Los Angeles Times - 13.08.2019

D6 TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2019 LATIMES.COM/SPORTS

Ahorse suffered a cata-

strophic injury Monday

morning in training at Del

Mar and had to be euthan-

ized.

Trainer Jim Cassidy said

the unraced 3-year-old filly

Bri Bri suffered a broken

pelvis after a four-furlong

workout out of the starting

gate under exercise rider

Abel Hernandez. Bri Bri was

prepping for an upcoming

maiden race at Del Mar, Cas-

sidy said. Hernandez was

not injured.

The death is the fourth

since July 17, the start of the

summer meet at Del Mar. All

have been during training.

The first two came July 18

when horses collided and

the third was a breakdown

July 29 on the main dirt

track. There have been no

deaths in 171 races.

Del Mar is the first major

Southern California race

meeting since 30 horses died

during the winter/spring

meet at Santa Anita. Cas-

sidy, who at the time was

president of the California

Thoroughbred Trainers (his

term recently expired),

trained one of the 30; that

horse also died of a broken

pelvis, he said.

Santa Anita and Del Mar

both took measures to im-

prove oversight and safety

after the spate of fatalities.

At Del Mar, the steps were

added to those it instituted

two years ago following the

2016 summer and fall racing

seasons in which 23 horses

died in racing or training. In

the last two years, Del Mar’s

horse deaths dropped to

eight in 2017 (five in summer,

three in fall) and seven in ’18

(six in summer, one in fall).

In a 2018 report from the

Jockey Club Equine Injury

Database, Del Mar ranked

best in safety among nearly

two dozen self-reporting

tracks, with a rate of 0.79 fa-

tal injuries per 1,000 starts —

or fewer than half the na-

tional average for deaths

(1.68). The database in-

cludes only horses who died

during racing, meaning Del

Mar’s rate this summer is

zero.

Bri Bri is fourth

death at Del Mar

By Tod Leonard

Oakland Raiders re-

ceiver Antonio Brown lost

his grievance with the NFL

on Monday over his use of an

old helmet that is no longer

certified as safe to use for

practice or play.

The arbitrator issued the

ruling after holding a hear-

ing Friday with Brown, rep-

resentatives from the league

and the players’ union.

“While I disagree with the

arbitrator’s decision, I’m

working on getting back to

full health and looking for-

ward to rejoining my team-

mates on the field,” Brown

said on Twitter.

Brown has not participa-

ted in a full practice with the

Raiders after starting train-

ing camp on the nonfootball

injury list because of injuries

to his feet that reportedly

came from frostbite suffered

while getting cryotherapy

treatment in France.

Oakland acquired the

prolific receiver from the

Pittsburgh Steelers in ex-

change for third- and fifth-

round picks in March.

Oakland cornerback

Nevin Lawson was sus-

pended four games for vio-

lating the NFL’s policy on

performance-enhancing

substances. ... Cleveland de-

fensive end Chad Thomas

suffered a sprained neck but

avoided a more serious in-

jury during a scary moment

at training camp in Berea,

Ohio. Thomas was immobi-

lized on the field and taken

by ambulance to a hospital.

... New England offensive

tackle Isaiah Wynn, whose

rookie campaign ended be-

cause of a torn Achilles’ ten-

don in the preseason last

year, participated in full-

contact drills.

COLLEGES

NCAA amends

agent standards

The NCAA backtracked

on new certification stand-

ards and will no longer re-

quire a bachelor’s degree for

a sports agent to represent

Division I men’s basketball

players who declare for the

NBA draft while maintain-

ing college eligibility.

The requirement drew

criticism last week when the

certification standards were

revealed, including a social

media blast by Lakers star

LeBron James. The require-

ment was quickly dubbed

the “Rich PaulRule” in refer-

ence to James’ agent, who

does not have a college de-

gree.

The NCAA announced

that it would amend the

standards so bachelor’s de-

grees would not be required

for agents currently certified

and in good standing with

the NBA players’ union.

An appellate court up-

held the dismissal of a law-

suit by former USC football

player Lamar Dawson argu-

ing that the Pac-12 Confer-

ence and NCAA are “joint

employers” of college foot-

ball players. The opinion

filed in the U.S. 9th Circuit

Court of Appeals noted that

the Pac-12 and NCAA didn’t

provide Dawson with a

scholarship or have the

power to hire or fire him.

