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Sunday, July 17 2:45pm ET

Weekend Rap .... Latest News .... Economy Of Motion

Rio Games Official Says No Prize Money Reason Male Golfers Withdrew

Rio Games Organizing Committee President Carlos Nuzman said that the world's top four male golfers – Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth – have "withdrawn from the games because there is no money to be won" and "not because of the Zika virus." Nuzman: "They tried to blame Zika, but the media have shown that they are not coming because there's no prize money." He added, "Zika is much worse in Florida than in Brazil, and golfers are playing in Florida" (AP, 7/17).

Meanwhile, "another top-10 tennis player," Wimbledon semifinalist Tomas Berdych, on Saturday withdrew from the Games "over concerns about the Zika virus" (AP, 7/16).

Wahlberg Says Goodell Tried To Stop NFLers From "Ballers" Cameos

The second season of HBO's "Ballers" debuts tonight at 10:00pm ET, and exec producer Mark Wahlberg on Friday said that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell called him and tried to stop current NFLers from making cameos. Wahlberg: "The first season of the show, the only call that I was getting was from guys like Roger Goodell saying 'you can't do this,' and various owners in the league. And we're saying ... it's actually a good thing for the league and for the players because hopefully you get the word out there with the crazy stuff and the financial side of it, we'll hopefully get these guys to realize they gotta be more careful with what they do with their money" ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 7/15).

Pat Riley Says Dwyane Wade's Departure To Bulls "Floored" Him

Heat President Pat Riley yesterday said G Dwyane Wade's decision to sign with the Bulls this offseason "floored" him. Riley: "I'm not trying to fall on the sword for anybody. I have great regret that I didn't immerse myself in the middle of it. ... My responsibility was to make it happen. Dwyane left and the buck really stops here" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 7/17). Riley said Wade is the "asset, he's the star, he's the face of the franchise, I should have tried to do everything that I could have, verbally, in trying to change his mind-set." Even though Wade "was talking contract" with Heat Owner Micky Arison, Riley said that the franchise "has always presented 'one voice' in negotiations" (MIAMI HERALD, 7/17).

FC Cincinnati Draws Record Attendance For Crystal Palace Friendly

Nippert Stadium hosted 35,061 fans for last night's FC Cincinnati-EPL club Crystal Palace friendly, and the USL club claims that this marks the "largest crowd to witness a soccer match in the history of Ohio." The crowd was "dotted almost exclusively with orange and blue-colored garb, and the noise produced by those in attendance was deafening at times." The entire stadium "rose to its feet and applauded as the final whistle sounded." Crystal Palace Manager Alan Pardew said, "It's not often you have an atmosphere like that in preseason and not actually in a league game" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 7/17).

Antidoping Officials To Request Russia Be Banned From Rio Games

Antidoping officials from at least 10 nations and 20 athlete groups are "preparing the extraordinary step of requesting that the entire Russian delegation be barred" from the Rio Games "over allegations of a state-sponsored doping program." The antidoping officials and athletes are "expected to pressure Olympic leaders on the matter" as soon as tomorrow (N.Y. TIMES, 7/17).

Torii Hunter Addresses National Tragedies In Twins HOF Speech

Former MLBer Torii Hunter yesterday "became the 27th person inducted" into the Twins HOF and in his speech addressed the country's recent tragedies. Hunter: "This is the United States of America, and the word 'united' means togetherness. ... We must love the one next to us, no matter the color of someone's skin, gender, views or religious preferences." Longtime Twins radio broadcaster John Gordon will join Hunter in the team's hall "in a separate ceremony" before today's game (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 7/17). Hunter's speech lasted 11 1/2-minutes (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 7/17).

Memo From MLB's Torre To Managers: Stop Arguing Balls, Strikes

MLB is "telling managers to cool it on arguing balls and strikes." MLB Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre sent a memo Friday to managers, GMs and assistant GMs that said, "This highly inappropriate conduct is detrimental to the game and must stop." Torre wrote, "The prevalence of manager ejections simply cannot continue" (AP, 7/16).

Basketball HOFer Nate Thurmond Passes Away At 74

Basketball HOFer Nate Thurmond died yesterday "after a short battle with leukemia" at the age of 74. Both the Warriors and Cavaliers have retired the Akron, Ohio, native's No. 42. Thurmond "is an iconic figure in both cities" (AP, 7/16). Thurmond played 14 seasons and was a "seven-time All-Star" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 7/17). In Cleveland, Terry Pluto writes under the header, "Nate Thurmond's Death Brings Back Memories Of A Hall Of Fame Center And Gentleman" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 7/17).

Weekend Briefs....

Univ. of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh said that Michael Jordan will attend the team's "game against Hawaii and serve as an honorary captain." UM "makes its return as a Nike school at that game" and will be the first college football team to "wear uniforms with a Jordan Jumpman logo" (DETROITNEWS.com, 7/16). 

Miami FC yesterday celebrated Pride Night against the Jacksonville Armada at FIU Stadium. Half of ticket proceeds will "be donated to the Pulse Victims Fund, set up to aid victims of the night club shooting in Orlando" (MIAMI HERALD, 7/16).

Trail Blazers G Damian Lillard on Friday celebrated his 26th birthday by "staging his first full-fledged live concert as his rapper persona Dame D.O.L.L.A. in Portland" (ESPN.com, 7/16).

"The Games" by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan, a new novel about a character "hired by Olympic organizers to protect" the Rio Games, debuted at the top of the N.Y TIMES' best sellers list for the week of June 26-July 2 in the fiction category (N.Y. TIMES, 7/17).

