Weekend Sports in Brief

VIRUS OUTBREAK

The already-delayed professional sports seasons in North America could be on hiatus for significantly longer than first planned after federal officials said Sunday that they recommend all in-person events involving 50 people or more be called off for the next eight weeks.

That’s twice as long as the 30-day shutdowns that the NBA, NHL and Major League Soccer decided to put into place last week in response to the global coronavirus pandemic that has already made a deep impact on the U.S. financial markets and has been blamed for at least 64 deaths in this country.

Major League Baseball also was going with what essentially was a 30-day shutdown after canceling the rest of spring training and pushing back the start of regular season play for two weeks; Opening Day was to have been March 26.

But new recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday night seem to suggest that sports in this country could for all intents and purposes be gone until May, if not later.

DETROIT (AP) - Christian Wood of the Detroit Pistons has tested positive for the coronavirus, a person with direct knowledge of the situation said Saturday night.

Wood is feeling fine, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the Pistons nor Wood had publicly confirmed his positive result. Wood’s diagnosis became known one week after he played against the Utah Jazz - spending much of that night matched up with Rudy Gobert, who was the first NBA player known to test positive for the virus.

Utah’s Donovan Mitchell has also tested positive for the virus. It cannot be concluded that any of those three players were involved in spreading it to one another.

The Pistons later confirmed that a player - they did not name Wood - tested positive Saturday and has been in self-isolation.

-By AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds.

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) - The Baseball Hall of Fame said it will close to the public beginning Sunday because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Cooperstown, New York, shrine will provide updated information regarding this closure on each subsequent Sunday.

CANTON, Ohio (AP) - The Pro Football Hall of Fame is closing temporarily because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The museum in Canton, Ohio says it will be closed to the public from Monday through March 27. The Hall says it “will continue to closely monitor the situation and maintain ongoing communication with state and local health officials.”

CLEVELAND (AP) - Cleveland State women’s basketball coach Chris Kielsmeier has tested positive for the coronavirus.

CSU, in a statment released Saturday night, says Kielsmeier is the first confirmed case of the virus at the school, as confirmed by Cuyahoga County health officials.

The university says it is doing everything it can to support Kielsmeier in his recovery and is making sure anyone who came in close contact with the coach is being contacted and give the best medical advice and support.

Kielsmeier said in the statement that it has been a very challenging couple of days and that he is beginning to feel better and looks forward to getting back to 100%.

PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) - The ECHL board of governors approved the cancellation of the remainder of the season.

The professional hockey league has 26 teams in the United States and Canada.

NFL

By a close vote, with some 500 union members not participating, NFL players approved a new labor agreement with the league. It features a 17-game regular season, higher salaries, increased roster sizes and larger pensions for current and former players.

The deal, which runs through the 2030 season, was accepted by the 32 team owners last month. The NFL Players Association’s membership spent the last week voting on the 439-page document after its executive board narrowly rejected it by a 6-5 vote, and the player representatives voted 17-14 in favor, with one abstention.

Clearly, there was some strong player opposition to this collective bargaining agreement, though. Many stars, including Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, J.J. Watt and Todd Gurley, spoke out against it. The total vote, among the nearly 2,500 union members who participated, was 1,019-959. Ratification required a simple majority - results were announced Sunday - and there could be lasting resentment among union members, given how close the vote was.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Tennessee Titans are keeping the quarterback that led them within a victory of the Super Bowl, agreeing to a four-year, $118 million extension with Ryan Tannehill.

The Titans announced the deal Sunday.

After being traded by Miami to Tennessee last March, Tannehill went 9-4 overall as a starter, 7-3 over the final 10 games of the regular season after the Titans benched Marcus Mariota in mid-October. Tannehill led the NFL with a career-best 117.5 passer rating, the fourth highest in NFL history and a franchise best.

Tannehill threw for 2,742 yards with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions during the regular season. His 9.6 yards per attempt also led the league as another team record. He also set a team mark for completion percentage, completing 70.3% of his passes for third overall in the NFL. He also ran for 185 yards with four TDs on 43 carries.

He helped lead the Titans to their first AFC championship appearance in 17 years as the No. 6 seed with road wins at New England and Baltimore. They lost 35-24 at Kansas City one win short of the Super Bowl.

