ClubSocial

BBC NEWS : Female gamers are on the rise in the 'world capital of gaming'

Female gamers in Asia are growing at a faster rate than their male rivals in online video games.

July 14, 2020 at 05:19AM

from BBC News - Business
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53245123

Westpac picks KPMG partner Michael Rowland as new finance chief

Westpac has hired management consultant Michael Rowland as its next chief financial officer, highlighting his experience in restructuring companies and boosting productivity.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Business https://ift.tt/3fqrwlX
Read More

Tablet interactive: Coronavirus outbreak

Follow news and events as they happen.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Business https://ift.tt/2OoU0jU
Read More

Bad breath offers a rare payoff for investors in Listerine royalty

A rare item has hit the auction block: an investment in a single share that's guaranteed to pay as long as people fret over bad breath.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Business https://ift.tt/3gWUASa
Read More

FOX NEWS:- AOC doubles down amid GOP criticism over take on NYC crime

AOC doubles down amid GOP criticism over take on NYC crime

The congresswoman said Republicans haven't "experienced or seen" poverty.

via FOX NEWS https://foxnews.com/politics/aoc-doubles-down-gop-criticism-nyc-crime

FOX NEWS:- Jeff Sessions on Alabama Senate runoff race with Tommy Tuberville: My opponent is hiding

Jeff Sessions on Alabama Senate runoff race with Tommy Tuberville: My opponent is hiding

Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions joins Martha MacCallum with insight on 'The Story.'

via FOX NEWS http://video.foxnews.com/v/6171366181001

FOX NEWS:- Trump campaign 'moving forward' with GOP convention in Jacksonville amid surge in COVID cases in Florida

Trump campaign 'moving forward' with GOP convention in Jacksonville amid surge in COVID cases in Florida

Hogan Gidley, Trump 2020 national press secretary, joins Martha MacCallum with insight on 'The Story.'

via FOX NEWS http://video.foxnews.com/v/6171363957001

FOX NEWS:- House Dems release Berman interview transcript, as GOP says Barr ‘acted appropriately’ in ousting prosecutor

House Dems release Berman interview transcript, as GOP says Barr ‘acted appropriately’ in ousting prosecutor

The House Judiciary Committee released Monday the transcript of its interview last week with former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman.

via FOX NEWS https://foxnews.com/politics/house-dems-berman-interview-gop-barr-prosecutor

FOX NEWS:- President Trump looms over Alabama Senate race

President Trump looms over Alabama Senate race

Jeff Sessions faces Tommy Tuberville in Alabama runoff; senior political correspondent Mike Emanuel reports.

via FOX NEWS http://video.foxnews.com/v/6171355009001

FOX NEWS:- Joe Biden, President Trump trade shots over policy, pastime

Joe Biden, President Trump trade shots over policy, pastime

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden attacks Trump for playing golf, accuses the president of ignoring coronavirus experts; Peter Doocy reports.

via FOX NEWS http://video.foxnews.com/v/6171357053001

FOX NEWS:- Brit Hume on Washington Redskins name change, President Trump commuting Roger Stone's sentence

Brit Hume on Washington Redskins name change, President Trump commuting Roger Stone's sentence

Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume joins Bret Baier with insight on 'Special Report.'

via FOX NEWS http://video.foxnews.com/v/6171350748001

FOX NEWS:- President Trump faces criticism over Roger Stone commutation

President Trump faces criticism over Roger Stone commutation

The judge in the Stone case asks the government to clarify the 'scope' of the commutation; Kevin Corke reports.

via FOX NEWS http://video.foxnews.com/v/6171351638001

FOX NEWS:- Trump continues push to reopen America's schools, praises administration's response to COVID-19 pandemic

Trump continues push to reopen America's schools, praises administration's response to COVID-19 pandemic

California's two largest school districts announce they will not be open for in-person classes in August; Kristin Fisher reports from the White House.

via FOX NEWS http://video.foxnews.com/v/6171349765001

New on Sports Illustrated: Zion Williamson's Lawsuit Takes Another Bizarre Turn Involving an Agent With a Controversial Past

Agent Slavko Duric's name came up in Zion Williamson's ongoing lawsuit for loaning the former Duke player's family money, but Duric has a history of being involved in basketball scandals.

