TULSA, Okla. – For the first time, the Kicker Arenacross Series will be sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Ass’n.

The 12-round series will kick off on the weekend of Jan. 3-4 in Loveland, Colo. There will be seven tour stops and 12 rounds with the AMA National Championship round taking place on March 7 in Amarillo, Texas.

“We have hosted our series championship race in Amarillo for over a decade, and I’m very excited to host the AMA National Championship race there in 2020,” said Kicker Arenacross Promoter Tod Hammock. “Amarillo spectators are always some of the best we see during our series, and the racing talent is always top tier too. I expect the AMA National Championship implications to draw even more racers and spectators than normal.”

For amateur racers following the AMA Kicker Arenacross Series, they must qualify at one of the 11 rounds prior to the National Championship to race in the event. To qualify, amateurs must finish top 12 at one event in their respective class.

For pro racers, all 12 rounds of the series will count towards the AMA National Championship. Pro racers will be awarded points based on how they finish in their class, as has been the case in years past.

“Arenacross is an important part of the AMA racing program and to be able to continue to have an AMA Arenacross National Championship will be a benefit to all of our AMA members, both as fans and as competitors,” said AMA Racing Director Kevin Crowther.

2020 AMA Kicker Arenacross Series Schedule

Jan. 3-4 – Loveland, Colo.
Jan. 11 – Hobbs, N.M.
Jan. 24-25 – Guthrie, Okla.
Jan. 31-Feb. 1 – Denver, Colo.
Feb. 7-8 – Reno, Nev.
Feb. 28-29 – Salt Lake City, Utah
March 7 – Amarillo, Texas

AC Milan have signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a free transfer after the former Sweden international left LA Galaxy earlier this year.

"AC Milan is delighted to announce the signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The club and the striker have agreed on a deal until the end of the current season with an option to extend the contract for the next one," the team said in a statement on Friday.

Vernon Philander has called on the umpires to "stand your ground" and withdraw Jofra Archer from the attack in the first Test in Centurion.

Archer, the England fast bowler, appeared to be called for a second no-ball by the square-leg umpire Paul Reiffel after ending his day with a pair of beamers. While there is no doubt both deliveries were unintentional - replays suggested Archer had attempted to bowl two successive knuckle-balls - clause 41.7 of the ICC's Test playing conditions dictate that any bowler who has delivered two such balls should be suspended from bowling for the rest of the innings.

But the umpires also appeared to rescind the no-ball call on the basis that the second delivery was dipping towards the stumps and should be considered more of a full-toss than a beamer.

That left the South Africa camp incensed. The captain and coach, Faf du Plessis and Mark Boucher respectively, could both be seen seeking clarification from officials the moment play ended - the incident occurred in the penultimate over of the day - and Philander, the South Africa all-rounder, suggested the umpires should be "setting an example" in order to maintain standards in "the purest format" of the game.

"If you're at square-leg and you call no-ball you've got to stand your ground," Philander said. "At no time did they actually cancel it.

"For me it's plain and simple: we're playing a game and we're setting an example for the rest of the people coming into this game. You've got to make the right call.

ALSO READ: The stats stack up as Philander approaches his endgame

"That's why it's called the purest format. Are we going to tolerate it at another game or are we going to put a stop to it right here? It's in the hands of the umpires."

Unsurprisingly, Joe Denly, the England batsman, saw the incident quite differently. While he accepted the first delivery was indeed a beamer, he insisted the second passed just over the stumps as the batsmen ducked and was nothing more than a full-toss.

"I was at leg slip and I wasn't expecting two beamers," Denly said. "The first one fair enough. The second one just missed the stumps.

"I saw the umpire put his arm out and I think he tucked it in quite quickly. They withdrew that second no-ball."

Denly's version of events - at least as regards the umpires' decision - would appear to be borne out by events. The final ball of Archer's over was not bowled again, as would have been necessary had it been ruled a no-ball, and at no point did the umpire at the bowler's end, Chris Gaffaney, make the no-ball signal.

Replays suggested such a call on the second delivery was very tight, despite the ball dipping towards the bails having passed the batsman on the full. Either way, Philander had little sympathy for Archer, suggesting he should not have attempted such a tough delivery to execute in such a situation.

"Don't try silly things that can cost you bowling another ball in the innings," Philander said. "The umpires have to make a call and hopefully it's the right one for the game looking forward."

ICC playing conditions on the issue state: "Any delivery, which passes or would have passed, without pitching, above waist height of the striker standing upright at the popping crease, is to be deemed to be unfair, whether or not it is likely to inflict physical injury on the striker. If the bowler bowls such a delivery the umpire shall immediately call and signal No ball.

"If, in the opinion of the umpire, such a delivery is considered likely to inflict physical injury on the batsman by its speed and direction, it shall be considered dangerous. When the ball is dead the umpire shall caution the bowler, indicating that this is a first and final warning.

"Should there be any further instance (where a dangerous non-pitching delivery is bowled and is considered likely to inflict physical injury on the batsman) by the same bowler in that innings, the umpire shall: call and signal no-ball [and] direct the captain of the fielding side to suspend the bowler immediately from bowling. The bowler thus suspended shall not be allowed to bowl again in that innings."

As England's bowlers hit back in the final session, as the Barmy Army found their voice and South African batsmen were forced to jerk their heads out of the way of some hostile bouncers - and the odd non-bouncer - it was tempting to believe that England were right back in this match.

And it's true, England could still win this game. We have already seen this year, at Leeds and Lord's, games where England have won despite being dismissed for under 90 in their first innings. This is a side with the ability to come back from apparently hopeless positions. When you have a player like Ben Stokes in your side, miracles become possibles and hope never dies.

But the best teams don't rely on miracles. And despite all the drama of the last session in Centurion, the unsettling thought persisted that England - English cricket, even - has already hit the iceberg. The ship is going down. All that matters now is the number of survivors.

If that sounds over the top, you probably need to look at the statistics from previous games on this ground. The highest score ever made in the fourth innings of a Test here is England's 251 for 8 in 1999-2000. And that only happened because two innings were forfeited - so it wasn't really a fourth innings at all - and only one captain was entirely occupied with trying to win. It also remains the only Test played on the ground where the final innings of the match was the biggest. The next highest fourth-innings score made here is England's 228 for 9 to draw in 2009-10. South Africa's lead at this point is 175. They have six wickets in hand. England need to strike early and often on day three.

If that doesn't sound so bad, we must also acknowledge that this pitch is deteriorating. The variable bounce has already caused a couple of balls to scuttle and a few others rear and it is most unlikely to get any better. England, meanwhile, are a side that have been bowled out for under 100 three times this year, under 200 nine times (they have had 22 innings in all) and made 400 only once. As a result, it's hard to be wildly optimistic for them.

More than that, though, England should be frank about the longer-term problems facing them. The spin-bowling cupboard has never been so bare; the lack of openers has never been so obvious; the batsmen keep getting rolled and the bowlers keep looking toothless. You look around the world and other teams - certainly India, Australia, West Indies and South Africa - have fast bowlers who seem to hit the pitch harder and extract more life as a consequence. Kookaburra balls that seem dead in English hands come alive for the likes of Neil Wagner or Josh Hazlewood. And it keeps happening; to deny it is absurd and impossible.

There are issues wherever you look, really: Jos Buttler has been living on potential for years - he has one Test century from 37-and-a-half Tests and is now averaging 34.44 since his recall in May 2018 - while Jonny Bairstow's habit of being bowled continues. More than a quarter of his dismissals in Test cricket (28.69 percent to be accurate) are coming in such a fashion, which places him fifth in Test history of those who have been dismissed a minimum of 100 times. Quite what he is supposed to have proved since he was dropped at the end of the English summer is unclear: he hasn't played a first-class game in the interim.

And while Bairstow can count himself a bit unfortunate to receive one that kept a bit low - yes, it hit the top of off stump, but the impressively sharp Anrich Nortje had been making the ball rear horribly - he might reflect that it was his captain who sentenced England to batting last on this surface. Centurion's pitches have long had a well-deserved reputation for deteriorating. This scenario was far from unpredictable.

