The New York Times - USA (2020-08-01)

THE NEW YORK TIMES SPORTSSATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2020 Y B9

Bridget Pettis said she had
always chosen her next move
based on what was in her heart,
from the basketball court to the
coach’s chair to her new nonprof-
it organization geared toward
growing healthy food for people
who don’t have access to it.
“If I see someone hungry, I am
to feed them,” she said.
Before she decided to pivot her
focus to food education, Pettis
was an assistant coach for the
Chicago Sky in the W.N.B.A. Her
career began in 1997 with the
Phoenix Mercury, which selected
her seventh over all in the
league’s inaugural draft. She
played guard for the Mercury
and the Indiana Fever before she
switched to coaching. Pettis
opted out of joining the Sky for
the W.N.B.A. season, which be-
gan last week, citing concerns
about the health and safety pre-
cautions in the so-called bubble
at IMG Academy in Bradenton,
Fla., as one reason for stepping
aside.
Now, during her time away
from the W, she’s taking what she
learned as a teammate, a coach
and a player to the garden and
educating members of her com-
munity in Phoenix about how to
grow their own healthy food
through her months-old nonprof-
it group, Project Roots.

This interview has been con-
densed and lightly edited for
clarity.

Q: What brought you into
basketball?

I grew up in the inner city of
East Chicago, Ind.; in the
projects, the basketball court
was the thing that attracted
everybody. And I remember
seeing all the boys out there
playing, and one day I just went
out there and wanted to try it for
myself, and it was just love at
first sight.
Just the challenge of it. When I
first went out there, all the boys
were saying, “Girls don’t do this.”
So that motivated me.

What brought you to the
W.N.B.A.?

At the time when the W.N.B.A.
came about, I was already a
four-year professional in Europe.
But I had heard about the

W.N.B.A. and was just so excited. I got selected through the Phoenix team and kind of went from there.

Do you have any words of advice for W.N.B.A. players who are going to compete in the bubble? And do you have any advice for how to effectively promote social change while competing? Now that my W.N.B.A. sisters are there, I would push for them to do whatever their hearts are holding for them on the platform that is there for them. I love them and want for them all to be safe. Now I’m a woman of faith, so I don’t know how God is going to work through that ultimate change. I just know that we could do something, make a shift. And I see that there is a strong attention to planting conscious seeds in people of the messages that are being said, socially, for us to change. Maybe they’re going to do different fund-raisers and to use those resources to make change. But the attention that they get, I think that’s a good idea.

Could you tell me more about your

decision to take this season off as well as what you’re going to be doing with your nonprofit? My decision was, I felt it was time to move. When I feel like it’s time to move, I speak with my heart and I do that. I have en- couraged all the people around me, all my life, to do that. And I’m going to focus now on my nonprofit, that I feel like it can help. And I call it — this is my “growmotion” instead of promotion, to get it out there, to grow food and make the differ- ence of providing healthy food. Being a part of and making accessibility of healthier ways to provide food — removing food deserts from areas where our people are, where people who are struggling financially are. In this world today, everybody should be able to have food.

When did you start gardening? For years since I had my house, I had been growing little things. All of my life I have always wanted plants and flowers around me. It starts with a toma- to: You take your chances on tomatoes, and when you see a tomato grow, it just kind of went

from there. I became a part of a community garden about three years ago, and that’s when I connected in that area and got so much benefit from it.

What do you eat mainly? During your athletic career and now? For the most part, I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. I just keep it simple. I eat a lot of the things that I would grow back in Phoenix — zucchini, squash, onions, garlic — all those vegetables and different fruits. We planted fruit trees, so we eat a lot of things that come off the trees. Every now and then I still mess with some fish, but for the most part, I eat the things that come out of the ground.