Slavko Duric answered the phone, and away we went. Down memory lane, and down dark alleys to where basketball business gets done.

“We should write a book,” Duric said at one point in a long, winding conversation.

If we did write a book, the title would be this: They Never Go Away.

“They” meaning the hustlers and opportunists who populate the basketball player procurement market. The business of hovering around promising young talent and finding ways to cash in has been robust for decades, and there are always new grifters crawling out of the woodwork—but also a remarkably hardy cast of usual suspects.

The money is there. The deterring rules are widely scoffed at—and when they are enforced, it’s often only a temporary setback. A scam artist embroiled in a basketball scandal or controversy rarely seems to leave the game; he just goes underground for a while and re-emerges later.

Which brings us to Duric. Last week, the Canadian’s name (re)surfaced as part of the increasingly bizarre Zion Williamson vs. Gina Ford lawsuit. Ford’s lawyers produced an affidavit from a man who claimed he loaned money to Duric as part of a plan to represent Williamson, who allegedly received $400,000 and signed an agreement with Duric in October 2018—before Zion became a mega-star at Duke. Williamson’s legal team wasted no time firing back, saying that the agreement included in the court filing was a forgery and alleging that Duric had tried a similar scheme two years ago with current NBA star Luka Doncic.

So, my man Slavko very quickly made a sketchy name for himself in the American sporting consciousness. But not for the first time.

“I was involved in some stuff 20 years ago,” Duric acknowledged.

If you’ve been around the black market long enough, you may remember Duric from a different controversy. He had his first (brief) star turn, as a broker of sorts for a group of Nigerian basketball players who wanted to come to the United States.

Among them were Muhammad Lasege, Benjamin Eze, Olumide Oyedeji and Uche Okafor, and their route out of Nigeria and to the United States in the late 1990s was torturous. It involved an involuntary stay in Russia, where the players felt tricked into signing pro contracts that ultimately would imperil (or end) their NCAA eligibility.

Lasege found a way out when he received an invitation to visit the University of Buffalo through a Canadian sister institution, the College of Halifax. He obtained a Canadian visa and flew to Toronto in late 1998—but instead of traveling to Buffalo, he was met by Duric, who had worked with other athletes trying to find their way to the United States.

Lasege never made it to Buffalo. Instead, Duric stepped in as the players’ de facto recruiting middlemen. Duric told me he did his best to help the players land in good situations and never took money to steer them anywhere—but he did accept NCAA Final Four tickets from coaches. In bulk.

“Several coaches furnishing me with a lot Final Four tickets,” Duric said. “Like, a lot. There were more than a dozen coaches who handed me less than a bunch and more than a few [tickets]. And you can imagine what I did with them.”

Duric wouldn’t name the coaches or their schools. He also didn’t say whether the Nigerians wound up at any of the schools that provided him the kickbacks.

Lasege and Eze signed with Louisville; Okafor signed with Miami; and Oyedeji committed to Rutgers but reportedly encountered visa problems that kept him from ever getting to the U.S. Eze and Okafor wound up at the College of Southern Idaho, a junior college—Eze turned pro after his stay there and Okafor matriculated to Missouri but never gained NCAA eligibility. Lasege played 21 games for Louisville in the 2000–01 season, then had his eligibility terminated.

None played a day in the NBA. Lasege, a gifted and diligent student, graduated from Louisville and then earned an MBA from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. His LinkedIn bio says he is an assistant treasurer at Ecolab in Minneapolis.

Here’s the point: 20 years after that Nigerian drama, Slavko Duric is still out there looking for the next hustle. But the head of Maximum Management insists he was the one being hustled in the Zion situation.