Which takes us to the captain. The decision to bowl first here will do nothing to quieten the voices calling for a change. And it's true, Joe Root's modest form with the bat - apart from at Hamilton - combined with his underwhelming tactical choices might render him somewhat vulnerable in circumstances where there was a viable alternative.

But Root - loved by his team and keen to learn in the role - is the wrong target here. You can suggest anyone you like for captain - Mike Brearley; Winston Churchill; Gavin and Stacey - the issues will remain. It is not the England captaincy that is hindering the development of fast bowlers, spinners or batsman with the attitude and technique to bat for a long time. It is the structure of the domestic system which has been ruined over the last decade or so by a board with more interest in the bank balance than the scorecard.

ALSO READ: South Africa incensed as Jofra Archer escapes beamer suspension

Talk of trying to persuade Simon Harmer - whatever his qualities as a bowler might be - to qualify for England only betrays the poverty of the situation. England may, as a result of their history and relative financial wealth, manage to attract players developed overseas to join them. But it only masks the holes. If they really want to improve, they should acknowledge them.

Consistent improvement will only come when the County Championship is valued and nurtured. When it is moved to the prime weeks of the season. When pitches rewards the best and when there is a requirement for the same skills so essential at Test level.

For that to happen, sacrifices will have to be made. White-ball windows will have to be closed; humble pie will have to be eaten. The World Cup triumph, welcome and wonderful though it was, may have enabled the current administration to continue upon a path that prioritised white-ball cricket to the exclusion of red-ball.

So yes, England can win this match. They can win other matches, too. They really do have some hugely talented individuals. They have, in most conditions, what might be referred to as "a puncher's chance" in boxing.

But whatever happens, we must not ignore the growing evidence. The defeats in New Zealand or the Caribbean; the statistics reflecting the problems in the batting or bowling; the first year without a Test series victory this century. Eden is burning; we either have the courage to change things or accept a place - in Test cricket, at least - among the also-rans.

Evansville coach Walter McCarty has been placed on administrative leave pending a Title IX investigation, the school announced Friday.

The school also sent out an internal campus memo detailing the timeline of possible Title IX violations.

"The University has received reports of unwelcome conduct by Coach McCarty since his arrival in March 2018," school president Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz said in the memo. "We have counseled him about his behavior. In the last two weeks, the University received a troubling report about Coach McCarty's interactions with a member of the campus community. We have placed Coach McCarty on leave while that incident is being investigated. The University will make a fair and informed decision on Coach McCarty's status based on the results of the investigation."

Evansville has hired a national law firm to conduct an independent investigation. Assistant coach Bennie Seltzer will serve as interim head coach during McCarty's absence.

McCarty was hired by the Purple Aces in 2018 after spending six seasons as an assistant coach in the NBA for the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers. He also spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Louisville under Rick Pitino.

McCarty won a national championship as a member of Pitino's 1996 Kentucky team before being drafted in the first round by the New York Knicks. McCarty played for four different franchises during his 10-year NBA career.

Earlier this season, McCarty led Evansville to a victory at Kentucky, one of the biggest upsets in recent college basketball history.

Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon is expected to play in Sunday's game against the New Orleans Pelicans after missing nearly seven weeks because of a knee injury.

Gordon practiced with the Rockets on Friday, but coach Mike D'Antoni said he would not play Saturday against the Brooklyn Nets -- the first game of a back-to-back for Houston.

Gordon will, however, play against New Orleans on Sunday -- when Rockets star guard Russell Westbrook is scheduled to rest.

D'Antoni also announced that starting center Clint Capela is doubtful for Saturday's game because of a right heel contusion.

Gordon had surgery last month after tests showed debris in his knee. He has not played since Nov. 11, missing Houston's last 21 games.

Gordon had gotten off to a slow start to the season before the injury, averaging just 10.9 points in 29.4 minutes per game. He's averaging more turnovers (1.3) than assists (0.8).

He was the Fun Guy. The board man who got paid. He overcame injury to reclaim his rightful place as one of the very best basketball players on the planet. He conquered the NBA world for a second time, bringing a championship to Canada. And then he joined the LA Clippers, ready to start anew.

"What it do, baby?''

For Kawhi Leonard in 2019, there finally is an answer to his infamous question: He did everything, without talking much.

