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There were so many people in Buenos Aires to celebrate Lionel Messi and the Argentina national team winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup that players had to leave the bus parade celebration via helicopter.
With a crowd estimated to be as large as 5 million, authorities canceled the parade early over security concerns, according to James Grainger of the Buenos Aires Times.
Grainger added that the number of people attending the parade "made it impossible at times for the open-top bus carrying the players and coaching staff to even advance on the capital."
Portions of the parade route were completely blocked off with fans, which forced changes to be made to the route. Additionally, some fans attempted to jump onto the team's bus, and at least 18 people are reported to have injuries, according to Grainger.
The team bus was forced to drive to a nearby school before players boarded helicopters to return to their training facility just outside the Argentine capital.
Claudio Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association, released a statement on Twitter (h/t Grainger): "We were not allowed to arrive to greet all the people who were at the Obelisk, the same security forces that were escorting us did not allow us to move forward. A thousand apologies on behalf of all the champion players," Tapia wrote.
Presidential spokeswoman Gabriela Cerruti added: "The World Champions are flying over the parade route in helicopters because it was impossible to continue on the ground."
Argentina won the 2022 World Cup on penalty kicks over France on Sunday. It marks the country's first World Cup victory since 1986 and its third overall after winning in 1978.
It was a particularly special victory for Messi, arguably the greatest player in the world, as winning the World Cup was one of the only things left for him to accomplish. While the 2022 tournament was expected to be his last, Messi said that he is not retiring from the national team, which opens the door for his return to the biggest stage in 2026, when the United States will be a co-host.
The French soccer federation said Tuesday that some of its players faced "unacceptable racist and hateful comments on social networks" following Sunday's penalty shootout loss to Argentina in the World Cup final, per the Associated Press.
"The French soccer federation condemns with the utmost firmness these intolerable behaviors and abuses," it said in a statement.
PSG's Kylian Mbappé and Bayern Munich's Kingsley Coman were among the French players who faced racial abuse, per Isabelle Rome, the country's minister in charge of gender equality.
SOS Racisme, a French human rights group, said the players faced "a torrent of racist slurs, with hundreds of users on the social network posting comments likening them to apes, slaves, or even urging them to go back to the jungle."
Bayern Munich publicly sent Coman a message of support:
Both Mbappé and Coman played in the final against Argentina. The former notched a hat trick and made his attempt in the penalty shootout, while Coman had his attempt saved by Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez.
Racial abuse continues to be a major concern in world football. Following the Euro 2020 final, four people were arrested for racially abusing England's Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka on social media platforms.
"For some of them to be abused is unforgivable," English manager Gareth Southgate told reporters at the time. "Some of it has come from abroad, we have been told this, but some of it is from this country. ... We have been a beacon of light to bring people together and the national team stands for everybody. We felt the energy and positivity from the fans and I'm incredibly proud of that."
Per the AP, the French federation said it plans to file criminal complaints against individuals who directed abuse at the players.
Wrestling legend and WWE Hall of Famer Hacksaw Jim Duggan held off an intruder at gunpoint at his South Carolina home on Dec. 8.
Duggan revealed the news in an exclusive interview with Dominic DeAngelo of Wrestling Inc., who provided more details:
"Duggan told Wrestling Inc. that his home was broken into by an intruder on at around 6:45 p.m. on Thursday, December 8, and that the individual, a man in his mid-20s, entered through the front door of his South Carolina home. Duggan claimed he took the man down by himself before grabbing his .44 caliber pistol and holding the intruder at gunpoint."
The intruder reportedly had no plans to rob Duggan and his wife, Debra, who was also home at the time. The man was allegedly running away from people in another home in a separate matter, and he was looking to escape by finding shelter elsewhere. He was frightened and said those people wanted to kill him.
The man ultimately entered the Duggans' house through an unlocked front door. Duggan heard yelling in the neighborhood and shut off his Christmas lights and told the intruder to be quiet in the meantime.
Eventually, police arrived from the Kershaw County Sheriff's Department, who apprehended the man. Duggan declined to press charges.
The 68-year-old Duggan's career wrestling accolades include winning the first-ever Royal Rumble and also the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship.
It's just not happening for the 2022-23 Los Angeles Lakers.
First, there was the abysmal 2-10 start to the season that put them in a hole they may not climb out of before the playoffs. Then, just when things were starting to look better, their best player went down with another injury that will reportedly sideline him for significant time.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Anthony Davis will "miss at least one month" with a right foot injury.
It's more of the same for Davis, who is a generational talent but struggles to stay on the floor. He played 40 games last season and 36 in 2020-21, and he has never appeared in more than 75 games since he was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft.
With all due respect to LeBron James' greatness, the Lakers' best chance to compete in 2022-23 is through Davis. He was playing some of the best basketball of his career right before the setback, making the timing all the more difficult to deal with for the Purple and Gold.
Not counting the loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers when he exited early, Davis notched 10 straight double-doubles before the injury during a stretch that saw him score 55 points against the Washington Wizards, 44 points against the Milwaukee Bucks and 37 points with 21 rebounds against the Phoenix Suns.
Without that level of production on the floor, the 12th-seeded Lakers will surely fall even further in the standings and become more untenable in terms of a potential championship run.
That should impact the front office's approach ahead of the Feb. 9 trade deadline.
"Even before Davis was hurt, the team was conflicted internally about sacrificing its future for anything that didn't catapult the franchise back into contention," Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus reported in reference to the team's available first-round picks in 2027 and 2029.
Pincus also highlighted the reality that Los Angeles doesn't have much leverage with other teams knowing it is facing pressure to win now with James turning 38 years old this month ahead of his player option for 2024-25.
That led to an "inflated trade market at the deadline" last season, and that will surely be the case again in 2022-23. Throw in Pincus' reporting that the Indiana Pacers could re-sign Myles Turner this offseason, and the much-discussed potential trade that would send the big man and Buddy Hield to Los Angeles may not even be an option.
It's not a pretty picture for a team that also has to worry about the health of its franchise cornerstones.
It is a testament to James' individual brilliance that he is still playing at a high level, but the aging star missed Monday's loss to the Suns and hasn't played more than 67 games in a season since joining the Lakers before the 2018-19 campaign.
Los Angeles' ceiling at 13-17 with Davis out for a month or more feels like the play-in tournament, and even that is only if everything goes right with the health of its two future Hall of Famers once the big man returns.
It is difficult to imagine the team competing with the likes of the Suns, Memphis Grizzlies, Denver Nuggets and even New Orleans Pelicans from that position, even if it adds another impact player or two via trade.
Perhaps such a trade would involve Russell Westbrook, which seemed inevitable this past offseason before he settled into a sixth-man role. His contract will come off the books after the 2022-23 season, and the Lakers would likely still have to attach one of their 2027 or 2029 first-round picks to move him.
Success is defined by championships for this franchise, and that isn't happening this season.
Instead, they can reset with that additional cap space after Westbrook's deal expires, hold onto those future picks to either use or perhaps move in a different season with a better outlook and avoid mortgaging the future for a bleak present.
It's just not worth jeopardizing future Lakers teams for the 2022-23 one.
