TEMPE, Ariz. -- Shohei Ohtani doesn't just drive the ball anymore.

The Los Angeles Angels' two-way star said he got his California driver's license in the offseason, putting the 25-year-old behind the wheel of a car for the first time.

"I'm enjoying it," Ohtani said through his interpreter Saturday after rolling up to the Angels' spring training complex in his Tesla. "I was able to pass it the first time, so, not too much stress."

Ohtani never got a license in his native Japan because the process is longer and more expensive, and he didn't need to drive himself anywhere in Sapporo thanks to public transportation and his team. Since he joined the Angels in 2018 and moved to car-centric Southern California, he had been driven around by other people.

Ohtani said he thinks he's a "pretty good" driver already, although he still hasn't driven onto the Los Angeles area's famous freeways by himself.

With his recovery from Tommy John surgery in its final stages, Ohtani has plenty of other work to do this spring as he prepares to return to the Angels' rotation in mid-May.

Ohtani will be able to hit for the Halos from the opening game of spring, but manager Joe Maddon has said the team is ramping up his pitching work gradually in a bid to keep him fresh for the long season ahead.

Ohtani made 10 starts for the Angels during his AL Rookie of the Year season in 2018, going 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA and a 1.161 WHIP. Although he clearly demonstrated the tantalizing talent that made every team in baseball eager to land his services, Ohtani is taking nothing for granted as he prepares for his mound return.

"I still can't say I'm fully confident, because I only pitched in 10 games," Ohtani said. "A lot of the teams were facing me for the first time. I think in that case, the pitcher has the edge. So after I face the same team multiple times and still have good results, that's probably when I'll start building more confidence."

NEW YORK -- Minor League Baseball said planned salary raises for its players in 2021 paid by Major League Baseball should not lead to contraction, and it has sent a proposal to MLB as part of negotiations for a new agreement between the levels.

The commissioner's office sent a memo, obtained by The Associated Press, to all 30 teams Friday announcing wage bumps for minor league players between 38% and 72%.

The raises come as MLB is negotiating with the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, the governing body of the minors, to replace the Professional Baseball Agreement that expires after the 2020 seasons. MLB proposed cutting 42 of the 160 required affiliated teams during those talks, a plan criticized by minor league team owners, fans and politicians.

MiLB said in a statement Saturday it "fully supports MLB's decision to raise the pay rates for players in affiliated Minor League Baseball" but added it "believes MLB can afford these salary increases without reducing the number of players by 25 percent.

"We have provided MLB with a specific proposal on how we can work together to ensure improvements to older facilities and reduce travel between series through limited realignment. We look forward to continued good faith negotiations with our colleagues at MLB and our principal goal remains to preserve Minor League Baseball in as many communities as possible."

Minor league player salaries are paid entirely by MLB teams. Commissioner Rob Manfred said at the winter meetings in December that the league would like MiLB to share some of the costs associated with "player-related improvements.''

MLB has voiced frustration that bargaining stalled following that proposal and has urged the NAPBL to resume negotiations and "commit to working in good faith toward a better, more modern working agreement for our two leagues.'' The sides are scheduled to meet next week.

Response from minor league players to news of the wage increases was largely positive. Concern remains that the raises -- which will bring minimum salaries to between $4,800 and $14,000 per season, depending on the level -- may not be enough to help players fully address issues around housing, nutrition and training hours sacrificed in the offseason as they take on other jobs.

Anxiety also remains that the raises could be a precursor to a reduction in affiliates.

"What does it mean for us? I'm not sure," said Jeremy Wolf, a former minor league player who founded More Than Baseball prior to last season. His organization raises funds and provides other services for minor league players, including assistance with housing, equipment, food and post-baseball plans.

The group has also tried to provide some level of representation for minor league players, who are not eligible for the major league players' union unless they are placed on a 40-man roster by a big league team.

"I do know that what we're doing for the game is incredibly important," Wolf told The Associated Press. "We're showing that minor leaguers have value. That baseball has value. In the middle of all of the problems within baseball, we're that bright spot bringing the game back to people and communities that love and want it to thrive.

"The owners are going to do what they're going to do, but as long as we make sure players have a voice in all of this, we're doing our job."

