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BALTIMORE — Rainy weather washed out the Chicago Cubs’ series finale against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night at Camden Yards.The postponed game was rescheduled for 2:05 p.m. CT on Aug. 18. That had been a day off for the Cubs after a three-game road series against the Washington Nationals. The change means the Cubs will play 20 games in 19 days between Aug. 13-31.AdvertisementRight-hander Marcus Stroman, slated to start Wednesday, instead threw in the bullpen as rain fell.The rainout means the Cubs have three days off in a four-day span. Given that they played 11 games in nine days before the road trip, including two extra-inning games, the pitching staff — particularly the bullpen — can benefit from a lessened workload this week.AdvertisementWhen the Cubs open a three-game series against the Yankees on Friday in New York, the roster could look a little different.Right fielder Seiya Suzuki is “in play” to rejoin the team this weekend, manager David Ross said Wednesday. Suzuki has missed 12 games while on the injured list because of a strained left ring finger. He took batting practice Wednesday.“We’ll see how the finger feels when he hits and stuff, so I’ll hold judgment on that,” Ross said before Suzuki’s BP. “But I think it’s about status quo as (Tuesday). I don’t think it’s any better. I don’t think it’s any worse. But we’ll see how he comes away from batting practice today and judge after that because he’s got an off day (Thursday).”Left-hander Wade Miley (left shoulder strain) is also “definitely an option” to come off the IL and start a game against the Yankees, Ross said. Miley felt fine after throwing Wednesday and was optimistic he would be back for the upcoming series. He is eligible to be activated Friday.

AJ Pollock spent three seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers before being traded to the Chicago White Sox in April.With the Dodgers in town this week for a three-game series at Guaranteed Rate Field, the outfielder is getting the chance to see some familiar faces.Advertisement“It’s fun,” Pollock told the Tribune before Tuesday’s game. “You spend so much time with a group and you form a lot of bonds. It’s good to see them. Hopefully we can kick their butts. But it’s nice to say hi and catch up a little bit.”Pollock played a pivotal role in the series opener later that evening when he broke a scoreless tie with a two-run pinch double to right in the sixth inning. He also scored during the four-run inning as the Sox won 4-0.AdvertisementAJ Pollock smiles at second base after driving in two runs on a pinch double in the sixth inning against the Dodgers on Tuesday at Guaranteed Rate Field. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)“It was good,” Pollock told reporters after the game. “I had a lot of intrasquad battles the last couple of years. It’s always fun battling those guys. And it’s good to get a win against anyone. That’s a good ballclub. I know that’s a tough team and (it’s) a little extra special.”Pollock was in the starting lineup Wednesday, batting eighth against Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin. Sox manager Tony La Russa said it’s tough to tell who has an edge when a player faces his former team.“I saw AJ, he won a championship over there (in 2020), they gave him a big welcome,” La Russa said Wednesday. “They know him and he knows them. You can know (Gonsolin), but it’s hard to hit him. And you may think you know where to pitch AJ, but he’s a pretty good hitter.“If you miss, he’s going to hit you.”Pollock’s teammate Reese McGuire experienced a reunion last week when the Sox played in Toronto. The catcher spent parts of four seasons with the Blue Jays before being traded to the Sox for catcher Zack Collins on April 3.McGuire went 3-for-12 with one RBI in the three games at Rogers Centre.“It was fun going back into that city, playing in that stadium,” McGuire told the Tribune on Wednesday. “A lot of good memories. (I made) my big-league debut there, so it was cool to get a little bit of a different perspective this time around and soak it all in and see some of my better friends in baseball across the diamond. Still some of them I talk to.Advertisement“All in all, it was a fun trip. Obviously would have liked to come away with some wins there (the Sox lost all three games), but it was cool.”The Sox acquired McGuire two days after picking up Pollock in a trade that sent reliever Craig Kimbrel to the Dodgers.“The longer you stay in this game, it’s like you (can) take offense to everything and can easily do that, but it’s a business,” Pollock said after Tuesday’s game. “They had some moves they wanted to make. They’re going to look out for their ballclub, and I was excited to be on a team that’s contending. It’s just baseball.”White Sox outfielder AJ Pollock (18) heads toward the plate on a double from teammate Jake Burger in the sixth inning against the Dodgers on Tuesday at Guaranteed Rate Field. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)AJ Pollock, left, is congratulated by teammate Yoan Moncada after scoring in the sixth inning against the Dodgers on Tuesday at Guaranteed Rate Field. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)Pollock slashed .282/.337/.519 with 52 homers and 150 RBIs in 258 regular-season games with the Dodgers.“It was a tough day,” Dodgers manager David Roberts told reporters Tuesday when asked of the trade. “AJ helped us win a championship, so he’s very well-liked in the clubhouse, in the organization, and to trade him was tough for everyone.“But to be able to acquire a guy that could step in and close for you was huge. And Craig has been great with us.”AdvertisementKimbrel, who went on paternity leave Tuesday, has 11 saves and a 4.00 ERA in 18 appearances for the Dodgers. Pollock entered Wednesday with a .220/.246/.354 slash line with three home runs and 13 RBIs in 37 games.Pollock had his second game-winning hit of the season Tuesday; the first was a go-ahead homer in the ninth against the New York Yankees in Game 1 of a May 22 doubleheader at Yankee Stadium.The right-handed-hitting Pollock didn’t start Tuesday but came to bat for the left-handed-hitting Gavin Sheets with runners on first and third and two outs in the sixth when left-hander David Price entered for the Dodgers.“It happened pretty quick,” Pollock said. “DP was warming up (in the bullpen) very quick. They were trying to ambush us there with Gavin’s spot coming up. I was hitting a lot down there (in the cage), so I was ready to go.”Pollock hit Price’s first pitch for the go-ahead double.White Sox players Danny Mendick (20) and AJ Pollock celebrate after a victory against the Dodgers on Tuesday at Guaranteed Rate Field. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)“I’m ready to go if it’s where I want to hunt it,” Pollock said. “If it’s there, I’m ready to go. If not, hopefully I’m taking it. But I was ready to go. Some days it works, some days you get quick outs. It worked out very well for us.”AdvertisementTuesday served as an example of what Pollock is focused on.“Just keep working, doing what I’m doing,” he said. “You want to help the ballclub win. Whatever I can do I’m going to do.”ExpandAutoplayImage 1 of 18White Sox starting pitcher Michael Kopech walks to the dugout with catcher Reese McGuire after shutting down the Dodgers in the first inning on June 7, 2022, at Guaranteed Rate Field. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

