Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • B3

FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 16, 2022 PAGE 3B too; they met as athletes at an Olympics have two sets of twins. He leaves with a total of 103 tour-level titles on his substantial resume and 1,251 wins in singles matches, both second only to Jimmy Connors in the Open era, which began in 1968. records include being the oldest No. 1 in ATP rankings history he returned to the top spot at 36 in 2018 and most consecutive weeks there (his total weeks mark was eclipsed by Djokovic). When Federer won his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2003, the record for most was held by Pete Sampras, who had won his 14th at the U.S.

Open the year before in what turned out to be the last match of the career. Federer would go on to blow way past that, ending up with 20 by winning eight championships at Wimbledon, six at the Australian Open, five at the U.S. Open and one at the French Open. His 2009 trophy at Roland Garros allowed Federer to com- plete a career Grand Slam. His serving, forehand, footwork and attacking style will all be remem- bered.

Also unforgettable were his matches against younger rivals Nadal, 36, and Djokovic, 35, who both equalled, then sur- passed, Slam total and are still winning titles at the four biggest tournaments. Nadal now leads the count with 22, one ahead of Djokovic. was lucky enough to play so many epic matches that I will never Federer said in announcement. Addressing his petitors on the although not by name he wrote: pushed each other, and together we took tennis to new last match anywhere came on July 7, 2021, when he lost at Centre Court in the Wim- bledon quarterfinals to Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-0. Soon after, Federer had surgery to repair damage to his meniscus and cartil- age in his right knee his third operation on that knee in a span of years.

has treated me more generously than I ever would have Federer said Thursday, now I must recog- nize when it is time to end my competitive FROM PAGE 1B FEDERER from smaller tracks to super speedways, such as Las Vegas, Texas, etc. North Wilksboro Speed- way is owned by Speed- way Motorsports, which also owns TMS. NASCAR drivers, nota- bly the retired Dale Earn- hardt and a load of influential NASCAR en- thusiasts have pined for the sport to return to tracks such as North Wilksboro. Those are the tracks NASCAR wanted to move out of, to make more money at the bigger speedways that were be- ing built all over the coun- try. Now, most of those tracks are too big.

first races at TMS, which started in 1997, drew crowds in excess of 150,000. The infield was packed, and the pre-night party scene was mythic. As a result of the in- terest, and sales, Gossage repeatedly lobbied NAS- CAR for a second race. NASCAR fan Francis Ferko famously sued both NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports which owns TMS, so that second race would be held in Fort Worth. The parties settled the lawsuit in 2004, and start- ing in 2005 NASCAR came to Texas twice a season.

In the last 10 years, however, attendance at NASCAR events has slow- ly decreased at TMS, and all over the U.S. The over- all popularity of the sport is nowhere near what it was around 2000. TMS officials have re- moved large sections of the grandstands, a trend throughout the bigger speedways all over the country. New TMS vice president and general manager Mark Faber said this week the grandstands currently hold about 46,000, with more available in the in- field. To keep fans interested, TMS installed Hoss in 2013, along the backstretch.

It has also invested in other amenities for fans, including a giant up and three new con- course open air bars. Sources said one of the reasons NASCAR is mov- ing its All-Star race out of TMS were the poor crowds at the last two events, and the bad visuals it created for the television broad- casts. A crowd of 60,000 or so looks sparse at TMS. When the All-Star race runs at North Wilksboro, which features a seating capacity of 40,000, it will be full, and look packed. Another potential rea- son for moving the race are the unofficial results of the TMS track reconfig- uration done in 2017.

The results led to more one-groove racing. The initial response and results to cars running at TMS earli- er this season, during the All-Star race, were less than glowing. TMS officials are hope- ful that the NASCAR Cup Series playoff race sched- uled for Sept. 25 will pro- duce the type of racing, and specifically passing, that fans want to watch. If the race is another follow-the-leader parade race, be surprised if TMS reconfigures the track again.

EFFECT OF TMS CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP The other change at TMS that had an inevi- table effect was the change in leadership. In the last few years before he died, Bruton Smith was understandably no longer involved in the operations of his compa- ny. It is operated more now by Speedway Motorsports Inc. CEO Marcus Smith. The departure of Gos- sage, who retired after the 2021 season, was going to have an effect on TMS.

