No. 1 ’Dogs, No. 2 Vols put title shot on the line
Georgia coach Kirby Smart just smiled and shook his head when asked if he has stressed conditioning in preparation for Saturday’s visit from Tennessee and its fast-paced offense.
Smart knows that one week would not have been enough to prepare his Bulldogs for the challenge in the much-anticipated matchup between No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Tennessee. That extra conditioning work began last summer and has continued through the season.
“If they’re not in shape, then you did something wrong long before (this week),” Smart said. “So we’ve been building towards this week ... since week one, the conditioning level of our players has been a concern every week for me. It’s one of the major concerns, Are you in good enough shape? Because if you’re not, you can’t make it up in one week.”
Led by quarterback Hendon Hooker, Tennessee (80, 4-0 Southeastern Conference, No. 1 College Football Playoff) averages a play about every 10 seconds, making it difficult for defenses to substitute players. The pace wears down defenses, helping the Vols lead the nation with 49.4 points per game.
Hooker said the Vols are “playing with a chip on our shoulder day in and day out. We just always feel like we have something to prove and that just fuels us to go work hard every day.”
Georgia (8-0, 5-0, No. 3 CFP) has reloaded after having eight players from its national championship defense selected in this year’s NFL draft, including five in the first round. Overall, Georgia had a record 15 players taken in the draft.
Despite the heavy losses on defense, the Bulldogs rank second in the nation with their average of 10.50 points allowed.
NASCAR
JOHNSON RETURNS TO NASCAR AS PART-OWNER, DRIVER >> Jimmie Johnson’s NASCAR retirement and IndyCar experiment lasted all of two seasons.
The seven-time NASCAR champion is returning in 2023 to the series that made him a global motorsports star as the part-owner of Petty GMS. He’ll also enter about five Cup races.
Johnson told The Associated Press that his first race will be the season-opening Daytona 500, where he’s a two-time winner.
“I’ve had a watchful eye on the ownership part and what’s happening with NASCAR, and the opportunity that I have here, the business structure and the model with NASCAR charters is just so different from than anything else in motorsports,” Johnson told the AP. “I want to be part of it. We certainly watched Michael Jordan join, what the Trackhouse Racing folks have done, and there’s all these rumors of people who want to get into the sport.
“I’m honored and thankful that I’m going to be part of it.”
NBA NIKE SPLITS WITH IRVING AMID ANTISEMITISM FALLOUT >>
Nike has parted ways with Kyrie Irving.
The shoe giant announced Friday night that it will halt its relationship with the Brooklyn guard, who has been suspended by the Nets for what the team called a repeated failure to “unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs.”
The Nets made that move Thursday, and a day later, Nike made its decision as well.
“At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism,” the Beaverton, Oregon-based company said. “To that end, we’ve made the decision to suspend our relationship with Kyrie Irving effective immediately and will no longer launch the Kyrie 8.”
Golf HENLEY WITH ANOTHER 63 OPENS 3-SHOT LEAD AT MAYAKOBA >>
Russell Henley is playing so well that even some of his conservative shots wound up close enough for easy birdies. He had another 8-under 63 and
opened a three-shot lead in the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba.
Henley was at 16-under 126, one short of his career best for the opening 36 holes on the PGA Tour. He shot 125 (62-63) at the Sony Open in Honolulu to start the year, a tournament that ended with Hideki Matsuyama beating him in a playoff.
Henley also had a threeshot lead at the Sony Open. This time, Henley leads over Will Gordon (67) and Sam Ryder (65), each looking for their first PGA Tour title.
UEDA HOLDS 1-SHOT LEAD IN TOTO CLASSIC AFTER 2ND ROUND >>
Motoko Ueda had a 3-under 69 to hold a oneshot lead after the second round of the LPGA’s Toto Classic.
Ueda, who was won this event twice, was 10-under and a shot clear of fellow Japanese players Miyu Yamashita and Ai Suzuki. Yamashita carded a 68 and Suzuki had a 70.
Attahaya Thitikul of Thailand, the LPGA’s No. 1-ranked player, had 67 and was four shots off the lead. Saiki Fujita of Japan had the best round of the day with a 66 and was three shots off the pace.
JIMENEZ MAKES LATE SURGE TO TAKE LEAD ON PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS >> Miguel Angel Jimenez birdied his final four holes for a 5-under 67, giving him a one-shot lead over Paul Goydos and Rod Pampling in the TimberTech Championship.
The PGA Tour Champions event is the second of three in the postseason, with the leading 36 players in points advancing to the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship next week in Phoenix.
Jimenez is already locked in, a three-time winner this year who came into the second postseason event at No. 5 in the Schwab Cup standings.
Gymnastics
HASHIMOTO ADDS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TO GO WITH OLYMPIC GOLD >> Daiki Hashimoto of Japan won the men’s all-around title at the world gymnastics championship, giving the 21-year-old star a bookend to the gold he won at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Hashimoto put together an all-around total of 87.198 to edge 2021 champion Zhang Boheng of China, who finished second at 87.765, well clear of bronze medalist Wataru Tanigawa of Japan at 85.231.
Hashimoto posted the best score on pommel horse during his second rotation and finished second in four other events — still rings, floor exercise, vault and high bar — in a display of excellence that showcased why is the heir apparent to Japan’s Kohei Uchimura, a two-time Olympic and sixtime world champion.
Soccer BEST VS BEST: MLS CUP FINAL PITS LAFC, PHILADELPHIA UNION >>
Major League Soccer’s playoff system rarely rewards the league’s best regular-season teams with the championship celebration they would get in most other top domestic leagues.
This season, the identity of the league’s best team will be crystal-clear when the MLS Cup is raised Saturday.
Los Angeles FC and the Philadelphia Union were the top teams in their respective conferences all year long, and they finished the regular season with identical point totals. They’ve survived the playoff gauntlet to play for both franchises’ first MLS Cup title in a rare instance of the best truly facing the best.
For the first time in 19 years, MLS’ two conference leaders are playing for the title. They’ll meet at Banc of California Stadium amid the roiling, raucous fan atmosphere created for LAFC, which is seeking the crowning achievement to its halfdecade of success since joining MLS in 2018.
FIFA URGES WORLD CUP TEAMS TO FOCUS ON SOCCER OVER POLITICS >> FIFA’s top officials have urged the 32 teams preparing for the most political World Cup in the modern era to focus on the game in Qatar and avoid handing out lessons in morality.
A letter urging teams to “let football take center stage” was sent by FIFA president Gianni Infantino and secretary general Fatma Samoura ahead of intense media focus on coaches and players when World Cup squads are announced next week.
“Please, let’s now focus on the football!” Infantino and Samoura wrote, asking the 32 soccer federations to “not allow football to be dragged into every ideological or political battle that exists.”
Qatar being picked in 2010 as World Cup host sparked scrutiny on its treatment of low-paid migrant workers needed to build projects costing tens of billions of dollars and its laws criminalizing samesex relationships.