A rising Australian basketball star who almost died from a coward punch has revealed the financial hardship he has endured, calling for legislative change for all Aussie athletes.
Harry Froling, a promising Australian basketball star, has faced a life-altering challenge following a devastating one-punch attack.
In January 2023, his life took a tragic turn when an assault left him with a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain, and the need for emergency brain surgery.
The incident, which occurred outside a Wollongong nightclub, has since fueled Froling’s advocacy for better protection and support for athletes in similar situations.
The 26-year-old former NBL player has opened up about his recovery and the financial struggles that ensued.
Unlike injuries sustained during games or training, his off-court injury left him without adequate financial coverage.
Harry Froling was playing for the Brisbane Bullets in the National Basketball League at the time of his attach
Froling had major brain surgery and was told without the treatment, he would have died
‘If it happened in a game or training, I would have been covered, but because it happened outside the game, there was no liability,’ Froling told Code Sports.
Under the current NBL collective bargaining agreement, players injured during official games are entitled to up to 52 weeks of payments.
However, injuries occurring outside such settings, like Froling’s, fall outside this coverage.
The Brisbane Bullets, his team at the time, paid out the remainder of his contract but declined to extend his deal, leaving him without income for months.
Without income protection, Froling faced significant financial hardship, waiting six months to access a disability pension.
This experience has inspired him to call for a unified Work Cover system that extends protection to athletes injured outside the court.
He hopes to collaborate with the NBL and the Players’ Association to address this gap in support.
Froling’s advocacy isn’t limited to basketball.
Froling has been left devastated by not being able to play the game he loves and has spoken about the financial challenges after losing his income
The Rugby League Players’ Association (RLPA) has also voiced concerns about inadequate protections for rugby league players.
Currently, Work Cover does not apply to these athletes due to outdated perceptions that sports are recreational rather than professional work.
The RLPA has outlined potential avenues for support, including private health insurance, travel insurance, and Total Permanent Disablement (TPD) claims.
However, access to these resources often depends on the specific circumstances of each case, leaving many athletes vulnerable.
For Froling, the road to recovery has been long and arduous.
Following the attack, he discharged himself prematurely from the hospital, unaware of the severity of his injuries.
He later required emergency surgery to place three plates in his skull, a procedure that saved his life.
Despite the physical and emotional toll, he is determined to return to the sport he loves.
Froling remains hopeful he can return to basketball through the national NBL1 league
The impact of the injury extended beyond the physical. Froling experienced severe depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and strained relationships with family and friends.
‘I was in a dark place for 12 to 14 months,’ he said.
Basketball, a lifelong passion and family tradition, was suddenly out of reach, leaving him grappling with his identity.
Support from former teammates and family helped Froling regain hope.
He adopted a healthier lifestyle, pursued new hobbies like spearfishing, and began training with Mackay’s NBL1 side.
While he isn’t ready to rejoin the NBL yet, he has set his sights on a comeback in the reserve grade competition NBL1 next May.
Shyla Nelson Stewart — who is currently married to Martha Stewart’s ex-husband, Andrew Stewart — seemed eager to defend her husband during the lead-up to the recent release of the Netflix documentary “Martha.”
Ahead of the Oct. 30 debut of the film about the lifestyle mogul, Nelson Stewart published a statement on Facebook signed by her and Andrew regarding portions of the film’s trailer. In the teaser, Martha gives young women the advice: “If you’re married and your husband starts to cheat on you, he’s a piece of shit. Get out of that marriage.”
According to the couple’s Oct. 12 Facebook post, Andrew has evolved since his marriage with Martha ended in 1990. In the post, Nelson Stewart describes her husband as a “brilliant publisher, avocational naturalist and nature photographer, and one of the gentlest, most soft-spoken, kind-hearted men I’ve ever known.”
“Andy and I have built a life of beauty, meaning, productivity, and purpose, infused with true love,” Nelson Stewart writes in the joint statement.
But Nelson Stewart points out this wasn’t always the case for her husband.
“Prior to this happy chapter of his life, Andy had some dark ones, including a painful and abusive marriage to Martha (as in, Martha Stewart), which ended almost 40 years ago,” Nelson Stewart continued. “While Andy quietly moved on and forward with his life, it appears that Martha continues to publicly relitigate the marriage, including comments in a sensationalized trailer for an upcoming documentary on Netflix.”
Nelson Stewart, who married Andrew in 2016, added that the “juxtaposition” of her husband’s earlier life “with the joy-filled, purpose-led, loving marriage we live today is striking.”
“We both wish everyone, including Martha herself, the experience of loving and being loved deeply and fully, and the peace that comes from such a love,” Nelson Stewart concluded.
Shyla Nelson Stewart attends an event in Los Angeles in 2018. She and husband Andrew Stewart posted a joint statement on Facebook responding to the trailer for the Netflix documentary “Martha.”
Tibrina Hobson via Getty Images
Although Martha acts the part of a scorned wife in the trailer and the documentary, the film implies that Martha initiated the former couple’s pattern of habitual cheating.
Early in the documentary, Martha admits that she kissed a “very handsome guy” in the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower in Florence, Italy, while the couple were on their honeymoon.
