Category: Sports
The Islanders’ long journey home to UBS Arena
A view of the scoreboard at UBS Arena at Belmont Park on Sept. 30, 2021. (Photo credit: Howard Schnapp)
The Islanders begin the 2021-22 NHL season on a franchise-record 13-game road trip while the finishing touches are put on their new home, UBS Arena at Belmont Park.
From the season opener in Carolina on Oct. 14 to the home opener on Long Island on Nov. 20, the Isles’ journey will take 37 days and nearly 15,000 miles traveled.
Oct. 14 at Carolina
Mathew Barzal’s top line with a healthy Anders Lee and Kyle Palmieri was dangerous all game. But the Islanders weren’t careful enough with the puck, strong enough defensively or good enough on special teams in a 6-3 loss to the Hurricanes before 18,680 at PNC Arena in the season opener.
Team record: 0-1-0, 0 points
Miles traveled: 526.3
Days until the home opener: 37
While you’re away
The ice was put down and painted at UBS Arena on Oct. 14.
Oct. 16 at Florida
Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves, including 14 in the third period, but allowed five goals thanks to bad defensive play as the Isles fell to the Panthers, 5-1, at FLA Live Arena. Oliver Wahlstrom’s unassisted power-play goal in the third period spoiled Sergei Bobrovsky’s shutout attempt.
Team record: 0-2-0, 0 points
Miles traveled: 1,312.6
Days until the home opener: 35
Oct. 19 at Chicago
Sorokin was brilliant in making 31 of his 39 saves over the first two periods, and Wahlstrom scored twice in the third period as the Islanders kept Chicago winless, 4-1, at United Center to earn their first victory.
Team record: 1-2-0, 2 points
Miles traveled: 2,675.8
Days til the home opener: 32
Meanwhile, back home
The Stanley Cup banners and retired Islander jerseys were raised to the rafters at UBS Arena.
Oct. 21 at Columbus
Patrik Laine’s blistering shot from the right circle at 1:49 of overtime gave the Blue Jackets a 3-2 win over the Isles at Nationwide Arena. The Islanders failed to capitalize on three power-play chances, another strong outing from goalie Ilya Sorokin and an odd-man opportunity in overtime.
Team record: 1-2-1, 3 points
Miles traveled: 3,032.2
Days until the home opener: 30
Oct. 23 at Arizona
Ilys Sorokin made 26 saves for his fourth career shutout and his first of the season, preserving it by turning aside Nick Schmaltz from in tight with less than a minute to play in the third period of the Isles’ 3-0 win over Arizona. The Isles got goals from Cal Clutterbuck, Brock Nelson and Anthony Beauvillier in the victory.
Miles traveled: 4,953.4
Days until the home opener: 28
Oct. 24 at Vegas
Ilya Sorokin had his second shutout in as many nights and Josh Bailey moved past Bobby Nystrom into 10th place on the franchise scoring list as the Isles defeated the Golden Knights, 2-0.
Miles traveled: 5,233.2
Days until the home opener: 27
Oct. 30 at Nashville
The Islanders went 2-for-4 on the man advantage, the penalty kill went 4-for-4 against the Predators’ power play and Ilya Sorokin stopped 21 shots, but Oliver Wahlstrom and Beauvillier were stopped in the shootout as the Isles fell to the Predators, 3-2, at Bridgestone Arena.
Miles traveled: 7,027.2
Days until the home opener: 21
Nov. 4 at Montreal
Brock Nelson’s career-high four-goal performance, including a late empty-netter, another strong outing from Ilya Sorokin and three assists from local product Anthony Beauvillier highlighted the Isles’ 6-2 win over the Canadiens at Bell Centre.
Miles traveled: 8,119.6
Days until the home opener: 16
Nov. 6 at Winnipeg
Ilya Sorokin notched his third shutout of the season in the Islanders’ 2-0 win over the Jets at Canada Life Centre. Anders Lee and Brock Nelson scored for the Isles, who extended their point streak to seven games.
Miles traveled: 10,387.9
Days until the home opener: 14
Nov. 7 at Minnesota
Semyon Varlamov made 34 saves in his first action since June 25, but the Isles gave up two quick goals and two empty-netters to end their point streak at seven games and fell to the Wild, 5-2, at the Xcel Energy Center.
Miles traveled: 11,137.5
Days until the home opener: 13
Nov. 11 at New Jersey
The Isles couldn’t get anything going against Mackenzie Blackwood and continued to struggle on special teams as they fell to the Devils, 4-0, at Prudential Center in the closest they’ve come to playing a home game, both geographically and with the crowd split roughly 50-50 in its loyalties.
Miles traveled: 12,316
Days until the home opener: 9
Nov. 15 at Tampa Bay
A revamped lineup didn’t do much for the Islanders, who allowed a tying goal just 23 seconds after taking an early lead and went 0-for-3 with two shots on the man advantage in a 4-1 loss to the defending champion Lightning at Amalie Arena.
Miles traveled: 13,435.3
Days until the home opener: 5
Nov. 16 at Florida
The road trip is over, but the Isles are limping home after suffering their fourth straight regulation defeat, this one a 6-1 loss to the Panthers courtesy of four first-period goals.
Miles traveled: 13,686.5
Days until the home opener: 4
Now arriving…
The LIRR’s new Elmont station, about three-quarters of a mile north of UBS Arena, officially is renamed Elmont-UBS Arena Station on Nov. 17 after the MTA board unanimously approved a 10-year, $1.75 million deal giving naming rights to arena developer New York Arena Partners.
Baseball’s second color barrier
It was a problem Jackie Robinson outlined in 1972, days before he died. As he looked out at the crowd attending the World Series between the A’s and the Reds, the same crowd that was currently honoring him, he wondered aloud: Where are the Black people in baseball?
At the time, the legendary Hall of Famer didn’t mean the guys on the field — Black players were becoming a strong, important presence in Major League Baseball — but the managers in the dugout.
If Robinson were around today, he likely would be pointing out the lack of Black men and women in baseball’s front offices. And he would have witnessed the consistent decline in the number of Black players through the decades — from 18.7% in 1981 to 6.7% in 2016, according to SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research.
