Jets, ageless Gore agree to terms on 1-year deal
Running back Frank Gore has agreed to terms on a one- year contract with the New York Jets, agent Drew Rosenhaus announced.
The former 49ers running back, who turns 37 next Thursday, will join a Jets backfield that also includes Le’Veon Bell and fourth- round draft pick La’Mical Perine. Gore is third on the NFL’s career rushing list with 15,269 yards.
The Jets had not yet announced the signing Tuesday, but it reunites Gore with coach Adam Gase, for whom he played in Miami in 2018. The two were also together in San Francisco in 2008, when Gase was an offensive assistant.
Gore spent last season with Buffalo, where he ran for a career-low 599 yards in 16 games while sharing the backfield with rookie Devin Singletary. The veteran had two touchdown runs and also caught 13 passes for 100 yards.
He spent his first 10 NFL seasons with San Francisco after being selected in the third round out of the University of Miami in 2005.
Tennis
SPANISH CLUB SAYS IT MISTAKENLY ALLOWED DJOKOVIC TO TRAIN >> The tennis club where Novak Djokovic broke confinement rules in Spain said it mistakenly allowed the top-ranked Serb to practice and apologized for the error.
Djokovic published a video of him training on Monday in apparent violation of Spain’s current rules amid the coronavirus pandemic. The video posted on Instagram showed Djokovic exchanging shots with another man at the club in the coastal city of Marbella, where the Serb has been staying for the past several weeks.
Spain has eased some of the lockdown measures that had been in place since mid-March, allowing professional athletes to return to practice, but most training centers and sports facilities must remain closed until next week.
NADAL PESSIMISTIC ABOUT RETURN IN 2020 >> If given the option, Rafael Nadal said he would scrap this season entirely so tennis could resume normally in 2021.
The second- ranked Spaniard, who is 33 years old and has won 19 Grand Slam titles, said he hoped to resume playing this year but doubted it could happen because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Nadal said the logistical difficulties of having to move people from country to country for tournaments make it hard for tennis to resume safely amid the pandemic.
Nadal recently said he was concerned with the risk of new injuries when players return to action after a long time without
proper training. The Spaniard has had to deal with a series of injuries throughout his career and expects his body to struggle again when competitions finally resume.
Soccer
8 MEN CLAIMING DAMAGES FROM MAN CITY OVER SEXUAL ABUSE >> Eight men who were sexually abused by a youth soccer coach will go to London’s High Court to claim damages from Manchester City for what they describe as “very serious psychiatric injuries.”
The men have said they were abused by Barry Bennell while he was supposedly working as a scout for City and coaching so-called “feeder teams” which provided the club with players
who were too young to be signed on schoolboy terms.
In 2018, Bennell was jailed for 30 years after being convicted of 50 child sexual offenses committed between 1979 and 1991.
The eight men are now in their late 40s or early 50s. They argue that, while Bennell was not officially employed by City, the club is still vicariously liable for the abuse.
BRAZILIAN FOOTBALLERS REJECT RESTART, PAY CUTS >> Brazilian footballers are protesting lawmakers’ attempts to cut their pay, and some say they will play again only after they are reassured by health authorities.
The players’ actions on Monday came as some Brazilian clubs push to restart the season despite the stillspreading coronavirus, which has caused more than 7,000 known deaths. The peak of the crisis in Brazil’s public health care system is expected this month.
Soccer was halted in most of Brazil on March 15, with some minor leagues continuing for another week.
The bill that Brazilian lawmakers are trying to pass includes a proposed reduction of 50% in pay on termination of players’ contracts. Some top-flight clubs have already reached deals to reduce wages by up to 30% during the pandemic, but executives insist that is not enough to ensure they survive. ANOTHER CORONAVIRUS CASE IN GERMAN SOCCER BEFORE KEY MEETING >> Second- division German soccer club Erzgebirge Aue put its entire squad in home isolation after a member of staff tested positive for the coronavirus.
It was the first confirmed case in the German league’s second round of testing, coming a day before a government meeting on loosening lockdown measures to pave the way for soccer to return in empty stadiums.
Aue didn’t name the staff member involved or say how the person could have contracted the coronavirus. The club didn’t report any positive tests from the first round of testing last week.
Cycling
GIRO AND VUELTA TO OVERLAP IN REVISED CALENDAR >> The three biggest races in cycling will take place in a 72- day span, starting with the Tour de France at the end of August and finishing with the Spanish Vuelta in November.
The Spanish race and the Giro d’Italia will even overlap, assuming competition resumes this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the latest plans, which can be amended if the health crisis continues, the Tour de France’s start remains slated for Aug. 29 in the Riviera city of Nice. The season is now expected to end after the Spanish Vuelta on Nov. 8.
College athletics
BUTTERLY NAMED NEW BIG WEST COMMISSIONER >> Dan Butterly is the new Big West Conference commissioner, moving over from the Mountain West after 21 years.
He starts with the Irvine-based league on June 1 to work alongside Dennis Farrell, who will step down on July 1 after 40 years with the Big West, including 28 as commissioner. Butterly will be the league’s fifth commissioner.
Butterly has been senior associate commissioner of the Mountain West, working as the primary sport and championship administrator for men’s basketball.