CHARLOTTE, NC (Dec. 15, 2020) – ProSport Management, a leading international sports talent management firm, is proud to welcome Kevin Weinress as Director, North America. Weinress will work with Mike Gartlan and Oskar Olsen, co-owners of the ProSport Management soccer division, to continue to sign the best soccer players in the U.S. and Canada.
“We are growing and it’s gotten to a point where it was clear we needed another high level agent—someone who has extensive experience in the North American soccer scene,” said Mike Gartlan. “I have known Kevin for almost 20 years and I knew he’d be a great fit for the company considering his history as a player, coach and agent.”
“This is the perfect time to bring Kevin onboard,” said Oskar Olsen. “Soccer is growing in the U.S. and there will always demand for talented players around the world. With Kevin’s network and experience, we will be able to provide even better opportunities to our clients and our club contacts.”
As a FIFA Licensed Intermediary for over a decade, Weinress has managed the careers of professional soccer players in Major League soccer and around the world. He has signed MLS SuperDraft first round picks, MLS homegrowns and United States national team members. Weinress has represented, among others, Kemar Lawrence, Kei Kamara, Memo Rodriguez, Tristan Blackmon, Dejuan Jones and Mauricio Pineda.
“I’m looking forward to working with Mike and Oscar, two highly experienced agents who have had tremendous success,” said Weinress. “ProSport Management is a fantastic group of professionals and without question one of the top soccer agencies in the industry.”
A graduate of University of Southern California, Weinress lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.
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NASCAR.com | November 8, 2020 (Photo: Getty Images)
Chase Elliott won his first NASCAR Cup Series title Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, joining his father, Bill, as champions of stock-car racing’s top division.
At 24 years, 11 months and 11 days old, Elliott became the third-youngest Cup Series champion in NASCAR history. Only Jeff Gordon, who claimed his first title at 24 years, three months and eight days old in 1995, and 1950 champ Bill Rexford (then 23 years old) were younger.
Elliott topped fellow finalists Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano in the season-ending race, held for the first time at the 1-mile Arizona oval. Hamlin, the ace for Joe Gibbs Racing this season, was also competing for his first Cup Series crown; Team Penske teammates Keselowski and Logano were both seeking their second series titles.
“I’m not sure that I still even know,” Elliott said when asked what the championship means to him. “I just, man, I’m at a loss for words. This is unbelievable. Oh, my gosh. We did it. I mean, we did it. That’s all I’ve got to tell you. Unreal.
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Bubba Watson talks with his caddie Ted Scott on the ninth hole during the first round of the 2020 Memorial Tournament. Photo by Aaron Doster/USA TODAY Sports
USA TODAY/Golfweek | By Steve DiMeglio | October 28, 2020
On many sleepless nights, Bubba Watson thought he was going to die.
Alone in the darkness with only his thoughts to keep him company as he dealt with crippling anxiety that kept him up at night, Watson contemplated his mortality and often thought back to the passing of his father and namesake, Gerry, a former Green Beret who battled post-traumatic stress disorder and died in 2010 after a long battle with cancer. Not even wonderful memories of his wife, Angie, and their two adopted children, Caleb and Dakota, gave him comfort enough to sleep.
His days weren’t easy, either.
“I had a lot of noise in my head,” Watson told Golfweek in a recent phone interview about some of his darkest moments some two years ago. “I thought I was going to die. It was rough.”
So, too, were the three times in recent years he was rushed to the hospital thinking his life was going to end from a heart attack. Or when he just didn’t feel like playing and wanted to withdraw from a tournament. Or the time 18 months ago when he tipped the scale at 162 pounds, some 30-35 pounds below his normal weight, because the fear raging through his body made eating nearly impossible.
“When I started losing the weight and was getting skinny, it gave me flashbacks to my dad,” Watson said. “So that gave me more mental issues, more anxiety.
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CHARLOTTE, NC (Oct. 14, 2020) – ProSport Management, a leading international sports talent management firm, has hired Frank Johansen to lead its business in Scandinavia. Frank will work directly with partners Oskar Olsen and Mike Gartlan, as well as U.S. based agents, to create a more seamless path for clients to move between Scandinavia and the Americas.
“We have found the need for a person on the ground in Scandinavia and are thrilled to have Frank join the team”, said Oskar Olsen, ProSport Management partner and co-owner of the soccer division. “With his background, we know we are getting the best person in the region to help bring players to the top leagues in Scandinavia and identify local players for MLS and Liga MX.”
“Frank was an amazing find for us,” said Mike Gartlan, ProSport Management partner and co-owner of the soccer division. “He has a great background and contacts and is quickly showing his value. Our clients are our number one priority and bringing on someone of Frank’s caliber allows us to provide even better service to them.”
Prior to joining ProSport Management, Frank worked in various positions in professional sports as well as other industries. Most notably he was the youngest chairman in Norwegian elite football at the age of 25 when he ran Follo FK and was Head of Partnerships for Vålerenga Football Club, Oslo.
“I’m looking forward to expanding the ProSport Management brand in Scandinavia and Europe,” said Frank. “My philosophy is in line with Oskar and Mike as they are always looking to help their clients and partners reach their potential and their dreams. ProSport Management has built a lot of momentum already and I am thrilled to be a part of the next chapter.”
In 2012, the Norwegian Football Association named Frank Young Leader in Norway. Frank has a master’s degree in Sport Management from the University of Stirling, Scotland.
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Geoff Ogilvy and Hale Irwin, the U.S. Open victors in 2006 and 1974, respectively.
GETTY IMAGES
This is the first installment in our five-part series, The Road to Winged Foot, powered by Cisco Webex, in which we’re highlighting how players, officials, broadcasters and others are preparing for the 2020 U.S. Open, set for next week at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y.First up: Two former Winged Foot Open champions reflect on what’s required to win the national championship on such a fearsome setup.
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The most fun I ever had on a conference call came a week or so ago in a three-way conversation with two former U.S. Opens winners, Mr. Hale Irwin and Mr. Geoff Ogilvy.
You may be wondering about the use of the honorifics, and Hollywood-style at that. (On the first reference.) Well, in this bureau, in these holy days leading up to our great national championship, all former Open winners don Mister. While it is true that there is little in golf more pretentious than calling Ben HoganMr. Hogan, this week, under this byline, he is Mr. Hogan. Mr. Ben Hogan, first time out.
What it takes to win a U.S. Open at Winged Foot
In the first of five episodes of “The Road to Winged Foot,” Hale Irwin and Geoff Ogilvy — both of whom won U.S. Opens at Winged Foot — reveal how they got it done on the fire-breathing layout.
Hey, if win the U.S. Open four times, or even three times (Mr. Irwin, Mr. Tiger Woods) or two times (Mr. Andy North, Mr. Curtis Strange) or even once (Mr. Ogilvy), you’ll get the full treatment, too.
C’mon, Phil!
Mr. Irwin won his first U.S. Open (in 1974) on the same course where Mr. Ogilvy won his only (to date) U.S. Open. We all know where that was: the West Course of the Winged Foot Golf Club, in leafy Mamaroneck, N.Y. Mr. Ogilvy’s victory there came the last time the Open was played there, in 2006. Some people remember that Open best for the improbable 6 Phil made on the par-4 18th hole on Sunday. He would have won with a 4. A 5 would have meant an 18-hole Monday playoff with Mr. Ogilvy, who was in the house, watching Phil finish on TV. Alas, the double-bogey that lives in infamy and on a certain Callaway commercial.
But one of the wonderful things that came out of our session was a reminder of just how marvelously Mr. Ogilvy played, including the par he made on 18 in front of Phil, to get to the clubhouse at 285, five over par, and enjoy the feeling of being the leader in the house.
“I’ve always loved par being important,” Mr. Ogilvy said. “It’s close to the most satisfying” thing there is in golf.
Five over!
That’s what the USGA is all about. That’s what the U.S. Open is all about. That’s why the U.S. Open is the U.S. Open. A.W. Tillinghast, the man who built Winged Foot, demanded golfers to stop iron approach shots on sloping greens.
As for Mr. Irwin, he called Winged Foot “the hardest course I ever played when weather wasn’t an issue.” He won at seven over. He described the foot-high rough in places.
