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Henry Repeating Arms Backs Road America Xfinity Race

Published in Racing
Friday, 23 August 2019 09:54

ELKHART, Wis. – Henry Repeating Arms and Road America have reached an agreement naming Henry Repeating Arms as the title sponsor of the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the track.

The Henry 180, scheduled for Aug. 8, 2020, takes place less than 300 miles away from Henry Repeating Arms’ 138,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Rice Lake, Wis.

“We’re fortunate to have such a unique track in our home state of Wisconsin. The drivers love it, the track is beautiful, and the racing is always exciting,” said Anthony Imperato, president and owner of Henry Repeating Arms. He continues, “The Henry 180 is going to be a very special race on the NASCAR Xfinity Series calendar in 2020 and we are looking forward to continuing our partnership with Road America and Stewart-Haas Racing.”

During the press conference at Road America, Henry Repeating Arms explained their current partnership with Stewart-Haas racing extending to the Henry 180. Cole Custer will be driving the No. 00 Henry Ford Mustang during the CTECH Manufacturing 180 at Road America on Saturday.

“We have used Haas Automation CNC machines for years to manufacture our lever action rifles and shotguns,” says Andy Wickstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Henry Repeating Arms. “We share a ‘Made in America’ DNA so the partnership is a great fit with our company, and we are proud to continue working with them at the Henry 180,” Wickstrom concluded.

Both the pole qualifying winner and the race winner of the Henry 180 will receive custom lever action rifles manufactured by Henry Repeating Arms.

Quartararo Scorches Silverstone Asphalt

Published in Racing
Friday, 23 August 2019 10:06

SILVERSTONE, England – Fabio Quartararo established a new lap record during MotoGP practice to lead the practice charts Friday at England’s Silverstone Circuit.

Quartararo put his Petronas Yamaha SRT bike on top with a 1:59.225, though his lap had to be reviewed after practice after it was initially thrown out for exceeding track limits.

Upon review it was determined Quartararo had stayed within the track limits. His time was reinstated, officially making him the fastest man on track Friday and the new track record holder at Silverstone in MotoGP competition.

MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez was second fastest Friday, sitting .251 seconds behind Quartararo on his Repsol Honda entry despite a crash during the second practice.

Maverick Vinales was third fastest overall aboard his factory Yamaha bike. Valentino Rossi finished fourth, though like Quartararo his time had to be reviewed before it was confirmed after the second practice.

Cal Crutchlow ended the day fifth fastest overall, followed by Andrea Dovizioso, Franco Morbidelli, Miguel Oliveira, Jack Miller and Danilo Petrucci.

PHOTOS: Kokomo Smackdown VIII Night One

Published in Racing
Friday, 23 August 2019 12:00

NTSB Releases Preliminary Report From Earnhardt Crash

Published in Racing
Friday, 23 August 2019 12:01

CONCORD, N.C. – The National Transportation Safety Board has released the preliminary report from the investigation into the plane crash in Elizabethton, Tenn., that included Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his family.

The report mostly echos the details released last week by Senior NTSB Investigator Ralph Hicks, who spoke to the members of the media on Aug. 16, a day after the plane crash.

The report states that according to airport surveillance footage, the plane bounced twice before continuing airborne down the runway until it touched down for a third time with approximately 1,000 feet of paved surface left.

The video then showed the right main landing gear collapse and the outboard section of the right win make contact with the runway. The plane then left the runway, going through an open area of grass, down an embankment, through a chain-linked fence, back up an embankment before coming to rest on the edge of Tennessee Highway 91.

The pilots’ account of the crash was consistent with the video footage reviewed by the NTSB. In addition, the pilots indicated that after the second bounce, they attempted a go-around. However, the airplane didn’t react as expected and they landed straight-ahead on the runway and couldn’t stop the airplane prior to it leaving the runway.

No major injuries were sustained in the crash, though the NTSB report indicates that Earnhardt, his wife Amy and daughter Isla all suffered minor injuries. The pilots escaped unharmed.

Earnhardt confirmed Thursday that he still plans to race next week at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series despite suffering from bruising to his back as a result of the plane crash.

To read the full accident report, click below.

Watch: Reavie makes first ace at East Lake's par-3 ninth

Published in Golf
Friday, 23 August 2019 08:12

ATLANTA – If they say one is the loneliest number, count Chez Reavie as the loneliest guy East Lake has ever seen.