It was a haunting irony: Robinson, the man who broke baseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers 74 years ago Thursday, was beginning to witness another color barrier. One that still exists.
“It all trickles down,” said baseball historian Rocco Constantino, author of “Beyond Baseball’s Color Barrier.”
“There’s the front office aspect of it, and the managerial aspect of it and that [comes from] the lack of Black players, and then you trace it back to the lack of African American participation at the youth level . . . and the rise of costs” to play baseball.
There are other repercussions, too.
“I can go to a baseball game and be the only African American in an entire section,” Hall of Fame reporter Claire Smith said. Smith is the first woman and fourth Black person to receive the J.G. Taylor Spink Award, given for “meritorious contributions to baseball writing.”
So why, as society generally begins to steer toward greater inclusion, is baseball lagging? And, more particularly, what steps can baseball take to change the course?
Half a dozen prominent men and women in baseball were asked that same question, and there was consensus — yes, it’s a problem and, yes, it’s solvable.
PHOTO CREDIT: AP
Frank Robinson
- Years as player: 1956-1976
- Years as manager: 1975*-1977; 1981-1984; 1988-1991; 2002-2006 *began as player-manager
- Teams managed: Cleveland, Giants, Orioles, Expos/Nationals
- Notable achievements: As a player, 14-time All Star and two-time World Series Champion. American and National League MVP. As a manager, the first Black man to hold the position. Named 1989 American League Manager of the Year
Since Frank Robinson became the first Black manager in 1975, while also playing for Cleveland, there have been 263 different men hired to manage baseball teams, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Sixteen of them have been Black. There are currently only two Black managers in baseball: Dusty Baker, with the Astros, and the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts. Since 2007, only two Black men have been hired as first-time managers.
As for Black heads of baseball operations — the people like general managers or presidents who hire managers, make trades and generally decide how baseball teams are run – there’s just one, according to MLB: White Sox executive vice president Kenny Williams, who earned that title in 2012 after also serving 12 years as general manager there.
There are only three other minority heads of baseball operations: The Marlins’ Kim Ng, who is Asian, and the first woman to ever be hired as a general manager; Tigers GM Al Avila, who is Cuban; and Giants president Farhan Zaidi, who has Pakistani ancestry.
THE PAST: Where have you gone, Frank Robinson?
Dusty Baker, 71, is in his 24th season as a manager, and he knows baseball has a blind spot. It starts at the very top, he said, with the men in power suits networking and getting their mostly white friends big jobs.
“We don’t have any fraternity brothers or any friends, so to speak, upstairs that are doing the hiring,” of Black men as managers, said Baker, a three-time National League manager of the year. “How many probably qualified Black friends do most of the people upstairs have, period — in life or in the game? That’s where it starts. It also starts when baseball quit hiring former players for these positions and started hiring businessmen only.”
General managers used to come from a pool of ex-players, but that trend began to change in the 1980s, when it veered toward businessmen and lawyers. Baker didn’t have a GM that wasn’t a former player until 1985, two years after Sandy Alderson, formerly the A’s general counsel, ascended to the position.
PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
Dusty Baker
- Team: Houston Astros, current manager
- Years as player: 1968-1986
- Years as manager: 1993-2006; 2008-2013; 2016-2017; 2020-present
- Teams managed: Giants, Cubs, Reds, Nationals, Astros
- Notable achievements: As a player, a two-time All Star and World Series Champion. As a manager, three-time National League Manager of the Year. Has led his team to the playoffs for six of the last seven seasons he’s managed.
As baseball steered toward the computational analysis of statistics in the late ’90s, the trend shifted again. Now, the preferred GM candidate for many is Ivy League educated, with a strong eye toward analytics, said Alderson, president of the Mets.
“Clubs are favoring that type of candidate over more traditional candidates. I think you have to look at, No. 1, whether that’s a good idea, and, No. 2, how to identify minority candidates with that background,” Alderson said.
He added: “The key is hiring at lower levels and bringing individuals in to create a pipeline. I think one of the problems, generally, that we have in the game is that the entry level, the internship level, there are some people who can afford to take on an internship and some people who can’t, and yeah, that has a big impact.”
Baseball internships pay less than first-year jobs at large tech companies or Wall Street firms, said Brian Cashman, general manager of the Yankees, who started his career with the organization as an intern. And since many of these analytic-minded candidates have degrees in business or statistics, the competition for them is fierce. A choice to start a career in baseball can sometimes fall to two factors: love for the game and the financial means to not take the highest-paying offer, Alderson said.
“It just comes down to how can we continue to find ways and initiatives to get an increase in the population within the Black community that will love the sport of baseball,” Cashman said. “There is a population. Is it represented enough as it should be in our industry? The answer is no.”
In 1999, then-commissioner Bud Selig sent out a memo requiring teams to interview minority candidates for five top-tier job positions, including general manager and manager, and though that mandate lives on today, it doesn’t always translate to minority hiring.
“There are people that are clearly qualified and clearly very respected in the game, [people] you never hear anything bad about [who don’t get jobs] and I just don’t know I can assume what’s not getting them their foot in the door,” Constantino said. “It’s mind blowing . . . A lot of places are filling the Bud Selig quota by interviewing Latin American candidates or women but not really hiring them, either.”
Michele Meyer-Shipp, a Black woman and MLB’s first chief people & culture officer, says she is glad the rule exists — but for it to work, there must be a deeper shift.
“The more I looked into this [rule], the more and more I realized that the rule is the rule and it’s words on paper,” she said. “We have to actually create an environment wherein we have the pipeline of talent to apply the rule to. It’s not good enough to find one person and put them through the process and check the box on the rule. We actually need to . . . get really intentional about looking across baseball and identifying the talent that we have in our pipeline right now.”
THE PRESENT: A Children’s Game?
Being good at baseball is an expensive endeavor.
According to a 2019 study by the Federal Reserve, the average white family in the United States has a net worth of $188,200, compared with $24,100 for Black families. It’s caused a schism between talented kids who can afford to pursue baseball and those who can’t, especially as children are being asked to specialize in a particular sport early on, Constantino said.
