Senior Master Sgt. Michael Lear, AFRS Strategic Marketing Division superintendent, and Master Sgt. Daniel Bedford, AFRS National Events program manager, began working together in 2019.,“I was first introduced to ‘Coach Dan’ (Bedford) through Chief Master Sgt. Michael Johnson (AFRS Chief Strategic Marketing Division superintendent),” Lear said.,Bedford served in the U.S Marine Corps before joining the Air Force Reserve and has a master’s degree in sports psychology, but it was Lear who used his instincts to help Bedford get back in the gym.,“Master Sgt. Bedford’s background in sports psychology is exactly what I needed as I age and require a different training perspective,” Lear said.,Since recovering from his car wreck with the help of Lear as his training partner, Bedford has won the USPA (United State Powerlifting Association) Texas State Bench Press Champion 2020 and the USPA Military National Bench Press Championship.

The injury thrust an injured Jared Goff into the game and his fate wasn't much more pleasant, at least for the most part, seeing as he was sacked twice in only a handful of plays before finally locating the big play -- by way of a 44-yard grab by wideout Cooper Kupp that could've easily been an interception instead.,Russell Wilson wasn't faring much better though, sacked three times in less than 1.5 quarters -- two of the blows being delivered by defensive lineman Donald before the Rams lost the Pro Bowler to a rib injury early in the second half.,But even without Donald, Wilson couldn't get anything going en route to an abysmal outing, while Goff ended up making the right plays at the right time.,It was a messy contest by both teams, but the Seahawks truly wet the bed -- particularly in the fourth quarter and helped mightily by an elite defensive outing by Los Angeles -- punctuated by a turnover that led to Goff hitting wide receiver Robert Woods for what would be the game-sealing 15-yard touchdown.,And even with Donald out for most of the second half, there seemed to be nothing Seattle could do to protect Wilson from being pushed, pulled, hurried and tossed around -- en route to being sacked five times and hit a total of 10 times over the course of the game.

The executive committee for the Central Coast Section, the governing body for high school athletics in five northern California counties — San Mateo, Santa Clara, Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz — and a few private schools in San Francisco, approved plans this week for sports teams to return to practice amid the coronavirus pandemic.,A handful of sports are scheduled to return to competition Jan. 25, though no competition can be held until local stay-at-home orders are lifted, and the section left it up to leagues to move the seasons of all sports as they see fit.,The only downside for leagues moving low-contact sports — those allowed to play in the state’s purple tier — into the section’s Season 1 (Jan. 25 start date) is missing out on the possibility of playoffs.,The North Coast Section, which announced its plans Thursday to rearrange its whole schedule to allow low-contact sports first, eliminated playoff plans for both seasons.,But the East Bay’s Diablo Athletic League already announced Friday afternoon that it was rearranging its schedule to move purple-tier sports up in its calendar to allow for more competition.

The executive committee for the Central Coast Section, the governing body for high school athletics in five northern California counties — San Mateo, Santa Clara, Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz — and a few private schools in San Francisco, approved plans this week for sports teams to return to practice amid the coronavirus pandemic.,A handful of sports are scheduled to return to competition Jan. 25, though no competition can be held until local stay-at-home orders are lifted, and the section left it up to leagues to move the seasons of all sports as they see fit.,The only downside for leagues moving low-contact sports — those allowed to play in the state’s purple tier — into the section’s Season 1 (Jan. 25 start date) is missing out on the possibility of playoffs.,The North Coast Section, which announced its plans Thursday to rearrange its whole schedule to allow low-contact sports first, eliminated playoff plans for both seasons.,But the East Bay’s Diablo Athletic League already announced Friday afternoon that it was rearranging its schedule to move purple-tier sports up in its calendar to allow for more competition.