Martha explains in the film that she felt she “had” to attend church at the time because it was the day before Easter, and her Jewish husband “didn’t have any interest” in going to the famed cathedral, known as the Florence Duomo.
Martha described the cathedral as “a very romantic place.”
“An expansive dome so beautiful and paintings all around you,” Martha recalled of her surroundings. “It was like nothing I had ever done before. And, so, why not kiss a stranger?”
When the film’s director, R.J. Cutler, asked Martha how she’d describe that encounter, she responded, “Naughty?”
“Was it naughty, or was it infidelity?” Cutler asked.
“Neither,” Martha said. “It is neither naughty or in… in… unfaithful. It was just emotional, of the moment. That’s how I looked at it.”
Martha Stewart and Andrew Stewart outside their home in 1980.
Arthur Schatz via Getty Images
Later in the documentary, Martha speaks about how she was well aware that Andrew had “quite a few” girlfriends during their marriage, which spanned from 1961 to 1990, but she felt she “couldn’t walk away.”
When Cutler asks Martha if it was true that she had another “affair early on in the relationship,” Martha responded with: “Uh, yeah, but I don’t think Andy ever knew about that.”
“He did say he knew about that,” Cutler said.
“He did?” Martha asked, sounding surprised.
“He said he didn’t stray from the marriage until you told him you had already strayed,” Cutler said.
“Oh, that’s not true, I don’t think,” Martha said. “I had a very brief affair with a very attractive Irish man. And, um, it was just nothing. … I would never have broken up a marriage for it. … It was like the kiss in the cathedral.”
Shyla Nelson Stewart — who is currently married to Martha Stewart’s ex-husband, Andrew Stewart — seemed eager to defend her husband during the lead-up to the recent release of the Netflix documentary “Martha.”
Ahead of the Oct. 30 debut of the film about the lifestyle mogul, Nelson Stewart published a statement on Facebook signed by her and Andrew regarding portions of the film’s trailer. In the teaser, Martha gives young women the advice: “If you’re married and your husband starts to cheat on you, he’s a piece of shit. Get out of that marriage.”
According to the couple’s Oct. 12 Facebook post, Andrew has evolved since his marriage with Martha ended in 1990. In the post, Nelson Stewart describes her husband as a “brilliant publisher, avocational naturalist and nature photographer, and one of the gentlest, most soft-spoken, kind-hearted men I’ve ever known.”
“Andy and I have built a life of beauty, meaning, productivity, and purpose, infused with true love,” Nelson Stewart writes in the joint statement.
But Nelson Stewart points out this wasn’t always the case for her husband.
“Prior to this happy chapter of his life, Andy had some dark ones, including a painful and abusive marriage to Martha (as in, Martha Stewart), which ended almost 40 years ago,” Nelson Stewart continued. “While Andy quietly moved on and forward with his life, it appears that Martha continues to publicly relitigate the marriage, including comments in a sensationalized trailer for an upcoming documentary on Netflix.”
Nelson Stewart, who married Andrew in 2016, added that the “juxtaposition” of her husband’s earlier life “with the joy-filled, purpose-led, loving marriage we live today is striking.”
“We both wish everyone, including Martha herself, the experience of loving and being loved deeply and fully, and the peace that comes from such a love,” Nelson Stewart concluded.
Shyla Nelson Stewart attends an event in Los Angeles in 2018. She and husband Andrew Stewart posted a joint statement on Facebook responding to the trailer for the Netflix documentary “Martha.”
Tibrina Hobson via Getty Images
Although Martha acts the part of a scorned wife in the trailer and the documentary, the film implies that Martha initiated the former couple’s pattern of habitual cheating.
Early in the documentary, Martha admits that she kissed a “very handsome guy” in the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower in Florence, Italy, while the couple were on their honeymoon.
Martha explains in the film that she felt she “had” to attend church at the time because it was the day before Easter, and her Jewish husband “didn’t have any interest” in going to the famed cathedral, known as the Florence Duomo.
Martha described the cathedral as “a very romantic place.”
“An expansive dome so beautiful and paintings all around you,” Martha recalled of her surroundings. “It was like nothing I had ever done before. And, so, why not kiss a stranger?”
When the film’s director, R.J. Cutler, asked Martha how she’d describe that encounter, she responded, “Naughty?”
“Was it naughty, or was it infidelity?” Cutler asked.
“Neither,” Martha said. “It is neither naughty or in… in… unfaithful. It was just emotional, of the moment. That’s how I looked at it.”
Martha Stewart and Andrew Stewart outside their home in 1980.
Arthur Schatz via Getty Images
Later in the documentary, Martha speaks about how she was well aware that Andrew had “quite a few” girlfriends during their marriage, which spanned from 1961 to 1990, but she felt she “couldn’t walk away.”
When Cutler asks Martha if it was true that she had another “affair early on in the relationship,” Martha responded with: “Uh, yeah, but I don’t think Andy ever knew about that.”
“He did say he knew about that,” Cutler said.
“He did?” Martha asked, sounding surprised.
“He said he didn’t stray from the marriage until you told him you had already strayed,” Cutler said.