Reavie began the day at even par, 10 back of the trio of leaders Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Xander Schauffele, but made up ground quick on his outward nine, finding himself 3 under when he stepped to the par-3 ninth.

"Honestly, I was hitting a 3-iron in the middle of the green," said Reavie, who finished with a 6-under 64. "I kind of just over-drew it a little bit. Got a fortunate bounce, [the ball] kicked a little right, and [I] got lucky and it went in the hole."

It had been since 2002 since the last hole-in-one at the Tour Championship (Jerry Kelly, No. 11) and no one had ever made one at the ninth. As one of the longer par 3s on Tour, playing at 230 yards Friday, it's easy to see why. Reavie didn't seem to care, though.

It was Reavie's 21st hole-in-one, but just his fifth on Tour. The ace also marked the longest hole-in-one on the year, previously held by Nick Taylor who holed one from 221 yards at TPC San Antonio during the Valero Texas Open.

U.S. Open champ Simpson named assistant coach at Hawaii

Published in Golf
Friday, 23 August 2019 09:07

The Hawaii women's golf team has added a U.S. Open champion to its coaching roster.

Scott Simpson, who captured the 1987 U.S. Open at Olympic Club, was announced as the team's assistant coach on Friday.

The 63-year-old Simpson spent 27 seasons on the PGA Tour, winning seven events. He also owns at least one top-10 in every major championship and played on the 1987 U.S. Ryder Cup team. Ten years before that, he represented the U.S. in the 1977 Walker Cup, the same year that he won his second straight NCAA individual title while at USC.

Hawaii, meanwhile, has never qualified for an NCAA Women's Championship. It has advanced to an NCAA regional only three times, and not since 2007. Last season, Hawaii finished No. 148 in the Golfstat rankings (out of 260 Division I teams).

Alright, alright! McConaughey an Austin FC owner

Published in Soccer
Friday, 23 August 2019 13:43

Actor Matthew McConaughey is among four new investors to join Austin FC's ownership group.

The club's parent company, Two Oak Ventures, announced Austin resident McConaughey, entrepreneur Eddie Morgan, Dell executive Marius Haas and local oil and gas executive Bryan Sheffield as its newest members during a media event in the city on Friday.

"It is my privilege to welcome my new partners to Austin FC," said majority partner and CEO Anthony Precourt in a club release. "This group knows and loves the city of Austin and the beautiful game. I can't think of anyone better to help us realize our ambitions as a soccer club for this entire community."

McConaughey, whose film credits include Dazed and Confused and True Detective, called the move an investment in the city's future.

"Austin FC is more than a quality investment for Austin, it's a quality investment in Austin. The most diverse and borderless game in the world is now coming to one of the most multi-cultural, creative and diverse cities in the world. Austin FC is a healthy investment in our city's culture and future," McConaughey said in a press release.

Austin will join MLS as the league's 27th franchise in 2021. The club hired former U.S. international Josh Wolff as its first coach last month.

USWNT star Rapinoe is an inspiration - Mata

Published in Soccer
Friday, 23 August 2019 10:03

MANCHESTER, England -- Juan Mata has urged more footballers to follow Megan Rapinoe's lead after she used this summer's World Cup to stand up for her beliefs.

Rapinoe led the United States women to victory in France, while also becoming involved in a public spat with U.S. President Donald Trump, claiming "the administration doesn't fight for the same things we fight for."

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Mata and Rapinoe both pledge one percent of their salaries to Common Goal -- a collective fund that aids football projects around the world -- and the Manchester United midfielder believes Rapinoe's stand during the World Cup should act as an inspiration for others.

"She was scoring every game also and they won the World Cup so you can do it, you know," Mata said in an exclusive interview with ESPN FC.

"If you have time to do all the things and you're generally passionate about football, and about society and about how to use the power of football to try to make society a bit more fair, then you can do it. That's what we're seeing."

Mata made headlines two years ago after becoming the first footballer to pledge a portion of his wages to Common Goal.

Raheem Sterling, Hector Bellerin and Danny Rose have all spoken out on topics ranging from racism, environmental problems and mental health and Mata believes footballers have a responsibility to use their platforms to address issues away from the pitch.

"I think you have heard many football players, both male and female, speaking about social topics," said Mata.

"I think many players are standing up for what they believe and I think it's something nice. I think it's good when football players do that, like Raheem, or Danny or Hector."

