newyorkpost--2020-06-27--NBA players face mental health challenges in Disney bubble

With their season officially over , the Knicks are back in ...

The adjustments NBA players will make in the Orlando bubble for the season’s restart on July 30 will be enormous.
One change the players must adapt to is the lack of a crowd and its wall of noise, according to a leading sports psychologist.
But acclimating to fan-less games may not be as large as the isolation they will face amid the restrictions placed on them inside the confines of Disney World.
Dr. Stephen Gonzalez, executive board member for the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, told The Post the experience may feel like “house arrest,’’ noting the bubble rulebook of 113 pages. Violators are subject to banishment.
“It’s unchartered waters,’’ Gonzalez told The Post. “The Olympics, you need to have all their movements tracked with security details and it hampers your freedom. It’s a small amount of what’s to happen with basketball. They’re restricted to where they can eat. They’re giving up a lot of freedom to do this.”
The 22 teams, including the Nets but not the Knicks, report to Orlando July 7-8 for official training camp.
“There’s going to be an initial excitement and motivation to follow the rules,’’ said Gonzalez, Assistant Athletics Director for Leadership and Mental Performance at Dartmouth. “Eventually, it’s like a New Year’s resolution. You diet and, after a week or two, you revert back to habits. Our athletes are going to revert back to what they like things to be. I think it’s going to be a lot of struggle and stress.”
The players’ physical wellness — staying free of COVID-19 and getting back into game shape after nearly a four-month hiatus — might be nothing compared to their mental health.
“We’re looking at COVID from a physical standpoint, but there’s a mental aspect — the anxiety and fear,’’ Gonzalez said. “There is interesting data about how COVID affects long-term lung capacity, even for those at a younger age. For athletes, it’s a damning ramification. But the anxiety worry and isolation of human beings? We’re social creatures. It’s challenging.
“It’s causing a lot of depression. That’s the hidden side effect of COVID. We’re not talking enough how that could effect these guys,’’ Gonzalez added.
Recreational rooms will be provided, but with reams of guidelines. For instance, players can’t share headsets when playing video games and no doubles in ping-pong. There’s a document specifying the proper recipe on disinfecting basketballs used in practice.
Gonzalez predicts some players may drop out midstream.
“It’s a pretty big experiment of willpower and patience,’’ Gonzalez said. “Not being able to train properly for four months, then I’m stuck in a hotel and can’t do anything. They will need something to occupy themselves or it could be a miserable experience.”
Players will undergo daily COVID-19 exams. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Friday “the level of concern has increased’’ because of the coronavirus spike in Florida. “We can’t outrun the virus,’’ Silver said.
Gonzalez indicated he would run away from the restart.
“The news has not been great recently,’’ Gonzalez said. “A lot of this is being driven by how much money are we going to lose. We need to really take a look at whether the risk is worth the reward.”
The risks may be too great, the Dartmouth psychologist said. Players may not be aware of their preexisting conditions.
“I respect them for wanting to try it,’’ Gonzalez said. “Fans are hungry for it. If you’re the commissioner, you hate to see an athlete’s career trajectory be negatively effected by side effects or death. We know younger, healthier population it’s less, but it still doesn’t mean it can’t happen.
“If somebody gets in critical care on a ventilator because of underlying preexisting conditions, are you OK as a commissioner knowing the life-threatening consequences? I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that if I’m the commissioner of a major sports league.”
On the court, Gonzalez believes players will get used to the fan-less atmosphere, but it might take several games for them to find their game mojo.
According to an industry source, music will be piped into the gym for some games — just like in a pre-coronavirus arena, making it less deathly silent.
“They’re used to bigger crowds,” Gonzalez said. “This could feel more like an organized scrimmage or competitive practice. It is going to be interesting to see how they handle what they’re not used to. Crowd plays into it. You make a shot and feel an adrenaline rush from the crowd noise and applause. Athletes need now to be to focused on the task at hand.”
Gonzalez works with Dartmouth athletes — and some pro competitors — on dealing with arena volume. Now it’s the opposite: silence.
Different players react differently. Gonzalez senses LeBron James feeds off the fans more so than, says, the more placid Kawhi Leonard. James said in March he preferred not to play if it’s without fans, though he has since changed his tune.
“LeBron appreciates the relationship he has with fans,’’ Gonzalez said. “Not having the other end of the relationship present is going to be a really hard thing for him. However, Tim Duncan, you can’t tell if Tim is having a good day or bad day. He’s just stoic. There’s a couple of players like that now in how they present their emotions like Kawhi.’’
Many teams have added sports psychologists — and the specialists will come in handy.
“If I was working with any NBA player, one of the things we’d talk about is what effect does crowd have on you positively or negatively,’’ Gonzalez added. “And without the crowd there, how are we going to plan getting those same emotions, same level of adrenaline. Maybe using visualization and getting yourself as many simulated reps, shooting in an empty gym, getting a sense of that quiet and stillness and embracing it. It’s a factor. They’re going to need to find a way to adapt and adjust.”


newyorkpost--2020-06-28--Coronavirus has now infected more than 10 million worldwide

The coronavirus pandemic hit a grim milestone Sunday with 10 million cases worldwide — and the death toll closing in @ @ @ @ @ .
As of Sunday morning , Johns Hopkins University data which has long tracked the @ @ @ @ @ , with 499,296 deaths worldwide .
More than a quarter of both counts came from @ @ @ @ @ of Sunday had seen 2,510,323 confirmed cases and 125,539 deaths , the data shows .
@ @ @ @ @ 42,000 cases Saturday , the data shows — lower than the record 45,255 recorded Friday @ @ @ @ @ day that there have been more than 40,000 new cases .
The data reports only @ @ @ @ @ fear the true figure is likely far higher , with many people unable to get @ @ @ @ @ without symptoms .
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that as many @ @ @ @ @ may be infected — which would mean as many as 20 million may have contracted @ @ @ @ @ alone .

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The coronavirus pandemic hit a grim milestone Sunday with 10 million cases worldwide — and the death toll closing in on 500,000, data shows.
As of Sunday morning, Johns Hopkins University data which has long tracked the contagion listed 10,004,643 confirmed cases, with 499,296 deaths worldwide.
More than a quarter of both counts came from the US, which as of Sunday had seen 2,510,323 confirmed cases and 125,539 deaths, the data shows.
The US recorded more than 42,000 cases Saturday, the data shows — lower than the record 45,255 recorded Friday, but the second straight day that there have been more than 40,000 new cases.
The data reports only confirmed cases — and experts fear the true figure is likely far higher, with many people unable to get tested or carrying the bug without symptoms.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that as many as 10 times more Americans may be infected — which would mean as many as 20 million may have contracted the virus in the US alone.


newyorkpost--2020-06-28--Ex-Yankee Mike Stanton: Offense will suffer in MLB’s short season

Clint Frazier would have received a shot , and really , when ...

All the proof needed to agree with former Yankees reliever Mike Stanton’s vision for MLB’s shortened season was reinforced Saturday.
That’s when Gerrit Cole and Adam Ottavino continued their Yankee Stadium bullpen sessions ahead of Wednesday’s “spring training’’ reporting date for players. Two days of testing will be followed by the Yankees’ first workout at the Stadium on Friday.
“I think this has a chance to be anemic offensively,’’ Stanton told The Post on Saturday from his Texas home. “That’s because hitters are not going to get the live game repetitions they would get in a regular spring training.’’
Cole and Ottavino aren’t alone throwing bullpen sessions ever since the coronavirus shut down spring training camps on March 12. Zack Britton and James Paxton continued to throw in Texas and Wisconsin, respectively, and Jordan Montgomery did the same in South Carolina.
Stanton has a two-pronged plan to get pitchers and hitters ready at the same time.
“I would want all pitchers to throw live batting practice, 40 pitches. I don’t want game intensity but pitchers throw that many pitches in bullpens,’’ Stanton said. “The hitters should take live batting practice from Day 1. I would want the hitters to see as much live BP as possible.’’
Stanton, a Yankees reliever from 1997 to 2002 and again in 2005, believes today’s pitchers’ habits during downtime like this three-plus-month hiatus shouldn’t limit the number of pitches thrown in early games.
“It’s a different generation and a different mindset,’’ said the 53-year-old Stanton, who pitched in the big leagues for 19 years with the Braves, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, Nationals, Giants and Rangers. “In some capacity they have been throwing.’’
Stanton suggests not overdoing anything in the first week of spring training 2 to avoid injuries. But after that, the focus should be on building stamina and pitch count.
“The last 10 days cut it loose. I think a starter should be able to throw 90 [pitches],’’ Stanton said.
How Matt Blake, the Yankees’ first-year pitching coach, maps out his starters’ workload between Friday and the first game should the COVID-19 pandemic allow it, on July 23 against the defending world champion Nationals in Washington, will be interesting and likely cautious.
Cole, who would have started Opening Day against the Orioles in Baltimore and Aaron Boone’s obvious choice versus the Nationals, threw 55 pitches in his fourth spring training start on March 10. With two more spring outings remaining, Cole would have likely hiked the pitch count in the first by 15 or so but a lot of pitching coaches shorten a starter’s pitch count in the final outing.
However, first comes something baseball has never seen before: extensive testing for a virus.
Yankees players and staff members will go through two days of stringent screening and medical testing before entering the Stadium on Monday and Tuesday.
Teams have until 4 p.m. Sunday to submit a 60-man roster. Likely to be included are top pitching prospects Clarke Schmidt and Deivi Garcia who are not on the 40-man roster. Without minor league games, it is an opportunity to provide a structured program and a chance to be part of a taxi squad.


newyorkpost--2020-06-28--Coronavirus cases stabilize in China while Italy sees drop in deaths

China has extended COVID-19 tests to newly reopened salons amid a drop in cases , while South Korea continues to face new infections after it eased social distancing rules to lift the economy .
In the U.S. , Vice President Mike Pence called off off a planned campaign bus tour in Florida following a surge in confirmed cases there .
Hard-hit Italy , meanwhile , registered the lowest day-to-day tally of COVID-19 deaths Saturday in almost three months .
No positive cases were found in Beijing ’ s beauty and barbershops in a further sign that the city ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ control .
Beijing officials have temporarily shut a huge wholesale food market where the virus spread widely , reclosed schools and locked down some neighborhoods .
Anyone leaving Beijing is required to have a negative virus test result within the previous seven days .
Tens of millions of Chinese traveled during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival that ended Saturday , with no outbreaks reported immediately .
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 40 of the newly reported cases were domestically infected , while 22 others came from overseas .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ detected in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area , linked to nightclubs , church services , a huge e-commerce warehouse and low-income workers .
In Hawaii , the city of Honolulu announced that campgrounds will reopen for the first time in three months with limited permits to ensure social distancing .
In contrast , Washington Gov .
Jay Inslee put a hold on plans to move counties to the fourth phase of his reopening plan as cases continue to increase .
In a further sign of the impact on the U.S economy , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at its chicken processing plant in the far southwestern corner of Missouri have tested positive for COVID-19 .
Pence canceled a planned bus tour in Florida to benefit his and President Donald Trump ’ s reelection , as state health officials on Saturday reported more than 9,500 new cases , surpassing the previous day ’ s total by more than 600 confirmed cases .
The figures come as officials move to reclose beaches and discourage bar gatherings .
Kansas , Idaho and Oklahoma were also among U.S. states seeing a sharp rise in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expanded testing , experts say there is ample evidence the scourge is making a comeback , including increasing deaths and hospitalizations in parts of the country and higher percentages of virus tests coming back positive .

