YAS ISLAND, Abu Dhabi – Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas swept both Formula One practice sessions for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Friday at the Yas Island Circuit.

Bottas, who will start at the back of the grid during Sunday’s finale because his team replaced power unit elements in his car, went fastest overall with his 1:36.256 lap time that came during the cooler temperatures as the sun went down.

Practice wasn’t uneventful for Bottas, who made contact with the Haas of Romain Grosjean while trying to pass him in turn 11. Bottas’ car suffered front wing damage while the floor in Grosjean’s car was damaged as a result.

“It’s been a good day out on track; the car was well-balanced from the get-go,” said Bottas. “I had to take a fresh engine for the weekend which also seems be to working well. My pace looked competitive in both sessions, so from that perspective we’ve definitely started the last race weekend of the season off on the right foot, although I’m sure there’s still room for improvement for tomorrow. The track was a bit dusty on the first few runs in FP1, but it evolved quickly and then felt pretty good all through the session.

“The end of my FP2 session was compromised by a minor incident with Grosjean; I thought he had seen me going for the overtake on the inside, but by the time I realized that he hadn’t seen me, there was no way for me to escape anymore.”

Bottas’ teammate Lewis Hamilton was second fastest on the combined time sheets following the first two practice sessions, .310 seconds slower than Bottas’ best lap.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was third. Sebastian Vettel was fourth best on the day despite spinning and bouncing his car off the wall during the first practice. Max Verstappen was fifth best, more than half a second off Bottas’ time.

It’s impossible to lose if you don’t give up.

Luke Kwon was 30,000 feet in the air, nearly on top of the world, but he couldn’t help feeling like he had just hit rock bottom as he typed the short, nine-word sentence on a flight back home.

After missing out on advancing through the first stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School in 2016, Kwon, who moved from South Korea to the U.S. at age 2, saw his one shot at getting a work visa – and remaining in the U.S. with his family – slip away.

His back was against the wall. But he had been there before.

Kwon dreamed of playing Division I golf, but in 2011 ended up enrolling at Division II St. Edward’s in Austin. The transition to college was tough for Kwon. He struggled in the classroom, often felt homesick and suffered a fractured hand his first semester.

“I thought I was done,” Kwon said.

But in his second semester, Kwon improved his grades, got healthy and turned his game around. He recorded six top-10s, including a win at the St. Edward’s Individual Challenge, and led the conference in scoring average (73.2) to earn All-American status as a freshman.

It’s impossible to lose if you don’t give up.

The stellar play caught the attention of Oklahoma, which had recruited Kwon as a junior player but eventually ran out of space for him. After one year at St. Edward’s, Kwon transferred to the Sooners program.

Upon arriving in Norman, Kwon was already behind the 8-ball. The Sooners had a stacked, deep squad that included players such as Abraham Ancer and Michael Gellerman. Ancer will play the Presidents Cup this year, while Gellerman also plays on the PGA Tour.

To make matters worse, maturity issues began to arise for Kwon, who often wouldn’t wake up in time for workouts, practice or class. Oklahoma head coach Ryan Hybl nearly kicked him off the team – and would have had Kwon not been the “glue guy” for the Sooners.

Hybl gave Kwon an ultimatum: No practice for two weeks. Kwon’s only job was to wake up at 6 a.m. to meet with the weight-training staff. Miss one, and he was gone.

“I knew then that’s when it meant that much to him because he never whiffed,” Hybl said. “He earned my respect knowing that it was his job at that point, that was his only job was to wake up.”

It’s impossible to lose if you don’t give up.

Kwon redshirted the following season and began to crack the lineup during his redshirt-junior year. As a senior, he played in 13 events, earning six top-20s and five top-10s, including his first career DI win at the Puerto Rico Individual Classic.

In addition, Kwon helped the Sooners reach match play for the first time at the 2016 NCAA Championship (Oklahoma has now advanced to NCAA match play in four straight years, including in 2017 when the Sooners won the NCAA title at Rich Harvest Farms). Oklahoma fell to Texas in the quarterfinals, with Kwon earning the only victory, 4 and 3, over current PGA Tour player Scottie Scheffler.

Meanwhile, Kwon’s dependency on his parents’ work visa was beginning to run out. At 21, he was on his own. For the past 13 years, Kwon was waiting on a green card and never got it, so he was forced to switch to a temporary student visa.

After graduation and with no playing privileges anywhere, Kwon reached a crossroads: give up golf and get an office job in the U.S. or go overseas and play professionally in China. While he mulled the decision, Kwon worked as a forecaddie in Dallas, which allowed him to continue to practice while making money. But that didn’t last long.

“I was just spinning my wheels trying to make rent every month and I was soon going to have to leave my family,” Kwon said. “I felt like someone else that didn't know me was telling me to quit. But I had two huge problems: I didn't have the money to fund my journey and my visa status in the U.S. was running out, so my time was very limited.”

With his visa set to expire, he finally made the difficult decision. He packed his bags, headed to the other side of the world and tried to make a living in China.

