NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the league’s ability to get over a million fans back into attendance during the playoffs has helped it stem financial losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We did somewhat better than we initially projected,” Silver said Tuesday before Game 1 of the NBA Finals. “We don’t have the exact numbers yet, but maybe we’ll be down roughly a third in revenue, something around there, instead of 40%.”
What Alex Morgan is accomplishing as a soccer mom isn’t anything new to the U.S. women’s national team.
After all, she is the 13th player in team history who has had a child while performing for the best women’s soccer team in the world.
“I’m here representing all the future moms and I’m trying to show that we can do it all as challenging as it is,” Morgan said on “Good Morning America” when the Olympic team was announced on June 23. “You have to figure it out you have to be mom and a professional athlete. There’s a lot of athletes going to Tokyo that are also fellow mom athletes and I’m excited to catch up with them and kind of just represent all the moms, soccer moms united.”
… “I love the press; I do not love all press conferences,” wrote Osaka. “However, in my opinion (and I want to say that this is just my opinion and not that of every tennis player on tour), the press-conference format itself is … in great need of a refresh.”
“I believe that we can make it better […] Less subject vs. object; more peer to peer.
“Athletes are humans. Tennis is our privileged profession and of course there are commitments off the court that coincide. But I can’t imagine another profession where a consistent attendance record […] would be so harshly scrutinized,” adds Osaka.
Chris Paul and his 36-year-old legs climbed onto the podium at the NBA Finals on Wednesday. He was asked to reminisce about things that have changed in his game during the past 16 years.
“I’m not as athletic as I was then,” Paul said grinning.
But what he lacks in athleticism, he’s made up for in other ways. He was fantastic in Game 1 on Tuesday night, finishing with 32 points and nine assists to lead the Suns to a 118-105 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
He is one of several 30-somethings in these playoffs proving that older legs and a little savvy can still carry teams a long way. Paul is looking to lead the way again in Game 2 Thursday night.
… Walker will need to be well-rested for Sunday after being key to England reaching its first final in 55 years, with Italy standing between the team and the European Championship title.
Seeing the enthused young squad, hungry to pull on the jersey with the Three Lions, takes the 31-year-old Walker back to grimmer times with the national team after 60 appearances over a decade.
“When you put on an England shirt, definitely in the past four years, it means something now,” Walker said.
… The All-Star Game isn’t the be-all end-all but there’s no doubting that MLB has had a problem marketing its best players to help bump up popularity within the sport. Outside of Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN and the Saturday games on FOX, there aren’t many national television appearances for baseball unless fans are dialed into the MLB Network channel. So as crazy as it may sound, there are baseball fans who have likely not seen anything outside of Twitter clips and YouTube highlights of Jacob deGrom this year. That chance to see him go even one inning, knowing there could be a deGrom – Ohtani matchup or a deGrom – Guerrero Jr. matchup is why fans tune into the game. And it’s one of the platforms MLB tries to use to put their best in the spotlight for an evening in July.
Jacob deGrom choosing to miss the MLB All-Star Game is a slight blow to the game at Coors Field but makes sense given some of his injury hiccups this year. What Rob Manfred and Co. have to focus on is making sure this doesn’t become a trend for others. This isn’t a reserve infielder who’s saying, “Thanks but no thanks,” it’s the best pitcher in the world skipping the festivities. And although he likely would’ve only pitched one inning, it certainly would’ve been inning one as the starter and some would’ve tuned in just to watch that, just to see for themselves how incredible the Mets ace has truly been all year.
So far, the LA Rams are believed to be a solid roster, competitive enough to surprise nobody if they win Super Bowl LVI at their home stadium at SoFi, and are incredibly dependant upon staying healthy. If you weren’t aware, the health and durability of the LA Rams roster are considered the responsibilities of the Director of Strength and Conditioning and his department. In case you were wondering who that might be, that falls to the inbox of 2020-hired Justin Lovett. From his track record, you may have some reason to lean into the optimistic side of the street.