With one day remaining in the Chicago Bears’ voluntary offseason program, there’s little question new coach Matt Eberflus has gotten his “HITS” principle across to players.The hustle or at least intensity in some previous OTAs led to the NFL docking the organization a planned day on the field Tuesday. The Bears were back at it Wednesday at the Walter Payton Center with fewer collisions and less contact than they’ve had in these sessions, which are without full pads.AdvertisementSafety Jaquan Brisker collided with wide receiver Velus Jones on a play in the flat for a pass breakup, with both players going to the ground, but that was about the only notable contact teams are supposed to avoid in rules collectively bargained for the purpose of player safety.The defense was the big winner on the day. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson also had a nice pass breakup (without a collision), and safety DeAndre Houston-Carson intercepted quarterback Justin Fields twice. Eberflus noted that the offense was victorious in Monday’s session — held without media — saying he counted 11 chunk pass plays.Advertisement[ [Don’t miss] Chicago Bears forced to cancel Tuesday’s OTA practice as punishment for violating the NFL’s offseason practice rules ][ [Don’t miss] The spring praise for Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields is flowing. But how much does it really mean? ]Eberflus said neither he nor the organization was fined by the league. One issue the Bears face: The NFLPA will be on the lookout for potential repeat violations.The players association had a representative at an OTA in May, when sessions were too physical. The Bears were warned, and when video of subsequent OTAs showed similar issues, the NFL forced them to cancel Tuesday’s session. Future penalties could be more severe — the team could lose minicamp dates. In some instances draft picks have been stripped.“Hustle can be there and it is, and you can see that,” Eberflus said. “You guys were at practice. They run on offense. They run on defense. Man, we run. But the intensity part. The focus part of intensity can be there but not the physical part until we get the pads. Once we get the pads on in training camp, that’s when we’re going to focus on how we play the intensity piece. That cannot be done this time of year. We’re excited where we are with that. There’s guys, they’re flying around, they’re really moving to the ball. It looks fast to me.”ExpandAutoplayImage 1 of 15New Bears coach Matt Eberflus speaks after being introduced on Jan. 31, 2022, at Halas Hall. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)Third-year tight end Cole Kmet said a significantly younger roster with a lot of new faces eager to impress a new front office and coaching staff has created more vigorous sessions at a time when more veteran and established programs don’t have the foot on the gas pedal.“We’re going 100% and you’re being asked to go 100% and you want to show out for a new staff,” Kmet said. “You have young guys and guys like me that want to stick around here and be around here. … And I think it’s a balance. As players, I am a player so I’ll take it on myself, we’ve got to learn as a group how to practice correctly and take care of each other and keep guys off the ground. And practice in a way that’s beneficial for everybody, where we’re able to go 100% full effort, which you can do in these things, but still keep everybody safe and everybody off the ground.“I think since Day 1 … it’s just been night and day with how we’ve been practicing.”Left guard Cody Whitehair said it’s difficult to go full speed as a lineman in practice when not wearing pads.“But this team is young and we need that intense practice and expectation from the group,” he said. “We do have a lot of young guys and the expectations are high, so you’ve got to expect an intense practice. I feel like the guys have really worked hard and have gotten a lot out of it.”Advertisement[ [Don’t miss] The Arlington Heights Bears? Here’s what to know about the team’s possible move from Chicago’s Soldier Field. ]Despite the penalty, the players have a pretty good understanding of what coaches will expect at training camp, when and legitimate football evaluation begins.“When we get pads on, it’s going to be full-go,” said Kmet, who used his unplanned off day Tuesday to golf. “We’re going to be going at it, and it’s going to be good for everybody. We’re building up to that right now.“We’re getting this break here soon. It’s going to be on everybody to take care of their bodies during this time and making sure they’re staying in shape and ready to roll when Day 1 comes around.”ExpandAutoplayImage 1 of 24New Bears coach Matt Eberflus and new general manager Ryan Poles pose with a helmet after being introduced on Jan. 31, 2022, at Halas Hall. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

ASHBURN, Va. — Washington Commanders assistant coach Jack Del Rio defended a recent tweet comparing the protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.When asked Wednesday about how players might react to it, the defensive coordinator said he was asking a “simple question” why the summer of 2020 protests were not receiving the same scrutiny.Advertisement“People’s livelihoods are being destroyed, businesses are being burned down, no problem,” Del Rio said. “And then we have a dust-up at the Capitol, nothing burned down, and we’re going to make that a major deal. I just think it’s kind of two standards.”His comments followed a post to Twitter Monday night in which he said, “Would love to understand ‘the whole story’ about why the summer of riots, looting, burning and the destruction of personal property is never discussed but this is ???” He was responding to a tweet about the Congressional hearings into Jan. 6.AdvertisementWould love to understand “the whole story “ about why the summer of riots, looting, burning and the destruction of personal property is never discussed but this is ???#CommonSense— Jack Del Rio (@coachdelrio) June 7, 2022

Del Rio and coach Ron Rivera say they aren’t concerned how that opinion will go over among players, many of whom are Black and spoke out about police brutality and racism in the wake of Floyd’s killing two years ago.“If they are and they want to talk about it, I’d talk about it with anybody,” Del Rio said. “No problem. At any time. But they’re not. I’m just expressing myself and I think we all as Americans have a right to express ourselves, especially if you’re being respectful. I’m being respectful.”Cornerback Kendall Fuller, who is Black, said he was not aware of Del Rio’s tweet. After a reporter read it to him, Fuller said: “I don’t have a reaction right now. If I have a reaction, a feeling, towards something, I’ll express that with him.”Del Rio, 59, has posted conservative opinions to his verified Twitter account numerous times since joining Rivera’s staff in Washington in 2020.“Anything that I ever say or write, I’d be comfortable saying or writing in front of everybody that I work with, players and coaches,” he said after an offseason workout. “I express myself as an American. We have that ability. I love this country and I believe what I believe and I’ve said what I want to say. Every now and then, there’s some people that get offended by it.”Rivera, who hired Rivera to run Washington’s defense, said he would not discuss anything he talks to his staff about.“Everybody’s entitled to their opinion, though,” Rivera said. “If it ever becomes an issue or a situation, we’ll have that discussion. Right now, it’s something that I will deal with when it comes up.”Defensive captain Jonathan Allen told NBC Sports Washington: “I don’t care about his opinion. As long as he shows up every day and he works hard, that’s what I want from my defensive coordinator.”AdvertisementDel Rio played 11 NFL seasons as a linebacker from 1985-95. He has coached in the league since 1997, including stints as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2003-11 and Oakland Raiders from 2015-17.

