Sports

When my old pal the Sports Curmudgeon had some mildly churlish things to say about golf a few weeks ago, both he and I were upbraided by loyal linksters. As one snapped at me, "You don't know anything about golf."

Perhaps.

But I know all about golf propaganda.

U.S. Olympic speedskater Simon Cho will boycott a hearing next week that could result in his receiving a lifetime ban from the sport, NPR has learned.

Cho is the short-track bronze medalist (Vancouver, 2010) who in October confessed to sabotaging the skate of a Canadian athlete during an international meet in Poland in 2011.

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From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.

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And I'm Robert Siegel. The NBA Finals are set. For a third straight year, the Miami Heat will be playing for the championship. The Heat won last year and they'll defend their title against the San Antonio Spurs. Tip-off for the championship series is Thursday, and now here to talk about the Heat, Spurs and about grace under pressure is NPR's Mike Pesca. Hi, Mike.

MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Hello.

Ohio State University president Gordon Gee will retire on July 1, ending his leadership of the school that was recently embarrassed by his verbal miscues. Gee, 69, recently sparked anger with comments he made about Catholics and rival universities.

Gee made those comments, reportedly intended as jokes, at a session of Ohio State's Athletic Council.

David "Deacon" Jones, a hall of fame defensive lineman credited with coining the term "sack" for how he would tackle opposing teams' quarterbacks, has died.

He was 74.

According to the NFL's Washington Redskins, the last team Jones played for, he "passed away [Monday] from natural causes at his home in Southern California."

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The Miami Heat were dominant last night as they beat the Indiana Pacers to win Game 7 of the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals. NPR's Mike Pesca reports that Miami's LeBron James led all scorers with 32 points and his team to another berth in the Finals.

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The women's pro basketball season is underway, and this year the WBNA features three former college stars. These standout players are being marketed as the Three To See. They are Elena Della Donne, Brittney Griner, and Skylar Diggins. NPR's Mike Pesca saw two of the three to see play each other last night. He has this report.

MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Skylar Diggins can still get the crowd to go wild.

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The Saturday morning fog was burning off above the part of Santa Monica's beach known as the Inkwell. It's the stretch of sand to which black Southern Californians were relegated by de facto segregation until the 1960s.

Men, women and children walked across the sand in wet suits, carrying surfboards. They're part of the Black Surfers Collective, which aims to get more people of color involved in surfing.

They had gathered to honor pioneer Nick Gabaldon, a legendary surfer who is remembered as the area's first documented board man of African-American and Mexican heritage.

Weekend Edition Sunday host Rachel Martin talks to NPR's Mike Pesca about the week in sports.