Monday Sports in Brief
GOLF
The Masters goes from that annual rite of spring to two weeks before Thanksgiving. The U.S. Open now is scheduled in September for the first time since amateur Francis Ouimet took down Britain’s best at Brookline in 1913 to put golf on the map in America.
And the oldest championship of them all won’t even be played.
Golf organizations tried to salvage a season unlike any other Monday with a series of changes, starting with the British Open being canceled for the first time since 1945. The PGA Championship, which last year moved to May, would go back to August. That would be followed by the PGA Tour’s postseason, the U.S. Open and Ryder Cup in consecutive weeks, and then the Masters on Nov. 12-15.
Still to be determined was when — or even if — golf could resume because of the COVID-19 pandemic that has shut down sports worldwide.
HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Open gets its old spot back one week before the Masters.
Augusta National picked Nov. 12-15 as the best date to move the Masters, postponed from this week because of the coronavirus. That week on the schedule previously belonged to the Houston Open, which now is scheduled to go a week earlier on Nov. 2-8.
MLB
NEW YORK (AP) — Putting all 30 teams in the Phoenix area and playing in empty ballparks was among the ideas discussed Monday by Major League Baseball and the players’ association.
The sides held a telephone call to talk about paths forward for a season delayed by the new coronavirus pandemic, people familiar with the discussion told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because no details were announced.
Ideas are still in the early stage, and the Arizona option would have many obstacles to overcome, the people said.
Half of the MLB clubs hold spring training in Arizona, the other half in Florida.
Arizona’s advantage is 10 spring training ballparks plus the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Chase Field all within about 50 miles. Florida’s spring training ballparks are spread by as much as 220 miles.
—By Baseball Writer Ronald Blum.
NFL
NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL draft will be conducted in a virtual format, with team personnel working from their homes.
In a memo sent to the 32 teams Monday and obtained by The Associated Press, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell outlined procedures for the April 23-25 draft. The guidelines include no group gatherings.
“We have reviewed this matter in the past few days with both the competition committee and CEC (a group of league executives),” Goodell wrote, “and this will confirm that clubs will conduct their draft operations remotely, with club personnel separately located in their homes.”
All team facilities were closed on March 26 and Goodell has ordered them to remain shut indefinitely.
The draft originally was scheduled to be held in Las Vegas, but the NFL canceled all public events last month as a safeguard against the coronavirus. On Monday, Goodell instructed the teams on how they should plan to make their selections.
—By Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars have re-signed defensive tackle Carl Davis, who was suspended without pay in February for the first four games of the regular season for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.
The 6-foot-5, 320-pound Davis played in three games in 2019 — two for Jacksonville and one for Indianapolis.
A Michigan native and Iowa graduate, Davis previously spent time with Baltimore (2015-17) and Cleveland (2018). He has 32 tackles in 36 NFL games. The Ravens selected him in the third round of the 2015 draft.
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons have announced their one-year agreement with running back Todd Gurley.
The framework of the $6 million deal was completed on March 20, less than 24 hours after Gurley was released by the Los Angeles Rams. Final details of the agreement were completed on Monday, allowing the team to formally announce the deal.
As is the case with other free agents who have reached agreements, Gurley still awaits a physical. The NFL isn’t allowing players to report to new teams immediately for those physicals during the coronavirus pandemic.
Gurley’s physical will be especially important. He had a persistent left knee injury that limited his effectiveness late in 2018. The issue carried over into last season, even though he played in 15 games.
NBA
NEW YORK (AP) — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is bracing for several more weeks of uncertainty about the remainder of this halted season, revealing Monday night that he does not expect the league will be able to decide anything until at least May.
Silver spoke on the NBA’s Twitter account as part of the league’s new NBATogether initiative, in a conversation hosted by Turner Sports’ Ernie Johnson. Silver touched on many topics, including how the league is looking at numerous scenarios for a return, but in every case the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic makes it impossible right now to move too far forward.
The NBA was the first of the major U.S. pro leagues to shut down because of the COVID-19 threat, doing so after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert became the first player in the league to test positive for the virus. The league’s regular season was to end April 15, and the playoffs were to begin April 18.
The NBA wants this season to resume, but simply cannot say with any certainty if it will or will not happen.
NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA has told teams that they may not conduct or attend any workouts with draft-eligible players during the league’s coronavirus hiatus, a major change from typical procedures.
Teams also are being prohibited “from watching, requesting, or sharing any video (live or recorded) of a draft-eligible player or prospective early entry player taking part in a workout” during the league’s shutdown. The NBA told teams of the rule changes Monday in a memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.
Teams will be allowed to conduct interviews by phone or video, though they will be capped at a total of four hours with any draft prospect. They can also send questionnaires to players in advance of any interviews.
OBITUARY
DETROIT (AP) — Al Kaline, who spent his entire 22-season Hall of Fame career with the Detroit Tigers and was known affectionately as “Mr. Tiger,” died Monday. He was 85.
