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    In Salt Lake City, Sports Drive a New Vision for Downtown

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    A proposal to remake the area would please the owner of the city’s N.B.A. and N.H.L. teams. But others, including classical musicians, aren’t so thrilled.In late April, about 60 members of the Utah Symphony were on break during a rehearsal of Massenet’s opera “Thaïs” when the organization’s chief executive, Steve Brosvik, matter-of-factly told them that the county was considering demolishing Abravanel Hall, their world-renowned home, as part of a plan to revamp downtown Salt Lake City.The musicians were in shock. How could this be? Abravanel Hall had housed the symphony for 45 years, built with gold-leafed bridges, crystal chandeliers and some of the finest acoustics in the country.“We got really depressed,” said Lori Wike, the symphony’s principal bassoonist. “And then we started organizing.”With that, Wike, a 47-year-old with no experience in local government, found herself entering the sharp-elbowed world of politics. She joined a small but vocal group of musicians in taking on mayors, lawmakers and the billionaire who owns the two major professional sports teams that play in downtown Salt Lake City.The musicians dug through planning codes, attended council meetings and began a media campaign to publicize their cause. They enlisted the help of architects, opposition politicians and John Williams, the fabled composer of scores from classic films like “Jaws” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”The task was formidable. City and county leaders were pushing ahead with an ambitious plan to remake up to 100 acres of downtown, largely at the behest of Ryan Smith, the owner of the N.B.A.’s Utah Jazz and his newly acquired N.H.L. team that will soon play in downtown Salt Lake City, along with two professional soccer franchises of which he’s a minority owner.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      In Oakland, Roots and Ballers Try to Fill Void Left by Raiders and A’s

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      On a cool May night, as the sun set over San Francisco in the distance, drummers and flag-waving fans led cheers of “Ohhhh-O-O-O Oakland” (to the tune of “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes) and “Let’s go, Oakland!” (clap clap, clap clap clap) as one of the city’s biggest sports teams pulled out a nail-biting victory.But the nearly 4,000 fans were not in Oakland, and they were not cheering for a team from one of the major American professional sports leagues. The setting was a rented college stadium in nearby Hayward, and the game was a home match for the Oakland Roots, a soccer team that plays in the U.S.L. Championship, a second-tier league. The Roots defeated Orange County S.C., 2-1, on a late goal, before making the journey back home up Interstate 880.At the same time, 20 miles north, construction workers were racing to put the final touches on a $1.6 million renovation of Raimondi Park, a city park in West Oakland. The park’s previously run-down baseball field was being transformed into the home of the Oakland Ballers, an independent league team that began competing this summer.The Roots play their home games at a rented college stadium.Ian C. Bates for The New York TimesNearly 4,000 fans turned out to watch a Roots victory.Ian C. Bates for The New York TimesOakland has had an exodus of sports teams over the past half decade. The Warriors of the N.B.A. moved across the bay to San Francisco, the Raiders of the N.F.L. decamped for Las Vegas, and, after this season, the Athletics will play their next three or more Major League Baseball seasons in Sacramento while they settle on a permanent home. In a city that once had three teams from the country’s major sports leagues, there will soon be none. (A new W.N.B.A. franchise, the Golden State Valkyries, will begin play next season … in San Francisco.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Bought as an N.B.A. Team, the Mavericks Are Being Sold as Much More

