Keselowski wins at Bristol…Jordan speaks of Floyd’s death…MLB players want 114-game slate

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — Brad Keselowski inherited his second win of the season when Chase Elliott and Joey Logano collided as they raced for the victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. Logano had cleared Elliott for the lead with three laps remaining but Elliott was stalking him while seeking his second win in three days. They made contact in the fourth turn and drifted into the wall, allowing Keselowski to slide past for the win. Clint Bowyer gave Ford a 1-2 finish with his best performance in a year.

UNDATED (AP) — Michael Jordan says he is “deeply saddened, truly pained and plain angry” following the death of George Floyd and the killings of black people at the hands of police. The former NBA star and current Charlotte Hornets owner issued a statement posted on the Jordan brand’s social media accounts and the team’s Twitter account. Jordan said he sees and feels everyone’s pain, outrage and frustration.

UNDATED (AP) — Major League Baseball’s players have proposed a 114-game regular season, up from 82 in management’s offer. That’s according to a person familiar with the plan who told The Associated Press that the proposal includes no additional pay cuts beyond the one they agreed to in March. Opening day in the coronavirus-delayed season would be June 30 and the regular season would end Oct. 31, nearly five weeks after the Sept. 27 conclusion that MLB’s proposal stuck to from the season’s original schedule. The union offered scheduling flexibility to include more doubleheaders.

UNDATED (AP) — The NHL has health screening protocols in place for voluntary workouts and training camp in the hands of individual teams. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly says if play resumes, players would be tested for COVID-19 daily while games are going on. That could require 25,000 to 30,000 tests at a cost of millions of dollars. The league doesn’t expect that amount of testing to interfere with the needs of the general public.

DALLAS (AP) — Hall of Fame welterweight Curtis Cokes has died at 82. Cokes took the World Boxing Association welterweight title in 1966 belt with a unanimous decision over Manny Gonzalez. He added the World Boxing Council crown three months later with a unanimous decision over Jean Josselin in Dallas. Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003, the 5-foot-8 Cokes fought 80 times from 1958 to 1972, finishing 62-14-4 with 30 knockouts.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander David Price will give $1,000 each to 220 of the team’s minor leaguers as a goodwill gesture, according to a club spokesman. Price has yet to play a regular-season game for the Dodgers because the start of the season has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. He was acquired in a February trade with the Boston Red Sox. The 34-year-old left-hander is on a $217 million, seven-year contract that runs through 2021.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Pro Football Hall of Famer Floyd Little has been diagnosed with cancer, according to a former Syracuse Orange teammate who has set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for treatment costs. Pat Killorin created the Friends of Floyd page last Sunday to help raise money for costs associated with curing what he calls “a treatable but aggressive form of cancer.” Little was a three-time All-American at Syracuse from 1964-66 and was selected sixth overall in the 1967 combined AFL-NFL draft by the Denver Broncos.

UNDATED (AP) — United States Tennis Association officials continue to work on plans to hold the U.S. Open as scheduled. Among the possibilities are charter flights to ferry players and limited entourages from Europe, South America and the Middle East to New York. There could be negative COVID-19 tests before traveling, centralized housing and daily temperature checks. USTA chief executive for professional tennis Stacey Allaster tells The Associated Press that all plans remain fluid, and no decisions have been made.

UNDATED (AP) — The English Premier League has been given government approval to press ahead with its June 17 restart, although players will have to stay apart during goal celebrations and disputes to maintain social distancing. Further details of the league’s plans for dealing with coronavirus cases have been disclosed with clubs likely to have to play even if they only have 15 fit squad members. The league says there have been no positive results in its latest round of COVID-19 testing.

UNDATED (AP) — A former sports minister in France says the government was too hasty in calling off soccer leagues this season. Patrick Kanner thinks the leagues were pressured into canceling, saying in a French radio interview that they weren’t given any choice and could have possibly resumed play in June. France is the only one of Europe’s five major soccer leagues to cancel its season.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Ric Hanson.

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Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

UNDATED (AP) — Big 12 schools still got a strong payout from the conference during the pandemic. The revenue distribution to the league’s 10 schools for the 2019-20 school year averages $37.7 million each. That figure announced at the end of the league’s virtual spring meetings was down only about $1.1 million a school from last year. That ends a 13-year streak of increasing revenues. The decrease came after the cancellation of the basketball tournaments, and then spring sports. There is still plenty of uncertainty moving forward as campuses get ready to welcome athletes back for voluntary workouts.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa has added Troy to its non-conference football schedule in four years. The athletic department announced the Hawkeyes will host the Trojans Sept. 14, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium. It will be the teams’ first meeting. Iowa also announced a change to the 2023 schedule. Home dates with Western Michigan and Utah State have been exchanged from previous contracted dates. Utah State will visit Iowa City on Sept. 2, 2023, with Western Michigan playing at Iowa on Sept. 16.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska golfers or those with ties to the state can try to qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour’s Pinnacle Bank Championship in July. The 36-hole qualifier will be played at ArborLinks in Nebraska City on July 2. Professional and amateur golfers with Nebraska ties and a handicap index of 4.0 or less can vie for an exemption into the July 27-Aug. 2 tournament at The Club at Indian Creek in Omaha. Entry deadline is June 23. Details are available on t he tournament website, the pinnaclebankchampionship.com.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa men’s basketball forward Patrick McCaffery’s hardship waiver petition has been approved by the Big Ten Conference. He has four years of eligibility remaining.

McCaffery saw limited action in the first two games of his true freshman campaign before missing the remainder of the 2019-20 season due to residual health and wellness issues related to his thyroid.