China has extended COVID-19 tests to newly reopened salons amid a drop in cases, while South Korea continues to face new infections after it eased social distancing rules to lift the economy.
In the U.S., Vice President Mike Pence called off off a planned campaign bus tour in Florida following a surge in confirmed cases there. Hard-hit Italy, meanwhile, registered the lowest day-to-day tally of COVID-19 deaths Saturday in almost three months.
No positive cases were found in Beijing’s beauty and barbershops in a further sign that the city’s recent outbreak has been largely brought under control.
Beijing officials have temporarily shut a huge wholesale food market where the virus spread widely, reclosed schools and locked down some neighborhoods. Anyone leaving Beijing is required to have a negative virus test result within the previous seven days.
Tens of millions of Chinese traveled during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival that ended Saturday, with no outbreaks reported immediately.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 40 of the newly reported cases were domestically infected, while 22 others came from overseas. The bulk of the local cases were detected in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, linked to nightclubs, church services, a huge e-commerce warehouse and low-income workers.
In Hawaii, the city of Honolulu announced that campgrounds will reopen for the first time in three months with limited permits to ensure social distancing. In contrast, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee put a hold on plans to move counties to the fourth phase of his reopening plan as cases continue to increase.
In a further sign of the impact on the U.S economy, Tyson Foods has announced that 371 employees at its chicken processing plant in the far southwestern corner of Missouri have tested positive for COVID-19.
Pence canceled a planned bus tour in Florida to benefit his and President Donald Trump’s reelection, as state health officials on Saturday reported more than 9,500 new cases, surpassing the previous day’s total by more than 600 confirmed cases. The figures come as officials move to reclose beaches and discourage bar gatherings.
Kansas, Idaho and Oklahoma were also among U.S. states seeing a sharp rise in case.
While the rise partly reflects expanded testing, experts say there is ample evidence the scourge is making a comeback, including increasing deaths and hospitalizations in parts of the country and higher percentages of virus tests coming back positive.


newyorkpost--2020-06-28--Charles Webb, eccentric author of ‘The Graduate,’ dead at 81

Charles Webb , the author whose first novel , “ The Graduate , ” inspired the 1967 Oscar-winning movie starring Dustin Hoffman , is dead at the age of 81 due to a blood condition .
His death was confirmed by longtime friend and journalist Jack Malvern writes Deadline .
Webb , who died on June 16th in Eastbourne , England , said that the iconic book and subsequent film were based on real-life experiences from when he was growing up in Los Angeles , though he also claimed that it was not autobiographical .
Though his book became famous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 20,000 from the film rights and chose to live a life that wasn ’ t filled with the glitz and glamour of Hollywood .
“ Millions and millions were made from The Graduate and here I am searching around for a couple of quid to buy my sandwich — people love that , ” Webb once told The BBC .
He and his wife Eve , who died last year , led a peculiar life .
They spent much of their time on the open road and homeschooling their three children .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and in a show of solidarity against the United States marriage laws , divorced , but remained together , the Deadline story said .
In 2007 , Webb published a sequel to The Graduate called Home Schooled .
Though written for financial reasons , Webb was always happy not to live a materialistic life .
“ My wife and I have done a lot of things we wouldn ’ t have done if we were rich people … I would have been counting my money instead of educating my children , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Associated Press .
Webb is survived by his children .

Charles Webb, the author whose first novel, “The Graduate,” inspired the 1967 Oscar-winning movie starring Dustin Hoffman, is dead at the age of 81 due to a blood condition.
His death was confirmed by longtime friend and journalist Jack Malvern writes Deadline.
Webb, who died on June 16th in Eastbourne, England, said that the iconic book and subsequent film were based on real-life experiences from when he was growing up in Los Angeles, though he also claimed that it was not autobiographical.
Though his book became famous, the eccentric Webb earned only $20,000 from the film rights and chose to live a life that wasn’t filled with the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.
“Millions and millions were made from ‘The Graduate’ and here I am searching around for a couple of quid to buy my sandwich — people love that,” Webb once told The BBC.
He and his wife Eve, who died last year, led a peculiar life.
They spent much of their time on the open road and homeschooling their three children.
They ran a nudist camp in New Jersey and in a show of solidarity against the United States marriage laws, divorced, but remained together, the Deadline story said.
In 2007, Webb published a sequel to “The Graduate” called “Home Schooled.:
Though written for financial reasons, Webb was always happy not to live a materialistic life.
“My wife and I have done a lot of things we wouldn’t have done if we were rich people … I would have been counting my money instead of educating my children,” he said in a 2006 interview with the Associated Press.
Webb is survived by his children.


newyorkpost--2020-06-28--NBA plans to let players have social justice messages on jerseys

NBA players could have social justice statements on their jerseys when the season resumes on July 30 in Orlando , Fla .
The league and the NBA Basketball Players Association are in discussions to let players wear a social statement on the back of their jerseys in place of their last name , according to an ESPN report on Saturday night .
Players received a group text message that illustrated the early plans that are being discussed between the NBA , the players union and Nike , saying “ look out for details in the coming days.
” The NBA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sports league to allow social justice statements to be displayed on jerseys .
After the Premier League in England resumed after the coronavirus pandemic lockdown earlier this month , it replaced player names on the back of jerseys with the phrase “ Black Lives Matter.
” Jerseys also will feature a sleeve patch for the rest of the season .
The league , which released its schedule on Friday , will highlight Zion Williamson and LeBron James in the first two games .
Williamson ’ s New Orleans Pelicans will face the Utah @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ Lakers will battle Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers in the nightcap .
The Nets ( 30-34 ) , who currently hold a half-game lead for the No .
7 seed in the Eastern Conference , will resume play on July 31 with their first of two remaining against the eighth-place Magic ( 30-35 ) .

NBA players could have social justice statements on their jerseys when the season resumes on July 30 in Orlando, Fla.
The league and the NBA Basketball Players Association are in discussions to let players wear a social statement on the back of their jerseys in place of their last name, according to an ESPN report on Saturday night.
Players received a group text message that illustrated the early plans that are being discussed between the NBA, the players union and Nike, saying “look out for details in the coming days.”
The NBA wouldn’t be the first professional sports league to allow social justice statements to be displayed on jerseys.
After the Premier League in England resumed after the coronavirus pandemic lockdown earlier this month, it replaced player names on the back of jerseys with the phrase “Black Lives Matter.” Jerseys also will feature a sleeve patch for the rest of the season.
The league, which released its schedule on Friday, will highlight Zion Williamson and LeBron James in the first two games. Williamson’s New Orleans Pelicans will face the Utah Jazz in the first game and James’ Lakers will battle Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers in the nightcap.
The Nets (30-34), who currently hold a half-game lead for the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference, will resume play on July 31 with their first of two remaining against the eighth-place Magic (30-35).


newyorkpost--2020-06-28--How these Yankees and Mets could fare in short season

Gerrit Cole became one of the most sought-after free-agent starting pitchers in history last offseason after a dominant year with Houston.
But though his first half of 2019 was excellent, it was what Cole did in the second half of the year that cemented the right-hander as the game’s top target on the market.
After going 9-5 with a 3.09 ERA and a 1.020 WHIP in 19 starts before the All-Star Game, Cole was lights out in the second half, finishing on an 11-0 run with a 1.70 ERA and 0.723 WHIP over his final 14 outings in the regular season.
The 2020 season isn’t going to look like anyone anticipated, if it’s even played, and players won’t have the normal six months of a regular season to prove their worth. Instead, it will be a 60-game, nine-week sprint in which a slow start won’t be easily brushed off.
The Yankees and Mets enter this abbreviated season, shortened first by the COVID-19 pandemic then a labor dispute, with high expectations and have players who seem well-suited to having quick starts and others who typically build momentum over the course of a full season — a luxury they won’t have this year.
Though the difference in Cole’s stats last year were stark, it’s no surprise the Yankees’ new ace is typically excellent for most of the year, but he now will be tasked with having the weight of a huge contract and new surroundings to deal with.
On the other side of town, Robinson Cano is usually consistent from beginning to end, but that was not the case in his difficult first season with the Mets, when he had just a .646 OPS in the first half before rebounding with an OPS of .880 in the second half.
Those ugly first few months may be chalked up to new surroundings, but Cano and the Mets won’t be able to afford a similar shaky start out of the gate in 2020 from the second baseman.
Even Jacob deGrom, winner of back-to-back NL Cy Young Awards, needed about a month to find his form a year ago before becoming nearly unhittable during the latter part of the season. In his first Cy Young season, deGrom had no such issues, but the right-hander finished last April with a 4.85 ERA following three straight subpar outings.
Marcus Stroman, solid throughout 2019 when he was traded from Toronto to the Mets, owns a 4.14 ERA over his career in the first half, a number that drops to 3.33 in the second half.
Steven Matz got off to a rough start last year, as did Jeurys Familia in the bullpen. Matz was significantly better later in the year and Familia showed signs of improvement in the second half, as well.
In The Bronx, Aaron Judge is traditionally stronger in the early going, often because of injuries later in the year. How he recovers from the fractured rib he was dealing with in spring training will affect his production.
In the Yankees rotation, J.A. Happ has a career 4.35 ERA before the All-Star break. It drops to 3.60 in the second half — and it’s a trend he’s shown each of the previous two seasons. Happ has plenty of reasons to try to change that narrative, as he could be a free agent this offseason.
With all the other factors that will impact this wild year, it’s impossible to predict if prior trends will stand up. Players were about two weeks away from Opening Day when spring training was shut down, and they’ll now get about three weeks to get ready again — and that’s only if everything goes well.