“Oh, that’s not true, I don’t think,” Martha said. “I had a very brief affair with a very attractive Irish man. And, um, it was just nothing. … I would never have broken up a marriage for it. … It was like the kiss in the cathedral.”
So, when a radio presenter began trash-talking his hometown club after their latest win, the 29-year-old got on the phone and playfully put him in his place.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Paddy Pimblett defends his team
Jason Cundy is a former professional soccer player, who notably played for one of Liverpool’s biggest rivals, Chelsea, during his career, which came to an end in the year 2000.
Since then, he’s become a popular pundit on the radio station talkSPORT, where he was voicing his grievances with Pimblett’s team after they recorded an impressive 4-0 win over German side Bayer Leverkusen.
Cundy complained about the club’s famous anthem, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, which fans of the club sing before every game that takes place at Anfield stadium, where Pimblett hopes to headline a UFC event before his career is over.
The 54-year-old went on the take issue with Liverpool’s good form under new manager Arne Slot, who has shocked everyone by winning 14 of his first 16 games at the helm.
“They’re starting to annoy me now, they just get results,” Cundy said. “You know they’re good, but then you come away thinking 4-0? They just spanked Leverkusen 4-0?
“I think there’s probably more to come from this Liverpool side, that’s what’s worrying me.”
Cundy was talking to a Liverpool fan, who just happened to be sitting next to Pimblett. The UFC superstar snatched the phone and started giving his thoughts on the club’s good form.
“I did expect this,” he said. “Before Slot came, I said Jurgen [Klopp] was our generation’s [Bill] Shankly and Arne Slot was going to be our generation’s [Bob] Paisley. He’s going to win more than Jurgen did, and I can’t wait to be proved right.”
Cundy went quiet as Pimblett talked up his team, and it didn’t go unnoticed. The retired soccer player’s co-host pointed out that he had stopped complaining about Liverpool after being confronted by a world-class fighter
Jamie O’Hara commented: “You’ve gone a bit quiet now haven’t you!”
Cundy remained quiet until Pimblett hung up. Only then did he decide to come out of his shell with a comment that suggested he thinks Pimblett couldn’t hurt a fly, saying: “He’s all mouth and no trousers, Paddy.”
Cundy added with a laugh: “He’s not still there, is he?”
Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
When is Paddy Pimblett’s next fight?
Unless he bumps into Cundy, it seems Pimblett will not be fighting until 2025.
Famously, he has a tough time making lightweight. Pimblett is known for ballooning in weight when he’s not in camp, so he needs extra time to ensure he makes the 156lb lightweight limit safely.
With the year almost over, the popular Englishman doesn’t feel confident he could make weight correctly and says the only way he’ll fight before 2024 is over is if the UFC offers him a big-name welterweight opponent.
Pimblett said in October: “It’s too late now to make lightweight for the UFC events at the end of the year. I’d rather not kill myself trying to make weight – but if they want to get me Colby [Covington] or McGregor at welterweight, I’d do it.
“I’d fight either at welterweight because they aren’t massive welterweights. I don’t think many welterweights are that big compared to me. I only realized how big of a lightweight I am when I fought Bobby.”
NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Saints fired coach Dennis Allen on Monday, a day after a loss at last-place Carolina extended the Saints’ losing streak to seven games — their longest since 1999.
“DA is an excellent football coach,” Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said. ”This season, we’ve had an avalanche of injuries. It took its toll. DA has never offered excused. He fought each day for this organization and this team and that is what makes today disappointing.”
The now-fired head coach Dennis Allen of the New Orleans Saints yells during the second quarter of a game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Harry How via Getty Images
The Saints named special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi the club’s interim coach for the final eight games of what is expected to be the fourth straight season without a playoff berth for New Orleans (2-7).
Allen is 18-25 without a playoff appearance since taking over in 2022 after Sean Payton, the most successful coach in Saints history, began what turned out to be a one-season retirement from coaching.
Allen was promoted by general manager Mickey Loomis after a six-season tenure as New Orleans’ defensive coordinator, a period that saw his unit ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in 2020 and 2021.
“Dennis has been a part of our organization for many years,” Saints owner Gayle Benson said, referring to Allen’s initial stint as a defensive assistant with New Orleans from 2006 to 2010. “He has been extremely loyal and professional.
“All of this makes today very tough for me and our organization,” Benson added. “However, this decision is something that I felt we needed to make at this time.”
While the Saints continued to field one of the better defenses in the NFL during Allen’s first two seasons as head coach, the offense has been erratic and often struggled in the late stages of close games.
This year, with new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak in charge, the offense began the season by scoring a stunning 91 points over consecutive victories in Weeks 1 and 2. Since then, however, the unit has struggled to produce while injuries to key players have mounted.
Center Erik McCoy, the Saints’ most accomplished offensive lineman, was the first to go down in Week 3 and hasn’t played since. Meanwhile, New Orleans has endured stints without quarterback Derek Carr, top receivers Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed and veteran guard Cesar Ruiz, among others.
New Orleans entered Sunday’s loss to the Panthers without three of its top four cornerbacks on defense: Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo and Kool-Aid McKinstry.
But Carr was back from a three-game absence.
