(WASHINGTON) — One of the NHL’s biggest stars is confident he’ll work out a new contract with his longtime team soon.
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said Tuesday that he believes he’ll remain with the only team he’s ever played for. The 35-year-old just finished the last season of a 13-year, $124 million deal.
Ovechkin, who is negotiating a new contract without an agent, said he has been speaking with Capitals owner Ted Leonsis and general manager Brian MacLellan recently.
“I’m confident, we still have time,” he told reporters in a year-end media availability. “Obviously, I want to finish my career here. I’m pretty sure we will do something soon.”
He called 2020-21 a “hard year,” reflecting on being forced to sit out four games after he and several teammates were found to have violated COVID-19 protocols, as well as “lots of mini-injuries and obviously a big injury before the playoffs.”
The team was also eliminated in the first-round of the postseason, the third straight year the Capitals have lost their opening series. The team hasn’t advanced since their 2018 Stanley Cup win.
Sources told ESPN that the Capitals are considering different options for Ovechkin’s new contract, including either a one-year, or four-year deal. Prior to the pandemic, Ovechkin was asking for $12.5 million per year, a source says. It’s unclear if that number will change because of the league’s salary cap remaining flat.
A key figure in the D.C. community, Ovechkin and his wife Nastya recently became investors in the NWSL’s Washington Spirit.
Last month, Leonsis told The Athletic that it was important to keep Ovechkin with the team, saying that whether the capain “plays five more years, 10 more years, whatever it is, we’ve got his back.”
“Our commitment to him is to continue to have great teams,” Leonsis said. “We’ll spend to the cap; we’ll try to win championships.”
Ovechkin has scored 730 goals in his career, 164 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record. And on Tuesday Ovechkin says he still hopes to break that mark, saying “you just have to go out there and do your thing. Maybe it happens, maybe not. One step at a time.”
(NEW YORK) — The NFL telling its teams on Tuesday that they will be allowed to host fans at training camp this summer, subject to state and local COVID-19 rules.
The pandemic kept fans away from team facilities last year.
The league also saying that 30 of the 32 teams have received approval from the state and local governments to open their stadiums to 100% capacity when games resume in the fall.
Football is hoping for a return to normal by the time the season begins. The league-wide season ticket renewal rate has been about 90 percent, including a surge in the last week and a half, since the reveal of the 2021 schedule.
29 NFL teams will open their training camps on July 27. The other three — the Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers — will be allowed to open earlier because they play in either the Hall of Fame preseason game, or the September 9 regular-season kickoff game.
Peter O’Reilly, the league’s executive vice president of club business and league events, told ESPN that training camp will still look different as the NFL tries to keep its players, staff, and fans safe from the virus.
“It won’t likely look exactly the same as a normal training camp as far as proximity to players and autographs and some of the other things,” he said.
He did add that the league will not implement a fan vaccination policy beyond whatever local regulations might exist.
(GREEN BAY, Wisc.) — Star quarterback Aaron Rodgers says it’s a disconnect on philosophy and communication that led him to decide he didn’t want to play for the Green Bay Packers anymore, not their drafting of QB Jordan Love.
Rodgers appeared on ESPN’s SportsCenter Monday night, commemorating host Kenny Mayne’s last show on the network. And in an interview, Rodgers explained publicly, for the first time, what caused the rift between himself and the only team he’s ever played for.
“It’s never been about the draft pick,” Rodgers insisted. “I love Jordan; he’s a great kid. [We’ve had] a lot of fun to work together.”
Instead, he says, it was how the situation was handled by general manager Brian Gutekunst.
“It’s just kind of about a philosophy and maybe forgetting that it is about the people that make the thing go. It’s about character, it’s about culture, it’s about doing things the right way.”
The 37-year-old Rodgers won his third MVP Award following the 2020 season, leading the team to 13 wins and an NFC Championship Game appearance.