Leonard is The Associated Press' male athlete of the year for 2019, comfortably winning a vote by AP member sports editors and AP beat writers. He becomes the fifth NBA player to win the award, joining Larry Bird (1986), three-time recipient Michael Jordan (1991 through 1993), three-time recipient LeBron James (2013, 2016, 2018) and Stephen Curry (2015).

The award has been handed out annually since 1931. Simone Biles was announced Thursday as the women's recipient for 2019.

Leonard was the NBA Finals MVP for the second time, leading the Toronto Raptors to their first championship -- five years after he first smudged his fingerprints on both trophies with the San Antonio Spurs. He wound up leaving the Raptors in the summer for the Clippers, returning to his native Southern California and turning the historically woeful franchise into one of the top teams in the league.

"The ride was fun,'' Leonard said earlier this month on his return trip to Toronto, summing up his year with the Raptors. "I had a great time.''

By now, it's no secret that Leonard is a man of few words.

He is not a man of few accomplishments.

He received more than twice as many points in the balloting as any of the other 18 vote-getters. Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was second, followed by Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tennis star Rafael Nadal and reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks.

"Kawhi's pretty steady,'' said San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, Leonard's former coach with the Spurs. "He's not a big talker. He doesn't try to find the limelight or anything like that. He's just a good guy who wanted to be good.''

Somewhere along the way, he became great.

Leonard was the best player in last season's playoffs, after a regular season in which he missed 22 games mostly because of what has become known as "load management'' -- the fancy term used on nights when he would sit out to rest. Leonard missed most of the 2017-18 season with the Spurs because of a complicated leg issue, and the NBA said last month that he is still dealing with "an ongoing injury to the patella tendon in his left knee.''

He was limping at times in the playoffs, but it didn't matter. He averaged 30.5 points and 9.1 rebounds in the postseason, his 732 points in last year's playoffs ranking as the third-most in any NBA playoff year. In the biggest times, he came up the biggest -- 15 points in the fourth quarter to carry Toronto past Milwaukee in the series-turning Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, and 17 points in the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the NBA Finals against Golden State to put the Raptors on the cusp of the title.

And, of course, he made The Shot: the four-bounces-off-the-rim buzzer-beating jump shot from the corner to beat Philadelphia in Game 7 of the second round.

"Without a doubt,'' Raptors coach Nick Nurse mused during the playoff run, "the best thing about this thing is that somehow I wound up on the sideline getting to watch this guy play up close.''

Leonard performed at that lofty level even while dealing with a major distraction. During the NBA Finals, it was revealed that Leonard had filed a federal lawsuit against Nike and claimed the footwear and apparel giant was blocking him from using a logo that he believes he owns.

"There's a lot of guys that are like, 'Look, I'm going to find a way to win, and in a seven-game series I'm going to get the best of you in the end,''' said Miami's Jimmy Butler, who was with Philadelphia last season and saw up close what makes Leonard tick. "But he's definitely up there. Your respect just grows. Push, pull, whatever he's got to do. ... He's going to find a way.''

During the playoffs, Leonard's "I'm a fun guy'' quote that he offered upon his arrival in Toronto became a meme and a marketing slogan. So did his "board man gets paid'' line. And after the Raptors won the title, Serge Ibaka's video of Leonard went viral -- they were in the back of a car, on the way to the parade, and Ibaka teed him up for the next unforgettable saying.

"Fun Guy, what's up baby?'' Ibaka asked. The answer was classic Leonard. Short, sweet, to the point.

"I'm playing to have fun and try to be the best player I can be,'' Leonard said. "I'm happy with myself and what I have done in my career and I'm just going to keep on from there. It's not about me being famous or want to have more fame than those guys. It's about me playing basketball and having fun on the floor.''

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – As far as sentimental favorites go at this weekend’s Rumble in Fort Wayne, there’s no car that fits more into that category than the Jason Dietsch-owned, Jeff Clouse-led No. 8 Hawk.

The car will be piloted by Pennsylvania’s Tim Buckwalter, but it’s not because of Buckwalter that the entry is wished success inside the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

Rather, it’s the paint scheme carried by Buckwalter’s No. 8 that makes it so special.