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      Pro sports franchises are increasingly providing much of their value as anchors for larger business enterprises, including entertainment complexes.The sales of most professional sports teams are fairly predictable.They happen because owners die or cannot figure out how to pass the team on to their families. They run out of money, are more focused on other pursuits or are pushed out because of misconduct.Once the decision to sell is made, the process plays out in a relatively public way. Bankers are hired, potential purchasers register interest, an auction occurs, and weeks or months of reports in the news media follow.So it was a complete surprise last month when, with no warning, the families that control the Las Vegas Sands casino empire announced that they had reached a binding agreement to buy a controlling interest in the National Basketball Association’s Dallas Mavericks from Mark Cuban. The only thing that made sense was that the situation involved Mr. Cuban, who has long run the Mavericks in an unconventional manner.Still, more than two weeks later, the basic question surrounding the sale — Why did Mr. Cuban do it? — remains mostly unanswered. The reliably loquacious Mr. Cuban, who always seemed to be having more fun than any other owner, declined to speak on the record for this article. The Adelson and Dumont families, wary of getting ahead of an N.B.A. approval process that includes due diligence and a vote on the sale by other team owners, declined to comment beyond a statement expressing their excitement.But what is clear is that the sale represents a window into the rapidly changing nature of the business of sports.When Mr. Cuban bought the Mavericks in 2000, flush with cash from selling Broadcast.com just before the dot-come bubble popped, professional sports teams were still mainly just teams.Now they are anchors for larger business enterprises. Anchor tenants for arenas that are the beating heart of vast entertainment complexes, as in Sacramento. Anchor content for regional sports networks or other media conglomerates, as in Washington, D.C. Anchor brands for millions of fans newly allowed to bet on sports, as in Phoenix.Mr. Cuban is also many things — a dot-com billionaire, an owner of a company trying to reduce the price of prescription drugs and, for one more season, one of the main investors in the reality show “Shark Tank” — but what he is not is a real estate mogul, providing a possible motivation for the sale.The Dallas Mavericks partly own the American Airlines Center, where they play their games in the Victory Park development just north of downtown. But while the owners of their co-tenant, the National Hockey League’s Dallas Stars, have invested in land near the arena, Mr. Cuban has mostly expressed annoyance that it takes away from fan parking. Now he is changing his tune.“Cuban probably wants to imitate what has worked, have the ownership control he doesn’t have in Victory Park, and push it to a new level with casino and resort integration,” said Robert Sroka, a professor of sport administration at Georgia State University and a sport venue development consultant.Mr. Cuban has publicly said he wants to build a resort destination in Dallas with Sands.Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesLast year Mr. Cuban told The Dallas Morning News of his intention to team up with Sands on just that, a new arena and casino complex.“Partnering with the Sands Corporation, literally there’s no reason we can’t build a huge resort destination in the city proper of Dallas,” he said.A piece of a destination like that would mean a lot more money for Mr. Cuban than the sums generated by game tickets and arena concessions. The plan, however, faces a significant hurdle — besides acquiring land, obtaining financing when interest rates are high and receiving construction approvals. Almost all forms of gambling are illegal in Texas, and there is no clear sign of that changing.A bill that would legalize sports betting passed the Texas House this year, but Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor, refused to bring it up for discussion in the Senate. Even if such a bill passed the Senate, Texas residents would still need to vote on it.A bill allowing casinos faced even fiercer opposition, particularly from influential conservative religious leaders, and never made it out of the House. And while sports betting, if it is legalized in Texas, can be lucrative for teams, it is really a casino bill that needs to pass if Mr. Cuban’s vision of a sports and gambling destination is to be realized. The Sands, which has a number of casinos in Macau and Singapore but currently none in the United States, has hired dozens of lobbyists to get one passed in recent years.Mr. Cuban owns about three-quarters of the Mavericks, with the rest held by a handful of minority owners. After the sale he will own about a quarter, and the Adelson and Dumont families nearly three-quarters, with the rest spread among some minority owners, according to two people familiar with the terms, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose them publicly.Some people believe the reported $3.5 billion valuation that Mr. Cuban is selling at is less than he could have received if the Mavericks had gone on the open market. Just last week, for instance, a small share of the Indiana Pacers was bought at a reported valuation of $3.47 billion. Indianapolis is a much smaller market than Dallas, and minority stakes are typically discounted. So, the thinking goes, the sale of a majority stake in the Mavericks should’ve been for much higher.But the sale to the Adelson and Dumont families includes an unusual stipulation: Mr. Cuban will continue to run the basketball operations of the team.Officially, Patrick Dumont, the son-in-law of Miriam Adelson and the late Sheldon Adelson, will be what the N.B.A. calls the team’s governor and vote on leaguewide matters. But Mr. Cuban will run its basketball operations. The bet, then, seems to be this: Mr. Cuban will earn billions from a team he paid $285 million for two decades ago; he will continue to participate in the part of team ownership he likes the most; and if the Adelsons and Las Vegas Sands can muscle through a new arena and casino complex, one day his quarter of the team might be worth as much as the three-quarters he used to own.This could also help make up for money Mr. Cuban expects to lose on the team’s local media rights agreement. The holder of those rights, Diamond Sports Groups, is going through bankruptcy.“I think a new arena, real estate area and hopefully a future resort casino can replace what we lose in media, and fund current and future Mavs,” Mr. Cuban said in an email to a local television station last month.Over a thousand miles west of Dallas, the sale has thrown the race to own an N.B.A. franchise in Las Vegas wide open, since the Adelson family was widely presumed to be a front-runner if the city got a team.Officially, there is no guarantee there will ever be an N.B.A. team in Las Vegas, but the league is widely expected to soon expand to 32 teams from 30. This summer, Adam Silver, its commissioner, said the league would turn to the issue of expansion after it completed new media agreements, sometime in 2024. He said it was not certain the league would expand, but named Las Vegas and Seattle as cities that would be considered.“A lot is happening behind the scenes,” said Steve Sisolak, a former governor of Nevada. “A lot of groups that have interest. It remains to be seen who is a front-runner.”Currently, the only arena in Las Vegas that has close to the required facilities for an N.B.A. team is the T-Mobile Center, which is co-owned by the arena developer AEG and MGM Resorts International, with Bill Foley, the owner of the N.H.L.’s Las Vegas Golden Knights, holding a minority share.But Oak View Group, another arena developer and operator, has announced plans for a $10 billion resort south of the Strip that would include an arena an N.B.A. team could play in. Intriguingly, the land that arena would be built on is owned by Scott Goldstein, the son of Rob Goldstein, the chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands. Sands is not currently involved in that project.Susan Beachy More