Atlanta-Orlando 'rivalry' features plenty of bad blood

Published in Soccer
Thursday, 22 August 2019 14:00

The heckling was next level.

Here was Atlanta United goalkeeper Brad Guzan, attempting to do his bit for the MLS All-Stars against Spanish giants Atletico Madrid. But even though he was ostensibly playing for the home team, the fans in Orlando's Exploria Stadium were having none of it.

The game clock had barely hit three minutes when the first "F--- you Guzan!" was picked up by a hot mic. Every touch was booed, and every goal kick was met with "You suck a------!" About the only good news was that given the exhibition nature of the match, Guzan's night was over after 30 minutes, at which point it was Atlanta teammate Josef Martinez's turn to be the hecklers' target.

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"I figured it would happen since we were in Orlando," said a bemused Guzan about the abuse he took. "It didn't surprise me, to be honest."

Such is the norm these days between Orlando City and Atlanta United, who will square off this Friday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN3 during MLS Rivalry Week. While encounters such as Portland Timbers vs. Seattle Sounders (Friday at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN), New York Red Bulls vs. New York City FC (Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN 2) and LA Galaxy vs. LAFC will garner more attention, the Orlando vs. Atlanta tilt will carry its own share of intensity and invective. Atlanta is keen to solidify its hold on first place in the Eastern Conference, while the surging Lions are attempting to climb back into the playoff places.

Whether it amounts to a tried-and-true rivalry is open to interpretation. Sure, there's the geographic proximity, at least relatively speaking. At present, Atlanta and Orlando are the only two MLS teams that can call the southeast region of the United States home. While the two cities are a seven-hour drive apart, the next closest team to Atlanta is FC Cincinnati, which is about 460 miles to the north.

Time isn't on the side of calling this a rivalry, however. Atlanta is only in its third year of play, while Orlando is in year five. There simply haven't been that many opportunities for there to be give-and-take on the field. The matchup has also been completely one-sided so far, with the Five Stripes winning six times and drawing twice in all competitions, including last month's U.S. Open Cup semifinal victory in Orlando.

Yet the intensity from the fans is there.

"I don't know if rivalry is the right word," said Michael Collier, the capo (chant leader) for the Atlanta supporter group, the Terminus Legion. "But we definitely take up a lot of rent space in their heads."

On the other hand, Carlos Alvarado, president of the Orlando supporter group, the Iron Lion Firm, believes the "r-word" is appropriate, adding, "It's become a really poisonous rivalry."

You have to go back to a preseason tournament in 2015, in Charleston, South Carolina, of all places, to see where the enmity began. Orlando was prepping for its first season in MLS while Atlanta's expansion intentions had been announced the previous year, and it would be another two seasons before the Five Stripes took the field. With that in mind, a group of intrepid Atlanta fans thought it was time to take their first road trip to that year's Carolina Challenge Cup, especially with former Atlanta Silverbacks attacker Kwadwo Poku suiting up for one of the participants, New York City FC. Orlando City was among the teams taking part.

When the Atlanta fans left some of their flags and banners out following their pregame tailgate, their Orlando counterparts saw an opportunity to claim some trophies, and did just that.

"They wrote in purple chalk on the pavement, 'Thanks for the trophy,'" said Collier. "They even hung the banner that they stole inside their stadium the first time we played them down in Orlando. They really didn't like us, so we didn't like them. They've been angry at us the whole time, and we just back it up by being able to beat them."

Once Atlanta took the field for real, matters escalated. Prior to the first regular-season meeting between the two teams, Atlanta rented a billboard in Orlando that read, "Orlando, We're Coming to Conquer." The move was widely viewed as Atlanta's front office trying too hard to generate a rivalry. It worked though. Alvarado recalled that the billboard was "mysteriously tagged" with the phrase ""F--- ATL, ILF [Iron Lions Firm], WE ARE HERE." The billboard was taken down a day later.

"The rivalry has been short-lived, but there's been a lot of shenanigans so far," said Alvarado.

For the return fixture in Atlanta the following week, a communication mix-up in terms of Orlando's ticket allotment saw the visiting fans not get as many tickets as they wanted. During that match, a 1-1 draw, some bleachers in Bobby Dodd Stadium were damaged and three Orlando City fans were arrested. Alvarado is of the opinion that the damage took place because the Orlando section was overcrowded, and that the arrests were over the top. The charges against all three individuals were eventually dropped, though the Orlando City front office suspended its supporters groups from the next four away Atlanta United matches.