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Baseball is burning. Opposing players are pummeling the Houston Astros as the fallout from their cheating scandal refuses to dissipate, and fans are frothing for vengeance after the players involved were spared from discipline by the league. Commissioner Rob Manfred is trying to wrap his arms around it all only for the anarchy to keep expanding. Every day is something new. Saturday, it was bad tattoos. Sunday, the commissioner will talk and try to explain how this all unfolded on his watch. Monday, if it came out that the Astros used furtive earpieces or Bluetooth buzzers or a robust artificial-intelligence operation to gain an advantage, it would surprise absolutely nobody.

There is no order. Just pure, distilled chaos.

It's not going away any time soon. This is a reality every person involved should learn to understand sooner than later. Not because this is some media creation that thirsts for the mother's milk of controversy and giddily gawks at the overnight transformation of Major League Baseball from the league of Charlie Chaplins into a full-flavored copy of the NBA, where no sacred cows exist. No, this is now about something much more primal: survival.

The tentacles of baseball's cheating scandal are long and abundant. All of the Astros players, past and present. Their front-office members. Their opponents. Manfred and his associates. The MLB Players Association. Team owners. Fired general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch. Alex Cora and Carlos Beltran, both of whom lost managing jobs on account of their involvement. It is a wide swath of characters with competing interests and self-preservation in mind, each with a story to tell. Already those involved are trying to game the timing, to ensure that their version does not find itself lost amid the morass of takes.

The prevailing narrative Saturday came from Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, who originally declined to comment through a team spokesman and then granted a wild interview to MLB Network in which he told the reigning National League MVP to "shut the f--- up," reiterated that the Astros' 2017 World Series title was not won through ill-gotten gains and introduced the world to Jose Altuve's unfortunate collarbone tattoo.

A quick backgrounder, because that last sentence sounds like a Mad Lib: Los Angeles Dodgers star Cody Bellinger unloaded on the Astros on Friday, a day after the beginning of their mea culpa tour turned disastrous, by saying Altuve "stole" the American League MVP award from New York Yankees star Aaron Judge in 2017 and that the Astros "stole the ring from us" by beating the Dodgers for the 2017 championship. Bellinger was the latest player to flout the game's long-held omertà and unload a shotgun into the barrel in which the Astros swim these days. Dragging the Astros is the sport within a sport.

Correa decided to come clean with something that data compiled by an Astros fan named Tony Adams had seemed to show: Altuve did not like when his teammates banged on a trash can adjacent to the dugout to alert him of the coming pitch type. Adams logged more than 8,000 pitches from home games during the 2017 season and heard trash-can bangs on 13.2%. Of the 866 pitches to Altuve, there were bangs on only 24 -- 2.8%.

"For [Bellinger] to go out there and defame Jose Altuve's name like that -- it doesn't sit right with me," Correa said. "'Cause the man plays the game clean."

Knowing the data, and having been told by another player on the 2017 Astros that Altuve did not engage regularly in the trash-can scheme, I had asked him Thursday to explain why.

"I know your question," Altuve said. "I really appreciate your question. It's good. But I want to take this as a team. I think we're all at the same level right now of feeling the way we're feeling about doing what we did. I'm not here to say you and you more than you and you. We're a team. I'm not saying this today. I always say this is a team. And if we are something, we all are something."

For all of the fallout from that day, particularly after owner Jim Crane's contraction of foot-in-mouth disease, Altuve's answer stood out as not just sincere but commendable -- the sort of thing other players in baseball in different circumstances would respect and the rare instance, in this whole scandal, of someone not obviously acting in his own self-interest. Altuve could have absolved himself. He could have gone full Shaggy. He instead subjected himself to the fusillade of condemnation that would come.

Because it's true: He didn't stop it. No one did. And that's a question the players lobbing grenades at the Astros ought to ask themselves, too. If they truly plumb the depths of their self-awareness, how many believe they would not simply be conscientious objectors as the data suggests Altuve was but entirely blow up a scheme being used by a team barreling toward 101 wins?

What the Astros did was clearly cheating, clearly wrong, clearly a black mark on their championship. It is also naïve to think less hubristic versions of sign stealing weren't going on elsewhere and that had those been accelerated, the players would have put a stop to them.