Gutekunst has acknowledged that he should have communicated better with Rodgers before trading up in the 2020 Draft to select Love, seen by some as Rodgers’ eventual replacement at QB.
The veteran also acknowledged in the interview that he had skipped the team’s first session of organized team activities. The OTAs are voluntary, but he will surrender a $500,000 workout bonus tied to his participation in them.
Earlier this offseason, Rodgers reportedly told some members of the organization that he did not want to return to the Packers. The team has continued to insist, however, that it has no interested in trading Rodgers away.
(NEW YORK) — Former boxing promoter Dave Wooley says that during the 1980s, there were three Black men who “ruled the world”: Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan and Mike Tyson.
But it was Tyson who was “the most recognizable face on the planet,” ex-manager Jeff Wald said. “More than the Pope, more than Queen Elizabeth, more than the president.”
“In white America, the image of Mike Tyson was that he was scary,” said civil rights attorney Carl Douglas. “From the Black perspective, he was a hero because he was a success in the white man’s world.”
Whatever you think you know about Mike Tyson, he is arguably one of the most complex characters in the history of American sports and culture.
Tyson is a man who survived a childhood of violence and neglect to become a Black icon and world boxing champion. A convicted rapist. And a man who weathered the loss of many friends and family members, and became the punchline of late night jokes.
His story “breaks all the rules,” said Mark Kriegel, an ESPN boxing analyst and author. Now, the new two-part ABC News documentary The Knockout sets out to explore the former champ’s successes, repeated falls and big comebacks from the perspective of those who knew him best.
Tyson grew up surrounded by violence in the gritty Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
“The chances of making it out of Brownsville is slim to none,” former world heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs told ABC News. “It’s 50,000 people trying to get through one door, you know what I mean, with no opportunity.”
Tyson’s mother loved him dearly but struggled with alcohol, according to Tyson’s therapist Marilyn Murray.
“She would be drinking, she was extremely abusive,” Murray told ABC News. “Oftentimes, his mother would get beat up [by men she brought home] … so violence, sex, alcoholism, abuse of women — those were his baseline for normal.”
As a child, Tyson picked up the nickname “Dirty Ike” due to his lack of personal hygiene. He was arrested dozens of times and was eventually sent upstate New York to the Tryon School for Boys, a now-shuttered juvenile facility. It was there he was introduced to Bobby Stewart, a guard at the facility and a former professional boxer, who introduced him to the sport.
“Everything I showed him, it was almost like he’d been doing it for 25 years,” Stewart said.
Stewart introduced Tyson to Cus D’Amato, a famed boxing coach who had trained champions Floyd Patterson and Jose Torres. D’Amato immediately saw Tyson’s potential and took him in.
Tyson moved into D’Amato’s home in the Catskills and lived among other young fighters in a sort of dormitory for amateur boxers. D’Amato consistently encouraged the young boxer, telling him that he’d become the greatest. After so much pain leading up to that point in his short life, Tyson finally had safety, direction and support.
“Cus would repeat over and over to Mike from the beginning, ‘Do you know you’re going to be heavyweight champion of the world someday?’” said Nadia Hujtyn, a boxing coach and assistant to D’Amato. “If you say it enough times, you believe it. And if you believe it, then you’ll have no doubt.”
Yet, as Tyson’s life began to take a turn, he would come to know the loss of many loved ones. Tyson’s mother died in 1982. He was 16 and living with D’Amato, who later became his legal guardian. It wasn’t long after that when, in 1985, D’Amato also died.
“I’m sure, at some point, Cus and Mike had a conversation about death,” former world heavyweight champion Michael Bentt told ABC News.
“You have a mission to commit to, we have a pact. If I’m here or not, you complete that pact” of fulfilling D’Amato’s dream of becoming a champion, Bentt said.
On Nov. 22, 1986, Tyson entered the record books as the youngest heavyweight champion in history when he defeated Trevor Berbick, the last man to fight Muhammad Ali.