Duric said that in 2018 he was contacted by someone he wouldn’t name, acting as an intermediary between Williamson’s family and their friend, James “Chubby” Wells, who was going to be Zion’s agent until he flunked the NBA certification test. Duric said he was asked if he wanted a piece of the Zion action once he turned pro, in exchange for a $100,000 payment to the family.

“I tried to do something I would characterize as outside the lines,” Duric said. “I allegedly was involved early. I was at the front of the line through a person who said he knew the family. Somebody who said he was [Williamson's stepdad] Lee Anderson spoke with me. Someone who said they were Chubby Wells spoke with me a dozen times.”

Duric said he received a signed agreement from the Williamsons, and a copy of Zion’s driver’s license. He said he sent the money to a family representative without ever having met them face-to-face—a dubious claim for someone with his street savvy.

“I got intoxicated by the opportunity,” Duric explained.

Then, he alleges, everything dried up. Duric said every phone number he had for those around Williamson was disconnected.

“I’ve been the victim of a con job by somebody acting like they were in the inner circle [with Williamson],” Duric said. “I have never spoken to Zion Williamson, and anybody who purported themselves as being a member of Zion’s inner circle was an impostor.

“Honestly, I am in a fog. I do know that I’m out 100 grand.”

Williamson’s attorney asserts that the con job is all Duric’s, saying he is the one who forged the agreement and included a bogus driver’s license photo. (The license lists Williamson’s incorrect hometown, and has his height where his weight is supposed to be, and vice-versa.) He also aimed directly at the Luka Doncic family allegations against Duric.

Take Slavko Duric’s greatest hits and you have an idea of what happens on the periphery of basketball, where players are commoditized early and families can be manipulated from all angles. And the hustlers just hang around, waiting for the next opportunity—because until the feds got into the act in late 2017, what were the deterrents?

T.J. Gassnola, bag man extraordinaire at Kansas and North Carolina State, had his AAU team decertified by the NCAA in 2012 for helping agent Andy Miller pay players. Did that run Gassnola (or Miller, for that matter) out of the picture? Not at all.

AAU coach Pat Barrett, outed in the seminal 1990 book Raw Recruits for trying to cash in on a relationship with a recruit, was labeled “the biggest whore I ever met” by none other than Jerry Tarkanian. Two decades later, he was implicated by Yahoo Sports for receiving $250,000 from a sports agency in exchange for access to Kevin Love while he was at UCLA. And as recently as last year, concerns were raised about Barrett potentially meddling with young college players.

Houston businessman Martin Fox was a basketball gadfly who knew everyone in the sport and got into event promotion, helping put on high-profile college basketball games. He also was affiliated with Houston Hoops, a high-powered AAU team. Then Fox was cited in court by Gassnola as the guy who supplied him with $40,000 to pay the family of North Carolina State recruit Dennis Smith Jr. And then after that, Fox was arrested as a key part of the “Operation Varsity Blues” sting, charged with being the man who helped facilitate fraudulent standardized tests.

Sometimes, the periphery characters become the establishment. William “Worldwide Wes” Wesley, a Hall of Fame hustler who needs no introduction, is a freshly minted executive with the New York Knicks. That speaks volumes about staying power, and the utility of knowing how the system works—and who works it.

Even the Southern District of New York’s attempt at blowing open college basketball is unlikely to send every scammer running for permanent cover. Criminal charges can have a chilling effect—but not for everyone.

The guy at the centerpiece of that sting operation, Christian Dawkins, is a convicted felon who is appealing his conviction and prison sentence. If you think he’s done with hoops, think again.

Multiple sources told Sports Illustrated this summer that Dawkins is plotting a comeback—he would provide the contacts and street savvy to a basketball and music agency he’s building behind the scenes. A close associate of Dawkins acknowledged the plan and said he is working hard to talk the young impresario into staying in the music lane.

“He needs to leave basketball behind,” the associate said.

But here’s the thing: the hustlers never leave it behind, and they never go away.

