One year after revamping its programming lineup with the additions of “Breakfast Ball” and “The Facility,” Fox Sports has canceled both shows and “Speak” in a shake-up that will also result in the exit of Joy Taylor.

According to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, Fox Sports has canceled both “Breakfast Ball” and “The Facility” — which were added to the schedule to replace the canceled Skip Bayless vehicle “Undisputed” — as well as the longer-running afternoon program, “Speak,” featuring Joy Taylor, Paul Pierce and Keyshawn Johnson. Taylor is said to no longer be with the company with the expiration of her contract.

Last year, Taylor was accused in a broader 42-page lawsuit against Fox Sports and then-executive Charlie Dixon of creating a hostile work environment. Taylor subsequently denied the allegations made against her. During a recent appearance on Power 105.1 FM’s “The Breakfast Club,” she explained that they were “in the process of things right now” regarding her contract.

Marchand divulged that FS1 will likely be creating new shows in place of these cancellations and that “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” and “First Things First” will be continuing in their timeslots. On top of that, host Craig Carton could opt to make a return to WFAN, where he starred on morning and afternoon drive shows for over a decade. Chris Oliviero, who brought Carton to the station after he served time in prison for fraud, was recently promoted to serve as the chief business officer of Audacy and has oversight of WFAN.

Carton worked with Danny Parkins and Mark Schlereth on “Breakfast Ball,” which aired in the mornings from New York City. The network then shifted its programming to Los Angeles with “The Facility,” which included Emmanuel Acho,Chase Daniel, James Jones and LeSean McCoy.There are no details regarding the contracts or future of these on-air talents, nor if they could be part of new programming iterations.

The U.S. Classic, the top tune-up meet for the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, airs live on CNBC and Peacock on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.

NBC airs highlights Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.

Hezly Rivera, the youngest member of the 2024 Olympic champion team, headlines the field that will compete in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Rivera, now 17, is joined by 2024 Olympic alternates Leanne Wong, Joscelyn Roberson and Tiana Sumanasekera.

Plus Jayla Hang, who won the Pan American all-around title in June over a field that included Rivera.

Traditionally, not all of the top gymnasts compete on all four events at Classic, though at least Rivera is expected to do so.

Gymnasts are preparing for the U.S. Championships from Aug. 7-10 in New Orleans.

Then a two-day selection competition in early autumn determines the four-woman team for the World Championships in October in Indonesia.

Simone Biles won five of the last six U.S. Classic meets dating to 2018, with Wong taking the other in 2022 during Biles’ break from competition. Biles is now on another break from competition and has not announced whether she plans to return to bid for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

2025 U.S. Classic Gymnastics Field

Gymnasts are split between two sessions — the first on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on the USA Gymnastics YouTube page and the second at 8 p.m. ET on CNBC and Peacock.

Sage Bradford (Session 1)
Harlow Buddendeck (1)
Dulcy Caylor (2)
Ally Damelio (1)
Jordis Eichman (1)
Reese Esponda (1)
Catherine Guy (1)
Jayla Hang (2)
Gabrielle Hardie (2)
Myli Lew (2)
Nola Matthews (2)
Annalisa Milton (2)
Malea Milton (1)
Avery Moll (1)
Claire Pease (2)
Brooke Pierson (1)
Hezly Rivera (2)
Joscelyn Roberson (2)
Alessia Rosa (2)
Simone Rose (2)
Izzy Stassi (2)
Ashlee Sullivan (2)
Tiana Sumanasekera (2)
Maliha Tressel (1)
Audree Valdenarro (1)
Sabrina Visconti (1)
Camie Westerman (1)
Halle Shea Wittenberg (1)
Leanne Wong (2)
Alicia Zhou (2)

Jordan Chiles called the last three months “very, very difficult” in an interview about her Olympic bronze medal appeal.

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They often say in life, you have to recognize an opportunity when it becomes apparent and do everything to seize it to find ultimate success. 

Penn State saw that with the ruling by the NCAA that allowed immediate eligibility for Canadian Hockey League (CHL) players, coupled with scholarship increases to 26 players, along with the ability to provide NIL opportunities, it saw an opportunity to make hockey another cornerstone program.

