Archives for February 2021

Biden gives Calif. woman pep talk in weekly address revival

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden gave a pep talk to a California woman who was laid off because of the coronavirus pandemic, during a conversation the White House said is part of an effort to help him engage more consistently with regular Americans.

The White House on Saturday released a two-and-a-half-minute video of Biden’s long-distance telephone conversation with Michele Voelkert, identifying her only as Michele.

After losing her job at a startup clothing company in July, she wrote Biden a letter. He read it, then called her.

The Roseville, California, woman told Biden “it’s been a tough time” trying to find work.

Biden, who spoke from his Oval Office desk, replied that his father used to say a job is about dignity and respect as much as it is about a paycheck. He described his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan, which calls for $1,400 payments to people like Voelkert, and other economic aid for individuals and small businesses. There’s also money to help distribute coronavirus vaccines.

“I’ve been saying a long time, the idea that we think we can keep businesses open and moving and thriving without dealing with this pandemic is just a nonstarter,” Biden said.

The Sacramento Bee said it spoke to Voelkert, 47, after the call. “It was the opportunity of the lifetime,” she said. “I’m still riding high.”

The conversation is part of an effort to help Biden, who has largely limited his travel because of the pandemic, communicate directly with Americans, the White House said. Biden did fly to Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday to spend the weekend at home with his family.

“There is a time-honored tradition in the country of hearing from the president in this way,” press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday in previewing the video. She referenced Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “fireside chats” and Ronald Reagan’s establishment of a weekly radio address.

The radio address eventually grew to include a video version seen over the internet. The practice, however, lapsed under former President Donald Trump.

Biden’s weekly address will be produced in a variety of forms, Psaki said.

Later Saturday, Biden left his home for a regularly scheduled X-ray of his right foot, which he broke in late November while playing with his dog Major.

Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, said in a statement issued by the White House that the “10-week post-injury weight-bearing X-ray” was to make sure Biden had regained stability in his ligaments.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2021: Serena, Novak, Rafa chasing history

Forget about aces or double-faults, winners or unforced errors: The statistic that has come to mean the most in tennis these days is “Grand Slam titles won.”

Which is why so much attention will be paid to Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams at the Australian Open.

Play begins at Melbourne Park on Monday (Sunday EST), with Williams and Djokovic among those on the schedule and Nadal’s first-round match set for Day 2. Each match for each member of that trio is a possible step on the way to some history.

“People love records, don’t they?” said Chris Evert, an 18-time major champion who now is an ESPN analyst. “I, for one, think that too much is made of Grand Slam wins.”

This is Nadal’s first chance to grab sole possession of the men’s mark for most Grand Slam singles titles. He pulled even with Roger Federer at 20 by winning the French Open in October, beating Djokovic in a lopsided final. ( Federer is still sidelined after two knee operations).

A second Australian Open trophy also would allow Nadal to become the first man in the Open era to win each Grand Slam tournament at least twice. He has 13 championships at Roland Garros, four at the U.S. Open, two at Wimbledon.

He still would have work to do to catch Williams: She already has 23 Slam singles titles (plus 14 in doubles and two in mixed doubles), the most by anyone in the Open era. Only one player owns more: Margaret Court, with 24 — 11 after professionals were admitted to major tournaments.

“It’s definitely on my shoulders and on my mind,” Williams said about 24. “I think it’s good to be on my mind. I think it’s a different burden, I should say, on my shoulders, because I’m used to it now.”

And even if Williams’ tour of a room where some of her hardware is displayed lit up social media, she made a point of explaining she finds other ways to define her value.

“My life is way more than a trophy. There’s way more to me than a championship,” said Williams, who turns 40 in September and last won a major title at the 2017 Australian Open while pregnant. “For me, every time I step on the court, I know I’m this tennis player, but at the same time I’m a mom, I’m a human.”

She lost in the third round in Australia a year ago, then was hampered by an Achilles issue during a semifinal loss at the U.S. Open. That same problem forced her to withdraw from the French Open before the second round.

For Djokovic, in addition to trying to break his own record for most men’s titles at the Australian Open by getting No. 9, and trying to ensure he will eclipse Federer for most weeks at No. 1 in the ATP rankings, there is the matter of closing the Grand Slam gap.

Adding another major championship would give him 18 — two behind Federer and Nadal.

