When Portland Thorns owner Merritt Paulson announced his decision to sell the NWSL club, a social media furor followed among players.

Several Thorns players, including captain Christine Sinclair and longtime defender Emily Menges, took to Twitter to thank the embattled owner. The Sally Yates report, released in October, implicated Paulson in perpetuating a culture of abuse in the league.

“Merritt, thank you for taking the chance on women’s soccer 10 years ago that so few were willing to make,” Sinclair wrote. “With your leadership, Portland has shown what is possible when our game is invested in.”

Other players, though, pushed back against such sentiments. Angels City FC forward Sydney Leroux offered the clearest rebuke.

“When you have someone in a position of power who has covered up the abuse of your teammates and you thank him for what he’s done for women’s soccer, it’s extremely disappointing,” Leroux wrote. “We ask people to support women’s soccer yet we can’t even support our own. Do better.”

When you have someone in a position of power who has covered up the abuse of your teammates and you thank him for what he’s done for women’s soccer, it’s extremely disappointing. We ask people to support women’s soccer yet we can’t even support our own. Do better.

— Sydney Leroux (@sydneyleroux) December 2, 2022

Leroux played for the Orlando Pride for four years before she was traded in June. Amanda Cromwell, who was named coach of the Pride ahead of the 2022 season, was placed on leave in June for retaliatory conduct, then was banned from the NWSL after the season.

Leroux also had stints with FC Kansas City and the Western New York Flash and played for the U.S. women’s national team. While she did not play for any of the coaches named in the Yates report, she took a strong stance in the wake of its release.

“It’s my belief that when serious allegations are brought to you and you ignore us… you should have absolutely nothing to do with this sport ever again. Period,” Leroux wrote in October.

Sinclair and Menges’ Thorns teammate, Becky Sauerbrunn, did not respond directly to their thanks of Paulson, but she took to social media to send support to victims of abuse in the NWSL.

“Giving thanks, and sending strength and love to all the women who courageously came forward to share their experiences and demanded much-needed change in our league,” Sauerbrunn wrote.

Giving thanks, and sending strength and love to all the women who courageously came forward to share their experiences and demanded much-needed change in our league. We must continue to fight for an environment that is 100% safe (not just for some, but) for all.

— Becky Sauerbrunn (@beckysauerbrunn) December 2, 2022

The Thorns have multiple holes to fill after head coach Rhian Wilkinson resigned on Friday following an investigation into a series of messages she exchanged with Menges. Wilkinson was cleared of wrongdoing, but a group of unnamed Portland players said they felt “unsettled and unsafe” in a letter to the NWSL.

The Thorns are coming off a 2022 season in which they won the NWSL Championship and Wilkinson was a nominee for Coach of the Year.

Unrivaled Basketball and trading card manufacturer Panini America are teaming up, bringing the 3×3 league's first officially licensed trading cards to market on Friday.

As part of a multi-year agreement between the two parties, Panini will debut the Instant Cards just hours before the first full weekend of play in the 2026 Unrivaled season tips off on Friday.

Panini also plans to launch a Rewind set of trading cards celebrating the 2025 inaugural Unrivaled season, among other future drops.

"Our partnership with Unrivaled is a great way to reinforce and showcase our support of the women's game and female athletes," said Panini America SVP of marketing Jason Howarth in the pair's Thursday announcement. "Unrivaled's 3-on-3 format makes for exciting and compelling game play and continuing to work with the best players in the world in this format made this partnership make perfect sense."

Following Monday's Season 2 tip-off, Unrivaled is continuing to form strategic partnerships as the offseason pro league grows in popularity.

"We want to meet fans where they are, and Panini's history in this space makes them an ideal partner to highlight the biggest moments for women's basketball's biggest stars," said Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell.

How to purchase Unrivaled Instant Cards

The full Unrivaled Instant Card set will release online at 3:08 PM ET on Friday at PaniniAmerica.net.

US women are lighting up the ice, performing record-breaking short programs at the US Figure Skating Championships on Wednesday as the nation's top skaters compete to represent Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics in February.