“The rise of the cost of youth level baseball over the past couple of decades” has been a big part of homogenizing the sport, he said. “It’s become a country club type sport, where it takes a lot of money and a lot of year-round training and a lot of elite club travel ball that inner city, underprivileged youth don’t have access to.”
To have a good shot at advancing though the ranks, youth players have to play travel ball. The average annual cost to play on a travel team is around $3,700, according to a study conducted by USA Today. That can balloon to around $8,000 for training and tournaments. Tack on hundreds of more dollars for equipment.
One impactful fix would be financing travel ball, Alderson said, which would allow kids to get into the sport when they’re still young and potentially capable of developing the skills they need to go pro.
“And I don’t mean holding showcases,” he said. “I mean subsidizing players that want to participate in travel ball but can’t for financial reasons.”
That’s not to say Black parents don’t spend money on sports, but specializing in one sport, while also taking costs into account, means making difficult decisions. Parents of Black children rated the possibility of earning a college scholarship as 23% more important than white parents, according to a 2020 survey by the Aspen Institute. Basketball and football scholarships are more accessible than baseball: There’s a greater number of them and they pay out more.
Smith said the issues Black children face are also different from the ones faced by Latin American players. Over 27% of MLB players are Latino, and there are four Latino managers. A lot of it has to do with the different rules that govern scouting and signing international talent.
“With Latin American players, you can spot a kid that’s 13, 14 years old, see the talent and you can sign that child,” she said. “You can tuck that child away in an academy because that child, unless he’s Puerto Rican, isn’t subject to the draft. There’s more certainty in pursuing the player in Latin America, and baseball is able to say, we’re more diverse than ever . . . but players of color and African Americans are not interchangeable.”
Compared to international players scouted at an early age, Black American children have to pay their own way, choose to specialize in a predominantly white sport, display their talents in expensive showcases and tournaments, and hope for the best.
“They can say, we’re more diverse than we’ve ever been, and yet, hidden in those numbers is the disappearing of the Jackie Robinson legacy.“
-Claire Smith, Hall of Fame reporter
THE FUTURE: Reaching out for more
But there are ways to remedy this, Meyer-Shipp said, adding that baseball is making strides in the right direction.
There are programs dedicated to youth outreach and bringing baseball to communities that may not have the ability to support the sport. And since 2012, nearly 20% of all first-round selections in the MLB Draft have been Black. Major League Baseball also has instituted a “Diversity Pipeline Program” meant to spot early on which minority candidates can begin to be groomed for either roles that are on-field or in baseball operations.
Baseball has worked to integrate Black men and women into league roles: Michael Hill, who interviewed for the Mets GM position but was passed over for Jared Porter (later fired for sending unsolicited sexually explicit texts to a female reporter), is now MLB’s vice president of on-field operations, a position that makes him the league’s top disciplinarian. Ken Griffey Jr. was named senior adviser to commissioner Rob Manfred. Tony Clark is the head of the players’ association, though that’s chosen by the players union.
MLB and the players association have also committed $10 million through 2024 to The Players Alliance, which helps fund programs set to improve representation of Black Americans in all levels of baseball.
“I think we all acknowledge that we have a lack of representation, and the good news is that there is a keen laser focus on doing all that we can to address that in some really proactive ways,” Meyer-Shipp said.
Not attracting Black players early on means missing out on some of the best talents of a generation, Smith said. Frank Robinson was a standout basketball player and could have gone that route. Jackie Robinson was a football and track star. When Black children feel alienated from the sport, either due to cost or lack of representation, they’re less likely to choose it as they get older.
THE EPILOGUE: What About Mookie?
If baseball wants to attract Black kids, Constantino said it could start by marketing Dodgers star Mookie Betts, arguably one of the top five players in the game. Betts is a former American League MVP and was the player who handed out food to the homeless before Game 2 of the 2018 World Series, and gave out masks, food and hand sanitizer during this pandemic.
Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers catches a fly ball at the wall during Game 7
of the NLCS in October 2020. Credit: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
“Players in the ’80s grew up watching Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, and Jackie Robinson was a mythical figure to them,” he said. “And right now, they [only have] Mookie . . . They need to do a better job of getting Mookie out there because how could you ask for a better role model?”
And until baseball tries to do that, there aren’t going to be kids who want to be like Betts. They’d rather be like LeBron James, the megastar of the NBA, or Patrick Mahomes, the extremely talented, extremely likeable Kansas City quarterback (his dad was Mets pitcher Pat Mahomes.)
“You’re not setting up role models for kids,” Smith said. “There’s no Michael Jordan. There’s no LeBron James. Baseball didn’t [initially] get involved in social justice issues [like Black Lives Matter] until the players did.”
All of which means that baseball needs to be more intentional if it wants to grow its Black fan base. And get its Black players back. And its Black managers. And its Black GMs.
“To me, it’s a menu of things that need to be done in order to rekindle that interest and ultimately end up with more minorities and women leading front offices,” Alderson said. “I think there are ways it can happen but I think it requires some attention.”
Illustrations by Neville Harvey/Newsday
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Timeline: When sports came to a halt amid the coronavirus
The entrance to Citizens Bank Park, home of the Phillies, on March 24, 2020, in Philadelphia.
The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted every facet of life, from the health and safety of the world’s population to countries’ economies and the general psyches of our citizens.
It also has disrupted the sports calendar, a usually rhythmic sequence of games and events sports fans have come to know, understand and adore. As governmental bans on large gatherings took effect, playing in empty arenas became a possibility. As those guidelines tightened and positive cases of the coronavirus began to increase exponentially, games became an afterthought.
Here’s a timeline of how the sports world came to a halt as far greater issues take precedence.
March 10
Ivy League presidents canceled its postseason basketball tournaments and deem the regular-season winners — Yale men, Princeton women — as the automatic qualifiers to the NCAA tournaments. The next day, the conference unanimously votes to suspend all spring sports.
March 11
Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tests positive for COVID-19, and the NBA suspends the season indefinitely upon conclusion of that night’s games.