Other things to know about the 2021 Australian Open:

COVID-19

There aren’t plans to regularly test players; 30,000 spectators will be allowed on the grounds per day, 50% of usual capacity but 30,000 more than at last year’s U.S. Open. Still, the coronavirus pandemic will surely be a constant talking point the next two weeks. “I got a lot of messages from people in Europe saying, ‘What’s going on? Why are you not wearing a mask?’ They were, like, ‘What’s happening?’” said 2020 runner-up Garbiñe Muguruza, a Spaniard. “And I was explaining that here, fortunately, they did well, and there is no cases, and that’s why people are having a normal life.” One issue that could be key: The lack of normal pre-tournament practice and preparation could lead to lackluster play or injuries.

ELECTRONIC CALLS

For the first time at a major tennis tournament, every match will be played without line judges present. Instead, calls will be made electronically. Most matches at the U.S. Open were done this way, but the two biggest courts retained the human element — and Djokovic was disqualified after smacking a ball that inadvertently struck a lineswoman in the throat.

RECENT CHAMPS

Sofia Kenin, a 22-year-old American, will be defending her first Grand Slam title. Iga Swiatek, a 19-year-old from Poland, will be playing in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since winning a major championship — she beat Kenin in last year’s French Open final. Swiatek acknowledged feeling “more pressure than usual,” adding: “I know that it’s hard, sometimes, to be back on tour after a win like that.”

YOUNG MEN

Dominic Thiem ended a run of 13 consecutive Slam triumphs for Djokovic, Nadal and Federer by winning the U.S. Open in September, so now the question in men’s tennis is: Who’s next? Thiem, the 2020 runner-up to Djokovic in Australia, calls the 33-year-old Serb the favorite, but if some other first-time major champion is going to emerge, who might it be? Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev are members of the group that has a shot.

___ AP Sports Writers Dennis Passa and John Pye contributed to this report from Australia.

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More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Leonard on All-Star Game: ‘It’s money on the line’

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kawhi Leonard, MVP of last year’s All-Star Game, suggested the NBA is prioritizing money over the health of its players in planning to stage the midseason exhibition in March.

“We all know why we’re playing it,” the Los Angeles Clippers star said Friday night. “It’s money on the line, it’s an opportunity to make more money. Just putting money over health right now, pretty much.”

The game and its skills competition will be held in Atlanta on March 7, the league told its teams earlier this week. It remains unclear when players would have to report and how testing will work in Atlanta, or if fans will be part of the game.

“We’re playing games now and it’s still a pandemic, doing all these protocols and rules, so it doesn’t really surprise me,” Leonard said on a video call after the Clippers lost to Boston.

Sacramento guard De’Aaron Fox has said he thought the notion of an All-Star Game was “stupid” during a pandemic.

Lakers star LeBron James, who is the second-leading fan vote-getter behind Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant, has said he’s not happy about staging the exhibition.

“I have zero energy and zero excitement about an All-Star Game this year,” James said. “I don’t even understand why we’re having an All-Star Game, but it’s the agreement.”

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More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Pandemic pivot: NFL guides small businesses in tough times

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Lennise Germany’s personal and professional lives were twisted, tangled and turned upside down in a matter of minutes last year.

Germany was sitting in a hospital room with her husband and their 12-year-old son when she got an email that forced her small catering company to temporarily close its doors because of the coronavirus pandemic. What should have been gut-wrenching news barely caused Germany to flinch because doctors had just diagnosed her son with cancer.

No pivot on the planet could make her situation seem anything but dire.

“All of us would be lying if we said we didn’t have some level of fear,” she said.

The months-long hiatus ended up being a blessing for Germany because it gave her the freedom to focus on her son’s health and be on hand for countless rounds of chemotherapy, often every day of the week.

Now, Germany gets to give back to some of those same healthcare workers. Her company, Livy O’s Catering, was awarded a contract to provide food for a pregame tailgate for 7,500 vaccinated healthcare workers invited to attend the Super Bowl on Sunday.

The deal was a result of NFL Business Connect, which helps developing companies owned by women, minorities and veterans navigate the Super Bowl procurement process and land deals connected to the big game.

Business Connect spent the last 15 months helping Tampa-area owners prepare for this week, and much like the NFL – and just about everyone else – had to make significant shifts amid the pandemic. Instead of the typical eight or nine in-person sessions designed to help businesses learn how to best write a Request For Proposal and teach them how to get the most out of social media, Business Connect turned to virtual meetings. And instead of the usual hundreds of subcontracts up for grabs relating to the Super Bowl, there were far fewer.

