Nothing is settled yet, but it appears the Detroit Lions and Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson could be headed toward a reconciliation after years of Johnson being away from the franchise.

Johnson, who was officially selected to be part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2021 on Saturday, said he has spoken with Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp recently -- the first real acknowledgment of fences possibly being mended.

"You know, I really do hope it does," Johnson said Sunday in a Hall of Fame conference call. "I think that, I know that myself and Sheila Hamp, we've had some great conversations recently, and it's been good to get to know her and just really have those face-to-face conversations.

"So I think that we're moving in the right direction."

The two sides have been in a dispute over Johnson having to pay back a little over $1 million, the signing bonus he had been given at the start of his last contract, to the Lions upon his retirement after the 2015 season.

Last month, Hamp spoke for the first time about the franchise's fractured relationship with Johnson, and while she declined to go into the issue in detail, she did express an interest in repairing the relationship.

"I hope we can repair things with Calvin Johnson," Hamp said in January. "He was obviously an amazing player for us and we're going to continue to reach out to him and hope that we can repair things because I think it's important that he come back into the Lions family.

"We'd love it if he could or he will. So ... and we are 100 percent behind him for his Hall of Fame ballots and hope that he gets it this time. He was a great, great player and a terrific person and we would love to have him back with us and working with us and helping us with everything."

Johnson, who still lives in suburban Detroit, had not done anything publicly with the franchise since retiring. After initially considering moving back to Georgia, where he grew up, he chose to stay in Michigan with his family and work with Primitiv, the cannabis business he and former Lions offensive lineman Rob Sims have started.

Johnson did not have a retirement news conference and did not speak with the media from the day he retired until he held his annual camp that June. Since then, Johnson has expressed frustration with how this part of his retirement was handled multiple times over the past five years, including telling ESPN in December 2016: "I just wish that it ended a little bit differently."

In the immediate aftermath, former Lions head coach Jim Caldwell -- the last NFL coach Johnson played for -- said he hoped the Lions and Johnson would eventually work things out.

"Playing in the National Football League for a team, it's like a family," Caldwell said in 2017. "Families sometimes have disagreements. They look at things a little differently. I have grown children. Sometimes we look at things a little differently. We hash them out, talk them out. There's dialogue, but it doesn't mean I don't love them. But we get the differences worked out.

"I think the same thing will happen in this situation. Maybe there's a disagreement, a little different viewpoint, but the most important thing, I think, is perhaps this whole thing will bring about a little more dialogue."

The Lions have changed owners from Martha Ford to Hamp and have gone through two coaches (Caldwell and Matt Patricia) and a general manager change from Bob Quinn to Brad Holmes in the time Johnson has been away from the franchise.

For the first time since then, it appears Johnson and the club are headed toward a reunion. Johnson is the Lions' all-time leader in receptions (731), receiving yards (11,619) and receiving touchdowns (83).

Fans have clamored for the Lions to fix things with their star receiver -- and Johnson spoke about the fans and the city he has called home for over a decade during his Hall of Fame news conference.

"To you guys, this is everything. You guys were everything to us," Johnson said. "You filled that stadium. You brought the energy each and every Sunday, even though, in my tenure there, we were 0-16 [in 2008], but you guys still believed in us, you all believed in the city and you all believe that we're going to have a Super Bowl winner there at some point.

"I hope for you guys that it is sooner than later and I've loved living my whole adult life in Michigan. I'm still there and I love you guys and appreciate you guys for all the support and love that you guys have shown me from then until now. And Detroit, the city, is number one in my heart, for sure."

Oklahoma City big man Mike Muscala sustained a concussion during Saturday night's 120-118 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves and has been placed in the NBA's concussion protocol, the Thunder announced Sunday.

Muscala exited the game after taking an elbow to the face in the fourth quarter. He finished the night with 22 points.

Muscala is averaging 9.7 points and 3.5 rebounds in 18.2 minutes over 21 games this season.

According to the protocol, Muscala will have to exhibit symptom-free behavior before resuming basketball activities.

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. has a fractured finger on his left hand that likely will require surgery, and he will miss four to six weeks, sources told ESPN.

Nance, who suffered the injury in the Cavaliers' 124-99 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, has been a significant contributor to the team's solid start (10-14) to the season, excelling on the defensive side.

He is second in the NBA in steals with 1.9 per game. Nance has averaged 9.3 points and 6.8 rebounds in 33.4 minutes a game this season.

He recently missed time with a right wrist sprain.

The loss of Nance further diminishes the Cavaliers' frontcourt, where former All-Star Kevin Love is still out while recovering from a leg injury. Love isn't expected to return before the end of an upcoming five-game Western Conference road trip. The Cavaliers have lost three straight and next play in Phoenix on Monday.