If you haven’t already blocked out the nightmare of the 2019 season, the LA Rams had to limp through that year with up to 20 injuries, many of them ending the season of key players. Even with 40 percent of the roster suffering health matters, the Rams scratched and clawed their way to a winning season at 9-7. But those many injuries may have contributed to the Rams welcoming Lovett to the organization.
The LA Rams hired him away from the Purdue Boilermakers in 2020, where he had successfully installed a successful Strength and Conditioning program under similar circumstances.
Gary Lewin has been appointed as the Head of Medicine and Sports Science for Arsenal Women. The role is a full-time role created as part of the internal review of the operation at Arsenal Women. Lewin had worked with the women’s team on a consultancy basis in recent seasons and regularly treated players in the clinic he runs with Colin Lewin, who also spent over 20 years with Arsenal.
… “Coaching in a different language and coaching in a different culture and with a new group of players and a new fan base, I’ll be honest I was a little nervous,” Marsch recalled about his initial season in Salzburg.
“I was really hopeful that they would accept me all the way, but I wasn’t totally sure. I think now with the new language and more experience, I’ve also gained confidence in who I am and how I lead and I’ve added that to who I am. Certainly the confidence of playing in Champions League and having some success at some very high levels of football has built more into the way I think and the way I treat people and the confidence in who I am as a coach and as a leader.”
Dr. Robby Sikka, who served as the Timberwolves vice president of performance and technology, is stepping down from his role to pursue other opportunities.
Sikka oversaw the Wolves’ player performance and worked with staff and players as it related to things such as injuries, fatigue and nutrition. He also oversaw the team’s response to COVID-19.
Wake Forest women’s basketball and head coach Jen Hoover announced the addition of Victoria Saucedo as the director of women’s basketball sports performance on Monday.
In this role, she implements a 12-month strength and conditioning program focused on the development of each individual athlete on the Wake Forest women’s basketball program.
“I am extremely excited to have Victoria join our Wake Forest family,” head coach Jen Hoover said. “She is a passionate and energetic person who has a contagious personality that I know will be a great fit in helping our young women grow in the gym. She has the drive to help us continue to elevate our program as we strive to get back to the NCAA Tournament this season. Her fire and commitment will help her build close relationships with our players, helping develop them outside of the game of basketball.”
Flinders University sleep experts are becoming embedded in a new trial to help people with their individual sleep disorders – via tests on a new mattress sensor.
The sleep disorder diagnosis and monitoring trial will be conducted using invisible sensor technology, REMi – developed by RMIT University for Melbourne-based R&D company Sleeptite – to investigate its capability as a validation tool for sleep disorders.
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… Yahoo Sports question: Injuries were a problem this year, particularly soft-tissue injuries to star players. It’s going to be another condensed summer, you know, with the league ending in July and then starting back up in October with the Olympics in between. Are you concerned moving forward as the league goes back to the usual 82 games, the October to April schedule, that next year will be a problem for injuries like this season was a problem?
Michele Roberts: It feels to me as if we’ve had more injuries, it feels that way [but] the league put out some numbers suggesting that, despite my feelings, there really hasn’t been much of a change. And maybe just because of the players that are injured this season, are some of the well, the better-known players, asked me to debate the numbers. But I know how I feel about the injuries. So I’m always concerned because I know we’re gonna have injuries. I mean that five months off — some of our players, by the way, had not played since March. We had eight teams that didn’t go to the bubble. And then little by little more guys were going home. So, for sure, the Lakers and Miami had the shortest break of any of the teams because they play into the Finals. But a good number of our players [hadn’t] played for like seven-eight-nine months, but when the season began. Having said that, yeah, I’m a little concerned I’m hoping guys are in during the break, are listening to their bodies. But the good news is … we won’t have a compressed schedule. We just have a shorter summer for some teams.