General
Peyton Manning passes on ESPN’s ‘Monday Night Football,’ SN sources say
Michael McCarthy, Sporting News
The mating dance has ended. Peyton Manning will not join ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” booth this season, sources tell Sporting News. ESPN held out hope that Manning would fill the hole left by Jason Witten’s return to the Cowboys.
Sports betting passes Iowa House, goes to governor
David Pitt, The Associated Press
The Iowa House passed a bill Monday that legalizes for the first time in Iowa betting on sporting events and fantasy sports, sending it to the governor for consideration. It passed 67-31 on Monday night.
For Kenyan Runners, Winning Can Be a Road to Ruin
Jonathan W. Rosen, The New York Times
Ten years ago, in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam, Duncan Kibet lay spread-eagle on the pavement, attempting to process the record-setting run he had just completed and how it was about to change his life. When he toed the starting line of the 29th Rotterdam Marathon that morning, April 5, 2009, he had been earning a living as an elite athlete for nearly a decade.
NFL
Disney Makes Big Play to Stay in NFL’s TV-Football Game
Brian Steinberg, Variety
Robin Roberts is moving this week from mornings on ABC to primetime. And while the shift is temporary, the business machinations behind it are likely to continue.
Russell Wilson thanks Seahawks linemen with Amazon stock
Michael Blinn, New York Post
Russell Wilson and his Seattle Seahawks linemen are primed for a new season. Wilson, the elusive quarterback, signed a massive four-year, $140 million contract last week to make him the highest-paid player in the NFL.
Donovan McNabb clarifies Carson Wentz comments after being ripped by Eagles offensive lineman
Des Bieler, The Washington Post
Donovan McNabb turned to Twitter on Monday to clarify comments he made two days before about Carson Wentz, whose inconsistency and shaky “durability” McNabb said might prompt the Eagles to draft another quarterback over the next couple of years. Those remarks got McNabb labeled a “snake” by Philadelphia offensive tackle Lane Johnson, who went on to accuse the former Eagles quarterback of “jealousy.”
Josh Jacobs was homeless in middle school. This week he could become an NFL first-round pick.
Adam Kilgore, The Washington Post
This past Thursday afternoon, on the second floor of a high-end fashion store overlooking Fifth Avenue, Josh Jacobs wove between a rack of $425 T-shirts and a display of fashion sneakers with price tags approaching four figures. Jacobs had a couple of hours to kill, a precious commodity during his whirlwind schedule in advance of the NFL draft, where he is considered to be the best running back available, probably the only one to be taken in Thursday’s first round.
NBA
Antetokounmpo scores 41, leads Bucks to sweep of Detroit
Noah Trister, The Associated Press
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 41 points, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat Detroit 127-104 on Monday night, completing a four-game sweep of the Pistons and advancing to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2001. Milwaukee closed the third quarter with a 17-3 run, taking a 10-point lead into the fourth after the Pistons had led much of the way.
Suns fire Igor Kokoskov after 1 losing season
John Marshall, The Associated Press
One season was not enough for Igor Kokoskov to convince the Phoenix Suns that he was the man to lead the franchise into the future. The Suns fired Kokoskov Monday night, ending the tenure of the NBA’s first European-born coach after one disappointing season.
‘Dangerous’ and ‘unprofessional’: NBA world reacts to Russell Westbrook’s media approach
AJ Neuharth-Keusch, USA Today
Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Russell Westbrook has been the topic of much conversation during these NBA playoffs, and for the most part, it hasn’t been regarding his play. The issue? Westbrook’s responses — or, non-responses — to questions asked by The Oklahoman’s Berry Tramel during his postgame media availability sessions.
Trail Blazers Push the Thunder to the Brink
Scott Cacciola, The New York Times
In their first meeting at the start of training camp, it was among the very first topics of conversation. The Portland Trail Blazers were not going to ignore what had gone wrong for them in the playoffs last year, probably because ignoring it would have been impossible even if they tried. Many of them had spent the summer dwelling on it.
Nets Owner Joe Tsai Fined For Making Public Comments ‘Detrimental to the NBA’
Charlotte Carroll, Sports Illustrated
Nets owner Joe Tsai has been fined $35,000 for making public comments “detrimental to the NBA,” following a first-round playoff loss, league owner Adam Silver announced Monday. The NBA fined Tsai after he tweeted Sunday about Saturday’s heated Game 4 loss to the 76ers. Tsai’s comments “criticized the integrity of officiating,” according to the NBA.
MLB
Bryce Harper storms out of dugout after becoming the first Phillie ejected since 2015
Des Bieler, The Washington Post
Bryce Harper’s hair was immaculate as usual, but the same could hardly be said about his state of mind Monday night. The Phillies slugger stormed out of the dugout during a loss to the Mets after he was ejected for taking vehement issue with home plate umpire Mark Carlson.
MLB panel issues sealed decision in Orioles-Nats TV dispute
The Associated Press
A Major League Baseball panel has issued a new sealed decision in the long-running dispute between the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles over television rights fees. Stephen R. Neuwirth, a lawyer for the Nationals, filed a motion in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan on April 15 asking the court to confirm the arbitration decision issued by baseball’s Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee.
