Sports

Sports October 17, 2016

Tennis Star Nick Kyrgios Suspended For Tantrum At Shanghai Masters

Nick Kyrgios of Australia complains to the referee during his men’s singles match against Mischa Zverev of Germany at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament on Wednesday. Johannes Eisele /AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Johannes Eisele /AFP/Getty Images

The governing body for men’s tennis has suspended Australian star Nick Kyrgios for three months, or eight tournament weeks, after he essentially threw his second-round match last week at the Shanghai Masters.

Kyrgios often appeared uninterested during the match against German player Mischa Sverev, lobbing soft, slow serves over the net and wandering away before Sverev could return them. He bickered with the umpire and a fan during the match, and was quickly defeated at 6-3 and 6-1. ESPN has provided video of some of the more dramatic moments:

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Tennis’ governing body, the ATP, said Kyrgios’ display amounted to “conduct contrary to the integrity of the game.” It fined him $25,000. That amount is in addition to earlier fines for his performance during that match — for not giving his best effort, verbally abusing a spectator and for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Kyrgios, 21, issued an apology, saying that his “body finally just gave out in Shanghai both physically and mentally” after a difficult schedule of travel and tournament play. He won the title in Tokyo’s tournament earlier this month. Kyrgios added: “I do understand and respect the decision by the ATP and I will use this time off to improve on an off the court. I am truly sorry and look forward to returning in 2017.”

The suspension will last through Jan. 15, 2017. However, the ATP gave him an option to reduce that suspension to three tournament weeks, should he agree to enter a “plan of care under the direction of a sports psychologist.”

Kyrgios did not personally indicate whether he intended to shorten his suspension by seeking professional help, but Tennis Australia said in a statement that he has agreed to do so.

However, “there are no regular tournaments on the schedule after Nov. 7,” as The Associated Press reports, “so he will have to wait until next year in any case to return to the tour.”

At a press conference after last week’s match, a bored-looking Kyrgios openly disparaged his fans: “I don’t owe them anything. It’s my choice. If you don’t like it, I didn’t ask you to come watch. Just leave. If you’re so good at giving advice and so good at tennis, why aren’t you as good as me?”

He struck a different tone in his statement today: “I of course know how important the fans are to the success of our sport and I personally love the interaction with fans in the many different cities throughout the world on the tennis circuit.”

Kyrgios has been the subject of numerous controversies. As The Two-Way reported, the ATP fined him $10,000 for making a lewd on-court remark to an opponent in Aug. 2015. A month before that, he was fined nearly $9,500 for swearing on the court.

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Sports October 16, 2016

NASCAR Driver Tony Stewart Revved Up To Treat Fans To His Final Drive

The man some NASCAR racing fans call the last of the ‘old school’ drivers is retiring soon. Tony Stewart is known for his aggressive and controversial style.

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

To NASCAR now and a controversial driver who will hit the gas just a few more times before retiring. Tony Stewart has won three championships, become co-owner of a race team and paid numerous fines over his 18 seasons. His style has created enemies, but it’s also why his fans love him and other drivers respect him. From member station WFAE, Michael Tomsic reports.

MICHAEL TOMSIC, BYLINE: Tony Stewart has a temper. That’s been clear since 1999, his rookie season in NASCAR’s top circuit.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: And as you can see, Tony Stewart here was out of his car, throwing his gloves at Kenny Irwin.

TOMSIC: Stewart reached into Irwin’s moving car and had to let go as Irwin sped off. That was after the two drivers kept bumping each other in a race. NASCAR fined Stewart $5,000. In the years since he’s crashed cars, shoved drivers, punched a photographer, kicked a tape recorder and stomped back onto the track to throw something.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Tony’s not very happy.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: Whoa.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Gosh, looks familiar.

TOMSIC: Two things stand out from this instant in 2012 – how the crowd roared as Stewart nailed Matt Kenseth’s windshield with his helmet and how nonchalant the announcers were.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: That’s a perfect strike.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #4: That’s a nice throw.

TOMSIC: Just Stewart being Stewart. Matt Kenseth laughs about it now.

MATT KENSETH: Nobody likes being involved in that stuff, but whether they tell you they like to or not, everybody loves to watch it, right? So…

TOMSIC: He says it’s certainly a draw for fans. And he says the fire Stewart races with is part of what makes him great.

