TALKING POINTS
Editor’s Note
Due to an earlier deadline of 8 p.m. throughout the pandemic, some games might not make it into the print edition of your
Valley Press. Please find the following full story on our website at www. avpress.com: MLB — Angels at Royals, Rockies at Dodgers.
LA Sparks to play 1st 11 home games at different venue
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Sparks will play their first 11 home games at the Los Angeles Convention Center during the upcoming WNBA season.
After the Olympic break ends in August, the team will move back to its regular home at nearby Staples Center for the final five home games and potential playoffs.
The Sparks will use a new playing court at both the Convention Center and Staples Center.
The team said Tuesday that a limited number of fans will likely be able to attend home games starting in June, pending Los Angeles County guidelines.
The WNBA played an abbreviated schedule last season in a bubble in Florida because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Sparks lost in the first round of the playoffs.
The Sparks open the 32-game season at home on May 14 against Dallas.
Rapinoe, Morgan score, US women beat France 2-0
LE HAVRE, France — Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan scored and the U.S. women’s national team beat France 2-0 in an exhibition on Tuesday.
The United States extended its unbeaten streak to 39 games, dating to January 2019 when the Americans fell to France 3-1.
“I felt like tonight we had a good showing and it’s always nice to get on the scoresheet against France. It makes it that much more special in France,” Morgan said.
Rapinoe scored on a penalty kick in the fifth minute. She leads the team with seven goals in seven matches this year.
Morgan made it 2-0 with her 109th career goal in the 19th minute.
Morgan credited her preseason training with the National Women’s Soccer League’s Orlando Pride for helping her return to top form after the birth of her daughter last year as well as a bout with COVID-19 over the holidays.
Red Sox-Twins series to begin; Wednesday doubleheader added
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins have rescheduled their postponed game with the Boston Red Sox as part a straight, seven-inning doubleheader on Wednesday.
The Twins called off the series opener on Monday, a day after a fatal police shooting of a Black man in a nearby
suburb, out of sensitivity to the situation and precaution for safety.
The games on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons remained on schedule. The Monday game was tacked on to Wednesday’s, to begin about 30 minutes after completion of the first game. Per a Major League Baseball rule enacted in 2020 during the pandemic-shortened season, the doubleheader will consist of seven-inning games.
Immediately eligible: NCAA on verge of transfer rule change
Whether it is the start of free agency in college sports or simply the fair thing to finally do for the athletes, the NCAA is about to make a monumental change to its transfer rules.
The Division I Council meets Wednesday and Thursday, and the agenda includes voting on a proposal that would grant all college athletes the ability to transfer one time as undergraduates without having to then sit out a season of competition.
All indications are the proposal will pass. When it does, athletes in football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and men’s ice hockey will for the first time be immediately eligible to play after switching schools without asking for special permission.
For decades, the penalty of giving up a year of eligibility helped deter athletes from transferring, at least in those high-profile sports. In all other NCAA sports, athletes were allowed to switch schools once before graduating and play immediately.
WNBA to play 32-game schedule, has month break for Olympics
NEW YORK — The WNBA will play a 32-game schedule that includes mini two-game series in the same city to reduce travel amid the coronavirus pandemic, the league announced Tuesday.
The season opens on Friday, May 14, with New York hosting Indiana — one of four games that night. Seattle will receive its rings for winning the WNBA title last season when the Storm host the Las Vegas Aces in a finals rematch the next day.
The regular season will conclude on Sept. 19 and be followed by the traditional playoffs format. The league will take a break for the Tokyo Olympics from July 15 through Aug. 11.
The WNBA played a 22game schedule last season while in a bubble at IMG Academy. The league played a 34-game schedule in 2019.
The new series format of two games in the same city is similar a model used by the NBA this season.
Other highlights of the schedule include Candace Parker and the Chicago Sky hosting her former team the Los Angeles Sparks for a weekend series May 28-30. Parker and the Sky visit Los Angeles a week later on June 5.
The league is in its 25th season and will include the inaugural Commissioner’s Cup, the WNBA All-Star Game, selection of The W25, the greatest game-changing players since the league’s inception in 1997, and the unveiling over the second half of the season and playoffs of the WNBA’s 25 Greatest Moments, ranked from No. 25 through No. 1.
Indians 1B Chang receives racist tweets after making error
CLEVELAND — Indians first baseman Yu Chang shared some racist tweets he received after making a costly error in Monday night’s game in Chicago.
Chang, who is Taiwanese, posted some of the anti-Asian tweets on his Twitter account Tuesday while asking for tolerance. One of the messages referred to the shape of his eyes and another referred to the coronavirus.
“Exercise your freedom of speech in a right way, I accept all comments, positive or negative but DEFINITELY NOT RACIST ONES,” Chang wrote. “Thank you all and love you all.”
He included the hashtag StopAsianHate.
Soon after his posting,
Chang received an outpouring of positive responses and support from Indians fans and others across social media.
The 23-year-old who came up as a middle infielder in Cleveland’s organization is playing first base for the first time this season. The Indians signed him as a free agent in 2013.
Nuggets’ Murray tears ACL in left knee, out indefinitely
DENVER — The Denver Nuggets will be without Jamal Murray indefinitely after the dynamic point guard suffered a torn ACL in his left knee.
The Nuggets announced the diagnosis in a statement Tuesday. It’s a big blow to a team coming off a season in which it advanced to the Western Conference finals and is hoping to make another deep postseason run.