June 19, 2020 3:47 am
UNDATED (AP) – Baseball players have proposed a 70-game regular-season schedule, leaving them and the teams 10 games and about $275 million apart on plans to start the coronavirus-delayed season. As part of the union’s proposal Thursday, players would wear advertisement patches on their uniforms during all games for the first time in major league history. People with knowledge of the proposal said it included $1.73 billion in salaries, plus a $50 million postseason pool. On Wednesday, Major League Baseball said a framework for the season had emerged from discussions between Commissioner Rob Manfred and players’ association head Tony Clark. People familiar with the proposed framework said it called for a 60-game regular-season schedule that would have $1.48 billion in salaries plus a $25 million players’ postseason pool. Both MLB and the union proposed starting the season on July 19, and players said it should end Sept. 30, three days later than management.
June 19, 2020 2:45 am
The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced the names on the 2021 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. Former Washington & Jefferson College head coach John Luckhardt was among those listed on the divisional ballot for consideration. Luckhardt compiled a collegiate coaching record of 225-70-2 (.761 winning percentage). His 225 wins rank as the second most among the 40 coaches on the 2021 ballot. He served as the head coach at W&J from 1982-98 and enjoyed unprecedented success, as he registered a 137-37-2 mark during his tenure with the Presidents. Prior to Luckhardt’s arrival, the Presidents had produced only four winning seasons in a 17-year period. In 1984, W&J ripped off nine wins, won the Presidents’ Athletic Conference title and earned the school’s first trip to the NCAA Division III playoffs.
June 19, 2020 3:45 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward is confident the club will present a united front if it opts to make a public stand against social injustice. The Steelers inadvertently caused a firestorm in 2017 when a miscommunication left tackle and Army veteran Al Villanueva on the field for the national anthem while his teammates waited in darkness in a tunnel. Heyward said the fallout from the mix-up still stings. He said the team will make any public stand together, pointing out players will have plenty of opportunities off the field to express their own personal impact in the change Heyward says is necessary.
June 19, 2020 3:46 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The basketball version of the “Backyard Brawl” rivalry between West Virginia and Pittsburgh has been extended through the 2022-23 season. The colleges separated by 75 miles have played 187 times since first meeting in 1906, with West Virginia holding a 99-88 advantage. The series took a break from 2013 to 2016 because of conference realignment but began anew in 2017 with a four-year home-and-home agreement. The Mountaineers have won each of the first three meetings since the renewal. The final game of the original agreement is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 13 in Morgantown, West Virginia.
June 19, 2020 3:49 am
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) – The RBC Heritage began two month later than usual with a little rain, a little sunshine, a lot of birdies and the only fans were residents whose homes line the course.
Ian Poulter holed a 30-foot birdie putt and followed with a 5-iron to 4 feet for a birdie that closed out his round of 7-under 64, giving him a share of the lead Thursday with Mark Hubbard at Hilton Head. The RBC Heritage, typically a week after the Masters in April, is the second tournament since the PGA Tour returned after 90 days from the COVID-19 pandemic. The top three players in the world are at Hilton Head – Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas – and none broke par on a day in which 66 players in the 151-man field shot in the 60s. Jordan Spieth made a triple-bogey 7 and then had a career-best six straight birdies on his back nine and finished with seven birdies over his last eight holes for a 66.
June 18, 2020 3:47 am
UNDATED (AP) – Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred and union head Tony Clark reached a framework that could lead to an agreement that would start the pandemic-delayed season on July 19 or July 20. Manfred flew to meet with Clark and worked out the framework at a Scottsdale hotel. Each team would play 60 games, and players would get full prorated pay, about 37% of their salary. The wild-card round would expand from two games to eight best-of-three series this year. The designated hitter would be used in all games for the first time.
June 18, 2020 3:48 am
UNDATED (AP) – The NCAA Division I Council approved a plan to allow college basketball players to start working with their coaches for the first time since the pandemic wiped out March Madness.
The summer access period for men’s and women’s players will begin July 20. The NCAA also announced the expected approval by the council of an extended preseason model for football teams. And the council introduced a legislative proposal to create a path for schools to transition straight from Division III to Division I, paving the way for St. Thomas (Minn.) to make that jump as soon as next year.
June 18, 2020 3:51 am
UNDATED (AP) – The rate of positive coronavirus tests in the Orlando, Florida, area has been soaring in recent days. The NBA hopes that doesn’t matter. After spending weeks putting together an elaborate series of health and safety protocols, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association believe they have done what is necessary to keep the 22 teams and others who will be part of the season restart at the Disney campus near Orlando next month safe and healthy.
June 17, 2020 3:42 am
CANTON, Ohio (AP) – Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says it’s “highly unlikely” that crowds of 20,000 or so would be allowed for the Pro Football Hall of Fame game and induction ceremony in August.
DeWine says, “If the question was could that event occur today, the answer would be no. It would be extremely dangerous.” The hall is still evaluating its options and said no decisions have been made about the Aug. 6 game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium between the Steelers and Cowboys, nor for the enshrinements two nights later. The hall reopened to a limited number of fans last week.
June 17, 2020 3:46 am
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – The Buffalo Sabres have fired general manager Jason Botterill in a dramatic change-of-course three weeks after co-owner Kim Pegula said his job was secure. The Sabres promoted senior vice president of business administration Kevyn Adams as Botterill’s successor. Botterill’s dismissal represents a major reversal for the Pegulas, coming three weeks after Kim Pegula told The Associated Press: “He’s our GM. Our plan is to continue with him.” Botterill was fired three seasons into his tenure and after the Sabres failed to show any signs of improvement in extending what’s now a nine-year playoff drought. With a 30-31-8 record, Buffalo finished 13th in the Eastern Conference standings and one spot short of qualifying for the NHL’s expanded 24-team playoff.