“The moaning was unbelievable,” Mr. Irwin said. “Every shot was demanding.” He took 287 of them. “If I made a par, be very happy and move to the next hole.”
Why this crafty veteran is a smart dark-horse pick for the U.S. Open
Chez Reavie’s studied nonchalance belies how much preparation he is putting into this Open. His statistician has already supplied him a Winged Foot cheat sheet.
Mr. Ogilvy, born in 1977, has read about and watched the ’74 Open, what he called, as others have, “the Massacre at Winged Foot.” He recalled the 1984 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, when his countryman, Greg Norman, lost to Fuzzy Zoeller in a playoff.
As we spoke, it was Friday morning for Mr. Ogilvy in Melbourne, Australia, and Thursday night for Mr. Irwin, in Phoenix. They seemed to be enjoying each other’s virtual company, as members of this tiny club, of players who have won major championships at Winged Foot. Davis M. Love III won his PGA Championship in 1997 at Winged Foot. Had he taken two fewer strokes at the 1996 U.S. Open, we’d be trotting out a Mister for him right now. Instead, a nod to Mr. Steve Jones.
Mr. Irwin said something in the chat I had never considered before, despite many trips to Winged Foot. If you stood on each of the 18 greens at Winged Foot’s West Course, you’d think the course must be very hilly, because the greens have so much slope. But in actual fact, the course is quite flat. It’s the greens that make the course.
Mr. Irwin watched the 2006 U.S. Open on TV. He said in our interview that he liked Winged Foot better in 2006, because of its graduated rough, because of the condition of the course.
Mr. Ogilvy was well aware of Mr. Irwin’s record as a U.S. Open player, as a golfer who was “tough as nails.”
Mr. Ogilvy said that his pitch to 18 “had my attention.” The fairway was short and tight he said it was like playing off a green. There was no margin for error. “My caddie said, ‘Let’s par the last four holes. Nobody else is going to do that.’” Mr. Ogilvy did, and the other contenders did not. The caddie was a legend of the European tour, Alister “Squirrel” Matheson.
When Mr. Ogilvy described his playing partner, Ian Poulter, dressed “head to toe in pink,” Mr. Irwin laughed. Mr. Irwin did not wear pink. In his U.S. Open prime, he was not one to do a lot of laughing. Mr. Zoeller was a joker. But you’re not going to find a lot of U.S. Open winners whose first move was to tell jokes.
Mr. Irwin compared how he played 18 on Sunday — driver and a 2-iron — with how Mr. Ogilvy played it, driver and a 9-iron. Dustin Johnson could surely play it this year with a driver and a wedge. But a 4 there will always be a good score. Of that both gents were sure.
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OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. –BMW Championship officials and the PGA TOUR announced today the creation of the BMW Match Play Challenge, a televised nine-hole charity exhibition to benefit the Evans Scholars Foundation.
The match will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 26, on the back nine of Olympia Fields Country Club’s North Course. Rising star and 2020 PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa will team up with fellow California alum Max Homa to take on the eighth ranked player in the world, Bryson DeChambeau, and four-time PGA TOUR winner Kevin Na in a six-point Scotch Match.
Coverage of the exhibition match will air from 2-4 p.m. (CDT) as a special presentation of PGA TOUR LIVE and will be simulcast on Golf Channel, GOLFTV (internationally) and other PGA TOUR media platforms, including PGA TOUR social channels.
During the match, the two-man teams will compete to earn points that result in donations to the Evans Scholars Foundation. Six points will be available on each hole, and skills challenges on holes 11 and 15 will enable the teams to score bonus points.
“With so many families impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, we’re seeing an even greater need to help young men and women afford the high costs of pursuing a college education,” said Vince Pellegrino, WGA senior vice president of tournaments. “This event will give us a great opportunity to raise awareness and funds for the Evans Scholars Foundation, so we can award more college scholarships to deserving youth caddies.”
The BMW Championship will establish a full tuition and housing scholarship, valued at $125,000, in the name of the winning team, while an additional contribution of $1,000 for each point scored by the winning team will also be made.
Fans can join the fundraising efforts and support the Evans Scholars Foundation’s mission of sending caddies to college by visiting www.bmwchampionship.com. Olympia Fields members will match all online donations during tournament week.
Joining the PGA TOUR players during the match will be Steve Sands, the lead interviewer for NBC’s golf coverage, and Evans Scholars Erin Cronin and Oscar Garcia, who will serve as standard bearers for the competition.
The Evans Scholars Foundation, which sends caddies to college on full tuition and housing scholarships, is the sole beneficiary of the BMW Championship. Since 2007, the BMW Championship has raised $35 million for the Evan Scholars Foundation to help send more than 3,000 students from across the nation to college. This fall, 1,045 students will be enrolled at 19 universities nationwide as Evans Scholars.
The 2020 BMW Championship is the penultimate event of the PGA TOUR FedExCup Playoffs and features the top 70 PGA TOUR players vying to earn one of 30 spots in the season-ending TOUR Championship. Olympia Fields Country Club will host the BMW Championship from Aug. 27-30, with all four rounds of the event to be broadcast live on NBC and the Golf Channel.
HOW FORMAT WORKS
● The format is a 6-point scotch game. 6 points will be available on every hole
● 1 point for “prox” – closest to the hole in regulation.
● 2 points for low individual score.
● 2 points for low team total.
● 1 point for birdie (or better).
● If a team gets all 6 points, the points awarded doubles to 12. If a team wins all the points and both players make birdie, the total goes to 24 points.
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There’s an unofficial mold a PGA player is expected to fit. He’s supposed to be reserved and polished in his bespoke golf slacks and polo shirt spotted with sponsorship logos. He keeps his expressions subdued, both on the course and in media interviews—speaking in the accepted go-to cliches of “one hole at a time, one shot at a time.”
Bubba Watson did not tumble out of that mold, and he never showed a moment’s interest in sticking to its rules. A player with a big personality, he’s known for showing an equally big sense of humor and unreserved emotion on the golf course and in front of the cameras. While other champions hide behind their stoic demeanors, Mr. Watson is never above trading a joke or two with the gallery or shedding a tear or two when he takes home a trophy.
The two-time Masters champion adds those Major Tournament wins to 10 other tour victories. He’s easy to spot at any PGA event, standing 6-feet 3-inches and always wearing his signature visor. One of the longest hitters on the tour for years, he’s known for taking risks on the course that a more sensible but less entertaining player would never attempt. As he continues his 18th year of professional golf, the 41-year-old Watson never makes fans guess as to what he’s thinking or feeling on the links.
Mr. Watson and his fellow pros spent unexpected months at home when the PGA Tour went on its Covid-19 hiatus. That meant bonus time with his wife, Angie, and children (Caleb and Dakota), so his heart is still back home in Pensacola, Florida, even when he’s on the course. It’s no surprise his five favorite things all involve his family.
The Watson Kitchen Table
In a normal year, the global PGA season runs almost year round – though virus restrictions cancelled spring and early summer events in 2020. As the tour got rolling again in June, Mr. Watson might find himself home a couple days per week with Thursday to Sunday tournaments, practice rounds and pro-ams filling up the rest of the week. When he does make it home, the family dines together.
“I think about Angie’s cooking while I’m on the road,” Mr. Watson told Mansion Global. “We sit at the kitchen table every night and have dinner together. I really miss Taco Tuesday and cheeseburger night during the season. Sure, I can get any of that from a hotel or restaurant, but it’s not the same.”
His Kids’ Bedside
“When I’m home, Angie and I make sure to put the kids to bed together every night,” Mr. Watson said. “We say a prayer with each of them separately. During the extra time home with the shutdown, it was really a special time to be able to tuck them in and have that time together to pray with them.”
Mr. Watson and his wife extend their love of children beyond their own kids, involving themselves with multiple PGA Junior Golf charities and acting as ambassadors for the Studer Family Children’s Hospital in Pensacola. In addition, the Watsons donate time and money to Birdies for the Brave, a national military outreach initiative with the PGA dedicated to honoring the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces.
His Children’s Bibles
“Caleb and Dakota each have their own kids bible, and I love reading a bedtime story to the kids at nighttime before they go to bed. We all pick a different bible story every night,” he said.
