TELEVISION
Noted ‘MNF’ producer dies
Don Ohlmeyer, the Monday Night Football producer who also came up with the phrase “Must See TV” in leading NBC to the No. 1 prime-time spot, died Sunday. He was 72. Longtime friend Al Michaels announced Ohlmeyer’s death while broadcasting NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” game between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants. Ohlmeyer won 16 Emmys, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and two Peabody Awards. Ohlmeyer became producer of MNF in 1972, teaming with director Chet Forte and the on-air crew of Howard Cosell, Don Meredith and Frank Gifford. In 2000 in his second MNF stint, Ohlmeyer put comedian Dennis Miller in the booth. Ohlmeyer first worked for ABC Sports as a gofer while studying at Notre Dame and became a full-time production assistant in 1967 under Roone Arledge, working on Wide World of Sports. Along with his Monday Night Football work, he directed the network’s Olympic coverage and created The Superstars. Later at NBC Sports, he produced World Series and Super Bowl broadcasts. Ohlmeyer returned to NBC in 1993 as president of its entertainment division after running his own Ohlmeyer Communications Company. He came up with “Must See TV” in the 1990s, when NBC’s rating soared with such hits as Seinfeld, Friends, ER and Frasier. ESPN, now the home of MNF said it planned to acknowledge Ohlmeyer on Monday night. Ohlmeyer Communications once was a part-owner of ESPN, and Ohlmeyer served as an ombudsman for the cable network from 2009 to 2011.
FOOTBALL
Ole Miss faces NCAA
Mississippi’s football program began its hearing in front of the NCAA’s infractions committee panel on Monday at a hotel in Covington, Ky., a suburb of Cincinnati, nearly five years after the governing body first launched its investigation. The NCAA has set aside up to three days for the case. The Rebels are facing 21 allegations, including 15 that are classified as Level I, which the NCAA deems the most serious. The school has already self-imposed several penalties, including a postseason ban for this season, 3 years of probation, scholarship losses and recruiting restrictions. The NCAA could accept the Rebels’ self-imposed penalties or add to them when it reaches a decision, which could be several weeks to months after the hearing ends. All 21 of the alleged football violations happened under the program’s two previous coaches — Hugh Freeze and Houston Nutt. Freeze — who coached five seasons at Ole Miss from 2012 to 2016 — resigned in July, but the school says his resignation wasn’t related to the NCAA case. Instead, the school cited a “pattern of personal misconduct” after an investigation into Freeze’s phone records. The school has received two notice of allegations letters from the NCAA over the past two years. The first alleged 13 rules violations, including nine that were classified as Level I. The case expanded in April 2016 after former offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil became the focal point of the NFL draft after a bizarre video of him smoking from a gas mask-bong contraption was posted on his Twitter account just before the selections began. There was also a post on Tunsil’s Instagram account showing an alleged text conversation with a football staff member about arranging payment for bills. Though the NCAA didn’t appear to find much from that particular exchange, it did reopen its investigation, resulting in a second notice of allegations earlier this year that expanded the case to its current 21 charges.
Kent State coach returns
Paul Haynes, a former defensive coordinator at Arkansas under John L. Smith, has returned to his job as head football coach at Kent State after undergoing surgery for prostate cancer. The school announced last month that Haynes was taking a medical leave of absence but did not provide details about his condition. He missed the Golden Flashes’ loss at Clemson in their season opener, but then he surprised the team by showing up before its 38-31 victory against Howard on Saturday. Haynes said Monday he was healthy again and back full-time.
Rutgers Kill has seizure
Rutgers offensive coordinator Jerry Kill has been hospitalized after suffering a seizure. Rutgers Coach Chris Ash said Monday that Kill, 56, had a “minor medical setback” on Sunday but was expected to be fine. Ash, a former Arkansas assistant in 2013, said Kill had dealt with epilepsy for almost two decades, was in a local hospital and hoped to be released Monday or today. Ash said he hopes Kill, a former head coach at Minnesota, will be on the sideline Saturday when the Scarlet Knights (0-2) play host to Morgan State.
TENNIS
Spaniards top rankings
Garbine Muguruza has made her debut at No. 1 and joined U.S. Open champion Rafael Nadal in making Spain the first country to top the WTA and ATP rankings simultaneously since 2003. Muguruza rose two spots from No. 3 on Monday after getting to the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time. She is the 24th woman to lead the WTA since it introduced computer rankings in 1975. U.S. Open women’s champion Sloane Stephens jumped to No. 17 from No. 83. Muguruza takes over at No. 1 from Karolina Pliskova, who fell to No. 4. Venus Williams is back in the top five for the first time since 2011. Nadal stayed at No. 1, while Roger Federer moved up one place to No. 2.
CYCLING
Russians sue WADA
Three Russian cyclists are suing the World Anti-Doping Agency and the Canadian lawyer who led the recent investigation into Russian doping allegations. The cyclists contend that Montreal-based WADA and Western University law professor Richard McLaren “unfairly implicated them.” Kirill Sveshnikov, Dmitry Strakhov and Dmitry Sokolov call the investigation “rushed and compromised.” The cyclists say they were banned from the Rio Olympics as a result of the McLaren Report and suffered “great reputational harm.” All three unsuccessfully appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport before the Olympics. McLaren detailed in two reports last year an orchestrated program of cheating that involved the Russian government, national sports groups and its anti-doping organizations.
BOXING
New York pays damages
The state of New York has agreed to pay $22 million to a boxer who suffered severe brain damage during a heavyweight bout at Madison Square Garden nearly four years ago in a case that raised serious questions about the postfight care given to athletes who have just exchanged repeated blows to the head. The settlement, awarded to the former boxer Magomed Abdusalamov and his family, was approved Friday by Judge Jeanette Rodriguez-Morick in New York City Civil Court. It was first reported by ESPN. Abdusalamov, 36, the married father of three girls, remains unable to walk or speak in complete sentences, according to his lawyer, Paul Edelstein. Abdusalamov was an up-and-coming Russian heavyweight when he entered the ring against Mike Perez at Madison Square Garden in November 2013. But in the first round, he took an errant forearm to the cheek, after which he told his handlers that he thought it might be broken. The fight continued, reaching its brutal 10-round conclusion, leaving Perez the winner and Abdusalamov with a badly swollen face. Unaware that two ambulances were on the premises, Adbusalamov’s handlers hailed a cab after the boxer fell to a knee and began vomiting. Abdusalamov was rushed to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery — but the damage to his brain had been done.