The Saints outgained the Panthers 427 yards to 246 yet still lost, 23-22 — to a team it had beaten 47-10 in Week 1.
Allen went 7-10 in his first season with the Saints and improved to 9-8 last year, narrowly missing the playoffs. Allen hoped that with a new offense, New Orleans would improve enough to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020 — which also was franchise all-time passer Drew Brees’ final NFL season.
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But since its strong opening two weeks, New Orleans’ offense has largely languished and dropped to 16th in yards per game (331.4) through Sunday’s games.
Allen’s defense, meanwhile, has plummeted to 28th, allowing 376.4 yards per game.
While the 52-year-old Allen remains an accomplished defensive coordinator, his prospects for getting another head coaching position are dim at best. He is now 26-53 as an NFL coach, including his 8-28 record with the Oakland Raiders from 2012-14.
BILLINGS — Longtime Rocky Mountain College men’s and women’s soccer coach Richard Duffy predicts Saturday is going to be an “amazing” day for soccer enthusiasts and players in Yellowstone County.
Three of the four Montana High School Association state championship matches will be held in Billings and five of the eight teams involved in those matches are from Yellowstone County.
And with the way the matches are spaced out, local soccer fans can take in all three of the championship tilts.
Billings Central’s Cole Hoffman heads a ball against Columbia Falls during their Class A state semifinal playoff match Oct. 26 at Amend Park.
BRIAR NAPIER, 406 MT Sports
A doubleheader at Amend Park, hosted by Billings Central, begins the day. In a rematch of last year’s state title contest, the Central boys (14-0) will battle defending state champion Whitefish (11-2-1) for the State A championship at noon.
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Then, in an incredible twist for Yellowstone County soccer fans, Central (12-0-2) will host Laurel (11-0-4) at 2:30 p.m. for the State A girls title at Amend. In two previous meetings this year, the two teams battled to draws.
The Rams-Locomotives state title matchup is historically similar to a classic World Series pairing of Dodgers-Yankees. Throughout the years, the Locomotives and Rams have played for the state title six times. Central came out on top in 2015, 2016 and 2018, while Laurel prevailed in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
Billings Central, left, and Laurel, right, players gather during a girls soccer match at Amend Park on Oct. 5. The Rams and Locomotives renew their classic rivalry in the State A girls soccer championship match Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Amend Park.
Duffy, an avid soccer fan and one of the most recognizable faces of the sport in Billings, is also the director of coaching for the Real Billings Football Club, a youth soccer program based in the Magic City. Duffy believes Saturday is going to be special for local soccer fans.
Billings West’s Quinn Jurovich, left, attempts to control the ball as Billings Senior’s Dusty Cullingworth defends during their game Sept. 5 at Amend Park. The Broncs and Bears will play each other for the State AA boys soccer championship on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Wendy’s Field at Daylis Stadium.
BRIAR NAPIER, 406 MT Sports
‘Huge for our community’
“I think it’s huge for our community,” Duffy told The Billings Gazette and 406 MT Sports in a phone interview after the Bears men and women arrived to Oregon on Thursday for matches Friday and Sunday. “I’ve been here 24 years. I’ve never really seen anything like it. We’ve obviously had some programs over the years that have kind of had a ton of success, kind of year after year. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a year where we’ve had so much success with a variety of different programs. I think it just shows the strength of soccer in this community and how it continues to grow year after year.”
Duffy, who became an assistant coach with the RMC women in 2001 and the head coach in 2002, is originally from Scotland having moved to the United States in 1995 to play college soccer. In addition, he became the Battlin’ Bears men’s head coach when the program started in 2009.
A two-time All-American (1998, 1999) at the University of Mary, Duffy maintains both Rocky head coaching jobs today.
Longtime Rocky Mountain College men’s and women’s soccer coach Richard Duffy, pictured in August, thinks Saturday “will be huge for our community” as Billings hosts three of four Montana High School Association state soccer championship matches. Four teams from Billings, and one from Laurel, combine to represent five of the eight squads in the championship matches.
AMY LYNN NELSON, Billings Gazette
Being around soccer his entire life, first as a player and now as a coach, Duffy is familiar with the game. When asked what he attributes the level of success the Billings-area teams achieved this season, he said many players are getting a good start at the club level, including his club and Billings United.
“I think both of those programs do an amazing job of providing offseason opportunities outside of the high school window for these kids to develop and train and be coached at a higher level. I think that’s definitely helping,” Duffy said. “So these kids are getting good coaching at a young age, and now obviously Laurel is another program we’re talking about, too. I think that community does an amazing job, too, with their youth soccer.
“So I think between the three youth soccer organizations, these players are getting not only great coaching, but they’re also getting to see different levels of play throughout the state — throughout the region.”
Duffy also said the local high school coaches are doing a good job of helping develop the players and installing their game plans.
“And I think just the quality of coaching now that we’re seeing at the high school level is exceptional,” he said. “We’ve got guys that have played college soccer that are now giving back to the community and coaching at high schools. I think that’s definitely helping with the success that we’re seeing now on a community basis.”
RMC soccer will be cheering from Oregon
The Rocky program has plenty of ties to the championship matches occurring on Saturday. With Saturday being a day off between games on the road against Corban (Friday) and Bushnell (Sunday), many on the team will be watching the NFHS livestream.