What kind of struggles have you seen in your community, in Arizona, during the pandemic with food accessibility and where help lies? The government? Supporting more nonprofits? I’m definitely a believer of people coming out and supporting nonprofits. This is my first year of being a part of a nonprofit. And I know my intention and I know the drive that it takes and the work that it takes to do some-

thing like this. I’ve seen the change, the im- pact that it has made — very fast — and I just think that this is a good way for us to take more control of what it is we would like to be done. And not worrying about putting all of our eggs in one basket for a governmental change. That’s just not where my heart is. My heart is really in the people and in the care of our- selves.

What do you like to do in your free time when you’re not in the garden or on the court? Now I’m helping others play. I train a lot of younger players. I work out with players. My neph- ews are playing basketball right now, so I’ve been working with them. That’s kind of what I do in my downtime. I’m also looking for more community gardens. I go out and see where people are starting to garden and I like to take pictures and see what’s going on in the world, as far as the interests in growing food. But most of my days, it’s mostly me getting information and enjoying life right now. It’s been 23 years of basketball, and I’m just enjoying the fruits of that labor a little bit and relax- ing, and giving back to basketball in a different way with my family and in the community out here in Gary, Ind.

What are you going to miss the most about the W.N.B.A.? The teams. In our locker room, the relationships that we built in those moments as teams. I’ll miss that union that we’ve always had. It was always special. Every team was always special.

Do you think you’ll go back to the W.N.B.A. in the future? I don’t really know. I just kind of go where I’m at. So this is where I’m at now.

A W.N.B.A. Coach Answers a Call to Feed the Hungry

Bridget Pettis, a Chicago Sky assistant coach last season, opted out of the current W.N.B.A. season.

KATHARINE LOTZE/GETTY IMAGES

PRO BASKETBALL SCOREBOARD

BASKETBALL

N.B.A. SCHEDULE All Times Eastern All games in Orlando, Fla. Thursday, July 30 Utah 106, New Orleans 104 L.A. Lakers 103, LA Clippers 101 Friday, July 31 Portland 140, Memphis 135 OT Orlando 128, Nets 118 Phoenix 125, Washington 112 Boston vs. Milwaukee Sacramento vs. San Antonio Houston vs. Dallas Saturday, Aug. 1 Miami vs. Denver, 1 p.m. Utah vs. Oklahoma City, 3:30 p.m. New Orleans vs. L.A. Clippers, 6 p.m. Philadelphia vs. Indianapolis, 7 p.m. L.A. Lakers vs. Toronto, 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2 Washington vs. Nets, 2 p.m. Portland vs. Boston, 3:30 p.m. San Antonio vs. Memphis, 4 p.m. Sacramento vs. Orlando, 6 p.m. Milwaukee vs. Houston, 8:30 p.m. Dallas vs. Phoenix, 9 p.m.

HOCKEY

N.H.L. STANLEY CUP QUALIFIERS SCHEDULE All Times E.D.T. Saturday, Aug. 1 At Toronto Carolina vs. Rangers, 12 p.m. Islanders vs. Florida, 4 p.m. Pittsburgh vs. Montreal, 8 p.m. At Edmonton Edmonton vs. Chicago, 3 p.m. Calgary vs. Winnipeg, 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2 Toronto Boston vs. Philadelphia, 3 p.m. Toronto vs. Columbus, 8 p.m. Edmonton Nashville vs. Arizona, 2 p.m. Colorado vs. St. Louis, 6:30 p.m. Vancouver vs. Minnesota, 10:30 p.m.

