Update on the latest sports
APMLB-CUBS-SOX FANS
Chicago teams can admit fans to 20% capacity
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago’s two major league baseball teams will be allowed to host a limited number of fans starting on opening day.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot says capacity for the Cubs at Wrigley Field and the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field will be set at 20%. That translates to as many as 8,122 fans for White Sox home games and 8,274 fans at Wrigley Field.
Several teams around the country are making similar announcements as city officials say the number of COVID-19 cases have been dropping in recent weeks. Fans weren’t allowed at any of the stadiums last season.
Elsewhere in the majors:
— Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo has declined to specify why Jeremy Jeffress was released by the team. Rizzo says he considers it an “employment issue” and acknowledges it was not related to the reliever’s baseball performance. Washington cut ties with Jeffress on Sunday. He was a 2018 NL All-Star for the Brewers who was with the Cubs last season.
—The Minnesota Twins have been eagerly anticipating the addition of shortstop Andrelton Simmons this season. The native of Curaçao had been unable to leave the Caribbean island country until travel documentation was complete. The paperwork was delayed by the recent wave of extreme wintry weather. Then he had to clear COVID-19 protocols upon arrival at camp. Simmons signed a one-year, $10.5 million contract with the Twins.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NBA-ALL STAR GAME
Nobody tested positive at All-Star Game
ATLANTA (AP) — The NBA’s mini-bubble in Atlanta for the All-Star Game apparently worked. No players, coaches or game officials tested positive for COVID-19 while in Atlanta.
The NBA announcement Monday comes after the final tests were processed and results were returned to the league and the teams involved.
That includes Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, a pair of All-Stars who had to miss the game and left Atlanta early after being flagged through contact tracing. A barber both saw before going to Atlanta tested positive, and that meant Embiid and Simmons were potentially exposed to the virus. So by league policy this season, they couldn’t play Sunday night.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL-POLL
Gonzaga continues run at the top
UNDATED (AP) — Gonzaga remains entrenched at No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll in its bid to go wire-to-wire.
The Zags received 61 of 63 first-place votes from a media panel as they attempt to become the first wire-to-wire No. 1 since Kentucky in 2014-15.
Baylor had two first-place votes and moved back into the No. 2 slot after dropping a spot last week. Illinois, Michigan and Iowa rounded out the top 5.
No. 8 Arkansas is in the top 10 for the first time since reaching No. 1 in 1994-95.
SUNBELT CHAMPIONSHIP
Koranga, Dye help Troy women claim Sun Belt title, NCAA bid
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Felmas Koranga had 12 points and a career-high 22 rebounds, Alexus Dye recorded her NCAA-leading 22nd double-double, and Troy beat Louisiana-Lafayette 73-65 to claim the Sun Belt Conference tournament and an automatic NCAA bid.
Troy was playing in the title game for the third time since 2016 — winning all three including a 78-64 victory over ULL in the 2016-17 season. Dye finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds and Robinson added 17 points and nine assists. Ty’Reona Doucet scored 14 points, and Skyler Goodwin had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Louisiana, which had its 15-game winning streak snapped.
NFL-SEAHAWKS-DUNLAP
Seahawks to release Dunlap
SEATTLE (AP) — A person with knowledge of the move tells The Associated Press that the Seattle Seahawks will release defensive end Carlos Dunlap. The move will leave Seattle without its most proven pass rusher but will also save the Seahawks more than $14 million against the salary cap. Dunlap was acquired by the Seahawks from Cincinnati midway through last season.
Elsewhere in the NFL:
— The Minnesota Vikings have signed defensive end Stephen Weatherly to a one-year, $2.5 million contract. The deal brings back one of their past draft picks to try to strengthen a lagging pass rush. Weatherly played last season with the Carolina Panthers. They released him on Feb. 19.
— The Detroit Lions have released linebacker Christian Jones and center Russell Bodine. Detroit also re-signed defensive back Mike Ford. The Lions signed Jones in 2018 and he had one year left on his contract.
NFL-CONCUSSION SETTLEMENT
Judge tosses suit over ‘race-norming’ in dementia tests
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that challenged so-called race-norming in dementia tests for retired NFL players.
Lawyers for some former players say the practice assumes Black athletes start with worse cognitive functioning than their white counterparts. That makes it harder for them to show injury and qualify for awards that average more than $500,000.
The judge in Philadelphia on Monday instead ordered the NFL and the lead lawyer overseeing the settlement to start mediation. That process would appear to exclude the Black players who sued. They are Kevin Henry and Najeh Davenport. The settlement fund has so far paid more than $765 million to retired players.
FRAZIER-FIGHT OF THE CENTURY
Smokin’ Joe Frazier feted with statue, mural in Philly
FEASTERVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Joe Frazier was celebrated in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia on the 50th anniversary of his win over Muhammad Ali in the Fight of the Century.
Frazier had a 9-foot-tall, 1,600-pound statue unveiled at a gym owned by some of his supporters from early in his fight career. There is also a mural in North Philadelphia that his friends and family hope will make sure his legacy lives on long after his death. Frazier died Nov. 7, 2011 after a brief battle with liver cancer at the age of 67. Their first fight at Madison Square Garden was so epic it was billed as the Fight of the Century, and 50 years later it reigns undefeated
