How 2019 NFL second-round draft picks fared, what’s in store in 2020How 2019 NFL second-round draft picks fared, what’s in store in 2020
How did the second-rounders do in 2019, and what’s next? Our NFL Nation reporters project what’s ahead in 2020.
Day: April 1, 2020
Mavs’ Cuban: ‘No idea’ on when NBA returnsMavs’ Cuban: ‘No idea’ on when NBA returns
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he has “no idea” on when the NBA will resume playing games.
Q&A with defending Valero Texas Open champ Corey ConnersQ&A with defending Valero Texas Open champ Corey Conners
Corey Conners is a Canadian who now lives in South Florida, so you may not expect cowboy boots to be part of his wardrobe. He was wearing a pair around his house earlier this week, though. The boots, which he earned for winning last year’s Valero Texas Open, gave him a boost of “positive energy� during these tough times, he said. Conners was scheduled to defend his title this week at TPC San Antonio before the coronavirus pandemic put the world on hold. Conners made 10 birdies in his final round last year to become the first Monday qualifier to win on TOUR since 2010. He took some time Wednesday to meet with reporters in a conference call. Conners and his wife, Malory, also will be going live on the PGA TOUR’s Instagram account at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Here are some highlights from Wednesday’s call: What have you been up to? I’ve had the clubs away for the most part. I don’t really have a plan for getting back into competitive mode. I’ve just been trying to stay inside, enjoying time with my wife, a little bit of reading and Xbox and doing workouts in the gym in our house, trying to stay in good shape. What’s your favorite book you’ve read, and what Xbox games have you played? I read the book Pound the Stone. It’s a really good book about work ethic. It’s by Josh Metcalf. He has another one called Chop Wood, Carry Water. As for Xbox, it’s pretty simple right now. I’ve never had a game system or been a gamer but I’ve been playing NHL and racing games. That’s pretty much it. I’m just trying to peck away at the NHL to get my skills respectable enough where I could challenge some people online, but right now I have a lot of work to do there. Can you start by taking us back through your memories of last year’s win? I have a lot of great memories. It’s been a sort of refreshing mental activity to remember the good stuff I did last year and getting my first win. There were a lot of highs from that week, especially from that last round. Making 10 birdies was pretty awesome, and proving to myself that I was able to get it done was pretty awesome. I’m looking forward to getting back in that position. When you look back at that final round, there were a lot of ups and downs. When you look back at your emotions that day, what stands out? Things were pretty high after the first five holes. I made four birdies and got off to a terrific start. Then making four bogeys to finish the front nine was definitely a low but I learned a lot from that moment. I had gotten ahead of myself. Making the turn, I was able to reset. I was able to make some birdies starting the back nine and I didn’t get ahead of myself that time. I was really focused and relaxed. Even within the round I learned some things. You were in a position to represent Canada in the Olympics, but they were obviously postponed. How disappointed are you? Obviously it was disappointing. I’d worked really hard. It was a goal of mine the past couple years. Things have happened that are out of my control, but it’s still motivating. Representing Canada in Japan would be a really awesome achievement and a dream come true. Ever since golf was announced in the Olympics, I’ve wanted to represent Canada. Does Malory still get recognized from the telecast? Yeah, for sure. She’s been getting some love this week as we kind of look back on last year and her emotions. It was pretty awesome. People definitely still recognize her. There were a lot of instances after the win where we’d be in an airport or restaurant where people would recognize.
Nets GM unsure if Durant, Irving could play if NBA resumesNets GM unsure if Durant, Irving could play if NBA resumes
With so much uncertainty around the NBA season, Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks is no longer ruling out Kevin Durant for the season. Marks repeatedly had said he didn’t expect Durant to play this season while recovering from Achilles tendon surgery, but he acknowledged Wednesday that everything is unknown now that the season is suspended because of the new coronavirus. Durant was injured in the 2019 NBA Finals, so he would have a year to recover if the league were to resume in June.
Nets now symptom-free after testing positiveNets now symptom-free after testing positive
The four members of the Nets who tested positive for the coronavirus are now symptom-free.
NFL teams rely on tape with virus altering pre-draft routineNFL teams rely on tape with virus altering pre-draft routine
Let’s go to the tape. The social distancing spawned by the new coronavirus has halted pro timing days at college campuses. It’s also led the league to forbid teams from hosting prospects at team headquarters or visiting them for in-person interviews, meetings that are usually such an integral part of the annual evaluations that they can make or break a franchise’s fortunes.
MotoGP rider Iannone gets 18-month steroid banMotoGP rider Iannone gets 18-month steroid ban
MotoGP rider Andrea Iannone was banned for 18 months by the International Motorcycling Federation on Wednesday after testing positive for a steroid.