KENSETH: Man, I’ve never seen anybody more talented behind the wheel than Tony. Whether it’s in a dirt car or a stock car, there’s nobody better.

TOMSIC: Stewart was a dirt track champion and Indy car champion before transitioning to NASCAR’s top circuit. He then won NASCAR’s Sprint Cup championship in 2002, 2005 and 2011. He kept racing on dirt tracks, too. And in 2014, that led to what he calls a tragic accident. On a dirt track in New York, Stewart knocked Kevin Ward, Jr.’s car into a wall. Ward then walked into the middle of the race to confront Stewart’s car.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #5: Oh, he hit him.

TOMSIC: In a spectator’s YouTube video, you see Stewart’s car fishtail and Ward go under one of the tires, killing him. Stewart says it was an accident, and a grand jury decided not to press charges. After that decision, Stewart said he thinks about what happened every day.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TONY STEWART: It’s going to be a part of my life. It’s going to be a part of Kevin’s family’s life. It’s never going to go away for any of us. But hopefully, it’ll get easier for all of us.

TOMSIC: Ward’s family sued Stewart and that lawsuit is now in federal court. Stewart has continued to drive aggressively and speak his mind. This season, NASCAR fined him $35,000 after he blasted the association for a lug nut policy that he said put drivers at risk with loose wheels.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

STEWART: I don’t know if it was the delivery that got NASCAR upset or what, but the message was right. I think you guys know after 17 full years of this if I strongly believe in something, I’m going to speak up for it.

TOMSIC: A group of NASCAR drivers paid the fine for Stewart and NASCAR later changed the policy. In the campground at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Jerry Goodin says Stewart reminds him of iconic drivers from earlier generations like Richard Petty.

JERRY GOODIN: He’s going to do what it takes to win. He’s very aggressive. He doesn’t hold back, says he wants to say.

TOMSIC: Goodin says Stewart is the last of the old-school drivers.

JUDY WILEY: And I’m old-school, too, so I guess that’s why I kind of like him (laughter).

TOMSIC: This is another fan, Judy Wiley.

WILEY: That’s the greatest thing you can say about him. He’s old-school. But he’s a genuine good person.

TOMSIC: She points to the foundation he’s had for many years that helps critically ill children. Some drivers say it’s part of the generous off-the-track version of Stewart many people don’t see. Defending champion Kyle Busch says when he first started…

KYLE BUSCH: He put his arm around me and definitely helped me and gave me some insight on how the sport is.

TOMSIC: With a handful of races left, Stewart is out of the running for this year’s championship. When he announced his plan to retire, he made clear he’s not going away.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

STEWART: NASCAR’s probably going to be the most disappointed of everybody today because they aren’t getting rid of me. So they have to deal with me as an owner. So there’s still the opportunity to get fined and there’s still opportunity to be put on probation, just like always.

TOMSIC: Stewart will remain co-owner of the Stewart-Haas racing team. He jokes that next season, you’ll probably see him enjoying a race from the top of some fan’s motor home. For NPR News, I’m Michael Tomsic.

(SOUNDBITE OF TRACY LAWRENCE SONG, “ONE FOOT ON THE PEDAL”)

KELLY: This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. BJ Leiderman writes our theme music. Rachel Martin returns next week. I’m Mary Louise Kelly.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Sports October 15, 2016

Latest In Sports: Cubs In MLB Playoffs, Colin Kaepernick To Start For 49ers

NPR’s Scott Simon and Tom Goldman discuss the latest in baseball playoffs.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Finally time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: American and National League Championship Series are underway – LA, Chi-Town, Cleveland and Toronto. NPR’s Tom Goldman joins us. Morning, Tom.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Hello.

SIMON: Last night, the Cleveland Indians handcuffed the Toronto Blue Jays, didn’t they?

GOLDMAN: Oh, boy, they did. You know, they won – I’ll wait till the theme song goes away. They won…

SIMON: That’s for you, my friend, yeah.

GOLDMAN: (Laughter) They won – they being the Indians – won two to nothing. Zero runs for a Toronto team that averaged seven runs a game in its first round sweep of Texas. And, you know, in the first few innings, Toronto repeatedly threatened to score, but Kluber and the Cleveland defense snuffed out each threat.

SIMON: Corey Kluber, yeah.

