Update on the latest sports
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — South Carolina coach Frank Martin will chair a new committee formed by the National Association of Basketball Coaches to address issues of race and discrimination not only within intercollegiate athletics but society at large.The NABC’s board of directors announced the new committee Thursday, saying in a statement that “coaches can and should lend their voices to making a difference on the national, regional and local levels.” But the college coaching association also wants to ensure that the concerns of student-athletes also are being addressed.The board also released a set of recommendations for coaches, including holding in-person or virtual meetings to discuss current events and racial injustice; stressing a team’s commitment to diversity and inclusion; establish Election Day as an annual team day off; and encourage meetings with law enforcement leaders and others outside the department.COLLEGE FOOTBALL-FLORIDA STATE-NORVELLCoach apologizes for misstatement Associated Press Update on the latest sports UNDATED (AP) — The NCAA has set a new schedule for early entrants to the NBA draft to withdraw and return to school.Players will now have until 10 days after the NBA scouting combine or Aug. 3, whichever comes earlier.The original June 3 deadline was set to come 10 days after the completion of the combine, but the NBA postponed the combine amid the coronavirus pandemic and has yet to announce a new date.VIRUS OUTBREAK-NHLNHL OK’s opening of team facilities, finalizes playoff format as Pens player tests positive The NCAA announced five weeks ago that it would move forward with a plan to allow athletes to earn money for endorsements, personal appearances and social media content, among other things.Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith has said there will be no caps on how much an athlete can earn. Smith led the Knight Commission that produced the recommendations approved by the Board of Governors.Still, the issue of a possible antitrust exemption for the NCAA has been raised because some states suspect the NCAA will use “guardrails” to put limits on athletes and their ability to maximize their earning potential in a free market.NABC-RACIAL RECONCILIATION COMMITTEESouth Carolina’s Martin to chair hoops committee on race The All-Star race is now slated for July 15, two months after it was scheduled to be run before being postponed by the coronavirus pandemic.NASCAR will keep its scheduled twin-bill weekend later this month at Pocono Raceway. Kansas Speedway will host the Cup Series for a Thursday night race July 23.NASCAR-VIRUS OUTBREAK-INDIANAPOLISIndianapolis Motor Speedway slams door on fans at BrickyardINDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis Motor Speedway will hold the July 4 IndyCar-NASCAR doubleheader without fans. UNDATED (AP) — The National Hockey League is allowing team facilities to reopen and players to take part in voluntary on- and off-ice workouts beginning Monday.Players can skate or work out in groups of up to six at a time. Unlike training camps scheduled to begin sometime in July, these workouts are not mandatory for players.The league also has nailed down the final details of a playoff format if the season can resume.Every playoff series will be a best of seven after the qualifying round and teams will be re-seeded along the way instead of bracketing.The announcement came on the heels of the Pittsburgh Penguins revealing one of their players tested positive for the coronavirus. The team said the unidentified player was not in Pittsburgh, was isolated after experiencing symptoms and has recovered. The NHL has not yet announced the start of voluntary workouts or a firm timeline for training camps and the resumption of games.Each conference will play its postseason games in a separate hub city to be announced. The top four teams in each conference will compete in a round-robin to determine seeding, while the next eight teams in each conference will battle for a spot in the opening round. The seven other teams have received spots in the draft lottery.MLB-SEASON NEGOTIATIONSPlayers holding firm on stance for prorated payNEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball is no closer to framing an agreement to starting the season. — Premier League club Tottenham is borrowing $220 million by using the Bank of England’s emergency pandemic loan scheme to cope with the absence of spectators from its stadium and the cancellation of two NFL games it was to stage this year. The north London club revealed the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic as the Premier League advanced plans for the competition to end its 100-day shutdown in two weeks.— Premier League clubs have agreed to allow five substitutions per match but allowing for only three pauses to bring on substitutes. They will adopt the temporary change when the league resumes on June 17 amid the pandemic. Premier League clubs have also agreed to temporarily increase the number of substitute players from seven to nine.— All referees in Italy’s top soccer league have tested negative for the coronavirus. The Serie A referees and some from the second division were tested at the Italian federation’s training headquarters on the outskirts of Florence. They will remain there until June 10 to have further tests and continue training and preparing for the resumption of Serie A on June 20.— The International Olympic Committee is in talks with insurers over compensation for the postponed 2020 Tokyo Games. The IOC pays for insurance against the cancellation of an Olympics, but it is unclear if its policy covers a one-year postponement. The IOC said last month it set aside $650 million to cover potential extra costs for the postponement. Costs for organizers in Japan are expected to run to billions of dollars.