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Koepka just a 'regular guy': Best of the rest from Tuesday at the U.S. Open
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Golf
Tuesday, 11 June 2019 11:04

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka were just some of the big names to meet with the media ahead of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach on Tuesday.
And while they provided plenty of insight into their preparation for the year's third major championship and criticisms of the USGA, that wasn't all they had to say.
Here's the best of the rest on Tuesday at the U.S. Open:
"I view myself completely differently than people view me. I still think it's weird when I walk into a place, and I can see eyes are on me just for dinner. And I'm like, 'What's everybody staring at?' I just view myself as a regular guy, just like everybody else. And I just happen to be really good at golf, and that's it." — Koepka
"I hate the word 'runs.' I said this back in 2015, '16, whatever, when people were saying that about me [being] on runs. No, this is who [Koepka] is, you know. This isn't just a run; this is who he is. And he's going to be a force to be reckoned with for decades. So get used to it." — Spieth
"It's one of the four majors, and for me my focus is always on the major championships, trying to peak those weeks, trying to contend. That's what it's about for me. We have four Super Bowls a year; this is one of them. So it means a lot. ... There's plenty of inspiration to be the one that's trying to win these championships. And I have no trouble, personally, finding that inspiration, nor would I even if the 30-to-40 year-olds are winning. Like I just mentioned, this is our Super Bowl." — Spieth
"Yeah, just 15 shots, unbelievable. [Tiger Woods in 2000] destroyed everybody else, and I kind of felt sorry for everybody else, I think, really, is what I felt. It wasn't a fair fight at that point." — Justin Rose
"If you're ever going to have a blueprint on a U.S. Open, this is the one." — Ernie Els
"We had a couple glasses of wine and certainly enjoyed ourselves. And it was a great weekend for Irish golfers in general, with Rory [McIlroy] winning and Shane [Lowry] finishing second and me squeezing into Portrush. It was certainly a weekend, a Sunday night that felt it needed a little bit of celebrating, and we did so." — Graeme McDowell, on the plane ride from the RBC Canadian Open to the U.S. Open.
"I think I've seen every Tiger Woods video you can watch. I've seen that Sunday round. You see every single shot. It's like 22 minutes, something like that. I've seen it so many times. I've seen videos of Jack [Nicklaus] winning here, Tom Kite, Tom Watson and Graeme [McDowell]." — Jon Rahm
"I think to be the best — to be the best, you have to be selfish with your time. You have to be almost selfish with your whole career in general, I think. It's really hard. You have to have a really good balance between golf and family life. And then everything else kind of has to fit in, unfortunately. I mean, I feel — I always have the family with me, and that's a very important part to me. I can't sacrifice that. That's the one thing I don't want to sacrifice." — Jason Day
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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Still shy of his 32nd birthday, Jason Day has already racked up a career many of his peers would envy. The Aussie has won 12 times on the PGA Tour, including a major at the 2015 PGA Championship, and he has spent 51 weeks atop the Official World Golf Ranking.
But in his own mind, it’s not nearly enough.
Day offered candid comments ahead of this week’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, an event where he was a runner-up in both 2011 and 2013.
“Severely underachieved, I think,” Day said. “I think I’ve underachieved up until now. I feel I’ve got a game that when it’s on, I can win most tournaments. And the big thing for me is to go ahead and believe that, and have trust in my abilities that I can do that.”
Part of Day’s effort to spark that self-belief came in a caddie switch this week, as he has ditched a rotation of longtime friends for veteran looper Steve Williams. Williams was on the bag for 13 majors with Tiger Woods, including his historic win at Pebble Beach in 2000. He also shepherded Adam Scott to glory at the 2013 Masters.
Day plans to lean on Williams’ vast expertise, especially around this scenic layout, but he views the change as a catalyst to getting back on track after dropping to 16th in the latest world rankings – his lowest position since November 2013.
