Sports

Ex-Kings ‘Ice Crew’ member accuses mascot of sexual harassment, sues for $1M in damages: Report

A former L.A. Kings’ “Ice Crew” member is suing the pro hockey team and the man behind the “Bailey” mascot suit for allegedly sexually harassing her.

The team was aware of those accusations, according to a news report.

The victim, identified only as Jane Doe, is seeking more than $1 million in damages in a lawsuit accusing the Kings, Anschutz Entertainment Group and Tim Smith, the man in the mascot suit, of sexual harassment and retaliation dating back to 2018, according to TMZ Sports.

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Jane Doe said Smith managed the Ice Crew and routinely created an uncomfortable environment for female employees by making inappropriate jokes and comments toward them, according to TMZ Sports.

She also claims he would look at her “breasts and buttocks.”

Smith fired the victim after she said she made it clear that his advances were unwanted, according to TMZ Sports. A team official asked her to return and promised to protect her from Smith, according to the report.

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Jane Doe returned and said Smith began to harass her again, according to TMZ Sports. She detailed one instance in which he allegedly put his crotch in her face inside the mascot locker room while making lewd gestures and remarks, according to TMZ Sports.

She quit for a second time, according to TMZ Sports.

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Canadiens’ Claude Julien leaves NHL bubble, heads back to Montreal after hospitalization

Montreal Canadiens’ head coach Claude Julien is leaving the bubble and heading back home after he was admitted to the hospital after Wednesday night’s Game 1 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The team issued a statement that Julien underwent the “stenting of a coronary artery” at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto on Thursday afternoon after previously complaining of chest pains the night before.

CANADIENS’ CAREY PRICE MAKES INCREDIBLE STICK SAVE AS HABS FALL TO FLYERS IN GAME 1

“Coach Julien would like to convey his most sincere thanks to everyone at St. Michael’s Hospital for the wonderful care he received during his stay,” the team said Friday. “He also wishes to personally and sincerely thank everyone who has sent their well wishes during this time.”

Julien, 60, a former professional hockey player, began his coaching career in Montreal in 2002 where he stayed for three seasons before a brief stint with the New Jersey Devils. He would go on to serve as head coach for the Boston Bruins for 10 seasons, where he would win his first Stanley Cup in 2011.

He returned to Montreal in 2016.

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Associate coach Kirk Muller is stepping in for Game 2 on Friday. The team did not say when Julien would return.

Bill Belichick shares first impression of Cam Newton at Patriots training camp

New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton has already made a good first impression on his new head coach Bill Belichick in the early days of his first training camp with the franchise.

Newton, 31, is competing with former fourth-round pick Jarrett Stidham for the Patriots’ starting quarterback job. Belichick noted that Newton is “a hardworking kid.”

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“He’s worked very hard, I’d say, as all of our players have,” Belichick said. “I’d say that certainly for all the quarterbacks, at that position, those guys have been locked in, focused and confident in what they’re able to do and the information they have to give to the team — playcalling, adjustments, audibles, protection adjustments, things like that. That’s all going pretty well.”

Newton signed a one-year deal worth up to $7.5 million with the Patriots in July after spending the first nine seasons of his career with the Carolina Panthers. A former NFL MVP, Newton has battled injuries throughout each of the last two seasons.

While Newton is considered the presumptive favorite to win the starting job, Belichick has yet to declare a frontrunner.

The Patriots’ next starter will be tasked with replacing six-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady, who signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this year after 20 seasons in New England. Newton acknowledged in July that following after Brady won’t be easy.

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Cowboys using Popsicles to keep players cool during training camp

The Dallas Cowboys are turning to a classic summer treat to keep players cool in the Texas sun during training camp this summer.

With temperatures at the team’s facility in Frisco approaching 100 degrees in recent days, the Cowboys have set up a trio of cooling tents near their practice field, ESPN reported. Aside from Gatorade and other traditional ways of cooling off, the team is offering Popsicles.

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“The whole premise of it is to try to take down your core temperature and whatnot,” Cowboys center Joe Looney told reporters. “I’m a big guy with a bunch of hair, so I need it. I’m in there dumping water on my head. I think it’s wonderful. Practicing in Texas presents a different challenge for us, just getting used to the heat. I think it’s an amazing technique that we can go in there, grab a Popsicle, cool down and then head back out to practice and hit it real hard.”

