KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Oklahoma City head softball coach Phil McSpadden was named the 2016 NAIA Softball National Coach of the Year for the ninth overall time and first since 2007, announced by the NAIA national office. This accomplishment comes on the heels of the Stars winning the 2016 NAIA Softball World Series title June 2 with a 5-0 victory over Saint Xavier (Ill.).

The nine NAIA Coach of the Year plaques for McSpadden is the most in NAIA history and correlates with the NAIA-record nine national championship rings.
McSpadden completed his 29th year and stands with 1,545 all-time softball victories, which ranks No. 1 on the all-time college coaching list against four-year schools at any level (NAIA, NCAA). He officially set the all-time coaching wins record during the middle of the 2015 season.

In 2016, McSpadden’s club went 67-3, won the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season title and finished with the most wins in the NAIA. The 67 wins marked the fifth time in McSpadden’s career the program reached 60-plus victories and was two shy of tying the all-time NAIA single-season record of 69 set during the 1999 campaign.

McSpadden mentored six athletes on the 2016 NAIA All-America First Team, the most of any institution this season. Under his tutelage, the Stars ranked first in the NAIA statistically in total hits (749), runs scored (568), RBIs (491) and pitching ERA (0.860). Individually, pitcher Georgia Wall (2016 NAIA World Series MVP) was No. 1 nationally in ERA (0.470) and total earns runs allowed (13). She was joined on the national leaderboard by NAIA doubles-champion Kyndra Holasek (30) and NAIA runs-queen Kali Pugh (84).

McSpadden is a member of three prestigious Hall of Fames, which include the NAIA, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and Oklahoma City University Athletics.

Prior to coming to Oklahoma City in 1988, McSpadden coached at Ponca City and Dewey High Schools in Oklahoma, compiling an impressive 127-40 re¬cord in five years while leading teams at both schools to state tournaments. While at Dewey, his teams won the school’s first three crowns in any sport.

— Courtesy of Chad Waller, NAIA Director of Communications & Sports Information

The dates you can own the Aquaman movie on Blu-ray and digital have been revealed and it turns out there’s a little Shazam! bonus included.

You’ll be able to grab the digital copy of Aquaman on March 5 and if you’re after a physical copy, these versions will be out three weeks later on March 26. The editions will be available in 4K UHD combo packs, Blu-ray combo packs, and a DVD special edition.

All copies of Aquaman are going to include a three-minute preview of the upcoming DC superhero movie Shazam! However, it seems we’ll have to wait until March to see exactly what that entails.

As with most home releases, Aquaman will include a set of special features so fans can get a deeper look behind the scenes. These include looks into the world of Aquaman, some of the training required, creating the sea creatures, scene study breakdowns and other features.

Aquaman grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office. Thanks to its success, Warner Bros. doesn’t feel the need to focus on a shared DC universe.

Despite this, the upcoming Shazam film still fits into the DC Extended Universe. Shazam star Zachary Levi is pretty pleased about the whole thing, so much so he’s glad Marvel killed off his MCU character Fandral so he could take on the role.

Hope Corrigan is an Australian freelance writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Shoppers panicked as shots rang through Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, prompting a lockdown and then an evacuation.

“The moment the shots were fired, people panicked, ran and kids were crying as a wall of screaming people made their way for the exits from every direction,” witness Lily Jang told HuffPost Canada.

The mall was “semi busy” when she heard two shots “right by me,” said Jang in a Facebook message.

Jang, who was shopping with her brother, niece and nephew, was right near an exit and able to leave quickly.

‘Thankfully, no one was hit in this’

Police said there was an “altercation” between two groups of men, with at least three people on each side, before the gun was fired.

No injuries were reported, said Toronto police, who are looking for two male suspects in their 20s who fled on foot. The first suspect is described as black and was wearing a black hoodie and blue jeans, while the other is of mixed race and “skinny.”

UPDATE – Sept. 4, 2018: Toronto police arrested and charged Zion Sankar-Beharry, 20, as one of the suspects in the shooting. Sankar-Beharry faces eight charges including two counts of attempted murder.

The weapon involved was a black handgun, police said.

“Thankfully, no one was hit in this,” Supt. Rob Johnson told reporters at a press conference.

Social media posts showed mall workers and shoppers under lockdown, and alarms ringing through the facility.

Toronto’s mayor said he was relieved no one was injured in the mall shooting.

“Whether it is Yorkdale Mall or anywhere else in Toronto, people should not have to worry about gun violence breaking out,” John Tory said in a statement. “There are too many guns available to criminals in the city and I am determined to end that with the help of our police and our government partners.”

