Science and Technology

Linked media - Linked media Chase Elliott, NASCAR’s most popular driver, had criticized NASCAR after the sanctioning body issued a record fine earlier this week to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for his role in a brawl after the All-Star Race last Sunday in North Wilkesboro. Elliott knew Stenhouse had been fined for throwing a punch at Kyle Busch, but the 2020 Cup Series champion didn’t know the exact amount before being informed during a news conference Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the site of the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday. Stenhouse was fined $75,000, the largest fine issued in NASCAR history for…

Linked media - Associated media “One of the hallmarks of the job is that you get compensated for your services,” said Matthew Mitten, a law professor at Marquette University and executive director of the National Sports Law Institute. But the deal, by itself, is unlikely to bring about a radical push toward unionization in college athletics. Dartmouth is a small private school in New Hampshire, which has pro-union laws. Many football powerhouses, such as the University of Alabama and the University of Georgia, are located in right-to-work states, where unionization efforts face stiff legal and political hurdles. And compensation without…

Linked media - Linked media When he was a cocksure 25-year-old, on the fast track to officiating big-time college basketball, Scott Foster was summoned for a sit-down with his dad. They met at a bar, and his father, Dickie, brought along a family friend with experience in high-level sports. They were concerned about Foster, who was mulling a daring career move. It was 1992, and he had been offered a job in the Continental Basketball Association, then a training ground for the NBA, making $95 a game. But to do so, he would have to forgo his schedule — and…

Associated media - Linked media “Like having to choose between air and water,” he said. “I have to have both.” Although Flannery grew up primarily in Anaheim, California, his family came from the hills of Kentucky. His uncle, Hal Smith, was a catcher who hit a three-run homer for Pittsburgh in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series. If the Pirates’ bullpen had been leading 9-7, Smith would have been a hero . Instead, the Yankees tied the game and Pittsburgh’s Bill Mazeroski won the game and earned immortality. Smith, who played for 10 seasons, regularly…

Connected media - Connected media The formal indictment and complaint were announced a day after The New York Times reported that Mizuhara and his lawyer, Michael Freedman, a former prosecutor who specializes in white-collar criminal defense, were negotiating a plea deal. On Friday, Mizuhara surrendered to law enforcement in Los Angeles and made his first court appearance, wearing civilian clothes and shackles. He did not enter a plea and was released on $25,000 bond. The conditions of his release require him to undergo drug tests and seek treatment for gambling addiction. Freedman released a statement Friday saying Mizuhara “is continuing…

Associated media - Related media It was jarring last summer when ESPN fired NBA Finals game analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson. It was part of the network layoffs that Disney seemingly undergoes every two years, much like an NFL team pruning its books to make room for future multimillion-dollar expenditures. Notably, Van Gundy’s pay cut made no sense, given that he was perhaps the best game analyst in sports with his gym rat mentality and “Inside the NBA” weirdness. In the wake of these moves, ESPN is no longer as good as it used to be. With venerable…