A crowd estimated at more than 30,000 yesterday attended Penguins C Sidney Crosby's parade in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, with Crosby "showing off the Stanley Cup to his hometown fans" (AP, 7/16). Crosby also brought the Cup to an area Tim Hortons and took it on a "visit to his hockey school" (USATODAY.com, 7/16).

Quick Hits....

"Is This The Year?" – Headline on the cover of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway program featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is sitting out today's NASCAR race with concussion symptoms. The header references Earnhardt contending for his first Sprint Cup (USATODAY.com, 7/15). Meanwhile, the possibility that Jeff Gordon could fill in for Earnhardt at the Brickyard 400 "brings a flood of emotion for NASCAR fans" (USATODAY.com, 7/15).

"I’m not a GM or a team owner or whatever, you know, I mean if I say tomorrow that I want to play with LeBron James, am I tampering?" – Red Sox DH David Ortiz, on speculation that his comments on fellow players at the MLB All-Star Game could be considered tampering (BOSTON HERALD, 7/17).

"Most of the questions I get are comparing to last year and therefore negative because it’s not to the same standard, and then it’s tough to convince yourself that you’re having a good year when no one else; even if you guys think I’m having a good year, the questions I get makes me feel like I’m not" – Golfer Jordan Spieth, on questions he receives from the media (USATODAY.com, 7/16).

"I know that the window for playing is closing. But if my window closes, I'm going to make sure I open up a thousand more opportunities for kids, to give them an opportunity to pick up where I left off" – NFL free agent Ray Rice, on his future, or lack there of, in the NFL (AP, 7/16).

"It’s not easy to identify riders now that they’re all wearing helmets. On the bike, they all look pretty much the same. So maybe that takes a little bit of the romanticism out of the cycling, but that’s how it is" – Cyclist Sean Yates, on how most riders at the Tour de France are indistinguishable from one another (N.Y. TIMES, 7/17). 

"Honestly, it’s kind of a ridiculous sport in general. You have a bunch of emaciated Transformer characters out there, grown men who shave their legs and wear colorful spandex. So you’ve got to do something just to remind yourself and the rest of the world that it is kind of silly" – Cyclist Alex Howes, on why competitors are beginning to break conformity in their race-day attire (N.Y. TIMES, 7/17).

Twitter Me This: British Open Edition....

Henrik Stenson won the British Open today, with Phil Mickelson coming in second after a final round widely praised for its level of play. See more on the event and NBC's coverage in Monday's issue of THE DAILY.

If you see a tweet we will not want to miss, send it to us at editorial@sportsbusinessdaily.com.

Sunday Comic....

A sneak preview of SportsBusiness Journal's weekly editorial cartoon:

Weekend Hot Reads....

The CHICAGO TRIBUNE goes with the header, “Chicago’s Bid For 2016 Olympics Leaves Pricey Legacy 7 Years Later.” The city is on the hook for about $140M in “principal and interest on the purchase of property for an Olympic Village,” and it was “saddled with costly, 10-year union contracts that were hammered out to ensure labor peace during the Games.”

The Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE asked “nine people who have significantly touched Minnesota sports” about athletes’ “power to drive discussions about social change.” Should “athletes and others in sports use their voice?” Or should they “stick to sports?”

Elsewhere:

Channel Surf....

SUNDAY
ESPN2 and ESPNU today are airing 18 hours of e-sports programming, culminating with the "Street Fighter V" World Championship from the Evo Championship Series final in Las Vegas at 10:00pm ET on ESPN2.

Back Pages....

The Weekend Rap offers today's back page sports covers from some of North America's major metropolitan tabloids:

 N.Y. Post  N.Y. Daily News Newsday   Boston HeraldChicago Sun-Times

Hit The Ground Running: The Week Ahead....

THE DAILY's Week Ahead: July 18-24

MONDAY
• ATP World Tour J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad begins - Gstaad, Switzerland
• ATP World Tour Generali Open begins - Kitzbuhel, Austria
• ATP World Tour Konzum Croatia Open Umag begins - Umag, Croatia
• ATP/WTA Tour Citi Open begins - DC
• WTA Tour Bank of the West Classic begins - Stanford, Calif. (Emirates Airline U.S. Open Series event)
• WTA Tour Ericsson Open begins - Bastad, Sweden
• Republican National Convention begins - Cleveland

TUESDAY
• NBPA Technology Summit begins - S.F. 
• SEAT Silicon Sports '16 Innovation Showcase at the Sports Entertainment & Tech Conference - Las Vegas
• American Century Celebrity Golf Championship begins - Lake Tahoe, Nev.

WEDNESDAY
• First NFL training camp report date (Saints/rookies - White Sulpher Springs, W.Va.)
• NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby - Rossburg, Ohio

THURSDAY
• Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex begins - Carnoustie, Scotland
• PGA Tour RBC Canadian Open begins - Oakville, Ont., Canada
• Web.com Tour Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank begins - Lehi, Utah
• LPGA Tour UL Int'l Crown begins - Chicago
• Roc Nation Summer Classic Charity Basketball Game - Brooklyn (Barclays Center)
• Comic-Con International begins - San Diego

FRIDAY
• Int'l Champions Cup: China matches begin
• Asia-Pacific Sports Analytics Conference - Melbourne, Australia
• Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals begin - Morrison, Colo.

SATURDAY
• Int'l Champions Cup: USA/Europe and Australia matches begin
• NASCAR Xfinity Series Lilly Diabetes 250 - Indianapolis

SUNDAY
• Tour de France: Final Stage - Paris
• National Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony - Cooperstown, N.Y.
• NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard - Indianapolis
• F1 Magyar Nagydíj - Mogyoród, Hungary

Note: Events are subject to change. Information about upcoming events can be sent via email to calendar@sportsbusinessjournal.com.