Max Scherzer was already in the midst of his prestart regimen on July 23 for the first game of 2020, a matchup against Gerrit Cole and the Yankees. Yet, the final details of an expanded playoff format for later that fall were still being hammered out.

British champion clocks 7:36.08 in Arizona to move to fourth on the UK all-time list

Marc Scott started his racing year by picking up from where he left off in 2020, continuing to show his fine form with a fast 3000m win at the Prickly Pear Invitational in Arizona, USA, on Saturday (February 6).

Clocking 7:36.08, the British 5000m champion jumped from 22nd to fourth on the UK all-time 3000m rankings and now sits behind only record-holder Mo Farah (7:32.62), Dave Moorcroft (7:32.79) and Brendan Foster (7:35.1).

He did it with a sub-55 second last lap, too, to beat his fellow Bowerman Track Club athletes Grant Fisher with 7:37.21 and Sean McGorty with 7:37.47.

Scott’s previous outdoor best for the distance had been the 7:43.37 he ran in London in 2017.

“A nice 3km coming out of altitude,” Scott told the Bowerman Track Club in an interview shared on Instagram. “We’ve been up there for five weeks now so we just wanted to come down and see our fitness and how we’re getting on ready for a big race in a couple of weeks over 10km.

“It was good, the guys ran really well and I managed to get the win in 7:36.”

Originally from North Yorkshire in England, Scott is now based in Portland, Oregon, where he works with Bowerman Track Club coach Jerry Schumacher.

Last year he demonstrated superb range with times from 3:35.93 for 1500m through to 60:39 for the half-marathon, including a European indoor 5000m record of 13:08.87, and he reflected on his performances in a December interview with AW editor Jason Henderson which you can find here and in the January edition of AW magazine (available to order here).

READ MORE: Marc Scott’s stellar year

You can read more about Scott and his journey in athletics here.

The Briton wasn’t the only Bowerman Track Club winner on Saturday as his club-mates also claimed the three other races.

Canada’s Gabriela DeBues-Stafford, who previously worked with coach Andy Young in Scotland as part of a training group alongside Laura Muir and Jemma Reekie, won the women’s 3000m in a PB of 8:38.51.

In her first race under coach Schumacher and only her second meet since February 2020, the Canadian 1500m and 5000m record-holder pulled away over the final 150m and won clear ahead of Colleen Quigley with 8:40.23 and Karissa Schweizer with 8:40.25.

The 800m races were won by Josh Thompson in 1:49.15 and Sinclaire Johnson in 2:01.70.

Results can be found here.

Pole vaulters clear world-leading heights at Perche Elite Tour, while Athing Mu breaks world U20 indoor 400m record with 50.52 world lead

A separate report on Marc Scott’s fast 3000m win in Arizona can be found here, while coverage of the ISTAF Indoor meeting in Berlin is here and other recent highlights are below.

Perche Elite Tour, Rouen, France, February 6

Britain’s Holly Bradshaw and Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis both cleared world-leading pole vault heights, soaring over 4.85m and 6.03m respectively in France.

For Bradshaw the mark – which she achieved on her third attempt – is her second-best ever indoors or out behind her British record of 4.87m which she achieved in 2012.

Iryna Zhuk was second on countback with a 4.62m clearance.

The men’s event saw Duplantis soar over 6.03m on his first try before three attempts at 6.19m which would have added a centimetre to his own world record set in Glasgow last year.

Former world record-holder Renaud Lavillenie and Chris Nilsen tied in second place after clearing 5.93m. Two-time world champion Sam Kendricks was fourth with 5.83m.

See the February issue of AW magazine for an article by Holly Bradshaw on how the Athletes’ Commission at UK Athletics is striving to get field events more in the spotlight

485 WL (for now @sandicheekspv ?) ?

I came into this competition feeling grateful, carefree and I had an absolute blast! ?

Thank you so much @PercheEliteTour for the competitive opportunity & @Meeting_Lievin for helping me prepare ? pic.twitter.com/6jbM0ficuN

— Holly Bradshaw (@HollyBradshawPV) February 7, 2021

Charlie Thomas Invitational, Texas, USA, February 6

Athing Mu stormed to a world-leading time of 50.52 to break the official world under-20 indoor 400m record.

The 18-year-old’s time improves the record of 50.82 set by Sanya Richards-Ross in 2004, though Sydney McLaughlin has gone quicker with her 50.36 in 2018 but that mark could not be ratified as a record.

We got a visual on that record breaking run ?