— Rafael Nadal says if he had to decide right now he wouldn’t play in the U.S. Open, but he wants to wait and see what happens with the coronavirus pandemic. The 19-time Grand Slam champion thinks it’s important that there be two requirements for tennis to return: assuring everyone’s health and making sure players from all countries can travel. All sanctioned tennis has been on hold since March. Track officials had been optimistic it could be the first major sporting venue to have fans back in the stands this summer. Instead, the stands will be empty much like the rest of the tracks since major racing resumed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic last month.IMS officials made the decision after consulting with local and state officials.SPORTS-VIRUS OUTBREAKMLS: training can resume; 7 Arkansas St athletes positive; Tottenham borrows $220MUNDATED (AP) — A day after announcing a deal with its players’ association to resume the season with a tournament in Florida, Major League Soccer says teams may resume training. The league Board of Governors has approved a 22-team format for restarting the season in late July at the Disney campus near Orlando, Florida. The format calls for each team playing eight games to determine playoff seeding plus the possible utilization of a play-in tournament for the final spot in each conference postseason field.The 22-team plan includes all teams that were holding playoff spots when the season was stopped, plus all other clubs within six games of a postseason berth. That means 13 teams from the Western Conference and nine from the East.The players association has a call on Friday to approve the plan as well, the final step as the league attempts a reboot.COLLEGE BASKETBALL-NBA DRAFTNCAA sets deadline for withdrawal from NBA draft UNDATED (AP) — Florida State football coach Mike Norvell has apologized after a star player accused him of lying about personally connecting with each player to discuss the police killing of George Floyd and ensuing protests against racial injustice.Defensive tackle Marvin Wilson said last night on Twitter that he and his teammates were “outraged” by Norvell’s characterization of the contact the white, first-year coach had with the players. Wilson, who is black, went back to social media on Thursday to say the matter was settled.TRACK-BERRY’S PROTESTBerry ‘disappointed’ with USOPC in aftermath of Floyd deathUNDATED (AP) — Olympic hammer thrower Gwen Berry wants an apology from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee for shaming her last summer. MLS says each player and staff member must complete two tests for the coronavirus 24 hours apart, 72 hours ahead of the start of training.Every player also must have a test for antibodies and a physical. Testing for antibodies will take place every three months.Testing providers must be authorized by the FDA or Health Canada.In other sports developments related to the coronavirus outbreak:— Seven Arkansas State athletes have tested positive for COVID-19 and are self-isolating for 14 days. Chancellor Kelly Damphousse said the seven athletes are from three sports, and all were asymptomatic so far. Damphousse said contact tracing has begun, and anyone who has been exposed to any of the seven athletes will be required to quarantine for 14 days. Players have reaffirmed their stance for full prorated pay, leaving a huge gap with teams that could scuttle plans to start the coronavirus-delayed season around the Fourth of July and may leave owners focusing on a schedule as short as 50 games.More than 100 players, including the union’s executive board, held a two-hour digital meeting with officials of the Major League Baseball Players Association on Thursday, a day after the union’s offer was rejected by Major League Baseball.Management on Sunday pitched an 82-game schedule that included a sliding scale for prorated salaries, with the richer players receiving a reduced share. The union countered on Tuesday with a 114-game schedule with prorated salaries and no adjusted scale.VIRUS OUTBREAK-NFLNFL coaches allowed to return to team facilities on Friday BREES-SOCIAL MEDIABrees says he ‘completely missed the mark’ in flag commentsNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Drew Brees is apologizing for comments that he now says were “insensitive and completely missed the mark” when he reiterated his opposition to Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling during the national anthem in 2016Those remarks, in an interview with Yahoo, drew sharp criticism from fellow high-profile athletes and others in the wake of George Floyd’s death.Los Angeles Lakers great LeBron James, New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins and former NFL player Martellus Bennett were just some of the high-profile athletes to criticize Brees on their Twitter feeds. James says he couldn’t believe Brees was still confused about what Kaepernick was trying to do. The Lakers’ star says kneeling was not about showing disrespect to the flag or the military but instead about police brutality.In an Instagram post Thursday, Brees said he was apologizing to his friends, teammates, New Orleans, the black community, the NFL community and “anyone I hurt with my comments.” He says his words “lacked awareness and any type of compassion or empathy” and had become “divisive and hurtful.”NCAA-COMPENSATING ATHLETES-CONGRASSUNDATED (AP) — Federal legislation setting guidelines for college athletes to pursue money-making opportunities could be proposed within a month.Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez plans to introduce the bill and says there will be no blanket antitrust exemption for the NCAA. The Republican congressman says it’s imperative for Congress to act in time to render moot the array of state laws that are being considered or already have passed and are slated to go into effect as soon as next year. Division I schools are not supposed to have fewer than six sports for male athletes. CMU announced last month it was dropping men’s track and field, citing university-wide budget cuts. That leaves the school with five men’s teams: baseball, basketball, cross country, football and wrestling.Central Michigan requested the waiver after losing revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic.,Tampa Bay Lightning advance to face Dallas Stars in Stanley Cup finals, beating New York Islanders 2-1 in OT in Game 6 UNDATED (AP) — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has told the 32 clubs in a memo obtained by The Associated Press that coaching staffs may work from team complexes starting Friday.Previously, only up to 75 people per day could be at the facilities, with coaches and players not seeking treatment for injuries barred. The maximum number of club employees in each facility will be increased to 100, subject to governmental regulations and implementation of health protocols developed by the NFL’s medical staff.NASCAR-SCHEDULE CHANGESNASCAR makes final alterations to scheduleCHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR is set to run its All-Star race on a Wednesday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway and added one more weeknight Cup Series race as part of its latest revised schedule through July. June 4, 2020 She captured headlines when she used her turn on the gold-medal podium at the Pan-Am Games to raise her fist as a show of her frustration with America’s treatment of blacks. The USOPC put Berry on a 12-month probation for her gesture.It’s a gesture that has taken on new meaning in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death and the protests that have followed. Berry found it galling the USOPC recently issued a statement saying the organization “stands with those who demand equality.”COLLEGE SPORTS-CENTRAL MICHIGAN-NCAA WAIVERCentral Michigan gets NCAA waiver to reduce men’s athletic programsUNDATED (AP) — Central Michigan says it has received a two-year waiver from the NCAA regarding the minimum Division I sports sponsorship requirements. Share This StoryFacebookTwitteremailPrintLinkedinRedditVIRUS OUTBREAK-NBAAP source: NBA owners approve 22-team season restart planUNDATED (AP) — The NBA continues to take positive steps toward resuming a season that was suspended in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
After two losses last weekend at No. 1 BYU, the USC Trojans men’s volleyball team is heading on another weekend road trip featuring consecutive matches against Mountain Pacific Sports Federation members UC Irvine and UC San Diego.The pair of tight road losses against BYU — in four and five sets respectively — has shown the No. 5 Trojans (3-2, 2-2) a clear picture of their deficiencies as well as their strengths.Spiked · Senior middle blocker Steven Shandrick goes up for a block in a home contest. The Trojans are looking to stop a two-match skid. – Carlo Acenas | Daily Trojan“It’s very easy to walk out of Provo with our heads held high,” USC head coach Bill Ferguson said. “It’s great to know that our process is working. We’ll be good at the end of the season, but we’ll stub our toes early.”Searching for more effective blocking and a more balanced offense, the Trojans have found the weekend schedule to be an advantage. Instead of bisecting the week with Wednesday and Friday matches, the new schedule allows them to focus practice time for both shoring up deficiencies from the previous week and preparing schematically for matches to come.“Having the weekend matches early in the season gives us more time to practice,” Ferguson said. “It’s different than last year, but it’s working out for us.”No. 2 UC Irvine has tremendous athleticism, depth and experience and is known especially for strength at the service line and a balanced, high-paced and precise attack.“They don’t have one guy that carries them,” Ferguson said. “You have to be sound everywhere. We need to weather the storm at the service line from [outside hitter Jeremy] Dejno and [opposite Carson] Clark, find balance in our own offense and be sound blocking, or else they’ll expose us.”On the defensive side, the Trojans will have to continue to have production from all three front-row blockers. If one of them lapses for even a split second, UCI has shown that it will attack those spaces with quick and precise offense.“For a lot of teams, speed like Irvine’s is a big advantage because they just aren’t used to it,” said senior outside hitter and co-captain Tony Ciarelli. “But our offense is just as fast, if not faster, than theirs is, so the advantage is somewhat taken away.”Clark is one of the nation’s elite players, with top-notch skills attacking, serving, blocking and defending. Ciarelli will be matched up against him.“I need to show Carson [Clark] something different every time I go up to block,” Ciarelli said. “He’ll figure it out and take advantage of it if I don’t mix it up.”The second match will be a mental check for the Trojans. UCSD is ranked at the bottom tier of the conference. Even though their ranking does not indicate a competitive match between the teams, Ferguson said the Trojans need to bring the same intensity and focus as they would against a top-ranked team.“In the past, teams like that tend to give us trouble and sometimes we walk in there taking them lightly,” said senior middle blocker and co-captain Steven Shandrick. “But they’re just as important. We need to be mentally prepared. They’re going to give us their absolute best.”First serve for both matches is at 7 p.m.