Drew Brees is officially done at NBC Sports after one year.NBC Sports chairman Pete Bevacqua said in a phone interview with The Associated Press that Brees will not be a part of the network’s NFL and Notre Dame coverage this year. The New York Post reported last month that the former quarterback would not be coming back as a studio or game analyst.AdvertisementFollowing that report, Brees took to social media and said he had not decided his future.Bevacqua said conversations with Brees have centered around him wanting to spend more time with family.Advertisement“The unbelievable busyness of an NFL career and then really not taking a break at all and launching right in with us with both Notre Dame football and the NFL, it was certainly an around-the-clock assignment,” Bevacqua said. “This was definitely a lifestyle choice for him, which is totally understandable.”Brees signed a multi-year contract with NBC in 2020, before he completed a 20-year NFL career with the San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints as the record holder in passing yards and touchdowns. He was an analyst for Notre Dame games with Mike Tirico and was in the studio most Sundays for “Football Night in America.” Brees and Tirico called the wild card round game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals where Brees noticeably struggled.Many thought Brees would be the heir apparent to Cris Collinsworth as the analyst on “Sunday Night Football,” but Collinsworth will remain in that role as Tirico moves into the play-by-play spot following Al Michaels’ move to Amazon Prime Video for “Thursday Night Football.”“It was a new role and everyone has a learning curve. I think he did an unbelievable job with Notre Dame and improved every week,” Bevacqua said. “He was always unbelievably prepared, curious about how things were handled and the work that went into it.”Even though Brees remains under contract to NBC, Bevacqua said they wouldn’t stand in the way if another opportunity came along for Brees. Fox has an opening for an analyst on its No. 2 NFL team, but it is likely Brees will spend the season at home.When it comes to who will call Notre Dame games and fill Brees’ NFL studio spot, Bevacqua said they are closing in on a final decision.

DETROIT — Former Olympic gymnasts, including gold medalist Simone Biles, are among dozens of assault victims who are seeking more than $1 billion from the FBI for failing to stop sports doctor Larry Nassar, lawyers said Wednesday.There’s no dispute that FBI agents in 2015 knew that Nassar was accused of molesting gymnasts, but they failed to act, leaving him free to continue to target young women and girls for more than a year.Advertisement“It is time for the FBI to be held accountable,” said Maggie Nichols, a national champion gymnast at Oklahoma in 2017-19.Under federal law, a government agency has six months to respond to the tort claims filed Wednesday. Lawsuits could follow, depending on the FBI’s response. The Justice Department said in May that it would not pursue criminal charges against former FBI agents who failed to quickly open an investigation.AdvertisementThe approximately 90 claimants include Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, all Olympic gold medalists, according to Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, a California law firm.“If the FBI had simply done its job, Nassar would have been stopped before he ever had the chance to abuse hundreds of girls, including me,” said former University of Michigan gymnast Samantha Roy.Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics told local FBI agents in 2015 that three gymnasts said they were assaulted by Nassar, a team doctor. But the FBI did not open a formal investigation or inform federal or state authorities in Michigan, according to the Justice Department’s inspector general, an internal watchdog.Los Angeles FBI agents in 2016 began a sexual tourism investigation against Nassar and interviewed several victims but also didn’t alert Michigan authorities, the inspector general said.Nassar wasn’t arrested until fall 2016 during an investigation by Michigan State University police. He was a doctor at Michigan State.The Michigan attorney general’s office ultimately handled the assault charges against Nassar, while federal prosecutors in Grand Rapids, Michigan, filed a child pornography case. He is serving decades in prison.The FBI declined to comment in April when a smaller batch of claims was filed, referring instead to Director Christopher Wray’s remarks to Congress in 2021.“I’m especially sorry that there were people at the FBI who had their own chance to stop this monster back in 2015 and failed. And that’s inexcusable,” Wray told victims at a Senate hearing.AdvertisementMichigan State University, which was also accused of missing chances over many years to stop Nassar, agreed to pay $500 million to more than 300 women and girls who were assaulted. USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee made a $380 million settlement.