Tyson’s life was changed forever. He went from living in Brownsville to becoming a multi-millionaire at just 20 years old, and the money kept rushing in. Companies from Pepsi to Toyota wanted to hand him a paycheck to sell their products, and beautiful women vied for his attention.
“I would have girls pull up to the limousine and throw their underwear at me and say, ‘Give this to your boss. Here’s my number.’ It was non stop with groupies,” Tyson’s bodyguard and chauffeur Rudy Gonzalez said.
Those who were watching Tyson, however, say his meteoric rise to fame seemed to be a difficult adjustment.
“The night he won the title from Trevor Berbick, I came in from a club at 4 in the morning and who was sitting in the lobby by himself with that title belt around his waist, but Mike Tyson,” said Wallace Matthews, a boxing writer for Newsday and The New York Post. “He was lonely, isolated. [He] wasn’t sure what to do with himself.”
Instead of running away from his childhood, the champ made a point to return to his neighborhood in Brooklyn. Lori Grinker, a photographer who documented Tyson in his early years, says she can remember riding in a car with him, seeing kids rip up what appeared to be paper bags for him to autograph. He was a hometown hero and he gave out cash to the homeless.
Tyson eventually fell head over heels for actress Robin Givens. They married but their relationship began to fall apart as the media buzzed with abuse allegations.
In 1988, Tyson sat down with Givens for an interview with Barbara Walters on ABC News’ 20/20. Former HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg described the interview as “one of the most remarkable, strange interviews in the history of the medium.”
During the interview, Tyson said he never hit his wife. But Givens told Walters that Tyson had an “extremely volatile temper” and that he “shakes” and “pushes” her.
“Sometimes I think he’s trying to scare me,” she said.
Gonzalez said it was as if Givens “led him right into the limelight and then dropped the hammer on him in front of the world.”
Givens later filed for divorce and sued Tyson for $125 million. In 2009, Mike Tyson admitted to Oprah Winfrey that he had “socked” Givens and that it was “definitely” an abusive relationship “both ways.” Givens, who declined an interview with ABC News for this documentary, also denied to Oprah that she had abused Tyson.
During this time, he constantly made headlines. In separate incidents, he’d gotten into a brawl outside the ring with fighter Mitch Green, crashed his car into a tree, and attacked a news crew that had caught him on a morning run.
“You couldn’t keep up with it,” said Matthews. “This guy basically was reality television way before reality TV was invented.”
Now a single man, those close to him said he relished in the luxury of his fame and wealth.
“We had four penthouse apartments, three mansions … 200 cars, a lot of jewelry,” Gonzalez said. “People wanted to see Mike Tyson just spend a million dollars in Gianni Versace.”
Randy Gordon, former editor in chief of Ring Magazine and the former chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission, said that “every single night, instead of resting, Tyson was partying.”
Meanwhile, his next opponent, James “Buster” Douglas, was “training, and resting, and training, and resting,” Gordon said.
On Feb. 11, 1990, Douglas was deemed to be an overwhelming underdog with a 42-to-1 chance of winning. Tyson had been undefeated at the time.
“I really thrived off that negativity,” Douglas told ABC News. “I knew that I had the ability to go fight Tyson.”
Douglas was right. What’s more, he ended up dethroning the king in a 10th-round knockout that shocked the world. To this day, many consider Tyson’s loss in that match to be the biggest upset in heavyweight boxing history.
