LAKEVILLE, Conn. — As a result of the ongoing travel restrictions and quarantine requirements surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic in Connecticut, the Trans-Am SpeedTour Classic at Lime Rock Park scheduled for Oct. 16-17 has been canceled.

The two 100-mile races scheduled for Lime Rock will now run as one combined feature at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga. Nov. 19-21, creating a doubleheader and double points scoring weekend for Trans Am competitors, mimicking the Virginia Int’l Raceway schedule set for this weekend.

The Trans-Am Series presented by Pirelli is slated to return to Lime Rock Park Memorial Day weekend with the Sportscar Vintage Racing Ass’n in 2021.

“We’ve worked diligently to address all health and safety requirements, but Connecticut’s travel restrictions and quarantine requirements made the event no longer feasible,” SVRA CEO and majority owner of The Trans-Am Racing Company Tony Parella.  “We are confident that the four remaining events on our national 2020 schedule at VIR, Circuit of The Americas, Road Atlanta and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, will go off as planned.”

After a mid-season break, Trans-Am returns to action Sept. 25-27 at VIRginia Int’l Raceway for the Heacock Classic Gold Cup. The SpeedTour event will feature two individual races for the TA/XGT/SGT/GT and TA2® classes, and then one combined race on Sunday. All three races will be lived streamed on the Trans Am by Pirelli Racing App.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Chase Briscoe won seven races during the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season, but he told reporters on Tuesday that it’s too early to cast him as the championship favorite.

Briscoe made the comments in response to a question posed by SPEED SPORT during Xfinity Series Playoff Media Day, noting there are multiple drivers he feels could step up during the postseason.

“I would love to say, ‘yes, we’re the favorites,’ but I don’t know if you can really pick a favorite for the title right now,” said Briscoe. “I think this year has been a lot about everybody hitting their moment at different times. It’s been really streaky. You look at us, we won five out of the first 12 and then Cindric won five out of six. Allgaier has won three now, so I feel confident that we can make it to the final four, but I don’t know if there’s really one guy that sticks out over any of the others.

“I feel like anybody on any given day can be the guy to beat, and this series has really been competitive all year long, so I would love to say, ‘Yeah, you’ve got to beat us to win the championship,’ but truthfully there are a lot of really good race car drivers and a lot of really good race teams in this series. It’s going be hard to beat any of them on any given day, so you just have to hit it right that day and hope you can be the guy to beat. I feel confident we can make it to the final four, but once you get to Phoenix you’re going to have to be on top of your game because those other three guys will be on top of their game.

“Whoever wins (the title) is obviously the guy that did the best and the team that hit it the best.”

Despite a stacked field of potential title contenders, Briscoe and the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team have stood out among the crowd.

In addition to his seven wins, Briscoe posted 14 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes during the first 26 races, highlighting the consistency of his squad as something to watch out for as well as he makes his way from round to round.

With that in mind, one might think that anything less than a championship would be a disappointment for Briscoe, but he said he’s not going to let the playoff outcome define his season.

“Yeah, to a certain extent it’s championship or bust, but at the same time, if we do win two or three more of these races in the playoffs and then don’t win Phoenix, we had a great year by winning nine or 10 races. You can’t ask for much more,” Briscoe noted. “I think in today’s playoff format, you could technically win in the Cup Series the first 35 races and have an issue at the last race, and you wouldn’t be the champion. So, you can’t let the championship define you and define your season.

“Yes, we want to win the championship, but at the same time, winning races is a big deal,” Briscoe added. “That’s what you get paid to do, is go win races and, obviously, win championships as well, but in today’s format anything can happen in that final race. You never know what can happen. If you can win as many races as you can throughout the year, it just helps solidify that you had a good year.”

Whether an Xfinity Series title would serve as a springboard for Briscoe to move up to the NASCAR Cup Series level in 2021 is anyone’s guess, but Briscoe isn’t thinking about that — not yet, at least.

“I don’t know where all that sits right now,” Briscoe admitted. “The main focus for me is just trying to win races, as many as I can, over these last seven races and trying to win the championship. After that, you just have to let the cards fall where they fall. If I can go win four or five out of these last seven, then obviously it makes the transition, if I do move up or to want to move up, easier and makes me a lot more wanted by the bigger teams. The biggest thing for me is whatever I’m in, whether it’s Cup Series, Xfinity Series, Truck Series … whatever it is, I want to do it in something competitive.