? 50.52
➡️ World Junior Record
➡️ School Record
➡️ No. 4 in American & Collegiate History

? https://t.co/4VFH2QPUN2 pic.twitter.com/Av1tPfhxBa

— Texas A&M Track & Field/Cross Country (@aggietfxc) February 6, 2021

The men’s race was won by Noah Williams with an outright PB of 45.47.

Meeting Metz Moselle Athlélor, France, February 6

World 5000m silver medallist Selemon Barega won the 1500m in a world-leading 3:34.62 ahead of Bethwell Birgen (3:34.67) as Elliot Giles stepped up in distance and clocked a 3:37.61 PB in third.

Ireland’s Sean Tobin won the 3000m in an indoor PB of 7:48.01.

Femke Bol further improved her week-old Dutch indoor 400m record with 50.81, which was a world lead at that point, while the 60m races were won by Devin Quinn (6.54) and Javianne Oliver (7.10).

The 60m hurdles winners were Jarret Eaton (7.54) and Tobi Amusan (8.00).

Eliott Crestan won the 800m in 1:46.41 with Britain’s Guy Learmonth third in 1:46.92.

Italian U23/U20 Championships, Ancona, February 6

Larissa Iapichino leapt an indoor PB of 6.75m to move to fourth on the world under-20 indoor long jump all-time list.

The 18-year-old, who won the European under-20 title in 2019, is the daughter of British-born Italian long jump legend Fiona May.

#atletica SEMPRE PIÙ LARISSA!!! 6,75 NEL LUNGO

Larissa Iapichino ?? è la seconda italiana di sempre al coperto a sedici centimetri dal record italiano indoor di mamma Fiona May (6,91)! Seconda al mondo nel 2021, il video del suo salto ad Ancona ?

?? https://t.co/vIK1MCTbBf pic.twitter.com/ZRrDafy62d

— Atletica Italiana (@atleticaitalia) February 6, 2021

Hoosier Hills Invitational, Indiana, USA, February 6

Two-time world shot put champion Joe Kovacs threw an indoor PB of 21.70m.

International Track Meet, Christchurch, New Zealand, February 6

Jacko Gill threw a PB of 21.52m to win the shot put ahead of world gold medallist Tom Walsh with 21.46m.

Multiple Olympic and world champion Valerie Adams threw 18.41m to win the women’s competition.

4J Studios Elite Invitational, Glasgow, Scotland, February 6

Zoey Clark ran an indoor PB and qualifying standard for the European Indoor Championships of 52.03 to win ahead of Beth Dobbin with 53.53.

Joe Ewing broke the Scottish under-20 indoor 1500m record with a 3:47.98 run to improve on Frank Clement’s 3:48.4 from 1971.

More to follow…

World number one Ashleigh Barty says she is "happy with the progression" of her tennis after warming up for the Australian Open by winning the Yarra Valley Classic.

Barty won 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 in the final against Spain's Garbine Muguruza.

Now she is aiming to become the first home champion at the major since 1978.

Barty, 24, reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open last year and starts her latest bid on Tuesday when she plays Montenegro's Danka Kovinic.

When asked about her ambitions for the Grand Slam, Barty said: "I've done the preparation, I've eaten my Brussels sprouts, done everything to put myself in a position that I can go out there and perform at the best level I can."

Belgium's Elise Mertens secured her sixth career WTA title when she made light work of experienced Estonian Kaia Kanepi 6-4 6-1 to win the Gippsland Trophy.

Estonian sixth seed Anett Kontaveit and Ann Li of the United States won their Grampians Trophy semi-finals - although they had to share the title.

The final was not played because of a delayed schedule after Thursday's play being cancelled.

British number one Dan Evans won the first ATP title of his career by beating Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Murray River Open final.

Auger-Aliassime, 20, has now lost all seven finals he has played in.

After winning the warm-up event in Melbourne, Evans turns his attentions to this week's Australian Open.

The 30th seed will play fellow Briton Cameron Norrie in the first round on Tuesday.

"Of course I wanted to win a title, but today was just another match - I approached it in that way," said Evans after beating Auger-Aliassime.

"Everybody wants to win. It's a great feeling to win. But like I said last year, this year I wanted to do well in the bigger events."

Spanish great Rafael Nadal remains hopeful he will be fit enough to play in the Grand Slam, despite saying it was "still difficult" to practise freely on Sunday because of a back injury.

"I don't know the percentage. I don't think about that now," said the 34-year-old, who is aiming for an outright record 21st major men's title.

"I think about we are on Sunday, I have tomorrow and then I'm playing Tuesday. No, I don't think about not playing."

