March 26, 2020 3:47 am
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has instructed the 32 teams to close their facilities to all but a select few employees by 6 p.m. Wednesday. In a memo to the teams, Goodell said the restrictions meant as a safeguard against the new coronavirus will be in force until at least April 8. Then the league will re-evaluate, using advice from medical experts and health authorities. The few exceptions include trainers and doctors treating players, security and technology personnel.
March 25, 2020 3:42 am
NEW YORK (AP) – If the New York Mets ever start their season, they’ll do it without Noah Syndergaard. The flame-throwing right-hander will undergo Tommy John surgery Thursday after being diagnosed with a torn elbow ligament. General manager Brodie Van Wagenen says Syndergaard underwent an MRI after experiencing discomfort in his elbow before spring training was suspended due to the pandemic. The right-hander received a second opinion on the damaged ulnar collateral ligament from the Los Angeles Dodgers’ head team physician. The 27-year-old Syndergaard is coming off his worst major league season, going 10-8 with a 4.28 ERA and 202 strikeouts in 197 2/3 innings.
March 25, 2020 3:41 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Cam Newton era is officially over in Carolina. The Panthers have released the quarterback after nine seasons. The move became a formality after the Panthers made it clear last week they were moving on from Newton, giving him permission to seek a trade before agreeing to a three-year, $63 million contract with free agent quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
March 25, 2020 3:40 am
A Boston Red Sox minor league player has tested positive for the coronavirus, prompting the team to close down its training complex in Fort Myers, Florida. The team didn’t identify the player, but said he was doing well. The New York Yankees announced earlier this month that two of their minor leaguers had the virus.
March 23, 2020 3:53 am
UNDATED (AP) – Toronto Blue Jays President Mark Shapiro says he thinks Major League Baseball would need at least a month of workouts and exhibition games before regular season play can begin. Opening day has been postponed until at least mid-May because of the coronavirus pandemic. Shapiro cautioned that training camps aren’t likely to open for some time because of the outbreak. All but three of Toronto’s major league players have left the team’s spring training site in Dunedin, Florida. Shapiro says no Blue Jays players or staff have displayed any symptoms of the new coronavirus, and that no one has been tested.
March 23, 2020 3:52 am
According to a report in USA TODAY, International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound said Monday afternoon that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are going to be postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic. “On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” Pound said in a phone interview. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.” Pound, a Canadian who has been one of the most influential members of the IOC for decades, said the Games will likely be moved to 2021, with the details to be worked out in the next four weeks. He said he expects the IOC to announce its next steps soon.
March 21, 2020 4:03 am
AP- Running back Todd Gurley has accepted a contract with the Falcons, one day after being released by the Los Angeles Rams. The one-year, $6 million agreement was confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the deal, who also says Gurley needs to pass a physical. Gurley rushed for more than 1,000 yards in three of his five seasons with the Rams, but he ran for a career-low 857 yards last year.
March 21, 2020 4:00 am
UNDATED (AP) – Dayton star Obi Toppin is the lone unanimous first-team choice to The Associated Press college basketball All-America team. Toppin is Dayton’s first first-team AP All-American after averaging 20 points. 7.0 rebounds and shooting 63% in a breakout season. The 6-foot-9 sophomore helped the third-ranked Flyers match the program’s highest ranking in the final AP Top 25.
Toppin is joined on the First Team by Iowa’s Luka Garza, Marquette’s Markus Howard, Myles Powell of Seton Hall and Oregon’s Payton Pritchard.
March 20, 2020 3:47 am
UNDATED (AP) – New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton told ESPN that he learned Thursday he has tested positive for the new coronavirus. Payton is the first employee of either an NFL team or the league to make such a diagnosis public. He tells the network he came forward to motivate people to educate themselves about what they can do to help fight the pandemic. Payton says he has not been admitted to a hospital and does not have a fever or cough. The 56-year-old coach says he has been resting comfortably at home, where is in in self-quarantine.
March 19, 2020 3:43 am
UNDATED (AP) – Kansas can start celebrating their finish atop the final Top 25 from The Associated Press. The regular-season Big 12 champions, who were 28-3 when the season abruptly ended after the first day of the conference tournament last week, received 63 of 65 first-place votes from a national media panel in balloting released Wednesday. That easily outdistanced No. 2 Gonzaga and No. 3 Dayton, each of which received a first-place vote. Florida State was fourth, easily the best finish ever for the Seminoles, while Baylor rounded out the top five after spending a longer stretch at No. 1 than any other team during a topsy-turvy season. The final rankings were based on play through March 11, when the outbreak of the coronavirus brought the sport to a halt.