March 12
NHL pauses season
The league’s Board of Governors suspends the season indefinitely.
MLS shuts down
The American soccer league suspended its season for 30 days. In a two-for-one move, NYCFC also saw its debut in the CONCACAF Champions League tournament get put on hold as well.
St. John’s plays a half
The Big East conference tournament started at noon, with St. John’s facing Creighton in the quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden. At halftime, with the Red Storm leading, 38-35, the Big East joined the other major conferences and canceled its tournament.
In all, 13 conferences canceled their tournaments.
MLB delays season
While six spring training games were in progress, including the Yankees vs. Nationals, MLB suspends spring training and delays the start of the season. MLB sets April 9 as the earliest potential Opening Day.
March Madness canceled
The unprecedented move of canceling the men’s and women’s basketball tournament comes a day after the NCAA had announced the games that were scheduled to start next week would go on but be played in mostly empty arenas. A few hours later, after some conferences had canceled or postponed spring sports, the NCAA shut it all down for the school year.
PGA adjusts
After the first round of The Players Championship concluded, the PGA canceled the rest of golf’s “fifth major” as well as the Tour’s next three events.
March 13
Masters moved
Augusta National delivers the next blow to the American sports calendar when it postpones The Masters, golf’s first major tournament scheduled for April 9-12. No timetable for its return is given.
Patriots’ Day change
The Boston Marathon, originally scheduled for April 20, is postponed and moved to Sept. 14.
March 14
With all other sports canceled, postponed or suspended, the UFC moves ahead with its fight card in Brasilia, Brazil, with no fans in attendance. “The fighting was not that much different,” said Bea Malecki, who won a unanimous decision over Veronica Macedo in the opening bout. “It was just walking in that was a bit weird.”
March 15
UEFA postpones all Champions League and Europa League matches indefinitely.
March 16
Opening Day in May or June?
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred informs teams that the league will follow the CDC’s recommendation to avoid large gatherings for at least eight weeks, pushing Opening Day into late May or early June.
NFL Draft goes fan-less
A day after the CDC recommends that no more than 50 people be gathered at one time, the NFL announces that there will be no public events in Las Vegas as part of the April 23-25 draft. Commissioner Roger Goodell says the draft would take place as scheduled and be televised, although it remained uncertain how it would be conducted. (See our NFL mock draft.)
UFC postpones three events
Fight cards set for March 21 in London, March 28 and April 11 in Las Vegas, after being moved from Columbus, Ohio, and Portland, Oregon, respectively, get postponed. No makeup dates are provided at this time.
WrestleMania will go on
The WWE moves its marquee event, WrestleMania, from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa to the company’s performance center in Orlando. WrestleMania 36 becomes a two-day event April 4 and April 5. No fans will be in attendance.
March 17
Major movement
The PGA Tour postpones the PGA Championship, which was scheduled for May 11-14 in San Francisco. A new date is not announced.
First Saturday in September?
Churchill Downs moves the Kentucky Derby from May 2 to Sept. 5, marking just the second time in the race’s 145-year history that it will not take place on the first Saturday in May.
French Open moved
In a decision the French Tennis Federation president called “difficult yet brave,” the French Open is rescheduled from May 24-June 7 to Sept. 20-Oct. 4
.Euro ’21
UEFA European Championship gets moved back a year to the summer of 2021.
March 18
The ATP and WTA cancel all of their tennis tournaments through June 7.
March 19
England’s Premier League and all other domestic soccer matches are suspended through April 30.
March 20
After suspending games on March 12, the rebooted XFL cancels its inaugural season and frees its players to sign with NFL teams immediately instead of making them wait until the original date of April 27.
March 24
As pressure mounted from all sides, the IOC postpones the Summer Olympics scheduled for later this summer in Tokyo, Japan.
March 26
NFL confirms draft will go on
“The draft itself will be conducted and televised in a way that reflects current conditions,” Goodell wrote in a memo to teams, adding that they should plan to do the draft “in a location outside of your facility, with a limited number of people present, and with sufficient technology resources to allow you to communicate internally, with other clubs, and with draft headquarters.”
WNBA Draft
The WNBA announces it will keep its televised draft on schedule for April 17 and move to a “virtual draft,” using video conferencing. The Liberty have the No. 1 pick. (See our WNBA mock draft.)
March 30
Olympics are rescheduled for July 23, 2021, through Aug. 8.
April 1
For the first time since World War II, the All England Club cancels Wimbledon. The U.S. Open remains on track for late August, early September, although some doubt is cast on that as two parts of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center are being used as a makeshift hospital to handle patient overflow from the coronavirus.
April 3
Tipoff postponed
The WNBA announces that it will delay the start of its regular season from its planned May 15 opening tipoff. No new date is announced.
Indefinite delay
The Premier League suspends play indefinitely and players are asked to take salary cuts.
The Conor McGregor-Khabib Nurmagomedov timeline
UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, left, and Conor McGregor face off at a UFC 229 news conference at Radio City Music Hall. Credit: AP Photo/Seth Wenig
Conor McGregor will challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov for his UFC lightweight title at UFC 229 on Oct. 6, 2018, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
It already is being called the biggest fight in UFC history. That’s a moniker we’ve heard plenty of times in the past. But this time, it’s probably not just hyperbole. McGregor, from Ireland, is the sport’s biggest star. Nurmagomedov, from Russia, is the unbeaten champion.
Here’s a look at how we have arrived at Conor vs. Khabib.
April 1
Tony Ferguson, the UFC’s interim lightweight champion, pulls out of his fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 in Brooklyn on April 7 with a knee injury. Nurmagomedov uses this opportunity to call out the reigning lightweight champion Conor McGregor. His tweet is met with no response from McGregor.
Where are you now? @TheNotoriousMMA
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) April 1, 2018
April 4
A video surfaces of a verbal confrontation between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Artem Lobov, a friend and teammate of Conor McGregor. Nurmagomedov and Lobov exchange words at the hotel in Brooklyn as both were in the hallway during fight week. It is unclear what was said or what caused the confrontation.
At the pre-fight news conference, UFC president Dana White says McGregor will be stripped of his lightweight title after never defending since he won it on Nov. 12, 2016.