"There's genuine dislike towards Atlanta and their front office," said Alvarado. "Not because of the success they've had, nothing like that, there's just a lot of bad blood from that first trip we had. For us, that set the tone for everything."

Of course, the tit-for-tat battle continued into the 2018 season, with Orlando City suspending the Atlanta United supporters groups' privileges, after the Atlanta front office didn't identify the fans who had allegedly thrown garbage onto the field during a game on May 13 of that year.

For a league that loves its rivalries, its juicier conflicts have proven to be oddly disposable over the years. Matchups like the Red Bulls and D.C. United, as well as the LA Galaxy and the San Jose Earthquakes -- home to some of the more epic encounters in the league's first decade -- have been shunted aside in favor of intracity encounters. There is every chance that could happen with Atlanta and Orlando City before the rivalry can really take root. When Nashville enters the league next season, it will provide Atlanta with a team in closer proximity. The same will be true for Orlando with Inter Miami CF coming on board.

"Just talking to the Atlanta fans that I know, we're really looking forward to the Nashville team coming in, just because it's going to be a fun game to go to; easy to get to, and Nashville is a fun city," said Collier.

"I think when Miami starts up there's going to be this desire to have an in-state rivalry," said Alvarado. But he also notes, "Things have to develop naturally."

That may be where the Atlanta/Orlando matchup has an advantage. The intensity is there, and the rivalry window remains open. Of course, Orlando at some point needs to gain a victory on the field.

Maybe that will happen Friday and push the matchup firmly into rivalry territory.

In 1953, socialist football conquered England. That November, Hungary's "Golden Squad" -- the Aranycsapat, Olympic gold medalists who hadn't lost in three years -- traveled to Wembley and essentially reset the course of British soccer. England hadn't ever lost at home to continental opposition, but what was billed as the "Match of the Century" quickly turned into a rout.

Behind a never-before-seen kind of slick, positional fluidity, the Hungarians won 6-3, marking what Jonathan Wilson described in Inverting the Pyramid "not the moment at which English decline began but... the moment at which it was recognized." Hungary manager Gustav Sebes took it a step further. As Wilson writes, "[He] insisted Hungary's success, so obviously rooted in the interplay of the team opposed to the disassociated individuality of England, was a victory for socialism."

Well, 65 years later, collective football has returned to British shores. It's just that this time it's being funded by a Middle Eastern royal family worth over a trillion dollars and one of the largest payrolls the Premier League has ever seen. And while Hungary haven't qualified for the World Cup in over 30 years, Man City's dominance (barring outside intervention from an international governing body) doesn't seem likely to end any time soon.

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Before the 2017-18 season, no Premier League team had broken the 95-point mark in a full campaign. City have done it twice since. Last year, they relegated Liverpool's 97-point season to second best and won the domestic treble in the process. This year, they're the betting favorites to win the Premier League, the FA Cup, the Carabao Cup and the Champions League. Oh, and they've already nabbed the Community Shield.

This season, every dropped City point seems accompanied by either a Puskas-nominated goal or some form of controversial technological intervention. The natural order of things is a City win; anything else is an aberration.

The only other teams to reach that level of inevitability this decade were a handful of Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid sides. But Bayern had the spine of the World Cup-winning German national team along with perhaps the greatest pure wingers of their generation, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery. And Barcelona and Real Madrid? Well, they had Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the only two players who were inarguably better than not just Robben and Ribery, but pretty much anyone else who's ever played the game.

After they broke 100 points to win the title in 2017-18, the consensus seemed to be that Kevin De Bruyne was Man City's skeleton key. He finished No.1 for attacking midfielders in the FC 100, and the Guardian had him at No. 4 in their 2017 annual ranking of the top 100 players in the world; no one else on the team was in the top 15. In 2017-18, he led City in outfield minutes, and Pep Guardiola's decision to slide him back into the midfield, coupled with his ability to still produce like an attacker from deep (eight goals and 16 assists), vaulted City into a stratosphere of their own.

Before last season kicked off, "a KDB injury" was probably No.1 on the List of Reasons Why City Won't Repeat. A KDB injury is exactly what happened; he played fewer than 1,000 minutes in 2018-19 after struggling with injuries, and yet City were basically as they good as they were the year before. In fact, according to TruMedia data, their expected-goal differential actually improved after the 100-point season. Guardiola has his third "superteam," but this time they don't have an irreplaceable superstar.

play
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Do Arsenal have the personnel to slow down Liverpool?