Serbia's world number one Novak Djokovic is the favourite to win a record-extending ninth title at Melbourne Park and likened his relationship with the event to a "love affair".

However, the 33-year-old is less fond of Australian player Nick Kyrgios - who labelled Djokovic a "tool" on social media recently.

"My respect goes to him for the tennis he's playing. I think he's a very talented guy," said Djokovic, who starts against France's Jeremy Chardy on Monday.

"Off the court, I don't have much respect for him, to be honest. That's where I'll close it."

Seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion Jamie Murray is celebrating a title triumph after the Briton won the Great Ocean Road Open in his first tournament back alongside Brazilian Bruno Soares.

The 2016 Australian Open champions, who have reunited for the 2021 season after splitting in June 2019, won 6-3 7-6 (9-7) against Colombian top seeds Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal.

In the singles, Italian 19-year-old Jannik Sinner became the youngest player to win back-to-back ATP titles since Rafael Nadal in 2005.

He won 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 against fellow Italian Stefano Travaglia.

Meanwhile, Russia won the ATP Cup as the quality of Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev shone through again in the final against Italy.

World number four Medvedev won 6-4 6-2 against Italian number one Matteo Berrettini after team-mate Andrey Rublev, ranked eighth, won 6-1 6-2 against Fabio Fognini.

Medvedev, 24, goes into this week's Australian Open on the back of a 14-match winning streak, having won the ATP Finals and Paris Masters at the end of last season, while Rublev has also continued his fine form from 2020.

No player on the ATP Tour won more matches or titles than the 23-year-old last season.

Even with a trio of top retirements, Genever aims to emulate Asian Games success in 2022
By ALEX WAN – Squash Mad Asian Bureau Editor

Former world number 23 Peter Genever was appointed the National Head Coach of Hong Kong China in September last year, succeeding former England National Coach Chris Robertson. It certainly was no bed of roses taking over the role in such challenging times, when the world is fighting a battle for survival against the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the Hong Kong squash camp, they have also lost a pair of their most decorated siblings through retirement and have yet to be tested given the restrictions to events.

The 46 year old native of Hampshire is certainly no stranger in Asia, having spent over seven years spearheading the Malaysian squash camp from 2012-2019. During his tenure there, he has guided the women’s team to second placing at the 2014 WSF Women’s World Team Championships and more recently in 2018, a first ever men’s individual medal at the Commonwealth Games through Nafiizwan Adnan.

Not surprisingly, Nafiizwan, or The Komodo as he is better known, was pull of praise for Peter when asked to comment:

“He is the best coach I’ve ever had. I would love to get tips from him on how he handled the pressure when we were not doing so well (as players then) and how he knew and had the believe in me that I would achieve the targets we set right at the end of my playing career.”

Amidst lockdowns everywhere, we managed to catch up with Peter electronically to find out how he’s settling down in Hong Kong and what are his plans of his charges, amongst other things.

Peter, you left Malaysia in March 2019. Tell us what happened since then till now.

We went back to the UK in 2019. My wife was working while I was looking after our two children and doing some part time coaching locally at The Avenue Club in Hampshire. We had planned this for some time and wanted to see whether a permanent move back to the UK would be an option. With the backdrop of Brexit, it proved to be an ‘interesting’ time so we were in the process of looking at a few options in the UK but also some opportunities to go on the road again.

Obviously, you were working with elite athletes in Malaysia and then going back to the UK coaching at the club level, it was a very different standard. How excited are you to be back working with the elite athletes?

I find coaching people fascinating, so I enjoy being on court with any level of player who wants to understand the game in different ways and improve. Obviously, at the elite end of the game, that desire to improve can border on obsessive, so while it is a hugely satisfying experience there is the need to make sure it is healthy for the player – at least for the majority of the time. The ability to balance one thing against another becomes one of the big challenges.

I know you have been in HK for a while now. Was it only a temporary stint since they have only recently announced your appointment?

I was initially approached for an interim period of six months by Hong Kong Squash. They needed someone to bridge the gap and allow the Hong Kong Sports Institute to follow protocol in advertising the permanent Head Coach position. Given the reputation and determination of Hong Kong Squash to be at the top of the game I felt it was an opportunity too good to miss.

So I suppose the family is happy there?

Yes, we are finding our rhythm now. The children have school and a routine which they are comfortable with, so this goes a long way to creating stability for the family. Obviously, the COVID-19 situation has been very difficult for everyone and given us all a fresh perspective on how we operate from day to day.

Having stayed in Malaysia for quite a number of years, would you say that HK seems to be a pretty natural place for you?