“Back up against the wall, that’s Kwon’s thing,” said Kwon’s former college roommate, Max McGreevy, who also roomed with Kwon in China and earned his KFT card this year.

Kwon played three times on the PGA Tour China Series at the end of 2018 and gained full status for the 2019 season. But the transition overseas wasn’t easy on Kwon.

“China definitely had its struggles, but that just comes with the territory when traveling,” Kwon said. “I started the year with a lot of food poisoning over and over, so I was legitimately scared of eating there. McDonald’s was my ol' trusty, though. We probably went to McDonald’s more this year than I have my whole life.”

The on-course struggles were no joke, either.

“China's style of golf courses are a little different than what we're used to in the U.S. It's so much more penalizing off the tee,” Kwon said. “A lot of holes where it's driver off the box and there’s bushes left and right that aren't marked as hazards.

“There was one hole in China Q-School that I backed off multiple times because I was just so scared of the tee shot. But I definitely learned to block out the negatives and trust in your ability and rip it like you would on the range.”

Once Kwon adjusted to his new – and hopefully temporary – life in China, things began to fall his way again, just as they did in Austin and Norman. Kwon recorded six top-10s, none sweeter than a victory at the Qinhuangdao Championship.

“It means a lot to me,” Kwon said. “I waited a long time to finally come out on top since writing that note. I just think, ‘OK, yeah, maybe I have worked hard,’ but I think one of the biggest reasons why I'm here today is because I just simply outlasted other people.”

Kwon finished fifth on the tour’s Order of Merit, which McGreevy won, and will head back to the U.S. with conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020.

“Nothing in my life was pointing towards me playing golf and yet I moved to a different country, went to China and got top 5 on the Order of Merit,” Kwon said. “It would've been totally acceptable to throw in the towel and find something else with what I was faced with. 

“But I didn't, and I think that's a big part of why I am where I am today.”

It’s impossible to lose if you don’t give up.

In 2000, Afshin Ghotbi found himself marveling at where life had taken him. Here was an Iranian-born, American-raised soccer coach, heading to Hong Kong from Los Angeles on a British Airways flight so he could interview with a Dutchman to be an assistant coach for South Korea's national team.

"If that's not globalization, I'm not sure what is," he said with a laugh during an exclusive interview with ESPN FC.

Ghotbi's globetrotting ways haven't stopped. His coaching career has spanned three decades across 12 different teams. He's been part of coaching staffs at three World Cups and spent the past dozen years in Asia, coaching in four different countries. In July, he was appointed manager of China League One side Shijiazhuang Ever Bright FC for the second time and in early-November, his side clinched promotion to the Chinese Super League.

"I'm not surprised," said former U.S. international John O'Brien, who played on youth teams in Southern California coached by Ghotbi. "Afshin was always so astute and so driven. It's been interesting, as an Iranian and an American, to see what opportunities have presented themselves and which ones haven't."

In many ways, Ghotbi is U.S. soccer's international man of mystery, fulfilling several key roles through the years while remaining largely unknown. He played collegiately at UCLA from 1981-85 and the U.S. is where his coaching career began. His last stateside coaching gig was as an assistant to Steve Sampson during the LA Galaxy's double-winning season in 2005. Yet even as Ghotbi returned to China, he still felt the pull of the U.S., the country that formed many of his soccer experiences. He interviewed for the managerial post at LAFC in 2017, which ultimately went to Bob Bradley, and still holds aspirations of coaching once again in his adopted homeland.

"I feel that my experiences and my qualities can bring something very different to the league and the players in MLS," he said. "I think because I've been 15 years away most people have forgotten or don't know me, but I think once they get to know me and see how I work, they will love the way my teams will play. I really think I can reach into the hearts of every player and make them giants."

Ghotbi was born in Tehran, Iran, and his love for the game of soccer started early. He recalls playing in the streets with friends: bricks were used for goals, cars were defenders and combination passes were played off houses. "And sometimes angry neighbors," he notes with a laugh.

In 1978, after his parents divorced and his father remarried to an American, Ghotbi moved to the U.S. with his family at the age of 13. Settling in the L.A. suburb of Glendale, Ghotbi played soccer to connect to his new home. He was a self-starter, convincing the principal at his middle school to let him start a soccer team provided he could find a coach. It proved to be the first of many valuable lessons. "At that moment, soccer was not so big in America. You not only had to become a player but a promoter. You had to be a coach and you had to multi-task to play the game you love," he said.

Ghotbi excelled as a player in high school and he was good enough to walk on to a UCLA team that included former U.S. international Paul Caligiuri, who scored the dramatic goal that sent the U.S. to the 1990 World Cup. The coaching staff at the time included manager Sigi Schmid and eventual U.S. national team boss Sampson. Upon graduation with a degree in electrical engineering, Ghotbi founded the American Global Soccer School in 1988. Starting with $100, one player showed up on the first day, but it soon grew into 10 teams and 1,000 students each year. Ghotbi's motivation was borne of something he had seen at UCLA.

