New York Post - 13.03.2020

New York Post, Friday, March 13, 2020

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Sports Shorts

Soccer: USSF president resigns

Carlos Cordeiro resigned as U.S. Soccer

Federation president on Thursday night,

three days after the organization filed legal

papers in a gender discrimination suit, claim-

ing women players had less physical ability

and responsibility than men. His decision el-

evated former American midfielder Cindy

Parlow Cone to become the first woman

president in the history of the federation.

Cordeiro announced his resignation on

Twitter without even telling the federation’s

communications staff. He stepped down on a

day several USSF board members issued ex-

traordinary rebukes that criticized the govern-

ing body’s legal filings. Among them were Ma-

jor League Soccer Commissioner Don Gar-

ber and Cone, the federation’s vice president.

MLB: Cancer surgery for O’s Mancini

Orioles star Trey Mancini underwent

surgery to remove a malignant tumor from

his colon. The tumor was discovered last

week during a colonoscopy, team officials

said. Lab results and the timetable for

Mancini’s recovery will not be known un-

til next week.

NFL: Packers release TE Graham

The Packers released tight end Jimmy

Graham after the 33-year-old veteran

spent two seasons with the franchise, gen-

eral manager Brian Gutekunst announced.

lThe Titans released Pro Bowl line-

backer Cameron Wake and running back

Dion Lewis.

lFree-agent tight end Jordan Reed, re-

leased last month by the Redskins, is paying

a visit to the Seahawks, according to multiple

reports.

Olympics: Sanctions on Russia

Russia’s track team was limited to 10 ath-

letes for the Tokyo Olympics and the coun-

try’s federation was fined $10 million by the

sport’s governing body. Russia has been sus-

pended since 2015 for widespread doping.

Money Ball

By Andrew Marchand

CBS and Turner pay the

NCAA around $800 million per

year for the men’s NCAA Tour-

nament, which means the finan-

cial implications of the cancella-

tion of March Madness due to

coronavirus are vast.

The entirety of the fallout of

not having these special three

weeks of basketball has not been

settled yet as the networks and

the NCAA will have to go

through all the fine print of what

was a complicated extension

contract signed in 2016.

The current deal runs through

2032 and eventually rises to

more than $1 billion per year.

The NCAA could possibly ex-

tend the contract by one more

tournament as a make-good, but

that is just an idea, far from a

known solution. There are fi-

nancial considerations that may

be part of the deal that could of-

fer relief, as well.

While there are a lot of un-

knowns and it is not what either

network wanted, they both were

understanding regarding why

the NCAA made its final deci-

sion.

“We are fully supportive of the

NCAA’s decision to cancel this

year’s NCAA Division I Men’s

Basketball Championship,”

Turner and CBS said in a joint

statement. “We’ll continue to

work closely with the NCAA

and all our partners as we prior-

itize the health and well-being

of everyone involved.”

➤Good work: ESPN did fine a

job on Wednesday night when

news of coronavirus postponing

the NBA season broke.

On the game broadcast, Ryan

Ruocco, Doris Burke and re-

porter Tom Rinaldi struck the

right tone, while on the “Sports-

Center” desk, Scott Van Pelt,

handled the news well with as-

sists from insider Adrian Woj-

narowski and reporter Royce

Young.

Without the conference tour-

nament games it planned on air-

ing, ESPN will add “SportsCen-

ter” in their place on Friday.

[email protected]

Virus KOs

Boomer’s

simulcast

By Andrew Marchand

WFAN’s “The Morning

Show with Boomer & Gio”

was not simulcast on the

CBS Sports Network on

Thursday because of posi-

tive tests for the coronavi-

rus at the CBS building,

host Gregg Giannotti said

on the air.

“We are not on TV

[Thursday or Friday],” the

show’s official Twitter ac-

count tweeted. “There was

a Coronavirus situation in

that building where our

TV control room is, so they

shut it down to clean and

make it safe for everyone.”

The hope is for “Boomer

& Gio” to return to TV

next week. The program

went on as scheduled on

WFAN and was also availa-

ble via streaming.

At the beginning of the

program, Giannotti ad-

dressed the situation.

“No TV simulcast

[Thursday] because over at

the CBS building, there

were a couple of positive

tests of employees over

there, so they shut it down,

cleaned the building and

hopefully, after that, after a

couple of days of caution

and making sure everyone

is OK, we will be back on

the TV broadcast, but no

TV [Thursday],” Giannotti

said.

Net loss: No

one will get to cut

down the nets in

the NCAA

Tournament this

year, as De’Andre

Hunter and Virginia

got to last year —

and now CBS/

Turner and the

NCAA must work

out the financial

implications of

calling off the

tourney. Getty Images

Spring sports

get ax from

NCAA as well

Post wire reports

The cancellation of the NCAA basketball

tournaments shook the nation Thursday, but 27

other men’s and women’s championships

won’t be contested this winter and spring, ei-

ther — including the baseball College World

Series, which will not be held for the first time

since 1946.

NCAA President Mark Emmert and the

Board of Governors canceled the Division I

men’s and women’s basketball tournaments as

well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA

championships — including ice hockey, wres-

tling, the softball College World Series, track

and field and lacrosse.

XFL: The XFL has suspended play halfway

through its maiden season because of the coro-

navirus outbreak, the league announced. In a

statement, the league said players will receive

“base pay and benefits for the 2020 season,”

while “ticket holders will be issued refunds or

credit toward future games.” April 26 was

slated to be the title game.

SOCCER: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta

tested positive for the coronavirus, forcing the

club to put the entire first team in self-isolation

and postpone its Premier League match

against Brighton. The Premier League reacted

by saying it will hold an emergency meeting on

Friday to discuss “future fixtures.”

Major League Soccer is shutting down for 30

days because coronavirus. Each of the 26 MLS

teams had played two league matches. In addi-

tion, the U.S. Soccer Federation canceled exhi-

bitions in March and April for its men’s and

women’s national teams as a precaution.

UEFA a source said, is nearing a decision to

postpone the European Championship by a year.

TENNIS: The ATP suspended all men’s pro-

fessional tennis tournaments for six weeks be-

cause of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the

WTA said it was calling off three events for

now and would decide on any further changes

to the women’s tour schedule within a week.

The Miami Open, which was scheduled to run

from March 23 to April 5, also was canceled.

HORSE RACING: While tracks continue

to operate in North America and abroad with-

out fans in the stands, Churchill Downs said

preparations to hold the Kentucky Derby on

May 2 are up in the air. Track officials said in a

statement, “a decision will be made closer to

that date with respect to postponing the event

until later in the year.”

AUTO RACING: The Australian Grand

Prix, the first Formula One Grand Prix of the

season, was canceled two hours before the first

official practice was set to start Friday in Mel-

bourne after organizers relented to pressure.

IndyCar pushed forward with Sunday’s sea-

son-opening race in St. Petersburg, Fla., after the

city’s mayor said fans would not be permitted to

attend. Competitors will have to answer a ques-

tionnaire for health screening before entry.

NASCAR said it will run its next two races with-

out fans, starting this weekend in Atlanta and

continuing at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

CORONAVIRUS

IN SPORTS