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EVERETT, Wash. — As they conduct
bombing and surveillance missions
around the globe, today’s U.S. military pi-
lots rely on aerial refueling aircraft built as
early as 1957, when the Soviet Union dom-
inated American security fears, the aver-
age home cost $12,000 and “I Love Lucy”
was debuting new episodes.
The cost of keeping those aging jets in
the air has grown sharply while the mili-
tary awaits a next-generation refueling
plane whose rollout has been repeatedly
delayed by design and production issues.
The Air Force’s two-decade effort to
field a 21st century tanker, one of several
premier air systems whose development
has been beset with problems, is emble-
matic of the challenges Pentagon leaders
face in seeking to maintain the U.S. mili-
tary’s shrinking edge over its chief com-
petitor, China.
Despite a decade of effort, development of the KC-46 tanker, seen below in 2019, has stumbled, prompting a leading generalto describe the replacement for the 1950s-era KC-135 as a “lemon.”
ALEXI MYRICK/U.S. Air Force
Lemons and ratholes Despite outpacing rivals’ spending for decades, US military struggling to maintain edge
BY MISSY RYAN
The Washington Post
SEE LEMONS ON PAGE 4
“We are sort of a victim ofour own success.”
Ryan Haas
Brookings Institute
Volume 79 Edition 248 ©SS 2021 CONTINGENCY EDITION FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 2021 Free to Deployed Areas
stripes.com
MILITARY
Russia concernslead EURCOM toraise threat levelPage 3
VIRUS OUTBREAK
Job cuts continueeven as businessesbegin to reopenPage 9
FACES
‘Knives Out’sequels willair on NetflixPage 13
Despite early upsets, Final Four a high-seeded affair ›› NCAA tourney, Page 24
CAMP KINSER, Okinawa —The buzz
among Malik Pugh’s fellow Marines finally
caught the attention of his platoon com-
mander in the 3rd Marine Logistics Group
during a routine inspection back in August.
Warrant Officer Joseph Kimmel said he
harbored some trepidation about then-
Lance Cpl. Pugh’s living quarters after
hearing whispers about what he would find
there.
“When I make it to his room, all I see is
tech and electronics everywhere,” Kim-
mel said in a March 18 email to Stars and
Stripes.
Kimmel found an array of electronics,
computer monitors, whirring servers, ne-
on lights, 3D printers and a work bench full
of gadgets and tools, including a partially
built humanoid robot.
The Marine Corps also took notice of
Pugh, who was recently promoted merito-
riously to corporal.
Pugh sees numerous opportunities
where his expertise can benefit the Marine
Corps, from 3D-printed covers to protect
gear from the elements to custom tools and
even reconnaissance drones to assist
SEE SKILLS ON PAGE 6
Tech-savvy Marineexcited to use skillsto modernize Corps
BY MATTHEW M. BURKE
Stars and Stripes
MATTHEW M. BURKE/Stars and Stripes
Marine Cpl. Malik Pugh shows off a pair ofgoggles that allow him to see from theperspective of of a homemade drone atCamp Kinser, Okinawa, on Feb. 22.
PAGE 2 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Friday, April 2, 2021
BUSINESS/WEATHER
A batch of Johnson & Johnson’s
COVID-19 vaccine failed quality
standards and can’t be used, the
drug giant said Wednesday.
The drugmaker didn’t say how
many doses were lost, and it
wasn’t clear how the problem
would impact future deliveries.
A vaccine ingredient made by
Emergent BioSolutions — one of
about 10 companies that Johnson
& Johnson is using to speed up
manufacturing of its recently ap-
proved vaccine — did not meet
quality standards, J&J said.
J&J said the Emergent BioSolu-
tions factory involved had not yet
been approved by the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration to make
part of the vaccine. Emergent de-
clined to comment.
J&J had pledged to provide 20
million doses of its vaccine to the
U.S. government by the end of
March, and 80 million more doses
by the end of May. Its statement on
the manufacturing problem said it
was still planning to deliver 100
million doses by the end of June
and was “aiming to deliver those
doses by the end of May.”
President Joe Biden has
pledged to have enough vaccines
for all U.S. adults by the end of
May. The U.S. government has or-
dered enough two-dose shots from
Pfizer and Moderna to vaccinate
200 million people to be delivered
by late May, plus the 100 million
shots from J&J.
A federal official said Wednes-
day evening the administration’s
goal can be met without additional
J&J doses.
J&J vaccine batch fails quality checkAssociated Press
Bahrain80/73
Baghdad82/58
Doha98/69
Kuwait City85/68
Riyadh99/67
Kandahar79/50
Kabul63/37
Djibouti89/69
FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Mildenhall/Lakenheath
48/39
Ramstein59/35
Stuttgart53/44
Lajes,Azores60/57
Rota62/57
Morón69/53 Sigonella
70/46
Naples61/52
Aviano/Vicenza65/46
Pápa48/41
Souda Bay61/50
Brussels49/38
Zagan48/38
DrawskoPomorskie
46/34
FRIDAY IN EUROPE
Misawa55/40
Guam82/79
Tokyo60/48
Okinawa72/69
Sasebo65/61
Iwakuni58/54
Seoul61/54
Osan62/53
Busan62/56
The weather is provided by the American Forces Network Weather Center,
2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.
SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC
WEATHER OUTLOOK
TODAYIN STRIPES
Comics .........................14Crossword ................... 14Faces .......................... 13Opinion ........................ 16Sports .................... 18-24
Military rates
Euro costs (April 2) $1.15Dollar buys (April 2) 0.8292British pound (April 2) $1.34Japanese yen (April 2) 108.00South Korean won (April 2) 1100.00
Commercial rates
Bahrain(Dinar) .3770Britain (Pound) 1.3816Canada (Dollar) 1.2573China(Yuan) 6.5689Denmark (Krone) 6.3290Egypt (Pound) 15.7109Euro .8508Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7770Hungary (Forint) 307.74Israel (Shekel) 3.3318Japan (Yen) 110.72Kuwait(Dinar) .3022
Norway (Krone) 8.5325
Philippines (Peso) 48.61Poland (Zloty) 3.92Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7506Singapore (Dollar) 1.3449
South Korea (Won) 1129.94Switzerland (Franc) .9446Thailand (Baht) 31.25Turkey (NewLira) �8.1462
(Military exchange rates are those availableto customers at military banking facilities in thecountry of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., purchasing British pounds in Germany), check withyour local military banking facility. Commercialrates are interbank rates provided for referencewhen buying currency. All figures are foreigncurrencies to one dollar, except for the Britishpound, which is represented in dollarstopound, and the euro, which is dollarstoeuro.)
INTEREST RATES
Prime rate 3.25Interest Rates Discount �rate 0.75Federal funds market rate �0.073month bill 0.0330year bond 2.42
EXCHANGE RATES
Friday, April 2, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3
STUTTGART, Germany — U.S.
European Command has raised its
threat level over worries that Rus-
sia is massing forces around east-
ern Ukraine, where the Pentagon
says tensions have escalated in re-
cent weeks.
“We’re discussing our concerns
about this increase in tensions and
cease-fire violations and regional
tensions with NATO allies,” Pen-
tagon spokesman John Kirby told
reporters Wednesday.
The situation in Ukraine
prompted Joint Chiefs of Staff
Chairman Gen. Mark Milley on
the same day to connect with his
counterparts in both Russia and
Ukraine, in an attempt to de-esca-
late a situation that has prompted
fears within Ukraine of a looming
Russian offensive.
Gen. Tod Wolters in the past
week raised EUCOM’s watch lev-
el for Ukraine from possible crisis
to potential imminent crisis — the
highest level, The New York
Times reported Wednesday. EU-
COM declined to comment on the
threat level change, but said it is
monitoring events in Ukraine
carefully.
Kirby said changes in so-called
“WATCHCON” levels express a
“combatant commander’s con-
cern about a potential threat and
the ability to provide future warn-
ings.”
“So by setting a WATCHCON,
basically the commander is better
able to identify and track the
threat and alert decision makers
to emerging concerns,” Kirby
said, without discussing EU-
COM’s current level.
Since Moscow’s 2014 military
intervention in Ukraine, there
have been steady clashes between
Russian-backed separatists in the
country’s east and government
forces. On social media in recent
weeks, scores of videos have
shown Russian convoys of tanks
and other combat vehicles appar-
ently heading toward Ukraine.
Michael Kofman, a security
analyst with expertise on Russia,
said it isn’t clear what Moscow has
planned.
“Regarding force movements
around Ukraine. No strong evi-
dence that an attack is imminent,
but force movements are indica-
tive that something is up outside of
regular exercises, or normal troop
rotation,” Kofman said in a Twit-
ter post. “Russian intentions (are)
unclear.”
Kirby did not offer an assess-
ment on the apparent military
buildup, but blamed Moscow for
recent violations of a July 2020
cease-fire deal in Ukraine that re-
sulted in the deaths of four Ukrai-
nian soldiers last week.
Russia also has stepped up ma-
neuvers beyond Ukraine in recent
days.
On Monday, NATO fighter jets
conducted 10 intercepts of Rus-
sian warplanes, stretching from
the Arctic to southern Europe as
the alliance countered what it
called “an unusual peak” of
flights. Allied aircraft shadowed
Russian bombers and fighters
over the North Atlantic, North Sea,
Black Sea and Baltic Sea, NATO
said.
EUCOM raises threat level for UkraineBY JOHN VANDIVER
Stars and Stripes
GREGORY GLOSSER/U.S. Army
Ukrainian troops prepare to conduct companylevel battle drills at Combat Training CenterYavoriv,Ukraine, in November.
[email protected]: @john_vandiver
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — An Okina-
wa-based Marine who rescued a local wom-
an from a dark, busy roadway earlier this
year has received a medal for his actions.
Marine Sgt. Jovany Gutierrez, 27, a mil-
itary police officer and the driver for III
Marine Expeditionary Force commander
Lt. Gen. H. Stacy Clardy, was awarded the
Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Med-
al during a ceremony at Camp Courtney on
March 12, according to a Marine statement
shortly after the ceremony. Clardy present-
ed the award.
Gutierrez, of Albuquerque, N.M., was on
his way to work around 5 a.m. Jan. 6 when
he spotted a young Japanese woman in his
headlights, he recalled during an interview
March 24 at Camp Courtney.
The woman stumbled along the sidewalk,
dangerously close to the roadway, on Route
224 near its intersection with Route 8 in
Uruma, Gutierrez said. He drove past care-
fully.
“As I looked in my rearview mirror, I saw
her collapse in the middle of the road be-
hind me,” he said. “In the distance I saw
some vehicles coming up… I knew the dan-
gers that posed to both her and the possible
driver.”
Gutierrez — a dog handler and seven-
year Marine — said he acted fast. He pulled
his car around, placing it between her and
the oncoming traffic on the poorly lit road-
way.
He then tried to flag down the oncoming
vehicles to warn them while at the same
time trying to communicate with the young
woman. She was in and out of consciousness
and did not speak English.
“I asked her and pointed to the sidewalk
to see if I could motivate her to get herself
up and move towards the sidewalk,” he
said. “She wasn’t in a good state. Her legs
were failing her at that moment. She was
out of it, unfortunately.”
Gutierrez picked the woman up and car-
ried her to the sidewalk, he said. She then
went on what he calls “an emotional roller-
coaster,” drifting back and forth between
breathing easy and relaxing to hysterical,
yelling and convulsing.
He waved down another Marine who was
able to help. They placed the woman in the
recovery position and waited for paramed-
ics, who had been called by another driver,
to arrive.
“We were trying to keep her at ease and
tell her, ‘Hey, it’s okay; we’re getting you
help,’” he recalled.
Gutierrez said the paramedics told him
the woman would be fine.
He briefed his command on what had
happened, and they began the paperwork
for the achievement medal without his
knowledge, he said.
“It was pretty heart-warming,” he re-
called.
The Navy and Marine Corps Achieve-
ment Medal is awarded to service members
below the rank of colonel for meritorious
service or achievement in combat or non-
combat. The medal can either be used to
recognize sustained performance or a spe-
cific achievement that does not warrant a
higher award.
Gutierrez is a standout Marine, accord-
ing to III MEF staff secretary Maj. James
Sullivan.
“He regularly demonstrates selflessness
in the workplace, and during his off-duty
time,” Sullivan wrote Thursday in an email
to Stars and Stripes. “He has always gone
above and beyond to assist others in his sec-
tion and around him.”
Gutierrez dedicated his award to all the
Marines on Okinawa performing heroic ac-
tions every day.
“I knew I had to do something,” Gutierrez
said of the rescue. “I’d like to think anyone
would do the same thing. It’s especially our
duty as Marines stationed here on Okina-
wa.”
Marine based on Okinawahonored for rescuing woman
BY MATTHEW M. BURKE
Stars and Stripes
MATTHEW M. BURKE/Stars and Stripes
Marine Sgt. Jovany Gutierrez
[email protected]: @MatthewMBurke1
TOKYO — U.S. military bases in the Far
East reported 18 new coronavirus patients
as of 6 p.m. Thursday, some dating to March
21.
Japan reported another 1,937 people with
COVID-19, according to the World Health
Organization.
The Marine Corps reported three people
on Okinawa tested positive for the coronavi-
rus Wednesday: two at Camp Foster and
one at Camp Hansen, according to a Face-
book post. On Thursday, the Marines re-
ported seven more: four at Foster, and one
each at Camps Hansen, Courtney and Kin-
ser.
South Korea reported 551 new COVID-19
patients Wednesday, according to Korea
Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Of
those, 197 were in Seoul and 125 were in
Gyeonggi province, where Osan Air Base
and Camp Humphreys are located.
U.S. Forces Korea reported eight people
tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving
on the peninsula between March 21 and
Monday, according to a news release.
All eight — seven service members and
one dependent — tested positive on the first
test required before they entered the two-
week mandatory quarantine.
US military: 18cases in Japan,South Korea
BY JOSEPH DITZLER
Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes reporter Yoo Kyong Chang contributed to thisreport. �
MILITARY
PAGE 4 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Friday, April 2, 2021
The United States, once the world’s un-
disputed military superpower, has been
struggling for years to efficiently update its
arsenal and field new technology in cutting-
edge areas such as hypersonics and artifi-
cial intelligence, at a time when some senior
officials warn that China could be within
five years of surpassing the U.S. military.
Experts point to myriad problems with
the U.S. system, including a slow, calcified
budgeting process, unwieldy congressional
requirements and the Pentagon’s inability
to effectively piggyback on private-sector
advances in digital know-how.
“It’s like the Pentagon is finding itself
staring in the rearview mirror in the face of
oncoming traffic,” said Mackenzie Eaglen,
a defense analyst at the American Enter-
prise Institute.
As the Biden administration formulates
its defense priorities, it must confront an in-
creasingly urgent question: How will the
U.S. stay ahead of an authoritarian compet-
itor that is able to marshal industry and es-
pionage to leapfrog decades of military
technology?
Since taking office, leaders in the Biden
administration, like their predecessors un-
der President Donald Trump, have identi-
fied China as the top threat to U.S. security.
They have also voiced concerns about
America’s eroding edge as Beijing show-
cases its exponential growth in satellites,
ballistic missiles, bombers, fighter aircraft,
submarines and naval vessels.
In his inaugural overseas trip, Defense
Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed the impor-
tance of Asian alliances to meet China’s mil-
itary rise.
“Our goal is to make sure we have the ca-
pabilities and the operational plans and
concepts to offer credible deterrence to
China or anybody else who would want to
take on the U.S.,” Austin told reporters trav-
eling with him to Japan and South Korea in
March.
Officials acknowledge the challenges are
formidable. Only in February did the mil-
itary begin using Boeing’s KC-46 tanker,
developed to replace the 1950s-era KC-135,
on a limited basis. After a decade of devel-
opment, and 20 years since the Pentagon
first launched efforts to field a new tanker,
the plane has still not been deemed ready
for combat. A leading general recently de-
scribed it as a “lemon.”
Even more well known is Lockheed Mar-
tin’s F-35, the stealth fighter whose two dec-
ades of development have been plagued by
setbacks and mechanical problems. The
plane, which costs between $77 million and
$100 million apiece, has yet to hit full-rate
production. The chairman of the House
Armed Services Committee called it a
“rathole.”
The military is also racing to keep up with
advances by China and Russia in hyperson-
ic weapons, which travel at five times the
speed of sound or faster. Although Beijing
has already fielded a hypersonic glide vehi-
cle, the DF-17, the U.S. is just scaling up its
research funding and prototyping.
A recent report by a government-backed
commission on AI, which the Pentagon
hopes to use to analyze imagery and data
and, potentially, in combat, cited a dearth of
needed skills among government person-
nel.
It warned that the U.S. has a finite win-
dow to up its game against China, which al-
ready uses AI in a vast domestic surveil-
lance network and has staked out a goal of
AI primacy by 2030.
“The scope for action remains, but Amer-
ica’s room for maneuver is shrinking,” said
the commission, which includes former
Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
The challenges are just as urgent in other
digital areas. The Pentagon may be forced
to abandon a yearslong attempt to create a
$10 billion cloud infrastructure because of
legal challenges, a problem that has
plagued other acquisition efforts. Experts
say officials have underestimated the im-
portance of software and underinvested in
digital security.
■ ■ ■
The U.S. was once capable of quickly
fielding cutting-edge military equipment.
Following World War II, it developed the
formidable B-52 bomber in record speed,
building and improving on 13 versions of
the aircraft in just over a decade.