Duffy’s son, Charlie Duffy, is a sophomore on the Senior Broncs squad.
While Duffy is disappointed he won’t be able to watch his son play live, sometimes things like that happen when you’re coaching a college team.
“That’s the drawback to being a college soccer coach is sometimes you’re traveling at times you don’t want to be traveling,” said Duffy. “But I know that the game will be (streamed), so I’ll be able to watch there.”
Duffy did say he has a fondness for all of the local players, but in the AA boys title game he’ll be rooting for Senior.
“I would say I’m supportive of all those kids because I’ve had the opportunity to train them at different camps and different teams throughout the years,” he said. “But obviously, with my son being on Senior, it’s definitely kind of ‘Go Broncs’ for me on Saturday afternoon.”
Billings Central boys soccer head coach Bilechi Sumaili, who played soccer at Rocky Mountain College, has his Rams in the State A title game Saturday at noon at Amend Park.
AMY LYNN NELSON Billings Gazette
Two of the coaches involved in championship matches also played for Duffy at RMC. Rams first-year boys coach Bilechi Sumaili and Broncs coach Jace Beck, who was hired at Senior in Jan. 2021, both played soccer at RMC. Duffy said he’s “super excited” for his former players to experience coaching in a state title match Saturday.
“I’ve been kind of texting those guys over the last week or so, just telling them how kind of proud I am of those guys and best of luck in the games coming up,” he said.
Billings Senior boys soccer head coach Jace Beck, who played collegiately at Rocky Mountain College, has guided the Broncs into a crosstown State AA boys soccer championship match against Billings West on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Wendy’s Field at Daylis Stadium.
“We were just kind of talking about it in the van on the way down,” said Duffy of visiting with the Maack sisters about the girls Class A title game. “They’re excited for that, too. And obviously, they had a lot of success playing at Laurel, too. Anytime you go through a program and you graduate and you’re an alumni of the institution or the high school, I think you’re always looking to see what’s happening. Obviously, if your dad’s coaching is another tie to the program. They’re excited. They’re obviously rooting for Laurel in this one. But I think it’s going to be another great day of the Central-Laurel, part of that rivalry they’ve had over a long time.”
‘Amazing, amazing day of soccer’
Duffy said he hopes Billings fans appreciate this opportunity and attend the matches, soak in the atmosphere, and support the local teams. After all, it isn’t often three state championship soccer matches involving five teams from Yellowstone County are played in one day in the Magic City.
“My hope is it continues. My hope is that we’re going to see this on a regular basis,” said Duffy. “But the reality of the game is it’s tough to see that much success in one city. So I think Billings should be incredibly proud. I think Saturday, Billings is going to be just an amazing environment and atmosphere for the community, for the parents and most importantly, just for the kids; to be able to go out there and play in their hometown with what I expect will be huge crowds for all three games.
“I think it’s going to be an amazing, amazing day of soccer for Billings soccer.”
Email Gazette Sports Editor John Letasky at john.letasky@406mtsports.com or follow him on X/Twitter at @GazSportsJohnL
The unregulated carbon dioxide removal industry is calling on the U.S. government to implement standards and regulations to boost transparency and confidence in the sector that’s been flooded with billions of dollars in federal funding and private investment.
A report Wednesday by the Carbon Removal Alliance, a nonprofit representing the industry, outlined recommendations to improve monitoring, reporting, and verification. Currently the only regulations in the U.S. are related to safety of these projects. Some of the biggest industry players, including Heirloom and Climeworks, are alliance members.
“I think it’s rare for an industry to call for regulation of itself and I think that is a signal of why this is so important,” said Giana Amador, executive director of the alliance. Amador said monitoring, reporting and verification are like “climate receipts” that confirm the amount of carbon removed as well as how long it can actually be stored underground.
Without federal regulation, she said “it really hurts competition and it forces these companies into sort of a marketing arms race instead of being able to focus their efforts on making sure that there really is a demonstrable climate impact.”
The nonprofit defines carbon removal as any solution that captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stores it permanently. One of the most popular technologies is direct air capture, which filters air, extracts carbon dioxide and puts it underground.
The Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have provided around $12 billion for carbon management projects in the U.S. Some of this funding supports the development of four Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs at commercial scale that will capture at least 1 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. Two hubs are slated to be built in Texas and Louisiana.
Some climate scientists say direct air capture is too expensive, far from being scaled and can be used as an excuse by the oil and gas industry to keep polluting.
Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at Columbia Business School at Columbia University, said this is the “moral hazard” of direct air capture — removing carbon from the atmosphere could be utilized by the oil and gas industry to continue polluting.
“It does not mean that the underlying technology is not a good thing,” said Wagner. Direct air capture “decreases emissions, but in the long run also extends the life of any one particular coal plant or gas plant.”
In 2023, Occidental Petroleum Corporation purchased the direct air capture company, Carbon Engineering Ltd, for $1.1 billion. In a news release, Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub said, “Together, Occidental and Carbon Engineering can accelerate plans to globally deploy (the) technology at a climate-relevant scale and make (it) the preferred solution for businesses seeking to remove their hard-to-abate emissions.”