“I would rather win Xfinity races than go run a 25th- to 30th-place car in the Cup Series,” Briscoe continued. “I just want to do whatever I’m doing in something competitive that can go battle for championships and try to win races, and right now I’m in a great opportunity to do that.

“I’m trying to just win as many of these races as I can and trying to win this championship, because then it just makes me a lot more wanted in this sport.”

The NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs begin Saturday at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.

The San Jose Sharks saw enough from Bob Boughner this past season to make him the ninth head coach in franchise history.

Boughner was officially elevated from interim status on Tuesday, after having coached the team for 37 games in 2019-20 after the firing of head coach Peter DeBoer. Boughner, who had been an assistant coach for San Jose, went 14-20-3 before the regular season was paused on March 12 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sharks did not qualify for the NHL's 24-team postseason tournament, finishing eighth in the Pacific Division.

"Bob did a tremendous job last season, getting our group back to playing with an identity and structure that we need in order to be successful," general manager Doug Wilson said in a statement. "We saw a marked improvement in our play in several key areas during the second half of the season, before losing some key players to injury."

Boughner previously served as head coach of the Florida Panthers from 2017 to 2019, going 80-62-22 and failing to qualify for the postseason.

"Last year was a difficult season for everyone, but I think we learned a lot about ourselves as a group and we made some positive strides over the second half of the year," Boughner said. "I've been in contact with many of our players over the break and, as a coaching staff, we are going to make it clear that our team is going compete every night, play hard and be a tight group on and off the ice."

The Sharks failed to qualify for the playoffs for only the second time in 16 seasons, after having gone to the Western Conference finals in 2018-19. San Jose had an exodus of veteran talent after that season, including captain Joe Pavelski. Last season, the Sharks were ravaged by injuries to players like star defenseman Erik Karlsson (limited to 56 games), new captain Logan Couture (52 games) and forward Tomas Hertl (48 games).

Along with Boughner, the Sharks named former AHL Chicago Wolves coach Rocky Thompson as associate coach in charge of the defensemen and power play, and former AHL Cleveland Monsters head coach John Madden as assistant coach in charge of forwards and penalty kill.

Former NHL player Ryan Kesler said the lack of education about a popular anti-inflammatory medication led to his chronic digestive problems, which he revealed on a Canadian sports documentary.

Kesler and other former NHL players spoke out about overuse of medications like toradol, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, on a TSN news segment called "The Problem of Pain," which debuts Tuesday night.

Kesler, who played 1,001 games for the Vancouver Canucks and Anaheim Ducks, hasn't played in the NHL since March 2019 because of chronic hip problems. To manage the pain, he said he would frequently take toradol, a drug not approved for long-term use. "I never wanted to hurt the team, so I knew I had to play. To play, you have to take painkillers," he said.

In 2015, Kesler said he developed colitis, a chronic disease that causes long-lasting inflammation and ulcers in the digestive tract. Doctors told him the condition was most likely triggered by the toradol abuse.

"I had holes in my colon and ulcers, and basically my whole intestines went into spasm. It's very unpleasant. You've gotta go to the bathroom 30-40 times a day. And when you do go to the bathroom, it's pure blood. It depletes you. It's terrible. And it's all because I wasn't made aware of what this drug could potentially do to me," he said.

In fall 2019, Kesler was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease.

Kesler said NHL teams have not educated their players about the risks of pain medications. "I never knew what it could do to me. Or the side effects. I feel like if I can talk about the dangers about it, it'll help everybody," he said.

TSN's Rick Westhead, who created "The Problem of Pain" with producer Matt Cade, said that overuse of toradol is widespread in the NHL, with multiple agents telling him they have players "who take it before every regular-season and playoff game" to manage their pain.

"A lot of this, in terms of accountability and responsibly, comes down to team trainers and team doctors," Westhead said. "If you believe what these players are telling us, how can it be that they're being given prescription medication that you're not supposed to take more than five days in a row for a full season and not telling them what could happen if you do this?"

Mike Davis, who came to prominence setting up U.S. Open courses and rose to become the USGA’s first CEO, announced Tuesday he will leaving the organization at the end of 2021 to pursue his lifelong passion for golf course design.

Davis, 55, joined the USGA in 1990. In 2011, he succeeded David Fay to become the seventh executive director in the organization's history. In 2016, he was named CEO, which under revised bylaws made that position, and no longer the USGA president, the most powerful in the organization.

