Hometown Broadcasting Sports Wednesday 5/20/20
20 May 2020 Sports
NFL owners approved new measures Tuesday aimed at improving diversity in coach and front-office hiring, but they stopped short of approving a resolution that would have rewarded minority hiring with draft-pick compensation.
NFL Network reported last week that the owners were considering a proposal that would have improved teams’ third-round draft picks by six or 10 spots if they hired a minority candidate for vacant GM or head-coaching openings, as well as other compensation for hiring minority candidates for such positions as quarterbacks coach. But on Tuesday’s conference call — which took the place of the league’s annual in-person May owners meeting — the resolutions involving draft-pick compensation were tabled, meaning no vote was taken and the proposals could be considered at a later date.
NFL rules stipulate that 24 of 32 teams must vote to approve a resolution for it to go into effect. The tabling of the draft-pick resolution indicates that it did not have enough support to pass at this time.
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The league announced on Tuesday that NFL teams are no longer able to block assistant coaches from interviewing for coordinator jobs with other teams. This rule applies to each team’s three coordinator spots (offensive, defensive and special teams) and a true assistant general manager position in a front office.
In the past, any team seeking to hire another club’s coach for a coordinator or AGM position could have its interview request denied. That stipulation of the NFL’s Anti-Tampering Policy is now gone.
The rule applies to high-level coaching and front-office positions. So as long as there is no dispute that the new team is offering a “bona fide” position (which is subject to review and approval by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell), there are no obstacles for a coach or scout to pursue career growth with another franchise.
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The New York Racing Association announced on Tuesday that the Belmont Stakes will take place on June 20, replacing the Kentucky Derby as the first leg of the Triple Crown for the first time in the sport’s history.
The June 20th run date is two weeks after its initially scheduled June 6 running. The race will be run without fans in attendance. The race will also be held at a shorter distance at 1 1/8 miles. The Belmont has run at 1 1/2 miles since 1926 and is known as the most grueling of the Triple Crown races for its distance. The Kentucky Derby runs at 1 1/4 miles and the Preakness at 1 3/16 miles.
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NFL players could end up wearing new facemasks this fall with some form of either surgical or N95 material built in due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thom Mayer, the NFL Players Association medical director, recommended that players wear modified facemasks in the upcoming season to help protect themselves, and said that league engineers are currently testing prototypes with Oakley, Inc.
It’s not clear what those new facemasks would look like, or if they would be used at all. The NFL, like nearly every other sports league in the country, is working to figure out how to best hold the season amid the global pandemic. It has said that it plans to start the season on time in September, though will likely have to do so without fans in attendance — at least initially. Plenty of other precautions are sure to be implemented, too.
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Chris Gayle, crew chief for Erik Jones, will be suspended for the next Cup race because Jones’ car was found to have two lug nuts not safe and secure after Sunday’s race at Darlington Raceway.
The next scheduled Cup race is Wednesday night (tonight), also at Darlington. Gayle also has been fined $20,000.
Seth Chavka will serve as the crew chief for Gayle. Chavka is an engineer with the team.
NASCAR also announced that it fined five Cup crew chiefs $10,000 each for their cars having one lug nut not safe and secure after the race. Those crew chiefs are Rodney Childers (for driver Kevin Harvick), Chris Gabehart (Denny Hamlin), Paul Wolfe (Joey Logano), Chad Johnston (Matt Kenseth) and Jason Ratcliff (Christopher Bell).
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The NHL is looking at “probably eight or nine different places” that can accommodate “a dozen or so teams in one location” as it explores options for resuming the season, Commissioner Gary Bettman said Monday.
The Commissioner said the NHL would need to resolve border and quarantine issues to reconvene the players, 17 percent of whom are outside North America, the rest of whom are spread around the continent.
If the NHL uses centralized locations, it probably would need the ability to play multiple games per day without fans. NHL arenas are best suited for that because of their back-of-the-house facilities, such as multiple locker rooms that can be sanitized as teams move in and out.
The League also would need the hotel space to house teams and the capacity to test personnel for COVID-19 without doing so at the expense of the medical community.
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