"Even the UCLA players missed the technical quality they needed to play at the highest level," he said. "The reason is when they're younger, no one is working with them." The school saw the likes of O'Brien, an eventual U.S. international, ex-MLS defender Joey DiGiamarino and Pete Vagenas, who won two MLS Cups with LA Galaxy, pass through its doors. Ghotbi was demanding in terms of players gaining mastery of the ball. It was through Ghotbi's connections that O'Brien moved to Ajax.

"Afshin was an intense coach," said O'Brien. "He's very much about challenging you. I was coming into my adolescence then, so there's something to be said about having a softer approach with kids. But with us, he was pretty demanding and driven and really focused on repetitive technique drills. That was really useful for me and he called me out. I had a bad right foot, especially as a side volley. That was really hard for me to do and he was like, 'This is not good enough. You have to practice this.'"

Ghotbi's contacts in Southern California -- Sampson in particular -- led to him being named as an assistant coach for the U.S. men's national team for the 1998 World Cup, with a special emphasis on scouting Iran. The match was littered with heavy political overtones, and remains one of the more ignominious nights in U.S. World Cup history, a game that Ghotbi recalls with mixed emotions. Iran prevailed 2-1 on a night in which the U.S. failed to convert some clear chances. The result eliminated the U.S. from the tournament but for Ghotbi, it made a deep impression that went beyond the game.

"To see fans that had American flags on one cheek and an Iranian flag on the other cheek, or a Persian man and an American woman, a married couple, in the stands, and to see that kind of friendship between two countries that have so many political problems, it really excited me to realize the power of the game," he said.

"I think regardless of our nationality and regardless of our culture, there are certain things all human beings share. When I go into a particular team or a country, the love of the game is very important. I think the respect you give each other is very important. Trying to listen and learn about how each culture behaves and how they think."

After the World Cup, Ghotbi planned to return to his soccer school but thanks to his overseas connections, South Korea and Guus Hiddink came calling with a special task to address a special challenge. A coaching staff that largely didn't speak Korean -- one of five languages Ghotbi now speaks -- needed a way to get their points across beyond translating their instructions. So Ghotbi was asked to reprise a role he had taken with the U.S., that of using video to reinforce tactical concepts.

"At that time, nobody was creating animations and breaking images down, bringing pictures into a computer and drawing over them," said Ghotbi. "Hiddink was quite clever because he thought, 'This can help me because I don't speak Korean.'"

South Korea went on to a historic run to the semifinals. Along the way they faced a U.S. team that included Ghotbi's old protégé, O'Brien, but Ghotbi's work with video, as well as the pedigree of having worked with Hiddink, proved to be a launch point into the coaching profession. When he was reunited with his old friend Sampson at the LA Galaxy, Ghotbi was tasked with providing the tactical preparation.

"[Ghotbi] was ahead of his time in terms of the video presentations that he did," said then-Galaxy defender Todd Dunivant, now the General Manager of USL Championship side Sacramento Republic. "He was very precise and the detail he worked with was very high level. He always went the extra step. The way he talks about the game, talks about opponents, it's very impassioned. And he's fearless. He's not afraid to take on a challenge."

That trait was made clear in 2007 when Ghotbi took on his first managerial job with Iranian giants Persepolis. Persepolis is one of the biggest clubs in Asia, with crowds exceeding 100,000. Imagine a long-time assistant coach from outside the country, with no playing pedigree to speak of, being asked to manage Argentina or Manchester United. That is the kind of cauldron that Ghotbi stepped into.

"Everything was new to me and everything was so extreme, that anything was possible," he said.

Those extremes extended to his personal life. Ghotbi was reconnecting with the country of his birth and relearning Farsi. Most heart-rending of all was Ghotbi's reunion with his mother, Mahri. Being Iranian-born but holding a foreign passport meant Ghotbi couldn't travel to Iran for much of his life. As a result, he'd seen her once in 30 years, meeting in the Netherlands on a trip with one of his youth teams.

"It was almost like I was drowning in every emotion you could imagine," he said. "When the plane landed in Tehran, the emotions were already building. Then when I walked out and I saw her, it was incredible. I really don't wish it for anybody to be parted from their parents."

There's a word in Farsi, "hashyeeh", that loosely translates to the kinds of outside forces that can undermine, and in some cases ruin, a team. At Persepolis, there was a tidal wave of hashyeeh. Ghotbi recalls the boots of players being stolen on a road trip. Team buses would be late and supposedly private conversations were leaked to the media within minutes. Yet Ghotbi was embraced by the supporters. His Farsi was poor at times, but fans appreciated the effort he made.

Winning helped, too. It had been six seasons since Persepolis won the league, and Ghotbi promised fans that the streak would end. Persepolis started the campaign with a 16-game unbeaten streak, and fans took to calling Ghotbi "Afshin the Emperor." The nickname made him uneasy, however, given his U.S. upbringing and the fact that Persepolis was run by the government's Physical Education Organization (now the Ministry of Sport and Youth).

He said, "Who wants to have an Emperor? Once it catches on, there's nothing you can do about it. You just try to stay grounded and humble and move on."