But the pace of military innovation
slowed in the 1960s with the advent of a cen-
tralized procurement system that priori-
tized performance and predictability over
speed. That didn’t matter much back then,
because the Soviet Union was not moving
fast either, as Bill Greenwalt, who worked
on acquisition reform as a staffer to the late
Sen. John McCain, described in a new re-
search paper.
Today, it typically takes more than a dec-
ade to develop and field new weapons sys-
tems, Greenwalt found, which sometimes
means technology is out of date by the time
it becomes operational.
Part of the problem is a planning and
funding process that typically requires two
years before a new weaponry or technology
program can be included in the budget. This
leads to what insiders call the “Valley of
Death,” the long lag time between when a
company prototypes a new technology and
when the Pentagon fully funds it. That is
particularly hard on smaller companies,
contributing to the dominance of a handful
of large “defense prime” firms.
In addition, navigating the labyrinthine
military procurement system requires spe-
cialized knowledge and resources — which
many smaller firms don’t have.
Will Roper, who sought to accelerate Air
Force innovation as the service’s top acqui-
sition official during the Trump administra-
tion, said that unlike during the Cold War,
the bulk of U.S. research and development
funding now takes place in the private sec-
tor, not in government.
“So by not being able to tap commercial
innovation, the military is losing out on most
of its opportunities,” he said.
In recent years, the military has created a
number of smaller funding initiatives that
aim to sidestep its clunky acquisition sys-
tem and quickly channel government mon-
ey to new technologies.
Another factor slowing down U.S. innova-
tion is the Pentagon’s focus on long-term in-
vestments in a small number of weapons
systems, some of which don’t play out as
planned. China, meanwhile, has tended to
experiment with many versions of similar
technology.
Experts say Congress, while providing
important oversight, has at times hindered
innovation by blocking the Pentagon from
retiring weaponry. In addition, require-
ments designed to reduce waste or acceler-
ate innovation sometimes backfire, as oc-
curred when lawmakers required the Pen-
tagon to simultaneously develop several
variants of the F-35, said J.J. Gertler, a vet-
eran military aviation analyst.
“People say DOD should be run like a
business,” Gertler said. “Well, in business
you fail, you go on. If DOD fails, there are
new laws and procurement rules.”
China’s defense transformation has been
guided by a principle known as “military-
civil fusion,” which aims to allow the state to
seamlessly capitalize on private-sector ad-
vances. Overseen personally by President
Xi Jinping, the strategy can include exploi-
tation of dual-use products or even forced
technology transfers.
Roper said the military, with China’s 1.4-
billion population in mind, should focus on
hardware and other ways to power major
advances in software or AI.
“Scale is going to be against us in almost
every case against China,” he said. “We’re
going to be looking for technologies that are
leaps ahead.”
Some experts caution against overstating
the challenge. Despite Beijing’s economic
heft, the U.S. retains strategic advantages,
including defense alliances and favorable
geography. China borders 14 countries, in-
cluding four nuclear powers.
Although experts disagree on the extent
to which the Chinese state has successfully
commandeered commercial technology,
the situation is far different in the U.S.,
where courts, the media and even corporate
culture sometimes function as a brake on
public-private collaboration.
That was the case in 2017, when Google
pulled out of a Pentagon AI initiative, Pro-
ject Maven, after employees protested the
use of their company algorithms by the mil-
itary.
Even more problematic has been China’s
use of espionage to snap up military innova-
tions that reflect billions of dollars in re-
search funding. Examples of weaponry be-
lieved to have been fueled by U.S. plans in-
clude the Chinese versions of the F-22, F-35
and the C-17 transport plane.
“So long as they continue to do that, the
playing field will always favor the Chinese,”
said a defense official who spoke on the con-
dition of anonymity to speak candidly.
“They’re getting away with as much as they
can, because, frankly, the pushback has
been weak.”
■ ■ ■
Pentagon leaders, stressing the need to
embrace new ways of waging war, have
sought to project confidence in U.S. preem-
inence while also voicing frustration at the
pace of innovation.
When Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, paid a recent visit to an
aircraft production facility in Everett,
Wash., Boeing executives welcomed him
for what they described as a tour of the
KC-46.
“I think of it as an inspection,” the general
quipped in response.
Milley said delays are common when cre-
ating first-of-its-kind technology.
“They’re not going to be coming off the
factory line perfectly in the first run,” he
said. Still, he added: “It puts us behind.”
After the visit, a Boeing spokeswoman,
Jane McCarthy, said in a statement that the
company “stands ready to support the Air
Force as they begin phasing the KC-46 into
operational missions.”
Experts point to bright spots for the mil-
itary, including Special Operations forces’
ability to partner with the private sector via
a separate procurement system, or the rap-
id development of explosive-resistant vehi-
cles to protect troops at the height of the
wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Those conflicts, which have consumed
military attention for two decades — with
little relevance to today’s competition with
China — represent another aspect of the
challenge.
“We’re sort of a victim of our own success
coming out of the unipolar moment, not
feeling particularly stressed or challenged
for a long period of time,” said Ryan Hass, a
former White House official who is now a
China expert at the Brookings Institution.
“For a lot of senior military leaders, feel-
ing that strategic stress from an adversary
that’s a near-peer competitor is not a place
that they have spent a lot of their career,” he
said. “So there probably hasn’t been the
same sense of urgency and alarm.”
Lemons: US looking for ways to stay ahead of rivals in defense capabilities
LAWRENCE SENA/92d Air Refueling Wing
An F35 Lightning II en route to Alaska is refueled by a KC135 Stratotanker in July.
FROM PAGE 1
MILITARY
Friday, April 2, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 5
WASHINGTON — Despite hav-
ing completed three combat tours
in Iraq and Afghanistan, the most
shocking part of retired Col. Mor-
gan Mann’s 30-year Marine Corps
career was the moment it ended —
with a single, unexpected phone
call.
Mann, the former commander
of the 25th Marine Regiment, was
removed from his position Oct. 4,
2017. At the time, the Marine
Corps said only that his removal
was “due to a loss of confidence.”
“I’ve been to combat three
times, including as a rifle compa-
ny commander in a very intense
environment, and this was the
worst thing that ever happened to
me,” Mann said . “There was no
explanation, it was just left out
there: ‘You’re fired. Pack your
stuff today, and you can just go.’”
After more than three years of
fighting the decision, Mann won
his appeal this month. The Board
of Correction of Naval Records,
part of the Department of the Na-
vy, ordered that Mann’s record be
expunged of any wrongdoing.
Though his record is now clean,
Mann is still fighting to clear up
the damage that the public firing
did to his reputation.
“All people have to do is Google
my name,” Mann said. “In those
first articles, there’s no explana-
tion, no nothing — it just lets the
reader fill in the blanks of what
horrible thing I did. I live with that
every single day.”
“I need to set the record straight
publicly,” he said.
Mann enlisted in the Marine
Corps at age 17 in 1987. He worked
as a field artilleryman before be-
ing commissioned through the Na-
val Reserve Officer Training
Course in 1989. He held numerous
command positions and served
two tours in Iraq in 2005 and 2007
and a tour in Afghanistan in 2013.
He assumed command of the
25th Marine Regiment in March
2017, becoming responsible for
about 4,400 Marines and sailors at
23 sites across 11 states. When he
took over, Mann noticed poor mo-
rale at the regiment’s headquar-
ters company. He ordered a pre-
liminary inquiry into the unit that
April.
The inquiry found an unhealthy
company rife with conflict. As a
result, the company went through
equal opportunity training, as well
as counseling about instances of
inappropriate behavior and sex-
ually explicit language.
Another investigation was
opened into the headquarters
company that August after a Ma-
rine was prematurely recalled to
duty after suffering a miscarriage.
According to a
report by the
Board of Correc-
tion of Naval Re-
cords, the inves-
tigation found
that Mann was
not involved or
made aware of
the incident and
that the “extremely poor” climate
at the unit predated his arrival as
commander.
Although the investigators de-
termined that no adverse action
be taken against Mann, he was re-
moved from his position by Lt.
Gen. Rex McMillan, who at the
time commanded the Marine
Forces Reserve. Mann never
learned why that decision was
made.
Mann immediately began to
fight the decision. In 2018, the Per-
formance Evaluation Review
Board decided that the incident
did not warrant Mann’s separa-
tion from the Marine Corps and
that his final, negative fitness re-
port should be removed. Then this
month, the Board of Correction of
Naval Records ordered his record
entirely expunged.
“The Board determined that
[Mann] was held to an unreason-
able level of accountability given
the scope of his duties, limited
time in command, dispersion of
the unit, and other missions that
were assigned,” the board wrote
in its report.
The board also said that Mann
“took actions to correct the prob-
lems with the climate in the com-
mand.”
Mann’s victory before the
Board of Correction of Naval Re-
cords was bittersweet, he said.
The decision to remove him could
not truly be undone, and it ended
what he expected to be a much
longer Marine Corps career.
“It provides some sense of clo-
sure, but it’s something that
should never have happened in
the first place,” Mann said. “I still
feel like I have more to give to the
Marine Corps and this country.”
In a fitness report dated Sept.
24, 2017 — just 10 days before
Mann was fired — McMillan and
Maj. Gen. Burke Whiteman wrote
that Mann was “one of our finest
officers.”
“His performance has been su-
perb,” McMillan wrote. “He is ex-
ceptionally smart, quick and well
spoken. He is dedicated and dri-
ven to ensure the [regiment] Is
ready to fight … he is calm and
cool under pressure. And presents
a rock-solid appearance. Morgan
gets the job done.”
McMillan wrote that Mann had
his “most enthusiastic recommen-
dation” for a promotion to briga-
dier general. In his written com-
ments, Whitman also said that
Mann had his “highest possible
recommendation for promotion at
the earliest opportunity.”
Whitman, the former senior re-
serve office of the Marine Corps,
also wrote that during the brief pe-
riod Mann had led the 25th Re-
giment, he made “immediate, pos-
itive and lasting” changes. Mann
was “never content with the status
quo” and aggressively sought
ways to foster innovation and im-
prove the regiment, Whitman
wrote.
Mann harbors no bad feelings
toward the Marine Corps itself —
it’s still “so much of who I am,” he
said. He wants to find other oppor-
tunities for public service, but his
removal has affected those chanc-
es.
Fired Marine commander fighting to clear his nameBY NIKKI WENTLING
Stars and Stripes
Mann
MILITARY
PAGE 6 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Friday, April 2, 2021
ground troops by making them
more aware of their surroundings.
The III Marine Expeditionary
Force on Okinawa has shown a
willingness in recent years to inte-
grate the ideas of tech savvy Ma-
rines, through unit leadership and
by hosting invention competitions.
“He is extremely intelligent and
technically savvy,” Kimmel said.
“He has a very bright future.”
Pugh, a digital wideband tech-
nician in Communications Com-
pany, Combat Logistics Regiment
37, has a lifelong affiliation with
electromechanics.
A self-described military brat
who bounced around a lot as a
child, Pugh finally settled outside
St. Louis in a small town called
Fairview Heights, Ill., he said on a
sunny February afternoon outside
the warehouse where he works.
From “Bob the Builder” toys
and Legos, Pugh graduated to tin-
kering with whatever electronics
he could find around the house.
“It’s been like that since I was a
kid,” he said. “I can’t think of a
time when I didn’t want to build
something.”
Discovering radio-controlled
cars in his formative years, with
their batteries and motors, was a
game-changer, he said. After he
built a car that went 50 mph, he
wanted to see what he could do in
the air. He saved his lunch money
in middle school to buy the parts to
build his first drone.
Pugh said he rigged one to drop
candy before unsuspecting trick-
or-treaters on Halloween.
In middle school, Pugh took ro-
botics’ courses and built robots, he
said. He learned enough about
motors and actuators to attempt
his first humanoid robot. It was a
disaster.
“It was a freak of nature, honest-
ly,” he said with a laugh. “It didn’t
even get off the ground … but it
was a good taste of what I wanted
to do.”
After high school, Pugh found
himself rudderless. He tried col-
lege and worked two jobs, but he
felt redundant and unaccom-
plished, he said. In 2019, he joined
the Marine Corps. Today he’s re-
sponsible for setting up a comple-
ment of ground terminals for sat-
ellite communications.
The humanoid robot he calls
Project Alita, after the 2019 action
film “Alita: Battle Angel,” sits atop
his work bench, minus a head.
“That one’s going to be a fun
one,” he said.
The first step for Alita will be
walking and navigating the room,
Pugh said. Then he hopes it will
identify objects and people it sees
frequently, building a profile for
each person and varying its reac-
tions depending on its familiarity
with them.
Alita will be self-sufficient and
able to charge itself on its own,
Pugh said. Lastly, he hopes to
teach the robot certain protocols,
like chores. But mostly he wants it
to be a funny companion he can in-
teract with.
Pugh has also built a remote-
controlled, motorized long skate-
board with brakes that takes him
to and from work each day, and
several drones that perform vari-
ous functions. He’s also working
on a robot that can vacuum and
mop the floor as it moves around
like a Roomba.
Kimmel said Marines like Pugh
are a sign of the times.
“Growing up with more ad-
vanced technology is an advan-
tage that younger Marines have
over those of us that are a little
more seasoned,” Kimmel said.
“Each new Marine that I have
seen come in after me has been a
little bit smarter than the previ-
ous.”
Skills: Marines embrace innovationsFROM PAGE 1
MATTHEW M. BURKE/Stars and Stripes
Marine Cpl. Malik Pugh explains a robot he hopes will sweep and mopthe floor in his barracks room at Camp Kinser, Okinawa, on Feb. 22.
[email protected]: @MatthewMBurke1
nerve damage in his arm.
Qubadi was in stable condition
following arm surgery Thursday,
said Abdulhaq Azad, spokesman
for the Afghan Embassy in New
Delhi. He will be transferred soon
to another hospital for eye treat-
ment.
Qubadi “is a good person that I
respect, and I wanted to do every-
thing I could to try to get him the
care he needs,” McCain told Stars
and Stripes in a direct message.
Qubadi intends to return to duty
after he recovers from his injuries,
McCain said.
An Afghan defense official con-
firmed Thursday that Afghan and
Indian authorities decided to help
KABUL, Afghanistan — A viral
tweet by a former U.S. military ad-
viser in Afghanistan helped a pilot
who had been injured in combat
get specialized medical treatment
that wasn’t available in the coun-
try.
Helicopter pilot and military af-
fairs writer Jack McCain tweeted
online Tuesday that one of his for-
mer students, Gulrahman Qubadi,
had suffered serious injuries when
his UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter
was downed by a Taliban rocket in
southern Afghanistan last July.
McCain, a Navy reservist and
son of the late Sen. John McCain,
emphasized that he was acting in a
private capacity as he advocated
for Qubadi.
McCain’s tweets were liked and
shared more than 6,000 times and
the outpouring of support led to
Qubadi being scheduled for emer-
gency surgery in India this week.
Qubadi had been injured in a Ta-
liban-claimed attack. It was one of
two last year in which Afghan air
force helicopters were shot down
by anti-tank guided missiles
thought to be provided by Iran,
The New York Times reported.
He arrived in India last month,
where he awaited medical care for
a damaged cornea and extensive
Qubadi after McCain’s tweets
went viral.
“He got the attention of the right
people who can help him,” the offi-
cial said on condition of anonymity
because he was not authorized to
speak on the matter.
Qubadi is one of the elite pilots of
the Afghan air force, which is seen
as a key element fighting the Tali-
ban, as U.S. and NATO troops de-
cide whether to withdraw from Af-
ghanistan.
Increasing demands on the air
force have strained the service,
which has lost almost a quarter of
the operational aircraft in its in-
ventory over the past year, a recent
report to Congress by the Lead In-
spector General for Operation
Freedom’s Sentinel said.
Pilots have also been increas-
ingly targeted in assassinations by
insurgents.
McCain said he is thankful for
the support online, and for the In-
dian and Afghan help in assisting
Qubadi.
“Taking care of your people is
the primary duty of any military
officer, and regardless of whether
Iam with him or not, if I had the ca-
pability to do something, I was go-
ing to,” he said.
US military adviser’s tweets help Afghan pilot get surgeryBY J.P. LAWRENCE
AND ZUBAIR BABAKARKHAIL
Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes reporter Chad Garland contrib-uted to this [email protected]: @jplawrence3
that killed his son Beau in 2015.
Beau Biden was a major in the De-
laware Army National Guard and
was exposed to burn pits during a
deployment to Iraq.
The VA estimates about 3.5 mil-
lion veterans have been exposed to
toxic piles of trash in Iraq, Afghan-
istan and other military sites, ac-
cording to a 2015 report. However,
adepartment official said last year
that it denied 78 percent of claims
to gain access to benefits.
WASHINGTON — Rep. Elaine
Luria, a 20-year Navy veteran, in-
troduced legislation Thursday
that would expand care and dis-
ability compensation for veterans
made sick after breathing in toxic
fumes on overseas deployments.
The Conceding Our Veterans’
Exposures Now and Necessitating
Training Act would ease the bur-
den of proof for veterans who got
sick by exposure to burn pits and
other toxic exposures.
“The burden of proof shouldn’t
be on our veterans to get the bene-
fits they deserve, and there’s no
reason that they and their survi-
vors should have to fight VA for the
care and benefits they earned,”
said Luria, D-Va., a member of the
House Armed Services Commit-
tee.
Thousands of veterans have
sought care from the Department
of Veterans Affairs for illnesses
that they believe were caused by
serving overseas near burn pits.
The ailments include cancers, re-
spiratory issues and lung diseases.
However, the VA has said there is
insufficient evidence to back up
the claims.
