Daily Republic
Monday, February 28, 2022 SECTION B Paul Farmer . Sports Editor . 427.6926
‘Man-made disaster’: Arizona spring-training cities, fans feel brunt of MLB labor lockout Tribune Content Agency For Giants fan Dennis Allen, a trip to spring training is an annual rite. Allen, 74, lives in Felton, near Santa Cruz, and has two brothers in Atlanta. Pre-pandemic, Allen said, the three made a regular trip to meet in Arizona and catch a few Cactus League games. “The whole deal is
it basically brings us together,” Allen said. This is typically the time when baseball fans flock in droves to Arizona and Florida, where the sharp report of baseballs caroming off bats and thudding into gloves on sun-soaked, manicured fields marks the sport’s return from winter. Allen and his brothers planned
a March 10 arrival this year, bought tickets for three games and booked a vacation rental. They recently canceled those plans, Allen said, as baseball remains in the lockout that has already delayed the start of major-league spring training and could jeopardize an on-time Opening Day. With Major League Baseball and the Players
Association holding daily bargaining talks this past week, hope for a new labor agreement lingers. But when the sport will start up again is uncertain. And Allen said he and his brothers had to decide – cancel their Tempe, Ariz., rental or risk not being able to get reimbursed. “Obviously, the labor dispute is a heartbreaker,” Allen said, “because
there’s no baseball.” Nearly three months into the owner-instituted lockout, major-league camps remain shuttered and MLB has said it will delay the regular season if no deal is in place by Monday. Spring training games are already delayed until at least March 8, a date that would be pushed back again barring real progress in labor talks.
The move has repercussions – on fans having to alter planned trips and on the Arizona and Florida cities where MLB teams make their spring training homes. Those cities count on fans who arrive each spring and infuse local economies. Right now, that effect is largely absent. It’s also significant. See MLB, Page B8
‘I want to come back strong’: Green describes his road back for Warriors Tribune Content Agency
Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post
Washington Redskins tight end Vernon Davis is shown in Deptember 2019.
How Vernon Davis went from Pro Bowl tight end to movie and TV action star The Washington Post The request was innocent enough. Former Washington tight end Vernon Davis was on “SportsCenter” in 2020, days after retiring from the NFL and discussed his future Hollywood aspirations. The host asked Davis, decked out in suit and tie, to reenact a couple of lines from his upcoming movie “Red Winter.” That’s when things got a little weird. Davis instantly furrowed his brow, squeezed his eyes shut and went into a lip-quivering, chest-heaving fake cry. The full ugly cry lasted just 11 seconds before Davis straightened up and went back to his
usual smiling self. There were mixed reactions to the moment, though it was just one example of how the former Pro Bowl selection and Super Bowl champ has attacked his post-football career. “I remember I was watching. and I’m like, ‘Oh no, oh no,’ because It was awkward,” marketing agent Patrick Powell said. “I know no one was ready for it. It was cool in the fact of it was no fear. I’m just going to put this out here; I don’t care what anyone thinks about it. This is my art; this is my craft. Even the host, when he was done, he was kind of like, ‘Ok.’ “I got so many text messages, and Vernon got so many text messages, and people were
like, maybe you shouldn’t have did it like that. . . . Oh, my gosh, he got a lot of flak for that.” Davis, however, is now set to be all over the screen just two years later. He has a role in the movie “Gasoline Alley” with Bruce Willis and Luke Wilson that debuted Friday. In March, it’s “A Day to Die” with Willis and Kevin Dillon, and Davis will serve as a judge on the Fox show “Domino Masters.” “Dear Best Friend” is already airing on BET Plus, and “Chariot” with John Malkovich is scheduled to release this year. All of this started in 2013 when Davis appeared on an episode of “The League” while he was a star for the
San Francisco 49ers. Actor Danny Glover suggested acting classes at the Shelton Theatre in San Francisco, which he has been taking ever since. Davis bypassed several offers from “Dancing with the Stars” before accepting shortly after retiring. An acting career in the mold of Terry Crews, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson or John Cena is a goal. Transitioning into the entertainment business is easier said than done, even for those who are already recognizable celebrities. At one point, Davis had spent thousands of dollars on classes and sent out hundreds See Davis, Page B8
Vladimir Putin, black belt in judo, suspended as honorary president of judo federation The Washington Post The International Judo Federation said in a statement Sunday that it was suspending Russian President Vladimir Putin as its honorary president and ambassador, citing the “ongoing war conflict in Ukraine.” The announcement came as Russian forces continued to bombard the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and other cities, leading to heavy street fighting and back-andforth rocket firing. The judo organization, which brings together more than 200 national federations, said Friday it had canceled its Grand Slam event in Kazan, Russia, which was set to be held in May. IJF President Marius Vizer said he was “saddened by the current
