COLLEGE FOOTBALL
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Minnesota football coach Tracy Claeys doubled down on his support for players who boycotted practices and threatened to skip a bowl game if 10 teammates suspended after a sexual assault investigation weren’t reinstated.
Speaking publicly for the first time since a standoff between 110 Golden Gophers football players and the administration, Claeys said he understands the players’ frustration with a Title IX investigation that they felt was inherently unfair to teammates who were accused of assaulting a woman at an off-campus dorm in September.
“As kids, they have no problems being held to a higher standard than the university requires and should require,” Claeys said after Minnesota’s practice. “This is all about the due process.”
Claeys also clarified a comment he made on WCCO radio on Sunday morning when he said he was risking his job by supporting the players. The coach said he was just advising his players of possible ramifications during a team meeting on Thursday, before the team made the announcement to boycott.
The boycott ended Saturday when the team backed down and said they would play in the Dec. 27 Holiday Bowl against Washington State in San Diego, even though officials declined to reinstate their suspended teammates. The players agreed after getting assurances that those accused will get a fair hearing next month.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - The Atlantic Coast Conference has fined Louisville and Virginia Tech $25,000 each after reviewing the findings of a Wake Forest investigation that concluded a former Demon Deacons assistant coach-turned-broadcaster leaked game plans to opponents.
Commissioner John Swofford said in a statement he is “deeply disturbed something like this would occur.”
The league said its review and follow-up discussions with the schools indicated that game plan information for four of Wake Forest’s games was provided to three schools over a three-year period from 2014-16 - Virginia Tech in 2014, Louisville in 2016 and Army in both 2014 and ’16.
PRO FOOTBALL
The Jacksonville Jaguars fired Gus Bradley, ending one of the least successful coaching tenures in NFL history.
Owner Shad Khan announced the decision following a 21-20 loss at Houston, in which the Jaguars (2-12) blew a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter. Khan considered the move in late October, following a debacle at Tennessee on national television, but opted to keep Bradley for seven more weeks. During that time, Jacksonville lost to backup quarterbacks Tom Savage (Houston), Paxton Lynch (Denver) and Nick Foles (Kansas City).
Bradley went 14-48 in four seasons in Jacksonville, the worst winning percentage (.225) of any NFL coach with at least 60 games.
HORSE RACING
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - A New Zealand jockey has died after a two-horse fall at a race meeting which was attended by two of her children.
Rebecca Black, a 39-year-old mother of three, was riding in the eighth race at the Tapanui Racing Club meeting at Gore when her mount, Point Proven, stumbled and fell. Another horse, Misscattlecreek, which was following closely behind Point Proven, also fell, but its rider was unhurt.
Police and paramedics who attended the incident said the jockey died at the scene from her injuries. A New Zealand Police spokesman told the Otago Daily Times that Black’s death had been referred to the coroner for investigation.
In 2003, Black suffered neck and head injuries during a fall in trackwork. She returned to race riding in 2010 and had ridden 108 winners from 1,264 starts.
SOCCER
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Former soccer star Cuauhtemoc Blanco said he is ending a hunger strike to defend his mayorship of the city of Cuernavaca, after Mexico’s Supreme Court issued a stay against efforts to impeach him.
Blanco posted photos of crowds cheering him outside the cathedral in Cuernavaca.
He had begun sitting outside the cathedral early Saturday to protest the state congress’ decision to refer the impeachment process to a three-judge panel.
Blanco was elected to the mayorship last year in his first political experience. Since then scandals have surfaced, including allegations he was paid to run on the ticket of a tiny political party.
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