Currently atop the field is 26-year-old Amber Glenn, with the reigning back-to-back national champion posting the highest short program score in event history on Wednesday.

Glenn's 83.05-point performance surpassed the 81.11-point previous record set just minutes before by her 20-year-old teammate, reigning world champion Alysa Liu.

"I think that was one of my most enjoyable experiences competing ever," Glenn said afterwards.

With Liu and Glenn leading the charge, the US is aiming to end a 20-year Olympic medal drought in women's singles figure skating in Milan, Italy, this winter — and Team USA has even more depth on their side.

A full six of the world's Top-17 skaters hail from the US, with 18-year-old Isabeau Levito — who claimed third in Wednesday's short program competition — joining Glenn and Liu in the Top 5.

Team USA can send only three singles skaters to next month's Winter Games, with the national selection committee assessing each athlete's full season — not just their performances at this week's championships — before announcing the Olympic-bound trio on Sunday.

How to watch the 2026 US Figure Skating Championships

The women's singles competition will conclude with Friday's free skate, which kicks off at 3 PM ET before the top skaters in the standings take the ice at 8 PM ET on NBC and Peacock.

The 2026 US Olympic Figure Skating Team will then be announced at 2 PM ET on Sunday, live on NBC.

This month's USWNT roster featured one notable gap, as the absence of Portland Thorns midfielder Sam Coffey stirred up rumors that the 27-year-old is finalizing a move to the WSL to join the top-tier UK league's frontrunners, Manchester City.

First reported by The Guardian, ESPN added on Thursday that Manchester City will ante up a base transfer fee around $800,000 to add Coffey to the Citizens' roster — though the number could rise as negotiations continue and parties finalize a deal.

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The national team stalwart will reportedly travel to Manchester in the near future to ink a potential contract, but Coffey currently remains under contract with Portland until 2027, having signed an extension with the Thorns in 2024.

Coffey has been a mainstay for her NWSL club since Portland drafted the Penn State alum in 2021, but the UK league's pull could persuade her to join her USWNT teammates Alyssa Thompson (Chelsea), Emily Fox (Arsenal), Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United), and Naomi Girma (Chelsea) in making the leap to the WSL.

Currently sitting six points clear of six-time reigning champion Chelsea atop the 2025/26 WSL table, Manchester City has reportedly been searching for "the right defensive midfield option" as they pursue their first league title since 2016.

This weekend's SEC slate brings the heat, as the stacked NCAA basketball conference gears up for more than one high-profile ranked matchup on Sunday.

Undefeated No. 2 Texas will visit Baton Rouge to take on No. 12 LSU, with the Tigers looking to add to their 80-59 Thursday win over unranked Georgia as they continue battling back from a dismal 0-2 start in 2025/26 conference play.

"We think we're just going to go in there and out-jump, out-leap somebody," said LSU boss Kim Mulkey following last Sunday's loss to No. 7 Vanderbilt. "You're not going to do that in this league."

"This year, the [SEC] is every bit as good as last year — when you really think about it, it's probably way better," Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer told the Austin American-Statesman on Thursday. "The big thing right now is we've got to get better."

Texas's clash with LSU opens a tough stretch for the Longhorns, as they face AP Poll headliners No. 3 South Carolina, No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 6 Kentucky, and No. 7 Vanderbilt in the coming weeks.

Sunday's other SEC blockbuster between the Sooners and the Wildcats is all about redemption, as Oklahoma aims to bounce back from their 74-69 upset loss to No. 18 Ole Miss on Thursday while Kentucky looks to put their 64-51 Thursday loss to unranked Alabama in the rearview mirror.

How to watch ranked SEC basketball on Sunday

No. 2 Texas will tip off Sunday's ranked SEC slate against No. 12 LSU at 3 PM ET, airing live on ESPN.

Then at 4 PM ET, No. 5 Oklahoma will visit No. 6 Kentucky, with live coverage on the SEC Network.