BALTIMORE — Keegan Thompson knows over the course of a season a pitcher will get roughed up at times.His time came Tuesday night at Camden Yards. Thompson’s start against the Baltimore Orioles was, remarkably, his first outing in 13 appearances this season in which he struggled.AdvertisementIt was apparent early Thompson wasn’t fooling the Orioles hitters in the 9-3 loss. He entered the game having allowed only three home runs in 54⅓ innings, but the right-hander matched that total Tuesday.The Orioles kicked off the bottom of the first with back-to-back home runs by Cedric Mullins and Trey Mancini on consecutive pitches. Jorge Mateo took Thompson deep for a three-run homer in the second.AdvertisementThompson exited after giving up seven runs in three innings. He had surrendered a combined six earned runs in his first four starts of the season.[ [Don’t miss] Alec Mills, in his season debut, saves the Cubs bullpen with 5 innings in a 9-3 loss to the Orioles ]“A lot of pitches to hit, a lot of stuff in the zone — just not a lot of bite to anything,” manager David Ross said.Thompson walked one, struck out one and hit two batters. Afterward he said he just didn’t possess his usual stuff.“Kind of work with what you have and try to make some pitches,” he said. “Tonight just didn’t work out for me. We’re going to have those nights every now and then. Not all of them are going to be good. Just got to wash it and move on.”Cubs starter Keegan Thompson pitches to the Orioles during the first inning Tuesday, June 7, 2022, in Baltimore. (Julio Cortez/AP)Thompson’s confidence isn’t wavering after one bad start. Last year’s struggles to close the season — a 7.11 ERA over the final six weeks — taught Thompson how to deal with adversity at the big-league level.“I mean, I know that’s going to happen and I know I’m still good enough to get guys out,” Thompson said. “So I think going through those struggles last year kind of helped me mentally getting through a night like tonight.”Thompson thought his stride Tuesday might have been a little shorter than normal, perhaps causing his arm to drag behind him. The small detail caught his attention when he looked at pictures of his delivery from other outings compared with Tuesday’s. Thompson planned to look more into his theory over the next day.Chicago Tribune SportsWeekdaysA daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.“It’s just looking at either standstill pictures of where my front foot was landing tonight versus other nights and see if that was the problem,” Thompson explained. “It just looked a little off to me in one of the pictures.Advertisement“If that’s the case, then I’ll work on that in the bullpen.”[ The story behind Frank Schwindel’s bond with a 7-year-old Cubs fan — and the quest to raise awareness of an unnamed disease ]With only 11 career big-league starts, Thompson could have been down about a performance like Tuesday’s, especially when there are no guarantees of how long he will remain in the rotation.But Thompson’s self-confidence and belief in his ability are important attributes at this level. Riding the highs too much and taking the lows too hard can derail a player. Thompson seemed to take the right approach on his off night.Ross wasn’t overreacting to Thompson’s start either.“It’s just about going back to the process of looking at the outing, analyzing where things might have (gone) wrong, what could he have done better — I think we could try to look at all those things in that light,” Ross said. “Stay true to his process; his process has been pretty darn good this season. “So, sure, we want to throw it away mentally and forget about the failures, but we also want to try to learn something from it as well.”

The accusations have been frequent and startling: more than two dozen women have said football star Deshaun Watson harassed or assaulted them during massage appointments that Watson and his lawyers insist were innocuous.Two grand juries in Texas this year declined to charge him criminally and, while the NFL considers whether to discipline him, he has gotten another job, signing a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract to play quarterback for the Cleveland Browns this coming season.AdvertisementIt is time, Watson and his representatives say, for everyone to move on.Yet a New York Times examination of records, including depositions and evidence for civil lawsuits as well as interviews of some of the women, showed that Watson engaged in more questionable behavior than previously known.AdvertisementThe Times’ review also showed that Watson’s conduct was enabled — knowingly or not — by the team he played for at the time, the Houston Texans, which provided the venue Watson used for some of the appointments. A team representative also furnished him with a nondisclosure agreement after a woman who is now suing him threatened online to expose his behavior.Rusty Hardin, Watson’s lawyer, said his client “continues to vehemently deny” the allegations in the lawsuits. He declined to respond in detail to the Times’ questions, but said in a statement, “We can say when the real facts are known this issue will appear in a different light.”The Texans did not respond to specific questions about Watson’s use of team resources. They said in a statement that they first learned of the allegations against him in March 2021, have cooperated with investigators and “will continue to do so.”A spokesperson for the Browns said the team had no immediate comment. An NFL spokesman declined to comment, saying the Watson matter is under review.Watson has said publicly that he hired about 40 different therapists across his five seasons in Houston, but the Times’ reporting found that he booked appointments with at least 66 different women in just the 17 months from fall 2019 through spring 2021. A few of these additional women, speaking publicly for the first time, described experiences that undercut Watson’s insistence that he was only seeking professional massage therapy.The football star Deshaun Watson speaks to reporters after a grand jury declined to indict the Texans quarterback on criminal charges in Houston on March 11, 2022. (Callaghan O’Hare/The New York Times)One woman, who did not sue Watson or complain to police, told the Times that he was persistent in his requests for sexual acts during their massage, including “begging” her to put her mouth on his penis.“I specifically had to say, ‘No, I can’t do that,’” said the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect her family’s privacy. “And that’s when I went into asking him, ‘What is it like being famous? Like, what’s going on? You’re about to mess up everything.’ “Before Watson was drafted by the Texans 12th overall in 2017, he was a championship-winning quarterback at Gainesville (Georgia) High School and Clemson University.AdvertisementNFL teams widely viewed him as a prospective franchise quarterback with no known character issues, and he seemed to be living up to his billing. When Hurricane Harvey walloped Houston in August 2017, before Watson’s rookie season, he donated his first game check to stadium cafeteria employees who were affected by the storm.Since the first wave of suits were filed against Watson last year, the main allegations against him have become familiar. Women complained that Watson turned massages sexual without their consent, including purposely touching them with his penis and coercing sexual acts.It’s not clear when he began looking for so many different women to give him massages. Hardin has said his client needed to book appointments “ad hoc” when the coronavirus pandemic began, though Watson began working with numerous women before then.Not all of the women who gave Watson massages between October 2019 and March 2021 have detailed their interactions with him. Some who have shared their experiences say they had no problems with him. Others describe troubling — and similar — behaviors.The 66 women are:— The 24 who have sued him, including two who filed suits within the past week. In the most recent suit, the woman said Watson masturbated during the massage.Advertisement— A woman who sued but then withdrew the complaint because of “privacy and security concerns.”— Two women who filed criminal complaints against Watson but did not sue him.— At least 15 therapists who issued statements of support for Watson at the request of his lawyers and gave him massages during that period.— At least four therapists from Genuine Touch, the massage therapy group contracted with the Texans.— Five women identified by the plaintiffs’ lawyers during the investigation for their civil suits.— At least 15 other women whose appointments with Watson were confirmed through interviews and records reviewed by the Times.AdvertisementA deeper look at the lawsuits, including a review of private messages entered as evidence, shows the lengthy efforts by Watson to book massages and the methods he used to assure women that he could be trusted.One woman who sued Watson was a flight attendant who began taking massage therapy classes during the pandemic. She and Watson were in the same social circle, but Watson acknowledged in a deposition that they had never really spoken except to say hello.In November 2020, after a friendly exchange on Instagram, Watson saw that the woman was a massage therapist and sent a message asking for an appointment. As they struggled to work out a time, Watson told her, “Just tryna support black businesses,” a message he repeated later.Watson regularly presented himself as an ally to businesswomen. In a lawsuit filed this week, the therapist alleged that he told her that he “really wanted to support” Black businesses, and on another occasion, he left a woman perplexed when he purchased 30 bottles of her $40 skin cleanser.In messages to the woman whom he knew from his social circle, Watson asked to meet at The Houstonian, an upscale hotel and club where the Texans had secured a membership for him. She said she wasn’t comfortable going to a hotel because she knew Watson’s girlfriend — and indeed had once babysat her and her younger brother. The woman told Watson she wanted to keep things “professional and respectful.”“Oh most definitely always professional,” he texted. “I even have a NDA I have therapist sign too.” He was referring to the nondisclosure agreement he had received just days earlier from a member of the Texans’ security staff. Watson didn’t explain in the text how the woman would benefit from signing a document meant to protect him.AdvertisementFinally, the woman suggested they meet at her mother’s home in Manvel, a 30-minute drive for Watson. He responded, “Damn thats far,” but agreed to make the trip.In a lawsuit the woman filed against Watson last year, she said she was uneasy with his directions to “get up in there” during the massage, but chalked it up to her inexperience and agreed to work with him again. When he ejaculated during the second appointment and then asked her for another massage later that day at the Houstonian, she first agreed, then told him she could not make it. She eventually blocked his number.Most of the women Watson saw for massages did not sue or call police. But even some who did not complain said Watson came looking for sex.The woman who sold bottles of cleanser to Watson had a few appointments with him during the summer of 2020. This aesthetician, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect her privacy, told Watson when he booked an appointment that she was licensed only to give him a back facial. But she said in an interview with the Times that he got fully undressed and directed her toward his groin. While she said there was no sexual contact, she believed that he was seeking more than a professional massage.Watson and his lawyers have said he was only seeking massages. The lawyers have acknowledged that Watson had sexual contact with three of the women who have sued him. But the sexual acts took place after the massages, they said, and were initiated by the women. Asked whether he was asserting that Watson never had sexual contact with any other massage therapists, Hardin didn’t respond.Another woman who spoke to the Times, a physical therapist who did not sue Watson, said he initiated sexual contact in all three of their appointments.AdvertisementThis woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect her privacy, said she began by working on Watson’s back. But when he flipped over, she said his demeanor and voice changed, and he began aggressively dictating where he wanted her to touch him. In their first session, she said he got into the happy baby yoga pose — on his back with his feet in his hands — and asked her to massage between his testicles and anus. She laughed off the request but said he grabbed her wrist and put her hand there.The woman said Watson twice initiated sexual intercourse, once by pulling down the scrubs she was wearing. She and Watson knew each other from around town and were on friendly terms, and she admitted she let him proceed with these sexual acts. “I just didn’t know how to tell him no,” she said.Hardin said in a statement: “It would be irresponsible and premature for us to comment on vague details put forth by anonymous individuals.”In June 2020, Watson began frequenting a spa in a strip mall off Interstate 45, at least a 30-minute drive from his home or work. He had found A New U Spa on Instagram and sent a message. The owner, Dionne Louis, became a resource for Watson, able to connect him with multiple women for massages.A strip mall on March 12, 2022, in Houston, Texas, formerly the site of A New U Spa, which was patronized by the football star Deshaun Watson. (Callaghan O’Hare/The New York Times)She looked out for him, she said in a deposition, sometimes arranging for a security guard when Watson came in, concerned the expensive cars he drove might make him a target for a robbery. She also got things from him. In November 2020, Watson paid her $5,000 through an app, she said, to buy spa equipment. Louis told one of her employees in a text, “I told you I’ll show you how to get money from men that’s my specialty.”Louis and her lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.AdvertisementDuring the months Louis and Watson worked together, she set up appointments for him with several women who worked there, none of whom was licensed in Texas to perform massages.One was the woman who said Watson begged her for oral sex.She described how he tried to build up to sexual acts, starting with his request that she work on his behind and go higher up on his inner thighs, which put her hands uncomfortably