Navy Growler Crashes into San Diego Bay During Landing; Crew Ejects

A Navy EA-18G Growler jet crashed into San Diego Bay as it was trying to land Wednesday morning, the Navy confirmed in a statement.

The sea service said that the jet crashed while landing at 10:15 a.m. local time but that both of the aviators aboard managed to eject ahead of the accident.

Video of what appeared to be the crash and radio chatter about the response effort quickly made it onto social media. They revealed that a local private boat near the area pulled the two sailors out of the bay.

The jet crashed in the waters just off Naval Air Station North Island, and video of the area following the crash uploaded to social media showed Navy craft setting up a device meant to contain oil spills.

However, Navy officials have not officially said the jet was landing at the base.

The service's statement on the crash said that the two aviators were "quickly recovered before being transported to a local hospital for medical assessment."

Gators Await Opening Weekend Series vs. Air Force

Florida takes on Air Force on Friday for the first time ever to open the program's 111th season.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. | No. 10 Florida opens its 111th baseball season this Friday at 6:30 p.m. with the first of three games against Air Force at Condron Family Ballpark.

All three matchups air on SEC Network+, beginning with Friday night's opener. The first pitch is set for 4 p.m. on Saturday and 12 p.m. on Sunday.

Coming off the program's 14th trip to the College World Series and second in as many seasons, head coach Kevin O'Sullivan enters his 18th campaign at the helm of the Gators. Since O'Sullivan's 2008 arrival, Florida leads the sport with 290 SEC wins, 37 MLB debuts, 16 NCAA berths (T-1st), 10 top-eight seeds, nine College World Series trips, nine Super Regionals hosted and six SEC titles. The Gators have advanced to nine of the last 14 College World Series overall.

Opening Night marks the first-ever meeting between Florida and Air Force on the diamond. However, the Gators have a limited history competing against service academies. From 1938-1946, Florida went 2-4-1 against Naval Air Station/Naval Air Base. The Gators have also faced off against Army seven times with a 6-1 record, most recently taking down the Knights in the 2019 Lubbock Regional, 13-5. Collectively, Florida is 8-5-1 vs. service academies dating back to 1938.

Since the start of O'Sullivan's tenure, the Gators are 15-2 (.938) in season openers while featuring a 41-8 resume (.854) in the year's first series. The Orange & Blue has claimed victories in 10 of its last 11 openers dating back through 2014. Across the history of the program, Florida is 69-42-1 all-time in openers, featuring a 49-22-1 mark at home.

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-- By Jessica Perry

© Copyright 2025 JWT Communications. All rights reserved. This article cannot be republished, rebroadcast, rewritten, or distributed without written permission.

University of Texas Women’s Basketball’s Booker and Harmon selected to Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player of the Year Midseason Team

AUSTIN, Texas | University of Texas women's basketball sophomore Madison Booker and senior Rori Harmon have been selected to the 2025 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Women's College Player of the Year Midseason Team, the Atlanta Tipoff Club/Naismith Awards announced on Wednesday. 

Booker is averaging 16.5 points and 6.6 rebounds for the season in 29.7 minutes. She has tallied 72 assists, 37 steals, and 15 blocked shots. Booker averaged 20 points per game this past week, helping Texas defeat No. 24 Vanderbilt and No. 2 South Carolina. 

Booker has scored 20 or more points in 11 games this season and has reached double-figures in 20 games this season and the last eight in a row. Over the Longhorn's current eight-game winning streak, Booker averages 20.1 points per game and 7.8 rebounds. Booker is shooting 48.4 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from 3-point range over that stretch. 

Harmon ranks in the top 10 in the country this season in assist-to-turnover ratio, total assists, and assists per game. Harmon moved second on the Longhorns all-time career assist list and now has 662 assists for her career. 

Mississippi State Bulldogs Travel To Nashville To Take On The Commodores

STARKVILLE | The Mississippi State Bulldogs will play in their second-straight nationally televised game on Thursday, as they are set to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores at Memorial Gymnasium. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.

GAME INFORMATION

Mississippi State Bulldogs (17-8, 4-7 SEC) vs RV/RV Vanderbilt Commodores

Date: Thursday, February 13, 8:00 p.m.

Location: Nashville, Tenn. (Memorial Gymnasium)

Watch: SEC Network

Listen: MSU Radio Network – Starkville 96.1

"TELL IT LIKE IT IS' Black History Fact: Stephen K. Benjamin (1969- )

Stephen K. Benjamin, the first African American mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, was born Stephen Keith Benjamin on December 1, 1969, in Queens, New York. Both parents were from Orangeburg, South Carolina.

Benjamin grew up in New York City. He received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of South Carolina in 1991, where he was elected Student Body President. Three years later, in 1994, he received a Juris Doctorate from its law school, where he served as Student Bar Association President.

In 1999, at 29, Benjamin was appointed to South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges’ cabinet as director of the Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services. Three years later, in 2002, Benjamin ran unsuccessfully for South Carolina Attorney General, garnering 482,560 votes, but was defeated by Republican Henry McMaster, 55% to 44.

Benjamin and DeAndrea Gist, Chief Administrative Judge for South Carolina’s Fifth Judicial Circuit, were married in 2002. They are the parents of two daughters, Bethany and Jordan Grace.

In 2009, Benjamin drew national attention by representing prominent radio host Tom Joyner and securing a pardon for Joyner’s great uncles, who were wrongfully convicted and subsequently executed in 1913 for the death of a 73-year-old Confederate veteran.

