Greg Baur, the head coach at Macomb Dakota High School, was suspended from the team’s playoff game after a player’s parent lit a letter jacket from an opposing school on fire in the locker room.
Correction/clarification: The headline on this article has been revised to remove any implication that the coach allowed a parent to burn a jacket on school grounds. The article also has been updated to correct the location of the burning, which occurred outside the team’s locker room.
With his Macomb (Mich.) Dakota High School program kicking off against Chippewa Valley (Mich.) on Nov. 1, Dakota coach Greg Baur was looking for an upset playoff win. He got one, but then an unexpected celebration outside the team locker room left him suspended for the team’s second-round playoff game last Friday.
As reported by Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ and the Macomb Daily, Baur was suspended after the father of one of his players burned a Chippewa Valley letter jacket outside the team’s locker room on school property. The scene was meant to celebrate the team’s victory, but also drew consternation from school officials and others who claimed it left the players at too great a risk.
“A Dakota parent chose to burn his letter jacket on Dakota property,” Chippewa Valley Schools Superintendent Ron Roberts told Macomb Daily. “He soaked and doused it with Tiki torch fuel and when the players got off the bus, he encouraged them to gather around and watch it burn. I consider that to be an unsafe situation.
“The district’s investigation determined that although the Dakota coaches did not have prior knowledge of the actions taken by the parent, once the coaches were aware, they did not take steps the district expects of its coaches to ensure student safety.”
Because the incident was deemed to expose an unsafe environment, Baur was handed a one-game suspension … which just happened to overlap with the team’s second-round playoff appearance. That game — a 38-35 loss to Sterling Heights (Mich.) Stevenson High on Nov. 8 — left some wondering if the result might have been different had Baur been allowed to coach in the game. Meanwhile, the father who burned the jacket has since come forward to take full responsibility for the jacket burning and asked others, including Baur, to be released from responsibility.
That in turn led to a change.org petition calling for players and coaches who were blamed in the incident to be exonerated. While more than 1,100 signed the petition, school officials still insist they have no interest in releasing Baur and others from responsibility for the dangerous locker room moment. Here was Roberts’ response to those calls:
“It is our belief that the situation was not handled properly. The coaching staff had the responsibility to move the kids away from this. This is about a lack of adult leadership.”
Undefeated former heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury said he’d be prepared to face Stipe Miocic in a boxing match, but the matchup would have to wait.
Undefeated former heavyweight boxing champion of the world [autotag]Tyson Fury[/autotag] has accepted [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag]’s challenge and says he’d be happy to face the UFC heavyweight champ – inside the boxing ring.
Miocic (19-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) told ESPN on Monday that he had turned his sights from a trilogy bout with Daniel Cormier to a matchup with Fury (29-0-1 boxing), saying he’d be interested to face the 6-foot-9 Brit in the octagon or the boxing ring.
And, in an interview conducted by his management team MTK Global, Fury formally accepted the challenge and said he’d happily face Miocic in a boxing match a little further down the line, once he has dealt with his unfinished business with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.
“Stipe says he wants to box me; that would be a good fight for sure,” Fury said. “After I get Wilder out of the way, I’ll fight Stipe in a boxing match if he wants it. It would be a big crossover fight like Mayweather and McGregor.”
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Fury has a return to the ring penciled in for February 2020 and hopes that Wilder will agree to face him in a rematch of their epic December 2018 clash that finished in a hotly-disputed split draw in Los Angeles. But, once Fury has faced “The Bronze Bomber” again, he said he’d be interested in a potential matchup with Miocic.
“I’m open to that fight, so he should come and see me,” Fury said. “It would be the same outcome for any of them: They’ll all get smashed.”
Fury’s comments made clear that he’d be looking to face Miocic under boxing rules, rather than the Unified Rules of MMA, but that doesn’t mean Fury has no respect for the sport. Indeed, he spent some time cracking the pads as he worked his elbows, knees and sprawls with Darren Till at the Liverpudlian’s training base at Kaobon Gym last week.
“It was exciting training with Darren Till and we get on like a house on fire,” said Fury, who shares the same management company with Till.
“He put me through a hard training session, and it was really good.”
The team has already begun its quest to find a new defensive end. On Tuesday, the team reported a workout on the NFL’s transaction report of free-agent defensive end Eric Lee. Most recently, Lee spent time with the Detroit Lions, appearing in nine games during the 2018 season. He’s also spent time on their practice squad until early October of 2019.
Lee entered the league out of the University of South Florida, joining the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent. Lee spent time with the New England Patriots in 2017, where he served under now-Chiefs defensive line coach Brendan Daly. He started five games for the Patriots that season and posted 19 tackles, three tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and an interception.
