Lucy Li keeps amateur status after warning from USGA

Super Bowl MVP Edelman to wave green flag at Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – New England Patriots receiver and Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman has been named the honorary starter for Sunday’s Daytona 500.

The honor caps a whirlwind two weeks for Edelman, who since winning his third Super Bowl on Feb. 3 has visited Disney World with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and served as a presenter at the Grammy Awards.

A half-dozen NFL quarterbacks have served as honorary starters at Daytona, including Ken Stabler, Troy Aikman and Terry Bradshaw. Other athletes from outside of racing include track star Jackie Joyner-kersee, baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. and the 2015 U.S. women’s soccer team.

Last year’s honorary starter was Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron.

Vitale to receive Sports Emmys lifetime achievement award

NEW YORK – ESPN college basketball commentator Dick Vitale will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for Sports during this year’s Sports Emmy Awards ceremony.

Vitale joined ESPN shortly after its launch in 1979. He called the network’s first significant college basketball game on Dec. 5, 1979, when Depaul hosted Wisconsin. Vitale was inducted into the National Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame last year.

Vitale also serves on the board of directors of The V Foundation, which was founded by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano in 1993 to find a cure for cancer.

The 40th Sports Emmy Awards are scheduled for May 20 in New York.

FAR HILLS, N.J. – Teen prodigy Lucy Li gets to keep her amateur status after the USGA gave her a warning for appearing in an Apple Watch advertisement. That clears the way for the 16year-old Li to play in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur the first week in April.

Li is the No. 8 player in the women’s amateur ranking. She qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open in 2014 when she was 11.

Li was part of an Apple Watch advertising campaign late last year. That violates Rule 6-2 of the Rules of Amateur Status, which bans amateurs from using their names or likeness for personal benefit in advertising products.

The USGA says Li did not receive any money.

It issued a warning because she is a minor and it’s her first violation.