WJPA Sports

TOKYO (AP) – Next spring has been set as a possible deadline by a local lawmaker for deciding if the postponed Tokyo Olympics can go ahead. That’s the judgment of former Japanese Olympic minister Toshikai Endo. Japanese television NHK quoted him at a meeting of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The Tokyo Olympics are to open on July 23, 2021. They were postponed this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Endo is the latest powerful politician to speak out this week about the games, bracing the Japanese public for possible changes and costs. Tokyo Governor Yurkio Koike said Thursday the games were likely to be downsized and undergo many changes.

NEW YORK (AP) – Major league players and owners continue to fire salvos instead of fastballs. Players accused teams of “depriving America of baseball games” as part of a money fight created by the coronavirus pandemic. They raised the possibility baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred might push ahead with a shortened season over the union’s objection. Union chief negotiator Bruce Meyer has sent a letter to Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem threatening that an attempt to play without an agreement could lead players to block any attempt to expand the playoffs and deny consent to neutral-site games in the postseason. Major League Baseball made its initial economic proposal on May 26, offering an 82-game regular season schedule and a sliding scale of cuts beyond the prorated shares of salaries the sides agreed to on March 26. Players responded on Sunday with a 114-game regular season schedule running through October and no additional cuts. Each player would get about 70% of his original salary under the union’s plan and roughly 22-47% under MLB’s proposal, including $200 million tied to the postseason being completed. Management quickly rejected the union plan and said it would not offer a counterproposal given the insistence of the players’ desire for a longer season that would spill into November. Among MLB’s objections concerns November baseball that could be canceled by a second wave of COVID-19.

NEW YORK (AP) – NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said his league made a mistake. Goodell said the league was wrong for not listening to players fighting for racial equality and encouraged them to peacefully protest. He made his strongest statement on the issues many players passionately support, one day after 2018 NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes and several of his peers released a video demanding the league condemn racism. When Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to take a stand against police brutality and racial injustice in 2016, he was mostly alone. Politicians, owners and fellow players criticized him, fans burned his jersey and he was booed even at home. Four years later, his protest is widely viewed as prescient. Global opinion has shifted so much that more people are vilifying those who attack Kaepernick or misrepresent his stance. George Floyd’s death, which ignited nationwide protests over racial injustice and police brutality, awakened many people to the root of the issues that led to Kaepernick’s demonstration. Now, Goodell said, “I personally protest with you and want to be part of the much-needed change in this country.”

UNDATED (AP) – More than half of the 32 NFL teams did not have their coaching staffs back at their facilities Friday even though the league has approved such returns where local governments allow them. NFL teams have been performing all their offseason duties virtually since their facilities were closed by Commissioner Roger Goodell in late March due to the coronavirus pandemic. The league is taking a slow approach to reopening those team buildings, with the latest step allowing coaching staffs to return. Only players currently rehabilitating injuries are allowed at the complexes.