The military used open-air pits
during the 1990s and the post-9/11
wars to dispose of waste such as jet
fuel, paint and plastics in Iraq and
Afghanistan, among other coun-
tries. The smoke and emissions
from the burn pits contained
chemicals that can cause a num-
ber of health problems.
Veterans affected by burn pits
now face hurdles to receiving care.
Sick service members must pro-
vide evidence that their illness is
linked to toxic exposure, as well as
proof that they have been exposed
at a certain location.
Advocates have said this is a
challenge and sometimes impossi-
ble because it’s difficult to pinpoint
the exact location of overseas ser-
vice and the fact that there was a
burn pit at that location. The VA al-
so does not have clear guidance on
who qualifies for compensation
tied to toxic exposure.
Lawmakers have tried to pass
similar legislation but efforts have
stalled up to now. President Joe Bi-
den has said he believes toxic
smoke is the cause of brain cancer
Vet pushes bill to expand care for veterans exposed to toxic fumesBY SARAH CAMMARATA
Stars and Stripes
[email protected] @sarahjcamm
MILITARY
Friday, April 2, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 7
President Joe Biden says hisproposal for an aggressive seriesof infrastructure investmentswould require $2.3 trillion inspending over eight years butcould create millions of jobs. Itwould be funded by higher corpo-rate taxes.
A closer look at where the mon-ey is going and where it’s comingfrom:
Infrastructure projects ■ $115 billion to modernize the
bridges, highways and roads thatare in the worst shape. The WhiteHouse outline estimated 20,000miles of roadways would be re-paired, while economically sig-nificant bridges and 10,000 small-er bridges would get fixed.
■ $85 billion for public transit,doubling the federal govern-ment’s commitment in an effortto shorten the repair backlog andexpand service.
■ $80 billion to modernize
Amtrak’s heavily traffickedNortheast Corridor line, addressits repair backlog and improvefreight rail.
■ $174 billion to build 500,000electric vehicle charging stations,electrify 20% of school buses andelectrify the federal fleet, includ-ing U.S. Postal Service vehicles.
■ $25 billion to upgrade airtravel and airports and $17 billionfor waterways and coastal ports.
■ $20 billion to redress com-munities whose neighborhoods— typically nonwhite — were di-vided by highway projects.
■ $50 billion to improve in-frastructure resilience in the af-termath of natural disasters.
■ $111 billion to replace leadwater pipes and upgrade sewersystems.
■ $100 billion to build high-speed broadband that provides100% coverage for the country.
■ $100 billion to upgrade theresilience of the power grid andmove to clean electricity, among
other power projects. ■ $213 billion to produce, pre-
serve and retrofit more than 2million affordable houses andbuildings.
■ $100 billion to upgrade andbuild new schools.
■ $18 billion to modernize Vet-erans Affairs hospitals and clin-ics, and $10 billion for federalbuildings.
■ $400 billion to expand long-term care services under Medi-caid.
■ $180 billion invested in re-search and development pro-jects.
■ $300 billion for manufactur-ing, including funds for the com-puter chip sector, improved ac-cess to capital and investment inclean energy through federal pro-curement.
■ $100 billion for workforcedevelopment.
Tax increases Biden’s plan would finance
projects by: ■ Raising the corporate tax
rate from 21% to 28%, one of themeasures that over 15 yearswould cover the cost of the infras-tructure program and then helpto reduce the budget deficit.
■ Imposing a 21% global mini-mum tax, so that companies can-not avoid taxes by shifting incometo low-tax countries.
■ Making it harder for busi-nesses to merge with foreign
companies to avoid U.S. taxes, aprocess known as inversion.
■ Eliminating tax breaks forcompanies that shift assetsabroad, and denying deductionsfor offshoring jobs.
■ Imposing a 15% minimumtax on the income that corpora-tions report to shareholders.
■ Eliminating tax preferencesfor the fossil fuels sector.
■ Increasing IRS audits oflarge corporations.
A closer look at Biden’s $2.3Tinfrastructure and tax proposals
Associated Press
EVAN VUCCI/AP
President Joe Biden arrives to speak on infrastructure spending atCarpenters Pittsburgh Training Center on Wednesday in Pittsburgh.
NATION
MISSION, Texas — Over-
whelmed and underprepared,
U.S. authorities are releasing mi-
grant families on the Mexican bor-
der without notices to appear in
immigration court or sometimes
without any paperwork at all —
time-saving moves that have left
some migrants confused.
The rapid releases ease pres-
sure on the Border Patrol and its
badly overcrowded holding facili-
ties but shifts work to Immigration
and Customs and Enforcement,
the agency that enforces immigra-
tion laws within the United States.
Families are released with book-
ing records; only parents are pho-
tographed and fingerprinted.
The Border Patrol began the un-
usual practice last week in Texas'
Rio Grande Valley, which has seen
the biggest increase in the number
of migrant families and unaccom-
panied minors crossing the bor-
der. Last week, the agency added
instructions to report to an ICE of-
fice within 60 days to adults’ book-
ing documents.
But some got no documents at
all, including dozens at Our Lady
of Guadalupe Catholic Church in
the Texas border city of Mission,
where about 100 migrants re-
leased by U.S. authorities had
been arriving each night to sleep
on mats in classrooms in a shut-
tered elementary school.
Carlos Enrique Linga, 27, wait-
ed at the shelter for a week without
documents along with his 5-year-
old daughter, hoping to join a
friend in Tennessee. His wife is
still in Guatemala with their 2-
year-old twin daughters and a 3-
month-old.
Linga was unwilling to leave the
shelter until he got documents and
was asking Catholic Charities of
Rio Grande Valley for help.
“We hope they can help with our
papers so that we can move on,
work and send (money) to my fam-
ily,” said Linga, whose home in
Guatemala was destroyed by
storms in November. “The church
has told us that there are mistakes
sometimes. Because there are so
many people, they forget.”
Customs and Border Protection,
which oversees the Border Patrol,
said it stopped issuing court no-
tices in some cases because pre-
paring even one of the documents
often takes hours. Migrants under-
go background checks and are
tested for COVID-19.
The agency didn't answer ques-
tions about how many migrants
have been released without court
notices or without documents at
all.
Sister Norma Pimentel, execu-
tive director of Catholic Charities
of Rio Grande Valley, knows of 10
to 15 families released without any
paperwork since last week, an is-
sue that has cropped up before
when there are large increases in
new arrivals.
“It’s a problem, it’s a situation
we need to resolve, to make sure
we follow up,” she said.
Migrants will be issued notices
to appear in court at their 60-day
check-ins with ICE, according to a
U.S. official with direct knowledge
of the plans who spoke on condi-
tion of anonymity because the
plans have not been made public.
It is unclear how widespread the
practice has been, but it is very
common in Rio Grande Valley, the
busiest corridor for illegal cross-
ings.
Preparing a court appearance
notice can take an hour to 90 min-
utes, said Chris Cabrera, spokes-
man for the National Border Pa-
trol Council, a union that repre-
sents agents. He welcomed the
change.
“Honestly, from my end, I think
it's good because it's less paper-
work for our guys,” said Cabrera,
who works in the Rio Grande Val-
ley.
An uptick in the number of peo-
ple crossing the border, especially
children traveling alone and fam-
ilies, has filled up federal holding
facilities. The U.S. has been re-
leasing families with children 6
and under and expelling families
with older children under pan-
demic-related powers that deny
an opportunity to seek asylum.
Immigration attorneys had
mixed reactions to people being
released without court notices or
paperwork, particularly the re-
quirement to check in with ICE.
They advise migrants to apply for
a different route to asylum — one
that's only for people already in the
country. In that option, they meet a
Citizenship and Immigration Ser-
vices asylum officer in a less ad-
versarial environment and if de-
nied, can appeal to an immigration
judge, advocates say.
Migrants being freed without court notice
DARIO LOPEZMILLS/AP
Migrants board a van at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in McAllen, Texas, on March 28.
Some released withno paperwork at all
Associated Press
PAGE 8 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Friday, April 2, 2021
NATION
MINNEAPOLIS — George
Floyd’s struggle with three police
officers trying to arrest him, seen
on body-camera video, included
Floyd’s panicky cries of “I’m sor-
ry, I’m sorry” and “I’m claustro-
phobic!” as the officers tried to
push Floyd into the back of a po-
lice SUV.
At one point, Floyd bucks for-
ward, throwing his upper body out
of the car. Officers eventually give
up, and Floyd thanks them — and
then is taken to the ground, face-
down and handcuffed. Officer De-
rek Chauvin’s knee pins his neck,
another officer’s knee holds his
back and a third officer holds his
legs, with the officers talking
calmly about whether he might be
on drugs.
“He wouldn’t get out of the car.
He just wasn’t following instruc-
tions,” Officer Thomas Lane was
recorded saying. Lane also asked
twice if the officers should roll
Floyd on his side, and later said he
thinks Floyd is passing out. Anoth-
er officer checked Floyd’s wrist
for a pulse and said he couldn’t
find one.
The officers’ video was part of a
mountain of footage and witness
testimony Wednesday in Chau-
vin’s trial on murder and man-
slaughter charges in Floyd’s
death, showing how his alleged at-
tempt to pass a phony $20 bill at a
neighborhood market last May es-
calated into tragedy one video-
documented step at a time.
Asecurity-camera scene of peo-
ple joking around inside the store
soon gave way to the sight of offi-
cers pulling Floyd, who was Black,
from his SUV at gunpoint. The ex-
tended body-camera footage gave
jurors the fullest view yet of the
roughly 20 minutes between when
police first approached Floyd’s
vehicle to when he was loaded into
an ambulance.
When Floyd was finally taken
away by paramedics, Charles
McMillian, a 61-year-old bystan-
der who recognized Chauvin from
the neighborhood, told the officer
he didn’t respect what Chauvin
had done.
“That’s one person’s opinion,”
Chauvin could be heard respon-
ding. “We gotta control this guy
‘cause he’s a sizable guy... and it
looks like he’s probably on some-
thing.”
Floyd was 6-foot-4 and 223
pounds, according to the autopsy,
which also found fentanyl and
methamphetamine in his system.
Chauvin’s lawyer said the officer
is 5-foot-9 and 140 pounds.
Chauvin, 45, who is white, is
charged with murder and man-
slaughter, accused of killing the
46-year-old Floyd by kneeling on
Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes, 29 sec-
onds, as he lay face-down in hand-
cuffs.
Floyd’s death, along with the
harrowing bystander video of him
gasping for breath as onlookers
yelled at Chauvin to get off him,
triggered sometimes violent pro-
tests around the world and a reck-
oning over racism and police bru-
tality across the U.S.
As Floyd was pinned down by
Chauvin and other officers,
McMillian, the bystander, could
be heard on video saying to Floyd,
“You can’t win” and “Get up and
get in the car.”
Floyd replied: “I can’t.”
The defense has argued Chau-
vin did what he was trained to do
and Floyd’s death was not caused
by the officer’s knee, as prosecu-
tors contend, but by Floyd’s illegal
drug use, heart disease, high blood
pressure and the adrenaline flow-
ing through his body.
Body cam showsFloyd’s struggle,then takedown
Associated Press
ATLANTA — Some of Georgia’s
most prominent corporate leaders
on Wednesday began to more
forcefully criticize the state’s
sweeping new election law, ac-
knowledging concerns of civil
rights activists and Black business
executives who say the measure
targets non-white voters and
threatens the democratic process.
The chief executives of Delta
Air Lines and Coca-Cola pivoted
from earlier, more equivocal
statements and called the law “un-
acceptable,” opening an unusual
rift with Republican leaders who
championed the legislation and
typically enjoy a cozy relationship
with the state’s business commu-
nity.
The business lobby in Georgia,
home to 18 Fortune 500 compa-
nies, wields significant clout in
state politics. Civil rights activists
blamed influential executives for
not helping spike the new law
that’s become a focal point in the
nationwide, partisan fight over
voting rights, and there is rising
pressure nationally on corporate
titans to defend voting rights more
explicitly and oppose Republican
efforts in states that could follow
Georgia’s lead. Delta’s and Coca-
Cola’s latest declarations could
push Georgia’s other marquee
brands, including UPS and Home
Depot, to take a stronger stand.
“Delta’s statement finally tells
the truth — even if it’s late,” said
Nsé Ufot of the New Georgia Pro-
ject, which has launched an ad
campaign targeting major corpo-
rations.
After Republican Gov. Brian
Kemp signed the new law last
week, Delta issued a statement
promoting parts of the law such as
expanded weekend voting, but
said “we understand concerns re-
main over other provisions ... and
there continues to be work ahead
in this important effort.”
Speaking later on CNBC, Coca-
Cola chief executive James Quin-
cey called the legislation a “step
backward.”
“It does not promote principles
we have stood for in Georgia
around broad access to voting,
around voter convenience, about
ensuring election integrity,” he
said. “This legislation is wrong
and needs to be remedied.”
2 major Georgia corporate leaders slam voting billAssociated Press
ORANGE, Calif. — Southern
California police said Thursday
the gunman who killed four peo-
ple and wounded a fifth at an of-
fice complex knew all the victims
either through business or person-
ally.
Orange police Lt. Jennifer Amat
also revealed that the gunman had
chained gates to the complex
closed, forcing officers who re-
sponded Wednesday to engage
him from outside. Police withheld
the identities of the dead but said
one was a 9-year-old boy. The oth-
ers were a man and two women.
The gunman was also wounded
and hospitalized. Wednesday’s
shooting happened in the city of
Orange southeast of Los Angeles.
When officers arrived, shots were
ringing out at the building that in-
cludes a mobile home brokerage.
The violence in the city of Or-
ange southeast of Los Angeles was
the third U.S. mass shooting in just
over two weeks.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom
in a tweet called the killings “hor-
rifying and heartbreaking.”
“Our hearts are with the fam-
ilies impacted by this terrible
tragedy tonight,” he said.
Amat had no information about
what may have prompted the at-
tack. She said the shooting hap-
pened on both levels of the build-
ing.
Signs outside indicated a hand-
ful of businesses are located there
— including an insurance office, a
financial consulting firm, a legal
services business and a phone re-
pair store.
People gathered outside the
building after the shooting hoping
to get word about loved ones.
Paul Tovar told KTLA-TV that
his brother owns a business in the
building, Unified Homes, a mobile
home broker.
“He’s not answering his phone,
neither’s my niece,” Tovar said.
“I’m pretty scared and worried ...
right now I’m just praying really
hard.”
Charlie Espinoza also was out-
side the building and told The Or-
ange County Register that he
could not reach his fiancee, who
works for a medical billing com-
pany.
A Facebook livestream posted
by a resident who lives near the of-
fice appeared to show officers car-
rying a motionless person from
the building and officers helping
another person.
Tim Smith’s home is separated
from the office’s parking lot by a
backyard wooden fence. He was
in the back of his house when he
heard a volley of three gunshots,
then a volley of three and a final
volley of four.
“The first words I heard after
the shots were fired were ‘Don’t
move or I will shoot you,’” Smith,
64, recounted Thursday morning.
Smith said he heard that repeat-
ed twice more by a man’s voice
and believes it was a police officer
speaking. He did not hear other
voices or more shots. He later
peeked over the fence and saw
SWAT officers marching in a line
in the building’s courtyard.
“Enough is enough,” U.S. Sen.
Dianne Feinstein, D-California,
tweeted. “We have to do some-
thing about the guns on our
streets.”
JAE C. HONG/AP
People comfort each other near a building where a shooting occurred in Orange, Calif., on Wednesday.
Police: Gunman knew victims inattack on S. California building
Associated Press
Friday, April 2, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 9
VIRUS OUTBREAK
The COVID-19 pandemic
pushed total U.S. deaths last year
beyond 3.3 million, the nation’s
highest annual death toll, the gov-
ernment reported Wednesday.
The coronavirus caused ap-
proximately 375,000 deaths, and
was the third-leading cause of
death in 2020, after heart disease
and cancer. COVID-19 deaths in
the United States now top 550,000
since the start of the pandemic.
COVID-19 displaced suicide as
one of the top 10 causes of death,
according to the report from the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
“The data should serve again as
acatalyst for each of us to continue
to do our part to drive down cases
and reduce the spread of CO-
VID-19 and get people vaccinated
as quickly as possible,” CDC Di-
rector Dr. Rochelle Walensky said
Wednesday.
The U.S. death toll increases
most years, but last year’s death
rate was up nearly 16% compared
to the previous year. That’s the
largest one-year leap since 1918,
when U.S. soldier deaths in World
War I and the flu pandemic pushed
deaths up 46% compared with
1917.
Death rates last year overall
were highest among Black people
and American Indian and Alaska
Native people. The COVID-19
death rate was highest among His-
panic people.
“Sadly, based on the current
state of the pandemic, these im-
pacts have remained in 2021
where we continue to see that com-
munities of color account for an
outsize portions of these deaths,”
Walensky said.
Preliminary data in December
suggested 2020 would be an espe-
cially deadly year and the CDC’s
new report showed it was even
worse than anticipated. The new
numbers are still considered pre-
liminary and are based on an anal-
ysis of death certificates.
Typically, analyzing death cer-
tificates takes about 11 months. But
the CDC sped up the timeline, the
report said, to address “the press-
ing need for updated, quality data
during the global COVID-19 pan-
demic.”
In a separate report, the CDC re-
sponded to concerns about deaths
being misattributed to COVID-19.
The agency took a close look at
death certificates, finding that
most that listed COVID-19 also
named other contributing prob-
lems. They included conditions
such as diabetes, known to in-
crease the danger of severe dis-
ease, or conditions such as pneu-
monia that occurred in the chain of
events leading to the deaths.
