Commanders, Washington agree to a deal to build at RFK Stadium site

WASHINGTON >> Growing up in the Washington area, Josh Harris cherished his chances once or twice a year to watch his favorite football team play at RFK Stadium, the home during the glory days when the likes of Joe Theismann and John Riggins made the stands shake on the way to three Super Bowl championships.

Now the controlling owner and with fellow locals and longtime fans Mitch Rales and Mark Ein also involved, Harris and his group are a giant leap closer to bringing the team back where they think it belongs.

Washington’s NFL franchise is set to return to the nation’s capital as part of an agreement between the organization and the District of Columbia government to build a new stadium as part of a project totaling nearly $4 billion. The Commanders and Mayor Muriel Bowser announced their deal Monday to construct a new home for the football team in the city at the site the old RFK Stadium, the place the franchise called home for more than three decades.

“This has been a vision of ours since we bought the team,” Harris said. “We all experienced the rumbling of RFK (and) the fact that we grew up here gave us that vision to not look at the crumbling concrete that was there but remember in our minds the vivid nature of what Washington football is all about.”

The new stadium would open in 2030, with groundbreaking expected next year, pending approval of the Council of the District of Columbia.

Stan Love, brother of Beach Boys’ Mike Love and father of Heat’s Kevin Love, dies at 76

MIAMI >> Former NBA player Stan Love, the brother of Beach Boys singer Mike Love and the father of Miami Heat player Kevin Love, has died. He was 76.

Kevin Love announced his father’s death in an Instagram post Sunday night. No cause was given, but he referenced longstanding health issues in the post.

“Dad, you fought for a long time,” Kevin posted. “The hardest stretch being these past 6 months. The most painful to witness being these last few weeks. And even at the end as you continued to deteriorate — I still saw you as a Giant. My Protector. My first Hero.”

He went on to write, “Dad, I’m so proud to be your son. My only hope is that you’re proud of me. It was all I ever wanted. Thank you for everything.”

Stan Love was a 6-foot-9 forward who starred at Morningside High School in Inglewood, California, and at Oregon before he was selected ninth overall by Baltimore in the 1971 NBA draft.

He averaged 6.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in 226 games in four seasons with the Bullets and the Los Angeles Lakers. He also played 12 games for San Antonio in the American Basketball Association.

Tennis players in the dark as matches at Madrid Open suspended because of power outage

MADRID >> Former U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff was preparing to shower in a dark locker room after play at the Madrid Open tennis tournament was suspended and then postponed Monday because of a major power outage in Spain and Portugal.

Then Gauff realized that the water was off, too.

“So I just had to take baby wipes and wipe myself,” Gauff said, “and spray some perfume and call it a day.”

Gauff managed to beat Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-2 shortly before the outage, which apparently cut off the sound as she was giving a post-match interview on the court. Then the 2023 U.S. Open champion posted an Instagram story showing only an emergency light working in an otherwise dark locker room.

The ATP Tour said that two singles matches and one doubles match were underway when power went out at 12:34 p.m. local time.

“The cut is preventing the use of electronic line calling systems and also left a spider cam dangling over the court inside Manolo Santana Stadium,” the ATP added.

Tournament organizers said they “had no choice but to suspend/cancel all sporting activity in order to guarantee the safety of the players, fans and personnel.” They recommended all spectators leave the sports complex.

The event is scheduled to resume on Tuesday. There will be third-round matches in the top of the draw, and fourth-round matches in the bottom of the draw.

Grigor Dimitrov was leading Jacob Fearnley 6-4, 5-4 inside the main stadium when play was stopped. Also, Matteo Arnaldi was leading Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 3-2 when play was suspended. That match later continued — apparently with manual line calling — and Arnaldi won 6-3, 6-4.

The doubles match was also completed and some players were practicing despite the outage. A a few people remained in the stands to watch.

The blackout brought much of Spain and Portugal to a standstill, knocking out subway networks, phone lines, traffic lights and ATM machines.

Spanish power distributor Red Eléctrica said restoring power to large parts of the country after the outage could take up to 10 hours.

The company declined to speculate on the causes of the blackout.

Gauff also posted a photo of candles being distributed.

“I don’t think we’re even going to be able to go back to the hotel because the traffic lights are out,” Gauff said. “It’s just crazy how much we depend on electricity. It’s really insane and puts it in perspective.”

Another fourth-round women’s match was also completed before the blackout: Mirra Andreeva beat Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-1, 6-4.

Second-ranked Iga Swiatek “sat in the darkened players’ lounge, talking with members of her team,” ahead of her scheduled match against Diana Shnaider, the WTA Tour said.

Swiatek and Shnaider had been scheduled to play in the main stadium after the Dimitrov-Fearnley match.

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka had been scheduled to play Peyton Stearns later.

Dampf reported from Rome.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis