Olympics march on in pandemic
The Tokyo Olympics and the International Olympic Committee have banned fans from abroad with the games opening in four months. It’s part of the fallout from holding the Olympics in the middle of a pandemic.
IOC President Thomas Bach said Saturday he was “sorry” when the decision was announced. In truth, what matters to the IOC — like any sports business that relies for most of its income on selling broadcast rights — is getting the Olympics on television. Broadcast rights in the latest four-year Olympic cycle accounted for 73% of the IOC’s income. That broadcast income amounts to about $4 billion with American network NBC paying about half.
The IOC must get the 11,000 athletes into the venues and in front of cameras. Japanese residents will fill the stands to whatever level is allowed. The decision on venue capacity will come next month.
But barring fans from abroad has created collateral damage and lots of questions.
NCAA Tournament
TOP SEED BAYLOR BEATS WISCONSIN >> Davion Mitchell scored 16 points and spearheaded a dominant defensive first half, helping top-seeded Baylor avoid another NCAA Tournament upset with a 76-63 win over Wisconsin.
The 2021 bracket has been filled with surprises, the latest by lovable Loyola Chicago over Illinois.
Not long after the Illini became the first No. 1 seed to bow out, the Bears (242) looked every bit a Final Four favorite in the first half, smothering Wisconsin with the type of defensive pressure they played before a late-season COVID-19 pause.
Women’s NCAA
TOP SEED N.C. STATE WINS >> Jada Boyd scored 15 of her 18 points in the second half and top-seeded North Carolina State overcame a slow start to beat 16th-seeded North Carolina A&T 7958 in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
N.C. State (21-2) was making its fourth straight tournament appearance and 26th overall, but earned a No. 1 seed for the first time. N.C. State will face the South Florida-Washington State winner on Tuesday night in the Mercado Region,
Chanin Scott led NC A&T (14-3) with 23 points.
NBA
GRIZZLIES BEAT WARRIORS >>
Jonas Valanciunas and Dillon Brooks scored 19 points each, Valanciunas added 15 rebounds and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Golden State Warriors 111-103 on Saturday night, splitting the two-game set between the teams.
Jordan Poole led the Warriors with 26 points, connecting on 10 of 21 shots. Andrew Wiggins, who had 40 in Golden State’s 116-103 victory Friday night, added with 20.
The Warriors, already short-handed without guard Stephen Curry and frontline players James Wiseman and Eric Pascall,
were dealt another setback with the absence of Kevon Looney. Looney, who played well against Valanciunas on Friday, was the latest to fall under the league’s health and safety protocol.
NHL
BLUES DEFEAT SHARKS >> Ryan O’Reilly snapped a third-period tie 12 seconds after San Jose was penalized for a faceoff violation, Jordan Kyrou scored twice and the St. Louis Blues beat the Sharks 5-2 on Saturday night.
St. Louis capitalized after a penalty that drew the ire of Sharks coach Bob Boughner. O’Reilly won the offensive-zone draw and then got the puck back in the circle, where he beat Devan Dubnyk 4:22 into the third to make it 3-2.
Kyrou added his second goal of the game late in the period and David Perron scored an empty-netter to give the Blues a sweep of the back-to-back set after arriving in San Jose on a five-game losing streak.
Dylan Gambrell and Tomas Hertl scored for the Sharks, who have lost three straight following a season-high three-game winning streak. Dubnyk made 16 saves.
NASCAR
BLANEY WINS IN ATLANTA >> Ryan Blaney became the sixth driver to win in six races to start NASCAR’s Cup season, surging to the front with nine laps to go after Kyle Larson’s dominant performance at Atlanta Motor Speedway fell apart on a fading set of tires.
Larson easily won the first two stages and led 269 of 325 laps on the 1.54-mile trioval.
But Larson’s tires didn’t stand up to the punishing track after making his final pit stop with 56 laps to go. Blaney stayed close enough to make his move, hugging the outside wall through the fourth turn and cutting to the inside to pass Larson as they crossed the line in front of the main grandstands.
Blaney pulled away to win by 2.083 seconds in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford.
Golf
JONES WINS HONDA CLASSIC
>> When Matt Jones won his first PGA Tour title seven years ago, he needed a 45foot birdie putt just to get into a playoff and then a 40-yard chip-in to take the victory.
This win was far less dramatic, yet just as meaningful.
It got him back to the Masters.
Jones won the Honda Classic by five shots, a final round of 2-under 68 good enough to finish the week at 12-under 268 at PGA National. The margin matched the largest in tournament history, tying the mark set by Jack Nicklaus in 1977 and matched by Camilo Villegas in 2010.
Skiing
FELLER WINS SEASON-ENDING RACE >> Rising from sixth place after the first run in a World Cup slalom, Manuel Feller won the season-ending race.
First-run leader Marco Schwarz, who already took the season-long slalom title, lost speed in a difficult section of gates and dropped to sixth place.