The Cowboys traditionally hold the majority of their training camp in Oxnard, Calif., in order to avoid the harsh summer sun in Texas. However, the team was unable to travel this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The heat is just one of several challenges for the Cowboys, who are attempting to install a new system under head coach Mike McCarthy despite a disjointed offseason in which most team activities were canceled.

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“One thing I really respect about Coach McCarthy is how he takes care of our bodies,” Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence said. “When we’re on the practice field, we go hard and everybody is very deliberate in what we’re doing. His message is really when we touch the practice field, we go hard, and he’s going to take care of our bodies.”

Earlier this week, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said the team expects to host at least some fans at its home games this fall.

Bruins’ Tuukka Rask dubs NHL playoffs as ‘exhibition’ games after Game 2 loss against ‘Canes

No one likes a sore loser.

Bruins’ veteran Tuukka Rask made some odd remarks following Boston’s 3-2 Game 2 loss against the Carolina Hurricanes Thursday night, when he wrote off the Stanley Cup Playoffs as nothing more than “exhibition” games without the presence of fans.

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“To be honest with you, it doesn’t really feel like playoff hockey out there. There are no fans, so it’s kind of like playing an exhibition game,” Rask said, according to NBC Sports’ Boston affiliate. “It’s definitely not a playoff atmosphere out there. You try and play as hard as you can. When you’re playing at a home rink and an away rink and the fans are cheering for and against you, it really creates a buzz for the series.”

He continued: “There’s none of that. So it just feels like dull at times. There are moments when there are scrums and whatnot, and then there will be five minutes when it’s coast-to-coast hockey. There’s no atmosphere. So it feels like an exhibition game. We’re trying our best to ramp and get energized, and make it feel like it’s a playoff game.”

But Rask isn’t the first member of his team to dismiss the Bruins’ playoff performance.

CANES’ ROD BRIND’AMOUR FINED $25G AFTER CALLING NHL A ‘JOKE OVER BOTCHED CALL IN BRUINS DOUBLE OT LOSS

The Bruins, who were the top team in the league with 100 points going into the playoffs, shockingly struggled in the round-robin games. They went 0-3 and landed the No. 4 seed. To make matters worse, they were outscored 9-4 and were 0-9 in their power play.

“I mean, let’s call it what it is: They’re exhibition games for the playoffs,” forward Brad Marchand said prior to the start of the ‘Canes series. “It’s hard to have the same mentality as a playoff series. So we’re not going to base our performance — what it’s going be against Carolina — on that.”

Even Rask wasn’t willing to accept Boston’s round-robin results as anything more than practice.

“These first round-robin games or whatever they are, you’re just trying to shake the rust off and get your team game in a place you want it to be,” he said at the time.

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The Bruins did come out strong, winning Game 1 in double-overtime but the Canes quickly tied up the series Thursday night with Dougie Hamilton’s third-period game-winning goal.

David Krejci and Marchand scored for Boston, and Rask made 23 saves. The Bruins, who swept Carolina in the Eastern Conference finals last season, pulled the goalie for an extra attacker but couldn’t convert.

Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Raptors’ Kyle Lowry got his title, now set to chase another

Kyle Lowry spent 13 years chasing an NBA championship before finally getting the ring. His career is closer to the end than the beginning. He’s made his money. His jersey will sway from rafters in Toronto one day. He’ll be a candidate for the Basketball Hall of Fame a few years after retiring.

It begs the question: What’s left?

Lowry’s answer is succinct: More.

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Getting that first NBA title last season finally satisfied one quest for the Raptors’ point guard — but also whet his appetite for another one. So now the defending champions are returning to the NBA playoffs, with their on-court leader determined to win the whole thing once again.

“That feeling is unmatched,” Lowry said. “Other than my children being born, I don’t think I’ve had a feeling like that, ever. And that’s the motivation to keep doing that.”

He’s shown all season that the fire is real, too.

Now 34 years old, Lowry led the Raptors — who lost NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and fellow starter Danny Green in free agency last summer — to the best regular-season record in their franchise’s history. It’s something few would have thought was possible given that sort of roster turnover. He was an All-Star for the sixth consecutive season. He earned All-NBA and All-Defensive Team votes; the league has yet to announce the makeup of those squads.

Lowry averaged 19.7 points, 7.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game this season. The only other players in NBA history, at his age or older, to do that over a full year are LeBron James and Larry Bird.

“He’s got the ultimate respect from me and our franchise, to keep on competing every single year and then finally get over the mountaintop last year,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I think he’s a big winner in this league. He competes so hard … diving around, taking charges, throwing his body into the fray, all of it to try to help his team win.”