GOLDMAN: Yeah, very, very impressive.

SIMON: I’m beginning to think that Cleveland just finds a way.

GOLDMAN: You know, last night was only game one of a best 4 out of 7 American League Championship Series. But, Scott, maybe it is time to start paying attention to the Indians. You know, remember, they swept Boston in the first round, pretty much shut down the best hitting team in baseball, the Red Sox. So the Indians are undefeated so far in the postseason. Their pitching and defense is neutralizing opponents – opponents’ offenses. They haven’t won a World Series in 68 years, Scott. Is that the drought that is going to end?

SIMON: Well, there are droughts and there are droughts – 68 years versus 108 years. National League Series starts tonight. Dodgers versus Cu Cu Cu Cu Cu Cu (ph) Cubs. And I believe this is the latest in the season that they’ve played for a title in Illinois since the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858.

GOLDMAN: (Laughter) Ba-boom (ph) 108 years – yeah. Well, of course, you know, they played in the National League Championship Series last year. Likewise in 2003, 1989, 1984, but, you know – so they were a round away from the World Series. But of course, 108 years without a title – the mother of all baseball droughts compared to Cleveland, which – I don’t know what – the father of all droughts. But I will tell you, Scott, our David Schaper, reporter in Chicago, has been out talking to Cubs fans, and he says they’re pumped and most are not thinking about billy goats and black cats and other superstitions and curses. So come on, are you anxious? Are you anxious?

SIMON: I ain’t afraid – I ain’t afraid of no curses, no, no. This is a – this is a genuinely great team, win or lose. And, you know, I think we ought to get past that damn goat. What can I tell you? You know, I think I want to go to a Greek restaurant (laughter) and have a little – maybe some cabrito at Rick Bayless’ place. Listen, I want to go to the NFL because after after Colin Kaepernick, after weeks of being known for his protest during the national anthem, is going to be the San Francisco 49ers’ starting quarterback on Sunday – significance of this please, doctor.

GOLDMAN: (Laughter) Doctor – you know, it’ll raise his visibility more. It’ll give his political messages a new bump. That’s good news for those who consider him a hero; bad news for those who consider him an anti-American traitor. It’ll be fascinating if he does play well and gets back to his 2012-2013 forum. It’ll be a challenge because the 49ers are not a good team. Their problems go way beyond quarterback. But if he does get the team going in the right direction, what’ll it do for his reputation in NFL front offices, which right now is not good. He’s considered a distraction, a troublemaker. If after the season he becomes a free agent, will teams go after him if he plays well now? I’ll bet they would. Nothing makes you less of a pariah than winning.

SIMON: Right, distraction, troublemaker, who wins? I want that guy. NPR’s Tom Goldman, thanks very much for being with us.

GOLDMAN: You’re welcome.

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Sports October 13, 2016

Man Juggles For An Entire Marathon Without A Single Drop

Michal Kapral “joggling” during last weekend’s Chicago Marathon. Andre Anjos/Courtesy of Michal Kapral hide caption

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Andre Anjos/Courtesy of Michal Kapral

For many of us, simply running a marathon is a serious challenge.

But Michal Kapral, a 44-year-old editor from Toronto, had a more difficult goal in mind. He wanted to run a marathon … while juggling … without dropping a ball even once.

And he did it at the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, at the brisk clip of 2 hours and 55 minutes. That’s a pace of about 6:40 per mile.

Kapral tells The Two-Way that he’s an old hand at “joggling” (juggling while jogging, naturally). In fact, this is his eighth joggling marathon. He holds the world record for the “fastest marathon while joggling three objects,” which he has set multiple times, most recently in 2007 in Toronto. He ran that marathon 5 minutes faster, he says, but dropped the ball twice.

This is the first time that he’s managed to complete the race without a single drop. He says the pressure was building as he neared the end of the race: “I’ve never felt so much stress in my life.” During the last 400 meters, he says he “literally looked at every toss.”

VIDEO by @wendyalas: Running the #ChicagoMarathon while juggling in 2:55 without a drop. Here are 10 catches out of 50,000+ #joggling pic.twitter.com/9W6ypaXouv

— Michal Kapral (@mkapral) October 11, 2016

Kapral started joggling when he was 11, after flipping through the Guinness Book of World Records for records he might be able to break. He had just learned to juggle, he says, and was a part of his school’s cross country team.