“To have someone like Steve on the bag is very instrumental in my career with regards to where I want to go and the trajectory I want,” Day said. “My goal is to get back to No. 1 in the world, but I want to do everything I possibly can to get there. If I need to do whatever [Williams] needs to tell me, I’ll do it. He said that being No. 1, there’s a lot of sacrifice that comes with that, and we both understand what that means.”
Day’s current season includes five top-10 finishes in 14 starts, highlighted by a T-5 finish at the Masters. But he missed the cut two weeks ago at the Memorial and shared that he is “very disappointed with how this year’s progressed.”
Urged by his wife, Ellie, swing coach Col Swatton and agent Bud Martin, Day plans to be “more selfish” with his time as he looks to get his career trajectory back in gear, a turnaround he hopes to spark this week with Williams by his side.
“I need to start working harder, that’s plain simple,” Day said. “But I think Steve will take me to that next level, and I’m hoping that’s the case.”
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United States defender/midfielder Tyler Adams has withdrawn from the Gold Cup with a groin injury, U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday.
FC Dallas defender Reggie Cannon has been tabbed to take his place on the roster.
-- When is the CONCACAF Gold Cup?
-- Full Gold Cup fixtures schedule
"Following further evaluation in New York City, the 20-year-old has been diagnosed with acute on chronic groin issues that will require a minimum of 6-8 weeks recovery period," U.S. Soccer said in a statement.
The announcement is a huge blow for U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter, who is feeling some heat following two poor performances in Gold Cup tune-up losses to Jamaica and Venezuela.
Adams was expected to take on a hybrid role in Berhalter's system, playing as a right-back, but stepping into central midfield when the U.S. is in possession. Yet the RB Leipzig man missed a six-week stretch from the beginning of April until mid-May due to an adductor injury, and though he returned for a pair of games at the end of the campaign, including Leipzig's 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the DFB-Pokal final, he was deemed insufficiently recovered to participate in the Gold Cup.
Adams had been scheduled to arrive at the U.S. camp on June 11. Now Berhalter will have to cope without one of his most important players.
San Jose Earthquakes defender Nick Lima has filled the right-back/central midfield role in a few friendlies, but it remains to be seen if Berhalter will stick with the system when the U.S. opens the tournament against Guyana on June 18.
Meanwhile, Cannon, 21, has made two appearances with the U.S., but none under Berhalter.
He made his international debut in a 1-1 draw with Peru last October and followed that with another start against Italy a month later. Following his professional debut in 2017, Cannon has made 56 appearances for Dallas in all competitions, scoring one goal.
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Alex Morgan scored a record-tying five goals as the United States opened its Women's World Cup campaign with a tournament-record 13-0 win over Thailand in Group F on Tuesday in Reims, France.
After the match, manager Jill Ellis defended her team's aggressive style of play even late in the match when result was beyond doubt.
"This is a world championship, so every team here has been fantastic to get to this point. And I think that to be respectful to opponents is to play hard against opponents. It's a tournament where goal differential is important," Ellis said.
"When you get a deluge of goals like that, it's a good feeling. It builds confidence."
The pre-tournament favorites and defending champions took it right to Thailand in the opening minutes, with a Morgan goal ruled out for offside inside of 10 minutes.
Minutes later, Morgan's second strike would stand up when she found space in between two Thai defenders and headed home a Kelley O'Hara cross to put the U.S. up 1-0.
Rose Lavelle doubled the lead for the Americans before the 20-minute mark, picking up the ball just inside the attacking third, dribbling to the top of the penalty area and smashing a swerving shot past Thailand keeper Sukanya Chor Charoenying.
A set piece led to the third goal for the U.S. just past 30 minutes, as Lindsey Horan hit her close-range shot into the roof of the net. Thailand was lucky to not concede another before the break, with Ellis' team continuing to dominate the match and keep their opponents under constant pressure.
"We really just came into this game and really wanted to showcase ourselves and what we've been preparing for and what we've been working on," Morgan said after the match. "I think we did that. Every goal matters in this tournament and that's what we were working on this game."
