Hometown Broadcasting Sports Tuesday 5/5/20
5 May 2020 Sports
Don Shula, the NFL’s winningest coach who led the Miami Dolphins to the league’s only undefeated season, died on Monday. He was 90.
The Dolphins issued a statement saying that Shula died “peacefully at his home.”
“Don Shula was the patriarch of the Miami Dolphins for 50 years,” the statement said. “He brought the winning edge to our franchise and put the Dolphins and the city of Miami in the national sports scene. Our deepest thoughts and prayers go out to Mary Anne along with his children Dave, Donna, Sharon, Anne and Mike.”
Shula won an NFL-record 347 games, including playoff games. He coached the Dolphins to the league’s only undefeated season (17-0) in 1972, culminating in a 14-7 victory over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.
The Dolphins repeated as champions the next season, beating the Minnesota Vikings 24-7 in Super Bowl VIII, the third straight title game Miami had played in; the Dolphins lost 24-3 to the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl VI.
In all, Shula guided the Dolphins to five Super Bowls, including losses to the Redskins (27-17 in Super Bowl XVII) and San Francisco 49ers (38-16 in Super Bowl XIX).
Before coming to Miami, Shula coached the Baltimore Colts, who made him the then-youngest NFL coach when they hired him at age 33. He led the Colts to Super Bowl III, the first title game to officially have “Super Bowl” in its name. Baltimore lost 16-7 to quarterback Joe Namath and the New York Jets, who became the first AFL team to win a Super Bowl.
By the time he resigned as Dolphins coach after the 1995 season, Shula had been an NFL head coach for 33 seasons, 26 with Miami. Only two of his Dolphins teams finished below .500 during those 26 seasons. He finished with an overall coaching record of 347-173-6 (73-26-4 with Baltimore).
Shula was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997. He, George Halas and Bill Belichick are the only coaches in NFL history to win more than 300 games.
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The NFL has called off its annual International Series games in London and Mexico City this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The league made the decision to play all games in the United States “in order for the entire season to be played in NFL teams’ stadia under consistent protocols focused on the well-being of players, personnel and fans,” the NFL said in a statement.
Commissioner Roger Goodell made the decision after talking to “our clubs, national and local governments, the NFL Players Association, medical authorities and international stadium partners.”
The NFL will release its full 17-game regular-season schedule this week. The league was set to hold four games in London and one in Mexico City this season.
The Jacksonville Jaguars were slated to play two home games in London’s Wembley Stadium. Two other NFL games were to be played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The NFL also was scheduled to play a game at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
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The University of Louisville received its notice of allegations from the NCAA on Monday, the latest school implicated in the federal basketball scandal to receive formal allegations.
The NCAA charged Louisville with a Level I violation, the harshest in its repertory. There are also three additional Level II violations tied to the case, one of which is leveled toward former coach Rick Pitino for not satisfying his “head coach responsibility when he failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance.”
The case stems from the Department of Justice investigation, which broke in September of 2017 when federal officials arrested 10 men with ties to varying levels of basketball. The basis of the Level I violation is “an improper recruiting offer” to recruit Brian Bowen “and subsequent extra benefits” to his family. The two Level II violations not tied to Pitino include impermissible benefits by staff members and the institution not monitoring a high-profile student athlete.
Louisville now has 90 days to respond to the allegations. A final decision on Louisville’s punishment likely won’t come for another calendar year, as there still needs to be a Committee on Infractions hearing and potential appeal.
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There will be baseball in 2020. ESPN and the Korea Baseball Organization reached a deal that will allow the network to broadcast six games per week from the KBO.
Those broadcasts will reportedly begin Tuesday, as the Samsung Lions will take on the NC Dinos on opening day. The contest will begin at 1 a.m. ET. ESPN will broadcast the KBO playoffs as well as its best-of-seven championship. ESPN personalities will call the games from their home studios.
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