Only about 5% of the death cer-
tificates listed only COVID-19, and
that was more frequently the case
when the person died at home.
The CDC said its review con-
firms the accuracy of the death
count for COVID-19.
CARLOS OSORIO/AP
Some of the nearly 900 large postersized photos of Detroit victims of COVID19 are displayed on BelleIsle in Detroit.
COVID-19 pushed total USdeaths beyond 3.3M in 2020
BY CARLA K. JOHNSON
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Seeking to
overcome vaccine hesitancy, the
Biden administration is unveiling
acoalition of community, religious
and celebrity partners to promote
COVID-19 shots.
The Department of Health and
Human Services’ “We Can Do
This” campaign features televi-
sion and social media ads, but it al-
so relies on a community corps of
public health, athletic, faith and
other groups to spread the word
about the safety and efficacy of the
three approved vaccines. The
campaign comes amid worries
that reluctance to get vaccinated
will delay the nation’s recovery
from the coronavirus pandemic.
Vice President Kamala Harris
and Surgeon General Vivek Mur-
thy will meet with the more than
275 inaugural members of the
community corps on Thursday to
kick off the effort.
The focus on trusted validators
stems from both internal and pub-
lic surveys showing those skepti-
cal of the vaccines are most likely
to be swayed by local, community
and medical encouragement to get
vaccinated, rather than messages
from politicians.
Courtney Rowe, the White
House’s COVID-19 director of
strategic communications and en-
gagement, briefed governors on
the new initiative Tuesday, telling
them that people “want to hear
from those they know and trust.”
She added that the initiative would
be “empowering the leaders peo-
ple want to hear from.”
The coalition includes health
groups like the American Medical
Association and the National
Council of Urban Indian Health,
sports leagues like the NFL and
MLB, rural groups, unions and La-
tino, Black, Asian American, Pa-
cific Islander and Native Ameri-
can organizations, as well as coali-
tions of faith, business and veter-
ans leaders.
The Department of Health and
Human Services was also launch-
ing its first national ad campaign
promoting vaccinations, aimed at
senior, Latino and Black Ameri-
cans. And in partnership with
Facebook, it was deploying social
media profile frames so that ordi-
nary Americans could share their
intent to get vaccinations and their
experience with the shots to their
peers.
By the end of May, the U.S. will
have enough supply of COVID-19
vaccine to cover all adults in the
country, with President Joe Bi-
den’s administration now shifting
its efforts to ensuring nearly all
Americans choose to get vaccinat-
ed. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s
top infectious disease expert, has
estimated that 70% to 85% of the
population needs to be immune to
the virus to reach herd immunity.
Biden launches community corps to boost COVID vaccinationsBY ZEKE MILLER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The num-
ber of Americans applying for
unemployment benefits rose by
61,000 last week to 719,000, sig-
naling that many employers are
still cutting jobs even as more
businesses reopen, vaccines are
increasingly administered and
federal aid spreads through the
economy.
The Labor Department said
Thursday that the number of
claims increased from 684,000
the week before. Though the pace
of applications has dropped
sharply since early this year, they
remain high by historical stan-
dards: Before the pandemic flat-
tened the economy a year ago,
jobless claims typically ran below
220,000 a week.
All told, 3.8 million people were
collecting traditional state bene-
fits during the week ending
March 20. If you include federal
programs that are meant to help
the unemployed through the
health crisis, 18.2 million people
were receiving some type of job-
less aid in the week that ended
March 13. That’s down from 19.7
million in the previous week.
Economists monitor weekly ap-
plications for unemployment aid
for early signs of where the job
market is headed. Applications
generally reflect the rate of lay-
offs, which normally fall steadily
as a job market strengthens. Dur-
ing the pandemic, though, the
numbers have become less relia-
ble as states have struggled with
application backlogs and allega-
tions of fraud have clouded the
actual volume of job cuts.
Still, measures of the overall
economy show clear improve-
ment from the collapse last
spring, with the rising number of
vaccinations encouraging people
to return to airports, shopping
centers, restaurants and bars.
The number of new confirmed
COVID-19 cases has dropped
from an average of about 250,000
a day in early January to below
70,000, though it has begun to rise
again in recent days.
Last month, consumer confi-
dence reached a post-pandemic
peak. And the $1,400 checks in
President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion
economic relief plan have sharp-
ly lifted consumer spending, ac-
cording to Bank of America’s
tracking of its debit and credit
cards. Spending jumped 23% in
the third week of March com-
pared with pre-pandemic levels,
the bank said.
And even with the pace of lay-
offs still relatively high, hiring
has begun to accelerate. In Feb-
ruary, employers added a robust
379,000 jobs across the country.
Last month, they are believed to
have added even more: Accord-
ing to the data firm FactSet, econ-
omists expect the March jobs re-
port being released Friday to
show that the economy added a
sizable 614,000 jobs and that the
unemployment rate fell from
6.2% to 6%. Less than a year ago,
the jobless rate had hit 14.8%.
Some economists are even
more optimistic: Joe Brusuelas,
chief economist at the tax adviso-
ry firm RSM, is predicting 1 mil-
lion added jobs for March.
The Federal Reserve’s policy-
makers have substantially boost-
ed their forecast for the economy
this year, anticipating growth of
6.5% for 2021, up from an esti-
mate in December of just 4.2%.
That would be the fastest rate of
expansion in any year since 1984.
Jobless claims at719K as pandemicstill forces layoffs
BY PAUL WISEMAN
Associated Press
Friday, April 2, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 11
Capping off a momentous week
for legal cannabis, state legisla-
tors in New Mexico on Wednes-
day voted to allow recreational
use of the drug — a vote that
came hours after New York’s
governor signed a bill legalizing
marijuana.
New Mexico’s Cannabis Regu-
lation Act will eliminate criminal
penalties for possession and use
of marijuana for adults over 21
years old beginning in 2022 and
create a framework for licensing
sellers and taxing drug sales at
up to 20%.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lu-
jan Grisham, D, who called the
special session 10 days after the
state legislature failed to pass the
bill during its regular session, is
expected to swiftly sign it.
“This is a significant victory for
New Mexico and my signing pen
is ready,” she said in a tweet late
Wednesday.
The move sets up New Mexico
to join 15 other states that have
fully decriminalized the drug and
came on the same day that Vir-
ginia Gov. Ralph Northam, D,
asked state legislators to speed
up his state’s legalization to allow
adults to start using the drug as
early as July.
State-level support for decrimi-
nalizing the drug has been grow-
ing since California became the
first to legalize medical marijua-
na in 1996. In 2012, Colorado and
Washington state pioneered laws
to legalize recreational use of the
drug.
Many states have also been
motivated by calls for social jus-
tice measures to undo some of the
damage done by harsh criminal-
ization laws that disproportion-
ately sent minorities to prison for
nonviolent drug crimes. The New
Mexico bill included a measure
allowing people with a criminal
record for possessing the drug for
personal use to expunge past con-
victions.
Lt. Gov. Howie Morales, D,
called it a “historic special ses-
sion meeting” that would “end
the harmful, long-term impacts of
cannabis conviction records.”
NM moves to legalizeweed as NY inks law
BY KATIE SHEPHERD
The Washington Post
NATION
PAGE 12 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Friday, April 2, 2021
WORLD
HONG KONG — Seven of Hong
Kong’s leading pro-democracy ad-
vocates, including a media tycoon
and an 82-year-old veteran of the
movement, were convicted Thurs-
day for organizing and participating
in a march during massive anti-gov-
ernment protests in 2019 that trig-
gered a crackdown on dissent.
Jimmy Lai, the owner of the out-
spoken Apple Daily tabloid, Martin
Lee, the octogenarian founder of the
city’s Democratic Party, and five
former pro-democracy lawmakers
were found guilty in a ruling handed
down by a district judge. They face
up to five years in prison.
According to the ruling, six of the
seven defendants, including Lee
and Lai, carried a banner that criti-
cized police and called for reforms
as they left Victoria Park on Aug. 18,
2019, and led a procession through
the center of the city. The other de-
fendant, Margaret Yee, joined them
on the way and helped carry the ban-
ner.
China convicts7 Hong Kongpro-democracyadvocates
Associated Press
YANGON, Myanmar — Protes-
ters in Myanmar on Thursday
marked two months since the mil-
itary seized power by once more
defying the threat of lethal vio-
lence and publicly demonstrating
against the toppling of the demo-
cratically elected government.
The Feb. 1 coup has been met
with massive public resistance
that security forces have been un-
able to crush through escalating
levels of violence, including now
routinely shooting protesters. Out-
side efforts including sanctions
imposed by Western nations on
the military regime have failed to
help restore peace.
In Yangon, the country’s biggest
city, a group of young people
shortly after sunrise Thursday
sang solemn songs honoring the
more than 500 protesters killed so
far. They then marched through
the streets chanting slogans call-
ing for the fall of the junta, the re-
lease of deposed leader Aung San
Suu Kyi and the return of democ-
racy.
Protests were also held in Man-
dalay and elsewhere.
The demonstrations followed a
night of violence including police
raids and several fires. In Yangon,
several retail shops owned in
whole or part by Myanma Eco-
nomic Holdings Limited, which is
an investment arm of the military,
went up in flames. The shops are
the targets of boycotts by the pro-
test movement.
The crisis in the Southeast Asian
nation has expanded sharply in
the past week, both in the number
of protesters killed and with the
military launching airstrikes
against the guerrilla forces of the
Karen ethnic minority in their
homeland on the border with Thai-
land. The U.N. special envoy for
Myanmar warned that the country
faces the possibility of civil war.
In areas controlled by the Ka-
ren, more than a dozen civilians
have been killed since Saturday
and more than 20,000 have been
displaced, according to the Free
Burma Rangers, a relief agency
operating in the area.
In addition to those deaths, an
airstrike Tuesday on a gold mine
in Karen guerrilla territory on
Tuesday left as many as 11 more
people dead, said a local news out-
let and an NGO worker in touch
with residents near the site.
Saw Kholo Htoo, the deputy di-
rector for Karen Teacher Working
Group, said residents told him five
people were killed at the mine and
another six at a nearby village.
The Bago Weekly Journal also re-
ported the attack.
David Eubank of the Free Bur-
ma Rangers confirmed that a vid-
eo of the attack’s aftermath
showed the gold mine and that
there had been airstrikes in the ar-
ea.
Myanmar remainsmired in violence 2months after coup
Associated Press
MG NY@N/AP
Anticoup demonstrators prepare to confront police during a protestin Tarmwe township, Yangon, Myanmar, on Thursday.
Friday, April 2, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 13
FACES
The salvation seems to have
ended for “American Gods.”
Starz’s critically acclaimed ad-
aptation of the Neil Gaiman-
penned international bestselling
book has been canceled just a
week after its third season ended.
“American Gods will not return
for a fourth season,” the premium
cable company said in a state-
ment Monday. “Everyone at
STARZ is grateful to the dedicat-
ed cast and crew, and our part-
ners at Fremantle who brought
author and executive producer
Neil Gaiman’s ever-relevant story
to life that speaks to the cultural
climate of our country.”
The decision was made to not
continue with a fourth season due
to low viewership, which declined
65% from the series’ first season.
After a shakeup among top pro-
ducers and creators, the second
season of “American Gods” strug-
gled to build an audience with a
new person at the helm. To give
the show the full opportunity to
try and gain and grow an audi-
ence, Starz made the decision to
go ahead with the third season
with another producer.
Major cast changes, budget
cuts, a lengthy hiatus between
seasons and the pandemic shut-
down didn’t help matters for the
mythological fantasy drama,
which originally starred Ricky
Whittle, Ian McShane, Orlando
Jones, Emily Browning, Yetide
Badaki, Bruce Langley, Crispin
Glover, Kahyun Kim, Omid Abta-
hi, Mousa Kraish and the sensa-
tional Pablo Schreiber.
Whittle, who portrayed protag-
onist Shadow Moon, took to social
media and reflected on his turn on
the series.
“This has been an amazing
journey thus far and I am so
grateful to my fellow cast and
crew who have worked so hard on
this award-winning show,” the
British heartthrob wrote in a
Twitter post. “We have the best
fans around the world and thank
each of you for your passion and
support, so know that Neil Gai-
man, Fremantle myself and the
cast are still committed to com-
pleting Neil Gaiman’s critically
acclaimed story.”
STARZ
Ian McShane plays Mr. Wednesday in a scene from “American Gods.”Starz announced Monday that the show had been plagued by lowviewership and it was being canceled after three seasons.
Starz says farewellto ‘American Gods’
BY KARU F. DANIELS
New York Daily News
Detective Benoit Blanc’s next cases will be for Netflix.
The streaming company said Wednesday it has reached a
deal for two sequels to Rian Johnson’s acclaimed 2019 who-
dunit, “Knives Out.”
Netflix declined to say how much it was paying for the
films, which Johnson will direct with Daniel Craig return-
ing as inspector Benoit Blanc. But Deadline, which first re-
ported the deal, said the price would approach $450 million
— making it one of Netflix’s largest, and most sweater-clad,
acquisitions.
It also lands Netflix something it has dearly sought: the
kind of major film franchises that traditional studios have
long depended on. Production on the second “Knives Out,”
written by Johnson and produced by him and Ram Berg-
man, is to begin this summer.
Netflix outbid several other streaming services to land
“Knives Out,” something that was possible because the
2019 film was produced by Media Rights Cable and distrib-
uted by Lionsgate on a single-picture deal.
Bindi Irwin, husband welcome baby girlBindi Irwin has a new cub of her own.
The “Crikey! It’s the Irwins” star and husband Chandler
Powell welcomed a daughter named Grace Warrior Irwin
Powell on Thursday.
Irwin, 22, said her “beautiful daughter” was born on the
same day as her first wedding anniversary, so it was a day
for “celebrating the two loves of my life.”
The daughter of late “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin said
the baby’s middle name is “Warrior Irwin,” a “tribute to my
dad and his legacy as the most incredible Wildlife Warrior.”
“There are no words to describe the infinite amount of
love in our hearts for our sweet baby girl,” she wrote. “She
chose the perfect day to be born, and we feel tremendously
blessed.”
2022 Grammys scheduled to be liveThe Grammys are ready to get back on track.
The annual music awards show has been scheduled for a
live event at the Staples Center on Jan. 31, 2022, CBS and the
Recording Academy announced Wednesday.
Few details were provided, but the Academy appears to
be proceeding as normal after months of COVID-delayed
and -affected shows and awards ceremonies, including the
2021 Grammys.
The 2022 show will air live on CBS and Paramount+.
Netflix wins bidding war, scores high-dollar ‘Knives Out’ sequelsFrom wire reports
Chrissy Teigen will grace
the front of People mag-
azine’s “The Beautiful
Issue” in a cover story
that delves into her evolved defini-
tion of beauty, facing racism
growing up and her heartbreaking
miscarriage last year.
The magazine revealed the cov-
er Wednesday of the annual issue,
which hit newsstands Friday.
On this year’s cover, Teigen ap-
pears smiling along with her chil-
dren Luna, 4, and Miles, 2, with
the quote “I’ve learned how strong
I am.” The 35-year-old model and
cookbook author is
married to R&B crooner John
Legend, who was named Sexiest
Man Alive by the magazine in
2019.
Teigen, who is of Thai-Norwe-
gian descent, said she wants to fol-
low her Thai tradition in remem-
bering her son, Jack, who died at
20 weeks of her pregnancy. She
was hospitalized with excessive
bleeding before the miscarriage.
She said it’s important for Luna
and Milles to stay connected with
their late brother and always “em-
brace the ones that we’ve lost”
based on her tradition.
“We have this new home that
we’re building, and this tree being
planted inside,” she told the maga-
zine. “The whole reason why
I wanted it was so Jack’s
ashes could be in that
soil, and he could be
with us all the time
and grow
through the
beautiful leav-
es.”
Over the
years,
Teigen
said her
definition
of beauty
has evolved
after giving
birth to her
children.
She has tak-
en a proud
stance of embrac-
ing her healed
scars as a moth-
er.
“Beauty is being able to see how
powerful your body is,” she said.
“It’s really, really nice to be able to
come to an age where I can appre-
ciate every little scar and see my
body as something that’s done in-
credible, miraculous things. The
difference is these two beautiful,
wonderful babies, and these scars
are the things I’ve been through
and the journeys I’ve healed
from.”
Motherhood has also changed
Teigen’s views on her wellness.
She used to enforce a strict eating
regimen during her modeling
days, dealing with the ups and
downs of the diet culture.
But now, Teigen is focused on
what makes her feel good and does
her best to “indulge in it.”
“I’ve spent way too many years
counting calories and scheduling
way too many workouts and trying
to figure out what ‘wellness’
meant to me,” she said. “Now I
know that it’s on the ground play-
ing with my kids or going to an
aquarium or a park.”
Teigen touched on enduring
racism while growing up. She of-
ten had friends — Black or white
— who protected her after racist
comments. She said some of her
friends got suspended from school
for defending her.
As Teigen grew older, she saw
more racism occur during her
modeling career.
“I experienced more everyday
casual racism once I entered the
modeling world,” she said. “When
they needed someone racially am-
biguous — that’s what they called
it — that was always going to be
me.”
People’s announcement comes
a week after Teigen quit Twitter,
citing it as a negative influence on
her life. She wrote in a final se-
ries of posts that criti-
cism she’d endured
on the site had
left her “deep-
ly bruised.”
Celebration of beautyChrissy Teigen graces cover of People’s ‘Beautiful Issue’BY JONATHAN LANDRUM JR.
