Connect with us

Published

on

AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas investigation into the bottle-throwing incident that disrupted the TexasGeorgia game in October — and drew a harsh rebuke and fine from the SEC — resulted in no one being caught or punished.

In a report to the conference sent last month, Texas officials said a video review did not identify any of the culprits.

Texas and Georgia meet again Saturday in the SEC championship game in Atlanta. Their first meeting in Austin, a 30-15 Georgia win, produced one of the most chaotic and controversial scenes of the college football season. Longhorns fans upset about a pass interference penalty pelted the field with debris and briefly stopped the game, giving the officials time to huddle and reverse the call.

The incident drew a $250,000 fine from the SEC, which also threatened to ban alcohol sales at future games. The SEC ordered the school to find those responsible and ban them from all athletic events for the rest of the school year.

In a Nov. 7 report to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte said the school “reviewed all available video and other sources of information” to try to find the disruptive fans.

“Despite our best effort, we have not been able to identify the individuals at issue. We will take action if new identifying information comes to light,” Del Conte wrote.

The school’s report was provided to The Associated Press this week. A university spokesman said he was unaware of any new information or punishments since it was sent to the SEC. Del Conte did not respond to a text message seeking comment.

Del Conte told the SEC that Texas has added additional security cameras and personnel to watch the student section, updated its sportsmanship and fan code of conduct policies and created digital messaging to encourage good behavior.

“Respect, sportsmanship and fairness are values that drive us,” Del Conte wrote. “We expect fans to uphold these standards as well.”

The SEC did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

Then-No. 1 Texas trailed No. 5 Georgia 23-7 when a pass interference call negated a Longhorns interception. Angry fans in or near the student section lobbed bottles and debris on the field, and the game was halted for several minutes.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, who at first was angry about the penalty, crossed the field to plead with the fans to stop throwing things while stadium crews cleaned up the mess.

The break gave the game officials time to reconsider and reverse the penalty, a decision that infuriated Georgia coach Kirby Smart. Texas cut the Georgia lead to 23-15 before the Bulldogs later put together the game-clinching drive.

“I will say that now we’ve set a precedent that if you throw a bunch of stuff on the field and endanger athletes that you’ve got a chance to get your call reversed,” Smart said after the game “That’s unfortunate because to me that’s dangerous.”

The SEC issued a statement that reversing the penalty was the correct decision but condemned the bottle throwing. The conference also ordered Texas to investigate using “all available resources, including security, stadium and television video, to identify individuals who threw objects onto the playing field or at the opposing team.” It told the school to report its findings to the league.

Texas president Jay Hartzell warned students that the investigation was coming. He said the incident had “embarrassed Longhorn Nation” and agreed with the SEC’s demands to find those responsible.

Texas’ 10-page report included a review of stadium policies and the administration’s statements to students. It includes only a single paragraph about the investigation efforts, which were led by Derek Trabon, director of the campus Office of Emergency Management. The investigation included help from game operations staff and campus police.

The report offers no investigation details, such as how much video was reviewed, whether cameras actually caught fans throwing things or if the school considered using facial recognition technology. The brief mention of the investigation does not explain why it was inconclusive.

“We take full accountability for the actions of our fans and reiterate our apology to the University of Georgia and the SEC,” Del Conte wrote.

Continue Reading

Sports

Journalism rallies in $1M Haskell Invitational win

Published

on

By

Journalism rallies in M Haskell Invitational win

OCEANPORT, N.J. — Journalism launched a dramatic rally to win the $1 million Haskell Invitational on Saturday at Monmouth Park.

It was Journalism’s first race since the Triple Crown. He was the only colt to contest all three legs, winning the Preakness while finishing second to Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.

Heavily favored at 2-5 odds, Journalism broke poorly under jockey Umberto Rispoli and wound up trailing the early leaders. He kicked into gear rounding the final turn to find Gosger and Goal Oriented locked in a dogfight for the lead. It appeared one of them would be the winner until Journalism roared down the center of the track to win by a half-length.

“You feel like you’re on a diesel,” Rispoli said. “He’s motoring and motoring. You never know when he’s going to take off. To do what he did today again, it’s unbelievable.”

Gosger held on for second, a neck ahead of Goal Oriented.

The Haskell victory was Journalism’s sixth in nine starts for Southern California-based trainer Michael McCarthy, and earned the colt a berth in the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 1.

Journalism paid $2.80, $2.20 and $2.10.

Continue Reading

Sports

Heavy rain helps Elliott to pole for Dover Cup race

Published

on

By

Heavy rain helps Elliott to pole for Dover Cup race

DOVER, Del. — Chase Elliott took advantage of heavy rain at Dover Motor Speedway to earn the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.

