Oct 17, 2019 5 min read

Kansas favorite in Big 12 basketball

Kansas has been tabbed as the favorite to win the Big 12 men’s basketball title, the season after the end of the Jayhawks’ NCAA record run of winning the conference 14 years in a row.

League coaches picked Kansas to finish ahead of Baylor and Texas Tech, which last year made it to the NCAA championship game before losing to Virginia in overtime. Texas was picked fourth in the poll released Thursday, followed by West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Kansas State and TCU.

Kansas coach Bill Self returns three starters, including senior center Udoka Azubuike, who was picked as the Big 12 preseason player of the year.

Texas Tech and Kansas State were the Big 12 co-champions last year. Iowa State won the league’s postseason tournament after beating Kansas in the championship game.

NFL rockets state to sports betting record

Sports betting in Pennsylvania blew through its previous monthly record with the start of the NFL season.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said Thursday that gamblers bet a record $194.5 million in September at nine casinos and two off-track betting parlors where sports betting is approved. That was above the prior record of $109 million bet in August, a 78% jump.

Valley Forge Casino in suburban Philadelphia dwarfed its nearest competitor, with $88.5 million in bets, practically all of it online. The casinos made $19 million, while $5 million went to taxes.

For comparison, New Jersey’s casino and racetrack-based sports books handled a record-breaking $445 million in bets in September, the largest monthly total in the state since legal sports betting began in June 2018.

China asked that Rockets’ GM be fired

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Chinese officials wanted Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey to be fired for his tweet supporting anti-government protesters in Hong Kong, and the league emphatically dismissed the request.

Silver also said that the league is already feeling “substantial” financial losses because of the Chinese reaction to Morey’s deleted tweet.

“Obviously, we made clear that we were being asked to fire him by the Chinese government, by the parties we dealt with, government and business,” Silver said Thursday during an appearance at the Time 100 Health Summit in New York. “We said, ‘There’s no chance that’s happening. There’s no chance we’ll even discipline him.'”

Silver also said he isn’t sure what will happen to the NBA’s relationship with China, which has been growing steadily over the last three decades.

“I felt we had made enormous progress in terms of building cultural exchanges with the Chinese people,” Silver said. “Again, I have regret that much of that was lost. And I’m not even sure where we’ll go from here.”

The league and LeBron James, one of its biggest stars, has been heavily criticized by some U.S. lawmakers for the perception that they caved to the Chinese regime. Morey has not been rebuked publicly by the league, and Silver has said that the league will support his freedom of expression.

Formula One to run race in Miami

Formula One has reached preliminary agreement to race in Miami in 2021, giving the global series a second race in the U.S.

Despite an earlier push for a street race in downtown Miami that would provide views of waterfront racing, the Miami Grand Prix would instead be on a course running through the parking lots at Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.

Formula One said the plan is to race in the month of May. The deal must still be approved by Miami-Dade County officials Oct. 28.

The Miami race would join the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, as U.S. races on the calendar. It would also give F1 a fourth race in North America, joining Montreal and Mexico City.

Bowyer returning to SHR

Clint Bowyer has reached an agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing to return to the No. 14 Ford next season.

Bowyer has been with SHR for three of his 15 seasons in the Cup Series. His extension announced Thursday came as the Kansas native headed to his home track on the verge of elimination from the playoffs.

Bowyer, from Emporia, Kansas, is 11th in the 12-driver playoff field going into Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway. The bottom four drivers in the standings will be eliminated after Kansas.

“I’m proud to be back with Stewart-Haas Racing next year and very happy to announce it the week leading into my home race,” Bowyer said. “This is a team filled with racers who love to compete, and as a racecar driver, it’s exactly where you want to be. Great equipment, great teammates, and we’re all backed by great people.”