close to his testicles. When he flipped over, she said, he was exposed with an erection, but she refused his requests for oral sex.That woman did not sue Watson, but four other employees of A New U Spa did. They all said in their lawsuits that Louis gave him special attention.In June 2020, one woman said in her suit, Louis drove her to a hotel to meet Watson for a massage, during which he groped her and touched her hand with his penis. Louis was not in the room, but in text messages she later sent to this woman, she appeared to refer to Watson treating her employees poorly: “I been talking to Deshaun I just told his ass off he got it now.” Louis added in a second message, “I told him he can’t treat us black women any kind of way.” (In her deposition, Louis denied sending these messages, though evidence in the lawsuits indicates they were sent from her number.)Nia Smith, who also worked at A New U Spa, filed a lawsuit against Watson last week, the 23rd of 24 civil cases. Smith said that during their first massage, Watson asked her to put her fingers inside his anus, a request she said she told Louis about afterward. She said in the second session he asked her if she wanted his penis in her mouth, and that he repeatedly requested sex in their third and final massage. Smith also claimed that Louis knew Watson was seeking sex and told her she needed to keep Watson happy. In a deposition, Louis denied she knew anything about Watson’s sexual desires.AdvertisementIn early November 2020, after Smith stopped working at A New U Spa, she posted text messages from Watson along with his phone number and his Cash App receipts on Instagram. She included the message, “I could really expose you,” adding an expletive.Days later, when Watson went to work at the Texans’ stadium, he found an NDA in his locker. He later said in a deposition that Brent Naccara, a former Secret Service agent who is the Texans’ director of security, put it there after Watson told him about Smith’s Instagram posts.Watson began taking the NDA to massages that same week, giving one to the woman in Manvel, who signed it, and another to a woman who said in her lawsuit that she ended the session after he suggested a sexual act. Watson told her she had to sign in order for him to pay, so she did, according to her filing. Watson said in a deposition that he used this NDA only for massage appointments because he had lawyers and agents who handled his other business.It’s unclear whether the Texans knew how many massages Watson was getting or who was providing them. But their resources helped support his massage habit away from the team. Watson acknowledged in a deposition that the Texans arranged for him to have “a place” at The Houstonian. He used the fitness club, dined there and also set up massages in hotel rooms.At least seven women met him at the hotel for appointments, according to interviews and records, including two who filed lawsuits and two who complained to police.The Texans weren’t aware of the massage appointments at the hotel “that I know of,” Watson said. He also said that his access to the property was not under his name. One woman who gave Watson a massage at The Houstonian said she was told the room was registered to a member of the Texans’ training staff.AdvertisementTo preserve his reputation, his career and possibly his freedom, Watson hired Hardin, now 80, a veteran defense lawyer whose clients have included former pitcher Roger Clemens, evangelist Joel Osteen and, in the Enron case, accounting firm Arthur Andersen.Hardin has said the women who have accused Watson of sexual misconduct are lying. He had ample opportunity to make his case to the district attorney’s office. Through a public records request, the Times reviewed the communications between Hardin and the prosecutors in Watson’s criminal cases. These messages revealed extensive communication between the two sides and demonstrated, at the least, the value of a well paid and well connected lawyer.In early 2022, Hardin, a former prosecutor himself, began a regular dialogue with Johna Stallings, the Harris County sex crimes prosecutor handling the Watson investigation. In the two months before two different Texas grand juries heard the criminal cases against Watson, Stallings and Hardin met at Hardin’s office, spoke over the phone 12 times and exchanged more than two dozen text messages, according to public records.Some of their exchanges were peppered with congenial remarks about cases they were trying. Others were more opaque. One day, Stallings asked Hardin if he could chat. He said he was in trial, then asked, “Any problems?” They spoke over the phone twice that day.The amount of contact between the prosecutor and the defense was noteworthy, said Njeri Mathis Rutledge, a former Harris County prosecutor who is now a professor at South Texas College of Law Houston.“There are some well-known defense attorneys like a Rusty Hardin that may have gotten a little extra real estate in terms of time, but even given the fact that it was Rusty, that’s still a lot of time,” Rutledge said.AdvertisementThe Times also reviewed communications between prosecutors and the lawyers for the women suing Watson. There was just one exchange: In March 2021, Tony Buzbee, the plaintiffs’ attorney, alerted the district attorney’s office to the allegations in the civil suits. The DA asked if his clients had made police reports, and eight of Buzbee’s clients soon did. The prosecutors had some direct contact with these women, rather than going through Buzbee.In a statement, Hardin said it is “a standard practice” for lawyers to work directly with law enforcement and prosecutors.The Harris County DA’s office did not respond to specific questions about their prosecutors’ contacts with Hardin and lawyers for the women. In a statement, a spokesperson for Kim Ogg, the district attorney, said prosecutors “vigorously examined all the evidence and spoke at great length with accusers.”In March 2021, Stallings prepared to present her cases against Watson to the Harris County grand jury. She and Hardin exchanged more than a dozen calls and messages during the week of the hearing. Instead of putting his client in front of the grand jury, Hardin created a slide presentation arguing for Watson’s innocence and gave it to Stallings along with other documents he deemed important.“We will let our submissions to you on our client’s behalf serve as our presentation to the grand jury,” Hardin told her in an email. The grand jury declined to charge Watson, and a Brazoria County panel followed suit.Amanda Peters, a former Harris County prosecutor who teaches law at South Texas College of Law in Houston, said such submissions, known as grand jury packets, are not the norm for the average person facing charges. They are more commonly introduced in high-profile cases in which the client can afford an elaborate and costly defense.AdvertisementThe NFL’s discipline is likely the next step. Watson has been shuttling between Cleveland, where he is training with his new team, and Houston, where he met with NFL investigators and is giving depositions in the lawsuits. The civil cases, if not settled, will be tried after the football season. Through it all, Watson has been adamant that he did nothing wrong.In a deposition on May 13, Watson was asked about the text message he sent to Ashley Solis, one of his accusers, immediately after their appointment in March 2020. “Sorry about you feeling uncomfortable,” he wrote to her. Watson acknowledged that Solis was “teary-eyed” at the end of their session, but testified under oath that he still does not understand why.“I don’t know,” Watson said. “Like I told you at the beginning of this depo, I’m still trying to figure out why we in the situation we are in right now, why I’m talking to you guys, why you guys are interviewing me. I don’t know. Do not know.”c.2022 The New York Times Company

Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa had a long talk during batting practice Tuesday with the man who controls his fate.General manager Rick Hahn was there too.AdvertisementThe strange dynamic that brought La Russa back to the Sox after 34 years is the same reason he doesn’t have to worry about being fired, no matter how much his team struggles to live up to expectations.Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf is one of La Russa’s best friends. La Russa is not going anywhere.AdvertisementHahn knows it. La Russa knows it. And Sox fans know it.Reinsdorf didn’t fire Rick Renteria to rectify what he once called “the biggest mistake” of his baseball career — allowing Hawk Harrelson to fire La Russa in 1986 — just so he could fire La Russa two months into his second season.But that hasn’t stopped Sox fans from tweeting about it or talk-radio hosts from yakking about it or newspaper columnists from writing about it.And unless the Sox show some consistency, the subject is not going away, so La Russa should be resigned to hearing about it for the time being.[ Rick Hahn admits the 1st 2 months have tested his patience, but the White Sox GM also sees ‘reasons for optimism’ ]Every time a manager gets fired, as Joe Maddon was Tuesday by the Los Angeles Angels, the obvious question around baseball is “Who’s next?” And as manager of a sub-.500 team expected to compete for a championship, La Russa knows he’s a person of interest.In truth, La Russa doesn’t deserve to be fired after 53 games. The Philadelphia Phillies’ Joe Girardi and Maddon were fired for a collective inability to win over the last two-plus seasons. La Russa’s team has underachieved, but injuries and a lack of hitting by key players — including Yasmani Grandal, Yoán Moncada and Josh Harrison — have been the root causes of the Sox malaise.But La Russa is the perfect punching bag for disgruntled Sox fans, and 90% of them seemingly have blogs. Just Google “Fire La Russa” and you’ll get the following headlines from various blogs:“Tony La Russa Tries His Best to Get Fired, As the White Sox Beat the Rays.”Advertisement“Tony La Russa Should Be Fired Immediately.”“ChiSox Should Fire Out-Of-Touch Manager Tony La Russa.”“Woke Mob Wants La Russa Canceled for Patriotic Stance on Anthem.”(OK, I made up that last one, but you get the picture.)Some of the “Fire La Russa” stories were from last season, but the Google algorithm still keeps them near the top, along with a change.org petition from 2020 calling on La Russa to resign.Hahn was asked before Tuesday’s 4-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers if the Sox philosophy is not to fire managers during the season, a roundabout way of asking him whether La Russa is on the hot seat.AdvertisementWhite Sox manager Tony La Russa has a laugh with Steve Stone as Stone is honored for his 40th year in broadcasting before the Sox-Dodgers game at Guaranteed Rate Field on Tuesday, June 7, 2022. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)“Uh, no,” Hahn replied. “I’m trying to come up with a counterpoint to show my ‘no’ is appropriate and I can’t come up with one immediately in my couple of decades I’ve been here. Gene Lamont. I think I was in high school (in 1995), so I can’t take responsibility for Gene Lamont.”Fortunately, I was covering the White Sox when Lamont was fired 31 games into the 1995 season. Like La Russa, he was coming off a season in which the Sox were in first place, though Lamont’s ‘94 team was denied a chance to go to the playoffs when the players strike ended the season in August.General manager Ron Schueler blamed the players for Lamont’s exit, saying the team lacked fire during a showdown with Cleveland.“I gave them the benefit of the doubt,” Schueler said. “But if the team can’t get up for a series like the Cleveland series, obviously I thought I’d have to do something to change the atmosphere.”Trying to shake up a team usually is a good excuse to fire any manager, but this team doesn’t need shaking up. It needs better performances by talented players — and for Tim Anderson, Lance Lynn and Eloy Jiménez to return healthy and stay off the IL the rest of the season.The Minnesota Twins are a .500 team playing over their heads. When the real Sox show up, they should catch the Twins by the All-Star break and put them in the rearview mirror by Labor Day.AdvertisementOf course, waiting for the real Sox to show up has been agonizingly difficult, which is why the bandwagon has been much lighter in 2022 and why La Russa has borne the brunt of the criticism. It’s part of the job, which he knew coming in.[ [Don’t miss] 40 years in the booth: White Sox broadcaster Steve Stone celebrates his anniversary with an unplugged conversation ]Managers are hired to be fired, except perhaps managers who were hired 34 years after they were fired by the same owner who let him be fired in the first place. They have to leave on their own.It’s good to remember why the Sox let La Russa leave in the first place. Harrelson, whose one-year reign as general manager in 1986 set the franchise back five years, had a well-known rift with La Russa when he decided to pull the trigger in June.“The club has not responded,” Harrelson said that day. “It’s a baseball decision. He understood it. It was the overall standings and the performance of the club. We’re not talking about a personality conflict.”No one believed Harrelson then or now. Reinsdorf quickly regretted the decision and no doubt also regretted replacing the great Roland Hemond with Harrelson — who also fired vice president Dave Dombrowski, the bright, young talent who went on to win championships with the Florida Marlins and Boston Red Sox. Fortunately Reinsdorf also fired Harrelson after the season, saving the franchise from a total brain drain.La Russa was discussing his return to managing Sunday in Tampa with Sox beat writers, joking that if he had any business sense, he would’ve started a business after he retired from managing to keep busy.Advertisement“But this is the only thing I know how to do,” La Russa said with a grin. “Kind of. We’ll see if I still know how to do it or not.”This always was a World Series-or-bust season for La Russa and the Sox, and they still have four months to right the ship.“Whether it’s Jerry, Kenny (Williams), myself, the coaches, any White Sox fan — we’ve all had our patience tested,” Hahn said. “But the fundamentals of who this team is remain. We’re fortunate that baseball is a long season, and over the course of a long season, things tend to play out the way the talent permits. And we feel good about this talent.”But it’s going to be a turbulent voyage, so everyone should get used to the occasional tidal wave along the way.

