January 12, 2021 • No Comments • Sports News

Joe Faraoni / ESPN ImagesBy DEENA ZARU, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Bill Belichick, the head coach of the New England Patriots, said on Monday that he is declining to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump, citing last Wednesday’s siege of the U.S. Capitol, which was partly incited by Trump.

“Recently, I was offered the opportunity to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which I was flattered by out of respect for what the honor represents and admiration for prior recipients. Subsequently, the tragic events of last week occurred and the decision has been made not to move forward with the award,” Belichick said in a statement obtained by ESPN.

“Above all, I am an American citizen with great reverence for our nation’s values, freedom and democracy. I know I also represent my family and the New England Patriots team,” he continued. “One of the most rewarding things in my professional career took place in 2020 when, through the great leadership within our team, conversations about social justice, equality and human rights moved to the forefront and became actions. Continuing those efforts while remaining true to the people, team and county I love outweigh the benefits of any individual award.”

ABC News reached out to the White House for comment.

Trump had planned to present Belichick with the Medal of Freedom in a ceremony at the White House on Thursday, a White House official confirmed to ABC News earlier on Monday.

Belichick had been facing public pressure from the sports world and politicians to decline the honor as the outgoing president faces a political firestorm after he helped incite a mob of supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol over false claims the 2020 election was stolen from him.

When the White House announced that Trump planned to honor Belichick, the Patriots again found themselves in the hot seat over the team’s ties with Trump.

Trump has repeatedly hailed the Patriots as “winners,” touted his friendly relationships with Belichick as well as former Patriots quarterback and star Tom Brady and team owner Robert Kraft. He has golfed with Brady and Belichick, dined with Kraft at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida and has even suggested as a candidate and president-elect in 2016 that they supported his presidency.

House Democrats filed an article of impeachment against Trump for “incitement of insurrection” on Monday after the violent riot of Trump supporters on Capitol Hill left five people dead.

The riot came after Trump and his most ardent supporters spent weeks after the 2020 election making false claims of election fraud, urging his supporters to have a “strong” response and stated that the protests will be “wild.” Hours before the Capitol siege, the president addressed the group of supporters at a rally on the day that the Senate was set to certify the Electoral College victory of President-elect Joe Biden and encouraged them to head to the Capitol to protest the results.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 12, 2021 • No Comments • Sports News

iStockBy ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Milwaukee 121, Orlando 99
Charlotte 109, New York 88
Washington 128, Phoenix 107
Memphis 101, Cleveland 91
Atlanta 112, Philadelphia 94
Portland 112, Toronto 111
Sacramento 127, Indiana 122
New Orleans at Dallas (Postponed)

TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UConn 60, DePaul 53

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 11, 2021 • No Comments • Sports News

Nic Antaya/Getty ImagesBy ABC News

(NEW YORK) — It was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ first playoff appearance since 2007, and Tom Brady led the Bucs to the team’s first playoff win since 2002. The Bucs beat Washington 31-23 in their NFC wildcard game Saturday.

The 43-year-old quarterback also broke the record for the oldest player to throw a touchdown in the NFL postseason.

Now Brady will face Drew Brees, who turns 42 on Friday, and the New Orleans Saints Sunday for the NFL’s oldest QB matchup ever.

Watch the report from ABC’s Good Morning America:

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January 11, 2021 • No Comments • Sports News

michaelmjc/iStockBy JOHN SANTUCCI, MATTHEW MOSK and PETE MADDEN, ABC News

(WASHINGTON) — As he faces a lonely end to his presidency, Donald Trump learned Sunday evening that, in the wake of last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol, he has lost one of the relationships he values most: his partnership with the Professional Golfers’ Association.

While the embattled president has been hunkered down to try and preserve his political career, the PGA of America, the proprietors of one of golf’s four major championship tournaments, announced that it plans to move its 2022 PGA Championship away from Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

“The PGA of America Board of Directors voted tonight to exercise the right to terminate the agreement to play the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster,” said Jim Richerson, PGA of America president, in a statement.

Holding the tournament at Trump Bedminster, Richerson said, would be “detrimental” to the PGA of America’s brand and put the organization’s ability to function “at risk.”

Shortly after the announcement, the Trump Organization expressed disappointment with the move in a statement of their own.

