FOOTBALL
Vikings LB to miss season
Minnesota Vikings second-year linebacker Cameron Smith will miss the 2020 season because of a heart condition that was discovered after he tested positive for covid-19 upon reporting to training camp two weeks ago. The Vikings made the procedural move Monday of waiving Smith with a nonfootball injury designation. Upon clearing waivers, he'll revert to the reserve list for nonfootball injuries. Smith, who played mostly on special teams as a rookie, was a fifth-round draft pick out of USC in 2019. The Vikings signed linebacker Quinten Poling over the weekend for depth. Poling was a 2018 seventh-round draft pick out of Ohio by the Miami Dolphins, who kept him on the practice squad. He spent most of last season on the practice squad with the then-Oakland Raiders. Smith announced on his Instagram account Saturday that he needs open heart surgery to fix a bicuspid aortic valve he was born with. "It is really a blessing that we found this as my heart is severely enlarged and wouldn't have lasted much longer," Smith said. "The Lord works in mysterious ways, but I could really feel him on this one!" He said the procedure won't be career ending.
MOTOR SPORTS
Bell returning to Gibbs team
Christopher Bell is returning to Joe Gibbs Racing and will drive the No. 20 Toyota in the Cup Series in 2021. Bell will replace Erik Jones, whose contract with JGR expires at the end of this season. Jones has two victories in 133 Cup Series starts. Bell is finishing his rookie season with Leavine Family Racing, a JGR satellite team that announced last week that it had sold its NASCAR charter and will close its doors in November. That left Bell without a ride in 2021, and Gibbs moved quickly to bring back the budding star. Bell, 25, claimed the 2017 Truck Series title and won 15 races during two years (2018-19) in the second-tier Xfinity Series. He drove both Xfinity seasons for Gibbs. He has five top-10 finishes this year in the Cup Series. "It's an organization I'm very comfortable with and have had a lot of success with," Bell said.
GOLF
Presidents Cup set for Montreal
Royal Montreal Golf Club, the oldest golf club in North America, will host the 2024 Presidents Cup. The club was founded in 1873 and held the Presidents Cup in 2007. The U.S. won that edition. Royal Montreal will become the second international venue to host the Presidents Cup more than once, joining The Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. The Presidents Cup is held every other year and features a team of U.S. players against players from the rest of the world minus Europe.
TENNIS
Bouchard advances in Prague
Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard won the first and only completed main draw match at the Prague Open on a rainy Monday. The second European tournament in the WTA's restart amid the pandemic is following the same rules as the Palermo Open last week: No fans and media, players have to handle their own towels and are not allowed to shake hands. The players are isolated on one floor of a Prague hotel that was completely booked by tournament organizers. Bouchard eased past eighth-seeded Veronika Kudermetova 6-0, 6-3 for her first win on clay since 2018 and her second victory in two matches against the Russian. Bouchard, ranked 330th, was given a wild-card entry. The Canadian missed all of February with a wrist injury before the tour was halted in March. She's a former world No. 5 and the 2014 Wimbledon runner-up. "I'm proud of myself with the way I stayed focused," Bouchard said. "My rhythm was off on my serve in the first set, so I need to look at that. I'm happy I could find a solution." An all-Czech first-round match between Kristyna Pliskova and Linda Fruhvirtova had to be supended twice due to thunderstorms with Pliskova leading 3-2. Third-seeded Elise Mertens' match against Jasmine Paolini didn't start. Fourth-seeded Dayana Yastremska withdrew from the tournament at the last minute due to tooth pain. No. 2-ranked Simona Halep heads the field.
Kuznetsova out of U.S. Open
Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion, added her name to the growing group of players withdrawing from the Grand Slam tournament because of the coronavirus pandemic. Kuznetsova wrote Monday on Instagram that she was pulling out of the U.S. Open and the tournament preceding it at the same site in New York. The Western & Southern Open starts Aug. 22; the U.S. Open starts Aug. 31. Kuznetsova, 35, wrote: "I feel very sad, because I have been [waiting for these tournaments so much, but the pandemic changes all plans." Kuznetsova, who also won the 2009 French Open, has been ranked as high as No. 2 in singles. She is currently No. 32, which would have put her in line to be seeded at Flushing Meadows. Three of the top seven women in the rankings, including No. 1 Ash Barty, have pulled out of the U.S. Open, as have the defending men's champion, Rafael Nadal, and others such as Stan Wawrinka and Nick Kyrgios.
HOCKEY
Rangers win draft lottery
The New York Rangers won the second phase of the NHL Draft lottery, giving them a shot at selecting winger Alexis Lafreniere. The Rangers were among eight teams that lost in the qualifying round of the playoffs with a chance to claim a consolation prize Monday night. The Rangers have the No. 1 overall pick for the first time since 1965 when they selected Andre Veilleux. The league was forced to make a lot of changes after the coronavirus pandemic paused the season and the lottery was turned into a two-phase process. The league's bottom seven teams had their seasons conclude March 12. Those teams also ended up not winning the lottery in June. The Los Angeles Kings landed the No. 2 pick overall. The winning placeholder team, which became the Rangers, got the top pick despite a 12.5% chance. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the process was fair because the eight teams that were in the expanded playoffs would have had a chance to win the lottery if the pandemic didn't alter the season. Ottawa ended up with the third selection overall as part of the 2018 Erik Karlsson trade with San Jose along with the fifth pick overall. The league-worst Detroit Red Wings dropped to No. 4 in the first phase of the lottery. The final 16 spots in the draft will be tied to postseason results.
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August 11, 2020 at 02:45PM
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