The U.S. picked up right where it left off in the first half after the break, scoring four goals in just over 10 minutes.
Sam Mewis, who started in midfield after Becky Sauerbrunn was held out for precautionary reasons with an injury, started things off in the 50th minute before Morgan, Lavelle and Mewis all added their second goals to make it 7-0.
Morgan scored her third and fourth as the match approached full-time, and Megan Rapinoe added another on the counter-attack in between to put the U.S. up 10-0.
"Obviously we have the utmost respect for everyone we play, but it's the World Cup," said team captain Rapinoe.
Substitute Mallory Pugh then scored to put the U.S. up 11-0 and Morgan added her fifth goal of the night to join compatriot Michelle Akers as the only two women to score five in a single match at the World Cup.
Veteran Carli Lloyd then added a 13th goal of the night for the U.S. to reach the final scoreline and give the Americans a record for both margin of victory and goals scored, surpassing Germany, who beat Argentina 11-0 in 2007.
Thailand, ranked No. 34 in the world, was clearly outmatched even though the team has shown progress on the world stage. Making its World Cup debut in 2015 four years ago, Thailand finished third in its group but earned its first win, a 3-2 victory over Ivory Coast.
- When is the FIFA Women's World Cup?
- Full Women's World Cup fixtures schedule
At the final whistle, Lloyd and Christian Press were seen consoling the Thailand goalkeeper. Morgan put her arm around an opponent, who was wiping away tears on the pitch moments after the final whistle.
"They were disappointed of course, they intended to make an impression in this first match and they were disappointed," coach Nuengruethai Srathongvian said through a translator. "Yes, they are all athletes and they will be resilient. We've got two more games to play and we need to bounce back."
The group-leading U.S., who had a 39-2 shot advantage to improve to 6-0-2 in World Cup openers, next faces Chile before playing Sweden in its last match before the knockout rounds begin.
Sweden, who defeated Chile 2-0 earlier on Tuesday in Rennes, ousted the U.S. in the teams last meeting in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.
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REIMS, France -- The last team off the field four years ago in Canada, when it hung around amid the confetti to celebrate its third world championship, the United States was the last contender to take the field in the 2019 Women's World Cup.
The Americans looked like a team that was tired of waiting.
Paced by a record-matching performance from Alex Morgan, whose five goals equaled Michelle Akers for the most by an American in a World Cup, the U.S. women routed Thailand 13-0 on Tuesday. The final tally set a record for the most prolific offensive performance in tournament history.
Playing in front of a sold-out crowd at the Stade Auguste-Delaune that sounded and looked as if it were watching a game in Portland, Oregon, or New York, rather than the north of France, the United States took the game to Thailand from the opening whistle.
In addition to Morgan's five goals, Rose Lavelle and Samantha Mewis each scored twice, and Lindsey Horan, Carli Lloyd, Mallory Pugh and Megan Rapinoe added single goals.
By the end, the U.S. women weren't competing against an overmatched Thailand as much as against what France did to electrify this nation last Friday in the tournament's opening game. First and last, those were the command performances. It's hard to argue the United States didn't one-up the hosts.
Alex Morgan makes the stage hers
Earlier in the week, a French journalist asked Morgan how she felt about being the most popular non-French women's player in France. As beloved as the home team is, she might have won over even a few of the locals Tuesday.
Morgan has talked openly about the disappointment she felt with her own performance in the 2016 Rio Olympics, but she nearly matched the entire U.S. goal output in that tournament with her quintet of goals against Thailand. Better still, some of her best moves on the night came with the ball at her feet trying to set up teammates. She was fully integrated into an attack operating at something close to its peak. That isn't a coincidence.
"To tie Michelle Akers record is obviously incredible," Morgan said. "But even more than that I think that this was such a great team performance for us. We were able to execute on so many chances that we had and we showed just how diverse our attack really is. And we know that every goal counts in the group stages, and that's why we had to keep going."
How many goals is too many goals?