July 14, 2020 at 04:54AM
Zion Williamson's Lawsuit Takes Another Bizarre Turn Involving an Agent With a Controversial Past

Tickets to historic Geelong v Collingwood game at Optus Stadium on sale today

The historic Geelong versus Collingwood match at Optus Stadium on Thursday night is the first major event to take place at the venue since Queen and Adam Lambert’s Rhapsody Tour in late February.

from Sydney Morning Herald - National
Read More

Russia lists events that would lead it to using nuclear weapons

Russia's nuclear policy remains "defensive." However, a number of new conditions have been set for when a strike can be delivered.

In mid-June 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved

from Latest Breaking News RSS feed – Big News Network
via READ MORE

US Toughens Stance on South China Sea, Calls Chinese Claims Illegal

The United States on Monday announced a tougher stance against China's sweeping claims in the South China Sea, declaring them illegal and accusing Beijing of treating the disputed waters as a "mari

from Latest Breaking News RSS feed – Big News Network
via READ MORE

The latest illustrations from artist Matt Golding

Illustrations by the artist from The Age.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
Read More

Wanderers appoint Jean-Paul de Marigny as head coach

Six months after the sacking of Markus Babbel, former assistant Jean-Paul de Marigny has been named his successor.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
Read More

Tablet interactive: Coronavirus outbreak

Follow news and events as they happen.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
Read More

The latest illustrations from artist Cathy Wilcox

The latest work by Sydney Morning Herald editorial cartoonist Cathy Wilcox.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
Read More

Tickets to historic Geelong v Collingwood game at Optus Stadium on sale today

Bad breath offers a rare payoff for investors in Listerine royalty

A rare item has hit the auction block: an investment in a single share that's guaranteed to pay as long as people fret over bad breath.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
Read More

Thai monkey trainer rejects PETA claims on coconut harvesting

BANGKOK - A monkey trainer in southern Thailand said on Saturday that few monkeys are involved in harvesting coconuts for export, disputing an activist report which has caused several British supermarkets to ban coconut products from the country. Nirun Wongwanich, 52, who trains monkeys to fetch coconuts at a “monkey school” in the province of Surat Thani, said most coconuts used for export are harvested by humans with poles. Only a few farms in the south use monkeys for taller coconut trees, he said, denying accusations of cruelty. “There is no truth to that. I have been with monkeys for over 30 years ... I have a bond, a relationship with them,” Nirun told Reuters, adding that he trains six to seven monkeys a year. Earlier this month several British retailers pulled Thai coconut products from their shelves after a report by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) alleged that coconuts in Thailand are picked by abused monkeys. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s fiancée Carrie Symonds called on other supermarkets to follow suit.

from Asia
Read More

FOX NEWS:- Congressman Comer on what a Joe Biden election will mean for the economy

Congressman Comer on what a Joe Biden election will mean for the economy

Kentucky Congressman, James Comer, joins Jon Scott on 'Fox Report Weekend.'

via FOX NEWS http://video.foxnews.com/v/6171112279001

FOX NEWS:- AOC suggests NYC crime surge due to unemployment, residents who need to 'shoplift some bread'

AOC suggests NYC crime surge due to unemployment, residents who need to 'shoplift some bread'

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggested over the weekend that the crime surge in New York City is likely because struggling residents are forced to shoplift in order to "feed their child."

via FOX NEWS https://foxnews.com/politics/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-nyc-crime-shoplifting

FOX NEWS:- Companies urge Trump to keep DACA in place

Companies urge Trump to keep DACA in place

Reporter at RealClearPolitics, Philip Wegmann, weighs in on 'America's News HQ.'

via FOX NEWS http://video.foxnews.com/v/6171098051001

New on Sports Illustrated: Some MLB Players Plan to Wear Face Masks During Games

As the league gears up to play the 2020 season amidst a global pandemic, some players have discussed the prospect of wearing face masks during games.

With the dawn of the 2020 MLB season fast approaching, players across the league have weighed in on the league's health protocols and testing plan. Among the steps players are taking to help ensure safety throughout the 60-game season? Wearing their masks during games.

