May 23, 2020

Weekend Sports Headlines

Posted May 23, 2020 1:03 PM

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A group of Power Five coaches led by Michigan’s Erik Bakich is proposing a later start to the college baseball season. They say it would trim expenses in the post-coronavirus era, make the game more fan friendly and reduce the risk of injury to players. Under the 35-page proposal, there would be nine weeks of preseason practice instead of five, the regular season would run from the third week of March to the third week of June and the College World Series would wrap up the last week of July. Bakich said the move would increase revenue.

LEAWOOD, Kan. (AP) — For the first time in nearly two decades, the Super Bowl champion Chiefs will have a new punter. Identifying who that will be in the midst of a pandemic is no easy task. The Chiefs have signed Tyler Newsome and undrafted rookie Tommy Townsend to compete for the job. But with healthy players barred from the practice facility, the organization is relying on videos of their private workouts to keep tabs on the race for the job.

UNDATED (AP) — Southeastern Conference schools will be able to bring athletes in all sports back to campus for voluntary activities starting June 8 at the discretion of each university. The Big 12 plans to welcome football players back to campus a week later. These are the latest signs that a college football season will be launched in some form this fall. The move comes two days after the NCAA Division I Council voted to lift a moratorium on voluntary workouts on campus by football and basketball players, effective June 1. The NCAA now says voluntary activities will be allowed in all sports starting June 1.

UNDATED (AP) — The New York Jets have signed quarterback Joe Flacco to a one-year contract to serve as Sam Darnold’s backup. Flacco led Baltimore to a Super Bowl victory in 2012 and spent 11 years with the Ravens before playing for Denver last season. He started eight games for the Broncos, completing 65.3 percent of his passes for 1,822 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions before a neck injury caused him to miss the last two months of the season.

UNDATED (AP) — The Seattle Seahawks have signed running back Carlos Hyde to a one-year package. Hyde is coming off his best NFL season, rushing for 1,070 yards and six touchdowns for the Houston Texans. The six-year veteran has had three seasons of at least 900 yards rushing, two coming with the 2016 and ’17 San Francisco 49ers.

UNDATED (AP) — Former Chicago Bulls All-Star guard and Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan has died at 78. Sloan was a two-time All-Star for the Bulls and spent 23 years as coach of the Jazz, taking Utah to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998. He won 1,221 games as a head coach and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009. The Jazz said that Sloan had Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia for four years.

UNDATED (AP) — The NHL Players Association has accepted a proposal on a 24-team playoff format, but there are other items to discuss in the league’s bid to resume play. Those questions include potential game locations, when players can return to their respective teams and what non-playoff teams will be allowed to do during what could potentially become a 10-month break between games. While NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said the league has a plan in place, he stopped short of providing details by saying it would be premature to do so at this time.

UNDATED (AP) — The NCAA is permitting athletes in all sports to participate in voluntary athletic activities on campus beginning June 1. NCAA’s Division I Council announced Wednesday that it was lifting its moratorium on voluntary workouts in football and men’s and women's basketball at the end of the month. The NCAA applied it to all sports Friday. The current waiver allowing teams to require eight hours of virtual non-physical activities in all sports also has been extended.