The defiance emanating from the Astros' clubhouse, even after their apologies, is coated in this let-he-who-is-without-sin-cast-the-first-stone mentality. Correa besmirched Bellinger for suggesting Houston was cheating for the past three years, saying it occurred only in 2017. Ken Rosenthal immediately corrected him, saying Manfred's report said the Astros had stolen signs in 2018, too. Correa danced around this, landing ultimately on a judgment of Bellinger daring to vilify Altuve and the Astros: "With me, that doesn't sit right."

The problem, of course, is that the moment the Astros decided to start banging on trash cans, they forfeited any sort of moral authority that allows them to differentiate between right and wrong. They might as well have "KICK ME" stitched across the backs of their jerseys instead of their last names, and it's because of their collective action. So as satisfying as it feels to try to speak into existence this notion that their championship isn't irreparably tainted, to drop F-bombs on the haters, to stand up for Altuve like Altuve stood up for him and the rest of the Astros who did think enough of the trash-can scheme to use it for months, it runs the risk of sounding like Charlie Brown's teacher.

Correa's defense stretched past aggrieved and into comedic during his denial that the Astros used wearable buzzers during the 2019 season to signal the coming pitch. Bellinger and Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez questioned why, after Altuve hit a walk-off home run to send the Astros to the World Series this year, he did not want his jersey ripped off. First, Correa said, Altuve's wife had expressed discomfort with it when he and Tony Kemp unclothed Altuve earlier in the season.

"The second reason that he don't want me to talk about this, but I'm gonna say it, is because he's got an unfinished tattoo on his collarbone, right here, that, honestly, looked terrible," Correa said. "It was a bad tattoo. And he didn't want nobody to see it. He didn't want to show it at all."

A bad tattoo. Welcome to baseball in 2020.

There's more to come. There's always more with this Astros story that drips out with all the efficiency of a broken faucet. The coming days, weeks, months will teem with more details, explanations, facts. Manfred's report looks more and more like a Polaroid that needs to be shaken. The manifold characters all have their versions of the story to tell. There are reputations to be salvaged, careers to be saved, sides to be taken. This is the just the beginning.

The next step is Manfred addressing the media Sunday in North Port, Florida. As commissioner, the sport's well-being ultimately falls on him. And while the ultimate fallout of the scandal is unclear -- is it, in a perverse way, actually driving interest to baseball, or does the stench of misconduct have the opposite effect? -- he must answer for his role in it reaching this point, where a new fire smolders every day.

And rest assured, potential arson abounds. What will Beltran, slimed and smeared, say when he speaks out? How will MLB, if at all, punish the Boston Red Sox, whom they're investigating for stealing signs in 2018? What will the punishment for Cora, who is expected to be suspended, be? How can the MLBPA preach solidarity when its members attack one another on the daily? Will others join former MLB pitcher Mike Bolsinger and a daily fantasy player in filing lawsuits against the Astros and the league? Who will speak out next? What will they say?

In a week, spring training games begin. The Astros will play the Washington Nationals, who beat them in the 2019 World Series. Across the sport, eyes will be trained on the game to see if Nationals pitchers intentionally throw at Astros hitters. Houston manager Dusty Baker tried to preempt any retaliation Saturday, asking MLB to do all it can to prevent premeditated beanings. It only served to draw the ire of those who see the inevitability of what is to come: a pitcher who dots an Astros hitter with a fastball to send a message that what he did is indefensible will receive a longer suspension than any of the Astros did for their indefensible acts.

Yes, baseball is burning, and nobody -- not the Astros, not Manfred, not the rest of the players -- can stop it. Only time will slow it, and until then, as baseball's cheating scandal metastasizes, as it dirties all it touches, remember that what caused it in the first place will guide its direction going forward: the choices of individuals looking out for themselves.

Global champion comes close to his own world record at USATF Indoor Championships, while Ryan Crouser throws big for shot put victory

Christian Coleman threatened his own world record to win the US indoor 60m title, clocking 6.37 in Albuquerque on Saturday.

Only Coleman himself has ever gone quicker, with his world record mark of 6.34 set at the same championships in 2018, and his latest performances equals the second best ever mark, also set by the American.

It came after a less than ideal start, too, and Coleman now owns the four fastest 60m times in history ahead of Maurice Greene’s 6.39.