Buckwalter’s machine will carry the 1991 USAC National Midget Series championship-winning livery campaigned by the late Mike Streicher, who passed away Nov. 6 after an apparent heart attack.

Streicher was a legendary name in the annals of indoor racing, winning the Hoosier Dome Invitational in 1990, launching the Hawk Chassis brand with the support of the Seymour family and also assisting with the builds of six of the nine Munchkin midgets, working alongside fellow car builder Mike Fedorcak.

Though he spent most of his time prior to his death teaching the next generation of motorsports at the University of Northwestern Ohio, Streicher still kept his hands on a select few race cars in his spare time.

In fact, as Clouse explained Thursday night as he looked over the tribute car, Buckwalter’s one-of-a-kind machine – commissioned by Dietsch specifically for the Rumble – was the final car Streicher worked on.

“To go back even further, it was probably about 10 years ago that Mike and I were servicing Rick Daugherty’s two cars here, and we were standing out in the breezeway of the Expo on a pretty quiet Saturday morning when I asked him what we would build if we were going to make a killer indoor car,” Clouse recalled. “So every year when the Rumble would get over and everyone would get wound up, we would talk about what we might build. But we just didn’t have really any desire to spend that kind of money and to build a new car.

“Then Jason Dietsch, who’s actually a sponsor of the event, wanted an indoor midget. I tried it for two years to talk him out of it,” Clouse added with a chuckle. “But he finally twisted my arm and I called Mike and I said, ‘Man, we get to build that car we’ve always talked about.’ We actually did this car in 33 days. There’s nothing else like it. And we decided since Jason trusted in us to do it, there wasn’t going to be another one. Out of all the Hawk cars that were built, this would have been the last one that Mike actually had his hands on, as far as some of the design aspects go.

“It’s a cool piece, cool to see it in here and just an honor to pay tribute to him in this way here.”

Clouse’s ties with Streicher actually ran even deeper than just that one car.

Streicher put in much of the work on Clouse’s son Cooper’s Munchkin when the younger Clouse campaigned that car for several years at the Rumble, including setting fast time in 2014.

It was an effort which paved the way for the car that now pays tribute to its legendary builder.

“That car, Cooper’s car, was the last one of the Streicher-built Munchkins, and Mike always said we needed to have that one together for just us to be able to go and play with. That’s where we learned a lot of stuff to do on this new car,” Clouse noted. “And nothing that we learned was really anything that was super new or special, but we just knew things to fix and ways we could make it better than it was.”

As he reflected on his late friend, Clouse also called to mind several valued memories of his time working with Streicher in the racing industry, as well as points that simply stuck out about the man.

“He loved working at UNOH with the kids,” said Clouse of Streicher. “Every day, either going to work or coming from work, he called me on the phone. We talked for at least 10 minutes every day, sometimes two or three times a day. … Mike loved indoor racing. A lot of people don’t realize the amount of time that he put in for other competitors. He would leave here sometimes late on a Friday night after racing, drive from Fort Wayne to Findlay, Ohio, work all night machining parts and fixing parts for cars that he didn’t even build, and then would turn around with no sleep and drive back.

“That was who Mike was. He just loved this stuff.”

For his part, Buckwalter called it “a true privilege” to be able to pilot the Streicher tribute car this weekend at the Rumble.

The Pennsylvanian’s deal was put together with help from Bobby Seymour, who he’ll drive for at the Chili Bowl Nationals and who had an association with Streicher through the years as well.

“It’s crazy to just get the honor of driving it, you know?” Buckwalter said. “Saturday night when the place here is packed and everybody sees it roll out, there won’t be too many people that recognize the car from back then. But the craftsmanship in this race car, what he has on it, it’s second to none.

“We just want to give this car a good showing, the kind of run that it deserves.”

And when the car rolls out Friday afternoon, it will be a sentimental moment for Clouse, in particular.

“Mike taught me everything that I know and taught me how to learn,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing. He was the same way he was with the kids. One of his biggest sayings at the school was that teachers teach kids how to take tests, not how to solve problems. And that’s a huge thing I’ve used to make race cars go fast.

“We miss him, but this deal this weekend is cool.”