The Daly connection suggests this player could pick up the Chiefs’ system quickly, which might be necessitated by injuries. The Chiefs have not yet signed Lee, but the possibility remains as they mull their options before placing Ogbah on injured reserve.
The Denver Broncos are sitting at 3-6 following their bye week. How many more games will they win?
The Denver Broncos are ready to return from their bye week and sit at 3-6 heading into the second half of their 2019 season. Fans are still riding high after a win over the Cleveland Browns, which featured a new quarterback in Brandon Allen.
Several questions remain for the rest of this season, including how many more games the team will win. But before we get into that part, let’s look at some of the other key questions.
How much longer should Allen hold onto the starting job? Much of that answer likely lies within what the team decides to do with Drew Lock. Will the second-round pick play at all this season?
Will the offensive line, specifically Garett Bolles, ever start to play at a consistent level, or will this unit again be one of the big question marks going into next season?
When are the quarterback and offensive line spots not going to be big question marks for this team? How many games can the team win with those question marks the rest of this season?
Going over the team’s remaining schedule, we attempt to answer that final question.
Week 11 at Minnesota Vikings
(Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)
Despite the Broncos being well-rested coming off the bye week, they have to travel to Minnesota to face a surging Vikings team.
Minnesota has a stout rushing attack and a good defense. This looks and feels like an unlikely win for the Broncos.
This workout for all 32 teams doesn’t have a good feel to it.
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News came out late Tuesday afternoon that the NFL will be holding a private workout for former 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick in Atlanta on Saturday. All 32 teams are invited to attend and watch as he puts in work on the field and then will also be available for team interviews.
At first glance this looked like good news for a man who has been blackballed by the league for the last three years just because he had the gall to take a knee during the national anthem in order to raise awareness on racism and social justice.
Kaepernick later tweeted that he was looking forward to the opportunity and was looking forward to seeing coaches and GMs in Atlanta.
But then some more details came out. The NFL, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, informed Kaepernick’s reps about the workout on Tuesday. His reps had asked the league for the workout to be on a Tuesday, when most tryouts are held, but the league said no. His reps asked for the workout to be on a later Saturday, but the league said no.
So now Kaepernick gets to workout on a few days notice (which isn’t a huge problem since he’s been working out five days a week since he’s been out of the NFL) and on a day before most teams will have a game, which means attendance will likely be very low, if anyone shows up at all.
All of which feels like another slap in the face of a man who has done absolutely nothing wrong. A man who recently spent his 32nd birthday handing out food and supplies to homeless people in Oakland. A man who has handled all of this with class.
I’ve always thought it’s BS that Kaepernick hasn’t been able to get a look from any NFL teams who could desperately need a backup QB with his abilities and his experience.
But now this move by the NFL seems sketchy at best. It also seems like it would be a perfect time for Kaepernick to tell the NFL to go you-know-what itself and go on with the rest of his life helping others and fighting for causes that need his support.
I know it’s Kaepernick’s dream, however, to return to the league and show everyone that he can play and I’d never be one to steer someone away from trying to reach their dreams. But this whole thing from Day 1 has been an ugly mess for everyone involved in the NFL and the way they’ve treated Kaepernick has been an utter embarrassment.
Now I know there are a ton of fans out there who get heated just hearing his name and yell about leaving politics out of sports, though those people are often quick to throw their politics in your face while arguing against Kaepernick’s hopes of playing in the NFL again.
So it would be great if he could deal those people a blow by making it back to the league.
And I know a lot of fans are quick to yell about how he’s a bad quarterback and doesn’t deserve to be in the league.
But we all know he has more than enough talent to be on a NFL roster.
Just this year we’ve seen guys like Luke Falk, Trevor Siemian, Brian Hoyer, and Matt Moore take snaps in NFL games. Heck, Chad Henne had a gig with the Chiefs before getting hurt in the preseason. Chad Henne!
And just last year the Buffalo Bills called on Derek Anderson to start for them even though he had been out of the league. Derek Anderson!
The number of brutally awful QBs to take snaps in NFL games since Kaepernick has been out is both laughable and sad.
Kaepernick is better than all of those players mentioned, without a doubt. So stop with the noise that he stinks. He doesn’t. He could easily be a backup QB in the league and help out when necessary.
But now the NFL wants him to jump through more hoops for something that feels like it will give the league a chance to say “Hey, we gave him a shot!” and then be able to go to sleep at night thinking that they really did try their best when we all know they didn’t.
