BASEBALL
NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball players moved toward teams but remained far apart economically in their latest proposal for starting the pandemic-delayed season, adamant they receive full prorated salaries while offering to cut the regular season to 89 games.
The proposal by the players’ association, given to Major League Baseball electronically without a negotiating session, was detailed to The Associated Press by a pair of people familiar with the negotiations. They spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcements were authorized.
MLB did not appear to view the proposal as productive but made no comment. MLB has said that absent an agreement it could go ahead with a shorter schedule of perhaps 50 games.
Players made their move one day after management cut its proposed schedule from 82 games to 76. The union proposed the regular season start July 10 and end Oct. 11 — the day before a possible Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
The union accepted MLB’s plan to expand the postseason from 10 teams to as many as 16. However, if management announces a schedule without an agreement, it would not be able to alter the established postseason format.
PRO FOOTBALL
ATLANTA (AP) — Running back Todd Gurley has passed his physical, clearing the final hurdle for his return to Georgia with the Atlanta Falcons.
The Falcons said Gurley passed his physical on Monday in Atlanta.
Gurley’s $6 million, one-year deal with Atlanta was made official on April 6. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NFL didn’t allow players to report to their new teams immediately for physicals.
Gurley’s physical was notable because he has a history of knee problems, including an injury while a standout for the Georgia Bulldogs. A persistent left knee injury limited his effectiveness late in 2018 with the Los Angeles Rams. He played in 15 games last season.
AUTO RACING
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — One of the few sports to run in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, NASCAR is now the largest to allow fans to return as more states relax their business shutdowns.
NASCAR decided a limited number of fans can attend races this month at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. NASCAR says all fans will be screened before entering, required to wear face coverings, mandated to social distance at six feet, and will not have access to the infield, among other revised operational protocols.
NASCAR will allow up to 1,000 Florida service members, representing the Homestead Air Reserve Base and U.S. Southern Command in Doral, to attend the Cup Series race Sunday as honorary guests and view the race from the grandstands.
Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama will allow up to 5,000 guests in the frontstretch grandstands/towers for the June 21 Cup race. There will be limited motorhome/camping spots available outside the track.
NASCAR has returned to racing, but had not allowed fans inside the tracks in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The administration of North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has ordered the closure of a small stock-car track that’s allowed large crowds to gather repeatedly for weekend races, declaring it an “imminent hazard” for the spread of COVID-19.
The order signed by Cooper’s health secretary says Ace Speedway in Alamance County, 65 miles northwest of Raleigh, is violating the governor’s executive order limiting outside mass assemblies to 25 people.
Media outlets have reported crowds at the speedway exceeding 2,000 people, including a gathering last Saturday even after the Democratic governor’s office wrote a letter stating the speedway’s actions were in “open defiance” of the health restrictions. Media reports indicated many attendees at three weekend races since late May sat and stood near each other, and few wore masks.
The action came after Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson announced on Monday he wouldn’t issue a misdemeanor citation to the speedway. He questioned the legality of Cooper’s restrictions and said local tracks elsewhere weren’t being punished for opening. Cooper had said he would act if Alamance County officials wouldn’t.
BOXING
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Shakur Stevenson stopped Felix Caraballo with a body-punch knockdown in the sixth round in the first major boxing event held in North America since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Stevenson (14-0, 8 KOs), the WBO featherweight champion, trained and lived in isolation in the days leading up to the fight. He still put on an impressive show in his non-title bout against the Puerto Rican veteran, capping the sport’s return to the world’s fight capital in a fan-free room at the MGM Grand casino complex’s conference center.
Mikaela Mayer was scheduled for a showcase in the co-main event, but the U.S. Olympian was pulled from her scheduled fight with Helen Joseph on Sunday when she tested positive for COVID-19.
Mayer is asymptomatic, but she remained in quarantine — and her positive test forced Stevenson to fight without coach Kay Koroma, who works with both fighters due to their shared Olympic background. Koroma’s COVID-19 tests are negative, but he stayed away in accordance with the health protocols set up for the return of combat sports in Nevada.
Heavyweight Jared Anderso, 20, easily improved to 4-0 with a stoppage of Johnny Langston in the penultimate bout. Also, Robeisy Ramírez (3-1, 3 KOs) dropped Dominican opponent Yeuri Andujar twice in the first 48 seconds; and Italian heavyweight Guido Vianello (7-0, 7 KOs) stopped Donald Haynesworth with 44 seconds left in the first round after a one-punch knockdown.
OLYMPICS
DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee is creating an athlete group that will look into loosening restrictions on protests at the games.
CEO Sarah Hirshland tweeted the plans for a new group, which is being formed in response to George Floyd’s death last month and the worldwide protests that followed.
The USOPC put out a statement last week signaling its solidarity with black athletes, but received blowback from several athletes, most notably hammer thrower Gwen Berry, who is serving a 12-month probation for raising her fist on the medals stand at the Pan-Am Games last summer.
The USOPC has consistently cited the IOC’s Rule 50, which bans inside-the-lines protests at the Olympics, as a reason for its own position barring such protests. The IOC reiterated its support of the rule earlier this year and has not given any indication about changing it.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Tech is installing artificial turf on Grant Field at Bobby Dodd Stadium for the 2020 season.
The change from natural grass will make the facility available for more uses, including concerts. School officials also say artificial turf will be less expensive to maintain.
Georgia Tech previously had artificial turf from 1971 through 1994. The school announced the installation of the new playing surface is expected to be completed in late July.
Georgia Tech has an indoor practice facility which includes artificial turf. Even so, coach Geoff Collins said the ability to practice and play on artificial turf in the stadium “will be a huge advantage” for the team.
TENNIS
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Top-ranked Novak Djokovic is thinking of skipping the U.S. Open -- if it is played -- and instead returning to competition on clay ahead of the rescheduled French Open.
Speaking to Serbia’s state broadcaster RTS, Djokovic said the restrictions that would be in place for the Grand Slam tournament in New York because of the coronavirus pandemic would be “extreme” and not “sustainable.”
Like many sports, tennis went on hiatus in March because of the COVID-19 outbreak. All sanctioned tournaments have been scrapped until at least late July.
That includes the French Open, which was supposed to end last weekend but was postponed until September, and Wimbledon, which was canceled for the first time since 1945.
The U.S. Tennis Association is expected to make a decision as soon as next week about whether to hold the U.S. Open. Main-draw play is scheduled to begin Aug. 31.