His Nautique Wakesurfing Boat
The PGA Tour might take the boy out of Florida, but there’s no way of taking the Gator out of this lifelong native. When his schedule allows him to find his way home, it doesn’t take Mr. Watson long to get back to his Nautique Wakesurfing Boat.
A sport unique to the ocean bays and lakes of the Sunshine State, wakesurfing allows a rider standing atop a wakeboard to trail behind a specially designed tow boat to ride the water churned up by the vessel’s propellers. During his extended off-season stay at home, Mr. Watson and his family spent lots of time on the water.
His ‘Uno Attack’ Game
Many families have that one go-to card or board game to pass their quality time. For the Watsons, that’s Uno Attack. A variation of the well-known, four-color card game with its familiar mix of “Draw Two, Skip, Reverse” twists and turns, the Attack version adds an electronic “card shoe” that fires a barrage of Uno cards to the unlucky recipient. The resulting chaos and laughter is a far cry from the quiet of the golf course, and Mr. Watson likes it that way.
“If I’m home, we will play Uno Attack every single day at some point. I look forward to those games a lot when I’m out here. In fact—my family, the games, the fun, the bedtimes–I really look forward to all of it when I’m out here.”
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Bubba Watson hits out of the sand during the Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
The Golden Bear Club at Muirfield Village Golf Club was closed this year. No fans at either the Workday Charity Open two weeks ago or the Memorial last week. No need for the Golden Bear Club’s food and beverage tents.
During the second round of the Workday, the par-4 14th was playing 318 yards. Watson’s drive went 384. The PGA Tour’s data site does not even show where it lands. The Tour’s website says it went to “unknown.”
The yellow ball was about 3 yards away from a green picnic bench.
Watson’s caddie, Ted Scott, said the ball hit the cart part to the left of the green, took a bounce and went in the club. Watson and Scott went in, too.
“310 Hole, Cut Driver + Cart Path equals bounce over giant grandstand, through trees and bushes, into eating area,” Scott wrote on Instagram.
Watson played it from there.
He had 82 yards back to the green. Behind him, eight green picnic benches, a short, white fence and one of the Golden Bear Club’s green tents. In front of him, to his left, part of the tent. In front of him, to his right, trees. Directly in front of him, to where he and Scott believed the pin was, a tan storage container and a white propane tank. Watson was actually playing with fire.
He played it to within 14 feet.
“Total guesstimate yardage, total guesstimate pin direction, green slopes away about 4%,” Scott wrote on Instagram. “@bubbawatson hits a ridiculous recovery that lands pin hi somehow and rips back to 25 feet. How does he do this nonsense #Freakshow#workdaycharityopen #pgatour.”
Watson two-putted for par, narrowly missing the birdie putt. He finished 1-over for his round and 8-over over his two rounds and missed the cut.
The ball was likely done, too. Scott showed on Instagram that it had a large black scuff on it.
“Love watching the freak show every time I get the chance!” Tony Finau wrote on the Instagram post. “One of the best duos in the game.”
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If you combine a good cause with good friends in good spirits playing some pretty good golf, you get exactly what you got Wednesday: A good time.
Almost too good a time.
Bubba Watson and Harold Varner III teamed up to beat Jason Day and Wesley Bryan, 3-up, in a nine-hole charity exhibition at Detroit Golf Club, which hosts the first round of the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic on Thursday.
Watson helped organize the event, which raised more than $1 million for the tournament’s initiative to help end the digital divide in Detroit and ensure every resident has access to the internet, technology and digital-literacy training.
Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert’s philanthropy in Detroit inspired Watson to put the match together.
“And then when the Tour, I took the idea to the Tour, they blessed me with the opportunity,” he said. “Obviously with the Rocket Mortgage team behind us, they let us do it and run wild with it. So it was a dream come true that they let me do it.”
With Tour commissioner Jay Monahan watching the group tee off on the 10th hole from a safe distance, the antics started right away when someone mentioned Watson would tee off first.
“I’m teeing off first!” Varner insisted like a jealous sibling, as he began to tee up his ball. “He always goes first.”
And go first he did again.
It was a casual match, with players walking and talking the whole time, much like a practice round. On the 12th green, Day stood near the hole when Watson missed a 20-footer for birdie. Watson shot him a glare and said: “You wished that out.”
Day took it a step further.
“I willed that out,” he said. “I didn’t wish that out.”
As they walked off the green, Varner had a question.
“Hey, Bubba,” he said. “How do you hit it so far when you’re so old?”
Varner is 29. Watson is 41.
“It’s God-given,” Watson said, before he blasted a towering fade over the trees on the 13th hole.
The teasing was incessant. When Varner dropped an iron on the 13th tee that knocked his ball off the tee, players yelled at him: “Penalty!”
The players walked the course. But Varner fell behind and hitched a ride in a cart to the 14th tee. As he approached, Day noticed Varner had suddenly put on a mask.
“Hey, man,” Day said. “Did you catch COVID on the way up?”
“No,” Varner said. “You can’t ride in a cart without a mask.”
On the 16th green, Watson got the revenge he was waiting for when he stood by the hole as Day missed a 20-foot putt.
“Hey,” Watson said to Day. “I wished it out.”
Varner clinched the match when he made a 30-foot eagle putt from just off the 17th green. He and Watson celebrated with a socially distanced air fist bump.
“Oh, my God it feels good to be a champion again,” Watson crowed as he walked off the green.
After the match, Rocket Mortgage Classic tournament director Jason Langwell told the players how much money was raised and presented the winners with championship belts. Watson said he would kick in $25,000 and Varner thought about why he agreed to play in the match in the first place.
“I mean, the cool thing is, Bubba was riding in his car and he was like, ‘Would you play?’ ” Varner said. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’ll play.’
“But as it got closer to things we were doing, I just thought it was really cool (that’s) what it’s about. I just couldn’t remember not having internet growing up. Like some kids had internet and then we got it like a year later, but like I couldn’t imagine being in high school and not having internet.”
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.
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Kevin Na sinks a 23-foot birdie on No. 18 in Round 4 at Travelers
In the final round of the 2020 Travelers Championship, Kevin Na makes a 23-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th hole.
In his final round at the Travelers Championship, Kevin Na hit 12 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation, and had a great day on the green leaving no misses on putts within 10 feet. Na finished his day in 5th at 16 under; Dustin Johnson is in 1st at 19 under; Kevin Streelman is in 2nd at 18 under; and Will Gordon and Mackenzie Hughes are tied for 3rd at 17 under.
On the par-4 first, Kevin Na’s 126 yard approach to 6 feet set himself up for the birdie on the hole. This moved Kevin Na to 1 under for the round.
Na got a bogey on the 443-yard par-4 seventh, getting on the green in 3 and two putting, moving Na to even-par for the round.
On the 523-yard par-5 13th, Na had a birdie after hitting the green in 2 and two putting. This moved Na to 1 under for the round.
After a 282 yard drive on the 296-yard par-4 15th, Na chipped his second shot to 7 feet, which he rolled for one-putt birdie on the hole. This moved Na to 2 under for the round.
On the 444-yard par-4 18th hole, Na reached the green in 2 and sunk a 23-foot putt for birdie. This moved Na to 3 under for the round.
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In front of a horde of NASCAR fans, many of whom were wearing “Black Lives Matter” and “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirts, Bubba Wallace said “the sport is changing” after an emotional race Monday at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama.
Wallace, NASCAR’s only Black full-time driver, was joined by all 39 other drivers and their crews in a march down pit road as they pushed his No. 43 to the front of the line in the moments before the race. The gesture came one day after a noose was found in Wallace’s garage stall. When the group reached the front line Monday, Wallace climbed out of his car and wept.
If not for a shortage of fuel, Wallace might have had a chance to race for the win. A late stop for gas led to a 14th-place finish, but Monday still felt like a win for Wallace. He went to the fence and, through the wiring, slapped hands with a group of fans as they cheered.
He apologized for not wearing a mandatory mask but said he didn’t put it on because “I wanted to show whoever it was: You are not going to take away my smile.”
“This sport is changing,” he said. “The prerace deal was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to witness in my life. From all the supporters, from drivers to crew members, everybody here, the badass fan base, thank you guys for coming out. This is truly incredible, and I’m glad to be a part of this sport.”
Ryan Blaney, who won Monday’s race in a photo finish, said Wallace has been one of his best friends for 15 years, and he called the prerace show of support a special moment.
