The Washington Post - USA (2020-12-11)

between the Crew and Seattle Sounders. However, MLS executive vice president Todd Durbin is questionable after 24 appear- ances. Under local pandemic guide- lines, only about 1,500 fans are allowed into a venue that holds just shy of 20,000 — a limit that threatened the Clary-Yawn streak. But Clary said the Crew arranged for him to purchase two digital tickets to the 25th championship game and he will re- ceive them Thursday or Friday. The pair are planning to drive 375 miles Saturday for the culmi-

KLMNO

SPORTS

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11 , 2020. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/SPORTS M2 D

BY CHUCK CULPEPPER

oxford, ohio — Twenty-four years since Miami University ditched the nick- name “Redskins,” the word has faded all the way through obsolescence to the exurbs of extinction. It turns up only on the odd ragtag vintage sweatshirt or on a trash can on a bookstore shelf or in a plaintive wail from the vast deserts of Twitter or in a lonely voice cawing from the stands. One 21-year-old senior reck- ons maybe half the 19,934 students would even know the school ever used any name other than “RedHawks,” which began in the prehistoric wilds of 1997. “You mostly hear [the old name] from alums,” from “the parent generation,” said student body president Jannie Ka- mara, born in 1999, the daughter of Sierra Leonean immigrants. Very occa- sionally she might hear it from an alumnus visiting a c lassroom and war- bling about yore. In the category of younger generations pegging the eccen- tricity of the older, she achieved a quintessence when she said amiably, “I SEE MIAMI ON D4

What’s in a name change?

Two decades later, a university community has moved past its own heated ‘Redskins’ debate

James Harden is a
superstar who
specializes in
getting away with
stuff.
Conventional
achievement is
never enough for
him. He must do it
his way, and he must stretch the
limits of what is allowed. For
Harden, there is no success
greater than thriving while
everyone else ponders the
legality of his prosperity.
Harden, so skilled and smart
on a basketball court, would still
be great if he played a traditional
game. He has too many traits that
translate to any style of play:
balance, footwork, handle,
shooting touch, strength, vision.
But he can’t resist creating moves
that befuddle all observers,
including the referees, such as
the double step-back and the
Euro triple-step. He can’t resist
using his talent to manipulate
foul calls. He is a deadly scorer,
though not necessarily an
exhilarating one. If he must, he
will kill your joy to get a bucket.
He doesn’t just play the game;
he plays with the game. And now
he is transferring his toying
tendencies to off-court matters,
doing everything in his power to
SEE BREWER ON D5

Harden’s

power play

won’t work

as intended

Jerry

Brewer

Sometime late
Monday evening,
still euphoric from
his team’s
stunning upset
over the
Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington
Football Team Coach Ron Rivera
reminded owner Daniel Snyder
that it was the first anniversary of
their first conversation about the
Washington job.
The fa ct that Rivera brought
this up on the phone to Snyder
while walking from the locker
room to the team’s buses said
something about how much
Rivera considered that interview
the start of a n eeded new
adventure just days after he was
fired by the Carolina Panthers.
But as much as Rivera needed to
move as fast as he could from the
end of almost nine seasons with
Carolina, Snyder needed Rivera
more to end the darkness that
had settled over his NFL
SEE ON THE NFL ON D3

49ers game

is reminder

of failures

— and gains

On

the NFL

LES

CARPENTER

NATHAN MORGAN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST Jamie Clary, mayor of Hendersonville, Tenn., and Jamey Yawn have attended all 24 of MLS’s championship matches together.

CARLOS OSORIO/ASSOCIATED PRESS The Miami University football team, which won its conference championship last year, has used the name “RedHawks” since 1997.

JOHN DUBOIS These trash cans are among the few remaining signs of Miami University’s past at the DuBois Bookstore. The university does not allow it to sell “Redskins” gear.