Hashyeeh was never far away, though. In February of that season, Persepolis was docked six points for failure to pay one of its players from the previous campaign. Then in the midst of all of this, Ghotbi was recruited to be Iran's next national team coach, although at the last minute it went to Ali Daei instead.

As the season wound down, Ghotbi repeated his pledge to win the title, and it took a Hollywood ending. Trailing first-place Sepahan by two points with one game to play, Persepolis hosted the league leaders on the final matchday. The game was tied 1-1, in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time, when Sepehr Heidari's header saw Persepolis grab the title. "That was a goal from above, a miracle," said Ghotbi.

Alas, the moment proved fleeting. Ghotbi resigned the following November, the hashyeeh finally becoming too much.

"If you're in football long enough, you develop a sixth sense that things are not normal," he said. "Things weren't happening the way they should, and I just felt it was better that I leave."

There is a downside to performing a miracle in that after you do it once, everyone thinks you can do it again. With Iran in danger of missing out on the 2010 World Cup, Iran's football federation turned to Ghotbi, who was brought in for the last three games of qualifying, two of which were on the road. Again, it came down to an all-or-nothing showdown on the final matchday for Ghotbi, this time against South Korea and this time, it wasn't to be. While Masoud Shojaei put Iran ahead in the 52nd minute, South Korea's Park Ji-Sung equalized with nine minutes remaining. The World Cup dream was over.

"I felt at that time in life that I had a golden touch, that everything was going to be successful," he said. "When that ball snuck inside the post... It's a really unfortunate sequence. When you experience that, that was one of the lowest moments. It was my dream to take a team to the World Cup as a coach. It still is."

Ghotbi has had five different managerial stints since then and regaining that golden touch has been elusive. That is until earlier this month, when Shijiazhuang won nine of its last 12 games, including a 2-0 win over Xinjiang Tianshan on the final matchday, to win promotion. The U.S. still holds plenty of allure for Ghotbi and there are five managerial jobs in MLS either vacant or occupied by interim coaches.

"I would love my next move to be to the U.S.," he said before taking the Shijiazhuang job in July. "I think sometimes when I see [MLS], I don't see the passion I want to see. I don't see the commitment I want to see.

"That's why for example when you see the U.S. women's football, you really see that and that's why so many people love this women's team."

Regardless of whether he returns to the U.S., Ghotbi isn't one to feel cheated.

"This game has done so much for me," he said. "I could stop breathing right now and I'll go to my grave with a big smile on my face because of the experiences I've had, the places I've seen, the things I've done. It's incredible because of this sport."

Ghotbi's not done yet.

During the MLS offseason, there will be countless discussions about player signings and trades. There will be various drafts and other roster maneuverings as teams try to retool for next season.

Yet the biggest talks of all will involve every player from every team in the league. On Jan. 31, the existing collective bargaining agreement between MLS and the MLS Players Association will expire. The hope is that a new deal will be hashed out, and the two sides have actually been engaged in negotiations for the better part of the past year, but if an agreement can't be found before the start of the season, the league faces the prospect of a work stoppage.

What's at stake?

MLS has experienced considerable growth since the last CBA was hashed out in 2015. Heading into that campaign, the league had 20 teams. MLS will begin next season with 26, with another three set to join in the following two years. There has also been sizable investment made by owners, and not just in stadiums. Training facilities, once considered a luxury item, are now becoming ubiquitous. There has been greater investment in salaries as well, with the implementation of targeted allocation money (TAM) having the effect of increasing the salary budget for each team by $4 million a year. As such, according to Forbes, the average valuation of MLS teams has increased by 30% from 2017 to an average of $313 million.

Complicating the negotiations is the fact that the current media rights deal is set to expire at the end of 2022, meaning a new media deal will be approved in the middle of the term of the new CBA. It is expected that the next media rights deal will be multiples higher than the existing deal, which pays MLS $90 million a year. That figures to be a complicated topic to tackle, although that hasn't stopped the union from trying.

"We have made detailed proposals to the league on how to deal with that [media rights] issue," said MLSPA executive director Bob Foose.

For these reasons, a work stoppage of any kind would blunt this momentum, although to what degree obviously depends on its length.

What are the odds that there will be a work stoppage?

Historically, the union and the league have been able to avoid a work stoppage, although there have been close calls in the past, including the 2015 deal that was struck just days before the start of the regular season. Mediators were also needed to help the two sides hash out an agreement.

"The league isn't seeking to have a work stoppage, and based on the discussions we've been having with the union, we don't think they are either," said Mark Abbott, MLS president and deputy commissioner. "I think both we and the union are working in good faith to reach an agreement to extend the CBA. That being said, we certainly recognize that you can't eliminate entirely the possibility of work stoppage and we've been working with our teams over the course of the last year to ensure that they're prepared and that we're prepared in case that happened. Again, it's not something that we're seeking."

The MLSPA leadership has certainly made more noises about its willingness to go on strike, and has spoken of contingency plans players are making in case there is a work stoppage.

"We've been talking about and preparing for work stoppage for two and a half years now," Foose said. "At this point, talking about the details of what that would look like and how we would proceed, and how we would all work together, the players are very serious when they say they're ready to do what's best for the full player pool and the future of the [players' association] and the league."