After beating Maryland 2–1 and Marquette 1–0, the University of Wisconsin men’s soccer team (5–4–1, 2–1 Big Ten) faced a grueling road test against No. 5 and previously undefeated Michigan State (8–1–2, 2–1 Big Ten). The Badgers stunned the Spartans in overtime through a 96th-minute golden goal from sophomore Alex Alfaro, handing them their first loss of the season.“Huge win against an extremely talented Michigan State team,” Badger Head Coach John Trask said in a conversation with UW Athletics post-match. “They are very well coached. It was a battle.”The first half saw the Badgers struggle to get anything going, managing only one shot. On the other side, the Spartans managed to get off five shots in the half, including two quality chances from their leading goal scorers Ryan Sierakowski and DeJuan Jones. However, they were denied by goalie Dean Cowdroy, who ended the match with five saves and his fifth shutout of the season.Men’s soccer: Badgers grind out road win over Marquette, look toward Michigan StateThe University of Wisconsin men’s soccer (4–4–1, 1–1 Big Ten) claimed their second consecutive road win with a 1–0 victory Read…The second half saw the Badgers manage three more shots compared to two by the Spartans, but either side failed to break through, forcing the game into overtime after 90 minutes of play.In the 6 minute mark of overtime, the Badgers played the ball towards the penalty area of Michigan State. After several deflections and failed clearances from Michigan State, Alfaro took the ball from the edge of the box and struck it with his right foot, sailing it past Spartans goalkeeper Jimmy Hague into the left corner of the goal for his first goal of the season and the winner.Volleyball: Badgers falter in tough matchup versus No. 6 Gophers, Purdue up nextThe University of Wisconsin women’s volleyball team had a tough start to their brutal road trip on Wednesday night. No. Read…“We figured we were going to have to score on that type of play,” Trask said. “Fair dues on the goal, and props to Isaac and Alex for keeping it alive. Great goal by Alfaro—what a timely goal for his first one of the season.”Up next, the Badgers will host a trio of games, including local derbies with Milwaukee (6–3–1, 2–0–1 Horizon) and Green Bay (5–4–1, 2–2–0 Horizon) on Oct. 3 and 10, respectively, with a Big Ten game against Rutgers (2–6–1, 1–3–0 Big Ten) sandwiched in between on Oct. 7.