BY RICK MAESE

Facing criticism from athletes and growing calls for change, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced Thursday it will not punish American athletes who stage peaceful protests at the Olympics. The USOPC made the decision in response to recommendations issued by the Team USA Council on Racial and Social Justice, a group of U.S. athletes and Olym- pic sports stakeholders who are calling on the International Olym- pic Committee to amend its charter to allow social justice and hu- man rights protests by athletes at an Olympic or Paralympic Games. Known as Rule 50 in the Olym- pic Charter, the controversial pro- vision has been under scrutiny, and the IOC this year tasked its athlete commission to explore possible changes. The USOPC also has been focused on the issue after facing heavy criticism for repri- manding a pair of American athletes who staged protests at the Pan American Games in August 2019. This spring, as social unrest broke out across the c ountry in the wake of George Floyd’s killing at the hands of a White police officer, the USOPC established a working group to study Rule 50 and issues of social and racial justice. The result was a four-page statement that was sent Wednesday to the IOC and made public Thursday, in which the group contends that the IO C’s current rules “violate athletes’ rights to free speech and freedom of expression.” “The silencing of athletes during the Games is in stark contrast to the importance of recognizing participants in the Games as hu- mans first and athletes second,” the group wrote. “Prohibiting athletes to freely express their views during the Games, particularly those from historically underrep- resented and minoritized groups, contributes to the dehumaniza- tion of athletes that is at odds with key Olympic and Paralympic val- ues.” An IOC spokesman declined to comment and instead referred to a statement issued by Kirsty Cov- entry, chair of the IOC’s athletes’ commission. She said while the group’s Rule 50 study is ongoing, the “majority” of athletes thus far “emphasise the right of free speech” and “express support for preserving the ceremonies, the podium and the field of play.” “While there are many oppor- tunities that exist for athletes within the current Rule 50 to express their view at Games time, be it in press conferences, inter- views, on social media or in team meetings, the purpose of the ongoing consultation by the IOC SEE OLYMPICS ON D4

USOPC

will allow

athletes

to protest

Organization calls on IOC to amend its rule against peaceful demonstrations

GOLF

American Amy Olson fires a first-round 67 — including a

hole-in-one — for a one-shot lead at the U.S. Open. D2

PRO FOOTBALL

In a rematch of Super Bowl LIII, the Rams turn the

tables and dominate the Patriots in a 24-3 win. D3

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Virus concerns have effectively forced Virg inia to halt its

season. It’s unclear when the Cavaliers will play again. D5

nation of a soccer season that began in February and, like all sports, went on hiatus for health and safety reasons. “There were years we didn’t think it would work, but it’s always come together,” said Yawn, 47, a Nashville area manag- er for a medical diagnostic com- pany. “If we can make it work this year, we can make it work every year.” Their streak began 24 years ago, when a nor’easter battered Foxborough, Mass., before and during D.C. United’s 3-2 extra- time victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy. Clary, Yawn and two buddies SEE MLS ON D2

the league launched in 1996 will continue. Jeff Reeder, a D.C. United fan from Laurel, said he has attended every final but, as of Thursday, had not been able to secure a ticket for Saturday’s game. For- mer FC Dallas executive Andy Swift was in the same situation but got his Thursday. The only reporter to attend every one, Long Island-based Michael Lew- is, wrote that he will end his run this year because of the coronavi- rus pandemic. Deputy commissioner Mark Abbott plans to keep his mem- bership in that exclusive club by serving in an official capacity at Mapfre Stadium for the match

BY STEVEN GOFF

Fresh off landslide reelection,
Jamie Clary, the mayor of Hen-
dersonville, Tenn., is busy jug-
gling road maintenance and
trash pickup issues, flooding
pro blems on Old Hickory Lake
and recruitment for the city’s
workforce.
“I often call it boring stuff that
matters,” he said from the Nash-
ville suburb.
He is also working hard on a
personal project: going to Co-
lumbus, Ohio, on Saturday night
for MLS Cup with longtime
friend Jamey Yawn. The trip will
mean their streak of attending
every championship game since

For two fans, MLS Cup attendance streak must go on

Nashville-area friends who have been at every league final plan to be in Ohio for Crew-Sounders game

MLS Cup: Seattle a t Columbus Tomorrow, 8:30 p.m., Fox

Washington vs. 49ers (in Ariz.)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m., Fox
Trent Williams: Team’s former LT
talks about his messy exit. D3

Preseason: Wizards at Nets
S unday, 6 p .m., NBCSW, NBA TV