A strike would see the MLSPA flying in the face of some serious headwinds, however. The fact remains that MLS' billionaire owners can withstand losing revenue to a much greater degree than the players can cope with missing paychecks. The latest annual filing from 2018 shows that the MLSPA has total assets of $10.5 million, a reflection of not only how relatively young the union is but also how low its salaries are compared with those of players in other North American sports.

By comparison, the National Basketball Players Association has total assets of more than $200 million. For the MLSPA, that $10.5 million would disappear pretty quickly in the face of an extended work stoppage. Foose stressed that union funds are not the only resource players can dip into should there be a work stoppage. The players have been preparing on their own as well.

"We obviously don't have the luxury that some of the other [players' associations] have with an extra zero in [their] resources," Foose told ESPN. "But we certainly have plenty of money to do what needs to be done on the [players' association] side of things."

All of that said, it behooves all involved to reach an agreement.

"We understand exactly where the business is, and I think we have a very good feel for where it's going," Foose said. "And we have no incentive to damage that."

"I think we were able to get a bit of a foundation [in late 2018], so going into 2019 we were further along on many issues than we ever had been," said executive board member Ethan Finlay. "But the process, it's still early."

So what are the chances that the two sides won't be able to come to an agreement and a work stoppage will interrupt MLS' 25th season? There is a 20% chance of that happening; both the league and the players have too much at stake to go down that road.

What's the timeline?

The CBA might expire on Jan. 31, but the real deadline will take place weeks later. The CONCACAF Champions League round of 16 begins in mid-February, and as long as there isn't a work stoppage, those games could go forward. The real deadline for a new CBA is the start of the MLS season, which will take place on the weekend of Feb. 29.

To hear the union tell it, the league has tended to take a long time to respond to proposals, so while there's a little more than two months to go until the CBA expires, time can get short in a hurry.

"If things don't move more quickly and [the league] takes the same approach that was taken the last time through, the odds of a stoppage skyrocket, so hopefully that won't be the case," Foose said. "A strategy to run out the clock is not going to be looked upon favorably by the player pool or the [players' association]."

What the MLSPA wants

The growth and investment of MLS has been noticed by the MLSPA, and it understandably is keen to carve out a bigger chunk for its members. But the union's core issues are centered less on total salary numbers and more on systemic changes such as freedom of movement and allowing the players a greater ability to compete for the league's dollars.

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A greater degree of free agency is one of the union's goals. Although the union faced criticism in 2015 for not extracting more concessions from owners, one goal it did achieve was a limited form of free agency. As it stands, players who are at least 28 years old and who have played in the league at least eight years can be free agents when their contracts expire. They can also receive raises of only between 15% and 25%, depending on their salary level. The union wants the age and time of service threshold to be reduced and wants the cap on salary increases removed or at least raised considerably.

The MLSPA would also like to see the salary budget rules simplified. Although the union was pleased to see the league pump more money into player salaries during the existing CBA, the implementation of TAM grated in that it was money that was available only to players making a salary of between $530,000 and $1.5 million. That excludes a large chunk of the rank and file, who are shoehorned into senior, supplemental and reserve roster categories that limit what those players can make.

The union would also like to see the league allow its teams greater autonomy in terms of how they build their rosters, rather than have rules dictated by league headquarters.

"In the simplest terms, TAM is silly," Foose said. "It's not necessary to try and tell our front offices how to sign players; they're perfectly capable of doing that themselves. And frankly, if they're not, then they should suffer the consequences, and that's the kind of accountability that we want to see happen."

The union's stance is that simplifying the rules would lead to more of a meritocracy. Players' earnings would be a reflection of how they have performed on the field. It's worth noting that, according to salary data provided by the MLSPA, 37.4% of the players make annual salaries under $100,000.

The union also wants increased spending on charter flights. At present, the vast majority of teams fly commercially, which can lead to long travel days, especially when teams are flying through multiple time zones. This can hamper a player's physical recovery. Teams are allowed four discretionary charter flights a year, but there is no mandate that they have to use them. Philadelphia Union midfielder Alejandro Bedoya recalled how his team didn't use a single charter flight during the regular season. Foose added that, at the end of 2018, only about half of the available charter flights were used.

"It's unfortunate that this is discussed in a CBA context, because this isn't a CBA issue," Foose said. "It isn't in other sports and shouldn't be in ours. It is an infrastructure issue and is tied to player performance."

It's difficult to imagine this being a "hill to die on" issue for the MLSPA, but Atlanta United midfielder Jeff Larentowicz said, "This is one piece of the pie for us, a very important piece, a commonsense piece, but one that we're taking very seriously."

What MLS wants

Broadly -- beyond avoiding a work stoppage -- MLS wants the same thing it always wants: a level of cost certainty as it pertains to player expenses. Its single-entity structure, whereby the player contracts are with the league rather than with individual teams, has helped achieve this to a large degree. This is especially true to the extent that in most instances teams retain the MLS rights of players even after that player has been transferred or his contract has expired.

