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SEC SAYS NO SUPER LEAGUE
Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey said there’s no talk of a merger with the Big Ten and called the notion that the SEC wants to form a super league -- the specter of which is being leveraged by lawmakers as a central threat to the future of college sports -- as “not consistent with the truth.”
Sankey, in an interview Friday on “The Paul Finebaum Show,” outlined the reasons the SEC does not support a bipartisan bill introduced last week in Congress that would regulate a college sports landscape that has changed dramatically in the new era of multimillion-dollar payrolls for players.
The commissioner said there were “about one dozen big buckets” of issues the league needed to analyze in the first section of the 111-page bill. That first section does not include a proposal in a subsequent part -- the rewrite of a 1961 broadcasting law that would allow conferences to pool their media rights. The SEC and Big Ten oppose that idea, which in this bill would make the pooling voluntary.
“But I really need to see that it’s voluntary to understand some components of how that would be treated under different scenarios,” Sankey said. “I think the notion that we would simply rush to say we support is not the appropriate position. I do think it’s appropriate to try to work through these issues,”
One of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has said the bill would prevent the two biggest conferences from forming a super league -- a notion that Sankey knocked down in the interview with Finebaum and that Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti told Yahoo Sports is a “fabrication.”
MOSS IS CANCER FREE
Randy Moss is still making big catches, long after he finished playing football.
The Hall of Fame wide receiver with the second-most touchdown receptions in NFL history has found his off-the-field calling on the boat, fishing for freshwater bass.
“That’s my passion right now. That’s my hobby. That’s my getaway. That’s my therapy,” Moss said.
Mostly confined to his home for about nine months while he underwent chemotherapy and radiation to beat cancer, Moss developed a deeper appreciation for being in nature. Since his treatment was completed last fall and his rare form of the disease -- in the bile duct between the pancreas and the liver -- was deemed to be in remission, Moss has often had a rod and reel in his hands.
This lifelong hobby for Moss has become a third career of sorts, following his work as an NFL analyst for ESPN that he resumed with the 2025 season.
“I’m just excited to be able to showcase my talent and go out there and show people that I have something else other than football that I love,” Moss said.
Moss was hired by World Bass Enterprises to serve as an ambassador for ” The Champions ” tournament this fall in Hendersonville, Tennessee, an inaugural five-day event just across the river from Nashville designed to determine a true title in a sport divided by two competing tours. WBE was founded earlier this year by Brian Bird, a Texas businessman and amateur angler who has become a fishing buddy to Moss.
NBA RATINGS UP
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- The star power of Victor Wembanyama and Jalen Brunson helped this year’s NBA Finals get off to a huge start in terms of viewership, the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the last finals matchup between LeBron James and Stephen Curry eight years ago.
Game 1 of the finals matchup between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks averaged nearly 17 million viewers on Wednesday night, up 90% when compared to last season’s finals Game 1. It was the most-watched Game 1 since 2018, the most recent time James -- then of Cleveland -- and Golden State’s Curry faced off in the title round.
Wednesday’s game had a peak audience of 19.63 million viewers around 11 p.m. EDT, which would have been in the fourth quarter of New York’s 105-95 victory.
It was the most-watched finals Game 1 ever on ABC and the most-watched finals contest since Game 6 of the 2019 title series between Toronto and Golden State.
The viewership numbers for Game 1 on Wednesday were higher than the opening game of 15 of the past 16 World Series, including the 2024 series opener between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers -- a matchup pitting the country’s top two media markets. That game averaged 15.2 million viewers.
BUSCH’S WIDOW THANKS FANS
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- Samantha Busch, the wife of two-time NASCAR champion Kyle Busch, who died last month at the age of 41, has issued a statement on behalf of her family to thank fans for their support.
In an Instagram post on Friday, Samantha and the Busch’s children, Brexton and Lennix, wrote: “The prayers, messages, flowers, meals, hugs, and countless acts of kindness have carried us through the most heartbreaking days of our lives. While our hearts are absolutely shattered, we have felt God’s presence and arms wrapped tightly around us through each and every one of you.”
Busch died May 21 after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, resulting in rapid and overwhelming complications, according to a statement released by the family soon after his death. According to his death certificate, Busch had pneumonia for “days to weeks.”
Busch’s unexpected death devastated the NASCAR community.
He was thought to have had a sinus cold while racing at Watkins Glen on May 10 and radioed in to his team saying that he needed a “shot” from a doctor after the race. He continued racing and won the Truck Series race at Dover before finishing 17th in the All-Star race, five days before his death.
Busch also attended the opening of a go-kart track with 11-year-old Brexton days before his death.
JARRET WAS A GENTLEMAN
NEWTON, N.C. (AP) -- Ned Jarrett, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and longtime broadcaster, died Thursday of natural causes in his home, his family announced. He was 93.