For more on Tyson’s mistakes, losses and triumphs, watch “The Knockout” May 25 and June 1 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, or stream it on Hulu in the following days.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Washington 12, Toronto 6
AMERICAN LEAGUE
NY Yankees 5, Boston 3
NY Yankees 2, Boston 0
Tampa Bay 10, Baltimore 0
LA Angels 8, Detroit 2
Kansas City 3, Houston 1
Chi White Sox 9, Oakland 0
Seattle 3, Texas 1
Cleveland 3 Minnesota 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Atlanta 2, Miami 0
Chi Cubs 2, Cincinnati 1
Milwaukee 2, St. Louis 0
Colorado 7, San Diego 3
San Francisco 3, NY Mets 2
Arizona 3, Philadelphia 2
LA Dodgers 4, Pittsburgh 3
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Connecticut 72, Minnesota 60
Dallas 80, Chicago 76
Las Vegas 93, Washington 83
Phoenix 84, Indiana 80
Los Angeles 85, Atlanta 80 (OT)
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Colorado 2, LA Galaxy 1
Minnesota 1, San Jose 1 (Tie)
(DESOTO, Texas) — After 12 years in a wheelchair, a paralyzed former football player walked for the first time since his injury at his college graduation.
In 2009, Corey Borner was a rising star at cornerback for the DeSoto, Texas, High School football team when he suffered a spinal cord injury during a routine tackle. After a nine-hour surgery, Borner was told that he had a C5-C6 spinal injury and would be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
“Being in a chair you have to make the best of it,” Borner said.
Leaning on faith and family, the 28-year-old Dallas native turned his story into his life’s mission as a motivational speaker.
“You just got to be thankful because it’s a blessing to be alive and still be here,” he said.
On Aug. 14, at the University of North Texas at Dallas, with the help of an exoskeleton suit from the Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation in Dallas, Borner was able to surprise his friends and family by walking across the stage at his graduation.
“It was amazing being able to walk across the stage. It was actually a surprise. I told everyone that I had a special guest,” Borner said.
For Borner, walking across the stage was a culmination of over a decade of work and only the beginning of his story.
“I plan on continuing to be a motivational speaker and share my testimony to others,” he said. “I made a promise to myself in 2009 that I will always keep my story alive.”
(NEW YORK) — Naomi Osaka and Levi’s have teamed up for an amazing denim launch that looks like it’s going to be a grand slam.
The tennis star and fashion brand announced the upcoming line on Tuesday, and it’s set to officially drop on Aug. 24.
The Levi’s x Naomi Osaka collection features reused, upcycled denim that includes everything from a kimono to a bustier, and is a unique mashup of sporty meets feminine pieces with subtle nods to Osaka’s Japanese heritage.
“I always loved wearing kimonos when I was a kid,” said Naomi in a statement. “So, to be able to do it in denim felt really different and a bit unexpected.”
The collection also has two denim short styles that are both made from an upcycled pair of men’s Levi’s jeans. One of the two is the lace-up short that has a sporty, raw hem that sits right above the knee and cool lace-up back detailing.
The other style features a fun vintage look that includes a short, raw hem along with draped crystal fringe.
One of the most standout pieces from the line is the trucker jacket bustier that also has a lace-up back similar to the shorts. The material is derived from repurposed Levi’s trucker jackets and has stylish flap pockets and shank buttons.
“I liked the idea of the bustier while I was sketching it,” said Osaka in a statement. “But I love it even more now that it’s been brought to life.”
She added, “It’s so cute!”
Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam singles champion, ambassador for social change and mental health advocate. She also has a passion for fashion that’s translated through several other collaborations with brands such as Frankies Bikinis, Nike, Louis Vuitton and several others.
In addition to fashion, she teamed up with chain salad restaurant Sweetgreen as the company’s first athlete ambassador and youngest investor.
(NEW YORK) — Tennis star Naomi Osaka pledged to donate earnings from her latest tournament to relief efforts in Haiti after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake devastated the country on Saturday.
“Really hurts to see all the devastation that’s going on in Haiti, and I feel like we really can’t catch a break. I’m about to play a tournament this week and I’ll give all the prize money to relief efforts for Haiti,” Osaka tweeted ahead of this week’s Western & Southern Open, which runs through Sunday in Cincinnati. “I know our ancestors blood is strong we’ll keep rising.”
The four-time Grand Slam singles champion, who plays under the Japanese flag, is half Japanese and half Haitian.
Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency announced Sunday that the death toll climbed to at least 1,297 and at least 3,778 homes were destroyed in addition to hospitals and schools.
U.S. Southern Command established a joint task force in Haiti on Sunday to conduct supportive military operations, while the United States Agency for International Development deployed a team to assist in search and rescue efforts.
As Haiti reels from the death and destruction, the Caribbean nation faces another threat in the fast-approaching Tropical Depression Grace, expected to make landfall Monday or Tuesday.
“Our search & rescue team in #Haiti is moving into the affected area to begin operations & join efforts by Haitians on the ground, and [U.S. Coast Guard] has started flying people to Port-au-Prince for treatment. We’re also tracking Tropical Depression #Grace & preparing for all scenarios,” USAID Administrator Samatha Power tweeted on Monday.
Haiti is prone to earthquakes and was hit with a powerful quake in October 2018.
“Just heard about the earthquake in Haiti. Sending all my love, thoughts and wishes,” Osaka tweeted at the time.
Haiti also suffered a devastating earthquake in January 2010 that struck just 10 miles from the capital of Port-au-Prince., causing extensive damage and tens of thousands of casualties. Thousands sought refuge in the United States and were able to legally work and live in the U.S. through Temporary Protected Status, a humanitarian protection the Trump administration sought to end.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas announced in May an 18-month TPS extension for Haiti.
“Haiti is currently experiencing serious security concerns, social unrest, an increase in human rights abuses, crippling poverty, and lack of basic resources, which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mayorkas said in a statement. “After careful consideration, we determined that we must do what we can to support Haitian nationals in the United States until conditions in Haiti improve so they may safely return home.”
(HOUSTON) — The parents of a toddler who was hit by a foul ball during a 2019 Houston Astros game, fracturing her skull, have reached a settlement with the team, according to the family’s lawyer.
In a petition filed Thursday, parents Jonathan David Scott and Alexandra Colchado claimed that “acts and omissions constituting negligence” caused their daughter to sustain “injuries and damages” during a game at Minute Maid Stadium in Houston on May 29, 2019.
During the fourth inning of the game, their daughter, who was 2 years old at the time, was hit by a ball off the bat of Cubs center fielder Albert Almora Jr. She suffered a fractured skull and has a permanent brain injury, the family’s lawyer, Richard Mithoff, told ABC News.
Because the lawsuit involves a minor, the settlement has to be formally approved by a judge, according to Mithoff. The court will appoint a neutral lawyer to make a recommendation to the judge “about the fairness of the settlement,” which will be confidential, he said.
Details of the settlement were not made public.
The Astros’ lawyers did not respond to emails seeking comment.
Almora, who now plays for the New York Mets, was seen crying on the field after the ball went into the stands.
Mithoff said they waited until two years after the incident to seek damages to have a better understanding of any lasting medical issues.
“It was a serious injury, a permanent injury to that part of the brain,” Mithoff said. “The primary focus has been on seizures.”
The girl, who is now 4, has been on anti-seizure medication since the incident, Mithoff said. Her last seizure was 22 months ago, he said.
Mithoff said he plans to ask for a hearing date on Monday and hopes the settlement will be fully approved “in a matter of weeks.”
At the time of the 2019 game, Minute Maid Park’s netting reached from the end of one dugout to the other, however, the child was sitting farther down the left-field line. Several months after the incident, the team extended its netting farther down the baselines.
The Astros released a statement to The Washington Post a month after the incident, saying: “The Astros continue to send our thoughts and prayers to the young girl and her family. We continue to respect the family’s request for privacy and have no further comment at this time.”
In January 2020, MLB announced that every team would have extended netting for the upcoming season, following reports of fans getting injured and even killed by foul balls.
The Astros have faced lawsuits over other injuries sustained during games. In 2019, a woman sued the team after she was injured by a T-shirt fired into the crowd. She claimed her left index finger was irreparably damaged. A confidential settlement was reached last year, the Houston Chronicle reported.
