Sports
In Japan, Ohtani’s ‘Perfect Person’ Image Could Take A Hit With Firing Of Interpreter Over Gambling
SEOUL, South Korea — Shohei Ohtani is known in Japan as “kanpeki no hito” (the flawless person) due to his impeccable manners and behaviour.
That image may have suffered when the Dodgers sacked his close buddy and interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, on Wednesday over charges that he gambled illegally and misappropriated Ohtani’s money to pay off debt.
The law company representing Ohtani described it as a “massive theft” in a statement.
In Japan, Ohtani’s ‘Perfect Person’ Image Could Take A Hit With Firing Of Interpreter Over Gambling
The Seoul Series, the first MLB game in South Korea, was intended to showcase Ohtani to a receptive Asian baseball audience. The games between San Diego and Los Angeles were scheduled before he agreed to a $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers in December. The stars appeared to be aligned for MLB, and plans for a similar series in Tokyo next year are already being discussed.
A bomb threat. Wednesday briefly cast a pall over the series. Before the first game, police were notified of a bomb at the stadium, but no explosives were found. He was supposedly targeted.
Then came another Ohtani shocker.
“I was shocked when I read it,” said Jorge Kuri, a die-hard Dodgers fan from Tijuana, Mexico, who manages a clothing company there.
Kuri, dressed in a blue Dodgers sweatshirt and cap, told reporters at the Gocheok Sky Dome that he was attempting to sort through the available information. He explained that he had recently returned from a vacation in Japan, “where he is king.”
“I don’t know what the end is going to be with this because I think it’s just the tip of the iceberg,” he said. Right now, he’s the image of Major League Baseball.”
Mizuhara, 39, was fired from the team following stories in the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an unlicensed bookmaker. He was in the dugout and with the squad throughout Wednesday’s game. The unexpected news broke Wednesday evening in the United States while most fans in Asia were sleeping.
In Japan, Ohtani’s ‘Perfect Person’ Image Could Take A Hit With Firing Of Interpreter Over Gambling
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Mizuhara met with the organization on Wednesday but declined to explain. He replied he needed to find out where Mizuhara was and that a different interpreter would be utilized.
“I can’t comment on that meeting,” Roberts said, adding, “Shohei’s ready. I know he is preparing.”
Ohtani did not practice on the field before Thursday’s game. During his absence, his face flashed on a video screen advertising a range of Japanese cosmetics.
He appeared unfazed hours later in his first at-bat, hitting a single to right field. In two more at-bats, he launched towering rockets to right field that fell just shy of a home run.
Mizuhara is expected to face an investigation by US authorities and MLB, and the entire situation is a startling turn for the man who has been inseparable from Ohtani since the two-way sensation arrived in the United States in 2017. He told ESPN last week that Ohtani was unaware of his illicit wagers on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL, and college football.
Mizuhara claimed Ohtani was an innocent victim of his close friend’s gambling addiction.
According to Lee Seung-yun, a marketing professor at Konkuk University in Seoul, the charges against Ohtani will have little impact on his well-cultivated public image as long as he is not specifically accused of unlawful betting.
“Ohtani’s image is like clean, white porcelain, and that could make a speck look bigger than it is,” he said. “Information spreads at amazing speeds these days, narratives are made before the truth of the facts are figured out, and if Ohtani was seen as a questionable character, the allegations would have really hurt him.”
“But his image is so strong and impeccable, and as long as he wasn’t directly involved, the allegations may just end up a blip,” he said.
In Japan, Ohtani’s ‘Perfect Person’ Image Could Take A Hit With Firing Of Interpreter Over Gambling
According to Lee Jong-Sung, a sports culture researcher at Seoul’s Hanyang University, Ohtani’s image among global fans, especially South Koreans, was of a secretive monk who “fully devoted himself into a religion called baseball.”
The claims against Mizuhara may reinforce Ohtani’s image as a perfectionist in baseball but a naive and simple-hearted individual in other areas.
“It’s a problem you often see with athletes — putting too much trust and depending excessively on the people they have known for long and are comfortable with and not knowing when they are taken advantage of,” Lee Jong-Sung, a Korean athlete, said.
“It isn’t all about being perfect. Ohtani and the Dodgers should use better judgment when selecting his teammates,” he continued.
SOURCE – (AP)
OAKLAND, California – The Texas Rangers acquired switch-hitting outfielder Robbie Grossman from the Chicago White Sox in a deal on Wednesday.
