Category: Sports Daypop

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is undergoing offseason knee surgery, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, due to an injury he suffered during the season. The procedure will be a minor one (called “a clean up”) but in fact, reports state that the QB “played most of the season with some discomfort in the knee.”  Brady shouldn’t be expected to miss much, if any, of the Buccaneers’ ensuing offseason program.

Despite the knee issues, Brady led the Buccaneers to an 11-5 record and won four playoff games culminating in a Super Bowl LV victory. He remains under contract with the Bucs through 2021 after inking a two-year deal with the club last offseason.

         

Source: Bucs’ Brady to have minor knee surgery

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Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady will undergo a minor surgical procedure on his knee this…

02/11/2021 6:29 PM

 

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The Toronto Raptors have announced they will finish the 2020–21 season in Tampa due to ongoing border restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.  The U.S.-Canada border remains closed to nonessential travel, and the league would have otherwise needed an exemption to a requirement that anyone entering Canada for nonessential reasons must isolate for 14 days.

The Raptors have played their home games at Amalie Arena, home of the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.  Raptors president Masai Ujiri said Thursday in a statement, “Florida has been really welcoming to us and we’re so grateful for the hospitality we’ve found in Tampa and at Amalie—we’re living in a city of champions, and we intend to carry on the tradition of winning for our new friends and fans here. But home is where the heart is, and our hearts are in Toronto. We think often of our fans, of our Scotiabank Arena family, and all those we are missing back home, and we can’t wait until we can all be together again.”

The Raptors are 12—13 and sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. They are 6—5 at home on the year.

Raptors to finish NBA season at Tampa home

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The Raptors will not return to Toronto for the rest of the NBA season, instead making the…

02/11/2021 6:29 PM

 

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is undergoing offseason knee surgery, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, due to an injury he suffered during the season. The procedure will be a minor one (called “a clean up”) but in fact, reports state that the QB “played most of the season with some discomfort in the knee.”  Brady shouldn’t be expected to miss much, if any, of the Buccaneers’ ensuing offseason program.

Despite the knee issues, Brady led the Buccaneers to an 11-5 record and won four playoff games culminating in a Super Bowl LV victory. He remains under contract with the Bucs through 2021 after inking a two-year deal with the club last offseason.

         

Source: Bucs’ Brady to have minor knee surgery

Via www.espn.com

Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady will undergo a minor surgical procedure on his knee this…

02/11/2021 6:29 PM

 

Editorial credit: Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com

Amid continued concern over the coronavirus pandemic, the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrated their victory Wednesday with a boat parade. The team arrived by bus and boarded at least four boats, with the parade taking place on the Hillsborough River near downtown Tampa. Thousands of fans lined the river to cheer on quarterback Tom Brady, tight end Rob Gronkowski and many others.

Mayor Jane Castor again emphasized that people attending the parade must wear masks outdoors and observe social distancing rules, and there were also many fans on private boats, kayaks and other watercrafts to catch a glimpse of the team. They were directed to stay at least 50 feet (15 meters) from the boats carrying players.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrate Super Bowl LV title with boat parade

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The Super Bowl champion Buccaneers celebrated their victory Wednesday with a boat parade amid…

02/10/2021 2:00 PM

 

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The NBA said on Wednesday that all teams will continue play the National Anthem before games, in accordance with policy. The directive came a day after the Dallas Mavericks announced they no longer would play the song. NBA chief communications officer Mike Bass said in a statement: “With NBA teams now in the process of welcoming fans back into their arenas, all teams will play the national anthem in keeping with longstanding league policy.”

Dallas has not played the Star-Spangled Banner before any of their 13 regular or preseason games which were played this season at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban responded after the league’s statement and said the team will play the anthem Wednesday in Dallas, saying in a statement: “We respect and always have respected the passion people have for the anthem and our country. I have always stood for the anthem with the hand over my heart — no matter where I hear it played. But we also hear the voices of those who do not feel the anthem represents them. We feel they also need to be respected and heard, because they have not been respected and heard.”

Cuban had said on Tuesday that he directed the team to stop the pregame tradition. saying he consulted NBA commissioner Adam Silver on the issue last November. NBA rules have required players to stand during the national anthem since the 1980s, but Silver has not disciplined players who have knelt in recent years in protest.

NBA issues statement saying ‘all teams will play the national anthem’; Dallas Mavericks will comply

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One day after Mavericks owner Mark Cuban confirmed that his team had stopped playing the…

02/10/2021 1:04 PM

 

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Kyle Busch won the Busch Clash at Daytona on Tuesday in a thrilling win, crossing the finish line first after a late crash involving Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott.  