The announcement comes in the aftermath of a well-received U.S. Open at Winged Foot, which due to COVID-19 was played in September for the first time since 1913, and without spectators.

“It’s just the right time for me,” said Davis. “I’m in a really good place. Part of me will indeed be sad because I’ve grown up in this organization, but I’m excited about the future. The USGA’s in a great place. And I think the game is moving in the right direction.”

Davis said that when he took the executive director job he promised his wife, Cece, it would be for 10 years. He  informed the executive committee in 2018 the timetable of his planned departure.

“I could tell, five or six years into it, that this is not a job where I would be doing myself or the USGA a favor by staying too long,” said Davis, whose job required him to spend about 200 days a year away from home. “I got into the position where I knew I could only keep this pace up and keep the enthusiasm for so long. I’ve had a lot of CEOs tell me this type of job kind of wears you out, and it turned out to be very true.”

Davis’ replacement will be chosen by a succession committee made up of several members of the executive committee, which has also hired a search firm to assist. Internal and external candidates will be considered. The goal is for a successor to be in place next May, before the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

“I’ll be part of process, but I’m not going to be choosing my successor,” said Davis. “I’m sure I’ll offer something about what the job entails and what I think is needed. When the time comes, I’ll make sure people know that this is the new person. I’ll be helpful, but also ready to say, 'Here you go. Take my office.' I think it’s a more comfortable thing.”

In his remaining 15 months on the job, Davis said his priorities will be to lead the organization through the challenges of COVID-19, advance the establishment of the recently announced Golf House Pinehurst, oversee the resumption of the ongoing Distance Insights Project, and ensure a smooth transition.

In his next venture, he will team with golf course designer Tom Fazio II to form Fazio & Davis Golf Design. The two have been friends for years. Fazio, whose father, Jim Fazio, and uncle, Tom Fazio, are both prominent course architects, recently helped Davis with creating a new master plan for the course he grew up on, Chambersburg (PA) CC. “We just clicked,” said Davis.

To those who know Davis best, his new direction is not a surprise. The former college golfer at Georgia Southern was doodling golf holes in high school even before he won the 1982 Pennsylvania State Junior. He acknowledges that his favorite task at the USGA was working on preparing  courses for all the USGA championships and the U.S. Open, in particular.

After several years of assisting former setup man Tom Meeks with that championship, Davis was named director of rules and competitions in 2005. His first U.S. Open setup at Winged Foot in 2006 was lauded. For the next 12 championships, including eight where he performed double duty after being named executive director, he willingly took on the challenge. But in 2019, he chose to hand the duties off to John Bodenhamer, who was appointed senior director of championships. “I was frankly stretched too thin U.S. Open week,” Davis said. “John has done a tremendous job.”

In large part because of the growth of social media (which also gave players a louder voice), Davis increasingly became a lightning rod for complaints about the U.S. Open. Setups at Merion in 2013 and Shinnecock Hills 2018 were criticized, as was the choice to take the U.S. Open to two new courses in close succession at Chambers Bay in 2015 and Erin Hills in 2017. It prompted some, including Jack Nicklaus, to question whether the championship was losing its identity, leading the USGA to conduct an extensive survey with findings that supported the U.S. Open returning more often to its most classic venues.  With Pinehurst becoming the championship’s anchor by being slated to play host five times between 2024 and 2047, more frequent visits to Oakmont, Pebble Beach, Shinnecock Hills and Winged Foot is establishing a de facto rota under Davis’ leadership.

It’s been a job full of endless challenges, but it’s also what made his next chapter possible.

“When I was running rules and competitions, it was just heart and soul for me,” Davis said. “It would have been easy to have finished out my career in that job in my mid-60s. But if I had done that and not taken executive director, I never would have gotten into golf course design and construction. Because these last couple of years I’ve told myself, ‘If I don’t do this, I’m always going to regret it.’ I look back and say I just lucked out.”

The Davis Decade will be marked by a variety of accomplishments, including the establishment of a world handicapping system, rules modernization, three new championships in the Women’s Senior Open and men’s and women’s amateur four balls, and a powerful fundraising arm with the USGA Foundation. Behind the scenes, but perhaps most significant, Davis played an important role in changing USGA’s governing structure, with the staff gaining fuller control of the day-to-day operation while the executive committee took on a more advisory role.

Davis is most proud of committing to solving controversial issues.