Another week, another great piece of news for Psyonix and Rocket League. It has been announced that Rocket league will form a part of this summer’s X Games, and in turn, will be broadcast on ESPN3.This follows on from the news of NBC’s plans for the title which will see a $100,000 (£76,979) tournament (in partnership with FACEIT) aired on its network. You can read the full story on this here. This X Games partnership is also in connection with FACEIT and features a similar prize pool though it falls a little short at $75,000 (£57,734). The Rocket League part of the X Games will be on ESPN3 over July 14-16. This isn’t X Games’ first foray into esports; they worked with MLG for some Call of Duty and CS:GO in the past, but this fast paced, highly skilled rocket car based title definitely seems a better fit. The Psyonix Esports Manager, Josh Watson said of the news:“The X Games and ESPN have done a great job of bringing attention to nontraditional sports over the years. Adding esports and Rocket League to that lineup is something we at Psyonix are very excited about.”The X Games, which is split into the summer and winter editions, have been running since 1995 with participants competing for gold, silver and bronze medals in addition to money. Extreme sports including motox, skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding more typically feature. Now Rocket league will compete for attention amongst these. It has been a great few months for the title with recent announcements in addition to the NBC tournament including a partnership with WWE, the game coming to Nintendo’s Switch and RLCS Season 3 securing Brisk and Old Spice as sponsors. Other smaller tournaments such as the League of Rockets’ Rocket League World Cup (which you can read about here) and the Pro Rivalry League (read about this here) are also garnering considerable attention which is vital for the grassroots growth of the title. Esports Insider says: We’re big believers in Rocket League and this is yet more fantastic news for the game. It’s one which makes so much sense for bringing esports into ‘the mainstream’ and it’s especially in keeping with the X Games. Good work by FACEIT on delivering both the NBC deal and this one, which’ll see it on ESPN3 this summer.
Facebook0Tweet0Pin0 Submitted by Elite Cleaning of WashingtonIs your microwave oven covered in baked-on food splatters and spills? Or smells terrible like burnt popcorn? You can quickly clean it with typical household items that are environmentally-friendly and have minimal cost. To clean and lightly deodorize your microwave use a microwave-safe bowl and mix ½ cup of white distilled vinegar and ½ cup water. Each microwave oven has different power wattage, so simply bring the mixture to a rolling boil inside the microwave about 4-6 minutes on average.Keep the microwave oven closed for a few minutes to allow the stream will loosen baked-on food splatters and spills and lightly deodorize. The mixture can get very hot so wait until cooled enough to dip a clean cloth or sponge into the mixture to wipe the inside of the microwave including the roof, walls, use a tooth brush to get the edges and corners, and glass tray. The glass tray may also go into the dishwasher to clean and sanitize as needed. If the inside of the microwave oven is dirty, so might the outside. Use the remaining warm vinegar and water mixture to wipe the outside surfaces of the microwave oven including vents in the back of the microwave oven.The vinegar mixture only lightly deodorizes the microwave oven, so if your microwave oven still has some odors try using a lemon or vanilla extract. To use a lemon to deeply deodorize, cut the lemon in half and place cut sides down on a microwave-safe plate with a tablespoon of water and nuke for 2-3 minutes and leave in the microwave oven for an hour keeping the door closed than remove and wipe out microwave oven. To use a vanilla to deeply deodorize, use a microwave-safe bowl mixing 2 tablespoons of vanilla with a ½ cup of water and nuke for 2-3 minutes and leave in the microwave oven for an hour keeping the door closed than remove and wipe out microwave oven.PS: If you use lemon to deeply deodorize your microwave oven, simply cut into smaller pieces and clean your garbage disposal by running with the lemon pieces and water through it.Elite Cleaning of Washington is fully licensed and bonded.For Home Cleaning Estimates please contact Scottiejo at: 360-529-2277