“And it showed how you’re not gonna scare [Wallace]. You’re not gonna scare him,” Blaney told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt. “He’s really strong. He’s gonna rise above it and fight this.
“So we just wanted to show our support. I wanted to show my support for my best friend. He’s just been someone I’ve really, really loved for a long time, and I’m gonna support him 100 percent along the way for many years to come. I hope a lot of people will look at that and learn from everyone coming together and supporting each other. That’s what it’s gonna take to make things better.”
The idea for the gesture came up Monday. Jimmie Johnson said in a drivers chat that he would stand with Wallace during the national anthem. Then Kevin Harvick shared the idea that the drivers should push Wallace’s car to the front.
“I’m happy to play a role in it. I want to. I know I need to,” Johnson said after his 13th-place finish. “And I feel like to see the garage area stand up as they have as well in the last few weeks, and then again today, is sending a very strong message, and I’m very proud of our sport.”
Standing alongside Wallace for the national anthem was Richard Petty, the 82-year-old Hall of Fame driver known as “The King.” Wallace drives the No. 43 Chevrolet for Petty, who issued a scathing rebuke after the noose was found, calling for the “sick person” to be expelled from NASCAR forever, a move that NASCAR president Steve Phelps insisted will happen when the person is caught.
Sources told ESPN’s Marty Smith that Petty decided to travel to Talladega after the noose was found and that he said the “most important thing for me right now is hugging my driver.” This marked the first race Petty had attended since the sport was shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Workers painted “#IStandWithBubbaWallace” on the infield grass before Monday’s race, which was postponed from Sunday because of inclement weather.
Two weeks ago, Wallace successfully pushed NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag at its venues, though the sanctioning body has not outlined how it will enforce the restriction. Disgruntled fans with Confederate flags drove past the main entrance to the Alabama race track prior to Sunday’s race, and a plane flew above the track pulling a banner of the flag that read “Defund NASCAR.”
Hours after the race was postponed by rain, NASCAR said the noose had been found. The sanctioning body vowed to do everything possible to find who was responsible and “eliminate them from the sport.” Wallace said in a statement Sunday that he was “incredibly saddened” by the act.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said she was “shocked and appalled” by the “vile act” against Wallace, an Alabama native.
“There is no place for this disgusting display of hatred in our state,” Ivey said. “Bubba Wallace is one of us. He is a native of Mobile, and on behalf of all Alabamians, I apologize to Bubba Wallace as well as to his family and friends for the hurt this has caused and regret the mark this leaves on our state.”
Talladega County Sheriff Jimmy Kilgore said NASCAR contacted the FBI, which is handling the investigation. The FBI field office in Birmingham, Alabama, did not immediately return a message left by The Associated Press.
Officials at Sonoma Raceway in California said Monday that they are looking into what could be a similar incident after “a piece of twine tied in what appeared to be a noose” was found “hanging from a tree on raceway property” on Saturday. The track’s president said the incident is under investigation by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department.
After Monday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, Aric Almirola, who finished third, said he was speechless when he found out that a noose had been found in Wallace’s garage stall.
“So you see people lash out and show signs of evil and darkness, and it just comes from a bad place,” Almirola said. “And I think the most important thing you can respond with that is light and love. And showing how to stand up and how to show positivity and have a heart. And I feel like, as an industry, that’s what we did today.”
Former NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. took to Twitter to offer his support for Wallace in the wake of Sunday’s incident.
Lewis Hamilton, Formula One’s only Black driver and its reigning champion, also offered his support via Instagram.
“It’s disgusting that this is happening, stay safe and alert out there bro,” Hamilton wrote. “Supporting you from afar, proud of you.”
After the race Monday, Wallace said he is going to “keep on truckin'” and looks forward to racing next weekend at Pocono Raceway.
“Hey, I’m still smiling,” he said. “Long week ahead of me — probably a couple weeks, probably a couple months. … So I’ll be ready for Pocono.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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After shooting 2-over 73 and playing himself out of the tournament, Bubba Watson didn’t have much to celebrate Saturday at the RBC Heritage.
He did, however, have reason to shell-ebrate.
Watson avoided a bizarre rules decision after hitting his tee shot into a greenside bunker at Harbour Town’s par-3 17th hole and discovering a small crab under his ball. Just as PGA Tour rules official Slugger White arrived on the scene, the crustacean decided to avoid any further issues, crawling out from under Watson’s ball and flipping over on its back in the sand nearby.
Able to play the ball, Watson didn’t need a ruling. But still, the situation provided plenty of great commentary.
“Stick your tee down there, man,” Watson told his playing competitor, Rory McIlroy, as they waited for White. “It won’t get your finger, and if it does, it’ll be funnier.”
McIlroy then quipped: “Soft shell?”
Watson kept insisting that he didn’t want to play the shot with the crab under his ball because, “I don’t want the world to get mad at me.”
He went on to further explain: “There was a camera and, you know, people get mad cause I’d hit an animal. … We got enough issues in our world right now, we don’t need crab issues.”
Luckily, a potential crisis was averted, and Watson splashed safely out of the sand before making bogey. Still no word, however, on the status of the crab after Watson’s caddie, Ted Scott, mentioned it looked to be “playing dead.”
This isn’t Watson’s first brush with wildlife on the golf course. He also had to put his zoology knowledge to the test at the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits when his ball came to rest on a small anthill.
Watson called a rules official over, but after the official informed Watson that ants were not considered burrowing animals per the Rules of Golf and he would have to play the shot, Watson went on a bit of an ant rant.
“Okay, but I have a question for you,” he said to the official. “Since it’s an animal. It is an animal, right? Do you agree with that? It’s burrowing, it’s digging a hole. It’s either an ant bed or it’s an animal digging a hole. It’s one or the other.”
Not getting anywhere with the official, Watson tried one last-ditch effort to get relief: “So, if some guy was allergic to ants and he got an ant on him, you could [not] care less?”
This time around, Watson avoided a crabby rules discussion – well, kind of.
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The stage is set for Inter Miami CF to continue their inaugural season, with Major League Soccer announcing last week that its season will resume starting July 8. But when Inter Miami returns to the field, they’ll do so without fans at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando — meaning South Florida fans and Inter Miami CF Stadium will have to continue to be patient for the team’s long-awaited home debut in Fort Lauderdale.
As a part of the club’s “We Are the Sky” campaign, Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender wrote a poem that discusses missing the emotions fans would provide during a home game — but from the stadium’s perspective.
The team’s March 14 home opener against the L.A. Galaxy and ensuing home games were postponed in mid-March due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The only time Inter Miami fans were able to watch the team suit up at Inter Miami CF Stadium was during an a practice session that was open to season-ticket holders on March 10 — two days before MLS suspended the season.
“All of the players, the club and the community were really looking forward to having the inaugural [home game],” Callender said. “It would’ve been a crucial time to build a relationship with our fans. It’s our home. The stadium itself hasn’t been able to be used as much as we thought it would be used this year. My approach to it was ‘If I am feeling this way, and I’m a player then how would the place feel in these times?’
“Not only do we miss out on spending time in the stadium, but the stadium misses out on spending time with us.”
In the poem, Callender wrote: “The darkest hours summon the brightest lights, and in this light, the herons fly. Alike the herons, I’ve embodied stillness, and since I can’t impress, I must confess…You are the heart, you are the soul, you are the presence that makes me feel whole, you are the community I was built for, you are the fans that we fly for.”
In both the poem and in a conversation with the Sun Sentinel, Callender credits the fans for bringing life and energy to the stadium that the team will miss during the tournament. Inter Miami plans to resume their season in Fort Lauderdale after the tournament end, but it’s unknown whether those games will be played without fans in the stadium.
“In some sense,” Callender said, “the stadium does come alive when the people are there.”
As for how he’s feeling about playing without fans, Callender said it’ll be a challenge but said it’s the right environment for the league to plan in amid the pandemic.
“Collectively as a league, every team wants to play in their own stadium,” Callender said. “Even though it’s a bummer that we can’t be in our home stadium, we’ve all been urging to play so it’s an opportunity to get back on the field in a proper environment.”