“I look at the things we knew would be hard and unpopular with some, like anchoring and distance,” he said. “I remember when the board talked to me about applying for the position, and one of the things I said to them was, ‘We have to be willing to take on tough issues if they need to be taken on.’ And I used distance as an example. Because I love golf courses. It’s just destroyed me to see what’s happened in some ways because of distance. I said, ‘I’m not interested in this [job] if you are not willing to take that on.’

“There were times, the USGA and R&A would admit this, where we thought, ‘Ok, everything that’s out there now, that’s good, let’s stop it right there.’ Instead of saying, ‘Wait a second. We’ve already gone too far. What’s best for the game?’  And I’ve always kind of thought that way. And every time I’m in an equipment meeting, I remind everyone, ‘Before we say, this is where we are, and we can stop it here,’ ask yourselves, is that the right thing for the game?’ If you are governing body, that’s your responsibility in the long term. Don’t take the easy way out.

"Governance is not a popularity contest.”

Davis said he isn’t worried that his departure will slow momentum on the Distance Insights Project, which because of the pandemic has been postponed until early next year.

“Our board is very aligned with the R&A leadership that this is something we have to solve,” he said. “We don’t yet know how we’re going to solve it, in terms of what we should do, how we do it, when we should do it. But that will work itself out.  We committed millions of dollars to this, and when you look at the data, so crystal clear. You just can’t argue it. It’s something that’s going to happen long after I’m gone, but that we know is going to happen.”

Stu Francis, the current president of the USGA, admires Davis’ ability to connect across the community of golf through what is unmistakably a genuine bond with the game.

“Mike obviously has tremendous golf skills – a passion and understanding of it,” Francis said. “And he’s had a great ability to think about what’s right for golf. To a degree, that takes a very unselfish person. He’s always been that way. It’s well known in the game and it’s a big part of why he has been effective.”

As for his venture into golf architecture, Davis says with an adamant smile that he will not be reprising of U.S. Open setups.

“I love Winged Foot, I love Oakmont. The architecture, the greens, the bunkers,” he said. “But the narrowness of them, I don’t like that kind of golf for me, and I don’t think it’s necessarily good for the recreational player. I don’t want someplace where you are constantly looking for golf balls. I don’t want a bunch of forced carries. I want to be able to bounce balls into greens. I like playable for the beginner, strategic for the better player. I think our courses will gravitate toward width, like a lot of great courses I know and like.”

“I know a lot about design, but I have a deficiency in the actual construction of course, in the build. So I’m going to learn a lot from Tom, but also go to Bill Coore and Gil Hanse and just get on one of their crews. Pete Dye would say, 'You can’t do effective design work until you understand construction.' I’m really looking forward to getting my hands dirty.”

For a lover of the game who personifies the sub-category of “purist,” overriding sentiment in what is generally considered a complicated career moment is one of gratitude.

“My whole career with the USGA, I’ve been so fortunate so often,” he said. “Seeing virtually all the world’s great golf courses, being part of a quiet dinner with just Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, being the only person alive to have seen all of Tiger’s nine USGA victories. Just so many things, and it’s been an honor. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said to myself, 'I can’t believe I’m actually doing this.' What can you say? Right place and right time.”

And it seems he believes the theme will continue.

MLS announced the remainder of its regular season schedule, with each team playing nine more matches and concluding on Nov. 8.

The last day of the regular season -- which the league is calling Decision Day and will likely have a bearing on playoff qualification and seeding -- will see the 14 Eastern Conference teams kick off with seven simultaneous games at 3:30 p.m. ET, while the Western Conference teams will take part in six simultaneous games starting at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Due to travel restrictions imposed by the Canadian government, including a 14-day quarantine period for people traveling from the U.S. to Canada, the three Canadian teams will have to play their remaining home matches in the United States.

The Montreal Impact will play their home matches at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, Toronto FC's home base will be Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut, while the Vancouver Whitecaps will play their home matches at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon.

MLS clubs will continue to adhere to comprehensive health and safety protocols, including regular testing of players, coaches and essential staff for COVID-19.

MLS also stated that matches have been scheduled to minimize travel time, allowing visiting teams to arrive and depart on match day for the majority of games.

No team will have played the same opponent more than four times across all phases of regular season competition. This includes regular season games in MLS markets, as well as MLS is Back Tournament group stage games.

From a neutral standpoint, it would be absolutely thrilling if Luis Suarez joined Atletico Madrid. From an Atleti point of view, it might -- just might -- be sufficient to give them the natural, instinctive goal threat they've been missing for years. From La Liga's vista, retaining a world-class superstar and legendary talent -- rather than seeing him join Ever Banega, Santi Cazorla, Aritz Aduriz and Sergio Reguilon in disappearing from Spain's fields of play -- is gold dust.

