10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Biggest moves
made, some
dealing to be
done in NBA
Associated Press
The biggest remaining dom-
ino wobbled in the afternoon and
finally fell in the evening.
When Gordon Hayward
announced he was joining the
Boston Celtics, it wrapped up the
decisions of players at the top of
this summer’s NBA free agent
board. The biggest moves have
been made, but there is more deal-
ing to be done.
The Utah Jazz need to figure
out how to move on after losing
their leading scorer and another
starter Tuesday.
The Cleveland Cavaliers could
ponder whether they need another
move to counter a fortified Boston
team that finished ahead of them
in the regular season.
The Miami Heat, the other
team that fell short in the Hayward
chase, can shop elsewhere with
the cash they freed up by finally
waiving Chris Bosh.
There aren’t any franchise-al-
tering players left as the NBA
heads toward the end of the mora-
torium Thursday, when stars such
as Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry,
Blake Griffin and Kyle Lowry can
sign the deals they agreed to with
their teams.
Messi to extend
contract with
Barcelona
Associated Press
BARCELONA, Spain — Lio-
nel Messi will play out the best
remaining years of his trophy-rich
career at Barcelona.
The Spanish club said today
that Messi had agreed a three-year
contract extension that will keep
him at the club through the 2020-
21 season. By then, Barcelona’s
all-time leading scorer will be 34
years old and finishing his 17th
season with the club.
Barcelona announced that
Messi will sign the new deal “in
the coming weeks” that will be
good through June 30, 2021.
The contract extension comes
as no surprise. Messi has repeat-
edly said he wanted to play the
best years of his career at Bar-
celona, before perhaps making a
return to his native Argentina that
he left at 13 years old to come
to Barcelona’s famed La Masia
training academy.
But with his current contract
set to expire at the end of the
upcoming 2017-18 season, the
club’s board, players, fans and
new coach Ernesto Valverde can
all breathe easier this summer
knowing their star is staying put.
Who wants to
be a millionaire?
Not students in
this school
Associated Press
BOSTON — Who wants to be
a millionaire? Not most students
at a school in one upscale Massa-
chusetts town.
While arguments over whether
to keep or drop Native Ameri-
can-themed high school mascots
have divided communities across
the U.S., Lenox Memorial Mid-
dle and High School is having a
nickname debate of a more pecu-
liar kind.
Students voted by a 2-to-1
margin at the end of the school
year that they would like to retire
their Millionaires mascot because
it’s divisive, leads to bullying
from athletes at rival schools and
doesn’t reflect the economics of
the community.
The nickname dates to the
1950s, when a local sportswriter
used it to describe the school’s
athletes. It refers to “cottagers,”
wealthy out-of-towners who
owned second homes in the pic-
turesque community in the Berk-
shire Mountains.
AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews
Joey Chestnut wins the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, marking his 10th victory in the event Tuesday in the Brooklyn
borough of New York. He downed 72 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. Miki Sudo won the women’s competition with 41 hot dogs.
Joey Chestnut wins 10th title,
gobbles a record 72 hot dogs
By MAYLAN L. STUDART
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Joey “Jaws” Chest-
nut gulped, chomped and powered his way
to a 10th title on Tuesday, continuing his
record-setting reign as the chowing champion
at the annual Nathan’s Famous July Fourth
hot dog eating contest.
Shoving water-soaked buns and wriggling
franks into his mouth on a hot, sunny day on
the Coney Island boardwalk, he downed 72
dogs and buns in 10 minutes to beat his own
record and hoist the Mustard Belt for a 10th
time. The San Jose, California, man bested
up-and-comer Carmen Cincotti, of Mays
Landing, New Jersey, who ate 60 franks and
buns on his 24th birthday.
Miki Sudo notched a fourth straight win
in the women’s competition. The Las Vegas
woman ate 41 hot dogs and buns to beat
Michelle Lesco of Tucson, Arizona, who
downed 32 franks and buns.
Demonstrators
During the men’s competition, five people
were taken into custody for trying to disrupt
the event, police said. The people appeared
to be attempting to unfold a black banner
before police stopped them and took them
away. They were taken to a precinct where
they were questioned and released, police
said.
The demonstrators later issued a statement
saying they were from a group called Direct
Action Everywhere, and want Nathan’s to
stop holding the contest.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Ani-
mals members separately had been giving
away free vegan hot dogs outside the event,
but spokeswoman Tricia Lebkuecher said the
people arrested inside weren’t affiliated with
PETA.
‘I love to eat’
Chestnut has dominated the chowdown
throwdown for years, eating 70 franks and
buns last year to top his then-record and take
back the title from Matt “The Megatoad”
Stonie. The 25-year-old Stonie came in third
on Tuesday, with 48 franks and buns.
“There’s no secret, I love to eat, and I love
doing it, I love to win, so I had to figure out
my body and push it to the limit,” a sweating
Chestnut said after his win. The 33-year-old
said he’d hoped to down even more dogs but
was leaving feeling good.
