Category: Sports News

NBA Team Stops Playing National Anthem Before Games

The NBA’s Dallas Mavericks are not playing the National Anthem before home games, breaking a tradition upheld by nearly every pro sports team in America. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban confirmed to news outlets that the team stopped playing the anthem on his direction. The song hasn’t been played before any of the team’s 13 games…


Marty Schottenheimer, NFL Coach With 200 Wins, Dies at 77

Marty Schottenheimer’s NFL coaching career was as remarkable as it was flummoxing. There were 200 regular-season wins, the eighth most in NFL history. There were a mystifying number of playoff losses, some so epic they had nicknames: “The Drive” and “The Fumble.” Always there was “Martyball,” the conservative, smash-mouth approach that featured a strong running…


Longtime ESPN Baseball Correspondent Pedro Gomez Dies at 58

Pedro Gomez, a longtime baseball correspondent for ESPN who covered more than 25 World Series, has died. He was 58. Gomez died unexpectedly at home Sunday, his family said in a statement. No cause of death was given. “Pedro was far more than a media personality. He was a dad, loving husband, loyal friend, coach,…


Tokyo Games Offer Playbooks to Assure Athletes, Sway Public

TOKYO—It will be an Olympics like no other, the world’s largest mega-sports event being staged in the middle of a pandemic. Tokyo organizers and the IOC on Wednesday began explaining in public just how they hope to do it, rolling out “Playbooks” to detail the ways that 15,400 athletes will enter Japan—and exit Japan—with the Olympics opening…


Grant Jackson, Winning Pitcher in 79 WS Game 7, Dies at 78

PITTSBURGH—Grant Jackson, the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the 1979 World Series for the “We Are Family” Pittsburgh Pirates and a reliable left-hander for 18 seasons in the majors, died Tuesday from COVID-19 complications. He was 78. The Pirates said Jackson died at Canonsburg Hospital in Pennsylvania. “This pandemic has affected every family throughout…


Florida Offers IOC to Move 2021 Olympics to US If Japan Scraps Event

A Florida official said Monday the state would be happy if the Olympic Games in Tokyo were relocated to the United States after reports Japan might scrap the sporting event due to the pandemic. Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis made the announcement in a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), encouraging them to consider moving the…


Olympic’s Bach Says ‘No Plan B’ for Tokyo Games: Kyodo

TOKYO—There is “no Plan B” for the Tokyo Games, said International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, who reaffirmed his commitment to holding the showpiece event this year in an interview with Kyodo News on Thursday. After the Games were postponed last year because of the global novel coronavirus pandemic, Saturday marks six months until the…


Nathan Chen Wins 5th Straight US Figure Skating Title

LAS VEGAS—Dick Button has always been the measuring stick for American men figure skaters. And no wonder, with seven straight U.S. titles and two Olympic gold medals. Nathan Chen has leapt into Button territory. Even with an error at the beginning of his free skate, Chen was unbeatable Sunday, winning his fifth straight U.S. Figure…


Japan Minister Says ‘Anything Can Happen’ With Tokyo Games

TOKYO—Japanese cabinet minister Taro Kono has said “anything can happen” in regard to the postponed Tokyo Olympics, raising more doubts about the games scheduled to begin in just over six months. Kono’s statements contradict the official government position and that of the local organizing committee. They have both said repeatedly the games will take place…


Mask Wearing Mandatory at Sydney Cricket Test

The New South Wales government will make it compulsory for all attendees to wear a mask at the Sydney Cricket Ground for the upcoming test match. And will increase police presence in and around the stadium to enforce public health orders. State Health Minister Brad Hazzard has said unequivocally that face masks must be worn at…