newyorkpost--2020-06-28--Four men face federal charges for attempt to topple Andrew Jackson statue in DC

Four men have been federally charged with defacing and attempting to tear down an Andrew Jackson statue near the White House earlier this week .
The suspects – Lee Michael Cantrell , 47 ; Connor Matthew Judd , 20 ; Ryan Lane , 37 ; and Graham Lloyd , 37 – are charged with the destruction of federal property , the capital ’ s U.S. Attorney , Michael Sherwin announced late Saturday .
The announcement came a day after President Trump signed an executive order cracking down on protesters who deface or topple controversial statues during nationwide civil unrest over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump has promised prosecutors will pursue 10-year prison terms under the Veterans ’ Memorial Preservation Act against anyone targeting the monuments .
Sherwin on Saturday said the federal government hopes to make an example out of the alleged vandals .
“ [ T ] hese charges should serve as a warning to those who choose to desecrate the statues and monuments that adorn our nation ’ s capital : your violent behavior and criminal conduct will not be tolerated , ” Sherwin said in a statement .
Demonstrators in several cities have vandalized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ties to slavery or other forms of brutality .
Protesters in Washington , D.C. , had targeted the Lafayette Square monument to the slave-owning seventh president , whose Indian Removal Act forced the violent , sometimes deadly displacement of tens of thousands of Native Americans from their ancestral homes on millions of acres in Georgia , Tennessee , Alabama , North Carolina and Florida .
Prosecutors allege the four suspects – who hail from D.C. , Maine , Maryland and Virginia – are among more than a dozen people caught on camera Monday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with rope and other objects .
Cantrell was allegedly captured on video attempting to pry the statue off its base with a wooden board as well as trying to pull the statue down with a yellow strap .
Lane , Judd and Lloyd were also allegedly pulling on a rope that was affixed to the statue in an attempt to bring it down .
Judd was arrested on Friday and appeared in Superior Court of the District of Columbia Saturday , but the other three suspects remain at large , according to Sherwin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evening tweeted more than a dozen flyers from the US Park Police with images of suspects believed to have targeted the monument that Monday .
A multi-agency investigation into the vandalization is ongoing among the U.S. Park Police , the FBI Washington Field Office ’ s Violent Crime Task Force and the Washington Metropolitan Police Department .

Four men have been federally charged with defacing and attempting to tear down an Andrew Jackson statue near the White House earlier this week.
The suspects – Lee Michael Cantrell, 47; Connor Matthew Judd, 20; Ryan Lane, 37; and Graham Lloyd, 37 – are charged with the destruction of federal property, the capital’s U.S. Attorney, Michael Sherwin announced late Saturday.
The announcement came a day after President Trump signed an executive order cracking down on protesters who deface or topple controversial statues during nationwide civil unrest over the police killing of George Floyd.
Trump has promised prosecutors will pursue 10-year prison terms under the Veterans’ Memorial Preservation Act against anyone targeting the monuments.
Sherwin on Saturday said the federal government hopes to make an example out of the alleged vandals.
“[T]hese charges should serve as a warning to those who choose to desecrate the statues and monuments that adorn our nation’s capital: your violent behavior and criminal conduct will not be tolerated,” Sherwin said in a statement.
Demonstrators in several cities have vandalized or pulled down statues of men with ties to slavery or other forms of brutality.
Protesters in Washington, D.C., had targeted the Lafayette Square monument to the slave-owning seventh president, whose Indian Removal Act forced the violent, sometimes deadly displacement of tens of thousands of Native Americans from their ancestral homes on millions of acres in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida.
Prosecutors allege the four suspects – who hail from D.C., Maine, Maryland and Virginia – are among more than a dozen people caught on camera Monday night trying to take down the statue with rope and other objects.
Cantrell was allegedly captured on video attempting to pry the statue off its base with a wooden board as well as trying to pull the statue down with a yellow strap.
Lane, Judd and Lloyd were also allegedly pulling on a rope that was affixed to the statue in an attempt to bring it down.
Judd was arrested on Friday and appeared in Superior Court of the District of Columbia Saturday, but the other three suspects remain at large, according to Sherwin’s office.
Trump on Saturday evening tweeted more than a dozen flyers from the US Park Police with images of suspects believed to have targeted the monument that Monday.
A multi-agency investigation into the vandalization is ongoing among the U.S. Park Police, the FBI Washington Field Office’s Violent Crime Task Force and the Washington Metropolitan Police Department.


newyorkpost--2020-06-28--Dustin Poirier survives brutal second round to win UFC slugfest

LAS VEGAS — Dustin Poirier won a thrilling unanimous decision over Dan Hooker on Saturday night , surviving a brutal second round and persevering to finish a well-rounded performance in the main event at the UFC ’ s corporate gym .
Mike Perry also ended his two-fight skid with a one-sided unanimous decision over Mickey Gall in the penultimate fight of the UFC ’ s fifth consecutive fan-free event in its hometown .
The main event was a barn-burner from the opening round , with both lightweights trading wicked strikes and displaying minimal regard for defense .
The second round @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fighter badly hurting the other while throwing punches and knees at full power .
The fight went to the ground in the fourth round , and Poirier attempted several submissions before Hooker escaped .
Poirier appeared to have more energy left for the fifth round , and he won on all three cards : 48-47 , 48-47 and 48-46 .
“ It was a tough one , ” Poirier said .
“ Dan came to fight .
He ’ s a tough guy .
He ’ s on the rise .
He really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me .
I trusted in my team , in my skill and my work ethic.
” Poirier ( 26-6 ) capped his long rise by beating Max Holloway in April 2019 for the interim lightweight title .
He lost the belt to unbeaten champion Khabib Nurmagomedov last September , and a leg injury subsequently kept him out of the cage for the longest stretch of his career .
He was back in fine form against Hooker ( 20-9 ) , the tough kickboxing star from New Zealand who had won seven of his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had lost five of his last seven fights , and his wild mixed martial arts career took another swerve in recent months when he split with his wife , separated from his coaches and decided that his girlfriend , Latory Gonzalez , would be the only person in his corner at this fight .
Gonzalez doesn ’ t have an extensive combat sports background , and her corner work largely consisted of placing an ice bag on Perry ’ s neck between rounds and saying : “ You ’ re doing great , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ skills and an impressive ground game to earn just his second win since July 2018 .
“ Every time we get in there , it ’ s all up to me , ” said Perry , who plans to get new coaches before his next bout .
“ I trained for this .
I ’ m a professional.
” The show was the last of five weekend events at the UFC Apex gym on the promotion ’ s corporate campus .
The UFC has staged eight fan-free events amid the coronavirus pandemic since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ UFC will take next week off before resuming competition on July 12 at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi with UFC 251 , a stacked pay-per-view show with three title fights .
The promotion will hold four shows over 14 days at the so-called “ Fight Island ” before returning stateside .
This latest Vegas show was stacked with impressive finishes and unusual results .
Heavyweight Maurice Greene stopped his two-fight skid with an unorthodox submission of Gian Villante , who was on top of Greene and apparently in control when Greene wrapped an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( 9-4 ) didn ’ t have a traditional chokehold around Villante ’ s neck , an exhausted Villante was unable to move and tapped out with 1:16 left in the fight .
Japanese welterweight Takashi Sato produced one of the most impressive stoppages of the night , beating late replacement opponent Jason Witt with a flurry of strikes in just 48 seconds .
Julian Erosa , another late replacement opponent , won his fight on five days ’ notice by forcing Sean Woodson to tap out with a choke midway through the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the UFC roster last year after three straight losses , but seized his last-minute chance to return .
A string of five consecutive finishes began with the second fight of the night .
Kay Hansen , a 20-year-old strawweight making her UFC debut , beat Jinh Yu Frey in the third round with an armbar finish reminiscent of her hero , Ronda Rousey .

LAS VEGAS — Dustin Poirier won a thrilling unanimous decision over Dan Hooker on Saturday night, surviving a brutal second round and persevering to finish a well-rounded performance in the main event at the UFC’s corporate gym.
Mike Perry also ended his two-fight skid with a one-sided unanimous decision over Mickey Gall in the penultimate fight of the UFC’s fifth consecutive fan-free event in its hometown.
The main event was a barn-burner from the opening round, with both lightweights trading wicked strikes and displaying minimal regard for defense. The second round was a particular spectacle, with each fighter badly hurting the other while throwing punches and knees at full power.
The fight went to the ground in the fourth round, and Poirier attempted several submissions before Hooker escaped. Poirier appeared to have more energy left for the fifth round, and he won on all three cards: 48-47, 48-47 and 48-46.
“It was a tough one,” Poirier said. “Dan came to fight. He’s a tough guy. He’s on the rise. He really thought he was going to get past me. I trusted in my team, in my skill and my work ethic.”
Poirier (26-6) capped his long rise by beating Max Holloway in April 2019 for the interim lightweight title. He lost the belt to unbeaten champion Khabib Nurmagomedov last September, and a leg injury subsequently kept him out of the cage for the longest stretch of his career.
He was back in fine form against Hooker (20-9), the tough kickboxing star from New Zealand who had won seven of his last eight bouts since 2016.
Perry had lost five of his last seven fights, and his wild mixed martial arts career took another swerve in recent months when he split with his wife, separated from his coaches and decided that his girlfriend, Latory Gonzalez, would be the only person in his corner at this fight.
Gonzalez doesn’t have an extensive combat sports background, and her corner work largely consisted of placing an ice bag on Perry’s neck between rounds and saying: “You’re doing great, baby.” Perry used his superior striking skills and an impressive ground game to earn just his second win since July 2018.
“Every time we get in there, it’s all up to me,” said Perry, who plans to get new coaches before his next bout. “I trained for this. I’m a professional.”
The show was the last of five weekend events at the UFC Apex gym on the promotion’s corporate campus. The UFC has staged eight fan-free events amid the coronavirus pandemic since returning from an eight-week break.
The UFC will take next week off before resuming competition on July 12 at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi with UFC 251, a stacked pay-per-view show with three title fights. The promotion will hold four shows over 14 days at the so-called “Fight Island” before returning stateside.
This latest Vegas show was stacked with impressive finishes and unusual results.
Heavyweight Maurice Greene stopped his two-fight skid with an unorthodox submission of Gian Villante, who was on top of Greene and apparently in control when Greene wrapped an arm around his head. Although Greene (9-4) didn’t have a traditional chokehold around Villante’s neck, an exhausted Villante was unable to move and tapped out with 1:16 left in the fight.
Japanese welterweight Takashi Sato produced one of the most impressive stoppages of the night, beating late replacement opponent Jason Witt with a flurry of strikes in just 48 seconds.
Julian Erosa, another late replacement opponent, won his fight on five days’ notice by forcing Sean Woodson to tap out with a choke midway through the third round. Erosa was dropped from the UFC roster last year after three straight losses, but seized his last-minute chance to return.
A string of five consecutive finishes began with the second fight of the night. Kay Hansen, a 20-year-old strawweight making her UFC debut, beat Jinh Yu Frey in the third round with an armbar finish reminiscent of her hero, Ronda Rousey.


