Seattle’s Metcalf runs 10.37 100

Seattle Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf couldn’t catch the field in his heat of a 100-meter race at the USA Track and Field Golden Games on Sunday, finishing ninth out of nine but in a respectable time of 10.37 seconds.

Although Metcalf didn’t earn a spot in the final, he did pick up the respect of sprinters who were out to prove that track speed was far different from football fast.

Wearing earrings and a gold necklace, Metcalf burst out of the blocks in fine fashion. He wasn’t left behind either and pretty much kept in the mix until the finish line. The winner of his heat was Cravon Gillespie, who finished in 10.11 seconds to barely edge Mike Rodgers and went on to win the race.

Metcalf left the track with a new level of respect.

“These are world-class athletes,” Metcalf said during the broadcast on NBC streaming service Peacock. “It’s very different from football speed, from what I just realized.”

The 6-foot-4 Metcalf ran 4.33 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine before the 2019 draft.

NHL CBJ, COACH PART WAYS >>

John Tortorella is out as coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets after six seasons.

General manager Jarmo Kekalainen said in a statement Sunday that parting ways with the winningest coach in franchise history was a mutual decision.

The 62-year-old Tortorella was in the last year of his contract, and the separation wasn’t a surprise after a tumultuous season that saw the Blue Jackets plunge to last place in their division amid the coach’s admitted failure to influence the team culture.

“Torts and I have had numerous conversations throughout the season, and we have agreed that the time is right for both he and the club to go our separate ways,” Kekalainen said a day after the Blue Jackets concluded the season with a 5-4 overtime win against Detroit. “He is a great coach and his accomplishments with our club over the past six seasons speak for themselves.”

The Blue Jackets went 227-166-54 under Tortorella, including a franchise-best 50-24-8 finish in 2016-17. But the wheels fell off during a terrible 2020-21 season (18-26-12).

The late-starting 56game season began with the refusal of Pierre-Luc Dubois, one of the team’s brightest stars who often clashed with Tortorella, to sign a long-term contract. He was promptly traded to Winnipeg for forward Patrik Laine, who didn’t perform to expectations.

NBA

GRIFFIN FINE >> The NBA fined New Orleans Pelicans executive David Griffin $50,000 for publicly criticizing officiating over how star Zion Williamson is handled and making comments the league considered detrimental.

The decision came two days after Griffin, the Pelicans’ executive vice president of basketball operations, spoke out strongly about his concerns on the amount of contact NBA referees allow Williamson to endure.

Williamson is currently out indefinitely with a broken left index finger, an injury that occurred on a play where he did not appear to be fouled. Griffin said the Pelicans have told league officials many times that they feared Williamson was being exposed to injury because of the way defenders are allowed to play against the 6-foot-7, 284-pound forward.

“He’s injured now because of the open season there’s been on Zion Williamson in the paint,” Griffin said.