Ballpark mustard maker drops Indians’ Chief Wahoo logo

NBA, FIBA announce plans for pro league in Africa

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The NBA is bringing a pro league to Africa.

The Basketball Africa League, a new collaboration between the NBA and the sport’s global governing body FIBA, was announced Saturday. The initial plan is for the 12-team league to begin play in January, and former President Barack Obama is among those who are expected to have direct involvement with the league’s operations.

It’s yet to be determined which existing club teams will be part of the league. Qualification tournaments will be held later this year to determine those clubs, with teams from Angola, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia expected to be among those taking part. No nation will have more than two teams in the league.

“As we’ve been talking about this concept over the last several months, there’s been a tremendous reception from several of our NBA team owners,” Silver said. “Several of our partners have also expressed an interest to work with us in Africa.”

Silver said Pepsi and Nike’s Jordan Brand are among the partners who have reached out to the NBA and said they want to be part of the Africa league. Silver also said that Obama – an enormous basketball fan – has told him he wants to have a direct role in the league, the specifics of which have yet to be determined.

“There’s been a fantastic reception,” Silver said.

Obama spoke on a video that was shown during the event where Silver announced the league.

“Through sport, if you put in effort, you will be rewarded,” Obama said.

Mertens upsets Halep in Qatar Open final for biggest title

DOHA, Qatar – Unseeded Elise Mertens came from a set and a break down to beat recent No. 1 Simona Halep 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the Qatar Open final and capture the biggest title of her career on Saturday.

Halep led 6-3, 2-0, then lost a service game for a third time to see the second set back on serve. Mertens continued to pressure, missing two more break chances in the seventh game but finally breaking – to love – in the ninth. The set was the first Mertens took from Halep in three matchups.

Mertens broke again to start the third set, Halep leveled at 2-2, but Mertens finished stronger and won her fifth career title.

The Belgian beat two other top-10 players this week, Kiki Bertens and Angelique Kerber.

Halep’s first final appearance since August guaranteed she will rise one spot to No. 2 in the rankings on Monday.

CLEVELAND – The maker of Cleveland’s ballpark mustard is removing the Chief Wahoo logo from its branding and packaging to maintain longstanding ties with the Cleveland Indians baseball team.

Cleveland.com reports the Indians have told official partners like Bertman Foods Co., the maker of Bertman Original Ballpark Mustard, those relationships can’t continue unless they stop using Chief Wahoo. The caricature is widely seen as racist and offensive to Native Americans.

The Indians will stop using Chief Wahoo on player uniforms starting this season. The club had been phasing out the logo for years and struck an agreement with Major League Baseball last year to discontinue its use altogether.

The team will continue to sell a few Chief Wahoo items at team shops to retain its trademark.

AP