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Saturday, September 26, 2020
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B1
Pandemic-proof: Fall college football revived on West Coast
decisions to punt on fall football.
The Mountain West followed up a
few hours later by announcing it is
aiming to kick off Oct. 24.
Nine of the 10 FbS conferences
are now ready to have their sea-
sons completed by dec. 20, the
day the College Football play-
off selection committee is sched-
uled to pick teams to play for the
national championship and in the
most lucrative bowls.
as soon as Friday, Sept. 25,
By RALPH D. RUSSO
AP College Football Writer
SaN FraNCISCO — a major
college football season that was in
peril six week ago as conferences
succumbed to concerns about
COVId-19 is reconstituting.
The West Coast got back in
the game thursday night, Sept.
24. the pac-12 set Nov. 6 to start
a seven-game season, joining the
big ten in overturning august
the mid-american Conference,
the first FBS league to postpone,
could make it 10 out of 10.
all that talk about playing foot-
ball in the winter and spring, about
whether it was a good idea to play
during a pandemic at all? Out the
window. Not even a pandemic
could stop college football at the
schools that play it at the highest
level.
“the discussion among the
presidents and chancellors was
largely about the benefits as well
as the cons of starting in the fall
versus starting in January,” said
university of Oregon president
michael Schill, the head of the
pac-12’s CeO Group. “the con-
sensus opinion was the benefits
of starting in the fall were much
greater than the benefits of start-
ing in the ... winter.”
With the Pac-12 having secured
daily COVId-19 testing for its
athletes and been given the green
light from state and local health
officials, the CEOs voted unani-
mously to lift a Jan. 1 moratorium
on athletic competition.
“Things changed from the first
time we addressed this issue,”
Schill said.
The Pac-12′s men’s and wom-
en’s basketball seasons can start
Nov. 25, in line with the NCaa’s
recently announced opening date.
See Pandemic, Page B2
AP Photo/Mark Sutton
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, of Brit-
ain, attends a media conference prior
to the Russian Formula One Grand Prix,
at the Sochi Autodrom circuit, in Sochi,
Russia, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020.
Hamilton
aims to match
Schumacher’s
F1 win record
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson looks to pass against the New England Patriots during the first half of an NFL football game,
Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020, in Seattle.
It could be the recipe for
big days from both Wilson and
prescott, even if they aren’t
focused on their matchup.
“I’ve got all of the faith in
my defense going out there and
doing their job,” prescott said.
“but for me, it’s about staying
focused in on what the Seattle
Seahawks’ defense is going to
give us, how we execute. that’s
the premier focus and the only
focus within a game plan no
matter who the quarterback is.”
Wilson’s first two games
have immediately thrust him to
the head of the mVp conversa-
tion as part of Seattle’s 2-0 start.
He has nine touchdown passes
and just 11 incompletions. His
lone interception was a ball
that should have been caught by
Greg Olsen, was tipped in the
air for a pick-6.
the two other times in
league history a Qb had nine
tds and one or zero inter-
ceptions through two weeks
SOCHI, russia — Lewis Hamilton
has set many Formula One records over
the years, but few as significant as the
one he can match Sunday, Sept. 27, at
the russian Grand prix.
Victory for Hamilton at the Sochi
Olympic park would see him draw level
with michael Schumacher on 91 career
wins, more than any other driver in the
70-year history of F1.
It would also further increase Ham-
ilton’s commanding 55-point lead over
teammate Valtteri bottas in the champi-
onship standings, putting him closer to a
seventh world championship, matching
another Schumacher record.
History is on Hamilton’s side. He’s
won four of the six russian races so far
and all six were won by mercedes driv-
ers. His closest challenger is likely to be
bottas, who beat Hamilton in the 2017
edition of the russian Grand prix to
claim what was his first career win.
between them, Hamilton and bottas
have taken pole position at every race
this year. that’s less of an advantage in
Sochi because the long run to the first
corner allows cars coming from behind
to overtake using the slipstream.
Hamilton is not only targeting wins
on the track. He also revealed thursday,
Sept. 24, the members of a commission
he set up in June to find ways to make
racing more diverse, including figures
from engineering, education and poli-
tics. Hamilton is co-chair.
“In F1, our teams are much bigger
than the athletes that front them, but rep-
resentation is insufficient across every
See Seahawks, Page B2
See Hamilton, Page B2
QBs, offenses take spotlight
as Cowboys visit Seahawks
Russell Wilson and
dak prescott will be
in the spotlight on
Sunday, Sept. 27
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
S
eattLe — russell
Wilson has made a career
of coming through late
in games, to the tune of
32 fourth-quarter and overtime
comebacks with Seattle.
dak prescott is trying to
catch up, although few will
match the outrageous come-
back prescott led a week ago
that helped dallas avoid an 0-2
start to the season.
“dak does such a great job.
He remains poised, remains
confident. He seems to have
always done that over his
career,” Wilson said. “I just
got a lot of respect for how he
approaches the game.”
Wilson and Prescott will be
AP Photo/Ron Jenkins
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) throws a pass under
pressure from Atlanta Falcons linebacker Deion Jones (45) in the
second half of an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday,
Sept. 20, 2020.
in the spotlight Sunday, Sept.
27, when the Seahawks host the
Cowboys in a big NFC show-
down that could end up being a
shootout.
two of the most potent
offenses in the league will be
facing defenses that have under-
performed throughout and have
injury concerns. and the quar-
terbacks are coming off two of
the best games of their careers,
Wilson throwing for five touch-
downs against New england
and prescott using his arm to
lead a late rally to beat atlanta.
Associated Press
SPORTS SHORTS
Reds say broadcaster Brennaman resigns after anti-gay slur
Associated Press
CINCINNatI — the Cincin-
nati reds say team broadcaster
thom brennaman has resigned
following his use of an anti-gay
slur on air last month.
brennaman used the slur
moments after the feed from the
Fox Sports Ohio telecast returned
from a commercial break before
the top of the seventh inning in
the first game of a doubleheader
at Kansas City on aug. 19.
brennaman did not seem to
realize he was already on air. He
later apologized.
the 57-year-old was taken off
the air before the fifth inning of
the second game.
“the reds respect thom
brennaman’s decision to step
away from the broadcast booth
and applaud his heartfelt efforts of
reconciliation with the LGbtQ+
community,” reds CeO bob
Castellini said in a statement.
“the brennaman family has been
an intrinsic part of the reds his-
tory for nearly fifty years. We
sincerely thank thom for bring-
ing the excitement of reds base-
ball to millions of fans during his
years in the booth.”
the son of Hall of Fame broad-
caster marty brennaman, thom
has called major league games for
33 years and has been with Fox
Sports for the past 27, covering
primarily baseball and football.
Fox Sports had already said
that brennaman wouldn’t call
NFL games because of the slur.
Fox issued a statement on aug.
20 that said “we are moving for-
ward with our NFL schedule
which will not include him.” the
network also said brennaman’s
remarks were “abhorrent, unac-
ceptable, and not representative
of the values of Fox Sports.”
In this Sept. 25, 2019, file
photo, Cincinnati Reds
broadcaster Thom Bren-
naman sits in a special
outside booth before
the Reds’ baseball game
against the Milwaukee
Brewers in Cincinnati.
AP Photo/John Minchillo, File