Kaepernick reportedly got around $10 million to settle his collusion grievances against the NFL last March. He has an endorsement deal with Nike that is probably giving him some good money, so financially he should be OK.
It’s just a shame we’ve come to this.
I hope he goes out and crushes his workout and lands a spot on a team.
But this opportunity has an icky feel to it. One that will likely end with Kaepernick still out of the league.
Which is all the more reason why he should tell the NFL to take a hike.
He’s better than they are.
Tuesday’s biggest winner: Geno Smith.
The Seahawks backup QB went viral late Monday night and all day Tuesday because of how he called heads during Monday night’s game with the 49ers. Some people swore they heard tails. Others, who are on the right side of this, said he said heads. But either way, Geno Smith, who explained why he called heads, was a talking point after a big game and not because he did something wrong. Which is a big win for the QB.
Quick hits: Cheating Astros?… Smart moves for Celtics… Rams need to move Goff… And more!
Here are the power rankings for the players competing in the Mayakoba Golf Classic beginning Thursday.
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The 2019 Mayakoba Golf Classic tees off this Thursday and marks the PGA Tour’s return from a three-event swing through Asia. El Camaleon Golf Club in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, remains host of the annual event which has been a staple of the fall portion of the Tour’s schedule. The Greg Norman-designed course measures 6,987 yards and plays as a par 71 under tournament conditions.
The 128-man field is fronted by defending champion Matt Kuchar and World No. 16 Tony Finau. Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, who were all victorious in Asia, are all absent this week in wait of next month’s Hero World Challenge. Next week’s RSM Classic will be the final full-field event until the Sony Open, running Jan. 9-12, 2020.
Here are my top-30 fantasy golf rankings for the 2019-20 Mayakoba Golf Classic at El Camaleon Golf Club.
30. Russell Henley
Strong approach game at a course requiring golfers to take tight angles and dodge bunkers.
29. J.T. Poston
Returns to North America off of two top-30 finishes at the WGC-HSBC Champions and Zozo Championship.
28. Keegan Bradley
The 47th-ranked golfer in the world placed T-13 in a strong field at the Zozo Championship, but he was previously in poor form in North America and missed the cut at the Houston Open.
27. Aaron Wise
Tied for 10th last year following a missed cut in 2018. Bounced back from missing the cut at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open with a third-place finish at the Bermuda Championship.
26. Dylan Frittelli
Is closing in on the top 100 of the Official World Golf Rankings with a T-22 result at the Zozo Championship. Has a strong approach game and hits greens in regulation others can’t.
25. Cameron Champ
Photo Credit: Mark Konezny – USA TODAY Sports
Played in just two events since his win at the Safeway Open in September. Relies more heavily on his off-the-tee game than approaches.
24. Sebastian Munoz
Gained 1.56 strokes per round putting during his victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Hasn’t been able to recapture the success with the flat stick.
23. Russell Knox
Had three straight top 10s at this event before skipping last year’s tournament. Was the co-runner-up in 2016.
22. Graeme McDowell
The 2016 champion hasn’t finished better than T-24 since and missed the cut last year.
21. Charley Hoffman
The 2015 champ has missed four straight cuts since his victory. He can still create scoring opportunities but isn’t in consistent four-round form.
20. Jhonattan Vegas
One of the best in the field by Opportunities Gained. Finished T-10 in 2017 and made the cut in four of his last five tries.
19. Denny McCarthy
A spectacular putter who’s waiting to put it all together. The approach game is one of his greatest struggles as he’s often left saving par.
18. Rory Sabbatini
Finished T-33 at the Zozo Championship and T-31 at The CJ Cup. Enters the week 75th by the OWGR.
17. Danny Lee
Photo Credit: Brian Spurlock – USA TODAY Sports
Last year’s runner-up is coming off a T-10 at the Zozo and a solo runner-up at The CJ Cup against much stiffer competition.
16. Pat Perez
The 2017 champ rebounded from a T-34 finish in 2018 to tie for sixth last season. Was solo third at the Shriners but finished T-51 and T-31 in the first two events in Asia.
15. Harris English
Hasn’t played since a T-4 at the Houston Open. Ranks third in the field in Greens in Regulation Gained over everyone’s last 36 rounds.
14. Kyle Stanley
A great course fit who excels on the approach and can create scoring opportunities.
13. Scottie Scheffler
The recent Korn Ferry Tour grad is an expert ball striker. Finished T-28 at the Houston Open but rebounded with T-3 at Bermuda.
12. Billy Horschel
Played all three events in Asia with a top showing of T-6 at the Zozo. He has six top 10s and just two missed cuts in 25 events in 2019.
