Update on the latest sports
APNFL-CONCUSSION SETTLEMENT
Retired Black players say NFL brain-injury payouts show bias
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Thousands of retired Black professional football players, their families and supporters are demanding an end to the controversial use of “race-norming” to determine which players are eligible for payouts in the NFL’s $1 billion settlement of brain injury claims.
Former Washington running back Ken Jenkins and his wife Amy Lewis on Friday delivered 50,000 petitions demanding equal treatment for Black players to Senior U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody in Philadelphia, who is overseeing the massive settlement. Former players who suffer dementia or other diagnoses can be eligible for a payout.
Under the settlement, the NFL uses a scoring algorithm on the dementia testing that assumes Black men start with lower cognitive skills. They must therefore score much lower than whites to show enough mental decline to win an award. The practice, which went unnoticed until 2018, has made it harder for Black former players to get awards.
In March, Brody threw out a civil rights lawsuit that claimed the practice is discriminatory. But she later said in a filing that the practice raised “a very important issue” and asked a magistrate judge to compile a report on the problem. She told The Associated Press she did not know when it would be completed.
NBA-76ERS-HOWARD-SUSPENSION
76ers’ Howard suspended a game for too many technical
UNDATED (AP) — Philadelphia 76ers center Dwight Howard has been suspended one game without pay by the NBA for picking up his 16th technical foul of the season.
He will serve the suspension Friday night when the 76ers play the first of two homes against the Orlando Magic. With a victory, Philadelphia clinches the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Howard’s technical came in the second quarter of a 106-94 loss at Miami on Thursday night. Howard knocked Udonis Haslem to the floor while the two were going for a rebound. Haslem followed Howard down the court and confronted him. A player or coach is automatically suspended without pay for one game once he accumulates 16 technical fouls during the regular season.
Elsewhere in the NBA:
—Brooklyn’s Big Three is set to play together for the first time in three months. Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden are all expected to play Saturday when the Nets host the Chicago Bulls. The three All-Stars have played in the same game just seven times since the Nets acquired Harden from Houston in mid-January. going 5-2. They haven’t been together since a Feb. 13 victory at Golden State. Durant then missed the next 23 games with a left hamstring injury.
NFL-PACKERS-LAFLEUR
LaFleur on Rodgers: ‘We want him back in the worst way’
UNDATED (AP) — Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur reiterated his hope that he’d get to continue working with Aaron Rodgers this season while offering no news on the quarterback’s status.
LaFleur said the Packers want Rodgers “back in the worst way. ESPN reported just before the draft that Rodgers wants out of Green Bay. Packers CEO Mark Murphy acknowledged the issue and said he, LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst have all met with Rodgers during the offseason.
NCAA-REGIONAL SITES
NCAA eyes host sites in states with anti-transgender laws
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA announced 20 potential host sites for the early rounds of its postseason baseball tournament Friday, including three states that have passed laws requiring athletes to compete in interscholastic sports according to their sex at birth.
The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee unveiled the sites for 16 NCAA regionals and eight super regionals. Those include five schools in states that have passed the laws: Arkansas, Southern Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee are also potential host sites for the NCAA’s softball tournament.
The NCAA Board of Governors issued a statement last month saying it “firmly and unequivocally supports the opportunity for transgender student-athletes to compete in college sports.” The NCAA had no additional comment on the choices for the sites on Friday.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SPORTS
12 of 30 MLB teams able to relax virus protocols
UNDATED (AP) — Five more major league teams have been able to relax coronavirus protocols after 85% of their players and other on-field personnel completed vaccination. That raises the total to 12 of the 30 clubs. Major League Baseball and its players’ union say four additional teams have reached the 85% level of final doses. They would be able to relax protocols within two weeks once they are fully vaccinated. Relaxed protocols include dropping the requirements for facemasks in dugouts and bullpens, and loosening restrictions on mobility during road trips. So far this season, there have been 54 positive tests — 30 players and 24 staff — among more than 150,00 samples tested.
In other pandemic-related sports news:
— The Cincinnati Reds will have full capacity at Great American Ball Park beginning June 2. That follows Gov. Mike DeWine’s announcement ending Ohio’s coronavirus health orders. Masks will be recommended, but no longer mandated starting on that date.
— The Pittsburgh Pirates will no longer require fans who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to wear a facemask while at PNC Park. Fans who are not yet fully vaccinated must continue to wear a facemask while at PNC Park as required by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
— British driver Max Chilton will not race in Saturday’s Indy Grand Prix because he couldn’t travel back to the United States from England. The team remains hopeful Chilton will drive in the Indianapolis 500 on May 30. Chilton started the first two races of the IndyCar season, finishing 20th at Alabama and 24th at St. Petersburg in the No. 59 Chevrolet.
— The IndyCar race in Toronto has been canceled for the second consecutive year because of the pandemic. The event was scheduled for July 9-11 but can’t take place because of restrictions in Canada. The race has been on the IndyCar schedule since 1986. Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles calls the cancellation “heartbreaking.” Miles has previously said IndyCar would likely schedule a second race at another venue already on the IndyCar calendar if Toronto had to be canceled.
— The Turkish Grand Prix scheduled for next month was called off Friday because of coronavirus travel restrictions and will be replaced by a second Formula One race in Austria. Travel restrictions in several countries where teams are based forced F1 organizers to take the June 13 race out of Istanbul. Instead, the French GP will move forward by one week to June 20 and Austria will get a second race — just like it did last year. The Styrian GP on June 27 will be followed by the Austrian GP on July 4. Both races will be at the Red Bull Ring track in Spielberg.
— Justin Haley will miss this weekend’s NASCAR races at Dover because of COVID-19 protocols. Josh Berry will make his Cup Series debut for Spire Motorsports driving for Haley in Sunday’s Cup race at Dover International Speedway. Berry has one win this season in the second-tier Xfinity Series. Zane Smith will drive the No. 11 Chevrolet at Dover in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race. Haley has six top-10 finishes in nine races this season.
— Japan on Friday further expanded a coronavirus state of emergency from six areas, including Tokyo, to nine, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga repeated his determination to hold the Olympics in just over two months. Japan has been struggling to slow infections ahead of the games. The three additions are Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, where the Olympic marathon will be held, and Hiroshima and Okayama in western Japan.
PGA-US OPEN-MICKELSON
Mickelson changes his mind, accepts exemption to US Open
UNDATED (AP) — Phil Mickelson is assured at least one more crack at the major that has given him the most heartache. The five-time major champion accepted an invitation to next month’s U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in his hometown of San Diego.
Mickelson has been eligible for every U.S. Open for nearly 30 years. But at age 50, he has fallen out of the top 100.
The U.S. Open is the only major Mickelson hasn’t won. He holds the record for finishing runner-up six times. Mickelson had said in February 2020 that he would not take a special exemption. He referred to it as a sympathy spot.
