NFL players are publicly pleading with the league to address several health and safety concerns on the eve of training camp. The league informed teams on Saturday that training camps will open on time even though discussions with the players’ union regarding testing for the coronavirus and other health and safety protocols are ongoing. Rookies for Houston and Kansas City are set to report Monday and rookies for other teams are due on Tuesday. Players for all teams are scheduled to report by July 28.
For the first time in his career, senior wide receiver Elijah Cooks has been placed on the preseason watch list for the Biletnikoff Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top receiver. Cooks is one of 55 to earn the distinction from around the country and is one of five from the Mountain West. He also earned preseason honors from Athlon Sports and Phil Steele Magazine, being named to their preseason All-Mountain West teams. Cooks posted a breakout season in 2019, leading Nevada with 76 receptions, 926 receiving yards and eight touchdowns, all of which were career highs.
Nevada junior running back Toa Taua earned a spot on the preseason watch list for the Doak Walker Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top running back.
Even though it was a little later in the year than normal, the annual Bombs for Moms baseball tournament, hosted by the Winnemucca Badgers travel baseball team took place this past weekend.
Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez wanted to hug, high-five and fist bump his players. After all, the defending World Series champions spent nearly four months apart before resuming workouts last week. Then, he remembered: Those are out. And just like crying, now there’s no spitting in baseball, either.
As college football preseason watch lists begin to roll out, Nevada has its first honoree with junior defensive end Dom Peterson being named to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top defensive player.
The Washington NFL franchise announced Monday it is dropping the “Redskins” name and Indian head logo, bowing to recent pressure from sponsors and decades of criticism that they are offensive to Native Americans. A new name must still be selected for one of the oldest and most storied teams in the National Football League, and it was unclear how soon that will happen. But for now, arguably the most polarizing name in North American professional sports is gone at a time of reckoning over racial injustice, iconography and racism in the U.S.
Instead of MLB All-Stars gathering this week for the Midsummer Classic at Dodger Stadium, players who haven’t opted out of the season are at their home ballparks. They are going through summer camp before they finally get to open the pandemic-delayed season July 23-24. There also will be no final ride in Paris. While NBA and NHL players are also getting back to practice to resume their seasons, The Associated Press looks at some of the sporting events that had been scheduled the week of July 13-19:
Cleveland manager Terry Francona won’t sidestep the hot-button topic any longer. He believes the Indians need to change their contentious nickname. “I think it’s time to move forward,” Francona said Sunday. Francona’s comments came two days after the Indians, amid a nationwide movement to erase racially insensitive symbols, released a statement saying the organization is “committed to engaging our community and appropriate stakeholders to determine the best path forward with regard to our team name.”
There would have been a lot of close MLB rivalry games this week if not for the coronavirus pandemic, with five interleague series matching teams from the same city or state. All of those rivals will still get to play this year. The Associated Press looks at some of the sporting events that had been scheduled the week of July 6-12:
Bryson DeChambeau pounded protein shakes and lifted iron to transform his body, adding 40 pounds of mass, and changed his game to put a premium on power. The plan is working. With jaw-dropping drives and some clutch putts, DeChambeau won the Rocket Mortgage Classic by three strokes Sunday for his first victory of the season and sixth overall. He became the first PGA Tour player since 2004 to lead a tournament in driving distance, along with shots gained off the tee and putting.
Coastal Carolina already had one of the smaller athletic budgets in the Football Bowl Subdivision, and that was before a 15% spending cut was ordered because of projected declines in state funding and student fees stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Facing the prospect of having to pay for testing of returning athletes and staff for the virus this summer, athletic director Matt Hogue went to work finding a way to defray costs. His 19-sport program includes about 450 athletes, and with individual tests currently costing about $100, testing could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars by the end of the 2020-21 academic year. Hogue found help from a local health care company — a longtime sponsor of Coastal Carolina athletics — that will provide free tests, at least while athletes are coming back to campus this summer.
Oregon and Oregon State have agreed to drop the name ``Civil War’’ for their rivalry games. The move Friday was made after discussions between officials at both schools and current and former student-athletes. Oregon State President Ed Ray said the Civil War name ``represents a connection to a war fought to perpetuate slavery.’’
It was the last soccer game of the 2019-2020 season. Pershing high school’s Lady Mustangs ended their year by bending Fernley. “They left it all on the field,” said assistant coach Eve Matuszyk, about her team of athletes. “It’s going to be hard to find a better group of girls. They played hard until the last whistle of every game regardless of the score. They cared about each other and laughed a lot.” Last month, in a virtual graduation ceremony, the soccer team said goodbye to Kyle’ Tupa, Ana Paredes, Cassidy Burke (captain) and Haylie Leavitt, the goalkeeper. Managers Gabby Beltran and Jessica Martin also graduated with the Class of 2020.
The deals are done. The NBA is coming back. The season will resume on July 30 at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Florida. Here are 10 things to know about the restarted season: