STEPHEN M. ROSS

Back-to-back winning seasons were not enough for Brian Flores to keep his job as coach of the Miami Dolphins.

Back-to-back winning seasons were not enough for Brian Flores to keep his job as coach of the Miami Dolphins.

Michigan won the coin toss.

Officials are evaluating the future of a 150-foot-tall piece of public art in New York City known as the Vessel after a string of suicides.

A super PAC funded largely by Stephen Ross saw major victories targeting progressive New York City Council candidates.

– The world's richest person made the single-largest charitable contribution in 2020, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy's annual list of top donations, a $10 billion gift that is intended to help fight climate change. Amazon's founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, whose “real-time” worth Forbes magazine estimates at roughly $188 billion, used the contribution to launch his Bezos Earth Fund. According to the left-leaning Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies, from March 18 through Dec. 7, 2020, Bezos' wealth surged by 63%, from $113 billion to $184 billion. Bezos and the Zuckerbergs made up the next spots on last year's top 10 list, with $100 million donations — Bezos for Feeding America to aid food banks across the country and the Zuckerbergs to the same election security group. In February, the Chronicle will publish its list of the 50 biggest donors, which counts cumulative donations, not individual gifts.

Not long after came a seismic jolt, the helicopter crash of Kobe Bryant in the fog-shrouded California hills that reverberated across sports and across continents. Deep into the year, a bookend to Bryant, Diego Maradona died from a heart attack in Argentina weeks after brain surgery, the waves of grief rippling across soccer. The losses, of course, came against a backdrop of a pandemic, its number of fatalities rolled out daily on TV screens. Niekro won 318 games and pitched until he was 48, his knuckleball dancing and mystifying batters across the decades. Kurt Thomas in 1978 became the first U.S. male gymnast to win a world title but lost an Olympic shot in 1980 because of the boycott.

MIAMI – Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores says the team's new video addressing racial injustice was player-driven, had the team owner's support and sought to send a message that “we can all do better.”The 2-minute, 15-second video features nearly 20 players trading stern rhymes about the nation’s social protest movement. Flores, who speaks at the end of the video, said it was directed “at everyone.”“I think every individual in this country can do a little bit better,” he said Friday. Flores said team owner Stephen Ross was supportive of the video, which was posted on social media Thursday. Kaleb Thornhill, the Dolphins' director of player engagement, worked with the team's social justice committee to create it, Flores said. “The message is to try to create unity, not divide,” he said.

WASHINGTON The U.S. Justice Department has entered into a sports dispute involving the company of a longtime friend of President Donald Trump, warning FIFA that a prohibition against staging league matches internationally could violate American antitrust laws. The letter from the Justice Department was included in a filing by Relevent on Tuesday seeking permission to amend its complaint by adding FIFA, soccer's governing body, as a defendant. Relevent alleges the stakeholders committee on Feb. 27 recommended the policy against international league matches be added to FIFA's statutes. Relevent withdrew its state court suit and filed this latest action in federal court, citing antitrust law. Delrahim wrote the department is raising the concerns to protect competition for the benefit of American consumers and soccer players."

MIAMI Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross says he's confident the NFL will play in 2020, with or without spectators. I think there definitely will be a football season this year, Ross said Tuesday during an interview on CNBC. I dont think a lot of people realize it until they no longer have it. Certainly the NFL, I think, will be ready to go. Weve done a lot of things down in Miami," Ross said.

Equinox and SoulCycle, two luxury fitness brands owned by private parent company The Related Cos., are seeking to distance themselves from a Trump fundraiser scheduled for this week at the home of their parent company's chairman. Stephen Ross, who is chairman of The Related Cos., is hosting a luncheon for President Donald Trump on Friday at his residence in Southampton, New York. In a statement, the companies said they do not support the event and characterized Ross as a "passive investor." "Neither Equinox nor SoulCycle have anything to do with the event later this week and do not support it. The Related Cos. is the sixth-largest property owner in New York City, according to trade publication The Real Deal.