Jonathan Foley, executive director of Project Drawdown, doesn’t consider carbon dioxide removal technologies to be a true climate solution.
“I do welcome at least some interventions from the federal government to monitor and verify and evaluate the performance of these proposed carbon removal schemes, because it’s kind of the Wild West out there,” said Foley.
“But considering it can cost ten to 100 times more to try to remove a ton of carbon rather than prevent it, how is that even remotely conscionable to spend public dollars on this kind of stuff?” he said.
Katharine Hayhoe, chief scientist of The Nature Conservancy and a distinguished professor at Texas Tech University, said standards for the direct carbon capture industry “are very badly needed” because of the level of government subsidies and private investment. She said there’s no single fix for the climate crisis, and many strategies are needed.
Hayhoe said these include improving the efficiency of energy systems, transitioning to clean energy, weaning the world off fossil fuels and maintaining healthy ecosystems to trap carbon dioxide. On the other hand, she said, carbon removal technologies are “very high hanging fruit.”
“It takes a lot of money and a lot of energy to get to the top of the tree. That’s the carbon capture solution,” said Hayhoe. “Of course we need every fruit on the tree. But doesn’t it make sense to pick up the fruit on the ground to prioritize that?”
Other climate scientists are entirely opposed to this technology.
“It should be banned,” said Mark Z. Jacobson, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University.
Carbon removal technologies indirectly increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, Jacobson said. The reason, he said, is that even in cases where direct air capture facilities are powered by renewable energy, the clean energy is being used for carbon removal instead of replacing a fossil fuel source.
“When you just look at the capture equipment, you get a (carbon) reduction,” Jacobson said. “But when you look at the bigger system, you’re increasing.”
___
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Chris Simon of the New York Islanders fights Todd Fedoruk of the Philadelphia Flyers in a 2007 game at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y.. Simon died in March.Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
Lauri Smith was visiting Orlando this past March when a journalist called about her ex-husband.
She had learned long ago to say “No comment” when reporters asked about Chris Simon, one of the toughest fighters in NHL history. She opted for the same approach this time around, especially considering the guy’s question: Do you have any comment on the death of your ex-husband?
She was stunned. Dead? He was 52, just a decade from his career on the ice, where he seemed virtually indestructible as an enforcer responsible for brutalizing any opposing player who endangered his team’s stars.
Simon’s family believes the brain disorder chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) contributed to his death. Simon leaves the ice in a 2002 game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.CHRIS O’MEARA/The Canadian Press
“I thought it was a joke, to be honest, but then it was followed with my co-worker calling,” says Smith, an Ottawa-area law clerk who spent five years with Simon, who died by suicide on March 18.
For years, she’d been convinced that Simon had suffered a brain injury during a playing career that included stops in Quebec, Colorado and Washington. As far back as his 1993 rookie year with the Nordiques, she had researched his changing behaviour. Why had he begun blinking incessantly? Could blows to the head have triggered his anger-management issues? Can his employer help?
Those questions grew more urgent after their relationship dissolved and their son, Mitch, picked up the game. Would she have to worry about his head, too?
Sitting in Orlando last March, those unresolved questions intruded on her grief. At least with Simon’s death, she thought, the hockey world would be forced to recognize the devastating symptoms of the fighting she witnessed.
She thought wrong.
Instead, a new season has dawned with nary a mention of his name or chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the brain disorder Simon’s family believes led to his death. Smith, along with some of Simon’s old on-ice foes, want more accountability from the league and more assistance to prevent future deaths.
“I noticed after Chris’s passing that the story just went away,” she says. “No one’s talking about CTE and we should be talking about it more than ever. Did Chris have something hereditary? Was it a mental-health issue? Or was it actually CTE because of his job? I need to know for my son and the rest of the Simon family as well. And I think the NHL owes something to his family in terms of resolution.”
In death, Simon joined a tragic roll call of NHL fighters who died young – Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien, Wade Belak, Jeff Parker and Todd Ewen, to name a few. All five men were posthumously diagnosed with CTE, which researchers say is caused by repeated brain injuries and can lead to depression, aggression, memory loss and physical impairment – sometimes long after triggering incidents.
Simon looks to shoot on Montreal Canadiens goalie Jose Theodore at Madison Square Garden in New York in December, 2003.KATHY WILLENS/The Canadian Press
In public statements, and in courtrooms, the NHL has denied any link between the game and the disease, and argued that it has gradually made the game safer by increasing penalties for fighting, introducing a concussion protocol and restricting contact to the head.
Two days after Simon’s death, reporter Frank Seravalli asked the NHL’s deputy commissioner, Bill Daly, if the league’s position had changed.
“No,” Daly said. “I think the science is still lacking.”
That’s consistent with the position the NHL took defending a lawsuit brought by hundreds of players who claimed the league ignored the effects of long-term head trauma. A judge declined to certify the class action in 2018 and the NHL eventually agreed to a US$18.9-million settlement with around 300 players – chump change compared with the reported US$1.2-billion the NFL has paid out so far related to a settlement in a similar case.
