Weekend Rumblings - News for March 7, 2020

Panathlon Ambassador and former Paralympic swimming champion Liz Johnson blogged from the 2016 Games and commentated for Channel 4. Here are her reports from Rio: Two weeks have passed since the Paralympic flame of the Rio 2016 Games was extinguished, the final medals were won and the teams started to return to their home countries. Madsen won a Paralympic bronze medal and competed in various sports in the Paralympic Games. Msn back to msn home sports. More from SB Nation. A fact from Cheating at the Paralympic Games appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? Column on 18 August 2007. The text of the entry was as follows: 'Did you know.that the Spanish Paralympic basketball team were stripped of their gold medals from the 2000 Sydney Games because ten of their players did not have a disability?' Eight years later, the USSR sent teams to both the Summer and Winter Paralympics; it is the only set of Games in which the Soviets participated. From the Archives: Land of the Rising Gorilla: The accidental basketball mascot. Related: There’s a really good story about cheating in the Paralympics in my first book.

Ryan O’Hearn talks to Lynn Worthy about adjusting his swing.

“Being able to make the adjustments I think is going to be good in the long run, understanding that I don’t have to swing out of my shoes in plus counts,” O’Hearn said. “I’m just staying within myself and going out there and having fun.”

Jeffrey Flanagan writes there may be a soft platoon at first base.

“I’m not ruling that (soft platoon) out at all,” Matheny said. “I’ve explained it, certainly to O’Hearn, to ‘be prepared all the time, and that we’re not afraid having you face a lefty. But understand that if we can create a way to set you up better, we’re open to whatever we have to dhttps://theathletic.com/1658096/2020/03/06/how-royals-prospect-jackson-kowar-continues-to-rise-above-his-own-ceiling/?source=shared-articleo.’”

Worthy also writes about how Alex Gordon has mentored Hunter Dozier in his transition to the outfield.

“I told him to take your aggressiveness charging the ball and coming up and throwing it,” Gordon said. “I feel like I don’t have the strongest arm, but what I did take from third base days was I was always good at charging the ball as quickly as possible and reading the hops. I think that’s maybe where I get my outfield assists from, taking good angles, being aggressive, charging the ball. I think that comes from my third base days. I told him to try take that because he was kind of like me over there at third.”

Daniel Lynch reacts to his short start against the Angels.

“I think I was a little bit amped up,” Lynch said. “First guy, I walked him and then I felt like I made some pretty good pitches in the second at-bat. He just fought, broke his bat and he doesn’t put the ball in play. He had a really good at-bat. I felt like I made a good pitch to him 2-2, but, you know, I’ve got to come back and make a pitch there. I felt, obviously, not the sharpest, but I felt good about how I battled and made some pitches when I needed to.”

Jesse Hahn talks about being back on the mound.

“At first I think I was a little rusty, shaking off a couple years of rust,” Hahn said. “Now, I’ve become pretty comfortable with everything. Every pitch for me right now feels comfortable in my hand. For a while there I was struggling finding my slider. I felt like I lost my slider a little bit. Today, I felt like I threw some good one. Even though I gave up a hit on one, it was kind of the shape that I wanted to see in it.”

Alec Lewis profiles Jackson Kowar.

That’s why, although Kowar has proven his plus changeup can stifle both righties and lefties, his fastball can crash into the catcher’s mitt wherever it’s set up. Scouts, however, have often asked about Kowar’s third pitch, the curveball.

The pitch, of course, was Kowar’s focus in his workouts this offseason. The biggest hurdle now: confidence in the pitch.

“It’s definitely rising,” Kowar said. “Last year was big because, in pro ball, it’s different. You’re developing, so you’re allowed to throw (however many) breaking balls. … Doing that last year and having the ability to throw it a bunch has given me confidence.”

Flanny has ten questions to get to know manager Mike Matheny.

Alex Gordon is eager to finish his career in Kansas City.

Doc Riddle at Royals Farm Report talks to Royals minor leaguer Brandon Marklund.

The Blue Jays offered Mike Moustakas a multi-year deal before the Reds signed him.

The Angels fire a clubhouse manager for giving visiting pitchers a sticky substance.

The Mets assign Tim Tebow to minor league camp.

A grand jury is examining evidence concerning the drug overdose death of Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs.

Is Mike Trout’s excellence boring?

MLBPA has expanded their grievance against the Marlins and Rays.

The outfield nightclub at Marlins Park in Miami will close.

Let the kids design uniforms.

Wichita’s new baseball stadium has a name.

The coronavirus has raised questions about MLB’s series in London this year.

Will cheating ruin the Paralympic Games?

The top 100 NFL free agents.

How a shipwrecked crew survived ten days at sea.

The dominant cheerleading program in the documentary Cheer is only competing against one other school.

The new FX show Devs will break your mind.

Your song of the day is Art Farmer with Stupendous-Lee.

Desiree Miller (9) and Abby Dunkin (23) are prominently featured in this promotional video for Team USA women's Paralympic basketball. Both are also publicly out players on the team. National Wheelchair Basketball Association video

RIO DE JANEIRO — With a gold medal draped around her, U.S. wheelchair basketball player Abby Dunkin talked about being 'two minorities at once.'

'We're disabled and we're gay,' she said.

As the Rio Paralympics closed on Sunday night, they marked a competition in which at least 12 publicly out athletes competed. Roughly 4,300 athletes were entered in the global sports festival for people with disabilities.

For Paralympic athletes, being welcomed into the athletic community is something that has improved over time, but is still a struggle. Add on being a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and it's a fight on two fronts.

Stephanie Wheeler, the U.S. coach and former member of the team, says being visible both as a lesbian and a player with a disability has moved the conversation forward. She came out at the end of her career, and has seen a lot of growth.

'There's been a huge change,' she said. 'When I was playing, I wouldn't necessarily say that we weren't welcomed, but it just wasn't' talked about, even on the able-bodied side.'

Paralympic Games List

Now that this conversation is in full swing, neither Dunkin, nor her out teammate Desiree Miller, had any negative experiences at the Paralympics.

'They treat us just like anyone else, which is exactly what we want,' Dunkin said.

'We don't want to be treated any differently. We go out and do the same thing, we play on the same court.'

Sb Nation Paralympic Games Cheating Game

Coverage of the Paralympics has increased significantly since it was born in 1960, with more major media outlets getting on board for every set of games. So, what does this exposure mean for the future? For Dunkin, she hopes it will encourage the next generation of LGBT athletes with disabilities.

'It's so great with media coverage, finally these kids watching at home that are afraid to come out can see us, [can see that] we're out and winning medals and we're playing our sport and loving life and they can finally say ‘Hey, if they're out then I can come out too.' '

Miller is looking forward to full acceptance for members of both communities.

'My dream at some point is that it's not a big shock that somebody comes out as gay — it's just normal,' she said. 'It's just like I hope that being disabled is not a big shock.'

(Nicole Barros is a senior majoring in journalism at Penn State University. Penn State and the University of Georgia are partnering with The Associated Press to supplement coverage of the 2016 Paralympics. This story was