Help Wanted: Baseball Hitting Coach (No Baseball Experience Required)
Jared Diamond, The Wall Street Journal
There is no job with less stability in professional baseball right now than the hitting coach. Seventeen teams—more than half of the teams in the majors—have a different hitting coach than they had at the end of last season, including the Miami Marlins, who fired Mike Pagliarulo over the weekend.
NHL
NHL to purchase carbon offsets to counter playoff air travel
Rory Carroll, Reuters
The National Hockey League said on Monday it would purchase carbon credits to offset airline emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases during the Stanley Cup playoffs. For the first round of the playoffs, which has the highest number of teams traveling and is currently underway, the NHL will offset more than 465 metric tons of carbon emissions, equivalent to taking 99 cars off the road for one year.
Bruins, Leafs go to Game 7 for 3rd straight playoff matchup
Jimmy Golen, The Associated Press
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy doesn’t want to change too much heading into Game 7 of Boston’s first-round series against Toronto, explaining that his players “are a bit like dogs.” “They love routines, especially on game days,” he said after the team’s practice on Monday.
Soccer
David Beckham’s Inter Miami: What’s the latest with his MLS team?
Jeff Carlisle, ESPN
The vow almost comes too easily from Jorge Mas. He’s discussing the fact that the team he co-owns, Inter Miami CF, will be spending its first two seasons not in the Magic City but 35 miles up the coast in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This has been tried before in MLS with the now-defunct Miami Fusion, but will people make the trek from Miami-Dade County to Broward?
Racing
NASCAR world pays respects to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s late mom, Brenda Jackson
Michelle R. Martinelli, For The Win
The NASCAR world is in mourning and offered its condolences to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller after their mother, Brenda Jackson, died at the age of 65 following a battle with cancer.
Golf and Tennis
Justin Gimelstob Pleads No Contest in Battery Case
Cindy Shmerler, The New York Times
Justin Gimelstob, the tennis commentator, coach and ATP board member, pleaded no contest in a Los Angeles court on Monday to a felony battery charge for his part in a physical altercation on Halloween night last year. The judge, Upinder Kalra, then reduced the charge to a misdemeanor and sentenced Gimelstob to three years’ probation and 60 days of community labor.
College Sports
Who’s on Trial in the College Basketball Scandal? Not the Big Names
Billy Witz, The New York Times
Before Jerry Tarkanian built a college basketball powerhouse in Las Vegas, he was the coach at Long Beach State in the early 1970s and had two tormentors: John Wooden and his dynastic U.C.L.A. teams, and the N.C.A.A. What irked Tarkanian for years, though, was the way the N.C.A.A. pursued him doggedly at every stop in his career yet seemed to have little interest in digging into all the favors a notorious booster did for U.C.L.A. players in the ’60s and ’70s.
Wave of NCAA waivers ‘creates difficulties’
John Zenor, The Associated Press
Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey says it’s too early to tell for sure if the transfer portal is a net positive for college athletics. He doesn’t need more data to see that the NCAA is not denying as many waiver requests for athletes wanting to head to another school.
Former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville is running for a Senate seat in Alabama
Cindy Boren, The Washington Post
Finally, a candidate who really knows how to correctly apply sports cliches to the political arena has emerged. Tommy Tuberville, the former college football coach whose stops included Auburn, Mississippi, Texas Tech and Cincinnati, has announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the Senate seat held by Doug Jones, the Democrat who won a special election after Jeff Sessions resigned to become attorney general.
Sierra Canyon’s Cassius Stanley is the latest top recruit to commit to Duke
Shotgun Spratling, Los Angeles Times
UCLA’s struggles helped one of college basketball’s richest programs get even richer. Cassius Stanley announced his commitment to the Duke Blue Devils on Monday afternoon in a ceremony at Chatsworth Sierra Canyon High’s gymnasium.
Esports
Epic Games Caught 200+ Fortnite World Cup Prize Winners Cheating
Andrew Hayward, The Esports Observer
The Fortnite World Cup has a lot of money at stake, with $30M to be awarded at the finals and $1M awarded per week across 10 weeks of qualifiers. It also has, according to Epic Games, a lot of players circumventing the rules to try and take home a share of that enormous prize pool.
Opinions, Editorials, Perspectives and Research
The Wizards tout diversity. Here are six black candidates they could consider in GM search.
Candace Buckner, The Washington Post
The Washington Wizards are searching for their next president of basketball operations and general manager, and majority owner Ted Leonsis has touted diversity as a major selling point with this job opening. “I think people believe in our ownership group,” Leonsis said April 3 of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the company that runs the team.
Teams are right to ask for guaranteed Indy 500 spots
Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press
The Indianapolis 500 is steeped in a century of tradition with rules and regulations, pomp and pageantry that have remained largely unchanged since 1911. The fastest 33 cars compete in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” and drivers unable to make the cut watch from the sidelines.
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