FRED LIEF
FILE - In this June 17, 2017, file photo, former Cincinnati Reds player Pete Rose speaks during his statue dedication ceremonies before a baseball game between the Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
2020 sports quiz: Brady to Bundesliga, Big Ten to Brooklyn

By Fred Lief Dec. 30, 2020 11:04 AM EST
You’ve had time to shelter at home and bone up. Your 2020 year-end sports quiz

FILE - This is a 1970 file photo showing Chicago Bears football player Gale Sayers. Sports in 2020 was an unending state of mourning. Football lost a big piece of its heart: Don Shula, Gale Sayers, Paul Hornung, Bobby Mitchell.(AP Photo/File)
From Kobe to Maradona, a year of staggering losses in sports

By Fred Lief Dec. 29, 2020 12:54 PM EST
There were so many this year. Sports in 2020 was an

FILE - Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Blake Snell celebrates the end of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 6 of the baseball World Series in Arlington, Texas, in this Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020, file photo. With baseball trying to negotiate a comeback and unemployment battering the country, star Tampa Bay pitcher Blake Snell took a less than diplomatic approach: “I’m not splitting no revenue,” he said. “I want all mine.” (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
Odd became normal: sports’ masked road trip to the unknown

Fred Lief Dec. 28, 2020 01:22 PM EST
Take your pick. Maybe it was a Big East Tournament

FILE - In this March 12, 2020, file photo, fans sit in a mostly empty Greensboro Coliseum after the NCAA college basketball games were cancelled at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C. Scrubbing last year's March Madness due to coronavirus concerns cost the NCAA some $375 million, and another loss like that would have ripple effects throughout college sports. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File)
Lamentation for sports in 2020: A year of living virally

By Fred Lief Dec. 24, 2020 11:03 AM EST
Well, had enough yet? Don’t look at the score.

FILE - In this Oct. 30, 2019, file photo, Houston Astros' Carlos Correa reacts to his RBI-single during the fifth inning of Game 7 of the baseball World Series against the Washington Nationals in Houston. In May, Correa fractured a rib while he was having a massage in his home. At the time, the injury was expected to sideline him from four to six weeks. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
Sports quirks in 2019: Golf balls, oddballs, watches, pants

By Fred Lief Dec. 30, 2019 12:17 PM EST
Sometimes the general managers and player personnel directors on Mount Olympus

FILE - In this Nov. 9, 2005, file photo, President Bush awards baseball legend Frank Robinson the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, the first black manager in Major League Baseball and the only player to win the MVP award in both leagues, died Feb. 7, 2019. He was 83. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson, File)
Sports losses in 2019: Newcombe, Robinson, Starr, Havlicek

By Fred Lief Dec. 29, 2019 12:01 PM EST
They ran the next legs, taking the baton from Jackie Robinson as black players

FILE - This March 31, 1963, file photo showing Boston Celtics' John Havlicek going to the basket against Cincinnati Royals Bob Booser (13) and Hub Reed in the fourth period of a semifinal playoff at Boston Garden in Boston. Havlicek, whose steal of Hal Green's inbounds pass in the final seconds of the 1965 Eastern Conference finals against the Philadelphia 76ers remains one of the most famous plays in NBA history, died April 25, 2019. He was 79. (AP Photo/Frank C. Curtin, File)
Sports losses in 2019: Newcombe, Robinson, Starr, Havlicek

By Fred Lief Dec. 29, 2019 11:26 AM EST
They ran the next legs, taking the baton from Jackie Robinson as black players