newyorkpost--2020-06-28--We are not in uncharted territory with shortened sports seasons

OAKLAND , Calif. — You want to know a genuinely underrated ...

We prefer order to our sporting seasons, sure, but sometimes order is not possible. Most of the time it has been labor stand-offs that have produced truncated schedules, and so that means when the games return there have been hard feelings to accompany the odd number of games.
Here, a look at the history of shortened schedules in the four major sports:
1918 MLB season: President Wilson had urged baseball to stay in business even after the U.S. entered World War I a year earlier, but by the summer of ’18 the war was raging, men were needed for the cause and the War Department issued a “work or fight” order, requiring able-bodied men to either join the military or an “essential” industry for the duration.
On the fly, baseball’s regular season was halted on Labor Day with most teams having played around 126 games. The Red Sox beat the Cubs in six games for their last World Series title for 86 years, the last game played Sept. 11 — fortunate, because a global pandemic was about to overtake Boston, which probably would’ve forced the Series to be canceled.
1972 MLB season: The first-ever players strike was called a few days before the end of spring training and when they settled it was agreed the games wouldn’t be made up. Naturally, the Tigers wound up winning the AL East at 86-70 — and the Red Sox were left in the cold having played one fewer game, finishing 85-70.
1981 MLB season: The first strike to cause widespread damage to the schedule; MLB decided to split the season in two and have the pre-strike first-place teams play the post-strike first-place teams in the first-ever Division Series. The biggest casualty was in Cincinnati, where the Reds had baseball’s best record at 66-42 — but missed the playoffs because they won neither half of the NL West.
1982 NFL season: The players struck for seven games, leaving a nine-week season in the strike’s wake that forced an expanded 16-team playoff format — and the first-ever playoff team with a losing record, the Browns sneaking in at 4-5. The Jets caught fire and won two postseason games for the first time since their Super Bowl year before losing to Miami in the Mud Bowl AFC title game, 14-0.
1987 NFL season: The record book will show that the teams all lost only one game to the second strike in five years, but three of those 15 games were populated by replacement players the NFL teams brought in from all walks of life as well as a steady stream of actual players who broke ranks and crossed picket lines. The defending-champion Giants (who had the worst strike team, by far) started 0-5 and never recovered.
1994 MLB season: The ugliness of the strike overshadowed the sadness of so many lost opportunities: Tony Gwynn was at .394 when the strike hit Aug. 12; Matt Williams (43) and Ken Griffey Jr. (40) were each tracking Roger Maris’ pace; the Yankees and Expos seemed on a collision course for a World Series that never happened.
1994-95 NHL season: The league had generated so much momentum a year earlier with epic playoffs capped by the Rangers’ first Cup win since 1940, then disappeared until January. The resulting 48-game sprint was exhausting and produced a second-straight Cup winner for the area, the Devils winning their first of three.
1995 MLB season: With baseball on the brink of copying football’s replacement-player strategy, a federal court intervened and sent the game back to action for a 144-game season in which the Indians dominated (100-44), the Braves were champs and the Yankees returned to October for the first time in 14 years.
1998-99 NBA season: In the wake of the Bulls dynasty, David Stern went to war with his players and wound up salvaging the season with a 50-game torture show that reintroduced back-to-back-to-backs … and also ended with the Knicks’ last gasp of glory, a run to the ’99 Finals.
2004-05 NHL season: What season? For the first time labor strife wiped a whole year off the books.
2011-12 NBA season: The lockout yielded a 66-game season that culminated with LeBron James’ first championship with the Heat and featured the 2 ½-week MSG joyride known as “Linsanity.”
2012-13 NHL season: The most recent sports lockout reduced the season to 48 games and was salvaged, to a degree, by a fine Cup final between two Original Six teams, the Blackhawks outlasting the Bruins in six games.
Vac’s Whacks
I hope you’ll consider joining me in tipping your cap to honor the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues. To see more on how this centennial is being celebrated, please check out tippingyourcap.com
Congrats are in order to our old friend Kevin Kernan, who will be inducted into the New York Baseball Hall of Fame this November.
Been spending some free time lately poring through the archives of this newspaper and, not for the first time, I find myself humbled to be able to occupy the same space that once belonged to Jimmy Cannon, Larry Merchant and Milton Gross.
I was sitting in a press tribune seat the night in Sydney in 2000 when Vince Carter, quite literally, soared over Frederic Weis in an Olympic match between the U.S. and France. Twenty years later, Carter was still playing well enough to have one last lap around the NBA this year, before officially saying goodbye this week. I’m not sure my game has held up quite as well.
Whack Back at Vac
Joe DeBrita: MLB could bank some goodwill if they made MLB Network free with no blackouts all season. Wishful thinking I know.
Vac: I’ll see that wish and raise you a fantasy about free access to the MLB app, too.
Jan Allen: You’re not wrong. My baseball love has never left. But this pandemic, along with its isolation/quarantine, would have been a lot easier for me to bear with such distractions as a Mets winning streak (or even a losing streak!).
Vac: It’s come a little late in the game, and there are still so many serious hurdles to clear, but this is why there is still hope for baseball to provide a genuine service for an awful lot of people just by its mere presence. If.
@Bruman18: I have no resentment about the squabbling in baseball — complicated times. Stupid to play. Players will still get sick. No fans. Still a malaise out there. It’s an asterisk season. Wait till next year. And I’m a die-hard.
@MikeVacc: Of course, when you get right down to it, it’s awfully hard to argue with even one of these items.
Bill Miller: No argument with Rick Wise having the best day a pitcher ever had but Tony Cloninger on July 3, 1966 is a solid No. 2: two grand slams and a complete-game win. None too shabby.
Vac: I think of both of these performances whenever anyone tries to tell me the Bartolo Colon home run was some kind of mystical, magical moment.


newyorkpost--2020-06-28--One person fatally shot at Breonna Taylor protest in Kentucky

Authorities were investigating a fatal shooting Saturday night at a park in downtown Louisville , Kentucky , where demonstrators had gathered to protest the death of Breonna Taylor .
Reports of shots fired at Jefferson Square Park came in around 9 p.m. , Louisville Metro police said in a statement , followed by calls that the Jefferson County Sheriff ’ s Department was performing life-saving measures on a male who died at the scene .
Shortly after , police were told of a shooting victim across the street at the Hall of Justice .
That person was hospitalized with non-life-threatening @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appeared to show a man opening fire into the park as people scrambled for cover .
The footage later showed at least one person bleeding profusely on the ground .
Officers cleared the park and police “ are trying to gather as much information as possible in order to identify all who were involved in the incident , ” the statement said .
No information about arrests , possible suspects and the victims ’ identities and ages was immediately released .
Officials did not immediately release additional information .
“ I am deeply @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jefferson Square Park tonight , where those who have been voicing their concerns have been gathered , ” Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said in a statement .
“ It is a tragedy that this area of peaceful protest is now a crime scene.
” The park has for weeks been the epicenter for protests in the city after the police killings of Taylor and George Floyd .
The Saturday night shooting was at least the second during nearly a month of protests in Louisville over Taylor ’ s death .
Seven people were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ City Hall , prompting a statement from Taylor ’ s mother asking people to demand justice “ without hurting each other.
” “ Praying for our city , ” tweeted Kentucky state Rep. Charles Booker of Louisville late Saturday .
The Democrat is running for his party ’ s nomination to challenge Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell in the fall .
Taylor , a 26-year-old Black woman , was killed in her Louisville home in March by police who were serving a no-knock warrant .
Protesters have been calling for the officers involved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ One of the officers was recently fired .
Kenneth Walker , Taylor ’ s boyfriend , was originally charged with attempted murder after he fired a shot at one of the officers who came into the home .
Walker has said he thought he was defending from an intruder .
The no-knock search warrant that allows police to enter without first announcing their presence was recently banned by Louisville ’ s Metro Council .