From the Barcelona side of things, the whole idea is a small-visioned, deeply flawed, personality-based error of pretty huge proportions. Some may disagree, but I think it's blatantly obvious. More of that in a moment.

Let's start with the absolutely delicious prospect for those -- like most of you, and me -- who would stand back and expect the blue touchpaper to be lit if explosive Suarez meets abrasive Atletico. (Barca are apparently going to fight not to let this happen and might yet keep Suarez, which speaks further to their disarray.) You could begin it like one of those hackneyed old jokes: "Heard the one about an Argentinian, a Brazilian and a Uruguayan walk into a football club...?"

Why Suarez would make sense at Atletico

Diego Simeone may have lost his right hand, Mono Burgos, but his left still carries a powerful hook, jab and haymaker. The Argentinian has always been ferocious. As a player, like Suarez, he would do practically anything to win. This would make their union a meeting of like minds, but Simeone's most impressive components, like Suarez's, weren't pure dark arts -- they were his calculating brain and his relentless commitment to giving a bare minimum of 100%. That meant working hard every day in training, then upping the intensity in matches.

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You've witnessed what an electrifying, galvanising effect that's had on Atleti in the past decade, when he's achieved several things that will mark him down as, probably, the greatest individual figure in the entire, garlanded history of Los Colchoneros. He's earned the club many hundreds of millions of euros from relentlessly muscular performances in Europe -- hence a salary that is rumoured, and I believe it, to be the biggest for a manager anywhere in club football. He's consistently made any group of players the club has given him at least as good as the sum of the parts, and often greater.

That, I'd argue, is the No. 1 skill of any manager. And it's very, very rare.

He's completely catalysed the fanbase, drawing them like a Pied Piper, in ever more hungry, vociferous droves, to the Vicente Calderon, and then to the Wanda Metropolitano. Above all, he's won trophies -- seven of the beauties.

But Atleti are desperately short of scorers. Since losing Antoine Griezmann to Barcelona little more than a year ago, they've not had a proper lead striker (Alvaro Morata was top last season with 12 in La Liga) and since Kevin Gameiro scored 12 league goals three long years ago, Atleti's second-highest La Liga scorer, whoever it has been, hasn't managed to hit the net more than eight times. Not only is that not good enough, it's puny verging on pathetic.

Now the Brazilian. Diego Costa, for the moment, doesn't have any buyers. He's pretty static, reliant on trying to bully and frighten defenders because he's still one mean son of a gun. It's not that he doesn't have technique nor lacks ideas, but the cumulative weight fluctuations and injuries throughout the years have left him prematurely unable to make his body do what his mind and eyes can imagine.

What unifies him and his coach is their unwavering commitment to bulldozing all obstacles in their way in search of victory. Simeone and Costa represent the fiery, fighting, ferocious face of Atletico Madrid -- which is not to say, for one single moment, that the team, the squad, the coaching staff and the big bosses don't also possess football smarts, imagination, flair and athleticism. They do, but this remains a warrior club.

Whether Costa makes the cut and remains a Colchonero beyond the Oct. 5 transfer deadline remains to be seen. Frankly, I'd pay good money to watch him and Suarez gang up together; in training, in the dressing room, on away trips and, even if only occasionally, up front as a pairing. More often one would be replacing the other, given their age and the battle scars their bodies bear. But if there were a short series of months when Costa and Suarez were in the same team then it would be worth saying fervent prayers for goalkeepers, centre-halves and referees all over Spain and Europe.

What about Barca letting Suarez go?

Right now it's fashionable for disillusioned Barcelona fans to be ridiculously derogatory about Suarez. He's never had the most outstandingly athletic physique. Add to that the fact that he's turning 34 in January, that he's disconsolate at the way the Camp Nou authorities are running (down) his current club, and that he's constantly had someone poking or prodding with scalpels and sutures at one area or another in his knees and ankles in the past few seasons means that he's not in peak, peak shape.

However, and this is vital: Suarez is not due massively more respect and better treatment from Barcelona, and some of their disgruntled fans, simply because of his stats, though they are, of course, extraordinary. He's Barcelona's third all-time leading goal scorer (198 in 283 games), and winner of 13 trophies in six years. But crucially, he is, by far, the greatest, most mutually beneficial strike partner Lionel Messi has ever had. And despite any decline in athleticism, Suarez remains just about as smart, bright, technical and resourceful a striker as you'll find anywhere in Europe.