Associated Press
Chrissy Teigenarrives at theVanity Fair OscarParty in 2020, inBeverly Hills,Calif. Teigengraces the frontof Peoplemagazine’s “TheBeautiful Issue.”
AP
PAGE 14 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Friday, April 2, 2021
ACROSS
1 Do sum work?
4 Unpaid TV ad
7 Layers of paints
12 Marseilles
monarch
13 100%
14 Sound
15 Ger. neighbor
16 Shower units?
18 Telly network
19 Santa’s helpers
20 Pack cargo
22 “— the
ramparts ...”
23 Not so hot?
27 Co. that created
Watson
29 Motorist
31 “Twilight” heroine
— Swan
34 Streetcars
35 Large gong
37 Teeny
38 Grecian vessels
39 Employ
41 Stand-up comic
Chappelle
45 Egyptian
peninsula
47 Big D.C. lobby
48 Salable farm
products
52 “— so fast!”
53 44th president
54 Automaton,
for short
55 Chit
56 City boss
57 — -Cat
58 Napoleon’s
title (Abbr.)
DOWN
1 Riyadh residents
2 Uncertainty
3 ’70s club
4 Whittle (down)
5 Zigzag in snow
6 Breathing
7 Scoundrels
8 Wilder’s
“— Town”
9 Commotion
10 Bit of advice
11 “Mayday!”
17 Dweeb
21 Goes limp
23 Overcaffeinated
24 Actress Gardner
25 “The One I
Love” band
26 Doubtfire or
Dalloway
28 Sheepish remark
30 Numbered rd.
31 A/C measure
32 Listener
33 Run after K
36 Naturalist John
37 Sword or dagger
40 Elitists
42 Sandy’s owner
43 Engine sound
44 Devour
45 Bar fight souvenir
46 Analogy words
48 URL suffix
49 Lawyers’ gp.
50 Utter
51 Med. plan option
Answer to Previous Puzzle
Eugene Sheffer CrosswordFra
zz
Dilbert
Pearls B
efo
re S
win
eN
on S
equitur
Candorv
ille
Beetle B
ailey
Biz
arr
oCarp
e D
iem
PAGE 16 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Friday, April 2, 2021
Max D. Lederer Jr., Publisher
Lt. Col. Marci Hoffman, Europe commander
Lt. Col. Richard McClintic, Pacific commander
EDITORIAL
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BUREAU STAFF
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WashingtonJoseph Cacchioli, Washington Bureau [email protected] (+1)(202)886-0033Brian Bowers, Assistant Managing Editor, [email protected]
CIRCULATION
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stripes.com
OPINION
No one likes the blame game — ex-
cept the blamer. Now that CO-
VID-19 is spiking again in the
midst of massive vaccination ef-
forts, the blame machine is running at full
throttle.
During CNN’s documentary interviews
with Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx this
past weekend, the two scientists pointed a
finger or two at former President Donald
Trump for missteps that led, in Birx’s esti-
mation, to thousands, if not hundreds of
thousands, of unnecessary American
deaths. Trump responded in kind, blaming
Birx and Fauci for terrible ideas that, he
said, he prudently ignored.
But facts are facts, and there’s no disput-
ing that Trump’s actions and attitudes dur-
ing the first and second waves of the pan-
demic were often driven by politics instead
of medicine. Birx pointed to the time last
April when Trump tweeted, “Liberate Min-
nesota,” “Liberate Virginia” and “Liberate
Michigan,” encouraging protesters to fight
state orders in direct contradiction to what
the federal government, via the coronavirus
task force (namely Birx and Fauci), was
recommending.
Birx was careful to avoid saying that
Trump threatened her when she spoke up
last fall urging rural residents to take the vi-
rus seriously. The president called her af-
terward to reprimand her in a conversation
Birx described as “uncomfortable” and
“hard to hear.”
“Uncomfortable” is an apt way to de-
scribe how Birx routinely looked during
those regular White House news conferenc-
es with Trump during the pandemic’s peak.
Her colorful trademark scarves were inad-
equate to distract from body language that
conveyed disbelief if not alarm at what the
president was saying. Memorably, last
April, Trump suggested that injecting disin-
fectants into human beings might kill the vi-
rus and turned toward Birx for affirmation.
“You’re going to look into that, aren’t you?”
he said.
If she wasn’t suppressing a scream, I was.
Why doesn’t she say something?, I heard
myself shouting at the screen. Why, during
all those months, as thousands were dying,
didn’t she say, “Enough! This is ridicu-
lous!”? Fauci, too, conveyed a stoic’s resolve
to reveal nothing of his professional or per-
sonal thoughts as Trump often rambled
through the daily data. Fauci told reporters
in late January that he felt liberated by
Trump’s departure from the White House.
That’s nice, but shouldn’t Fauci have
been more outspoken in disrupting
Trump’s stream-of-consciousness mental
meandering? Quitting a job to speak freely
seems nobler than being trapped in the
frame with a president so plainly out of his
depth. Trump had special words for Fauci,
too, after the CNN interview. In the docu-
mentary, Fauci described his decision to go
“all out” for the vaccines as “the best deci-
sion that I’ve ever made.” Trump insisted
that he was responsible for expediting de-
velopment of the vaccines.
From Trump’s perspective, he saved the
economy from collapse by minimizing the
urgency of shutdowns; his science advisers’
view is that the shutdowns prevented out-
of-control contagion and massive death.
Both views have merit, but economies are
more easily revived than lives lost.
Among other facts we know, thanks to
Trump’s interviews with The Washington
Post’s Bob Woodward, Trump knew in
early February how deadly the virus was
and that it was transmitted through the air.
Fauci also must have known since he joined
Trump’s coronavirus task force on Jan. 29,
2020. Yet, for weeks thereafter, the govern-
ment’s best advice was “wash your hands”
and “don’t touch your face.” Given the
threat of a deadly airborne virus, the task
force’s prescription was akin to telling chil-
dren in the 1950s and 1960s to get under
their desks in case of a nuclear attack.
Birx told CNN that the first 100,000
deaths were nobody’s fault because no one
understood what was happening initially.
After that, however, a lack of federal policy
caused subsequent deaths that could have
been “mitigated or substantially reduced.”
Those are strong words aimed directly at
Trump. But shouldn’t Birx also accept some
responsibility for minding her tongue and
allowing the president’s pandemic to flour-
ish? When does knowing better but doing
nothing become tantamount to complicity?
Interviews are interesting, but carefully
crafted guilt notes aren’t helpful to the chal-
lenges ahead. Blame reaps no harvest.
What Americans need now is clarity and
fealty to facts.
The recently proposed National Corona-
virus Commission Act is an important step
in that direction. Bipartisan and bicameral,
the legislation would create an independent
body to investigate the nation’s prepared-
ness and response to the pandemic in the
fashion of the 9/11 Commission. What I fear
they’ll find is that American lives were sac-
rificed to feed the appetite of an insatiable
narcissist who, like the virus he minimized,
cares only about self-propagation.
Fauci, Birx waited too long to speak freelyBY KATHLEEN PARKER
Washington Post Writers Group
Following pandemic news too
closely can be an emotional roller
coaster, with dire public health
warnings immediately followed
by hopeful new studies. The latest soaring
discovery: a new CDC study showing vac-
cines sharply cut all COVID-19 infections
—not just symptoms. That news puts to rest
one worst-case-scenario: that vaccines
might protect the vaccinated against hospi-
talization, but allow millions of silent infec-
tions to continue circulating.
The new data were collected from 4,000
health care workers, first responders, de-
livery workers and teachers who were vac-
cinated with the Pfizer or Moderna vac-
cines between December 2020 and March
2021. The participants were asked not only
to monitor symptoms but also to test them-
selves weekly. The study authors conclud-
ed the vaccines caused a 90% reduction in
all infections. If people aren’t getting in-
fected, they can’t transmit the virus to oth-
ers.
The next drop on the roller coaster could
come from new virus variants, some of
which have shown ability to evade antibod-
ies generated by the original strain. But ex-
perts such as Paul Offit of the Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia are more optimis-
tic. The vaccines show some efficacy
against all the currently known variants,
and good efficacy against one — the B.1.1.7
strain identified in the U.K. last year.
Even before the new study came out, Of-
fit saw enough other evidence of decreased
transmission from vaccines that he said he
liked the idea of issuing vaccine passports
for travel, restaurants or other venues. Da-
ta from Israel, where most of the population
is already vaccinated, show rapidly drop-
ping deaths and hospitalizations. “Nothing
is foolproof,” he says, but people will be
much safer mixing with others who are
vaccinated than those who are not.
The new study results should also allay
fears that the vaccines’ astounding clinical
trial results wouldn’t hold up in the real
world. One concern was a small sample
size. While there were thousands of people
enrolled in those trials, infections were rel-
atively uncommon so only a small number
of people became infected in either the vac-
cine arm or the placebo group.
In this new study, there were 161 infec-
tions in the control group of 994 unvacci-
nated people. By contrast, among the 2,479
vaccinated participants, only eight became
infected between their first and second
doses, which are given three or four weeks
apart. Only three people were infected af-
ter they were fully vaccinated (two weeks
after receiving the second shot).
One reason Offit said he was so optimistic
was that the vaccines induce not just anti-
bodies, but so-called cellular immunity.
That is, they stimulate production of spe-
cialized virus-fighting cells called T-cells,
which can work against a broader range of
variants than antibodies. The T-cells also
last longer than antibodies and are what
give vaccines the power to “remember”
and fight a pathogen weeks or even months
later.
He was also enthusiastic about the John-
son & Johnson vaccine, though it was only
used in five people in the CDC study. That
vaccine induces cellular immunity after
just one shot, he says, while the Pfizer and
Moderna vaccines induce T-cells only after
two shots. (For that reason, he does not ad-
vise skipping the second shot of the two-
shot vaccines in order to conserve supply.)
Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease
doctor at the University of California, San
Francisco, said that she thinks the shots
will effectively end the pandemic because
the T-cells can fight different variants. “I
do understand it almost seems too good to
be true that the vaccines will get us out of
this,” she says. “But they will.”
One thing we’ve learned is that it’s hard
to predict the course of this pandemic —
given how hard it is to predict human be-
havior and the fast evolutionary path of the
virus. Even the vaccine optimists such as
Gandhi and Offit don’t see eradication of
the virus in sight. But they do see the possi-
bility the virus could become less of a threat
to life and health than seasonal flu, after
which it will be hard to hold back a return to
normal life — one with restaurants, inter-
national travel, and yes, roller coasters.
More proof vaccines will end the pandemicBY FAYE FLAM
Bloomberg Opinion
Faye Flam is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and host of thepodcast “Follow the Science.”
PAGE 18 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Friday, April 2, 2021
SCOREBOARD/NFL
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Thursday’s games
SOUTH
Sam Houston St. (3-0) at NorthwesternSt. (0-4)
SOUTHWEST
East Central Oklahoma University atTarleton St. (5-2)
Friday’s games
MIDWEST
N. Iowa (3-3) at South Dakota (1-3)
Saturday’s games
EAST
Villanova (1-1) at Maine (2-1)Albany (NY) (1-3) at Delaware (3-0)Lehigh (0-1) at Lafayette (1-1), ppd.Bucknell (1-0) at Holy Cross (2-0)New Hampshire (0-1) at Rhode Island
(2-1)Colgate (0-1) at Fordham (0-1)
SOUTH
Gardner-Webb (2-0) at CharlestonSouthern (0-2), ppd.
James Madison (4-0) at Richmond (3-0)Presbyterian (1-3) at Stetson (0-2)Robert Morris (0-1) at Kennesaw St. (3-0)The Citadel (0-9) at Wofford (1-3)Nicholls (4-1) at McNeese St. (2-3)Monmouth (NJ) (1-0) at Gardner-Webb
(2-0)ETSU (3-1) at VMI (5-0)SE Missouri (2-4) at UT Martin (2-3)Tennessee St. (2-3) at Tennessee Tech
(1-4)SC State (1-1) at Alabama St. (1-1)Murray St. (5-0) at Austin Peay (3-5)Furman (3-2) at Mercer (3-5)William & Mary (1-2) at Elon (1-5), ppd.Ark.-Pine Bluff (2-0) at MVSU (0-1)Southern U. (2-1) at Jackson St. (3-1)Lamar (2-3) at SE Louisiana (2-2)
MIDWEST
Jacksonville St. (7-2) at E. Illinois (1-4)Valparaiso (2-1) at Drake (1-1)Morehead St. (1-3) at Butler (0-3)S. Dakota St. (4-1) at N. Dakota St. (5-1),
ppd.Youngstown St. (1-4) at W. Illinois (0-5)
SOUTHWEST
Alabama A&M (1-0) at Prairie View (2-0),ppd.
FAR WEST
Davidson (3-1) at San Diego (3-0)Weber St. (3-0) at S. Utah (1-3)E. Washington (3-1) at UC Davis (3-1)Idaho (2-1) at Idaho St. (1-3)
COLLEGE HOCKEY
NCAA Division I TournamentBRIDGEPORT REGIONAL
At Bridgeport, Conn.First Round
Friday, March 26Bemidji St. 6, Wisconsin 3UMass 5, Lake Superior St. 1
ChampionshipSaturday, March 27
UMass, 4 Bemidji St. 0FARGO REGIONAL
At Fargo, N.D.First Round
Friday, March 26Minn. Duluth vs. Michigan, no contestNorth Dakota 5, American International
1Championship
Saturday, March 27Minn. Duluth 3, North Dakota 2, 5OT
ALBANY REGIONALAt Albany, N.Y.
First RoundSaturday, March 27
Boston College vs. Notre Dame, no con-test
St. Cloud St. 6, vs. Boston U. 2Championship
Sunday, March 28St. Cloud St. 4, Boston College 1
LOVELAND REGIONALAt Loveland, Colo.
First RoundSaturday, March 27
Minnesota St. 4, Quinnipiac 3, OTMinnesota 7, Omaha 2
ChampionshipSunday, March 28
Minnesota St. 4, Minnesota 0FROZEN FOURAt Pittsburgh
National SemifinalsThursday, April 8
Minn. Duluth vs. UMassSt. Cloud St. vs. Minnesota St.
National ChampionshipSaturday, April 10
Semifinal winners
TENNIS
Miami OpenWednesday
At Tennis Center at Crandon ParkMiami
Purse: $3,343,785Surface: Hardcourt outdoor
Men’s SinglesQuarterfinals
Jannik Sinner (21), Italy, def. AlexanderBublik (32), Kazakhstan, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Roberto Bautista Agut (7), Spain, def.Daniil Medvedev (1), Russia, 6-4, 6-2.
Women’s SinglesQuarterfinals
Maria Sakkari (23), Greece, def. NaomiOsaka (2), Japan, 6-0, 6-4.
Bianca Andreescu (8), Canada, def. SaraSorribes Tormo, Spain, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Men’s DoublesQuarterfinals
Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic (2), Croa-tia, def. Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, Pakistan,and Miomir Kecmanovic, Serbia, 6-2, 6-2.
Rajeev Ram, United States, and Joe Sa-lisbury (7), Britain, def. Michael Mmoh andSebastian Korda, United States, 7-5, 6-2.
Daniel Evans and Neal Skupski, Britain,def. Horia Tecau, Romania, and MarceloArevalo-Gonzalez, El Salvador, 6-7 (6), 6-3,11-9.
Women’s DoublesQuarterfinals
Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara (5),Japan, def. Caroline Garcia, France, andNadia Podoroska, Argentina, 6-3, 6-2.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands, United States,and Iga Swiatek, Poland, def. Lyudmyla Ki-chenok, Ukraine, and Jelena Ostapenko,Latvia, 6-1, 6-4.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
USA Today Coaches PollThe USA TODAY Sports Top 25 baseballpoll, with team’s records through Sundayin parentheses, total points based on 25for first place through one point for 25th,ranking in last week’s poll and first-placevotes received.:
Record Pts Pvs
1. Vanderbilt (23) 19-3 789 1
2. Arkansas (9) 19-3 773 2
3. Mississippi 20-4 729 3
4. Texas Tech 19-4 701 6
5. Louisville 16-6 616 7
6. Tennessee 21-4 595 9
7. Mississippi State 17-7 576 4
8. Texas 17-7 550 10
9. UCLA 15-7 487 11
10. Georgia Tech 13-7 469 13
11. Texas Christian 16-7 461 12
12. East Carolina 17-5 441 8
13. Florida 16-8 402 5
14. Notre Dame 11-4 380 14
15. South Carolina 16-6 365 23
16. Oklahoma State 15-6 338 17
17. Oregon State 16-5 244 20
18. Miami 12-8 204 22
19. Louisiana Tech 17-6 200 —
20. Oregon 12-6 182 15
21. Arizona 16-7 156 —
22. Florida State 12-8 135 21
23. Michigan 11-4 92 19
24. Stanford 14-3 67 —
25. Louisiana State 16-8 66 16
Dropped Out: No. 18 Pittsburgh; No. 24Alabama; No. 25 North Carolina.
Others Receiving Votes: Arizona State59; Virginia Tech 57; Pittsburgh 43; NorthCarolina 38; UC Santa Barbara 31; South-ern Illinois 29; Georgia 26; San Diego 20;Old Dominion 17; Indiana 13; Virginia 10;Kentucky 8; Alabama 8; UC Irvine 7; Liberty5; Indiana State 4; Western Carolina 3; Tex-as A&M 2; San Diego State 1; Baylor 1.