But MLS also wants control over where that money goes. The introduction of TAM is proof of this, whereby it wanted its teams spending more on players within a specific salary range. The league feels that a program such as TAM has been successful, and MLS will want to retain that kind of discretion as to where investments are made. Could the league have gotten to where it is without TAM? Who knows, but MLS doesn't sound as if it wants to find out.

"There are a variety of different areas that will be the subject of discussion as to where we should be making investments, whether it's the senior team, whether it's player development, whether it's on other benefits," Abbott told ESPN. "And in the CBA what we're seeking to do is within the limits of what we're able to spend that we ensure that we're allocating those expenditures in the areas that are most likely to have the most impact."

What happens now?

There were rumblings that an agreement was almost reached in 2018, although that ultimately didn't take place. At present, the respective positions have been laid out and the two sides have exchanged proposals, but it's also still early. The talks likely won't get into serious mode until early January.

"We have a ways to go to reach an agreement," Foose said.

Foose had stated previously that the league has been fully transparent in terms of its financials at the league, team and SUM [Soccer United Marketing] level. He has no doubt that MLS is leveling with the union on this topic. He added, "We also have a common understanding with them on the cost of various proposals, so we're clear on what the changes that we're seeking are going to cost."

'Don't judge a pitch until both sides have batted' is an old adage in cricket. While it would be early to call the Adelaide Oval a flat deck, it is still noteworthy when one of Pakistan's best seam weapons on tour says there has not been much help from the surface yet.

It is common perception that surfaces for day-night Tests are sprinkled with a generous green covering of grass to ensure the pink ball doesn't scruff up and lose its hardness too early. On the opening day of the second Test, David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne waltzed their way to centuries, making light of whatever assistance there was from the pitch during the course of their unbeaten 294-run stand.

Playing for the first time in the series, Mohammad Abbas sent down 19 wicketless overs for 56 runs; the others barring Shaheen Afridi didn't fare better either. Australia finished a truncated opening day on 1 for 302, comfortably reeling off their runs at 4.13 per over.

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"Today was a tough day. In your home conditions, you know where to bowl and how to go about it," Abbas said. "I came here and practised a lot. But we haven't got the kind of help from the wicket that was expected. I tried to do my best and worked really hard. They were very confident and played me well too.

"I bowled a few maidens [six of them] and tried to bowl in partnerships but it didn't go to plan. It's a part of the game. At times, the batsmen are successful, at times it's the bowlers. They were carrying forward the confidence from the last game. We couldn't build control from both ends.

"On the pitches in Dubai, if there's no seam or swing we try to wait for reverse swing. But here with the pink ball and the weather wasn't conducive for reverse swing. So the pitch was flat and the ball kept going straight."

Abbas's non-selection for the Brisbane Test raised a few eyebrows from different quarters of the cricketing circle in Pakistan. Waqar Younis, the bowling coach, hinted that it was a case of Abbas needing to regain lost confidence quickly to be considered. It perhaps resonated with the thoughts in the Pakistan camp: good enough to tour, not good enough to make the XI.

The stats back that theory - Abbas has taken just seven wickets in his last five Tests. But he didn't seem to think the shoulder injury he suffered in New Zealand, which led to him being out of the game for 10 months, had contributed to his wickets drying up.

"I don't think so," he said. "There are ups and downs in a career. I started really well. But you know I got injured against New Zealand and it took me a long time to recover from that. I am bowling a lot and trying really hard. Hopefully, I'll get back into rhythm very soon.

"I am not at all happy with my own performance. It's understandable that I'm considered the main bowler. When you play Test cricket after 10 months, there's a difference for sure and it takes a while to get your rhythm back. The match isn't done. "

Abbas also said being left out of the first Tests "didn't affect me too much", and that there was no shame in the wicketkeeper standing up to the stumps, like Mohammad Rizwan did to Abbas on Friday. For some bowlers, it could be a blow to their ego. For Abbas, it was simply sticking to the team's plan.

"That's a plan for us," he said. "If a batsman is struggling against my bowling, then he often stands outside his crease. It was a plan we'd tried in Dubai as well. That's why I asked him to come up to the stumps. But there was little help off the pitch. You keep changing plans but it didn't work."

Hasan Ali is injured again, days after recovering from a back injury that took seven weeks to heal. The latest one is a rib fracture that is set to rule him out for at least another six weeks. This automatically rules him out of the two home Tests against Sri Lanka next month.

"Fresh CT scans revealed cortical rib fractures involving the ninth rib on the right side and eighth and ninth ribs on the left side," a PCB spokesman said. "The fractures will require up to six weeks of healing. He will start a rehabilitation process at the National Cricket Academy from Monday."

Hasan last played for Pakistan in June. Since then, he has featured in just the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy opener in September. Earlier in the week, he was cleared to play the last two rounds of the first-class competition and even joined his side Central Punjab in Karachi. During training, he complained of sudden pain in his left side after which the fractures were revealed.

ESPNcricinfo understands that Hasan received the clearance to play from Sohail Saleem, PCB's director for sports and medical sciences. He had been bowling approximately 50 overs a week at the NCA in Lahore. It is yet unclear how he sustained the rib fractures.