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      Capturing the US Open In Infrared Light

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      The U.S. Open, which I have covered for five years for The New York Times, has no shortage of opportunities for staggering visuals. Especially on a sunny day, when the early afternoon light cuts crisp chiaroscuro shadows on the hardcourts, the players are easily transformed — their bodies contorted like ballet dancers and their faces transfigured by effort and focus as they emerge from deep shadow into brilliant sunshine to reach for a ball.But the event is, and this will come as no surprise to anyone who has attended, absolutely crawling with photographers. All of the major wire services have multiple photographers on site, as do many newspapers and magazines from around the world. And while we all bring something different to our profession that allows us to make unique pictures, I am always thinking of ways to capture the event in a different light. And infrared is, quite literally, different light.Discovered by the astronomer William Herschel in 1800, infrared resides beyond the visible spectrum of humans and has been used for numerous scientific and industrial purposes since the early 1900s — and for art photography since the mid-1900s. The infrared spectrum itself is divided into near-infrared, which is just beyond red, and far-infrared. Near-infrared imaging is used for night vision security cameras or baby monitors, for example, and far-infrared is what Times visual journalist Jonah M. Kessel used to photograph Methane gas in 2019.So perhaps it was my subconscious and heavy reliance on near-infrared — I have a 3-month-old and a 3-year-old at home — that prompted me to bring an infrared-converted camera to the U.S. Open this year. A friend and fellow New York Times freelance photographer, Adam Kane Machia, lent me the camera some time ago, and I had been looking for the right moment to use it.I usually work with two cameras at the Open — one with a telephoto lens that brings me closer to my subjects and the other with a wide-angle lens that expands my field of view — but I also carried a holster with the infrared camera for those moments when I had some extra time.The camera’s sensor assigns visible light colors to its infrared photographs, but infrared is essentially colorless. So much the same way that black-and-white photography strips away the complications of color, I found that infrared photography goes one step further, emphasizing the intensity of light.At the Open, where tens of thousands of people attend on a single day, the crowds can be disorienting. But in infrared light, the players’ colorful clothes fade away in deference to their figures. Ben Shelton’s white-and-pink shirt becomes nearly indistinguishable from the green, blue and yellow uniform worn by a ball crew member. The swoop of a spectator’s wide-brimmed hat reflects light by the practice courts with the same intensity of a young fan’s jumbo, neon green tennis ball awaiting an autograph. Even the red, white and blue of the American flag flying high above the nosebleeds in Arthur Ashe Stadium take a back seat to the light itself. More