The U.S. women had the game comfortably in hand a few minutes into the second half, when Mewis made it 4-0. The game was long since settled by the time Mewis and Lavelle scored within two minutes of each other to make it 7-0 with more than 30 minutes to play.
Still, on and on the United States came, wave after wave creating chances and goals until the U.S. women had topped the 11-0 record win Germany put on Argentina in the 2007 World Cup.
But to put blame on the United States ignores two obvious points. First, the Americans didn't make the rules under which the number of goals scored is part of deciding the outcome of the tournament. Goal differential counts. The U.S. women want to win their group. Unlike just about any other sport, they have a vested interest in running up the score.
And second, it isn't the United States' fault it can't clear its bench. It is allowed three subs. It used three subs.
"If this is 10-0 in a men's World Cup, are we getting the same questions?" U.S. coach Jill Ellis asked at repeated queries about the score. "I think a World Cup, it is about competing, it is about peaking, it is about priming your players ready for the next game."
But beyond that, why is it the obligation of the U.S. team to act in the interest of a creating a picture of a falsely level playing field. Why shouldn't FIFA or the Asian Confederation get blamed for not doing more to promote the women's game in places where it lags behind?
Are we really going to blame players for celebrating a goal, in many cases in their first World Cup, instead of looking at the underlying reasons for the disparity in the first place?
It's understandable that Thai players looked stunned and embarrassed after the game, far from the joyous scenes after they beat Ivory Coast in the World Cup debut four years ago. It is unfortunate for them. But it's also competition. Both sides of it.
"Obviously we have the utmost respect for everyone we play," Rapinoe said. "But it's the World Cup, and that's part of it. That's part of growing the game and growing the pool."
Here is a breakdown of the U.S. women's total shot location (40), goal placements (13) and key numbers from the match:
The Americans' 13 goals against Thailand were the most in a game in men's or women's World Cup history.
The United States men's national team has scored 12 World Cup goals in the past 6,202 days.
Alex Morgan is the just the second player in Women's World Cup history to score five goals in a single game. Michelle Akers was the first in 1991.
The kids are all right
1:05
Lavelle: USWNT made a statement in World Cup opener
Midfielder Rose Lavelle reflects on the USWNT's record start to the Women's World Cup following their 13-goal win over Thailand.
The United States is the oldest team in this year's World Cup, thanks to a core of veterans already in their 30s (a group that will include Morgan by the time the World Cup ends). But it's also a team that featured six players making their World Cup debut in Tuesday's starting lineup.
None of them looked nervous. And the midfield looked positively precocious.
With Julie Ertz starting in the back line in place of Becky Sauerbrunn, the entire midfield of Horan, Lavelle and Mewis started in their first World Cup game. All helped fuel the U.S. attack, well before each got on the score sheet. With Horan looking a lot like former standout Lauren Holiday in the deep midfield, sending passes around the field like a quarterback, Mewis and Lavelle brought their own considerable attacking skills to bear.
"It gave us all a good feeling to know that we could contribute at this level," Mewis said. "I know that for all of us this has been a dream for so long. And to be able to contribute to the team out there and feel like we were doing something right felt really good."
It might also reveal something that after scoring a goal and drawing gasps of approval from many in the stands with some of her footwork, Lavelle wasn't ready to bask in the praise.
"I just think I didn't connect some of my passes," Lavelle said. "And I don't think I was as clean, technically, as I should be."
There is always next time. And there will be many next times for this group of midfielders.
The opener the U.S. women needed
The camera on the world feed found Hope Solo a few times, the former U.S. goalkeeper in the arena while working as an analyst for the BBC. Solo's recent criticism of U.S. coach Jill Ellis was the closest thing to a dark cloud over this team entering the opener. In making it all about the coach, Solo also boosted the idea that this was a team without its own identity, a team without the strong personalities to win anyway. Well, this looked like a team that the United States is going to enjoy watching -- and in many cases, getting to know in the coming weeks.