April 5
Well, Conor McGregor is in Brooklyn for #UFC223. Here’s some shaky video of a bunch of people running after him. pic.twitter.com/AhhLDzguQP
— Ryan Gerbosi (@RyanGerbosi) April 5, 2018
After the UFC 223 media day concluded, Conor McGregor and a group of his people, including Artem Lobov, storm into Barclays Center and run into an elevator. Shortly thereafter, McGregor and friends run out of Barclays Center and into a waiting SUV. In between, however, McGregor is captured on video (Watch here. Warning: strong language used) attacking a bus full of UFC fighters. On that bus is Khabib Nurmagomedov. McGregor throws a hand truck at the bus and shatters a window, with parts of that broken glass injuring Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg and preventing them from fighting that Saturday. Lobov is removed from his fight that weekend. Just before midnight, McGregor turns himself into police custody.
“This is the most disgusting thing that has ever happened in the history of the company,” UFC president Dana White says.
April 6
Conor McGregor is arraigned in a Brooklyn criminal court, along with teammate Cian Cowley, for his actions in the melee at Barclays Center.
At the UFC 223 press conference after the ceremonial weigh-ins, Khabib Nurmagomedov has to answer questions about the incident as well as his new opponent, Wantagh’s Al Iaquinta. “Send me location,” Nurmagomedov says about wanting to face McGregor. It becomes something of a tagline for Nurmagomedov fans and headline writers.
April 7
Khabib Nurmagomedov wins a unanimous decision over Al Iaquinta to become the undisputed UFC lightweight champion. After the fight, UFC president Dana White confirms that Nurmagomedov is the promotion’s sole champion at 155 pounds.
June 14
Conor McGregor appears in a Brooklyn court for a hearing. The appearance lasts around a minute and the next court date is set.
July 15
Conor McGregor, along with Artem Lobov, attends the FIFA World Cup final in Moscow as a guest of Russian president Vladimir Putin. “This man is one of the greatest leaders of our time and I was honoured to attend such a landmark event alongside him,” McGregor wrote on his Instagram account.
Khabib Nurmagomedov also attends the World Cup final and posts this photo on his Instagram account.
July 26
Conor McGregor accepts a plea deal that dismissed felony and misdemeanor counts stemming from the April melee at Barclays Center. McGregor pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct violations and must perform community service, attend anger management classes and pay damages for the bus. The plea keeps McGregor out of jail and maintains his ability to fight in the United States.
July 28
Speaking to media at UFC on Fox 30 in Calgary, Khabib Nurmagomedov said of fighting Conor McGregor: “I want to change his face.”
Aug. 3
It's ON!!! @TeamKhabib vs @TheNotoriousMMA at #UFC229 in October! pic.twitter.com/9DRehQAT8L
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) August 3, 2018
At the UFC seasonal press conference in Los Angeles, the Conor McGregor-Khabib Nurmagomedov fight officially was announced in dramatic fashion to close out the event. Ticket pre-sales begin Wednesday, Aug. 15.
Sept. 20
Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov faced off (without a bus in between them) for the first time at a news conference at Radio City Music Hall. The scene was chaotic, even without any fans allowed in the building. McGregor was his usual boisterous self, with targeted personal attacks that showed he did his homework mixed in amid the insults he hurled at Nurmagomedov. Was the champion from Dagestan rattled? If so, he didn’t show it. Oh, and McGregor used much of the news conference to promote his new whiskey.
Oct. 4
In the least shocking bit of news of fight week, Conor McGregor showed up late to the pre-fight press conference. Khabib Nurmagomedov didn’t care. “I have a schedule,” Nurmagomedov said. “I have to make weight. I have to worry about myself. If someone is late, it’s not my problem.” He answered questions and left the stage before McGregor showed up. UFC president Dana White later called the move “brilliant.”
Oct. 5
The FINAL faceoff!
— UFC (@ufc) October 6, 2018
🇷🇺 @TeamKhabib vs. 🇮🇪 @TheNotoriousMMA
SEE YOU TOMORROW NIGHT! #UFC229 pic.twitter.com/3jVTuFL1Hp
After all the back-and-forth comments about “mauling” and “devastating KO” and the like, and amid thousands of amped-up fans, things got a little chippy at the ceremonial weigh-ins between McGregor and Nurmagomedov.
Oct. 6
Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov finally entered the octagon to face each other in the “biggest fight in UFC history.” Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor in the fourth round. Then things got interesting. Months of insults turned into a melee as Nurmagomedov scaled the cage and jumped to the arena floor to go after Dillon Danis, a close friend and cornerman of McGregor who was yelling at the lightweight champion. Two members of Nurmagomedov’s entourage then climbed into the octagon and started throwing punches at McGregor.
Oct. 8
We lost the match but won the battle.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) October 8, 2018
The war goes on. pic.twitter.com/CRtPaGfOnn
Conor McGregor wants a rematch. He begins the next round of verbal sparring on Monday on social media. The “battle” reference also may indirectly relate to the fact that McGregor received his full purse from the Nevada State Athletic Commission while Nurmagomedov has his purse on hold pending NSAC’s investigation and potential charges.
Jan. 29, 2019
The Nevada State Athletic Commission handed down suspensions and fines to Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor and two of Nurmagomedov’s teammates. Nurmagomedov received a nine-month suspension and a $500,000 fine, and McGregor earned a six-month suspension and $50,000 fine. Both suspensions are retroactive to Oct. 6, 2018.
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TEST
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — A flash of red coming from the far reaches of the facility at 1 Jets Drive, and then a building murmur from fans assembled on a roof deck overlooking practice, and one thing immediately was certain: Sam Darnold certainly knows how to make an entrance.
The Jets’ rookie quarterback — and potential franchise savior — jogged dramatically onto the field about three days and 10 minutes later Monday afternoon, and his new teammates all stopped stretching to greet him with a prolonged slow clap that went viral about as soon as it was over. After days embroiled in a contract dispute, Darnold, 21, officially signed a four-year, $30.2-million contract Monday, which comes with a $20-million signing bonus up front.
