Top Stories

  • HBO announced it will feature four teams — Florida, Penn State, Arizona State and Washington State — on its “24/7 College Football” documentary series that is airing on Oct. 1. The Florida Gators are the first team that the network will focus on in its “Hard Knocks”-style, behind-the-scenes look at college football. (USA Today)
  • The Los Angeles Dodgers finalized the private sale of an undisclosed minority stake in the franchise to an unnamed buyer, according to a person familiar with the matter. The sale completes a process that began in 2017 for the Dodgers, the second most valuable MLB club at $3.3 billion, according to Forbes. (Bloomberg)
  • The NBA’s board of governors approved Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. co-founder Joe Tsai’s purchase of Barclays Center and the remaining stake in the Brooklyn Nets from Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov. After the completion of the deal, which was worth a reported $3.5 billion, the Taiwanese-Canadian e-commerce mogul announced that he was hiring David Levy, former Turner Sports president, to oversee the team and the arena. (ESPN)

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General

Ref who told wrestler to cut dreadlocks barred for 2 seasons
David Porter, The Associated Press

A referee who told a New Jersey high school wrestler to cut his dreadlocks or forfeit a match last year has been suspended for two seasons. The state Division on Civil Rights and state’s athletic association announced the sanction Wednesday.

The Rugby World Cup’s Must-Have Accessory: a Kiwi Coach
Joshua Robinson, The Wall Street Journal

If the past two decades of rugby have taught us anything, it’s that the World Cup is essentially a six-week exercise in figuring out whether anyone can knock off New Zealand. The answer is usually no.

How Michael Vick’s dogfighting case changed animal welfare
Emily Giambalvo, The Washington Post

Not long before lunchtime, Mya’s wagging tail splashes as she waits for the tank to drain. The bowlegged black pit bull just finished a three-minute hydrotherapy session, guided by treats offered from a staffer reaching down into the apparatus.

NFL

The Dolphins Are Tanking. There’s No Proof It Will Work.
Andrew Beaton, The Wall Street Journal

The Miami Dolphins season began disastrously with a 49-point loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The next week, they marginally improved.

The key difference between Melvin Gordon’s current holdout and Le’Veon Bell’s last year
Ross Tucker, The Athletic

Not all holdouts are the same. That’s an important distinction to keep in mind when assessing Chargers running back Melvin Gordon’s decision to reportedly sit out the first 6-8 games this season before reporting to the team for the second half of the season.

Drew Brees is out, but Sean Payton isn’t saying who will replace him as Saints’ starter
Matt Bonesteel, The Washington Post

On Wednesday, New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton made official what had been speculated since Drew Brees left Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams in the middle of the first quarter: The veteran quarterback would undergo surgery to repair a torn thumb ligament on his throwing hand Wednesday in Los Angeles. The Saints will not put Brees on injured reserve, however, opening up the possibility that he could return sometime this season.

NBA

Biofreeze secures naming rights to Golden State Warriors’ practice facility
SportBusiness

The Golden State Warriors have expanded their partnership with pain relief brand Biofreeze, which has secured the naming rights to the National Basketball Association team’s new practice facility. The 25,349 square-feet Biofreeze Performance Center is located at Chase Center, the Warriors’ new 18,064-seat privately-financed sports and entertainment arena in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood.

Wizards’ Isaiah Thomas has surgery on thumb, expected to miss 6-8 weeks
Glenn Yoder, The Washington Post

Newly signed Washington Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas had surgery Wednesday to repair a rupture of the radial collateral ligament of his left thumb, the team announced. His recovery is expected to take six to eight weeks, which would cause him to miss training camp and likely part of the regular season.

NBA G League to introduce new, $100K prize tournament
Michael Walton, NBC Sports

The NBA G League is introducing a new tournament format for their premier showcase games, starting in the 2019-20 season. The 2019 NBA G League Winter Showcase will take place December 19-22 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center and it will feature all 28 teams in the league, with the winning squad taking home a $100,000 prize.

In diverse Toronto, the Raptors’ sports hijab is hailed as a win for inclusivity
Curtis Rush, The Washington Post

As Paul Jones browsed through the Toronto Raptors’ apparel shop at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday afternoon, the team’s radio and TV broadcaster spotted a rack of hijabs bearing the Raptors’ claw logo along with the Nike swoosh. The head coverings, worn in public by some Muslim women, have not always been accepted by major sports organizations.

MLB

Police: Pirates’ Vázquez attempted to have sex with minor
Will Graves, The Associated Press

Pittsburgh Pirates closer Felipe Vázquez was being held Wednesday in a Pennsylvania jail on multiple felony charges after allegedly telling investigators he attempted to have sex with an underage girl during a meeting at her house in 2017. Vázquez is charged with statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors, all felonies, and a misdemeanor count of indecent assault of a person under 16 years old.

