Hometown Broadcasting Sports Monday 6/8/20
8 June 2020 Sports
Green Bay Director of Athletics Charles Guthrie has named Will Ryan the eighth head men’s basketball coach in Phoenix program history. Ryan and the University have reached an agreement in principle, with the details of the final contract still being worked out.
Ryan, who is the oldest son of well-known College Basketball Hall of Famer and former University of Wisconsin Head Coach Bo Ryan, arrives in Titletown after one highly successful season at Wheeling University in West Virginia. In just his first season as the leader of the Cardinals, he took a team picked last in their conference to a fifth-place finish, all after taking over the program in July and with only five players on the current roster at that time.
Ryan, a Platteville-native who won two national championships as a player for the Pioneers while his father was head coach, has over 15 combined years as a Division I assistant. Prior to his year at Wheeling, Ryan was the head assistant coach at Ohio University and an assistant coach at North Dakota State University. While with the Bobcats, Ryan helped coach 14 All-Conference players and a pair of second-place finishes. His tenure with the Bison was even better, where he helped lead NDSU to two NCAA Tournaments and a memorable upset win over No. 5 seed Oklahoma in the 2014 NCAA Tournament.
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The NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, has responded to players who asked the league to take accountability for not listening to players earlier about racism concerns.
On Thursday, multiple star-studded athletes from the league took to Twitter with a video demanding the NFL respond to the social injustices going on and state “Black Lives Matter”.
On Friday, Goodell did just that.
We, the NFL, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of Black People. We, the NFL, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest. We, the NFL, believe Black Lives Matter. #InspireChange pic.twitter.com/ENWQP8A0sv
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Packers head coach Matt LaFleur met with the media via Zoom on Friday and, as was the case in talking with his team over the last 2 weeks, the discussion revolved around anything but football.
“There are a lot of guys who are hurting right now, and they have been hurting for years,: LaFleur said. “Unfortunately, we as a society have not been listening. When I saw that video (of George Floyd’s murder) it was appalling, man. It was totally unacceptable. Here we are in 2020 and this stuff is still ongoing. I am really trying to listen to our players and listen to my closest friends who have dealt with this stuff during their life and trying to come up with ways to not only talk about it, but to be about it and create those changes that are needed in society.”
Three years ago NFL players’ protests during the anthem were not received well by a large segment of society, but LaFleur is making one thing clear about any statement his players choose to make this fall.
“We are going to support our players,” LaFleur said. “We are going to support them in what they want to do, provided it’s peaceful, and that’s what we will always do. I just think as a society now, and I know I am speaking for myself, but certainly I am much more aware of some of the issues that exist in this world. You look at what happened a few years ago and it’s unfortunate how we handled some of that. We have got to move forward and we have got to do things the right way and move forward.”
Some football notes, LaFleur took full advantage Friday of his first opportunity to be back in the building at Lambeau Field for the first time since the start of the pandemic a few months ago and LaFleur announcing he has not plan to bring his players back for any form of offseason work before the start of training camp.
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Longtime Iowa strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle has been placed on administrative leave, pending an independent review, coach Kirk Ferentz announced in a video posted Saturday, while calling this “a defining moment for the Iowa Hawkeye Football program.”
The decision comes after several former Iowa football players spoke out about negative experiences they, and other black players, had while at Iowa and under Doyle’s supervision.
Some of the social media posts from former players included offensive lineman James Daniels, now with the Chicago Bears, who tweeted Friday night, “There are too many racial disparities in the Iowa football program. Black players have been treated unfairly for far too long.”
Former Iowa defensive back Emmanuel Rugamba, who transferred to Miami (Ohio), alleged two instances involving Doyle in which he mocked black athletes and, as a result, “made you walk around the football facility on eggshells … and caused anxiety that could be unbearable at times with your dreams and career on the line.”
In his statement, Ferentz announced the creation of an advisory committee within the Iowa football program. A former player will chair the committee, which will comprise current and former players as well as department staff.
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It appears as though Conor McGregor has had enough. Moments after the conclusion of UFC 250 early Sunday, McGregor tweeted that he was walking away from MMA.
“The game just does not excite me, and that’s that,” McGregor said. “All this waiting around. There’s nothing happening. I’m going through opponent options, and there’s nothing really there at the minute. There’s nothing that’s exciting me.
McGregor, 31, said he had written a draft of his retirement tweet two weeks ago and was “just tired” of the sport.
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