Authorities were investigating a fatal shooting Saturday night at a park in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, where demonstrators had gathered to protest the death of Breonna Taylor.
Reports of shots fired at Jefferson Square Park came in around 9 p.m., Louisville Metro police said in a statement, followed by calls that the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department was performing life-saving measures on a male who died at the scene. Shortly after, police were told of a shooting victim across the street at the Hall of Justice. That person was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
Video posted on social media appeared to show a man opening fire into the park as people scrambled for cover. The footage later showed at least one person bleeding profusely on the ground.
Officers cleared the park and police “are trying to gather as much information as possible in order to identify all who were involved in the incident,” the statement said. No information about arrests, possible suspects and the victims’ identities and ages was immediately released. Officials did not immediately release additional information.
“I am deeply saddened by the violence that erupted in Jefferson Square Park tonight, where those who have been voicing their concerns have been gathered,” Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said in a statement. “It is a tragedy that this area of peaceful protest is now a crime scene.”
The park has for weeks been the epicenter for protests in the city after the police killings of Taylor and George Floyd. The Saturday night shooting was at least the second during nearly a month of protests in Louisville over Taylor’s death. Seven people were wounded May 28 when gunfire erupted near City Hall, prompting a statement from Taylor’s mother asking people to demand justice “without hurting each other.”
“Praying for our city,” tweeted Kentucky state Rep. Charles Booker of Louisville late Saturday. The Democrat is running for his party’s nomination to challenge Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell in the fall.
Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was killed in her Louisville home in March by police who were serving a no-knock warrant. Protesters have been calling for the officers involved in her death to be charged. One of the officers was recently fired.
Kenneth Walker, Taylor’s boyfriend, was originally charged with attempted murder after he fired a shot at one of the officers who came into the home. Walker has said he thought he was defending from an intruder.
The no-knock search warrant that allows police to enter without first announcing their presence was recently banned by Louisville’s Metro Council.


newyorkpost--2020-06-28--ESPN: LeBron James’ ‘The Decision’ was a fan’s idea

Nearly 10 years after LeBron James announced his decision to play for the Miami Heat on a live show on ESPN titled “ The Decision , ” the network revealed Saturday that the idea for the show actually came from a fan .
There have long been rumors that a fan actually came up with the idea , as a person identified only as “ Drew ” from Columbus , Ohio , proposed the show in a mailbag column published by then-ESPN writer Bill Simmons .
That column ran Nov. 26 , 2009 — more than seventh months before “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 2010 .
During “ The Decision ” broadcast , a then-25-year-old James infamously proclaimed , “ I ’ m going to take my talents to South Beach ” — an instant punchline that lives on in sports lore today .
In fact , the revelation of Drew from Columbus comes as ESPN prepares to air a look back at “ The Decision ” on Sunday night .
For a story published Saturday , ESPN reached Drew — 38-year-old Drew Wagner , who is actually a Detroit Pistons fan — and he confirmed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was me , ” Wagner told ESPN in a phone interview Friday .
“ I sent that email , it ’ s posted by Simmons , and then seven months later , it ’ s the biggest story in sports.
” “ I remember everyone was talking about where LeBron would go , and it seemed to me that LeBron should do the same thing these kids do and announce it live on TV , ” Wagner added .
“ I used to enjoy those Simmons mailbags quite a bit , and I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to send it.
” Wagner ’ s initial pitch had suggested a televised show called “ Lebron ’ s Choice , ” while Simmons proposed in his column that it be called “ Decision 2010 : LeBron ’ s Verdict.
” Simmons emailed ESPN executives about the idea to televise James ’ announcement in May of 2010 , but did not mention Wagner in that email .
At the time of “ The Decision , ” James was entering his eighth season in the NBA , having played the first seven in Cleveland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leading the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in 2007 , the Akron , Ohio , native became Public Enemy No .
1 with most Cavs fans after “ The Decision.
” James would win two championships in Miami before returning to Cleveland and leading the Cavs to the NBA title in 2016 — the first championship in club history .
He is in his second season with the Los Angeles Lakers after leaving Cleveland as a free agent for a second time following the 2017-18 season .

Nearly 10 years after LeBron James announced his decision to play for the Miami Heat on a live show on ESPN titled “The Decision,” the network revealed Saturday that the idea for the show actually came from a fan.
There have long been rumors that a fan actually came up with the idea, as a person identified only as “Drew” from Columbus, Ohio, proposed the show in a mailbag column published by then-ESPN writer Bill Simmons. That column ran Nov. 26, 2009 — more than seventh months before “The Decision” aired on July 8, 2010.
During “The Decision” broadcast, a then-25-year-old James infamously proclaimed, “I’m going to take my talents to South Beach” — an instant punchline that lives on in sports lore today. In fact, the revelation of Drew from Columbus comes as ESPN prepares to air a look back at “The Decision” on Sunday night.
For a story published Saturday, ESPN reached Drew — 38-year-old Drew Wagner, who is actually a Detroit Pistons fan — and he confirmed the idea was his.
“That was me,” Wagner told ESPN in a phone interview Friday. “I sent that email, it’s posted by Simmons, and then seven months later, it’s the biggest story in sports.”
“I remember everyone was talking about where LeBron would go, and it seemed to me that LeBron should do the same thing these kids do and announce it live on TV,” Wagner added. “I used to enjoy those Simmons mailbags quite a bit, and I thought it would be a fun idea to send it.”
Wagner’s initial pitch had suggested a televised show called “Lebron’s Choice,” while Simmons proposed in his column that it be called “Decision 2010: LeBron’s Verdict.” Simmons emailed ESPN executives about the idea to televise James’ announcement in May of 2010, but did not mention Wagner in that email.
At the time of “The Decision,” James was entering his eighth season in the NBA, having played the first seven in Cleveland. Despite being a six-time All-Star and leading the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in 2007, the Akron, Ohio, native became Public Enemy No. 1 with most Cavs fans after “The Decision.”
James would win two championships in Miami before returning to Cleveland and leading the Cavs to the NBA title in 2016 — the first championship in club history.
He is in his second season with the Los Angeles Lakers after leaving Cleveland as a free agent for a second time following the 2017-18 season.


newyorkpost--2020-06-28--Two dead, four injured in shooting at California Walmart distribution center

Two people were killed and at least four more had to be hospitalized Saturday after a man crashed his car into a Northern California Walmart distribution center and started shooting with an AR-type weapon , officials said .
The mayhem began at around 3 p.m. , when the shooter rammed his vehicle into the Red Bluff City building about 131 miles north of Sacramento , starting a small fire , CNN reported .
Then the sound of gunfire was heard , and responding police officers shot the suspected gunman , KHSL-TV reported .
His condition wasn ’ t released , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told the station that the four hospitalized victims were all in fair condition .
The shooter had first circled the parking lot four times before crashing into the building with his semi-automatic long gun , the Record-Searchlight newspaper reported , .
citing Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston .
The shooter used an “ AR-type weapon , ” emergency dispatchers told the newspaper .
There were about 200 workers inside the facility , some of whom locked themselves in a room , employees told KHSL-TV .
Survivor Scott Thammakhanty , an employee who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ receiving center , told the Record-Searchlight that the shooting “ went on and on — I don ’ t even know how many times he fired.
” As he and others ran for their lives , they passed other people lying on the ground , he told the paper .

Two people were killed and at least four more had to be hospitalized Saturday after a man crashed his car into a Northern California Walmart distribution center and started shooting with an AR-type weapon, officials said.
The mayhem began at around 3 p.m., when the shooter rammed his vehicle into the Red Bluff City building about 131 miles north of Sacramento, starting a small fire, CNN reported.
Then the sound of gunfire was heard, and responding police officers shot the suspected gunman, KHSL-TV reported.
His condition wasn’t released, the station said.
But hospital officials told the station that the four hospitalized victims were all in fair condition.
The shooter had first circled the parking lot four times before crashing into the building with his semi-automatic long gun, the Record-Searchlight newspaper reported,. citing Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston.
The shooter used an “AR-type weapon,” emergency dispatchers told the newspaper.
There were about 200 workers inside the facility, some of whom locked themselves in a room, employees told KHSL-TV.
Survivor Scott Thammakhanty, an employee who unloads trucks at the facility’s receiving center, told the Record-Searchlight that the shooting “went on and on — I don’t even know how many times he fired.”
As he and others ran for their lives, they passed other people lying on the ground, he told the paper.


newyorkpost--2020-06-28--NYPD arrests Washington Square Park’s squatting ‘Jesus’ after nude brawl

Three days after announcing he had tested positive for COVID-19 , ...

It was a Come to Jesus moment, of sorts, for the NYPD.
After days of looking the other way, cops moved in Saturday night to arrest a homeless man who calls himself “Son of God Lord Saviour Jesus Christ” and who had taken up residence — often without the benefit of clothing — since May in the drained fountain at Washington Square Park.
Police finally cuffed and arrested the squatter, Matthew Mishefski, on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. when he began brawling in the nude with two other barely-dressed men, witnesses told The Post.
Some 12 NYPD officers responded to the scene; Mishefski was transported from the landmark in an ambulance.
Mishefski, 25, has told The Post he is from the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania and has said he’s autistic.
City authorities — including police, Parks Department employees and homeless outreach coordinators — hadn’t been able to convince him to voluntarily budge from his outpost despite numerous visits.
Over time, Mishefski amassed a collection of chairs, a pink recliner and a beach umbrella, all of which he kept in the fountain.
Observers gawked as Mishefski doffed his sarong earlier Saturday to savor a rain shower while in the buff as Parks workers looked on helplessly.


newyorkpost--2020-06-28--Kings’ Jabari Parker seen playing tennis after positive coronavirus test

The coronavirus has struck the Sacramento Kings .
Three Kings players ...