DEALS
Wednesday’s transactionsBASEBALL
Major League BaseballAmerican League
KANSAS CITY ROYALS — Placed INFAdalberto Mondesi on the 10-day injuredlist. Recalled INF Nicky Lopez from the al-ternate training site.
MINNESOTA TWINS — Named KevinMorgan major league field coordinator.
NEW YORK YANKEES — Signed LHP Lu-cas Luetge to a one-year contract. PlacedINF/OF Miguel Andujar, INF Luke Voit andLHP Justin Wilson on the 10-day injured listand LHP Zack Britton on the 60-day injuredlist.
SEATTLE MARINERS — Selected the con-tract of RHP Drew Steckenrider from Taco-ma (Triple-A West).Placed OF Kyle Lewisand INF Shed Long on 10-day injured list.Optioned RHP Domingo Tapia to alternatetraining site.
TORONTO BLUE JAYS — Acquired C JuanGraterol from the Angels for cash consid-erations and will report to the alternatetraining site.
National LeagueATLANTA BRAVES — Placed RHP Mike
Soraka on the 10-day injured list.CHICAGO CUBS — Signed C Tony Wolters
to a one-year contract. Designated RHPJames Norwood for assignment. Outright-ed INF Ildemaro Vargas to alternate train-ing Site.
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES — Selected thecontract of 2B Ronald Torreyes from Le-high Valley (Triple-A East).
BASKETBALLWomen’s National Basketball
AssociationWASHINGTON MYSTICS — Signed G Sha-
vonte Zellous.FOOTBALL
National Football LeagueARIZONA CARDINALS — Signed QB Colt
McCoy, SS Shawn Williams and DB ChrisBanjo..
BUFFALO BILLS — Signed LB TyrellAdams and LB Marquel Lee to a one-yearcontracts.
CAROLINA PANTHERS — Signed OG JohnMiller.
CINCINNATI BENGALS — Re-signed DTMike Daniels and DL Amani Bledsoe to aone-year contracts.
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS — Signed WR T.Y.Hilton. Re-signed DE Al-Quadin Muham-mad to a one-year contract.
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS — Signed RB ElijahMcGuire and DT Jarran Reed.
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS — Signed QBChas Daniel and CB Ryan Smith.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS — Signed OG Dako-ta Dozier.
NEW YORK GIANTS — Signed CB ChrisMilton, DB Joshua Kalu and TE Cole Hikuti-ni.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS — Signed LB Jar-vis Miller and WR Matthew Sexton to aone-year contracts.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS — Signed WR TylerLockett to a four-year contract extension.
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS — Re-signedRB Leonard Fournette.
HOCKEYNational Hockey League
NHL — Fined Edmonton F Connor McDa-vid for elbowing Montreal F Jesperi Kotka-niemi during a March 30 game.
BOSTON BRUINS — Assigned C GregMcKegg and G Jeremy Swayman to Provi-dence (AHL).
CAROLINA HURRICANES — Assigned FJason Cotton to Chicago (AHL).
COLORADO AVALANCHE — Assigned DGreg Pateryn and C Alex Newhook to Col-orado (AHL). Recalled LW Liam O’BrienColorado (AHL) loan.
DALLAS STARS — Signed F Jordan Kawa-guchi to a one-year entry level contractand sent to Texas (AHL).
FLORIDA PANTHERS — Agreed to termswith G Spencer Knight on a three-year en-try-level contract. Recalled D Brady Keep-er from San Jose (AHL) loan.
LOS ANGELES KINGS — Assigned D Da-niel Brickley to Ontario (AHL).
NEW JERSEY DEVILS — Assigned RWMarian Studenic to Binghamton (AHL).
NEW YORK ISLANDERS — Assigned DGrant Hutton and G Cory Schneider toBridgeport (AHL). Recalled G Jakub Skarekfrom Bridgeport (AHL).
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS — Assigned LWDrew O’Connor to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton(AHL).
SAN JOSE SHARKS — Recalled Cs NoahGregor and Fredrik Handemark from theminor league taxi squad and D ChristianJaros from San Jose (AHL) loan.
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING — Signed FOdeen Turto to a one-year entry-level con-tract and sent to Syracuse (AHL).
VANCOUVER CANUCKS — Signed GThatcher Demko to a five-year contractextension.
OLYMPICSOLYMPIC MEN’S HOCKEY — Named Stan
Bowman general manager of 2022 Olym-pic Men’s hockey team.
SOCCERMajor League Soccer
DC UNITED — Announced the return ofMF Paul Arriola from loan to Swansea CityA.F.C. (EFL).
FC CINCINNATI — Signed W Isaac Atangavia transfer to a three-year contract.
LOS ANGELES FC — Named Larry Freed-man and John Thorrington co-presidents.
MINNESOTA UNITED — Named DamianRoden senior director of sports science.
PHILADELPHIA UNION — Signed MF LeonFlach from FC St. Pauli to a two-year con-tract.
COLLEGECAMPBELL UNIVERSITY — Named West-
on Glaser assistant head football coach.NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY — Named
Jack Smithlin assistant softball coach andhitting instructor.
April 2
1983 — New York Islander Mike Bossybecomes the first player to score 60 ormore goals in three consecutive seasons.
1984 — Georgetown, led by junior centerPatrick Ewing and freshman forward Reg-gie Williams, beats Houston 84-75 to winthe NCAA championship in Seattle.
1986 — The three-point field goal, at 19feet, 9 inches, is adopted by the NCAA.
1990 — UNLV pounds Duke 103-73 to winits first NCAA championship and extendthe Blue Devils’ streak to eight Final Fourappearances without a title. The Runnin’Rebels become the first team to scoremore than 100 points in a championshipgame and the 30-point margin is the large-st ever.
1995 — Connecticut caps an unbeatenseason by defeating Tennessee 70-64 forthe NCAA women’s championship. TheHuskies, 35-0, become the winningest bas-ketball team for one season in Division I.
2000 — Connecticut wins its secondwomen’s national championship with a71-52 victory over Tennessee. The top-ranked Huskies beat No. 2 Tennessee forthe second time in three meetings this
season. 2005 — Roger Powell Jr. and Luther Head
score 20 points apiece, leading Illinois to a72-57 win over Louisville in the semifinalsof the Final Four. With the win, the Illini(37-1) tie the single-season NCAA recordfor victories.
2007 — The Florida Gators keep theirstranglehold on the college basketballworld with an 84-75 victory over Ohio Statefor their second straight national cham-pionship.
2012 — Doron Lamb scores 22 points asKentucky wins its eighth men’s nationalchampionship, holding off Kansas for a 67-59 victory.
2014 — The Sacramento Kings beat theLos Angeles Lakers 107-102 to give theLakers their 50th loss of the season. Thelast time the Lakers had 50 or more losseswas 1974-75 (30-52).
2016 — Villanova advances to the na-tional championship game with the big-gest margin of victory in Final Four history,overwhelming Oklahoma 95-51. The mar-gin topped 34-point Final Four wins by Cin-cinnati over Oregon State in 1962 and Mi-chigan State over Penn in 1979.
AP SPORTLIGHT
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — There
was no shortage of Kyle Pitts high-
lights at Florida’s pro day Wednes-
day, from his measurables to his
moves to even his mindset.
It was a refresher course for
anyone who watched the versatile
tight end play last season.
Whether he was outjumping,
outrunning and outmuscling de-
fensive backs, making linebackers
and safeties look silly, or handling
his own at the line of scrimmage,
Pitts was undoubtedly one of the
most dynamic pass catchers in the
country in 2020 and possibly the
best college player at his position
in years, maybe even decades.
No one would be surprised to see
him be an instant star at the next
level.
Pitts and several teammates —
most notably quarterback Kyle
Trask, cornerback Marco Wilson
and receivers Kadarius Toney and
Trevon Grimes — worked out for
talent evaluators from 31 of 32
NFL teams. Four head coaches
were in attendance: Urban Meyer
(Jacksonville), Matt Rhule (Car-
olina), Brian Flores (Miami) and
Zac Taylor (Cincinnati).
It was a chance for scouts to get
the kind of up-close look they
couldn’t over the past year be-
cause of COVID-19 travel restric-
tions and because the NFL com-
bine was canceled.
Pitts put on a show, even before
he stepped on the field to catch
passes from Trask for maybe the
last time. His 83-inch wingspan
was more than impressive, even
by NFL standards. The 6-foot-6,
245-pound Philadelphia native al-
so had a 33 ½-inch vertical, re-
corded 10 feet, 9 inches in the
broad jump and managed 22 repe-
titions of 225 pounds on the bench
press.
Pitts later covered the 40-yard
dash in 4.45 seconds, not far off
tight end Vernon Davis’ combine
watershed mark (4.38) set in 2006.
He ended the day running routes
for Trask and then raised some
eyebrows while sharing his No. 1
goal.
“Start at a high level and keep
increasing every year and being
able to do other things that other
tight ends aren’t doing, which
would make me special,” he said.
“At the end of the day, with all the
preparation and through the
years, I feel like I’ll be the best to
ever do it.”
Pitts is widely considered a lock
to be a top-10 pick in the draft, and
at least one recent mock had him
going second overall behind Clem-
son quarterback Trevor Law-
rence. ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr.
called Pitts “my highest-graded
tight end EVER” on Twitter.
How high could Pitts go? If not
for so many teams being desperate
for quarterbacks, he probably
would be one of the first few guys
off the board.
Pitts caught 43 passes for 770
yards and 12 touchdowns in 7 ½
games last season. He missed 10
quarters following a vicious hit
against Georgia in early Novem-
ber that knocked his helmet so
sideways that his facemask frac-
tured his septum. He had surgery
and sat out two full games.
He returned, scored three times
against Kentucky and then opted
out of the Cotton Bowl after anoth-
er unstoppable performance
against Alabama in the Southeast-
ern Conference championship
game. NFL executives have been
drooling ever since.
It’s still entirely possible for
Pitts to be the highest-drafted tight
end in the modern era (since 1970).
Denver drafted Riley Odoms fifth
overall in 1972. Davis and Kellen
Winslow Jr. (2004) both went
sixth.
JOHN RAOUX / AP
Florida tight end Kyle Pitts, left, is arguably the most dynamicplaymaker in the NFL Draft, a versatile tight end who attracted a lot ofattention during Florida’s pro day Wednesday.
Pitts puts on showfor NFL evaluators
BY MARK LONG
Associated Press
Friday, April 2, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 19
NHL/AUTO RACING
East Division
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Washington 35 23 8 4 50 121 104
N.Y. Islanders 36 22 10 4 48 106 84
Pittsburgh 36 23 11 2 48 117 94
Boston 32 18 9 5 41 88 77
Philadelphia 35 17 14 4 38 107 129
N.Y. Rangers 35 16 15 4 36 112 94
New Jersey 34 13 16 5 31 83 106
Buffalo 35 7 23 5 19 77 123
Central Division
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Tampa Bay 35 24 9 2 50 124 85
Florida 36 23 9 4 50 119 99
Carolina 34 23 8 3 49 113 86
Nashville 37 19 17 1 39 95 109
Chicago 37 17 15 5 39 106 115
Columbus 37 14 15 8 36 94 118
Dallas 33 11 12 10 32 91 91
Detroit 37 12 21 4 28 80 119
West Division
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Colorado 35 23 8 4 50 127 80
Vegas 34 24 9 1 49 110 79
Minnesota 34 21 11 2 44 99 86
St. Louis 35 16 13 6 38 100 113
Arizona 36 16 15 5 37 95 112
Los Angeles 34 14 14 6 34 96 96
San Jose 35 15 16 4 34 99 120
Anaheim 37 11 20 6 28 83 123
North Division
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Toronto 36 23 10 3 49 119 92
Winnipeg 37 22 13 2 46 120 102
Edmonton 37 22 14 1 45 122 107
Montreal 32 15 8 9 39 104 87
Calgary 37 16 18 3 35 96 112
Vancouver 37 16 18 3 35 100 120
Ottawa 36 12 20 4 28 94 135
Wednesday’s games
Buffalo 6, Philadelphia 1Toronto 3, Winnipeg 1Colorado 9, Arizona 3Los Angeles 4, Vegas 2San Jose 4, Minnesota 2Calgary at Vancouver, ppd.
Thursday’s games
Columbus at Tampa BayDetroit at FloridaMontreal at OttawaN.Y. Rangers at BuffaloPittsburgh at BostonWashington at N.Y. IslandersCarolina at ChicagoDallas at NashvilleMinnesota at Vegas
Friday’s games
Washington at New JerseyToronto at WinnipegCalgary at EdmontonSt. Louis at ColoradoArizona at AnaheimSan Jose at Los Angeles
NHL scoreboard
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Linus Ull-
mark stopped 31 shots and the
Buffalo Sabres snapped an 18-
game skid — the NHL’s longest
in 17 years — with a 6-1 win over
the Philadelphia Flyers on
Wednesday night.
Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin
was the first off the bench as the
final horn sounded and led a line
of Sabres players high-fiving
Ullmark in an arena without
fans.
It was the first win for Buffalo
since a 4-1 victory at New Jersey
on Feb. 23, and ended an 0-15-3
streak. The slump was tied for
the league’s 14th longest, and
worst since the Pittsburgh Pen-
guins had a 0-17-1 stretch during
the 2003-04 season.
Steven Fogarty scored his first
career goal and added an assist,
and defenseman Brandon Mon-
tour sealed the win by scoring
short-handed goals 37 seconds
apart, the first into an empty net.
Ivan Provorov scored for Phi-
ladelphia in the second period.
Brian Elliott allowed four goals
on 16 shots before he was re-
placed by Alex Lyon.
Avalanche 9, Coyotes 3: Joo-
nas Donskoi scored three times
during Colorado’s five-goal first
period in a win over visiting Ari-
zona.
The team invited frontline and
health-care workers, first re-
sponders, players’ families and
employees into Ball Arena. The
last time the Avs played in front
of a home crowd was on March
11, 2020 — just before the league
halted the season due to the CO-
VID-19 pandemic.
Andre Burakovsky and
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare also
scored in a wild first period that
included Coyotes goals by Mi-
chael Bunting and Oliver Ek-
man-Larsson.
Kings 4, Golden Knights 2:
Lias Andersson scored in his
first game back after missing
more than a month, helping Los
Angeles win on the road to stop a
three-game skid.
Andreas Athanasiou, Jaret
Anderson-Dolan and Alex Iafal-
lo also scored for the Kings, and
Cal Petersen improved to 4-1-0
against Vegas after stopping 40
shots. Peterson has both of Los
Angeles’ wins over the Golden
Knights this season.
William Karlsson and Shea
Theodore scored for Vegas.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 26
saves.
Sharks 4, Wild 2: Rudolfs Bal-
cers and Ryan Donato scored in
the second period, and host San
Jose completed a two-game
sweep of Minnesota.
The Sharks followed a shoo-
tout win on Monday with another
strong performance against a
team they are chasing in the
standings.
Maple Leafs 3, Jets 1: Auston
Matthews scored his NHL-lead-
ing 24th goal for Toronto, and
goaltender Jack Campbell
stayed unbeaten this season with
a win at Winnipeg.
Zach Hyman and Alex Kerfoot
also scored for the Maple Leafs.
Mitch Marner had two assists for
his 13th multipoint game of the
season.
Sabres beat Flyers, stop slide at 18Buffalo’s Ullmark stops31 shots, ending longestNHL slump in 17 years
Associated Press
ADRIAN KRAUS / AP
Buffalo Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark, right, reacts to defenseman Brandon Montour scoring a shorthanded, emptynet goal in a 61 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday in Buffalo.
NHL ROUNDUP
BRISTOL, Tenn. — The pan-
demic gave NASCAR an overdue
opportunity to break from the way
things had always been done in the
sport.
The traditional three-day race
weekend was scrapped as NAS-
CAR scrambled to complete a sea-
son while following COVID-19 pro-
tocols. Practice was scrapped and
few complained, the same for qual-
ifying.
When the compacted one-day
show helped NASCAR cruise
through its schedule, a hotline
opened and all ideas were wel-
come. A dirt race on the Cup
schedule? At Bristol Motor Speed-
way?
Sure! Let’s give it a whirl!
It sure sounded fun to put the
Cup Series on a dirt track for the
first time since 1970, but success-
fully executing such a wild idea
seemed fraught with uncertain-
ties. The risk was worth it to Mar-
cus Smith, the CEO of Bristol Mo-
tor Speedway parent company
Speedway Motorsports. He told
The Associated Press he spent
nearly $2 million to transform
Bristol’s concrete bullring into a
dirt track, and even as the track be-
gan to crack, the tires struggled to
hold together and the drivers com-
plained of a blinding dust, Smith
insisted everything was great.
And when the race finally fin-
ished Monday night — a day late
because after all the concerns
about Cup cars’ suitability for dirt
at Bristol, torrential rains caused a
postponement for flooding — ev-
erything indeed was just fine.
Sure, the red Tennessee clay
turned Bristol into a dustbowl, de-
scribed best when driver Corey
LaJoie declared “visibility was ze-
ro out of 2 with the glare.” But
nothing bad happened.
NASCAR staved off a rash of
blown tires by adding mandatory
cautions that also created extra
track prep time. Bristol pulled an
all-nighter after the Sunday rains
to work the dirt so that it wasn’t en-
gine-overheating-inducing mud.
And when the dust got really out of
control, NASCAR simply changed
the rules in the middle of the race
and switched to single-file restarts
for the first time in probably a dec-
ade.
“I know some of our fans and the
NASCAR industry (aren’t) used to
seeing what happened during the
race with the dust buildup,” said
Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s chief
racing development officer.