"I don't know if we need to really make a statement," Rapinoe said. "We're us -- I feel like it's always on our backs anyway. ... But yeah, we wanted to have a good performance and have a good feeling, obviously. We know the competition will be much stronger from here on out and hopefully once we get to the knockout stages."
The United States was always going to win this game, probably comfortably. But in making sure of success by playing so aggressively early -- in a tournament in which many top teams have struggled to squeeze out wins -- this U.S. team created breathing room for itself.
Ertz buys time for Sauerbrunn
Sauerbrunn, a veteran defender, was held out because of a minor quad injury, but team officials said before the game that she was at 95%, and the decision to sit her (she was in uniform and available) was precautionary. The U.S. women don't play again until Sunday, giving her five extra days to recover. Without saying as much, the message was essentially that someone who played every minute in the 2015 World Cup and 2016 Olympics could have played in a game in which the United States needed its defense.
And no, there wasn't a lot of defending for Ertz or anyone else to do. Yet in anchoring a back line that had more than 300 collective caps -- but only a fraction of them as defenders -- Ertz looked the part of veteran leader after coming on as a young sensation in 2015. And in acting as the go-between for instructions from the bench and shifting to a holding midfield role at times, allowing the U.S. women to play out of a 3-4-3 for stretches, she highlighted this team's versatility.
The U.S. women are better with Sauerbrunn. They're also better for knowing they have a darn good deputy.
All signs still point to a showdown with Sweden
It looked for much of the evening elsewhere as if Chile might copy fellow South American entry Argentina in springing a group-changing surprise. But where Argentina was able to hold on for a draw against Japan on Monday, Chile conceded two late goals after a weather delay and lost to Sweden in Group F.
That means the U.S. women and Sweden are still on track for a group finale that will settle who finishes first (and takes a road that could lead through Paris and a quarterfinal against France). And with the goal differential it built up Tuesday, the United States could enter the finale knowing a draw would be enough to top the group.
Sweden again goes first Sunday, playing Thailand in Nice. The U.S. women then play Chile in Paris.
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Australian cricket's prime time broadcast footprint is to be vastly expanded as the WBBL launches its first standalone tournament from October 18 to December 8.
Twenty-three of the 59 games will be shown on free-to-air network Seven and the subscription broadcaster Fox Sports, with the vast majority programmed for Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays in effort to focus the competition around times when most viewers can watch outside the school holidays.
The eight prime time televised games will be Sydney Sixers v Sydney Thunder on October 18, Sydney Sixers v Brisbane Heat on October 19, Perth Scorchers v Melbourne Renegades on November 1, Perth Scorchers v Melbourne Stars on November 2, Sydney Thunder v Sydney Sixers on November 15, Sydney Thunder v Brisbane Heat on November 16, Hobart Hurricanes v Brisbane Heat on November 22, and Hobart Hurricanes v Adelaide Strikers on November 23.
Fifteen other fixtures will also be broadcast live in morning and afternoon time slots. Sydney Sixers and Brisbane Heat, with six matches each, get the most full broadcast coverage, followed by Sydney Thunder, Adelaide Strikers, Perth Scorchers and Melbourne Renegades (five), and Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Stars (four). Finals matches, the two semis on December 7 and the final on December 8, may also fill prime time slots depending on whether the host venue is equipped with floodlights.
In the fourth season of the competition, Cricket Australia is unashamedly using the WBBL as a vehicle to expand cricket's footprint on the season - never before have so many matches been aired in prime time so early in the season. Historically, it is not until the first international matches of the season in November that cricket has had a regular place at the broadcast table.
"It's something we've been building towards and last year's final series has proved that the WBBL is ready to stand on its own two feet," CA's executive general manager fan engagement Anthony Everard said. "The volume of televised content nearly doubled last season with the 23 broadcast matches averaging 213,000 on Seven and Fox Cricket.
"To build on this, fans will have a more consistent broadcast offering this season with seven consecutive festival weekends around the country broadcast live, with all remaining matches streamed on cricket.com.au. Festival weekends will also give families the best chance to come and experience the game all around the country."