The mall was closed for the remainder of Thursday for the police investigation, but the centre tweeted that it was “secure.” Anyone who was evacuated from the mall and left personal belongings was asked to contact security at Yorkdale Shopping Centre.

The mall is Canada’s fifth-biggest when it comes to retail space, and opened in 1964. It is home to high-end stores including Gucci, Chanel and Holt Renfrew.

With files from Alisha Sawhney and The Canadian Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Each month, the NFCA will highlight one of its corporate sponsors, allowing an inside look at those who support the NFCA and the sport of softball. For our August spotlight, we feature Beth Reed, National Sales Director for Traveling Teams.

What does your company do?

Traveling Teams is a leading provider of cost-free travel accommodation services for youth sports teams and event directors. We fully partner with event holders, hotels, CVBs, and sports commissions to streamline and improve the room booking process. We continue to invest in developing technologies and systems that allow us to customize and deliver the highest level of service and value to our partners. Fifteen years of industry experience gives us access to a high volume of rooms and the ability to negotiate exceptional rates with hotels throughout the country. As Traveling Teams evolves, we always keep exceptional service at the forefront of our vision and model. 

NFCA member benefits?

Our partnership with the NFCA provides a platform that allows us to connect with and relate to the travel ball community we serve, building valuable long-term partnerships. 

What inspired your company to partner with the NFCA?

Fastpitch softball has become and continues to evolve as a sport that offers an increasingly high level and broadening spectrum of opportunity for young women. The leadership and educational forum provided by the NFCA strongly supports this evolution. Traveling Teams is thus, inspired and honored to have the opportunity to partner with and support the NFCA.

——————–

“From the moment I met Beth and Carlo, I was immediately drawn to their passion and enthusiasm for softball. Behind quality companies you find quality people. Traveling Teams puts customers first and provides excellent services for the softball community. Traveling Teams is a company on the rise, which mirrors the continued growth in the sport. The NFCA is proud to welcome Traveling Teams as an NFCA Official Sponsor.”

— Carol Bruggeman, NFCA Executive Director 

Update: New reports have once again confirmed Gunn’s involvement in the next Suicide Squad movie, with THR reporting he will direct the next film featuring the DC team following confirmation he would write it late last year.

However, THR reports Gunn’s new Suicide Squad movie will not be a direct sequel but in fact a relaunch of the property, with new characters and a mostly new cast.

Original story follows:

A Warner Bros. representative has confirmed to IGN that James Gunn will write what will presumably be Suicide Squad 2. “It is confirmed that James Gunn is writing the next installment of the Suicide Squad franchise,” the representative told IGN. Original story follows…

Suicide Squad 2 may have found both its writer and director in James Gunn.

The Wrap reports Gunn is in talks to write and direct the Suicide Squad sequel, while Polygon has confirmed Gunn will write it, but WB had no comment on whether he would also be directing it. IGN has reached out to WB for comment.

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According to the report, the Guardians of the Galaxy veteran “is in talks to write” and has “an eye to direct” the DC anti-hero sequel. What’s more, Gunn is said to be taking a completely new approach to Suicide Squad rather than following closely to what was established in the 2016 original.

Gavin O’Connor (The Accountant) was said to be the previous frontrunner to write and direct Suicide Squad 2 as recently as last month.

In July, Disney fired Gunn from his role as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director in the wake of Twitter jokes he’d made about rape and pedophilia in 2008 and 2009 resurfacing. Despite pleas from Gunn and others, Disney and Marvel decided they would not bring him back on board. Following Gunn’s ousting from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, IGN took a look at some other DC properties he might be a fit for.

Nick Santangelo is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. He loves video games and sports, but not sports video games. Follow him on Twitter.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Megan Betsa’s four-hit shutout and Tera Blanco’s two-run double in the sixth inning powered No. 2 Michigan to a 2-0 victory over No. 10 LSU in game four of the 2016 Women’s College World Series, Friday evening at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.

Box Score | Quotes (Michigan / LSU)

Betsa (28-3) struck out eight, walked two and did not allow an LSU runner to reach third base. In the innings that the Tigers (50-17) reached second, the junior NFCA All-American was able to get out of those jams. The second of the those situations came in the top of the fifth, but Bailey Landry was hit by the ball outside the batter’s box and then Betsa fanned Bianka Bell. She would retire the final eight batters of the game for the win.

In the sixth, the Wolverines (52-5) loaded the bases with no outs against starter Allie Walljasper, who limited Michigan’s opportunities through the first five frames. Blanco greeted relief pitcher Carly Hoover with a line drive double to right that plated Sierra Romero and Kelly Christner with the only runs of the contest.