Astros infielder Aledmys Diaz told the Houston Chronicle's Chandler Rome that he's going to try to wear his mask during games, citing safety concerns for his wife and children.

"I'm going to try," Diaz said. "I think we have to be smart about this. I feel like if I feel comfortable wearing a mask playing on the field, I’m going to use it."

Diaz isn't alone in considering this tactic. Earlier this week, Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos pointed out his proximity to opposing batters as a reason to wear his mask during games.

"I'm trying to see if I can do it in the game because I'm close to the guys hitting, close to the umpire and it's going to be a challenge for us in that area to keep distance or to keep from talking between each other," he told USA Today. "I'm the guy who's asking the umpires questions during the game, the batters always say hello to me; I say hello back. So that's something I need to figure out: how I'm going to deal with this."

Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier has worn masks during the team's scrimmages and said that players wearing masks during games could help set a good example for the viewing public. "We have a big platform," Frazier said, per Joe Kay of the Associated Press.

Two weeks ago, former slugger Mark McGwire pushed for players to wear masks, even pointing out that the practice was done over a century ago during the flu pandemic in 1918.

Of course, not all players are on board. Rangers outfielder Hunter Pence said wearing a mask while playing would impact his breathing, though he committed to wearing a mask outside of game hours, per USA Today.

"When I'm playing and hitting or doing exertion, I'm not going to be wearing a mask, just because you need oxygen. And it's very, very difficult," says Pence. "I'll be wearing the mask as often as I can, everywhere I can when I'm not playing. I'm going as extreme as I can because I realize the opportunity to have it depends on all of us doing the right things, and I want to be a message of what I think is right."

July 13, 2020 at 05:49AM
Some MLB Players Plan to Wear Face Masks During Games

Queensland vaccine human trials on track for rollout next year

Under the trial 120 people will be given two doses of the vaccine four weeks apart, with researchers confident an approved vaccine will be ready by mid-2021.

from Sydney Morning Herald - National
Read More

Syrian Kurds Alarmed Over UN Security Council Vote on Aid

WASHINGTON - Kurdish officials in northeast Syria are expressing disappointment following a vote by the United Nations Security Council that failed to address "the deteriorating humanitarian situat

from Latest Breaking News RSS feed – Big News Network
via READ MORE

Ultra-fast fashion brand Boohoo is making headlines. Here's why it matters

Known for its $6 bikinis and reality TV star collaborations, Boohoo became the newest face of worker exploitation after revelations about conditions in the factories where its clothes are made.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
Read More

Believing pandemic a hoax, 30-year-old dies after attending 'COVID party'

According to a Texas hospital, the man deliberately went to a gathering with an infected person to test whether the coronavirus was real.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
Read More

Racing Point parts impounded after Renault protest

Renault had questioned the legality of parts on the 'Pink Mercedes' cars after their rivals' strong showing in Sunday's second round of the season at Austria's Red Bull Ring.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
Read More

Queensland vaccine human trials on track for rollout next year

Elvis Presley's grandson dies age 27

A representative for Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis' daughter, confirmed her son died on Sunday in California.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
Read More

Tablet interactive: Coronavirus outbreak

Follow news and events as they happen.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
Read More

BBC NEWS - Daniel Lewis Lee: First US federal execution to go ahead after 17 years

The execution of convicted murderer Daniel Lewis Lee had been blocked on Friday by a federal judge.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

from BBC News - World https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-53385642

Tablet interactive: Coronavirus outbreak

Follow news and events as they happen.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Business https://ift.tt/2Oi1fub
Read More

ASX gains 1.3% on open

The ASX has gained 80 points at the open, rising 1.3 per cent to 5995.3. Healthcare is dragging but all other sectors are higher.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Business https://ift.tt/2ZmIdcr
Read More

New on Sports Illustrated: NASCAR Cup Rookie Cole Custer Wins in Upset at Kentucky

Cole Custer became the first rookie winner in the NASCAR Cup Series in nearly four years, surging to the lead in a four-wide, final-lap scramble Sunday at Kentucky Speedway.