international situation,” although the statement on the cancellation did not directly refer to Russia or Ukraine. Following Russia’s invasion, some went on Twitter to call on the group to take additional steps to remove Putin from his leadership post. The IFJ, which was founded in 1951 and has its headquarters in Hungary, said the unfolding conflict was a “result of inefficient dialogue at international level.” Putin, 69, is a keen judoka and holds a black belt. He has co-written a book titled “Judo: History, Theory, Practice” and also starred in an instructional video, titled “Let’s Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin.” In 2019, Putin was videoed sparring with Olympic athletes at a judo
training session in Sochi, with Euro News reporting at the time that the president was shown on Russian television toppling several opponents before being taken down by a female judoka. Putin also holds grandmaster rank in taekwondo, which he was awarded in 2013 by Choue Chung-won, president of the World Taekwondo Federation. While Putin has not practiced the sport himself, the honor was bestowed in recognition of his work developing the Korean martial art in Russia, the federation said in a statement at the time. Following the move, the Independent reported that Putin’s award would place him a ranking higher than martial arts expert and action movie star Chuck Norris.
Warriors forward Draymond Green has been fighting to get back on the court since a token appearance in their Jan. 9 game, to share in the joy of Klay Thompson’s return to action. He hasn’t played real minutes in a game since Jan. 5. Sure, Green has missed games here and there throughout his nine years in the NBA. But he has never been sidelined like this. Because of a nagging back injury, Green has been inactive in the Warriors’ past 21 games entering Sunday’s matchup with the Mavericks and been a non-factor in their past 23 games. There’s still no clear timetable for his return. It’s the most consecutive games he has missed in his career. And dealing with an injury such as this, creeping up on his 32nd birthday in just a few days, the road back has been tough. “Not being able to do anything, not being able to travel, not being able to sit on the bench, not being able to just be around the team,” Green said Saturday in his first media availability since before the All-Star break. “And then going from the absolute top to the absolute bottom. And when I say absolute top, I mean the absolute top of my performance to the absolute bottom of my performance. You know, to go from playing at the level I was playing at to not being able to do anything, I think that’s the toughest part.” It was hard for Green to wrap his mind around his back injury when it happened. “It just kind of came out of nowhere,” he said. It took him time to come to terms with is situation, but once he did, all his energy and focus has gone into rejoining his teammates as quickly as possible. Green took a big step forward on the road back Saturday when he went through non-contact practice at Chase Center ahead of the Sunday’s home game against the Dallas Mavericks, a first for him since suffering his back injury. “Draymond is one of our vocal leaders, you know,” center Kevon Looney said. “So having him in practice just brings different energy. This is toward the end
of the year so practices can be dragging at times. But having a fresh voice and fresh energy like that, it brings a lot of sparks to us. Our practice was at another level today just having (him) out there.” Reporters were escorted into the gym at the end of practice and Green could be seen on the court participating in shooting drills with a coach. He was moving around well, knocking down 3-pointers and driving hard to the rim. He was reciting rap lyrics throughout the workout and looked like his lighthearted self. “Draymond was energetic, talking and being really vocal, so it was a lot of fun today,” Looney said. Shortly after Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr arrived at the podium for his post-practice news conference, reporters were told that Green continued to work out for another 45 minutes.
“I was dominating when I got hurt . . . I plan on coming back and dominating” — Draymond Green
Green looked good. And when he spoke to reporters after his workout was finished, he said he felt good, too. “I’m getting my explosiveness back, getting my wind back,” Green said. “It was good to be in practice today. And, you know, just to feel that energy – to be out there with the guys with some structure, kind of filling back in, figuring out the different things we’ve installed since I’ve been out. It’s still a little ways away, you know. But overall, I feel great. I continue to see progress, continue to see myself getting stronger. So, I’ll continue to take it day by day.” There have been few updates on Green’s status throughout his recovery, and never anything concrete. During Sunday’s NBA All-Star game broadcast on TNT, the four-time All-Star selection told the nation that he was hoping to make his return within the next three to four weeks.
