in the family's patio. 

Gui and his dad, who goes about as a casual mentor and cellphone videographer, headed to the stockroom one day in the wake of completing classes from home. Gui attempted and went after for the 1080, simply missing the arrival and sliding down the slope on his kneepads. 

He was certain he could land it in the long run. Also, he did, after about 10 attempts. 

After three full twists, the wheels of Gui's skateboard contacted down. His knees wobbled a piece — he was lower on the incline than perfect — yet he had the option to fix and the celebrating started. 

Bird of prey, who has skated with Gui in Southern California and viewed the youthful competitor's advancement, associated as much with Gui's recuperation as the stunt itself. 

"He can recuperate from an arrival that is not great," Hawk said. "That is one of his marks. He can hunch down way out of an arrival that is not straight, and not many individuals can do that." 

Gui tossed his head protector noticeable all around, laid in the focal point of the incline and shouted "Goodness MY GOD" as skaters in the outskirts hollered and screamed. Be that as it may, very few could state they were amazed to see this achievement on a vert incline. 

In 2012, another youthful skater, Tom Schaar, handled a 1080, this one on a Mega Ramp, a monstrous structure with a long move in and a higher quarterpipe to let skaters develop speed and take off over the lip, giving them more opportunity to pull off ethereal stunts (and more space for difficult disappointment). 

"It's each of the a matter of benchmark and viewpoint," said Josh Friedberg, the CEO of U.S.A. Skateboarding, the overseeing body that is sorting out the American group for the Tokyo Olympics. "Skateboarding is iterative. Everything expands on the shoulder of the individuals that have preceded you." 

Gui has bounty to expand on during his time in isolate. He's now effectively handled the 1080 once more, and expects to do as such in an opposition when occasions restart. 

He said his preferred piece of skateboarding is learning new deceives, and he's as of now peering toward a 1260, which would add on another half-turn to the 1080. 

He's likewise anxious to return to skating with his saints in California, Hawk and Burnquist. For the present, his own vert incline in Curitiba should do. Fortunately, he has a strong group supporting him, including the family's pooch, Toni, who hurries to Gui and licks his face at whatever point he falls on the slope. 

"It's every one of the a fantasy," Gui said. "Probably the best thing about skateboarding is hearing your legends state: 'Hello, what a decent stunt. Congrats.' " 

Falcon had a serious reaction to that. "I feel extremely fortunate to manage observer to this new age and take an interest simultaneously," he said. "I'm way more established, they could pass me as a cleaned up skater."