FOOTBALL
NFL owners gave the competition committee the go-ahead Wednesday to decide whether to refine the new rule allowing replay challenges involving pass interference.
The proposed tweak would take the decision on whether to review in the final two minutes of each half out of the hands of the officials. Reviews in the final two minutes would instead require a coach’s challenge.
Owners voted to hold the NFL draft in Cleveland in 2021, the 75th anniversary of the Browns, and in Kansas City in 2023. The league said it delayed choosing a site for 2022 because about 20 cities are interested in hosting that year.
Regarding pass interference, the league fears too many stoppages of play in the closing minutes if those reviews are left up to the officials. A decision on whether to require a coach’s challenge in the final two minutes will come after the competition committee consults with coaches next month.
Owners voted in March to allow pass interference calls or non-calls to be challenged by coaches and reviewed via replay as a one-year experiment. Under the rule adopted then, in the final two minutes only officials in the booth can stop the game for reviews involving pass interference, as is the case with other reviewable plays.
The competition committee may also exempt Hail Mary passes so they’re not reviewable. That change would require coming up with a formal definition of a Hail Mary.
A proposed rule change requiring each team to have one possession in overtime was tabled for lack of support. The change was pushed by the Chiefs, who lost last season’s AFC championship game without getting the ball in overtime because the Patriots won the toss, received the kickoff and scored a touchdown.
• Atlanta Falcons defensive end Steven Means will miss the 2019 season after suffering an Achilles tendon injury.
Means was a part-time starter in 2018 and hurt in Monday’s organized team activities (OTAs) practice, which was closed to reporters. The team announced the injury on Tuesday.
• The Tennessee Titans have agreed to terms on a contract with their top draft pick Jeffery Simmons, the 19th selection overall out of Mississippi State.
Tennessee gambled on Simmons with the defensive tackle recovering after tearing his left ACL in February. That’s an injury that could keep him off the field all season. But Simmons was considered a possible Top 10 pick before the injury.
BASEBALL
EASTERN LEAGUE: Rashad Crawford tripled home Kellin Deglan to break a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fourth, setting up Trenton’s 3-2 win over the visiting Portland Sea Dogs.
Brandon Wagner scored on a flyout in the eighth to increase the lead to 3-1 before the Sea Dogs rallied for a run in the ninth when Tate Maheny’s two-out single scored Brett Netzer.
Maheny also had an RBI single in the top of the fourth, driving home Matt Lipka to tie the game at 1-1.
BASKETBALL
NBA: Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart was named to the All-Defensive First Team for the first time.
Smart received 63 first-team votes, most among all guards. He also received 19 second-team votes. Milwaukee Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe joins Smart on the first team, along with Bledsoe’s teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo, Paul George of Oklahoma City and Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz.
The second team is Jrue Holiday of the New Orleans Pelicans, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors, Kawhi Leonard of the Toronto Raptors, and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Smart is the first Celtics player to make the All-Defensive first team since Avery Bradley in 2015-16.
WNBA: The Washington Mystics sit atop the preseason Associated Press WNBA poll for the first time.
The runner-up from last season’s WNBA Finals received five first-place votes from the 14-person national media panel. It’s the first time in the four-year history of the poll that Washington is No. 1.
Washington is led by Elena Delle Donne, who was the panel’s preseason player of the year. She is receiving treatment for a leg injury and may miss the start of the season.
Las Vegas is picked to finish second, also garnering five first-place votes. Los Angeles is third and Phoenix fourth.
AUTO RACING
NASCAR: Tony Stewart headlined a Joe Gibbs Racing trio that was elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
The three-time Cup Series champion will be inducted alongside car owner Joe Gibbs and former teammate Bobby Labonte.
Driver Buddy Baker and mechanic Waddell Wilson were also voted in.
• NASCAR announced the $2 billion purchase of International Speedway Corp., an aggressive move to gain control of key racetracks and set itself up for sweeping changes that could save America’s most popular racing series.
The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
ISC owns 12 tracks that host NASCAR races, including Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Darlington Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Its holdings stretch from New York to California , and ISC is one of two major facilities companies that host NASCAR races, along with Speedway Motorsports Inc.
HOCKEY
NHL: Behind the microphone for the last New York Rangers championship in 1994, John Davidson is now front and center to try to parade the Stanley Cup down Broadway again.
Davidson recalled 1994 as one of the best times of his life, and after moving from broadcasting to the front office with St. Louis and Columbus has returned home to oversee the Rangers’ rebuilding process. The proud, big-spending Original Six franchise is in the midst of a rare youth movement, attempting step back to make the leap from annual playoff team to perennial title contender.
General Manager Jeff Gorton began that at the 2018 trade deadline and will remain in control of day-to-day operations.
Davidson is now his boss as team president and wants to be the soul of the organization by charting the right course to return New York to prominence, which for now means keeping it going in this direction.
“There’s a lot of work to be done here,” Davidson said when he was introduced as the 11th team president in franchise history. “There’s no shortcuts. It’s nothing but hard work, and it takes patience and resolve, and I really want to make sure that I use the word `patience’ and I use the word `resolve,’ because we’re going to be in a battle here to get this club to be better. But you have to be patient when you go through a build like this.”
COLLEGES
BASEBALL: The University of Maine lost twice and was eliminated from the America East tournament at Vestal, New York.
In a 5-0 loss to UMass-Lowell, Nick Rand pitched eight strong innings and Mark Tumosa drove in three runs for the fourth-seeded River Hawks.
After Oscar Marchena hit a two-run homer in the first inning, Tumosa made it 4-0 with a two-run triple in the second, and singled in the final run in the fourth.
Rand (5-5) allowed four hits and three walks, striking out six.
Danny Casals hit a double for the Black Bears, who were unable to score with multiple runners on base in the first, fifth and ninth innings.
Losing pitcher Cody Laweryson (5-5) struck out 12 over seven innings.
In a 6-5 loss to Hartford, Drew DeMartino singled home the tying and winning runs in the seventh inning for No. 6 Hartford.
Maine had taken a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth when Brogan Searle-Belanger singled home Caleb Krebs.
DeMartino, who also homered and scored twice, finished with four RBI on four hits. Searle-Belanger had three hits for the Black Bears; Danny Casals added a home run and a single.
MEN’S BASKETBALL: A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Juwan Howard has agreed to a five-year deal at Michigan to take over as coach of his alma mater.
Michigan is giving the former Fab Five star his first shot to be a head coach other than during the NBA’s summer league. The Miami Heat assistant coach replaces John Beilein, who left to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Howard helped Michigan reach the national championship game twice, playing alongside Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson. The school later removed the Fab Five’s Final Four banners from Crisler Arena as part of self-imposed sanctions that stemmed from one of the NCAA’s largest financial scandals.
SOCCER
MLS: Three-time MLS defender of the year Chad Marshall announced his retirement due to injury, bringing an end to a 16-year career that included stints with the Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders.
Marshall’s last game for Seattle was on May 4 against Minnesota United, after which it became clear the knee was becoming a problem. Marshall had undergone surgery on the knee to repair a meniscus tear he suffered during the MLS Cup playoffs.
UNDER-20: Toronto forward Ayo Akinola will miss the Under-20 World Cup because of an ankle injury and has been replaced on the U.S. roster by LA Galaxy defender Julian Araujo.
TENNIS
LYON OPEN: Former champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga rallied past qualifier Steven Diez to reach the quarterfinals and extend his perfect record at the Lyon Open.
Tsonga, the 2017 champion, came within two points of losing but finally prevailed 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3 on his sixth match point after 2 hours, 42 minutes.
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