Dawson played linebacker

for USC from 2011 to 2015. His

lawsuit sought unpaid over-

time and wages, interest and

a variety of unspecified dam-

ages.

—Nathan Fenno

ETC.

Soccer team

signs youngster

A 14-year-old soccer play-

er signed a pro contract with

USL Championship club Or-

ange County SC.

Francis Jacobs is the

youngest male player to sign

a pro soccer contract in the

U.S., according to the club.

Jacobs is from Laguna

Beach. He was 14 years 4

months and 29 days old

when he signed last month.

That’s less than a month

younger than Freddy Adu

was when he signed with

Major League Soccer’s D.C.

United in November 2003.

Jacobs has been training

with Orange County SC’s

first team since May.

Ecuadorian defender Di-

ego Palacios joined MLS-

leading LAFC, the team an-

nounced. Palacios, 20, spent

last season in the Nether-

lands with Willem II, start-

ing 32 games. LAFC (17-3-4)

added coveted Uruguayan

forward Brian Rodriguez

last week as a designated

player. ... Former defender

Kate Markgraf, 42, was ap-

pointed general manager of

the U.S. women’s soccer na-

tional team. She will oversee

the search for a coach to re-

place Jill Ellis.

Toronto Raptors guard

Kyle Lowry withdrew from

the pool of candidates that

USA Basketball is consider-

ing to take to the FIBA

World Cup this month.

Lowry said he isn’t ready for

on-court workouts because

of his surgically repaired

thumb. ... Ex-NBA guard

Sebastian Telfairwas sen-

tenced to 3^1 ⁄ 2 years in prison

in a New York gun-pos-

session case.

Andy Murraymoved well

in his first singles match

since hip surgery in January,

but Richard Gasquet ended

a five-match skid against

him with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in

the first round of the West-

ern & Southern Open in Ma-

son, Ohio. Afterward, Mur-

ray, 32, said the U.S. Open’s

wild-card timing led him to

decide against playing in

New York.

The Carolina Hurricanes

signed team president and

general manager Don Wad-

dellto a three-year contract

extension. Terms were not

disclosed. ... Ex-goaltender

Roberto Luongo’s No. 1 jer-

sey will be retired by the

Florida Panthers on March 7

against the Montreal Cana-

diens.

THE DAY IN SPORTS

Brown loses

helmet dispute

staff and wire reports

Japan. Some people worry
about exposure to lingering
radiation; they accuse offi-
cials of whitewashing health
risks. Critics question
spending millions on sports
while communities are still
rebuilding.
“The people from that
area have dealt with these is-
sues for so long and so
deeply, the Olympics are
kind of a transient event,”
said Kyle Cleveland, an asso-
ciate professor of sociology
at Temple University’s cam-
pus in Japan. “They’re going
to see this as a public rela-
tions ploy.”

::

It was midafternoon in
March 2011 when a 9.0 earth-
quake struck at sea, sending
a procession of tsunamis
racing toward land.
The initial crisis focused
on the coastline, where
thousands were swept to
their deaths. Another con-
cern soon arose as floodwa-
ters shut down the power
supply and reactor cooling
systems at the Fukushima
Daiichi plant.
Three of the facility’s six
reactors suffered fuel melt-
downs, releasing radiation
into the ocean and atmos-
phere.
Residents within a 12-
mile “exclusion zone” were
forced to evacuate; others in
places such as Fukushima
city, about 38 miles inland,
fled as radioactive particles
traveled by wind and rain.
The populace began to
question announcements
from the Tokyo Electric
Power Co. (Tepco) about the
scope of the contamination,
said Cleveland, who is writ-
ing a book on the catastro-
phe and its aftermath.
“In the first 10 weeks,
Tepco was downplaying the
risk,” he said. “Eventually,
they were dissembling and
lying.”
The company has been
ordered to pay millions in
damages, and three former

executives have been

charged with professional

negligence. Crews have re-

moved massive amounts of

contaminated soil, washed

down buildings and roads,

and begun a decades-long

process to extract fuel from

the reactors’ cooling pools.