Elliott and the rest of the field never got to turn a scheduled practice or qualifying lap on Saturday because of rain that pounded the concrete mile track. Dover is scheduled to hold its first July race since the track’s first one in 1969.

Elliott has two wins and 10 top-five finishes in 14 career races at Dover.

Chase Briscoe starts second, followed by Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and William Byron. Shane van Gisbergen, last week’s winner at Sonoma Raceway, Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch complete the top 10.

Logano is set to become the youngest driver in NASCAR history with 600 career starts.

Logano will be 35 years, 1 month, 26 days old when he hits No. 600 on Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway. He will top seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Richard Petty by six months.

The midseason tournament that pays $1 million to the winner pits Ty Dillon vs. John Hunter Nemechek and Reddick vs. Gibbs in the head-to-head challenge at Dover.

The winners face off next week at Indianapolis. Reddick is the betting favorite to win it all, according to Sportsbook.

All four drivers are winless this season.

Continue Reading

Sports

Hamlin on 23XI trial: ‘All will be exposed’

Published

on

By

Hamlin on 23XI trial: 'All will be exposed'

DOVER, Del. — NASCAR race team owner Denny Hamlin remained undeterred in the wake of another setback in court, vowing “all will be exposed” in the scheduled December trial as part of 23XI Racing’s federal antitrust suit against the auto racing series.

A federal judge on Thursday rejected a request from 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to continue racing with charters while they battle NASCAR in court, meaning their six cars will race as open entries this weekend at Dover, next week at Indianapolis and perhaps longer than that in a move the teams say would put them at risk of going out of business.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell denied the teams’ bid for a temporary restraining order, saying they will make races over the next couple of weeks and they won’t lose their drivers or sponsors before his decision on a preliminary injunction.

Bell left open the possibility of reconsidering his decision if things change over the next two weeks.

After this weekend, the cars affected may need to qualify on speed if 41 entries are listed – a possibility now that starting spots have opened.

The case has a Dec. 1 trial date, but the two teams are fighting to be recognized as chartered for the current season, which has 16 races left. A charter guarantees one of the 40 spots in the field each week, but also a base amount of money paid out each week.

“If you want answers, you want to understand why all this is happening, come Dec. 1, you’ll get the answers that you’re looking for,” Hamlin said Saturday at Dover Motor Speedway. “All will be exposed.”

23XI, which is co-owned by retired NBA great Michael Jordan, and FRM filed their federal suit against NASCAR last year after they were the only two organizations out of 15 to reject NASCAR’s extension offer on charters.

Jordan and FRM owner Bob Jenkins won an injunction to recognize 23XI and FRM as chartered for the season, but the ruling was overturned on appeal earlier this month, sending the case back to Bell.

Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, co-owns 23XI with Jordan and said they were prepared to send Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Riley Herbst to the track each week as open teams. They sought the restraining order Monday, claiming that through discovery they learned NASCAR planned to immediately begin the process of selling the six charters which would put “plaintiffs in irreparable jeopardy of never getting their charters back and going out of business.”

Hamlin said none of the setbacks have made him second-guess the decision to file the lawsuit.

“Dec. 1 is all that matters. Mark your calendar,” Hamlin said. “I’d love to be doing other things. I’ve got a lot going on. When I get in the car (today), nothing else is going to matter other than that. I always give my team 100%. I always prepare whether I have side jobs, side hustles, more kids, that all matters, but I always give my team all the time that they need to make sure that when I step in, I’m 100% committed.”

Reddick, who has a clause that allows him to become a free agent if the team loses its charter, declined comment Saturday on all questions connected to his future and the lawsuit. Hamlin also declined to comment on Reddick’s future with 23XI Racing.

Reddick, one of four drivers left in NASCAR’s $1 million In-season Challenge, was last year’s regular-season champion and raced for the Cup Series championship in the season finale. But none of the six drivers affected by the court ruling are locked into this year’s playoffs.

Making the field won’t be an issue this weekend at Dover as fewer than the maximum 40 cars are entered. But should 41 cars show up anywhere this season, someone slow will be sent home and that means lost revenue and a lost chance to win points in the standings.

“Nothing changes from my end, obviously, and nothing changes from inside the shop,” Front Row Motorsports driver Zane Smith said. “There’s not typically even enough cars to worry about transferring in.”

Smith, 24th in the standings and someone who would likely need a win to qualify for NASCAR’s playoffs, said he stood behind Jenkins in his acrimonious legal fight that has loomed over the stock car series for months.

“I leave all that up to them,” Smith said, “but my job is to go get the 38 the best finish I can.”

Continue Reading

Trending