“We have had a beautiful partnership with the PGA of America and are incredibly disappointed with their decision,” said a spokesperson for The Trump Organization. “This is a breach of a binding contract and they have no right to terminate the agreement. As an organization we have invested many, many millions of dollars in the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster. We will continue to promote the game of golf on every level and remain focused on operating the finest golf courses anywhere in the world.”

It was not immediately clear whether the PGA of America has found a replacement venue.

Trump is an avid golfer, and the Trump Organization owns or operates 17 golf courses around the world, with three more expected to open in Dubai and Indonesia. Before he took office, Trump told his supporters that he was “going to be working for you,” so he was “not going to have time to play golf” — but he has mixed politics with golf throughout his tenure in the White House.

According to Trump Golf Count, a website that tracks President Trump’s golf outings, Trump has made about 300 daytime visits to golf clubs during his presidency, teeing it up with world leaders, political allies, business executives, conservative media personalities and professional athletes.

Trump has awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to a quartet of decorated golfers: Tiger Woods, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Gary Player and Annika Sorenstam.

And, at times, Trump has appeared to use the power of his office to benefit his global golf business, most notably when Trump reportedly directed the American ambassador to Britain, Woody Johnson, to ask the British government to help secure a future British Open for the Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland. Trump denied the report the next day, saying, “No, I never spoke to Woody Johnson about Turnberry.”

As of Sunday, the 2022 PGA Championship was the only upcoming tournament listed on the Trump Organization’s website, so the PGA of America’s decision appears to sever his last remaining ties to the golfing establishment, effectively exiling him and his courses from the prestigious and lucrative world of professional golf.

The United States Golf Association, which conducts the U.S. Open, and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, which conducts the British Open, have not announced any plans to host future events at Trump-owned courses.

In 2016, the PGA Tour, golf’s professional circuit, prematurely ended an agreement to stage a World Golf Championship event at Trump National Doral resort in Miami, Florida, after then-candidate Trump made disparaging remarks about Mexican immigrants on the campaign trail, and moved the event to Mexico City.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 11, 2021 • No Comments • Sports News

Metropolitan Nashville Police DepartmentBy JON HAWORTH, ABC News

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — The Tennessee Titans honored the six first responders responsible for safely evacuating residents in downtown Nashville, Tennessee prior to the Christmas Day bombing.

Officers Brenna Hosey, Tyler Luellen, Michael Sipos, Amanda Topping, James Wells and Sergeant Timothy Miller were in attendance at Sunday’s NFL playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens and plunged the Titans Sword of Honor to mark the countdown to kickoff and were recognized as the game’s honorary 12th Titans, according to the Tennessee Titans.

“While we can never thank these officers enough for their heroic acts, it is an absolute privilege to have the opportunity to honor them at the game on Sunday,” said Titans president and CEO Burke Nihill. “We are grateful for their service to our community and appreciate that we’ll have them on site to support the team.”

Nashville police officers were called to downtown Nashville early on Christmas morning when they discovered an RV playing a recording saying a potential bomb would detonate within 15 minutes.

The officers immediately began working to evacuate nearby buildings when the RV exploded at approximately 6:30 a.m, blowing out windows of nearby buildings and causing extensive and structural damage to dozens of buildings in the surrounding area.

Authorities found human remains among the debris of the explosion and investigators eventually determined that they belonged to the RV owner who was later identified as 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner of Antioch, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville.

Eight people were injured in the blast. Warner was the only person to die in the blast.

The Nashville police officers were hailed as heroes at a press conference a couple of days later.

“Immediately, they didn’t think about their own lives. They didn’t think about themselves. They thought about the citizens of Nashville and protecting them, and they went about knocking on doors,” Chief John Drake said, as he introduced five of the six officers. “Had they not made those efforts, we’d be talking about the tragedy of people and lives lost.”

On Sunday, however, the officers were lauded on the national stage.

“To be able to stand at the stadium with [my fellow officers] and receive this honor together is amazing,” said Officer Wells. “[Our response on Christmas Day] was a total team effort. It was not what one individual did or said, it was about all of us coming together to protect our community, and keep our community safe and keep each other safe.”

The Titans, the fourth seed in the AFC, went on to lose Sunday’s game to the fifth seeded Ravens, 20-13. Baltimore now advances to the divisional round of the 2021 NFL playoffs.

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