The victory was the 10th in the preseason event for Joe Gibbs Racing – the most of any organization. Said Busch, “I just knew to keep my head down and keep focused ahead and just seeing if I could hit my marks to see if I could get close enough to have a shot like that if something like that were to materialize. Fortunately, it did for us. It’s awesome to start off a year with a win – a non-points win but I’d love nothing more to be here again this Sunday.”

LIVE UPDATES: Kyle Busch slips past crash on last lap to win Busch Clash at Daytona

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2019 NASCAR Cup champ Kyle Busch slipped past a crash between Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott on…

02/09/2021 7:57 PM

 

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The world’s top golfer, Dustin Johnson, has withdrawn from the 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am days in Pebble Beach, Calif. Johnson was removed Monday from the field on the tournament’s official website. The four-day tournament tees off Thursday in Pebble Beach, Calif.

Johnson won the Saudi International on Sunday for the second time in three years. He has competed in just one PGA Tour event this year. His agent and manager, David Winkle, cited family time and jet lag as reasons for the late withdrawal, saying, “Following his successful week in Saudi Arabia, Dustin has decided it would be best to enjoy a week at home before the Genesis Invitational and the World Golf Championships at the Concession. Other than being a bit jet-lagged, he is feeling great and looking forward to the weeks ahead. While he is disappointed to miss the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which is always one of his favorite weeks, he feels his decision is for the best.”

The four-day tournament will air on Golf Channel and CBS. First- and second-round play will air from 3 to 6 p.m. EST Thursday and Friday on Golf Channel.

2021 Pebble Beach Pro-Am field: Dustin Johnson withdraws from event following win at Saudi International

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Following his win last week at the Saudi International, Dustin Johnson has withdrawn from the…

02/09/2021 10:41 AM

 

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Major League Baseball has slightly deadened its baseballs coming after a years-long surge in home runs. MLB anticipates the changes will be subtle; in a memo to teams last week. the league cited an independent lab that found the new balls will fly 1 to 2 feet shorter on balls hit over 375 feet. Five more teams also plan to add humidors to their stadiums, raising to 10 of MLB’s 30 stadiums expected to be equipped with humidity-controlled storage spaces.

The makeup of official Rawlings baseballs used in MLB games has come under scrutiny in recent years. A record 6,776 homers were hit during the 2019 regular season, and the rate of home runs fell only slightly during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. A four-person committee of scientists commissioned by MLB concluded after the 2019 season that baseballs had less drag on average than in previous seasons, contributing to the power surge. Their report blamed the spike in part on inconsistencies in seam height.

The league mandates all baseballs have a coefficient of restitution (COR) ranging from .530 to .570, but in recent years the average COR had trended upward within the specification range. In an effort to better center the ball, Rawlings has loosened the tension on the first of three wool windings within the ball. Its research estimates the adjustment will bring the COR down 0.01 to 0.02 and will also lessen the ball’s weight by 2.8 grams without changing its size. 

Report: MLB slightly deadens ball amid HR surge

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MLB is slightly deadening its baseball in an effort to combat a years-long surge in home runs, a…

02/08/2021 5:23 PM

 

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On Monday, the NHL announced the postponement of seven additional games as the New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild and Buffalo Sabres deal with the league’s COVID-19 Protocols.  Buffalo and New Jersey last played Jan. 31 against each other, and Minnesota hasn’t played since Feb. 2.  The new postponements include Buffalo’s games against the Washington Capitals on Thursday and Saturday, New Jersey’s games with the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins and the Wild’s contests against the St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings, all of which are also scheduled for those days.  The Sabres and Wild each have nine players on the league’s COVID-19 list. The Devils have 16 players affected.

The league made several changes to health and safety protocols. In an effort to improve airflow, glass behind benches was removed and teams were told to make more space in dressing rooms, while coaches and players could not enter the arena until 1 hour and 45 minutes prior to the game.

NHL postpones seven more games involving Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild

Via www.usatoday.com

Seven more NHL games have been postponed because of COVID-19 problems with New Jersey, Buffalo…

02/08/2021 5:59 PM

 

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are Super Bowl LV champions, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 on Sunday night at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The Bucs became the first team to win a Super Bowl in their home stadium, and quarterback Tom Brady earned his seventh Lombardi Trophy, the most of any player in NFL history.

Brady’s performance At age 43, Brady gave a stellar performance, completing 21 of 29 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair to tight end Rob Gronkowski. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was 26 of 49 passing for 270 yards and two interceptions. He added five carries for a team-high 33 yards.

Tom Brady wins 7th Super Bowl and 1st with Tampa Bay as Buccaneers beat Kansas City Chiefs 31-9

Via www.msn.com

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Tampa Bay BuccaneersWATCH: All of the Super Bowl LV commercialsWATCH: The…

02/07/2021 9:20 PM

 

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