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      Climate Protesters Stop U.S. Open Semifinal Match

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      The delay of 49 minutes during the match between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova was caused by environmental protesters, including one who glued his feet to the ground.As the protesters chanted, many other attendees booed the disruption.Mike Segar/ReutersThe U.S. Open semifinal match on Thursday night between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova was delayed by 49 minutes early in the second set by four environmental protesters in the upper levels of Arthur Ashe Stadium who were calling for an end to fossil fuels. One protester glued his bare feet to the ground.The protest confused fans, television commentators and the players themselves, who were trying to understand what the group was protesting and why the match had been delayed so long. When play stopped, Gauff, the eventual winner, was leading, 6-4, 1-0. Both players left the court.As stadium security tried to remove the protesters from the stadium, at least 10 New York City police officers were seen surrounding the disturbance in the loge level.Chris Widmaier, a spokesman for the United States Tennis Association, which hosts the U.S. Open, said after the match that three of the four protesters were escorted out of the stadium without any issues. But police officers and medical personnel were brought in to safely remove the fourth protester who had affixed his feet to the cement floor with some sort of product, Widmaier said.“We plan for it,” Widmaier said. “We prepare for a lot of things. To my knowledge, this kind of protest seems to be happening at other places. We are very aware of environmental protests. It happened at Wimbledon. It happened at the Citi Open.” The Open, especially in its late rounds, is among the more expensive sporting events in New York City, and attracts an affluent crowd of New Yorkers, tennis fans and celebrities.The U.S. Open had a designated area for protests outside the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, so long as groups have a permit, Widmaier said.A spokesman for the New York Police Department said four protesters inside Arthur Ashe Stadium were taken into police custody “without incident.”It was unclear whether the police had charged the demonstrators. The protest was still under investigation late Thursday night, the spokesman said.It was also unclear how security and the police officers were able to unstick the man’s feet from the stadium floor.As the delay went on, several people in the crowd were heard chanting, “Kick them out,” referring to the protesters.Given the history of similar protests at tennis matches, Gauff told reporters after the match that she had a feeling there would be a protest at the U.S. Open. Gauff said she didn’t know exactly what the protesters were calling for, but added that she believes in climate change.“I think there’s things that we can do better,” Gauff said. “But I prefer it not happening in my match.”Muchova said after her loss that the delay “obviously changed the rhythm” of the match.“It is what it is,” Muchova said. “What can we do about it?”At about 8:50 p.m., about 45 minutes into the delay, the players returned to the court to warm up.A protester glued his bare feet to the floor in the stands, Stacey Allaster, the U.S. Open tournament director, said in a television interview.Elsa/Getty ImagesThis was not the first instance of an environmental protest at a major tennis tournament this year. At Wimbledon in July, environmental protesters halted play during a match by throwing confetti onto a grass court. In 2022 at the Rod Laver Cup in London, a protester set fire to his arm after running onto the court during a match, briefly setting fire to the playing surface.Extinction Rebellion NYC, an environmental activist group, said in a statement after the delay that its activists were there to call for an end to fossil fuels, and that there is “no tennis on a dead planet.”Miles Grant, an Extinction Rebellion spokesman, said in a phone interview that the protesters at the U.S. Open were safely escorted off the tennis grounds.“They were not hurt,” he said. “That was really important to us.”Grant, who was not at the U.S. Open on Thursday, said in an earlier statement that “the climate is already more disruptive than any activists can possibly be.”“Just look at the U.S. Open and other big tennis events — year after year, the average temperatures have been rising, making it hotter and more dangerous for the players and spectators,” Grant said. “At some point, there will be fewer outdoor sporting events due to excessive heat.”The scene at Arthur Ashe Stadium after protesters caused a delay.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesThe group’s protest came as players at the U.S. Open have been forced to contend with some of the hottest weather of the tournament, with temperatures this week rising into the 90s and humidity making it feel even hotter at times. Highs in New York this week have been about 10 degrees above normal for this time of the year, according to the National Weather Service.Nicole Andersen, a nutritionist from Brooklyn, was sitting about 12 rows behind the protesters in Section 114 of the loge level. Initially, Andersen said she thought they were cheering loudly for Gauff.“Then we realized it was some kind of protest,” Andersen said. “Then they would not shut up and stop.”Andersen said that climate issues are “certainly a problem,” but added that the protesters at the match may have chosen “not the most effective way to protest for change.”During the delay, Gauff and Muchova tried to stay warm and loose in the locker room and the warm-up area. Muchova got a massage and jogged lightly in the hallway. Gauff talked with tournaments workers, leaning over to see pictures of the protesters circulating on social media.On the broadcast, Gauff could be heard telling her coaches that security and police were “negotiating” with the protesters, “like it’s a hostage situation.”An announcement of the delay at Arthur Ashe Stadium.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesBy 8:55 p.m., the players resumed the match, with Muchova to serve down 1-0 in the second set. Gauff went on to win the set, 7-5, and advance to her first U.S. Open singles final.Gauff’s matches during the tournament have drawn many boldface names and Thursday night was no exception. Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Broadway writer and performer, Julius Randle, the Knicks star forward, and Naomi Osaka, the four-time Grand Slam singles champion, like all in attendance, got more than a tennis match.Gauff will now play Aryna Sabalenka, who beat Madison Keys in the night’s second semifinal at Ashe Stadium, in their singles final set for Saturday afternoon.Orlando Mayorquin More