Texas sent minor league right-hander Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa to Chicago. Grossman hit 238 with 10 home runs and 49 RBIs in 115 games for the Rangers last season, helping them win their first World Series title.
AP – VOR News Image
Rangers Reacquire Switch-Hitting OF Robbie Grossman In A Trade With The White Sox
Grossman signed a minor league contract with the White Sox in free agency and was promoted a week into the season after outfielder and designated hitter Eloy Jiménez was placed on the 10-day injured list. Grossman hit. 211 with no homers and four RBIs in 19 games, although he batted. 375 (6 for 16) with two doubles and four walks against left-handed pitchers, compared to. 309 with five homers for Texas the previous season.
Rangers rookie outfielder Wyatt Langford, a right-handed hitter, could miss a month after being placed on the injured list this week with a strained right hamstring.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70261337/usa_today_16797525.0.jpg "Rangers Reacquire Switch-Hitting OF Robbie Grossman In A Trade With The White Sox")
AP – VOR News Image
Rangers Reacquire Switch-Hitting OF Robbie Grossman In A Trade With The White Sox
The Rangers designated left-handed pitcher Kolton Ingram for assignment on the 40-man roster.
The Rangers confirmed the deal ahead of a doubleheader in Oakland on Wednesday. When Grossman returns to the club, they must make another transaction to bring him to the active roster.
Grossman, an MLB veteran of 12 years, has a career.243 batting average, 90 home runs, and 419 RBI in 1,151 games for Houston (2013-15), Minnesota (2016-18), Oakland (2019-20), Detroit (2021-22), Texas, and the White Sox.
MLB – VOR News Image
Rangers Reacquire Switch-Hitting OF Robbie Grossman In A Trade With The White Sox
In his 10 relief appearances at Double-A Frisco this season, Hoopii-Tuionetoa went 1-0 with a save and allowed only one unearned run in 12 1/3 innings. On April 24, the team acquired Ingram from the New York Mets through a waiver claim and assigned him to Triple-A Round Rock.
SOURCE – (AP)
Sports
Knicks Set For Second Round Against The Pacers, An Old-School Playoff Rival Who Play A New-Age Game
NEW YORK — When the New York Knicks would make their annual playoff run, they would nearly invariably run into the Indiana Pacers.
With the clubs preparing to resume their playoff rivalry in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday, it’s easy to recall those bruising battles from the 1990s. While the matchup is traditional, Jalen Brunson and the Knicks expect a modern opponent.
Tyrese Haliburton leads the NBA’s highest-scoring offense, with Indiana putting numbers on the scoreboard that made previous Knicks-Pacers games appear to be from another sport if not a different century.
AP News – VOR News Image
Knicks Set For Second Round Against The Pacers, An Old-School Playoff Rival Who Play A New-Age Game
“I guess whenever you have the original teams from back then, there’s always going to be some type of history,” Brunson said. “But you have two good teams that play, I don’t want to say differently, but they play their brand of basketball. So there’s going to be a battle of who will go out there, who wants it more, and who will try to get it.
Brunson led the No. 2-seeded Knicks past Philadelphia in the first round, advancing the team to the East semifinals in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1992-2000.
He scored 40 or more points in three consecutive playoff games, becoming only the eighth player in NBA history to do it. The league’s fourth-highest scorer in the regular season leads all players in the postseason with 35.5 points per game.
Indiana’s impressive numbers come as a group. The Pacers topped the league with 123.3 points per game, the sixth highest in league history, and were also first in field goal percentage and assists. They scored 140 points eleven times, an NBA record.
The sixth-seeded Pacers have not slowed down much in the playoffs. They averaged 113 when defeating No. 3 Milwaukee and scored at least 120 in all four victories over the six-game series.
The Knicks and Pacers played three times in a row from 1993 to 1995, swapping Game 7 triumphs in the latter two. They then played again from 1998 to 2000, the last two in the Eastern Conference finals. Indiana won their most recent meeting, defeating the No. 2-seeded Knicks in the 2013 East semifinals.
Neither club scored 120 points in any of the 41 games.
“It’s just a very intense matchup,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle stated. “There has been a lot of stuff with Reggie Miller over the last five or six years, and I know there was another clash in 2013. We’re going to need to be very robust and very united.”