MEN’S WORLD INDOOR 60m ALL-TIME LIST

6.34 Christian Coleman 2018
6.37 Christian Coleman 2018
6.37 Christian Coleman 2018
6.37 Christian Coleman 2020
6.39 Maurice Greene 1998

6.37 officially for @__coleman!

Only he has finished faster. #ToyotaUSATFIndoors pic.twitter.com/8Mweyq0FRe

— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) February 15, 2020

World indoor 60m and outdoor 100m champion Coleman also clocked 6.48 in the heats and 6.51 in the semi-finals despite easing down and won the final ahead of Marvin Bracy who clocked 6.49 and Brandon Carnes who ran 6.53.

Mikiah Brisco won the women’s title in 7.04 ahead of Javianne Oliver with 7.08.

Also among those to impress in Albuquerque was Ryan Crouser as the Olympic shot put champion threw 22.60m to move to second on the world indoor all-time list behind Randy Barnes’ 22.66m from 1989.

Crouser’s previous indoor best had been 22.33m, while his outdoor PB of 22.90m was set in Doha last summer.

Chase Ealey won the women’s shot put title with a world-leading throw of 18.99m.

World fourth-placer Shelby Houlihan took her tally of national titles to 13 as she won the 1500m in 4:06.41 after winning the 3000m in 8:52.03 the day before.

Josh Thompson claimed the men’s 1500m title in 3:44.07, while Friday’s men’s 3000m win was claimed by Olympic 5000m silver medallist Paul Chelimo in 8:00.14.

On another day of world pole vault record breaking, with Mondo Duplantis having cleared 6.18m in Glasgow, Sandi Morris beat Jenn Suhr to the US women’s title, with world indoor champion Morris clearing 4.90m to 2012 Olympic champion Suhr’s 4.85m.

The 2016 world indoor champion Vashti Cunningham claimed another national high jump title, clearing 1.97m.

Ajee’ Wilson secured success in the women’s 800m, clocking 2:01.98, while Bryce Hoppel claimed the men’s title in 1:46.67.

Full results can be found at results.usatf.org

Hutton reaches final after two walkovers in a row
By DONNA HELMER – Squash Mad Correspondent

Defending champion James Willstrop set up a thrilling finale to the AJ Bell British National Championships against favourite Joel Makin as women’s top seed Sarah-Jane Perry escaped another five-game tussle in Nottingham on Saturday.

Second seed Willstrop, who is appearing in his 14th Nationals semi-final, put a stop to unseeded George Parker’s giant-killing run, winning 3-1 (11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7) in 48 minutes after Perry took an hour to beat [3/4] Millie Tomlinson 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-7).

Makin made his first final with a 3-1 defeat of 3/4 seed Adrian Waller (11-7, 10-12, 11-7, 11-2) while 5/8 seed Jasmine Hutton advanced without hitting a shot for the second consecutive day after Emily Whitlock withdrew following a foot injury.

Willstrop went on a five-point run at 6-6 in the first game then finished off the second with three unanswered points as his 23-year-old opponent let the crowd know his frustrations.

Parker closed out the third having trailed 7-5 but couldn’t capitalise on a fast start to the fourth as the guile of Willstrop took the 36-year-old into an 11th Nationals final.

“He’s an immense athlete and I enjoyed the match with him today. I love playing in big matches, I’m addicted to the buzz of these matches,” said the former World No.1 after increasing his winning record over Parker to 4-0.

“I hope to put on a good match tomorrow. Joel will be tough to beat at this tournament no question. He’s the form player that’s here,” added the three-time champion, who lost to Makin at the Tournament of Champions last month.

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Despite a 3-1 losing record against Waller, Welshman Makin made a rapid start, and a change of strings at 9-7 in front, had no effect on the top seed’s masterful play as he promptly won a thrilling point then closed out the first game 11-7.

A good-natured affair turned tighter and more tense in the second, Waller expertly saving a game ball then pulling through with some exquisite finishes.

Yet it wasn’t to be a first final for Waller as World No.11 Makin cruised home in the third and fourth games.

“James has got through the draw unbelievably well and he’s so accurate as everyone knows. He knows how to win these tournaments and I’m excited to see how I can get on against him,” said Makin, who will try to become the first Welsh male winner against Willstrop. “It’d be the biggest title I’ve won so far.”