In case you were wondering, the slow clap was sarcastic.
“Anybody that comes in late and holds out as a draft pick and makes a bunch of money is going to catch a ribbing from the team, and this is only the start of it,” coach Todd Bowles said. “But Sam has a good spirit and he’ll take it kindheartedly and we’ll move on, but that’s part of football.”
As for Bowles’ greeting: “I told him he was late.”
After it was over, Bowles said Darnold had a lot of work to do, and was still third on the depth chart, with Josh McCown steady at No. 1. About an hour later, general manager Mike Maccagnan said it was certainly possible that Darnold, the third overall draft pick, could be their Week 1 starter. And Darnold? He said nothing. The Jets didn’t make him available to the media.
When asked if Darnold could start the season opener, Maccagnan said, “I wouldn’t rule it out. I think he, like every player on the team, has a good opportunity to go out there and earn a spot as a starting player . . . Todd does make that determination, but I do feel good that we got him in here after three practices and he’ll have a chance to get to speed quickly, compete and see if he can earn that position.”
Darnold took about 30 reps, a number of them with the first-team offense, but wasn’t quite sharp, with a few bad throws and one interception, to Doug Middleton. Most of what he was doing, Bowles said, was recall from minicamp, or simple plays they thought he could execute easily.
“It’s a business, and the ramifications of missing three practices [exist], but he can catch up,” Bowles said, adding that he should have enough time to be able to make an appearance Aug. 10 in the first preseason game. “He’s got time to catch up, but he’s got to put his head down because everybody has a head start . . . We’ll see what he learns, we’ll see what he applies, and we’ll go from there.”
Maccagnan said they began negotiating Darnold’s contract almost immediately, but there was language that caused the rookie’s side to stall. The contract includes offset language — something his team reportedly fought — meaning if he gets cut and signs with another team, the Jets can recoup some money from the deal. Maccagnan said there were other factors, but eventually both sides relented enough to come to an agreement.
“It’s taken a little while to get the contract done but we feel very good about it,” Maccagnan said. “I’m sure they wanted Sam to get into training camp so he didn’t miss time, and we felt the same way, but it’s a process you go through and we landed in a spot we felt good about.”
Despite the sarcastic clapping, it’s clear that Darnold’s teammates are just as intrigued as the front office. Jermaine Kearse and Leonard Williams agreed they were glad the issue finally got resolved.
“He hasn’t missed a lot, but he still has some catching up to do, and we’re all happy that he’s out there today,” said Williams, who, like Darnold, played at USC. “We’re just messing around with him and gave him a little slow clap. I think it was just more of a welcoming him back and we just like messing with each other a lot: Like, ‘Oh, you finally made it.’ ”
Belmont Stakes: 50 Questions for the 150th Running
Whether you’re a zealous horseracing fan or a neighsayer, you’re likely to get caught up in what has been called the “Test of the Champion” — and we’ve got you covered.
When the bell rings on June 9, the horses that thunder forward will make history as part of the 150th running of the Belmont Stakes. And this year’s race offers a Triple Crown contender in Justify, the horse that won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.
But perhaps that’s putting the cart before the horse. For the uninitiated and the indifferent, there’s so much more to the Belmont Stakes than horses running around a track.
What’s in a Belmont Jewel? Has there ever been a tie? What does celebrity chef Bobby Flay have to do with horse racing? Grab your derby hat and saddle up. This is your guide to everything Belmont Stakes.
Besides this being the 150th running of the race, there is a chance Justify could win racing’s elite Triple Crown — victories at the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. (That’s Justify up there winning the Preakness on May 19.) The New York Racing Association announced in late May that all reserved seats are sold out. Too many people jockeying for a prime viewing location, it seems. (You were warned about the puns.)
Basic general admission tickets are available for Saturday and cost $30. Clubhouse admission tickets run $60. If you’re feeling fancy, you can buy a box seat starting at $425. Visit www.belmontstakes.com/tickets for more information on Thursday and Friday admission. Remaining Saturday general admission tickets are sold day-of at the track entrance, cash only. But don’t say we didn’t warn you — some years (like a Triple Crown or a big anniversary, hint hint) attract large crowds and the NYRA has said admission will be capped at 90,000. The arena is handicapped accessible. ADA compliant seating and parking is available via the festival’s website or by calling 844-NYRA-TIX. Lots, depending on your price point. You’ll need a ticket for each day you go (there’s an option to buy a three-day pass if horseracing is your thing).
Saturday general admission gets you access to the grounds, concessions and the grandstand apron, a viewing patio by the track. Clubhouse is a step up, with premium viewing areas and limited seating on the second and third floors. Box seats overlook the finish line and winner’s circle with exclusive perks.
The festival offers a variety of other packages with varying amenities and extras like assigned seating and access to special areas of the park. First off, congrats on that! Second, if you’re willing to pony up (sorry) $1,949, you can buy a Gold Clubhouse VIP package. It comes with admission, full service in the ulta-exclusive Diamond Room (featuring an open bar, gourmet buffet and jockeys), third floor seating, an “Official Belmont Experiences Gift,” access to an on-site trip director, a two-night hotel stay and transportation. Go with the general admission ticket — the grounds offer plenty of activities and amenities, plus track-side access if you’re willing to squeeze through the crowd. Yes! There’s no reason to saddle your in-laws with the kids. Children under 12 receive free admission. Parents are welcome to bring diaper bags and strollers and the grounds feature a playground. Nay! (Horse humor.) Backpacks, large bags, signs, drones, grills, fireworks, umbrellas, selfie sticks and weapons are banned. Also be sure to leave your glitter, air horns and laser pointers at home. For a full list of banned items, visit belmontstakes.com. Bringing any of these items will make your day unstable. Yes, there is parking, but it’s limited and you need to buy a pass. Passes for Friday run $12 for general lots to $25 for more exclusive lots. Saturday prices run $40 to $150. Two-day passes are $77-$170. There’s an LIRR station at Belmont Park. You can also take the bus. In 2014, when there were record-breaking crowds gathered to watch California Chrome’s Triple Crown bid, exiting attendees waited for more than three hours at the Belmont Park’s Long Island Rail Road station.