About 20 years later, after completing a number of marathons, he thought he’d try joggling one of the races while raising money for charity.

“When I first started I just assumed people would just make fun of me, and I started off training running in the dark before dawn while I figured out what I was doing,” he says.

But now he’s far bolder, and routinely joggles on his commute home or through downtown Toronto.

“I think the most common reaction is people stop and just stare. They just stop in their tracks and then their jaw kind of drops, and they get the look of like, ‘What did I just see?’ ” Kapral says. “It cracks me up.”

There’s a worldwide community of jogglers, including dozens who contacted him when he first set the world record for marathon joggling in 2005. “Ever since then, I hear from someone maybe every two weeks who’s in some part of the world who does this,” he adds.

Kapral manages to make juggling while running sound like a very natural motion: “Every step you take, every stride forward, as your arm swings you toss the ball up to the other side so the juggling cascade pattern matches perfectly with the running stride.”

That grows more challenging over the course of 26.2 miles. He explains:

“So the beginning, the first few miles, it’s kind of relaxing, it’s this meditative, kind of zen feeling, with this pattern floating around in front of your face. And it helps keep the rhythm, the juggling. And then after a while, your arms start to tire, and everything gets tired, and then it’s just absolute agony the last few miles. It takes this incredible amount of focus. Suddenly you have to focus on every toss.”

After experimenting with plastic balls, he says he prefers juggling with handmade beanbags, filled with millet.

Kapral says he wants to try doing a steeplechase while juggling — that’s a challenging long-distance race involving multiple barriers and water jumps.

Feeling klutzy by comparison? This tweet might provide some solace:

Three days ago: Ran 26.2 miles while juggling and never dropped a ball.
Today: Dropped my phone and cracked it, broke an expensive glass.

— Michal Kapral (@mkapral) October 13, 2016

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Sports October 12, 2016

At Sacramento Kings Game, Singer Of National Anthem Takes A Knee

This summer, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem to protest injustice and discrimination. Since then, other athletes have followed suit.

And on Monday night, on an NBA court, another person joined in the protests Kaepernick inspired. This time, it wasn’t someone listening to the anthem — it was the woman singing it.

Leah Tysse knelt down on one knee on the very last line of the anthem, “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” Specifically, she dropped down on the word “free.”

You can see the moment in video coverage from a local CBS station.

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YouTube

The gesture upset some people. Tysse, a breast cancer survivor, was singing the anthem on a night dedicated to raising awareness about breast cancer. A fellow cancer survivor told CBS Tysse’s kneeling “took something away” from the community of survivors.

Others expressed support for Tysse’s action.

On her Facebook page, Tysse explained why she chose to kneel, saying it “felt like the most patriotic thing I could do.”

“I love and honor my country as deeply as anyone yet it is my responsibility as an American to speak up against injustice as it affects my fellow Americans,” she said. She continued:

“I cannot idly stand by as black people are unlawfully profiled, harassed and killed by our law enforcement over and over and without a drop of accountability. …

“Whether or not you can see if from your vantage point, there is a deep system of institutionalized racism in America, from everyday discrimination to disproportionate incarceration of people of color to people losing their lives at the hands of the police simply for being black. This is not who we claim to be as a nation. It is wrong and I won’t stand for it. #Solidarity.”

The Sacramento Bee notes that Kings players have previously participated in anthem protests, as far as they are allowed.

“NBA rules require players, coaches and trainers to stand during the national anthem,” the Sacramento Bee writes. “But the Kings staged their own form of protest by locking arms with players on the Los Angeles Lakers before a game at Honda Center earlier this month.”

The Kings organization said it respected Tysse’s “right to exercise her freedom of speech,” the Bee reports.

The Kings were hosting Israel’s Maccabi Haifa for an exhibition game. Sacramento won, 135-96.

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Sports October 9, 2016

Let's Play Ball: Who's Who In The Baseball Playoffs

Rachel Martin and Mike Pesca of Slate’s The Gist podcast talk about the trend of under-performing pitchers in baseball’s post-season.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And it’s time now for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTIN: It’s the playoffs – the baseball playoffs, where heroes and goats are made, or so I’m told. Mike Pesca of “The Gist” joins us from the studios of Slate in New York. Hi, Mike.

MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Hi. The goats – let us talk of the goats.

MARTIN: The goats. OK, truth be told, I’d never heard of this expression until hours ago, but everyone tells me this is a thing. I don’t even understand what it means. Heroes and…

PESCA: …A goat? Yeah…

MARTIN: …I understand what a goat is, but I don’t understand the relevance in baseball.

PESCA: Scapegoat.

MARTIN: Oh.

PESCA: Oh, there’s so much relevance we can’t even get into. Like, there’s this curse…

MARTIN: …Oh, we can’t even get into it.

PESCA: There’s this curse of the goats with the Cubs. And GOAT is also an acronym for Greatest of All Time. But we’re going to talk about the goats who are the heels, the guys who let their teams down.

MARTIN: OK, so there’s two pitchers who are getting a lot of attention right now. Who are they?

PESCA: Yes, David Price and Clayton Kershaw, two of the best pitchers. I should say that Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers is just the best pitcher in baseball. He’s 28 years old. He’s going to the Hall of Fame. Right now, he’d probably make the Hall of Fame, actually, even if he quit tomorrow. And David Price is also a great pitcher. To give you some idea of how great they are, Clayton Kershaw gets paid $34 million a year, David Price $30 million a year.

And yet when it comes to the big stage both of these guys, to varying degrees, are disappointing. And it happened in the first game that each of them pitched in the playoffs. Especially David Price, a guy getting paid $30 million dollars a year, you’d hope he could get out of the fourth inning. But he couldn’t, once again letting his team down. Whereas Kershaw just wasn’t his normal dazzling self. But he does have a history in the playoffs of sometimes getting bombed.

MARTIN: So is that just ’cause it’s the playoffs and there’s a lot of pressure? I mean, but – what’s the deal?

PESCA: OK, I think there are two different guys, two different explanations. I think first of all, Kershaw is being compared to his usual regular-season self. And here’s a guy who has, you know, 170 strikeouts in a year and 11 walks – just spectacular. So if he pitches only pretty good in the playoffs in his first game – seven innings, three runs – that’s pretty good. We’re going to say a little disappointing. And the couple of games where he was really bad, which were a couple playoff games against the Cardinals – gave up big home runs – you say, what’s up with Kershaw?

Price, on the other hand, I do think something’s going on. It’s very hard to prove, but if you listen to interviews with other players or ex-players they say he’s maybe playing – trying too hard, gripping his balls a little hard, trying to be perfect. And when you try to be perfect and you aim instead of throw, bad things can happen. I think that there’s maybe enough evidence to say that David Price is mentally taking himself out of games.

MARTIN: And, I mean, these guys – just higher stakes – right? – compared to the hitters. The pitchers have to be good all the time, every time.

PESCA: Well, that’s a good – that’s a good thing to think about. A pitcher starts off with an ERA of 0 and can only get bad from there. A hitter starts off with a batting average of 0 but can only get good from there. So one swing of the bat can rehabilitate or make a hero in terms of a batter, but a pitcher has to be very good and consistent throughout. But to be fair or to be honest with David Price, he just has been a bad playoff pitcher. Although, you know, they’re down two games to nothing. If the Red Sox come back he could, you know, rewrite history. I just doubt we’ll see that. Kershaw can rehabilitate his image without any miraculous comeback. They’re up in their series.

MARTIN: Mike Pesca. He’s our own GOAT. He also hosts “The Gist.”

PESCA: Wait, the good kind, right?

MARTIN: That’s a compliment. The good kind.

PESCA: Yes, OK, thanks.

MARTIN: Greatest of All Time. Thanks so much, Mike.

PESCA: You’re welcome.

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Sports October 8, 2016

Olympics Leadership Agrees To Cede More Anti-Doping Control To WADA

IAAF President Sebastian Coe, left, speaks with FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the opening of an Olympic Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland, Saturday. Olympic sports leaders are discussing how to improve a global anti-doping system amid the fallout of a Russian state-backed cheating scandal. Fabrice Coffrini/AP hide caption

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Fabrice Coffrini/AP

Saying that it’s “an absolute priority for the entire Olympic Movement” to protect clean athletes, top officials from the International Olympic Committee and major sports federations are agreeing to relinquish more control over catching cheaters to the World Anti-Doping Agency.

