The Milwaukee Brewers have given a three-year contract extension to manager Craig Counsell, the team announced Wednesday.

Counsell, 49, had one season remaining on his contract and is now signed through 2023.

"We are pleased to extend the contract of one of the best managers in the game today," general manager David Stearns said.

The Brewers are 405-381 and made back-to-back playoff appearances in 2018 and '19 since Counsell became manager in May 2015.

"Leading this organization on the field continues to be a great honor and unique privilege," Counsell said in a statement. "I am very proud of what we have been able to accomplish during a short period of time through our collaborative efforts, and look forward to what the future holds."

A small army of third basemen has been on the move this winter. Anthony Rendon got the biggest deal ever doled out by Arte Moreno and signed with the Angels. Josh Donaldson is weighing nine-figure offers from the Braves and Nationals. The Cubs have made it known they're ready to deal Kris Bryant for the right return.

In the midst of all that, Nolan Arenado is available, less than a year after he and the Rockies agreed to an eight-year, $260 million contract. The timing is very strange and the Rockies haven't publicly explained why this conversation is happening now.

There would seem be two distinct possibilities:

1. Ownership is already concerned about Arenado's $32.5 million average annual salary absorbing too much of the budget of a franchise that has never fielded a payroll of $150 million.

2. Arenado, who has made no secret of the fact that he wants to win, is pushing to go to a team that might have a better chance to do it. He has a full no-trade clause, so he completely controls his possible destination. Arenado can opt out of his deal after the 2021 season.

Regardless of the root cause, there couldn't be a worse time for Colorado to try to deal Arenado, with the huge financial obligations tied to the contract and the clauses that give Arenado so much power to dictate where he lands. If the unknown factors compel the Rockies to make a trade, it probably will be close to a giveaway similar to what the Miami Marlins executed with then-reigning MVP Giancarlo Stanton. The Marlins ate money and received little talent from the Yankees to get Stanton off their books. "Stanton is a great comp," one highly regarded evaluator said the other day.

Worcester have made Wasps stand-off Billy Searle their first new signing for the 2020-21 season.

The 23-year-old, who has agreed a two-year deal, is in his second season with Wasps after leaving Bristol in 2018.

He is fully fit again after suffering a dislocated ankle and fractured fibula in a freak collision playing for Wasps against Bristol 11 months ago.

"I am looking forward to finishing the season off strongly, then teaming up with Worcester," said Searle.

"I would like to thank Wasps for the last two years."

Worcester are currently seventh in the Premiership - two places and four points above Wasps, who are their next league opponents, following the two-week European break, on 25 January.

Searle's rugby education

Searle previously worked under Warriors director of rugby Alan Solomons during his time as a coaching consultant at Bristol - where he also worked with Jonathan Thomas and Matt Sherratt, who are both joining the Sixways coaching staff this summer.

Prior to joining Bristol, Exeter-born Searle played for Launceston and Plymouth Albion, and also represented Cornwall at county level.

"Billy is an outstanding young English fly-half," said Solomons. "He has an excellent skill set, the ability to manage a game effectively and he kicks really well, both for goal and out of hand. He is also a first-class bloke and a good team man."

Searle is the first new recruit to be announced by Warriors following contract extensions agreed with 14 members of their existing squad.

Sam Skinner is set to be fit for Scotland's Six Nations campaign, having been out for the past five months with a hamstring injury.

The Exeter second-row, 24, missed the World Cup in Japan after being hurt in Scotland's warm-up win over France and needed surgery.

He has won six caps for Scotland since his debut in November 2018.

"He's got back remarkably well, he's worked extremely hard," Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter told BBC Sport.

Skinner has resumed full training with his Exeter team-mates, who currently top the English Premiership and are preparing to face Glasgow in the Champions Cup on Saturday.

"He potentially would be available for next week," added Baxter.

"The length of time he's had out, to drop him straight into a Heineken Cup game I would doubt we would look to do that, but we do have an A League game a week on Monday, which could well see him feature."

Ireland fly-half Joey Carbery has been ruled out of the Six Nations after sustaining a wrist ligament injury while playing for Munster.

Carbery, who was injured in last week's defeat by Ulster, will be sidelined for two to four months, Munster coach Johann van Grann said.

Ireland take on Scotland in their Six Nations opener on 1 February.

Carbery's absence is a major blow with regular number 10 Jonny Sexton already a concern because of a knee injury.

On Monday, Leinster said Sexton was making "good progress" in his recovery from knee ligament damage.

Leinster added that Sexton would "increase his training load this week".

Munster lock and back row Tadhg Beirne has had ankle surgery after suffering the injury in the Champions Cup defeat by Saracens in December.

Beirne looks certain to be out of contention for Ireland's opener against Scotland but could be available before the end of the tournament.

WEBSTER CITY, Iowa – The United States Modified Touring Series schedule is set, with 53 dates at 30 tracks making up the 22nd season for the touring dirt modified division.