McCaffery joined the Hawkeyes after finishing his prep career at Iowa City West High School as its all-time leading scorer. He won a combined 86 games with the Trojans, including the 2017 4A State Championship, and runner-up finishes in 2016 and 2018. McCaffery was a three-time all-state honoree.

Iowa senior Jordan Bohannon and sophomore Jack Nunge had their hardship waiver petition’s approved earlier this month.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa, pending approval by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, will break ground in late fall on a $4 million state-of-the-art soccer operations facility on the west side of the Iowa Soccer Complex. This new space will open in time for the 2021 fall season — the 25th year of Iowa women’s soccer.

The proposed facility, funded entirely by private support, will include:

A spacious locker room and lounge/team room that will dramatically improve Iowa soccer student-athletes efficiency and experience while creating a “one-stop home” for Iowa women’s soccer.
A multi-purpose room, overlooking one of the best soccer fields in the Big Ten Conference, that creates a space for student-athletes to enjoy pregame and postgame meals, watch film, study, and socialize, as well as to host donors and other events before and after matches.
An athletic training room, allowing student-athletes to receive treatments from sports medicine staff after a practice or game — without having to travel to another campus location.
Additional amenities including; coaches’ offices, visiting team and officials’ locker rooms, press box, and storage.

“We truly appreciate the support from our soccer alumni and friends. These are challenging times, but the passion of these loyal individuals has pushed this facility forward and are making it a reality,” said Gary Barta, Henry B. and Patricia B. Tippie Director of Athletics Chair. “We are coming off a historic soccer season and have significant momentum around the program. With permission to proceed from the Board of Regents, we look forward to beginning construction this fall.”

Dave DiIanni is entering his seventh season as the program’s head coach.  During the 2019 season, DiIanni led the Hawkeyes to one of their best seasons in program history, tying a school record with 15 victories en route to the the second NCAA Tournament appearance in school history.

The Hawkeyes won seven Big Ten games — tied for the most all-time — and achieved their highest ranking — No. 19 — in program history during the regular season.  DiIanni has won 61 games during his Iowa tenure.

Iowa has also excelled academically under DiIanni’s watch with two players garnering four Academic All-America honors. The program has earned the United Soccer Team Academic Award each season and Iowa had a school record 19 Academic All-Big Ten selections in 2019.

“One of the most important things that we have done over the past six years is build a winning culture — doing your best on and off the field,” said DiIanni. “Building an operations facility at the Iowa Soccer Complex is a game-changer for our program.

“This facility will significantly enhance our student-athlete experience. It has been a long-time vision for the program and we look forward, with support of others, to completing this campaign successfully and putting the ball in the back of the net.”

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa has added Troy University to its 2024 football schedule. The announcement was made Friday by the Iowa Athletics Department.

The addition of Troy visiting Kinnick Stadium on Sept. 14, 2024, completes Iowa’s 2024 schedule and marks the first football game between the two programs. Additional nonconference games include Iowa hosting Illinois State to open the season Aug. 31, and Iowa State visiting Kinnick Stadium on Sept. 7 for the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series contest. The date of the Iowa State game had not previously been announced. Iowa visits Iowa State on Sept. 6, 2025.

In addition to the contract completing the 2024 schedule, Iowa also announced a change to the 2023 schedule. Home dates with Western Michigan and Utah State have been exchanged from previous contracted dates. Utah State will visit Iowa City Sept. 2, 2023, with Western Michigan playing at Iowa on Sept. 16.

Iowa’s Big Ten Conference schedule in 2024 includes home dates with Northwestern, Maryland, Wisconsin, and Nebraska, while the Hawkeyes travel to Purdue, Rutgers, Illinois, Indiana, and Minnesota.

Following are Iowa’s complete schedules for 2023 and 2024.

2023 Schedule

Sept. 2                 Utah State
Sept. 9                 at Iowa State (Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series)
Sept. 16               Western Michigan
Sept. 23               Purdue (FW)
Sept. 30               at Wisconsin
Oct. 7                   Rutgers (HC)
Oct. 14                 at Northwestern
Oct. 21                 Michigan State
Oct. 28                 at Penn State
Nov. 4                  Minnesota
Nov. 11                Open
Nov. 18                Illinois
Nov. 24                at Nebraska 

2024 Schedule

Aug. 31                Illinois State
Sept. 7                 Iowa State (Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series)
Sept. 14               Troy
Sept. 28               at Purdue
Oct. 5                   Northwestern (HC)
Oct. 12                 at Rutgers
Oct. 19                 at Illinois
Oct. 26                 Maryland (FW)
Nov. 2                  at Indiana
Nov. 9                  Open
Nov. 16                at Minnesota
Nov. 23                Wisconsin
Nov. 29                Nebraska

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy expects the Cyclone program to make more progress. Purdy is getting ready for his junior season as the Cyclones will be in search of a fourth straight winning season and bowl trip.

Players have been away from campus since March and are preparing for a return in June.

New Griswold head boys basketball coach Jake Speer is eager to be given the opportunity to coach early in his career. Speer was not looking to coach at the high school level right away coming out of college, but the opportunity to become an assistant early was too big to pass up. Speer said his confidence built as he got more years of experience.

In game coaching at the junior varsity level has really benefited Speer early in his career. Speer praised his old high school basketball coach, Darrell Burmeister, on how he coached in the past and wants to implement some of his philosophies in the future

Speer envisions some long term goals are to have all coaches throughout each level in the school district on the same page, while trying to maintain a good number of kids out for basketball. Getting more kids out for basketball and playing all year around is a good start said Speer.

Coach Speer will be coming into the head job looking to rejuvenate the program. The last two seasons the Tigers have a combined seven wins and the last time they had a winning season was back in 2014. The full length interview with Coach Speer will be available on this story later today.

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The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

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