Three days after announcing he had tested positive for COVID-19, Sacramento Kings forward Jabari Parker was spotted playing tennis in Chicago without a mask, after reportedly going out to a restaurant recently.
TMZ published pair of photos showing Parker playing tennis without a mask, and said the photos were taken earlier that day.
The outlet also reported, “Jabari was recently seen out at a restaurant there in the Windy City.”
While it is unknown exactly when Parker tested positive or the current status of his recovery, the club released a statement to the Sacramento Bee on Saturday afternoon after the TMZ report surfaced.
“We are aware of the report and are gathering additional information,” the statement read. “We have no further comment at this time.”
The NBA requires any player who tests positive for COVID-19 to refrain from physical activity for a minimum of 14 days.
Parker, 25, said in a statement Wednesday he tested positive for COVID-19 “several days ago” and that he was isolating in Chicago. He added he planned to join his teammates next month at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Fla., when the NBA season resumes.
Teammate Alex Len also announced Wednesday that he, too, tested positive for the virus. Fellow Kings player Buddy Hield also reportedly tested positive for COVID-19, though neither the Kings nor Hield have made any announcement.
Teams will begin arriving in Florida for training camp by July 11, and the season will resume July 30.
The NBA season went on a hiatus on March 11.


newyorkpost--2020-06-27--Mississippi takes first step in removing Confederate symbol from state flag

Mississippi formally began the process to remove the Confederate symbol from its state flag Saturday .
The state House and Senate voted to suspend legislative deadlines and file a bill to change the flag amid intense criticism and weeks of pressure during protests over racial injustices .
Observers at the Mississippi Capitol roared in applause as the actions were taken , with debate on a bill to begin as soon as Sunday .
“ Today , you — Mississippi — have a date with destiny , ” Sen. Briggs Hopson declared .
Meanwhile , Republican Rep. Jason White in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the state , the nation and indeed the world are on this House.
” Demonstrators have flooded the streets of American cities over the last month in protest of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd , with many in the South challenging the continued use of Confederate imagery , including the rebel flag and monuments .
Mississippi is the last state to include the Confederate emblem — a red field crossed with a blue X dotted with 13 white stars — in its flag .
The flag has been controversial among residents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Republican Gov .
Tate Reeves said Saturday that he would sign legislation to change the flag if the Republican-controlled Legislature passes a bill .
“ The argument over the 1894 flag has become as divisive as the flag itself , and it ’ s time to end it , ” Reeves said .
The governor had previously taken a less-firm stance on the topic , saying only that he wouldn ’ t veto a bill if it came before him .
A bill would remove the current Mississippi flag from state law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with designing a new flag without the Confederate battle emblem — though it must have the phrase “ In God We Trust.
” The new design would be put on the ballot Nov. 3 and would become the official state flag if a majority of voters approve of the design .
If a majority vote against the new flag , the commission will go back to the drawing board to design a new emblem under the same criteria .
“ I know there are many good people who … believe that this flag @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and heritage , ” said White , the Republican speaker pro tempore of the House .
“ But for most people throughout our nation and the world , they see that flag and think that it stands for hatred and oppression.
” Democratic lawmakers celebrate a day some thought they ’ d never see .
“ I would never have thought that I would see the flag come down in my lifetime , ” said Democratic Sen. Barbara Blackmon .

Mississippi formally began the process to remove the Confederate symbol from its state flag Saturday.
The state House and Senate voted to suspend legislative deadlines and file a bill to change the flag amid intense criticism and weeks of pressure during protests over racial injustices.
Observers at the Mississippi Capitol roared in applause as the actions were taken, with debate on a bill to begin as soon as Sunday.
“Today, you — Mississippi — have a date with destiny,” Sen. Briggs Hopson declared.
Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Jason White in the House said, “The eyes of the state, the nation and indeed the world are on this House.”
Demonstrators have flooded the streets of American cities over the last month in protest of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, with many in the South challenging the continued use of Confederate imagery, including the rebel flag and monuments.
Mississippi is the last state to include the Confederate emblem — a red field crossed with a blue X dotted with 13 white stars — in its flag.
The flag has been controversial among residents for decades but, after recent demonstrations, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said Saturday that he would sign legislation to change the flag if the Republican-controlled Legislature passes a bill.
“The argument over the 1894 flag has become as divisive as the flag itself, and it’s time to end it,” Reeves said.
The governor had previously taken a less-firm stance on the topic, saying only that he wouldn’t veto a bill if it came before him.
A bill would remove the current Mississippi flag from state law. A commission would then be tasked with designing a new flag without the Confederate battle emblem — though it must have the phrase “In God We Trust.”
The new design would be put on the ballot Nov. 3 and would become the official state flag if a majority of voters approve of the design.
If a majority vote against the new flag, the commission will go back to the drawing board to design a new emblem under the same criteria.
“I know there are many good people who … believe that this flag is a symbol of our Southern pride and heritage,” said White, the Republican speaker pro tempore of the House.
“But for most people throughout our nation and the world, they see that flag and think that it stands for hatred and oppression.”
Democratic lawmakers celebrate a day some thought they’d never see.
“I would never have thought that I would see the flag come down in my lifetime,” said Democratic Sen. Barbara Blackmon.
With Post wires


newyorkpost--2020-06-27--Estranged Massachusetts couple found dead in apparent murder-suicide

A Massachusetts husband and wife who had recently broken up were reportedly found dead Saturday in an apparent murder-suicide .
State police are investigating the deaths of Amber Pereira , 30 , and Joshua Pereira , 31 .
A relative of Amber ’ s had called 911 when she discovered the pair ’ s bodies in their Somerset home around 8:05 a.m. Saturday , the local CBS affiliate reported .
Police arrived to find the two dead of apparent gunshot wounds .
A gun was underneath Joshua , in what the Bristol County District Attorney ’ s office described as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Joshua had recently moved out of the home after the couple had separated , but had driven back to the residence sometime before 8 a.m. , according to the station .
Witnesses heard multiple gunshots coming from inside the home shortly after his arrival , according to the DA ’ s office .
Investigators don ’ t believe anyone else was in the home besides the couple at the time of the shooting .
Further details were not immediately clear and the investigation is ongoing .
The state medical examiner ’ s office @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s official cause of death .

A Massachusetts husband and wife who had recently broken up were reportedly found dead Saturday in an apparent murder-suicide.
State police are investigating the deaths of Amber Pereira, 30, and Joshua Pereira, 31.
A relative of Amber’s had called 911 when she discovered the pair’s bodies in their Somerset home around 8:05 a.m. Saturday, the local CBS affiliate reported.
Police arrived to find the two dead of apparent gunshot wounds. A gun was underneath Joshua, in what the Bristol County District Attorney’s office described as an “apparent murder-suicide.”
Officials said Joshua had recently moved out of the home after the couple had separated, but had driven back to the residence sometime before 8 a.m., according to the station.
Witnesses heard multiple gunshots coming from inside the home shortly after his arrival, according to the DA’s office.
Investigators don’t believe anyone else was in the home besides the couple at the time of the shooting.
Further details were not immediately clear and the investigation is ongoing.
The state medical examiner’s office will conduct autopsies to determine the couple’s official cause of death.


newyorkpost--2020-06-27--Inside NFL’s reluctance to hire ex-agents to run teams

Consider this series of events , not at all out of ...