All of which left the area

known as the “Fruit King-

dom” in limbo.

It is assumed that low-

level radiation increases the

chances of adverse health ef-

fects such as cancer, but the

science can be complicated.

Reliable data on radi-

ation risks is difficult to ob-

tain, said Jonathan Links, a

public health professor at

Johns Hopkins University.

And, with cosmic rays and

other sources emitting natu-

ral or “background” ionizing

radiation, it can be difficult

to pinpoint whether an ac-

ceptable threshold for addi-

tional, low-level exposure

exists at all.

In terms of athletes and

coaches visiting the im-

pacted prefectures for a

week or two during the

Olympics, Links said the

cancer risk is proportional,

growing incrementally each

day.

The Japanese govern-

ment has raised what it con-

siders to be the acceptable

exposure from 1 millisievert

to 20 millisieverts per year.

Along with this adjustment,

officials have declared much

of the region suitable for

habitation, lifting evacua-

tion orders in numerous mu-

nicipalities. Housing subsi-

dies that allowed evacuees

to live elsewhere have been

discontinued.

But some towns remain

nearly empty.

“People are refusing to go

back,” said Katsuya Hirano,

a UCLA associate professor

of history who has spent

years collecting interviews

for an oral history. “Espe-

cially families with children.”

Their hesitancy does not

surprise Cleveland. Though

research has led the Temple

professor to believe condi-

tions are safe, he knows that

residents have lost faith in

the authorities.

“That horse has left the

barn,” he said. “It’s not com-

ing back.”

::

Anarrow highway leads

west, out of downtown

Fukushima, arriving finally

at a 30,000-seat ballpark

that rises from the farm-

lands.

Azuma Baseball Sta-

dium was built in the late

1980s with a modernist de-

sign, blockish and concrete.

Prefecture officials have be-

gun renovations there.

“We changed from grass

to artificial turf,” Sato said.

“We’re updating the lockers

and showers.”

The work is coordinated

from a small office in the lo-

cal government head-

quarters, where two dozen

employees tap away at com-

puter keyboards and talk on

phones, sitting at desks that

have been pushed together.

Tokyo 2020’s initial bid

included preliminary soccer

competition at Miyagi Sta-

dium, in a prefecture farther

north of the nuclear plant.

Six baseball and softball

games were relocated to

Azuma during later discus-

sions with the International

Olympic Committee.

“We made a presentation

about the radiation situa-

tion and how to deal with it,”

Sato recalled. “They under-

stood, and we think that’s

why they got on board with

this idea of the ‘Reconstruc-

tion Olympics.’ ”

Fukushima has spent

$20 million on preparations

over the past two years, he

said, adding that his office

has heard complaints from

“a segment of the popula-

tion.”

With infrastructure re-

pairs continuing throughout

the region, evacuee Akiko

Morimatsu has a skeptical

view of the Tokyo 2020 cam-

paign.

“They have called these

the ‘Reconstruction

Games,’ but just because

you call it that doesn’t mean

the region will be recovered,”

Morimatsu said.

Concerns about radi-

ation prompted her to leave

the Fukushima town of Kori-

yama, outside the manda-

tory evacuation zone, mov-

ing with her two young chil-

dren to Osaka. Her hus-

band, a doctor, remained; he

visits the family once a

month.

“The reality is that the re-

gion hasn’t recovered,” said

Morimatsu, who is part of a

group suing the national

government and Tepco. “I

feel the Olympics are being

used as part of a campaign

to spread the message that

Fukushima is recovered and

safe.”

Balance this sentiment

against other forces at work

in Japanese culture, where

the Olympics and baseball,

in particular, are widely

popular. Masa Takaya, a

spokesman for the Tokyo

2020 Organizing Committee,

insists that “sports can play

an important role in our so-

ciety.”

In Fukushima, a city of

fewer than 300,000, colored

banners fly beside the high-

way amid other signs of an-

ticipation.

Elderly volunteers,

plucking weeds from a

flower bed at the train sta-

tion, wear pink vests that ex-

press their support for the

Games. On the eastern edge

of town, a handful of workers

attend to Azuma Stadium.

