FOOTBALL
Bears legend dies aged 77
Gale Sayers, the legendary Chicago Bears running back who became the youngest player ever inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after injury cut short his career, has died at the age of 77 after years of declining health, the Hall of Fame said on Wednesday. The dynamic ball carrier dubbed the “Kansas Comet” earned All-Pro recognition in each of his first five full seasons in the NFL. Knee injuries ended his dazzling career in 1971 after just seven seasons. “If you wish to see perfection as a running back, you had best get a hold of a film of Gale Sayers,” Bears founder George Halas said in 1977 when he presented Sayers for Hall of Fame enshrinement. “He was poetry in motion. His like will never be seen again.”
SOCCER
Actors bid for Wrexham
Wrexham AFC on Wednesday announced that actors Ryan Reynolds of Deadpool and Rob McElhenney of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia are in talks to invest in the Welsh club. The Wrexham Supporters Trust Board voted in favor of allowing the pair’s bid to progress, the club said. Wrexham sit in the National League, the fifth tier of English soccer, and the bid from Reynolds and McElhenney is widely seen as a surprise.
RUGBY UNION
Clubs seek government aid
Owners of clubs in rugby’s Premiership have said that teams could go bust and the professional game might cease if the government does not provide financial aid after its U-turn on allowing fans at stadiums amid the COVID-19 pandemic. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parliament that, as part of new restrictions to tackle a second wave of COVID-19, the government was putting on hold plans for 25 to 33 percent capacities from Thursday next week. The decision has hit Premiership clubs particularly hard as they were budgeting for being allowed a limited number of fans for the start of the new season in November. “The implications of no crowds and no revenues without aid will be terminal for some of the Premiership clubs and catastrophic for their communities,” Bath owner Bruce Craig told the Times. Simon Orange, co-owner of Sale Sharks, said that clubs were losing more than ￡1 million (US$1.27 million) per month and running out of options to stay afloat. “Club rugby was hardly viable beforehand; with coronavirus it’s much, much worse; without crowds it’s impossible,” he said.
SOCCER
‘King Kazu’ returns
Thirty-four years after making his professional debut, Japanese forward Kazuyoshi Miura became the oldest player to appear in a J-League first division match when he led Yokohama on Wednesday at the age of 53. The player known as “King Kazu”, who started his career in Brazil in 1986 because Japan did not have a professional league, was given the captain’s armband, but he could not inspire his team, who lost 3-2 to league leaders Kawasaki Frontale. Miura did not get on the scoresheet and was substituted near the hour mark before receiving a standing ovation from the 4,700 fans at the Todoroki Stadium. “When I stepped onto the pitch, I felt a deep desire to fulfill my duty and harness everyone’s feelings in that armband,” Kyodo news agency quoted Miura as saying.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
AGING WELL: Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, 22, was sent packing after being dispatched by world No. 97, Laura Siegemund, the second-oldest player in the draw at 36 Novak Djokovic yesterday created a slice of Grand Slam history on his way into the Australian Open third round, but last year’s women’s finalist Zheng Qinwen was knocked out in the biggest shock so far. Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, in-form Coco Gauff, two-time Melbourne winner Naomi Osaka and a rampant Carlos Alcaraz were all victors on a rainy day four. Play was suspended on the outside courts for a couple of hours in the early evening because of the wet weather. That led to the rescheduling of a women’s doubles match between wild-cards Tsao Chia-yi of Taiwan and Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech and 11th
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