So the goal was the same, although the approach was quite different.

“We had to adjust,” said Stephanie Swanz, owner of empaMamas. “We weren’t even sure the Super Bowl was going to happen, and if it did, in what capacity. We were playing this whole thing by ear.”

Swanz attended all those virtual meetings, spending 60 to 90 minutes on every Zoom call or webinar, and was impressive enough to be offered a chance to provide snack boxes to Super Bowl workers. But Swanz had to turn down the invitation because her two restaurants inside the ultra-popular Armature Works eatery have been so busy in recent weeks.

“I’m sure the Super Bowl and this whole experience here in Tampa would be much different had it not been a time of COVID,” Swanz said.

More than 1,200 businesses in the Tampa area applied to Business Connect, most of them hoping to land a special events contract with the NFL or, at the very least, expand networking reach and develop skills that could lead to greater business success. Only 714 of those met basic eligibility requirements, and just 208 were selected to participate in the program.

Of those businesses chosen during the pandemic, only one changed ownership and dropped out of the eligibility pool.

“The reality is all these businesses know what they do for a living,” said B.J. Waymer, who runs NFL Business Connect. “What we try to do is just add something to their tool kit.”

And most gained a new perspective from the process.

“It was definitely a very worrisome time if you’re an entrepreneur and you invested so much time and so much effort into your business,” said Jessica Eckley, partner and CEO of Crackerjack Media, a public relations and marketing agency that won the bid to work with the host committee. “We’ve made some great connections, people we’ll undoubtedly work with again coming out of this.

“I think that’s been one of our key takeaways. Not just how can we benefit from this Super Bowl and this immediate time frame, but how can we support each other and continue to drive business to each other and support each other.”

Germany welcomed support from anyone and everyone.

When her catering company was allowed to reopen, she scrapped her usual weddings and banquets and pitched to charter schools and private schools. She landed 10 new contracts for the school years, deals that kept the business afloat.

Her business had been eyeing a Super Bowl contract for months and knew that would help. But it was never a given, especially when it looked like the season was teetering at times and when it was clear that coronavirus issues and social distancing rules would limit crowds and stadium capacity.

“It was definitely a roller-coaster of, ‘It’s not gonna happen. OK, it’s happening. OK, it’s not gonna happen. OK, it’s happening. And then finally, oh, shoot, it’s happening soon,’” Germany said.

She secured a letter of agreement last month and started preparing for the most ardent order of her catering career. Even though she had worked with the Department of Agriculture as well as the city, the county and the state, none of those compared to the NFL.

“We’ve got to be even better than good. We’ve got to be great — and in every area of service,” she said. “For the NFL, everything’s got to be on a level that is skyrocketed to the moon and still has to be this tiptop, perfect thing.”

She has everyone pitching in — friends, relatives and all six of her children. They have a motto for the week, one Germany never imagined would ever happen again that devastating day in the hospital.

“It’s going to be fun. No matter how crazy this is about to be, it’s going to be fun,” she said.

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More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

NFL and union tell teams what celebrations are allowed

The NFL and the players’ union sent a memo to the Super Bowl teams Saturday detailing what celebrations attended by players and staff should look like.

In the memo, obtained by The Associated Press, the Buccaneers and Chiefs were reminded of COVID-19 protocols that will remain in place.

“While we understand that this achievement is worthy of celebration, the (NFL) Management Council and NFLPA would like to pass along important guidance regarding postgame celebrations attended by players, coaches and staff from our participating teams,” the memo said.

The Florida Department of Health encourages everyone in Florida to avoid gathering in groups larger than 10.

Limitations regarding ongoing COVID-19 testing and facility access remain in place for seven days following the Super Bowl. Should either team or any player wish to host a gathering following the game, the league and union agreed to the following limitations:

— Club facilities may not be used. That would include hotels used by the clubs for game travel.

— A host must limit the number of people in attendance, ensuring all attendees have received negative COVID-19 test results within the previous 48 hours.

— The event must be held outdoors in a space large enough for sufficient physical distancing. Event spaces must be designed and configured to promote physical distancing; masks must be worn at all times; signs must be prominently displayed reminding attendees to practice physical distancing and to wear masks; hand sanitizer and masks should be made available to all attendees; areas for such activities as eating and drinking must promote physical distancing; hosts must ensure any high touch surfaces are periodically sanitized throughout the event; and hosts must offer transportation for all attendees to go home following the event.

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More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Archives for February 2021

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