Division 1 girls medley and freestyle relays (Imogen Cowan, Ella Chouinard, Chloe Malnfant, Morgan Robertson-Weir) – gold Lachlan Bibby-Fox: Division 1 boys – 50m breaststroke (bronze)Neptune Relay Results: Division 2 boys medley relay (Locke Finley, Cameron Bibby-Fox, Lachlan Bibby-Fox, Koa Wintraub) – silver The Nelson Neptunes began the 2014 Kootenay Summer Swim Association season like a fish out of water.However, when the final horn sounded two months later, the Neptunes were a vastly different team, finishing second to powerhouse Castlegar Aquanauts at the Kootenay Regional Championships held recently in the Trail and ready to continue on a roll at this weeks Provincials in Kamloops.”We could not have asked for a better result and look forward to seeing the provincial qualifiers performing even faster in Kamloops,” said Neptune head coach Cynthia Pfeiffer.”With not having a season last year the Neptunes started out this summer with lots of hard work ahead of them but they managed to buckle down and finish the year with a bang,” Pfeiffer added.Castlegar won the Regional team title with 2756 points. Nelson was second followed by Grand Forks in third and Trail Stingrays in fourth. Morgan Robertson-Weir: Division 1 girls – 50m butterfly (bronze) Matthew Holitzki: Division 4 boys – 100m freestyle (bronze), 50m freestyle (bronze), 200m IM (gold), 100m breaststroke (gold) Sage Cowan: Division 6 girls – 100m freestyle (gold), 100m backstroke (silver), 200m IM (gold), 100m butterfly (gold) Locke Finley: Division 2 boys – 100m freestyle (bronze), 50m backstroke (silver) Hannah Malenfant: Division 4 girls – 50m butterfly (silver), 200m IM (bronze), 100m breaststroke (bronze) Ella Chouinard: Division 1 girls – 50m backstroke (silver) Cameron Bibby-Fox: Division 2 boys – 100m IM (bronze), 50m breaststroke (silver) Jaylen Rushton: Division 2 girls – 50m backstroke (silver), 100m IM (gold), 50m butterfly (gold), 50m breaststroke (gold) Creston, Colville, Wash., and Kimberley rounded out the seven-team field.Twenty-six Neptunes attended the regionals in Trail and finished with 18 medalists, three record holders, 21 provincial qualifiers and 14 swimmers planning to attend the BC Summer Swim Provincial championships beginning Friday in Kamloops.The Neptunes making the trek include, Imogen Cowan, Enna Cowan, Sage Cowan, Olivia Cowan, Ella Chouinard, Morgan Robterson-Weir, Madeline Holitzki, Matthew Holitzki, Joanna Blishen, Ohia Wintraub, Jaylen Rushton, Chloe Malenfant, Hannah Malenfant and coach Pfeiffer.”Watch out for Ohia Wintraub who is currently ranked in the top eight in the province for 50 meter butterfly and the Division 1 girls,” Pfeiffer said.”(Also) Ella Chouinard, Morgan Robertson-Weir, Imogen Cowan and Chloe Malenfant are looking for a top five finish in both their Medley and Freestyle relays,” Pfeiffer added.Neptune Individual Results: Samuel Matthew: “O” Category 2 – 100m freestyle (gold), 200m IM (gold), 100m breaststroke (gold), 100m backstroke (gold) Division 6 girls medley and freestyle relays (Sage Cowan, Jaylen Rushton, Madeline Holtzki, Enna Cowan) – gold Madeline Holitzki: Division 3 girls – 50m breaststroke (silver) Olivia Cowan: Division 5 girls – 100m freestyle (silver), 200m IM (gold), 50m butterfly (silver), 100m backstroke (bronze) Joanna Blishen: Division 5 girls – 100m butterfly (silver), 100m breaststroke (bronze) Ohia Wintraub: Division 4 girls – 100m freestyle (bronze), 50m butterfly (gold), 50m freestyle (bronze), 200m IM (bronze) Imogen Cowan: Division 1 girls – 50m butterfly (silver) Cynthia Pfeiffer: Division 8 women – 50m freestyle (bronze), 200m IM (silver), 100m backstroke (gold), 100m freestyle (silver) Chloe Malenfant: Division 1 girls – 100m freestyle (bronze) Rebecca Afford: Division 8 women – 50m butterfly (silver), 100m breaststroke (gold), 50m freestyle (silver), 200m IM (bronze) Division 5 girls medley and freestyle relays (Olivia Cowan, Hannah Malenfant, Joanna Blishen, Ohia Wintraub) – silver Division 2 boys freestyle relay (Koa Wintraub, Cameron Bibby-Fox, Locke Finley, Hunter Hedges) – silver
FLAVIEN PRAT, CONSTELLATION, WINNER: “She is a really fine filly. She broke well, but I couldn’t take a hold of her. She just wouldn’t relax. When we got to the 3/8ths pole, she finally relaxed and she did everything to get there for the win. I was fortunate to get the call on her today. David (Flores couldn’t get here due to travel problems).”JULIEN LEPAROUX, LIGHTSTREAM, BEATEN FAVORITE: “I feel like it all came down to the turn where she got beaten. We were going okay but usually she just relaxes and makes a big run and she didn’t. She broke good and she wanted to go a bit early but she didn’t really relax for the big run.”TRAINER QUOTES BRETT CALHOUN, TRAINER FINLEY’SLUCKYCHARM, SECOND: “I thought she ran great. I thought she had a great trip. We knew the pace was going to be pretty hot and she handled it well. She handled the seven-eighths well and that was maybe a question mark. It could be that winning her last race like she did (a six furlong minor stakes at Churchill Downs by 8 ½ lengths on Nov. 25), and coming back in a short period of time . . . took its toll.” NOTES: The winning owners are Larry, Nancy and Jaime Roth (LNJ Foxwoods). JOCKEY QUOTES JERRY HOLLENDORFER, CONSTELLATION, WINNER: “That race kind of unfolded the way we thought it would. I think Flavien was a little lucky to get through between horses, and that was the key to winning the race.“We wanted to ride David Flores back because he made a trip out to Turf Paradise to ride this filly. He couldn’t get a plane out here – it got delayed – so Prat was open and he was the logical guy to go to since he’s been the leading rider at several meets. We need him to ride for us, so I’m glad we got a win with him in a Grade I.”