BASEBALL

AMERICAN LEAGUE

East W L Pct GB Yankees 4 1 .800 — Tampa Bay 4 3 .571 1 Boston 3 4 .429 2 Toronto 3 4 .429 2 Baltimore 2 3 .400 2 Central W L Pct GB Cleveland 5 2 .714 — Minnesota 4 2 .667 { Detroit 4 3 .571 1 Kansas City 3 4 .429 2 Chicago 2 4 .333 2{ West W L Pct GB Houston 3 3 .500 — Oakland 3 3 .500 — Seattle 3 4 .429 { Texas 2 3 .400 { Los Angeles 2 5 .286 1 { FRIDAY Boston at Yankees Cincinnati at Detroit Tampa Bay at Baltimore Chicago White Sox at Kansas City Cleveland at Minnesota Houston at L.A. Angels Texas at San Francisco Oakland at Seattle SATURDAY Philadelphia at Toronto, ppd., Cincinnati at Detroit, 6:10 Philadelphia at Toronto, ppd., Chicago White Sox at Kansas City, 7:05 Boston at Yankees, 7:07 Houston at L.A. Angels, 7:07 Cleveland at Minnesota, 7:10 Tampa Bay at Baltimore, 7:35 Oakland at Seattle, 9:10 Texas at San Francisco, 9:10 NATIONAL LEAGUE East W L Pct GB Miami 2 1 .667 — Atlanta 4 3 .571 — Mets 3 4 .429 1 Washington 3 4 .429 1 Philadelphia 1 2 .333 1 Central W L Pct GB Chicago 4 2 .667 — Milwaukee 3 3 .500 1 St. Louis 2 3 .400 1 { Cincinnati 2 4 .333 2 Pittsburgh 2 4 .333 2 West W L Pct GB Colorado 4 1 .800 — Los Angeles 5 2 .714 — San Diego 5 2 .714 — San Francisco 3 4 .429 2 Arizona 2 5 .286 3 FRIDAY St. Louis at Milwaukee, ppd. Cincinnati at Detroit Mets at Atlanta Washington at Miami, ppd. San Diego at Colorado Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs Texas at San Francisco L.A. Dodgers at Arizona SATURDAY Philadelphia at Toronto, ppd., Cincinnati at Detroit, 6:10 Washington at Miami, ppd. Philadelphia at Toronto, ppd. Mets at Atlanta, 7:10 St. Louis at Milwaukee, 7:10 L.A. Dodgers at Arizona, 8:10 San Diego at Colorado, 8:10 Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs, 8:15 Texas at San Francisco, 9:10

SOCCER

M.L.S. IS BACK TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE All Times E.D.T. All matches played at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Orlando, Fla. Quarterfinals Friday, July 31 Los Angeles FC at Orlando City Saturday, August 1 Minnesota at San Jose, 8 p.m. Portland at N.Y.C.F.C., 10:30 p.m.

W.N.B.A. SCHEDULE All times E.D.T. Friday, July 31 Liberty at Atlanta Indiana at Dallas Las Vegas at Phoenix Saturday, Aug. 1 Minnesota at Connecticut, 4 p.m. Washington at Chicago, 6 p.m. Los Angeles at Seattle, 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2 Phoenix at Liberty, 1 p.m. Atlanta at Indiana, 3:30 p.m. Dallas at Las Vegas, 6 p.m.

GOLF

ST. JUDE INVITATIONAL Thursday At TPC Southwind Memphis, Tenn. Purse: $10.5 million:Yardage:7,277; Par: 70 Second Round Brendon Todd.............64-65—129 -11 Rickie Fowler..............64-67—131 -9 Byeong Hun An............68-65—133 -7 Brooks Koepka ............62-71—133 -7 Chez Reavie ..............66-67—133 -7 Sung Kang ...............65-69—134 -6 Matthew Fitzpatrick .........70-64—134 -6 Jason Day................68-67—135 -5 Sungjae Im ...............67-68—135 -5 Webb Simpson ............69-66—135 -5 Louis Oosthuizen...........68-67—135 -5 Justin Thomas.............66-70—136 -4 Kevin Na.................72-64—136 -4 Scottie Scheffler............69-67—136 -4 Jason Kokrak..............69-68—137 -3 Dustin Johnson ............69-68—137 -3 Shane Lowry..............68-69—137 -3 Phil Mickelson .............67-70—137 -3 Kevin Streelman............71-66—137 -3 Jordan Spieth .............68-69—137 -3

People throughout the sports world, from athletes to arena staff members, tell The New York Times how their lives have changed during the pandemic.