11. Charles Howell III
Well-experienced at this venue. Placed T-7 in 2017 and T-4 in 2018 before a missed cut last year.
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10. Lanto Griffin
Photo Credit: Eric Bolte – USA TODAY Sports
The current FedExCup points leader and winner of the Houston Open didn’t compete in any of the Asian tournaments. Excels off the tee and on the greens, but can struggle with the approach.
9. Abraham Ancer
The best golfer on the PGA Tour hailing from Mexico has a top finish of T-9 in 2018.
8. Chez Reavie
Four straight made cuts in this event with a top showing of T-4 in 2017. An excellent ball striker who has a great approach game.
7. Kevin Kisner
Ranks 35th in the world after finishing T-9 in each of the final two events of last season’s FedExCup Playoffs. Not in great form after finishing outside the top 25 in the final two events in Asia.
6. Joaquin Niemann
Has slipped back to 55th in the world after peaking at 50th with his breakout win at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. Finished T-60 in this event last year.
5. Emiliano Grillo
Photo Credit: Steve Flynn – USA TODAY Sports
His 15th-place finish here last year was his worst result in his last three appearances. Leads the field with 1.91 total strokes gained per round in this event since 2015.
4. Jason Day
The winner of MGM Resorts The Challenge: Japan Skins. Hasn’t finished higher than T-22 in a stroke-play event since the Travelers Championship.
3. Matt Kuchar
Last year’s champ. He had three other top 10s and two runner-ups last season but none since the RBC Canadian Open.
2. Tony Finau
The top-ranked golfer in the field by the OWGR. An expert ball striker with a great approach game and more than enough distance for this shorter venue.
1. Viktor Hovland
Leads the field in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking, Strokes Gained: Approach and Opportunities Gained over everyone’s most recent 36 rounds. Had disappointing showings at The CJ Cup and Zozo Championship but was T-10 at The Greenbrier and T-11 at the European Tour’s BMW PGA Championship.
Jefferson is in just his second year as a pro. He was drafted in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.
With the Browns in 2019, Jefferson only made an appearance in one game, and that game came in week one against the Titans. In that game, Jefferson recorded just one tackle.
Hopefully, we see Malik find a new home soon. After all, he was a third-round pick last year for a reason.
As the No. 10 seed in the playoff picture, the Jags need some help to make the postseason and a loss for the Steelers would be a huge help.
With it being Week 11, the NFL playoffs will be here before fans know it. Of course, at 4-5 the Jacksonville Jaguars are one of the teams who are currently in the hunt, however, if they are to make the postseason they will need some help in addition to handling their own business. That said, here’s a recap on how the AFC playoff picture looks after Week 10 and a rooting guide on who Jags fans should watch on Week 11:
1. New England Patriots (8-1)
2. Baltimore Ravens (7-2)
3. Houston Texans (6-3)
4. Kansas City Chiefs (6-4)
5. Buffalo Bills (6-3)
6. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-4)
(Thursday Night Football) Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cleveland Browns – root for the Browns
Hardly ever will you catch Jags fans rooting for the Steelers and they will especially have a reason to root against them this week. After starting 1-3 during the first quarter of the season, Pittsburgh has clawed their way back to a 5-4 record by winning their last four games and have found themselves with the last wild-card spot. Needless to say, the Jags would gladly take some help from the Browns, who aren’t in the playoff picture currently but could spoil things for their divisional rival.
Sunday, 1 p.m. games
Houston Texans vs. Baltimore Ravens – root for the Ravens
The Texans are the AFC South’s divisional leader with a 6-3 record and it would take a miracle for the Jags to catch them because they own the tiebreaker over them. However, Sunday’s game against the Ravens is the start of a tough stretch for Houston as they also play the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts afterward. That said, a skid can begin here for them as the Ravens are playing solid football as the No. 2 seed.
Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins – root for the Dolphins
The Jags have a rivalry with Buffalo (6-3) as it is, however, they will really have a reason to root against them Week 11 as the Bills have the first wild-card spot. That said, they would gladly take some help from their Florida rivals Sunday. With the Dolphins being a divisional rival of the Bills, this could be a close one as they are on a two-game win streak currently and have some momentum.
Sunday, 4 p.m. games
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Oakland Raiders – root for the Bengals
The Raiders (5-4) are knocking on the door of getting a wild-card seed as they are the No. 7 ranked team in the playoff race. However, with the Bengals (0-9) being the league’s only winless team, Jags fans would unfortunately be asking for a lot here. Still, as we witnessed Week 10, upsets can happen and teams need to bring it week in and week out.