With a new season on the horizon and new decade underway, it’s only fitting that the 2020 campaign blasts off at a new venue when the series invades I-37 Speedway in Pleasanton, Texas, on Feb. 28, as part of a six-race run in nine days in the Lone Star State.

Located just a few minutes south of San Antonio, the USMTS touring titans will roll two more hours south after the checkered flag waves as they return to the South Texas Speedway in Corpus Christi on Feb. 29, before wrapping up the year’s first tripleheader on March 1 at Cotton Bowl Speedway in Paige, located just east of Austin.

From there, fans and racers trek north to the Dallas-Fort Worth region to the Big O Speedway in Ennis, Texas, for a three-day stop paying $2,000, $3,000 and $4,000 to win, respectively, on March 5-7.

This will be the first-ever visit by the USMTS to the former 85 Speedway as the Big O Speedway becomes the new home of the Texas Spring Nationals, which was held for the first time in 2007 at Houston Raceway Park (later renamed Royal Purple Raceway).

The Casey’s General Stores USMTS national championship continues March 26-28, at the Humboldt Speedway in Humboldt, Kan., for King of America X powered by Summit and the first of five crown jewels on the calendar.

The second crown jewel takes place June 11-13 at the Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., for the 21st annual Masters, followed by the 10th annual Silver Dollar Nationals at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb., on July 24-25.

The fourth crown jewel happens Sept. 24-26, when the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., hosts the 22nd Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree, and then the 2020 Casey’s USMTS national champion will be crowned at the conclusion of the second annual Summit Southern Nationals, Nov. 5-7 at RPM Speedway in Crandall, Texas.

2020 USMTS National Championship Schedule

Feb. 28 – I-37 Speedway – Pleasanton, Texas
Feb. 29 – South Texas Speedway – Corpus Christi, Texas
March 1 – Cotton Bowl Speedway – Paige, Texas
March 5 – Big O Speedway – Ennis, Texas
March 6 – Big O Speedway – Ennis, Texas
March 7 – Big O Speedway – Ennis, Texas
March 26 – Humboldt Speedway – Humboldt, Kan.
March 27 – Humboldt Speedway – Humboldt, Kan.
March 28 – Humboldt Speedway – Humboldt, Kan.
April 2 – Red Dirt Raceway – Meeker, Okla.
April 3 – Red Dirt Raceway – Meeker, Okla.
April 4 – Red Dirt Raceway – Meeker, Okla.
April 16 – 81 Speedway – Park City, Kan.
April 17 – I-35 Speedway – Winston, Mo.
April 18 – Hamilton County Speedway – Webster City, Iowa
April 24 – Boothill Speedway – Greenwood, La.
April 25 – Ark-La-Tex Speedway – Vivian, La.
April 26 – RPM Speedway – Crandall, Texas
May 8 – West Texas Raceway – Lubbock, Texas
May 9 – Route 66 Motor Speedway – Amarillo, Texas
May 22 – Mississippi Thunder Speedway – Fountain City, Wis.
May 23 – Deer Creek Speedway – Spring Valley, Minn.
May 24 – Mason City Motor Speedway – Mason City, Iowa
May 25 – Park Jefferson Speedway – Jefferson, S.D.
June 11 – Cedar Lake Speedway – Somerset, Wis.
June 12 – Cedar Lake Speedway – Somerset, Wis.
June 13 – Cedar Lake Speedway – Somerset, Wis.
June 16 – TBA – TBA
June 17 – TBA – TBA
June 18 – TBA – TBA
June 19 – TBA – TBA
June 20 – Hamilton County Speedway – Webster City, Iowa
July 21 – Southern Iowa Speedway – Oskaloosa, Iowa
July 22 – TBA – TBA
July 24 – I-80 Speedway – Greenwood, Neb.
July 25 – I-80 Speedway – Greenwood, Neb.
July 28 – Mason City Motor Speedway – Mason City, Iowa
July 29 – Mason City Motor Speedway – Mason City, Iowa
July 30 – Mason City Motor Speedway – Mason City, Iowa
Aug. 6 – 81 Speedway – Park City, Kan.
Aug. 7 – Humboldt Speedway – Humboldt, Kan.
Aug. 8 – Lucas Oil Speedway – Wheatland, Mo.
Aug. 14 – Rapid Speedway – Rock Rapids, Iowa
Aug. 15 – TBA – TBA
Aug. 16 – Casino Speedway – Watertown, S.D.
Aug. 20 – Dallas County Speedway – Urbana, Mo.
Aug. 21 – Lake Ozark Speedway – Eldon, Mo.
Aug. 22 – Salina Highbanks Speedway – Pryor Creek, Okla.
Sept. 4 – Chateau Speedway – Lansing, Minn.
Sept. 5 – Deer Creek Speedway – Spring Valley, Minn.
Sept. 6 – Fayette County Speedway – West Union, Iowa
Sept. 11 – Texas Motor Speedway – Fort Worth, Texas
Sept. 12 – Texas Motor Speedway – Fort Worth, Texas
Sept. 24 – Deer Creek Speedway – Spring Valley, Minn.
Sept. 25 – Deer Creek Speedway – Spring Valley, Minn.
Sept. 26 – Deer Creek Speedway – Spring Valley, Minn.
Nov. 5 – RPM Speedway – Crandall, Texas
Nov. 6 – RPM Speedway – Crandall, Texas
Nov. 7 – RPM Speedway – Crandall, Texas

CONCORD, N.C. – Roush Fenway Racing has announced a multi-year extension with Wyndham Rewards that will see the award-winning rewards program continue to serve as a primary sponsor on Ryan Newman’s No. 6 NASCAR Cup Series Ford Mustang.