Imagine the listing for an NFL general manager vacancy on a typical jobs board, next to a delivery driver or a music teacher:
Seeking leader with a shrewd eye for identifying talent. Experienced negotiator who drives a hard bargain. Deep knowledge of salary-cap structure a must. Building personal relationships, managing egos and comfort in the media spotlight should come naturally.
Sounds remarkably similar to the description of a high-powered sports agent. And that’s no coincidence.
There’s a trend bubbling in pro sports — hiring agents to switch sides and run teams — and it’s prominently displayed in New York: Second-year Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen and recently hired Knicks president Leon Rose previously were co-heads of the baseball and basketball divisions, respectively, at Creative Artists Agency (CAA).
But that trend hasn’t caught on yet in NFL front offices.
“I’ve always been mystified by why there wasn’t more of it,” said NFL agent Leigh Steinberg, who has secured more than $3 billion for 300-plus clients over 46 years. “The skill set is perfect to move into front offices in a variety of capacities. That’s a big advantage.”
The agent-to-executive switch is popular in the NBA — where Rose, Bob Myers (Warriors), Rob Pelinka (Lakers), Justin Zanik (Jazz) and Arn Tellem (Pistons) carry title of general manager or above on the hierarchy.
Van Wagenen’s company in MLB includes White Sox GM Rick Hahn. Former Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart and former Diamondbacks and Padres chief executive officer Jeff Moorad were agents first.
“Being a general manager in New York is unlike any place else,” said Mike Tannenbaum, who went from Jets GM to CAA agent to Dolphins executive vice president. “It’s all times 10.
“Candidly, Brodie and Leon are really well prepared for their jobs. You need innate mental toughness and leadership here. You can’t be that type of an agent without having those characteristics.”
Bruce Allen, the only former agent running an NFL team last season, was fired by the Redskins on Dec. 30. The NHL also has zero, though former agents Mike Barnett and Mike Gillis previously had shots with the Coyotes and Canucks, respectively.
Excluding the three coach/GMs and two owner/GMs, 20 of the other 27 general managers in pro football come from a scouting background.
Why so traditional? The Post asked 10 sources from both sides of the negotiating table.
“Football is a far more complex game [than basketball], and the complexity of what happens on the field means you better be able to hire the right people around you,” former Redskins and Texans GM Charley Casserly said.
“The dominant sense in football is: ‘I want a general manager who has expertise on the field, whether it’s personnel or X’s and O’s.’ But a leader is a leader. If you get the right person, it absolutely can be done.”
Andrew Brandt’s agent career was at a crossroads in 1999: Work under Packers ownership or under a rapper?
Brandt signed top-five NFL draft pick Ricky Williams out of college but quickly had his client poached by Master P, a rapper trying to become a sports agent. Brandt considered Williams’ invitation to come along, but he opted instead to become the vice president of player finance for the Packers.
“I remember these exact words: ‘We want to get more agent-friendly. What better way than to hire an agent?’ ” Brandt said. “I had to get off this train of chasing players around the country. What people don’t know about being an agent is 70-80 percent of your life is recruiting.”
During Brandt’s 10-year tenure surviving two regime changes, three future NFL GMs worked in scouting for the Packers. He never wanted the personnel responsibility.
“I think there is a more of a traditional yet-to-be-broken mold in the NFL, where your general manager is by and large from a scouting background rather than a negotiating background,” Brandt said. “I think it’s the longest of any of the sports to chip away at that bias.”
The NFL’s complicated salary cap could be one reason.
Other agents made a similar jump to Brandt, a numbers-minded voice as a right-hand consultant to a personnel-minded general manager. In running the Broncos, John Elway’s two hires to handle the cap were both former agents, Mike Sullivan and Rich Hurtado.
The next step up the ladder — to calling the shots — is a glass ceiling.
“It would take out-of-the-box thinking,” former NFL agent Joel Corry said. “You are not going to get one of your old-school [owners] doing it. Football is a different breed. You can see a situation where a cap guy has been there forever and ends up gaining the trust of the owner and gets the job.”
Van Wagenen says he wasn’t willing to take just any GM job. The stuck-in-neutral Mets wanted to be innovative. So, Van Wagenen and Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon turned an already-close relationship into a partnership.
The pairing initially faced skepticism about a conflict of interest from the MLB players’ union, but it eventually quieted.
“Each player has his own needs, wants and goals,” Van Wagenen said. “Understanding how to satisfy those from an individual player’s perspective is an important carry-over for me in this job that I never want to lose. In many ways, I feel like I am an agent for every Mets player and every Mets employee.”
The same unwritten rule with coaches applies to GMs: Most are hired to be fired. The leash is getting shorter by the year, as owners react to increasingly impatient fan bases huddled in social-media mobs.
There are 814 agents certified by the NFL Players Association, compared to about 1,700 players on regular-season rosters. About 75 percent of those players are represented by 17 percent of well-connected agents.
Joining a front office might actually require some super-agents to take a pay cut and forego job security.
“You can control things more directly in terms of your success than as a general manager,” NFL agent Drew Rosenhaus said. “Perhaps agents who are very successful don’t want to give up control over their destiny and be in a situation where your star quarterback gets hurt and that affects whether or not you have a winning season.”
Rosenhaus, who has negotiated more than $7 billion in contracts, has more active clients (79) than any other NFL agent, according to The Sports Agent Blog founded by Darren Heitner.
“What I like about being an agent is if I work hard and do a good job, I’m going to be successful,” Rosenhaus said. “It’s really that simple. There are a lot of honest, hard-working general managers who don’t succeed because they weren’t necessarily in the right place at the right time.”
The flip side?
“As a team guy,” Corry said, “you are not babysitting and getting phone calls at 3 a.m. And trying to clean up a mess, to the extent that you can.”
Steinberg says he considered the switch in the 1990s, when then-Seahawks owner Ken Behring wanted to relocate from Seattle to NFL-less Los Angeles. Preliminary discussions included Behring also buying the Angels baseball franchise and putting Steinberg in charge of both teams and a regional television network, but it never materialized.
“Most agents are viewed by some people in NFL ownership with less collegiality than you see in other sports. That has to be part of it,” Steinberg said. “Not that agents are lovey-dovey … but an agent won’t come in with a predisposition to dislike agents.”
Who better to call an agent’s bluff than someone who has tried the same tactics?
In Brandt’s case, he knew “cash is king,” so he closed tricky deals by exchanging money early in a contract for team flexibility down the road.
“It cut out a lot of the B.S. because I’ve heard all the lines before,” Brandt said. “I know you are coming in with comparisons to this Pro Bowler, and I’m going to say, ‘Your guy has never made a Pro Bowl.’ Or, ‘Your guy is two years away from free agency and you are showing me free agents.’ ”
Van Wagenen admits he was surprised by the positive feedback from other agents interested in how he might bring a “fresh perspective to the front office” and the “immediate sense of inclusion” received from other MLB executives.
Rose has not granted an external interview — only talking with MSG Network’s Mike Breen this week — since he was hired.
“The agent business is fiercely competitive,” Van Wagenen said. “Failure to sign or retain a client is a zero-sum game in terms of revenue. On the team side, the importance of a process is magnified. My intent is to maintain the sense of urgency of the agent mindset while simultaneously attempting to build an infrastructure capable of consistently acquiring and developing players with the ability to win multiple championships.”
The 1996 film “Jerry Maguire” — Tom Cruise’s lead character was loosely inspired by Steinberg — painted a picture of an agent-versus-team stand-off. It’s easy to understand within those battle lines a reluctance to hire the enemy, but spats like those are not the norm, agents say.
Respect can be earned.
“That’s where it really requires a good negotiator who will drive home a deal for his or her client as an agent but not burn any bridges in the process,” said Heitner, a former agent. “As long as you don’t make it personal, bring emotions into the equation or publicly smear the other side … it’s almost like the best job interview you could have.”
The most unconventional recent NFL GM hires came from the broadcast booth: John Lynch (49ers) and Mike Mayock (Raiders). Lynch is regarded as one of the top NFL GMs after three years. The jury is out on Mayock after a tumultuous first year.
“We are going to see more and more of a broader scope,” Tannenbaum predicted.
The track record of former agents in other sports eventually could determine whether the NFL expands the credentials used for running a franchise.
“At this time, there are enough data points through different sports to show an agent could have more success than others who made a career out of being in a particular organization,” Heitner said. “I would hope selecting an agent is not an option of last resort. It shouldn’t be.”


newyorkpost--2020-06-27--Doris Burke opens up about coronavirus struggle, NBA’s return concerns

One of America ’ s most popular sportscasters is doing better after ...

