Putin allowing Russians to compete in Olympics
Decision comes day after IOC bans country from 2018 Games in South Korea
Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t boycott the Pyeongchang Olympics.
Putin said Wednesday his government will allow Russians to compete as neutral athletes at the 2018 Games in South Korea.
The International Olympic Committee has banned the Russian team from games as punishment for doping violations at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The IOC, however, plans to invite individual Russians to compete under the Olympic flag.
“Without any doubt we will not declare any kind of blockade,” Putin said. “We will not block our Olympians from taking part, if any of them wish to take part as individuals.
“They have been preparing for these competitions for their whole careers, and for them it’s very important.”
A Russian boycott would have been the biggest at any Olympics since the Soviet Union and its allies missed the 1984 Los Angeles Games. That itself was in response to the U.S.-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics four years earlier.
Putin also said Russia still did not accept accusations that it ran a state-backed doping system around the Sochi Olympics. He called the IOC ruling “politically motivated” and unfair “collective punishment.”
College football
HEISMAN PRECURSOR >> Stanford running back Bryce Love, Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield and Louisville QB Lamar Jackson are the finalists for The AP Player of the Year.
The winner will be announced today. The finalists are the same as those for the Heisman Trophy, which will be presented Saturday.
The AP player of the year has been awarded since 1998. Stanford’s only AP player of the year was Christian McCaffrey
in 2015, one of five players to be AP player of the year but not win the Heisman.
BLOOMGREN LEAVES CARDINAL FOR RICE >> Stanford assistant coach Mike Bloomgren has been hired as the coach at Rice.
Bloomgren agreed to a five-year contract with the Owls after spending last season as the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at Stanford.
He takes over for David Bailiff, who was fired on Nov. 27 after Rice finished 1-11 in his 11th season.
Bloomgren worked at Stanford for the last seven seasons. He was the offensive line coach from 2011-12 before taking over as offensive coordinator in 2013.
“In my seven years at Stanford, I have seen firsthand how elite college athletics and academics can not only coexist, but thrive together,” Bloomgren said. “I want to create an environment at Rice where every player’s dreams are realized on and off the field.”
MORRIS HEADS TO ARKANSAS >> Arkansas has hired SMU’s Chad Morris as coach, according to sources.
Morris, 49, agreed to a sixyear contract and replaces Bret Bielema, who was fired after a regular-season ending loss to Missouri last month.
Morris took over an SMU team that finished 1-11 in 2014, won two games his first season and improved to 5-7 in 2016 and 7-5 this year. UTEP TABS DIMEL>> Kansas State offensive coordinator Dana Dimel has been chosen to take over at UTEP, which is coming off a winless season.
OTHER COACHES RE-SIGNED >> Pittsburgh signed coach Pat Narduzzi to a new contract that will keep him with the Panthers through the 2024 season.
Weber State signed coach Jay Hill to an extension that keeps him in charge of the program through the 2023 season. The deal adds two years to a five-year extension signed in January.
BIG DEAL FOR TAGGART >> Willie Taggart’s contract
as Florida State’s new head football coach will pay him $30 million over six years.
The university released the letter of understanding signed by Taggart after he was announced as the Seminoles’ new coach on Wednesday. Florida State will also pay the $1,370,122.28 he still owes South Florida and $3 million owed to Oregon as part of buyouts of his previous contracts.
MACKEY AWARD FOR ANDREWS >> Oklahoma’s Mark Andrews won the Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end, the school announced Wednesday. The other finalists were Wisconsin’s Troy Fumagalli and Penn State’s Mike Gesicki. Andrews will receive the award Thursday.
Jurisprudence
MOON NAMED IN SUIT >> Hall of Fame QB Warren Moon has been accused of sexual harassment by an assistant for his Sports 1 Marketing firm, according to a lawsuit filed in Orange County.