Dressed in white overalls,

they walk slowly across the

field, stopping every once in

a while to bend down and

pick at the pristine turf. Sato

remains optimistic.

“Everyone’s circum-

stances are different,” he

said. “Maybe there will be

some people who come back

to Fukushima because of

this.”

Times staff writer Dylan

Hernandez contributed to

this report.

FUKUSHIMA AZUMA BASEBALL STADIUM, a venue for baseball and softball, will host games during the
2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Some people worry about potential exposure to lingering radiation.

Charly TriballeauAFP/Getty Images

Some see Games as PR ploy

[O lympics,from D1]

tisement for the host city
and country. The upcoming
Olympics will display every-
thing from Japan’s mega-
punctual public transporta-
tion system to relative ab-
sence of violent crime.
And Fukushima. More
than an hour north of Tokyo
by bullet train, Fukushima
will nonetheless be part of
the Games, as it refurbished
a municipal stadium that
will host baseball and soft-
ball games.
The eastern part of the
prefecture was devastated
in 2011 by a massive earth-
quake and tsunami that
rocked the Tohoku region.
Related flooding caused a
nuclear plant meltdown.
Depending on the per-
spective, this tragedy-
struck area’s designation as
the centerpiece of the so-
called “Reconstruction
Games” is either a symbol of
Japanese fortitude or the
national government’s
dishonesty.
The debate will only
intensify as the Olympics
draw nearer.
The controversy should
be instructive to Los Ange-
les, which will host the 2028
Summer Games.

A city can make itself the

focal point of the world by

hosting the Olympics, but it

doesn’t get to decide how it

is viewed by the world. Even

in a place such as Japan, in

which the construction of

venues is scheduled to be

completed well in advance

of the Games, negatives will

surface.

The most recent Winter

Games in Pyeongchang,

South Korea, had restau-

rants that served dog meat

and Olympic venues that

would rarely, if ever, be used

again.

Japan has Fukushima.

And unless something

changes, Los Angeles will

have widespread homeless-

ness.

Visitors to our city for the

2028 Games will admire our

beaches. They will marvel at

our multiculturalism and

vibrant ethnic enclaves.

They will explore our rich

and diverse food scene.

They will enjoy our endless

entertainment options.

They will also see down-

town streets that are lined

with tents.

There are more than

36,000 homeless people in

the city of Los Angeles,

according to the statistics

that were released in June.

At the time of the report,

there were almost 60,000

homeless people in the

county.

Both figures represented

percentage increases in

double digits.

The contrast between

the haves and have-nots

could become part our city’s

international identity. We

have nine years to do some-

thing about it.

That’s an Olympian task.

Then again, if the city ad-

dresses the problem, it

won’t have to worry about

controlling the narrative.

Here’s something about

narratives: They usually

can’t be controlled.

When colleague David

Wharton and I visited

Fukushima last month,

prefecture officials handed

us colorful information

packets containing upbeat

reports about the region’s

recovery efforts.

Except as Wharton’s

story in these same pages

shows, we didn’t encounter

much trouble finding people

who offered an alternative

view of what is happening.

Set aside for a moment

the unprovable claim made

by Olympic and government

officials, which is that the

Games can inspire disaster

victims to continue their

fights to rebuild their lives.

Listen to the experts on

the ground. Listen to an

evacuee such as Akiko Mori-

matsu, who remains in

Osaka with her two chil-

dren. It’s obvious that the

image Japan is trying to

project to the world doesn’t

represent the feelings of

many of the locals.

“Chernobyl was 30-some-

thing years ago and contin-

ues to deal with its radiation

problems,” Morimatsu said.

“It’s still not over.

Fukushima isn’t over yet

either, but it’s forcefully

been decided that it’s over.

It’s not over at all.”

Stories like hers will be

shared with the interna-

tional community over the

next year.

The Tokyo Games will

take place nine years after

Fukushima was ravaged by

the earthquake and tsu-

nami. That’s about as much

time as Los Angeles has

between now and the 2028

Olympics.

Our city is on the clock.

Our leaders have to do

something, and they have to

start now.

L.A.’s crisis is an Olympian task

[Hernandez,from D1]