That brain, that tungsten-edged ambition, that vision -- Suarez has few peers. It's for that reason4 I would be fascinated to see what he can manage with Koke, Saul, Angel Correa, Joao Felix, Yannick Carrasco and, hopefully, Thomas Partey supplying him -- to say nothing of Atleti's flying wing-backs. To boil it right down, they do the running and the hunting, he finishes the job.

Assuming all this comes to fruition because the transfer market is quixotic beyond belief, it's true Suarez would suffer if "Professor" Oscar Ortega, Atleti's ruthless fitness coach, gets his hands on him. But you'd pay to witness that, too. All of which leaves Suarez's employers since 2014, a club he helped to a Treble and the squad in which he's become, with Messi, the reason that the Catalans have so successfully been able to rage against the dying of the light.

What the Suarez mess says about Barcelona

Barcelona have been an increasingly ill-run, badly focused, self-absorbed, money-obsessed mess for quite some time now. The fact that Suarez brings the absolute best out of Messi, as friends, as born winners, as teammates and as an instinctive anticipator of genius, has been crucial in the Blaugrana not sinking into their sticky, embarrassing morass long before now. But here's the rub: President Josep Maria Bartomeu is ruthlessly determined to prove that this is his club, completely set on breaking up the Suarez-Messi axis.

Bartomeu believes he can't be seen to let Messi leave, thus the axe falls on the axis by pushing Suarez out. That Ronald Koeman reportedly told the Uruguayan "I'd keep you but the club wants you out" tells the full story.

Bartomeu won't say it in public, at least until it comes to some self-justifying interview or paid memoirs when he's long out of office, but it's true that there are many people around Barcelona who resent the Messi-Suarez axis and who shrivel in their presence. Just the other day, in conversation with Vicente del Bosque for El Pais, ex-Barcelona keeper and ex-Camp Nou director of football Andoni Zubizarreta said: "Much depends on the generosity of [great] players. When Tata Martino was in charge at Barca he said to [Messi], 'I know that if you call the president, he'll sack me, but hell, you don't need to demonstrate that to me every day. I already know it.'"

That is a fierce, even startling, image.

Just last week Koeman, for the first time since taking over, felt the need to impose himself.

For the longest time -- certainly since Messi, Suarez and Neymar were routing Europe up front -- it has been traditional that Messi and one or more of his closest Praetorian guard wander out to training last. Often that's a noisy process; the laughter and clatter of studs on the concrete stairs up to the Tito Vilanova pitch indicating that, a handful of minutes after the penultimate players and longer after the eager ones, the little genius and his gang are ready to work.

Most accept it readily, some resent it and a few wish they could bring that state of affairs crashing down. It's an emblem of the fact that there's a bubble of "Thou shalt not" around Messi, best summed up with the phrase, "Don't tick him off unnecessarily."

But then greatness, especially greatness like this, carries privilege. Until now.

The rule now is that players must report to the training ground by 9.30 a.m. Training will usually be at 11 a.m. and one day last week, the new Dutch boss wasn't pleased that the last couple of his squad (guess who) weren't out on the field until 11.03 a.m. instead. Koeman took that as a disrespect, told them so and work commenced. But a marker was laid down. Like the reports of that first meeting between Koeman and Messi a couple of weeks ago: No more privileges, mate.

So where we stand is that Bartomeu thinks that he can win an internal battle by shooing Suarez off the premises. And he thinks he can do this at the same time as he's made Messi stay, by force, when the player claims he was repeatedly told that he could leave this summer and when Bartomeu said that very thing on television the season before last, he has opted to strip Messi of his third-greatest asset (Suarez) after that magical left foot and his brilliant brain.

The logical thing for a smart president to do, rather than to stick two fingers up at Messi by forcing out Suarez and paying to terminate the remainder of his Barcelona contract, would be to swallow pride and keep the Uruguayan. If there were financial resources to bring in a young, quick, ready-to-go striker like Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez then the argument would be different. But there aren't.

Suarez staying would mean a happier Messi, a centre-forward for Koeman to plan around, a good supply of goals (21 in 5,670 minutes, meaning one every 122 minutes last season) and a structure whereby Griezmann wouldn't have to play either at centre-forward or left wing where he struggled last season. It's simple logic. But, instead, Bartomeu is determined to win this battle -- even if it means him losing the war.

