Sports

(NEW YORK) — An agreement has been reached that will allow NHL players to participate in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

The deal was brokered between the NHL, the NHL Players Association, the International Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation, allowing NHL players to return to the Olympics after they were not allowed to participate in 2018. It does, however, contain an opt-out clause that would allow the NHL and NHLPA to pull players if the schedule for the upcoming NHL season is disrupted by cancellations and the Olympic break is needed to make up games.

NHL players not participating in the 2018  Games ended a string of five consecutive Olympiads where the league allowed its stars to compete on the international stage.

“As any Canadian kid, your dream is to play in the NHL, and then your dream is to play for Team Canada at the Olympics. I think that’s always how it is, and I’m no different,” Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid told reporters last week. “Obviously, with not going to the Olympics, it’s been a long time since we’ve been able to represent our country at a best-on-best tournament. So, my last time would have been a world juniors [in 2015], so it’s been a long time, and I’m certainly looking forward to, I guess, having the ability to chase down a spot and hopefully make the team and represent my country at the Olympics.”

The deal stipulates that the IIHF and IOC will pay for travel and insurance costs for players, and will cover players’ guests as well.

The NHL’s Olympic break is scheduled to run from February 3 to February 22. All-Star Weekend will begin on February 4, whether players participate in the Olympics or not.

Any NHL players who take part in the Olympics would be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, with limited exceptions on a case-by-case basis. Multiple league sources told ESPN that “an overwhelming majority” of NHL players have already been vaccinated.

Sources also say that players are being advised to prepare for strict protocols during the 2022 Games, which could include a bubble environment, daily testing, restrictions on movement and interactions, and even the possibility of wearing GPS devices to help with contact tracing and compliance.

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(SEATTLE) — With his NBA dreams on hold, a former college basketball star is now looking to reach the pros in another sport — football.

Former Baylor Bears standout Mark Vital has signed with the Seattle Seahawks, joining the practice squad as a tight end, the team said Thursday.

Listed at 6’5″ and 250 pounds, Vital started for the national title winning Baylor team last season. After he was not selected in the spring’s NBA draft, he briefly played with the Portland Trail Blazers summer league team.

Earlier this week, though, he said he would pursue a football career, and now he has taken the next step.

According to the Waco Tribune-Herald, Vital hasn’t played football since middle school. Still, one NFL scout described him as a “big, raw athletes” and highlighted his natural ball skills.

He wouldn’t be the first former college basketball player to succeed with Seattle, who converted George Fant to offensive tackle after signing him as an undrafted free agent in 2016. Fant later signed a $27.3 million contract with the New York Jets.

Vital scored 5.6 points and grabbed 6.7 rebounds per game in his senior year at Baylor. He was also a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award for the second consecutive season.

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(MINNEAPOLIS) — The season could be in jeopardy for one of college football’s best running backs.

Minnesota Golden Gophers star Mohamed Ibrahim left the team’s season opener against Ohio State with a lower left leg injury on Thursday night.

During a 1-yard run in the third quarter of that game, the senior appeared to injure his leg as he planted his foot. He limped off the field, and was seen entering the team’s injury tent. Several minutes later, video cameras spotted him with a walking boot on his leg, heading to the locker room for evaluation.

Minnesota head football coach P.J. Fleck said after the game that the injury occurred when Ibrahim “got kind of tangled up on a tackle.” He did not provide an immediate update on his star player’s status, saying “we’ll make sure he’s healthy at the point we bring him back.”

“Hopefully, it’s nothing major,” Fleck added, “but we don’t know that just yet.”

The nature of the injury has some concerned that Ibrahim could miss the remainder of the year.

Ibrahim gained 163 yards and scored twice on 30 carries in the game, playing a big role in keeping the Gophers close against No. 4 Ohio State.

Ibrahim was a third-team AP All-American in 2020, and recorded his ninth straight 100-yard rushing performance before the injury. He also scored his 33rd career rushing touchdown Thursday, moving past Laurence Maroney and into a tie for fourth-place on the program’s all-time list.

