Kentucky Derby stewards reached "at least a temporary resolution" to the controversy over the '21 race, as they "disqualified Medina Spirit for testing positive for a restricted medication." They also issued a 90-day suspension and $7,500 fine for trainer Bob Baffert, reflecting "not only Medina Spirit's Kentucky Derby positive, but the four other times Baffert's horses had tested positive during the 364 days." The outcome came after a Feb. 14 hearing. Baffert "has 10 days to request a review of the stewards' ruling by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission or to apply for a stay from the commission's executive director." Pending further developments, runner-up Mandaloun stands to become the winner of Derby 147 under trainer Brad Cox (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 2/21).

Reps for MLB and MLBPA are meeting in Jupiter, Fla., today to resume negotiations to end the league’s lockout of its players. After their previous meeting lasted 15 minutes, the sides took a "break" after 70 minutes. The ownership side is being repped by MLB Deputy Commissioner & Chief Legal Officer Dan Halem, MLB Exec VP/Baseball Operations Morgan Sword, MLB Senior VP & Deputy General Counsel for Labor Relations Patrick Houlihan and Rockies Owner Dick Monfort. Also present for the owners is Padres Vice Chair Ron Fowler. The player contingent includes Max Scherzer, Starlin Castro, Francisco Lindor, Jameson Taillon, Brandon Nimmo, Paul Goldschmidt, Brent Suter, Whit Merrifield and Taylor Rogers (TWITTER.com, 2/21).

The Blackhawks "will no longer have longtime forward Bobby Hull as a team ambassador," the team confirmed. Chris Chelios and Denis Savard "will remain team ambassadors." The franchise "parted ways with Hull late last year." The team said in a statement, "We jointly agreed earlier this season that he will retire from any official team role." The Hockey HOFer spent 15 seasons as a Blackhawks player, but his legacy is "shrouded in controversy." He was "accused of domestic abuse by two of his former wives," and there are disputed reports of his making controversial comments to a Russian outlet in '98. Chicago-based WSCR-AM 670 first reported Hull was out as Blackhawks ambassador (THEATHLETIC.com, 2/21).

South Florida Motorsports

Ft. Lauderdale-based car seller AutoNation will be another new sponsor for the F1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix, with assets being signage around the circuit, naming rights to a patio area within Hard Rock Stadium and a fan zone presence. Terms were not revealed. The company is an event supporter, which appears to be the lowest tier of South Florida Motorsports’ sponsorship structure for a race that so far has a title sponsor and two founding partners. AutoNation will be able to host 100 guests a day at the patio area. This is the second Andretti Autosport-aligned partner to announce a deal with F1 Miami in the last week after Gainbridge, which is notable because Michael Andretti has been looking at getting into F1 and has applied for an FIA license to start a new team in ’24, as revealed by his father Mario this past weekend. The other founding partner announced so far is Hard Rock Int'l. It’s not yet clear whether SFM is selling a presenting sponsor position.

The AutoNation signage will include the roof of the Turn 18 grandstand, which is at the end of a long straightaway that could see some passing. AutoNation will in part promote its DRV PNK breast cancer research/awareness program, which has raised over $30M to date, according to the company. The CEO of AutoNation is now Mike Manley, who came on last September and formerly was with Stellantis, the car maker that is involved in F1 with its Alfa Romeo brand.

Cameron Maybin is YES Network's "latest addition" to its Yankees broadcast booth. This comes after last month, the net "added Carlos Beltran to its roster of baseball analysts." This comes as regular game analyst David Cone’s "new broadcasting position on ESPN’s 'Sunday Night Baseball' has cut into his YES Network broadcast schedule and Ken Singleton retired from broadcasting" after the '21 season. YES analyst Jack Curry tweeted Maybin "was a delightful personality when he played for the Yankees" in '19, and he is "expected to announce about 40 games" for the YES in '22 (Bergen RECORD, 2/19).

Shell Energy is becoming the exclusive energy provider of the Dynamo, NWSL Houston Dash and PNC Stadium under a multiyear deal. PNC Stadium’s new sports deck will become the Shell Energy Sports Deck and the venue's Northwest entrance will now be the Shell Energy Gate. Shell Energy also will become the presenting sponsor of both the Dynamo and Dash seasons and will receive sponsorship placement on the bottom back of the Dash jerseys. Shell also will implement integrated energy solutions such as LED lighting, HVAC system replacements and EV charging stations at the stadium, to support the club's goal of reducing its carbon footprint by an estimated 50% by '26.