“If you experience that situation,
to try and go single file to alleviate
some of the dust and some of the
visibility issues, that’s why we
made that move.”
Bristol avoided mess most feared for a dirt raceBY JENNA FRYER
Associated Press
WADE PAYNE / AP
Driver Aric Almirola (10) collides with Anthony Alfredo duringMonday’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Bristol, Tenn.
IN THE PITS
PAGE 20 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Friday, April 2, 2021
NBA
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
W L Pct GB
Brooklyn 33 15 .688 —
Philadelphia 32 15 .681 ½
New York 24 24 .500 9
Boston 23 25 .479 10
Toronto 18 30 .375 15
Southeast Division
W L Pct GB
Charlotte 24 22 .522 —
Miami 24 24 .500 1
Atlanta 23 24 .489 1½
Washington 17 29 .370 7
Orlando 16 31 .340 8½
Central Division
W L Pct GB
Milwaukee 30 17 .638 —
Indiana 21 25 .457 8
Chicago 19 27 .413 10
Cleveland 17 30 .362 12½
Detroit 13 34 .277 16½
Western Conference
Southwest Division
W L Pct GB
Dallas 25 21 .543 —
San Antonio 24 21 .533 ½
Memphis 22 23 .489 2½
New Orleans 21 25 .457 4
Houston 13 34 .277 12½
Northwest Division
W L Pct GB
Utah 36 11 .766 —
Denver 29 18 .617 7
Portland 29 18 .617 7
Oklahoma City 20 27 .426 16
Minnesota 12 36 .250 24½
Pacific Division
W L Pct GB
Phoenix 33 14 .702 —
L.A. Clippers 32 17 .653 2
L.A. Lakers 30 18 .635 3½
Golden State 23 24 .489 10
Sacramento 22 26 .458 11½
Wednesday’s games
Portland 124, Detroit 101 Miami 92, Indiana 87 Brooklyn 120, Houston 108 Dallas 113, Boston 108 Minnesota 102, New York 101 Oklahoma City 113, Toronto 103 Utah 111, Memphis 107 San Antonio 120, Sacramento 106 Phoenix 121, Chicago 116 Milwaukee 112, L.A. Lakers 97
Thursday’s games
Philadelphia at Cleveland Washington at Detroit Charlotte at Brooklyn Golden State at Miami Orlando at New Orleans Atlanta at San Antonio Denver at L.A. Clippers
Friday’s games
Golden State at Toronto Dallas at New York Houston at Boston Charlotte at Indiana Minnesota at Memphis Atlanta at New Orleans Chicago at Utah L.A. Lakers at Sacramento Milwaukee at Portland Oklahoma City at Phoenix
Saturday’s games
Dallas at Washington Cleveland at Miami Minnesota at Philadelphia New York at Detroit Indiana at San Antonio Orlando at Utah Milwaukee at Sacramento Oklahoma City at Portland
Leaders
Through Tuesday
Scoring
G FG FT PTS AVG
Beal, WAS 41 449 296 1284 31.3
Lillard, POR 44 404 319 1310 29.8
Rebounds
G OFF DEF TOT AVG
Capela, ATL 41 198 382 580 14.1
Gobert, UTA 46 159 456 615 13.4
Assists
G AST AVG
Harden, BKN 40 448 11.2
Westbrook, WAS 39 414 10.6
Scoreboard
NEW YORK — Admittedly
down in the doldrums, the Brook-
lyn Nets were behind by 18 points
in less than five minutes.
By the end of the night, they
were on top of the Eastern Confer-
ence.
Kyrie Irving had 31 points and a
season-high 12 assists, and the
Nets overcame the loss of James
Harden to beat the Houston Rock-
ets 120-108 on Wednesday night
and move into first place in the
East.
Harden sat out the fourth quar-
ter against his former team with
right hamstring tightness, finish-
ing with 17 points, eight rebounds
and six assists.
Brooklyn put together the piv-
otal run without him, scoring 12
straight midway through the final
period to turn a six-point deficit
into a 107-101 lead.
Coach Steve Nash said the Nets
will see how Harden feels Thurs-
day before their game against
Charlotte, but was confident the
All-Star guard didn’t have a long-
term injury. Brooklyn has been
without Kevin Durant since mid-
February because of his own
hamstring strain.
“Any time someone goes down,
it’s very concerning,” Irving said.
“Any time someone doesn’t play
we definitely have to have that
mentality that we’re still going to
play at a very high level.”
Joe Harris added 28 points for
the Nets, who didn’t even lead un-
til the last half-minute of the third
quarter, but emerged with their
19th win in 22 games, improving to
26-9 since acquiring Harden from
Houston on Jan. 14.
At 33-15, they are a half-game
ahead of Philadelphia atop the
East. Kevin Porter Jr. scored 20
points for the Rockets, who got
Christian Wood back after mis-
sing the previous two games be-
cause of injury and illness but
were without John Wall because
of a knee injury.
Nets take first place in EastBrooklyn tops Houston,loses Harden to injury
BY BRIAN MAHONEY
Associated Press
FRANK FRANKLIN II / AP
The Houston Rockets’ Kevin Porter Jr., left, and Jae’Sean Tate, right, defend against Brooklyn Nets guardKyrie Irving during the Nets’ 120108 win Wednesday in New York.
LOS ANGELES — Andre Drummond left
his Lakers debut with a bruised right toe, and
Jrue Holiday scored 28 points in the Milwau-
kee Bucks’ 112-97 victory over Los Angeles on
Wednesday night.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 25 points and
10 rebounds, and Khris Middleton added 17
points and eight assists as the Bucks snapped
their three-game losing streak with a work-
manlike victory over the depleted defending
NBA champions, who are still without LeBron
James and Anthony Davis.
Drummond scored four points in 14 minutes
before limping off the court early in the third
quarter after trying to play without the toenail
on his big right toe. The nail was completely
ripped off in the first quarter when Bucks cen-
ter Brook Lopez stepped on Drummond’s foot,
but Drummond said he didn’t notice the extent
of the injury until halftime, even though it was
“very, very painful.”
“To have this happen to me in the first game
is kind of deflating for me, but my head is
high,” said Drummond, who hadn’t played in a
game for Cleveland since Feb. 12. “I’m going to
take it game by game and come back better
than ever.”
X-rays were negative on the Lakers’ new
center, but the bruise adds another injury
problem to the Lakers’ list ahead of a tough
schedule in April. James missed his sixth
straight game for Los Angeles with a sprained
right ankle, and Davis missed his 20th consec-
utive game with a right calf injury.
Jazz 111, Grizzlies 107: Mike Conley
scored 13 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter,
Jordan Clarkson added 24 points and Utah won
at Memphis for its seventh straight victory.
Bojan Bogdanovic added 23 points for the
Jazz, who defeated the Grizzlies for the third
time in a week, this time overcoming 36 points
from guard Ja Morant.
Mavericks 113, Celtics 108: Luka Doncic
had 36 points and eight rebounds and Dallas
held on to win at Boston.
Jalen Brunson added 21 points, including
two late free throws, and Kristaps Porzingis
finished with 19 points to help the Mavericks
win their second straight.
Trail Blazers 124, Pistons 10: Damian Lil-
lard had 33 points and nine assists and Por-
tland won at Detroit.
CJ McCollum added 24 points and Carmelo
Anthony and Robert Covington each scored 16
in the Trail Blazers’ fourth straight win.
Heat 92, Pacers 87: Duncan Robinson and
Jimmy Butler helped Miami rally from a 13-
point first-half deficit by spurring a decisive
eight-point fourth-quarter run for a win at In-
diana.
Robinson finished with 20 points and Butler
added 18 as the Heat avoided getting swept in
the three-game season series with the Pacers.
Miami has won two straight since ending a
four-game losing streak.
Thunder 113, Raptors 103: Svi Mykhailiuk
scored 10 of his season-high 22 points in the
fourth quarter, and Oklahoma City rallied to
beat visiting Toronto.
Mykhailiuk made 9 of 14 shots and had a ca-
reer-high nine rebounds.
Timberwolves 102, Knicks 101: Anthony
Edwards scored 11 of his 24 points over the fi-
nal eight minutes, leading a fierce rally by host
Minnesota for a victory over former coach
Tom Thibodeau and New York.
Spurs 120, Kings 106: DeMar DeRozan
scored 26 points and host San Antonio snapped
Sacramento’s five-game winning streak.
Suns 121, Bulls 116:Devin Booker scored a
season-high 45 points, Chris Paul added 19
points and 14 assists, and host Phoenix held on
to beat Chicago.
Bucks top Lakers, Drummond hurts toe in debut
ASHLEY LANDIS / AP
Milwaukee Bucks forward GiannisAntetokounmpo, center, dunks against LosAngeles Lakers center Andre Drummondduring the Bucks’ 11297 win Wednesday.
Associated Press
ROUNDUP
Friday, April 2, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 21
MLB
American League
East Division
W L Pct GB
Baltimore 0 0 .000 _
Boston 0 0 .000 _
New York 0 0 .000 _
Tampa Bay 0 0 .000 _
Toronto 0 0 .000 _
Central Division
W L Pct GB
Chicago 0 0 .000 _
Cleveland 0 0 .000 _
Detroit 0 0 .000 _
Kansas City 0 0 .000 _
Minnesota 0 0 .000 _
West Division
W L Pct GB
Houston 0 0 .000 _
Los Angeles 0 0 .000 _
Oakland 0 0 .000 _
Seattle 0 0 .000 _
Texas 0 0 .000 _
National League
East Division
W L Pct GB
Atlanta 0 0 .000 _
Miami 0 0 .000 _
New York 0 0 .000 _
Philadelphia 0 0 .000 _
Washington 0 0 .000 _
Central Division
W L Pct GB
Chicago 0 0 .000 _
Cincinnati 0 0 .000 _
Milwaukee 0 0 .000 _
Pittsburgh 0 0 .000 _
St. Louis 0 0 .000 _
West Division
W L Pct GB
Arizona 0 0 .000 _
Colorado 0 0 .000 _
Los Angeles 0 0 .000 _
San Diego 0 0 .000 _
San Francisco 0 0 .000 _
Wednesday’s games
No games scheduled
Thursday’s games
Toronto at N.Y. Yankees Cleveland at Detroit Baltimore at Boston Texas at Kansas City Chicago White Sox at L.A. Angels Houston at OaklandMinnesota at Milwaukee Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs Atlanta at Philadelphia Arizona at San Diego L.A. Dodgers at Colorado St. Louis at Cincinnati Tampa Bay at Miami N.Y. Mets at Washington San Francisco at Seattle
Friday’s games
Chicago White Sox (Keuchel 0-0) at L.A.Angels (Heaney 0-0)
Houston (Javier 0-0) at Oakland (Luzar-do 0-0)
Tampa Bay (Yarbrough 0-0) at Miami(López 0-0)
L.A. Dodgers (Bauer 0-0) at Colorado(Senzatela 0-0)
Arizona (Kelly 0-0) at San Diego (Snell0-0)
San Francisco (Cueto 0-0) at Seattle(Paxton 0-0)
Saturday’s games
Toronto at N.Y. Yankees Baltimore at Boston Cleveland at Detroit Texas at Kansas City Houston at Oakland Chicago White Sox at L.A. Angels Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs Atlanta at Philadelphia N.Y. Mets at Washington St. Louis at CincinnatiTampa Bay at MiamiMinnesota at MilwaukeeL.A. Dodgers at ColoradoArizona at San DiegoSan Francisco at Seattle
MLB calendarJuly 11-13 — Amateur draft.July 13 — All-Star Game, Atlanta.July 25 — Hall of Fame induction, Coo-
perstown, N.Y.Aug. 12 — New York Yankees vs. Chicago
White Sox at Dyersville, Iowa.Aug. 22 — Los Angeles Angels vs. Cleve-
land at Williamsport, Pa.Dec. 1 — Collective bargaining agree-
ment expires, 11:59 p.m. EST.Dec. 15 — International amateur signing
period closes.
Scoreboard
NEW YORK — Francisco Lindor and the
New York Mets have agreed to a $341 mil-
lion, 10-year deal, keeping the All-Star short-
stop in Queens for the long haul after acquir-
ing him from Cleveland in the offseason, ac-
cording to a person familiar with the agree-
ment.
The person spoke to The Associated Press
on Wednesday night on condition of anonym-
ity because the deal hadn’t been announced.
Lindor was eligible for free agency after
this season and said this spring he wouldn’t
negotiate with the Mets on a long-term con-
tract after opening day. Less than 24 hours
before New York started its season Thursday
night in Washington, an agreement was reac-
hed.
The 27-year-old Lindor
has two Gold Gloves and
made four All-Star teams in
six seasons with the Indians,
hitting .285 with an average
of 29 homers, 86 RBIs and 21
stolen bases per 162 games.
He was the prized pickup
in new owner Steve Cohen’s
first offseason, acquired from Cleveland
along with right-hander Carlos Carrasco for
infielders Amed Rosario, Andrés Giménez
and two minor leaguers. New York added
Lindor knowing he could walk after the 2021
season, but the team said it would try to nego-
tiate a long-term pact.
MLB Network was first to report on the
agreement.
Lindor will retain his $22.3 million salary
for 2021 before the contract kicks in for 2022.
The deal will be the largest ever for a
shortstop, passing Fernando Tatis Jr.’s $340
million, 14-year contract with San Diego
signed in February. Only Mike Trout’s
$426.5 million, 12-year deal with the Los An-
geles Angels and Mookie Betts’ $365 million,
12-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodg-
ers are worth more. Betts’ deal includes $115
million in deferred payments through 2044.
Lindor’s deal is also by far the largest
payout ever from the Mets, surpassing con-
tracts for third baseman David Wright ($138
million), pitchers Jacob deGrom ($137.5 mil-
lion) and Johan Santana ($137.5 million).
Cohen tweeted Tuesday that Lindor was a
“heckuva player and a great guy” and said he
hoped to strike a deal. He confirmed the pair
had dinner together over the weekend.
Source: Lindor, Mets agree to 10-year dealBY JAKE SEINER
Associated Press
Lindor
CHICAGO
Acouple of postseason
stars. The son of a
former big leaguer.
A versatile infielder
from South Korea.
Here is a closer look at a hand-
ful of rookies who could play a
starring role this year:
■ OF Randy Arozarena and SS
Wander Franco, Tampa Bay
Rays: Arozarena helped power TampaBay to the World Series last year, batting .377 with 10 homers, 14 RBIs anda 1.273 OPS in 20 postseason games.The switchhitting Franco, who justturned 20 on March 1, is widely regarded as baseball’s top prospect.
■ RHP Ian Anderson, Atlanta
Braves: The 22yearold Andersonwas called up in August and went 32with a 1.95 ERA in six starts, helpingAtlanta win the NL East. He also shinedin the postseason, allowing just twoearned runs in 18 2⁄�3 innings.
■ INF Ke’Bryan Hayes, Pitts
burgh Pirates: Hayes, 24, providedsome hope for lowly Pittsburgh in September, batting .376 with five homersin 24 games. The slickfielding son offormer big league infielder CharlieHayes was selected by the Pirates in thefirst round of the 2015 amateur draft.
■ OF Dylan Carlson, St. Louis
Cardinals: The athletic Carlson waspromoted in August and helped St.Louis reach the playoffs for the secondstraight year. He batted .200 with 35strikeouts in 35 games, but the switchhitter just turned 22 in October, and theCardinals think he could be a big part oftheir lineup for years to come.
■ RHP Nate Pearson, Toronto
Blue Jays: Armed with a fastball thatgets into the upper 90s and a nasty slider, Pearson worked five scoreless innings in his first big league start atWashington on July 29. He wentthrough some growing pains down thestretch last year, but that learning experience could pay off for Toronto in 2021.
■ OF Jarred Kelenic, Seattle
Mariners: Kelenic’s future was in focus this spring after former team presi
dent Kevin Mather said the outfielderlikely would begin the year in the minorsin order to preserve another year of clubcontrol. The No. 6 pick in the 2018amateur draft batted .291 with 23homers over three minor league stops in2019. A knee problem slowed him inspring training.
■ LHP Garrett Crochet, Chica
go White Sox: Crochet became thefirst player from the 2020 amateur draftto make it to the majors when he tosseda perfect inning at Cincinnati on Sept.18. He reached 100 mph on 45 of his85 pitches while working six scorelessinnings over his first five appearanceswith Chicago.
■ C Tyler Stephenson, Cincin
nati Reds: The 24yearold Stephen
son broke into the majors in July, homering in his first plate appearance. The2015 firstround pick is expected totake on a more prominent role this yearafter the Reds let Curt Casali go in December.
■ RHP Sixto Sánchez, Miami
Marlins: Sánchez is a key part of oneof baseball’s most promising rotations,going 32 with a 3.46 ERA in sevenstarts in his first stint in the big leagues.The righthander was acquired in theFebruary 2019 trade that moved catcher J.T. Realmuto to Philadelphia.
■ OF Ryan Mountcastle, Balti
more Orioles: Mountcastle made hismajor league debut on Aug. 21 and batted .333 with five homers and 23 RBIsin 35 games. Selected by Baltimore
with the No. 36 pick in the 2015 amateur draft, Mountcastle hit 25 homersfor TripleA Norfolk in 2019.
■ OF Alex Kirilloff, Minnesota
Twins: The sweetswinging Kirilloffgets his first chance at a regular job inMinnesota after Eddie Rosario was nontendered in December. The 23yearoldKirilloff went 1for4 in Game 2 of theAL wildcard series against Houston inhis first major league game.