The numbers prove all that.

For the second time in three years, Lowry — listed at 6-foot-1 and 196 pounds, which means he’s half a foot shorter and 30 pounds smaller than the average NBA player — led the league in charges drawn. He takes them in preseason games. He takes them in scrimmages. He takes them in All-Star Games. And he fears nobody; he even tried to take one earlier this month from James, the Los Angeles Lakers’ 6-8, 270-pound freight train.

Raptors coach Nick Nurse still cringes a little when Lowry tries things like that, but after being around him for seven years knows those habits won’t be broken now.

“He knows how to do it just right,” Nurse said. “He usually bounces up.”

It’s just one of the many ways that Lowry sets the example for the Raptors. He’s far from their lone star: Pascal Siakam is an All-Star and rising name in the league, Marc Gasol is the veteran big man who fits perfectly in Toronto’s scheme, Fred VanVleet is the super-tough wing who seems certain to get a serious pay raise this summer.

But Lowry runs the show.

He’s the point guard, the quarterback, the coach on the floor, the locker-room voice when one is required. He also is the face of the franchise, the player who has been through the ups and downs in Toronto from an epic championship parade to annual playoff disappointments that made fans wonder if the breakthrough was ever coming.

“I would like (teammates) to really copy him more,” Nurse said. “I mean, like really block out like he does and take more charges and all that kind of stuff. They do play with a good amount of energy and effort and connectivity because of him out there doing it and directing traffic and such. I wish they really emulated him on some stuff.”

Nurse said the Raptors never were swayed by preseason notions that, with Leonard gone, the champions would fall off the cliff of NBA relevance. He didn’t have to worry about it, either; the Raptors were 17-5 last year without Leonard, and Nurse knew that Lowry wouldn’t allow the room to slip.

The roster is different, sure, but the mission is the same.

“We’re the same exact team,” Lowry said. “We play hard. We go out there and we defend. We’ve got pros. We’re just trying to win every single game. That’s what we’ve always done.”

The second-seeded Raptors drew Brooklyn in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, a series that begins Monday. Back in 2014, Brooklyn was also the opponent in Lowry’s first playoff series with the Raptors — a matchup where Toronto lost a Game 7 at home.

The sting lasted a while; Toronto got swept out of the playoffs the next season. But the Raptors are the only team in this year’s playoff field to have won at least one series in each of the previous four years, a streak they’ll be heavily favored to extend this season.

“We play to provide for our families and do what we can for our communities,” Lowry said. “But we play to win championships. We play for a higher level and now we’re playing for social injustices and keeping that conversation going. But we’re also playing to win a championship.”

UFC legacies on line for Miocic-Cormier trilogy title fight

The hype for the third heavyweight fight in the Stipe Miocic-Daniel Cormier trilogy comes with a bit of a bombastic claim — the winner is not only the champion, but can stake his reputation as the greatest in the history of the division.

“They’re two of the best ever,” UFC President Dana White said. “Saturday you find out who’s the best heavyweight of all time. It doesn’t get any better than this.”

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It is billed as the super fight to end all super fights — well, until the next one — with good reason. The heavyweights slugged it out and traded wins in two crazy fights that had the sport frothing for a third. They’ll settle the score Saturday when Miocic defends the championship against Cormier in the main event of UFC 252 at the UFC APEX complex in Las Vegas.

“We have unfinished business,” Miocic said.

Let others debate where the two truly stand on the list of greats. But what is undisputed is that both have built their resumes to make the short list of contenders for UFC’s No. 1 big man.

The 37-year-old Miocic is a two-time champion and started his second reign when he defeated Cormier last August in the rematch at UFC 241. Miocic (19-3) lost the first two rounds on every judge’s scorecard until he stopped Cormier with a barrage of punches in the fourth.

Miocic reigned as the UFC’s heavyweight champion for 26 months, and he defended his belt a UFC-record three consecutive times before Cormier dethroned him in July 2018 with a first-round stoppage victory. Despite Cormier’s decisive victory, Miocic campaigned for a rematch and eventually received it when Cormier said he “deserved it.”

Miocic continued to work shifts for the Valley View (Ohio) Fire Department during the pandemic and planned to return with the belt still around his waist.

“Getting that belt back was everything,” Miocic said.