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James Nicholas is an avid outdoor photographer. (Courtesy of James Nicholas)
It’s rare to see a Korn Ferry Tour player who is an Ivy League alum.
More rare, perhaps, to learn that alum was the pre-med track.
Rarer still to see that Ivy League alum on a pre-med track also boast a serious following on Instagram and YouTube – his photography and video work racking up millions of views and thousands of likes.
But that’s James Nicholas.
After earning 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour status by advancing to Final Stage of Q-School, Nicholas – who was first alternate at the Panama Championship, Country Club de Bogota Championship and El Bosque Mexico Championship – is eager to test his mettle against some of the best in the world.
First, though, the 23-year-old spent a few minutes with PGA TOUR Digital to chat about his love of photography, how someone with a degree in ecology and evolutionary biology managed to become a professional golfer, and how his grandfather helped Joe Namath and the New York Jets win Super Bowl III.
So you went to Yale, one of the most prestigious post-secondary institutions in the world, and you played multiple sports. How did that come to be?
I grew up playing tons of sports, but I grew up in a family where school came first. My dad went to Harvard. He was a baseball and football player there. My mom was a talented athlete as well. I played a ton of different sports, but my parents were always like, ‘You have to finish your homework before you go play with your friends.’ That’s how I learned how to manage my time well. Growing older I realized I wanted to do sports in order to get me into the best university possible. At that moment in time, it was going to be hockey. I always wanted to play hockey – it was my sport. I traveled every weekend for hockey. In my freshman year of high school, I had a college offer for lacrosse and I was talking to colleges for hockey and football. Naturally I was going to play those sports in high school, and golf was just a sport I was decent at, at best, but I wasn’t ever going to play competitively. In my freshman year I broke my collarbone in football and then I re-broke it in hockey. I went to the nurse’s office to get my approval to play lacrosse and she looks at me and said, ‘Maybe it’s best if you play something with less contact’ (laughs). I ended up playing golf.
I joined the team as a freshman and I made the (state championship) as a freshman and that was the first time a freshman had made it in a long time. That gave me the motivation to really practice and elevate my game to the next level. The next couple of years I got better and in my junior year (of high school) I got the itch, fell in love with the game. My college coach, Colin Sheehan, came to watch me at a high school tournament and he said he wanted to have me at Yale.
How did you manage your time with football, hockey, and then eventually golf?
At that point I had an offer for football as well and I just fell in love with it. The campus is beautiful. New Haven (Connecticut) doesn’t have the best rap but it’s an awesome city and I was lucky enough to be there. The golf course is the best college course in the country. From there it was purely dedication and once I quit football I focused all my time on school and golf. It was hard to juggle the two – I’m taking four biology classes. There’s biology, chemistry … the list goes on and on for all the pre-requisites for pre-med. It never gets easy. Pre-med was the harder track but I grew up in a family where my father was a doctor, my grandfather was a doctor. They were both doctors with the Jets. My grandfather won Super Bowl III with the Jets. It was a tradition. I would always ask my dad, “How was surgery today?” so I was always interested in it. Science was always my favorite thing in school – science and math. I always felt that biology would be my major at Yale, but I never really thought how hard it would be. If I was to dedicate my time, I could do it.
Wait, your grandfather helped win a Super Bowl? Like Joe Namath and those New York Jets?
He was the team doctor (laughs). He was the one that operated on Joe’s knee and developed the knee brace that Joe wore in Super Bowl III.
That’s pretty cool.
It’s always amazing. During the 50th reunion for Super Bowl III, in 2019, we went on the field, since my grandfather passed away (in 2006). We were there with the whole team during the ceremony and it was pretty awesome to have all the guys come up to me and tell me stories about my grandfather. My dad was the water boy for that team. All the stories they told me were just amazing.
During this time of COVID-19 and the uncertainty surrounding it, and not playing professional golf right now, did you ever think, ‘Maybe I should pivot and be a doctor?’
Once I quit football my sophomore year, I told myself I was going to become a professional golfer. Now that I have Korn Ferry Tour status, this has been my main focus. Obviously I’d love to help any way I can but I’ll leave that to the professionals. I’d have to go through four years of med school anyway before I could help, so it’d be a while (laughs).
In terms of playing at Yale, your scoring average improved tremendously year after year. What was the key to that improvement and what did you learn?
I always went back to look at my scoring average and in my freshman year I think it was 74.5, which is horrific. Then in my senior year it was 69.1 I look back and just … I didn’t leave the course. I would wake up at 6 a.m. every day, practice until 9 a.m. at the course, then went to class from 9-2 p.m. and then I’d practice from 2-6 p.m. and then I’d study until 11 p.m. and I’d do the same thing every day. During the winter there was an indoor facility and if I wasn’t in class I was in there, either studying or practicing. I’d hit 100 golf balls, then study or work for an hour. Sometimes I would sleep in that room. The security guards came to kick me out a few times. The dedication helped me change from a below-average college player to accomplishing everything I did at Yale.
How have you felt through this calendar year so far? You have limited Korn Ferry Tour status and it’s been a long break through the early part of 2020.
There have been ups and downs. Just getting to Final Stage was a big goal, which I did, and I secured my card but then everything re-focuses and I wanted full status. I missed by three shots at Final Stage, which was a bummer, but I played great. I was really happy with it as a first try out of school. I was told I could get a few starts and I was in the field for the first two events that got canceled (due to COVID-19). I had my chance there and I was looking forward to getting in and reshuffling into the full status category. But I’ve been itching to get going and itching to get starts, but everyone is going to be playing now with the break. Even the PGA TOUR guys are going to try to play in some (Korn Ferry Tour) events, so I’m going to play the Monday qualifiers. It’s a different path than I expected to take, but I still have an opportunity. It’s going to be a little harder but I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully I can make something happen.
You’ve got a couple of Instagram accounts plus a well-followed YouTube channel. How did you get into that side of the media?
(Courtesy of James Nicholas)
That story really started when I was 13-14. For Christmas I was given a GoPro Hero 1 – it was the very first GoPro ever made. It was impossible to use; the battery died every five minutes, and it was just the first shot at them making a camera you could take under water and attach it to your surfboard. That was something I wanted to do. I wanted to bring it into the water, surf with it, and get cool videos of me and my brother and my buddies just having a good time in the summer. That’s what it started as – I just tried to capture the moment. I slowly started using editing software and I realized I could make awesome videos and compilations of all these shots I’d taken. I started doing that and posting them on YouTube, and different companies reached out to me and were like, ‘Do you mind if we send you a couple of hats you can wear?’ and I was like, as a 15-year-old, ‘Free stuff? Yeah! Send it my way. I’ll wear that.’ Fast-forward a couple of years and Greyson Clothiers had reached out (via friends) and we were the media team at the Greyson, an up-and-coming company at the time. We met up with Morgan Hoffmann and we did this huge shoot and that’s when it really took off. I thought I could really do something and help grow brands while growing my own brand and having fun.
What’s the aesthetic you’re going for? Most of your photos have the same kind of look and vibe to them.
I love being creative and doing things that are youthful and energetic and modern. I think a lot of the golf ads are just so boring and streamlined to this one look, and that’s what made me want to focus on the golf side of the content. Before then I had posted on YouTube just videos of all my travel stuff – like there was one video to Iceland and that video has over 1 million views now. Once I got with Greyson and started doing all their content, it made me believe I could do it in golf and make golf more interesting and capture a wider audience.
People have bucket-list courses they want to play, but do you have a list of places you want to go to shoot?
The best combination of my love for travel and golf would be Lofoten Links in Norway. There’s a picture for the cover of GOLF Magazine under the Northern Lights and it is unbelievable. It’s unbelievable. That is the dream, to be playing under the Northern Lights. There’s nothing cooler or more majestic than seeing those. And to combine those with a golf course is unbeatable.
Sand Valley, Bandon Dunes, those are two courses that photograph really well. I definitely want to go back to Scotland and England and take photos of the links courses. I first went over there with my Yale golf team and I was able to do a bunch of drone work but I did all videos. I think photos have been catching my eye more. I want to blow them up on walls. I want to sell them in pro shops.
How have you felt using a drone has changed photography?
No one sees courses from that perspective. When you put a drone up there, it’s like a whole new perspective. I flew it at my home course the other day and you’re like, ‘Wow.’ The contours, the architecture … it’s so cool. It makes you appreciate golf-course architects more.