SPARTA, Ky. — Cole Custer became the first rookie winner in the NASCAR Cup Series in nearly four years, surging to the lead in a four-wide, final-lap scramble Sunday at Kentucky Speedway.

Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. were dueling side by side for the lead on the lap 265 final restart when Custer—with a push from Matt DiBenedetto on the outside in the backstretch—made his move in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. As the leaders bunched in Turn 1, Custer slid ahead and outlasted Truex’s Toyota.

“I knew I just had to get to the top,” said Custer, who led twice for five laps — the first of his young career. “The top rolled pretty good and once I got past and I was like in third I was like, ‘I’ve just got to take a shot and do whatever I can here.’

“And it ended up the 4 (Harvick) and the 19 (Truex) got together a little bit and I was able to take advantage of it.”

Though Custer raced to a Kentucky win last July in the Xfinity Series, he and other drivers entered Sunday without a chance to practice or qualify.

Matt Kenseth’s Turn 4 spin forced the final caution and created the opportunity for Custer’s victory. He finished 25th after starting from the back with Truex as both failed two pre-race inspections.

The victory was the first by a series rookie since Chris Buescher at Pocono on Aug. 1, 2016. Making his 20th series start, the 22-year-old Custer celebrated with a front stretch burnout as his crew happily ran to greet him.

DiBenedetto was third, and Harvick fourth—both in Fords. Kurt Busch, the winner last year, was fifth.

Aric Almirola made his case at the start, pushing pole-sitter Kyle Busch forward from the outside and chasing in the early laps before taking over nine laps later and threatening to run away from it. Almirola led 128 of the first 137 laps—nearly 40 more than he has led all season.

Ryan Blaney and DiBenedetto took their turns in front before Keselowski inherited it on pit road during green-flag pit cycles. That did not last long as Truex quickly stalked him on the last-stage restart and took over on 181 in hopes of his third Kentucky win in four years. Truex settled for watching Custer take the win.

“The 41 (Custer) just came with a big head of steam and there was no way I was going to be able to block that,” Truex said. “He was just in the right place at the right time, I guess.”

July 13, 2020 at 04:53AM
NASCAR Cup Rookie Cole Custer Wins in Upset at Kentucky

ADF members in self-isolation at base after attending Sydney pub

A NSW RAAF base is hosting personnel in self-isolation after they attended a Sydney pub now linked to nine cases.

from Sydney Morning Herald - National
Read More

Perth brothers film close encounter with great white near Carnac Island

Lee and Adam Ferguson were fishing near Carnac Island around 6.30am when they noticed the four-metre shark following the burly trail behind their boat.

from Sydney Morning Herald - National
Read More

ADF members in self-isolation at base after attending Sydney pub

A NSW RAAF base is hosting personnel in self-isolation after they attended a Sydney pub now linked to nine cases.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
Read More

ASX set for strong start from Wall St sentiment

The ASX is set for a positive start thanks to continuing strength on Wall Street and good news about COVID-19 treatment Remdesivir.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
Read More

New research casts doubt on coronavirus immunity

Experts also warn on heart damage, while a top health official says the virus can linger in the air for an hour.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
Read More

Perth brothers film close encounter with great white near Carnac Island

Students to return to remote learning in parents' winter of discontent

Victoria has recorded 273 new positive cases of COVID-19 on Sunday morning, up from 216 cases on Saturday and a new high for the state.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
Read More

Norwich relegated, Liverpool drop home points for first time

Norwich became the first team to be relegated from the English Premier League as Liverpool dropped points at Anfield for the first time this season on Saturday.

from Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
Read More

Coronavirus: Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan and his son test positive for Covid-19