He also became the eighth Minnesota player to top 3,000 career rushing yards.

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(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Oakland 8, Detroit 6
Boston 4, Tampa Bay 0
Cleveland 4, Kansas City 2

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Philadelphia 7, Washington 6
San Francisco 5, Milwaukee 1
N.Y. Mets 4, Miami 3
Atlanta 6, Colorado 5
Chicago Cubs 6, Pittsburgh 5

TOP-25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
(22)Coastal Carolina 52, The Citadel 14
(24)Utah 40, Weber St. 17
(4)Ohio St. 45, Minnesota 31
(25)Arizona St. 41, S. Utah 14

WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Minnesota 66, Los Angeles 57
Dallas 72, Atlanta 68
Seattle 85, New York 75
Las Vegas 90, Chicago 83

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(NEW YORK) — New York Mets acting general manager Zach Snyder was placed on administrative leave after pleading not guilty to driving while intoxicated in New York, the team announced Thursday.

“We were surprised and deeply disappointed to learn this morning about an alleged DUI involving Zack Scott. We take this matter very seriously,” the teamsaid in a statementon Wednesday. “We take this matter very seriously. Zack will not be traveling with the team for our upcoming road trip while we learn more and determine next steps.”

Snyder pleaded not guilty on Thursday.

The Mets have placed Zack Scott on administrative leave until further notice. Mets Team President Sandy Alderson will be assuming Zack’s responsibilities.

— New York Mets (@Mets) September 2, 2021

Snyder was driving in White Plains early Tuesday morning after police found him asleep at the wheel of his car at a traffic light, White Plains police Capt. James Spencer told ESPN.

Spencer said Snyder refused a breathalyzer test.

The team said Snyder was at owner Steve Cohen’s house in Greenwich, Connecticut for the Amazin’ Mets Foundation.

Scott was promoted to acting general manager in January after former general manager Jared Porter was fired following an ESPN report saying he sent sexually explicit texts to a female reporter while working for the Chicago Cubs.

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(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE
Colorado 9, Texas 5
Chicago Cubs 3, Minnesota 0
Chicago White Sox 6, Pittsburgh 3

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Seattle 1, Houston 0
NY Yankees 4, LA Angels 1
Toronto 5, Baltimore 4
Boston 3, Tampa Bay 2
Detroit 8, Oakland 6
Cleveland 5, Kansas City 3

NATIONAL LEAGUE
St. Louis 5, Cincinnati 4
Arizona 8, San Diego 3
Cincinnati 12, St. Louis 2
Milwaukee 5, San Francisco 2
LA Dodgers 4, Atlanta 2
Philadelphia at Washington (Postponed)
Miami at NY Mets (Postponed)

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(NEW YORK) — The New York Giants will retire Super Bowl winner Michael Strahan’s No. 92 this season.

Former teammates Justin Tuck, Eli Manning and Jesse Armstead surprised Strahan, who currently co-hosts ABC’s Good Morning America, by appearing on the morning show Wednesday to announce his number would be retired during a game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 28.

Watch the announcement from Good Morning America below:

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(NEW YORK) — The New York Giants will retire Super Bowl winner Michael Strahan’s No. 92 this season.

Former teammates Justin Tuck, Eli Manning and Jesse Armstead surprised Strahan, who currently co-hosts ABC’s Good Morning America, by appearing on the morning show Wednesday to announce his number would be retired during a game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 28.

