Hometown Broadcasting Sports Monday 6/22/20
22 June 2020 Sports
Thunderstorms Sunday forced NASCAR to postpone the Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway that was to mark the return of more fans to the track. The race, which was pushed back to 2 p.m. CDT on Monday, is the first amid the coronavirus pandemic in which NASCAR opened the gates for up to 5,000 fans. Those in the grandstands were urged to seek shelter roughly 30 minutes before the scheduled start, leading to a two-plus hour wait. The addition of fans and the ban of Confederate flags weren’t the only changes set to be on display in the race. NASCAR implemented new rules in response to Ryan Newman’s harrowing accident when racing for the win on the final lap at Daytona in February. The changes include the elimination of aero ducts at superspeedway tracks, a reduction in size of throttle body and requiring slip tape to be applied along the entire length of the lower rearward facing surfaces of the rear bumper cover.
NASCAR has banned the Confederate flag from being displayed at its events but supporters of the symbol still managed to be seen Sunday. Vehicles lined the boulevard outside the speedway waving the flag and a plane flew above the track pulling a banner of the Confederate flag that said “Defund NASCAR.” NASCAR has not stated how exactly it plans to stop fans from displaying the flag on track property and none of the instances Sunday at Talladega were inside the facility. Denny Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing were set to run with an all-black paint scheme honoring the National Civil Rights Museum, with the museum’s logo on the hood. Sponsor FedEx won’t be displayed on the car. The flag ban is another statement for NASCAR.
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A noose was found in the garage stall of Black driver Bubba Wallace at the NASCAR race in Alabama on Sunday, less than two weeks after he successfully pushed the auto racing series to ban the Confederate flag at its tracks and facilities. NASCAR announced the discovery late Sunday and said it had launched an immediate investigation. It said it will do everything possible to find who was responsible and “eliminate them from the sport.”
“We are angry and outraged, and cannot state strongly enough how seriously we take this heinous act,” the series said in a statement. “As we have stated unequivocally, there is no place for racism in NASCAR, and this act only strengthens our resolve to make the sport open and welcoming to all.”
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Grigor Dimitrov has tested positive for COVID-19, leading to the cancellation of an exhibition event in Croatia where top-ranked Novak Djokovic was due to play in the final. Dimitrov, ranked No. 19 and a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist, is the highest-profile current player to say he has the virus. His announcement Sunday on his Instagram page comes at the end of a week when the U.S. Open said it would go forward. The professional tennis tours have been suspended since March and are planning to resume in August.
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Webb Simpson had already won the Parental Slam on the PGA Tour. He claimed the 2012 U.S. Open on Father’s Day and the 2018 Players Championship on Mother’s Day, but he still has enough emotional room for his late father to count Sunday’s shootout victory at the RBC Heritage alongside those accomplishments. Simpson closed with a final round 64 and finished at 22 under for a 262.One of four players with a share of the lead to start the final round, Simpson was just two holes into his day when a storm cell settled over Harbour Town Golf Links, forcing a 2-hour, 45-minute delay. When play resumed, Simpson slipped out of the lead when he turned at 2 under for the round and 17 under for the tournament. His final nine, however, was anything but routine. Simpson began to emerge from the pack with birdies at Nos. 12 and 13. Another at the par-5 15th hole got him to 20 under par, tied for the lead with Abraham Ancer and Tyrrell Hatton. His fourth birdie in five holes, at No. 16, moved him clear of the field. But it was Simpson’s 18-footer for birdie at the 17th hole that sealed the victory. The victory for Simpson, a father-of- five, was his seventh on Tour. Abraham Ancer finished one shot behind and Daniel Berger and Tyrrell Hatton finished in a tie for third, two shots off the pace.
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As the league and union continue to face off over an agreement to play the 2020 MLB season, 40 players and team staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus in the last week. This, according to USA Today Sports’ Bob Nightengale.
The exact split of players and staff and their identities were not disclosed, but seeing that many cases in just the last seven days should worry a league that has never had a firm answer on how it will keep its employees safe if/when it holds its season amid a pandemic.
MLB previously closed all of its spring training sites after seeing a number of players test positive, a problem compounded by rising coronavirus rates in Florida and Arizona.
An MLBPA vote on the owners’ recent proposal to play 60 games this year is still pending, though the coronavirus cases could reportedly cause a delay to the start of the season.
For now, Nightengale reports every team except the Toronto Blue Jays will likely hold their spring training in their home cities rather than Arizona and Florida.
Reports emerged Saturday that MLB is considering a revival for its plan to implement a bubble league like the NBA plans to do with Disney World. Previously, MLB and the MLBPA seemed to agree that whatever number of games were held, they would be held in team’s home stadiums without spectators.
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Green Bay Packers legend Brett Favre believes Colin Kaepernick will one day be viewed as a hero. Favre compared Kaepernick to Pat Tillman, saying both men were willing to make similar sacrifices for something they believed in.
Favre, 50, also told TMZ he believes Kaepernick can still play in the NFL. Tillman left the Arizona Cardinals in 2001 to join the military. He was killed by friendly fire in 2004. Tillman was 27.
Kaepernick took a knee to protest police brutality and racial injustice in the United States during the 2016 NFL season. He became a free agent in the offseason, and has not played in the NFL since then.
Kaepernick, 32, is still looking to continue his NFL career. After a few years away, Kaepernick may finally get that chance after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league will allow protests in 2020.
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