The tournament is built around a series "festival weekends" at North Sydney Oval, Brisbane's Allan Border Field, the WACA Ground in Perth, Adelaide's Karen Rolton Oval, Bellerive Oval in Hobart and Junction Oval in Melbourne. The tournament semis and final will be hosted by the top ranked team after the 14 qualifying rounds in early December.
Broadcast audiences for the WBBL last season maintained a trend of growing interest in women's sport, intertwined with CA's long-term thinking about growing the game as a sport for all. This edition of the WBBL will also serve as a taster for the kind of cricket likely to be seen in February and March, when Australia hosts the women's T20 World Cup.
"This is monumental for the women's game," Everard said. "The players showed that last year with more totals of over 150 than the first previous three seasons of the rebel WBBL combined, all culminating into an incredible standalone finals festival weekend.
"Moving the entire tournament to its own standalone period is the first step towards achieving that ultimate goal of being the best women's league in the world, giving the world's best female cricketers from across the globe the platform to show fans what they are capable of."
WBBL festival weekends
Sydney | North Sydney Oval - October 18-20
Brisbane | AB Field - October 26-27
Perth | WACA - November 1-3
Adelaide | Karen Rolton Oval - November 9-10
Sydney | Drummoyne Oval - November 15-17
Hobart | Blundstone Arena - November 22-24
Melbourne | CitiPower Centre at Junction Oval - November 30 - December 1
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New-look Raiders to be featured on 'Hard Knocks'
Published in
Breaking News
Tuesday, 11 June 2019 17:01

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- What is supposed to be their final training camp as the Oakland Raiders before next year's planned move to Las Vegas will be documented like never before, as the team announced Tuesday that it will star in HBO's reality series "Hard Knocks" come August.
While both owner Mark Davis and coach Jon Gruden have let their displeasure at the notion of cameras peering into their privacy be known -- Davis jokingly told ESPN in March that he would rather fire Gruden than subject the team to the voyeuristic show -- both put up resigned faces.
"Everybody wants to be a Raider," Davis said in a team-issued news release. "Now they'll find out what it takes to become one."
"Everybody wants to be a Raider. Now they'll find out what it takes to become one."
We'll see you in August: https://t.co/dZ1LvS7gRv #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/rTz6AnrCbl
— Oakland Raiders (@Raiders) June 11, 2019
Earlier Tuesday, at the start of a three-day mandatory minicamp attended by everyone on the roster, Gruden was highlighting his three first-round draft picks in defensive end Clelin Ferrell, running back Josh Jacobs and safety Johnathan Abram.
"Who knows? Maybe 'Hard Knocks' will come and cover that," Gruden said through a grimace. "That'd be awesome, wouldn't it?
"We are trying to worry about this team, this week. We've got a lot of adversity we're facing right now with this team. We got a lot of distractions. I think we are playing in three countries. We've got about two months without a home game. We are in a process of moving. And we are going to try like crazy to keep all of our best players as we head to Las Vegas."
The Raiders could provide the HBO show with a treasure trove of storylines: From polarizing receiver Antonio Brown, who was acquired from the Pittsburgh Steelers, to middle linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who was voted the dirtiest player in the game a few years ago while with the Cincinnati Bengals, to left guard Richie Incognito, whose list of run-ins with teammates and the authorities is as long as his list of on-field accolades, to quarterback Derek Carr, who is entering what many see as a make-or-break season, to undrafted rookie defensive tackle Ronald Ollie, who already had a star turn in 2016 on Netflix's "Last Chance U."
"It's a hard knock life for us," Brown tweeted.
Plus, as Gruden noted, the team is in a lame-duck transition year, as it is leaving Oakland for the second time, having called Los Angeles home from 1982 through 1995. Gruden is already a TV star from his nine years in ESPN's Monday Night Football booth, and general manager Mike Mayock spent 14 years as an analyst for NFL Network.
All the show is missing is Marshawn Lynch, who was not re-signed by Oakland.