The 41-year-old Cormier (22-2, 1 NC) is a former two-division champion and has already cemented his status as one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in UFC history. The amiable Cormier, who has found his niche as a successful broadcaster, has vowed to retire after Saturday and end a career in which 10 of his last 11 fights were fought with a championship on the line.

Cormier — who never got his desired big-money bout with Brock Lesnar — compared himself this week to Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls edition) or Peyton Manning as the kind of star athlete who rides off into retirement sunset with a championship.

“It would put me in that type of sphere with some of the greatest athletes that have ever competed across any sport,” Cormier said. “When I win on Saturday, I will retire in that way.”

Cormier ( a -115 favorite ) knocked out Miocic at UFC 226 in the first round in their 2018 bout to win the heavyweight belt.

Cormier understands, though, that for all the title belts, big wins and accolades, his career might be viewed askew should he lose and finish with a 1-2 mark against Miocic and a losing mark against light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Cormier lost both fights to Jones, his big, bitter rival, with the second one overturned when Jones failed a doping test. The result was changed to a no contest.

Cormier says the losses to Jones and Miocic have lingered longer than he’d like to admit.

“I’m a guy with a big ego and that would suck,” Cormier said. “I’ve got to be honest. To think that there would be two guys in my career that were better than me and I had multiple chances to beat them and I didn’t get it done.”

Walk out of the octagon a champion, and he’ll retire as champ — though count White among the many who don’t believe Cormier will actually quit.

“Dana doesn’t just go, ‘D.C. I love you. You’re a great guy. Fight for all these championships,’” Cormier said. “I earned these opportunities. All these tough guys I’ve fought … that’s all earned.”

UFC defended itself from early criticism that it should have punted on holding fight cards during the pandemic and has run some of its most successful cards in recent years, in both quality and pay-per-view buys. It’s no wonder White has promoted the bout as “the best trilogy” in UFC’s history. It’s the one Miocic plans to win and continue to reign as champ — and strengthen his legacy as the greatest.

“I’ve worked too hard to give it up,” Miocic said.

Crowded house: Steelers backfield eyes consistency in 2020

James Conner is tired of answering questions about his health. Really tired. The Pittsburgh Steelers running back remains adamant he can thrive in the NFL if he stays on the field.

Conner understands he can’t run from his resume, which includes a trip to the Pro Bowl in 2018 as well as a string of injuries that have limited his effectiveness. He has yet to navigate a full 16-game schedule unscathed. Until he does, the doubts about his durability are going to linger.

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“Injuries are going to happen, so I don’t really pay attention to what anyone says,” Conner said. “Honestly, as long as the people who make the important decisions believe in me, that’s all that matters. I really don’t care what anyone else thinks. The ones who make all the important decisions, they believe in me. I believe in myself. I’ll leave it at that.”

Conner is half right. His self-confidence is one of the reasons he morphed from a two-star prospect when he arrived at the University of Pittsburgh to a third-round pick in 2017 following a record-setting career that included a very public victory over cancer.

Yet while the Steelers — general manager Kevin Colbert, in particular — insist they agree with Conner’s assessment of his potential, they have not offered him a contract extension. Conner understands he needs to prove he can shoulder a full season’s worth of work. And he needs to do it despite the usual lack of preparation thanks to the limitations put in place by the NFL to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

During a normal summer, the Steelers would be just about ready to break camp at St. Vincent College and head back to the team’s facility tucked against the Monongahela River. This summer, there are no preseason games and they won’t even put on the pads until Monday, less than a month before the 2020 opener against the New York Giants.

Rarely one to shy away from contact, Conner isn’t overly concerned about the lack of full-speed reps before things get going for real.

“I know what it feels like to be in a game and get tackled and have contact and all of that,” Conner said. “We’re not worried about it. It’s the same for everybody. As long as we are professionals, we will be fine.”

Maybe, but the Steelers coaching staff finds itself in a tight spot, particularly at the running back spot. Running backs coach Eddie Faulkner wants to make sure he gets a chance to assess Conner as well as Benny Snell Jr., rookie Anthony McFarland Jr. and free-agent signee Wendell Smallwood.

Doing it without seeing them compete against another team will make it difficult. So is making sure there are enough snaps to go around.

“Part of my job is to, not necessarily spread them out so much to keep away the wear and tear, but to spread them out and pick spots and see what they can do or can’t do maybe as well as the next guy,” Faulkner said. “And that helps us put it all together. It is just something that we are working through.”