“We’ve never had that kind of ridership before at Belmont. . . . Thirty-six thousand people arrived at Belmont between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and they all wanted to leave within the same 60 minutes,” an LIRR spokeswoman said at the time.
LIRR officials said they had only expected abut 20,000 riders, which is roughly how many race attendees used the rails after the last Triple Crown contender ran in 2008. Officials said they had hoped many would stay for the last race and concert and riders had been warned that of long waits — even with extra trains scheduled — because only one track was going in and out of the station.
In 2015, the LIRR rolled out a new Belmont Stakes service plan, including a $5 million upgrade of the dilapidated station with new platforms, stairs and ramps, and reconfigured service. That year, the LIRR moved the 30,000 fans gathered to watch American Pharoah’s Triple Crown win with relative ease.
This year, the LIRR expects to carry as many as 35,000 riders to the park and it is boosting service to meet the high demand. It is adding 21 eastbound trains to Belmont beginning before 10 a.m., and will operate westbound trains from the park about every 15 minutes after the race. Read more about the railroad’s plan here.
Come on, this is Long Island. Expect gridlock conditions in and around Belmont Park.
In addition to the expected congestion on Hempstead Turnpike and the Cross Island Parkway, the planned closure of Plainfield Avenue from Hempstead Turnpike to Vanderwater Avenue from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. is expected to worsen traffic conditions.
Lines are also expected to be long for parking, which will range in price from $40 to $150.
And according to lore, Belmont is responsible for LI’s “first great automobile logjam.” According to belmontstakes.com, “the crush of horse-drawn carriages and automobiles filled with people trying to get to Belmont Park for opening day was so great” when Belmont Park opened in 1905 that Long Island experienced its first huge traffic back-up.
It depends on the year. Triple Crown years tend to see bigger crowds. In fact, the attendance record — 120,139 — was set when a Triple Crown was expected in 2004. This year, hower, the NYRA has capped attendance at 90,000. It’s not the Kentucky Derby, but you may spot a familiar face or two. Celebrity chef Bobby Flay is a horse owner and breeder. In past years, actors Bill Murray, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick and former President Bill Clinton have attended. It’s not quite as high fashion as the Kentucky Derby, but the Belmont Stakes does have what officials call a tradition of “elegant attire.” Beyond the grandstand, guests are asked to dress in varying degrees of “proper attire,” from collared shirts and no “abbreviated wear” to suits and dresses in the most exclusive areas of the festival. You bet — that’s part of the fun of dressing up. There’s usually a fashion contest, too. American horse races were inspired by British ones, where dress codes were strict and included hats, according to the Kentucky Derby Museum. The races were also popular among wealthy people, who were eager to dress up. Dress codes may have relaxed since the 19th century, but the appeal of a show-stopping hat hasn’t waned. Sir Barton won the Belmont Stakes in 1919 to become the first Triple Crown winner before the term even existed. “Plagued with soft feet that caused him to lose his shoes during a race, Sir Barton was a cranky colt who mostly disliked humans,” says belmontstakes.com. Only 12 horses have ever won it. The most recent winner was in 2015, when American Pharoah was the first in 37 years. At both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, the 1,280-pound Justify held his ground courageously and refused to let an opponent get past him. In the Kentucky Derby, he left behind Good Magic after setting hot fractions with the rabbit Promises Fulfilled. In the Preakness, Justify went head to head with Good Magic before shaking him off and turning back a late move by Bravazo.
Bred in Kentucky, the undefeated chestnut colt has made fewer starts before the Belmont Stakes than any of the 12 Triple Crown champions. Unlike them, he didn’t race as a 2-year-old. (See question 24.)
Justify will be trainer Bob Baffert’s fifth shot at one of the rarest trophies in sport. Three years ago, Baffert ended a 36-year Triple Crown drought with American Pharoah.
Can Justify become the 13th thoroughbred immortal? “The Test of the Champion” will be his sixth race crammed into less than four months. No other horse ever made his career debut in February and went for the Triple Crown that June.
Justify arrived in New York on June 6. He is ridden by jockey Mike Smith.
That’s Justify’s nickname at the barn.
But trainer Bob Baffert told horseracingnation.com in April that the nickname was about the horse’s appearance and not the name’s historical significance — it was also the nickname for Secretariat.
Secretariat is one of the most famous horses to win the Triple Crown. In 1973, he won the race by 31.5 lengths — a world record for a 1.5-mile dirt race, according to belmontstakes.com According to the Lexington, Kentucky-based Jockey Club, Secretariat is a distant relative of the Long Island horse Messenger. Messenger, known as “the great progenitor,” lived from 1780 to 1808 and was the father of our country’s racehorses, according to Newsday archives. He was the “founding sire” of harness racing and the most prominent contributor to the nation’s thoroughbred stock. He lived much of his life on a Locust Valley farm, and among the horses that can be linked back to him are Eclipse, Man o’ War and Spectacular Bid. There’s a tribute to Secretariat at Belmont Park. The “Secretariat Pole” is 31.5 lengths from Belmont’s finish line — in honor of the length of his victory — and is painted blue and white in honor of his stable, according to belmontstakes.com. It was erected in 2013 for the 40th anniversary of his win. In 1882, a horse named Apollo won the Kentucky Derby. Apollo had never raced as a 2-year-old, the most common age for most prominent horse races.
In the 136 years since, no horse had ever won the Kentucky Derby without having raced as a 2-year-old. That was, until Justify – who started racing at 3 – won the Derby on May 5.
Prior to the Derby, Justify’s trainer, Bob Baffert, told the Los Angeles Times that the curse didn’t scare him. “I don’t really ever think about that,” he said. “There are so many other curses out there. … Now black cats, they kill me. I can just feel it too. Point Given [in 2001] on the way out to the track, a black cat ran in front of him. Real Quiet, [in 1998] before the Triple Crown race, I was driving in here and a black cat ran in front of me. They should not allow black cats on the backstretch.”