Now, those stadiums are empty, devoid of fans and players due to the coronavirus and the restrictions placed upon youth sports in the state of California.,On Friday, athletes and their families gathered at area high schools to share the unified message as only sports can.,With coronavirus cases reaching record levels, under state health orders, teams are required to practice social distancing and wear masks as a health and safety measure, a practical impossibility in most team sports.,Tracy High School is one of 80-plus high scuools across California today holding #LetThemPlay rallies, in hopes of California high school sports starting.,Coaches and local elected officials are still sharing their open plea to Gov. Newsom to allow California kids to return to competitive play to keep those families close to home with health and safety protocols to guard against the COVID-19 virus.

Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur and Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay say their friendship and shared history shouldn’t have much of an impact on their teams’ upcoming NFC divisional playoff matchup.,LaFleur was the Rams’ offensive coordinator in 2017 during the first year of McVay’s head coaching tenure after they spent four seasons as assistants on Mike Shanahan’s Washington staff.,LaFleur says he learned his lesson as a first-year head coach last season matching up twice with the San Francisco 49ers, whose staff included his younger brother Mike as passing game coordinator.,McVay credits his time working on Mike Shanahan’s staff with LaFleur and the Shanahans for helping mold him into the coach he is now.,After Mike Shanahan was fired at the close of a 3-13 season in 2013, McVay remained at Washington as part of Jay Gruden’s staff while LaFleur spent a year as Notre Dame’s quarterbacks coach before heading to Atlanta.

Holmes is believed to be one of the first - if not the first - HBCU graduates to hold the general manager position for any major pro sport.,DETROIT — Brad Holmes, Aggie Alum class of 2002, was named executive vice president and general manager for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League.,In his new role, Holmes will oversee the Lions' football operations and will report directly to principal owner and chairman Sheila Ford Hamp.,Holmes is believed to be one of the first - if not the first - HBCU graduates to hold the general manager position for any major pro sport.,After several months of intensive speech and physical therapy, Holmes fully recovered the ability to speak clearly, and was cleared to play football again in May of 2001.

COLUMBUS — The Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Directors layed out the groundwork for its upcoming tournaments at its regularly scheduled monthly meeting held Thursday morning.,The state bowling tournaments will remain at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl February 26-27 (Division II) and March 5-6 (Division I).,The state swimming tournament will remain at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton Feb. 24-27, but the format will be adjusted to remove preliminary sessions in swimming and complete each division in one day (timed finals) and allow a minimal number of people on the pool deck.,The state tournament will remain at Hilliard Bradley High School March 5-6, but the format and some traditional aspects of the state tournament will be adjusted, along with reduced number of spectators.,Also of note, the two district tournaments in Northeast Ohio will both be held at the Brooklyn Recreation Center instead of having one tournament at Kent State University, which is not able to host the event.

Performance classes like band, choir and drama face unique challenges and harsher restrictions than others given the difficulties of singing and playing instruments with a mask, as well as the aerosols created by both activities.,After trying and failing to figure out a way to put on a performance via Zoom, the students now attend drama classes and clubs without the end goal of a show in mind.,In “hybrid” drama school, Kellogg has consistently had only one to three students attending class in person.,On Kellogg’s Zoom screen, LaCroix was one of four students in 7:30 a.m. “Advanced Drama” class.,Rodriguez said that the rising cases and the limits on music classes have caused more and more students to go online, or to quit marching band altogether.

“The (West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission), (Tuesday), sent out a proposed winter and spring sports calendar to our schools based upon the governor’s orders,” Dellinger said.,The WVSSAC is allowing spring sports to begin practice on March 15, a week earlier than the tentative date in Berkeley County.,The initial schedule sent out by the WVSSAC, after working with the West Virginia Department of Education and the governor’s office, indicated that winter sports practices could begin Feb. 15, and the first contests for girls basketball, wrestling and swimming would be March 3, with boys basketball starting at the end of that week.,The source said winter sports practice in Berkeley County would not be allowed to start until March 1, which would limit the number of contests that can take place and put the sports teams in the county behind teams throughout West Virginia.,Berkeley County has been red on the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources map for the vast majority of late fall into winter, the district going red on the now-defunct WVDE Saturday map for the first time on Nov. 21.