Earlier in the day, Perry built first-game leads of 4-1 and 8-3 before eventually taking it but first-time semi-finalist Tomlinson levelled.

Perry’s anger sparked her into life in the third as she stormed to an 8-1 lead yet the unfancied Tomlinson upped the ante in the fourth to set up a decider.

A more measured and cautious fifth game followed and, locked at five-all, Perry’s fortuitous winner off her frame helped the 29-year-old grab a timely advantage to gain three match balls, a classy winner on her second enough for the victory and a third final berth.

“I was really pleased to stay strong at the end of the fifth. I’ve been there lots of times but even at the end Millie was playing some amazing shots,” said Perry.

Perry extended her head-to-head record against Tomlinson to 11-0 with the win, having previously beaten her Derbyshire opponent at the 2015 Nationals when she went on to claim her sole British title.

“I hope I can raise my level a bit in the final. I’ve had extra build up because I didn’t get to play last year because I was still injured so I haven’t played it for a couple of years.

“You want to look back on your career and be able to say ‘I won a few National titles’. I’ve been stuck on one for quite a few years now so I’ll be gunning for whoever I’ve got to play.”

Women’s 5/8 duo Whitlock and Hutton were deprived of a first meeting after the former went to hospital for an x-ray on her foot, handing the 20-year-old Hutton another walkover victory after second seed Alison Waters withdrew yesterday.

AJ Bell British National Championships 2020, University of Nottingham, England.

Men’s Semi-Finals:
[1] Joel Makin (WAL) bt [3/4] Adrian Waller (ENG) 11-7, 10-12, 11-7, 11-2
[2] James Willstrop (ENG) bt George Parker (ENG) 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7 (48m)
Final:
[1] Joel Makin (WAL) v [2] James Willstrop (ENG)

Women’s Semi-finals:
[1] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt [3/4] Millie Tomlinson (ENG) 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-7 (60m)
[5/8] Jasmine Hutton (ENG) bt [5/8] Emily Whitlock (ENG) w/o
Final:
[1] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v [5/8] Jasmine Hutton (ENG)
 

Pictures by STEVE CUBBINS courtesy of England Squash

Elliot Daly has indicated he is likely to join England team-mate Jamie George in staying with Saracens when they play Championship rugby next season.

The double winners will be relegated from the Premiership in June as punishment for breaching salary rules.

England hooker George has already pledged his future to the ailing club.

"I reckon I'll stay, pretty similar to Jamie. I am still in contract," said versatile back Daly, 27, who is currently on Six Nations duty.

"We have the rest of the season to sort it out. At the moment, I'm just thinking about the next couple of games with England and then when I get back to Saracens, we'll start talking about next year."

An initial 35-point deduction and £5.36m fine for persistently spending above their wage limit were followed by another 70-point deduction, which guarantees Saracens' relegation at the end of this season.

Sarries have had assurances from the British and Irish Lions, and England that competing in the Championship will not harm the ambitions of their international stars, but the details of what a year in the second tier will mean for the players are still being finalised.

Daly's England and Saracens team-mates Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, and Billy and Mako Vunipola have yet to reveal their intentions.

Daly, who only joined from Wasps in the summer, added: "My first day wasn't the best! It's a big thing and it's not to be taken lightly, but the way Saracens dealt with the players I thought was really good.

"I didn't see this coming but I definitely don't have any regrets joining. The way that we train, the players there, the coaching staff - it's an amazing club to be at.

"When a club like Saracens want to sign you, the best team in Europe as they were at that time, it's a no-brainer to go and play with some very good people."

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – At 34 years old, Kyle Busch has already created a Hall of Fame career that includes two NASCAR Cup championships, 56 Cup Series wins, 96 Xfinity Series victories and 56 Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series victories.

He has many years left behind the wheel of a race car and has even strongly hinted his desire at competing in the Indianapolis 500.

But there is one thing missing from Busch’s incredible career. He has never won the Daytona 500.

The driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota gets another chance in Sunday’s 62nd Daytona 500. Busch starts in the 28th position alongside Ryan Blaney and just ahead of Clint Bowyer and David Ragan. But in NASCAR’s wild, high-banked, tapered spacer brand of racing that is often determined by being part of a draft party, it doesn’t really matter where a driver starts in the Daytona 500.