Jarrett was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2011 after 50 career wins on the sport’s top circuit, including championships in 1961 and 1965. He was part of the second five-member NASCAR Hall of Fame class.
Jarrett, known as “Gentleman Ned” for his demeanor, may have been better known by younger NASCAR fans for his broadcasting career. One of his signature moments in the booth came in the 1993 Daytona 500 when he didn’t try to restrain from rooting as his son, Dale Jarrett, held off Dale Earnhardt for the win.
Dale Jarrett won the Cup Series in 1999. The Jarretts became the second father-son combination to win Cup Series championships, following Lee and Richard Petty. Bill Elliott and his son, Chase, later completed the father-son achievement.
NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell said Ned Jarrett was a racing legend.
“Despite his calm demeanor, ‘Gentleman’ Ned Jarrett was as fierce a competitor as NASCAR has ever seen,” O’Donnell said in a statement. “His on-track accomplishments speak for themselves with wins and championships across several NASCAR divisions.
“But it was his off-the-track persona that separated Ned from his peers. He was as kind as his nickname indicated. And his endearing personality helped him excel in his second career as a broadcaster. Ned was an outstanding ambassador for the sport for more than six decades and he will be dearly missed.”
Jarrett’s family described him as “a devout Christian and a devoted, loving family man.”
“He was a friend to everyone he met and NASCAR’s oldest living champion,” Jarrett’s family said in a statement. “By all accounts, he was a true NASCAR legend. While we mourn his passing, we celebrate the remarkable life of an amazing man and truly the best father anyone could have wished for. Rest in Peace, Dad.”
WILLIAMS TO PLAY DOUBLES
BERLIN (AP) -- Serena Williams’ comeback to tennis will include a stop in Berlin this month.
Berlin Open organizers said Williams will compete in doubles at the grass-court event starting on June 13. Her partner and the date of her first match will be announced later.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion stepped away from tennis in 2022. She has yet to say whether she plans to play at Wimbledon or the U.S. Open.
She will make her eagerly anticipated return to professional tennis playing doubles alongside Victoria Mboko at Queen’s Club next week. Berlin is the week after. Wimbledon is two weeks after that.
“Every tournament I add to my schedule right now feels special, and Berlin is no exception,” she said. “I’m excited to compete in front of the German fans and continue building momentum throughout the grass-court season.”
FIFA TO FANS: NO FREEBIES
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -- FIFA has canceled World Cup tickets issued to about 60 fans who mistakenly got them for free because of a website error.
The tickets were “allocated at no charge due to a prior payment issue during the checkout process,” FIFA said in a statement Thursday.
“FIFA regrets the error and any inconvenience caused,” soccer’s ruling body said. “The tickets requested by these fans remain reserved, and the affected fans have been invited to complete payment of the correct amount.”
It is the latest glitch in an often controversial World Cup ticketing program that the attorneys general of New York and New Jersey are investigating for possible violations of consumer protection laws.
The mispriced tickets were sold through the official World Cup site on May 21, FIFA said in an email message to buyers.
That date was more than three months after FIFA President Gianni Infantino said all 104 World Cup games had sold out.
Tickets are still being sold by FIFA for games at the World Cup, which opens next Thursday in Mexico City. It is unclear if seats for games in less demand will drop in price under FIFA’s surge pricing model that has been controversial for fans.
NUNS PRAY FOR SPURS
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Victor Wembanyama stepped off the court for a moment before Game 1 of the NBA Finals, accepted greetings from a handful of well-wishers in San Antonio Spurs jerseys, then bowed his head to join them in a quick prayer.
They’re the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco.
On game nights, they’re called the Spurs Nuns.
New York has Ben Stiller, Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan among its superfans; San Antonio has a group of nuns who wear Spurs jerseys over their habits. It’s a relationship that goes back at least 20 years or so, and to the sisters it makes perfect sense.
“We’re serving the poor and the young,” said Sr. Bernadette Mota, the director of the department of mission advancement for the Salesian Sisters. “And in order to reach the young where they’re at, you have to love what they love and then they’ll love who you love. So, we have that affinity with the Spurs because it gives us an avenue to do our mission with the young people that we serve.”
This tale started in a most unique way.
As the story goes, a couple decades ago, some of the retired sisters -- who happened to be native Texans and big Spurs fans -- would watch the games on television or listen on the radio, some even doing so while hospitalized. They would cheer for all the players, and for coach Gregg Popovich. But Popovich would sometimes seem a bit angry on the sidelines, prompting some of the sisters to reach out with letters.
“They would write to Coach Popovich and let him know when they thought he was he doing great and let him know when he lost his temper -- but they were really supporting him,” Mota said. “He’s the one that actually responded back to them, thanking them for their support for him and for the Spurs. It was really just a very organic conversation that started all of this.”
Yes, it’s true: The nuns would scold Pop for bad behavior.