That’s the news from the Olympic Summit, a meeting of IOC executives and the leaders of international sporting federations and national organizing committees. It follows an Olympics season that was plagued with doping scandals and the hacking of athletes’ medical records held by WADA.

From Geneva, Lisa Schlein reports for NPR’s Newscast unit:

“IOC sporting leaders meeting behind closed doors in a luxury hotel in Lausanne have decided to distance themselves from the controversial doping issue: They are giving WADA more powers to oversee the testing program.

“The anti-doping agency is mainly a regulatory body, which compiles the list of banned substances. The IOC is proposing WADA have more control over national anti-doping agencies and that it should supervise national anti-doping programs. The court of Arbitration for Sport will decide on sanctions for athletes who cheat.”

The IOC is also promising more money for WADA, saying that a financial boost would come from “the Olympic Movement” as well as from governments. But that money, the IOC says, will depend on WADA implementing some reforms — including a significant upgrade to its information security standards.

WADA’s response to the IOC’s announcement might best be described as lukewarm yet positive. The organization said it has its own proposals to consider — and noted that the topics overlap with the areas the IOC highlighted, from funding and governance to testing and consequences for cheating.

“It was encouraging to hear the sentiment expressed in today’s Olympic Summit that echoes the consensus reached by other stakeholders to the effect that WADA must be given greater authority and regulatory powers,” WADA President Craig Reedie said in a news release. “We will take these ideas forward with us into WADA’s Foundation Board meeting on 20 November; at which, the process towards a ‘roadmap’ will be drawn up.”

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Sports October 7, 2016

Experts Puzzled Over Significant Drop In NFL TV Ratings

The NFL’s TV ratings dominance was once bulletproof. But this year, they are down 10 percent across the board. And experts are struggling to find a reason why. NPR’s Kelly McEvers talks to reporter Joe Flint, who wrote about this for the Wall Street Journal.

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

Have we fallen out of love with football just a little bit? NFL TV ratings, once thought to be completely bulletproof, have dropped about 10 percent this season across all networks. The drop is even worse for the primetime games. Why is this happening? Well, there are no shortage of theories, but no definitive answers either. Reporter Joe Flint wrote about this for The Wall Street Journal, and he’s here with me in the studio now. Thanks for coming in.

JOE FLINT: Thank you for having me.

MCEVERS: OK, so just last year, the NFL had some of the best ratings ever. I mean, what are some of the theories behind this year’s drop?

FLINT: The main culprit, according to the NFL, is the election and all the coverage and all the attention that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are getting and that they’re sucking a lot of air out of the room. One of the debates went up against Monday Night Football and, of course, crushed it. And on Sunday afternoons, even, the cable news networks are all up dramatically in viewers and men 18 to 49, which is, of course, the core NFL demographic. So that’s what the league believes, but there are other folks who have different ideas.

MCEVERS: OK, so what are some of those ideas?

FLINT: Well, there are some who just think that the quality of NFL play has been on the decline. There’s also some key players missing. Tom Brady was suspended for the first four weeks. Tony Romo’s hurt. Peyton Manning’s retired. All these things are – are maybe contributing to a little less fan interest. And then there is a very vocal minority, as I’ve learned in the last two days since writing about this, of people very upset with the league’s non-reaction to the players protesting during the national anthem.

MCEVERS: OK, so you’re referring, of course, to protests started by Colin Kaepernick, and then other players have followed. What are people saying about it to you?

FLINT: Well I’ve gotten a lot of emails from readers very upset about it. They feel it’s disrespectful to the country, disrespectful to the game. They’re upset that the NFL, which will fine a player if they’re wearing the wrong socks or if the shoe laces aren’t tied right, is letting this go by, which they see as a tacit endorsement.

Some readers say they don’t have an issue with protest, but they don’t want to see it on the football field. Why does sports have to be politicized? Can’t it be the one refuge away from this? And others are just furious about it in general and say they’re tired of spoiled athletes not respecting the country and – and the flag.

And, again, I can’t say this is a real issue driving the ratings or not. The NFL certainly isn’t – doesn’t think so. On the other hand, if it is, I wouldn’t expect them to say they recognize that. So, you know, we’ll have to just see as time goes on, especially after the election.

MCEVERS: Now, I’m about to say something that some people would consider, you know, completely un-American and possibly even unconstitutional. Is it possible that, after all these years of consuming football 24/7, 365 days a year and all these different platforms, people are just getting tired of football?