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      Seen from Close-up: How the U.S. Open Dials in its Court Speed

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      From the seats in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the tennis court below appears smooth and uniform. Even the players who sprint and slide across the blue hardcourt can barely see or sense a characteristic that significantly sets the tone for their matches. Now take a look at this high-resolution scan of the surface in Ashe, where […] More

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      How Do Wimbledon’s Grass Courts Keep Dry in All the Rain?

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      The court services crews at the All England Club deploy 18 tarps at a time to keep precious grass courts dry. They’re not above fetching a player a banana or a soft drink, either.High atop the outer south wall of Centre Court at Wimbledon, a small rectangle has been cut away in the lush, green ivy, revealing a digital number that few, if any, of the 42,000 spectators entering the grounds each day of the tournament ever notice.Similar to coastal warning pennants, it is a signal system — from 1 to 8 — issued from Wimbledon’s own crack meteorology department, for the tarpaulin crews to stand by or rush into action. A “1” means possible showers. A “2” means the chair umpire has the discretion to halt the match. On Saturday, when the first rain drops fell on an already rain-soaked Wimbledon, the signal clicked to “4” from “3.”Instantly, Richard “Winston” Sedgwick, standing on the last row of Court No. 3, where he could see across to the digital beacon on Centre Court, used a simple hand signal to relay the information to the crews, which rushed to action. A six-member team ran onto the court, grabbed purple cords to unwrap an 8,000-square-foot tarpaulin and hauled it over the court in about one minute, with the captains shouting out instructions heard all about the grounds, similar to rowing teams: “Three, two, one, pull,” and “Stay together. Again!”“There’s pressure to get it done properly,” Sedgwick said. “If you don’t, they can’t play. So we have to work really hard and really fast.”The members of the covering crews are arguably the most important people at Wimbledon, their swift, precise action protecting the delicate grass, allowing tennis to continue on each of the 18 courts at what is usually the rainiest Grand Slam event of the year.It is a physical job, requiring a certain degree of athleticism, and if there is a day with intermittent showers and the tarp goes on and off several times, by the end of that day, the physical toll renders the crews “shattered,” Sedgwick said.A small digital readout above Centre Court showed a “1,” which indicated all clear to the court crews at Wimbledon.George Spring, a cattle farmer in New South Wales, Australia, has been Wimbledon’s court services manager for 22 years, overseeing the entire process. It begins when his wife, Louise, recruits the several dozen university students who form the crews. In all, 200 people work on the court services crews over the two-week tournament.They train for four days before the tournament, including a pair of half days on court, where they learn and practice how to pull the tarps on, take them off, and set up the nets and the rest of the court for play once the rain stops.Movements must be in concert, and the crews rehearse their ballet well before the first ball is struck.“It’s like sporting teams,” Spring said. “If you’ve got a good captain and good leadership, you’ll be in good shape.”The crews have been especially important at this Wimbledon, where rain has interrupted five of the first six days. It has created havoc with the schedule and forced many players to work on back-to-back days, which is never the plan at a two-week event like Wimbledon. Through the first six days, 96 matches were suspended, including 34 on Wednesday and 30 on Saturday. Several doubles teams had not even played their first matches by Saturday.And this is not even the rainiest Wimbledon — not even close.