Doris Burke, an ESPN/ABC NBA analyst and former MSG voice who was the first woman to work Knicks games on TV and radio, huddles with Steve Serby to discuss the NBA’s return, safety concerns, and her personal fight after being diagnosed with COVID-19.
Q: What do you envision the quality of play and number of injuries might be in Orlando when the NBA restarts?
A: There’s a rhythm to the NBA calendar. Given the time off, I think play is going to be sloppy to start. It’s going to feel like those mid-October games that we sometimes televise. You can make the argument two ways as it relates to injuries: those that had some bumps and bruises that were really nagging and you were considering giving them some stretches of time off, those have healed. But … the intensity of an NBA game is hard to simulate in those environments.
Q: What are your safety concerns in the bubble following your personal battle with coronavirus?
A: It’s a monster of a project to try to get right and put in place. As I hear players talk about pre-existing conditions or talk about their fears, I absolutely understand it. And one of the things I thought most about is that a lot of these guys have young kids. You’re not only going down to the bubble, but at some point you’re going to leave that bubble, and what do you do as a player if you’re the parent of a young child? Do you go to a hotel when you get back to your respective market, and do you quarantine for two weeks and therefore stay away from your children longer to make sure, “OK, I’m not positive”? The primary thought I have as it relates to fear doesn’t necessarily have to do with myself, it has to do more with anybody who’s not been infected, had COVID, recovered and doesn’t have immunity, because I do worry. … As much as I know that the NBA is going to do absolutely everything in their power to make this environment as safe as possible, the fact of the matter is the ultimate bad outcome remains a possibility. There’s inherent risk that everybody who goes down to Orlando assumes, and how you work that out in your own mind is a very personal choice. And I don’t think we should criticize, judge or in any way, shape or form have negative feelings for those who express concern, because it’s legitimate and it’s real.
Q: How scary was your bout with COVID-19?
A: The thing that I felt the most was fatigue and headache. So for a good stretch of the first two weeks of that, I was just thinking I had a bad flu, because my symptoms were not aligning with what was being told were the main symptoms — the shortness of breath, the pressure on the chest — I didn’t have those scary symptoms. So for a good stretch of time, I didn’t think I had it. But then I finally decided to get tested. It took eight days to get the results, and by the time I had gotten the results of the test, I was starting to come out of it. Was I scared? I had some measure of anxiety. I was sleeping 16, 17 hours a day, and the other time I was not getting out of bed, so I wasn’t doing a whole lot.
Q: Describe ABC/ESPN and MSG announcer Mike Breen.
A: Just class act. Close friend. Just the best. Kind human being.
Q: Jeff Van Gundy.
A: I like to call him my rabbi or my bishop. He’s given me confidence when I’ve needed it. I know he’s advocated for me. I adore him.
Q: Mark Jackson.
A: He’s the soul of our broadcast. There’s a leadership quality to Mark. He’s willing to test you.
Q: Will Spurs assistant Becky Hammon be a head coach?
A: I believe she will. When Becky got the job, I distinctly remember saying to Kara Lawson, “You could be in that position as well.” And she interestingly now is an assistant coach of the Boston Celtics. These are passionate, knowledgeable, high-character individuals who have the temperament, the knowledge, the touch, all the things required. There’s a learning curve here regardless of your gender. I do believe they’ll be head coaches when they are ready to be. I think it’s the when, not the if.
Q: Dick Vitale.
A: He’s had a Hall of Fame career as an announcer -— what he has done for the V [Jim Valvano] Foundation is what I think will be his lasting legacy. This man’s passion for the fight, first against cancer and now against pediatric cancer, it’s absolutely been legendary. The lives that man has saved by the passionate pursuit of trying to eradicate cancer — incredible.
Q: Suzyn Waldman.
A: Legend. Absolute legend. She had just come to a Liberty game for some reason, and I remember Gus [Johnson] saying to me, “That woman’s tough as nails.” And I thought, “Yeah, she has to be.” All the women who went before me — like the Jackie MacMullans, Robin Roberts, Suzy — I am thankful for the point in history at which I’ve been able to do my job, because I’ve said this often: The players and the coaches have been my soft landing spot, and those men and their acceptance of me and the respect they’ve shown to me on the air, that has changed fans’ opinion of me.
Q: Gregg Popovich.
A: I adore Gregg. Listen, I don’t like those [courtside] interviews more than anybody else, but I tell a story about Pop that will capture him. He loses Game 7 [of the 2013 NBA Finals]. I’m walking out of Miami Arena, and he’s gonna cross paths with me. I don’t even want to make eye contact with him. I put my head down and I step back and allow him to pass. And he grabs my shoulders and he turns me to him and he says, “Now what are you gonna do with your offseason?” I’m stunned, and I said, “I’m actually gonna make a trip to Napa.” He goes, “Doris, here’s my secretary’s email. You send her a note, tell her what you’re doing.” He sent me an email back with a list of places I should go. That captures Gregg Popovich more than those absolutely (chuckle) painful moments for the reporters on the sideline.
Q: UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma.
A: Brilliant. One of the best I’ve ever seen do it on any level.
Q: First-overall Liberty draft pick Sabrina Ionescu.
A: I just love her passion and skill level and personality. She is fun to watch, effervescent, I think a great leader and really highly skilled.
Q: Zion Williamson.
A: Electric. Captivating. Delightful young man. Just incredible smile. Oh my God is that young man likeable. His upside is absolutely off the charts.
Q: RJ Barrett.
A: The intensity of the media, you’ve got to be a certain temperament and maturity level to handle it, and that young kid, I am just blown away by that attribute.
Q: Does Ja Morant remind you of former Providence point guard Doris Burke?
A: (Laugh) Jeff Van Gundy likes to joke, “You’re the only white point guard who couldn’t shoot.” I had incredible handle, great dribble-drive ability, I spent my life driving and getting and-1. I did not have the hops of Ja or the electric nature.
Q: How good can Ja be?
A: The thing I am most shocked by is he is fearless. And while he respects the elders of the game, he does not stand in awe. He relishes the opportunity to test himself against the best. That’s the characteristic that you think can lead to greatness.
Q: David Stern and Adam Silver.
A: The NBA is the single most progressive, inclusive, open-minded sports league in the country. And David Stern and Adam Silver’s support of me speaks volumes. Because we’re not gonna sit here and pretend that in meetings between the NBA and ESPN, or NBA and TNT, that they don’t have some dialogue as to who’s covering their sport.
Q: What do you think of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving next season with the Nets?
A: You have to have at least two to win a championship, so those are two great starting points. I can’t separate Kevin Durant from his two MVP performances in The Finals.
Q: Do you think it was smart for him to wait until next season to return?
A: I absolutely do. I also happened to be in the building when he popped that Achilles. My heart broke for that young man.
Q: What do you think of Kyrie not wanting to play in the bubble?
A: I do believe 100 percent that black lives matter and that the cause to achieve and pursue equality supersedes basketball. The other thing that supersedes basketball is their health. If they want to do this, and they believe it’s more important than playing, I don’t see how you can fault them. I think that is sound reasoning. Just as I wouldn’t fault the players who want to go back and pursue a championship.
Q: What are your thoughts on Knicks coaching candidate Tom Thibodeau?
A: The only thing I can think of when I see Tom is his work habits. They’re legendary. He eats, sleeps and breathes basketball.
Q: Another possible Knicks coaching candidate: Kenny Atkinson.
A: Player development is first and foremost. What was achieved with [GM] Sean Marks and he in Brooklyn, when you had no picks and no players, to go find the value of players that they found and to develop that talent in a short window of time relatively speaking in the NBA when you’re rebuilding into a playoff team, was nothing short of remarkable. Similar with him is work habits. The New York Knicks are gonna require work.
Q: What is your most memorable interaction with Kobe Bryant?
A: Did an interview during the run to his back-to-back titles with Pau [Gasol], Metta [World Peace], Lamar [Odom] … they were [my] first two Finals as a reporter. … [Bryant] was so exhausted after the game in the playoffs, we conducted the interview with him bent over. In order to get the mic near his mouth, I was forced to mimic him — he was totally spent!
Q: Drake.
A: Major talent. When this whole thing transpired [Drake wearing a Doris Burke photo on his T-shirt and asked her to dinner], I happened to be at my daughter’s apartment. The night it happened, I said, “Oh, that’s pretty cool.” And she goes, “No, no, no, no. I don’t think you’re comprehending how big a star this guy is, Mom.”
Q: Who is your single favorite point guard?
A: Diana Taurasi [of the Phoenix Mercury]. She played with incredible joy, but she was one of the best pressure players I’ve ever seen. No moment too big. In addition to being the best women’s player I ever watched and called, she also happens to be one of the great teammates I ever saw.
Q: LeBron James.
A: I just feel lucky to have witnessed one of the all-time greatest to ever play, and to have a front-row seat.
Q: What is your most moving postgame interview?
A: I distinctly remember the title LeBron won in Cleveland [in 2016]. I am the mother of a son who is about to turn 26. So when LeBron broke down after winning that title for Cleveland, he dropped to the floor, and he is crying so hard that his shoulders are shaking. And watching that man experience that level of emotion, I got choked up. I got overwhelmed watching this man be overwhelmed by emotion. Nobody caught it except those who know me and know my voice.
Q: How nervous were you when you became the first woman to announce a Big East men’s basketball game [Pittsburgh at Providence]?
A: Pretty nervous (laugh). I like to say I go at my job really from the perspective of a fan. I am mindful of the fact that I played women’s college basketball, that I coached women’s college basketball. I’ve been able to push that into the deep recesses of my mind, so it doesn’t scare me. But I was nervous, definitely.
Q: You were the first woman to do a Knicks game on TV, in Milwaukee filling in for Clyde Frazier.
A: Terry [Stotts, Bucks assistant coach] gave me absolutely everything. And then [then-Knicks head coach] Jeff Van Gundy heard about it and Jeff said, “Bring her to me, and I’ll talk to her.” So the graciousness of those two men, to be willing to share that kind of behind-the-scenes material was incredibly helpful. And then I’ll never forget a friend of mine scared the hell out of me, because before the game he said to me: “Oh my God, how are you going to fill in for Clyde Frazier?!”
Q: You were the first woman to be a full-time NBA analyst on national TV, with ESPN.
A: From a work-life balance standpoint, and from the ability to just walk in on one sport is 1,000 times better than the schedule I used to keep for sure. It’s a better way to do my job, is to focus on one.
Q: What was it like becoming a sideline reporter?
A: The two people I called were Al Trautwig and Michele Tafoya. And it’s funny because Al Trautwig gave me the single best piece of advice that anyone ever gave me on sideline reporting. Al said to me, “Doris, there are going to be nights you get off the air in that role, and you’re going to think that you helped elevate the telecast, you helped the fan enjoy that game more, and you’re going to feel really good about what transpired from your position. But there are going to be far more nights where you get off the air and you think to yourself, “Oh my goodness, they paid me to do that. I did all that work and yet the game did not dictate that I could really get in as much as I would have hoped.”
Q: Who are broadcasters and announcers you’ve admired?
A: I love Jay Bilas, I’ve always been a huge fan of Jay. … I’ll tell you what’s been a helluva ride for me is for over a decade to have been with Mike [Breen], Jeff [Van Gundy] and Mark [Jackson]. I am incredibly biased, but I would put those three gentlemen in a booth against any booth in any sport at any time.
Q: Best college women’s team?
A: Sue Bird’s senior year, [UConn, 2001-02].
Q: What was your first WNBA game?
A: I only got the radio job the first year at MSG. And they could have tipped the ball up for the first game — Sparks versus Liberty in L.A. in the Forum — and Val Ackerman’s at the center circle with Lisa Leslie and Rebecca Lobo, and I’m in tears. Gus Johnson is looking at me like, “Oh my God, are you gonna make it?” I’ll never forget that moment. Women’s professional basketball was a real thing in the United States of America. It had the backing of the NBA and David Stern, and there was this commitment, and I truly was in awe that women were being given this opportunity, and it felt like a pivotal moment not only in women’s sports history. … I have a daughter who could not care less about sports. But I knew that that was an important moment for my daughter. It was significant.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Ina and Jeffrey [Garten] from “Barefoot Contessa,” Drake.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “Laws of Attraction.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Marlon Brando.
Q: Favorite actress?
A: Meryl Streep.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Fried chicken from Gus’s [in Memphis] and mashed potatoes.
Q: In the early years, you needed thick skin, right?
A: I could feel some skepticism when I started calling men’s college basketball, and then obviously the advent of social media made people’s access to you a little bit more direct. You can say don’t pay attention to it all you want, [but] if you’re in the medium, you’re going to see it, it’s inevitable. I’ve had some hate mail sent to my house that was a little bit disturbing. It’s going back probably 10 years now, but yeah, all of us want to be liked. All of us want to be considered good at our job, that’s human nature.
Q: Why is being an inspiration to women important to you?
A: I didn’t enter the business thinking that this was the outcome. It gives me incredible joy to think that if somehow I have made the path easier for someone coming behind me, there’s nothing more meaningful that I could have ever done.
Q: What do you hope viewers say about Doris Burke?
A: I hope that they see that you could feel my joy about the game of basketball. That they somehow felt the joy I felt in being there.
Q: What is it like today being Doris Burke?
A: Oh my God, I’m having a ball, are you kidding me? I feel like the luckiest person in the world. I’ve got two incredibly nice, healthy children, and I get to be around the game I love and around extraordinary colleagues. I’m lucky. I’m so lucky.


newyorkpost--2020-06-27--Speedway loses partnerships after ‘Bubba rope’ post

PINE HALL , N.C. — A North Carolina racetrack has lost some partnerships after its owner advertised “ Bubba Rope ” for sale online days after NASCAR said a noose had been found in the garage stall of Bubba Wallace , the top series ’ only Black driver .
A concrete company and a driver series ended their partnerships Friday with the half-mile , dirt track 311 Speedway in Stokes County , the Winston-Salem Journal reported .
The racetrack owner ’ s “ Bubba Rope ” post on Facebook Marketplace earlier this week sparked a backlash on social media and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Roy Cooper .
“ Buy your Bubba Rope today for only $ 9.99 each , they come with a lifetime warranty and work great , ” the post said .
The Carolina Sprint Tour posted on its Facebook page that it would not race at the speedway for the remainder of its season , according to the newspaper .
“ We do not condone nor support the comments and posts that have been made the past week , ” the series said in a post online .
A concrete company also said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speedway .
NASCAR officials released a photo Thursday of the rope found Sunday in Wallace ’ s garage stall that prompted a federal investigation , which determined it had been there since October .
The incident came less than two weeks after NASCAR banned the Confederate flag from its venues and races at Wallace ’ s urging .
For copyright information , check with the distributor of this item , Winston-Salem Journal .

PINE HALL, N.C. — A North Carolina racetrack has lost some partnerships after its owner advertised “Bubba Rope” for sale online days after NASCAR said a noose had been found in the garage stall of Bubba Wallace, the top series’ only black driver.
A concrete company and a driver series ended their partnerships Friday with the half-mile dirt track 311 Speedway in Stokes County, the Winston-Salem Journal reported.
The racetrack owner’s “Bubba Rope” post on Facebook Marketplace earlier this month sparked a backlash on social media and a condemnation from a spokesman for Gov. Roy Cooper.
“Buy your Bubba Rope today for only $9.99 each, they come with a lifetime warranty and work great,” the post said.
The Carolina Sprint Tour posted on its Facebook page that it would not race at the speedway for the remainder of its season, according to the newspaper.
“We do not condone nor support the comments and posts that have been made the past week,” the series said in a post online.
A concrete company also said it was cutting all ties with the speedway.
NASCAR officials released a photo Thursday of the rope found Sunday in Wallace’s garage stall that prompted a federal investigation, which determined it had been there since October. The incident came less than two weeks after NASCAR banned the Confederate flag from its venues and races at Wallace’s urging.