Amitabh Bachchan, one of India's best known movie stars, has tested positive for Covid-19 together with his actor son Abhishek Bachchan, and both been moved to a private hospital, the actors said late on Saturday. "I have tested Covid positive … shifted to hospital … hospital informing authorities … family and staff undergone tests, results awaited," Amitabh Bachchan, 77, said in a tweet. His son Abhishek Bachchan, 44, said in a tweet minutes later that he had also tested positive. The Bollywood actors were admitted to Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment hub, and several other members of the high-profile family were tested for the virus. A Bollywood legend, Amitabh Bachchan has been leading the way in the country's fight against the coronavirus, appearing in public service advertisements. He joined the film industry in 1969 and has done over 200 movies. The actor suffered a near-fatal injury during the shooting of an action scene on a film set in 1982 and was critically ill for several months.

from Asia
Read More

New on Sports Illustrated: Oilers' Mike Green Joins List of Players Opting Out of NHL Return

In the aftermath of a deal being struck to resume the NHL season on Aug. 1, Mike Green and Sven Baertschi joined Calgary defenseman Travis Hamonic among players choosing not to participate in the expanded 24-team playoffs.

Edmonton's Mike Green and Vancouver's Sven Baertschi are opting out. Dallas defenseman Roman Polak is not reporting for now, and Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos is not reporting at full strength.

In the aftermath of a deal being struck to resume the NHL season on Aug. 1, Green and Baertschi on Saturday joined Calgary defenseman Travis Hamonic among players choosing not to participate in the expanded 24-team playoffs.

"Due to the uncertainties surrounding COVID-19 and after much consideration, I've decided for deeply personal family health reasons not to participate in the return to play," Green said in a statement released by the Oilers.

Polak is not on the Stars' roster for the start of training camp Monday, and a team spokesman said the 34-year-old will not be attending at this time.

Polak is a pending free agent who last month agreed to a deal in his native Czech Republic next season and told reporters there he was not planning on returning to the NHL if play resumed. Baertschi, who spent much of this season in the minors, is under contract through 2020-21.

"Sven informed us late yesterday that he has chosen to opt out of the NHL return to play program," Canucks general manager Jim Benning said. "It was a difficult decision but ultimately one we respect and understand."

The Lightning will not have Stamkos at 100% for the opening of camp because of a lower-body injury, but they are optimistic he will be ready when games get underway in early August. GM Julien BriseBois said Stamkos fully recovered from core muscle surgery in early March but was injured again during voluntary workouts.

"We don't have a specific timeline for when he will be a full participant in camp, but we expect he will be ready in time for games," BriseBois said. "He's here, he's skating, he's been getting treatment, he's been coming to Amalie (Arena) doing his dry land work. But he will not be a full participant on Day One of training camp."

While Stamkos has a better chance of being ready for Tampa Bay's next game than he would have after surgery if the playoffs had started in mid-April, the Flames will have to cope without Hamonic when they open their series against Winnipeg on Aug. 1.

Hamonic became the first player to publicly choose not to play in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Hamonic's daughter was hospitalized last year with respiratory issues, and he and his wife also have a baby boy. Their health concerns, not the soon-to-be 30-year-old's impending free agency, led him to opt out.

"I wish I could lace up my skates and be out there battling, blocking a shot and helping my team win, but my family has and always will come first," Hamonic said. "Being my little kids' dad every day is the most important job I have. I love this game and my team. This is a decision that is extremely hard for me to make."

The Lightning already got a pandemic scare when three players and additional staff tested positive for the novel coronavirus last month. The positive test results forced the team to close its facilities for a brief period of time.

The Minnesota Wild, who face the Canucks in the qualifying round, ruled out defenseman Greg Pateryn indefinitely with an upper-body injury. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Saturday the league will be taking over injury and illness disclosure from teams as a way of protecting player privacy.

"Medical privacy is important in this process," Daly said. "Having said that, we understand as a league we have an obligation of some transparency with respect to the COVID virus in particular, so at least for now we're going to maintain a policy where the league is announcing on basically league numbers and clubs are really prohibited from giving any information with respect to COVID test results, and, for purposes of making the system work, any injury information going forward."

July 12, 2020 at 06:20AM
Oilers' Mike Green Joins List of Players Opting Out of NHL Return

Pages

Total Pageviews

Highlights Today !

Most viewed post