Not that head coach Mike Tomlin is particularly interested in assuaging egos or bodies for that matter.

“At this juncture, I’m more concerned about putting them in situations where I can get to know them and evaluate them and see them compete than I am worried about preservation,” Tomlin said.

Maybe, the Steelers know they need more from the running game after it finished 29th in the league last season. The absence of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger — who missed all but six quarters with torn flexor tendons in his right elbow — allowed defenses to crowd the line of scrimmage to stop Conner & Co.

“If they can just stack the box and run a safety down and you can’t throw over the top or you can’t keep them honest, then it is easier to stop the run,” All-Pro guard David DeCastro said. “We just weren’t good at all. So, that running game is obviously going to be a tough spot that they can just—it wasn’t even just the run game, just overall not being good.”

Roethlisberger insists he’s all the way back after having surgery last September. Still, the Steelers would probably be better served to not have the 38-year-old Roethlisberger test his revamped elbow 675 times, as he did when he led the league in attempts, completions and yards passing in 2018.

Having a reliable group behind Roethlisberger would help, a list that starts with a player who suddenly finds himself as the most experienced guy in the room while also wary that he might not be in the room much longer if he can’t deliver with consistency.

“You just realize you can’t get time back, you can’t get plays back,” Conner said. “You always have to have that next play and next opportunity mindset. We have the opportunity now to come together during this weird time, and we are making the most out of it. We’re putting our best foot forward and just coming together. We can’t do anything about last year, so we are just looking forward to this year.”

EPL breaks silence on reasons for stalled Newcastle takeover

The consortium which withdrew its bid to buy English club Newcastle declined an offer of independent arbitration into the long-running case after a request for additional information from the Premier League, according to the head of the competition.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters commented publicly about the aborted takeover for the first time in a letter to a British lawmaker, a copy of which was published on Twitter on Friday.

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The league spent four months considering whether to approve the 300 million pound ($392 million) takeover that would have seen Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund gain an 80% share of the northeast club. The process was stalled by concerns about piracy by the kingdom and human rights complaints.

In the letter to local lawmaker Chi Onwurah, Masters said that after an impasse was reached in the league’s owners’ and directors’ test, the consortium was asked for more details about which entity would have control of the club so an assessment could be made about any possible disqualifying criteria.

“The Premier League recognized this dispute, and offered the consortium the ability to have the matter determined by an independent arbitral tribunal if it wished to challenge the conclusion of the board,” Masters wrote.

“The consortium chose not to take up that offer, but nor did it procure the provision of the additional information. Later, it (or PIF specifically) voluntarily withdrew from the process,” Masters added, referring to the Saudis’ Public Investment Fund.

Masters also dismissed suggestions that rival Premier League clubs vetoed the deal.

“The owners’ and directors’ test is delegated to and carried out entirely by the Premier League Board,” he said. “Other member clubs have no role whatsoever in the approval process.”

The British-based Reuben brothers and financier Amanda Staveley were also part of the PIF bid, planning to each buy the remaining 10% stakes to end the ownership of retail entrepreneur Mike Ashley.

The Premier League faced calls to block the takeover by Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of murdered journalist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi. The assassination and dismemberment of Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in late 2018 has been linked to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who oversees the fund, by Western intelligence services and U.S. lawmakers.

The takeover bid was also complicated by the World Trade Organization recently ruling that Saudi Arabia failed to stop a broadcasting operation pirating sports coverage — including of Premier League games — and blocked moves to shut it down in a proxy of the Gulf economic and diplomatic dispute with Qatar.

The Qatar-owned beIN Sports network, which is banned from operating in Saudi Arabia, holds the Middle East rights that are being pirated by beoutQ.

Wiegman to leave Dutch in 2021, coach England’s women’s team

Sarina Wiegman will leave her role as manager of the Netherlands’ women’s team after next year’s Olympic Games to take charge of England as the replacement for Phil Neville.

Wiegman will be installed in September 2021 ahead of the European Championship in 2022 that is being staged in England, the Football Association said Friday. Her four-year deal also takes in the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023, and Euro 2025.

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She led the Dutch to victory at a home Euros in 2017 and to the final of the World Cup last year, where they lost to the United States. As a player, she was captain of the national team and made 104 appearances.

Neville will remain in charge of the England team until July 2021, with the FA saying it has been “particularly impressed with his continued commitment and hard work during this period of transition.”

A decision on the head coach of Britain’s women’s team for the Olympics will be announced in due course, the FA added.

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