The Washington Capitals take a moment of silence for Chris Simon after he passed away, on March 20.John McCreary/Getty Images
There are many vocal critics of the league’s attitude toward CTE, but few as authoritative as a former World Wrestling Entertainment heel who went by the stage name Chris Harvard, so named for his Ivy League background. A mistimed drop kick in 2003 caused months of postconcussion syndrome, convincing him to retire and go back to school for a PhD in behavioural neuroscience under his real name, Chris Nowinski. As someone who approaches the issue as both a patient and a researcher, he can’t stomach the NHL’s position on CTE.
“People who care about hockey players need to recognize that what they are saying is not true, and we have to both push for them to tell the truth and also ignore what they’re saying as we try to help these hockey players,” said Nowinski, a doctor who co-founded Concussion Legacy Foundation, a charity that supports athletes and veterans affected by CTE.
Evidence continues to mount in his favour. A 2023 Boston University study found that a person’s risk of developing CTE increased by 23 per cent with each additional year of playing hockey.
Though they didn’t focus on CTE, Columbia University researchers found last year that NHL enforcers died 10 years earlier than non-enforcers. And the enforcer deaths were more strongly linked to drug overdose, suicide and neurodegenerative disease.
Matthew Barnaby of the Colorado Avalanche, right, fights Darren McCarty Detroit Red Wings during a 2004 match. Barnaby estimates he racked up at least 400 fights between his junior and pro career.Brian Bahr/Getty Images
Considering the number of punches that enforcers endure, Nowinski said it’s plausible to assume they have a higher risk of CTE, and potentially other neurodegenerative diseases, than other players.
Scrappers from Simon’s era tend to agree. Matthew Barnaby, a forward on a tough Buffalo Sabres team that terrorized opponents in the mid-90s, estimates he racked up at least 400 fights between his junior and pro career, enduring an average of five punches per bout, or 2,000 blows in total.
“It has to have some cumulative effects,” said Barnaby, 51, though he has not yet personally noticed any symptoms.
Dennis Vial, who led the league with 30 fights in the 1995-96 season, said his head gives him little trouble aside from a bit of anxiety when he hears of fallen foes. He can’t help but wonder what the future will bring. “One day am I going to wake up losing my mind and turning into some violent person?” says Vial, who runs a small business in Nova Scotia. “Will my brain deactivate because of all these injuries? I don’t know.”
One of Barnaby’s former teammates takes a starkly different view. As president of the local Sabres alumni association, Rob Ray said he hears about all manner of health problems among retired players. “The issues I deal with for players who never dropped their gloves are just as bad or worse than those that did,” he says.
“People have a burr up their ass about that physical style of game,” he adds. “They say any player who got in a fight suddenly has something wrong with them. And that bugs the piss out of me.”
Today, those old fights remain like ghosts in his bones. He’s got a plate with five screws in his thumb from the time he tried to give the Islanders’ Steve Webb an uppercut. His jaw occasionally locks up from the time it was broken in a fight. He’s got arthritis in both elbows and his hands are always stiff. But his head? “I’m doing fine, I got a few businesses, wife, family, kids. I don’t have a problem,” he says.
Not everyone’s fine. When NHL players first launched their class-action lawsuit against the league for the effects of head trauma, Mike Peluso was one of the star plaintiffs. A veteran of nine seasons who won a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils, Peluso struggled with grand mal seizures following a 1993 knockout by St. Louis Blues tough-guy Tony Twist. In the years since his 1998 retirement he says he’s battled depression, dementia and suicidal thoughts.
Mike Peluso, left, fights with Tie Domi of the Winnipeg Jets in 1993. Peluso struggled with grand mal seizures following a 1993 fight and since his 1998 retirement he says he’s battled depression, dementia and suicidal thoughts.
A few years back, he loaded some of his prescription medication into a bowl of popcorn, with plans to end his life, but couldn’t stand the thought of his Labrador Retriever, Coors, being alone.
Coors has since died. He keeps the dog’s ashes in a room off his basement for the day they can be buried together.
“Had I known the side effects, I never would have played this game,” he said in an interview at his townhouse in Hudson, Wis., where he said he receives little assistance aside from a US$830-a-month pension.
But that lack of help is starting to change.
Seven years ago, former goalie Glenn Healy took over as president and executive director of the NHL Alumni Association, then known primarily as the organizer of old-timers’ games. From the start, he was inundated with calls about suicide, depression and other problems among players, for whom he had nothing to offer.
So the association hired a medical director, three social workers, a dental consultant and created a mental-health network based in Ottawa, Pittsburgh and Sweden that can see players on a moment’s notice.
Healy says his staff is helping around 200 players right now with anything from brain scans to rent money. “Most of our calls come from the wives saying they want their husband back, or from a kid saying they want their dad back. It’s rarely the player.”
They can’t reach everyone. Peluso dismissed the idea of asking for the association’s help. But nobody’s about to do it on his behalf.
“I don’t have anybody,” says Peluso, surrounded by hockey memorabilia, including a photo of Healy, in his basement. “Hopefully I’ll get a will done some time, and when that time comes, it comes.”