Meanwhile, the Earthquakes reached a multiyear partnership extension with Audi, the club's official luxury vehicle partner. Audi will continue to feature Audi Field Clubs and Audi Gate branding at PayPal Park, along with gameday activations, while it continues to help cover living expenses for Quakes Academy players in need. New in '22, Audi will launch Quakes Away Match Experience, in which fans can win the opportunity to experience a Quakes away match by traveling to Southern California driving an Audi e-tron electric vehicle. The club and brand also plan to partner on new community initiatives (SBJ).

BLK & Bold

BLK & Bold, the first Black-owned, nationally distributed coffee brand, is launching a series of limited-edition NBA team packaging featuring the Knicks, Nets, Lakers, Suns and Bulls (BLK & Bold)

A Guy Fieri restaurant concept is opening this spring in Caesars Sportsbook at Chase Field. and will be open year-round (D-backs).

Hitachi Astemo and Team Penske will continue their NTT IndyCar Series partnership for the '22 season, with driver Josef Newgarden behind the wheel of the No. 2 Hitachi Dallara/Chevrolet (Hitachi Astemo).

Sparkling Ice +Caffeine has partnered with Tony Stewart Racing and will serve as the primary sponsor for NHRA driver Leah Pruett at two events this year. The brand will be an associate sponsor for Pruett with logo placement atop the driver canopy for all other races (TSR).

TSR

"I’m an athlete, I’m tough, I can handle a lot. I woke up the next day feeling absolutely nauseous. I called my husband and said I felt so strange and uncomfortable. I felt like I couldn’t process what happened. It’s still affecting me" -- NBC figure skating analyst Tara Lipinski, on the controversy surrounding Russian skater Kamila Valieva (THEATHLETIC.com, 2/21).

“With Steph Curry, you look at him and you say, ‘Man, I get on the court, I can shoot jump shots. I can be that,’ and I think that that has a lot to do with elevating his level of popularity, along with the fact that he's incredibly likable” – ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, on Warriors G Stephen Curry being the “face” of the NBA (“First Take,” ESPN, 2/21).

“I want to thank you again for all the suits you blessed us with and I'm sorry that now every HBCU around the nation reached out to you and they wanted free suits” – Jackson State football coach Deion Sanders, on suits gifted to the school by ABC’s Michael Strahan from his clothing line, Collection by Michael Strahan (“GMA,” ABC, 2/21).

Deputy commissioner Lisa Haley is expected to also leave the PHF, according to sources. https://t.co/ptHcmrGb4U

— Marisa Ingemi (@Marisa_Ingemi) February 21, 2022

give all the NFL teams two bye weeks instead of one, 19 weeks to play 17 games, that moves the playoffs back a week, now the Super Bowl is Presidents' Day weekend and Super Bowl Monday is a national holiday, bang, two birds one stone

— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) February 21, 2022

I grabbed lunch today & the bar crowd on Mon are experts in every sport & just missed being on ESPN 😂-everyone of them watched the #DAYTONA500 & everyone said it was a great race 😳 - I don’t think I’ll see this in any sales deck but another good indicator for @NASCAR

— Rick Cuellar (@Rick_Cuellar) February 21, 2022

JUPITER, Fla. — Read into this what you will, but please, not too much: MLB-MLBPA meeting length has exceeded 15 minutes, which was how long the last one in NYC lasted.

— Michael Silverman (@MikeSilvermanBB) February 21, 2022

CivicScience’s weekly Economic Sentiment Index had its third decline in four readings since New Year’s. “People are particularly wary of making major purchases, likely due to the persistent hum of inflation,” according to Civic Science Founder John Dick (David Broughton, SBJ).

The advent of drone footage in sports has allowed for unique views and coverage, like this sweeping journey through Riviera Country Club, site of this past weekend's PGA Tour Genesis Open.

$200,000 -- Amount of the Leonsis Foundation and Monumental Sports & Entertainment's surprise gift to the Univ. of the District of Columbia, which recently named its athletics facility the Dr. Edwin Bancroft Henderson Sports Complex, honoring its distinguished alum during a ceremony held on the Van Ness Campus. The gift from the Wizards/Capitals/Mystics ownership group will fund the Dr. Edwin Bancroft Henderson Memorial Fund Campaign established by the UDC Foundation (UDC).