Walljasper (11-6) suffered the tough loss, allowing two runs on four hits with three walks and strikeout. After the Blanco double, Hoover retired the next three batters of the sixth, including two via the punchout.

Both squads return to the field tomorrow. LSU will take on Alabama in an elimination game at 1:30 ET, while Michigan will do battle with Oklahoma at 8:30 p.m. CT.

— Image courtesy of Detroit News twitter

Karl Lagerfeld, who died on Tuesday at age 85, was a fashion icon and a talented designer. But his accomplished career is only one side of a complicated man.

There are lots of places where you can read about what Lagerfeld’s influence on the fashion world, his celebrity admirers, and his endearing devotion to his cat, Choupette. But many people online are debating his legacy, and for good reason. Here are some of the reasons not everyone was a huge fan of the outspoken designer.

His Islamophobia

During an appearance on a French talk show in 2017, the German designer delivered a rather baffling rebuke of his native country’s acceptance of refugees from Muslim-majority countries on the behalf of… Jewish people. Lagerfeld himself was not Jewish.

“You cannot kill millions of Jews and then take in millions of their worst enemies afterwards, even if there are decades [between the two events],” he said on the show “Salut les terriens.” He then went on to add: “I know someone in Germany who took a young Syrian and after four days said: ‘The greatest thing Germany invented was the Holocaust.'”

According to the British paper, The Times, the French channel that aired the show got several hundred complaints about Lagerfeld’s comments.

It wasn’t the first time the designer was accused of being insensitive to Muslims. In 1994, Chanel was forced to apologize when Lagerfeld designed several dresses emblazoned with verses from the Qur’an. The luxury label’s exports were threatened after an Indonesian leader called the designs “an insult to our religion.”

His relentless and often cruel fixation on criticizing women’s bodies

Between 2000 and 2001 Lagerfeld lost nearly 100 pounds in order “to be a good clotheshorse,” and put out a diet book. Some people speculate that a lifelong feeling of unease with his own body was what caused him to be so vicious about women he didn’t think fit fashion’s standards — particularly if he thought they weren’t thin enough.

Here are just a few examples.

On Adele: “She is a little too fat, but she has a beautiful face and a divine voice.”

On Heidi Klum: “Heidi Klum is no runway model. She is simply too heavy and has too big a bust. And she always grins so stupidly. That is not avant-garde — that is commercial!”

On Pippa Middleton: “Kate Middleton has a nice silhouette. I like that kind of woman, I like romantic beauties. On the other hand, her sister struggles. I don’t like the sister’s face. She should only show her back.”

On Lana Del Rey: “Lana Del Rey is not bad at all. She looks very much like a modern-time singer. In her photos she is beautiful. Is she a construct with all her implants? She’s not alone with implants.”

On Coco Chanel: She was “never a feminist” because “was never ugly enough for that.”

On people who criticize unhealthy beauty standards in the fashion industry: “These are fat mummies sitting with their bags of crisps in front of the television, saying that thin models are ugly… no one wants to see round women.”

His equal-opportunity criticism of men’s bodies

He said of Seal — who at the time was married to Heidi Klum — “I am no dermatologist but I wouldn’t want his skin. Mine looks better than his. He is covered in craters.”

He also criticized Andy Warhol: “I shouldn’t say this, but physically he was quite repulsive.”

The time he sent flowers to an accused rapist

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was director of the International Monetary Fund in 2011, when a hotel maid in New York accused him of rape. When he returned to Paris, Lagerfeld sent flowers to DSK and his wife. His defence of his friend was somewhat murky — he both suggested that women willingly have sex with him, and that it’s hard to be a woman around DSK. Either way, Lagerfeld was on Strauss-Kahn’s side.

He told Style.com that women “get horny from politics, from power. And he had unbelievable charms. He is really charming. He’s fun, he’s great. He’s a sweet guy — as long as you’re not a woman. That’s the problem.”

His defence of a stylist accused of sexual assault

When several models accused stylist Karl Templer of inappropriate touching and of pulling off their underwear without consent, Lagerfeld came to Templer’s defence — not by denying that he did it, but instead by implying that he was justified in doing it.

“If you don’t want your pants pulled about, don’t become a model!” he said in an interview with the fashion magazine Numéro at the height of #MeToo. “Join a nunnery, there’ll always be a place for you in the convent.”

His use of blackface and yellowface

Of course Lagerfeld is hardly alone in this in the fashion world. But, yes, he had Claudia Schiffer appear “black” and “Asian” in a 2010 editorial shoot.