“I was here in 2007, where it was famous for rain,” Spring said. “There wasn’t a day we didn’t pull a cover on the courts.”George Spring, the court services manager at Wimbledon, stayed in touch with the tournament’s meteorology department on Saturday.The two main show courts, Centre Court and No. 1 Court, have retractable roofs, but the crews still deploy even larger tarps, requiring 20 people vs. the six on the outer courts, while the roofs are closing. Centre Court is the only one with full-time Wimbledon employees on the job.The court services crews arrive at 7:30 a.m. and work until about 10:30 p.m. each day. Tarps can be slippery and heavy and people are moving fast, so occasionally a crew member sprains an ankle or tweaks a muscle.On No. 1 Court, Elinor Beazley, who grew up in Wales and played tennis for Northern Arizona University (she is transferring to Youngstown State this fall), has been pulling the tarp for two years.Last year was a mostly sunny affair, and she found herself hoping for rain just to get into the action. When it arrived, the adrenaline began to pump.“I was so nervous,” she said. “The crowd was screaming and I was getting really bubbly on my toes. It’s so exciting and such a fun experience. It’s a bit of a performance doing it in front of all those people.”When she got back to Arizona, she said, she told her teammates, “All of you need to come to Wimbledon. You watch the best tennis in the world up close, and it’s like being on a team.”The court services crews are also responsible for other tasks, like holding umbrellas over the heads of the players during changeovers and providing them with towels and drinks, but they can fulfill other unique requests, too. Spring said that a player once asked for a soft drink, which is not part of the usual sports-hydration liquids available on each court. Spring went to the concession stand, bought a soda and brought it back.One year, when the bananas kept on hand for players were too green, Spring said, he sent a crew member to a grocery store in Wimbledon town on a bicycle to procure ripe ones. Rafael Nadal, who did not play this year, likes a particular kind of dried date, which Spring gets from the commissary on the grounds. On Saturday night, there was a request for room-temperature water.But the most important job is getting those tarps on and off the courts quickly and completely. When the digital beacons (there are a few, posted on both sides of Centre Court and on the outer walls of No. 1 Court) flashes a “5,” it is the call to inflate the tarp. After a crew has secured the tarp with large clips, blowers inflate it from the corners. Within seconds a dome, 6 feet high in the center, is formed, like a giant bouncy castle. If the rain is expected to pass quickly, the tarp is not inflated at all.The tarp is inflated on Court No. 3 during a rain delay Saturday at Wimbledon.A “6” means deflate; “7” is the call to uncover and roll up the tarp, which can weigh two tons when it is wet, Spring said. When it is secured, an “8” will flash, which means it is time to dress the courts — replace the nets, set up the chairs and distribute the towels and drinks for the players.Colored cords wrapped inside the rolled-up tarp make it all much simpler. The crew members pull purple ones to unfurl the tarp in the rain and green ones to roll it back up when the skies clear. The entire uncovering process, including setting up the nets, takes roughly 10 to 15 minutes.At night, the crews put the tarps back on again. On Saturday, play was suspended on all of the outer courts because of the rain. When it stopped, the crews pulled the tarps off again, but only for less than an hour. The tarp pullers were so efficient in keeping the court dry that the grass had to be watered at the end of the day.Spring said that in all his years, there have been a few times where malfunctions caused delays of an hour or so, but never for a whole day.“That is probably why I’m still here,” he said.And at Wimbledon, so is the rain. More

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      Victor Wembanyama Takes the Subway to Yankee Stadium to Throw First Pitch