The other candidates for "Hard Knocks" this year were the San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, Detroit Lions and Washington.
Redskins coach Jay Gruden lobbied for the show to chronicle his older brother's team back in May.
"If they were smart, they would go to Oakland," Jay Gruden said. "What an entertainment value that would be: Antonio Brown, Jon Gruden, Paul Guenther, Vontaze Burfict, [Richie] Incognito. You'd be crazy not to go to Oakland. You can do us next year."
HBO's cameras will get a peek at two days of joint practices with the NFC champion Los Angeles Rams in Napa. The Raiders and Rams will scrimmage on Aug. 7 and Aug. 8 before opening the exhibition season against each other on Aug. 10 at the Oakland Coliseum, a source told ESPN.
The new "Hard Knocks" season premiers Aug. 6.
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OKLAHOMA CITY -- Thunder All-Star Paul George had a procedure to repair a small labrum tear in his left shoulder.
A Thunder spokesman made the announcement on Tuesday.
George had surgery to repair a partially torn tendon in his right shoulder about a month ago. It was announced at that time that he would have the additional procedure at a later date. Both shoulders hampered him in the final two months of the season. His timetable for recovery remains the same, and his status will be evaluated before the start of the upcoming season.
George is a finalist for the NBA's Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards. He ranked second in the league with 28 points per game and led the league with 2.21 steals per contest.
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OAKLAND, Calif. -- The NBA said the Toronto Raptors' Marc Gasol should have been given two free throws with 49 seconds left of Game 5 of the NBA Finals in Toronto, a game that the Raptors lost to the Golden State Warriors by one point on Monday.
Gasol was fouled by the Warriors' DeMarcus Cousins on a drive, the NBA said in its Last Two Minute Report that was issued Tuesday. Gasol missed the shot and tumbled to the floor, but no foul was called.
Golden State led 106-103 at the time. The Warriors wound up prevailing 106-105, staving off elimination and sending the series back to Oracle Arena for Game 6 on Thursday night.
The NBA said Cousins moved into Gasol, "initiating contact that affects his driving shot attempt."
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Fan struck by foul ball in Chicago out of hospital
Published in
Baseball
Tuesday, 11 June 2019 18:23

CHICAGO -- The woman struck by a foul ball during Monday night's game at Guaranteed Rate Field was treated at a nearby hospital and released Tuesday morning, according to a Chicago White Sox spokesman.
The unidentified woman was sitting in the stands just past the White Sox dugout down the third base line and was struck by a hard liner in the fourth inning off the bat of Chicago's Eloy Jimenez. She was bleeding around the head area, and was covered with a towel. She walked up toward the concourse with assistance of stadium personnel.
She then was taken to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center.
"She came back here with her friend and picked up her car this morning," said Scott Reifert, the White Sox's senior vice president of communications.
"We've left a couple of messages for her -- we always reach out -- and we haven't heard back."
Reifert said he had no information about the nature of the treatment and it will be up to the woman whether or not her name is made public.
The incident was just the latest scary moment to raise the issue of fan safety. Last month, a liner off the bat of the Cubs' Albert Almora Jr. struck a young girl in the stands at Houston's Minute Maid Park.
Almora reacted emotionally and had to be consoled by teammates and stadium personnel after breaking down on the field. Jimenez reacted Monday night by putting his hands on his helmet after the fan was struck.
The protective netting at Guaranteed Rate Field extends to the end of the dugout, which is the level of protection mandated by major league baseball. There has been some talk that it should be extended farther down the line.
"I think as an industry, probably all of baseball is gonna continue to take a look at it," Reifert said. "We really do every year.
"Obviously, the security and safety of our fans is important. I think we made the steps we did around baseball to address that."
Reifert said the White Sox are willing to work with fans who are concerned about safety.
"There are a lot of seats behind netting, so for people coming with young kids or if it's an important concern of theirs, they should absolutely ask at the ticket windows and we will accommodate them as best we can with seats that they know are gonna be protected," he said.
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