John Morad, a friend of Kaline’s, confirmed to The Associated Press that he died Monday at his home in Michigan. Morad said he’d been in contact with Kaline’s son. No cause of death was given.
Kaline was the youngest player to win the American League batting title in 1955 at age 20 with a .340 batting average. The right fielder was a 15-time All-Star, won 10 Gold Gloves and was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1980 in his first year of eligibility.
The beloved No. 6 later sat behind a microphone as a Tigers broadcaster from 1976 to 2001 and was also a special assistant to the general manager.
Kaline finished his career with 3,007 hits and 399 home runs (what would have been No. 400 was lost to a rainout). He scored over 1,600 runs and drove in nearly that many. He got his 3,000th hit back in Baltimore, slicing a double down the right field line in September 1974, his final season.
Kaline hit .379 in the Tigers’ victory over St. Louis in the 1968 World Series, when Detroit rallied from a 3-1 deficit.
SOCCER
NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors revealed new details of alleged bribes paid to FIFA executive committee members to gain their votes for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup and charged a pair of former 21st Century Fox executives with making illegal payments to win broadcast rights for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.
An indictment unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn says Nicolás Leoz, then president of the South American governing body CONMEBOL, and former Brazil federation president Ricardo Teixeira received bribes to vote for Qatar at the 2010 FIFA executive committee meeting.
Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago, president of the North and Central American and Caribbean governing body CONCACAF, received $5 million in bribes to vote for Russia to host in 2018 from 10 different shell companies that included entities in Anguilla, Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands, the indictment alleged. Guatemala federation president Rafael Salguero was promised a $1 million bribe to vote for Russia, according to the indictment.
Leoz, who died last August, avoided extradition, as have Warner and Teixeira. Salguero pleaded guilty in 2018 to two counts of wire fraud conspiracy and one count each of racketeering conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
Alejandro Burzaco, former head of the marketing company Torneos y Competencias, testified in 2017 that all three South Americans on the FIFA executive committee took million-dollar bribes to support Qatar, which prevailed over the U.S. 14-8.
Former 21st Century Fox Inc. executives Hernan Lopez and Carlos Martinez were charged Monday with making payments to CONMEBOL officials to obtain broadcast rights bidding information from a co-conspirator whose identify was not identified in the indictment.
AUTO RACING
Roger Penske has canceled the doubleheader race at Detroit and adjusted the IndyCar schedule Monday as the series remains on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Penske told The Associated Press he had no choice but to cancel the two races at Belle Isle because Michigan is under a stay-at-home order and workers cannot begin constructing the track. Penske is the promoter of that race.
IndyCar is now tentatively scheduled to start its season June 6 at Texas Motor Speedway.
To ensure a 15-race schedule, IndyCar will now run doubleheaders at Iowa Speedway, Laguna Speedway in California and return for a second race on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October. It is the third schedule revision for the series and Penske has already taken the unprecedented step of moving the Indianapolis 500 to August and off Memorial Day weekend for the first time in race history.
MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Samford has hired veteran high school coach Bucky McMillan to lead its basketball program.
Athletic director Martin Newton announced McMillan’s hiring on Monday, saying he “quickly became the obvious choice” to replace Scott Padgett.
McMillan led Mountain Brook High School in suburban Birmingham the past 12 seasons, winning his fifth state title in 2019. He took the program to the finals seven times. in the state’s highest classification.
McMillan was selected as a coach in the 2019 Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game. He won 333 games, averaging nearly 28 per season.
WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina freshman Aliyah Boston has been named the Lisa Leslie Award winner, an honor presented to women’s basketball’s s top center.
Other winners in the Naismith Starting Five announced Monday by the Basketball Hall of Fame and Women’s Basketball Association included Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu as the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year, Arizona’s Aari McDonald as the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year, Oregon’s Satou Sabally as the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year, and Oregon’s Ruthy Hebard as the Katrine McClain Power Forward of the Year.
The 6-foot-5 Boston becomes the second South Carolina player in three seasons to capture the award from the Basketball Hall of Fame and Women’s Basketball Association, joining 2018 winner A’ja Wilson.
Boston was the Southeastern Conference freshman and defensive player of the year. She averaged 12.5 points and 9.4 rebounds this season while setting a South Carolina freshman mark with 86 blocked shots.
COURTS
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Former All-Star first baseman Todd Helton pleaded guilty to driving under the influence as a first offense and has served 48 hours in jail as part of his sentence.
Helton crashed his vehicle on March 18, 2019, in Knox County and required emergency medical care. No other cars were involved and one else was hurt. Helton was given a misdemeanor citation for DUI.
Knox County assistant district attorney Sean F. McDermott confirmed Monday to The Associated Press that Helton also received unsupervised probation for 11 months, 29 days, with his license suspended for a year. Helton also had to pay a $350 fine and attend a Victim Impact Panel.
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