July 8th's Immaculate Grid features the Oakland A's, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants, and stat rows/columns of 20+ win seasons pitching and an MVP.A grid featuring the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants has most people knee-jerking for Barry Bonds, ...

Real Madrid say racism directed at Vinicius Junior constitutes a ‘hate crime’ and have filed a complaint with the Spanish State Attorney General’s Office. Brazil forward Vinicius was the subject of an alleged racist attack during Real’s 1-0 LaLiga defeat at Valencia on Sunday. The game was paused after the break as Vinicius pointed out to the referee those who were allegedly abusing him in the stands at the Mestalla – and the 22-year-old later took to social media to say racism is ‘normal’ in LaLiga. “Real Madrid CF shows its strongest revulsion and condemns the events that took place yesterday against our player Vinicius Junior,” the club said in a strongly-worded statement on Monday. “These facts constitute a direct attack on the coexistence model of our social and democratic state of law. “Real Madrid considers that such attacks also constitute a hate crime, for which reason it has filed the corresponding complaint with the state attorney general’s office, specifically with the prosecutor’s office against hate crimes and discrimination, so that the facts can be investigated and clear responsibilities. “Article 124 of the Spanish constitution establishes the functions of the public prosecutor’s office to promote the action of justice in defence of legality and the rights of citizens and the public interest. “For this reason, and given the seriousness of the events that occurred, Real Madrid has turned to the sate attorney general’s office, without prejudice to its appearance as a private prosecution in the proceedings that are being initiated.” In a statement on Instagram, Vinicius – who was sent off for violent conduct in added time of Real’s defeat following an altercation with striker Hugo Duro – said: “It wasn’t the first time, not the second and not the third. Racism is normal in LaLiga. “The competition thinks it’s normal, so does the Federation and the opponents encourage it. I am so sorry. “The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano (Ronaldo) and (Lionel) Messi, today belongs to the racists. “A beautiful nation, which welcomed me and I love, but which accepted to export the image to the world from a racist country. “Sorry for the Spaniards who do not agree, but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists. “And unfortunately with everything that happens on a weekly basis, I have no way to defend. I agree. But I’m strong and will go to the end against the racists. Even though it’s far from here.” LaLiga president Javier Tebas responded to Vinicius’ post on Sunday by accusing the forward for “criticising and insulting” the league. In another tweet on Monday, Tebas said: “Neither Spain nor @LaLiga are racist. It is very unfair to say this. “How @LaLiga we denounce and fight racism with all rigidity within our competences. This season there were 9 cases of racist insults (8 of them for insults against @vinijr) “We always identify the violators and take the complaint to the legislating bodies. It doesn’t matter that they are few, they are relentless. “We cannot allow the image of a competition that is about the symbol of peoples union to be tarnished, where more than 200 players are of black origin in 42 clubs that receive in each round the respect and affection of the fans, being the racism an extremely specific case (9 complaints) that we are going to eliminate.” Valencia released a statement on their club website condemning what happened and confirming they will investigate what happened. Former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand took to Instagram in support of Vinicius and questioned player protection. “Bro you need protecting….who is protecting Vinicius Junior in Spain??” Ferdinand posted. “He receives a red card after being choked and receiving racial abuse during the game… wtf. “How many times do we need to see this young man subjected to this s**t?? I see pain, I see disgust, I see him needing help… and the authorities don’t do s**t to help him. “People need to stand together and demand more from the authorities that run our game. “No one deserves this, yet you are allowing it. There needs to be a unified approach to this otherwise it will be swept under the carpet AGAIN.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Glamorgan aiming to make cricket more diverse in Wales John Stones wants Man City to ‘make some more history’ as they chase treble Norrie up and down as Murray and Raducanu sit out – British tennis picture

JUNEAU, Alaska--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 15, 2023--

Max Verstappen put down an early marker in his bid to win 10 consecutive races by setting the fastest time in practice for the Italian Grand Prix. The double world champion edged out Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by 0.046 seconds in Monza with Sergio Perez third in the other Red Bull. Charles Leclerc finished fourth for Ferrari at the Italian team’s home event, one place ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, while Lewis Hamilton ended the opening running of the weekend in eighth. Verstappen has dominated Formula One this season – winning 11 of the 13 rounds so far – and will make history on Sunday if he racks up another victory. The Red Bull driver – already 138 points clear in his pursuit of a third world championship – is level with Sebastian Vettel on nine wins and, on the evidence of practice, is poised to land yet another win and set a new record. Hamilton ended his long-running contract saga in the build-up to this weekend’s race by putting pen to paper on a new £50million-a-year deal. But the seven-time world champion ended first practice six tenths back from Verstappen and a tenth adrift of team-mate Russell. Ferrari have endured a poor season, but showed early promise in front of their fanatical supporters at the Temple of Speed with Sainz and Leclerc second and fourth respectively. Elsewhere, Fernando Alonso, who finished runner-up to Verstappen at last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, took sixth for Aston Martin, one place ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris. Second practice gets under way at 5pm local time (4pm BST). Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc believes “it will be very difficult” for the chasing pack to catch Red Bull before 2026. Red Bull have won all 12 races so far this season, with Max Verstappen claiming 10 victories and Sergio Perez two. Leclerc, who has not won a race since last July in Austria, is an astonishing 215 points behind runaway F1 championship leader Verstappen in the standings – and was pessimistic when asked how long it would take for Ferrari and the rest to match Red Bull. “They [Red Bull] have a really big margin,” he said on Thursday, ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix. “It’s going to be very, very difficult to catch them before the change of regulations.” Formula 1 is not set to change its regulations until 2026, when cars will have more electrical power and run on a new carbon-free fuel. Red Bull, inspired by their design guru Adrian Newey, have nailed this current set of “ground-effect” regulations and are cruising to another double success this year, having coasted to last season’s drivers’ and constructors’ championship as well. “Normally when we see a team dominating, it was qualifying and the race,” Leclerc added. “But now, for some reason with Red Bull, it’s much more in the race than in qualifying. The gaps are much bigger in the race than in qualifying and that’s why we are all working towards our race pace, because Red Bull is just so far ahead. “There’s still a lot of work to do. We have some developments in the next few races that can help us do a step forward.” Ferrari are currently fourth in the constructors’ championship, five points behind Aston Martin in third and 56 points behind Mercedes in second. The Scuderia, under new boss Fred Vasseur, have struggled to consistently get to grips with their 2023 car – a point acknowledged by Leclerc. “With this car, we have some unexpected surprises because they are such sensitive cars that a small change can have a big influence. And hopefully it will be the case for us.” Verstappen has a 125-point lead in the championship to team-mate Sergio Perez heading into his home grand prix this weekend, with 10 races remaining this season. Read More Lewis Hamilton gives blunt response to Felipe Massa’s legal action over 2008 F1 title Daniel Ricciardo is back - and this time he wants to go out on top F1 Dutch Grand Prix: When is practice on Friday in Zandvoort? Lewis Hamilton gives blunt response to Felipe Massa’s legal action over 2008 title F1 takes steps to prevent use of flares at Dutch Grand Prix F1 Dutch Grand Prix: When is practice on Friday in Zandvoort?

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