Sports briefs
NBC to use Skycam for Steelers game
NBC will use a Skycam as its primary camera during the preseason game Sunday between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans.
The network received plenty of critical reviews the last time it tried this for a Thursday night game between the Steelers and Titans.
“Sunday Night Football” executive producer Fred Gaudelli is willing to try again after refining some things.
The camera will be approximately 50 feet above the ground and perpendicular to the line of scrimmage. Skycams are normally 22 feet above the ground and positioned behind the offense or defense.
Gaudelli said the new angle was first used for Notre Dame’s spring game and he hopes that the new view gets better feedback.
XFL has names, seeks players
The XFL has names for its eight teams, now it needs players.
The league, which begins play in February, revealed team logos and names Wednesday. The teams are the Los Angeles Wildcats, New York Guardians, DC Defenders, Dallas Renegades, Houston Roughnecks, St. Louis BattleHawks, Seattle Dragons and Tampa Bay Vipers.
Commissioner Oliver Luck said the league will soon announce additional signings from the first round of commissioner invitations that were extended earlier this month. The XFL recently signed former Oklahoma and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Landry Jones as its first player.
Luck said the draft will be in October. Playing rules are still being tweaked after the league held a session in California with coaches, Fox and ESPN last month.
Jets’ Copeland suspended
New York Jets linebacker Brandon Copeland was suspended by the NFL for the first four games of the regular season for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.
Copeland can still participate in the team’s preseason practices and games. He is eligible to return to the active roster on Oct. 7.
In a post on Instagram, Copeland explained that he used a supplement that he believed adhered to NFL rules.
Guerin hired as GM of Wild
The Minnesota Wild have hired Bill Guerin, who won two Stanley Cups as a player and two more titles in the front office with the Pittsburgh Penguins, as their new general manager.
Guerin was announced Wednesday as the fourth GM in the team’s 19-year history, three weeks after predecessor Paul Fenton was fired by owner Craig Leipold. Guerin spent the last five seasons as assistant general manager of the Penguins, who won consecutive Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. He also worked three years in player development prior to that for the club he skated for in the final two of his 18 seasons in the league as player. He was on Pittsburgh’s title-winning team in 2009.
The 48-year-old Guerin, who signed a multi-year contract that the Wild did not disclose terms for, will supervise the hockey operations department including all matters relating to player personnel, coaching staff, scouting department and minor league operations.
As he attempted on July 30 to explain his decision to dismiss Fenton after just 15 months on the job, Leipold praised the former Nashville Predators assistant general manager as a “tremendous” scout who lacked the necessary acumen in other areas.
“It was the other portion of being a general manager, the organizational part, the strategic part, the management of people, the hiring and motivating of the departments,” Leipold said. “When I talk about not being a good fit, that’s what I’m referring to.”