Tannehill earned his first Pro Bowl nod and was The Associated Press NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - The Baltimore Ravens are essentially getting a five-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman for a backup kicker who has spent time on five NFL rosters over the last eight months.

The Ravens agreed to trade a fifth-round draft pick in the upcoming draft to the Jacksonville Jaguars for veteran Calais Campbell, according to a person familiar with the deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Sunday because the trade can’t become official until the new league begins.

It appears to be a great value for the Ravens and a downright steal considering they’re giving up the 170th overall pick, which they got by trading place-kicker Kaare Vedvik to Minnesota last August. The Vikings cut Vedvik three weeks later.

Now, they’re working to get Campbell a new contract that should make one of the league’s best defenses even better.

MLB

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - A New York Yankees minor leaguer tested positive for the coronavirus, the Miami Marlins shut their spring training complex and baseball began bracing for the possibility that opening day could be delayed into May or longer.

Major League Baseball was set to update teams Monday on its health policy in the wake of the virus outbreak.

On Sunday, a Yankees prospect became the first known player affiliated with MLB to contract COVID-19. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said a “younger player” was affected, without identifying him. Cashman said the player “feels much better” and his symptoms had subsided, but he was still isolated.

The Marlins, meanwhile, became the first organization to completely close their complex. Their big leaguers were told to take a break and avoid group activities.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (AP) - Hall of Famer Rick Pitino was named basketball coach at Iona College on Saturday.

Pitino coached at Louisville from 2001-17 before being fired in a pay-for-play scandal and had been coaching in Greece. He replaces Tim Cluess, who resigned Friday due to health concerns after 10 years and six NCAA Tournament appearances.

“My passion in basketball started in New York and will end there at Iona College,” Pitino said in a statement released by the Catholic school located north of New York City in suburban Westchester County that has an undergraduate enrollment of 3,300 students.

The 67-year-old Pitino has a 770-271 overall record in college and became the first coach to take three different schools to the Final Four. He won national championships at Louisville (2013) and Kentucky (1996) and also went to the Final Four with Providence in 1987.

Pitino coached twice in the NBA, with the New York Knicks (1987-89) and the Boston Celtics (1997-2001), where he was also team president.

Last June, Pitino coached Panathinaikos to the championship in the Greek League.

GOLF

Brooks Koepka said Sunday he has no interest in the Premier Golf League, another setback to a league promising guaranteed money and a team concept that now is missing some of golf’s biggest young stars.

Later Sunday, Golfweek reported that world No. 2 Jon Rahm said he will not join, meaning the world’s top three players are sticking with the PGA Tour.

Rory McIlroy, who replaced Koepka at No. 1 in the world a month ago, said last month in Mexico City that he was not interested in the new league. He said he valued his freedom to decide when and where to play instead of the proposed schedule of 18 tournaments, not including the majors.

MMA

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) - The UFC staged a full fight card in an empty arena Saturday night in Brazil’s capital city, sticking to its plan to keep fighting in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

Charles Oliveira stopped lightweight Kevin Lee with a guillotine choke in the third round of the main event in the UFC’s first show since many other sports organizations around the world postponed and canceled competitions.

The world’s biggest mixed martial arts promotion held 12 bouts in Brasilia with only the fighters, their camps, the television production crew and a few dozen essential personnel inside Nilson Nelson Gymnasium.

WNBA

STORRS, Conn. (AP) - UConn forward Megan Walker has decided to forgo her senior season and enter the WNBA draft.

The decision came a day after Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma told reporters he had no reason to believe that anyone on his team with remaining eligibility would not return next season.

Walker led the Huskies in scoring, averaging 19.7 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.

She was named the American Athletic Conference player of the year and the AAC’s tournament MVP, leading UConn (29-3) to a seventh consecutive conference title.

Walker scored 1,251 points and finished her career with 615 rebounds.

BIATHALON

KONTIOLAHTI, Finland (AP) - Martin Fourcade finished his career as one of the greatest biathletes by winning his last race on Saturday on the 10th anniversary of his first pursuit win - in the same place.

France’s most successful Winter Olympian with five gold medals announced his retirement on Saturday then won his final race in Kontiolahti, Finland, narrowly missing out on an eighth World Cup sprint title.

With perfect symmetry, Fourcade’s 83rd and final individual win was 10 years to the day where he got his first individual win.

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