I told you two weeks ago that Simeone wanted Suarez and that the Uruguayan's arrival might well make Atleti true title challengers. I haven't changed my mind. Now it's down to the bean counters, the lawyers and the agents. Suarez is furious that the club are seemingly backtracking on their willingness to let him leave now that Atletico have emerged as his strongest suitor.

But from this unholy mess something beautiful, dressed in red and white, might be born.

Rajasthan Royals 216 for 7 (Samson 74, Smith 69, Archer 27*, Sam Curran 3-33) beat Chennai Super Kings 200 for 6 (du Plessis 72, Watson 33, Dhoni 29*, Tewatia 3-37) by 16 runs

Sanju Samson, Steven Smith and Jofra Archer managed to out-hit Chennai Super Kings with 17 sixes between them as Rajasthan Royals opened their campaign with a win in Sharjah.

The tournament's first 200-plus score was fuelled by Samson's 32-ball 74, Smith's balanced 47-ball 69, and Archer's four sixes in a row in the last over and proved to be too much for the Super Kings whose chase meandered into near-surrender in the middle overs before bursting to life at the end. Rahul Tewatia's three wickets played a big role in that, but Royals' defence was aided by the Super Kings' experimental batting order and an ostensible lack of purpose in chase; by the time MS Dhoni came in, at No. 7, they needed to score at more than 16 an over. That proved too much on the night despite a late attack from Faf du Plessis.

Brand new Rajasthan, same old Samson

The area that the Royals really wanted to revamp at the auction was their opening partnership, but the experiment with Smith alongside debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal lasted a laboured 14 balls, in which they only managed to put on 11 trying to come to terms with what looked like a sluggish pitch. Jaiswal was out trying to pull one that gripped and got big on him.

And then, Samson, coming in at No. 3 made the early impressions of the pitch seem questionable. He did take a couple of attempts to get his pull shots right, but once he got the pace of the surface came two short-arm pulls to clear the shortest square boundaries in the tournament. It was the start of a torrent.

The Royals got to 54 for 1 in the powerplay, and in the immediate over after, Samson took to Ravindra Jadeja's quick, overpitched deliveries like they were throwdowns in training. Two sixes off his first two balls against him - one over long-on, one over long-off - started Samson off, and the exact feat was repeated against Piyush Chawla next over. Chawla, who was also hit straight off a full length, did try to pull his length back the next ball along with a wider line; even so, Samson produced one of his best shots of the night, reaching out to slap him over extra cover without even managing to get to the pitch of it.

That turned out to be the last real challenge until he got out. He completed a 19-ball fifty - equalling Owais Shah for the Royals' second fastest one - and by the end of that over, which went for 28 including a Smith six, had five sixes in his last nine balls. The Royals went into the first time out 96 for 1 in eight overs. It took another three overs - with three more straight sixes off spin bowling that continued to be too full - before the partnership ended via a short ball from Lungi Ngidi that Samson could only chip to sweeper cover.

Six or nothing

Smith had played himself in, in his usual busy manner, but he was reprieved at the long-off boundary, drilling one to Sam Curran who couldn't hold on to the flat hit on his left. He managed a cheeky ramp off Ngidi, falling over in to the off side while doing it, but those were rare highlights in what proved a downturn in the innings.

Miller was run out without facing a ball on his Royals debut, caught short at the non-striker's end as his bat plonked in the turf as he dived. Robin Uthappa, one of the those the Royals bought at the auction, came in at No. 5 and managed only five off his nine balls. Sam Curran and the spinners had adjusted their lengths, just behind a good length, to bring some control for the Super Kings in the second half. Paradoxically, the pitch seemed to be difficult to score on if the scoring shots weren't boundaries or sixes; until 19th over, the Royals only made 54 after Samson had fallen at 132 in 11.4 overs, and had lost Smith by then.

Then came what was probably one of Ngidi's worst overs in his life; it started with a reversion to the overpitched length. On hand to take advantage in the last over was Jofra Archer, who pumped the first ball over the straight boundary. The next ball, a short one, ended up over the roof at midwicket. Following those were two more sixes - both of which also happened to be no-balls - and a wide to immediately follow them meant Ngidi had gone for 27 runs off two legal balls. To his credit, he conceded only three off the next four, but the second 30-run last over of this edition lifted Royals to 216 for 7.