Mundelein resident Kevin Minor was more than just a suburban dad with a sharp, analytical mind and a deep devotion to his wife and three daughters, who were NCAA Division 1 college tennis players. He was also a respected mentor in the local tennis community who tried to expand access to tennis for underprivileged youth interested in playing competitively.When the Indianapolis native died suddenly last month at age 54, his wife, Michelle, and daughters Kristina, Jasmine and Brienne said they instantly knew how to honor his legacy while carrying on the work he did as a member of the Chicago District Tennis Association. A GoFundMe raised $10,000 in half a day, rising to $25,000 after two days.AdvertisementA funeral service program for Kevin Minor included a family portrait, including his wife, Michelle, from left, and their daughters, Kristina, Brienne and Jasmine. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)The family’s plan is to pay the expenses of young players who cannot afford the mounting cost of having a tennis coach or traveling to tournaments across the country. The family hopes to create an endowment or scholarship fund to aid young tennis players.Tennis had been a staple in Black middle-class households going back to the late 19th century, but rising costs have made it tenable.AdvertisementA 2015 article in Bloomberg estimated the annual cost of attending tournaments and equipment at about $40,000. This was before the pandemic made open space more valuable and the rising costs of travel.“It’s a very expensive sport, even if you’re from an affluent background,” said Minor’s wife, Michelle, an auditor in the automotive industry. Her husband, having earned a degree in computer and electrical engineering, worked at Motorola for 30 years, according to his family.The scholarship idea has been a labor of love for Michelle Minor and her daughters, who used tennis to reach their goals academically and professionally. The eldest daughter, Kristina, is an associate athletic director at Northwestern University, while Jasmine is an Emmy Award-winning television reporter in Indianapolis. Brienne won the NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championships in 2017, becoming the first Black woman to win the singles title.Michigan’s Brienne Minor returns to Florida’s Belinda Woolcock in the final match of the NCAA women’s tennis championship May 29, 2017 in Athens, Georgia. (Richard Hamm / AP)Although Kevin Minor was an avid fan of the sport, his family said he wasn’t an overbearing sports parent who stressed winning over all else. He mostly supported his daughters, only acting as a coach in a few instances.“I never really saw him as a ‘King Richard’ type,” said Kristina Minor, referring to the Academy Award-winning film starring Will Smith as the father and coach of Venus and Serena Williams. Minor left the coaching to his daughter’s coach while showing support from the stands.“For the most part, I think he tried to strike a healthy balance between ‘I’m here to support and coach when needed,’ but also not to be a helicopter (parent),” Kristina Minor added. “He was whatever I needed, whenever I needed it. It was never a fear of, ‘if I lose, he’s going to be mad.’ He was just so proud that I wanted to keep making him proud.”Friends and colleagues of Kevin Minor said he was a role model in Chicago’s tennis community; a shining example of how to raise competitive, well-adjusted children; and an indispensable tennis dad who could usher new parents into the fold of travel league sports and tutor them in the ways of affordably transporting their children to tournaments.“One of the things that Kevin was really involved with was the other parents,” his wife recalled. “When everybody started out, everybody’s trying to figure out what tournaments do you need to go to and what kind of hotels do you get? Do you drive? Do you fly? Everybody was trying to (figure out) what’s the best way to get our kids to the tournament so that the coaches could see them.”AdvertisementMichelle Minor displays a trophy given to her family for their involvement in tennis at their home on June 3, 2022. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)Midwestern players are at a disadvantage, as they only have spring through fall to play outdoors and must bear the costs of playing indoors. Travel is also an essential part of competitive tennis, as players are building up their ranks to receive invitations to important contests.“That was kind of his focus. How can we make it easier for kids to have access to be able to get to those tournaments where the college coaches will see them,” Michelle Minor said.Veteran tennis coach Mark Bey called Kevin Minor an uncommon man who somehow found a way to lend a hand despite the demands of his busy life. “He took care of his own business at work, as a family man, at church and all of the tennis committees he was on and still had time to help others,” said Bey, whose clients over his 32-year career included all of Minor’s daughters. “The guy had a capacity for helping and serving others that is … more than abnormal — it’s kind of a unicorn type of behavior of giving.”Tennis had been a passion for both Michelle Minor and Kevin Minor, who each played tennis in high school. Coincidentally, both Kevin and Michelle’s father played tennis while attending Purdue University. “Me and my sisters played in high school. We didn’t have the money to play a lot of tournaments, to get training and that type of thing.”But the couple had a plan about carefully ushering their daughters into extracurricular activities and left the choice to them. “One of the things that we wanted our kids to do was to have a passion for something other than academics because we knew that academics would always be important but we wanted something that, when they woke up in the morning that it was important to them to work at it and not something where we had to push them,” Michelle said.In a statement, the CDTA called Kevin Minor “an invaluable member of the CDTA board” who was president for a year, in 2015. “He was a strong advocate for junior players in the Chicago district, wanting to help give them opportunities to enrich their own lives through the camaraderie and community that came from competition on the junior tennis circuit. His family’s creation of the scholarship fund is a powerful continuation of his spirit in the Chicago tennis community.”Advertisement“I cannot begin to estimate the number of hours Kevin spent contributing work not only to our organization but to other families who were navigating junior tennis themselves. His untimely death leaves a huge void,” CDTA Executive Director Jill Siegel told the Tribune in an email.Kristina Minor said her family was overcome by the generosity of people who donated $10,000 in less than 12 hours. She learned of all the people her father had strongly affected during the funeral. She said she spoke to people who said her dad tutored them, helped them with computer tech issues, or received advice or guidance.“I always knew what he did for me and my family, and I guess I never really was tracking on the fact that he was the same way with everybody. The pace at which the GoFundMe is going and just the incredible outpouring of support and love and condolences … is a testament to that.”wlee@chicagotribune.comTwitter @Midnoircowboy