Busch’s Daytona 500 winless record is not the major storyline entering Sunday’s race, but it remains a storyline, nonetheless. Sunday’s race will be his 15th Daytona 500 start.

“It’s fine,” Busch said when asked about it during media day on Wednesday. “It’s attention to the sport, which is good for all of us. You know, me not being able to win the Daytona 500 isn’t something that’s going to kill me, but it’s certainly going to weigh on me in the late goings of a race to try to get out there and win this thing. We were so close last year.

“There were just a couple different instances that ‑ different circumstances could have made a whole different day, and we wouldn’t be having this discussion this year. But you know, it is what it is. We’ll go out there this year and see if we can’t give it the same shot, we gave it last year.”

There have been many great drivers who went deep into their careers without winning the Daytona 500. It took Darrell Waltrip 17 tries to win the Daytona 500 and the late Dale Earnhardt 20 attempts before he crossed it off his list.

There have been many greats who never won the Daytona 500. Drivers such as Tony Stewart, Terry Labonte, Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace to name a few.

“There are a lot of greats that haven’t, but I would definitely not want to be on that list if I had my way,” Busch said. “You don’t always have your way, especially in restrictor plate racing with just how random it is. Years ago, I would say probably…man, ’85, ’87 maybe or earlier, it was way more skill, car, equipment, driver, that sort of stuff, but with the restrictor plate stuff, it’s been way more random and unexpected.”

Whether Busch ever wins a Daytona 500, he will always be one of NASCAR’s all-time greats. With Busch’s attitude however, it really doesn’t make a difference to him.

He wants to win it; but he’s not going to obsess over it if he doesn’t.

“It’s not life or death, but it would certainly be nice,” Busch said. “There’s opportunities out there that all things considered, and all the stars align, yeah, you can make it there. You’d better set your goals high, as I’ve always kind of looked at it, and try and go out there and achieve them and not be totally disappointed or let down if you’re not able to achieve those goals, but obviously you want to be able to go out there ‑‑ if you set it at one championship or two championships, well, hell, I’m already done, so why am I still here?

“We keep changing that and moving those targets a little bit. I had the 200‑win target years ago. I think it came up at Richmond with Kerry Tharp (president of Darlington Raceway) years ago, and we’ve now kind of pushed that number up. So obviously just continuing to go out there and succeed and doing well and pushing hard and trying to get the most out of myself and my equipment and my team and everybody.”

In many ways, Busch has become the face of NASCAR. As seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson is set to retire from full-time racing at the end of 2020, this is Busch’s time to be the driver that is the face of the series.

“It doesn’t bother me,” he said. “I live my life just the same as you live yours, and mine is just a little different perceived than yours probably. It’s all fine.

“Just a matter of being able to go out there and do my job and whatever it takes to do my job is what I focus on, and a lot of who I’m known for and what I’m known for is obviously racetrack related, results related, competition related. Away from the racetrack, those around me could say that, yeah, I still have that fire and that desire in some of my other outside businesses. I’m a fierce competitor but also a little demanding in the things that I expect my people to do.

“I guess that’s just a part of my nature and the way I was brought up.”

Whether Busch takes over as the face of NASCAR remains to be determined.

What is determined, at least in his mind, is who is the best driver in NASCAR?

“You’re looking at him,” he said.

Spoken like a true legend.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Cup Series drivers that compete in the Daytona 500 are considered true American heroes.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Ford at Stewart-Haas Racing, met an actual American Hero after Saturday’s final practice session before Sunday’s 62nd Daytona 500.

It was David Bellavia, a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant, who became the first living Medal of Honor winner from the Iraq War. He received his medal from President Donald J. Trump in a ceremony at the White House on June 25, 2019.

The Buffalo, N.Y., native told SPEED SPORT it was the only “participation medal” he would ever accept. He is also a big fan of Bowyer, who had a chance to stop and chat with Bellavia early Saturday afternoon in the Daytona Int’l Speedway garage area.

Bellavia received the Medal of Honor 15 years after battling with insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq.

It was Nov. 10, 2004, Bellavia’s 29th birthday.