Sideline Chat

By GILLIAN R. BRASSIL

PRO FOOTBALL

The N.F.L. suspended wide re-
ceiver Antonio Brown on Friday
for eight regular-season games
for his role in a January dispute
with a moving company employ-
ee, for which he pleaded no con-
test to burglary and battery
charges and received two years’
probation. Brown was also penal-
ized for sending threatening texts
to a woman who accused him of
sexual misconduct. The suspen-
sion was first reported by The
Washington Post and was con-
firmed in a statement by the
league.
Brown still faces an investiga-
tion into accusations that he sexu-
ally assaulted his former trainer
in 2017 and 2018. The lawsuit, filed
in federal court in South Florida,
where Brown has a home, re-
mains open, and the receiver
could still face additional penal-
ties pending its outcome. He has
denied the accusations of sexual
assault.
Under the terms of the N.F.L.’s
suspension, Brown will also have
to participate in a counseling and
treatment program. Any addi-
tional violations of the N.F.L.’s per-
sonal conduct policy are likely to
result in “more significant disci-
pline,” the league said.
Brown will not appeal his sus-
pension, according to a person at
the N.F.L.

A seven-time Pro Bowl selec- tion while with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Brown, 32, is an un- restricted free agent and can sign with any team. If he is signed before the start of the regular season, he could take part in his club’s preseason activities, would start his suspension on Sept. 5 and could return after the team’s eighth game. If he is unsigned, he would be eligible to play after the eighth week of the season. Brown was once one of the league’s most prolific and popular players — known for his penalty- inducing touchdown celebrations

and a season on the television competition “Dancing With the Stars” — but his career has been in a tailspin since he walked out on the Steelers in 2018. Pittsburgh traded him to the Raiders for two draft picks in March 2019, but Oakland released him that September after a tumul- tuous training camp. The New England Patriots picked him up, but after Brown lashed out against another woman who, in a Sports Illustrated story, accused him of a separate incident of sexual misconduct, the Patriots let him go. Brown competed in one game

with the Patriots, scoring a touchdown. The suspension, which was an- nounced by the N.F.L.’s special counsel for conduct, Todd Jones, comes as the league remains under scrutiny for how it has handled cases involving domestic abuse, sexual assault and har- assment. Brown’s case is unusual partly because he has tried to defend himself on social media. Since being released in 2019, he has said at least twice that he plans to retire from football. He has also picked fights with his employers, most notably the Raiders, who released him after a series of incidents during the off-season and training camp last year, including a dispute over the type of helmet he could wear. In December 2019 and January 2020, Brown used social media to document domestic disputes with the mother of his children, during which the police were called to his house. Brown was arrested and charged with burglary, battery and criminal mischief in late Janu- ary after a dispute with a moving company employee over pay. He pleaded no contest and received two years’ probation, with no travel restrictions. Despite his troubles off the field, other prominent players have em- braced him. Brown worked out with Washington quarterback

Dwayne Haskins and Seattle Sea- hawks quarterback Russell Wil- son in separate practices, and with Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, who played with Brown in 2019. Brown also worked out with Lamar Jackson, the star quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens, who this week publicly lobbied for the team to sign Brown. Brown’s cousin, Marquise Brown, was a standout rookie receiver for the team in the 2019 season. Since 2014, when the N.F.L. was heavily criticized for the uneven way it had handled domestic vio- lence accusations against its players, the league has sought to strengthen its investigation de- partment, adding former prosecu- tors and specialists in sexual abuse. The league no longer relies exclusively on the findings of law enforcement personnel to deter- mine whether to suspend a player. The league has suspended players after they have been on paid leave. For example, Kareem Hunt, who was caught on video striking a woman in February 2018, was suspended for eight games. Josh Brown, who admitted to the police that he had abused his wife, was initially suspended for one game in 2016. After additional evidence was revealed, he was suspended with pay in 2017 while the league investigated the accusations against him.

