Burton, Earnhardt, Edwards headline HOF class nominees
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton and Carl Edwards were among the new nominees for NASCAR’s next Hall of Fame class announced Tuesday under a revamped voting protocol.
Voters for 11 years elected five members per class first from a list of 25 candidates; it was trimmed to 20 beginning with the 2015 class.
The new process starting this year splits the nominees into three ballots; Modern candidates, Pioneer candidates and Landmark candidates. Two entries from the 10 Modern candidates will be elected, along with one entry apiece from the five-candidate Pioneer and Landmark categories.
Janet Guthrie, the first woman to run in the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600, returns as a nominee to the Landmark category after a one year absence. She was dropped in 2019 from the category, which has existed as an award for contribution to the sport, and her absence sparked a backlash toward the nominating committee.
Burton, Earnhardt, Edwards, Jake Elder and Banjo Matthews are all first-time nominees for the Hall of Fame. Burton and Earnhardt both moved to the NBC Sports broadcasting booth after successful careers with big race wins but never the elusive Cup Series championship.
Olympics
ATHLETES ALREADY QUALIFIED FOR TOKYO GAMES GET TO KEEP SPOTS » About 6,500 athletes who already have earned their spots for the Tokyo Games are in for 2021 under redrawn qualifying regulations published by the International Olympic Committee.
The IOC released its rewritten roadmap for qualifying for the games, which were rescheduled due to the coronavirus. They’ll be held July 23 through Aug. 8 next year.
The new deadline for qualifying is June 29, 2021, and entry lists are due a week later. Individual international sports federations will still be in charge of their qualifying procedures.
Many sports allow athletes to qualify by compiling results over a series of events. The IOC urged the federations to find a balance “between protecting those athletes who were close to qualifying based on the previous 2020 deadlines and also ensuring the best athletes at the Olympic Games” by taking into consideration performances in 2021.
Soccer
ENGLISH SOCCER WARNED OF $1B PANDEMIC LOSSES, CLUBS CLOSING » English soccer faced warnings that losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic could exceed $1 billion and clubs could go out of business.
The financial alarm was sounded by the heads of the English Football Association and Premier League as well-paid players in the top flight resist calls to cut their salaries because they believe the move would only benefit wealthy owners.
FA chairman Greg Clarke urged the country to unite to “keep the game alive.”
In the lower leagues, third-tier promotion hopeful Sunderland and fourthtier leader Crewe announced they would place staff, including players, on the government’s job retention scheme.
MÜLLER EXTENDS CONTRACT AT BAYERN MUNICH » Thomas Müller signed a two-year contract extension with Bayern Munich, the German champions said.
The 30-year-old attacking midfielder’s contract had been due to expire at the end of next season but he is now tied to the team until 2023.
Müller has been with Bayern for 20 years, winning eight German titles and the 2013 Champions League, and marked his 500th senior game for the club in November.
Pro football
BUCCANEERS UNVEIL NEW LOOK » The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are all in for a new look in 2020. Building on momentum created by the signing of six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady in free agency, the Bucs unveiled new uniforms for next season — a move that also figures to be embraced by fans.
Gone are jerseys sporting difficult to read digital alarm clock-style numbers, replaced by more traditional red, white and pewter ensembles similar to the uniforms the team wore from 1997-2013 — the most successful stretch in franchise history.
Baseball
RIPKEN HEADS CHARITY CAMPAIGN » Cal Ripken Jr. has launched a campaign to help feed children and families across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, coordinating a contribution of $250,000 and opening a social media account for the first time to promote the cause.
Ripken spent his entire career with the Baltimore Orioles before retiring in 2001. He set a record by playing in 2,632 consecutive games and gained entry into the Hall of Fame in 2007.
His current focus is helping feed families impacted financially by the coronavirus, but he’s also looking forward to a time when baseball teams are back on the diamond. Ripken is encouraged by the effort of Major League Baseball to devise a plan to start the delayed season, suggesting that the games “can play an important part in the recovery of the country.”
College basketball
BEY, GARZA, POWELL, PRITCHARD, TOPPIN WIN HOOPS AWARDS » Saddiq Bey of Villanova, Luka Garza of Iowa, Myles Powell of Seton Hall, Peyton Pritchard of Oregon and Obi Toppin of Dayton have earned positional awards from the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Bey received the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year award. He averaged 16.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and shot 45% from 3-point range.
Garza was named the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year. He averaged 23.9 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks.
Powell earned the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year. He averaged 21 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists.
The Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year went to Pritchard, who averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 assists and shot 82% from the freethrow line.
One pitch. That’s all it took during Will Clark’s first major league at-bat for people to recognize the Giants rookie was something else.
Then, two pitches later, Clark used his picturesque swing to forcefully announce his big league arrival. He drilled a nearly-100 mph Nolan Ryan fastball over the center field fence, becoming the 53rd player in major league history to homer in his first career atbat.
But it really wasn’t that pitch Clark sent soaring over the fence 400 feet away at the Astrodome on April 8, 1986 that gave us the truest indication of what the kid from Louisiana would deliver as a major leaguer.
For someone who came into pro baseball already carrying the nickname “The Natural,” his ability to become a six-time All-Star and hit .303 with 284 home runs over a 15-year career was something we could almost see coming.
No, the essence of who Will Clark turned out to be as a player was revealed when he watched the fireballing