According to Stars & Stripes, Bellavia and a small group of soliders were pinned down inside a pitch-black, insurgent-filled house in the early days of the second battle of Fallujah. Bellavia grabbed a heavy M249 automatic machine gun from another soldier and charged forward into oncoming fire from enemy fighters hunkered down in a stairwell.

The enemy fighters froze, ducking away from Bellavia’s fire just long enough for his squad to escape the building and regroup outside. Moments later, with his fellow soldiers outside, the infantryman from Buffalo, N.Y, burst back into the building — eventually killing four insurgents and gravely wounding another.

Also, according to Stars & Stripes, the former infantryman who left the Army in 2005 never cracked a smile during the White House ceremony, sharing only telling nods with more than a dozen of the men with whom he served. Along with his family, the men joined him on the East Room stage and a packed audience roared and applauded.

Bellavia is the first living American to receive the Medal of Honor for actions in the Iraq War. The honor is an upgrade of the Silver Star that Bellavia initially received for his actions that day. He is only the sixth servicemember to receive the nation’s highest military honor for actions in Iraq.

“It’s the weirdest thing,” Bellavia recalled. “I never in a million years thought I would be talking about this day for the rest of my life.”

Although Bellavia says the attention he has received for his act of heroism is “awkward,” he remembers the men who were lost in that battle.

By charging back into the house by himself with his M249, Bellavia was able to save some of his fellow infantrymen and become a true American hero.

“I realized I was outnumbered,” Bellavia told SPEED SPORT Saturday at Daytona. “But, hey, I’m from Buffalo.

“We don’t back down from a fight.”

On Sunday, Bellavia and his family will watch his racing heroes in the 62nd Daytona 500. But as the only living Medal of Honor winner from the Iraq War, Bellavia has a true understanding of heroism.

San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane ripped the NHL's Department of Player Safety for a "major lack of consistency" on Saturday after he was suspended three games for elbowing.

In a statement he posted on his Twitter account, Kane called out NHL disciplinarian George Parros -- a former enforcer himself -- and the Department of Player Safety, saying suspendable plays have "become a complete guess."

"A completely flawed system in so many ways," Kane wrote. "From the suspensions to the appeals rights, it's baffling to me how we as players agreed to this. You can't continue to give some players a pass and throw the book at others. There has to be an outside third party making these decisions to remove that bias that transpires in this department headed by George Parros. None of it makes any sense."

Kane was assessed a minor penalty for elbowing Winnipeg Jets defenseman Neal Pionk in the third period of Friday night's game, a 3-2 San Jose win. The NHL announced Kane's three game suspension on Saturday. According to the CBA, Kane also must forfeit $112,903.23 (a sum calculated based off Kane's average salary). That money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

Kane is considered a repeat offender, which factored into the length of suspension. The 28-year-old has been suspended three times previously in his 703-game NHL career -- including two run-ins with the NHL's Department of Player Safety this season.

A day before the season opener, Kane was suspended three games for physical abuse of officials during a preseason game. On Dec. 4, Kane was fined $5,000 -- the maximum allowed under the CBA -- for elbowing Washington Capitals defenseman Radko Gudas.

In a video explanation of his most recent suspension, the NHL Department of Player Safety noted that Kane "raised his arm up and away from his core and directly into Pionk's head" while Kane "was in control of this play at all times." Pionk finished the game.

Kane is the Sharks' leading scorer this season with 21 goals. It's been a difficult season for San Jose, a team that had serious Stanley Cup aspirations but has a losing record through 57 games and is 10 points out of the Western Conference Wild Card race.

Also on Saturday, the Sharks announced that defenseman Erik Karlsson would miss the remainder of the season after fracturing his thumb in Friday's game. Karlsson will undergo surgery, but is expected to be ready for the 2020-21 season.

Ryan Palmer paid the price for short-siding himself Saturday at the Genesis Invitational.

Palmer went at back-left flag on Riviera's par-3 14th hole and ended up in a greenside bunker, 40 feet from the hole. Six shots later he finally found the green.

Yes, it took Palmer six strokes to escape the sand. His attempts ended up just short, fat, bladed; one ball rolled back into a footprint.

Once Palmer got on the dance floor, he two-putted from 11 feet for a sextuple-bogey 9.

Palmer ended up carding a 10-over 81 that also included a double bogey, six bogeys, two birdies and an eagle.