Wyndham Rewards will make its season debut as a primary partner at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the 400-mile Cup Series race on Feb. 23.

“It’s great to have Wyndham Rewards back on board,” said Newman, who powered the No. 6 Ford back into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in 2019. “They will be on the car at Las Vegas and hopefully we can reward them with a strong run and a trip to victory lane.”

Newman has finished inside the top 10 in 10 of his 21 starts at Las Vegas, including a top-10 finish there last fall. The Indiana native and Purdue graduate will look to build on a 2019 season where the team posted 14 top-10 finishes en route to a solid playoff run.

Wyndham Rewards first joined Roush Fenway Racing as a primary sponsor in 2018, teaming with Matt Kenseth, before continuing its partnership with the team and Newman last season.

TULSA, Okla. – Clinton Boyles will reunite with RAMS Racing and Rockwell Security for the 34th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals, Jan. 13-18 inside the River Spirit Expo Center.

Boyles will pilot the team’s No. 14s Stanton SR11-powered Spike Chassis midget for the crown jewel event, carrying sponsorship from the non-profit organization Veterans Community Project.

The car is the same one that Boyles raced during the recent Gateway Dirt Nationals under the RMS Racing umbrella, and after building some positive momentum in that event, Boyles is hoping to carry his mojo into the Chili Bowl.

Boyles raced his way from 10th in a G-main to the D-main with RAMS Racing last year before his remarkable Saturday run finally came to an end, and he believes he can improve on those numbers in his Tulsa return.

“This year, the Chili Bowl going to be a little bit different, just in the sense that we’ve got a nicer car to work with,” Boyles said. “The guys over at Envirofab and RMS Racing – who I ran for at The Dome (at America’s Center) – gave me a car to use, and I’m going to be using one of Rick (Young, team owner), Jeff (Taylor, Rockwell Security) and Justin’s engines in it. So we’ve got a really nice piece as far as that goes. Everyone is really behind me and we’re excited about our chances. We learned a lot at the Dome that we can really use to fill in our data.

“I’ve got high expectations going into this Chili Bowl and we fully expect to be in the A-main come Saturday. I don’t think that’s an unrealistic goal by any means,” Boyles added. “I’ve showed speed down there; last year we just put ourselves too far behind the 8-ball to start the week. That just comes down to me going out and doing a little better job of passing cars in the heat to set myself up better on our preliminary night. If we can do that, I think I can get it in the show when it comes to Saturday.”

Based in Kansas City, Mo., the Veterans Community Project is an initiative-fueled non-profit made up of a group of combat veterans, featuring a village of “tiny houses” meant to help homeless veterans get back on their feet.

The village is located at the corner of 89th Street and Troost Avenue in Kansas City and consists of 49 homes of 240-320 square feet.

Beyond just providing a place to live for the homeless veterans in the program, VCP officials also offer walk-in support services for veterans in need, as well as aid in finding employment and long-term housing solutions for their future as well.

“It’s obviously really cool to be able to promote a group like the Veterans Community Project, which does such good work for people around Kansas City and around the country,” noted Boyles. “Being that they are based out of Kansas City, and I grew up about 20 minutes from there, it means a little bit extra that we’re trying to help people in our own backyard. To be able to take a group like theirs down to the Chili Bowl and really raise awareness and promote what they’re doing to try and help out is very special.

“I think that dirt racing community is awesome and I really hope they’ll jump on board and try to support what the Veterans Community Project has going on.”

Team owner Young confirmed Wednesday that all of the Chili Bowl winnings from Boyles’ No. 14s car will be donated back to Veterans Community Project to aid in their continued mission of helping veterans in need.

For Boyles, who self-admits that he’s been much more of a sprint car racer than a midget racer until getting more midget opportunities in 2019, the Chili Bowl is a chance to put all he’s learned recently into practice.

“For me, I’m not really a big midget racer, or at least I haven’t been before this year. I think I probably have less than 25 midget races in my lifetime, and 50 percent of them roughly have been at the Chili Bowl,” said Boyles, who has made his preliminary night A-main in two of the last four years. “Usually I run the Chili Bowl and then I’m lucky to race one midget race during the year before we have to go back to the Chili Bowl again. So to get to run four or five midget races this year, and particularly to run right before the Chili Bowl there at Gateway, is huge just as far as that goes in getting laps with the same midget that I’ll be racing in Tulsa.

“All that, I hope, is going to add up to some success for us during the week and I can’t wait to get going.”