Thursday’s Sports in Brief – Miami Herald
PRO FOOTBALL
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Bills running back LeSean McCoy isn’t surprised Colin Kaepernick has had difficulty finding a job. And thinks it has little to do with the quarterback’s decision to not stand for the anthem last season.
Some teams, McCoy said following practice, might consider it not being worth the “chaos” to take on a polarizing player such as Kaepernick to fill what’s likely to be a backup role.
“You’ve just got to look at all sides like, if I’m an owner or the GM of a team, do I want to put him on my team?” McCoy said. “Is he good enough to be on the squad to even deal with everything that’s going on?”
Kaepernick remains unsigned after opting out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers after last season. Critics have accused the NFL of punishing the sixth-year player for refusing to stand for the national anthem to protest police brutality against blacks.
“That may have something to do with it, but I think also it has a lot to do with his play,” McCoy said . “There’s certain players that could be on the team with big distractions, and there’s other players that it’s not good enough or not worth it.”
UNDATED (AP) — April’s NFL draft had an economic impact of almost $95 million for Philadelphia.
According to a report commissioned by the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau and conducted by Temple University’s Sport Industry Research Center, direct spending during the three-day event in April was $56.1 million.
Temple’s survey showed the draft attracted attendees from 42 states. Proceedings were held at the city’s iconic Art Museum, with the Rocky statue at the top of its steps, and drew a record 250,000 attendees.
The NFL began moving the draft around the nation in 2015, going to Chicago for two years. Philadelphia was next, and 20 cities, including Philly, have expressed interest in hosting an upcoming draft. Representatives from 16 cities attended this year’s event.
PRO BASKETBALL
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Manu Ginobili is returning for his 16th season with the San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs re-signed the 40-year-old Argentine guard. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Ginobili will become the eighth player in NBA history to spend his entire career with one team and play at least 16 seasons, joining Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, John Stockton, Reggie Miller and John Havlicek.
Ginobili averaged 7.5 points, 2.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds in 69 games last season, In 992 career regular-season games, he has averaged 13.6 points, 3.9 assists and 3.6 rebounds. In 213 playoff games, the four-time NBA champion has averaged 14.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists.
Ginobili led Argentina to the 2004 Olympic title. He and Bill Bradley are the only players win an NBA and Euroleague titles and an Olympic gold medal.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The University of Alaska Anchorage says the 40th Great Alaska Shootout will be the last edition of the long-running college basketball tournament.
Chancellor Sam Gingerich said the university can no longer sustain funding for the annual Thanksgiving week tournament.
The shootout began in 1978 and is the longest-running regular-season college basketball tournament. The event brought the highest level of basketball competition to Alaska, with appearances in the men’s bracket by Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA and other perennial national contenders.
SOCCER
MONACO (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo has won his third UEFA men’s player of the year award in four seasons, beating Lionel Messi and Gianluigi Buffon to get the trophy.
Each of Ronaldo’s honors as the best player in Europe followed Real Madrid winning the Champions League.
The Madrid and Portugal star is strongly favored to get a fifth FIFA world player prize in October.
The UEFA vote by journalists from 55 member federations was announced at the Champions League group-stage draw.
UEFA created a European prize after the original Ballon d’Or merged with FIFA’s world award.
The women’s award was won by Lieke Martens of the European champion Netherlands. The other ominees were Pernille Harder of Denmark, and Dzsenifer Marozsan of Germany.
CHEERLEADING
DENVER (AP) — Cheerleading coaches and school administrators in a Colorado district were placed on leave and police opened an investigation amid a series of videos showing high school cheerleaders screaming in pain while being pushed into splits during practice.
The videos show eight cheerleaders at Denver’s East High School repeatedly being pushed into splits while their arms are held up by teammates, KUSA-TV reported.
In one video, a girl repeatedly asks her coach to “please stop.” The station says the videos were shot on the phones of two team members and were sent anonymously to the station.
DAILY FANTASY SPORTS
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie signed into law a measure to regulate and tax daily fantasy sports.
The law imposes a 10.5 percent tax on the winnings of companies that offer daily fantasy sports.
Supporters of the measure estimate daily fantasy sports would generate $6.6 million annually in state taxes.
The Republican governor, who did not comment on the law, has supported New Jersey’s effort in an attempt to use sports gambling revenues to boost the fortunes of the state’s casino and horse racing industries.
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