Cincotti said he’d eaten a thousand hot
dogs since May in preparation for his second
try at the Mustard Belt. Getting to even sec-
ond place is “surreal — I grew up watching
this contest,” he said.
Meanwhile, the women’s side has featured
a yearslong rivalry between Sudo and record-
holder Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas,
of Alexandria, Virginia. Thomas, who’s 50,
came in third on Tuesday with 30 dogs and
buns, well shy of her record 45.
Sudo told ESPN she “just came back bet-
ter than ever” this year. She’s 31; Lesco is 33.
One of America’s most outlandish July
Fourth traditions, the contest dates to 1972,
though the company has for years promoted
what a former president acknowledged was a
legendary start date of 1916.
Leigh Brown and her husband brought her
11-year-old sons, Carter and Corbyn, all the
way from Florida to see it.
“They really wanted to come. They always
watched it on TV, so it’s pretty special for
them,” Brown said.
WIMBLEDON
Tennis stars benefit from retirements
By HOWARD FENDRICH
Associated Press
LONDON — Novak Djokov-
ic’s first-round match at Wimbledon
lasted all of 40 minutes Tuesday. Roger
Federer’s, which was next in the All
England Club’s main stadium, went 43.
When two of tennis’ biggest stars
crossed paths after both advanced
when opponents stopped playing
because of pre-existing injuries, they
kidded each other about a way to try to
make it up to the fans.
“We had a little joke about it in the
locker room,” Djokovic recounted,
“saying we should maybe play a prac-
tice set on the Centre Court, have the
crowd stay.”
The short workdays for the two
were quite similar. Djokovic led 6-3,
2-0 when Martin Klizan retired with a
left leg problem that has bothered him
for about two months; Federer was
ahead 6-3, 3-0 when Alexandr Dolgo-
polov quit because of a painful right
ankle he first twisted last month.
Those still go into the books as
wins, allowing Federer to collect his
85th at Wimbledon, breaking a tie
with Jimmy Connors for the most
in the Open era. Djokovic picked up
his 234th match victory at all majors,
moving ahead of Connors and alone
into second place in history, behind
only Federer’s 315.
But the way the afternoon went
meant Centre Court spectators who
paid 56 pounds (more than $70) per
ticket, some of them waiting in line
for hours, got only brief glimpses
of seven-time champion Federer or
three-time champion Djokovic. They
did, however, have the opportunity to
Royals keep
rolling as
KC knocks
off Mariners
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
AP Photo/Alastair Grant
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, left, embraces Slovakia’s Martin Klizan after
winning their Men’s Singles Match on day two at the Wimbledon Ten-
nis Championships in London Tuesday.
watch a pair of top women, current
No. 1 Angelique Kerber and former
No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, win full-
length matches.
“I feel for the crowd. They’re there
to watch good tennis. Proper tennis. At
least they see the two of us, who gave
it all they had. They saw other players
that tried, at least,” Federer said. “It’s
unfortunate that it happened.”
Two other men also stopped mid-
match Tuesday, 19th-seeded Feliciano
Lopez (left foot) and Janko Tipsarevic
(right leg), bringing the first-round
retirement total to seven. That equals
2008 for the most by men in the first
round during the 50 editions of Wim-
bledon in the Open era.
It sparked discussion about whether
Grand Slam tournaments should
change their rules to allow players to
still receive prize money if they with-
draw before an event. That’s a sys-
tem being employed on a trial basis
this season on the ATP Tour — which
doesn’t run majors — and lets some-
one who lost in qualifying take the spot
in the main draw of an injured player.
The theory behind that setup: Play-
ers who are injured won’t step on court
simply to collect their prize money as
an entrant, before calling it a day with-
out finishing the match.
“Even if I had a torn muscle today,
and the doctor says, ‘You shouldn’t go
on court, you have serious damage to
risk,’ I could have faked it, stayed there
for two less games, and still picked up
the paycheck,” said Tipsarevic, who
stopped while trailing 5-0 after only
12 minutes against Jared Donaldson
of the U.S.
SEATTLE — Whit Merrifield
hit the first pitch of the game from
Felix Hernandez for his seventh
home run, Mike Moustakas added
his 24th homer of the season, and
the Kansas City Royals beat the
Seattle Mariners 7-3 on Tuesday
for their fifth win in six games.
Kansas City knocked around
Hernandez (3-3) for five earned
runs in six innings. Merrifield set
the tone jumping on an 89 mph
pitch in the middle of the plate
and clearing the wall in left-center.
The Royals scored three times in
the fourth inning thanks to Mous-
takas’ two-run shot and a two-out
error by second baseman Robin-
son Cano that allowed Brandon
Moss to score. Salvador Perez
had a two-run double and the five
earned runs were the most allowed
by Hernandez in his eight starts
this season.
Kansas City starter Danny
Duffy (5-4) returned after spend-
ing a month on the disabled list
and allowed just two first-inning
runs.
UP NEXT: MARINERS
• Kansas City Royals (43-40)
at Seattle Mariners (41-44)
• Tonight, 7:10 p.m. TV: RTNW