When Whitehorse, Yukon (Canada) native Gavin McKenna was open to the idea of playing in the United States and leaving the CHL, Penn State was ready to roll the red carpet out for the prodigy.

Penn State was already stacked with defensemen Jackson Smith, who was a five-star prospect and was selected 14th overall by the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, and Mac Gadowsky, who was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award last season. Add in goaltender Kevin Reidler and forwards Shea Van Olm, who led all WHL skaters with 49 goals last season, along with Calgary Flames prospect Luke Misa, coupled with the returns of forwards Aiden Fink, who was also a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, Charlie Cerrato, Matt DiMarsico, and JJ Wiebusch the chances of Penn State returning to the Frozen Four were excellent.

When you add in the hockey prodigy that is McKenna, things now have a chance to be historic. 

Photo by Penn State Athletics

Typically, hockey prodigies reserved their talents up in the CHL in one of the three leagues: Ontario, Quebec, or Western, then went to the NHL because the NCAA there were no good avenues and its just how it was.

When megadonor Terry Pegula gifted Penn State nearly $102 million to jumpstart the ice hockey programs, it wasn’t meant for the programs to languish in mediocrity. The gifts took the programs from club level groups all the way to being able to compete amongst the nation’s best programs.

I don’t know how much influence Pegula had with the deal to lure McKenna from the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat, but the opportunity to bring the odds on favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft is enticing, and something Pegula would want to be part of for his alma mater that he has given so much to. 

When you think of the greatest players in NCAA history, you think of right off the bat Maine’s Jim Montgomery and Paul Kariya, Cornell netminder Ken Dryden, UMass defenseman Cale Makar, The Fusco Brothers from Harvard (Mark and Scott), or even Minnesota’s Neal Broten. 

Even with what each of those players accomplished, McKenna, Van Olm, and Smith have ample opportunity to set the bar higher. 

That is what the opportunity is in collegiate hockey with NIL and immediate eligibility, it is more lucrative opportunities for the best in hockey to play in the United States. 

The fact Penn State was able to poach so much high end WHL talent shows the direction it is going, but here in lies the opportunity to become the ultimate hockey superpower, where one typically doesn’t exist. 

In ice hockey, supremacy shifts from Denver, or one of the many Michigan, Minnesota, or Boston/Massachusetts schools, Penn State has the opportunity to be the ultimate hockey location. 

Gavin McKenna in 2024 By Kaiser matias – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=155382093

Winning a national championship and in style will only make Penn State much more aggressive for the high end talent. McKenna’s ceiling by many is Connor Bedard, John Tavares, or even Sidney Crosby. If McKenna delivers on that potential, that is the main attraction for all other hockey prodigies. 

In style, when you consider that the 1969-70 Cornell team is the only NCAA hockey team to go undefeated and 1992-93 Maine that went 42-1-2 fueled by Kariya and Montgomery is the top of the mountain for Penn State to achieve. The talent is there to do it in a dominant style that it is a legacy team for head coach Guy Gadowsky. The amount of talent he was able to secure puts him in an opportunity to have teams in the same vein as “Badger” Bob Johnson, Murray Armstrong, Red Berenson, or Jerry York. 

The key is, where the pressure is, this team will only be together once. This isn’t a team that the “band will get back together,” the NHL will be calling for all this high end talent in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Unlike football where there is a margin of error to breakthrough for them, hockey has stacked the deck so much, error is not an option. The opportunity is here for Penn State Men’s Hockey to achieve ultimate rink supremacy, not just for now but also for subsequent seasons. Penn State has the opportunity to perfect the “one and done” model for its program, something John Calipari did for a bit at Kentucky with Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. 

Fans will understand if football fails, James Franklin’s inability to win a big game is well documented, but the gap Penn State football has with its peers is not as wide as Penn State’s men’s hockey. You could even argue, hockey is only rivaled by wrestling by the talent disparity between them and the rest of the field. When you have such an advantage the pressure is great no matter how much football dominates the landscape.