The former New Zealand Warriors star – the team’s all-time leading try scorer – has not played since 2017, leaving Salford Red Devils in Super League in 2018 after rupturing his Achilles.Vatuvei moved into boxing but told reporters on Wednesday a scan before his first fight against David Letele in December, which he won by knockout, revealed the cyst.”I’ve got a cyst in my brain, so that’s been tough,” Vatuvei said. “No symptoms, no nothing.”Everyone had to do a scan before the fight and they found it then and tried to rule me out of the fight, but I went on with it and came out good.”I had some fights lined up which were cancelled because of that.”The 33-year-old subsequently entered and won New Zealand television series Dancing with the Stars this year, but he is refusing to give up hope of returning to rugby.”I haven’t really announced my retirement or anything because I’m still in denial that I can still play,” Vatuvei said.Been an awesome show to be on and enjoying every moment with this lovely crew… I’ve survived 3weeks now and thanks everyone for your support… now back to practice for this week.. lesgooooooo #textMANU3333 #OUA pic.twitter.com/OEW0jZCfO8— Manu Vatuvei© (@ManuVatuvei) April 30, 2019″It’s always been tough. I never watched a game when I came back from England, I never watched a game and I never went to a game or anything. I was missing it and getting itchy feet all the time.”That’s something I’m still trying to heal from. It was one of the hardest moments, but when I did this dancing it made it easier for me to get over it.”I had to get over it somehow – it was a tough challenge for myself and I’ve enjoyed it.”Vatuvei has been helping Tonga prepare for an international against New Zealand on Saturday and added: “There’s always a goal that I want to come back to the game.”It all depends, I’ve still got some medical things that I’ve got to look at. Right now, my mind and my heart are telling me I can still play. But my body is saying no, so it’s a constant battle at the moment.”Right now, I can’t do any boxing, but with footy they said because I must’ve had it a long time ago, I must have been all good playing.”So I’m still deciding from there. Hopefully, I hear back from that soon and decide what my future holds.”
Fifty-year-old Anthony Daniels, who allegedly had stolen three chairs belonging to Ron Robin at Sussex Street, Georgetown on June 21, 2018, has been granted bail by City Magistrate Leron Daly.Daniels, a gardener of Sussex Street, Georgetown, denied the allegation against him, and claimed he had found the chairs in the trash. According to the defendant, he found the chairs in the garbage, and had asked for the owner’s permission before he removed them.However, the owner has claimed that Daniels stole his chairs.Daniels has been placed on bail in the sum of $10,000, and is scheduled to return to Court today.
A man who pretended to be a cop and collected $75,000 to help another in a divorce case found himself before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.Sherwin Prince, 44, appeared before Magistrate Faith McGusty on Wednesday. Prince, of Plaisance, East Coast Demerara, denied the charge which stated that between May 22 and May 23, 2019 at Georgetown, with intent to defraud, he obtained $75,000 from Ewart Mathild, by pretending that he was in a position to have a divorce matter dismissed. The court heard that Mathild was currently before the Georgetown High Court involved in a divorce matter and he was reportedly approached by Prince, who pretended to be a Police Officer and claimed that he could have the matter dismissed for $100,000. The Virtual Complainant allegedly paid $75,000 to Prince and promised to pay the difference later. Mathild later made inquiries about Prince and when he realised that he was scammed, he reported the matter to the Police. Prince was arrested during a sting operation. In court on Wednesday, Prince was released on $60,000 bail.The case will continue on June 19, 2019.