I have always enjoyed being in Hong Kong. My first trip here was for the World Juniors in 1992 and I have been here regularly over the subsequent years. Maybe this and our seven years in Malaysia made moving across have a familiar feel, so settling here has been a pretty seamless transition so far.

I like the combination of the modern and the old, particularly with the architecture and the different districts and how this changes so quickly. We live in the New Territories which has a little more space and natural landscape which is good for the spirit too.

Succeeding Chris (Robertson), do you see big differences in your style of coaching which the players and coaches will have to adapt to?

I am not sure if they are big differences, but we have made changes to most areas of the training environment to better suit the ideas that I believe are important. I think this would be normal. I don’t see permanence in a training schedule as being profitable to players so we vary what we do at the appropriate times. Adaptability is key both during competition and training, so this is a good thing to be accustomed with.

Do you feel you have big shoes to fill?

For sure! Even speaking about him in this way feels a little out of turn given his impact and contribution to the game as a player and coach. I have a great deal of respect and admiration for Chris. He visited me in London in 2011 when I was coaching Tom Richards and Joe Lee as part of the England programme at that time and since then, both with his time with England Squash and Hong Kong Squash, he has always been open in sharing his ideas on how best to work with players at the top level.

Having been in Hong Kong for a while now, I am sure you have a rough idea of the scene there. What would be the first few big ticket items you will be working on with the team?

The basic things really. The first thing was to make sure every player knew that the onus was on them to understand how they can improve. It is a simple thing but they must get better at playing at the competitive level. This will mean different things to different players, but in their own way, they must be more efficient and effective in their ball striking, decision making and movement at competition game speeds. We explore different ways to do this but most of what we do comes back to these principles.

With Annie Au, Leo Au and Joey Chan retired recently, that has perhaps left a big gap In the Hong Kong team. Max is also perhaps coming to the tail-end of his career. What are your thoughts?

When you lose established players such as the ones mentioned, then of course initially there has to be a gap. Sometimes, the opportunity has to present itself in this way for other players to step forward. Perhaps the system in place supports this hierarchy as well, which is problematic. The performance model needs to be layered in a way that players are challenged and are challenging to move forward from the bottom to the top at all times.

We run a centralised programme in Hong Kong, which means the players, coaching, support services and facilities are all in one venue. The advantages of this on paper appear to be very clear but the disadvantages can reside within the advantages and counteract what we have. It is vital we maintain a competitive attitude so the next group of players can emerge as early as possible.

Who would you say would be the next ones to watch from Hong Kong?

I like the look of the current performance squads for 2022 Asian Games – Yip Tsz Fung, Max Lee, Henry Leung, Lau Tsz Kwan, Wong Chi Him, Tang Ming Hong, Ho Tze Lok, Liu Tsz Ling, Tong Tsz Wing, Lee Ka Yi, Vanessa Chu and Chan Sin Yuk.

The squads have a decent blend of experience and youth. Our first priority is to meet expectations at the Asian Games in 2022 and in the process, see who has the ambition and desire to make an impact on the wider stage.

Running alongside this will be to move the potential and junior players closer in level to the performance squads. Ensuring the junior programmes are training coherently is fundamental to our future success.

With the current COVID-19 situation, and controls seem to be stricter in Hong Kong and Asia as a whole, what are you working on with the players to ensure they are in the right competitive mind for when the borders reopen to them?

In some ways, having a new coach coming in during this time has helped as we have introduced a new way of working. The coaching staff have to be creative with provoking positive reactions within training to stay competitive. But the players have to drive that competitiveness themselves and in the periods where that can become difficult, the coaches need to make our targets visible and help motivate in a supportive way.

The Asian Games is perhaps the biggest event in the books of the Hong Kong sports authorities. In the last event, Hong Kong and Malaysia shared honours with two golds each. What would be your target for the 2022 edition?

We want to emulate the performance in 2018. This will not be easy given we have lost key players but I believe we have the quality within the squads to strive for that target. We are excited to challenge ourselves to do that.

We have yet to see a promising enough Asian to challenge for a spot on both the men’s and women’s top ten in a while now. What do you feel Asia players in general lack?

They do not lack anything comparatively. The ability is undoubtedly there but in terms of competitiveness, appreciation and application of excellence, and executing this strategically under pressure, then all countries are trying to catch up with Egypt. But let’s not forget it took Egypt a number of years to find the training environment and conditions to match their ‘form of life’ and realise their squash potential.

The key thing for Asian countries is to keep the momentum consistent and to continue moving forward over a period of years. This is where the Australian and English systems have perhaps struggled in recent times and with it, so have the results and the depth to their squads.

Pictures courtesy of   World Squash Federation and The Star