USA Today - 06.04.2020

Medina: Superstar Kobe Bryant will be enshrined

at Basketball Hall of Fame this summer. Page 3C

Kobe would have delivered

memorable Hall speech

Armour: Former US national team member goes

viral with latest gymnastics moves. Page 6C

2005 champ Chellsie Memmel

still enjoys beam work at 31

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USA TODAY | MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2020 | SECTION C

SPORTS

FIRST WORD

When you look at the Hall of

Fame, this is at the end of

your career. There’s no turning

back. This is the end. The story-

book ending and all of the other

things you accomplished along the

way, it’s just a great ending.”

WNBA great and former Tennessee

star Tamika Catchings on being elect-

ed to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

IN MEMORIAM

Tom Dempsey, longtime NFL kicker

who set a league record for longest

field that wasn’t eclipsed until 2013,

has died after a battle with the co-

ronavirus, his family told The New

Orleans Times-Picayune/Advocate. He

was 73. Dempsey tested positive for

COVID-19 last month following an

outbreak at the senior center where

he lived in New Orleans, according to

his daughter Ashley Dempsey. Demp-

sey was born without toes on his right

foot, which he kicked with, and was

missing part of his right hand. He set

the record of 63 yards in 1970.

LAST WORDS

We were 100 yards from the

terminal and we all looked up

at once and saw that the NCAA

tournament had been canceled at

all levels. A flight attendant was

standing right beside me, going

through the normal routine that

they do when you’re pulling back

in terms of the air mask and the

seat belt and all that. So I said,

‘Excuse me, ma’am, the game we’re

flying to has just been canceled. Is

there any way you can take us back

to the terminal so we can get off

the plane?’ ”

Charlie Katsiaficas, men’s basketball

coach and professor of physical edu-

cation at Division III Pomona-Pitzer in

Claremont, California, to the school

website about being on a plane for the

team’s first-ever NCAA Sweet 16 game

when the phones of players and

coaches began ringing with the news.

Had they somehow kept winning, the

D-III title game would have been Sun-

day in Atlanta. The plane did return to

the terminal to let them off.

My actions in this matter are

in direct contrast to what I

should have been doing regarding

the lockdown. And I want to reit-

erate the message: Stay home,

stay safe.”

Manchester City soccer player Kyle

Walker, apologizing after The Sun

reported he and a friend violated a

national shutdown order by allegedly

hosting a party with sex workers. The

tabloid reported Walker invited two

women to his apartment a day before

he went on social media and urged

people to stay at home to protect

against the spread of coronavirus.

NFL DRAFT PREVIEW

A 48-page primer for the April 23-

event includes player rankings, statis-

tics, mock draft and inside look at

each team’s needs. Plus, why Chase

Young and Jeff Okudah could be the

best yet among a wave of Ohio State

defenders and why the draft’s “uni-

corn” might be a Clemson defender.

On newsstands and by ordering at

sportsspecials.usatoday.com.

From staff and wire reports

SPORTSLINE

Bobby Bowden picks up the phone

at his home in Tallahassee, Florida,

and excuses himself, asking me to hold

on while he moves to another room.

“I’m watching ‘The Babe Ruth Sto-

ry,’ ” he says. “I haven’t watched that in

years.”

Not unlike the rest of us, the retired

Florida State football coach is chang-

ing habits, doing some things he hasn’t

done in years, perhaps ever, as we con-

tinue to follow guidelines that will help

us get past the coronavirus pandemic

that has the world in its grip. But for

Bowden, who turned 90 in November,

this is about as concerned as he has ever

been when it comes to his surroundings

and even his health.

“I don’t think there is a man or a

woman in the United States of America

that could envision something like this

happening,” he said. “An invisible germ.

... If it was visible, maybe we could han-

dle it. We can’t even see the darned

thing. And then we knew nothing about

it. No history on it. No background on it.

“I’m really concerned about this.

That’s why I’m staying home.”

Bowden can relate to one time in his

Bobby Bowden was 13 in 1943 when he was diagnosed with rheumatic fever and ended up bedridden for one year, about

six months of that forced to lie on his back. 2013 PHOTO BY MELINA VASTOLA/USA TODAY SPORTS

‘Really concerned’

See BOWDEN, Page 5C

During pandemic, Bowden reflects on being bedridden in 1943

Tom D’Angelo

The Palm Beach (Florida) Post

“I don’t think there is a man

or a woman in the United

States that could envision

something like this happen-

ing. An invisible germ. ... If it

was visible, maybe we could

handle it. ... I’m really con-

cerned about this. That’s

why I’m staying home.”

Bobby Bowden

On COVID-

Mike Whan was on his way to the

gas station recently, wearing the pro-

tective gloves his wife had given him,

when the plight of several players

came to mind.

He thought about Sierra Brooks, the

promising Symetra Tour rookie with

grand plans for the LPGA.

He thought about LPGA rookie Al-

bane Valenzuela, a former Olympian

and Stanford All-American who

played three tournaments before the

world hit pause.

He thought about Mel Reid, the feis-

ty English player who grinded on the

“We were

COVID

before

COVID

was cool,

I guess,”

the

LPGA’s

Michael

Whan

said,

citing

outbreak

issues in

January

in Asia.

MICHAEL

REAVES/

GETTY

IMAGES

LPGA virus fight

began in January

Beth Ann Nichols

Golfweek | USA TODAY Network

See LPGA, Page 5C

When it comes to President Donald

Trump’s prognostications about the

return of sports, don’t waste your time.

During a conference call Saturday

with most of the major sports leagues,

Trump said the NFL season should

start on time in September, a person

familiar with the call told USA TODAY

Sports. He also said he hoped fans

would be back in arenas and stadiums

by August, said the source, who spoke

on condition of anonymity because he

was not authorized to speak publicly

about the call.

“It would be great if we could play”

by September, Trump said later Satur-

day during his daily news briefing.

“We’ll have to see where we are.”

Look, we’re all desperate to have

Nancy Armour

Columnist

USA TODAY

Trump can’t

bully NFL

into return

if it’s unsafe

See ARMOUR, Page 5C