You have a girlfriend and her name, it’s … America?
Yup! America – just like the country.
Is she a content creator as well?
She’s like my model. It’s perfect. She’s starting to be a content creator but for food. She’s an amazing chef. During quarantine we’ve just been focused on golf and cooking – and it’s been awesome. She started her own food Instagram and it’s been blowing up.
She’s the queen of all foodies and I guess I’m starting to become one as well.
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There are usually some perks to being on the winning bag at a PGA Tour event – a little something extra for the effort, as Carl Spackler once elegantly put it – but a car?
That’s what happened at last year’s Charles Schwab Challenge, where the tournament winner was awarded a glacier-blue 1973 Dodge Challenger that had been fully restored by Steve Strope, who is renowned for his custom work on American muscle cars from the 1960s and ’70s.
Kevin Na pocketed the $1.314 million paycheck and donned the tartan winner’s coat, but the keys to the car went to longtime caddie Kenny Harms. It has to go down as one of the coolest gestures to celebrate a victory.
“I don’t know of a better one,” said Harms, who has caddied for the likes of Hall of Famers Hale Irwin, Raymond Floyd and Hubert Green since 1991 and worked for Na for more than a decade.
Harms’ wheels have been making the rounds at some car shows, including SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) in Las Vegas, and so Harms says he’s only put about 400 miles on his prized possession.
The car buff already owns a 1998 black Porsche 911 Carrera convertible and a 2006 Porsche Cayenne, but he had his eye on the Dodge Challenger as soon as he spotted it on Tuesday of tournament week sitting along the 10th hole at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
“It was kind of silent before everyone teed off and I said, ‘Hey, Kevin, when we win, I’ll look a lot better than you in that car with my baby blue eyes. When we win it, you’re going to give me the car, right?’ ” Harms recalls. “He kind of looks over at the car, looks at me, looks back at the car a second time and says, ‘Yeah, if we win.’ I said, ‘No, when we win.’ He said, ‘All right, I’ll give you the car if I win.’ For some reason, I kept saying, when we win. I had the weirdest feeling we were going to win that week.”
Colonial has been Na’s personal ATM for several years, but victory had eluded him until now. He cruised to a four-stroke victory and flipped the keys to Harms.
“It doesn’t drive like a typical ’73 Dodge Challenger,” said Harms, who once ponied up $200 to buy a ’73 rusty green Camaro, his first car. “The only thing that is original is the shell of the car. Everything else has been replaced. I’m told it was bought for $20,700, stripped it down to the metal and they put $180,000 in parts and $200,000 in labor into it. It’s a piece of art to me.”
Kenny Harms
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That grin, however, was plastered on the mask he wore after he pulled up to do a post-race interview. That’s right, Denny Hamlin has a custom Denny Hamlin mask. And hoo boy, it’s all kinds of terrifying.
“I mean, why wouldn’t you want this mug on the trophy again?” he joked.
So here’s the question: does he have a face mask with a Hamlin frown printed on it if he lost?
Check this thing out:
GAH! I can’t help but think about Hannibal Lecter when I see that.
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Among the many disappointments of the suspension of current MLS season and the seasons of leagues throughout the world is that it is halting the progress of many young players making important steps in their development. In MLS, the 2019 season was one of the most promising in league history in terms of the success of young American players. It remains to be seen how 2020 will go, but there were promising signs from the first two weeks.
Tanner Tessmann, 18, was one of the players off to a strong start before the season was halted. The midfielder signed for FC Dallas just days before the team’s season opener. With injuries plaguing Dallas during the preseason, Tessmann got the start for the first game against a strong Philadelphia Union team. He ended up going the distance and assisted on Paxton Pomykal’s goal to close out a 2-0 win.
“There were lots of emotions but all good emotions,” Tessmann recalled. “Signing was a great experience. My family got to be there. I debuted and played the full game. We got the win. So, it was a perfect week. Those emotions were super high and I stayed level headed.”
Playing in his preferred No. 8, box-to-box central midfield role, Tessmann’s numbers against Philadelphia were very good both offensively and defensively over the full 90 minutes.
In the second game, Tessmann remained in the starting lineup and played 61 minutes in 2-2 tie with Montreal. While he played more of a defensive role in the midfield, his passing was still exceptional. He completed 95.6% of his passes including four of five accurate long balls.
“Honestly, I thought I would get more tired and I was going to have bad touches and get shut down quicker. But it was a really good game,” Tessmann said after the Philadelphia game. “It was a tough game to play in. I did feel like I belong. This was a huge achievement for me just to kind of know that I could play at that level. A month ago, I was playing with the U-19s in Mexico. To come and play with the MLS team, it was a real achievement. The ball moved a lot faster and the players were fast. But I felt like I belonged.”
Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama area, Tessmann moved to Dallas to join the FC Dallas academy in 2016. He was in the club with midfielders such as Weston McKennie, Paxton Pomykal, Brandon Servania and Thomas Roberts – who all have extensive experience with either the U.S. national team of the youth national teams. Now he will hope to follow in their footsteps and be part of the team’s impressive developmental pipeline.
Last year, Tessmann began to show signs of breaking through. He won the Development Academy’s U-18/U19 Golden Ball for 2018-2019 season after leading FC Dallas to the U-18/U19 Academy championship. He also began playing for the club’s USL League One team, North Texas SC, which won the title with a win over Greenville in a final where Tessmann played the final 19 minutes plus stoppage time.
Following 2019, Tessmann emerged as one of the best 2001-born American prospects based domestically. He clearly had options as to where to begin his career but the pipeline that FC Dallas had built was too hard to pass up with a high likelihood of earning quality first-team minutes this season. It’s the first step of many which he hopes also includes winning silverware with Dallas and eventually being sold to the higher levels of Europe.
“We have a great pipeline of players that come through and then you see them on the national team, you see him going overseas like Weston McKennie,” Tessmann explained. “So, it really just helps all the players at FC Dallas that move here to really believe in themselves a little bit more and know those dreams that you have are right there in front of you for the taking. I just think that FC Dallas is the best place in America for sure to grow as a player and get opportunities that I don’t think a lot of other clubs can give you with Bayern Munich and the FC Dallas academy.”
“They want what’s best for the players,” he added about FC Dallas. “When you reach the pinnacle of MLS they want you to keep getting better. … They want you to reach your highest potential and overseas where you can do that. They aren’t scared to sell their players and see where that path can take them. They believe in their players that they can play at the next level. I love that about FC Dallas that they aren’t scared to take those risks and push their players beyond the FC Dallas first team.”
One of the more interesting and well publicized facts about the 6-foot-2 Tessmann is that he also had the option of heading to Clemson University to play both soccer and football. A gifted kicker even though he didn’t play high school football, Tessmann had a scholarship offer from Clemson’s powerhouse football team and was recruited by head coach “Dabo” Swinney, who is also a family friend of the Tessmanns.
While it appeared as if he was going to head that route, he came to terms with Dallas and insisted that his priority has always been soccer. The opportunity to join FC Dallas was the quickest opportunity to put him on his desired career path.
“It would have been a great experience at Clemson to do that but I’ve been a soccer player since I was little, and that’s been my dream to play overseas in Europe and for the national team,” Tessmann said. “I’ve never had dreams to be a football star in the NFL as a kicker. I’ve been focusing on soccer, I continue to focus on soccer. … And I dedicate all my time to soccer — just becoming a student of the game and working hard every day to make my dreams come true.”
As for his other soccer dream, the national team, that remains very much alive at this point. He is eligible for the current U-20 team which, if everything returns to normal quickly, will attempt to qualify for the 2021 U-20 World Cup in Indonesia this June. He was part of the team’s first camp of the cycle last September under then coach Tab Ramos but was not part of the roster for new coach Anthony Hudson’s first camp in January. Tessmann says, however, that he has spoken with Hudson about being part of the team.
Competition will be tough to make the U-20 team and Tessmann is among several quality players in contention for the No. 8 and No. 6 defensive midfield roles for the team. The others being Colorado’s Cole Bassett, Internacional’s Johnny Cardoso, Bayern Munich U-23’s Taylor Booth. But with his size at 6′ 2″, his athleticism, and his skill on the ball, Tessmann could potentially offer something different to the group.