NHL

Lightning still the team to beat in NHL’s Eastern Conference
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press

Getting swept in the first round wasn’t enough to knock the Tampa Bay Lightning off the mountaintop. After finishing 21 points ahead of everyone else during the 2018-19 regular season, the Lightning are again Stanley Cup favorites and the team to beat in an ever-improving Eastern Conference.

Soccer

Could MLS, Liga MX actually merge in the future? MLB might provide the blueprint
Tom Marshall, ESPN

Enrique Bonilla isn’t known for being brash. The Liga MX president is more comfortable in the day-to-day decision-making of running Mexico’s first division than he is in front of the media.

The first American coach to win a Champions League match: Inside Jesse Marsch’s historic European night
Paul Tenorio, The Athletic

It is 1:16 a.m. on Wednesday morning and Jesse Marsch’s black Audi Q8 idles at a stoplight in the Salzburg city center. The company car has a white-stenciled Red Bull logo plastered across each side.

In Rewritten Recipe, P.S.G. Grinds and Real Madrid Crumbles
Rory Smith, The New York Times

Idrissa Gueye was at the end of the line, anxiously hovering on the fringes of a little clutch of Paris St.-Germain players. Their coach, Thomas Tuchel, was walking slowly toward them, in no great rush, making sure first to shake the hand of each member of what — in a contractual, if not spiritual sense — is apparently a Real Madrid team, to offer a few consoling words to P.S.G.’s vanquished opponents.

FIFA boss hopeful Iran will lift ban on women soccer fans
The Associated Press

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has raised hopes that Iran will lift a ban on women entering soccer stadiums before a World Cup qualifying game next month. Attention on the ban intensified when a 29-year-old activist, Sahar Khodayari, died this month after setting herself on fire outside a courthouse.

Racing

Dolphins owner wants to bring Formula One racing to Miami Gardens. Residents aren’t sold
Jack Brook, The Miami Herald

A plan to bring Formula One racing to Miami Gardens is facing opposition from some residents who are worried about noise in their neighborhood. Their concerns got an airing on Tuesday night at a community forum hosted by County Commissioner Barbara Jordan at Miami Norland Senior High School.

For Max Verstappen and Red Bull, the Future is Now
Luke Smith, The New York Times

Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing, the youngest driver to ever start a Formula One race, had been considered a future star since early in his career. But it was not until this year that he started to live up to that billing, establishing himself at the front of the grid.

Golf and Tennis

European Tour introduces red lights for slow play (and an open-book rules test)
John Huggan, Golf Digest

One month after announcing a four-point plan—regulation, education, innovation and (reduction of) field sizes—to counter the cancer that is slow play in professional golf, the European Tour is proving as good as its word. At this week’s BMW PGA Championship, two of those four building blocks will be in play.

The Laver Cup Paints It Black
John Clarke, The New York Times

One September morning in 2017, Roger Federer walked onto center court at O2 Arena in Prague. He crouched down, touched the court surface and smiled.

College Sports

Pitino settles with Louisville, ready for ‘new chapter’
The Associated Press

A fiercely competitive coach on the court, Rick Pitino didn’t want to fight in one anymore. So the University of Louisville Athletic Association and Pitino settled lawsuits stemming from his departure from the school, with the former men’s basketball coach’s personnel file changing his termination to a resignation.

A ‘College GameDay’ sign asked for beer money. It sparked a children’s hospital fundraiser.
Michael Brice-Saddler, The Washington Post

The crudely drawn sign was supposed to be a joke. Carson King took Sharpie to poster board Friday night and sketched out a simple plea: “Busch Light Supply Needs Replenished.”

Football Players? Or Lab Rats Who Can Run and Pass?
Zach Schonbrun, The New York Times

The new training room in the $28 million football operations building at Louisiana State features jetted tubs, antigravity treadmills and sodium-infused water coolers. A room nearby holds another piece of equipment tucked out of sight: a centrifuge.

Esports

High School Esports Company PlayVS Raises $50 Million in Series C
Matt Perez, Forbes

PlayVS, which develops software used to operate high school esports competitions, announced today that it had completed a $50 million Series C funding round. The round was led by New Enterprise Associates, which also headed up the company’s $15 million Series A in summer 2018.

Opinions, Editorials, Perspectives and Research

Time for an upgrade: Why the NBA needs to pay for WNBA teams to fly private
David Aldridge, The Athletic

This time, the Las Vegas Aces were on time. Because the WNBA’s new Commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, apparently has a dollop or two of common sense, she green-lighted private flights for both the Aces, who were flying from Vegas to Washington to play the Mystics, and the Los Angeles Sparks, who were flying from L.A. to Connecticut to play the Sun in the league’s other semifinal series, on Monday.

College football is better with Les Miles coaching. He could be … running for president?
John Feinstein, The Washington Post

Les Miles had found plenty to do in his 26 months away from coaching. He did some acting, appearing in three movies, including one in which he plays a character who bullies a football coach. He appeared in commercials for Dos Equis and Dr Pepper. He even gave some thought to running for political office.

Morning Consult