June 21, 2020 7:28 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Tiz the Law has won an unprecedented Belmont Stakes, claiming victory Saturday at the first race of a rejiggered Triple Crown schedule and crossing the finish line in front of eerily empty grandstands. The 3-year-old colt from upstate New York charged to the lead turning to the front stretch and now can set his sights on the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby and Oct. 3 Preakness. All three legs of this year’s Triple Crown schedule were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Belmont, usually the series capper, was initially scheduled for June 6. Tiz the Law gave New York a hometown champion in its first major sporting event since the coronavirus pandemic seized the area. He’s the first New York-bred horse to win the Belmont since Forrester in 1882. This Belmont States was unlike any of the 151 that preceded it. The Long Island track can pack in nearly 100,000, but this race only had about 100 on hand, including jockeys, media and park staff. Masks were mandated for all but the horses – even the jockeys wore face coverings.
June 21, 2020 7:29 am
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) – Buckle up for another wild finish on the PGA Tour. Webb Simpson made one birdie on the back nine at Harbour Town. That was just enough for a 68 that allowed him to join a four-way tie for the lead in the RBC Heritage. He was at 15-under 198. Also sharing the lead were Tyrrell Hatton of England, Abraham Ancer of Mexico and Ryan Palmer. Hatton had one of the six rounds of 63 on Saturday. The change to June because of three-month shutdown appears to be making all the difference. This is a soft course for a strong field. Meanwhile, packed restaurants and a lack of social distancing on Hilton Head Island are leading to concerns that the PGA Tour might have more players test positive for the coronavirus. Nick Watney became the first player to test positive on Friday and withdrew from the RBC Heritage. The tournament is the second since the tour resumed play after a three-month break because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour has tested 11 people who came into close contact with Watney and all initial tests came back negative. Justin Thomas is one of several players to note how busy the island has been. He says, “It’s an absolute zoo around here.”
June 21, 2020 7:31 am
NASCAR heads to Talladega Superspeedway Sunday with new rules and more fans. The Alabama track will admit up to 5,000 fans, just 48 hours after Stewart-Haas Racing confirmed two of its employees tested positive for the new coronavirus. The new rules are in response to Ryan Newman’s crash in the Daytona 500, but there is no practice or qualifying scheduled, so drivers won’t have a feel for the adjustments until the race begins. NASCAR also will be on the lookout for the newly banned Confederate flag.
June 20, 2020 4:13 am
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Webb Simpson has the lead at Hilton Head. Bryson DeChambeau is one shot behind. And the biggest move of the day was a player who made it to the course, but not the tee. That was Nick Watney, who withdrew after becoming the first player to test positive for the coronavirus. Watney tested negative when he arrived Tuesday. He experienced symptoms Friday, took another test and it returned positive. He will be in self-isolation for at least 10 days.
June 20, 2020 4:11 am
(AP)- Canada has approved a National Hockey League plan to play in Canada amid the coronavirus pandemic. The plan required an exemption as the U.S.-Canada border is currently closed to all non-essential travel until at least July 21 and those who enter Canada must self-isolate for 14 days. The league plans to have training camps open in July and to play games without spectators in a couple of cities in late July or August. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada’s top public health officer as well as the top health officers of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Toronto worked closely with the NHL to approve the plan.
June 20, 2020 4:09 am
(AP)- Clemson said 23 football players have tested positive for the coronavirus since the athletes returned to campus this month. There have been 28 positive tests for COVID-19 at the school, including two football staffers and three athletes from other sports. None of those contracting the virus have been hospitalized. Those testing positive are isolated for at least 10 days. The uptick at Clemson is similar to one in the state of South Carolina, which reported a single-day high of 1,081 cases on Friday.
June 20, 2020 4:07 am
(AP) – A person familiar with the decision says Major League Baseball is closing all of its spring training sites over concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. The person spoke Friday night on condition of anonymity because there was no official announcement. Earlier in the day, the Philadelphia Phillies said five players tested positive for COVID-19 this week at the team’s spring complex. At least four teams in Florida and Arizona had already closed their camps. The moves came while MLB owners and players try to negotiate a deal to start the season. They had hoped to begin a second round of spring training by next weekend.
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.