Super Kings get stuck

Super Kings' chase began with eight off the first two overs, no boundaries scored, and it turned out to be a precursor for the rest of the innings. The six-or-nothing theme stuck for them as well, and they did manage to more or less match the Royals' powerplay effort. But just after their most fluent batsman on the night - Shane Watson - had struck four sixes and a four and looked set to take on the spinners, the plan fell apart. Legspinner Tewatia skidded one on leg stump and Watson was bowled off his thigh, trying to pull him. M Vijay's run-a-ball 21 hadn't helped when he fell next over, and only the promoted Sam Curran's 17 off 6 seemed to be taking the Super Kings anywhere near their big target in the face of much better lengths from the Royals' spinners.

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But Tewatia had him and Ruturaj Gaikwad stumped off consecutive deliveries, and Kedar Jadhav's promotion meant Dhoni came in at No. 7 with 104 required off 38 balls.

Du Plessis had struck at less than run-a-ball for 19 balls at that point, and was dropped at long-on by Riyan Parag off Tewatia. That catalysed a late six-hitting surge from him - and a 21-run over off Jaydev Unadkat. But his second fifty of the season, 72 off 37, came at the other end of Dhoni trudging to 10 off 13 before hitting his first six and turning it into three in a row in the last over. But the chase had already been mathematically closed off by Archer - with the ball in the 19th over, after he had done the work with the bat earlier.

Tom Abell has defended Somerset's record for retaining players despite some high-profile departures in recent times.

Over the last few weeks, Somerset have seen Jamie Overton leave for Surrey and Dom Bess announce that he will leave for Yorkshire at the end of the season. Jos Buttler, who left the club at the end of 2013, is another who felt he needed to move away to win more opportunities. All three might reasonably be described as home-grown.

But while Abell admitted he was disappointed to see such talented players leave Taunton, he insisted it was a reflection of the club's success rather than a sign of any specific problem. In particular, Abell feels it demonstrates the depth of talent and the competition for places at the club.

Bess would appear to be a prime example. Aged just 23 and currently seen as the England Test team's first-choice spinner, he is clearly a player with a bright future whom Somerset would like to have retained. But with his opportunities for first-team cricket at the club blocked by the presence of Jack Leach, who remains Somerset's first-choice slow bowler in red-ball cricket, he has opted to join Yorkshire. He is, however, in Somerset's 13-man squad for the Bob Willis Trophy final which is scheduled to start at Lord's on Wednesday.

Jamie Overton's case is similar. He hasn't always been able to command a place in Somerset's seam attack - one that has excelled in this year's competition, conceding more than 200 just once in five group games. He has been offered more opportunity, with bat and ball, at Surrey, and has already left the club.

So while Abell, Somerset's captain, admitted he "would love" to have such players available, he understands their need to move.

"It's a by-product of the relative success that we've had," Abell said. "We've won a lot of cricket matches.

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"But within that individuals have their own ambitions and we can't necessarily guarantee them the opportunities they want in all formats.

"Jamie Overton has played a significant role for us in the competition and, in an ideal world, we would have him available. But he's not a Somerset player now and, you look at the way our bowling attack has performed right through the competition, and it's a huge area of strength for us so. We're very confident that we've got what it takes to take 20 wickets in this game.

"Of course as a club we want our best players. We want our young players playing for Somerset. But ultimately that's not always possible.

"We're gutted to see these players go. They're huge players for us and they're very popular members of the team. But equally we have to respect their decisions. We only wish them well."

Abell also had warm words for Tom Banton, who is unavailable to play in the Bob Willis Trophy final starting on Wednesday due to his IPL commitments with Kolkata Knight Riders.

While Banton's absence has the blessing of the club, it has attracted some criticism elsewhere. John Cleese, a long-time Somerset supporter, took to Twitter to tell his 5.7 million followers that he was "appalled that Tom Banton cannot find the time to play for his county in the most important match in their history."

"Shame on you, Tom", he added.

But Abell was adamant that Banton's commitment to the club remained absolute, he explained his "contractual obligations" rendered his absence inevitable.

"Tom is a great lad and a central figure within our team," Abell said. "And I know from talking to him that he's desperate to play in this final. He's a quality, quality player and we would love to have him available.

"But equally, he has commitments that he has to fulfil. That's the nature of the beast with the player that he is. You know he is in demand all around the world and it's great to see him involved in these high-profile competitions.

"But I would reiterate: he's desperate to play for Somerset but has to fulfil his contractual obligations elsewhere. We want what's best for him."