Hasan's injury comes at a time when the team management is in search for a genuine quick to complement the existing pace pack in Australia. Over the years, Pakistan have invested significantly in Hasan, because of which he became an automatic pick across formats under previous head coach Mickey Arthur.

Between his debut in May 2017 and his previous Test appearance in January 2019, Hasan picked 31 wickets in nine Tests at 28.90. He also featured in 53 ODIs and 30 T20Is, which yielded 82 and 35 wickets respectively.

Pakistan's long list of injuries in Australia forced them to field 16-year old rookie Naseem Shah and 19-year old Musa Khan. While both are quick and touch the 145kph mark, their lack of experience has shown. Pakistan's Test captain Azhar Ali touched upon the dearth of genuine quicks ahead of the second Test against Australia in Adelaide.

"It's been five-seven years now that we've been struggling without proper fast bowlers," Azhar said. "I think the nature of the ball and our first-class cricket pitches meant that there was no need for really genuine fast bowlers. You could manage with medium-pacers, who were taking a lot of wickets. Teams were being bundled out in within 30-40 overs.

"That really made openers in Pakistan redundant. Like their job was to only come to the ground. The batting began at No.5. The conditions were such that pace-generating bowlers weren't being encouraged. Look at what's happening this year. There are hardly any pacers with wickets."

"That's because for five-seven years they got away without bending their back. Now there's a need to put some effort and it's changing. If this continues in their vein, if we get flat wickets where just swinging the ball at medium-pace isn't enough and you have to put more into it, then you'll get more bowlers."

Tamil Nadu 116 for 3 (Washington 54*, R Ashwin 31, D Chahar 1-11) beat Rajasthan 112 for 9 (Rajesh Bishnoi 23, Vijay Shankar 2-13, Washington 1-2) by seven wickets

Dinesh Karthik's Tamil Nadu and Manish Pandey's Karnataka will square off for the Syed Mushtaq Ali title in a repeat of the 50-over Vijay Hazare final on December 1. Incidentally, this will be the first time that the finalists of the Vijay Hazare trophy will also contest for the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy in an Indian domestic season.

After asking Rajasthan to bat first under lights in Surat's Lalabhai Contractor Stadium, Karthik rifled through his options, using as many as seven bowlers to limit Rajasthan to 112 for 9.

Tamil Nadu then bumped up R Ashwin to the top - he was opening the batting for only the second time in T20 cricket according to ESPNcricinfo's data - and although he couldn't get the big hits away, the senior pro helped see off the new-ball threat posed by Deepak Chahar and co.

After C Hari Nishanth chopped on to Chahar for a duck, Ashwin put on 69 for the second wicket with allrounder Washington Sundar to lend direction to the chase. Ashwin holed out for 31 off 33 balls in the 11th over and then Karthik was pinned lbw six overs later, but Washington remained unbeaten on 54 off 46 balls to finish the chase without much fuss.

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Earlier in the evening, though, Washington didn't have too much to do with the ball, delivering a solitary over and claiming the wicket of opener Ankit Lamba for 15. Rajasthan captain Chahar promoted himself as the other opener - he was initially picked by Stephen Fleming as a batting allrounder at Rising Pune Supergiant - but Tamil Nadu's new-ball fingerspinner R Sai Kishore barged through his flimsy defences with an arm ball. The wicket took Kishore's Powerplay tally to 15 in this Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. No other bowler has taken more than 10 wickets in the Powerplay this tournament.

With RCB's director of cricket Mike Hesson and a few other scouts in attendance, Kishore finished with 1 for 35 in his four overs. M Siddharth, the other left-arm spinner, who was a belated inclusion in the squad after M Vijay suffered an injury, returned 1 for 22.

Seam-bowling allrounder Vijay Shankar hit the hard lengths and compounded Rajasthan's woes, picking up 2 for 13 in his four overs. Ashwin was held back until the 14th over and he struck almost immediately, trapping Manander Singh lbw for 7. At this point, Rajasthan were tottering at 76 for 7. Some late blows from Chandrapal Singh and Ravi Bishnoi hauled Rajasthan past 100 and helped them avoid the ignominy of being bundled out.

Barring the Bishnois - Rajesh and Ravi - no other Rajasthan batsman passed 20. Chahar, however, briefly raised their hopes when he dismissed Hari Nishanth, but Ashwin and Washington saw off the Powerplay without any further damage. Ashwin ventured to play some funky shots, but couldn't connect with them well enough while Washington was more adept at keeping the scorecard ticking.

Washington was particularly severe on Ravi Bishnoi, the legspinner, taking him for 30 off 16 balls, including three sixes, the pick of them being a rasping slog-sweep over midwicket. In stark contrast, Ashwin was scratchy against the spinners and his stop-start innings finally ended when he hit a half-tracker from left-arm fingerspinner Chandrapal straight into the lap of deep midwicket.

Left-arm seamer Aniket Choudhary gave Rajasthan another reason to smile when he removed Karthik, but it was Washington who had the last laugh.