Gossage was an old-school NASCAR promoter and salesman. Gossage was initially replaced as track GM by Rob Ramage, who been with the company since 2013. His background was mostly in finance and general counsel than pro- moting. Two weeks ago, TMS introduced Faber as the executive VP and GM. Faber has a long resume working in sports branding and sports promotions.

clear his task is to try to return TMS to its standing with NASCAR, and Indy Car, at least. whole sports and entertainment world is going through how do we get you out of your family room or media room to the ven- Faber said this week. think the interest in NASCAR is declining, but what we have found is in markets like this there is a lot of competition for Crowds for the Indy Car races at TMS have slowly decreased over the years, which is consistent for that series other than the Indianapolis 500. The crowd for the Indy Car race at TMS in 2021 looked to be no more than 20,000. There had been talk, for years, that Indy Car no longer wanted to run at TMS.

Just talk. TMS officials said it has reached a mul- ti-year agreement with Indy Car to remain on the schedule, starting in 2023. The job now is to entice NASCAR to run TMS twice again, or accept the reality that we now just be a one-race market. Mac Engel: 817-390-7760, MacEngelProf FROM PAGE 1B ENGEL proposals related to trans- fer rules and how NCAA enforcement operates as part of phase one of its work. A set of those pro- posals were approved last month.

Phase two is in progress, with membership require- ments for schools, stu- dent-athlete benefits, access to championship events and revenue dis- tribution at the core of the discussions. think there exists some frustration with the lack of responsibility and the ability to be nimble and specific to our needs in football, within the current decision-making Cromer said of the FBS ADs. As the role in governance is deempha- sized, and more power is handed down to confer- ences and schools, it seemed a perfect time for a re-assessment of how major college football operates to many athletic directors. The NCAA has limited involvement over FBS compared to the rest of Division I sports. The conferences run the Col- lege Football Playoff and share the hundreds of millions of dollars of reve- nue it generates with no NCAA involvement.

Ohio State athletic di- rector Gene Smith has suggested the College Football Playoff could become the governing body for major college football. about its cur- rent constitution would support Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbick told The Associated Press last month. you can change it to play that role. But not set up to do it One of the concerns about moving away from the NCAA would be the need to create a new, similar organization. McMillen said the NCAA spends about $65 million per year on admin- istrative and insurance costs.

does not include any kind of extraordinary costs or McMillen said. you know, the NCAA is the legal shield. They take a lot of the front The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athlet- ics, an independent group of former and current college administrators that advocates for an emphasis on education in college sports, proposed in 2020 separating FBS from the rest of NCAA sports. Sankey has said he is adamantly against the Knight proposal, in large part because he like the idea of compartmenta- lizing one sport within an athletic department. Sankey attended the LEAD1 meeting to give the ADs an update on the Transformation Commit- work.

He said he also shared with the ADs his skepti- cism for the effectiveness of an FBS breakaway from the NCAA. He said he understands the desire for change. given the distinc- tions around football, there are those who view that as a relevant point of Sankey said. then the why, the outcomes, those have to be much further MICHAEL CONROY AP The athletic directors who lead the schools that play Division I college football at the highest level want the sport to continue be governed by the NCAA if that governance can be streamlined. FROM PAGE 1B FOOTBALL Sharpe hopes Parsons will find time to do the show but was disappoint- ed with the lack of com- munication.

hopeful that after a couple weeks of them getting back to winning that join us during the season, even if not every Sharpe said on the show Tuesday. I understand why, after FS1 put the equipment in his house, go radio silent. Just say, at this point in time I just want to focus on football. sorry to have led you guys on but right now football is the most important thing and not gonna be able to do it right Football is the most important thing to Parsons right now. Parsons had a strong game in the season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, recording two sacks and two tackles for losses while leading a defense that held Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay offense to one touchdown and just 19 points.

But Parsons, the reign- ing NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, said he do enough. thought what I did was good but it enough, not enough to put a win he said. needed more turnovers, we needed more stops early. There are a lot of things we could have done better to try to change the outcome of that Parsons certainly left it all out on the field as he played every defensive snap and is prepared to do so again against the Cincin- nati Bengals on Sunday. got to make sure able to play every defensive he said.

something I want. putting that chip on my shoulder. No one else is making me do this. I want to do this for this team. I just need to be out there.

I want to come off. sore but that comes with this game. I just love what I Clarence E. Hill 817-390-7760, clarencehilljr FROM PAGE 1B COWBOYS YFFY YOSSIFOR Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons celebrates a second sack with defensive end Tarell Basham (93) during the first half of loss to Tampa Bay at Stadium in Arlington. Parsons did not show up for his scheduled appearance Tuesday in talk show..