European Leagues is claiming that FIFA’s behaviour “threatens the economic and social sustainability and stability of important national competitions.” (European Leagues imagery)
The Spanish LaLiga, European Leagues, and FIFPRO (global players’ union), organisations have joined forces to file a formal complaint against FIFA, the sport’s global governing body.
The bodies – backed by multiple European leagues – have now banded together to submit a formal complaint over FIFA’s imposition on all other soccer properties and organisations of the global match calendar.
In the complaint documentation – which was submitted earlier this week to the European Commission, who will now decide whether it requires official proceedings to be opened – the three organisations accused FIFA of “abusive and anti-competitive” conduct.
Javier Tebas, LaLiga’s outspoken and combative president, stated: “We’ve taken a very important step in changing the governance of football institutions and we’re not going to let it get away. It is a decisive day for football in Europe and the world. Write it down, because you’re going to see it in the coming months.”
The complaint alleges that FIFA being the sole arbiter of decisions regarding the match calendar is an abuse of its dominant position, and that this situation violates European competition law.
The complainants also allege that FIFA has refused to engage meaningfully with both players and domestic leagues on the topics of fixture congestion, player welfare, and the effect on both of the new-look FIFA Club World Cup that will take place for the first time in 2025, in the US. Clubs are expected to take full-strength squads to that quadrennial event.
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The complainants’ boards agreed to legal action regarding the match calendar in July, and have now followed through on the decision made then.
European Leagues is claiming that FIFA’s behaviour “threatens the economic and social sustainability and stability of important national competitions [such as the European domestic leagues].”
The body also said that FIFA is responsible for “the lack of due process and meaningful engagement,” and that it has “used its regulatory power to promote its commercial interests at the expense of [players and leagues].”
European Leagues describes the inclusion of player unions and representatives in discussions around the international match calendar as “legally essential,” and says that a legal challenge is therefore “a necessary course of action to safeguard the European football sector.”
The end goal of the organisations behind this complaint is to bring FIFA to the negotiating table for a consultation process around the global calendar’s structure and format, at a time when more competitions are being expanded, and many of the world’s top players have publicly expressed concern over the general increase in fixtures at the highest level.
The Club World Cup next June and July – during a period between European domestic seasons – is seen by many as a tipping point – the previous iteration of the FIFA tournament would usually contain seven teams, while next year’s will contain 32.
FIFPRO and the World Leagues body have already made an unsuccessful request to FIFA that the Club World Cup should be rescheduled until universal agreement on a match calendar is reached.
At the unveiling of the complaint yesterday, in Brussels, alongside LaLiga, FIFPRO, and European Leagues, were representatives from England’s Premier League and Belgium’s Pro League, as well as player union leaders from other European nations.
Mathieu Moreuil, director of international relations at the Premier League, commented: “We’re in a situation where we have no choice. Legal action is the only option and that’s unfortunate. We want to protect domestic football and the ecosystem.”
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‘The Phenom’ hasn’t fought in the last 18 months and fans could be forgiven for assuming that the 47-year-old is done with fighting – but they’d be mistaken.
Belfort hopes to spearhead a new combat sport that will combine MMA and boxing rules to create the ultimate viewing experience for fans.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Vitor Belfort wants Tommy Fury to help him launch a new sport
Tommy Fury is the man he wants to face in the sport’s historic debut.
“If I can point to one fight that really interest me today, Tyson Fury’s brother,” Belfort told Inside Fighting.
“I would love to fight him with gloves where I’d be able to grab and get a hold of him.
“I always wanted to bring what’s next with a vision of combat sports.
“Boxing is a great thing, but if you can bring a sport where you can bring the best of both sports with one ruleset, I think people will have the fight of their lives.
“That is what I’m looking to present to the combat sport fans… The problem is a lot of people don’t want to risk what they have. People are very afraid of risking what they have rather than looking to the future and seeing it as an investment.
“The future of combat sport is bringing MMA and boxing under one ruleset together.”
John Fury and Tommy Fury. IMAGO / ZUMA Wire
Vitor Belfort has deep respect for Tommy Fury and his family
Fury has spoken about becoming a boxing world champion, but he’s spent his entire career to date competing on reality TV shows and facing off against influencer boxers.
The 25-year-old boasts a perfect 10-0 record and holds wins over KSI and Jake Paul but often faces unfair comparisons to his former heavyweight world champion brother.
Belfort is a big fan of ‘TNT’ and thinks he would make the perfect dance partner.
“The story of the Fury family, I really have so much respect for this family,” he explained.
“You know, coming from the father to Tyson and Tommy. Tommy is a great athlete, he defeated Jake Paul. Of course, he’s much younger than me but that [fight] would be an honour.
“For me, I’m at a stage of my life where I don’t want to compete against someone I don’t admire or I don’t see a level of how we can make something to bring to the masses and [multiple] generations.
“One year before he was coming to this Earth, I was a world champion.
“My dream is to put this sport together where we would be able to fight with rules that combine MMA [and boxing]. I’m not gonna elbow. I’m not gonna doing anything besides punching, but I would be able to grab him in the clinch, punch in the clinch and dirty box.
“It takes one person to say yes so we can become the biggest history fight for years from today. He would be a guy I would love to have the honor to step in the ring and do something like that with.”