Watch the announcement from Good Morning America below:

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(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE
Chicago White Sox 4, Pittsburgh 2
Texas 4, Colorado 3
Chicago Cubs 3, Minnesota 1

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Baltimore 4, Toronto 2
Oakland 9, Detroit 3
Tampa Bay 8, Boston 5
Cleveland 7, Kansas City 2
L.A. Angels 6 N.Y. Yankees 4
Houston 0, Seattle 4

NATIONAL LEAGUE
N.Y. Mets 3, Miami 1
Philadelphia 12, Washington 6
San Diego 3, Arizona 0
Milwaukee 6, San Francisco 2
L.A. Dodgers 3, Atlanta 2
St. Louis at Cincinnati — (Postponed)

WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Connecticut 85, Washington 75
Indiana 74, Los Angeles 72
Minnesota 74, New York 66
Phoenix 103, Chicago 83

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(NEW YORK) — As the Tokyo Paralympic Games near their end, Team USA athletes have already made history — smashing world records at the international competition.

Here are some of the highlights from Team USA’s stint at the games so far:

US swimmers break multiple records

Anastasia Pagonis, 17, won a gold medal in the S11 400-meter freestyle, breaking her own world record at 4:54.49 and winning Team USA’s first gold of the games on day two. She had set the world record at the Paralympic trials.

She was more than 10 seconds ahead of the silver medalist, and 13 seconds ahead of the bronze medalist.

The S11 classification, according to World Para Athletics, is for “visually impaired athletes with low visual acuity and/or no light perception.” To even the competition, all S11 athletes wear blackened goggles.

“If you told me this a few years ago, I wouldn’t even think I’d be alive so just being here and being able to have this experience and this opportunity — unbelievable,” Pagonis told Team USA’s website.

Gia Pergolini, also 17, swam in the S13 100-meter backstroke. She had broken the world record during preliminary heats, but in the race for gold, she smashed it again with a time of 1:04.64.

The S13 classification is for athletes who are visually impaired, according to World Para Athletics, but these athletes have higher visual acuity and/or a larger visual field than athletes in S11.

Robert Griswold, who has won two world championships, claimed the gold in the men’s 100-meter backstroke S8 — breaking the world record that was set at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. In 2016, he earned the bronze, but came back and claimed gold in Tokyo.

“I just had more peace than I’ve ever had before a race,” Griswold told Team USA’s website. “I felt peace knowing that I’ve got a family and friends who love me and people who really value me and care about me. I carried that with me, and I’m trying to do the best I can and give back to the people who’ve given so much to me.”

1st-time Paralympian makes history on the track

Nick Mayhugh won gold for Team USA in the T37 100-meter dash — earning a world record time of 10.95. Mayhugh committed to track and field just two years ago when his original sport, soccer, was removed from the Paralympic program.

He’s the first T37 athlete to break the 11-second mark.

“It’s changed my life,” he said. “It’s everything I’ve worked for in the last year, and a half came down to today and this competition. I finally feel like I’ve proved myself in the world of track and field.

The T37 classification is for athletes who have moderate hypertonia, ataxia or athetosis on one half of the body, according to World Para Athletics. This often includes athletes with a traumatic brain injury or cerebral palsy, like Mayhugh.

USA’s Breanna Clark breaks world record to win gold

On the long list of record-breakers, this year is Breanna Clark, who won the gold in the T20 400 meters. She rounded the track in a total of 55.18 seconds to beat her 2018 world record and has defended her 2016 title.

The T20 classification is for athletes with intellectual disabilities, like autism, such as Clark.

She’s also the daughter of Olympian Rosalyn Clark, who won two silver medals in the 400 meters and 4×400-meter relay at the 1976 Montréal Games.

Women have won 66% of Team USA’s medals in Tokyo

The women on the U.S Paralympic team are bringing their A-game. Women have won about 66% of U.S. medals so far, and 70% of the country’s gold medal, NBC Sports reported.

The U.S. Paralympics team has more women than men for the first time, although women only account for about 42% of Paralympians overall, according to the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee.

“Inclusion is at the core of everything the IPC does,” IPC President Andrew Parsons said in a statement earlier this year. “We are constantly striving with our members to increase female participation at all levels of the Paralympic Movement, from athletes to administrators, from coaches to Board members. … Despite this progress, we will not rest on our laurels, and we will continue to work hard with our members to increase women’s participation at all future Games until we reach gender equality.”

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