“With the U-20 World Cup, a bunch of players have blossomed there,” Tessmann said. “You saw Brandon Servania last year — he wasn’t really playing with FC Dallas, went to the U-20 World Cup, really did well with the team, and then came back and started pretty much every game. Same with Paxton Pomykal. And we have a great team. I really enjoyed being with those guys when I go to camp. And we love each other and we fight for each other even though we’re from different clubs and we get along really well. It would just be an honor to go and represent my country in a World Cup.”
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The Players’ Tribune is introducing a new series called The Iso. With so many of us keeping our distance from each other in a variety of ways, we decided to ask some of our favorite athletes to share how they’ve been dealing with life in the Covid-19 world, and how they’re spending their time away from their sport.
Our first two games this season were at home on February 29 and away on March 8. And then we found out a few days later that everything was gonna change. The season was being pushed back — postponed for eight weeks, at least. I think I realized at that point that this wasn’t something that was gonna blow over any time soon.
I’m in Nashville with my wife, Sally. Locally, the mayor issued a 14-day stay-at-home order, which actually ended up being extended through at least part of May. We’re limited to just the essentials — grocery store, post office, that sort of thing.
My parents are doing a really good job of taking it seriously. They’re down in Atlanta. I don’t think my dad’s even left the house. My mom’s gone to the grocery store when needed. It’s funny, I was FaceTiming my brother and his wife — they live about 30–45 minutes from my parents — and they told me that my parents came over to drop something off, and showed up with masks and gloves and wouldn’t go inside the house. That was like mid-March. It’s great that they were so ahead of the game on that.
It’s definitely different adjusting to everyday life now. Having to work out on your own. It’s been crazy for everyone, but thankfully I’m staying pretty busy around here.
I’m actually on a pretty good routine right now. I’m waking up around eight o’clock. Then I’ll head downstairs and make some breakfast. I’ve been cooking a lot. That’s been so fun. Making some eggs and bacon with an avocado on the side every morning. Then I’ll give that some time to digest and hit my workout for that day around 10. While digesting my food I do a crossword puzzle — I’ve had a yearlong crossword competition with Daniel Lovitz. We both complete the USA Today crossword and the NYT crossword. I’m currently down 52–58 on the year….
I’m trying to stay accustomed to our training and game-day schedule in Nashville. So what that looks like is:
Sundays are a day off.
Mondays are a lighter recovery day, assuming that you played a game on Saturday, so in quarantine that’s biking and maybe some stretching.
Tuesdays I’ll do something a little bit harder — some high-speed running and a body-weight workout.
Wednesdays are another day off, since that’s what we’d do during a normal week of training.
Thursdays I pick it back up, going about 6o–70%, in terms of capacity.
Fridays I might go for a light jog and stretch, going lighter just as I would to get ready for a game.
Saturdays are our usual game days. I’ll push it and try to go really hard — trying to get a lot of mileage and sprints in to simulate the wear and tear of a game.
Really, sticking to a routine is what’s keeping me sane. It distracts you from having a lot more free time than you normally would. Instead of five or six hours at a training facility, I’m basically only working out for two hours a day now. So what do you do with those extra four hours? I’d recommend it for people trying to figure out how to meaningfully fill their days.
Courtesy of Walker ZimmermanMy wife and I are busy for sure. We closed on a house here in Nashville on March 16, so we have all of these things to do. After my workouts, it’s straight to opening boxes and building — using an Allen wrench to put together more patio furniture, chairs and barstools than you could imagine.
I’ve really stepped it up in the kitchen. Normally, Sally does the majority of the cooking, but since we’ve been in this house and this new kitchen, I’ve really taken on the responsibility. I made some ridiculously good salmon one day — a barbecue base with some spices on it. Really, really enjoying the cast iron, so I cook it on there — skin down — maybe five minutes, then broil it face up to get a little char on top and coat with a little lemon juice and barbecue sauce. Turned out super tender and flaky. So good. (I’m gonna make it again on IG Live on Friday, so check it out if you want the pro tips.)
It’s just been a blast, honestly, being in the kitchen. This is a great time for people to be cooking their own meals a little more than they normally would, and hopefully that leads to more awareness about what we put into our bodies. Health and nutrition are obviously important to me, and I hope this time is being used for others to find healthy foods that work for them and their nutritional plans as well.
We’ve been watching Schitt’s Creek. That’s our kind of end-of-day wind-down show while getting ready for bed. We’ve also done a few Netflix rom-coms. I’m a big Ozark guy and Sally’s not (it’s usually my show when I’m on the road), so I’m going to have to find some time to sneak it in.
I’ve seen some people walking, running, exercising outside, which is inspiring. I think that’s awesome. Continue to work out, continue to find ways to push yourself to stay in shape. For us athletes, especially, when we come back, it’s going to be really important to be fit, to be sharp. We can’t lose focus on what’s ahead.
I’ve also been using these days to FaceTime and connect with family. I’ve seen so many positive things on the Internet about people connecting with their families in new and significant ways. That’s really important, and it transcends soccer, football, and all the other sports and things that are canceled.
I’m hopeful that people will walk away from this knowing how important family really is. They’re who you want by your side when the world gets crazy and the going gets tough. Keep the banter alive in the chats. Make sure everyone around you is doing O.K. Stick together, because family will always be the most important thing.
Denny Hamlin is the latest athlete to join the ALL IN Challenge, which has pegged itself as the largest digital fundraiser ever.
Fanatics’ ALL IN challenges athletes across all sports to help raise $100 million for COVID-19 crisis relief. The money will provide food to those in need, specifically kids, elderly and frontline workers. The official statement says, “We challenge every athlete, sports owner, team, league, celebrity and artist to go ALL IN and donate one of their most prized possessions or create a once-in-a-lifetime fan experience.”
Hamlin chose the latter as his effort to raise the funds after being nominated by former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver and three-time Daytona 500 winner announced Tuesday he’s offering up the opportunity to play Michael Jordan’s new exclusive golf club in Florida alongside himself and PGA Tour’s Bubba Watson. That’s not all. In addition to the round of golf, the package will feature a private flight and VIP access to the 2021 Daytona 500.
How it works: Fans bid on prizes and experiences of their choice through an auction. Those bids then double as the fundraiser’s donations.
Many big sports names have accepted the challenged. Hamlin, Peyton and Eli Manning, Magic Johnson, Aaron Rodgers, Alex Rodriguez and Joel Embiid are just a few of the athletes. Leagues and teams also are involved.
All of the money raised will benefit the following organizations: Meals on Wheels, No Kid Hungry, America’s Food Fund, Feeding America and World Central Kitchen.
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Bubba Watson’s bump-and-run leads to birdie at WGC-Mexico
MEXICO CITY – Bubba Watson would seem to have the right sort of game for Club de Golf Chapultepec, but he’s never done particularly well at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship. His best, in three starts here, is a T9 in 2018. Truth be told, he played better when the tournament was at Doral, with four top-three finishes.
After a winless 2019 in which he finished 81st in the FedExCup, Watson was off to a solid start in search of his 13th PGA TOUR victory after an opening-round 67, two off the early lead.
“I’ve been hitting the ball great all year after training,” said Watson, who finished T6 at the Farmers Insurance Open and T3 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. “I’ve been working on getting fitter, getting stronger so I can hold positions and hit the shots I want to hit.”
No one wanted to talk about what’s behind his mini-revival, though. Instead, it was Watson’s casual round with singer Justin Bieber after missing the cut at the Genesis Invitational in L.A. The two played at Lakeside Golf Club with Ted Scott, Watson’s caddie, and three others, and Watson joked that Bieber is now his mental coach. (Watson has no mental coach.)
The other topic of conversation at Chapultepec has been Watson’s putting. He couldn’t buy one at The Genesis, but had 13 one-putts in the first round at Chapultepec, and on the often-tricky poa annua surfaces, no less. His 21 total putts in round one were a career low on TOUR.
But while putting comes and goes, and celebrity is its own thing altogether, Watson’s revival this season owes just as much if not more to his tee-to-green game.
“I know my ball-striking is where I want it to be,” he said. “My mind is where I want it to be and everything. Coming here, I was just hoping I’d get the right bounces and the right breaks. I know I can play around here if I stay committed to all the shots.”