The first Belmont Stakes was held in The Bronx on a Thursday in 1867. The race later moved to Saturdays and didn’t come to Elmont until Belmont Park was constructed in 1905 (it was not run from 1911-1912 and temporarily moved to Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens for 1963-1967). The race course has also varied in length and today’s course is slightly shorter than the original, from 1 5/8 miles to 1.5 miles. In the early years of the Belmont, the race was run clockwise (as races are run in England) over a fish hook-shaped course which included part of the current training track. The first counterclockwise Belmont Stakes was run in 1921, according to Newsday archives. A Belmont Stakes-winning horse is significantly more valuable today, too. The owner of the winning horse took home a whopping $1,850 in 1867, according to NYRA. Estimates vary, but that prize has the buying power of $30,000-$40,000 in 2018 money, a fraction of the $800,000 Tapwrit took home in 2017. A horse walks into a bar. The bartender says, “Why the long face?” The Belmont Stakes is named after New York financier August Belmont, according to belmontstakes.com. Not because it’s in Elmont. It’s the longest dirt stakes (1 1/2 miles) in American racing, and it can crown an immortal if the winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness completes the sweep in Elmont. For Belmont, the drink is a little more complicated than the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness, which has the black-eyed Susan. Since 2011, the official cocktail has been called the Belmont Jewel, a blend of Woodford Reserve bourbon, lemonade, pomegranate juice and orange zest. But past years have seen the race cycle through other recipes.
Previous attempts at a winning signature cocktail included the Big Apple (used very briefly in the 1970s), the White Carnation (vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice, soda water and cream) and the Belmont Breeze (bourbon, sherry, lemon and orange juices and mint). As long as you are not seated in a hospitality area, outside food is fine. You can also purchase drinks, pretzels, hot dogs, ice cream and more from food trucks, concession stands and park cafes.
However, you cannot bring your own alcohol. Nope, you can’t do that either. Generally, no horsing around. Sure is! You can find one here. Gates open at 8:30 a.m. The races on Belmont Stakes Day start at 11:35 a.m. The main race will start at 6:37 p.m. The race is typically over in about three minutes. Tapwrit won the 2017 Belmont Stakes with a time of 2:30.02. Bring cash to a teller at a mutuel window, which is the old-fashioned way. You specify how much you want to wager, and how. For example: “Give me $10, win, place and show on the 5 (use the horse’s program number, not its name).” The total of such a bet is $30. Good luck! Credit cards are no good, by the way. You also can bet online through an Internet account. That’s up to you. Some people meticulously study the past performances of horses and read the race day program to predict winners. Others choose less straightfoward metrics, such as horse names or the jockey’s uniform colors. The post positions were announced June 5 at Citi Field. They are: Well, then you would already be a winner in one sense. Then the all-time Belmont betting record was $150,249,399 placed on the race won by Tonalist in 2014. Well, there are 17 restrictions noted on The Jockey Club’s registry website. They include: Race horses are named at age 2, according to an article in The Washington Post.
Before that, they are usually called by nicknames or by their mother’s name and the year they were born. For example, American Pharaoh was once called “Littleprincessemma 2012,” the Post reported.
Belmont Stakes horses must carry 126 pounds, and they carry lead pads in the saddles. The lead weight is the difference between the rider’s weight and 126 pounds; most weigh no more than 116 pounds or so. Sure! Even though female racehorses are uncommon and only about two dozen have ever run in the Belmont Stakes, it was a filly who won the very first Belmont – Ruthless in 1867. (The race has been won by female racehorses on two other occasions – Tanya in 1905 and Rags to Riches in 2007. And female jockeys are even rarer. None are expected this year, and the only female jockey ever to ride a Belmont winner was Julie Krone in 1993, riding Colonial Affair.) No, but a handful of races since 1905 have come close. In 1936, 1962, 1998 and 2016, the winners achieved victory by a margin of a nose, according to NYRA records. Another six or so races were won by a head and the winner was ahead by just their neck in about nine. No promises. Dozens of horses are injured or killed each year racing or training to race at state racetracks. New York State publishes an annual report of the injuries and deaths. The festival includes three days of races, leading up to the official running of the Belmont Stakes. Thursday and Friday offer races and admission at discounted prices. Saturday, also known as Belmont Stakes Day, offers races, food trucks, concessions, live performances and more activities, plus the big race. It’s mostly horseracing, but you can sample food trucks, sip cocktails and enjoy the weather. The event also includes performances by Billy Joel tribute band Mike DelGuidice & Big Shot on Friday and Third Eye Blind and the cast of Broadway musical “A Bronx Tale” on Saturday. On five occasions, the Belmont had just two horses in the field — 1887, 1888, 1892, 1910 and 1920. Construction on the Islanders’ new arena and surrounding retail development project at Belmont Park remains on schedule to start as early as next spring, according to the Empire State Development Corp. The track is open from early May until around July 20, when Saratoga opens for six weeks. After Labor Day, the Belmont fall meet runs until late October or early November. The track usually is open four days a week, with roughly nine races at day. Saturday cards showcase the best horses. You can get the latest on all things Belmont right here on newsday.com, on the Newsday app, with Newsday breaking news alerts, in Newsday’s Sunday paper and on Newsday’s social media. Of course. NBC will broadcast the Belmont Stakes in a program that will run 5-7 p.m. on Saturday. Sure! Here’s a look at Newsday staff photographer J. Conrad Williams Jr.’s award-winning photograph of American Pharoah winning the Belmont in 2015 – and the first Triple Crown in decades.
1 Justify
2 Free Drop Billy
3 Bravazo
4 Hofburg
5 Restoring Hope
6 Gronkowski
7 Tenfold
8 Vino Rosso
9 Noble Indy
10 Blended Citizen
-Names consisting of more than 18 characters (spaces and punctuation count);
-Names consisting entirely of initials;
-Names consisting entirely of numbers;
-Names ending in “filly,” “colt,” “stud,” “mare,” “stallion,” or similar horse-related terms;
-Names of living persons unless written permission to use their name is on file;
-Names of persons no longer living unless approved by The Jockey Club;
-Names of winners in the past 25 years of grade one stakes races;
-Names of racetracks or graded stakes races