■ INF Kim Haseong, San Die
go Padres: The 25yearold Kimsigned a $28 million, fouryear deal inDecember, adding even more versatilityto San Diego’s deep roster. Kim batted.306 with 30 homers, 109 RBIs and23 steals for the KBO League’s KiwoomHeroes last season.
Keep an eye on these rookiesBY JAY COHEN
Associated Press
ASHLEY LANDIS, LEFT, AND ERIC RISBERG, RIGHT / AP
The Tampa Bay Rays Randy Arozarena, left, and the Chicago White Sox’s Garrett Crochet, right, are expected to contribute this year after making impressive debuts when they were called up late last season.
PAGE 22 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Friday, April 2, 2021
NCAA WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT
ERIC GAY / AP
Arizona head coach Adia Barnes hugs guard Aari McDonald as theycelebrate their Elite Eight win over Indiana on Monday.
Arizona has been having fun
and playing good basketball, all
the way to its first women’s NCAA
Final Four. The Wildcats will now
play the team that has been there
more than any other.
The Wildcats (20-5), in their
fifth season with Adia Barnes
coaching her alma mater, play
their first national semifinal game
Friday night against UConn
(28-1). The 11-time national cham-
pions are making their 13th con-
secutive Final Four appearance
and 21st overall for coach Geno
Auriemma.
“They’re a confident team be-
cause it’s charted territory. It’s
uncharted for us. This is some-
thing they’re used to,” Barnes
said. “I think for us there’s no
pressure. No one expects Arizona
to win a championship. No one ex-
pected Arizona to be in the Elite 8,
Sweet 16, Final Four. We don’t
have anything to lose. We can play
loose, free, because we don’t have
the pressure.”
Barnes will also be part of an-
other first, along with South Car-
olina coach Dawn Staley. It will be
the first Final Four with two teams
coached by Black women.
“So many black coaches out
there don’t get the opportunity.
When (athletic directors) don’t
see it, they don’t see it,” Staley
said. “And they’re going to see it
on (the) biggest stage Friday
night.”
The Gamecocks (26-4), the 2017
national champions, play No. 1
overall seed Stanford (29-2) in the
first game Friday night in the Ala-
modome, where UConn beat the
Cardinal for the 2010 title the only
other time the Final Four was
played in San Antonio.
Stanford’s first Final Four since
2017 is its 14th overall, trailing on-
ly UConn and Tennessee’s 18.
Barnes was a player on the
Wildcats’ only other Sweet 16
team, her senior season in 1998
when she was the Pac-12 player of
the year. Now she becomes the
sixth coach to take her alma mater
to the Final Four. Arizona hadn’t
even been in the women’s NCAA
Tournament since 2005, though it
would have made it last year with
a 24-7 record before the tourney
was canceled because of the pan-
demic.
While the Huskies have been
regulars in the Final Four, this
group doesn’t have too much ex-
perience — and UConn hasn’t won
a national title since four in a row
from 2013-16. The Huskies ad-
vanced this time with a 69-67 win
in the River Walk Region final
over Baylor, which won the na-
tional title in the last NCAA tour-
ney two years ago.
“It’s a lot to digest, but right now
you can only think about this par-
ticular one. You don’t necessarily
are thinking the other 12. We have
10 kids on our team that have not
been to one Final Four,” Auriem-
ma said. “And so that to me is what
the excitement is all about. Those
10 kids have never been to one and
they’re getting an opportunity to
go to their very first.”
There will be a matchup of
standout guards with UConn
freshman phenom and first-team
All-American Paige Bueckers
(22.5 points, 6.5 rebounds a game)
and Wildcats second-team All-
American Aari McDonald (25.3
ppg, 6.8 rpg), who is coming off
consecutive 30-point games.
McDonald was looking at Face-
book on Sunday, the day before
No. 3 seed Arizona’s win over Indi-
ana in the Mercardo Region final,
when the 5-foot-6 guard saw her
post from exactly a year earlier.
McDonald said then that she was
coming back for her senior season
for just such an opportunity.
“It’s just crazy how things come
full circle,” McDonald said. “You
make goals, to see yourself and
your team achieve them like this,
it’s crazy. I’m just so excited.”
With Cardinal third-team All-
American guard Kiana Williams
getting to play the NCAA tourney
in her hometown, Stanford over-
came a 12-point halftime deficit to
beat 2018 Final Four team Louis-
ville 78-63 for the final spot. The
Cardinal are in their 34th consec-
utive women’s NCAA Tourna-
ment, with Tara VanDerveer in
her record 35th overall as a coach.
South Carolina, which has now
made it to three of six Final Fours
and won the last title decided in
Texas four years ago in Dallas,
likely would have been the No. 1
overall seed last year had been
there been an NCAA tourney. The
Gamecocks went 32-1 last season,
spent the final 10 weeks at No. 1
and Staley was the AP coach of the
year, but they didn’t get a chance
to win another title because of the
pandemic.
South Carolina is back after a
dominating 62-34 win over Texas
and first-year coach Vic Schaefer.
Top-seeded South Carolina
blocked 14 shots in the Hemisfair
Region final.
In a Final Four of mainstays,Arizona is lone gate-crasherWildcats face 11-time national champion Huskies in 1st semifinal
BY STEPHEN HAWKINS
Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO — NCAA President Mark
Emmert promised the Women’s Basketball
Coaches Association he will work with
coaches to fix the “stark difference” be-
tween the Division I men’s and women’s
tournaments.
While Emmert noted that a major hurdle
was trying to hold both basketball tourna-
ments in a kind of identical format required
by the coronavirus pandemic, he added no-
body liked the results and nobody wants to
see similar issues crop up in other sports in
coming months.
“I, too, believe that it’s exactly the right
moment to do it,” Emmert said. “You got my
commitment, my personal commitment to
spend an enormous amount of time and en-
ergy on on this problem and and making
sure that we don’t lose the chance.”
Emmert and the NCAA’s heads of basket-
ball Dan Gavitt and Lynn Holzman dis-
cussed the conditions in San Antonio on
Wednesday with mem-
bers of the WBCA, includ-
ing two of the Final Four
coaches — UConn’s Geno
Auriemma and Dawn Sta-
ley of South Carolina.
Several differences sur-
faced over the past two
weeks, starting with fe-
male players, coaches and
staff in San Antonio criti-
cizing the NCAA for not initially providing a
full weight-training area to the women’s
teams, noting the men’s teams in Indianapo-
lis did not have the same problem.
Questions during the coaches’ meeting
with Emmert ranged from the use of “March
Madness” for branding, the number of
NCAA staffers for both basketball tourna-
ments (12 for the men, six for the women),
the budget for both tournaments and why
the NCAA doesn’t own the WNIT as it does
the NIT.
The WBCA sent a letter to Emmert last
week saying the external review he pro-
posed to look into potential gender equity is-
sues wasn’t good enough. In the letter, ob-
tained by The Associated Press, the WBCA
asked for a “Commission on Gender Inequi-
ty in College Sports” led by people chosen by
both the WBCA and NCAA.
Staley asked for assurances that the law
firm hired by the NCAA to review potential
gender equity issues is truly independent.
“Whoever is paying the piper, more than
likely they’re going to give you what you
want to hear,” Staley said.
Emmert said the Kaplan, Hecker & Fink
law firm specializes in Title IX issues nation-
ally and has no prior relationship with the
NCAA. Emmert told the AP last Friday the
firm would review potential gender equity
issues in all men’s and women’s champion-
ship events.
Muffett McGraw, who retired as Notre
Dame head coach last year, said the WBCA
has total confidence in Holzman. The former
Irish coach noted the NCAA added a rule a
few years ago holding head coaches account-
able for anything that goes wrong and asked
why Holzman doesn’t report directly to Em-
mert.
Auriemma said the bigger issue isn’t an
NCAA problem but exists on individual
campuses with presidents and athletic di-
rectors. He asked Emmert what he could do
to make sure those people give women’s bas-
ketball the same advantages and opportuni-
ties.
The UConn coach also mentioned how
football coaches broke away from NCAA
control.
“Maybe that’s what has to happen in wom-
en’s basketball?” Auriemma said. “Maybe
women’s basketball has got to separate itself
from the other women’s sports? But then that
would be unfair because we would be leav-
ing a lot of people behind that need our help.”
Emmert says he will work to fix ‘stark’ inequitiesNCAA has faced criticism fromwomen’s coaches for contrasts
BY DOUG FEINBERG
Associated Press
Emmert
Final Four
At San AntonioNational Semifinals
Friday, April 2South Carolina vs. Stanford AFN
Sports2, 12:10 a.m. Saturday CET; 7:10 a.m.Saturday JKT
UConn vs. Arizona AFNSports2, 3:40a.m. Saturday CET; 10:40 a.m. Saturday JKT
National ChampionshipSunday, April 4
Semifinal winners AFNSports, MidnightSunday CET; �7 a.m. Monday JKT
Scoreboard
Friday, April 2, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 23
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
heck of an accomplishment. We’re
going to take it and savor it for
what it is. That doesn’t lessen our
desire to win this game, the next
game or win two more games.”
The next one won’t be easy.
Mick Cronin will make sure of
that.
The former Cincinnati coach
has returned UCLA to relevance
after a couple of mediocre sea-
sons. In two years at Westwood,
he’s added a level of toughness
that’s helped them go from the
First Four to the Final Four after
losing their last four games enter-
ing the NCAA Tournament.
UCLA (22-9) has grinded out
five wins in the NCAA tourney, in-
cluding No. 2 seed Alabama and a
51-49 takedown of top-seeded Mi-
chigan in the Elite Eight. The
Bruins are in the Final Four for
the first time since 2008 and play
the kind of game that might be
able to slow the Gonzaga machine.
“Obviously, I knew the expecta-
tions. It’s pretty clear at UCLA,”
Cronin said. “I understood it and I
wanted it.”
The Texas half of the draw will
have a Southwest feel.
Baylor and Houston were both
members of the Southwest Con-
ference, which splintered in 1996.
The Bears were there when the
league started, circa 1914. The
Cougars made the move from in-
dependent to SWC status in 1975.
The latest versions of the two
programs are nearly identical:
long, athletic, quick, breath-
squeezing defense.
Baylor went on a long rebuild to
finally get here.
The Bears were embroiled in
one of the darkest scandals in col-
lege basketball history, when Pa-
trick Dennehy was murdered by
teammate Carlton Dotson in 2003.
Coach Dave Bliss then resigned
after it was revealed he encour-
aged players to lie about Dennehy
to cover up NCAA violations.
In stepped coach Scott Drew.
Drew took the Baylor job after
serving a one-year stint succeed-
ing his father, Homer, at Valparai-
so, and he went through some ex-
tra-lean years early on in Waco.
He’s since molded the program
into a national powerhouse.
The Bears (26-2) were unstop-
pable this season before a CO-
VID-19 pause slowed their roll,
but they’ve been back to their
dominating ways in March.
After twice failing at the region-
al final under Drew, Baylor beat
Arkansas in the Elite Eight to re-
ach the Final Four for the first
time since 1950 — when the brack-
et was eight teams and the City
College of New York Beavers won
the national championship.
“Once we got into the (first) sea-
son and you found out that most of
your team were walk-ons and
most of them weren’t over 6-
foot-2, then you realized it might
be tougher than you originally
thought,” Drew said. “But obvi-
ously the goal was always to build
a program that could consistently
compete and have an opportunity
to play in March.”
Kelvin Sampson has made a
similar imprint on Houston.
The Cougars had lost the luster
from the Phi Slama Jama days, re-
aching the NCAA Tournament
once in 22 years before Sampson
was hired in 2014.
Sampson gradually built Hous-
ton back up, taking it to the NCAA
Tournament’s second round in
2018, the Sweet 16 the next year.
The fleet-footed Cougars (28-3)
were dominating this season and
grinded down their first four
NCAA Tournament opponents to
reach their first Final Four since
losing in the 1984 national cham-
pionship game.
The run has come in Indiana,
home of the NCAA and where
Sampson’s career nearly ended.
He was forced out at Indiana in
2008 due to NCAA sanctions.
Contenders: No. 11 UCLA lowest seed among finalistsFROM PAGE 24
MICHAEL CONROY/AP
Baylor guard Davion Mitchell celebrates beating Arkansas 8172 inthe Elite 8 round in the NCAA tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium,Tuesday, in Indianapolis.
North Carolina announced
Thursday that Hall of Fame bas-
ketball coach Roy Williams is re-
tiring after a 33-year career that
includes three national champion-
ships.
The decision comes two weeks
after the 70-year-old Williams
closed his 18th season with the Tar
Heels after a highly successful
run at Kansas. In all, Williams
won 903 games in a career that in-
cluded those three titles, all with
the Tar Heels, in 2005, 2009 and
2017.
North Carolina scheduled a
campus news conference for
Thursday afternoon on the Smith
Center court bearing his name.
The Tar Heels lost to Wisconsin
in the first round of the NCAA
Tournament in his final game,
which was Williams’ only first-
round loss in 30 tournaments.
“It’s been a difficult year, but
everybody’s had the problems
with COVID that we’ve had,” an
emotional Williams said after the
played in the Spartans’ home
state.
The third title was delivered by
a team that included players who
had lost the 2016 championship
game to Villanova on a buzzer-
beating three-pointer. This time,
North Carolina beat a one-loss
Gonzaga team for the title.
Williams immediately stabiliz-
ed the program and broke through
for his first national championship
in his second season with a win
against Illinois, marking the first
of five Final Four trips with the
Tar Heels. His second title came
in 2009 with a team that rolled
through the NCAA Tournament,
winning every game by at least a
dozen points, including the final
game against Michigan State
proud of the way he carried on the
tradition of Coach Smith’s pro-
gram, always putting his players
first.”
Williams passed on taking over
at UNC in 2000 after the retire-
ment of Bill Guthridge, but ulti-
mately couldn’t say no a second
time and returned as coach in
2003 after the tumultuous Matt
Doherty era that included an 8-20
season.
game. “It’s been a hard year to
push and pull, push and pull every
other day to try to get something
done. But how can you be any
luckier than Roy Williams is
coaching basketball?”
Williams spent 10 seasons at his
alma mater as an assistant coach
to late mentor Dean Smith before
leaving to take over the Jayhawks
program in 1988. He spent 15 sea-
sons there, taking Kansas to four
Final Fours and two national title
games.
Williams’ time as an assistant
included the North Carolina’s run
to the 1982 NCAA championship
for Smith’s first title, a game that
memorably featured a freshman
named Michael Jordan making
the go-ahead jumper late to beat
Georgetown.
“Roy Williams is and always
will be a Carolina basketball leg-
end,” Jordan said in a statement
through his business manager.
“His great success on the court is
truly matched by the impact he
had on the lives of the players he
coached — including me. I’m
PAUL SANCYA / AP
North Carolina head coach Roy Williams celebrates after his team’s 8972 victory over Michigan State inthe 2009 national championship game in Detroit. Williams is retiring after a 33year career.
Carolina blue
AP sports writer Steve Reed contributed to thisreport.
Tar Heels’ Williams retiring after33-year career, 3 national titles
BY AARON BEARD
Associated Press
Final Four
At IndianapolisNational Semifinals
Saturday, April 3Baylor vs. Houston AFN-Sports, 11 p.m.
Saturday CET; 6 a.m. Sunday JKTGonzaga vs. UCLA AFN-Sports, 2 a.m.
Sunday CET; 9 a.m. Sunday JKTNational Championship
Monday, April 5Semifinal winners AFN-Sports, 3 a.m.
Tuesday CET; 10 a.m. Tuesday JKT
Scoreboard
PAGE 24 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Friday, April 2, 2021
SPORTSStriking a deal
Mets, All-Star SS Lindor agree on10-year, $341 million contract ›› Page 21
Hall of Fame coach Williams retiring after 33-year run ›› Page 23
INDIANAPOLIS
Gonzaga’s countdown to perfection has ticked to
two.
The Bulldogs are back in the Final Four, two
wins from becoming the first undefeated team
since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers.
And, after all those upsets, the March Madness apex in
the Hoosier State will be a high-seeded affair.
Gonzaga is a No. 1 seed. So is Baylor. Houston, a 2. UCLA
is an 11, but it’s also the all-time leader in national cham-
pionships.
There also will be a trip down Southwest Conference
memory lane.
But the Zags will be the team to beat.
Gonzaga (30-0) has been an offensive juggernaut rarely
seen in college basketball. Fast-moving and free-flowing,
the ultraefficient Zags have steamrolled everyone in their
way, winning a Division I-record 27 straight games by dou-
ble digits.
An 85-56 dismantling of Southern California in the Elite
Eight stretched their winning streak to 34 games over two
seasons and put them back in the Final Four for the second
time in the past four NCAA Tournaments. Gonzaga came
up short in a loss to North Carolina in the 2017 national title
game, but has its sights set on finishing it off this time — and
grabbing a piece of history.
“Everyone wants us to keep moving forward, but that’s
not how we roll,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “This is a
/
Final Four a high-seeded affairUndefeated No. 1 Gonzaga leads well-regarded pack of championship contenders
BY JOHN MARSHALL
Associated Press
SEE CONTENDERS ON PAGE 23
Top: Houston guardDeJon Jarreau, left,UCLA guard JaimeJaquez Jr., center,and Baylor guard
MaCio Teague.Left: Gonzagaforward Corey
Kispert.
AP photos
“This is a heck of an accomplishment. We’regoing to take it and savor it for what it is. Thatdoesn’t lessen our desire to win this game, thenext game or win two more games.”
Mark Few
Gonzaga coach
NCAA TOURNAMENT