In 2006-07, Tamil Nadu became the inaugural Syed Mushtaq Ali champions under Karthik. Can they repeat the feat against a power-packed Karnataka side that thumped them in October earlier this year?

Bill Peters is out as Calgary Flames coach, four days after a former player came forward and said the coach directed racial epithets toward him while they were in the minors 10 years ago.

At a news conference Friday afternoon, Flames general manager Brad Treliving said Peters resigned.

"Effective immediately, Bill Peters is no longer a member of the Calgary Flames organization," Treliving said.

Akim Akiu said on Twitter on Monday night that Peters "dropped the N bomb several times towards me in the dressing room in my rookie year because he didn't like my choice of music."

Aliu played for Peters in 2009-10 with the Rockford Ice Hogs, the AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. On Wednesday, Peters acknowledged the incident in a letter of apology, which he sent to Treliving. Peters said the comments were made in a "moment of frustration."

"Although it was an isolated and immediately regrettable incident, I take responsibility for what I said,'' Peters wrote.

Aliu on Thursday issued a statement saying he found Peters' letter of apology to the Flames "misleading, insincere and concerning." Aliu added that he would have no further comment until he met with the NHL as part of its investigation of the incident.

Peters had been absent from the team for the past two days -- including the Flames' overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night -- as Treliving conducted what he called a "thorough investigation." Peters traveled with the team to Buffalo, but assistant coach Geoff Ward assumed head-coaching duties. Ward was named interim head coach on Friday.

"It's been a difficult time, but we're going to move forward," Treliving said Friday.

Treliving said he spoke with Aliu as part of his probe.

"This investigation we're doing, I know everyone wants this done immediately and the world we live in is immediate,'' Treliving told reporters Wednesday night. "I hope you can appreciate we're trying to do everything we possibly can to make sure we get it right and get all the information that needs to be gotten.''

Peters, 53, was hired by the Flames this past offseason. He previously coached the Carolina Hurricanes, 2014-18.

After Aliu came forward, other details about Peters' conduct as a coach came to light, including allegations that he punched and kicked players while on the bench as the Hurricanes coach.

Current Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour, then an assistant on Peters's staff, told reporters this week that the incident "for sure happened."

"Management handled it directly and never heard of it again and never saw anything else after that," Brind'Amour said. "So it was definitely dealt with, in my opinion, correctly ... We've definitely moved past that."

Former Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos, who sold the team two years ago, told the Seattle Times on Wednesday night that he would have fired Peters "in a nanosecond" had he been made aware of the players' allegations by then-general manager Ron Francis.

"I'm pretty upset," Karmanos told the Seattle Times. "And I have my calls in to Ronnie as well. I think he's the one who's going to have to tell people what he did when he found out that the coach had done these things.''

Francis is now the general manager of the Seattle team slated to begin play in the NHL in 2021-22.

Peters opted out of his contract with the Hurricanes following the 2017-18 season.

TSN published a story on Tuesday in which two of Aliu's Rockford teammates -- Simon Pepin and Peter MacArthur -- corroborated his account. Aliu also spoke to TSN further about the incident, saying he was in charge of the music in the locker room for morning skate, when Peters walked in. According to Aliu's account to TSN, Peters said: "I'm sick of hearing this n-----s f---ing other n-----s in the a-- stuff."

"He then walked out like nothing ever happened," Aliu told TSN. "You could hear a pin drop in the room, everything went dead silent. I just sat down in my stall, didn't say a word."

When asked why he waited so long to come forward, Aliu told TSN, "This isn't me being bitter. I sat on this a really, really long time. It broke my heart, I think it made my career go downhill before it started. This isn't to the degree of [Colin] Kaepernick by any means, but if you play the race card, it's most likely the end of your career."

In a statement, the Blackhawks said: "The purported incident had not been reported or brought to our attention prior to (Monday) and had no effect on any player personnel decision regarding Mr. Aliu."

Aliu, now 30, was born in Nigeria but grew up in Ukraine and Canada. He most recently played for the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL in 2018-19 but is now a free agent, living in Toronto.

Scotland prop Gordon Reid has returned to Glasgow Warriors on a partnership deal with Super6 side Ayrshire Bulls.

Reid, 32, spent seven years at the club between 2010 and 2017, helping them to a maiden Pro12 title in 2015.

After leaving London Irish in the summer, he joined the semi-professional Ayrshire franchise. The loose-head will remain a Bulls player but train with Glasgow for the rest of the season.

"The club means a great deal to me," the prop said.

"I'll still be playing for Ayrshire Bulls, but will also be available for the Warriors, so it's a win-win situation."

Reid made over 100 Glasgow appearances in his first stint and has won 41 caps, featuring in all four of Scotland's Rugby World Cup matches.

Earlier this week, the prop rescued a man from a smoke-filled Ayrshire house, before the individual he helped escape "legged it down the road like Usain Bolt".

Dave Rennie's Warriors have also extended the contract of Johnny Matthews until the end of the season, while fellow hooker Jack Iscaro returns to Old Glory DC.