Arsenal certainly have the firepower to score goals against Liverpool, but can Unai Emery get his players to organize defensively at Anfield?

The soccer consultancy 21st Club has developed a player-rating system that calculates how many points an individual player is worth compared to a league-average player. It's a rough version of baseball's wins above replacement statistic.

"[Raheem] Sterling, [Sergio] Aguero and De Bruyne are fifth, eighth and ninth, respectively, in our ratings," said Omar Chaudhuri, head of football intelligence at 21st Club. "Our top four are [Lionel] Messi, [Mohamed] Salah, Neymar and [Cristiano] Ronaldo."

Since the Abu Dhabi Group purchased the club in 2008, City have spent more on transfer fees than any other team, but not a single transaction breaks into the top 20 of the most expensive transfers of all time.

"They have a group of outstanding players," said Chaudhuri, "but not any true superstars."

A team like PSG, with both Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, the two most expensive players ever, has to sacrifice depth and quality elsewhere in the squad because of the resources put into those two players. And so the top-heaviness makes them more vulnerable to an individual injury. Neymar has missed the knockout stages of the Champions League two years in a row, and PSG have gone out in the round of 16 both times

Guardiola doesn't have that problem. According to the 21st Club model, City have five players in the top 20: the three Chaudhuri mentioned plus Leroy Sane and David Silva. Liverpool and PSG (three each) are the only other clubs that have more than two.

De Bruyne goes down and in steps Bernardo Silva, who's suddenly one of the best pressing midfielders in the world. If Sergio Aguero, perhaps the greatest goalscorer of the Premier League era, gets hurt, guess who backs him up? Gabriel Jesus, a guy with an even better goal-scoring rate. Sane, who was second in the league last year in non-penalty goals plus assists per 90 minutes, might miss the whole season, but it almost doesn't matter because Sterling, Bernardo and Riyad Mahrez are there to eat up his minutes.

Oh, and this summer they spent a club-record £63 million on Rodri to answer the lingering question of what happens when Fernandinho's battery dies, and Joao Cancelo came over from Juventus to add cover for the ever-present Kyle Walker.

"City hit teams with a double whammy," said Mark Taylor, an analyst who works with various Premier League clubs. "They have the best [Premier League] players in their position, and they are generally very consistent. They don't run hot and cold." According to Taylor's game-by-game performance ratings, most of City's players "don't stray too far from their average," he said. "You don't catch City on a collective off day."

Even when there's a roster question without a clear answer, Guardiola still seems to find one.

Two seasons ago, Benjamin Mendy, the £52 million left-back purchase from Monaco, went down with a season-ending knee injury in September. Then Guardiola turned Fabian Delph, at that point an unspectacular journeyman midfielder, into a full-back good enough to start for a 100-point team. Last year, Fernandinho played 90 minutes in only one league match after February, and City ended the season on a 14-game win streak.

"They've reached these heights in large part due to improving the performance of many existing players," said Chaudhuri. "There's no player you would say has gotten worse under Pep, which I think shows the gains clubs can make through good coaching instead of recruitment, which is often seen as a panacea at other clubs."

Of course, Guardiola is the one through-line that connects the great Barcelona teams with the great Bayern teams with the current great City team. There's still one thing left to be accomplished, and much like his time in Germany, his stint in Manchester likely won't be fully appreciated unless the team wins the Champions League. However, in an era where the Premier League has more money and more managerial talent than ever before, Guardiola and Co. put together the competition's best-ever season with just one player who finished in the top 15 of Ballon d'Or voting... and then they followed it up by winning even more trophies while he sat on the sideline.

Globalization and previously unimaginable amounts of money have transformed the sport -- and especially this club -- but City's on-field cooperation, albeit bizarrely, does evoke the success of Sebes's Hungary side. Given all of the resources behind Guardiola and given how his team has been able to dominate the most competitive league in Europe with a rotating cast of key characters, it's hard to see anyone else in England catching up for as long as he hangs around.

"To me, the tragedy was utter helplessness... being unable to do anything to alter the grim outlook," Harry Johnston, one of the England center-backs for the defeat against Hungary, wrote in his autobiography. Over half a century later, the rest of the Premier League might soon start feeling the same way about Man City, if they don't already.

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