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      It was a rather unremarkable Tuesday at Central Park West and Columbus Circle. Vendors sold hot dogs, coffee and overpriced bottled water nearby. A light breeze rustled the sycamore branches hanging over a bicycle rental kiosk filled with neat rows of mint green helmets. Then, at 4:41 p.m., a black Mercedes van crept through the jam of buses, police vehicles and flower-adorned bicycle cabs.Two teenagers watched as a lanky young man in dark sunglasses, black shorts and a white T-shirt unfolded himself out of the van and stood at more than seven feet tall.“Oh my god!” one of the teenagers said. “It’s Victor Wembanyama!”Wembanyama was in town for the N.B.A. draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Thursday, when he will almost certainly be selected No. 1 overall by the San Antonio Spurs as one of the most anticipated prospects since LeBron James. He was on his way to Yankee Stadium to throw the ceremonial first pitch for Tuesday night’s game with Seattle. But before that, he wanted to try something he had never done: ride the New York City subway.Wembanyama greeted fans as he arrived at Columbus Circle.And as he entered the subway.“Watch your head!” a police officer bellowed as Wembanyama walked through the station and ducked beneath a cream-painted pipe on the ceiling.“I’m used to it,” said Wembanyama, who is at least 7-foot-4. In France, where he grew up and played professional basketball last season for Metropolitans 92, he has ridden the Paris metro plenty of times. By now, at 19 years old, he is generally accustomed to bobbing his head to keep it from hitting things.He had flown to the New York metropolitan area on Monday afternoon, when he was swarmed by fans at Newark Liberty International Airport. Now he had just visited the offices of the N.B.A. players’ union on Sixth Avenue, about a block from Bryant Park. He needed to catch a Bronx-bound D train at Columbus Circle. A teammate from France, Bilal Coulibaly, who is also expected to be drafted early on Thursday, Wembanyama’s agents and his communications manager had come along.Wembanyama’s family met him at the subway station — his parents, brother and sister — as did police officers, N.B.A. security personnel, in-house content producers for the N.B.A., and reporters and photographers from two French news media outlets and The New York Times. It was a formidably sized group for a Tuesday afternoon subway car.At over seven feet tall, Wembanyama had to bend his head to keep it from touching the ceiling of the subway car.Exiting the D train at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.Harry Cisse, 17, who was on the way to a friend’s graduation, sighed deeply as the group packed onto the train, leaving little space to move or breathe.“WELCOME TO NEW YORK!” a woman’s voice boomed in the distance as the train began to roll. She added, as Wembanyama stood in the middle of the car with his head bent: “HOW TALL IS HE?”Sebastian Cardona, 22, immediately texted and called some friends on FaceTime with his iPhone to let them know he was on the train with Wembanyama.“Rookie of the year!” Cardona yelled before trying to get Wembanyama to turn around for a photo. Cardona, too, was on his way to see the Yankees. He said he knew Wembanyama was going to throw out the first pitch, but he never expected to see him on the subway.A few feet away, a woman shouted in French for Wembanyama to turn. He obliged a couple of times and smiled for her photos. Aladji Sacko, 25, a Frenchman who now lives in New York, was standing next to the woman on his way home.“I’ve only seen him on TV,” Sacko said as he grinned. A few minutes later he wove through the crowded car to sneak closer for a photo.Wembanyama surrounded by police and his entourage, walking in the Bronx.Many eager fans awaited a Wembanyama signed baseball.After the first stop, at 125th Street, Wembanyama found a seat. Two seats away, a woman’s headphones flashed colored lights. She closed her eyes and ignored the commotion around her.Wembanyama smiled as he sat, then spent most of the ride like anyone might — checking his phone, chatting with his companions. He did a short interview with the N.B.A.’s entertainment group, telling them he wished he had a chance to visit more of the city. After Thursday night, Wembanyama is expected to be whisked off to San Antonio.It took four stops on the D train to go from Columbus Circle to Yankee Stadium. Wembanyama and his court left the train together, ascending a yellow-tiled stairwell into the Bronx. People driving and biking by Wembanyama yelled to get his attention. One person in a car shouted, “Go Spurs!” and Wembanyama smiled to acknowledge the cheer.Trying to see if the Yankees were a good fit.Wembanyama, left, spoke to Yankees catcher Jose Trevino inside the Yankees’ dugout.Fans waiting in line to enter Yankee Stadium grabbed their cellphones to record Wembanyama as he passed by, chattering excitedly about the N.B.A. draft.Inside the stadium, Wembanyama spent some time in the dugout with Yankees catcher Jose Trevino, perhaps getting some advice on his impending pitch. Wembanyama fiddled with a baseball that looked like a golf ball in his outsize hands. He left the dugout to sign autographs and pose for pictures with children.He still had more than an hour before his pitch.When it was finally time, he clapped as he approached the mound. The crowd, still filling in, cheered to welcome him. Wembanyama wound up and threw the pitch too far outside for Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt, stationed behind home plate, to catch it.Wembanyama shrugged, and then he laughed.Wembanyama threw a wild first pitch. More