AP News – VOR News Image
Knicks Set For Second Round Against The Pacers, An Old-School Playoff Rival Who Play A New-Age Game
This season, Indiana was 2-1 versus New York, averaging 123.3 points per game, including 140 in a Dec. 30 win when the Knicks were short-handed due to a trade. Brunson averaged 35.7 points.
The point guards were teammates for the United States at the Basketball World Cup last summer before going on to enjoy their best NBA seasons. Both were All-Stars, with Haliburton starting for the Eastern Conference in his home arena and leading the league in assists with 10.9 per game.
Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby started the season in Toronto before being moved to the Knicks in December and Indiana in January. The Knicks are 24-5 with Anunoby in the lineup, and he may be needed now to guard his old teammate, who began the playoffs with consecutive games of at least 35 points and 10 rebounds.
Brunson began his career in Dallas, playing under Carlisle, who lauded his former player’s character and said they had a terrific three years together. Brunson was asked whether he had any added motivation when an ESPN podcast mentioned his disappointment about seeing only 10 minutes of playing time in a Game 7 defeat to the Clippers in 2021.
“In all honesty, I said this last time, you’re in the playoffs now, there is no extra motivation,” Brunson said. “It is what it is, and the past is the past.” Rick welcomed me into this league, helped me become a player, and helped me improve from the beginning. So, a coach must make decisions that benefit their squad. So whatever occurred happened, and we’ll move on from there.”
AP News – VOR News Image
Knicks Set For Second Round Against The Pacers, An Old-School Playoff Rival Who Play A New-Age Game
Obi Toppin was the Knicks’ first-round choice in 2020 and quickly became a fan favorite despite rarely seeing lengthy playing time behind All-Star Julius Randle. He scored a career playoff-high 21 points off the bench in the final victory over Milwaukee and will return to his first NBA home.
“They’re one of the most physical teams in the league,” Toppin added. “They’ve had that identity for many years and we’ve got to come in there and match that physicality and play our style of basketball, and I think we’ll be good at that.”
SOURCE – (AP)
Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 301 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $280,000. The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.
UFC 301 took place at Rio Arena. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
UFC 301: AI Generated Image
The full UFC 301 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
Alexandre Pantoja: $42,000
def. Steve Erceg: $32,000
Jose Aldo: $21,000
def. Jonathan Martinez: $11,000
Anthony Smith: $21,000
def. Vitor Petrino: $4,500
Michel Pereira: $11,000
def. Ihor Potieria: $6,000
Caio Borralho: $6,000
def. Paul Craig: $16,000
Joanderson Brito: $6,000
def. Jack Shore: $6,000
Iasmin Lucindo: $4,500
def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz: $16,000
Myktybek Orolbai: $4,000
def. Elves Brener: $4,500
Drakkar Klose: $11,000
def. Joaquim Silva: $11,000
Mauricio Ruffy: $4,000
def. Jamie Mullarkey: $11,000
Dione Barbosa: $4,000
def. Ernesta Kareckaite: $4,000
Ismael Bonfim: $4,000
def. Vinc Pichel: $11,000
Alessandro Costa: $4,500
def. Kevin Borjas: $4,000
Under the UFC 301 Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2011 and later).
UFC 301 Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.
In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.
Full 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
- “UFC 301: Pantoja vs. Erceg” – $280,000
- “UFC on ESPN 55: Nicolau vs. Perez” – $175,000
- “UFC 300: Pereira vs. Hill” – $460,000
- “UFC Fight Night 240: Allen vs. Curtis 2” – $162,500
- “UFC on ESPN 54: Blanchfield vs. Fiorot” – $173,000
- “UFC 301 on ESPN 53: Ribas vs. Namajunas” – $148,000
- “UFC Fight Night 239: Tuivasa vs. Tybura” – $189,500
- “UFC 299: O’Malley vs. Vera 2” – $359,000
- “UFC 301 Fight Night 238: Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev” – $133,500
- “UFC Fight Night 237: Moreno vs. Royval 2” – $135,500
- “UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria” – $243,000
- “UFC Fight Night 236: Hermansson vs. Pyfer” – $236,500
- “UFC Fight Night 235: Dolidze vs. Imavov” – $170,500
- “UFC 297: Strickland vs. Du Plessis” – $285,500
- “UFC Fight Night 234: Ankalaev vs. Walker 2” – $159,500
Year-to-date total: $2,920,000
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $25,657,000
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 301.
Source: Yahoo News
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