FLINT: Well, it’s interesting. I mean, I’m a football fan. I’ve grown up watching the game, and I still watch, but I don’t watch it with the same intensity. I, myself, am kind of frustrated with the constant tweaking to the rules that the NFL does, the constant trying to get everything perfect that really interrupts the flow of the game, which, of course, then means more commercials, which then gives me another reason to turn the channel, lose interest and get bored. And I’m hearing from some readers that that, too, is an issue. And I think another thing we can’t dismiss is we are learning so much more about the violence of the game – the injuries, the concussions. It’s just become tougher to watch and see. And I don’t think that can be diminished either, and especially as time goes on and fewer kids are playing football as youths, which means they might not be watching it as much as they become adults.

MCEVERS: Well, Joe Flint of The Wall Street Journal, thank you so much for coming in.

FLINT: Thanks for having me.

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Sports October 5, 2016

San Francisco Beats New York Mets In Baseball's National League Wild-Card Game

San Francisco’s Conor Gillaspie celebrates his three-run home run in the ninth inning, propelling the Giants to a 3-0 win over the New York Mets in the National League wild-card game. Al Bello/Getty Images hide caption

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Al Bello/Getty Images

Madison Bumgarner pitched a four-hitter in his latest postseason gem, Conor Gillaspie hit a three-run homer off Jeurys Familia in the ninth inning, and the San Francisco Giants beat the defending National League champion New York Mets 3-0 Wednesday night in the wild-card game.

Trying to follow their World Series titles in 2010, ’12 and ’14, the Giants open the NL Division Series on Friday at the best-in-the-majors Chicago Cubs.

Bumgarner has pitched 23 consecutive scoreless innings in winner-take-all postseason games — all on the road — following a four-hitter at Pittsburgh in the 2014 wild-card game and five innings of relief at Kansas City to save Game 7 of the 2014 World Series.

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard didn’t allow a hit until two outs in the sixth and gave up two hits in seven innings. Addison Reed escaped bases-loaded trouble in the eighth.

Brandon Crawford doubled leading off the ninth against Familia, who walked Joe Panik with one out.

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Sports October 4, 2016

Maria Sharapova's 2-Year Doping Ban Cut To 15 Months

Maria Sharapova during her quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in January. A drug test Sharapova took during the event later came back positive for the banned substance meldonium. Rick Rycroft/AP hide caption

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Rick Rycroft/AP

The international Court of Arbitration for Sport has reduced tennis star Maria Sharapova’s two-year doping ban to 15 months.

In its decision, released Tuesday morning, the court cited Sharapova’s apparent lack of knowledge that the drug she was taking — a prescription heart medication called meldonium that can improve blood flow — had been banned by anti-doping regulators. She had appealed the two-year sentence, calling it “unfairly harsh” in a post on Facebook.

In another post following Tuesday’s decision, Sharapova called it one of her “happiest days, as I found out I can return to tennis in April.” She also called on the International Tennis Federation to look into better ways to notify athletes of changes to doping regulations.

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As we have reported, Sharapova has said she simply did not know the drug’s status had changed. In March, when she announced she had failed the drug test, she said she had been taking the drug for years.

“I did fail the test, and I take full responsibility for it. … It’s very important for you to understand that for 10 years, this medicine was not on WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency]’s banned list and I had been legally taking the medicine for the past 10 years. But on Jan. 1, the rules had changed and meldonium became a prohibited substance, which I did not know. … I was given this medicine by my doctor for several health issues I was having in 2006.”

So, what’s so bad about meldonium? In an interview with NPR this summer, Olivier Rabin, science director for the World Anti-Doping Agency, said the agency banned it on Jan. 1 after noticing that entire teams were taking meldonium, “which usually suggests a drug isn’t being taken for medical purposes. How could every member of a team need the same medical treatment?” He also cited studies questioning the drug’s safety.

Sharapova first tested positive for meldonium in January during the Australian Open, where she lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. The court upheld an earlier decision that stripped Sharapova of the ranking points she earned by making it to the quarterfinals, as well as any prize money.

The 15-month ban is back-dated to Jan. 26, 2016, which means Sharapova will be eligible to compete in April 2017, in time for both the French Open in May and at Wimbledon in July.

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