MEYER: OHIO STATE’S REPUTATION SUFFERS
Morning Briefing
OHIO» Ohio State coach COLUMBUS,
Urban Meyer said he has sent letters and had conversations with families of players as a key step toward containing and repairing the scandal that led to his threegame suspension, a saga he describes as “a window in time I made an error.”
He acknowledged Monday that the program’s reputation has suffered and said he hopes more clarity about what happened will help mitigate the damage.
In what normally would have been a press conference about the week’s football game, the Ohio State coach met for nearly an hour with reporters who questioned him about his mismanagement of fired assistant Zach Smith and his resulting suspension after a university investigation.
“I think there was,” Meyer said when asked whether the program was damaged. He said the letters and talks with families of players were to assuage concerns that he turned his back on domestic violence allegations.
Coach apologizes for 906 rout.
S.D.» South Dakota State BROOKINGS, football coach John Stiegelmeier said he regrets allowing his team to pile up 90 points against ArkansasPine Bluff.
SDSU set a school record for points in its 906 victory Saturday. The Jackrabbits had 926 yards of total offense — just shy of a Football Championship Subdivision record.
Sapporo drops 2026 Olympic bid.
The Japanese city of Sapporo has dropped its bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympics following a recent earthquake.
After meeting with Sapporo representatives, the International Olympic Committee said the city, which became the first in Asia to host the Winter Olympics in 1972, will now focus on a bid for the 2030 Games.
Four bids remain in contention for 2026: Stockholm, Sweden; Calgary, Canada; a threeway Italian bid from Turin, Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo; and Erzurum, Turkey.
Group protests Russian reinstatement.
The potential reinstatement of Russia’s antidoping agency drew further outcry, this time from a worldwide group of drugfighting organizations that portrayed it as the result of an eleventhhour deal designed to appease a powerful nation.
The Institute of National AntiDoping Organizations lashed out at a recommendation to end the nearly threeyear suspension of RUSADA. In a news release, iNADO said World AntiDoping Agency officials had told European government representatives as recently as last week that the issue would not be decided at Thursday’s meeting of the WADA executive committee.
Former Buff gets chance with Nuggets.
The Nuggets added a familiar face to their training camp roster, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Former Colorado Buffs guard Xavier Silas agreed to a training camp deal with Denver, Wojnarowski reported on Twitter.
Oilers sign defenseman Nurse.
» The Edmonton Oilers have signed Darnell Nurse to a twoyear contract, ending a lengthy stalemate with one of their top defensemen.
The team did not disclose financial terms.
The 23yearold Nurse led Edmonton blue liners in 201718 with six goals and 20 assists in 82 games.
Earthquakes change coaches.
LIF.» The San Jose Earth
JOSE, C A quakes fired firstyear head coach Mikael Stahre with the team sitting at the bottom of the Western Conference standings.
San Jose named Steve Ralston interim head coach for the team’s remaining six matches while making the announcement of the coaching change. The team also dismissed assistant coach Alex de Crook.