Swing us a song, Sebastian Cappelen’s the piano manSwing us a song, Sebastian Cappelen’s the piano man
Like so many of us, Sebastian Cappelen has seen the videos of people singing “Imagine,â€� one of the late John Lennon’s signature melodies, shared repeatedly on social media in an attempt to lift our spirits in these tenuous and troubling times. Celebrities such as Gal Gadot, Will Farrell and Maya Rudolph appear in one. A pianist wearing a surgical mask, disinfecting the keyboard before he sits down to play in an empty London train station, in another. The plaintive rendition of an orthopedic surgery resident, Dr. Elvis Francois, in the lobby of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in a third. Related: Golf during previous global crises | Rahm makes plea to young fans | PGA TOUR Latinoamérica’s Lange’s experience with coronavirus “Of course, I sat down and started playing that on the piano,â€� Cappelen says almost matter-of-factly. “It’s not a hard song to play but it’s probably a fairly relevant song to play for people right now.â€� Cappelen has been sitting in front of the digital baby grand piano in his Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, home quite a bit these days now that the PGA TOUR has been shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic. He plays the piano daily, sometimes for hours on end, just like he might find himself putting in time on the practice range had those eight tournaments not been cancelled and three others postponed. “When I get on and sit by the piano, I always lose track of time,â€� says Cappelen, who has one top-10 finish and eight made cuts in 13 starts as a TOUR rookie this season. “And, I think my wife can attest to that — all of a sudden there’s two hours gone, you’re like, ‘Oh, time for dinner.’ … “I mean, when I’m there it’s not really much else to think about because I’m usually very focused when I’m at the piano. So, it’s nice to be able to do in these times, just sit down and relax and not think about much.â€� Cappelen has been playing the piano since he was 11 years old. It wasn’t his first musical instrument, though. He was in third grade and attending an arts academy in his native Denmark when he learned the violin. Two years later, he began to concentrate on the flute. But as he grew older, Cappelen really came to appreciate the complexity of the piano with its ability to make such a variety of robust and complete music in and of itself. “I just think (it’s) the variety of genres that you can express and the full company of sounds that you can express at once,â€� he says. “It just seemed like an instrument that was very enjoyable and full-bodied without any other instruments alongside it. Where some instruments, you feel like you really require other musicians around you to create a full-bodied sound. “So, I just think piano was the most interesting and the most complex, dynamic, most options, if you would say so.â€� Beethoven’s “Fur Elise,â€� Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Luneâ€� and Scott Joplin’s 1899 classic, “Maple Leaf Ragâ€� – quite the mixed bag of compositions — were among the first really complicated pieces that Cappelen remembers mastering as a youngster. “I can still play some of all of them, but I couldn’t remember them all, note for note now,â€� says the 29-year-old, who also is a talented guitar player. Cappelen can sit down at his piano and play everything from classical compositions to the energetic riffs of Jerry Lee Lewis and Elton John, though. He loves classic rock – he went through an Eagles phase a couple of years ago, while Night Ranger (“Sister Christianâ€� in particular) and Journey are other favorites. But he also likes the Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli, and his My Soundtrack station on Amazon reflects his eclectic tastes. “I’ll come home and maybe I discovered a new song that I really liked that we started listening to a lot,â€� Cappelen says. “And, I’ll be like, ‘Oh, I’m going to try to play this,’ if it’s a good song to play on piano. So then, I spend some time looking at that song, trying to figure out how to play it.â€� About the same time Cappelen started playing Beethoven and Bach, he gave up soccer – his father Ulrik was on the Danish national pro team – and began to focus on golf. He remembers making his first birdie when he was 10 years old, holing a 7-iron from 110 yards. So, which was harder to learn? He doesn’t really know. “It depends on how good you want to be,â€� Cappelen says. “How do you define playing golf and how do you define playing the piano? Because anyone who picks up a club and tries to swing at the ball on the golf course, are they playing golf? Or, anyone that sits at the piano and hits the keys, are they playing piano? “I honestly couldn’t answer that question because I feel like I’ve spent a lot of time doing both, so to me that baseline is going to be very high. But (if) I was honestly saying, for someone to enjoy, it would take less time for someone to start enjoying golf than it would to really get into piano and being able to put a piece together on a piano.â€� Music, though, was always going to be a hobby for Cappelen, a sanctuary, if you will. He rates himself a low single-digit handicapper on the piano if the best musicians are a plus-5 or a plus-6. He’s not going to compete or be giving any concerts, but he enjoys playing for friends. “Music was never my intent to pursue it hardcore, like I ended up doing with golf,â€� he says. “It was always my hobby on the side that kind of gave me relief if I was frustrated or just gave me something else to focus on while you recover from something or whatever it is. “Because you can’t spend 24 hours on a golf course, you’re going to drive yourself crazy.â€� Playing the piano, though, can help keep you sane. Especially in times like these.
NCAA’s slow-playing of scandal invites troubleNCAA’s slow-playing of scandal invites trouble
Years after the FBI’s bold talk about cleaning up college hoops, nothing’s changed. If anything, the NCAA’s snail-like pace enforcing its rules has emboldened more in the sport.
Wimbledon canceled for 1st time since WWII because of virusWimbledon canceled for 1st time since WWII because of virus
Wimbledon was canceled on Wednesday because of the coronavirus pandemic, the first time since World War II that the oldest Grand Slam tennis tournament won’t be played. Britain imposed a nationwide lockdown just over a week ago, and the All England Club announced after a two-day emergency meeting that the event it refers to simply as The Championships is being scrapped for 2020. Wimbledon was scheduled to be played on the club’s grass courts on the outskirts of London from June 29 to July 12.