Watson ranked No. 1 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green in 2015, and fourth in that stat in ’16.
Then things started to fall off: 74th in ’17, and 45th in ’18 even as he won three times and finished 10th in the FedExCup. He was 38th in SG: Tee-to-Green last season, which is far from terrible, but 167th in SG: Putting as he plummeted to 81st in the FedExCup.
Self-coached and mercurial, Watson has never been a paint-by-number type of guy. His rises and falls can be hard to predict, or explain. This season, though, it’s pretty easy: Watson’s stats are up in both putting (51st, despite an off-week at the Genesis) and ball-striking (13th). That’s a useful combination, one that has seen him regularly work his way back into contention again after two decidedly lackluster years (2017 and ’19) in the last three seasons.
“You know, it’s — life sometimes throws you curve balls,” he said.
Perhaps, though, not so much in the thin air at Chapultepec, where the ball doesn’t curve as much. The ball-striking is there. The putting may be catching up. Bubba Golf is on the rise again.
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The play-by-play looks like something out of a basketball player’s shot chart. Not a golfer’s.
“Shot hit 5’10.” ” “Shot hit 4′ 7.” ” “Shot hit 27′ 2.” ” “Shot hit 36′ 5.” ” “Shot hit 8′ 8.” ” “Shot hit 82′ 2.” ” “Shot hit 23′ 11.” ” “Shot hit 48 yds to the primary rough.”
It was after that 48-yarder when Kevin Na emerged from the nasty tree stuff on the ninth hole at the 2011 Texas Open, on his way to a duodecuple bogey 16 (12-over-par). The gallery applauded. He grinned. And he did again this week, when the tournament would have been played had it not been for its cancellation due to the coronavirus.
“Here’s a video u can laugh at! 2011 @valerotxopen when I made a 16 on a hole. #tbt #golfishard #골프어렵다 almost broke 80 lol,” Na shared on Instagram.
The PGA Tour followed up on its social media accounts.
“That time Kevin Na made a 16 at the @ValeroTxOpen,” one tweet read. Then some quick math. “If Kevin Na would’ve made par on the 9th hole in Round 1 of the 2011 @ValeroTxOpen he would’ve shot 68,” another tweet read.
Indeed.
The damage started off the tee, where Na hit his ball to an unplayable spot, picked it up, went back to the tee, then hit it right back to the same spot — before proceeding to drop his club in frustration on the follow through. The 5-foot, 10-inch shot, his fourth, hit him, leading to a penalty. Seven shots later, he finally escaped.
“I have no idea what you have,” caddie Kenny Harms said as they walked to the green.
“I don’t know,” Na said. “How are we gonna count all of the shots?”
“I have no idea,” Harms said.
“I can’t keep track,” Na said.
As Kevin Na fought his way to victory last week, he was in the midst of another contentious battle to save his name
Na maintained his lighter attitude a year later at the Texas Open, when he and Harms went back to their forest foe during non-tournament play. He improved his lie first with a garden shovel. Then an ax. Followed by a garden clippers. Finally, he used a chainsaw.
When the tournament started, Na took out his 2011 shirt and hung it from one of the trees in the area.
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Herriman • Justin Meram has worn the No. 9 for practically his entire career. With the exception of a short six-month stint with Atlanta United last year, the Michigan native and newest attacker for Real Salt Lake had the number that corresponded to his position: goal scorer.
When RSL signed Meram earlier this month and began training sessions, the No. 9 wasn’t yet claimed by any of the other players on the roster. The number was retired in 2011 when former striker and coach Jason Kreis’ name was immortalized at Rio Tinto Stadium. But last season, he asked the organization to undo that action.
Meram eventually became the beneficiary of that move by Kreis. But before he could accept it, he made sure to get Kreis’ blessing. Kreis coached Meram during his stint with Orlando City, so the forward had no problem reaching out to him out of respect to make sure wearing the No. 9 was OK.
Kreis said he was fine with it, but offered a message to go with his permission.
“He told me to score a lot of goals with it,” Meram said. “That’s what I’ll try and do for this club.”
Meram made his regular season debut in the 70th minute of RSL’s scoreless draw with Orlando City. He walked onto the field to a chorus of boos and chants of “F— you Meram” from the crowd.
“It’s sports,” Meram said of his reception at Exploria Stadium. “Players get booed all the time in different venues. That’s how it’s going to be.”
When Meram played for the Lions for part of 2018, he made comments about acrimonious treatment he received from fans, particularly on social media. He was traded to Columbus Crew soon after.
Meram represents part of an overhaul in the attack for RSL, which lost scorers and playmakers like Jefferson Savarino, Sebastian Saucedo, Joao Plata and Brooks Lennon in the offseason. While the organization picked up some young talent at that position to fill those voids, Meram is the only one officially signed by the club with that level of experience.
Forward Giuseppi Rossi is another such player. The former Manchester United and Italy national team member played towards the end of the season opener, and his minutes figure to increase this week as RSL readies for Saturday’s home opener vs. the New York Red Bulls.
Before coming to RSL, Meram played 259 total MLS games and started 189, including playoffs. He’s tallied 46 goals and 39 assists in his career, which spans nine seasons and three teams.
Those numbers could matter even more considering the situation RSL has with its attacking players. A bevy of players are either injured or not fit because they are just coming back from injury. The list includes Sam Johnson, Damir Kreilach, Corey Baird and Maikel Chang.
JUSTIN MERAM AT A GLANCE
Height: 6-foot-1 Weight: 165 Years of experience: 9 Best season: 2017 with Columbus Crew — 13 goals, seven assists
The team has such a dearth of attacking options right now that RSL coach Freddy Juarez played defender Aaron Herrera on the right wing all preseason. Meram might be counted on to be one of the team’s main playmakers while others get back to form.
Juarez said Meram’s experience was one of the reasons he felt he would be a good fit for the club. Meram’s experience veteran status also allows for less of a learning curve, Juarez said.
“It’s someone that wasn’t going to take the time to adapt,” Juarez said. “We thought with Justin Meram, [he] is a guy that can quickly just fit in as long as we just get him fit.”
Fitness might be the only thing holding Meram back. The organization acquired him a couple of weeks into preseason, so he’s really only had about four weeks of time with his new teammates and coaches.
But during that time, Juarez has put him to work. Aside from the Orlando game, Meram started all three official preseason games and played 90 minutes in two of them. He even finished a goal late in the loss to Phoenix Rising.
Meram is trying to get to his preferred level of fitness as quickly as possible, though. On a recent off day, he was at the training facility from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., staying longer than the equipment manager and team cooks, he said.
“I think I got in trouble for being here a little too long,” Meram said in jest, adding that all he really needs at this point is more minutes during games.
Juarez said Meram’s playing time during preseason wasn’t an indication of where he was leaning for one of the starting positions against Orlando. But the way he brought his attacking instincts to the team could cause Juarez to start him anyway.
“He’s not just a guy that can create for himself,” Juarez said. “He’s a good passer of the ball, he has good vision, he can create for teammates.”
Meram has bounced around the league in recent years, playing for Orlando, Atlanta and Columbus since 2017. He spent seven years with the Crew before all the moves.
Meram said he feels he has had just one tough stretch in his career. Other than that, all his stops have been positive and he’s been productive. The reason it didn’t work out with Atlanta United, he said, was due to contract negotiations. He added that the first time he left Columbus was at his request so he could “get a new adventure.”
Meram said he’s been welcomed into the rest of the team and it’s been easy for him to fit in. He’s living in a hotel at the moment, but will hopefully close on a house soon.
Meram was attracted to the team concept RSL brings and the way the team was built, he said.
“It’s always about the group and working hard,” Meram said. “Any time it’s a collective effort, you want to be part of it.”
At 31, Meram could be a the tail end of his career. It appears he would be just fine if it were to end in an RSL uniform.
“Hopefully I can stick here for a couple of years and possibly play out the rest of my career here,” Meram said.
https://www.prosportmanagement.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Prosport-Management-logo.png00psmhttps://www.prosportmanagement.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Prosport-Management-logo.pngpsm2020-03-04 02:05:292020-07-02 02:06:05RSL newcomer Justin Meram is wearing Jason Kreis’s old number. Now he’s hoping for a Kreis-like season