N.F.L. Suspends Brown for Eight Games Over Dispute and Threats

By KEN BELSON

Antonio Brown, a wide receiver, is an unsigned free agent.

JOE CAVARETTA/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON — It took the San
Francisco 49ers seven years to
turn their interest in owning a
piece of an English soccer team
into reality. Now, two years after
buying a 10 percent stake in Leeds
United, the 49ers’ owners are
looking to increase their invest-
ment, and their involvement, in
the storied club that two weeks
ago won promotion to the Premier
League.
Executives representing the
49ers and Leeds United’s majority
owner, Andrea Radrizzani, are in
talks about increasing the N.F.L.
team’s share, according to Paraag
Marathe, the 49ers executive who
has sat on the soccer team’s board
since San Francisco’s initial in-
vestment in 2018.
“It’s something that we are ab-
solutely hoping to do,” Marathe
said in a telephone interview.

Any new investment, though, would only further entrench American football team owners in the boardrooms of England’s Pre- mier League, the world’s most popular and lucrative domestic soccer competition. The Glazer family, which owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has controlled Manchester United since 2005; Arsenal is backed by the Los An- geles Rams owner E. Stanley Kroenke; and Fulham, which is one win away from clinching a return to the Premier League, is owned by Shahid Khan, who also owns the Jacksonville Jaguars. Under Radrizzani, an Italian sports media tycoon, Leeds United has long searched for new investment. Radrizzani has been in talks with Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, which already owns the French superclub Paris St.- Germain, but those discussions — despite reaching an advanced stage last year — have so far failed to produce a sale. While the 49ers hold only a mi-

nority share, they have hardly been passive investors in Leeds. Top executives, including Ma- rathe and Jed York, the 49ers’ chief executive, had been regular visitors to Leeds’s Elland Road stadium until the coronavirus pandemic limited global travel.

Marathe said he and York had traveled to Leeds, in northern England, once every five to six weeks. “It obviously had fallen on hard times under multiple ownership groups,” Marathe said of Leeds, a storied club that has been trou- bled by financial problems and on- field struggles since tumbling out

of the Premier League in 2004. “But the brand equity is still there, the fans, and the amount of people that care about that club,” he said. “We just knew that not only do they belong in the Premier League, but if they got to the Pre- mier League, that the sky’s the limit.” “The journey isn’t concluded,” he said of the team’s return to England’s top tier. “It’s just begin- ning.” The 49ers first took an interest in Leeds United in 2011 when Ma- rathe, the president of 49ers En- terprises, the team’s venture capi- tal division, was scouring the world for sports brands in which the team could invest. In Leeds, he found a team with a long history — a three-time English champion with a passionate fan base in a large city that had no other professional club — and started talks about a relationship. The 49ers did not invest then, but did sign a stra- tegic partnership agreement that

largely failed to yield any positive results, according to Marathe. But the team’s interest in a more direct stake in Leeds re- mained. By 2015, Marathe had de- veloped a friendship with Radriz- zani, who two years later bought Leeds himself. “I said, ‘Wow,’ ” Marathe recalled saying to Radrizzani shortly after the pur- chase was complete. “ ‘It’s such a coincidence, because I actually love this club, and I spent some time around this club.’ ” Marathe and Radrizzani speak at least twice a week. And in addi- tion to the regular trips to Leeds, the 49ers regularly share information about their business and pro- cesses; when Leeds was begin- ning the search for its current coach, the 49ers passed on a guide the team had used to recruit its current general manager and head coach. Leeds picked Marcelo Bielsa, the charismatic and quirky Argentine who led Leeds back to the Premier League.

As Leeds United Rises Into Premier League, the 49ers Seek a Bigger Stake

Ken Belson contributed reporting
from New York.

By TARIQ PANJA

Several N.F.L. owners

have interests in

English soccer clubs.

The New York Times - USA (2020-08-01)

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