Trump on U.S. Imports of Oil and Lumber

Days before he ordered, and then paused, new tariffs on U.S. imports from Canada and Mexico, President Donald Trump argued that the U.S. does not need imported products such as crude oil and lumber from those countries.

Experts told us that, in theory, if the U.S. stopped importing crude oil and lumber from Canada and Mexico, it still would be able to meet domestic demand using natural resources available in the U.S. But, in reality, they said, the transition would be costly and take some time to implement, among other complications.

On Jan. 30, while talking with reporters about the tariffs he would announce two days later, Trump said: “Look, Mexico and Canada have never been good to us on trade. They’ve treated us very unfairly in trade, and we will be able to make that up very quickly because we don’t need their products. We have all the oil you need. We have all the trees you need, meaning the lumber. We have more than almost anybody in those two categories, and oil, we have more than anybody, and we don’t need anybody’s trees.”

Senate Confirmed Tulsi Gabbard As Director of National Intelligence

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell broke with his party to vote against her

The Senate voted to confirm Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence on Wednesday, with Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky the only member of his party to vote against President Donald Trump’s nominee.

The vote was 52 to 48. No Democrats voted in support for the former lawmaker.

Gabbard has been one of Trump’s most contentious nominees because of her past remarks on foreign adversaries and concerns about whether she has the experience to do the job. But Republican senators — many of whom had expressed reservations about Gabbard as DNI — overwhelmingly backed her nomination.

While McConnell’s office did not immediately release a statement explaining his vote, it is in keeping with his decision to vote no on another controversial Trump pick, now-Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Gabbard will now oversee the work of the country’s 18 spy agencies – the same intelligence community that she has expressed skepticism of in the past. As DNI, she will also serve as President Trump’s primary intelligence adviser.

Federal Watchdogs Fired By Trump Urge Court To Reinstate Them

A new lawsuit alleges that Trump’s firing of inspectors general violated federal law.

Eight federal watchdogs, abruptly fired last month by President Donald Trump, are suing to get their jobs back, saying Trump broke the law by failing to give Congress a 30-day heads up and concrete explanation for the dismissals.

Trump sent a jolt through Washington when he fired 17 inspectors general on the first Friday night of his term, presaging weeks of extraordinary assertions of power that have at times crossed clear legal boundaries.

A 2022 federal law requires Trump to notify Congress 30 days before he terminates an inspector general and to provide detailed reasons. Trump has bristled at constraints on his authority to manage the executive branch, embracing the most muscular version of presidential power and daring the courts to keep him in check.

The ex-watchdogs — including former inspectors general from the Pentagon, the Departments of State, Education, Labor, Agriculture, Veterans Affairs and #, as well as the Small Business Administration — say a federal court should reinstate them and force Trump to abide by the 2022 law, or perhaps retain them altogether. Two of them, former Pentagon IG Robert Storch and former Small Business Administration IG Michael Ware, were originally appointed to their roles by Trump in his first presidential term.

The group, represented by former deputy attorney general David Ogden and former solicitor general Seth Waxman, is seeking an injunction to undo firings and asking the federal court in Washington, D.C. for expedited consideration.

Auburn Wins at Vandy, Now 6-0 in SEC Road Games

NASHVILLE, Tenn. | Denver Jones got No. 1 Auburn off to a hot start. Chaney Johnson and Johni Broome took over in the second half to give the top-ranked Tigers an 80-68 road win over Vanderbilt Tuesday at Memorial Gymnasium, which sounded at times like Neville Arena.

“Our fans are traveling. They’ve embraced this program; they certainly love this team,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “When the guys play like that, play so well together, it’s really gratifying. That was a really good win against a really good basketball team.”

Jones led Auburn with 21 points, making 5 of 7 3-pointers.

“(Associate head coach Steven Pearl) said come out aggressive and always look to score, and the game will come a little bit easier,” Jones said. “That was the mindset I had today. That’s the confidence the coaches instilled in me.”

Tennessee Spirits Nationals Results

ORLANDO, Fla. | The Tennessee Spirit Team claimed three medals at the Universal Cheer Association and Universal Dance Association National Championship at ESPN Wide World of Sports, with each team securing their own medals.

The cheer team finished second in the Division IA Game Day category with a score of 96.0667. Tennessee also secured a sixth-place finish in the DIA Coed category, totaling 89.4. The Big Orange cheer team sported three different uniforms at the competition. They surprised the audience by debuting their first-ever Dark Mode uniform at Nationals. The dance team finished with two top-5 performances, placing third in Division IA Pom (96.9206) and fourth in Division IA Jazz (92.746).

Smokey placed second in the Division IA Mascot category, posting a 93.24, just 0.2 points behind the University of Cincinnati's Bearcat. He showed his personality and style in his Dracula costume by using a variety of props, such as a secret potion, and showing his dance moves. 

Tennessee Spirit is the only program that had a top-three finish program-wide. An impressive feat that they also accomplished the year prior. 

'TELL IT LIKE IT IS' Black History Fact: Lucien-Leon Guillaume Lambert (1858-1945)

Lucien-Leon Guillaume Lambert or Lucien Lambert, Jr. (1858–1945) was a French pianist and composer of African-American Creole descent. His family was noted for talent in music and gained international acclaim.

Lucien-Leon Lambert was the son of New Orleans composer Charles Lucien Lambert, who married a French woman and emigrated from the U.S. in 1854. Lambert, Jr. was born in France and studied music with his father. After growing up in Brazil, where his father was employed, Lambert, Jr. went to France to study at the Conservatoire de Paris with Théodore Dubois and Jules Massenet. After completing his studies, he worked as a musician and composer. His Prométhée enchaîné won the Prix Rossini in 1885.