UFC=
Justin Gaethje stunned heavily favored Tony Ferguson at UFC 249,
earning a TKO in the fifth and final round that was deemed an
interim lightweight title bout. The win essentially gives Gaethje
the right to fight titleholder Khabib Nurmagomedov next. UFC will
hold three shows in eight days in Jacksonville, Florida, where
state officials deemed professional sports with a national audience
exempt from a stay-at-home order as long as the location is closed
to the public.
NFL=
With the league calendar charging forward on schedule despite the
coronavirus pandemic, Falcons defensive back Ricardo Allen says the
idea of going back to practice is “nerve-racking.” Despite Georgia
being one of the first states to open restaurants, salons and other
businesses, Allen said that he is maintaining social distancing and
is being more careful than the local government requires. While the
NFL has not released a date for players to return to team
facilities, it unveiled the entire league schedule, including a
preseason, on Thursday and appears intent on beginning its regular
season on Sept. 10. “It’s tough to look at the news sometimes and
see all the cases and all the trauma and the deaths that are going
on in this world, and we know that we’re not like immune to it,”
Allen said. “We know no one is immune to it.”
NHL=
After the success of the NFL’s virtual draft last month and with no
definitive end to COVID-19 pandemic in sight, the NHL is
considering mixing up its league calendar by holding the draft
before completing the 2019-20 season. After first postponing its
draft scheduled for June 26-27, the league is now considering
moving the event, in all-virtual form, to the beginning of June.
Normally a hot-bed for trades and team improvement, a draft held
with the season still pending would prevent teams from altering
their rosters other than selecting young players. Team personnel
are reportedly conflicted about the idea but are telling their
scouting staffs to be ready by early June.
SOCCER=
At least six of the 20 clubs in the English Premier League have
serious reservations about the league’s restart plan, according to
Watford chairman Scott Duxbury. The plan would involve playing the
season’s last nine games in neutral stadiums without fans, which
Duxbury said is not fair. He specifically brought up runaway
leaders Liverpool and others in position to qualify for the
Champions League as having much to gain by finishing the season in
any way possible, but his club – on the brink of relegation – would
be at a disadvantage in his eyes. The top-flight teams will meet
Monday to discuss “Project Restart.”
Spain’s players association says it was a violation of privacy for
the Spanish media to have reported the identity of a player who
tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Friday. On Saturday,
Atletico Madrid posted a message on its team website wishing the
best to defender Renan Lodi. The players association responded by
issuing a statement, saying that it was a violation of Spanish law
to have released the player’s name.
Two players from German second-tier team Dynamo Dresden have tested
positive for the coronavirus, halting the club’s plan to return to
game action next weekend. The team was scheduled to play Hannover
on May 17 after the Bundesliga’s two-month hiatus, but Dresden
players and coaches now must self-quarantine for two weeks before
the team can take the field. Both players who tested positive were
asymptomatic.
OLYMPICS=
Former U.S. Olympic bobsledder Pavle Jovanovic has died. He was 43.
USA Bobsled/Skeleton said in a release that Jovanovic took his own
life May 3. Jovanovic won a bronze medal at the 2004 world
championships and finished seventh in both the two- and four-man
events at the 2006 Winter Olympics after also pushing for the late
Steven Holcomb.
CORONAVIRUS IN SPORTS=
The University of Wisconsin has asked each of its 25 highest-paid
employees in athletics to take a 15-percent pay cut, including
athletic director Barry Alvarez, football coach Paul Chryst and
men’s basketball coach Greg Gard. The athletic department announced
that the six-month pay reductions are part of its “compensation and
work reduction plan” that is scheduled to begin on May 18.
NASCAR=
Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin was victorious in NASCAR’s final
iRace of the season, winning at a simulated version of throwback
North Wilkesboro Speedway. Hamlin won the series’ first iRacing
event on March 22 and reached prominence again when his daughter
asked him questions and accidentally turned of his screen during
another virtual race. NASCAR is expected to return to the pavement
on May 17 at Darlington Raceway.
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