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      North America Got the 2026 World Cup. Now Who Will Get the Final?

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      A decision on which city will host the men’s 2026 World Cup final is expected in the fall. Leaders from the New York area are making their case, with Dallas and Los Angeles also in the running.It has been almost five years since a bid from the United States, Canada and Mexico beat out a proposal from Morocco to host soccer’s 2026 men’s World Cup. Now the competition has turned intramural.The stadiums for the tournament have been chosen, but FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, has not yet said which one will host the final game.Officials from New York City and New Jersey are starting a concerted push to land that final for MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands, including an event in Times Square on Thursday morning with Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Mayor Eric Adams of New York.“Eric and I believe strongly that we have the most compelling case by far to get the best package, including the final,” Murphy said in a joint interview with Adams on Wednesday morning.At most other World Cups, there is an obvious choice for the final game. Moscow, Rio de Janeiro and Paris were always going to be chosen when their countries hosted the tournament. But there are several attractive candidates for the 2026 final, to be played July 19. (Though Mexico and Canada will host some of the tournament’s 104 games, the bidders agreed that the majority of the matches — and everything from the quarterfinals on — would be in the United States.)The only previous time the United States hosted the World Cup, in 1994, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., got the final. This time, SoFi Stadium is the Los Angeles-area site on the list of stadiums for 2026. But that stadium was built primarily for N.F.L. football, and there is concern that the field there is too narrow for soccer, which would require removing some seats, and reducing capacity.Dallas has also emerged as a leading candidate, in part because nearby AT&T Stadium can potentially be expanded to offer over 100,000 seats for soccer.But Adams and Murphy are making their case that the New York City area outshines those places as the best spot for the game.“Yes, L.A. is known for its extravaganza and its appeal of Hollywood,” Adams said. “But I think New York is the largest stage.”Murphy said: “New York is the international capital of the world. With no disrespect to Dallas, we’re taking about New York.”The other contenders are not lying down. “We are making our case to the committee right now that we would be the perfect site for the semifinals and finals,” Dan Hunt, president of Dallas’s bid, told the local NBC affiliate late last year. “We have two great airports, we have the infrastructure, we have the hotels, we have AT&T Stadium. We have what it will take to host what I call ‘the Super Bowl on steroids.’”Kathryn Schloessman, head of the Los Angeles bid, said, “Our region is so fortunate to have a world-class stadium and infrastructure to be in consideration for hosting the final and other prominent matches.”The decision will ultimately be made by top FIFA officials, up to and including President Gianni Infantino, with input from the regional governing body, Concacaf, and U.S. Soccer. It is expected in early fall.Whether the New York region wins the final or not, there are likely to be about eight games at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. “Eight games is like eight Super Bowls in six weeks, so no matter what the games look like it’s going to be a huge success,” Murphy said. “We’ll sell every one of them out; it doesn’t matter who’s playing.”“But clearly to get the final — and we think we’re in the best position to get the final — is the icing on the cake that is almost unparalleled in sports,” he added. “There is both prestige and I’m sure an extra boost to the regional economy.”If a “huge success” is coming either way, why is there such a hunger to land the final? Adams acknowledged another motivation: “I’m extremely competitive, and I want to beat other cities to have the final. We were chosen, now it’s time for us to bring home the Cup.” More